Participants: The Medium, Youkochylde, Kyrianna
"Do this, Medium, do THAT, Medium, do I ever get a break?" the woman muttered, staring at the pearly white naga eggs wrapped in velvet cloth. It'd be warm enough for them, and safe enough so they wouldn't crack.
She had sent out a psychic call and the only two who would hear it...Would be the ones meant to take these two special children. She had absolutely no idea who it was, but it was vital that they came soon. Unlike the crystals, these two would take more life essence at a faster rate.
Right now, they had no life essence. Hopefully...The call would be heard. And soon. The small cottage on Barton Cliffs was far away enough not to draw attention to anyone but Spirit Keepers.
And Medium enjoyed that.
What seemed like forever passed, but in all actuality, it had likely been only about a half an hour or so. Youko had been perfectly content, curled up and reading a book while watching his teenage daughter play with the newest addition to their household. The infant Shavri was a joy to be around, and he'd quickly found his worries about her dwindling as the days passed.
He'd assumed that the day would pass much like that. Quiet... uninterrupted. Then he suddenly felt a nagging urge to get up and GO. Where? He didn't quite know yet. "Raven," he murmured, putting the book aside and getting up. "I'll be back." He moved to the door then, sliding on his shoes as his daughter looked on in confusion.
"Where are you going?" she asked, scooping up Shavri and balancing the baby on her hip. It wasn't like him to just up and leave with no reason.
He paused then, looking to her in his own brand of confusion. "I don't know," he answered, shrugging faintly. "But I'll know when I get there."
With that, and without any further explanation, he was gone. By the time he'd driven around a while, he'd found himself drawn to the area of the Barton Cliffs, and stopped his car outside a ramshackle little house that looked as though it had seen better days.
Reaching the door, he paused, one hand raised as if to knock. What the hell was he going to say?? 'Gee, I felt the urge to come here, who are you?'
The feline girl had been playing with the frost fae in her igloo of a house when she felt the need to go herself. She didn't know where or why, but the young woman...Just had to go.
Picking up Eirwen, the feline left their freezing house. The weather was actually nice and warm, for once, which pleased Kyrianna greatly.
Flicking her white tail, Kyr got into her car and after settling Eirwen into a baby car seat, drove. And drove. And drove. Where the hell was she going?
Finally the young girl, dressed in her baggy black pants, complete with chains, belly shirt, and trench coat (Some role model), stepped from the car and over to the house right about the same time Youko got there.
"Hi," she said lamely, looking at him and then to the house, "This your place?"
Eirwen, happily chewing on her mother's hair, smiled shyly at the kitsune and waved her little hands, "Abuuugah!"
"...That's baby speak for Hi, apparently."
"Not mine," Youko said, shrugging faintly and smiling to the infant. He liked kids. One finger wiggled at Eirwen as he explained. "I was just driving around and wound up here... it was wierd, like my head knew where I was going and just didn't clue me in." He paused then, looking to the feline woman and bowing politely. "My name's Youko. Do you know who lives here?"
Stupid question, foxface. His mind readily supplied THAT answer before the question even left his mouth. If she knew, she wouldn't have assumed it was HIS shack, now would she?
"Same, we may as well knock and figure it out, hmm?" she answered, staring at the door, "Damn, this place is a dump..."
Her ears twitched irritably, as did her tail, as she took in the details of the run down cottage. The only thing that seemed remotely new was the shutter paint, "And I'm Kyrianna..Uh..Kyr, to most people..."
She lifted her hand, took the plunge, and knocked.
Eirwen babbled happily, then, and reached out for the kitsune. She wanted the fluff thing! Her mommy was a fluff thing, but...Not the same!
Hearing the knock, Medium raised her head and shook it. It took them long enough. Grumbling yet again, the imposing woman went over to the door and opened it. Behind her, it was pitch black.
All she wore were her ceremonial robes, white, with golden trim up the bottom and around the edges. Her long hair caressed her dark flesh, eyes a black void, stared at them, "Took you long enough."
Her voice was emotionless, as was her face. Spooky. Monotonous...
"Holy s**t, it's Morticia..." Youko's ears pinned back onto his skull as he stared at the woman in a mix of unashamed fascination... and abject horror. THIS was why he'd come here? He and his brain had to have a serious talk when this was over with. And this was the LAST time he went out driving on a lark.
As if his brain finally caught up with his mouth, he shut up almost as soon as he'd let the comment slip, and tried to think of some way to either take that back... or smooth it over. Then the rational side of his mind realised that she'd likely heard it all before.
Kyrianna stared at the woman who came to the door, though tried to stop herself from cracking up laughing at Youko's comment. She didn't remind her of Morticia in the least bit - but that was because...Wasn't she pale and have black hair? Complete opposite. Maybe her twin...
And Eirwen? Eirwen started to BAWL. That thing was SCARY! And....were her feathers falling out?
"Shh, Winny..." Kyri snapped out of it, rocking the child soothingly, "We just felt the need to come here. Is there a reason?"
Blunt and to the point.
"Oh, apologize to the brat."
Not in the least bit amused at being compared to someone she'd never even heard of, Medi simply turned and walked inside, "Come."
The dark lightened ever so slightly, just enough to be able to see the general disarray the main room was in. Even the coffee table was covered with rings.
...And she hadn't expected one of them to have a damn baby. Who was crying, nonetheless.
When the two came inside, Medi turned herself around and stared, "You're here, because you were chosen to be Spirit Keepers of two naga Iridae."
If Thing closed the door behind them, Youko was convinced that he would scream like a little girl and run away. This had to be the most surreal day of his life, and...
"Naga?" That stopped him cold. "I'm the what to a who?" He was confused... VERY confused. But then again, something had drawn him to Shavri's wand too, so he couldn't quite refute the fact that sometimes you were required to do things.
But now, apparently, he was not only getting another 'ward', but one that was half snake as well. Raven was going to KILL him.
"Oh god, another KID?" Kyrianna complained, shifting the now pacified Eirwen in her arms. And despite the door slamming shut behind her, she really didn't seem too too creeped out.
"That thing better open up for me when it's time to leave. Now, tell me about the brat that I'm supposed to take? And uh...What did you call me?"
Giving a soft sigh, and not caring what the woman thought, Kyri sank into the nearby couch.
"We're an Iridae. That's our species..." the young looking woman turned her hollow eyes between the two, "Fallen angels. Thought these two are special. They weren't fallen, they never made the mistake that causes the rest of us to fall..."
She paused a moment and touched the eggs. They needed to be held by them, and fast, "Please, take an egg. They're losing heat, and they need your essence....Now, normally, Spirit Keepers find a crystal that contain an Iridae's spirit essence. They then crack and the essence gets ready to form an infant. It takes a bit over a week, closer to two. With these...It should really only take a few days until they hatch into infants. Nagas."
She handed an egg to each, "Yours," she indicated to Youko, "Is the Guardian of Healing. Yours," she pointed to Kyr, "of Poison. They are twin brothers."
"Twins?" Youko was certain that he WOULD actually get to the point where he wasn't just repeating everything in question form. However, this wasn't the time. He glanced to Kyrianna then, lifting a brow. "I... guess we're going to have to get to know each other then," he said, smiling a bit sheepishly as he let the leather-like egg settle into his hands. It warmed up quickly, and he took great care to not jar it too much.
It would have made more sense for the twins to be in the same house... or the same caretaker. But something told the fox that it just wasn't that simple. So in order to keep the two brothers 'together', he would just have to try and strike up a friendship with the cat lady.
"Mmph. At least I'm not taking both of them...Wait.. Why AREN'T one of us getting both of them?"
She took the egg and set Eirwen down on the couch. The moment she was free, the frost fae wiggled her wings and crawled herself over to the fluff thing! FLUFF THING!
Kyr half smiled and stroked the egg, "I guess we will. Eirwen already seems sort of determined to make your her next chew toy..."
The Medium raised a brow. Was this thing a parrot? "Yes. Twins. Am I suttering, mortal?"
Her voice sounded, for once, amused despite the monotony. If that was even possible. At least, she gave the impression of amusement, "And there are reasons that not even I know. All I know is...You're each a spirit keeper to each of the eggs. Keep it close to you - it is eating your life force. It needs to to be born. Keep it close to you, always touching you."
Snorting softly, Youko didn't even bother telling her that he wasn't completely mortal, like she apparently assumed he was. That would likely prove fortunate in this case. Granted, he WOULD die... eventually. But if the egg needed some of his life, so be it. "Well, that explains why they didn't both come to one of us," he said, glancing to Eirwen and smiling faintly as he flicked his tail back and forth for her. "It would likely have killed you. As for the chewing, it's no worry. My daughter was a gnawer from day one."
"Mmph. Eating life. Lovely. Will it hurt me?"
Kyrianna smiled a little as she watched her daughter...who immediately grabbed the tail and shoved it in her mouth. She was teething, and decided that fluffball looked good.
"She usually screams if she's not in an igloo-type weather."
Which was probably why she was so comfortable in the cottage. It was cold. Very cold.
"No, it won't hurt you. Even having twins, like...Two of the Spirit Keepers have...Doesn't hurt you. It bonds you to them. So long as you're alive, they're alive. And if they some how die...You lose a part of yourself..." she paused and stared hard at them, "They. Can. Not. Die."
Narrowing his eyes at the photo negative of the Addams Family matriarch, Youko muttered softly. "I haven't lost a kid yet, lady, and I won't start with this one." He'd raised a pair of halfbreed twins, a FROG, a... whatever Omi was, and now a little girl that had sprouted from a wand. All in all, an egg was looking pretty damned normal.
If he minded Eirwen gumming his tail, he didn't show it. After all, he'd had worse things than baby spit in his fur over the years. The tail twitched in her grasp, becoming a moving target for the moment.
Kyri just sat back and watched as Eirwen attacked the fox's tail, her little hands tugging and pulling, and her little girl laughter filling the otherwise gloomy household.
"She certainly likes you. She's a pretty decent judge of character. I guess if she likes you, we can get along."
"The boys are just very important, and I wanted to let you know. But if that's all, and you have no more questions...You can go. I have nothing more I need to say. Just keep those eggs safe."
Her wings fluttered slightly, the feathers floating down to pool at her feet.
Youko just shook his head faintly, extracting his tail from Eirwen for the moment. It sounded like a plan to him... he had only been here a short time and had determined that he hated this place already. "Want to go grab a bite to eat and we can talk?" Youko asked, turning to Kyrianna and offering her a hand up. It would give them the chance to get to know each other... he could spend a bit more time with the little one that was again trying to latch onto his tail... and they could discuss the eggs.
Giving a small nod of her head, Kyr took the hand and lifted herself up with his help, "That sounds nice," she answered, picking up her slobber machine and holding her onto her hip while clutching the egg carefully with her free hand. This was going to be hard...
"Any idea how to balance a baby and an egg at the same time? I'm still not used to this parenting thing..." she smiled weakly as she looked at the frost fae in her arms.
"I'm not mom material..."
Youko waited until they were outside before coughing softly. "At the risk of sounding crude? Stick it in your bra." He pointed to his own chest, right at the centre. "Right about there. It'll keep it warm and you won't have to hold it. Just make sure the little one doesn't squish it." His own egg was tucked into the front pocket of the sleeveless shirt he wore, the pocket being near his waist with an opening at either side. Both hands were in the pocket as well, making sure the precious cargo didn't decide to go on walkabout.
"And I don't think anyone's really ready to be a parent." He chuckled then, ruffling Eirwen's hair lightly. "I'll meet you at the cafe in Durem."
Taking his advice, the egg found a place in her bra and Eirwen was shifted to a better position and she sent a small smile towards him, "Mmhm, sounds good to me," she answered, going towards her car to settle her daughter in her car seat.
Maybe she could pry some parental advice from the fox.
