The Entrance

[Cindy Harker]

Cindy entered the kitchen too, and was slightly glad that the smell of cooking would help block out her perfume to Zin. It was slightly embaressing, in a way, that she was wearing something that caused Zin so much discomfort.

She noted the supplied word for 'kitchen' and stored it in her memory the best she could. She'd have to hear it a few more times to get the pronounciation right, but it was good enough for now.

"<The story of what has occured to you is rather lengthy, and may be difficult to explain. As I am sure you are by now aware, I do not speak perfect Thai. I shall do my utmost, but perhaps such a thing should wait until you have dined.>" Cindy suggested, trying to speak in her friendliest tones after Zin had back peddled a little about the perfume comment, but she was still unable to shake the overly formal tone.

"<What has influenced you to journey to the United Kingdom, Zin?>" Cindy asked, hoping to learn more about who this woman was. With any luck, she had some history that brought her to Edgehaven and made her aware of the dangers here. Such a thing would really help Cindy explain what had happened.

[Zin Siripong]

Zin fell quiet for a moment, mind flashing back to That Night. The feeling of bone breaking under her hands, the cold panic that just flushed her system when large hands appeared in the darkness reaching for her. The blood shining in the street lights, painting her hands and front, the woman screaming, the body twitching, and running. Running and running and running and running.

"<I'm a Cage Fighter. Muay Thai, kickboxing. I was here for a match and I got into a fight and left. I got lost and ended up here.>" She shrugged a shoulder and gave Cindy a helpless look, "<A big furry thing attacked me. I had no idea England had such monsters, if I had known, maybe I could have had a bit more luck in fighting it off but it just took me by surprise I couldn't even react.>"

She stared at Cindy for a moment, "<It did something to me, didn't it? When I woke up after it bit me, I freaked out, I changed, I became.... I looked like it but different. I lost myself.>"

[Cindy Harker]

Cindy repressed a sigh. A cage fighter? Why couldn't it have been a make-up artist, or a dress maker, or a perfume sales woman? Why did they always end up with people from the fringes of society that Cindy would never have interacted with in a million years?

She supposed it was just her luck. She wasn't sure what would make somebody want to journey across the world to have a fight in a cage, but obviously that was what this Zin did. She made an even larger mental note than the one she had already not to piss Zin off.

"<The British word is...>...lycan-thrope." Cindy said it slowly so that Zin could understand it clearly. "<But they are more superior known as> werewolves." Once again, Cindy's slightly limited Thai came into play.

"<It is an unfortunate curse. They are creatures that have in them the wolf. It is an animalistic form that the infected take upon a full moon or during heightened periods of emotion. When in human form, one remains with the sense of the animal. Your sense of smell has thus been enhanced.>" Otherwise you would be aware my perfume was quite lovely, Cindy thought but knew better than to say.

"<Knowledge of their existance is a secret across the globe. A lycanthrope possesses strength and speed far greater than any human being. To fight one for an ordinary human is unachievable while they are transformed. You too shall now possess greater strength.>" She wondered if Zin would take that as good news, given her history as a fighter. She hardly doubted it would lessen the blow of hearing you were cursed.

She knew she hadn't delivered that sensitively, but the language barrier was too great. It was the best she could do.

[Zin Siripong]

Zin frowned and remained quiet through the explanation.

She could see benefits and problems with this Lycanthropy the woman was explaining. Increased strength and speed were pretty cool but... it was cheating. Her Cage fighting career was over now. If there were Lycanthropy fights then she would have heard of them before now, unless they were illegal street matches. There was also the problem of the increased senses and now that she was thinking about it, the new speed and strength, this was going to throw her balance and control off.

She didn't like the idea of changing form when she got emotional either. Sure she was always very controlled but that was on the outside, she kept herself on a tight leash and raged in her head, she got angry but she never acted on it. If she got angry and changed her form, then would she still have that control? She mentioned animalistic form so.... Zin doubted if she would have the control nessicary to stop herself from attacking the source of her ire.

"<I see...>" the teenager murmured, "<Is there a cure? Some kind of drug that could stop you from changing?>" she asked bleakly, doubting that there was or Damaris would have probably taken her straight to a hospital, not what looked to be some kind of hidden base - speaking of, why bring her here? Because there was the language barrier? She thought Zin wouldn't be able to reveal their location? She almost bristled with indignantion at the thought of being a non-threat. Did the woman think she was too stupid to learn English and reveal their location?

Not that she would but still!!

[Cindy Harker]

Cindy's heart sank at being asked that. She hadn't had to deal with any newly infected people before, and especially never met anybody unaware of the old legends. And to be asked if there's a cure, and knowing the painful reality that there wasn't, it made her next job even more difficult. She really wished somebody else spoke was around that spoke as many languages as her.

"<....No. I am sorry, Zin, but a cure does not exist>." Cindy said as tactfully as she could, obviously feeling the pain of saying such words. "<H-however...>" She added quickly, in an attempt to soften the blow. "<Most> lycanthropes <adapt to the curse rather quickly. Certainly with the support of the lycanthropes within our organisation, you shall be able to learn to control the transformation so that it is no longer dictated by mood, and even minimise the influence of the moon.>" She knew the latter could be hard work, but it was possible, and right now Cindy needed some hope for Zin to cling to.

"<There is a significant> lycanthropic <community present in the United Kingdom. Exceptionally here, in> Edgehaven." She explained, hoping to give Zin the support network she needed. She still hadn't dropped the biggest bombshell yet. That Zin was practically immortal now. She would never die, unless struck down by silver, and stay forever young. That one was a lot to take in.

"<There are... other factors, that I shall go through with you at a later date>." She settled for. She had no idea how this woman would take being told she now was going to live forever, but she knew it wasn't always with the joy such a concept felt like it should bring. Immortality wasn't always fun, Cindy imagined. She for one was happy to be a mortal human, although the possibilities of watching hundreds of years of fashion evolve was exciting to Cindy...

[Zin Siripong]

Zin nodded robotically through her attempts at comfort. For a split second she felt anger as she had never experienced it before in her life, absolute fury over the situation and everything that had happened to her, she felt it burn on her skin and churn in her gut. She hissed slightly and quickly shook herself, pushing the anger away, turning her mind to other things before she changed. It felt like suddenly getting dunked in cold water.

She shuddered and wrapped her arms around herself wondering when the food would be done. She desperately needed a distraction from this conversation.

[Damaris Y Blaidd]

As Cindy and Zin had been talking, Damaris had successfully located several cloves of garlic, a little chilli, some onions, a few fresh peas, a slightly questionable bottle of fish sauce and some dried basil. She was aware that she was missing some of the other ingredients, but she doubted that Zin cared about the authenticity of the dish right now.

She kept an ear on the conversation, although she understood hardly any of it. The tone and the few mentions of the word "lycanthrope" told her enough though - Cindy was explaining what had happened to Zin and what it meant for her now, and the mention of Edgehaven let her know that Cindy was probably explaining about the large lycan community in the city. A quick glance at the two women told her more - Zin wasn't scared or upset about what had happened, she was angry. As she dished up the fried rice, she kicked herself mentally. She hadn't even tried to explain to Zin where she was or why she'd been brought here.

As she turned, she saw Zin shake and hiss and she froze for a second. The moment seemed to pass and she stepped forward again, placing a bowl, a set of chopsticks and a fork in front of Zin. "Khao Phad Kai," she said cheerily, although she was aware that her pronunciation was probably off by miles. "I wasn't sure what you wanted, so..." she gestured at the cutlery as she sat down with her own bowl and a set of chopsticks. "There's some more in the pan if you change your mind," she added to Cindy. There had been a lot of rice.

"Cindy," she said, swallowing a mouthfull of chicken and rice, "could you translate something for me?"

[Cindy Harker]

Cindy took a step back as Zin began to hiss, and she realised the tension at her situation was beginning to boil over. Cindy was only too aware of the seriousness of this, and knew that a full transformation could happen at any moment.

She tried to hide her sense of relief when Damaris came over and offered food. It helped defuse the situation, even if Cindy had no idea what kind of food it was and couldn't help but mentally compare it to the food she had her cooks prepare back at her mansion. It wasn't quite the same.

"O-of course." She answered to Damaris's question. In a way, that made things easier for her. The pressure was off. She could just work as a translator. "I mean, I'll do my best." She added, knowing her Thai wasn't perfect. "I'm mostly fluent, but I'm missing quite a few words." She added, just to explain what she had meant.

"<Damaris is going to converse to you now, Zin. I am going to translate for you.>" Cindy explained in her slightly confused Thai, hoping that Zin would understand whatever was said next didn't come from Cindy's mouth.

[Zin Siripong]

"Korpkuhn," the seventeen year old murmured as Damaris placed the food in front of her before remembering where she was an repeating herself in English, "Thank you."

She had literally just picked up her chopsticks when Cindy spoke, ready to dig in to her dinner and she then placed them down again, a little mournfully but this was obviously more important than filling her belly - and it was just not polite to start a meal while someone was speaking to you.

She gestured, "<Please and thank you Miss Cindy, for your help,>" she added formally, a little depressed but already trying to figure out how to adapt to the situation. If there was one thing she was it was adaptable. She turned her full attention to Damaris and waited patiently for what she was certain was something of a depressing but important discussion.

[Damaris Y Blaidd]

Damaris smiled at Zin and then turned to Cindy. "Thanks," she said. "Could you tell her..." she paused, trying to sort the words out in her head. "Firstly tell her that she can leave if she wants to, she's here as a guest not as a prisoner." She wanted to try and ease the girl's obvious agitation.

She turned to Zin, hoping Cindy would keep translating for her. "We want to help you, it's dangerous out there and you could get hurt... or hurt someone." She wasn't sure how much Cindy had already told her and she didn't want to repeat her. "If you want to ask anything, please do. Once you've eaten, I'll see if I can find you some clothes that'll fit..." She paused again. She felt there ought to be more to say, but she couldn't think of anything that Cindy probably wouldn't have said.

"Can you translate that?" She asked Cindy. Austin isn't going to be happy...

[Cindy Harker]

Cindy nodded, and began translating the best she could.

"<Damaris wishes to let you know that you are welcomed here as an honourable guest. You are not to be kept here against your will. You may exit at any time.>" Cindy explained the best she could, before realising Damaris was speaking more directly to Zin now and just translating the best she could.

"<There are unfortunate hazards outside to you, as you are a hazard to others. We wish to assist you in any way we can and keep you safe. If you require anything, you may ask for it and we shall provide it. Once you have dined, we shall attempt to find you some appropriate garments.>" It wasn't quite word for word, but Cindy did her best with the words she had at her disposal.

"That was mostly accurate." She told Damaris out loud. "Does she know who we are?" She added, admitingly realising it was a stupid question since that was impossible.

[Damaris Y Blaidd]

Damaris looked at Cindy. "I don't think so, I'm assuming she's pretty damn new to Edgehaven. I wasn't sure how much you'd explained. Do you think you could explain a little?" She took another mouthful of food, it was sitting there getting cold and she was hungry, manners be damned.

[Zin Siripong]

Zin listened to the translation and nodded, she was pleased that she wasn't stuck here - but it wouldn't have been much of an issue, she could have broken out if she wanted to. Clothes sounded nice too, she liked the dressing gown - and she was already getting used to Cindy's perfume, even if she really wanted to sneeze right now she refrained because she didn't want to upset the only woman capable of speaking her language right now.

Upon seeing Damaris digging into her food, she reached for her own and decended upon the meal with the voracious appetite of a pack of starved pirahna, the food stood no chance against her furious assault. But the manners her mother drummed into her skull ensured that, while she ate perhaps a little faster than decorum would allow, she was still very neat. She still managed to snap her chopsticks though with a slight squeak of surprise. Thankfully she was already finished but the wood literally just crushed and snapped between her fingers.

Was this that enhanced strength Cindy was talking about earlier?

[Cindy Harker]

Cindy nodded glumly, knowing now it fell to her to explain the Night Watch to Zin, even though they were an organisation so secret even Cindy barely understood what they represented at times.

She started in surprise a little as Zin broke the chopsticks, but it wasn't that shocking. She'd read about this. Newly turned lycans, and even newly turned vampires, often broke things given the change in their physical strength. Cindy was secretely glad breaking things would never be an issue for her.

"<Do not concern yourself with that.>" She said quickly with a friendly smile. "<It is quite natural at this stage. It happens to most> lycanthropes." She nodded to Damaris to pass Zin a fresh pair of chop sticks.

"<It is perhaps time you learnt who we are. The best I can give you in Thai is that we are the Watchers of the Night. We are an organisation dedicated to watching over the world of the supernatural. We can assist you in many ways, if you will allow us.>" Cindy explained the best she could, knowing that later details could be gone into if required.

"Well, I did my best." She told Damaris, hoping her explanation was sufficent.

[Damaris Y Blaidd]

Damaris stood up and fetched a fresh pair of chopsticks from the drawer behind Zin. Luckily they had quite a large supply, although she thought it might be a good idea to see about getting a few sets of metal ones. She had no doubt that Zin would be able to break them too, but they would probably last a little longer. She passed them to Zin as she sat down again.

"Thanks Cindy, you're a livesafer." She said sincerely. She had absolutely no idea what she'd have done if the other woman hadn't been here. She supposed she could have called her at home, somebody was bound to know the number, but she wouldn't have felt comfortable doing it.

Finishing her food, she placed her bowl in the sink - washing up could wait."I'm just going to see if I can find Zin some decent clothes," she told Cindy. "Tell her she can finish the rice if she wants it." With a smile at Zin, she left the room and made her way to the upper level of the warehouse, the level with the bedrooms.