Welcoming Commitee [Angel]

Rumor had a friend deliver the letter, and the moment he returned to the Gangrel territory, she had made her way to the rock where she promised to meet him. She was excited to know that there was somebody new, somebody she might be able to help. She had no doubts that he was being harassed by the rest of the City, most of whom had a personal grudge against the Tremere Clan, and she figured that he might need a friend. Mizuki and Felix were a little more difficult to convince, but eventually, they agreed with her. Nobody lasted long in an argument with Rumor.

She was bouncing onto the balls of her feet, humming song after song as she waited. Every now and again, she would catch glimpses of David in the surrounding forest. He was there to protect her, she knew, just in case things went wrong. That comforted her for the first two hours. However, as time began to tick closer and closer to the third hour, her enthusiasm seemed to die, slowly but surely.

Staring down at her shoes, she folded her hands behind her back. Her humming had long since died at her lips and she looked upset. Her brilliant blue eyes were downtrodden, her fingers lightly twisting as her anxiety began to set in. Maybe he didn't want to meet her... Her mother had, after all, been quite cruel to him, even by her own admission. Perhaps he held that against her. She kicked at the loose rocks at the trail, sighing audibly, as she continued to wait. She would, after all, stay there all night if she needed to, and it would probably take quite a bit of convincing for her to not return the following night.

When she heard a voice, her head jerked up, sadness obvious in the way her youthful face wrinkled. She blinked a few times as he called her by name, but before she could say anything about his disheveled appearance, he introduced himself. Immediately, all of her sadness faded away, replaced by a winning smile as she pushed herself back onto her toes.

"Angel!" she cooed. "It's so nice to meet you! I was worried that you weren't coming and Felix came by a little while ago to try and convince me to go home, but I told him no way! I didn't think you'd be rude enough to stand a lady up!" Her overly large tail, beautiful in its orange and white hues, wagged from side to side, the first show of what Clan she belonged to. "I told him I was going to wait right here until you showed up. I knew something must have been keeping you. Are you alright? You look like you got into a fight on the way over here... Oh no! Were those Brujah being mean-butts again?"

She crossed her arms over her chest and tried her best to look firm, but that only lasted so long before her face lit up once more. She walked over to him, taking one of his hands into both of hers, shaking it and tilting her head to one side. "It's so nice to finally meet you. I've heard about you from the other Gangrel, but they didn't seem to have much information, either. And don't worry about those Brujah... They're the biggest bullies in town, even bigger than Mom!"

"Oooh, a kitty? Oh, that's right! You have a cousin, don't you? I'm sorry I didn't invite her! I didn't think about it. We hear all about you, but we don't really hear much about your cousin. I guess she kind of stays off to herself, huh? I can understand that. She's Kindred too, right? What Clan does she belong to?" It didn't seem to matter that he was still trying to catch up to where she was in the conversation. She didn't seem to mind going back.

Motioning with one hand for him to follow, she turned and began to skip into the forest proper, taking the hiking trail in front of them with a general ease. She was familiar with every square inch of this forest. It had become her home years prior, and she spent most of her time here, with David, where they were both safe from the wandering or judgmental eyes of the outside world.

Immediately, she launched into her next subject, without waiting for a response to her questions. "Of COURSE I don't mind giving you a tour, silly! I offered, didn't I? I know it can be kind of daunting to be in a new city, and that's if everything is totally normal and human! With all of these crazy politics, it must be even more difficult! When I moved here, I was lucky enough to still have Mom around, and she knows Amy, the Prince, you see, so I sort of had a buffer. I guess you don't have that though, huh? That must be awful."

She paused a moment to frown, showing him that she sympathized with his plight, even if she couldn't understand it. It made her sad to think that anybody could be judged by things other people did or how they acted. "Everyone deserves a chance, though. So, this is the Gangrel territory! We tend to kind of stay out here, because it's safe! See, when we frenzy, which we all try not to do a lot of the times, we start to look more and more like the Beast. You know what the Beast is, right? I don't know how new you are to being a Kindred. Oh! And don' ever call yourself a vampire in front of Miss Lady Ma'am the Prince, okay? She really hates that word. Kindred is what we're called.

"She says that vampires are the creepy and ugly things from the media. They are the cruel things. We're not those! That would be just silly! We're Kindred, which means basically that we're superior to the vampires most people think. If you try to call yourself or anyone else a vampire in front of Amy, she'll get offended and upset, and since she's probably SUUUUPER on edge around you, anyways, you probably want to limit that, huh?"

Rumor smiled at him with a little giggle, and actually paused for a moment. Surprisingly.

"Mhmm! I've only ever frenzied once and I got my tail. Honestly, I was kind of lucky. I know you wouldn't think that, but you've met my mom, right? Her whiskers, her eyes? Did you see her ears? They're all gnarled up like tree roots. And you'll probably meet our Primogen, Mizuki. He's such a sweet guy, but he has a lot of things. Like his teeth." She showed him her own teeth, perfect and beautiful, and tried to mimic the triangular shaped fangs the old man sported after a frenzy. She failed, but it was nearly comical.

She laughed and shook her head, letting her hands fall back to her sides. "It's not really rude to ask as long as everyone knows you're a neonate, and the Clan here all know about your situation, so I don't think they'll mind. Besides, you're here as my guest, now, so if they got mad at anybody, it'd be me. And nobody really gets mad at me." She chuckled again, stopping to point towards one of the more abandoned trails, grown over with shrubbery.

"That leads to the Military Base and training ground. Nobody really goes there except Octavian, though. We try to give them their space but he doesn't get that option, sometimes, and I think it's just nice for him to be around the military again. He's a veteran, you know." She grinned, wiggling her head from side to side. "Do you know about all of the curses? Like, how every Clan has a curse? I can go over them with you! It'll help you if you want to talk to people like Amy and Octavian. They're both pretty powerful. And it'll give you a better understanding of people based on their Clan. It'll help you be prepared!"

"Okay, so there are thirteen Clans in the Camarilla. Those are the good guys. The Camarilla are the ones that believe we should all live alongside the Kine - the humans - and the Sabbat believe we're, like, superior or something? They seem to think we should treat Kine like cattle and it's really kind of silly and dumb, but that's what they believe, and I guess they have a right to it..." Rumor seemed to be lost in her thoughts for a moment as she compared the two major factions. She had studied the Sabbat, but only briefly. She really did not like their practices.

Giving a shake of her head, she continued. "Anyways. There are thirteen Clans in the Camarilla. I'll just list the main ones for now, and I can go into the others too, but I'll have to do that another night, if that's okay." She didn't bother waiting for a response, immediately assuming he would understand why she was careful, even in the Gangrel territories. She had no way of knowing he was not aware of the political wars that were raged constantly, just under the surface.

"So, there's the Brujah. You've met them... They're brutes. Big, muscle-y jerks that like to pick on people. They're usually all cool with their Beasts. They kind of coexist. But the problem is, their curse means they can't really NOT frenzy. So they become mindless, violent, scary beasts at, like, the drop of a dime. It's SO crazy to watch!

"Then, there's us. The Gangrel. Like I said before, we end up looking more like our Beasts. For some of us, that means animal characteristics, like my tail. Daddy, Mom's husband? He ended up with a dog leg, one time! It can also affect your mental state, so like... you might have to circle the bed three times before you can lie down." She giggled at that, but continued. "We're also the only Clan who, like... are completely separate from our Beasts. They're like a voice in our head.

"Then there's the Malks. Malkavians. Have you met Mister Findero Lauden? He goes by Finn. He's a nice man. Big, giant? He's like, seven feet tall! Totally! And he has eggplant hair. Malkavian are born from this one Kindred named Malkav, their Antidullivian. I know that's a weird word, but you'll have to trust me on that, okay? Anyway, Malkav? He was TOTALLY crazy. Not, like, funny ha-ha crazy... He is, or was, ACTUALLY crazy, so the whole Malkavian CLAN is crazy, and the older they are? The crazier they get!

"Nosferatu are also Camarilla. Bernd is the big Nossie on campus, here. They're called sewer rats, but I wouldn't call them that unless you want them to follow you. Nosferatu know everything about everyone. EVERYTHING. About EVERYONE. You just kind of get used to it. But when they were Embraced? Their bodies got all twisty and stuff, so now they're really ugly. I don't mean that to sound mean, but it's true. THAT is their curse. Luckily, they have a power that lets them look like the other people, so they can walk around. Bernd doesn't use it much because his friend Blue doesn't have it. If you want to know about Blue, though, you'll have to ask... I can sort of help, but only so far? Like, I don't know Gargoyles well.

"But I do know the others, like the Toreador! They're the fancy pants artists. They don't come out here often, though. They like their posh neighborhoods. Mom's mom was a Toreador, though, and she really doesn't like them. I don't mind 'em. But they each have something that they super duper love, and when they see that, they sort of..." She froze, suddenly, and stopped talking for a few awkward seconds, trying to mimic what she knew the Toreador to do. Then, she continued, as if nothing happened. "Freeze. Just bam! Frozen! It's kind of cool to watch.

"Then there's the Ventrue. That's Amy and Octavian for you! Ventrue are high society, even higher than Toreador! It's hard to explain why, and I don't think even I understand it. The Ventrue curse is sort of two fold, though. When they're Embraced, they are frozen in time. Like, Miss Lady Ma'am? The reason she wears all those old looking clothes is because it's Ventrue compulsion to do so. You never really grow out of the era you were born in. But if you're Ventrue, you also can only feed from one blood type. Like... Like, Mister Octavian? He can only drink military blood. Amy can only drink magical blood."

Rumor finally stopped talking once she finished the list of the Clans, taking a deep but unnecessary breath. Then, she turned back to look at Angel. "Was that too much? I'm sorry, I get a little caught up in all of this..."

For once, Rumor was stunned into silence. It was rare that she ever lost the ability to speak, but obvious sadness pulled at her every feature. She tilted her head to one side and walked over to Angel, each step silently placed, eyes dark with pain. She raised one hand and gently rested her fingers on his shoulder, trying to comfort him as best she could. Then, she moved to lightly wrap her arms around his waist and hug herself against him.

There was nothing sexual about the gesture. It was innocent, but she seemed to produce an aura of happiness, of contentment. It was nearly impossible to touch Rumor and not feel her happiness. Ever since she started her training to be a Golconda, she had a way of making people feel like, no matter what... it might actually be okay. People usually just thought it to be a part of her charm.

"I'm sorry, Angel," she whispered, nuzzling her head into his collarbone. She rested there for a moment, hoping the longer he touched her, the happier it would become. "I really am. The Tremere Clan... I'm so sorry they took that from you. But music... it isn't all about what you can play. Just... shh. Be quiet."

In the silence, it was easy to hear the world all around them. Unlike most Kindred, animals did not shy away from Rumor. In fact, the smaller, more harmless critters seemed attracted to her. Birds were singing, their wings flapping the leaves on the trees, and nearby, two squirrels played around each other, squeaking and dancing around. If one paid enough attention, it was almost like the start to a musical number in some Disney flick.

"There's music all around us. And they didn't take away your music. You still get to create music, every day. Your footsteps, your voice? Everything about you... It's part of this music, the music that is all around us. See?" She turned from him, finally releasing him, and faced the forest, holding up her arms. As if she were Snow White herself, a little bird fluttered down to land on her shoulder, nuzzling into her cheek. She placed her fingers delicately against the creature's feathers, then turned back to him. "See? You're a part of this bird's song. You're still making music."

As if to prove her point, the bird hesitantly fluttered over to Angel, dancing around him for a moment. When Rumor moved back to him, she placed her fingers delicately against his arm, and the bird landed on his shoulder, tweeting away happily.

She smiled softly. Since beginning her journey, quite a few people were utterly baffled by her new-found abilities. A few desperately wanted her power, but it was rare that their reasons were selfless, and without their heart open to the act of helping others, they would accomplish nothing. Very few had what it took to become what she was, what she wanted to be.

Rumor took a step back and the bird followed her, landing on her shoulder once more. It puffed out its feathers and gave a little ruffle before continuing with its song. She spoke quietly, as if she did not want to disturb it.

"Have you heard of a Golconda, Mister Angel?" she asked him, raising one finger to delicately stroke the beak of the bird. It seemed perfectly content to sit there while they continued their conversations. The Sabbat, Lasombra included, knew of the legendary beings of light, the Kindred who had found a way to return their souls. Of course, most regarded it as a tall tale, a story to tell the neonates at night when they thought immortality was a curse and not a blessing.