Lural
Oi! I made this thing... and I posted it in my journal but here it is in case you want to reference it. I thought it might be about time to get the family together and make fun of Wally and his stupid memory fail. And maybe help him remember some crap? I dunno xD Skip to the next post if you dun wanna look at this here thing and I started an RP for Jun and any of the love children to enter if you want blaugh
Gabrielle strolled through the woods on her way to visit her friend Cupcake, thinking (as she often did) about everything that has happened since the war. It was such a horrible time, but things are so amazing now it's hard to focus on the pain and destruction. The Cozy Cabin is flourishing, new life is everywhere (she thinks of Pho fondly), her relationship with Xena has evolved into something way more than just friendship (she blushes), and her relationship with her brother Joxer is stronger than it has ever been. It's really come out okay... except for Dad of course.
That is the one black spot in her otherwise bright future. She misses him so much and sometimes it's all she can do to get up in the morning and go about her day, smiling, chatting, and living a normal life, when internally she is still so numb from what happened. How can he be gone> Just... gone? And this stupid ridiculous chance that she clings to that maybe he isn't dead. Maybe he's just... trapped somewhere or missing. She can't get rid of it. And everyone keeps telling her to but she CAN'T. He's her dad and she was closer to him than anybody, and she just... she won't ever give up hope for him.
She's so caught up in her thoughts and knows the path to Cupcake's so well that she isn't really paying attention to where she is going. Just letting her peripheral memory guide her. It's because of this that she doesn't realize exactly what she is getting ready to trip over.
"Oof!"
She glances down at what her claws just tangled in and sees a faint silver hue. She leans down and upon closer inspection realizes it's her mom's necklace. "What... mom?" She picks the jewelry up and looks around like her mom will just be standing there somewhere. "Wait... this can't be mom's. She NEVER takes it off...." She hears a rustle in the bushes to her right and her heart starts hammering. She's getting a bit freaked out now.
Taking a deep breath she moves slowly towards the bushes, the necklace wrapped around her paw. "Whose there?" She calls out, way more confidently than she feels at the moment. Fake it til you make it as Xena would tell her.
The bushes shake again and a figure emerges from between them. A wild eyes demon, bloody, dusty, panting, and generally looking the worse for wear. Gabby takes a quick step back and tries to figure out how to help this poor creature, even though a very large part of her is screaming to run away. But she can't, that's just not who she is. "Um... hi." She keeps her voice low and is about to ask some questions but stops with a small gasp. The demon has shifted slightly and she can now see what she hadn't before. Which happens to be a shell she remembers only too well riding on top of, splashing through the pond, as a child.
She stutters a bit and reclaims her small step back, moving closer. "Dad...? Is that...? I'm sure it's you." Something about the look in his eyes keeps her from literally jumping on him in joy. "Hi, Dad. It's me, Gabrielle... Do you, um, do you recognize me?" She steps the smallest bit forward until they are within touching distance. She glances down at the necklace still in her paw and holds it out, very slowly, until it rests just under his head.
He stares at the creature in front of him. His mind is so strange and he knows it is strange but he doesn't know how or why. He knows this is a demon, like himself, he knows she is female, he can almost feel some form of familiarity but... it's not there. He knows how to talk, he knows how to eat and drink, he knows random things like what grass is softer and what pools of water are cool and refreshing and what are muddy and buggy. But he can't remember names, of anything really.
She is holding something out to him. It's that necklace. He had been staring at it for hours after he dug his way out of the rubble and got some food and water. Staring at it and trying to will himself to remember it. Remember SOMETHING. It must be important, he woke up clutching it with a death grip in his paw. He can feel it's important but he has no memory of why. Eventually, in frustration, he had cursed (something else he strangely seems to remember all too well? and hurled it away from him through the trees. Of course almost immediately he wanted it back. So he had set off looking for it and now this... oddly familiar girl had it.
He looks at her again, trying to sort out his stupid fragile brain but nothing was coming to him. Slowly he reached out and took the necklace from her hand and reached up to wrap it securely around one of his horns. Like with so many things right now, it just felt right there. Even if he couldn't remember why. "Thanks." He muttered, his voice hoarse from disuse or dust, he couldn't tell.
Gabby smiled and set her paw back down. Well, that was a start. She tried again, "Do you... know who I am." She held her breath and only released it in a big giant puff when her dad shook his head no. So, he's lost his memory somehow... Okay. She could deal with this. With a resolute nod of her head she gave him a soft sweet smile, the smile she knew he couldn't resist before, because she would often use it to get him to say yes to stuff as a kid. "Weeeell I know you. Would you like to come walk with me? I'll show you the way home. I know you might not remember it, but maybe I can help you." She turned back toward the cabin and looked at him over her shoulder, waiting to see if he would follow her. Please... please follow, she thought.
He hesitated. While he was literally dying... okay not LITERALLY but whatever, dying to figure out where all of these blank spots in his mind had gone, he had no idea if he could trust this demon. She seemed nice, and that smile was simply the most adorable thing ever and he really just wanted to say yes to anything she said, that didn't mean he should! But what was his alternative? Walking around the woods until... what? He had a sudden epiphany? With a shrug he walked up next to her and looked down into her eyes. "Well, lead the way, Dorothy."
She was so relieved he was following her she almost missed his comment. She cocked her head at him, "My name is Gabrielle... not Dorothy."
"Yeah, well. You're weird and you're leading me on this kind of dirty-yellowish... looking road sooo... Dorothy."
Gabby surprised herself by with a sudden burst of laughter. "You, you're referencing The Wizard of Oz at me? That you remember but not your own daughter's name? Actually, that makes perfect sense." She grinned at hi9m and then started walking back the way she had come, her dad keeping pace next to her.
Woah. What? He had a daughter? Weird. He didn't seem like he would be the type of demon to be a father. Huh. "Yeah well, I don't know why either but I have a whole lot of movies up in here," he tapped a claw to his forehead. "But not a freaking clue about anything relating to my life. Not even my name. Go figure."
Gabby smiled to herself. Seems his sense of humor was still intact. "Well your name is Wallace, but you usually go by Wally." She bumped him lightly with her shoulder as they walked and proceeded to tell him as much about himself as she could remember while they went home.
