Word Count → 532 :: Prompt #4: There's a peculiar grouping of old human made cave-paintings in a large, open cavern in Grimwell. No one has ever really paid them much mind, but they're quite curious looking none the less.

Willam was making her way about Inferni a bit at a time. She hadn't really met too many others but was getting a feel for the lay of the land. Wasn't that for the best after all? She knew that she would eventually have to socialize but she had no idea what she would say. What was there to talk about amongst heathens? At least that is what Ithiel had warned her this place was filled with. There wasn't Mass being held in this place and that was simply how Willam was used to socializing with others. She was used to sitting amongst other believers and listening to the words that were read out by the leaders. She didn't have that here so what else was there to speak of but the teachings or the penance that one must suffer? Somehow Willam figured tat neither would be an appropriate topic to bring up amongst the company that she would find here.

For once Châtiment wasn't right behind her but he was still nearby. The equine had taken to grazing on the grasses that grew outside of the caverns while Willam had slipped inside in order to explore. She hadn't dedicated herself to a certain place to stay just yet. Perhaps she should at some point but she didn't know where would be the best place to take up residence. For now she had taken to hanging out in the forest when she chose to bed down for awhile. Still, she had heard of some living in these caves while others lived in the large house near hear and still others lived in a building elsewhere. But none of the trio were a holy place and so Willam hadn't felt compelled to choose any of the three just yet.

Willam made her way into one of the larger caves and looked around, noticing marks on the walls. They were curious things and had her reaching up a hand to run over the strange pictorial markings. The animals were easy to make out as being prey but what were the two legged things? Ancient Luperci? It just had to be. there was nothing else that there could be. At least Willam had never heard of the existence of humans before. Even the holy book that she read didn't bring them up. But then again it had been Luperci transcribed so the only two legged creatures ever mention were Luperci. It was the same for the god she worshiped. He had been Luperci as well, a coyote even. So from what Willam could make out she would say that the pictures depicted the hunt of prey by Luperci in their two legged forms rather than reverting back to four for the hunt. She had seen it done before even if not too often. It generally had involved a weapon that was to be thrown. Willam had never tried it herself, at least not in a group setting. She had always slipped back into her lupus form in order to join in on such hunts. She had greater success that way than with the weapons that she was still training to become proficient at hunting with.

Word Count → 301 :: Out of Character text

Willam blinked when light filtered into the room. It forced her eyes closed only to slowly open again. It was forcing her to refocus again since she had already been accustomed to staring about in the dark. Now she had to get used to the sudden extra light. The female turned to see where the light was coming from to see another female holding up a lantern. At first she had figured that the other was just passing through. That was at least until she noticed that the other canine had stopped and was looking around at the walls as well.

"Hello, I am, Willam la Chemin formerly of la Chemin." She returned the greeting as well as introducing herself. "Was someone already staying in here? I've heard that others stay in here and I thought to look around as I haven't decided just where to stay yet. Sadly I got distracted by what has been placed on these walls. It seems to depict a hunt quite some time ago. Do you know anything of the story that this tells?" Willam wasn't unused to the idea of a picture telling stories. it had been how she had first learned when she was still a pup. Lessons were given with pictures before she had learned to read the words that would accompany the pictures.

At least Willam was imagining that these images were meant to teach the young that would grow up and reside in these caves, if not the young of the rest of the pack. She figured that the drawings were done by the ancestors of those that were living here now. She imagined that these were stories that were passed down through the generations. Why else would the images be here is not to teach and be learned from?

Word Count → 1018 :: Not a problem and I said the exact same thing when I found my in progress reply for this

It was more annoying than anything else. But that could be said to be because Willam was used to pain given how much penance she gave herself. Not only where her thighs marked up but so was her back. Of course since she had a thick coat this wasn't to be seen so easily. Though the cilice that she kept about her leg showed that she was no stranger to punishment. Of course right now it wasn't wrapped tightly since she wasn't administering any sort of punishment to herself. It was simply like an accessory to her by this point. She simply didn't feel right without it on even if she wasn't seeking a bit of penance.

It wasn't really that odd that la Chemin had never been heard of because they had kept to themselves. Only those in the area would have known of them. But well, they probably would no longer be known about now since they had to scatter after the wolves burnt their home. Now la Chemin was to only be found on the lips of those that had once lived there. And well, it was impossible to tell how many had survived in order to spread around word of the place.

"A subleader?" She asked before bowing her head. "I apologize for my forwardness. I had no idea." Willam wasn't used to speaking one on one with leadership. She was simply only used to seeing them in meetings and never meeting with them on her own. The closest that she ever came to that was with her confessions. It was said that they would sit in and listen to them but she had never actually seen them to know if that was true or not. So to be presented with one now was completely out of the ordinary for her.

"So the caves are reserved for leadership?" Willam had been willing to forgive one of her blunders but having made a second one within the same circumstance she couldn't just allow it to pass by unnoticed. The female reached down for the metal device around her leg and tightened it to that it would now dig into her flesh and penetrate the skin. It was as much as she could do for now. At least, what she could do on her own. "Feel free to administer whatever punishments would be adequate for my negligence and treasonous behavior. " What else would inadvertently walking into a place reserved for leadership be called? She was committing a crime against the one's above her, or such is how she saw it.

It also made her wonder if the images were sacred ones and she wasn't meant to know of their meanings. She figured that is what Vesper meant by her ignorance. These were things for leadership only and Willam had no right to inquire after them. But then she was surprised to be asked for her own interpretation of the images. Was this a test? Still she had been asked something directly by leadership and so she had to give her answer.

"As I said I think it is about a hunt." She begin and reached up to touch a hand to the figures paints on the walls. "A child's first hunt." Willam continued as her fingers traced over the smaller two legged figure. "I would say it is after first shift and they are being taken out to learn how to hunt with weapons." She moved her fingers from the smaller one to the larger one. "This one would be the one with the most experience in the pack and so they are charge with teaching all of the young after their first shift." She moved on to the prey that was being hunted. "This is some sort of prey, deer maybe? There seem to be an abundance of them depicted so I would guess it holds some sort of meaning. Perhaps it is what is always sought out for the hunt after first shift, a sacrificial animal." Of course no humans were ever mentioned in her explanation as she had never heard of humans before. All she knew of was luperci and nothing more. Even her God was luperci, a coyote martyr. It was why her crucifix had been hand carved to depict a coyote on a cross.

The Bible that she studied had been hand written as well. It spoke of wolves slaughtering the coyote that had sought to unite all of the species to live together. They had chosen the worst possible punishment for doing away with him. They had nailed him up and just left him there to starve to death. It was something that la Chemin did to those that were caught trespassing and seeking commit harm to la Chemin. Let them feel what their God had suffered and hope that they would end up repenting so that perhaps their soul s would be cleansed by the time that they met their end. The crucified were left at the borders to show what happened to those that meant harm, a warning much like the skulls posted along Infenri's borders. It was this similarity that had her stopping to question it. Which reminded her that she had never learned the actual answer to the question. "If you don't mind me asking, what happens to the bodies? I seen that the skulls are mounted but what do you do with the rest of the treacherous kind?" She hoped that they weren't burnt because they didn't deserve the cleansing of the fire. She believed that pyres were meant to be saved for the devout to act as a reward for a life faithfully serving their God. She wished to express this opinion but ended up holding her tongue. It wasn't her place to tell the leadership to do when she had already overstepped her bounds enough for one day. She didn't want to chance doing it again by offering her opinions when they had never been asked for. So instead she just made the wish in her heart and left it at that.

Word Count → 515 :: Out of Character text

Willam was quite used to self sacrifice. The pain was only a minor agitation by this point. The wounds would heal, as they always did, and leave behind the lasting mark to aide in her remembering that particular lesson. Without pain and suffering there could never be joy and pleasure. Her teachings had her easily punishing herself every single day. Of course drawing blood was saved for when she messed up and strayed from her devotions. But each day was started with suffering so that there was something to be thankful for by the end of the day, even if it was to just live another one. She had been taught to suffer as her God had suffered, to take on his pain as her own so that she knew what he went through and would continue his work despite any prosecution.

Willam hadn't been prepared to have Vesper deny punishment. How was one to learn to dot he proper thing without suffering some sort of punishment first? Or was she, and the ones that she had grown up with, the only one to believe in such a thing? Was this just another way that she differed from all of those around her? Or perhaps Vesper wasn't against punishment entirely but simply saw this as being no cause for it since by her words she had said that others live here and that not even the entirety of the leadership lived here. Still that did nothing to ease the large female's mind but there was nothing that she could do but to shrug it off.

Willam was uncertain if her reading was correct or not but the other did nothing to speak against it, though she didn't seem to feel that it was a certainty either. But at least Willam had manged to keep the majority of her theory directed away from religion. Religion and hunting, they were the two subject that Willam knew and could speak on freely. And it was because of that she struggled in having conversations not centered upon either topic.

"That sounds like a worthwhile cause." Willam was glad to find out that they weren't being burned and cleansed. "We would crucify them, put the entirety of the body on display rather than only the skulls. I've seen birds gather to pick them over before." Even if the topic was a gruesome one Willam couldn't help but to speak fondly of the only home that she had known until now. Though she was still working to get settled in and comfortable enough to actually call Inferni home. She had nothing to particularly bad to say about the place but the differences between Inferni and la Chemin were what had her uncomfortable. Willam was having to learn how to act properly among heretics. Even though there was a lack of believers here the residents that she had met didn't seem too bad. They weren't cruel like the wolves that had burned her home had been. So Willam enjoyed Inferni even if she was struggling to still find her place among them.