About things

[B.D. Adams]

{This isn't a closed thread- even if it directly implies another person's turn at the end - if you'd like to play you only have to find a way in. }
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"Things are starting to get a little complicated."

"Yes Sir. That they are Sir."

"I don't like complications Nathaniel. Complications make things take longer. Such time wasted on waiting and then correction, none of it seeming to be worth the effort at all." A click and the sudden burst of light from a focused direction announced the powering on of an old style film reel projector. The light was soon followed by the whirling and clicking this object naturally made while mounting flickering movies wherever the light was pointed. For now the place of projection was a large smoked glass window.

"For then Sir why are you waiting?" asked Nathaniel as he popped open a can of film. Pulling it out he found the start point of the roll and prepped it for loading in the projector, stretching the first foot of it across the granite marble countertop. He needed to check for any damage before it was played. In truth all of this wasn't needed for he could watch what was on the film without the set up. Going through the motions had a meaning all of it's own. "If it is as you said. Not worth the effort."

"Just because it is not worth it now does not mean that it will not produce two-fold later." A rickety office chair made of metal and mahogany wood, equipped with wheels for rolling, creaked in protest under the weight of its new occupant. A yawn stifled by the bringing of the sitters fist to his mouth. "Are you not done yet?" The chair eased back with a creak and a moan before the sound heavy boot heels popping on the table sounded off. The one in the chair was getting comfortable to the point of crossing his arms behind his head while waiting for the film to play.

Nathaniel stopped the projector, the receiving wheel grinding to a stop with the aid of his hand. Now that it was warmed up the film could be loaded. "Just a few more moments and everything will be set." The reel was set and the film rolled out and attached to the spool at the bottom. Hand rolled once or twice before the device was flicked on and the reels rolled, sending a flickering images of lines to the glass.

No sound. This didn't have sound and it wasn't needed. The only important thing was what played. With his job done Nathaniel stood with his arms folded across his chest and watched the screen as he waited for the next thing the man in the chair would have him do.

Showing on the screen was a girl in a plain long dress outside and having a back and forth conversation with a cat. While he was interested in the girl and the cat, what had more of his attention was the woman in red who stood not to far off from the pair.

[De'Ryanna Aybara]

Tyger was livid. Usually calm and sardonic in his ways the orange and black cat fixed De'Ryanna with a stare hard enough to cut stone. It didn't matter that he was on the ground and she towered over him by standing because the intensity of his look could reach miles. "Have you completely lost your mind!" His front paw beat down on the pavestones as he growled. "You can't just ---"

"Growl at me again cat and I'll erase you from the Pattern!" She spit blood at the cats' foot as she turned and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand to remove any access blood. "Argh!" That same hand balled into a fist and she rammed it into the brick wall beside her, hearing a few bones shift and crack in the process.

The feline began jumping from the ground and atop a few crates that were placed in the back ally of the building they had exited. Muffled cheering and yelling could be heard past the door as another fight was going on. Randomly, this night, De'Ryanna had gotten the urge to fight. The rage and anger she kept bottling up and trying to repress had started to boil over while she was sorting the items in the kitchen that night. She wasn’t paying attention and overfilled the sugar jar leaving excess to spill over the side and she had gotten upset at her mistake. Then suddenly, before she knew what she was doing, the small anger erupted and she had smashed the island counter and shattered the upper cabinets with all the dishware they contained. Armandeus would not be pleased when he saw what happened to his kitchen. With the destruction the anger settled to a roar and she clear headed enough to know that she had to get out of the inn before she did anymore damage. So where did she go? To the underground fight arena. "If your mother and I, murr, hadn't shown up he would have had you for dessert!"

The ‘he’ was the Lycan that was in the arena that night and undefeated after six matches. Halfway shifted he stood over seven feet tall with large muscles covered with grey spiky fur and had elongated hands. Even a tail swished out behind him. He was more wolf than man. His previous opponents lay comatose at the sides of the ring. He was looking for another opponent and De'Ryanna had stepped up to the challenge at the amusement of the crowd. She had split her dress down the sides to allow for better movement and the fight commenced. She was fast; he was faster. She hit hard, he hit harder. He had shifted and for some reason she couldn’t. Countered at nearly every turn De’Ryanna was barely able to damage him and after a few minutes she was pulling for breath, on her knees with a broken jaw and bleeding from deep tears on her chest and abdomen. She was weak and loosing a lot of blood. The Lycan was coming in to end the match and that was when the lady in red had stopped him.

She came into the arena calmly and walked straight to De'Ryanna, the Lycan being held secure and deprived of oxygen with a binding of the Source. The spectators started talking of an unfair fight - even De'Ryanna protested at being dragged out of the ring - but the Lady was not allowing anyone to interfere as she made her way out and to the back alley where she had let her daughter go. Once they were out the door the Lycan was released from the captive hold.

Tyger got high enough on the crates to have a more level view of her. "If I have be stationed here, meow, to watch you..." He would not be a happy feline. His place was always with his master, the Lady Airtia Cauthon, not with the children.

"What a wonderful idea Tyger," came the very calm and nonchalant voice of Airtia. Leaning against the wall with one foot propped up she was sharpening a dagger from her belt.

Tyger's head whipped around. "What!"

"Don't you think I'm watched enough!" A winch at the end of her words and she curled slightly at the pain through her torso. "Ashes, why aren't I healing..."

Tyger's grumbling protest was ignored as Airtia slipped the dagger back in place. "Ye were hit by one o' yer own. Ya do nae 'ave the ability tae heal quickly from that." She went to her daughter and moved her up straight to look at the damage. "Why do ye nae ask 'im tae 'eal ya?"

Airtia washed a hand over the wounds but before she could check for anything much De'Ryanna pushed her away. "I'll die first."

"And ye would 'ave iffen he did nae want ye tae live. The cut should ‘ave killed ye." Kept her from dying yet he did not heal her fully, there had to be reason. Maybe he wanted her to stop fighting and this was his way.

De'Ryanna was shocked as she looked at her mother. "You're advocating him? Him? With all he's done to me?"

"He did nae do this tae ye Ryan, he saved your life --"

"He's ruining my life!"

"Do nae blame o'ters fer yer conscious decisions and the resulting consequences. Get back tae the Inn."

De'Ryanna was fuming on the inside but she didn't say anything against her mothers words as they had the sting of truth. Her brown eyes stayed locked on her mother. "Come on Tyger, this will take a while." To get back.

The cat gave Airtia a parting glance as he followed his charge out of the alley. The walk would be slow due to De'Ryanna bleeding but her mother knew that she would arrive at the Inn, if she went elsewhere she would know. Once her daughter got enough strength back she could open a gateway and get there in moments. It wasn't that Airtia didn't love her daughter, she loved her very much, and because of that she knew that she couldn't be strong for her forever. De'Ryanna was going to have to learn to take up responsibility for her own actions and gain power to fight her battles.

Still, she would always be near. For now she opened the back door of the arena and stepped in. There was business to be done.

[Armandeus]

It was a rare thing for Armandeus to take a nap so late in the evening, especially when there was cleaning to do, but tonight he just hadn't been able to resist it. He hadn't slept well the night previous, and feeling that the kitchen would be in good hands with De'Ryanna there checking the stock, he had relented.

Unfortunately for Armandeus he wouldn't get to sleep for long for the trigger to the enchantments he had placed on the kitchen had begun going off. It only took a few minutes to go from his room to the kitchen and what he saw when he got there made his blood start to boil.

His kitchen, his sanctuary, had been destroyed. He could feel the heat rising from his blood, the familiar tingle starting in his fingers as they began to ignite as he surveyed the damage. Glass and wood and metal, the remains of the cabinets and island he had built by hand, it was ruined. And what was all that white stuff that was all over the floor? There were footprints left in it, heading towards the back door, but he didn't see it. Instead he saw a haze of red that fanned out across the room, engulfing the ruins from his sight.

Outside his awareness there was fire. It leaped from his hands and skin, eagerly engulfing the twisted pile of wood at his feet. The Elf had gone into shock and as a result the tenuous hold on his elemental magic had broken. Most of the kitchen had been hand crafted from wood, perfect to feed the inferno that was building, and in the middle of it all stood it's creator. Standing still as a statue with hands outstretched, magic and fire pouring from his body in torrents.

[Mael Feu]

(thanks for letting me play)

. . . back in town

People went to fights for many reasons: agents getting rich off clients, some punk wanting to prove they had balls by slugging it out a few rounds, entertainment; whatever. Also to be found in these types of places were those people who needed to have their names added on to the 'list'. The Morilec Syndicate kept a close eye on the beings of this world who exhibited ‘notable qualities’. The world needed a balance between those who ‘can’ and those who ‘can not’, no side taking unfair advantage or killing off the other. It was the unofficial job of the Syndicate to maintain that balance by any means necessary.

To keep under the radar those that ‘can’ rarely participated in human fight exhibitions, choosing to stick to their own where they could be more evenly matched but, from time to time, they drifted. That’s why members of his family visited places like this underground arena. Doing shit like this wasn't his thing. Scouting recruits and people with abilities was a rookie’s job but a call had gone out over the phone line about the place and he was near so figured why the hell not. Sent back a message and then ignored the calls and text that came afterwards. They knew that once he made a decision whatever else they tried to get him to do was a waste.

So he went to the arena and stood in a corner, arms crossed and out of direct ear shoot of the spectators. Most of the fighters he saw were weak - putting on performances that needed work, until he saw that Lycan. To him they were nothing but overgrown bastards without collars that needed to be brought to heel; he liked them a bit more than vampires, at least now his being here wasn't going to be a complete waste of time. This was a fighter who shouldn’t be with the humans. But here he was and there were plenty of dumb ass f-ckers who thought that they were tough enough to take him on and, as expected, each of them was taken out quickly.

Then she came in.

The females at the arena were either sex objects or status symbols by the way they dressed but this one didn’t looked like she belonged here at all. She was mad as hell and hopped right in the ring with the Lycan. Nice. If she had a death wish it was none of his concern. He watched the match with interest as she was doing better than the men and even more importantly, she didn't die. Clearly overmatched but she kept good time. To match with a Lycan she had to not other than the run of the mill human. He pulled his phone out of his pocket. Bringing it to his eye he pushed a button, a small flash went off and the phone was pocketed. His night wasn't going to be a waste after all.

Once she was gone he left his post to find the manager of this place and see if he knew anything about her. Turns out he did and what he learned he made note of and left the arena. She had been pretty banged up and he was going to look for tracks when the sound of footprints caught his ear. Still close to the building he stuck to the shadows and looked around the corner, then he saw the girl walking away from the city with a cat in tow. His stride was casual and his hands knuckling the inside pockets of his jeans he made his approach.

"You're not normal." Skip the pleasantries of greetings, what he said was enough to get her attention. "I saw you fight."

[catherine dtardis]

lately catherine had the eerie feeling that she was cast in an action movie she'd never asked to be in. considering she was six months pregnant, this wasn't exactly a comforting thought. whenever she said something to her husband he teased her that maybe it was the baby in her womb already wanting to take after its timelord father. every time he said that she smacked him and told him to hush, but...well, adventure did seem to be following her around.

besides the day she found gwendolyn and epiphany unconscious and the time she'd found armandeus splayed out at the docks, there were all sorts of other strange coincidences where she felt like she was on her husband's payroll - catherine d'tardis, saving the universe in miniature. it was enough to make the mermaid start to wonder if her husband was not really teasing but 'teasing' instead - trying to tell her the truth through a joke because he wasn't allowed to tell her really or else it would jeopardize the timeline. today was about to make her suspicions stronger...

...because the kitchen was on fire?!

she had been out for a walk. yet another walk, because whenever catherine was still for too long the baby growing inside of her started to bounce around like a disgruntled jumping bean. when she complained about it, the Doctor told her she should be flattered that the baby was trying to take after its athlete mother in vitro. needless to say catherine smacked him when he said that too. sometimes having a husband who had a quip for everything was very frustrating.

but that's not the point. the point was catherine had been tired of trying to sleep when the baby obviously didn't want to, so she'd gone for a late night stroll and walked through the front door of the inn just in time to smell smoke. most people's instinct when it came to fire was to run in the other direction, or call the fire department. catherine's was to run towards it, and maybe it's because her instinct told her she was a fire department all by herself.

"armandeus!" she said his name sharply, loudly, and with a hint of confusion. the state of the kitchen utterly confused her, as did the fact that the elf was just standing there in the midst of it. was he doing this? was he awake? had a spell been put on him? she couldn't know the answers to any of those questions for sure, but the one thing she didn't know was this - the fire had to be put out. now. or they'd both be in trouble.

catherine's thoughts were racing so fast she didn't have time for doubt. she grabbed the first thing she got her hands on - a pot lid at her feet - and she pitched it like a frisbee at the main pipe of the kitchen's sink. the impact knocked a piece of the pipe clear off, which is just what catherine was hoping for. thank goodness for her ex-boyfriend's obsession with ultimate frisbee when they were in college, even if it did unfortunately prove him right that the skill wasn't useless and would come in handy someday. a proud calm came over catherine as she watched the water spew from the busted pipe. it had worked. and now she could go to work.

commanding the water was harder than it would have been if she were in her mermaid form, but this was not the time, place or circumstance for such a shift. so catherine would use yet another skill taught to her - her fingers traced symbols in the air as fast as she could. once she was done, she held her palms up in front of the spot, took a very deep breath and braced herself. in the chaos of a burning kitchen catherine's lips parted and from her came three sweet, melodic notes to activate the runes just how adrian had taught her. the invisible symbols flared with sudden light, linking her will to the spilling water. catherine's will pulled on the water, tearing it from the pipe with force as strong as a fire hose.

the water first hit the roof, and then it rained down on the entire room like an indoor downpour. on the counters, on the cabinets, on the walls, floor and kitchen goods. on armandeus, on catherine, turning smoke and flame to soot and steam. with catherine standing in the doorway praying that getting drenched was enough to snap armandeus back to life. "what happened?" she sounded breathless, and just a little horrified. "armandeus, i - !" she could feel it happening, the warmth flooding to her cheeks giving away just how sheepish she felt about having add, "i don't, can't - ...where do i go to turn off the water?"

hopefully he'd answer her before the trashed kitchen became an underwater paradise. which would be just fine for the distraught catherine, but not everyone was so lucky to be able to breathe underwater.

[Gwendolyn Zoi]

If the Inn took some things from the modern day to bad they had not installed smoke detectors and a top of the line sprinkler system, if they had, Catherine wouldn’t of had to break the pipe, and the kitchen wouldn’t be becoming a underwater paradise! As it was, Gwendolyn had been restless at night, often rambling around the inn, though usually she ended up in a chair, curled up with a book, in front of the fire place. It was that very place she was headed too, when she heard the commotion, feet would stop on their adventure and turning she would towards the noise in the kitchen.

Lucky or perhaps unlucky for her, she walked in the kitchen just as the pipe was shifted and the water started to pour into the kitchen, taking care of the flames that were dancing about the room. She stood just inside the door way, staying as best she could out of the way, yet not running away . Her hazel gaze was locked upon the force of the water. When Catherine was calling out to the man, she was listening for his reply in case there was something she could help with. Ever the helper she tried to be.

She figured this was not the time for pleasantries, though she would gladly exchange them later on, once this was taken care of. She had not seen Catherine since she had saved her very life, between her and her husband the doctor. The other man, was someone new but she did hear the name that Catherine called him. She did notice the water that was tickling her bare feet and slowly rising upwards upon her ankles. She did hope that the man answered Catherine soon.

[De'Ryanna Aybara]

Skip the pleasantries. Sure. They were hardly needed in times like this. Let us forget the fact that engaging in them could help a person get the results that they wanted, no that wasn't important at all. There were times when pleasantries were ignored so perhaps, perhaps doing so now may have worked to the mans benefit for Light knows the last thing she felt like doing was making nice with a stranger. Or anyone else for that matter.

She felt sorer now than she had after leaving her mother and the arena. It was the walking as the motion pulled at the torn muscles to agitate the cuts. De'Ryanna had ripped off one side of her skirt - it was near to falling off anyway - and wrapped it around her stomach tightly multiple times to make a tight wrap. The damage there was the most severe and the bandage was to help her from bleeding too much to fast before she got back to the Inn - through, her dress more red than white. She may not have died but she was bleeding slowly and that had problems all its own.

Though weak she could still tell when people were around her. She knew that he was there, as well as the other people who meandered about at this hour. Tyger had been walking a step or two behind her and stopped momentarily to look at the guy who spoke to his charge.

"Now you can see me walk away." It was a reply nearly as cold as the night air though lacked the force it would have had had she been in better health. You’re not Normal. That was a rather fine thing to say to someone and it was not something De'Ryanna wanted to hear after the night she had. Closing her eyes for a second against the pain - walking and talking - she continued on.

Tyger measured the man with his eyes and gave a huff, lifting his head up arrogantly. If his charge wasn't going to stick around he wasn't either, yet he was going to be cautious of his presence.

[Armandeus]

Water was never a good thing to mix with a kitchen fire, especially one that was burning out of control. As a kid Armandeus had never experienced sticking his finger into an electric socket, but as the downpour of water drenched him, he suddenly had a good idea what it felt like.

With the onslaught of water came a jolt of sharp, searing pain that flared across his burning skin and spread across his body. After the initial shock the sensation changed, turning colder until a wave of ice was chasing the searing pain down his nerves. This was the consequences of trying to put out a fire fueled with Elven magic. The dual lovers of pain and cold had been born from the extinguished fire, but now they latched onto the out pour of Elven magic and grew.

Caught in the midst of inner and outer torment, Armandeus stood motionless. Dimly he could hear a voice calling his name, but it was like being caught at the far side of a tunnel, he couldn't quite make out what had been said. Still he had heard it and the urgency within it and perhaps that could explain what happened next. It started first on the walls; the droplets of water slowing then stopping in their decent, frozen solid. From between them a spider-web of ice crystals expanded and spread out, heading for the busted pipe. This took more effort than freezing an individual drop of water, but gradually the gusher of water would begin to slow to a trickle until it stopped completely, frozen over. From the frozen pipe the ice spread out across the ruin of the kitchen, including the floor. If it wasn't stopped soon it was very possible that the three would become ice sculptures themselves.

[catherine dtardis]

"no no no NO NO!" the more things froze, the louder catherine's protesting word became, and the greater the gestures from her arms which begged him to stop grew. "don't freeze it - you'll burst the pipes!"

part of catherine's connection to water included being able to freeze it, but she hadn't done that for a reason - the water pressure. freezing the water around the broken pipe would back up that pressure and cause it to burst somewhere within the wall, causing god knows what else at any potential level of damage or disaster. not to mention if he was freezing the water within the pipes and they weren't treated for freezing cold...catherine didn't want to dwell on that. she told herself she was going to put a stop to it before that.

as she looked frantically around to see if she could spot a basement door, closet door, or anything that might have the inn's water main valve and electrical breakers and so on, that's when she spotted gwendolyn. she never looked do happy to see someone else in her life. "gwendolyn! yes! try all these doors. look for any control boxes that are connected to the water pipes. pipes that look like that," she pointed to the sink's broken pipes. "we need to shut off valve that controls the water pressure. any switch you find, just shut it off. it doesn't matter what it's for. turn everything off!" at this point, shutting off the electricity might be a good idea.

her attention turned back to armandeus. part of the problem now was that he interpreted the freezing as him being lucid and trying to help. she didn't know there was something wrong with him, and didn't realize that putting out the fire had done harm to him. as she had confessed to him last time they spoke at the docks, she didn't know a thing about elves and they'd never finished their chat where he was going to help her learn about them. one thing was certain, though. she wasn't about to let the kitchen or its pipes become a popsicle.


her will still connected to the water via the strengthening help of glowing runes activated in front of her, catherine put her focus on the water around the pipes and the floor. it would be a battle of wills, mermaid against elf, to get the ice to melt.

[Mael Feu]

"No shit." He said with dry amusement.

He was one Hell of a good looking solider at that moment, maybe even mistakable as one of the city’s patrolmen since he was wearing his Cavalryman shell jacket buttoned to the neck and the cap pulled down to shade his eyes in the darkness. A smug smile moved across his lips. Defensive wasn't she?

He watched her all right; he was watching how she moved with the injuries. A normal person would limp, falter in their steps, Hell with the blood she had lost they wouldn't be standing let alone walking. He waited until that cat turned back around and started walking after the girl before he followed at his usual pace with his hands still in his pants pocket.

"You went up against a Lycan; that either makes you stupid or a person with abilities. Maybe both." Just because a person could do extraordinary things did not spare them from stupidity. Stupid people were everywhere.

In his pocket his phone buzzed- he had it on vibrate - and he pulled it out, flipping open the lid to read the message on the luminous blue screen. This thing could be used as a flashlight or even a signal flare. Clearly he didn't care if his phone attracted or annoyed anyone. His phone, he could have the screen as bright as he wanted. Besides, she was the one bleeding in a city that had blood sucking night creatures and that in itself was enough to draw attention. Back in the ring he had snapped a picture of her and transmitted it over to base for them to run it through the works and see if she was registered in the system.

She wasn't.

Unidentified, untagged, she was fresh. The phone went back into his pocket and he rolled up the cuffs of his sleeves. One fold for each arm before he rolled back his head and shoulders.

“You shouldn’t be fighting in underground clubs. Come with me and you’ll be put to good use.” His use. The Syndicates use. It was all relative depending upon position. “You can bring the ball of fur.” Hardly expected her to turn around and come with him peaceful all smiles and giggles, this girl was either going to ignore him or strike against him.

[Gwendolyn Zoi]

Hazels bobbed between the two in the kitchen, and they probably would of stayed doing that until things settled down, except that the water was now turning to ice. Oh this could be bad, not only for the pipes but for her bare feet that were in the water as well. And of course, when she heard Catherine saying no no no. That snapped her out of her daze of watching the ice form, she had never seen ice form before, it always seemed to just be there when she woke up, the actual watching was interesting.

Then she was spotted by Catherine. She listened to the words, what Catherine wanted her to do, and seeing that the other guy wasn’t really much help at the moment, she did not know he was in extreme pain or that he was also seemingly zoned, she would give Catherine a bright smile, “I can do that!” Once more pleasantries were surpassed, only because by the one in Catherine’s voice had her moving. Feet splashing the water as she walked, the droplets hitting higher upon her lower leg. Though she wasn’t paying much attention to that.

Moving to the first door that she spotted, hand would lift to the knob, turning, she peeked out once she had the door open far enough. She didn’t want to waste time if it wasn’t the correct door, she needed. As there were only two doors besides where she came from, she had a fifty-fifty chance, and it looked like her first choice was wrong. It was wrong because the door lead to the outside, the fresh air whipping around her nose, just a moment or less, before the door was closed.

Moving at a quicker pace she made her way to the other door, the water on the floor making the noise that water does, as it splashed upwards, and had the splish splash of feet lifting and lowering. Once she reached the other door, she pulled the door fully open, to reveal stairs leading down. Now the last time she took a journey on a set of stairs that she did not know she found a sister, what would these stairs lead her too? Her right hand flicked out to turn the light switch up, and the lights lit up the stair case. That was probably for the best, seeing she had no personal knowledge of the size of the stairs or how many stairs there were.

Without much thought, her body propelled forward, only stopping when she reached the bottom of the stair case. Turning around in a small circle until she was facing the same wall that the light switch had been on. A metal door stood out, with a small handle, her hand would lift and press the button upwards, which unlatched the small metal door, having it swing out. Stepping back a moment as to not hit herself in the head with the door. Once the door was open, she bobbed her head back near peering inside the box. What she saw inside the box had her head shaking. There were three switches that stood out. That was good it was narrowed in her mind to three switches, the bad thing was they were all a shade of blue. One was a teal, one was a baby blue and one was a dark blue. Her left hand lifted to itch at her forehead, as she pondered. Not pondering long though, for she knew she had to act in a hurry. She reached up and turned the teal one off first, and not noticing anything happening, she didn’t want to waste any more time, so both the light and the dark blue went next. Which caused…..

[The Inn]

. . . a disaster of catastrophic proportions.

Well
..........not really.

But that wasn't the point.

When Gwendolyn went about snapping the switches something did happen. The wires were already getting on the fritz due to any sockets in the kitchen being subjugated to fire and then water and finally freezing temperatures so the switching made something go *SNAP*.

• Snap • Crackle • Pop •

The circuit breaker sparked and fizzled - hopefully Gwendolyn didn't get shocked - and small tendrils of gray smoke drifted out from where the wires connected to the box. This caused all three systems the breaker operated (electricity, water, heat/ac) to stop working throughout the entire Inn. And effectively break the circuit breaker. The Kitchen and bar area ran on electric lights, so when the breaker broke, all would go dark in that area, as well as the lounge and any of the rented rooms that were modern.

[Gwendolyn Zoi]

She was just reached away, her hand had been touching the metal door, a moment before she heard the snap. Lids blinking, as her arms wrapped her hands landing on the opposite elbow, almost hugging herself, taking a step back. Alone in the dark, at least she hoped she was alone. She called out, unsure if anyone would hear her, "Guys...it's really dark down here." They should of installed some sort of emergency back up lights down here!

Her voice coming out softly just above a whisper, as she spoke to her self. "There is nothing in the shadows. The shadow's aren't going to eat me. The shadows aren't going to eat me." Even if she was rocking on her feet a bit, moving closer to the first step, turning so her back was against the wall, her body facing the open basement. The first step pressing slightly in her left ankle.

[B.D. Adams]

Benjamin continued to watch the scene play out between De'Ryanna and the people she happened to be around. Currently he was not aware of what was taking place at the Inn - he was not omnipresent and nothing at that location sought his attention. This didn't mean that he couldn't watch multiple places if he wanted. Right now he was keeping a steady eye on his target.

"Who is that?" Benjamin asked Nathaniel as he gave a more casual lean in his chair, attention slightly diverted to the new arrival on the scene. A hand came to his face and he stroked his chin with his fingers. De'Ryanna did not have time to dally around talking to random people on the street, especially those who wanted her for their own purposes. Like this man here.

Her mother had been right in saying that he saved her life. He felt the hits she took and he knew the extent of the damage done to her body and he could have healed her nearly instantaneously. However since she has recently been so adamant about him leaving her alone and getting out of her life he did nothing more to help. He held her life in his hands and he was not going to allow her to die, especially not by the hand of some cretinous Lycan in a club. She wouldn’t die, but she could suffer from reckless decisions. De’Ryanna was a smart girl; let her get along without his aiding hand.

Nathaniel moved closer to the screen and squinted his eyes to get a better look at the man. "Military. By the jacket."

"Something I don't already know..." Benjamin said with a roll of his eyes. He wanted details, not obvious observations.

"I'll get on it."

Benjamin observed the man, studying the features and stance. In all his years he's seen people like this before, those who took a special interest in people with abilities - the ironic thing was that he himself could be considered one of them. Still, he didn't like others taking interest in his things.

To De'Ryanna he sent a thought through, moving it right along the direct connection they shared and she'd have the thought just as if it were her own. 'Keep going' it said, 'you don't have the energy'.

[De'Ryanna Aybara]

This man was a real charmer. First he says she wasn't normal and then basically orders her to follow him. "You're a real piece of work."

He had followed her as she was steadily walking away, even now she didn't stop or slow down her progression. Tyger slowed though. The cat took very slow steps and started to growl, frustrated at being put on this new assignment and now being bullied by some guy a few minutes later. His walk finally stopped, front right leg suspended in mid-step and his claws came out, filed and very sharp with a dark shine on the tips. Combined with the bristling of hair on his neck and back this was his display of being a 'normal cat' because Tyger never put all his cards on the table when it came to potential threats. He turned his head around to look at the pest, his eyes were narrowed and the growl was more pronounced. Tyger was making himself the 'block' between that man and De'Ryanna didn't matter if the guy was bigger than him or not.

At the same time Tyger was having a quasi-standoff with the man Benjamin's message had come through to De'Ryanna. Taking her by surprise she faltered forward a step and pressed one hand between her eyes and the other against her stomach as the misstep had pulled at her wounds. "Get out of my head!" the words were hissed under her breath. She hated to admit that he had a point; she didn't have the strength to confront this guy on her own. What if she pulled on his strength....

No. She couldn't believe she was even considering leaning on him for help, that's exactly what he wanted her to do. Although, if he was going to interfere in her life she should get something out of it besides turmoil and use him for her benefit. Her mother had said to stop blaming him for what she couldn’t do, well now she was going to do something with his help. She was also going to listen to what he said: and keep going...all the way to the Inn. De'Ryanna put aside as mug frustration as she could and opened herself up to the Source and to Benjamin and felt a sudden surge of warmth engulf her whole body. Energy that caused her heart rate to rise, increasing the blood flow and adding to her already damp bandage.

"Tyger." The only thing she said. Just as she started to feel herself falter and the Source begin to slip from her grasp; but just before she lost control of it an invisible force wrapped around her. It was him. She felt Benjamin's arms wrapping around her and holding her up when she was sure her legs were going to finally give way. It had the feeling of completeness and for a split second she forgot what she was doing. She remembered easily enough and a silver line split the air in front of her and she jumped through. Tyger had been paying attention and jumped in right behind.

As soon as they were through it closed, leaving them on the front porch of the Tel'Ranaemyn Inn. As soon as she was out of the gateway she let go of both the Source and her connection with Benjamin, the loss of both left her feeling empty and weak and she fell to her hands and knees. Tyger stepped out besides her and snorted as the smells in the air hit his nose. "What happened here?"

De'Ryanna pushed herself up on one knee, coughing a bit and wiping the blood off of her lip. She didn't have time for anything else tonight but she smelled it too. Fire, coldness, and different emotions.

What was going on?

[Armandeus]

Clarity came in many forms, but unfortunately a statute-like Elf was not one of them. Thanks to the dousing he'd been given and the resulting loss of his magical flames Armandeus' magical abilities had gone haywire. If given the proper training the Elf would have been trained as an Elemental, but that was another life. In this life he was untrained at best and at the moment, far out of his league.

In the scramble something had been crossed leaving the Elf temporarily paralyzed in body and voice. Through it all there was a haze of what was happening around him, though he mostly remained detached. Catherine's protest of the rapidly forming ice sank in slowly, but by then it was already too late. The wall behind the sink had turned into a glittering frozen barrier, completely solid.

From there the ice spread out and sought to consume what remained untouched. It was even starting to freeze Armandeus himself as well -his clothing at least. The damp fabric of his tunic and leggings were becoming frost covered. At the rate things were freezing, it would be a miracle to stop it, but one thing was for sure, if they got out of it Armandeus would tell Catherine anything she wanted to know about Elves.

For now Armandeus' will fought back against Catherine as the ice continued to grow.

[catherine dtardis]

if there was one thing catherine had learned from traveling with her husband on his missions to save people, planets and the universe, it was that people make their own miracles. she'd watched him and those who helped him stop crises big and small by making miracles time and again. she'd learned that miracles didn't happen often because they came with at least one hard decision to make. but because it was clear that armandeus either had no control over himself, no desire to have control over himself, or both, catherine was ready to make the hard decision.

still, part of her could not believe what she was about to say. "i'm sorry, armandeus. i'm so sorry." how many times had she heard her husband say those exact words to people across time and space? how many times had she seen the complicated, somber expression he always wore when he said it? catherine had believed the Doctor said that and looked like that when he felt bad for what he had to do. but today, she realized the true reason. the Doctor wasn't sad for what he had to do, because it had to be done. when he said he was sorry, it was because he was disappointed that the person's actions had lead them to the point that a hard decision had to be made, and the Doctor knew there were consequences.

what else is to be done when a person is putting themselves and others in danger with no end in sight? this time, the consequences were changes. how the element her very body chemistry was linked to was being abused by this elf woke up a dutiful indignation inside of her that she'd never felt before. as the ice spread the change was already starting - there was webbing between each of the fingers of catherine's held-up hands and the totality her skin was greening to a smooth sheen. just underneath her ears she could feel the rip of her gills opening, aching to take in water. that ache was nothing compared to the sharp sting of her legs, displeased that they could not to join together to form her tail - already her pants ballooned outward on her upper thighs because her tailfins had grown out, but that was as far as she was going to let the change go.

like this, a single note from catherine is all it took, operatic in pitch and power. when it pierced the air, all the ice broke free from where it clung, shattering into pieces no bigger than snowflakes. still singing, catherine jerked her arm to point at the closed kitchen window. at the command every frozen droplet shot towards it, the impact forcibly opening it. out flew all the excess water, safe from further abuse. the kitchen was still a horrible mess, but at least now it was no longer wet, and it was no longer frozen. all in a matter of seconds.

now for armandeus. "he's out of control!" though she spoke the words, the musical power of catherine's voice was potent because of what she'd just done. so each word - loudly spoken to the voice she'd heard in the other room - was colored with lyrical clarity. catherine crossed to the 'he' in question as she said it, ready to make sure that he wouldn't cause any more danger or damage today. if he wasn't going to control himself, someone had to. the one great benefit of all this was that the man was still as a statue.

the single punch was swift, strong, and without hesitation. as catherine was a swimmer nearly all her life, the strength of her arms was nothing to sniff at. thanks to her knight training back at the alliance, she had a good idea of where to place the hit. high on the cheekbone, with a slight uppercut to the trajectory of the blow. a knock-out punch, it was not aimed on the body in an area that would court fatality. after the punch she said sharply, "abilities like that are just reckless if you have no self-control. where's your discipline?! don't you care about not putting others in danger?!" it didn't matter to catherine if he couldn't hear her right now. because she was darn well going to repeat those exact words at a time when she know he could. as an athlete, she knew the importance of discipline and she couldn't fathom being so selfish as to not learn how to control abilities like his for the safety of others. maybe it was the mermaid in her, maybe it was the redhead, or maybe it was the ugly side of her sky-high hormones because of the pregnancy, but boy she'd had it with this chaotic show.

even so, her growl as she turned away from armandeus sounded achingly beautiful in her half-shifted state. as did melodic call to anyone who could hear her. "is everyone okay? gwendolyn?" it took looking around the room to realize the other woman had not yet come back. as she placed her hand on her stomach, she exhaled slowly through her lips. the baby in her womb was kicking like it was a rock concert. now she was sure. this was a baby that would definitely take after its father.

[Mael Feu]

She's going to run, that was his first thought at hearing her words.

There was another reason why he was not sent on these particular missions: lack of personable tact. Someone trained in this area would have approached the girl in a different way and the result would have been different. Or maybe not. Some people could not be won over with the smooth approach and they responded only to action. He wasn't for small talk and it was only because she had been bleeding that he spoke first instead of acting. And now, she was gone.

"God dammit."

He also delayed. When she called for the cat he knew that something was going to happen and he had had the time to act. What he would have done could have been accomplished in a couple of seconds. That was being modest. The delay wasn't due to small pile of fur with claws, but if she was going to run he wanted to see how she was going to do so. If she faced him or if she fled, either way it would have made her give away something of herself. You know what they day: the more you know . . .right.

Heavy bleeding, weak - from what he observed - and still able to open a gateway. Those things needed energy. She either had more strength and energy than she gave off, or someone else had done it. If that was the case then the question was who. If she had done it, then she couldn't have opened a gateway to somewhere too far off.

His hands inched back into the pockets of his pants and he studied where she left with a tip of his head. Lycan. Magic user. Bleeding and heading off in a focused direction. Maybe he'll wander that way in a bit. Right now he turned to go back to that underground fight club to see if anyone there could tell him anything about her.

Gain some people skills.

[Gwendolyn Zoi]

Gwendolyn was still frozen at the bottom of the stairs, arms crossing over her chest in a hug, as she rocked slightly. Her gaze was still darting around even though she couldn't quite see anything. Soft chanting, "The shadows will not eat me. The shadows will..." She heard Catherine's voice floating down the stairs. Her voice got louder unsure if Catherine could hear her, from her spot at the bottom of the stairs. Her voice shaking just a bit, though she was trying to be brave. "Catherine? It's really dark down here." Gwen had not thought about the fact that she was scared to death of the dark. She always had a some sort of small light burning, even when she slept.

Maybe once the other side came out more and wasn't sleeping, she would be better with the dark? Lifting her left foot up, she attempted to move up the step, before she paused, placing her foot back down. She did not wish to turn the switches back on before it was safe to do so, closing her eyes, lashes touching her cheeks just a moment. As she awaited for more instructions.

[The Doctor]

The Doctor strode slowly into the room, chewing on a granny smith apple. his deep brown eyes meandering about the kitchen, being in the great state of wreck that it was in now. he was wearing his usual brown suit, complete with sky blue pin stripes. over that suit was the familiar light brown duster that he constantly wore. another bite of the apple taken before it was casually slid into his pocket.

He didn't have his great beaming smile on his lips that he always carried with him wherever he went, this wasn't a time for big beaming brilliant smiles. The Kitchen was a wreck. but it was time for a smaller proud smile to his wife." Everyone looks to be in brilliant shape my love..." he looked around the wrecked kitchen and then knelt down next to the decked elf on the floor. pulling from within his coat the sonic screwdriver, which he clicked a few times towards the elf, before putting it back and standing slowly. stepping up beside his wife and placing a soft kiss on her lips. before motioning her to join him, starting towards the stairs.

Another proud smile to his wife before eyes once again moved around the kitchen, towards the voice of a young woman comming from downt he stairs."Hello down there, Are you alright?" he pointed the sonic screwdriver downt he stairs, bathing the stairway in a soft blue light.

[De'Ryanna Aybara]

Just as De’Ryanna had pushed herself to standing and gained a bit of strength Catherine’s high-pitched note struck her ears and caused her to clamp her hands around her ears to block out the sound. She wasn’t close enough for the sound to do a lot of damage, but it was enough to make her bend over and bump against the front door. Tyger heard it too – such were the benefits of having animal senses – but he only hissed and batted his ear a few times with his front paw, the claws having retracted after he was through the gateway.

“What the Hell is going on here?” said the cat moving closer to the door. He sidestepped a bit of blood that dropped from his charge. “Murr, we shouldn’t be here.”

“We don’t have a choice.” De’Ryanna’s words were barely audible. Her head was swimming and now ringing, and all she wanted to do was lay down and close her eyes for a long time. “I need you . . . to go and get . . . Donald.”

She turned the knob and opened the door; stopping not more than a few steps into the Inn. What she saw caused her to pause. What happened to the light? Before she hadn’t noticed that the Inn was unusually dark, figuring it was only her fatigue and desire to faint that was making her surroundings seem darker than normal but the state of things told her that this wasn’t so. Though she couldn’t see inside the kitchen from this angle she did see that the kitchen door was swinging on a hinge. It wasn’t a very sturdy door to begin with and after undergoing fire, water, and ice, it was worse for wear. The water from the kitchen swept out to the hardwood of the Bar area and all the bottles and items that had been behind the bar on the wall were broken and on the floor (due to De’Ryanna knocking the wall and breaking the cabinets on the other side). From what she could see from this distance parts of the ceiling seemed singed with soot from the smoke.

After she got over the initial shock De’Ryanna continued to move in slowly and slinked down into the lounge chair by the door. Tyger followed and gave a cursory look to the mess before heading towards the steps. Light. What did he need light for? He was a cat and could see in the dark just fine. He had been told to get Donald – didn’t know who the guy was but looking over at the girl in the chair it would be a waste of time to ask. He’d find out soon enough.

De’Ryanna watched Tyger bound up the stairs before she slumped back in the chair, low enough so that her head rested against the back of the chair. It was very uncommon for her to be so ‘relaxed’. Now that she was still the pain was steady and she closed her eyes against it, hands coming to fold over her middle, though it did nothing to hide the blood. The bottom half of her dress was a mess from the blood that traveled down it and surely this chair was going to be stained whenever she left it. There were no screams and no smell of death, so whatever was going on in the kitchen would have to take care of itself for she didn’t have any energy to spare for it.

And as she sat slumped on the couch, De’Ryanna slipped into unconsciousness.

[DrDonaldBlake]

Donald was trying to sneak out and off to work quietly, with Pris having come over to crash, and him having to get up this late and get to work. it was best to make as little noise as possible. Which put Donald in the hallway of the upstairs. He of course had his walking stick with him, after all he needed it to get places. and it was hard when you had a bum knee.

Slowly inching the door closed. he froze at that final click and then gave a nod, placing one hand against the wall to support him, couldn't use his walking stick up here when people where trying to sleep. which made the wall his walking stick. that was of course until a cat was suddenly coming up the stairs, and that sudden appearance caused a flinch from the good doctor, and a drop of his walking stick which resulted in a clattering along the floor.

"You should'nt startle people like that little guy, i could have had a weapon or something." said to the cat in the way that people did when they didnt know animals understood what they said, while he picked his walking stick up off the ground.

[Tyger]

Tyger had been grumbling to himself as he made his way up the stairs. Awfully fine place this Inn turned out to be, he thought to himself. Last time he was here it was fine and now who knows what was going on down in that Kitchen. Up on the next floor he jumped to the side when the man dropped his cane. Tyger's tail swatted against the floor and he looked up curiously at the man who was talking, looking up at him in an indecisive manner. He was trying to figure out whether to make a catty (no pun intended) remark or let him carry on without a word.

It would be to his benefit to say something. This man had come out of Donald's door - knew the door, not the man - so he would be able to tell him if the Doctor was busy or not. Even better, this guy could tell the Doctor the situation and Tyger could go back to watch over his charge. "Next time, mew, I would try not to be so, mew, skittish," said Tyger as he batted one of those ears.

"Now I don't have time to chat. Meow. Go in their and tell the Doctor, murr, that De'Ryanna's lost a lot of blood and is in the chair, meow, by the front door. Possibly unconscious."

The cat was going to assume that the man was going to do as asked so he turned and took a step or two before turning to see if he was following or what.

[Armandeus]

(sorry for the late and short post. Things have been hectic and I didn't want to hold things up more.)

Armandeus was out cold, both literally and figuratively.

He was totally consumed and taken with the power that surged through him that the only way he was going to stop would be to pass out from exhaustion or get knocked out. The latter happened. A battle of wills couldn't stand up a sudden physical attack. As soon as Catherine hit him everything went dark.

The ice shut off like a turned off faucet and he fell back wards with the punch, the frost that had gathered on his clothing starting to melt into his clothing. The doctors' scan told him what was obvious to be seen: Armandeus was unconscious with a bruised jaw, and his body rate at a low temperature with a slow heart rate.

This elf wasn't moving any time soon.

[catherine dtardis]

"oh sure, all this looks really brilliant." it was a rare moment of sarcasm from catherine, who let out a second long exhale, though this one sounded more like an irritated huff. "if this was gran's kitchen she'd have someone's hide." as she slowly rubbed her rounded stomach, she watched her husband kneel down next to armandeus and scan him. "so he'll be alright?" she interpreted the fact the doctor simply stood up just after the scan to mean that the elf would be fine.

after the kiss, catherine added in defense of her last action, "i didn't know what else to do, tick, i really didn't....first fire then ice with no sign of any response at all." her eyes were lingering on armandeus, until she caught the Doctor beckoning to her out of the corner of her eye. he was headed towards the basement - gwendolyn. catherine followed just a step behind him, peeping around one side of him to slide her hand into the coat pocket where the apple he'd been eating disappeared. sinking her hand in up to her elbow in the pocket to rummage around. god knows what else she'd feel in there besides the apple, considering his coat pockets were like mary poppin's carpet bag. "you don't want the rest of that apple do you, Tick?" she was hungry. as pregnant as she was, she was always hungry at this point.

"it's really dark up here too," she confessed to gwendolyn after the doctor asked if the woman was alright. "but we should leave the lights off and everything off, i think, at least until morning when things can be checked..." last thing they needed was some spark causing a fire, one fire per night was the limit! finally catherine found the half-eaten apple, pulling it out of her husband's pocket and giving it a little dust off. "but the Doctor has a light on the stairs, so you'll be safe coming up. you remember my husband the Doctor, don't you Gwendolyn?" that was catherine. ever polite even after a fire, a flood, and a lack of electricity.

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