New to town.

[Christopher Aperture]

Chris set his case on the floor of the Florida airport and smiled.
“Jake.” He said, approaching his old friend.
“Chris.” Jake replied. They both smiled and threw open their arms, hugging each other.
“It’s been to long man.”

Chris had lost track of how long he had been on the airplane, and the four stops since he was in Toronto didn’t help. But he was so close to his destination that he didn’t care. He was here for his friend for the most part. He had just lost his father and he needed the comfort of a old friend. But the more Chris thought about it, the more that he began to feel slightly selfish about it. First off he was getting a free room when he would otherwise have to live with his parents, and he was getting to get out of the overcrowded city that was holding him down. But then again, he was also leaving the city that was absolutely ripe with work for a new journalist. Newspapers, Television stations, magazines, internet news syndicates, they were always in need of people to help cover the city. City events, fund raisers, up lifting stories of people beating illness, how could the moral of people be raised if there was no one there to tell the story? But then there was the real news. The news that people ACTUALLY bought the newspaper to read about; Murder, rape, arson, scandal, theft, everything that proved mankind was doomed. Yes, the city was ripe with all of that and it was a virtual gold mine for a new reporter, if he was willing to bide his time and work his way through the ranks. Once you did that, and you got your name out there, that’s when you hit the big times and start over. CNN, NBC, Getty. You start off small, a local correspondent, mostly covering political gatherings, major events, city wide disasters, then, as you get better known, they give you a bit of money to travel to a nearby state or province because you are closest, and news is a fleeting thing, that’s your foot in the REAL door. You do good on those assignments, you get noticed. The Ask you to travel to other countries, then you are getting the REAL work. War, poverty, Corruption, dictators falling dictators rising, Natural disasters, relief efforts, growing better with each event you cover. Yes, it’s taken you years, but at this point you are at long last living the dream. Chris had put all his money, time and dreams in to this dream.
But now all that was on pause. His friend of so many years was in need, and he was going to be there for him.
The ride taxi ride to where Jake had docked his plane was a odd thing. Even though they had kept in constant contact, they had not been in the same country as each other in years. And the circumstances of Chris’s arrival weren’t great. Luckily the initial awkwardness of their reunion wore off near the end of the cab ride, and the started to act a bit more like old friends should, joking and making small jabs at each other. By the time they arrived where Jake had his airplane moored, they were laughing there ass’s off. They loaded his bags in to the back seats of the small single engine, four seat, red and white seaplane and were in the air before long.
About half way through the flight, Jake took sighed and got a serious look on his face. “Chris man, there’s something you should know about the locals.”
“Oh is there now?” he inquired.
“yeah…” he said looking like her was unsure how to proceed. “you see…god… how do I say this with-out sounding crazy?”
“By spitting it out?” Chris grinned,
“yeah, well, with things like this, its not really the kind of thing that you want to spit out.”
“well beating around the bush isn’t going to help.”
“fine. You remember the information on the island?”
“yeah..”
“and how when the Spanish landed they found wolves?”
“yeah, uh, and that’s why its called Isla De Los Lobos, right?”
“yeah, well, they found more than just wolves.”
“Uh huh, and just what did they find”
“well…. They….found wolves.”
Jake winced slightly. That was not the kind of news you usually give and not get some funny looks from. Chris looked at him for a moment, with a eyebrow arched over the top of his sunglasses.
“come again?”
“Lycans.”
“Lycans.” Chris repeated. “You sure?”
Jake wasn’t expecting that. “Uh…Yeah?”
“No, sorry, I meant to say, You sure you should be flying when your high?” Chris laughed.
Jake sighed. “yeah, I thought you would say something along those lines. Look man, You may not believe me, just promise me, be careful, especially when you are in the woods or some shit.”
“Heh, why, or the big bad wolf might get me?”
“no, you might get bitten by a snake, or a poisonous spider.”
Chris seemed to get a bit paler. “T-they have those here?”
“yeah, so watch your step…were approaching the island by the way.”
Chris looked back out the cockpit window and looked over the island. It was beautiful. Chris Pulled a camera and started to snap photos of it.
Jake did one loop around the island, pointing out any landmarks they could see from the air.
Before long Jake slowly brought the plane down near the beach, and taxied closer to the shore, and pulling up to a dock sticking out near a large beach house.
“Wow, You live here?” Chris asked.
“yep.” Jake said, cutting the engine “home sweet home.”
Chris looked over the house, it was two stories, Made of wood and brick, with plenty of windows, and a deck. It was not a very modern designer, and it looked customer built.
“Come on.” Jack said, grabbing one of Chris’s bags. “I’ll show you your room.”

[Lord Lucian Yale]

Music floated through the air, the sound of happy people dancing and chatting the night away, intermingled with the roar of waving crashing against the shore.

Tonight was all about celebration, a small yet packed festival. It was one of Isla de los Lobos most known events, centering around the mother goddess, La Luna. The cycle of the moon was closely followed by the lycan court, each part of the cycle meant something to them. The new moon festival was focused on the rebirth, the new life of the mother goddess as she and her children entered a new cycle together, a new life if you will.

Each household would take turns in hosting the event, this month was the turn of the estate of grey haven, the house of Lord Lucian Yale. This was only the fifth time, he had a hand in the organisation and it was no easy event to plan, there was so much to consider from the entertainment to the various booth along the shoreline.

Humans intermingled with lycans, both enjoying the wonderous atmosphere. Bare feet collided with the soft grains of sand, as he wandered along the golden shore. Watching, observing each and every individual as they mingled, haggled and feasted on the various dishes on offer. Dressed down, in a comfortable loose-fitting shirt and trousers, tonight he was not the lord who loyally served the king but just another man in a sea of faces.

Sure, he was the one responsible for this entire moment in time. He was the one everyone was sent to, if they had an enquiry or complaint. He truly was never off duty.

[Christopher Aperture]

Jake frowned as he followed Chris down the beach. He had really really wanted to avoid bringing Chris to this damn festival. God, why did it have to be tonight? Why did it have to be on the beach this month, why the hell wasn’t Chris jetlagged as all hell?!
All these questions circled his mind as he trudged through the sand. He was planning to tell Chris that it was just some privet party on the beach if he noticed anything, then Bill showed up. Bill was one of the shipping companies pilots, and a damn good one, but he was a loud mouth. He stopped to tell Jake that the fuel delivery shipment plane had mechanical difficulties and never left Florida, international, so they wouldn’t receiving there fuel for two days. Jake was annoyed at this, but said they were prepared for that and had more than enough in there reservoir. Then Bill went and loudly asked if he was going to be at the festival tonight, and Chris of course jumped at the thought of there being a huge party on the day of his arrival.
So Jake followed Chris along, thinking of how he would handle this, Chris had no idea what he could be getting himself into if he pissed off the wrong person. Jake figured that the best course of action was to find a member of the court and ask them what he should do, or if they could carefully show him the error in his thinking.
Chris on the other hand was excited. It had been a while since he had gone to a party. “Oh man this is going to be fun!” he exclaimed as they walked towards the festival, the sun hanging low over the water, nearing the horizon.
Jake nodded, and smiled weakly. “Yeah, fun.”
“oh come on now you can’t tell me that you aren’t looking forward to this.”
“it’s a fairly regular thing, and I am kind of tired.”
Chris didn’t really have an answer to this, but at this point it wouldn’t have mattered. They were approaching the festival, and Chris’s eyes were already being drawn to some of the booths.
“hey man, don’t wander off to far, I just got someone I need to talk to.”
“sure man, do what you need to.”
Chris started to walk towards one of the booths, and Jake walked to the first member of staff he could see. “I am looking for someone from the court?”
the lady behind one of the booths pointed to a man, and Jack recognized the face from when he was just a delivery worker with the trucks they had. “lord Lucian Yale.” She said.
“thanks.” He said and walked towards the man. “Mr. Yale?” he asked, approaching him.

[Lord Lucian Yale]

Everything was going to plan, nothing had gone wrong. Lucian was happy with this, an event just as this was hard to maintain, to even plan without it getting on top of him. Stress was not good for his health, for his heart. He was thankful for his young aide Madam Cavendish, Ariadne Cavendish was an angel sent to help him get through his particular day in question.

She was a young lycan, even though she was older than he by a mere decade. The woman had a brain upon her shoulders and most definitely knew how to use it. She had organised most of the entertainment for the crowds, each act different from the last. She had an eye for detail, choosing the most unique and engaging performers. She was thinking outside of the box, the results were most positive, the crowds were lapping up every second of the laughter and joy of the current entertainer.

His hearing, even though heighten was not focused upon anything but the soothing sounds of the waves crashing against the shore. It was one thing helping Lucian get through this beastly day, there were moment he wanted to tear out someone’s throat but alas he resisted. The outcome would be indeed unpleasant, and surely it would get back to the King in seconds. Not a good idea to entertain when he still had not established a good working relationship with the King and his closest advisors. Such a relationship was necessary for any lord or member of the five houses, it insured ones future was safe, as King held his soul and his future within the court in the palm of his hand. One false or bad move and it all could be over before he would even blink. Vaan was powerful man, Lucian was still learning his place in this royal court of wolves.

The sound of his name brought Lucian back to reality, he turned to face to owner of the voice in question. A young man, but no name came to mind. Damn he should have returned sooner, then he would learnt more names and more faces and would be able to match them. “Yes?” He asked curious at what this man might want.

“How might I help you?” He inquired as most likely it would be a question or two related to the festivities happening around them.

[Christopher Aperture]

Jake Smiled to the man nervously, holding out his hand politely. “Jake, Jake McKee, we have met once before I think…” he said, suddenly becoming very aware of the McKee Shipping baseball cap he was wearing.
“You are a member of the court correct?” he said, glancing at his friend, who had his camera to his eye and was currently snapping photos of some performers. Despite it only being a quick glance, Jake noticed a new button shaped like the moon pinned to Chris’s camera bag.
He shook his head and returned his gaze towards the man before him. Questions circled around jakes mind, however the loudest one was how is he goanna react to this? He knew he was standing before a creature of class and sophistication, most werewolves in the court were, but they also had a darker, more animalistic, shorter tempered side to them, the kind who didn’t really like nosey persistent people like his friend. There was really only one way to find out.
“Sir…I have a small problem.” He said, concern etched on his face. “You see, I have a friend who has come to live with me and help me out a bit since my father… well….anyway, he just arrived today, and I was hoping to ease him in to life here. See…the problem is, he doesn’t, well… Believe in you…” he tried to think of a way to end that statement, but he was having trouble. And he was starting to feel pangs of nicotine cravings again. “Well, not you personally I mean, All of you, you know, Were-er, Lycans….and well…I am a bit worried for his safety…I was wondering if maybe you could help me out?”

[Lord Lucian Yale]

Lucian smiled politely as he listen to the young man. This was something that occurred rarely even at events such as this one. It was strange to see anyone but locals, tourists were few and far between during this part of the year. The man was entirely human, his scent gave him away, Lucian’s nose could not be fooled easily. Only witches could fool a lycan’s nose but magic could only last for so long.

The young man was nervous, his posture and behaviour revealed this much, this must be his first visit to the island. Tourists were easy to identify from the rest of the population, they were either overexcited or highly nervous when wandering the length and breadth of the island. Lucian bowed his head in greeting to this Jake McKee. His eyes were drawn to the boy’s cap, the lycan lord recognised the name, McKee shipping was one of the few shipping companies that was trusted with imports and exports of this rather small island. King Vaan usually left the handling of shipping in hands of the five families, they were each in charge of one part.

“I do believe so but it was a few years ago” He quickly addressed, covering his tracks as Jake’s face was not familiar. Lucian did not want to embarrass himself in front of anyone. This boy knew much, it was rare to see an outsider, a none member of the court or trusted human to know this much about the hierarchy of the island and the court of King Vaan. “I am indeed, part of the court” His answer was intentional vague, this kind of information was sensitive and played close to his chest. Lucian would not betray the trust of his king.

His gaze narrowed, his eyes darkened with anger. This was not good, this human had told another the truth. No outsiders were allowed to know the truth, to reveal the existence of the lycan court and their king was strictly forbidden and punishable. This would have to be taken before the King before it got out of hand. “You realise what must be done, you have broken one of the oldest laws” His words were swimming in controlled rage. “You are a resident of this island and are trusted with the truth but at a price” He continued to explained, sighing frustrated with the changing pace of the day.

“This will be dealt with immediately” His words were short but deadly sharp. Lucian was no longer in a pleasant mood, his pack members in the crowd would have sensed the mood change in their alpha, they would be keeping their distance, out of respect and safety. “I care not if he believes or not, he will have to face the king as will you boy”

“The moment you mentioned this to him, it flew out of my hands” He responded, knowing that Vaan would not be pleased with this realisation. It was Dawn, the boy would have be worried about, she was more likely to be the one who caused any harm if Vaan was threatened.