[PLOTPRP] Blood in the Bottle - Eachann x Vanya. [Fin]

[shadica]

Eachann was glad that his friend had agreed to watch Melanthios while he went to find out more about the mysterious messages in the bottle that had been found at the carnival. The pae who handed him the contents of the bottle had suggested that he ask the Seer, Vanya, about it. It sounded like a good idea to him now all the faun had to do was find a good time to talk to her.

He decided to head down the the tavern and grab something to drink before checking when the Seer would be available to talk. He sat down near the counter of the bar after ordering his drink. It wouldn't belong before the beverage was ready. His mind wondered back to the note as he waited. The words 'Help Me' had been writing in blood. It was clear that the Pae who had written the letter needed help but the bottle was dug out of the beach, who knows how long it had been there. He wondered if it was all ready to late for them, still he had to find out.  

[Teigra]

Having slipped into and out of the dining hall with only a handful of other Faun being aware of her presence, the dark faunness entered the tavern without fanfare, her hooves making little sound on Laisidhiel's floor. She didn't try to draw attention to herself from the tavern's other patrons, only making the motion to one of the staff behind the bar who rushed over to assist. He listened for a moment, cast a glance around as if searching for the bar's owner, then looked back to the spotted female. After a moment, he left her there to retrieve something from the bar, returning with a flask a few minutes later.

Vanya accepted the flask, holding it up and giving it a gentle shake. Verifying that it was mostly full, she seemed satisfied and moved to exchange it with one much like it, but lighter, at her waist. She tossed the empty one onto the bar top and nodded to the unspoken query. "Yes, that will be all I need. Thank you." As she turned to go, her unseeing eyes scanned over the tavern's patrons before casting towards the floor once more. Feeling a chill set in, she thought, 'This is getting harder...even the tavern doesn't feel right anymore...'

For a moment, her gaze had lingered somewhere in the vicinity of the bar counter...but no, she was inside Laisidhiel...there shouldn't be anything odd here. Not with all the guards on high alert after the attack...they wouldn't allow any outsiders in here...clearly her mind was playing tricks on her. It did that sometimes these days. Shaking her head, she turned away from the bar to leave.
 

[shadica]

Eachann thanked the bartender as he paid for the dring. The faun slowly sipped his drink as he thought over the note. While the note itself was creepy the bloody feather made him even more nervous. Who knew what kind of creature it had come from? While it could have simply been the quill used to write the bloody note he wondered if the writer had pulled out one of their own feathers to do so. while he didn't have any feathers the thought made him shudder a bit. He was so wrapped up in thought that he almost didn't notice that Vanya had ordered a drink. The other faun was nearly out the door by the time he noticed her.

He placed his drink down and went after her, calling out once he had managed to catch up. After which he paused awkwardly unsure of what to say. "Sorry for bothering you but I was wondering if there was a time we could talk? I was wondering if you could look somethings that were found in bottle, a note and a feather to be precise." He hoped she would find a time to discus it soon, while he didn't want to inconvenience her the note seemed to have a sense of urgency around it. After all people do not usually write in blood for no reason, even if its a cry for help.  

[Teigra]

There was no mistaking that she was the one being called out to. She wished she could have pretended not to hear...to have believed he was looking for someone else...but no such luck. Of course someone wanted her attention. Someone always wanted her attention.

Just because you want to deny it, it doesn't change the fact that you have a job to do, you coward.

Truth, but that didn't mean she had to like it. She'd rather just pull away for a while, into the quiet...

With a deep breath, the Seer turned towards the voice. Male, but not one she recognized personally. As she waited for him to catch up, she could feel the anxiety starting to build. Calm, Vanya...just one Faun...talk to him for a bit, see what he wants, then you can go on your way...

The anxiety didn't wane, however, no matter how she tried to reassure herself. In fact, the closer the other Faun got, the more nervous and sick she felt. Wait...it wasn't...him...was it? She barely heard what he said...something about wanting her to look at some things...she was distracted by the aura and feeling that brushed against her senses...

Subconsciously, she'd taken a few hoofsteps back from the stranger, her face twisting momentarily with rage and possibly...fear. "What...what did you bring in here? Why did you bring it here? Into Laisidhiel?!?"
 

[shadica]

Eachann took a startled step back as the seer shouted at him, it had never occurred to him that the message could be something bad, well other than for the one to who wrote it. The note and feather seemed rather harmless to him, it appeared however that he was very very wrong. While he wasn't sure what he had done he hoped that he would be able to fix it. "I-I am sorry, I did not know what it was nor that it might be dangerous. I shall go outside the tree and dispose of it at once, forgive me." He said his tail switching anxiously as he spoke. While the outburst had made him even more curious as to the meaning and contents of the bottle, the safety of Laisidhiel was far more important and if it truly was a threat every second longer the item remained in the tree made things worse and there was not time for idle chatter or explanations.  

[Teigra]

Suppressing a shudder and going against what her instincts were telling her, Vanya held up a hand to stop the stranger. "Wait! I...forgive me, but....could we at least go somewhere less...open to discuss this? I...don't know what it is that you have with you...but it would be better to know than leave you to deal with it alone and unknowing." That much was true at least, even if she still felt ill on some level at keeping close to whatever this thing was that was stirring up such anxiety and fear within her.

Taking stock in her mind of where they stood, and subconsciously biting her lip (an old nervous habit), she gestured towards a quiet area of the bottom floor of Laisidhiel, near one of the inner walls. A few seating areas were carved there for those who wished to have somewhere to talk or socialize. Though she couldn't see, she could sense the area wasn't heavily populated at this hour. Many would be in the tavern or still finishing up at the dining hall. "Please...forgive my outburst. Best we find out exactly what it is you have, and what to do about it. Could we...find a table to ourselves for a moment?" She took a couple hesitant steps towards the seating area, then paused to see if the stranger would take her invitation.
 

[shadica]

Eachann turned back hearing Vanya starting to speak again. He was anxious about the item and wanted to deal with it before it caused problems but the seer had a point, it was better to know what he was dealing with. "No, its my fault don't worry about it. Of course, that would probably be best." He said as he started to walk back.

"A table sounds good." He responded as he caught up to her in the seating area. The area was practically deserted so it wasn't hard to find a free table. He was not sure which to choose however and paused for a moment before setting the glass bottle on the closest table and siting down.  

[Teigra]

Letting the other Faun take the lead, Vanya followed the sounds of his hoof steps on the floor. Her own steps were quiet, unnaturally so, as if she was purposefully trying not to draw attention to herself. The glass bottle made a distinctive clunk noise when set on the table, and her ear flicked forwards, pinpointing the source. She battled the brief, but intense, urge to take a drink from the flask she'd picked up from the tavern. Not now. Work to do.

Reaching out, she took a hesitant step or two until her hand touched the table and she used that as a guide to reach for one of the seats. As she was seated, she took a deep breath, then addressed Eachann. "Alright...if you could, please, tell me exactly what it is you have brought me, and under what circumstances you came to possess it? Any and all information is appreciated, sir..." she trailed off, realizing they had yet to be properly introduced.

"I'm sorry...I suppose you know who I am, but I'm afraid I don't know your name." She really was out of practice. "Should we start again from the beginning? A proper introduction. Lady Vanya," she said with a polite incline of her head.  

[shadica]

"Ahh of course! I am Eachann. It is nice to met you." He said feeling a bit embarrassed that he had forgotten to introduce himself. "As for the contents, the bottle contains a note with the words 'Help me' written in blood and a feather that appears to be covered in the same blood." He was unsure if he should dump out the contents or leave them in the bottle. He opted to leave it as is figuring that it was a best not to mess with them too much if it was something tainted.

"The bottle was found during the carnival buried in the sand by Melanthios, my uhh child." He paused for a moment before continuing. "I guess they where having some sort of game on the beach and the bottle was found, the pae running the booth made him come find me because this particular bottle was not one of the prizes." Rais hadn't forbidden the faun from going to the carnival and The pae's concern and surprise over the feather had seemed genuine to him so the horse like faun had assumed it was a safe abide strange object. Unfortunately it seemed like that was not the case. He just hoped that the object was not anything too bad.  

[Teigra]

"A pleasure, Eachann," she nodded in return, then fell silent to listen to his tale. A tale though brief, intriguing...and more than a bit concerning. If she noticed the hesitation when Eachann mentioned his child, she showed nothing more than a curious flick of her ear. Her attention was being pulled elsewhere...towards the objects she could feel that sat before her.

Darkness.

'Help me.'

She would not have wanted to open the bottle, even if she could have seen the note herself. Knowing what it said was enough. She could feel chills at her spine as she spoke softly, "This is no prize, certainly, nor any part of a game..."

Despite instinct screaming at her not to, she reached out a hand towards the bottle. She didn't touch it, only held her hand near, sightless eyes focused on something beyond normal sight. "...darkness. Darkness all around...no light..." she murmured warily. She'd had much worse readings before...

Should not have thought such things so soon.

A wave of sickness washed over her like an ocean's wave and her expression flickered, wavering before she continued. "Alone...but not alone...and sick...like something eating away...wasting away..." It was a disorienting and disturbing sensation and she wished the next message would hurry to replace it....until it did.

Pain...excruciating pain... She pulled her hand away as if she'd been burned...but it was a far different pain from that. That she was far too familiar with...and this was different... With a hissing intake of breath, she pulled her hand against her torso, curling in on herself. Pain...adrenaline...fear...she struggled to keep some sense of control over her own panic, separate from what she'd felt from reading the strange object...though her heart fluttered frantically within her chest.

It was a few minutes before she could speak again, and even then, she was still obviously shaken. Just the memory of the pain she'd felt lingered long after the feeling itself...stirring up memories...

"...I...I'm sorry, no more..." She shuddered. "I can't tell you what that is...only that it came from...someone. Someone who is...or at least was...in pain at the time. And in darkness..." She hesitated before speaking further. "I do not know if this bodes ill for us, or only for the one I felt, but...they seemed...to need help. Help I am afraid I don't know how to give." Vanya reached up, rubbing her arms as if the air had gone chill. "I am sorry...I don't have anything more to tell you."

*****

((Congratulations!...? Eachann (and Melanthios) have found a Fallen Angel feather! Though they don't yet know what this might mean, perhaps if they hold onto it...they might learn more than they ever imagined...))  

[shadica]

The white haired faun listened intently to the seer's words. Frowning slightly at the mention of darkness and sickness. Alone but not alone? Was it loneliness that was eating away at them? No it seemed to be something much darker than that. A place where there was no light, where they underground? His tail switched behind him thoughtfully as he tried to puzzle out what could be happening.

Hearing the sharp intake of breath the faun's head snapped up to look at Vanya. He hadn't realized he had started to stare at the bottle while he was thinking. Seeing the seer curled up in fear or pain, possibly both alarmed the faun and he stood up quickly."Lady Vanya!" He cried out startled and unsure what to do. "A-are you all right?" It was rather a stupid question as clearly she wasn't he grabbed the bottle and was about to throw it as far away form her as he could when she started to speak again. Eachann turned back to face the seer. "I'm sorry." He said softly, sadness lacing into his voice, he hadn't expected anything like this to happen when they got the small bottle. She had clearly been in pain and it was his fault. "I know more than I did before. You've help a lot thank you."

The feather did belong to someone, He was not sure how he would end up finding the person but he'd try. Maybe he would figure out this mystery or maybe it would lead to nothing, he didn't know but he could at least try to figure it out. Pain and Darkness, he was not sure he liked the sound of it. He'd worry more about this mystery tomorrow, it was getting late and he figured he should grab Melanthios from Avidan's before the Paeterpiller started to eat everything.