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Quest: Cupid's Little Helper (Valentine '09)
Characters: Tariel, Kali, TBA...
Status: In Progress - 1/4

Quest: Cupid's Little Helper (Valentine '09)
Characters: Tariel, Kali, TBA...
Status: In Progress - 3/4


A lone man waited by the edge of a dirt road in the middle of seemingly nowhere. He glanced around as he waited, taking in the greenery as though trying to place the trees and therefore his location. One hand gripped a sheet of paper that he continued to refer back to, checking the time and location specified. A bemused expression hinted that he might be second-guessing himself and his decision to come here.

Time dragged on, with no sign of another presence. A short jerk was the only sign the man was desperate to move or pace, but clearly restraining himself. The paper was beginning to crumple in his hand when a bright glint appeared, moving quickly around a distant curve in the road towards the waiting man.

As it moved closer, the man's eyes widened to see it was a girl in golden armor... sort of. It was a girl in golden armor from the chest up - below that, there were trailing ribbons and a strange glow. He checked the paper again. This explained the "strange floaty people" warning. Hopefully this was the writer of the ad, not the potential date herself. (Hopefully a dating ad would warn that the lady in question was not all there, but you never knew these days with so much false advertising.)

"Tari?" he asked when the girl drew to a halt in front of him.

"Yes!" she chirped, to the man's relief. She was bright and happy in a way he thought might drive him mad with too much exposure, so it was doubly good the meeting wasn't for this one. No doubt she was underage, too, despite flaunting her cleavage so blatantly.

"Sorry Tari are late," the girl continued. "Here now, but now we both run late, so we must hurry."

With that, she grabbed his wrist and began flying back the way she'd come. Stumbling at first, the man found he had to keep at a near constant trot to keep up with her. His wrist stung through the layers of cloth he wore, and he absently hoped for her sake that she hadn't pierced cloth or skin.

"Tari so glad you came," she babbled as they ran/flew. "Has never done this before, but want mama to be happy. Tari had date and was much happy, so mama need be happy, too. But Tari no sure if most people okay with dragons and floatings and magics and stuff. And not be Satan," she added.

The man quirked an eyebrow. "So your mother... is she also against Satan?"

They jerked to a halt and Tari stared up the man seriously. "Everyone against Satan." She glared for a few moments, and then they were off moving again.

Unnoticed, the man's mouth twitched up at one corner. He'd been right - this was going to be fun.

Just when he was about to demand that the girl stop dragging him around (and also, why hadn't they met closer to their final destination), they detoured off the road. Making their way through a line of dense trees, they emerged much closer to a house than the man would have guessed they could have been.

The tugging at his wrist became more pronounced and he realised he had stopped. Resisting Tari's demands to move forward, he stared at the house. "Wait, you live here? And your mother... she lives here?"

Tari stared at him, confused. "Yes. Why else be here? Come come."

He gave in to the tugging and followed the floating half-girl to the front door. It wasn't locked, opening easily for the girl. Stepping inside, he found himself in a marble-tiled foyer, with a strange protusion in the middle. He wandered closer and brushed a hand over the Chinese broadsword embedded into the stone floor. Oh, he suddenly had such a bad feeling...

"No touch that," Tari frowned at him. "Mama say no touching, that important and not belong to others." Her eyes flickered towards the hall ahead of them. Raising a finger to her lips, she signaled for him to be quiet. "Stay here, Tari go get mama."

The man rubbed at his jaw as the girl disappeared. His desire for answers made him stay, but it looked like his planned fun was well and truly off the tables now.





"Mama!"

Kali swung her head around, relief overtaking her at the familiar sound of her daughter's voice. Not kidnapped by perverts after all. Still time for a tracking device, though.

"Mama, come come!" Tari floated into the living room and began tugging on Kali's arm.

Kali frowned, but allowed herself to be pulled to her foot and out into the hall. "What's wrong? Did something bad happen?" It seemed her panic wasn't quite gone - it began to rise again. Damn, should she go get the phone abd be ready to call Dr. Kyou for help?

Tari giggled and tugged harder. "Nopey nope, no bad. Good! Tari found man for mama."

Kali stopped where she was. Her voice and stomach dropped, as did the temperature. "What?!"

"Valuntimes Day," Tari rolled her eyes. A pout formed when Kali refused to move. "Everyone say need date for Valuntimes. Mama spend all time at home, not able find date. So Tari found for you. Come come!"

Kali was sure her face reflected her dread and she allowed herself to be dragged to the foyer. At the very least, she needed to kick this strange man out of her house. Although, how in the world had he gotten through her wards?

Entering the foyer, Kali was shocked and angered to see a figure crouched down inspecting the Chinese broadsword embedded in the marble floor. Her mouth was opening to snap something rude at him when the man stood and turned. Kali raised an eyebrow as she took him in: tall (taller than her), dark-skinned, clad in very fine clothes, very handsome (not that she would ever say so to his face)...

The man yawned, revealing sharp fangs, and his tail twitched under the inspection. He raised an eyebrow above a golden cat-slit eye. In an amused voice, he said, "Mu qin."

It was only habit that had Kali reply, "Astaroth."

Tari blinked and whipped her head back and forth between the two. This was not what she'd planned to have happen.

Snapping out of it, Kali turned to her daughter. "Tari, I'd like you to meet Astaroth. Your brother."

PRP: Window Shoppers
Characters: Tariel, Varun, Kali, Kinsey
Status: COMPLETED - PRP Thread
Link: here

Summary: Tagging along with Kali on a shopping trip for ingredients, Tariel makes an exciting new discovery - a new fishy-Raevan!

META: Stage 2 - Incubation
Characters: Tariel, Kali
Status: Complete - 1/1



Tari awoke the morning after the party feeling groggy and listless. Instead of jumping out of bed and zooming around the house til she found where her mama was, she just rolled over onto one side and hugged her pillow. The events of the party weighed on her mind. Tari wondered how Lucia, Varun and Rivener were all doing. They'd all been acting so strange last night. But televee had shown Tari that that could be normal for parties. Still, she'd thought Riv and Varun more sensible than that - especially Riv, full of helpful advice. Lucia, she didn't know enough about to really say, though Lucia's mama had certainly been surprised by the feline's actions.

Maybe it was just worry over the party that kept her in bed. Maybe. Tari just didn't feel happy today. That didn't sound so bad, but it had never happened to Tari before.

More than once, she'd found herself wishing Lazarus had been at the party last night. The first Raevan of them all was smart, and also a friend of Riv's. Maybe Laz would have been able to calm things down. Or maybe Tari was just worried about him, too. She hadn't seen Laz in so long, not since she'd taken him to Natsuki's cafe. Televee had a word for boys who didn't call again after the first date, but Tari didn't think it applied to Laz. They were friends, it wasn't like they'd kissed or anything romantic.

After a while, Tari rolled onto her back and stared at the ceiling, while her mind kept wondering from subject to another. What was Varun doing picking fights with older, bigger Raevans? Tari knew the fishy was all puffy and liked to look even bigger than he was - but Riv was clearly even bigger and had a stomach and, well, kind of dangerous looking. But not Satan, Tari quickly reminded herself. Tari hadn't thought Riv to be dangerous at all, but Riv had proven her wrong by using his poison on Varun.

"Tari? Are you in here?" a voice at the door pulled Tari from her thoughts. Tari rolled over to face the door as it opened, Kali poking her head in.

The redhead frowned when she saw Tari still in bed. Taking a seat on the side of the bed, Kali reached out and laid a hand across Tari's forehead. (Tari gave a little smile at being right about how to do this for Lucia after all. But only a little smile, and it quickly left again.) "Are you feeling alright? Tired from last night?" Kali asked.

Tari made a piteous face. "Tari no feel so good," she mumbled, half hiding her face in the pillow. "Sore. Think of bad things. No good."

Kali's face softened, and the hand moved to pet Tari's hair. "It didn't sound like the party ended well. I suppose you're just worried about your friends... Though you do seem a little warmer than usual." Perhaps it was because Tari had stayed rugged up in bed. Kali wasn't sure if she should take that chance or not. And Tari had never mentioned being sore before. Perhaps she should call Doctor Kyou. Although, Kali debated with herself, if it turned out to be nothing, wouldn't she look foolish? It wasn't like Tari's temperature had spiked or anything. Perhaps the best thing to do would be to wait and see, just for a little bit.

"Do you just want to stay in bed today?" she asked. She was torn between a smile and frown as Tari considered, then shook her head, then nodded. It seemed Tari wasn't so sure, either. "How about we move you out to the couch? I can do my research in the living room while you watch tv. And if you don't feel better by tomorrow, we'll call the Lab."

This got the first spark of interest from Tari all morning. A slightly more energetic nod followed, Tari easily being coerced by the mention of more televee. The golden Raevan held out her arms, silently demanding she be carried out to the couch.

"Uh uh," Kali held up a warning finger. "First, you promise me one thing. If you feel worse than you do right now, you tell me right away. No waiting for tomorrow to see the Doctor if you've only getting worse. Okay?"

"Okies," Tari immediately agreed. Easy promise. Televee or the Labs, both were interesting enough for Tari. And it wasn't like she enjoyed this feeling of sickness.

Promises made, Kali bent and picked up her daughter. Tari kept a grip on her top blanket, dragging it with her as Kali carried her daughter out of the room.

META PRP: Mafia Mania
Characters: Tariel, Xiu, Hazeline, Kalindara
Status: In Progress - PRP Thread
Link: here

Summary: Restless and wanting to get out of the house, Tari is taken to the mall and gets to see her first movie at the cinemas. She runs into Xiu, who saw the same movie, and hijinks ensue from the two infected Raevans...

META PRP: Museum Hi-jinks!
Characters: Tariel, Domevlo
Status: In Progress - PRP Thread
Link: here

Summary: With the infection taking hold, Tari doesn't want to go home. Running away at the end of her playdate with Xiu, Tari flees to the museum where she meets Domo. Hi-jinks ensue.