May 15 1992 - May 15 1993 [11]
-Kills-Hope legally adopts Zane, although Zane keeps the name Freiden. Kills-Hope attempts to provide Zane with some "normal" activity, often taking him out to the beaches of Lake Michigan in the Spring and Summer. Unfortunately, Zane rarely appreciates this; Zane would rather stay home and remain in his kennel, where he feels safe.
-Zane continues to be molested and sexually abused by Kills-Hope and his Pack. Having known only pain and abuse all his life, Zane begins to mistake sex for love, and at even this young age, he offers himself to Kills-Hope for oral sex on a regular basis, in the hopes that Kills-Hope will protect him from the rest of the Pack. Often, Kills-Hope agrees.
-Hostility escalates between Kuronue and Kills-Hope, and the Pack suffers.
May 15 1993 - May 15 1994 [12]
-Two new pack members join the Jagged Tooth; Slick-as-Oil, a Metis Theurge, and Voice of Reason, a wily old Lupus Philodox. They are the only female Garou in the pack, and take virtually no notice of Zane. However, their arrival does affect him, since, for a short time, the rest of the pack was more sexually interested in the new arrivals than Zane.
-Word arrives from the nearby Thrashing Elk hive that a Skindancer was caught by another pack of Spiral Dancers. Josiah Leclere, one of the Heads of the Hydra, does Kills-Hope a "favor" by giving the captive Skindancer to him. The Skindancer's name is Sheila, and she initially refuses to give any information to Kills-Hope, who locks her up in his basement.
-With trouble brewing between himself and Kuronue, and the uncooperative attitude of the Skindancer, Kills-Hope becomes more Rage-filled than ever. Hostility within the pack runs rampant, and Zane is treated far worse than before, being constantly beaten and assaulted by irate Spiral Dancers. On two occasions, the honey-tongued Voice of Reason speaks up for the child, quoting the Dark Litany and offering Zane protection.
-Grateful to Voice of Reason, Zane attempts to befriend her. She is glad of his company, since he rarely speaks and is very easily cowed. Before too long, Zane memorizes the Dark Litany, Thrashing Elk laws, and Jagged Tooth pack laws, and can quote them word-for-word.
-Shelia the Skindancer attempts to escape, and kills two of the Jagged Tooth pack members [Thomas Larth, Homid Galliard, and Devours-Corpses, Metis Ahoun] in her attempt. Kills-Hope, Voice of Reason, and Johnny subdue the panicking Skindancer. Kills-Hope offers her one last chance to decide: make Zane into a Skindancer and live, or die. Shelia finally agrees to perform the Rite of Sacred Rebirth on Zane.
-Since the Rite of Sacred Rebirth requires five Garou pelts of the same auspice, automatically the only option is for Zane to become a Theurge, since six of the Get of Fenris pelts were of Theurges. Shelia reluctantly helps Zane prepare for the ritual.
-Just before the ritual is to take place, Voice of Reason gives Zane a gift: a Wyrm-wood Talen. Although Zane doesn't understand what it is or how to use it, he appreciates the gift and impresses Voice of Reason with his polite and formal thank you.
-Shelia performs the Rite of Sacred Rebirth on the night of the waxing Crescent Moon. Zane is "reborn" as a Theurge Garou, and is helped through his First Change by Voice of Reason and Kills-Hope. The rest of the pack was not allowed to attend by order of Kills-Hope, a fact which greatly angered Kuronue Futhark.
-Because Zane is legally Kills-Hope's son, the Renoun from having one of his children Change gives Kills-Hope the opportunity to challenge for the rank of Elder. It is decided that the pack will celebrate by giving Zane his Rite of Passage on the same night.
-Shelia is mercilessly torn to pieces by the Jagged Tooth, and devoured.
-Just a few days shy of Zane's 13th birthday, both Kills-Hope and Zane are thrown into the Black Spiral Labyrinth. Kills-Hope crosses the fifth circle with ease, while Zane struggles with the first circle, nearly failing. When he staggers out of the Labyrinth, the first incoherent thing said sounds like "Slag" to the eagerly awaiting Garou; thus, Zane's Spiral Dancer name becomes "Slag."
May 15 1994 - Mat 15 1995 [13]
-Seventeen Feral Psychomachiae turn up near the Thrashing Elk; the monsters are seemingly drawn to the area by Zane. Curious, the Jagged Tooth teaches Zane to "Step Sideways" and watches in amazement as the dangerous Banes treat the young child gently and act non-threatening. The Banes refuse to leave, following Zane around even when he is in the "real" world, suggesting that they can see him even when he isn't in the Umbra.
-For the first time, Zane is allowed to run with the Jagged Tooth pack. The trip is uneventful; the Thrashing Elk merely asked the pack to patrol the entire Wyrm-controlled territory and to alert the Hive of any other attempts by the Gaians to establish a foothold in the area. Still, Zane enjoys the outing, and when in Lupus he is supprisingly fleet of foot.
-Zane attends his first Spiral Dancer Moot. He is nearly killed when one of the other Theurges attempts to force him to drink an alcoholic concoction of Jack Daniels and woad. Zane, it turns out, is allergic to alcohol. He spends six days curled up in his kennel, sick and unable to eat much.
-Once again, Zane is allowed to run with the pack on a mission to scout out local wilderness. It is unknown if Gaian Garou have claimed the land or not; when the Jagged Tooth arrives, they are attacked by two young Gaian Garou. The pack easily subdues and kills the two Gaian cubs. Zane manages to survive unscathed, but he earns no Renoun since he made no move to attack the Gaians.
-For several days after the slaughter of the two Gaian cubs, Zane refuses to speak, and stays in his kennel unless coaxed out by Kills-Hope. He refuses to eat, and must be force-fed.
-Kills-Hope begins to allow Zane more freedom; when not on pack buisness, in school, or locked up, Zane is allowed to come and go as he pleases. Most often, he just sortof wanders around, walking up and down streets in Muskegon seemingly at random. Somehow, he manages to never get lost.
-Durring one of Zane's random excusions, he is approached by another young Garou who notices his pure breeding. The young Galliard Garou is named Jeffrey, and is a Cliath of the Bone Gnawers. The sixteen year old Jeffrey is amazed to find a Garou as young as Zane, and is supprised that Zane isn't affiliated with a nearby multitribal Gaian Caern. Zane is as quiet and anti-social as ever, but he is indeed friendly, just withdrawn, a fact which Jeffrey picks up on fairly quickly. Determined to help the younger cub find his footing and become more comfortable talking to people, Jeffrey insists that Zane meet him at the corner store every other night, so he can teach Zane. Not knowing any better, Zane agrees.
-Jeffrey teaches Zane all about the Gaian Litany and Gaian customs, believing the child to be a Get of Fenris cub. Zane also learns the location of the nearby Gaian Caern.
-Slick-as-Oil is asked to return to the Trinity Hive for an extended mission to destory a nearby Gaian Caern.
-Kills-Hope, suspicious about Zane's sudden "pattern" in coming and going, confronts the child. Zane is honest and truthful... and when Kills-Hope orders him to kill the young Bone Gnawer, Zane agrees, having never been taught that killing is wrong. In preparantion, Kills-Hope has Johnny take Zane into the Umbra, where they seek out a Bane to teach Zane his first Gift: Toxic Claws.
-Two days after learning Toxic Claws, Zane meets up with Jeffrey as usual, but instead of friendly conversation, Zane attacks... accompanied by a rampaging pack of Psychomachiae and Feral Psychomachiae. Alone, it is debatable as to wether Zane could have defeated Jeffrey, but the pack of Banes easily overpowers Jeffrey.
-Kills-Hope's pack is instructed to attack a nearby haven for Gaian kinfolk, the intent being that they will collect "breeders" for the tribe. Zane refuses to help with the assault, but he assists in tying up the captives.
-Zane frequently goes into the cavern where the breeders for the tribe are kept, and is often caught preaching to them about the Consuming Wyrm. This fact baffles Kills-Hope, since no one ever taught Zane that in the first place.
May 15 1995 - May 15 1996 [14]
-In a fit of anger, Kills-Hope nails Zane's tongue to the floor. He leaves him like this for several hours before pulling the nail out and placing a barbell in the hole, effectively piercing Zane's tongue. He then keeps Zane locked in his kennel for most of the Summer, due to ever increasing hostility between himself and Kuronue.
-Josiah Leclere, one of the Heads of the Hydra at the Thrashing Elk, decides to use the Jagged Tooth as his personal bodyguards on a trip into a deep Umbral realm. Kills-Hope is shocked... the only other Theurge in the pack besides Zane is Slick-as-Oil, and she has been at the Trinity Hive for months. Leclere seems confident in the Cliath Theurge Zane, and the pack divides; half of the Jagged Tooth remains at the Thrashing Elk, while the rest of the pack goes with Leclere. [Those that traveled with Leclere: Zane, Kills-Hope, Johnny, and Voice of Reason. The others are left behind, with Kuronue in charge.]
-Zane supprises his packmates by adapting easily to the Umbra, and he instictively seems to understand the Spirits and Banes; it isn't long before the Banes teach him Spirit Speech in exchange for, of all things, a song. Zane, it turns out, has a decent singing voice.
-Leclere proves to be a veritable expert on Umbral travel, and durring the trek through the Spirit World, he teaches Zane several things, such as how to find and follow Airts. [Airt = Spirit Track]
-Several times, the pack is assaulted by Gaian Spirits, and each time the combined efforts of the Jagged Tooth pack and the band of Psychomachiae and Feral Psychomachiae that follow Zane successfully defeats the Spirits.
-The pack finds an area of Umbral forest and travels into it.
-Zane and Leclere finally find their destination: Pangaea. Leclere tells no one about his reasons for traveling to the realm of Pangaea, but he does tell Zane to always respect the Wingless Dragon spirits that sometimes make the realm their home. For a few hours, Leclere leaves the pack, then returns and declares the mission a success, and that it is time to head home.
-Before they are able to leave Pangaea, the pack is attacked by a Suchomimus. The extinct predator Spirit badly injures Kills-Hope and the already crippled Voice of Reason. Johnny manages to heal the two Garou enough that they are able to reach the coast, where they use an inflatable raft to leave the realm.
-Unsure of their location upon falling off the edge of the realm and finding the shore on the opposite side of the Umbral ocean, the pack sets out to find Banes or Spirits willing to tell them where they are. Even Zane's Bane flock has dissappeared. Before long, the pack realises the area is barren and deserted. Even Leclere seems totally lost. Disheartened, the pack heads towards the skyline.
-Eventually, the pack reaches a Moon Path with several Scrag Banes... the Banes merely direct the pack to follow the Moon Path; having little choice, the Jagged Tooth does as instructed.
-One by one the pack becomes more and more disheartened... the reason becomes clear soon enough, when the air becomes hazy with foul smog and near-overwhelming misery. The pack has accidentally arrived in the Scar. The realm of the Scar proves to be a virtual industrial nightmare for the pack. Leclere recalls a supersition about Scar, and the pack decides to try his sollution. The entire pack surrounds Leclere, who quietly falls asleep and dreams his way out of the realm. The pack soon follows suit. Since Zane is the weakest and lowest rank, he is left by himself to try and dream his way out, which he manages to do after a few tries.
-Zane is traumatized by the initial sight of the Umbral Dream Zone. He arrives into his first "dream" screaming in terror. In the dream, he is being beaten by his Crinos form father, Marcus Johnathan Freiden. The "dream" doesn't last long; the next "dream" begins, and in this one, Zane is stuck far out in Lake Michigan, and is trying to swim for shore. The closer he gets, the further the shore is. He tries to shift to Crinos to add extra power to his swimming, but his fur soaks and then hardens like cement, and he begins to sink. The next "dream" begins... but all Zane sees is Kuronue Futhark's grin before he "wakes up" in the near Umbra. The rest of the Jagged Tooth has regrouped, and they are amazed that Zane managed to escape Scar.
-The Jagged Tooth pack returns to the Thrashing Elk hive, and are eagerly welcomed back. Kuronue has been stirring up trouble within the hive, and many are eager to have Kills-Hope back so that Kuronue will be "dealt" with.
-Josiah Leclere declares Zane as his, and removes him from the Jagged Tooth. He then locks the young Theurge in his lair within the Bawn of the hive.
-Leclere shows Zane how to make earring and other jewelry, and when Leclere gets bored, he begins to pierce Zane's ears, lip, and eyebrows, often ripping the piercings out for fun.
May 15 1996 - May 15 1997 [15]
-Josiah Leclere summons several Banes over the course of a few months, and forces them to teach Zane several Gifts. He often uses Zane as a status symbol... other Spiral Dancers are impressed that Leclere has his own sentient pet.
-Zane mediates a dispute between two young Spiral Dancers, and is informed by Leclere that, if he wishes to challenge for Rank, he has enough Renoun that he could concievably do so. Zane declines.
-Rarely allowed out of Leclere's sight, young Zane often has nothing better to do that watch his "owner" and learn from him. Within a few months, Zane learns an impressive ammount of rituals and Rites.
-Something like a bizzare ouija board, Zane begins to summon Banes for no other purpose than to talk to them. Most of the Banes are somewhat irritated by Zane's pointless summoning, but some are actually flattered. Several stay with him, and soon many Spiral Dancers in the Thrashing Elk hive begin to call Zane the Bane Lord behind his back.
-One of the Banes Zane summons, a corrupted Pain Spirit, asks Zane for a favor. Zane agrees, and allows the Bane to tattoo his arms and shoulders with a poisoned needle. Leclere arrives back to the lair to find Zane in considerable pain and with black Celtic-knot-like tattoos covering his arms and shoulders. Furious, he mercilessly beats Zane, which further impresses the corrupted Pain Spirit.
-The next time Zane summons a Bane, he accidentally summons a Nexus Crawler. The bizzare guardian of reality shocks Zane by not just melting him... instead, the thing seems to humor the young Garou, actually answering some of Zane's questions. The other Spiral Dancers no longer call him Bane Lord behind his back, but to his face.
-Zane hits puberty, and many Spiral Dancers suggest he be killed. They aren't willing to admit that they are afraid of the child-Garou, and they fear what he could become if allowed to mature further. Leclere scoffs and refuses to allow Zane's death to be ordered.
-Zane gains a newfound self confidence, a feeling he's not had before... suddenly, he isn't the smallest and youngest. Much to Leclere's dismay, Zane begins to show mild dominance towards other Spiral cubs, who have only just shifted.
-Zane severely mauls a young Garou who refused to submit, and Leclere takes action. Zane is chained in Leclere's lair for two months, and is starved and abused the entire time.
-Kills-Hope visits Zane for the first time since Leclere claimed him, and says nothing, just stares at Zane for a while. He and Leclere have a lengthy discussion about the young Garou's future. Zane, meanwhile, stats silent and curled in the corner, where he has been since Leclere punished him.
-Zane slowly "recovers" from the harsh punishment, and is once again left to amuse himself, either in Leclere's lair or in the nearby tunnels and Bawn of the hive.
-On one of the excursions through the maze of tunnels within the hive, Zane finds a Garou he has never met before. The Garou looks like a taller, thinner, younger Kills-Hope, and he even has the trademark red glyphs dyed into his fur the way Kills-Hope does. The other Garou is roughly three or four years older than Zane... he identifies himself as Benjamin Gaia's-False-Hope, Kills-Hope's son. Zane and Ben hit it off instantly, Zane liking the agressive young Ahroun and Ben liking the submissive young Theurge. While talking, Ben tells Zane that Kills-Hope asked Ben to come back to the Thrashing Elk to help him in case Kuronue Futhark challenges for the position of Alpha within the Jagged Tooth pack.
-For several days after meeting Ben, Zane stays in Leclere's lair, confused over his attraction to his brother and by his own feelings of sexuality, which he's never really thought about or noticed before. Leclere prettymuch ignores Zane durring this time, figuring that the boy will get himself straightened out on his own.
-Zane sneaks away from Leclere and seeks out Voice of Reason, whom he trusts and respects. Being Lupus born, Voice of Reason finds it difficult to explain puberty and sexuality to Zane, since she herself has only a vague concept of either one. She succeeds only in further confusing Zane.
-Confused and frustrated, Zane summons several Banes, asking them questions similar to the ones he asked Voice of Reason. Most give him distorted information, which further frustrates the young Garou.
-Zane is shocked when he experiences a "wet dream" about his brother. He feels ashamed and angry because he has no idea why he feels shame for it. Determined to figure out what's "wrong" with him, he seeks out Ben.
-When he finds his brother, he explains his confusion and shame to him. Ben severely hurts Zane's feelings by laughing at him... he finds it funny that no one ever bothered to explain physically maturing and growing up to Zane. Deeply ashamed, Zane breaks down into tears. Ben continues to laugh, and instructs Zane to take off his clothes; Zane does as told, simply because he has been taught to obey commands from anyone higher ranking than he is. Ben forces Zane to his knees, and begins to masturbate him. The only sexual activities Zane has ever known was forced oral sex and rape, and he is supprised to find what Ben is doing to him pleasing. Ben further supprises him by engaging in anal intercourse with the young boy; Zane is used to feelings of pain but not of pleasure. The entire experience confuses him, though he no longer feels terribly ashamed. Several times durring the following days Zane seeks out Ben for sexual activity.
-Leclere decides to "sell" Zane, and Kills-Hope eagerly accepts the commission from Leclere to sell the boy.