*She pushes graciously away from the table, sensing that it is time now, that the story needs to be told, like Tradition demands. Her unruly hair tumbles down her shoulders, her chin still showing smears of fresh blood and she glances around, her cold golden eyes sparkling like lifeless jewels in the flickering light of the fire. And then she speak, finally. Her voice is melodic and yet cold, detached as it reaches out over the clearing while she tells her tale*Let me tell you tonight a tale about trust and betrayal. Let me tell you tonight about loyalty and treason. *she pauses thoughtfully, staring straight ahead, into the darkness* Trust... There are those of us who still cling to their human believes. They still feel pain, they still laugh, they still question things, they still believe in friendship - and they believe in trust. Alas, there is no such thing as true friendship for the likes of us. Neither is there true trust. To trust someone, anyone, is most likely the most tragical mistake any of our kind can make. A mistake they will pay dearly for... as I did. "Do not trust anyone, most certainly not any of our own Kind" your Sire most likely told you at some point. And still... there is something akin to trust between us, something that even we hold sacred - Clan Loyalty. We are brothers and sisters by blood, by heritage. We carry the same curse, we can trace our lineage back to the one, Ennoia. ....Clan loyalty..... In general, our kind doesnīt care much for loyalty, in most Clans one would betray the brother without a second thought. But we are different... *She looks around, regarding each one of the assembly thoughtfully* ....The Gangrel were always different. We are loners, yet we stick together. We fiercely protect our freedom, we shun politics. We rule the Wilderness. We are many but one at the same time. If there is one thing we can rely upon, then itīs our Clan mates. Clan Gangrel sticks together. Clan loyalty. You can trust a clanmate. No one else, but the Clan you can trust. Or so you believe. I shall speak of betrayal now... of trust gained and discarded. I shall speak of violence, one Clanmate against another, and I shall speak of revenge. Not too long ago, a few months perhaps, here in the Arboretum a Gangrel met another Gangrel. Clanmate met Clanmate. They talked. They met again over the next few weeks. They hunted together. They were Clanmates and so guards were let down that normally would have stayed up. And all the while one of them was already planning betrayal of that trust that he had worked so hard on developing between the two of them. One of them was the enemy who had come to claim a victim, who had purposefully preyed upon a fellow Clanmate. *she pauses again, sounding more detached then before* Who would have suspected anything ? How do you know someone is planning betrayal ? Maybe the one next to you is doing the same right now while I am telling my tale. Who knows ? Who truly can say is isnīt that way ? *another meaningful pause before she continues* So trust was betrayed in one bloody night, illusions shattered once and forever. Swiftly the betrayal came, without a sign, without warning it hit her. And before she could think, cry out or react she was plunged into darkness, falling, into her very own grave. Deep is was, and cold...so very cold... the scent of the fresh earth... she couldnīt react swiftly enough to stop the traitor, a blur of shadows through her daze and then he was there upon her, like a vulture, violating her, draining her, his fangs tearing, digging deeply into her flesh.. Pain ? Yes, there was pain as well... pleasure of course too from the kiss..but far more pain....*another long pause* .... I think I was screaming too...but no one heard me... and then it was fading all away..more and more... until there was..nothing... a void... *her eyes grow more and more distant, while her hands curl into tight fists. So tight that blood begins to flow from them as sharp nails dig deeply into the flesh of her palms* So cold.... and so..silent.... I couldnīt move.... so much pressure on me.. so much weigth... choking...choking on earth..... it was everywhere... covering me.. heavy wet earth.... and blood.... and I couldnīt move... *her voice drifts off for a long moment and she takes a few steps, it seems she has to prove to herself that she can still move. And when she continues, she sounds a bit more withdrawn* There is no experience quite like the one of being buried alive. No author has ever really been able to capture the feeling. No one ever will unless it will happen to oneself. You cannot compare it to Earth melding. Using that, you are "part" of the earth... being buried, you are alien to it. A thing. Nothing. Dead flesh. Food. There are long passages of silence, sometimes you will scream and scream without a sound escaping her mouth while you do so. And then you will feel ..them... crawling over you... everywhere... and I mean "everywhere"...food you are... and they will feed of you... the worms... the maggots.... the bugs...You can feel them eating you alive...how they slowly gnaw the flesh off your bones while you lay there... and then you die.. over and over again you die... one death worse than the other... until there is only the beast left within you... Everything else has died off... has been eaten away... just the beast... itīs strong enough to fight still and you let it go, let it run wild... you wonīt make the decision to do that, it will make the decision itself because you... youīre long gone then... never to be back.. you have been shattered into thousand pieces...you are gone....*She clears her throat out of instinct and then smirks, a cold smirk while she shrugs* The Beast will take good care of what remains of you in that case though... You will dig yourself out again... or so you will be told you did... You wonīt know... You will be there but wonīt be there at the same time... What bursts from the grave in the forest that night was pure instinct, uncontrollable.. And even if you eventually manage to fight your way back into what remains of your body after the ordeal, it will always be there from hence on. You will never be alone again. It will talk to you, tempt you... forver...*she shrugs, suppressing a growl* Not that it matters really because the betrayal isnīt over yet... There is more pain, the instant the beast reaches the surface...a movement... something slamming into the head...so weak the beast is and so hungry...and when it awakes again, it feed...and feeds... and kills... and all the while there is laughter.. so much laughter... and the betrayer is standing there, watching... and laughing. *she pauses, trying not to lose herself too much in the memories* *Her voice is souding much harsher now* The traitor, the betrayer took the beast with him then, weak as it was, claiming it as as his student, or so he thought. But the beast was clever, more clever than he was... *she gives off a short cruel laugh* And so the beast slipped away from him, escaped soon after. Betrayed by a Clanmate. Hurt by a Clanmate. The rage was tremendous. And the beast got its revenge. The blood he took from her, the beast took back. And it raged and when it was over, when the rage was fading away, the beast, the woman, two souls in one body, took his head and life. An eye for an eye. *She again pauses, looking around* So beware. Is a friend truly a friend ? Look at the person sitting next to you... Can you say with certainty that they wonīt betray you ? Can you look into their very souls, the darkest corners of their minds where they might be planning your death already ? Beware. And trust no one, not even your Clanmates. *And with that, she turns and heads off into the shadows of a tree, out of immediate sight, having told her tale. She had warned them, it was up to them now to heed the warning*