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Silence. Then three black-furred wolves, two flanking a center alpha,
come from the brush. The wolf to the right of the alpha is missing her
right ear in a mass of scar tissue that spreads over half her head,
but her yellow eyes are narrowed at the wolves. The wolf on the left
looks young, almost delicate, with long legs and a slender muzzle. The
center wolf bears several scars of battle, and when she raises her
head to stare into Adam's face, he can feel the impact of her breeding
in the pit of his stomach. ~Who are you, men, who speak the Mother
Tongue in Fury lands?~

~We...~ Adam then coughs, the Mother Tongue hurting his throat in this
form. He shakes his head. "Anyone speak the human tongue?"

Lawrence scrambles back from the wolves, wild panic in his expression.
He's about halfway to his feet, ready to bolt.

The one-earred wolf looks at her sisters and snorts. I told you we
should have killed them immediately.

The slender bitch strains forward a few paces. He wants to run, she
says, her whole body quivering like a cat watching a chipmunk through
a plate glass window. You can smell it. Can I have him? The alpha of
this small pack says briefly to Adam, ~Yes.~ Shen then breaks off to
give the youngest a quelling look. Not until we find out.

Gritting his teeth to bite back the pain, Adam tries again. ~Not
intrude. Not know.~ He winces, breathing becoming a little ragged.
~We...cubs, ryha.~

Lawrence finally manages to scramble to his feet, and sprints into the
woods.

The youngest wolf gives a joyous howl and runs after the taller man.
~Swift-Arrow!~ snarls the alpha, but the young ragabash doesn't heed
her. Suddenly furious under the moon's pull, the scarred leader swells
in size and hurtles after the fleet-footed Fury.

The one-earred wolf remains, watching Adam with smouldering amber eyes.

Standing up, Adam calls out, in his normal voice. "Don't hurt him!" He
looks back to the remaining Fury, not making eye contact, since that
would be considered a Challenge, one he would definitely fail.
"He...doesn't remember who he is. We're Cubs, of the Children of Gaia
on our Rite of Passage."

You paged Lawrence with 'Your own voice speaks in your head, in all its
pedantic glory, "Running from a predator makes you prey."'.

She growls in the back of her throat.

Adam is trying hard not to be nervous. "I am Adam Barks-Softly, a
Philodox Cub with the Children. There are three of us, all Half-Moon
Cubs. I...can only say that on my honor, I am telling the truth."

Lawrence stoops along the course of his wild run to snatch up a stick, a
piece of deadwood from the forest floor. He then turns, his eyes wide
with fear, and shouts at his pursuers while brandishing the makeshift
club in as menacing a manner as he can manage, "Get back! Leave me
alone!"

The one-earred wolf takes a step forward, dominant. I am
Howls-Echo-Until-Dawn, Galliard of the Black Furies. You are on our
territory, cub. We will know soon enough if you are telling the truth.

Adam lowers his head. "I understand, ryha."

Swift-Arrow doesn't seem intimidated by the stick, leaping to slam her
body against the farmer as she scrabbles for his throat. She doesn't
seem to mind as her hind claws rip right through Lawrence's homespun
breeches and leave bloody lines behind. She freezes as the alpha's
jaws close on the back of her neck. Her weight pins Lawrence down,
more or less, and he now has a hispo to his left as well. Agrowling
hispo, which seems more than a touch annoyed with the ragabash.
~Sorry, Tears-From-Stone,~ whines Swift-Arrow. ~I'm sorry.
But...but...they're so much fun when they fall down!~

Lawrence howls in pain as his assailant's claws tear through his flesh,
but despite his injury he struggles against the weight of the wolf on
top of him.

Tears-from-Stone growls again with her mouthful of the ragabash's hide,
but she lets it go with the younger wolf's obvious submission. She
leans her head down to smell Lawrence, deeply. Her ruff flares as she
stares into the man's eyes. A trickle of foam drips from her oversized
jaws. ~You stink of human,~ she says flatly. ~Not Garou. Explain this,
if you understand me, or I will rip out your throat.~

Lawrence's struggles cease, and he swallows thickly. "I am human," he
replies, his voice taut with pain. "I don't know why I understand you.
All I'm here to do is talk to you. I don't want to fight."

Howls-Echo-Until-Dawn glares at Adam. You said you were cubs on your
Rite of Passage.

Swift-Arrow's ears cant forward and she whines again, this time with a
question. The hispo looks annoyed, her ruff flaring, but she backs up
a step and shrinks back to lupus. Her clear eyes remain on Lawrence.
~You are an oddness. I wish to understand you, but do not think that
will keep you alive. Swift-Arrow will let you up, but if you run again
I will not stop her sport.~

Lawrence simply nods his understanding. He allows the stick to fall from
his grasp.

Adam nods. "We are. There are three of us, but I don't think I have seen
Louisa. It's...a long story."

Swift-Arrow reluctantly climbs off of the fallen man, under the watchful
eyes of Tears-from-Stone. Never had one talk to us before, says the
ragabash, as she moves to flank Lawrence's other side. The others just
screamed after you used them up and gave them to me.

Lawrence swallows again, and rises, dusting himself off slowly. "There's
a village nearby," he says quietly, his eyes on the ground. "It's
where I'm from."

~Go back to the other one,~ says the alpha. She still watches him
steadily. ~I wish to scent him, too, and hear what explains our
language in human understanding.~

Lawrence nods docilely, and begins walking, slowly, back in the
direction he ran from. "He's... he's crazy, I think," he says quietly.
"He and I both left the village yesterday. This morning he started
talking nonsense."

"Ok," Adam says, taking a deep breath. "Lawrence, Louisa, and I are on
our Rite. Our Elder, Moon-Laughs-Quiet, sent us...here. We arrived in
the bodies of others, in their lives. We had a different set of
memories, and did not mostly remember our own."

You paged Lawrence with 'That name sounds familiar, again invoking the
voice that quietly taught you of plants you could eat. You
remember....dark eyes, the tangle of yellow fur in your fingers.'.

Lawrence keeps his eyes on the ground, though some hint of fleeting
recognition dances through his features when Adam mentions
Moon-Laugh's-Quiet's name. "I'm a farmer," he maintains. "I've lived
here all my life. I don't know why I understand you, and I don't know
why some of what he's talking about is familiar to me, but all I'm
here to do is ask you to leave my village alone."

"I...in this life, started to have Change dreams," Adam continues. "to
everyone, there, including myself, Lawrence and I were villiage
members. I went to a Villiage Elder, who said I had the wolf-spirit in
me, and I started to have visions. People, places, that I supposedly
had never met. We were banished form the villiage, both of us. We did
not know that this was Fury territory, however. This morning, while
washing myself at the stream...I remembered. If I was not one of you,
how could I know that you reach the Shadow by a reflective surface, or
even understand any of you?"

Tears-from-Stone looks at Lawrence, then back at Adam. She moves toward
Adam lazily, sticking her muzzle toward him and inhaling deeply. Her
black nostrils flare. Human, she pronounces again. The mention of the
reflective surface starts her tain twitching. ~I don't know. You speak
of a rite impossible in this world as casually as a Rite of Passage.
You speak of a tribe far from here, that would not send their cubs
into our lands anyway. You speak of many things that humans shouldn't,
yet nothing in your scent speaks of the wolf.~ She shifts up, then,
lazily going through all the forms and stopping in glabro. She reaches
out one thick-nailed finger, hooking it under Adam's chin. ~But if the
theurges say you are only crazy humans inflicted by some rite gone
wrong, then I can lessen this year's toll on your village, like your
friend wants.~ She licks her lips, meaty pink tongue appearing and
disappearing. ~You would do quite well for the spring rites.~
Swift-Arrow snorts, licking her muzzle.

"Toll?" Lawrence asks. "What do you mean, toll? Why do you kill my
people?"

The Galliard speaks. ~Your people breed quickly, and we are the only
predators that will hunt them.~

Lawrence looks horrified. "You kill us for food?"

Adam drops his expression. "Why? Aren't humans allowed to forge their
own destiny?"

Swift-Arrow wags her tail. You taste good, she says cheerfully. And
there will be more of you than rabbits, if we do not cull you back.
Duty. It's duty. But it's fun too, when you run.

"Duty," Adam asks. "Duty to play god with innocent lives? Are humans not
also of Gaia?"

Lawrence shakes his head lamely, having no immediate response to
Swift-Arrow's jocularity over the whole affair. "My people live in
fear for their lives because of you," he mumbles. "We live like
animals because of you."

The most scarred wolf goes on. ~We kill you for food, sometimes. But
mainly, we kill you because no other animal will, and something must,
or you would breed out of control.~

Tears-from-Stone drops her hand. ~We are all animals under Gaia,~ she
says harshly. ~Humans have forgotten this, and seek to control what
they once accepted.~

"But," Adam asks. "Aren't there Garou that are born from humans? Humans
need protectors from the Wyrm's corruption as it is. They should not
have to fear us as well."

Lawrence stares at the ground. "We're not animals," he says quietly. "We
think. We grow food. What other animal grows its own food?"

Tears-of-Stone's eyes narrow. ~None that I know of. Other animals gather
what Gaia gives, rather than forcing their ugly fields on her face.~
She then turns to Adam. ~Humans fall to the Wyrm easily. It's one of
the reasons we keep you culled back. The Wyrm is never far from your
hearts, especially men.~ She steps toward the cub, her eyes locking on
his face under her heavy brows. ~What do you know of the Wyrm?~

Adam hrms. "We know that the Wyrm once represented Balance in the Triat,
before the Weaver went mad, and ensnared the Wyrm in her pattern web,
causing the wyrm to turn dark. And yes, humans fall to the Wyrm. As
Gaia's Chosen, should it not be our duty to teach them of right and
wrong, and how to avoid the soul's poison the wyrm gives them?"

Lawrence turns and stares at Adam. "You are insane," he declares
quietly. "I don't even know who you are anymore."

Tears-From-Stone laughs suddenly. ~I can believe you are of the Children
in your mind, at least. You talk just like them.~ Humor wipes from her
face as she turns to Lawrence. ~Though I'm not sure which of you is
insane, or that you both aren't.~

Adam thinsk. "Is there a Half-Moon among you, who can sift truth from
falsehood?"

Tears-From-Stone raises her thick eyebrow. ~I can. You believe what you
say. But so do the insane.~ She gestures at Lawrence. ~Even your
friend thinks you insane.~

Howls snorts.

Adam shakes his head. "He doesn't remember his real self. He apparently
knows what you say, so that's some indication I tell the truth."

The Galliard looks from the two males to her packmates. We should
return. Bring them with us. Even the mad can sire pups.

Lawrence turns his attention back to the monster who apparently leads
the trio. "Please," he says. "My village -- we're defenseless. We're
harmless. Please leave us alone. Stop killing us. It's not right that
we live in fear for our lives. We should have a chance to live and
prosper. Please?"

The glabro looks back at Lawrence, directly in his face. ~You are not
harmless. You may be a weak man compared to us, but your people have
shit in the waters and stripped the land, until we began the killings.
All things know the fear of death. We kill only as many of you as are
born. You have more chance to live than many of Gaia's creatures.~

Lawrence clenches his hands into fists. "What gives you the right to
decide there are too many of us?" he demands quietly. "What makes you
the perfect judges of that?"

Adam lets Lawrence speak, this time.

Howls answers for her alpha. ~The same thing that gives you the right to
foul the land and the water. We have the power to do it.~

"Power is never a reason," Adam says. "If the humans are polluting the
land, take the Homid Form, and teach them how to conserve the land."

Lawrence shakes his head. "Might does not make right. Just because you
can do something does not mean you should do that thing."

Swift-Arrow wrinkles her nose at the thought, speaking to Adam. But
you're so ugly and awkward, and human noses can hardly smell. I guess
because you stink, and don't want to smell yourselves.

The lupus galliard whuffs softly with amusement. Then you do not know us
as well as you think. For our kind, might does indeed make right.

Lawrence pauses, and allows his eyes to close. One can almost see him
begin to mentally grasp at the images of another life that have
plagued him -- perhaps in a desperate attempt to find a workable
argument against the bloodshed.

You paged Lawrence with 'Your voice comes to you again, this time with
noticable sadness. "It's true. Many of the Garou think might makes
right. But Andrea says we're not that way."'.

Adam says "If Gaia did not want us to protect the humans, why allow us
to take their form, if their form is supposedly inferior to yours?
There are things out there, like Banes, Leeches and Black Spiral
Dancers, that should be the object of your hunts."

The one-eared wolf tilts her head with curiousity. ~Black Spiral
Dancers? What are they?~

Lawrence shakes his head slowly. "I know other Garou... who say you are
wrong," he says quietly. Then, he opens his eyes. "If there is room to
disagree about what is right and what is not, then how can you take
the chance?"

You paged Lawrence with 'Your voice fades in your mind's ear as you turn
back to the real world: You always....Reaches-High.'.

Adam looks to Lawrence as he speaks, and smiles, hoping he's finally
coem around. He turns back to the single-eared Garou. "All of Gaia's
creatures, no matter how noble, can fall to corruption. I have heard
stories of Garou who have taken such a fall, and served the Wyrm."

Tears-From-Stone turns her head to one side, keeping her eyes ahead.
~Only children believe the world is black and white. We do what we
must to keep humans scarce, so they don't take over the land. That is
reality, as interesting as words can be.~

Howls-Echo-Until-Dawn once again recommends returning to the Caern.

You paged Lawrence with 'You get the feeling of almost grasping
something when you searched for the answers. Something in your own
voice, something you almost reached.'.

"How would you feel," Adam says, "if others started to take away the
ones you held dear, parents and Cubs of your own. Are they not
innocent?"

You paged Lawrence with 'The almost-knowledge lurks in your mind, like a
weight on your thoughts, but you can still hold to your human self.'.

Tears-From-Stone says harshly, ~Someone did take away my cub, human.
That's why I hold my name.~ She gives an impatient gesture.
~Howls-Echo-Until-Dawn is right. We should leave. You can come with us
willingly, or not. You will come regardless. You are something the
theurges, at least, need to examine.~

Lawrence shakes his head slightly. "That word," he mumbles. "I see the
face of the one who told me that might does not make right."

Adam nods. "According to the Litany, we have not respected the territory
of another. As this area is under your protectorate, I understand."

Swift-Arrow turns in question. ~Litany?~ The alpha jerks her head. ~Our
territory. Decide.~

Lawrence exhales a breath. "I'll go," he volunteers quietly, pressing a
hand to his bloodied side.

"I will go," Adam says.

Tears-From-Stone shifts back to lupus, and the three Garou herd the two
humans back across the hills. Hours pass, but the Garou allow only two
short breaks for the panting humans. Finally, the group pauses, and
Swift-Arrow slips off. She leaves the other two to watch Adam and
Lawrence, which they do. Both stay in lupus now, and tension can be
told in the posture of both as they pace around the human men. Finally
Swift-Arrow returns. The hole is full, she says, She says to keep them
in the valley and watch them.

"Hole?" Lawrence asks quietly, looking up at Swift-Arrow.

Adam regards the Furies quietly.

Swift-Arrow says to Lawrence that it is a comfortable hole. The bottom
is very cool in summer. The alpha breaks across her cheerful words.
~Then let's go.~ She moves, indicating the humans should get to their
feet again.

Lawrence rises, and makes ready to move again at the brisk pace that the
Furies have kept up so far.

This time isn't nearly so far, a shaded valley that bears the marks of
many Garou having moved through at a time or another. There's the
marks of a fire pit to one side, and several rough pitchers full of
stale water on a stone. ~Food will be brought,~ states
Tears-from-Stone. ~Others will come to speak to you.~

By now exhausted, it is all Lawrence can do to nod a reply and throw
himself down on the ground to rest.

Adam flops onto the ground, totally exhausted.

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