Chasing-The-Night (Kimu Tetsu)
Ainu Uktena Lupus Galliard
(stats)

Chasing-The-Night was born a wolf under the sign of Mercury Rising, and spent his first years running in the forests with his people. But that was long ago, and there is not much of this time that he can recall clearly; in wolf-time it is all happened-before, and something akin to a dream - the past is little more than a preface for the present.

But the timeless life evaporated, and the young wolf was called into service by Moon and Mercury together. The call was sudden and unfamilar, and his lupine form was drawn out of the mortal Realm and into another place, a mystic place. Terrified, he ran, only vaguely aware that he was not really alone - his loping paces were guided by a spirit force.

The wolf ran until he could run no more, and finally collapsed into a deep and unfamilar slumber, filled with thoughts and feelings and images that were not the ones to which he had grown acustomed. And when he awoke he was nowhere he had ever been before. His life was changed.

The pack he found himself part of was unlike that he had grown up with. For starters, they were not really wolves. It was clear they were close to wolves, but they walked upon two legs, and lived on the land, not within it, as his previous pack had done. But they accepted him, and they helped him. They knew what he was better than he did himself, and with their coaxing he began to realize what he was capable of.

He was no longer only a wolf. He could walk upon two legs, as his new pack was able to. And while he was able to run in the trees as he did when he was young, he was no longer able to do so with the same wild abandon - there was some part of his mind that was alert and present, a part that had not been awake before. It was this new mind that his new pack helped him to understand.

One time, after the time that had come before, the leader of the new pack told the once-wolf that he would have to go and see the wise ones. These wise ones, he explained, were like the once-wolf, in that they could run in the trees as well as walking on two legs. The wise ones knew great secrets, and were honored to defend the land and people. And the leader explained that the once-wolf was to become part of their tribe.

"But will I come back here, pack-leader?"

"You will always be welcome here. Take this knife, as a reminder that we are your Kin. You will never leave us behind, no matter where you travel - we will be with you always." And the pack-leader gave him the knife he carried.

And so it was that the once-wolf was presented to the Uktena tribe. The night of his presentation, as the night when he had lost his first pack, Mercury was rising and was crossed by the Moon. And once more he was shown many things about himself.

The wise ones of this new tribe questioned the once-wolf, and spoke of many things. They told him of the land, and the forces that threaten it. They told him of his Moon-borne heritage, and the dedication of those of their kind to help the land. They told him of many other things besides. And they asked him to join them in their fight. But here again the Moon and Mercury took a hand, and called to him.

Whether it was a voice or an image he was not sure, but once again he was touched by something great and powerful - he was called. And once again he ran off. And once again as he did so he was no longer amongst those he had been with, and was in a place that was somehow closer to nature. And once again there was something there to guide him. But this time he began to notice. And this time others followed him.

He lead the others of the tribe on a long run, but eventually he was calmed, and they showed him how to return to the mortal Realm. They asked him what it was he was pursuing, and he was unable to explain, save to say that it was "the Night". And so it was that they gave him his own name: Chasing-The-Night. and he was welcomed into the tribe of the Uktena.