|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Tue Dec 18, 2012 8:34 am
Lorcán cradled his cheek in his hand thoughtfully. "I think here would be better... more comfortable in more ways than one," he said, half teasing her.
Merrick tilted his head slightly. "Trust me, I know the feeling; I feel like I had a couple of horses do Riverdance on my entire body," he said wryly. He tilted his head thoughtfully as he blinked, an idea coming to him. It was then that he heard a soft crack and twisted, a foxish tail whipping up and snapping the dart out of the air. Oddly, the tip of the tail looked more like a bristled blade than fur. He cocked his head, sniffing slightly as he caught the pungent scent of a strong tranquilizer before the tail flicked, a pale yellow liquid and the dart hitting the floor as the tail relaxed, a slight ripple of golden crimson light flickering over it as the tail visibly became fur again.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Dec 18, 2012 8:58 am
Cassandra smiled a bit shyly and nodded. "Well okay then." She waved her hand and the chest appeared in the middle of the room on the floor. "Let's see what we can find." She knelt before the chest and opened the lid. "So what is it that we are looking for exactly?" She twisted her hair in her hand and let it fall over one shoulder.
~~~~~~~
Constance jumped when Merrick's tail whipped out and grabbed a dart out of the air. Where had that come from? As it dropped to the floor she hurried to it and carefully picked it up, examining it. She then looked to the window it had come through and the small hole it had created in the glass. She didn't see anyone anywhere. Who were they shooting at? Her or him? Just the touching the dart told her what was in it. A tranquilizer strong enough to knock out a large animal..or a witch.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Dec 18, 2012 9:07 am
Lorcán tilted his head. "Pretty much anything about the McIlloch Clan or McCloud Clans, such as if they had any encounters with Fae or something similar. It is likely that something in the McCloud Clan records may mention something of Kasumi, though she rarely if ever spoke about her past," he said thoughtfully. "I've found some scattered records dating roughly from the mid 1100s that mention the Tuatha Dé Danann, as the old Irish and Scottish used to refer to as the Fae as," he said thoughtfully.
Merrick tilted his head slightly, staring at the dart with a frown. "That's a troubling thought, that a witch hunter may have military or sniper training.... more troubling is why he aimed at this room rather than one of the others," he said quietly. Unconsciously, four more tails materialized, though he didn't really notice them. I don't like the idea that someone may be after me, he thought before he heard a soft bark as Haname leaped onto the bed, then curled up, her eyes darting between Merrick and Constance as she seemed to smirk slightly.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Dec 18, 2012 9:28 am
"Okay," Cassandra said as she pulled out several scrolls. The folded out to their full length and hovered in the air so that it was easy to read them. A lot of them were really old and she gave another wave of her hand, closing the curtains over the window. She didn't want the sunlight to ruin them.
~~~~~~
Constance turned back to Merrick. "I wonder who they were shooting at," she said softly as she set the dark down on the side table. "There's enough stuff in there to knock out either of us." She wrapped her arms around herself and shivered a little. She didn't like the idea of someone going after herself or Merrick. Her gaze went to the animal that rested on Merrick's bed and she smiled a little at it.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Dec 18, 2012 9:49 am
Lorcán tilted his head thoughtfully, flicking his fingers so that candles ignited on the desk, the mirror casting additional light as it reflected the firelight so they could see the scrolls to read.
Merrick exhaled. "I don't know, but I don't like it; regardless, neither of us were hit or hurt, so they can go give a rabid goat a blow for all I care," he said dryly, rolling his eyes. He cocked his head fractionally as he thought of something. He suspected he knew who they'd been aiming at, but doubted they knew about what their target was capable of. "It's obvious whoever fired it doesn't know much about their target other than who to aim for and where they're located... that means whoever hired them likely thinks them either stupid enough to deliver the drugged target or they're expendable regardless," he said, not liking either idea. "Sorry if it seems forward of me, but if you want I can rub your head to help with your headache," he said as he set the guitar aside.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Dec 18, 2012 10:05 am
Cassandra's eyes roamed over the scrolls as she deciphered what they said. A lot of them were written in old languages that were rarely spoken now. "Well, this may take a little bit," she said softly as she gently touched one of the scrolls. "This is coded. This one I haven't seen in a long time."
~~~~~
"Oh, that would be nice," Constance said softly as she moved and sat down on the edge of his bed. Her back was to him and her black hair rippled down her back. She couldn't believe that she was sitting on his bed and about to let him rub her head, but she felt safe with him.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Dec 18, 2012 10:21 am
Lorcán tilted his head thoughtfully. "Written by an 'Angus McIlloch' in 1145, huh... that's eight hundred and sixty three years ago... the script is similar to the old Gaelic that that mark had scripted around it, but it seems to be a slightly different dialect," he said thoughtfully.
Merrick tilted his head in surprise, blinking a couple of times in surprise. He was surprised when Haname crawled into Constance's lap and curled up. "They do say that most animals have better instincts than humans about who to be friends or mates with... though I'm not surprised that Haname seems to like you" he said quietly, half teasing her as he gently rubbed her head just behind her temples. A slight tingling in his fingertips gave away his slight use of magical energy to help both the pain and healing.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Dec 18, 2012 10:35 am
Cassandra studied the scrolls and shook her head. "Obviously they didn't want these to be read easily." She took a step back, her head tilted to the side. She looked over to the other scrolls. "Anything else in the others?"
~~~~~
Constance smiled as she gently stroked Haname's fur. "She's beautiful," she said softly. Her eyes closed as Merrick began to rub her head just behind her temples. Already her headache seemed to be going away. She let out a soft sigh as the pressure in her head began to dissipate. "It's already feeling much better," she spoke.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Dec 18, 2012 11:01 am
Lorcán tilted his head as he looked over the other scrolls before he inhaled sharply, finding a more current one from the mid 1780s. "Very interesting. This one mentions a 'silver haired man with a katana' who left his katana with his lover. Apparently his sword was passed down to..." he said, his eyes widening in shock as he saw the name of the person. "Kasumi Carinya Hoshitama," he said softly. "Supposedly the sword was sentient and able to choose its master," he said thoughtfully.
Merrick chuckled. "That's a good thing; when I first found her, a couple of wolves were trying to eat her... though I ran them off with several sharp blows from a switch probably a good half inch thick and a foot and a half long," he said thoughtfully. "She was only two or three months old at the time and still drinking milk though... I found her mother and a couple of siblings about twenty feet or so away," he said quietly; he had raised Haname himself afterwards, though he was only eight at the time. It had been roughly fourteen months later that the incident he'd mentioned to Amelia had happened; he had been assisting one of the monks with the bellows to cast a bell of cast steel with a layer of silver over it when a brick had fallen into the coals, shoving one of the red hot coals into the bellows and when he'd heard the slight crackling of it he'd tried to shift the bellows to get the burning coal out, only to have it explode in his face violently.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Dec 18, 2012 11:20 am
Cassandra looked over at the scroll that Lorcan had been looking at. "I wonder where the sword is now," she murmured softly mostly to herself. Somehow all of this fit together with what was going on, but she just couldn't piece it together. "Why would they hold Kasumi and Constance's mother? What importance do they have to this whole thing? Unless it's Merrick and Constance they're after..." She was didn't realize how close to the truth she really was. At least about Constance being who they were after. She played gently with the necklace around her neck.
~~~~~
"Well it seems like you have a knack for being in the right place at the right time," Constance said with a smile. Finally the headache was gone and she felt much better. She turned to look at Merrick with a huge smile on her face. "Thank you so much, it feels much better."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Dec 18, 2012 11:45 am
Lorcán frowned slightly. "It doesn't say, though usually I would think the weilder of such a sword would have it with them somehow," he said thoughtfully. He knew that idea was wrong almost immediately; from what another scroll claimed, the sword was able to unlock some sort of lock in the netherplanes and release a massive horde of demons. "It is possible Kasumi knew she would be captured or kidnapped and left the sword.... my God," he said, realizing that was exactly the reason Kasumi had left Merrick. "I do not know if it is possible to meld a weapon with a living being, but I think that's exactly what Kasumi may have done," he said thoughtfully; it was a genius idea, really, and one no demon would expect.
Merrick snorted. "Not really. It was a little over a year later when I was temporarily blinded for nearly seven months while casting a new bell for the monastery," he said wryly. He knew this close she'd likely notice the thin webbing of scars near both of his eyes and the one that went from his left temple to just above the outer edge of his left eyebrow where a large chunk of the bellows had slammed into his head when it exploded. There was also another thinner scar that went along the underside of his right eye.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Dec 18, 2012 11:58 am
((hmm...I think that Constance is gonna be related to the big bad demon..granddaughter maybe...so she has untapped power in her still..))
Cassandra's eyes widened. She had never heard of anyone doing that before. "You really think she would have done that?" Her mouth dropped open when she realized what he must be thinking. "You think...Merrick?" She sat on her bed and shook her head. How had Kasumi done it if that was true?
~~~
Constance stared at him as for the first time she saw the scars near Merrick's eyes as well as the one near his left temple and one underneath the right eye. Slowly she reached forward and touched the scars gently. "This is from the accident?" She asked softly.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Dec 18, 2012 12:29 pm
Alede OOC - That's the good thing about stories done this way; we can modify and change it as we go... I'm working on something similar, but it's based in the real world... with a slight twist. PM me if you're interested.
Lorcán shrugged. "I don't know; it may be possible, but merging something such as a sentient weapon with a living, breathing being could have had dangerous consequences that are unknown... for all we know, Merrick could have to die to summon the sword, if it is part of him in the way we suspect," he said wryly. "Of course, if could be just as possible that, once he knows the sword exists, that he could summon it at will; from what the scroll says, the katana in question is not only sentient, but holds part of a demon much like Constance's mother, a benevolent demon. Unfortunately, it doesn't say which demon in question it is," he sighed.
Merrick nodded slowly. "A coal from the fire fell, apparently through the grate and rolled into the bellows. From what I heard the brothers at the monastery saying, it seemed as if a brick had worked its way loose and fell, knocking the coal free, which ignited the ash that the bellows had sucked in and simply reacted... violently, by exploding in my face," he said quietly. For him, it had been embarrassing.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Dec 18, 2012 12:38 pm
"Well that's going to be a fun one to tell him," Cassandra muttered and shook her head. "Oh by the way we think you have a sword inside you..." Cassandra snorted. "He's just a kid...him, Constance..Alicia. They shouldn't have to deal with any of this." Cassandra ran her hand over her face. She often forgot that when she was younger than them, she had taken over as coven leader. She felt older than her years.
~~~~~~~~
"Hey," Constance said softly. "It was an accident. You dont need to feel embarrased or anything like that." She gave a small shrug. "Stuff happens, often when we don't expect it. Sometimes we think that we could have prevented or change it, but we can't." She smiled a little as she lowered her hand. "Thanks again, for getting rid of my headache." Constance kissed him lightly on the cheek before standing up.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Dec 18, 2012 12:55 pm
Lorcán chuckled. "I know what you mean. Responsibility often makes us feel older than we are, in years, but I think you'll be one of those that looks the same regardless of years," he said with amusement.
Merrick tilted his head. "No problem," he said with a half smile, blushing slightly.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
