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 Posted: Thu Apr 19, 2007 9:18 pm
Kira immediately unfolded herself from the bench and stood, making with the niceties.
"And to you. Would you please sit and talk with me?" She would wait until the woman made a decision before sitting down herself.
... Awkward silence. Where to begin?
"My name is Kira. Could you... tell me what happened? I don't really remember..." she trailed off. Nervous tension forced her to slip her fingertips under her thighs, so she wouldn't fidget. Her knees were squished together too, to prevent her from moving her legs and feet around either.
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Posted: Fri Apr 20, 2007 2:03 am
Owle Isohos It had been a hectic day. Athan had nearly died. She'd charged through the fire, found her son up a tree, had to deal with a thing called Luke, the attack on Sun by both Silver and that strange woman, and just...everything. Owle was beat. She collapsed on her bed, closed her eyes, and thought she would never wake up again. Of course, one had to fall asleep first. There were still worries plaguing her mind, Sun chief among them. She hadn't seen the end of the battle...she hadn't been able to go back to him...he was her friend, and she'd allowed herself to be distracted by one thing after another, until now, here in the dark, she had enough free space to worry for his well-being. Sun?She couldn't reach him directly...she still thought he would eat her snakes if they came close. But he had been able to take a hold of one of her serpents and speak through it, without absorbing it outright... Eyes opened, staring blankly at the ceiling, and Owle focused. Two snakes slithered out of her mind, questing for the unique heat Sun gave off. They flew off into the night, and more followed, two hundred and fifty six in all, questing in all directions... Owle didn't find people because she simply knew where they were. Owle found people because she had the numbers within her to do a brute force search, spreading the snakes out and over the world until they found that scent. She sensed him, and withdrew most of the snakes, leaving only two to cautiously creep forward. Wherever Sun was, whatever he might be doing, if the snakes could get near him he would see two of the dim golden serpents wavering in the air nearby him, just...looking at him. It seemed obvious they wanted something, but what?
The snakes themselves were a surprise, making him think that he'd not actually traveled so far. Of course he recognized them. He was dressed and waiting in his room for something, glasses reflecting oddly against the shadow forms of the creatures.
He leaned forward slightly, grinned and reached out to tickle one under the chin.
"I'm alright, Owle, thank you for asking. I'm glad you didn't get caught up in the mess." Sun left it simple, but the emotions were still warm when he talked to the small beings that made up a bit of Owles magic.
They'd be able to get back to her, safe in the knowledge that Sun was alright and relatively undamaged looking."
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Posted: Fri Apr 20, 2007 8:45 pm
The night of the HoH finals
The snake pushed forward above Sun's tickling fingers, cat like, wanting its whole body to be pet. Caution cast aside in favor of pleasure.
The message traveled instantly through the serpent's form to her, and laying in her bed, Owle smiled at empty air.
"Good."
She would have said more, had she been in better shape. If she had any energy left, she would have asked a zillion questions, or at least three. She wanted to know, what that was all about. She wanted to know, if Tzenidaar was dead. And she wanted to know if Vahn was alive...surely he would be. If she'd been more awake, she might have just talked to Sun, since they hadn't gotten a chance to speak in a long while.
But Owle was exhausted, and wanted more than anything for sleep to claim her.
Whatever the fight had been about, Sun was fine. Vahn would live. And the creature called Tzenidaar was unlikely to show up on her door.
With a peaceful smile on Owle's lips, the shifter allowed mind and body to relax at last.
"Goodnight, Sun. Sleep well."
And the snakes withdrew, though the one lingered slightly, hoping for just a little more petting...
Then it, too, was gone, leaving Sun to do whatever it was he believed he had to do.
The morning after the HoH finals
"Of course!" Owle exclaimed, obliged to please. She sat so fast it was a miracle the chair didn't topple over.
She just sat there, fidgeting, until Kira spoke. First with her hands, clasping and unclasping their fingers, then with strands of her long blue hair. Tugging here, working a tangle there, occasionally simply running through but never managing to be still. Her eyes never strayed far from the woman's face, yet somehow managed always to avoid Kira's eyes.
"Um...well..." Owle splayed her hands out on her lap, lost. "Where do I begin?"
She looked helplessly at Kira, then started. "You were...attacking a friend of mine. I don't know why. You were trying to get to a battle, between Vahn and this thing. And you...and I..."
She shook her head. Though it had been only yesterday, it seemed like it was ages ago: out of reach and difficult to recall. "I think I asked you why you were doing it. Mentally. You know...telepathically. And, you screamed at me...I just felt all this anger and rage and bitterness, and, well...I didn't think!"
She seemed frantic, like someone who'd been caught for a crime they'd committed and regretted, wanting forgiveness but unwilling to ask outright. "I just yelled back, cause I didn't know what else to do..."
She trailed off, sliding her gaze down to the floor. "I think...that I made you stop feeling. Just for a moment. And then something happened, you stopped breathing...I brought you back, but you seemed weak. We, talked for a moment....then Rain brought you here."
Cycling through the memories in her mind, that was what she thought had happened. Or at least, as succinct a summary as Kira was going to get.
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Posted: Sat Apr 21, 2007 6:41 am
"I see," she stated plainly; knowing full well that she still couldn't remember any of it. The reminder was worth a shot at jogging her memory, she supposed. At least she hadn't been aware enough to make a bigger mess.
Kira looked down at her lap, lines creasing her forehead as she tried to recall something-- anything at all. Then she peeked back up at the woman.
"You said we... spoke? About what?" Great. She must have been blabbering about something important; something she probably shouldn't have been blabbering about. The possibilities murdered her insides as she waited for an answer.
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Posted: Sat Apr 21, 2007 5:26 pm
Mmmm... Barefoot! Something Luke had been unable to enjoy for some time... He would move down the stairs in a soundless leap, only to spring forward, slicing over the railing to roll into the main room, avoiding upsetting anything important by stopping himself with his hands, preforming a brief handstand and sending himself flying out the door.
Here, he would land on his feet, facing the door, before turning to watch Cass barking and cornering some fellow.. well, he assumed the fellow was on the roof, since her attention was faced towards there. Walking out smoothly, he'd fluff the big girl's back before turning and looking.
"Oh. It's you. Good morning!" He says somewhat cheerily, before just standing there, stroking the wolf's back, who had calmed down when the man had come out.
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Posted: Sun Apr 22, 2007 7:46 am
"About...home," Owle remembered, dredging up the brief conversation from the edges of her memory. "You said that man could get you home. I don't remember much more than that..."
She did, in truth, remember more. She had spoken to Kira about how she was feeling, and about the healer named Deren. But she doubted the woman would be concerned about any of that, as they might as well have been talking about the weather.
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Posted: Sun Apr 22, 2007 10:53 am
Kira sighed with relief, putting her head in her hands. She was almost shaking with joy that she hadn't given away anything more important than that.
"Thank you, miss...? I'm sorry, I've been rude. I don't even know your name." She stood up and bowed in apology.
"And it seems I owe you a great deal, as well. You prevented me from hurting others and myself."
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Posted: Sun Apr 22, 2007 2:10 pm
Random Stranger #36 Cass would blink, whipping her head to the side and upward, looking at the man on the roof. She would immediately start barking, tail whipping left and right, sending loose dirt flying as she romped back and forth, curious as to where the stranger had come from. It was quickly obvious that the Wolf(Bear is a figure of speech. She's just a wolf. A big wolf.) wasn't Ms. Owle at all, but an animal of the simplest creed, though behind the face, behind the instinct, there was a sentient human, trapped in a free ticket out of certain death. As the dire wolf started to bark at Rain, he blinked in return, his face aghast with shock. He looked down at the wolf, then his vision trailed to the large bowl of food he was gorging himself upon. He casually slid it a bit further back, off his lap and out of line of sight from the ground, and rubbed the back of his head. "Ah, don't worry, Ms. Owle! I wasn't going to leave without paying! Honest!""Its just some fruit in a bowl! Nothing major! Just... a few pieces! Not a lot at all!""Oh, I'll be fine up here! I can get down easily enough! You needn't worry about me!""Uhh... what about the lady I brought in? Did you talk with her yet? Is she okay?""Ummm... okay, I give up. What's wrong, Ms. Owle?"After a few more moments of being puzzled about being barked at, a second entity walked through the same doors the wolf had barrelled through. Luke "Oh. It's you. Good morning!" He says somewhat cheerily, before just standing there, stroking the wolf's back, who had calmed down when the man had come out. Rain stared at the two of them for a few seconds, confuzzled. "Good... morning." he started, before he figured out exactly what was going on. "Oh, no! That lady was really the transmitter of a werewolf disease, and its turning all the inhabitants of the tavern into wolves!" Since the dire wolf was white, not blue like he would expect Owle to be, he had assumed that this wolf was a different victim, perhaps a dwarf. How else would that wolf have gotten in without anyone noticing? On top of that, since Luke was acting friendly towards it, he must be infected too! Rain quickly leapt downwards off the roof, landing with an audible WHAM! as he landed in a crouch, using his knuckles and the balls of his feet only as contact points. He had landed a few feet away from the boy and the wolf, and he quickly turned to Luke for assistance. "I don't know who that is, but with whatever humanity you have remaining, restrain 'em before the infection spreads! I'll go save the rest!" Without waiting for any sort of response or explanation, he turned and bolted back into the tavern, shouting the following statement: "I'LL SAVE YOU, OWLE!"
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Posted: Sun Apr 22, 2007 2:56 pm
(GOD RAIN YOU'RE HILLARIOUS. Dx I was lolling through out the whole thing.)
Well, when you got to the truth of what Luke was, that kind of... hit the nail on the head.He was a Werewolf. But not of the infected-and-possessing-the-mania persuasion. He wasn't a threat, and nor was Cass. "Go play, Cass. I'm gonna handle this."
He'd persue Rain at a run, launching himself through the doors and probably right into the man's back.
"Hey look, I am like that but not entirely. I can't infect, but--"
A bowl outside would smash, falling the distance from the roof to the ground.
At that point, gusto stopped, he would just shut up and stand there, stretching and yawning as morning wake-up routine started.
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Posted: Sun Apr 22, 2007 6:57 pm
Owle had to stop herself from reaching a hand out to Kira in concern as the woman rested her head in her hands. Something seemed to be moving Kira in a way Owle could not fathom, and she feared Kira was still fatigued from her ordeal.
"Owle," she answered simply, feeling strange sitting down while Kira was standing. She nodded in return to the bow, then gripped the sides of her chair, preparing to stand.
"You owe me nothing. If I hadn't attacked you..."
Though it seemed no harm had been done, Owle spoke as though she had crippled Kira for life.
"I'LL SAVE YOU, OWLE!" Rain's voice assaulted her ears as the tavern door burst open, admitting a dashing Rain who seemed perturbed about something. For the moment, Owle could only stare, stupidly, in his direction.
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Posted: Sun Apr 22, 2007 7:42 pm
"Huff... puff... huff... puff..."
Rain stood in the middle of the main hall of the tavern, the only sound besides is rapid breath was the swinging of the door closed slowly, quietly, behind him. He met the stares of everyone who was gazing at him, his fists clenched as his body was curled into an offensive fighting position.
"..."
After blinking a few times, he loosened up, standing tall over the course of another handful of seconds. Turning towards Owle and Kira, he blinked a few more times, and gave one more cautious look to his side, before speaking.
"So, ah... no werewolves?"
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Posted: Sun Apr 22, 2007 8:10 pm
Kira winced and straightened at Rain's shouts, shooting him a confused, slightly annoyed look. He'd actually hurt her sensitive ears with his shouts, and she obviously didn't appreciate it all that much. However, she turned back to Owle rather quickly.
"There is no need to apologize for your actions. My behavior was rash, and I was liable to injure myself and others. I owe you very much, Owle."
She bowed her head, ashamed.
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Posted: Mon Apr 23, 2007 1:23 pm
"Uh... alright then. Everything here seems to be in order. I'll just... be on my way then. Yeeeaaahhhh." he said in a lower, calmer tone. As he spoke, he took a few reluctant steps backwards, hinting at the door by pointing his thumb over his shoulder.
Opening the front door, he took one backwards step outside, and gave an innocent wave to all the patrons that were about. He turned and took another step, and *splat!*
He stopped dead in his tracks, looking down at the ground. He had just stepped in half of a watermelon. He stared at his foot for a second, and as the door began to close, he spoke up in a deeply annoyed voice: "Well, that's just*click!*
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Posted: Mon Apr 23, 2007 7:22 pm
Blink. Blink. Stare.
"Um...no," Owle said to Rain, then assumed what she hoped was a reassuring tone. "No werewolves here."
She watched his comic departure, then turned to Kira once more.
"You really don't owe me anything," Owle shook her head again. "I'm just glad no one's hurt."
Should I find something for her to do, to make her feel better about being in my debt, and so she won't owe me anymore? What could I ask her to do...?
Owle drew a blank. She didn't know any of this woman's unique abilities, and any mundane tasks she could more or less handle herself.
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Posted: Mon Apr 23, 2007 9:04 pm
"You seem like a very capable person," she stated, head still bowed. "I don't know what I could offer you that you would not be able to do yourself. But if there is anything you need done or would like to know, please, ask."
Kira looked up, straight into Owle's eyes. The look on her face spoke of nothing short of true sincerity. She would stop at nothing and bare all for the woman that had, in all honesty, saved her life.
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