Different streets, same troubles[Minerva]

[Ssafirsotibones]

IN the end, the woman turned Bones down, apparently wanting to try her own way of getting in, without leaving a big hole in the wall were the door used to be... Which he supposed made sense... She seemed to be using some odd tools... Or perhaps some metalic like bug or animal that she had trained? He was not really sure... It appeared alive, at least in its movements... But yeah, a bit tough to tell. He had never heard of a golem before, so it did not even occur that might be the case, he just assumed it was an animal or bug of some sort. When the door clicked open, and Mmm went in, Bones followed. He really should ask her her name. But he had not really had time yet to do so. As she pecked the odd thing on the... Part... Well, he was not sure what it was, but apparently she was attached to it more like a mother than a master or trainer. Bones would follow along behind her a step or two, since she seemed to know more where she was going, and close enough so he could intercede if needed. She seemed a bit in bad shape, and he doubted she could stand up to any more physical assaults.

[Minerva Agatha Zipporah]

Tock grabbed a cloth off the nearby table as she headed inside, pressing it against her leg to stop the bleeding. She limped through the house, searching for the person she'd come here to see. The stranger was silent at her side, but that was fine. It was a moment that almost demanded silence. The only sound in the dark house was the rain pattering on the roof. Lightning flashed off in the distance, so far off that it was followed by ominous silence for a long while until the rumbling thunder finally reached the still house. Tock limped forward, drawn finally by the sound of coughing. The house had only two rooms, so the search was brief. The room was dark, and Tock's eyes were slow to adjust to the sight of the figure on the bed. Another flash of lightning lit the room, casting long shadows across wasted features. The withered man groaned in pain, clutching at his chest. His exposed skin was covered in sores, and the stench of death filled the room. Tock just stared, then glanced back at the stranger. Hesitantly, she stepped forward, though she didn't touch him. She didn't want to catch whatever he had. "Ya Mikey's Uncle?" she asked him. All he could do was nod weakly. Tock glanced back at the stranger with her again, not sure if there was anything he could do to help the sick man, or if he even cared. Looking back to the sick man she said, "I's Tock. I's, uhh... Mikey's friend." The man nodded again, and reached his hand out to her. She stepped back, clutching her hand, which held her wooden hand, Handy, to her chest. The man's arm went limp, falling on the bed. He licked his lips, seeking the strength to speak. In a weak, raspy voice, he said, "Mikey..." Tock nodded, stepping closer again. "Aye, Mikey," she said. "I's 'is friend..." The man raised his hand once more and said, "Take... care..." He wasn't able to get any more words out, and his hand fell to the bed again. Lightning flashed once more. Tock moved away, her breathing starting to quicken. All she could see was her Granddad's face on the dying man. Her beloved Granddad who had been struck ill, and died before she got a chance to say goodbye. She started to hyperventilate, a sob choking forth from her lips. She turned to the stranger, throwing an arm around him, trembling. She didn't even know the big man's name, nor did it matter. Right that moment, she just didn't want to be alone with the dead man. Plot Note : As per Wrenmae's note about the Blight, the NPC death here is a result of the illness being spread by The Shroud. It started in the University where Wrenmae spends a lot of his time, spread to the child Mikey in the Infirmary, and then from him to his Uncle. Mikey's Uncle was elderly and in poor health, and thus succumbed to the effects more quickly. According to the Lore on the Blight, one of the effects is: "...augmenting and causing already existing diseases to proliferate tremendously in Blight's influence. One cannot look at a person and tell that they were affected by The Blight. Instead, it amplifies and often mutates the symptoms of other illnesses. A victim of The Blight dies from what began as an otherwise somewhat harmless illness yet turned into something much greater. By the time someone realizes that they are sick and going to die, The Shroud has already fallen upon the victim and moved on to greener pastures." Thus, Mikey's Uncle died of a mutated form of a disease, even though he was never in Wrenmae's direct contact. Once mutated, the disease spreads on its own without need for Wren's further influence. As of this date, Tock's open wound has become infected because of this. The four NPC brutes who fought with Tock and Bones outside were also infected by the mutated bacteria in the area. Whether Bones is also affected is up to his player. Tock will presumably need the aid of someone with a Healing Mark in the near future.

[Ssafirsotibones]

As they got inside, it was quiet... A bit to quiet... There was no movement, with the sound of lightning and rain coming in... Had it been raining? He had not even noticed... Maybe it had started since they went inside... He kept a pace behind, as the woman tried to find whomever she was here for.. The fact that she was loudly yelling for him made it seem less likely like she was breaking and entering really. Though Bones had had enough trouble with the "law", to not really care. Though it might mean him having to leave town again... And there in a room, lying in bed, was a human... A sickly one... Or he assumed it was sickly from its coughing. Most humans appeared weak to him, so it was a bit hard to tell which ones were just a bit weaker, and which ones were sickly or dying... "Take... care..." Perhaps those last words made sense to Mmm... But they did not to Bones. Take care of who? Herself? Were they family? Take care of this Mikey fellow? Or did it mean take care as in to "take care of", in the sense of killing... Petch, he didn't know. Getting involved with humans always ended up like this, confusing... As the man stopped breathing, and died, Bones could see the woman was about in tears, and quite distraught, letting out a choked sob. As she turned to Bones, throwing her arm around him, Bones wrapped his own strong arms around her in return, pulling her in close and squeezing her within his comforting and protecting grip... Careful not to apply to much pressure, for even in this form he feared accidentally snapping her in half... If she would let him, and did not resist, he would sweep her up in his arms like a child, and carry her away from the scene of death, which seemed to be affecting her much greater than it did him... Bones had seen to much death, human or other, for it to make much of a effect... But he could still give comfort, and help this woman who needed it... "Itsss alright... Itsss alight..."

[Minerva Agatha Zipporah]

It was a rare thing for Tock to allow herself to be comforted or cared for like a child. She let Satevis do it, but even then it was rare. She never let anyone else do things for her, or treat her like she wasn't strong enough to handle things on her own. She had too much pride for that. But right then, she was remembering the last time she'd seen her Granddad. The last time before she spent a whole season in a coma, suffering from the same illness that took him from her. She hadn't seen him die, because she had slept through it. She hadn't gotten to visit his grave, because he had been buried in a mass grave and her worthless Da hadn't known or cared where he was buried. She had never had the chance to mourn him. Watching the man die made her imagine what her Granddad might have been like when he died. Except she didn't know. She hadn't seen it happen. Was this what it had been like? Was this how he'd suffered? She was so lost in all the questions that she didn't even notice when the stranger scooped her up. She just closed her eyes, and imagined it was her Granddad carrying her off. She could pretend. She could pretend like he was still here. She'd give anything, if only she could have him back. After they were away from the house, and she slowly regained her senses, and realized she was being carried through the rain by a complete stranger. She looked up at him, blinking, and seriously considered screaming at him and telling him to put her the petch down. But her leg wound was starting to really, really hurt. "I needs ta go ta the infirmary..." she muttered weakly. She didn't know how much blood she'd lost, but she needed stitches for sure. She also needed to talk to Mikey...

[Ssafirsotibones]

Clearly the woman needed to be taken away from the place... Though he was still a bit confused as to exactly what was going on... But he simply picked her up like the newborn babe she was, and took her away... She was so light to him, clinging like a frightened child to its mother... For some odd reason, he had a inkling he might actually like this human, if he got to know her... That in and of itself was odd for Bones. He was a dhani, and did not really get most other races, especially humans... He certainly did not comfort them... But in this instance... It had felt right... Perhaps it was her odd mix of toughness, and her need for comfort, showing this weakness she certainly did not appear to normally reveal... He did not find her attractive. Petch no, there had only been one or two humans he had ever found attractive, and this was not a connection of attraction... Not in that way... Perhaps he just felt like he was exactly what she needed, and by instinct was willing to fulfill it. He was a strong male, willing to help her in her time of need... He would think nothing less of her for her breakdown, she was human after all. And he certainly would not reveal this moment to anyone else. He could tell when something was private... And he would not have survived as a dhani amongst humans for so long, if he could not hide things and keep a secret. As he walked amongst the rain, holding her, his memories fell back to a hunt... A sad day... He had been only 70 then, and had taken out a young dhani on his first hunt... But they had been attacked, ran into a Myrian party... And the young dhani that had only just learned shifting, had his belly slit open, was bleeding all over... Bones had only just managed to get away, holding the young dhani as he bled out... It had been raining the entire time... Probably the only thing that had saved him... Raining the entire way back... As the youth had gone slack, dead of blood loss... And Bones had carried him onward, back to the nest... Even though he was dead... Her words brought him back from his memory, so lost in thought... "I needs ta go ta the infirmary..." He had to repeat the words a few times in his head, in order to decipher it... Petch, he had enough trouble with straight common, let alone what she was slinging out of her mouth... "Aye young one, I'le take you. You can count on me." Bones pushed onward, speeding up his pace so he was going a bit faster, at a jog. He did not want to go to fast, for fear the rain might make him slip and fall... But he would not stop or slow his pace until he got her to the infirmory, to get her fixed... He would not have her dying on him... She was going to live.She was NOT going to die... Because he said so.

[Minerva Agatha Zipporah]

When they reached the infirmary, Tock was arriving in a very different state than she'd left in just a short time ago. She had left the infirmary healthy, slightly annoyed, and in a hurry to finish doing this favor and return home. She returned wounded, weak, and scared. It wasn't a state she enjoyed, and her pride refused to let her be seen like this. The doctors could heal her wounds, but she wouldn't let them see her as weak or scared. So when they reached he infirmary, she sat up straighter in he stranger's arms, holding her head high and forcing a stoic look onto her face. "Oy, it's me again..." she told the staff that came out to greet them, giving them a sheepish grin. Between two broken bones, two black eyes, some bruised ribs, and several gashes that had needed stitching, not to mention the puppet shows, Tock had been quite a regular face around the infirmary. So much so that one of the nurses glared at her, planted her fists on her hips, and asked, "You again? What happened to you this time?" As she was lowered into a bed, Tock replied, "I fell inta some sharp rocks. Slipped on a wet patch, caught a jagged one right on my thigh, I did." She gave her savior a stern look of warning not to contradict the lie. She didn't need anyone knowing the truth, especially if she decided to hunt down Corwin later and finish this. As they started stitching her up, and applying a salve to help prevent infection (little did she know this infection wouldn't be that easy to fight), she gave the big stranger a grin and said, "Thanks, mate. Mighta done died in a muddy ditch somewhere, if'n weren't fer ya," or worse, the look in her eyes added. OOCIf it's okay with you, my next post after this I think will be the ending. We can say our goodbyes in your post, and then the second half of my next post I'll be fast forwarding a bit to the next morning so Tock can have her talk with Mikey. And then we can work out what Tock and Bones' next meeting will be.

[Ssafirsotibones]

As they arrived at the infirmary, Bones grew silent... He was a bit afraid to open his mouth... Not for getting sick by the sights, but at getting hungry at the smells... Obviously it was not wise to eat diseased flesh, but the scent of blood on the air, all of the wounded and injured people... If they were in the wild, these would be the ones getting picked off by predators... Bones said nothing to go against the womans claim of what had happened. He just sat in silence... Looking at them... Once more the keen hunter, looking for weakness, looking for that hint of a tell in ones eyes, that you were about to attack... He had sort of adopted the girl, in his own way, as his charge, and him as protector... He had set out on it, and he would not see her being injured again while he was still watching... Perhaps it was another animal like instinct that carried over... As she thanked him, Bones simply nodded, a bit more calm now that they were finishing up... "No problem... I go by Bonesss by sse way... I heard ssem call you sssomessing, ssat ssstarted asss Mmm... Wasss ssat your name? Or do you go by sssomessing elssse? Your name isss not alwaysss what you go by..." Bones of course knew that from personal experience, as he went by Bones around humans, since most of them had issues with his true name. "Don't worry, I got your back... And I now when to keep my wordsss to myssself... And to not ssspeak of sse passst, when it bessst ssstay ssere... If you need me again... Well I would prefer if you did not go getting yourssself killed when I could have prevented it by being ssere." So in a way, Bones was both offering his service and protection, a rare thing for him to do, and promising not to speak of what had happened. She might be a ugly little human, as most all were, but he seemed a bit more fond of her than the average person... Perhaps in his own mind, he had adopted her. Though who ever heard of someone adopting a full grown woman of 21... Well, considering he was about to turn 131, it was not so odd...

[Minerva Agatha Zipporah]

"Tock," she told him when he asked her name. "My name's Tock." It bothered her in a way she couldn't express that there was someone in the city who knew her real name. She'd told Satevis, but she was snogging him. No one else knew. Except the one eared punk who had appeared from her past to haunt her present. She had surprisingly little difficulty understanding the man's accent, not even noticing it was there. Language had never seemed that important to Tock, and she didn't even think she had an accent. And while Bones's inflections were quite different from her own, he hit some of the same stumbles she did, such as having trouble with a word like 'them,' or 'there.' "Mighty good o' ya, mate," she said when he offered his help for the future. "Might'n jus' take ya up on 'at, aye? Always right good what fer ta knows good people..." She gave him her address, and made sure they had the means to contact each other, should they wish to. Early the next morning, she hobbled down to Mikey's room on crutches. She would have to use her magic crutches to get down to work today. At least she was getting plenty of use out of them. When she reached Mikey's room, he waved weakly at her, then fell into a fit of coughing. "Hi Tock... I mean, 'Sook,'" he said, using the slang term she'd taught him. "'Owzer, mate. Ya look good," she lied. "Lots better. I done betch'y'all be back on yer feet any day now!" The nurse in the room gave her a dirty look for lying to the sick child, but she didn't care. She didn't want the kid to think there wasn't a way out of this. "You're hurt!" Mikey said, his expression dropping. Tock waved a hand dismissively and said, "What, 'is? Naw... I jus' done fell down s'all. I's been jus' fine, aye?" She sat on the edge of his bed to rest her aching leg, not wanting the kid to see her in any pain. She had to look strong for him, now. She was all he had left. "Oh. Okay," he said, trusting her word. Had she ever been that innocent, accepting what she was told at face value? "Did you talk to my Uncle?" he asked, his young eyes filled with fragile hope. Her chest tightened, and she forced a smile onto her face. "Aye," she said. "'E's real good. Gonna come see ya soon. Jus' can't today what fer 'e's got a new job... Uhh... 'Elpin' get people food what after the famine ended, aye? Still lots o' 'ungry people out 'ere..." "Oh," Mikey said, his eyes lowering in disappointment. "But... he's helping people, right?" He looked up at her with a last shred of hope in his eyes. "Aye," Tock said, tousling the kid's hair. What difference did it make? Mikey would never learn of her lies. Might as well make this easier on him. "'E's a real 'ero... Ya should be proud o' 'im..."

[Cascade]

Adventurer's Loot Ssafirsotibones's Loot : Ssafirsotibones Skill XP Reward Weapon: Gladius +4 Unarmed Combat +1 Intimidation +1 Bodybuilding +1 Chivalry +1 Lore: Zeltiva's Shady Streets Saving Damsels Carrying A Stranger Zeltiva: Infirmary Tock: Saved from Thugs Tock: Her Address Tock: Comforting Her Tock's Loot : Tock Skill XP Reward Brawling +2 Weapon: Dagger +3 Subterfurge +1 Lore: Mikey's Request Zeltiva's Shady Streets Using Grippy for Brawling Using Handy for Brawling Carried By A Stranger Bones: A Savior Bones: Comforted by Him Lying To Mikey A Cut On the Leg Items or Consequences: Wound will take longer to hear than usual. If the the city's Blight condition is not lifted soon, it will fester along with her other injuries. May I suggest consulting someone marked by Rak'keli...? Thank you for showing consequences brought on by the Blight. Just remember that the consequence is not an "illness being spread by the Shroud". What it does is make already existing conditions much worse. Tock noted it herself, "it amplifies and often mutates the symptoms of other illnesses"... You're right though. If there's already some bad bacteria present in Zeltiva, then the Shroud will definitely mutate it and make it worse. Anyway, excellent thread. The pacing was good and it was action packed. I also saw a lot of development for Tock's PC. Also, in my opinion, Tock and Bones seem to have good chemistry! If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to PM me!