RP:Chosen Paths

From HollowWiki

Part of the Time Heals All Wounds Arc


Synopsis: Kyori seeks Penelope out to plan the whispering of ghosts. The two banter. Kyori's oo-la-la flirty, and Penelope's proudly awkward about her strange dating life that she ever-tries-so-hard to avoid. Plans are set for speaking with Pakellin Halifax's ghost after Penelope returns from Chartsend on Lionel's quest.

Halifax Roots

Kyori looped through the trees of the Sage as effortlessly as if he’d lived there all his life. The motions are fluid. Each step calculated without conscious effort. He’d promised to pay Penelope a visit to discuss her parting words at the tavern; she wanted to speak to her brother. No letter announced his visit but he did turn up...this was the second time now. The spellblade had already approached the doors to her shop once before spinning his wheels and doing a looping lap around the area. He thought it was to give himself time to prepare for what she’d say but it could be more or less than that. Worn boots knocked against the lip of the open door, announcing his arrival with the subtlety of a small army. Hardly befitting a man of his speed and control. Kyori cleared his throat, surveying the room for signs of the coughing child, the child’s companion, Penelope’s assistance, Yerrel or the shop owner herself. Two older women were waiting at the book spackled counter. He almost couldn’t see through the stacks to the wall beyond. The elder women chatted, looking up at Kyori once before continuing. “Need to get my arthritis cream, you know.” The taller of the two women announced to the rooms and hallways at large, projecting the aura of a woman more important than she was. By Kyori’s estimate the shorter of the two women would only nod, refusing to address the hilarity the situation actually brought into the shop. Did this woman even need medicine or was she occupying the building for the brand of it all? Not that the Halifax woman ran an exclusive, high end establishment with select clientele of the highest pedigree. Maybe they were just here to gawk at Penelope’s apprentice. Strapping young lad and all that.


Halifax Roots was bustling, and perhaps it was for the scented soaps and oils that scattered about the shop room. Behind the counter was the tall, lean Ruari Erickson in a flannel and cargo pants. Of course those older ladies were ogling the scruffy, mountain apprentice. There was no coughing child, for Leon Lovik was left at Yerrel’s hut. The apprentice was the only one in sight, well, so far. The man with black hair sort of waves the women away. “Come with me Miss Heatherson. It’s no wonder you’re so adamant, it’s on the top shelf,” the witty man smiles before icy grey eyes fall on the warrior. The cream that was hard to reach is now given to the smaller older lady, and then he nears the blonde man. “Hey, Kyori, my guy. Looking for something to soothe your surgical wound, man?” Right in that moment, a door to the right of the shop that was up a staircase opens. The Ardelian with the unkempt hair and the freckle dusted cheeks away buried in a stack of papers that she is sorting through. “Ruari, these documents need to be stored in—“ her moss gaze lifts and her eyes fall on the warrior. She finishes her journey down the wooden steps before shoving the stack of papers in the mountain man’s arms. “Yerrel’s hut. Put it in his filing cabinet. I’m trying to make my room less…” Ruari cuts in, “Workaholic-like?” And at the comment, Penelope just stares blatantly at the sharp-tongued apprentice. “Alright, your majesty,” the apprentice bows in act and waves Kyori off. “Talk to the boss-lady. Later, man,” he casually says before he disappears out the door of the shop. Penelope then tilts her head. “The ‘boss-lady’ is surprised to see you today,” she makes fun of herself in the third-person, but the term does not phase her, for that little smirk still rests on her face all-the-same.


Kyori can’t help but shake his head as the older women continue to ogle Erickson like school girls. Praise Elayna for their spunk. The women chatter on leaving the men to take up counter space with greetings. Penelope must have kept her word about not telling anyone. Her apprentice is asking about his injury. “Hey, yeah, just what the healer ordered, thanks man.” But before the hero of all old ladies everywhere could help Kyori out, a stack of chaotic hair and paper storms in. The warrior and the older ladies look up to see Penelope addressing the apprentice. The women laugh while Kyori’s left, palm in the air, waving at Erickson’s back. Later!” He calls after the new heir of papers as he leaves. Kyori rests his elbow on the cluttered counter before addressing Penelope with a casual “I saw that guy at the ball. Knew I’d seen him before.” Great job dense Kyori, super sleuthing it up over there. He blinks his sapphire eyes at the door before cocking his head to give Penelope an impish grin. “Boss lady, is it? You running an underground healer mob ring I should know about?” He turns to face her fully, a devious smile to greet her. “What does that even mean, you invited me over here Ms. Halifax. Am I so quickly forgotten or are you cleaning your room for my sake? You know I don’t judge.” Look at his clothes, he doesn’t care. “Maybe a clear surface would be preferable but I’m agreeable.” The blonde shrugs. He jokes around like it’s a casual visit. Honestly, he’s forgotten WHY he’s here. Not to make crude remarks or feel her freeze up at his touch again, that’s for damn sure. Too late for the remarks bit but there was time left to not slip up the second part. “Heard a rumor you needed a…” Name something remarkable or exceptional about yourself Kyori. Go ahead. “...really tall guy to...reach stuff.” There you go, great job. The spellblade lifts his chin as a gesture in her direction. "What's all this about? Hot date tonight?"


As Kyori begins to speak, her eyes saunter about the area and where the women still linger by the counter. His remark about the ball makes her blink and her moss gaze lingers on him. “Oh, Ruari? He wouldn’t go if he didn’t have to be there. Poor guy. Yeah, he’s always my date for those gigs. Best friend since my days as a baker in Cenril.” Her voice sounds so nonchalant. Feet begin to wander behind to slide some books to the side on the counter for more space to address the ladies. Before she answers Kyori, she greets with a, “Hi, Miss Heatherson. That’ll be…” she names out the price, they do the exchange of business and she waves the ladies off with warmth. Once they are out of her attention now, she rests eyes on the man. She caught his taunting mannerism. “First of all, we don’t talk about the mob,” she leans in slightly. “And two, don’t put it past me, Kyori.” The woman gives him a playful friendly wink. Though, her face turns into a scoff. “For one, my room is –always- clean despite the clothes which is the only problem I have. The other problem is that I –still- need to help you with your clothes problem, obviously,” she looks him up and down in a teasingly way. The girl reflects with a simple, eggshell colored, wrap skirt and those chunky, black; strappy, wedge sandals. She wears a loose black tank top to reveal three tattoos. One tattoo is one that covers over a scar on her left forearm in the shape of calluna vulgaris. Another tattoo trails down that same arm to her wrist where an octogram rests, and, last but not least lilium rests on her left back shoulder blade over another scar. Dress for success…? No, she just liked fashion. “Well, it’s not like the ‘boss-lady’ does not have the authority to close her own doors for a, I assume…?” and then he makes his remark. Irises flick over his stature that is completely opposite to her five foot, two inch one. “Heh, I could use you if you –really- want me to. But I don’t think that’s healthy. You should find someone nicer,” she tries to hide that smile before it sinks at his gesture into a quirked brow. “What?” Her gaze looks down at her simple outfit. “Why are you so nosy about my dating life?” The girl then pushes off the counter and pivots to face the cupboards where she would tippy toe up until she reached a vial. The vial was mostly a thinning white liquid, but if put on the hand, it would have a faint blue hue. “I offer you, good sir, Kyori, Kyo,” she fiddles with his name out of good spirits. “The one and only… The greatest of them all…” Now she is pretending to be an announcer at some duel. “The Kyori oil,” (the narrator could surely use a ham horn right now for this post). Anyway, Penelope puffs out before placing the oil vial on the counter in front of him. “For you, of course. Whenever you want to use it.”


Kyori can’t stop himself from laughing at her quick, unbothered retort. Penelope was in good spirits and it really suited her. This was the man he wanted to be. Not serious and secretive and all over the emotional spectrum. This flirty, casual and semi-annoying sort that people waved off or paid little attention to. Who was good in a pinch but otherwise notable for the way he made people laugh. A light in the dark. “Don’t be so quick to judge plant nerd.” In the pause he studies her tattoos blatantly. Her riffing off his teasing flirt pulls his sapphire eyes back to her face. “Not healthy?” He barks a laugh at the ceiling. “My height’s been used for worse.” He teases, shoving his hands into his pockets right as she reaches for the vial. The attempt with his name makes him bunch his blonde brows in amusement. “Kyo.” He repeats ostentatiously. “Coyote works fine if you don’t want people to know I’m associated with this FANTASTIC OIL.” He turns his head both ways, shouting the last bit to...no one. No one else was here. “All right, let me see this thing named after some pompous dude.” He picks the vial up off the counter and holds it up to the light. “You sure this is the real thing? I thought it’d be more masculine looking. Like blood or ichor. Needs a label with a wolf and a sword or whatever.” After a moment of pretend scholarly examination he pockets the oil. “In all seriousness, thanks.” The silly demeanor holds but he looks at her tattoos again. He could see the scarring under one. He felt like he knew nothing about her all over again. After a quiet smile he picks back up the mantle of fool and easy friend. “Can’t a guy be nosey? Sheesh. Why are women so private with their personal lives?” Kyori, man, you’re one to talk. Seriously. “I told you I don’t judge in case you’re worried I’ll think less of you after I learn your horribly weird secrets about your...pleasure dungeon or whatever.” He waves a hand. “It’s always the quiet ones.” His curiosity about her tattoos is what’s really eating him alive. This is just good old fashioned deflection. He taps a finger to his lips. “Oh, I get it. That’s what those shoes were for. Left over from a previous date. It’s all coming together now.”


Penelope, most times, was caught on sunnier, calming sides. Lately with the emotional wave pool was the exception. A complicated exception. The Ardelian was prone to humor and serenity throughout her ordinary days. Her eyes only roll at his mention of her being a nerd. A plant one at that. Her head also shakes about his response on his height. Either way, here is the oil. “Pfft, what’s the fun in that? Didn’t you say you wanted to be some heroic heartthrob?” As he picks up and examine the oil, her brows furrow at his critique. “Let me just talk to my advertising company that is -non-existent- that I keep in the tunnels.” A thumb is pointed behind her. “Maybe I’ll paint a bottle for you, but most likely… no.” The girl says flatly, but that flat, teasing face forms into a crooked smile. “You’re welcome.” Hands push off the counter before she shuffles through a few books on elixirs, plants, and herbal med-crafting. It was to keep the hands busy, and well, to have a more open counter space to the public. “Private? Yes. Why? That’s private,” she smirks as she drops a stack of books on the counter behind the front counter. Her head whips around as he talks about a ‘pleasure dungeon’. “And it looks someone would like to know.” There was none. There would never be one. “Also,” she moves back to the counter and extends her arms on the surface again for support. “Just so you know, a tip in dating 101, is that even if a girl dresses her best, it doesn’t mean it’s for a hot date or for the attention of the sex they are interested in.” Inhale. Dating 101. What a joke. Penelope was the last person to go to for dating advice. “And if you’re –so- nosy about it… Linken was the last and only man I was in a relationship with.” Beat. “Three years ago.” Pause. “A date after that?” The woman raises her eyes above to the ceiling to pretend to count, but really… “One –official- ‘hot date’, and, yes, that is not counting Erickson. Are you fulfilled now?” Everyone told her to move on, to lighten up and be young--especially Lanara. Was she taking that advice? Not entirely. The Ardelian gives him a crooked smile before turning the opposite direction again. One hot date? Only one? Well, there was the occasional unexpected kisses within those three years, but all were men that she tried to keep at an angle due to her own underlying anxiety of it all. There, however, was no tone of embarrassment by the breezed confession the healer makes. After all, we are talking about one fickle woman where love disfigured her a time ago. A girl who did not “love” easily, if that was even the word for it. Mercurial. It was simpler to keep the distance, and men always discovered that statement to be true with even themselves. “What about you? You kiss and tell? I’m sure you do,” she taunts him before keeping that distance away as she leans on the back counter. Again, reversing the topic onto him to put him on the spot. After all, they both had those prying personalities.


Kyori holds his hands up in playful surrender. “I’m not an expert, I’ve known people with preferences. Like I said, I don’t judge.” Everyone had their views on relationships, most of them jaded by fear or trauma. Kyori was no exception but it wasn’t a thing the man concerned himself with. He was happy with his charming, ‘unphased’ persona. If he hung around people long enough they started to see the cracks in the mask but it was easy to forget the uncertain for the comfortable. He rolled his left heel on the floor. He’d bet money that Linken guy still wanted Penelope, however he ended up back here. “Only one hot date? Were the rest in winter? I guess we’re just crawling our way into spring now.” The healer’s lecture on how women dress and why brings that impish grin back to his face. “No compliments in the future, noted.” Giving her a hard time was the aim. She’s still smiling so he considers his attempt a brilliant success. Penelope turns the tables and leaves the spellblade in the spotlight. “Official dates? Nah.” The ball with Nat had been between friends, though he cared about her. She was young and had reminded him of his sisters. Naive and untarnished. Life hadn’t shown her how people can destroy you from the inside out. “I’m not above kissing and telling,” He admits, bracing his forearms against the cleared counter space. There’s wordplay to be had but he’s distracted himself. “And for the record, I’m pretty sure you promised me that you’d MAKE me a heart throb. I just wanted the hero part.” One free hand pats his pocket. “And the oil.” He wonders what the note will say. “Guess it’s all in the clothes.” Yes Kyori, your clothes are why you haven’t been on dates. Great deduction. “Go on a date with me, then you’ll know everything about it and I won’t be snitching.” He says casually, letting the roguish grin win over his features. She was smart and funny, obviously attractive but humble about it.


Penelope kind of crinkles her nose at his joke about winter. “Ha. Ha. You’re –so- funny.” Though, the smile remains. Somehow, he managed to make her eyes roll to the back of her head every other minute. As he slips past his explanation of the spotlight, she lets that topic go. Thankfully, they are on the old one. “For the record, I said if you –died- I’d make you into a heartthrob. Did you die? If you did, you chose me to haunt, and that’s just petty,” she tosses the sharp-tongued responses back with lightness. “I guess it –is- the clothes,” she shrugs, but her Ardelian accent is overly sarcastic with that small smile. When he casually brings up a date, he wears that grin that, for a moment, catches her off guard. Her smirk on her face begins to die down, but not completely. “You’re not really here to ask me on a date.” Not that she was denying his suggestion, for, after all, he was easy on the eyes, he could make her laugh, and well, he kept her on her toes. Lanara told her to casual date, and she went on one who was also easy on the eyes, brave, and a heartthrob. Still having occasional run-ins with the commander that gave her foreign flutters? Well, that was simpler, but getting down to the gritty of balancing emotional feelings and throwing them forward? Not facile. For both of them, and who knew if it would ever happen. Flirting was easier. Breezily, she waves off the topic with that close-mouthed smirk on her unpainted lips, “Emilia’s hunt is in a few days, by the way. We are going to search Rynvale. And, well, if we want to get technical,” Penelope brushes by him to go open the doors of the miniature shop. The doors close, and she locks it, so no one else would be able to come in. Except Ruari Erickson, but he was on another quest. “I also think you’re here because I told you before I left last time that I wanted to talk to my brother,” she says the statement without trouble, though maybe having her back to Kyori was easier to say that statement. Or, just maybe, she had time to process. The healer pivots to face him. “Now… how do we do that?” Workaholic, Ruari Erickson described it all. Others had been her priority. Not herself.


Kyori rolls his own eyes without missing a beat. “A technicality.” That her promise to make him a heartthrob depended on his death. No fun in being a dead heartthrob. He likes watching her shrug him off and laugh at his remarks. “I’m not not here to ask you.” He points out. The topic moves on without a straight forward reply and he just grins at her. “No idea where Rynvale is but give me a map and I’ll be there.” Talking about Emilia conjured memories of Lynn and didn’t invite warm, flirty retorts. The seance with Penelope’s brother doesn’t add any heat to that discussion either. Rain check. “You’ve already got my agenda half filled out,” the warrior chuckles but finds other places for his eyes to focus when she turns back around. “Game plan is simple for talking to people like your brother.” He’s fighting to keep the liveliness in his voice. Talking about his ‘gift’ wasn’t the most carefree conversation and he liked it more when she smiled. “We’ll need an object of significance.” The ghost in the cave had the flower. Kyori had his sword. Her brother would need a meaningful object of emotional significance. “Blood of a relative never hurts.” Could blood have been caked in the mud of the caves? “It’s...food of the soul. The blood, the heart, the mind.” The warrior stretches his sore neck muscles while the silence inside him becomes a living thing. It had to show, he didn’t want to see it in Penelope’s face. “Gravesite makes a perfect storm but,” His sapphire eyes flash with a streak of gold. “Are you sure this is what you want?” Obviously Penelope Halifx is a strong boss woman that didn’t need protecting but that wouldn’t stop him from worrying. The concern stemmed from him giving a damn about her, more than one if he’s honest with himself, but he isn’t honest so it’s fine. Kyori throws in a boyish grin. “I haven’t known you very long but I’d say you have a bad habit of putting other people first.” His smile slacks. It’s hard to ask the question when he knows why she feels responsible. She felt her twin’s blood on her hands and if this child dies, it’ll be her fault too. Kyori’s observant and willing to bet she thinks it was her selfishness that buried the blade in his body. Linken was her defender. The logic of abuse works this way. He didn’t need her to tell him the details. The blanks spoke for themselves. He stuffs his hands back in his pocket to give the vial a reassuring squeeze. Family was a tangled, thorny mess in general. “Got any ideas on what we could bring?”


There would be a mental note made about the map with a slight nod before she locks that door to the shop and faces him. “A significant object…” There is a repeat across the room in thought. The lightness in his tone keeps her easily put together. The Ardelian, after all, poured a bit of soul on the floor back at the hut prior. There was no reason to hold back right now. When Kyori opens his mouth about blood, her gaze sort of dazes off in thought. Eyes shift to the octogram tattoo on her wrist. Penelope was significant. His other half. The one he wanted to protect from the world. Then again… The ghost whisperer cuts her thought process as he questions her want. Golden streaks cross his sapphire eyes that makes her posture straighten. A pause drags out. “Would I bring it up again if I didn’t?” A strong independent woman was right. The healer moves to a tentacle plant and she gently caresses a stem as he makes his observations. He was not wrong. The girl put herself on the line fairly often lately, but this was a lifestyle choice. “And I think you’re crazy if you think I’m going to be a bystander while other people suffer. It’s called compassion.” A simple, content smile spreads across her lips. More like restoring what she lost. A life of atonement. Healing. Helping. Even if that meant putting her life on the line in order to save others. An exhale escapes as he questions what they can bring. There was one object that might suffice besides her and juniper eyes stare in contemplating thought. “There’s something…” Beat. The woman holds up a finger for him to stay put while she wanders back up the stairs of the shop. She disappears for about five minutes before she is back down with parchment in hand and two pendants in the other. Penelope then stops at the front counter and places the two pendants on the counter. One pendant had a glass-like triangle that was filled with painted orange and red flames on the front and flipped to the back, in resemblance to the other triangle, were painted in green mini leaves and trees. On the other pendant were the same two triangles only the front had painted waves and on the back there was puffs of clouds? Wind? It resembled air, really. “These two pendants were made for us when we were younger by my father. Before my parents were exiled from Ardelia.” Long story. Probably best to let that one rest for now. “Kel loved my dad. I could only imagine if he ever lost this when he was alive. This was around his neck the night he died.” The girl picks up the pendant with the waves and the air, painted triangles. The Ardelian did not wear her own anymore which resembled earth and fire. “Perhaps this could work?”


Penelope’s answer about her want to speak to her brother didn’t surprise him. Kyori didn’t know why he mentioned it to begin with. She wasn’t going to change her mind but he wondered if she knew she had a choice. When the stakes are high the choice looks nonexistent. But Kyori, only a cold hearted person would refuse and let the child die. He knows, damn it, but it didn’t remove his want to make sure she knew it did exist. He was on a journey of atonement too. The warrior knew doing the right thing never felt like a choice.It was just the right thing. Easy decision to put anything and everything ahead of yourself. “I wasn’t suggesting you let that boy die, Pen.” His face is a neutral line of understanding. He wants to say more but she wheeled around and disappeared. In her absence he flipped through books on the counter, aimlessly watching the text and sketches go by in a blur. One. Two. He was in the middle of his third book, flipping slowly now, when she returned. The pendants were old and unexpected. The warrior studies them with keen sapphire eyes. He stays quiet, making a note to ask her later about her parent’s exile. Why her parents and not her whole family? She very specifically said ‘parents’. He can also hazard a guess why she wasn’t wearing hers. He studies the triangles contemplatively. “Bring both.” He said with quiet authority. Twins. Pairs would hold a strong power there. “There’s no wrong item to try,” the point blank military stiffness melted away to leave silver sapphire hues trained on the healer. It was all settled except for when. “Do you want to wait until after the search in Rynvale?” He said it casually enough but he couldn’t completely hide the concern in his face. Penelope would be safe, by the word, but talking to the dead was taxing. What it took and gave weren’t always equal. His index finger taps against the outline of the vial on his pocket. The small ‘clink’ of glass muffled under the countertop. “All that’s left is a date and time.”


It was just the right thing, indeed, so his response lingers in the open air. “No wrong item, huh,” she stares at her own pendant with soft demand. “Fair enough.” She then takes shoves both pendants off to the side. “I think we should wait until after the Rynvale search. Perhaps a few days after, you think? In the evening after the travelers have gone to rest?” The girl did not want anyone lingering about watching some sketchy people stalk a gravesite. “I have another voyage before we take on this... A ship needs a healer, and I was hired for the task.” As if money was involved. The voyage was a favor. From the Warrior’s Guild leader himself. “I think it’ll… give you enough time to rest and prep after our search for Miss Emilia,” she manages a smile. “After all, I’d hate to wear you thin either,” an appearance of concern washes over as she stares at him before eyes settle back down expressionless. She was about to thank him, but then her stare finds the folded parchment. A lightbulb impulse strikes her as she lifts a finger. “Which reminds me!” The map that she grabbed in the midst of the pendants. “Rynvale…” The map is now being sprawled open on the counter. “This will sort of give you clue. I think if you meet me here around (insert time here for narrator future wiki purposes),” she drags an index finger to the docks of Cenril. “We will probably bump into the others. Sound good?” Her green gaze glazes over him for reassurance.


Kyori catches the caring expression braided in with her hesitation. A week should be enough time for him to investigate the map before the search party. He lets her finish the rough directions on the map before giving her an easy smile. "Penelope," He says with affection, "If I'm meeting you here, I probably don't need a map." A small poke of fun to dust off the morbid topic of speaking to the dead. The rescue was a more cheery topic ironically. He runs a hand through blonde hair, letting his eyes devour details on the map hungrily. The warrior's serious expression rises and falls in a blink. He repeats the date to make sure he'd heard her correctly before adding "It's a date" with boyish candor. Then, pushing off the counter to stand straight, aiming for the door he adds "I need a haircut" as if that was what he'd been contemplating moments before. Sensing she might throw another jab about his attire he sighs at the ceiling. "Yes, yes and new clothes." The easy smile remained as he waved his hand in farewell and excused himself to unlock the shop door and see himself out.