View source for Prophecy (Laine)

{{Cutscene Header
|Date of Scene=2013/04/16
|Location=The Deep Umbra, Earth-776
|Synopsis=Whole once again, Laine speaks with the Owl and Phoenix about the prophecy of the Apocalypse.
|Thanks=
|Cast of Characters=383
|Tinyplot=End of an Age
}}
Again, the journey is made. Alone. A lone wolf lopes through the Deep Umbra, riding along the shuddering bridge formed from the Anchorhead. No shortcut through the Null Zone this time... Strides-in-Starlight is making the journey the long way, despite the treacherous nature of Moon Bridges in the current state of the world.

Finally, the lean wolf steps out onto that solitary rock in the Umbra, the spirit of the Owl looming before her. Respectfully, she steps forward, then sits to wait until the dozing spirit awakens and addresses her. It takes... some time, as much as time passes this far out in the Umbra. She waits... and waits.

The old Owl stirs. Eyes crack open, peering at the waiting wolf... but already knowing why she is here. "You are complete again. Whole, and ready. Are you prepared to guide these strangers as needed? Are you prepared to teach them what must be taught?"

Strides-in-Starlight, the Garou, she who was known as Laine by so many, tucks her head with a respectful bow. Quietly, she gives her answer.

"No."

The Owl pauses, wings fluffing lightly. With a wheezing hoot, he asks, "No?"

Laine lifts her head and speaks, "I know many things. Old Garou now. Older than should be. Knowing not teaching. I knew... new Pack taught. My new Pack is not of Garou, yet... protect. Help. Not let any stop."

She turns slightly to look into the Umbra beyond, the swirling tapestry of worlds and concepts. Then she speaks again, softly.

"And the seventh Sign I glimpsed, though I could not look on it in full. But its heat I could feel.

"The Apocalypse. The final days of the world. The Moon was swallowed by the Sun, and it burned in his belly. Unholy fires fell to the ground, burning us all, twisting us and making us vomit blood. The Wyrm had made itself manifest in the towers and the rivers and the air and the Land, and everywhere its children ran rampant, devouring, destroying, calling down curses of every kind. And the Herd ran in fear. And the Dark Ones, Children of the Wyrm, crawled from their caves and walked the streets in daylight.

"I turned my head from the sight. Phoenix told me: 'This is as it shall be, but not as it should.'"

Laine felt it then. The heat of flames, the powerful presence behind her. She turns, without fear, to confront the Phoenix, pure and vibrant next to the Owl. The Owl appeared... smug. Relieved? Yet Phoenix looked down imperiously, challenging.

The tiny wolf meets those eyes, and speaks.

"I... no."

"We reject your prophecy. It shall not be as you have seen. Nor shall it be as you have thought it should. The spirits are wise. Wise and old. But now is not the time to listen to the spirits... not you, not Owl. None."

Laine turns, and the gate opens once more. She pauses at the entrance, waiting for the burning fire or anger, of an assault for her insolence... only too see, her head turning back, a quiet and uncertain gaze from the Phoenix, and a tired but content expression upon the Owl. So... she says her final piece.

"Now. It is time. To teach you."

Neither Incarna stops her as she steps onto the Bridge again to begin the long trek back.