Our Lady of the Steel Fang

Meath, Ireland
(Lula arrives at the farm with Wilberforce close at her heels, standing outside near a small stone house is an old woman tending a garden. Wilberforce seems to recognize the old woman and runs to greet her)
Emma: It’s a pleasure to meet you Ms. DeValora, come we have much to discuss
Lula: (follows Wilberforce paying careful attention to how the old woman responds to the supernatural wolf pup's affections.) You seem to have me at a disadvantage Ms...(She trails off allowing the woman to fill in the blank.)
Wilberforce: (happily flips over on to his back in front of the old woman.)
Emma: Emma Durkin dear, come inside your just in time for tea.
(The home is strangely barren save for the walls, which are covered in crucifixes and pentagrams.)
Emma: Please forgive me for contacting you unannounced, Kate told me about you and Wilberforce, so I decided we better speak, would you like some tea?
Lula: (follows Wilberforce's lead. If he likes the woman then she must be alright. )Oh don't give it another thought. I would love some tea Ms. Durkin.
Emma: (wanders into the kitchen and begins to prepare tea) “tell me Lula, are you familiar with blood magic?”
Lula: (remains standing as she has not been extended an offer to sit. This is among the many aspects of her finishing school education she puts into practice in the interactions with the woman.) "Yes quite so." (She smiles softly and hopes the ever present splash of blood across her eyes is not identified as the arcane scar left behind by her practice of blood magic.)
Emma: “Wonderful, this will go quickly then. Not that I don’t mind the company, please make yourself at home.”
(Emma has yet to emerge from the kitchen, Wilberforce has been patiently waiting at the edge of the kitchen as if anticipating a treat)
Emma: And what do you know about Wilberforce’s pedigree?
Lula: (seating herself. The sight of the Snow White pup gadding about so playfully brings a smile to her crimson lips.) "Well I know he's attached himself to me so he's not a very good judge of character. Aside from that I know effectively nothing."
Emma: (returns from the kitchen with a thermos along with two cups of tea) he is the grandson of Fenrir, Father of wolves, his father is Mai Tuk, the white fang of the north and he was born sometime during the twilight of the third age. The last of his brothers were said to have been devoured by Yui-ta-bakra the daemon queen of Mu, though she must have been banished since he and his brothers are now free. He has apparently bonded to you, though I may be mistaken, my eyes are not what they use to be and you bee folk are awfully bright.
Lula: (Politely accepts a cup of tea. She holds not only the cup, but her entire body in a well-practiced manor.)  I'm afraid I'm rather ignorant on the matter. If he has bonded with me at all then he's a truly forgiving lad. I've had him kept by trusted friends until I could sort out just what Wilberforce is and where he comes from and what if any danger he might pose as he is or should he fall into malicious hands. I have been unhappy to leave him in the safety of other hands, but it seemed the most prudent course all things considered.
Emma: He is never really been far from you, watch. (Putting her finger to her mouth, the old woman whistles)
Wilberforce: (the wolf pups ears perk up, as he seems to disappear into a patch of light in the floor and reemerge from Lula's chest, his head positioned just under her tea cup)
Emma: That is but one of many powers he inherited from his grandfather, and there still more power to be unlocked. Right now you are bound to one another but you are not yet resonating with one another. (Sliding the thermos across the table) mix this with your blood and his, then drink it, only then will he be able to lend you his power and you will need all the power that you can get, I have cast the bones and seen your face at the battle in Tokyo. But I cannot yet see the final outcome of the battle, but I have seen what will befall the world if the god slayer ever returns to Temple Hall. Wilberforce has come to this world to stop that, can you help him Lula?”
Lula: (The blond Templar listens carefully, or at least she appears to. So much so that the sudden emergence of the pup's head from her chest gives, her a start nearly causing her to drop her tea cup, but she manages to deftly recover.) I see. May I ask a rather candid question ma'am?
Emma: (Sipping her tea) “you may.”
Lula: Why should I trust you? I mean I'm fairly sure you're just one of my more pleasant schizophrenic delusions, but the question still stands. Oh and don't tell me if you're not a figment of my tortured imagination. It's part of my process. Bit complex but it works and that's the important thing.
Emma: (Putting down her tea cup, she gives Lula a smile, before turning to Wilberforce) another good choice. You don’t need to trust me dear, we share a common enemy and we will both suffer greatly should he return to London, but if you cant trust me, then trust, your sister at arms, Kate.
Lula: Hmm. Alright I'll go along with this. (Lula is able to inoffensively express doubts about the very existence of someone she's speaking with It's the sort of skill that takes practice and evidently she's had a lot of it.) Would you like me to mix up the blood right here or...?
Emma: (Finishing her tea she pulls a third age dagger from under the tea tray, before whistling for Wilberforce.)
Wilberforce: (Leaping from Lula's lap and on to the table, he approaches Emma dutifully presenting a paw. Wilberforce lets out a yelp as she draws the dagger across the paw and collects the dripping blood in the empty tea cup.)
Emma: (Sliding the dagger and the tea cup across the table, Emma turns to Lula) I should warn you beforehand, it’s a bit stronger then what they give you in London.
Lula: Ah so that's a yes then. Right'o. (Lula accepts the tea cup and takes hold of the dagger, hesitating a moment before slicing her finger and letting the blood drip into the tea cup as well.  Raising the cup to the old woman in salute) Here's hoping you're just my imagination. (With that she tips the cup back to consume its contents)
(The world seems to melt away around Lula, as she finds herself in the outer dark. As she adjusts to her surroundings, an enormous white wolf leaps over her head the creature is at least 3 meters at the shoulder and she soon recognizes it as Wilberforce. Wilberforce turns and stares at Lula for a moment before galloping off towards the dusty remains of an unknown city.)
Lula: (takes a moment to examine her surroundings) Wow...good tea. (Spotting Wilberforce Lula runs off after him with all the speed an Olympic level athlete with Gaia's touch can muster.)
(Wilberforce leads Lula to the ruins of what was once a palace, she eventually finds him in a chamber at the center of which is an altar flanked by two stone wolves. Upon the stone alter is a third age spear. Wilberforce (who now towers over Lula) seems happy that she has found it.)
Lula: (Approaches the spear and carefully inspects it. She looks to identify the type of edge and design of the blade hoping to glean some idea of where it might have come from based on how it was crafted. Absently she speaks, presumably to Wilberforce) Do you know what's funny? I am one of the only people I know that is keenly aware that all of this might be some elaborate fantasy. I may well be housed in some mental institution, clad in a shit soaked hospital gown, slowly nodding my head against a wall." (She turns her gaze to the, now large, wolf) The fact that if indeed that is the case, I have imagined something like you gives me cause to rather like that person I actually am. (With that she reaches out to attempt to grasp the blade.) If indeed I am that poor abandoned soul.
(The spear seems to be a Nordic design (all be it heavily influenced by the third age.) The blade appears to be modeled after a flame and on either side of the blade is the face of a wolf. Upon picking up the spear, it feels surprisingly light and warm to the touch, as if fire were coursing through it.)
Wilberforce: (Turning his attention to a hole in the domed ceiling, he begins to growl.)
(Over the wolf pups growling, Lula can hear the flapping of wings.)
Lula: (Wraps the fingers of both hands around the shaft of the spear and takes a moment to become comfortable with its weight and length. She speaks to Wilberforce while turning the spear rapidly past her left shoulder and her right, across her shoulders and around her waist.) We have little time by the sound of things so please listen carefully Wilberforce. You do not belong to me. I refuse to possess living thinking loving creatures as if they were items. I do not own slaves full stop. If you wish to be my friend I receive you with equality and affection I will not sic you on another. It is my will that you never again know combat or war or murder. I would endure these things that you might be spared them. (She spins the spear above her head before bringing it down and extending it to its full length out before her held at the very end of the shaft with one hand so that it extends out before her.) That said should you choose to fight then we do so with a vicious mercy. We do not engage in combat for sport. We make war in a manner that brings peace as quickly and bloodlessly as possible. This means that when we put down a foe we do so with such emphatic brutality that any further aggression toward us becomes unthinkable. This is the way of peace. That is the path you will walk if you would do so at my side. Savvy Wilberforce?
(As Lula finishes, a bird of the zero point pathogen comes crashing through the ceiling screeching as it beats its wings to clear away the rubble.)
Wilberforce: (Now snarling steps over Lula and looks up at the creature.)
Lula: (has noticed that the spear seems to have fused with her hands and is quickly disappearing inside her. She is gasped in momentary fear as the spear absorbs into her flesh. She chuckles remembering a very important part of all this) Right, tea.
(As Wilberforce looks up, Lula can feel anima draining from her body and into Wilberforce the anima seems to be channeled through the spear and the more anima Wilberforce is given the larger he seems to grow, until finally he towers over the bird of the zero point pathogen.)
Wilberforce: (Seizing the bird by its neck he begins to shake the bird back and forth braking its neck and scattering filth in all directions.   As the bird drops to the floor with a loud thud Wilberforce throws back his head and howls in victory.)
Lula: (Seeking Wilberforce she confirms that he is unharmed before looking the fallen Filth Bird over briefly.) Looks peaceful enough to me.
 (the outer dark fades away and Lula and Wilberforce reappear in Emma's home.)
Wilberforce: (still sitting on her lap and now his original size (his smiling face now covered in a black substance.))
Emma: Did you find everything you needed dear?
Lula: (opens her eyes, only in that moment realizing that she had closed them. She blinks, reorienting herself to the place, time and purpose. Hearing the voice of the honored crone she nods, staring down at the pup in her lap.) Yes mum, mostly. My friend here could do with a dried sow's ear though. He's more than earned it, and we must keep those jaws nice and strong yeah? (Turning her gaze to Emma for the first time since her "return" she holds herself with all the poise of her breeding and rearing looking the honored crone respectfully in the eye.) Right then...what's next?"
Emma: (Smiling at Lula) you are one of the quickest students to ever visit me, there are three more things you should know before you leave. First, Wilberforce will become stronger when he is in a pack, you have met Kate and her pup, there is one other remaining, seek him. If I recall correctly, he chose to bind himself to a priest from temple hall, the one that’s always with the Pellinore boy. Second, do not underestimate the enemy you face, Nicodemus has slain many powerful magi, and he has trained his minions to do the same. The final battle nears, and they will not be easily purged from this reality. A man called Connar Green is preparing to lead this battle against Third Sunday, seek him out when you are ready. And Finally, I made you banoffee (placing a pink box in front of Lula) no one leaves Newgrange without some. Thank you for coming dear, I enjoyed our tea time, come back another day and I will teach you the spells that temple hall has forgotten.”
Lula: (Listens carefully nodding in understanding.  The gift draws a delighted smile) I adore Banoffie. Thank you so much for your hospitality.
-memory card full-