Explanations - Panther's Lair

Grace shook her head.

"Listening t' it, and giving in t' it, are two separate things. An' I'll be here t' talk ye through it til ye get th' hang o' it."

She nodded once, slowly. She took unnecessary deep breaths, though the psychosomatic effect was clear. It was putting her at ease, so that she could better concentrate to meditate as Grace had told her to do.

She opened herself up, but instead of to the world and the universe, she focused inward. She focused on herself. She opened herself to herself, simply because it seemed the only way to actually get in better touch with what lived inside of her.

Grace watched for a few moments, allowing the girl to begin. Then she began to speak, softly and slowly.

"I want ye t' listen, deep inside. There be an animal there, one tha' is both defined by ye're nature, an' defines it. Listen for it carefully. It wants t' speak t' ye, wants t' be understood."

Her face seemed calm, impassive. She was good at meditation, like she had used to be good with so many things. The soothing voice from Grace seemed to almost mesmerize her, but it came from somewhere distant, somewhere far off.

As Grace watched, her face began to tighten. Not in pain, or anger. But it was tightening in fear. She was shrinking away from what she found as she looked within herself. As natural as it may have seemed, it was still a frightening, terrible thing that lived there.

Grace watched everything closely, and continued to speak, never faltering in her soft words.

"Dinna be afraid. It will nay harm ye. Tis nothin' t' fear. It be a part o' ye, an' all ye have t' fear is nay bein' in control. Th' more ye ken o' it, th' more control ye have."

She still looked as though she were enraptured as well as somewhat terrified. But there was an underlying look to her as well, a look of determination. She trusted Grace, trusted in the teacher that she had before her, and would listen to her. The Teacher was there to give her strength and courage if she should ever fear.

"Hunger," she whispered, so very softly. "Always the hunger. And impatience ... "

"Push past th' hunger and th' impatience. They are constants, but they'll be under ye're control. Go deeper, there is more there than just th' surface."

Softly, she started to whimper. Her eyes were still closed, but her hands tightened on the ground, just enough to almost seem as though she were trying to ground herself in some way.

Grace's voice didn't change in timbre, nor cadence.

"Ye are stronger than it. Take strength from me. All I have is yers. T'gether we are stronger than anything."

She was, quite literally, terrified. Both determined and terrified to be precise. Part of her wanted to reach out, to take Grace's hand, like a frightened child. But she knew better. She could do this. Would do this.

Slowly, she started to calm. To calm, even as her lips parted. She didn't speak. She looked somehow, in some way, amazed.

"Tha' be it, love. Ye are in control, an' once it realizes tha', it'll be ye're best friend."

She continued to sit there, in that same way. She still looked amazed, but at the very least, she was visibly calming.

And it was clear that this was something she had never, ever experienced before. And there was nothing at all in the world like it.

"Feel it's warmth. It wants t' help ye. No other clan feels this. Only th' Gangrel have this relationship wi' it. Only th' Gangrel can feel it, talk t' it. Nay even th' Sabbat tha' ride their beasts feel it th' way we do."

She seemed much more calm now. Calm enough to speak again, though her voice sounded different. Odd, even to her own ears.

"Why ... ?"

She smiled, and it showed in her voice.

"Th' Beast be nay much more than animal instinct, an' tha' be a big part o' being Gangrel. Other's shun th' Beast as somethin' apart from themselves, somethin' t' be feared. But we who are close t' th' wild beasts, we understand tha' tis nothin' t' be feared, but somethin' t' be loved an' cherished, but as a small child tha' needs limits an' rules."

She sounded confused, but only mildly so.

"But is it not a separate being?"

"Nay dearling, tis nay a separate being. Tis somethin' ye've had wi' ye even as a mortal, tha' th' Blood made ye more aware of."

Her mouth formed a small "o" of surprise. She finally opened her eyes to look at Grace, and though she still looked calm, she had an odd look in her eye.

"Everything is because of the blood, isn't it?"

Grace nodded, her smile growing.

"Aye. I be teachin' ye things those o' other clans could nay understand, no matter how hard they tried. When th' Clan mothers an' fathers were chosen, somethin' happened t' the Blood they passed on. In us, it brought us closer t' the wilderness tha' we call home. It gave us a strength tha' others will always fear, as they will never understand us. Some here have already put me in their little boxes tha' civilization says I should fit in to. But I never will. Because in our world, the world o' th' Gangrel, there be only two. Predator an' Prey."

She had a fearful look on her face again.

"I don't feel much like a predator right now."

Grace reached out and laid her hand on Rebecca's knee.

"Ye are but a cub. Ye'll grow t' be th predator, an' until then, mother is here t' protect ye. Tis th' way o' th' wild."

She nodded, very slowly.

"Okay. I'll do whatever you think is best."

Grace smiled.

"I think we've done enough for now. For th' rest o' th' night, let's just walk through th' woods. I'll get ye home in time for ye t' get safely t' bed."

The woods. Something that she knew she was comfortable with. She always had been, growing up where she had. She nodded.

"Okay."

She smiled as she rose from the grass, then looked over at Grace.

"Can Serene come?"

Grace rose from the grass with a fluid movement.

"O' course she can."

Serene walked over, already carrying a collar and leash in her mouth, a resigned yet eager look on her face.