Louisa awakens to find herself being shaken roughly. "Wake up, you. Come on."

[Louisa(#2504)] Louisa wakes up. It was all just a dream. She opens her eyes
to stare up at ..

More women. At least five, although she guesses that there are others out of
her direct line of sight. Some of them look familiar in a deja vu kind of
way, but she has certainly never met any. The one who was shaking her stands
up, folding her arms across her chest. "Who are you?" she demands.

[Louisa(#2504)] Louisa blinks at the woman, looking around, "Where's Richard?"

"You're not in any position to be asking questions," she replies. Again, "Who
are you?"

[Louisa(#2504)] Louisa frowns, looking around. "What position am I in?"

A slap across the face is the only reply. "Don't push me, girl, or you'll be
seeing your friend again sooner than you'd hope." Several of the others
glower at Louisa.

[Louisa(#2504)] Louisa's head turns with the slap and she lifts her fingers to
touch the burning skin. "Who are you?" This she asks more quietly, fear
entering her dark eyes.

Another slap. This time, the woman rakes her nails across the girl's face,
raising red welts on Louisa's cheek. "The next question you ask gets you
killed. I grow tired of asking, so it will be the last time. Who are you?"

[Louisa(#2504)] Louisa whimpers quietly, trying to back away from the woman.
"Louisa Ellen Milton."

The girl's back is to a tree, and a quick glance around her confirms that she
is indeed surrounded by women. The one who was doing the questioning looks
over her shoulder at a second woman, who nods. "That's true," is all she
says. The first turns back to Louisa. "Alright, Louisa Ellen Milton. You seem
to be human, so how is it that you understand our native tongue?"

[Louisa(#2504)] Louisa laughs a little shakily. "Human, of course I'm human."
She eyes the woman and quickly adds, "I don't know. Are you.. in league with
those Monsters who killed Richard?"

"One might say that," she replies. Several of the women smile, and one
particularly strong- and mean-looking one says, "My pack killed him. You
should not be out at night, especially so far from your village."

[Louisa(#2504)] "Your.. your pack?" Confusion and anger darken Lou's eyes.
"From my villlage? You come there too, you--horrible monsters! Why don't you
just kill me and get it over with." Much to her chagrin, a few tears escape
the girl's eyes and slide over her cheeks.

Pity doesn't seem to be an emotion these woman understand. "Because," says the
one who first spoke, "you are a mystery to us. You understand our language,
yet you are human. We will have to take you into the Caern proper. Perhaps
there we can summon a spirit who can help us determine what we are to do with
you."

[Louisa(#2504)] Louisa just stands there mutely, taking it all in with no
small amount of apprehension.

The woman all change back into the shape of the werewolves and the leader
picks Louisa up. She holds her in a strong, tight grip that leaves the girl
little hope of escaping.

[Louisa(#2504)] Louisa trembles, all thought of anything but her certainly
impending death leaving her mind for the time being.

The run is a short one, relatively. It only takes half an hour or so before
the woman enter a clearing in the forest. A small pool rests in a natural
depression about 10 feet deep with sheer rock wall. A stream flows to the
edge of the depression and spills into the pool at the bottom. It is into
this pool that Louisa is thrown. The water is cold this early in the spring,
but only about waist-high. Beyond the edge of the pool, the rest of the pit
is covered in small, round pebbles. Butterflies float overhead. The entire
scene is extremely beautiful.

[Louisa(#2504)] Louisa's breath is stolen by the sudden cold-cold water. She
scrambles up and out, dripping and shivering and looking around with wide
eyes.

You paged Louisa with 'Being brought into the Caern, you begin to remember
more and more. Within the next few minutes, you'll remember most of what you
learned about the Garou, you just won't remember being one yourself.'.

The pool and its small beach make an effective prison. The walls are too steep
and too smooth to climb, and too tall to jump over. The werewolves turn and
leave you alone.

[Louisa(#2504)] Louisa sits down on the stones, arms wrapped around herself
and shivering as she tries to listen for what the garou are saying.

There's no conversation nearby, at least nothing you can hear. After about ten
minutes, a tall woman whom Louisa recognizes as being amazingly well-bred,
looks over the edge of the pit. Were Louisa a Garou, she would be awed by the
stranger's mere presence. "So, what do we have?" she calls down.

[Louisa(#2504)] Louisa's teeth chatter as she stares up at the woman, not
speaking for now.

"Speak up," the woman snaps. "Who are you?"

[Louisa(#2504)] Louisa nearly jumps to her feet, but not quite. "I-I'm Louisa
El- don't you ever talk to each other?"

"Yes, but I like to hear it for myself. I want to know if you're lying or not.
Go on, Louisa El."

[Louisa(#2504)] Louisa does push to her feet now. "Did you ask Richard his
name before you killed him, too?" She tries to glare up at the woman but is
largely unsuccessful.

"Again you ask questions. Perhaps if we tear out your throat and simply have
you nod your head 'yes' or 'no', as appropriate." She seems to consider it
for a moment, then drops into the pit with Louisa. "Make no mistake, girl, we
are in charge here. You can make this easy on yourself or not, the choice is
yours."

[Louisa(#2504)] Louisa swallows, restraining herself from lifting one cold
hand to her own throat. "I'm Louisa Ellen Milton. And the man you ripped
apart until he bled to death was Richard Hardcastle."

The woman waves a hand dismissively. "He doesn't interest us. He didn't show
any signs of being other than a normal human. You, on the other hand... how
do you understand the Mother Tongue?"

[Louisa(#2504)] Louisa cries out, near hysteria, "I don't know! I just do.
Maybe I'm damned, too."

The woman walks around Louisa, sniffing at the girl. "Is there anything else
you know about us?" She seems wary.

[Louisa(#2504)] Louisa watches the woman looking entirely intimidated, "Like
wh-what?"

She shrugs her shoulders. "Anything at all."

[Louisa(#2504)] Louisa frowns, not looking largely cooperative. She murmurs,
"I know enough to know that Gaia will curse you for what you do."

The woman leans in. "What was that? I didn't catch all of it."

[Louisa(#2504)] Louisa repeats what she said.

The woman cocks her head to one side. "Really? And how is it that you know
this?"

[Louisa(#2504)] Louisa gathers some of her courage, "I just -do-."

Her arm comes back, ready to fly, but the woman holds it where it is. "I've
had enough of your cryptic answers. You sound worse than our Theurges."

[Louisa(#2504)] Louisa stares at the hand, steeling her shoulders against the
threatened blow. The blood on her cheek is barely dry. I'm not here to speak
to spirits, just damned Garou." She blinks a bit as the word moves over her
lips.

The woman's eyes widen, then narrow suspiciously. "Have a seat, Louisa. You're
going to tell me everything you know about... Garou. I want to hear every
last thing. And I warn you, I'll know if you're lying."

[Louisa(#2504)] Louisa slowly sits down, sensing the woman's suspicions and
maybe worries. One by one she lists the laws of the Litany, not stopping
until she is finished.

For the first time, the woman seems confused. "What is it that you say? Why
not eat human flesh? What is the 'Veil'?"

[Louisa(#2504)] Louisa's eyes widen as she listens to the questions. "Garou
who eat humans, harm the defenseless -- the innocent! --" Here she pauses to
regain her calm, ".. they invite the Wyrm's taint and soon cannot hunt more
spry prey." She looks into the Others's eyes. "Does the Wyrm have you? Are
you slow with your belly full of my Love?"

The woman rolls her eyes. "Humans are anything but innocent. They seek to tame
Gaia, to conquer her. They alone among all of Gaia's creations wish to
overpower her and spread across her like maggots on a rotted corpse. This is
why we cull them; to keep their numbers in check, lest they reproduce until
the point where Gaia herself cannot support them."

[Louisa(#2504)] Louisa growls quietly in her human throat. "Yes. All humans do
this. And all Furies are no different from the Lords of Shadow or the Bone
Gnawers. To me you are hell-bound savages, lazy from the blood you have
stolen from my Love, my family, my friends. I am Gaia's true warrior, and you
the Wyrm's vessel." She doesn't like the woman much, it would seem.

The woman shows remarkable restraint, considering the phase of the moon and
Loiusa's words. "And what do you know of Gaia? What makes you her true
warrior, girl?"

[Louisa(#2504)] Louisa replies stolidly, "I fight those who kill her Children.
I fight the Wyrm." She doesn't know how or why, but this she knows for
certain.

She hisses, "I fight the Wyrm every day, child. I see it in your kind, and I
tear out its heart. Yet every day there are more and more of you, and every
day you kill another piece of Gaia. I don't know how you know what you do
know of us, but it's clear that you don't understand any of it."

[Louisa(#2504)] Louisa glares back at Her. "Did you see the Wyrm in Richard?"
She moves closer to the woman as if her small size could have any
intimidating effect on her. "I -know- you didn't. You couldn't."

She seems non-plussed. "Of course I didn't. I wasn't there. Now," she says,
changing the subject. "Who taught you all of this? How is it you know so much
about our kind, and what we do? And don't tell me that you don't know or I'll
kill you right here. I've had enough of that."

[Louisa(#2504)] Louisa answers, "Andrea and Robert and Luc. They taught me."

"And who are Andrea, Robert, and Luc?"

[Louisa(#2504)] Louisa replies slowly, with a suddenly confused expression.
"They were Garou, but they weren't Wyrm-touched."

"They were Garou? From where? Why would they teach our ways to a human?"

[Louisa(#2504)] Louisa replies thoughtfully, "From somewhere else. I don't
remember where. They taught me.. to be a judge."

She frowns. "I see." Then she shifts into the warform.

[Louisa(#2504)] Louisa watches this, half flinching, certain she is about to
die.

~You seem to be telling the truth, strange as it is. I must think on this.~
She turns towrad the edge of the pit. One powerful leap and she's at the top
of the falls. Turning around, she looks down at Louisa. ~You will be brought
food and blankets while we discuss your strange nature. If you are in need of
anything else, simply ask. We may provide it, or we may not. Do not ask to be
released, however.~ With that, the Crinos turns and disappears, leaving
Louisa once again alone.

[Louisa(#2504)] Louisa settles back to the ground, lost in thought. So many
conflicting memories. How does she know what she knows? She doesn't know!

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