Beauty & The Beast

[Brian]

N'dovu turns to the source of the tugging.  "That I am," he replies without pause.  "And you?"

[Carthrat]

"Oh, I'm Jessie," says the voice, which N'Dovu can see belongs to a young girl- probably about 9 or 10 in age. Beside his massive frame, she's pretty tiny.

She doesn't balk at all at his fearsome visage, and that's to be expected from the Caihuilla, who had time to grow used to N'Dovu. However, he can't remember seeing her in his time spent here earlier. More strangely, she doesn't have the same appearance as a Caihulla- she seems more of your typical American stock; fair skin, blonde hair, casual clothes.

"They told me you'd be here, you know," she says, quietly.

[Brian]

N'dovu eyes the girl for a moment, and then nods slowly.  "They say much, if we know how to listen," he replies.  "Did they tell you to seek me?"

[Carthrat]

"Not really," replies Jessie, looking away. "They told me you could talk to them if you wanted to, too."

[Brian]

"Not as well as some," N'dovu replies, almost apologetically.  "With time, perhaps, better than I can now.  What else did they speak to you of?"

[Carthrat]

"They tell me the future," replies Jessie, nodding. "They're never wrong, you know."

[Brian]

N'dovu raises an eyebrow at this.  "You should be careful," he says after a moment.  "The wisdom of the spirits is precious ... many would covet what you could know."  N'dovu frowns.  "I would worry for you if someone found out, and thought they could use your power for their own benefit."

[Carthrat]

"Well, you're the first person I've told," says the girl, a little apologetically. "I've never met anyone else who can talk to them before."

[Brian]

N'dovu shakes his head quickly.  "Make no mistakes," he says as warmly as he can manage, "you have a great gift.  But you must take care with it.  You already seem wise beyond your years."

[Carthrat]

Jessie's face flushes with pride. "Well, I always thought so, too," she says, beaming.

[Brian]

N'dovu makes a thoughtful noise, a sudden foreboding coming over him.  "I must prepare to commune with a spirit that may be dangerous," he says apologetically.  "You should stay with Unshadowed Stone.  I would like to speak with you about this more later, though."

[Carthrat]

"Well, ok," replies Jessie. "Yeah. It'd be nice to talk to someone else who can talk to them for a bit. Even if you are a bit scary."

That last bit is deadpan, and after saying so, Jessie runs off to a nearby house.

[Brian]

N'dovu watches the girl run away for a minute before shaking his head, and returning to wood collecting.

[Carthrat]

The campsite that Rick spoke of is a small clearing that is marked off by two circles, one within the other. There is a large, wide circle made from rocks, certainly big enough to fit in a few tents. The centre circle is much smaller, and was probably used for fires.

When N'Dovu arrives, Rick is standing nearby, armed with a box of matches and the necessary peyote. The area is much the same as the rest of arizona; sparse, weedy-looking trees and scrubs can be seen here and there, but the majority of the area is rather desert-like.

"Put the firewood there," says Rick, indicating the inner circle. "Are you prepared?"

[Brian]

"I will be," N'dovu says, stacking the firewood in the patterns taught to him before he left Africa.  Once that's done, he sparks the firewood until it lights, and then quickly approaches Rick for the peyote.  "And now we see what the spirits would have us do next," N'dovu says, fixing his questions in his mind before he takes the peyote.