The Twofold Houses 5: Rebuilding

[Gullara]

[New Friends, New Games, and a Basket of Brownies]

Lapis doesn't see anything too out of the ordinary in the pond. It's moderately murky with plenty of greenery. It's a very lively little ecosystem. Russell picks up a stick and pokes at the floor of the pond, stirring up some dirt.

Laela looks around. It's very shady here because of the trees nearby. "There's lots of trees around here. We gotta go that way if we need more sun." She points in the direction away from the thicker forest. That leads more toward the road that leads the way to the house in the first place.

[Playing Around]

Cora staggers back a couple steps, startled by this transformation. The girl recovers quickly, though. "Ah hah! More like the monster queen!" She points her sword at the giant snake. "I protect this keep. You won't ever have it!" She declares.

[Shadowcaller]

[Playing Around]

Once Cora have made her proclamation the anaconda opens its mouth and lets out a strange hissing sound before it seemingly attempts to bite the sword girl.
Of course, Anika isn't really attempting to bite her. Just the air above Cora which should give her the opportunity to strike back with her sword.

[Gullara]

[Playing Around]

Cora jumps a little bit when Anika hisses, and she flinches away from the mock attack. "Uh..." The alarm in her eyes is quite evident, even though she takes a step toward Anika, sword ready. The girl struggles between being the bold sword girl and deep seated fear that compels her away.

[Shadowcaller]

[Playing Around]

Anika could sense the fear, she had seen it in many others before and was one of the advantages of the snake form when she used it.
Now it proved to be an disadvantage though so perhaps it was best to switch it up a bit.
She moves back as Cora moves forward and her form changes back to humanoid, sitting hunched over on the ground. "You don't even flee in the face of my serpent form? I've underestimated you, sword girl." The 'bandit queen' declares. "I guess I have to try something else then."
Her form shifts once more, now into the more familiar one of a saber. But while Blanche have seen this one a few times Cora haven't.
The giant cat creature bares its teeth and let's out a hiss.

[Gullara]

[Playing Around]

Oh! Cora pauses for a moment to take in this new form. She never knew Anika could turn into a big, toothy cat. "I won't run from anything!" She declares. Then she steps forward and makes to thwack Anika's foreleg with her sword.

[Shadowcaller]

[Playing Around]

Ow!
While all Anika's animal forms were resilient to some degree, the bear form beat the others by a lot in terms of toughness. So the pain from being wacked was not as dull as the last time Cora and Anika did this.

But that just made it easier to pretend.

As soon the training sword connects the saber retreats back with a growl. She swipes her other paw in the air without extending her claws to make sure that even if it somehow connected it would at most be a pat. Like a cat walking over your face.
Her sudden 'counter-attack' will give Cora another opening to strike.

[Gullara]

[Playing Around]

Cora steps back out of range and then immediately steps forward to give Anika a solid prod. "You'll never beat me no matter what you turn into." She boasts.

[Shadowcaller]

[Playing Around]

Ouch!
The saber starts backing away after that last prod, acting wounded.
But she had one final gambit!

The huge cat lowers itself down towards the ground as it continues backing away...
Then it suddenly pounces!
It's intending to land just in front of Cora and perhaps scare her, not actually attack. If she somehow moves underneath the saber she can twist herself in the air to avoid the little girl. If Cora is caught off-guard and not attack the saber will also swipe the air a few times and roar.

[Murkus]

[Evening Vigil]

Adir's ears are flickering everywhere in a vain attempt to track the movements of the thing. This was too much. He's dead scared himself, but he at least has his training and his focus to fall back on. To burn back the fear. He can't imagine how the kids and Sakura must be doing with all this. He just prays they'll listen to him when he tells them to do something.

As a group, they back into the master bedroom. Thank god Sakura is there to help facilitate. "Okay, everybody, here's the deal," he says in a whisper, turning and stowing his knife in his belt. "Get over toward the balcony and stay close. Holler for Sarget. He's gonna take you down."

"And this is gonna sound weird, but..." He edges toward he and Sakura's bed, trying to scoot the kids along as he crosses the room. He points around the room. "Watch the electricity outlets and the lights. Okay, kids? Keep your eyes on those for me."

[Gullara]

[Playing Around]

Cora startles and takes a few steps backward. Anika can be pretty scary, but she's not the only one. Cora turns her head to the sky and looses a mighty roar of her own! She punctuates her vocalization with a burst of fire into the sky. It's the first time Anika's ever seen her do that.

[Shadowcaller]

[Playing Around]

The saber stops, startled. Had she meant to do that?
Well, if so it was a really impressive show, Anika completely forgetting about Blanche's issues with fire for a moment, so she would start backing off. Cora was really selling this whole hero thing!

Of course, such a mighty roar can't go unheard so soon Garn comes peeking around the same corner as Cora came from.

[Arkhosia]

Playing Around

Cora’s close enough for Blanche to startle at the rush of heat, fur bristling as instinct takes over. The hammering of her heart and the rhythm of her lungs spikes as she scrabbles back on her hands and rear, eyes wide, and she has to take a second to calm down and control their pace.

[Rebonack]

[New Friends, New Games, and a Basket of Brownies]

No doubt it's full of daphnia and cocopods. Probably even some ostrocods! Tiny crustaceans really like ponds.

"Okay, that's a good idea," Lapis says as she sets off in the direction pointed.

She doesn't make it very far, though.

Because a strange whistling noise cuts through the woods!

What could that spooky noise be?

It could be anything! Like ghosts!

Or monsters!

Or-

Oh.

A tiny duck just flew out of a hollow tree and landed near the pond. She's making that weird noise while cautiously moving toward the pond. Wonder what that's about?

The wondering ceases when the first little yellow and black duckling peeks out of hollow and bails over the edge, dropping a good twenty feet into the leaf litter. The fall doesn't seem to bother the duckling any, since it hurries to catch up with mom. Before long another little duck bails out of the nest. And another! And another! Before long six little ducks are following their mom into the the little pond.

Lapis watches them suspiciously. They're birds! And birds are suspicious. But this isn't VIGIL so she doesn't have to chase them away, right?


[Evening VIGIL]

As our heroes move toward the balcony the scrabbling, scratching noises cease, replaced only with heavy, oppressive silence.

This is, somehow, even worse.

[Gullara]

[Playing Around]

Unfortunately Cora's too wrapped up in her own ego to realize the mistakes she just made. Solely focused on Anika she points her sword once again. "I'll ask you one more time, bandit queen. You you gonna come quietly?"

[Evening VIGIL]

Four sets of panicked eye meet their dad's, but Lucy clutches at Sakura's leg and gives no acknowledgement. The other kids nod or murmur replies. They stay as quiet at they can, not wanting to break that terrifying silence. Sakura ushers the kids toward the balcony, and already Sarget is moving towards that side of the house. Anyone looking below will see Cassie and Laurana keeping near the treant as he moves into position. As soon as Sarget is near enough to reach out his hands Sakura will usher the kids out to him, Lucy and Russell first.

[New Friends, New Games, and a Basket of Brownies]

The kids' attention is drawn by the sound and stey stop in place. They watch the ducks, at first only mildly curious after the sound. But as soon as the ducklings come into view all best are off.

"She's got babies!" Lucy grins from ear to ear. She and Laela immediately start slowly approaching the duck family. They show no hesitation. Animals usually instinctually view them as nonthreatening, even friendly. Though even so they know not to startle a mom with her babies. They creep fairly close and settle down so they can watch. Laela crouches to not soil her dress, though Lucy has no qualms about the state of her overalls.

Russell, however, stays where they started. As soon as the girls start to creep away he sits on the ground and props his chin in his hands.

[Shadowcaller]

[Playing Around]

Only now does Anika realize that Cora's fire breathing might be scaring Blanche. Perhaps it was time to end this?
She changes back into her humanoid form and positions herself before Blanche. "Only if you spare this minion, sword girl. See, she isn't actually dead and she's secretly my lover." As she say this Anika will take Blanche's hand and attempt to pull up the cat girl into a standing position. "Alas, I was a fool to send her against you. I thought she would do so much better. Can you forgive me cat-minion? It seems we stand no chance against the legendary sword girl." 'The bandit queen' laments.

[UncleWolf]

[Play Date]

Cora gives Cessie and Jezebel a suspicious look. They're acting a bit weird. But she's gotta try her jacket on. She swings it over her shoulders and slides her arms in. "It's really big." She comments, swinging her loose sleeves around.

Oof, Jillian is hugged by surprised! She hugs the other girl back. "Stuff? What kinda stuff?" Everything sure is exciting in here.

Meanwhile in all the chaos Bastion catches a detail and doesn't let it pass by. He goes over to Garn. "Happy birthday." He hugs the gargoyle.

[Play Date]

Cora is too suspicious!
Garn instinctively returns Bastion's hug and pats the boy on his head. "...thank you." He rumbles even though he doesn't quite get why he's being hugged.
Cessie can't help but to smile as she observes the exchange. Her son's initiative was just too heartwarming.
She doesn't even notice Jezebel until she takes her hand. "Oh, of course. As soon as they all opened their gifts." She glances at her girlfriend. "You're setting a dangerous precedent with this though." She adds with a mischievous smile
The sorceress gives Jezebel's hand a small squeeze before she quickly let's go to kneel down before Cora. "That's since you're supposed to grow into it, treasure." She remarks while playfully giving her daughter a head rub. "And I think you're going to grow fast. You will get taller than me for sure. Maybe even as tall as Jezebel."

Play Date

"Trust me, another few months or a year and you'll be wearing it just fine. I outgrew my first one quite a bit. Besides, an oversized one looks just as cool as a normal one." Of course, Jezebel's first leather jacket came much later in life and grew out of it mostly in a fashion sense. Still had it though, so maybe she should wear it more. She shakes the thought from her head and smiles warmly as she watches Cessie kneel down. Sure, the presents were setting a dangerous precedent, but it'd be worth it. "Stuff! Stuff for you!" Ariel says, pointing out the obvious as she gestures over at the wrapped present. Inside, a real porcelain pink tea set rests, complete with saucers and cups and pot. From the kitchen, despite it only having been a short while, the smell of carrot cake starts to arrive, as well as a fresh bread and ham.

[Arkhosia]

Playing Around

Blanche seems to have largely recovered, steadying her breath as Anika moves to help her up. It was the sudden feeling of heat rather than visuals that triggered it for her, perhaps it would've been more severe otherwise.

Anika's hand is taken and the catgirl gets to her feet, the momentum pulling her in a little close. "E-er yes, I was hoping to sneak attack while your back was turned," Blanche attempts to patch the plot up, cheeks turning a little rosy at the request. "It will be hard, but I'm sure I can find it in myself to forgive you," she flirts.

[Gullara]

[Play Date]

"Huh, okay." She does need new clothes all the time because they keep getting too small, so it makes sense. But how does she wear it now? She messes with the sleeves, trying to push or roll them up without much success. It hasn't occurred to her to use the zippers up the sides of the sleeves.

Bastion smiles at Garn for one more moment before hurrying back to his Lego. He's going to start opening it up right here.

Jillian gasps. "Moooooommy!" A tea set. A real tea set. All her own. She clutches her hands to her chest and wiggles from side to side. She knows real tea sets are breakable, so she hesitates to delve further than the outside of the box. "Look, look!"

[Playing Around]

Cora looks between the two, rather confused at this twist. This doesn't make much sense, but the game's almost over anyway. "Then I'll take you both to prison. Come with me." She turns towards the keep, but stops when she sees Garn. How long was he there?

[Shadowcaller]

[Play Date]

Garn nods and gives Bastion a gentle pat on the back while the boy starts opening his lego-set.

"Looks good." Cessie just have the time to tell Cora before Jillian begs for her attention.
The sorceress let's out a small gasp and walks over and sits down close to her youngest child. "That's amazing. I always wish I had one of these when I was your age, ladybug." She remarks as she admires the set, running her fingers along the box. "You have to be really careful about this one."

[Playing Around]

Garn have yet seen a reason to intervene with this 'game' of theirs but Anika had only been here once before and Blanche was a complete STRANGER so they would have to go through increased scrutiny.

Which of course meant that he would be more than glad to put them in the 'prison'. "I will take them there." The gargoyle offers in his nearly completely monotone voice.

Anika leans close to Blanche and whispers. "It's that buzz-kill gargoyle I was talking about. He's not dangerous though."

[Arkhosia]

Playing Around

”And there’s the warden” Blanche jokes, albeit a tad nervously. ”Yeah, I’ve met him. You’re, er, actually okayed to hang out with Cessie’s kids right?” She has kinda assumed Anika wouldn’t be that foolish about her boss, right?

[Rebonack]

[New Friends, New Games, and a Basket of Brownies]

"Wait, if you get too close you-"

Scare the birds away?

The girls fail utterly at scaring the birds away.

The ducks file into the little pond and begin splashing around. It is intensely adorable.

The mother duck is mostly keeping an eye on the situation while the ducklings paddle about and try to eat basically anything that moves and more than a few things that don't.

Lapis wrinkles her nose.

"How come the birds aren't scared of you?" she asks. Then glances at Russell. "Are you going to get closer too?"

Truly this is a great mystery.

[Gullara]

[Playing Around]

"Uh, good! Garn is your jailer now, villains." Cora announces to the two women. She stands victorious as Garn leads them away. Before they do go inside the facade drops and Cora giggles. That was fun. She'll give them a wave and then run back in the direction she initially came from as they go inside.

[New Friends, New Games, and a Basket of Brownies]

The girls are clearly too busy with ducks to heed Lapis's pointless warnings. The two murmur between each other about how cute the ducklings are. They're quite distracted at this point.

Russell shakes his head at the question. The boy just fiddles with the grass he's seated amongst, pulling the tips off and throwing them absentmindedly. He looks at Lapis again, considers for a moment, and then speaks in a very small voice. "I scare them." It's barely more than a whisper.

[Rebonack]

[New Friends, New Games, and a Basket of Brownies]

Lapis considers that reply briefly before concluding.

"That's okay. I scare birds, too. It's one of my jobs at VIGIL. Anika told me to make sure that all the birds are scared away."

She has absolutely no idea why this is an important job.

But!

She was told to do it! And no one has told her to stop yet. So she must be doing really well.

Except with that weird hoopoe bird but it's weird and doesn't count.

"But we aren't at VIGIL so I don't have to scare those birds."

Nor does she want to.

Gosh, they're really cute. Listen to the peeping noises!

[Shadowcaller]

[Playing Around]

"I'll get you next time, sword girl!" Anika declares while she waves her fist at Cora in defiance but still follows in front of Garn until they come around a corner. "Next time, you're gonna be the villain, Blanche." She declares while putting her hands behind her head. "I gotta be the good guy at least once and she could ride on my back and stuff."

A beat as she turns to Garn.

"So where are we going anyway, stone-dude? To see C-command, right?"

Garn just gestures ahead at a closed door at the end of the corridor of the keep.

"Oh, huh. I've never been in there."

[Arkhosia]

Playing Around

"I'm not sure you want me trying to pull an act on my own, I ain't great at it," Blanche admits a little self-consciously, raising an eyebrow at where Garn leads them. This all feels very odd, and perhaps a little anxiety-inducing for her.

[Shadowcaller]

Playing Around

"You just gotta get used to it. Everyone needs some training before they can really shine." Anika remarks confidently as Garn opens the door for them.
It seems to lead to a wooden platform connected to a metal staircase leading further down in what appears to be a basement.
"Um, what are we doing in the basement anyway?" The druid then inquires just as Garn closes and then locks the door with them still inside.

"Wait here." He declares as if they had any choice as he just locked the door.
The gargoyle will then leave them there.

[Arkhosia]

Playing Around

Blanche blinks as Garn starts to close the door. "Hey, wait a minute-!" And then her ears flick as she hears the lock click into place. She turns back to Anika.
"Did he just-" She blinks again. "Does this, er, normally happen when you come around here? You're- you're actually allowed to be here, right?" Oh god, she's going to get in trouble with the boss for this too isn't she? She should've known better than to just assume Cessie and Anika were this casual with each other, she's seen how they interact in meetings and such before!

[Shadowcaller]

Playing Around

"Naaah, he couldn't have!" Anika remarks as she attempts to push the door open despite also hearing the lock click into place.

"...he did!!!" The druid gasps. "Of course I'm allowed here! The stupid gargoyle is just- gah!" She lightly kicks the door in frustration. "He's totally overprotective!" A beat. "I bet he can tell you're a trained soldier. I mean, I can tell it in your movements that you're pretty dangerous so maybe he can too. Like you're an elite assassin or something. At first glance you might seem harmless but anyone with any sense can tell you can kill people with your bare hands. Ain't that right?" Anika raises an eyebrow at Blanche.

[Arkhosia]

Playing Around

Blanche winces just a little bit, but tries to disguise it. ”I... I’d like to think people see me as more than just a killer, especially when kids are involved.” Her voice wavers a tad at the end. There’s a beat as she leans against a wall, hesitating.

“Anika, do you- do you wanna know why I have problems with fire? Like, really know? No bull[shist], no sugarcoating, nothing?”

[Shadowcaller]

Playing Around

"Well, of course. But aren't you frustrated with the opposite as well? Like that goblin just seeing you as a cuddly little kitten? Like, people not taking you seriously? Since I know humans, and apparently also goblins, got some pretty messed up ideas about cats being harmless." Anika counters before Blanche continues.

The catgirls offer does seem to to pique her interest. "Yeah, fire away. No holding back. I can take it." She remarks while crossing her arms over her chest.