{"id":400,"date":"2023-07-08T01:00:13","date_gmt":"2023-07-08T06:00:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/?p=400"},"modified":"2024-02-10T10:23:02","modified_gmt":"2024-02-10T16:23:02","slug":"a-little-help-from-a-little-fan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/a-little-help-from-a-little-fan\/","title":{"rendered":"A Little Help from a Little Fan"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The next morning brought them to the sprawl of St. Louis<\/strong>, where glass towers scraped the summer haze and parking was an Olympic sport. Mark managed to squeeze the van into a narrow back lot behind SoundScape Pro Audio<\/strong>, the kind of high-end music store where everything was sleek, white-walled, and intimidatingly clean.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They walked in together\u2014furred, clawed, barepaw as always.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The cashier blinked. The assistant manager stared.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou\u2019re\u2026 Feral Eclipse.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jonah grinned. \u201cThat\u2019s us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gabriel leaned casually on a counter. \u201cWe\u2019re just here to get emotionally destroyed by some price tags.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And they did.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rack gear. Lighting. Patch snakes. Power distro units. Everything they needed\u2026 and everything they couldn\u2019t afford.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cassie whispered, \u201cIt\u2019s like a museum, but instead of priceless art, it\u2019s all taunting<\/em> us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The store manager eventually emerged, visibly excited, and even asked for a group photo. But when Thane politely floated the idea of \u201ca discount, maybe, since we just got mugged by a mansion cult,\u201d the manager just laughed nervously.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSorry, we don\u2019t really do artist deals unless it\u2019s a verified tour sponsorship. Still, huge<\/em> fan!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No help. Just selfies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Defeated but not broken, the crew regrouped in a city square nearby\u2014an open plaza with fountains, food trucks, and curious tourists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gabriel pulled out his bass.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe busk.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maya groaned. \u201cWe\u2019re famous.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gabriel shrugged. \u201cWe\u2019re also broke.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mark plugged in a single light strip. \u201cGimme power and twenty minutes, I\u2019ll make this fountain look like Coachella.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cassie stepped onto the edge of a stone bench. \u201cIf we\u2019re gonna do this, let\u2019s do it right.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They set up with minimal gear. Acoustic, stripped-down, raw. People started to gather.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kids pointed. Parents took pictures. Phones went up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They launched into a chill version of one of their anthems\u2014\u201cEcho Burn.\u201d<\/strong> No pyro. No fog. Just heart, claws, and passion under the St. Louis sun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And that\u2019s when he<\/em> appeared.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A little boy\u2014maybe eight or nine\u2014wide-eyed, clinging to his dad\u2019s hand, wearing a faded, clearly loved Feral Eclipse<\/strong> t-shirt two sizes too big. He was staring at Gabriel like he\u2019d just met a superhero.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the end of the song, he ran up with a shy, reverent voice. \u201cAre\u2026 are you really Gabriel?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gabriel knelt down, tail stilling. \u201cYeah, little wolf. That\u2019s me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The kid squeaked. \u201cI wanna be a bassist like you someday.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gabriel looked like he\u2019d been punched<\/em> in the soul. \u201cYou already sound cooler than me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The father\u2014an older man in a pressed button-down and sunglasses\u2014approached slowly. He didn\u2019t look like a music guy. He looked like he owned five companies and a small jet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He looked down at Gabriel, then at Thane. \u201cMy son\u2019s been talking about your band non-stop for over a year. We nearly flew to Texas to see you live, but the dates didn\u2019t line up. Seeing you here today was\u2026\u201d he hesitated. \u201cI haven\u2019t seen him this happy in months.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thane smiled gently. \u201cGlad we could give him a good day.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The man nodded toward the bass case propped up on the curb. \u201cSaw the posts online. People talking about a gig gone wrong\u2014rumors about a private party, weird crowd, missing gear. Guessing that wasn\u2019t just drama.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thane\u2019s smile faded a little. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The man paused again. Then cleared his throat. \u201cWhat would it cost to replace your lost gear?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The crew blinked. What?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thane straightened. \u201cSir, that\u2019s\u2026 not necessary. We\u2019re managing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t ask if it was necessary,\u201d the man said, pulling out his phone. \u201cGive me a figure.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gabriel blinked. \u201cUh. Around ten thousand. Maybe twenty if we do it right.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The man tapped his screen. \u201cI\u2019m sending a wire for two-fifty.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The entire band<\/em> fell completely silent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jonah dropped his drumstick.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mark actually choked on his coffee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c…Two-fifty… thousand<\/em>?!\u201d Cassie echoed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor the boy,\u201d the man said. \u201cAnd because you gave my kid something priceless.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The boy hugged Gabriel tight before they left.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Back in the van, no one spoke for a full minute.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then Maya broke the silence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOkay. Who made a deal with a spirit at a crossroads and didn\u2019t tell the rest of us?<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gabriel looked dazed. \u201cA kid. A kid just saved our whole damn band.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thane stared at the phone, blinking at the incoming transaction confirmation. \u201cWe\u2019ve never been this lucky.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mark, from the driver\u2019s seat: \u201cDon\u2019t get used to it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jonah: \u201c…Can we afford pizza and<\/em> new lights?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thane finally exhaled and leaned back. \u201cYeah. For once\u2026 we can afford anything.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gabriel grinned and bumped his head gently against Thane\u2019s shoulder. \u201cI told you. The universe loves us. It just has a very messed up sense of humor.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The next morning brought them to the sprawl of St. Louis, where glass towers scraped the summer haze and parking was an Olympic sport. Mark managed to squeeze the van into a narrow back lot behind SoundScape Pro Audio, the kind of high-end music store where everything was sleek, white-walled, and intimidatingly clean. They walked […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-400","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-tour-life"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/400","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=400"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/400\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3228,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/400\/revisions\/3228"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=400"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=400"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/tourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=400"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}