RP:All Bark And A Hell Of A Lot Of Bite

Summary: With the intent to meet Meri at the animal shop in Cenril, Khitti brings Lionel along and what they find there is a lot of blood, dead animals and a very wolfy, very bitey Meri.

Animal Merchant, Cenril

Khitti || “Look, I need something to spice up my life a bit here, so why not get a snake,” Khitti asked Lionel as she led him from the Tranquility to the animal shop nearby. “I don’t -think- Brand’s going to have an issue with it. I mean, we’ve got a spider the size of a cow and two eight-foot-tall cats on board. What’s the harm in getting an innocent little boa, yeah?” Khitti was hype for this. Though, it could’ve mostly been that happy-go-lucky costume she was wearing currently, to make it seem like she was a normal, well-adjusted human being (she’s not), but let’s not dwell on that right now. “I, uh, will just need to make sure it’s caged and hopefully it doesn’t eat my first born child.” That would be bad. Right? Probably. No, wait. Definitely. “And if Brand does have an issue with it, then… I’ll just keep it at the apartment and not on the ship. Or maybe, I’ll just threaten him with a severe lack of cheesecake. He’d -have- to agree to it then.” The redhead nodded to herself as they finally reached the shop, to which she then peered inside to scope things out briefly.

Lionel || When Lionel was three years old, shortly before his young life was upturned and he left a conquered castle and went into exile with a rotating stock of caretakers, he and his distant-memory parents had taken him to a jungle. The jungle’s only human visitors were wealthy hunters out for a bit of sport. Lionel’s father was one of them. A massive snake had emerged from from the underbrush and widened its massive maw mere inches from little Lionel. If it hadn’t been for the pike-wielding guards’ quick intervention, little Lionel would have been a modest feast. Unluckily, this was one of very few memories of those days Lionel had ever maintained. Unsurprisingly, whenever he had seen a snake in the 28 years since, he had been apathetic at best. Lionel did not say this to Khitti. He would not spoil her excitement. He would, however, watch over Dominic like a hawk now. “Yeah, should be fine.” Lionel took a good look around the animal shop. Apart from the snake, all of the creatures intrigued him. Well, all of them except the shopkeeper, who looked like the very image of blandness to Lionel. In particular, a furry little fox with a bushy, cream-colored tail was, as the old Catalian phrase had gone, “Too cool for school.” The quick brown fox jumped over the railing, letting Lionel pet her.

Meri :: Meeting Khitti was something that Meri was intending to do today, that was the literal reason that Meri had even ventured into Cenril. The blonde was not expecting to encounter Khitti in the company of Lionel at the Animal Merchant. That was pure chance. See, Meri had started off trying to pay Khitti a visit at the bakery when this strange and strong scent pulled at her nostrils. It was pretty impossible for Meri to ignore the call to trail after this mystery scent. It brought her toward the Animal Merchant and then carried her past his vending space, to the strangely pleasant looking home to the south. What the woman uncovers there is enough to trigger certain responses that the young werewolf tries her best to keep at bay. In the middle of the city is not the ideal place for Meri to lose control, shifting from human to werewolf, but alas...Here we are. Just as Khitti and Lionel are making their way into the space occupied by the merchant, a wolf with a bloodied maw begins to lope up from the south, not directly toward them. They're not exactly noticed, not yet. What -is- noticed by Meri-wolf are the numerous pens and cages that contain a variety of animals -- some of them easier to access than others. It's the pen of goats that really excites the wolf. Before Khitti and Lionel can really have a chance to enjoy there shop, they're going to be greeted by the sound of screaming goats as they're mauled by this wolf. The shopkeeper is none to happy with this, for sure, and probably joins in on the screaming. Maybe he even tries to get a weapon of some sort to put a stop to this madness? An end to that wolf before he loses too much money? Neither Khitti nor Lionel have actually met wolf-Meri, which is for the better. She's not exactly the most friendly at the moment, as evidenced by what she is trying to do those goats. And maybe the shopkeeper next, it looks like his screaming is starting to pull her attention away from the goats. Even if they had spotted Meri in her wolf form prior, her coat is currently red with blood. It might be hard to tell. For all Khitti knew, maybe it was the wolf that attacked Meri to begin with?

Khitti || Goat-screaming. It was up there on Khitti’s list of things she didn’t care for, right up there with bears, a certain crab-man’s rattling paddles and well--wait… she’s not really afraid of spiders anymore. Much like Lionel, she too had her own ordeal with a not so great animal. Goats, man. Look, when you live in a poor mountain town, there’s going to be at least three things: goats, goatherds, and yodeling. The goats were the least preferable out of those and for whatever reason, they did -not- like Khitti. Whenever Khitti was forced to go shopping at the goatherd’s farm, the goats would follow her around and scream at her. She had nightmares. You would too if it happened to you. And now? Now Khitti was having flashbacks, much like her brother with snakes. Those poor Khatalians. But, because part of Khitti’s moral alignment just happened to be good, she had to, of course, find out what the frak is going on. “What the frak is going on?!” was asked of the shopkeeper, with a raised voice so they might actually hear her, as she made her way into where the cages and such were. Well, it didn’t take Khitti much to figure it out. Goats. Blood. Wolf. Yep. There was a bit of swearing because Khitti didn’t have her weapons on her! Alas. “Goddamn it, I bet that’s the wolf that bit Meri. Frakkin’ things getting bolder.” She paused, looked around, then eyed the shopkeeper, “I highly doubt you’ve got anything silver in here, do you?” That’s a negative probably. He’s too busy screaming. “Uhhhhhhh, silver… silver… silver. Aha!” Khitti pulled a bunch of silver coins from her dress pocket (because of course her dress has pockets) and… well… throws it at the wolf. Her and Meri had already decided on not killing it, so…

Lionel || The quick brown fox jumped straight back over that railing fast as her little paws could take her. Lionel afforded her a quick nod before vaulting himself forward to face the werewolf. “Hey Eirik, I know we left off on a bad note but eating goats won’t help you at all. Unless your body’s low on protein. Somehow I doubt that’s ever happened to you, though. You strike me as a man who loves his protein.” The once-prince hoped his careful, familiar voice might calm Eirik Vergessen. It was only when he got closer to the beast that he realized it wasn’t the warrior after all. “s***e, I really need to get my eyes checked.” (Are we allowed to say that here? s***e? I guess we’ll find out.) Lionel took a cautious step back, swinging his silver short sword out from its scabbard. Hellfire had been kept aboard the Tranquility, after all, because a trip to an animal merchant ought not to have required it. A foolish sentiment when Kahran and his dark forces were still on the loose, but Lionel was trying his best to live a little again. Witnessing his sister’s coin toss, he couldn’t help but scratch his head with his free hand. “I mean, it works, I guess, but you’re not going to kill it that way.” He rushed forth, swinging the silver sword in a diagonal slash while he balanced himself on his left foot, body bent forward slightly. Meanwhile, the screaming shopkeeper finally stopped screaming, pulled out a silver wine container, and took a hearty chug to ease his tension. The bastard -did- have something silver after all.

Meri :: Wow. Khitti and Lionel have some serious animal issues. They could almost start a support group at the rate they are going. Meri has a thing with spiders. Alas, Meri is not in a sound state of mind right now so, they can't form a little circle and hold hands and talk about the horrible critters that plague their minds. The shopkeeper is definitely not paying Khitti any attention, and instead of finding something useful to defend himself and his animals against the wolf? He pulls out a container of wine and begins drinking? That is probably for the best. Wolf-Meri was half contemplating attacking the shopkeeper, but some redhead pulls the wolf's attention from the shopkeeper by throwing silver coins at Meri. It's annoying. Some of them come no where near hitting the wolf, several of them do pelt her. Which...hurts...like a mofo, enough that the wolf yelps. In most cases, Khitti would stand a pretty good chance of pulling some sort of recognition from Meri, even in a wolfish state. That was her sister. This was not most cases. In this case, the redhead was proving to be really damn annoying with those silver coins and Meri just really wanted to chompchompchomp down on her leg. Snarling and growling, Meri charges forward toward Khitti to try and do just that, she really wanted to blindly rip into the flesh of Khitti's leg. Her darling brother manages to put a stop to that, intercepting the wolf before she even gets to the half-way mark. That damn Catalian is so fast, a detail Meri herself knows but she is in a bit of a blind rage. Needless to say, that sword definitely cuts into wolf-Meri, the tip drags along one of her hind haunches. That hurts even more than the coins that Khitti was throwing at Meri. Unfortunately, this does not fully subdue the wolf. It just further serves to piss her off and now it's Lionel who is the target of her rage. Meri and Lionel are quite familiar with one another, yes, but they have not managed to form the bond that Meri has with Khitti. Chances of the more rational part of Meri's mind being able to recognize Lionel are slim in comparison. Right now he's just a dude with a silver sword who hurt her and she really wants to have some revenge. Wolf-Meri is now running full-force at Lionel, snapping her jaws and barking loudly in a bid to be menacing along the way. It's not a bite to the leg that she is after with Lionel, the wolf leaps into the air at the last possible second with the hope of getting at Lionel's throat. Likely, this is not a smart move on her part. The guy has a sword. He knows how to use it. But hey, wolf-rage.

Khitti blinked a few times after her barrage of coins managed to hurt the wolf, even if just somewhat. “W-wait! We’re not gonna kill it! You don’t -have- to kill everything you know! It’s still a person! This wasn’t the plan we came up with!” She’s had to keep telling herself that a lot lately. Don’t go out and maim the forest pupper that bit your sister. It’s a bad idea. Unfortunately, though, Lionel hadn’t been told the plan since, you know, that was supposed to be a hunting escapade with Aira. But now that Khitti was with someone that was as impulsive as she was, things were not good. In full-on Sailor Moon fashion, Khitti called upon that magic armor of hers--because, I mean, who wants to get bit by a werewolf?--and removed the circlet from her forehead. Trying to match her brother’s speed (which, to be honest, wasn’t going to happen since she was no longer a vampire), the circlet is tossed as she’s done in the past, holy fire springing forth from its edges. “Stay the frak away from it, unless you want to get bit too, damn it!” The circlet flew threw the air towards the wolf, attempting to continue its course around it, to create a wide, tornado-esque sort of barrier with the wolf inside it, not only to protect Lionel, Khitti, the shopkeeper, and the rest of the animals, but the wolf as well.

Lionel thought he’d misheard Khitti. They -weren’t- going to kill the rampaging beast? It was a person? Well, that much was true. Maybe he -did- hear her correctly. It was a fair point, Lionel contemplated, even as the creature leapt at him and raised its claws. “I guess,” Lionel drawled disappointingly, raising his sword defensively over his chest at the anticipated point of impact. Whether or not the silvery steel would protect him, he held his ground, loosening his knees to remain limber in case of failure. When Khitti’s magical circlet flew past him, the Catalian knew that things would probably be alright. He was vaguely familiar with its powers, and those powers seemed well-suited to the task at hand. Knowing this, he darted several steps backward, closing the gap between his sister and himself, and extended his guarding blade to defend them both. As far as Lionel could tell, all that was left was to see if the circlet’s barrier successfully held the wolf at bay. Lionel was mistaken. The quick brown fox once again jumped over the railing. Strangely, she was not fleeing the scene of the crime. She was rushing straight to Lionel’s side. With an excited squeal, paws digging into grassy dirt and ears twitching manically, she absorbed a fragment of Khitti’s circlet’s holy fire. “What the frak? Get out of here! Even cornered foxes know to flee!” But this fox was hardly cornered. Astonishingly, she had transformed into a flame-cloaked fox with a thick, fluffy tail. “Flah’rey’ohn,” the fox spoke, her flame cloak joining Lionel’s sword in the defensive posturing. “This shop is weird, sis.” Lionel shrugged.

Meri :: It's hard to say how effective the silver sword would have been in defending Lionel from the wolf's bite for Khitti repays the favor and manages to come to Lionel's aid before the wolf has a chance to get to close. As the wolf was leaping up through the air to try and get at Lionel's throat, the circlet that begins to move in a tornado-esque fashion is successful in stopping Meri. First it collides with the wolf's body while she is still airborne, throwing her off course and back to the ground. When the wolf manages to recover, it would seem that she is effectively trapped. She might be fast, faster than Khitti but maybe not faster than Lionel, but the circlet that is whipping through the air around the wolf is also quite fast. It would take some expert timing for the wolf to be able to leap through that successfully, and even then she might not have enough time to make it through. For now, it seems that the wolf is 'caged' and maybe it will calm down, shift back to a human, and reveal who the culprit is...Maybe...but for now, black eyes are shifting between Lionel and Khitti. It's hard to determine what the beast is thinking, but it is definitely processing something.

Khitti sighed heavily when it looked like her attempt worked, but thought it rather odd that that fox… absorbed her holy fire? What the frak. “I just wanted a normal pet for once. How do we always manage to find the odd animals?” There was a blink or two, but she’d soon shake her head at Lionel and his seemingly new pet, and shifted her attention towards the wolf. “I mean, I guess here was the chance that it’s not a werewolf, but it sure didn’t like that silver.” Khitti put enough confidence into the fact that her barrier would hold--though who the hell knew if it really would--and took a few steps forward, olive-green eyes observing the wolf carefully. “Hm.” She thought things over briefly, then reached a hand out towards the wolf that was really her sister. Khitti didn’t go so far as to have it pass through the barrier, but got as close as she could to it, “There was something that Ulah showed me, when she was teaching me how to use my magic, once I’d been given fully from Seika. It was something she was taught ages ago, I guess…” What looked like glitter seemed to form along Khitti’s fingertips and palm, creeping and growing as if like ice. Once enough had formed, she sent it out towards the wolf, using it in attempt to calm the beast. “I’ve never used it though, but she said it was to help calm people. The ones that come in injured to be healed or even on the dying, to ease their minds. I don’t know if it works on werewolves…” The templar frowned a bit, that doubt that she’d been having lately--as she always tended to have--was ever so carefully making its way into her thoughts and her voice. This was really stupid and dangerous. Maybe they -should- have killed it. What if whomever it is loses control again and hurts someone or something else? If this barrier fell, Khitti could get a face full of wolf teeth, and if she managed to survive it, she’d be -something else- again.

Meri really wanted to eat that Flareon. She really wanted to eat Lionel too. And the shopkeeper. And the rest of the animals. Okay, eat was not the word. She wanted to leave everyone in a mangled and bloody mess, she could not actually eat all of them. Except all she could focus on was Khitti right now, who was currently reaching a hand out toward the wolf. There is no appreciation for this gesture, even if Khitti comes no where near passing through the barrier. The fur on the wolf's back bristle up as teeth are bared and a heavy growl is released from the wolf, growing more intense as that glittery substance formed within Khitti's hand. The wolf is silenced as soon as the spell Khitti is trying for the first time connects with her. Things could have gone horribly awry, they could have some how further managed to anger the wolf, she could have attempted to break through the barrier. But for the time being, this spell seems to work out for the better. The wolf soon sits on its hide haunches and soon there is this icky sound of bones cracking and popping as wolf fur is replaced with human flesh. Khitti will quickly discover that they did not catch the wolf that bit her sister and Lionel will soon come to understand why it is probably a good idea he was not stab-happy today. Meri now sits within the barrier. She's a little nekkid (sorry), as her gear is in that house to the south, and she is definitely looking a little confused. How the heck did she even get here? What the heck even happened? Oh yes, and her leg is definitely still injured, thanks Lionel.

Khitti || It worked? It worked! Khitti was happy there for a second once the wolf sat down and calmed itself. But then there were those cracking and popping of bones and the replacing of flesh where fur had once been. There was cringing. Lots of cringing. Also, Meri was naked. Khitti cleared her throat awkwardly and quickly stood in front of Meri, blocking her from Lionel’s view, hopefully in time, to spare Meri her dignity. “You know, I think you may have gotten the short end of the stick with this whole being something that’s seemingly human thing. I mean, I guess there was the whole death thing I had to deal with, but upon reflection, that seems preferable to all of my bones and organs shifting in weird ways if I’d been a werewolf instead.” The barrier would fade away, leaving Meri even more out in the open, “Lionel go, uh… find a blanket or something. She’s not decent… and no peeking!” Khitti would finally kneel down next to Meri, that signature frown on hers making itself known, “Hey, you. It’s okay. Are you… okay? Besides the bleeding and the confusion and whatever else might be wrong.”

Lionel gritted his teeth and tensed as the beast transformed from wolf to woman. For the second time this afternoon he felt as though he needed to get his eyes checked. “That’s Meri,” he muttered the obvious, seemingly unaffected by the bit of female nudity before him. Either he was largely mentally and emotionally sealed off from such fancies or he’d seen too many things in his time to be stirred, scared, rattled or aroused by a few seconds worth of curves and crevasses. Probably it was both. When his sister ran in front of him to shield Meri’s modesty, his realization that he ought to have been blushing or something left him more stunned than what he’d seen behind her. Flah’rey’ohn sniffed Meri and wimpered near her wounded leg sympathetically. “Heck,” Lionel said. “I did that. I’ll get a blanket, yeah, but here. Apply these directly to the forehead.” He handed Khitti a couple of Esche’s homegrown healing herbs. “That’ll ease any prospective fevering.” Lionel presumed Khitti’s holy spells might be able to do the rest. “Sorry, Meri.” He winced and grabbed the nearest thing to a blanket he could find inside the shop, which was a sheet that had been covering an orange-and-white boa. “f***,” Lionel said, his author certain that this word would be censored. “f***, f***, f***,” he repeated, his author now wondering if administrative intervention would occur for his willful disobedience. Eventually, his author stopped breaking the fourth wall and handed Khitti the sheet. Also, the animal merchant was passed out drunk on the floor.

Meri takes a moment to process what Khitti is saying to her, it might have something to do with the fact that her bones and organs were just shifting in weird ways. Once she does fully register her sister's words and humor, she responds with a hard roll of her eyes and sticks her tongue out. The former tattoo artist has probably seen more T & A during her career that she really is not that embarrassed by the situation she was in. That is not to say that she was about to stand up and start walking around freely, no. She did have some amount of modesty. Still, she appreciates Khitti shielding her from view and Lionel's efforts to find her a blanket so that neither he nor anyone else can have a peek. Not that Lionel seems interested in having a peek, which really only works out to his benefit. Meri probably would have decked him or something for staring. Was she okay? Meri wasn't entirely too certain, she was still trying to come to some understanding of what happened...One moment she was walking through Cenril...And now she was here. "Yeah. Fine." Outside of the leg, which really hurt. And because it was inflicted by a silver weapon, it would not heal up nearly as fast as it would have otherwise. "I want to get out of here before he wakes up..." Meri frowns. "I don't remember where my clothes are...Can I borrow something when we get back to the Tranquility?" Well, there may not be much of anything Khitti has that Meri could wear. The blonde was far taller than her sister. Someone on the ship must have something. Lionel's cursing draws Meri's attention. "It's a little snake. You have a big sword. You're fine." Meri repeats. "Can we go? Before he wakes up?"

Khitti would probably let Meri punch Lionel, to be honest. I mean, he did cut open her leg and sort of deserved it. But mostly, Khitti would just find it funny. But, she decided to be a good sister (for once; she doesn’t have a good track record of this, just ask Lydia; oh wait, you can’t, she’s dead because of Khitti #RIP) and slapped those herbs on Meri’s forehead like a car salesman trying sell a car, except with less force. “Yeah, we’ll get you back to the ship. We’ll get you stitched up and send someone to get Cal too. Looks like he’s gonna have to take care of -you- now, heh.” She’d take the sheet and wrap it around Meri once Lionel returned with it and avoided the snake. Thankfully for Meri, Khitti had a wide variety of dresses that would suit her needs until they found something more suitable for the blonde. Yay, Meri! Dresses! Yaaaayyy! “I’ll send Camina in here after the shop’s closed to look around and see if she find your stuff. It can’t be too far away.” But yes. Khitti, and presumably Lionel, would definitely help Meri get the frak out of there before the owner woke up. She’d be back though. For that snake that loves Lionel oh so much.

Lionel had a big sword, just like Meri said. Big and handy. So he was less scared of the snake than he had been moments before. He helped Khitti do the thing. The escort mission was blissfully uneventful because the escortee was a perfectly capable, sentient woman whose leg had recently been maimed. Okay, that last part was less than ideal. Still, away they went. Through the thin crowd of Cenrili denizens, down the docks, and onto the Tranquility. Would Meri find clothing her size? Would Lionel ever figure out why fire-elemental fox followed him all the way to the ship? Would that snake that seemed to love Lionel so much slither outside its cage and catch up to the party? These were all answers for another time. As day faded to night, the sleeping shopkeeper awoke at last. He had gotten himself so drunk -- so low was his alcohol tolerance after just a few sips of wine! -- that he’d forgotten all about the wolf. There was surface-level damage to his shop, but he shrugged it off and blamed hooligans. The fox, however, was missing. “No,” the shopkeeper mumbled. “No, no, no. This is not good. This will not do at all. The Good Masters of Kanto will be coming to bring her back. They -entrusted- her to my care.” The Good Masters of Kanto, whose dominion over the realm of elemental foxes was wholly unknown to Lithrydel, would be back. And they would want blood. Perhaps beleaguered Lithrydel was about to face yet another continental hell even as Kahran yet lingered. Dark days were coming. Blood and steel. Nah, I’m kidding.

Meri :: The shop's keeper was stirring, which further spurned Meri's want to leave. Meri still could not fully explain what might have happened to either Khitti or Lionel, the moments just before her shift were a hazy blur. Back to the Tranquility the trio would go. Meri would be put into a dress and she did not even have the energy to object. No fussing about if Brand didn't have some pants to wear, Khitti would get to put her sister in a dress. And given that they used silver on her? Meri probably wanted to snooze for awhile, even with Khitti applying those herbs directly to the forehead. Hopefully she would wake to find her own clothing. If Camina cam back and search for Meri's clothing, the blonde's gear would be found in the house to the south. This house in particular evidently belonged to a cannibal, Camina may or may not learn. The short version of what happened is that certain scents attracted Meri to the house and left Meri feeling a little #triggered. But! All was better...for now.