Lore of Leyuna RPG (FRPG)

[C S]

Not long after Johnathon gave Natalie his offer, things were underway to start her stride again. The detective would pull whatever strings he could, ask as much favors as he needed, even make his appeal to Desrium personally if he had to. He would do everything in his power to see that Natalie was acquitted of her charges. It was a mess from a legal standpoint; Johnathon was only an investigator, not a judge, so he technically had no authority over the matter. His findings and input were resources for others with the proper positions to make their decisions.

Nevertheless, this was what he as a human being felt needed to be done, the avenues dictated by sheets of paper be damned. It was a cardinal sin to ever breach impartiality like this in his line of work, but he saw no other way, and if the law mandated that Natalie needed to be punished for a persona she no longer had...

In that case, the law failed in its purpose to protect the lives of the governed.

Something to explore later, along with notions of resignation. "Carrying the bloodied to the hospital and saving a life from persecution. If this is the last good deed I do as a Coat, then that will be enough for me."

Johnathon told Jesse what needed to be done after assessing how things had gone in dispatching Charles. The "cleanup crew" would deal with the preparations for burial, and the officer would go seek solace in a place of worship to come to terms with the duty that came with her profession. Jesse had no qualms with what Johnathon was setting out to do, granted, she was not of the mind to debate. She had her own head to sort out, and was relieved that her workmate had found another calling to focus on. Jesse felt that she couldn't offer much help if she had her own troubles to get over. She lent her coat to Natalie.


Thus, the search was on to find Viho. He couldn't have gotten far in such a relatively short time, and once Johnathon and Natalie found him, they could get on with finding his student, the one Natalie needed to make peace with on behalf of Snicker. Only then could she move on to making a life for herself and rejoining society at large. If they only knew that they were on the way to finding them both.

Walking speedily along and asking around, their big lead being the owner of the stand where Viho ordered his meal, it took but a fraction of the hour to reach where the elf had taken Dahnae.

The park where they had first met, as it turned out, next to the old university that was now a general archive.

[Hopeflower]

The low tones of Viho's voice could just be heard as he chatted a bit aimlessly with his student. With Dahnae, conversation tended not to have a direction, exactly, so it was a chance for him to just roll with things as best as he was able instead of trying to take charge. Thus the set of his shoulders was a little easier, his spine a little less stiff than he usually carried himself. Unaware that this fragile peace was about to be disturbed...for the moment.

[C S]

"I've seen crook-bills before," Dahnae was telling Viho in reference to the tooth she had seen him with on Solstice day. It didn't mean much at the time, but now she found it apt to share her knowledge of the sunshine and heavy rains that frequented her homeland. "I did not think they lived anywhere that wasn't muddy and tree-filled. Swamp and jungle is their home, where it is warm all the time, and they can bite-bite things all day and no one would know unless they went looking. And that's a bad thing to do," she said before rubbing her nose. "Unless you have a kaburis. A sword thingy, except it's bent forwards instead of being straight-stabby. If you have a kaburis, you can fight crook-bills for food. They taste good."

[Hopeflower]

"They do," Viho agreed. "We don't often see ones as big as this one was, where he was caught." He reached up to gently touch where the tooth was pressing against his chest. A threat to the children, the adults had agreed. "The big ones usually hang around in the deeper rivers, near the coast." Making it impossible for kids to swim in them. He remembered very clearly being warned about the dangers of fresh water. Crocodiles, sharp-toothed fish, even the odd shark made it so the children were never allowed near the riverbanks.

Of course, not every kid listened. And not every kid that disobeyed came back.

[C S]

"He made a mistake. Tasty mistake for everyone else. Handy for tough clothes too," Dahnae responded. Her nose twitched right after, and in the next second she was up on the bench, one knee braced against the back to pounce. Her eyes were fixed on the two figures she knew, and the two of them stopped in their tracks several yards away. Dahnae was alright with the man; it was the woman she had a problem with. Why she was wearing the same green coat as the detective was beyond the jungle girl. On top of the other pressing concern, why the detective wasn't doing anything to restrain her.

[Hopeflower]

Upon spotting what had Dahnae so agitated, Viho moved to put himself between Natalie and his student. Not a huge barrier, with the leaps she was capable of, but hopefully coupled with a quiet "wait", it was enough that Dahnae wouldn't throw herself at anyone before he knew what was going on.

"Johnathon. Natalie," he greeted them. "Out for a walk?" Unlikely, given the circumstances.

[C S]

"Out for a beating," Dahnae threatened in her gravelly growling language. It had Natalie especially shaken after what Johnathon had said about the girl she almost killed. She had no idea what Dahnae's words were but she could imagine fangs growing in her mouth, eager to bite into her skin. Seeing this, Johnathon pulled her back a few paces and stepped forwards to the same end as Viho's. Not much, but maybe enough to stop things from immediately falling apart.

"I'd say so, in only the most literal sense. However, it's very apparent that we don't have time to deal with the literal, and must skip to the subtext of our second meeting today," Johnathon replied. "If it isn't a bad time, miss Gardener would like a word with your student."

Dahnae said something else in her mother tongue, something Viho could glean parts of. Even with the patchy translation, he knew that what Dahnae wanted wasn't something Natalie could part with in any particular way.

[Hopeflower]

Viho turned just enough to see Dahnae over his shoulder and uttered a short phrase that was almost musical compared to her rough tones. "Be still for now, little warrior." Keeping one eye on the shapeshifter, he directed toward Natalie, "I don't know that there'd ever be a good time, per se, but you may speak." Dahnae's ears were sharp enough that they didn't need to let the women any closer to one another. There had been enough bloodshed today.

[C S]

"Speak? Now?" Natalie inquired nervously. She glanced about the open field, seeing other people passing through the park on the cobblestone paths. A couple or so of them had stopped, and were watching things unfold. Nosy or concerned, Natalie couldn't tell from where she was standing "Uh." She looked to Johnathon, who nodded to her encouragingly. Finally, her eyes went to Dahnae. Despite the fire in them, the girl wasn't charging over to bite her throat out. Shakily, she began, "You have every right to be angry with me. More than angry. Maybe I deserve your hatred, and I will accept if you never forgive me in your life. I just felt it would be extremely cowardly of me to not find you, and apologize. The truth is, I don't remember what happened that night, but there is no doubt that you do, and I will never be able to take that hurt away. Maybe this will help you heal; I'm don't know."

Natalie held her arms out and then let them fall to her sides again, showing that she was as she was and nothing more.

"Cats heal fast," Dahnae countered simply. Natalie cocked her head. That wasn't the response she was expecting.

"Pardon me?"

"Cats heal fast, no words are needed."

Natalie stammered. "Alright?"

"Go away, Weirdo Spook."

[Hopeflower]

That was, Viho thought, the best they could have expected. Certainly more than he'd expected Natalie might have to say. He cut Johnathon an inquisitive sidelong look. He hadn't thought Natalie would be told the truth about who she'd been, what she'd done, but it had been out of his hands from the moment he'd left her to the Green-Coats' care. It was a brave move. A trusting - and potentially stupid - move.

At least it hadn't been too much for the former would-be arsonist.

Viho didn't move or relax his guard, though that was more for Natalie's safety than Dahnae's. "I don't imagine that was all you wanted." That he'd been sought out at all suggested there was something more.

[C S]

"I had this idea that I'd feel better than I do now if I tried to set things straight... as straight as I can, I mean," Natalie explained with a sense that she was more lost than she already had been. "It didn't really work out that way but... there's nothing much I can do about it. I would like to think that this 'Snicker' person I've been told about... 'Weirdo Spook'... is something far removed from myself, but I can't. It feels like it's been another life, but it was by my two hands that she had to be sent off to a clinic."

"You've done your part on this side of things. The only thing left to do is to put this all behind you," Johnathon said to her. Directing his attention to Viho, he went on to say, "I understand how you feel. This wouldn't have been much of a social visit if you two weren't together already." If nothing else, he was validated in reasoning Viho would have had an idea where Dahnae was in the city at a given time.

[Hopeflower]

Viho hummed his understanding. He'd turned to Dahnae and started to suggest she go and find Firel and cool down a bit when the sound of a heavy door being opened and swinging shut split the air. Distracted, he cocked his head to see who was coming out of the archives. And bit his tongue when he recognized curly red hair and the woman it belonged to.

Fate was mocking him today.

Vix looked up from tucking the stolen journal securely in her bag and froze. Oh. Wasn't that just her luck? The one day she'd wheedled her way into going to buy a hot drink without one of her companions - because it really wasn't far, going to the stand and back - and she ran into Viho.

"Uh, sorry," the innkeeper said uncertainly, taking in the people he was with. She'd interrupted...something. "Um. Can I just...?" she offered a little awkwardly, inching forward as though to scoot between the two parties.

"Of course, Vixen." Viho took a step back, to give her room. He cleared his throat. "I trust you've been well?"

"Oh, um, yeah." Vix blinked, looking a little bewildered, and rubbed the back of her neck. This was weird. She wasn't scared of him, not exactly, but she'd never expected to be making small talk with Viho of all people. "As well as can be expected, I suppose. And...you?"

The corner of his mouth twitched in a manner that was disconcertingly familiar. "Much the same," he replied.

Vix nodded, then looked at the others again and said uncertainly. "Uh, forgive me. I feel very rude. I'm Vix. Vix Adsila. Nice to meet you."

[C S]

"N-Natalie Gardener." She looked at her feet as she spoke, finding some shame in the name. This was who the girl on the bench scorned so, and now she would have a name to go with the face she hated.

"I know what your name is," Dahnae said in an accusing manner. "It's too nice for you."

It was the Green-Coat's turn to give a questioning look. It fell on Viho and was gone in the next instant as he introduced himself. "Johnathon Doris."

[Hopeflower]

Viho set a hand on Dahnae's shoulder and squeezed gently. "This is one of my students," he offered in her stead, "Dahnae Araya."

A few pieces of the puzzle slid into place. Not enough to provide a full picture of what she'd walked into, but enough that Vix tilted her head, glanced from Viho to Dahnae to Johnathon, and murmured, "Ah." She tucked a loose curl behind her ear, leaving the scar on her face plain for them all to see. "I'd heard...well. I'm happy to see that you're doing well."

[C S]

"Doing mittens." At that, Dahnae took hers off and put them in Viho's gloved hand, unknowingly demonstrating the brace to Vix. Likewise, she inadvertently exposed her hands to the heavy chill resting over the city, and she promptly took them back and put them on. Dahnae felt she made her point and brought herself over the bench to stand next to her teacher, all but ready to leave.

Johnathon was good at looking stoic, but he had to admit things were stacked against Natalie. The girl just wasn't normal.

[The Kingpin]

"Hold on, Vix! I've changed my...mind."

Andruil found himself stumbling to a slightly less elegant halt than he felt was fitting for him, when he spotted the group together. That sinking sensation that followed was by no means unfamiliar. Spotting Viho, Dahnae, Johnathon and Natalie of all people in one place was certainly not the most uncomfortable collection of faces he'd ever seen. But the fact that he knew exactly what made seeing them together uncomfortable, and the weight behind it all, made the experience all the more disconcerting.

"Ah...Greetings, Viho, John. Dahnae... Natalie," he stated a bit too slowly to hide the surprise that was clear on his face. "What brings you four here?"

[Hopeflower]

The innkeeper's eyes followed the motion of Viho's left arm, noting the lack of pain. Andruil's interruption came before she could make a comment, however.

And the day gets better, the psychomancer noted with an inward sigh. "Just clearing the air," he replied. As much as it could be cleared, at least. He gave Dahnae's upper arm a gentle squeeze. "Why don't you go and find Firel?" he suggested. "I'll catch up with you both later."

[C S]

The girl did not take to the idea at first, not wanting to leave Viho with two strangers and Natalie. It took her a moment to recognize the opportunity the dogmun presented. One of those who would keep Viho from getting stabbed, and one that could bite Natalie if she got up to no good. This Vix person smelled like she could do some biting herself, really.

Dahnae blinked. She was already tracing the scents in the air in search of Firel's. The corner of her mouth twitched, and she nodded to Viho. And then she was off to track down the ill-tempered elf, sprinting off across the field back into the city proper. Johnathon raised a brow as he watched her go. Natalie kept staring at her feet.

[The Kingpin]

"Fair enough," commented Andruil evenly. The chill certainly was welcome after the muggy heaviness of a closed room in front of a fire for hours on end. "Vix and I were going to get something to drink. There's a place down the road from here that makes quite the pleasant brew," he added. He wasn't quite inviting them to come with him. But he left that statement open, in case Vix decided to do so herself. But then, this was Viho they were speaking to.

It was as he let his gaze fall on the Psychomancer that he noted the brace. So that's what all the fuss was about. He didn't know what to think of the fact that he was looking at an adaptation meant to make up for one of his own maulings. On the one hand, he was satisfied, on the other, feeling somewhat guilty, perhaps even sympathetic. The Viho before them now was not the Viho that faced him that day. For that, he felt guilt, as the Psychomancer that taught him was not one who deserved the wound he had inflicted.

It was the unfortunate outcome of an unfortunate circumstance that Viho was forced to use such a thing; and a sharp reminder of what Andruil would do in a desperate situation. Falling back on his last resort.

He chose not to linger on that thought, recognising it took his mind down a path he did not want. At least at the moment.

[Hopeflower]

Viho's fingers flexed at the attention, the motion an almost self-conscious one. He made no comment.

Vix, true to her nature, offered, "You're welcome to come with us."

"As it happens," Viho said after a moment's surprised pause at the invitation, "it's good that I have you in one place. I'm going to need help in the next few days. The more extra hands, the better."

Vix gave him an unreadable look. Was he involving her? Asking for her help? She had every right to opt out, to say she wasn't involved, but...as Arsenic's recollection of how distraught Viho had been over Dahnae's injuries came back to her, the stubborn and dark edge to her expression eased. "Help with what?" she asked.

His gaze darted to her, startled. Viho hadn't intended to include her. But if she was willing to help... "A conversation best not had in the open, I think."