{ The Battered Notebook of Karou Morgan }

Summer in Montana

I feel like I should be apologizing to this old notebook right now. I lost it nearly a month ago, and only just found it last night. It was under the bed, hidden under an old shirt. How did I not think to look there when I was worried about loosing it a month ago? I guess it doesn't matter now that I've got proof that nobody stole this old thing. I really should get a new one soon. The cover's starting to look a little... Weathered and the binding is coming loose.

So, to pick up where I last wrote --
It's summer in Montana. Yes, I'm back in the Compound after spending a month in BlueAsh training.
I'm still not entirely clear on why I was pulled out so early from my trainng, but Warren didn't want me there anymore. He said it was dangerous for me to be there, now that there's tension between him and Roman. From what I understand, Roman isn't too pleased with the fact that the Brandts and other lycanthrope packs are moving in around the compound. He thinks that Warren's planning on using their brute force for some violent attack against the Davikov or something, when really, that's not the case at all. In reality, the humans have been moving in on us, and have been trying to infiltrate the compound. The lycans are helping to keep them back from our gates, for the time being. Roman's threatened to pull funds, and that's kept Warren worried and constantly busy.

My training with the Black Winter is on hold, and I'm stuck here until this has blown over. I don't mind being in the compound -- my friends are here, and so is my sire and my sister -- but I do get bored and feel like there's nothing to do sometimes. I've thought about maybe climbing up onto the roof and going flying somewhere for a day trip, but I don't think I'm confident enough in my wings just yet to do that. Mostly, I spend my days going through the training Magnus wanted me to keep up with. It's not hard work anymore. What nobody in BlueAsh knows is that, really, I'm better with all this than I've let on. Most of the exercises I've been going through I've done already with Cambria, and they all seem... Well, a little too easy for me. Maybe that's a good thing, but for now, I think maybe it's a good idea to keep pretending to be weaker than I actually am. Warren says I might need to use my abilities for real soon, and if I do, I think it'd be better if I took anyone who might try something with me by surprise.

I've started doing small errands for Cambria again, but never anything that takes me outside of the compound walls. Warren gets upset when I do work for her, even if I do do it just as something to occupy my time and not for the money she pays out (even when I do refuse it). Mostly, it's just translation work that she's too busy to do. Filing, research. Sometimes she'll give me some foreign weapon to do research on. Sometimes she'll find free time and work on my (rather pathetic) swordsmanship with me. Though I won't admit it to anyone, I do sort of miss the getting to go out and go on actual missions. I only miss it sometimes though, because it was tedious work at times.

Not much has been happening otherwise. I'm content right now, but I don't feel like I'm making much progress. Maybe I should take up another language -- Russian's been getting boring and I know enough of the basics to not be completely lost in BlueAsh. Maybe I should try another instrument or get more serious with the piano. I'll think of something, I suppose, but it's getting dull spending whole days in the unit reading or drawing...