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Swift-Arrow is trusted to the first watch with her one-eared packmate,
but both Furies take themselves to the mouth of the valley to lie down
on the cool soil. As the shadows fall, the darkness makes them hard to
see, even with the occasional flash of moonlight on white teeth or in
the gleam of eyes. Scuffling sounds come on rare occasion from the
woods above the valley walls, with a dislodged pebble once bumping its
way down the slope in a puff of dust.
Adam hugs his knees close to his chest, and stares at the sky for a
time. He shifts a little nervously, not feeling very tired.
Lawrence sits somewhat away from Adam. He's done what little he can to
bind the wound that one of the Furies inflicted on him earlier.
The Black Furies do not disturb the pair as the moon grows higher. Once,
a howl is heard in the distance, but the nearby Furies do not respond.
After a while, Adam settles down, falling asleep.
Left by himself, Lawrence spends his time dwelling on the day's events,
particularly the faces and voices that came to him when he focused
upon the visions during the argument with the Furies. More than
anything else, he spends his time pondering the voice of the mentorly
woman, the woman who he imagines teaching about plants and so forth.
After a time, Lawrence falls into a light trance--one that Adam might
recognize, were he awake.
You paged Lawrence with 'Smells start to come first, which is unusual.
Odors from cut herbs, the green smell of pine and underbrush, the
canine scent of wolves. Andrea, Adam called her, and you feel the
rightness of that name. Moon-Laughs-Quiet. Seer and the female leader
of your true people.'.
From afar, Lawrence wants to see her. Continue dwelling on the visions,
unless it's beyond my control. I want to know why and how I know this.
You paged Lawrence with 'You search in the darkness. Scents fade in and
out, bringing new--the cold smell of water spray, the pungent scent of
herbal brews--but still no images. Finally you call her name out
softly, into the warm blackness. Her voice returns. "You can tell
yourself as much as I can, Lawrence. I am just a memory. You are
yourself."'.
From afar, Lawrence shakes his head, and answers the voice. "I'm a
farmer. I have a wife. This was all I knew until three days ago, when
the dreams started."
You paged Lawrence with 'You hear the voice again, and this time you
know it's a memory. You remember the heat and the uneasy mixture of
raw deer and water in your stomach as you stood in the breeze from a
nearby lake and she spoke. "I am sending you into Dream. You will deal
with what you find there. You may be together, or you may not. When
you come back, you will tell your stories and we will know whether you
passed or failed."'.
From afar, Lawrence wonders aloud. "So these dreams are not dreams, but
what I remember from before I slept? And what I'm doing now, this is
some kind of test?"
You paged Lawrence with 'Your own voice now: "Yes."'.
Adam, still asleep, doesn't stir.
You paged Lawrence with 'You wait to see if the voice says any more,
still standing in the dark. Then it's as if a crack opens in the
darkness, a crack started by your searching and finally wide enough
for the light to be seen by your mind's eye. You see the girl from
your bed again and you name her as Louisa, and the Litany crashes on
you as you remember your horror on seeing her there. You remember Luc
as the ugly man, and the memory of his fighting lessons and the battle
against the Wyrm hits you like a physical blow. You remember the fear
of the Garou among the human village and, though you can still access
the dream-human's memories, your mind now names the time as what it
is: Impergium. You remember Andrea naming you. You are Lawrence. You
are Reaches-High. Philodox. Child of Gaia. You are who you are, and
you are whole again.'.
Lawrence startles awake, his eyes going wide in the darkness. "Adam," he
hisses, quiet enough that his voice will carry to the other man but
little further.
Adam blinks rapidly, stirring himself from sleep. "Wha-?"
"I-- I remember now," Lawrence answers quietly. After a few more
moments, he adds, "I'm sorry I called you crazy."
Adam smiles, just a bit in the darkness. "No worries. Hell, I don't
blame you. You ever think of how all of it sounds, to regualr humans,
sometimes?"
Lawrence wipes at his brow before glancing down at his side. "The
dream-bodies don't heal like we normally do," he observes.
If the friendly neighborhood guards notice the conversation, they make
no sign. It's a few hours before dawn at this point, and the birds
have not yet started their morning calls. The air holds little sound
other than the voices of the two cubs.
Adam nods. "These bodies are pure human. No Change, probably no gifts,
nothing. Figured that was the point."
Lawrence nods slowly, his gaze falling back to the ground. "The Furies
can tell we're human with their gifts. They can also tell we're
telling the truth if we tell them who we truly are. On the other hand,
the gift only reveals what the speaker thinks is true, so they might
as well decide we're insane, and keep us around, like that one said,
for breeding stock."
Adam moves slowly across the ground towards Lawrence, keeping his voice
down. "Exactly. Also, we seem to be in the past, or a dream of it.
We're in the Impurgium. That have no clue of the Litany, for
instance."
Lawrence nods slowly. "The Litany wasn't created until after the
Impergium ended," he says quietly. "These people are fanatics.
Appealing to their sense of honor isn't going to help. I have no idea
how we're going to convince these people that what they're doing is
wrong."
Adam runs both hands through his own hair. "I've been wracking my brain.
I'm...lost."
Lawrence, still frowning, glances up towards the sky. "It'll be light
soon. They'll want us to explain how we know about the Garou."
Adam rolls aching shoulders. "Well, all we can do is tell the truth. We
lie about anything, and we're very dead."
Lawrence shakes his head slightly. "There's a difference between telling
the truth and refusing to lie. There's nothing stopping us from
moderating what we say to them, so that we don't seem insane."
Adam frowns a little. "Some truth, but not all of it."
Lawrence shrugs his shoulders. "We don't tell them that this, to us, is
a dream. We don't insist that we're Garou. We tell them that we were
taught by the Children of Gaia. We tell them that the Children of Gaia
sent us away, as a test of our knowledge and ability.
Adam nods. "Which, essentially, is true,"
Lawrence draws a slow breath, and then, suddenly, glances down from the
sky towards Adam. "I have an idea," he says, excitement in his tone.
"One of the things that Andrea kept trying to drill into my head was
the notion that we have to pick and choose our battles. Maybe... maybe
this isn't a fight we can win. Maybe this is one we have to compromise
about."
Adam thinks about this for a while, and nods. "Was thinking of that,
too. We can't stop the Impurgium. It was stopped by compromise." He
looks to the entrance of their 'prison,' and frowns. "But, I think I
know what we might have to do, to get them to leave the town alone."
Lawrence tilts his head slightly. "Tell me?"
Adam nods, and scratches his head. "Well, from what they said before,
Spring's the Mating season." He winces at the thought, but goes on.
"Seems like every spring, then go into town...cruising for guys."
Lawrence nods slowly, and leans forward slightly.
Adam frowns deeper this time. "So...saving the others, well, I'm tempted
to tell them I'll..." he shakes his head. "Better me than an
innocent."
Lawrence shakes his head. "I had a less extreme idea," he says quietly.
Adam raises an eyebrow, not hiding the relieved expression. "Ok, less
extreme is good. What were you thinking?"
Lawrence closes his eyes. "They're killing the villagers because they
feel that the population is too big, and because they think the
villagers are destroying the land by planting fields. First is to
convince them that by planting fields, the villagers are killing fewer
animals for their needs. Second is to convince them to leave the
villagers alone if the villagers keep their poplation beneath a
certain level. Third is to convince the villagers to agree to this."
Adam nods again. "Ok, makes snese, except for a few things. One, depends
on the crop. Some crops rip the soil apart, some replenish. The rest
is cool, but the Villiage thinks we're evil, tainted, or both. We
still have to deal with Cinabar."
Lawrence shrugs his shoulders. "We return to the village unharmed by the
Garou, with a proposal that will enable the Garou and the villagers to
live relatively peaceably. I think the villagers will trust us despite
Cinabar."
Adam tilts his head to the side. "Might work, but how will the Villiage
trust us?"
Lawrence sniffs. "They said they'd trust us if we stopped the killing.
We'll come back with a way to do just that."
Adam nods. "Sounds like a...safer plan."
Lawrence smiles a little. "No plan survives contact with the enemy," he
says quietly. "I'm going to try to get some more sleep. Wake me, if
the Furies don't?"
Adam nods. "Of course," he mutters, then lays down, trying for some
sleep, himself.
The morning opens on the two cubs, fast asleep. Nothing disturbs them
until their first visitor comes, with the morning sun high in the sky.
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