View source for Domo Arigato Mr. Karasu

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{{Log
| date=09/06/2018
| time=22:00 EDT
| summary=An Uktena and a Corax step into a Gymnasium, and they don't kill each other
| cast=
* [[Hina]]
* [[Jim]]
| st=
| place_name=Carson Youth Center, Lower East Side, Detroit
| place_desc=
| log=
Jim is perched over a donut in here, pecking at the maple bar. In front of him is a piece of paper, with some notes from Sandra's charts.

Shiraishi Hina has had... a /day/. But that was a couple days ago, and she is more or less on the mend. It'll be awhile before her spiritual energies and inner rage will be at the normal levels though. That sort of thing just takes time. That or repeated face punching the latter case, but thats... not an advised way to do that. In either case, she enters, an instrument case on her back.

Jim hopefully will not trigger some of that Rage. &quot;Howdy,&quot; he calls out with a flap when she comes in. &quot;Glad to see you. I hate to sound greedy and needy, but on account of some promises I've made, I very much need your help, miss Hina.&quot;

&quot;Sure and true the Tengu have ever been allies, and based on the records, yourself not least amoungst them.&quot; She shrugs lightly, as she walks around the room, placing her instrument case down on a table. &quot;If its within my power, I'll help you. If its questionable... I'll have to ask my elders first. If its unacceptable... I promise it will be a very polite and face-saving 'no' on both our parts.&quot;

Jim flaps. &quot;I reckon it's really easy.&quot; Looking up, and around. &quot;Help yourself to coffee and donuts, I always buy them for y'all, just as a show of appreciation when I come over. That's why I had them the other day. But what I need I hope is easy, ma'am. I need to learn the Rite of the Questing Stone, on account of how Charles and I are going to use it to try to track down Shaw, as a team.&quot;

Hina does indeed do so... though she takes only a single donut, despite a no doubt greater then normal appetite given her shifter metabolism. &quot;Interesting.&quot; She seems to consider it for a time. &quot;You know my tribe, as a premise, dosen't approve of giving away knowledge. Not to each other, not to others, not as a rule. Knowledge needs to be earned, suffered for, and bled for, you know. Or it has no... meaning. It's like being tossed a carcass. The wolf does not want to be fed, the wolf must hunt...&quot; She sounds speculative about the entire thing.

Jim trills low. &quot;You don't? Ah.&quot; He pauses, ducking his beak under his wing a moment, fixing a feather as he stalls. &quot;Is there something I can do for you, in some sort of trade for the knowledge, ma'am?&quot;

Hina considers that... a single perfect fingertip trailing around the edge of the donut she is holding now, as if exploring its contours. &quot;A trade you say? Well. Thats an interesting suggestion. It's not /particularly/ a secret Rite... many know it, and its not held by any particular Tribe as sacred lore. So then. This is my suggestion.&quot; She takes a bite of the donut then, and closes her eyes, focusing on the taste for a moment. Once her mouth is clear, she replies. &quot;I'll teach you the Rite if you teach me how to Fly.&quot;

Jim trills a brief laugh at that. Then looks at her carefully. &quot;I would...&quot; he trails off. &quot;Ma'am, I would be happy to, but on account of you not having hollow bones or big wings, I don't know if it would work. But I will teach you as best as I know how.&quot;

&quot;I have wings.&quot; Is Hina's reply to that. &quot;Just not material ones. I have flown. But not with the skill of one born to it. Clumsily and... with difficulty. Owl has granted my pack its great wings when we are in the Umbra. But thats not the same as /knowing/ how to fly. I became acutely aware of the difference when I had to engage in aerial combat. I managed... but not as well as I would have liked. I realize you cannot give me the skill of someone born to it, who has done it their entire lives, who has the instincts for it and the defined nature to do it. But...&quot; She shrugs. &quot;I'm sure you can give me pointers that nobody without wings could.&quot;

Jim pauses at that. The bird's head moves, as he looks her over. &quot;Oh... Well. Is this something you can do... on this side of the gauntlet? When I first changed, I was useless. Had to work hard at learning. I reckon I can give you lessons, ma'am.&quot;

&quot;Sadly no. Owl is mighty, but opts not to make such transformations upon us in the physical world.&quot; Hina points out. Flying Werewolves in the physical world, it would seem, are a bit much even for powerful Totems. &quot;I realize raw theoretical instruction won't work as well, but I think if I learn enough, and practice what I learned, and we go back and forth on how it works out... /something/ can be achieved. Better then trying to do it entirely on my own anyway.&quot;

Jim flaps. &quot;What a shame. We'll have to go out of town then. Out by the airport perhaps, that's far enough outside the White Zone. That's where I staged from when Idid my flyover of the White Zone.&quot;

&quot;Thats usually the case anyway.&quot; Hina agrees. &quot;We'll want to avoid Belle Island... recent intel, and by intel I mean getting jumped by Scrags... suggests they are patrolling much further out then every before.&quot; That much is in a note Kaminari had left at the CYC anyway, but Hina restates it just in case. Best to keep that gossip moving around, and who better then a Corax?

Jim flaps. &quot;Miss Sandra made it clear that place was sacred to y'all, and on account of that I stopped going there after she told me. I don't want to overstep without good reason. So we can go to the airport. I'll fly with you ma'am.&quot;

&quot;Well enough.&quot; Hina just nods once, and then goes on to say. &quot;I can intruct you in the Rite of the Questing Stone. I do not see any reason that should be a problem.&quot; She resumes eating her donut then.

Jim flaps and trills again, happly. &quot;Much obliged. Flying is great. It's the best part of being a Corax, and on account of that I fly all I can. Just because it's enjoyable, and that's the Raven way.&quot;

&quot;Owls way is to fly silent and unseen... to stoop and snatch the prey, and have its first awareness of you be its last moment alive.&quot; Hina replies to that... and then shrugs lightly. &quot;But I'm certain the skills will translate just fine.&quot; Hina, it is worth noting, detests being /bad/ at things. If she has to fly now, she's going to at least do it with /competency/.

Jim looks. &quot;Ravens and owls compete mighty fierce in nature. But we'll get along. Have you studied much physics? It helps with understanding techniques and aerodynamics, things that born ravens naturally understand.&quot;

&quot;It is tricky however...&quot; Hina points out. &quot;There is a... spiritual element to it. Merely adding wings to a wolf would hardly make it... structurally capable of flight. So at least some of that is... smoothed over by Owl.&quot; That said. &quot;Yes. Well. I went to college, I can't say I made a focus of it, but I certainly passed my basic courses. It was a music school after all.&quot; Thats actually rare on two fronts. Functining in an academic setting without the Curse causing a big problem is rare, as is finding the /time/... a Garou's life is demanding after all.

Jim trills. &quot;Music. I reckon that's nice.&quot; Flapping again. &quot;If you took physics at amusic school I reckon you learned about air, and vibrations, and music related things. That will help. But I'm not going to use calculus in the air, ma'am.&quot;

&quot;Well...&quot; Hina shrugs lightly. &quot;That was another lifetime. I'm hardly going to take the stage at a concert hall now.&quot; The Curse is an unforgiving beast in that respect. She'd have half the first few rows crapping their pants by the end. &quot;But some of the others things I learned certainly came in handy during urban warefare operations in Sapporo. Mostly Kumo... spiders... and Bakemono there. Decent at blending in, so you had to be clever to root them out.&quot;

Jim leans his head in. He's heard an amount of japaense that someone who plays video games has heard. Which is a tiny bit. &quot;Bakemono,&quot; he repeats, having heard that word before. Just not in this context. &quot;If I have any say in it, ma'am, you're going to have fun flying. Owls fly differently from us. And Iwls with wolf bodies even more different, on account of your weight balance. But we'll try.&quot;

&quot;The western term is Fomori. Although... I'm not /entirely/ sure that its exactly the same thing. The Kumo knew some sort of... I'm not sure, a Rite? To actually create them out of people delibrately. I know Shaw has a similar process, or at least one to streamline their creation. I doubt its related.&quot; Hina shrugs lightly. She does pass a slight smile across her face then. &quot;I'm certain that I will. But its important to remember why your doing it.&quot; One of her flawless hands absently, perhaps without her noticing it, rises up to rub at the writs of the other one lightly. &quot;It is not for us with dread duties to get lost in the joys of the moment.&quot;

Jim trills. &quot;Right. Y'all have a different set of rules than we do. I hear it in your moots. Having fun is one of the laws Raven gave us.&quot;

&quot;Well there is nothing wrong with enjoying your work.&quot; Hina conceeds, inclining her head. &quot;It just generally... can't be the point.&quot; There are points she could raise as to /why/ Garou have too many jobs to possibly do them all right... but bringing that up to a Bete seems in poor taste. They already know why. &quot;In any case, we'll set up a schedual, get some training in on both sides. Best to do it soon too, once the Trial is over Shaws double becomes much less important, for a few reasons.&quot;

Jim just bobs his head at her comments about jobs. &quot;Sounds good. Thank you ma'am. We might trianguate the fake Shaw as well.&quot;

&quot;Then I think we can safely call that an agreement.&quot; Hina replies, nodding once more in turn, and also finishing up her donut. &quot;I need to check in with Kaminari, but I think her recovery should be over now.&quot; She walks over to the table, and slings her instrument case back onto her back. &quot;I can leave a message here for you about when and where we'll meet up, unless you have contact information?&quot; She isn't entirely sure if Jim is on the grid enough to have a phone number or similar contact information.

Jim flaps. &quot;Recovery? Was she injured? Last I spoke with her, I promised I'd help her find shaw.&quot; He'll then give her a phone number. &quot;I can't yet receive texts in this form, but I get them when I get home.&quot; Nobdoy HERE would believe he probably spends 20 hours a day in homid.

&quot;She took a bad enough hit against the Scrags to... slow down her regeneration for a little while. She'll be fine once she gets a good night or two rest.&quot; Hina has seen that kind of thing before. &quot;It's not the kind of injury that takes even us weeks or months to recover from.&quot; Silver and the like. &quot;Part of the reason I want to be a better flier. Could have taken more advantage of that, since the fight was in the Umbra.&quot;

Jim would wince, but he's a bird, so he flaps and hops. &quot;I'm sorry to hear that. I'm sure she'll be fine, but all the same I hope she's getting good rest. nad I look forward to our lessons.&quot;

Hina nods simply. &quot;She is in her retainers care... and she was able to get home under her own power, so she'll be fine.&quot; Granted, Kaminari is stubborn, which had alot to do with it. Hina was more inclined to carry her... but it is what it was. &quot;Good. I'll call you then later on and we can settle on firm times for things. It has been good to speak with you Jim. I look forward to spending our secrets to learn each others.&quot; Which is of course how an Uktena would look at it.
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