RP:Gotta Punch 'Em All

Part of the Dissonance Theory Arc

This is a Warrior's Guild RP.

Summary: Meri rejoins the Warrior's Guild. She's also agreed to watch Dominic while Khitti goes off to fight some bad guys.

The Greenhouse

Khitti || A certain redhead with a small child on a big cat headed across the Cenril bridge, through Milous’ plains, and through Sage on the way to Meri’s house. Khitti parked her cat outside (which really was just Khitti jumping off the tikifhlee and smacking its butt lightly as if to say “go find something to do”. Dominic, for his part, just cackled as the cat mrrowr’ed and headed off deeper into the forest. “Now, what did I say before we left home?” Khitti stopped a moment, still a couple feet away from the door, eyeing Dominic. “No setting Aunt Mewwi’s house on fire,” Dominic said sadly. “Yep. She’ll turn into a wolf and eat you if you do,” Khitti said, pretending to be a werewolf and nomming lightly on his shoulder. Khitti and Brand’s raven-haired child had no problem with this apparently, because he let out a loud, giggle-shriek when she did so. “Alright. Come on then.” The two eventually went into the house and if they were not tackled promptly by doggos, then Dominic would shout for his dear aunt, “AUNT MEWWI!” He’d learn how to say those Rs some day. Just not today.

Khitti and Dominic would not need to wander inside to locate Aunt Mewwi for they would be tackled by the wild pack of dogs pretty quickly. Yes, Fleur is included in that wild pack of dogs, even if she was currently in the form of the child. Mountain and Fleur are quick to greet Dominic and Mr. Weanie is of course desperate to say hello to his favorite red-head. Why, he's pawing at her leg demanding she pick him up and cuddle him. And where is the ring leader of this crazy circus? Well Khitti would probably not be dreadfully hard pressed to locate her sister, she'd hear the thunk of an arrow sinking into a target and then a few seconds later Meri would appear from out back, the bow that Khitti commissioned for her slung over her shoulder. "Just a regular ol' mad house over here." Meri comments to her sister with an unapologetic shrug. As soon as Meri has the chance to, she scoops Dominic up and flips him upside down in the process. "Does someone think it'll be fun to be eaten by a wolf, hm? I heard all that giggling." He's held upside down like that for a moment, so long as he's getting a kick out of it, before Meri rights him and puts him back into the ground feet first.

Khitti hit the floor as per usual with the hounds, while Dominic was held safely above her. He still got licked to death though. Sorry, kid. “Of course it is. Same at the ship too. But worse than usual. We’re getting ready to go find Lionel’s dead ass at some insane place southwest of Rynvale. This place is… uh… quite possibly worse than The Plane That Will Not Be Named,” Khitti said, scooping up Mr. Weanie once Dominic had been stolen away. “Who’s a good boy? Is it you? You are so good! Yes!” Cue lots more baby talk to the little guy. Dominic, on the other hand, squealed loudly when Meri took hold of him and turned him upside down. Yeah, he loved it. “Would you be able to watch him while we’re gone?” There was the chance that, you know, they might not come back and having him with Meri and Cal would be the safest. “If not, I can probably just make Camina watch him.” Camina would hate this, but Khitti would make things better with more money.

Meri was pretty sure that Camina and Callum probably shared the same sentiments. Had he even accepted that if Meri was AUNT Meri that he was supposed to be UNCLE Callum? Unfortunately for Callum, Meri would never accept money to watch Dominic. There would be nothing to sweeten the deal for him, he'd just have to suffer the torture of having two kids in his house. Meri lifts a brow at the account that she is given, specifically the part about needing to go find Lionel's dead ass. Meri was trying to ignore the bit about how the place they were going to is worse than the Shadow Planes. "Huh," Meri remarks. "Yeah, sure, we can watch him. No problem." There is a bit of a pause before Meri tacks on some afterthoughts, and judging by the way she is smirking...? She already assumes her sister is probably happy to acquiesce to her request. "Actually there are going to be some terms and conditions to this I think." Again, it does not look serious. Look at Meri's expression right now, eh? "When you find Lionel, smack him back to life for me, tell him I said "what's up" and inform him I would like back into the Warrior's Guild." The levity to Meri's request is really only because she does not think Lionel is actually dead....and hopefully not too mangled either.

Khitti || Callum should probably be made to take care of Dominic entirely. It’s what he deserved! Dominic is a slightly more gentle soul than Fleur, so maybe he won’t crush his uncle’s plants. It would do Cal some good. Maybe. “I mean, he might not be dead. He just kind of… faded from existence. It’s… a whole thing,” Khitti said after setting Mr. Weanie down and picking up Fleur for a hug. “And since he’s the unlucky one this time, that means I’m in charge. I’ll still smack him anyway for you, but… you’re in! You can smack him too if you want.” She smooched her niece, put her on the floor again, and then shrugged. “Pretty sure this entire family is just cursed with bad luck. It’s not even my fault this time for once.” Khitti batted her eyes and grinned innocently. “And you’ll be happy to know that we’re not in Frostmaw anymore. Well, Rorin is. He can stay there for all I care. But, the base is in Venturil now, north side, not too far west from the Craughmoyle gate.” Somehow, Khitti seemed okay with it being in Venturil. Maybe she’d gotten past her dislike of it.

Meri's blue eyes watch the brood of crazy dogs and kids as they are released from the supposedly more mature adults. The kids and the dogs are off to run around the yard and play as high-energy beings are prone to do. Meri is okay with this, the more they ran and the more tired they would be and the easier it would be to wrangle them into bed. Hopefully. Unless they got too tired and turned into a cranky mess. Callum would definitely have to learn to navigate those moments, for it sounds like Meri has officially joined back with with the Warrior's Guild! This means that he is the only one left to play babysitter. Hopefully Khitti, Brand, and Meri never die all at once on the same mission. Poor Cal. "Well it might please you to know...that I think I don't have as much issue with Frostmaw anymore." It's been years since that voice plagued her mind. "S'pose it's for the best too, I can't really go hatin' on all the places in these lands. Won't have anywhere left to travel to if I am not careful. But...I think I'll take your word on this adventure you're about to embark on. It might be best if I sit this one out...Tag along for the next one. We'll ditch Cal with the kids. It'll be great."

Khitti shrugged, “I don’t hate it up there. But I can’t exactly jump up and down the mountain like I used to as a vampire. And the cold actually affects me now, heh. So, I’m content to let Rorin have his little regiment up there. As long as he stays away from me.” Finally, Khitti collapsed onto the couch, “Kid’s gonna get punched one of these days, Meri. He questioned my authority right in the middle of a guild meeting. There’s a woman named Rilla… She went scouting at the archipelago for us. She’s not even part of the guild and she volunteered almost immediately. Rorin just assumed she did it on her own and gave her lip about it. She literally almost died and he wasn’t even grateful for the information she gave us.” Khitti shook her head. “It’s a good thing he’ll be on another ship or else I’d throw him into the ocean like I did Tenbatsu Kaji.” Pause. “Oh yeah. That thing’s gone now too.” There’s another shrug. Khitti has zero fraks for mouthy people and/or inanimate objects anymore. “But yeah… Once we get Lionel back, we can update you on what’s been going on. I wasn’t there for some of it. Too busy worrying about those plant freaks for a while there.”

Meri joined Khitti on the couch. Much of that the red-head was explaining to her has Meri lifting a brow. "I mean...If you want me to punch Rorin instead...? I am happy to do so...?" This is not said because Meri doubts that Khitti won't do it herself, the blonde just really is itching for trouble. Punching someone at the ball was just not satisfying enough for Meri. "I'm happy to walk right up to him and..." Meri punches at her own hand, mostly to create the sound effect of someone getting hit. "Bam. And then I will look at him and be like...'Khitti said you're a pain in the rear.'" Meri smirks, "And then promptly get thrown out of the guild juuuuust like Eirik did. Frakkin' werewolves, always causing problems." Meri ventures on to talk of how a certain sword will no longer be present. This has Meri slightly perplexed, "Ah, I can't say I am going to miss that sword." Meri tried very hard to not lecture Khitti on the dangers of said sword, but..."I was never keen on it. But ah, I don't know, just don't have any trust for the gods." The blonde gives pause, "But what made you get rid of it? And are you sure it'll let you go so easily? I mean, didn't it sort of..select you...?"

Khitti || “Nah. Kid’s got it coming to him. You could just… ask for a training spar, punch him, and then say ‘Oops, my fist slipped. Sorry, kid.’,” Khitti said, snickering probably just a bit too much. “He wouldn’t even expect it from you, which is perfect.” She was definitely going to daydream about her sister beating the hell out of her guild deputy. “As for the sword… it was not being, uh… nice. We had some… creative differences. The differences being that I’m not quite as good as the sword thought I was. Or… I was for a little while… but it just didn’t stick.” Khitti sighed and shrugged. “Seika started getting all squeaky clean paladin at me and nagging me about things and I just couldn’t deal with it anymore. So Brand suggested throwing it into the ocean and I did. The thing is sentient, so it can do as it pleases. It could stay down there for a while until it senses someone more “worthy”. Which is probably preferable to staying with the drow or the dwarves like it was before it got to me. And Cyris didn’t smite the hell out of me, so I’m assuming it’s fine. It was frakking with my magic anyway apparently.” Where it was typically holy fire that Khitti conjured up, thanks to Cyris’ magic, now it was pure light magic instead. The tiny orb was bright and looked like a small star in the redhead’s hand. “Quintessa’s been helping me figure things out, surprisingly. Despite her, uh… flaws--” Like poisoning holy trees. “--she’s a hell of a lot more helpful in that department than Larewen ever was.”

Meri seems perplexed, but she does not voice her confusion. She'll just shift her eyes away from Khitti ever so thoughtfully when the red-head talks about training spars and fists slipping. You mean...Meri shouldn't use her fists in training spars? Well what the heck was she supposed to do? Okay, Meri's not that dense. She has an inkling, it's just that none of -her- training (not received from the Warrior's Guild directly) was ever so kind as to pull a punch. Meri does not shift the conversation back to this topic, instead focusing on the sword. The blonde issues a bit of a shrug, not concerned that Khitti has just declared she was not quite as good as she was when she first got the sword. Meri was the same, she understood exactly what Khitti was referring to. "It's probably for the best. I certainly hope there isn't going to be any problems. My gut is telling me the problems would have come if you had kept the sword..." But as Khitti already knows, Meri has no trust for the gods. Any of them. Meri presses red lips together thoughtfully when Khitti speaks of Quintessa, trying to recall, "You know, I don't think I have ever had to meet this little protege of yours, have I? Heard about her, but net yet actually met her. I suppose you will have to introduce us at some point."

Khitti does not actually really train with people anymore. That required Khitti to be around people. Gross. So, Khitti’s explanation probably sounded worse than what it should’ve. She’s much more content to get into full on Fight Club fist fights in bars instead of training like a good little warrior should. “There hasn’t been any problems so far, but… you know me,” Khitti said with a smirk. “Quintessa is… complex. She’s basically like me, but with the teenage angst. I will definitely introduce you to her soon. She has a lot on her plate at the moment. Those attacks on the holy trees? That… was her. But, she was put into a position where she couldn’t really refuse, even after Lionel, Brand, and I told her we would help. It’s for the better that it happened while Lionel was not here. I was far kinder to her than he would’ve been.” A frown appeared, the corners of Khitti’s lips dipping downwards as her brow furrowed. “She aims to fix things now, but it’s going to take a lot of work. It’s surprisingly worse than any of the things I’ve done. I think, anyway.” Resurrecting Lydia into some weird Lydia-Amarrah monster was definitely bad. “She’s a bit like you, and Brand, and Lionel though in the “I don’t trust gods” department. Which is fine but… she’s attempting to put her trust into things that call themselves gods but aren’t and that’s not gonna fly either. She’s become like a daughter to me--to the point that I think I might want to make it official, if Brand’s fine with it--but she’s so damned determined to do things on her own. It’s karma for me doing that to everyone else too, I guess.”

Meri has mixed feelings about what Khitti is telling her. It's not that Meri even cares if the trees are attacked. Okay, maybe she cares a little bit by virtue of Callum, but if there were no Callum? She'd definitely not care. The loss of the trees really did not affect the psion and her abilities in any way, there was a reason psions were not permitted into the Mage's Guild. The only concern that Meri really has when it comes to Quintessa and the trees are as follows, "Ah, well. Listen. I want to meet this girl, especially if she's like a daughter to you. I've got a feeling that I'd mostly like her...Teenage angst aside." Meri can relate, she's got a permanent case of werewolf angst these days. "But look....? If they go after that last tree that is awful close to my house." Meri gestures to the house they are currently sitting them. "And I've got to fight off zombies to keep my daughter safe...?" Meri lifts a brow. "I'm afraid I might have to try and punch your daughter too. I'll give her pass though, if she gives me warning." Cal and Meri could afford to fix the property. It was all the more reason to buy that second home in Rynvale, as far as Meri was concerned.

Khitti || “Well, the good news is there won’t be any zombies. This “god” she’s been making deals with only gave her three syringes of this poison sap. Two of them were used on the trees and… Krice got stuck with the other. He’s apparently fighting it off somewhere. I guess I’ll see soon whether or not he’s gotten patched up since then. He’s supposed to go on the mission to get Lionel. The bad news is that… I know the things I did for my vampirism cure. I know the things I probably would’ve done if I had to. So, there’s still a chance that she might betray my trust again and she might indeed need to be punched. I would not be so forgiving if I had not been in her shoes before, several times. Especially because if these trees die, they affect Dominic and Brand too. The Xalious one anyway, at least. I got lucky in that department.” Not having to worry about her own magic taking a hit from this was nice but… what about Brand? It’s not like he didn’t use his magic all the time too. Even if it was to reheat food or something simple. “If things do seem fishy again, I will let you know. Maybe I’ll be able to stop her in time.”

Meri looks relieved when Khitti expresses that she does not think the tree nearest to Meri's own will be attacked. Cautiously relieved, at least. Even Khitti seems to be concerned that the issue may not be fully over, that Quintessa might still need a good punching. "Well, if she was given three...Then clearly she was meant to poison three. Depending on how badly this...god..." Meri does not bother hiding her disdain, as Khitti seems to have doubts enough of her own, "...wants those trees poisoned, it's not improbable that she is presented with a fourth..." All Meri could do is shrug, that would be a bridge that would have to be crossed when and if. "Aye, you will have to let me know if things seem fishy..." Mention of Dominic has Meri lifting a brow. Where -were- their kids. Meri could have sworn that just moments ago she was hearing them, it's always concerning when the two of them get quiet. The blonde removes herself from the couch to investigate what shenanigans Dominic and Fleur might be getting into, "I swear..." she murmurs as she begins this search.

Khitti sighed. “She did say that if she truly wanted to go through with it all, she would not have come and found me in Cenril to apologize. And I believed her when she said that. And still do now. Because I did not want to do the things I did either. But, things are not good in the Mage’s Guild right now and it’s looking like we might have to team up with Gevurah, much to Quintessa’s dismay, to stop this Caluss--the one that gave Tessa those vials. So I have no idea where her mind’s going to be at soon. Especially if this place Lionel’s at is as bad as I’ve read. You know… Same stuff; different day.” Only once she’d stopped speaking did Khitti realize the silence around them. Hm. Khitti squinted a bit, pushed herself up off the couch and went to look for them with Meri. They didn’t seem to be in the house? At least, not that she could hear anyway. The back door was open and the dogs were outside running around like mad still. But the kids? There was giggling coming from the greenhouse. That’s… definitely a bad thing. “Fraaaaak”, Khitti said the entire way as she shadowstepped past Meri to get into the greenhouse quicker. “What the hell are you--” Khitti stopped and blinked. She blinked a lot. “--doing…?” There was no fire. Not even shadowfire. What there was… was Dominic lifting his hand over top of a fern that was close to his reach. Water dripped ever so carefully from his little chubby fingers as he sprinkled it on, like when Khitti put sprinkles on his birthday cakes. Khitti had no words for this. “Mommy! I’m helping!” He giggled, then threw water droplets on Fleur, leaving the fern be now.

Meri's nose wrinkles up ever so slightly at the name of Gevurah. Look, Meri just really does not like drow. It's known that she's always been a bit racist against them, Encara had managed to get her to reconsider her stance only just a little...but Meri recalls Gevurah from that one time at the Red Skull ring thing...Meri mutters something about this dislike for Gevurah and then attempts to drop the subject completely. It's not that Meri didn't care, but the list of people that Meri wants to punch has grown exponentially tonight...did they really need to keep adding to her proclamations? The kids provide a distraction anyway. Meri looks like she is about to have a heart attack when she finds the children in the greenhouse. Great, they've killed another plant and she's never going to hear the end of it. You're supposed to convince your Uncle to like you Dominic! There is relief when Meri has discovered that no harm as come to any plants, just a bit of watering. "Quick. Get 'em out of here before Cal comes home..." What he doesn't know won't hurt him, right? "We've been in the kitchen the whole time. Making dinner." Meri grabs Fleur, and promptly returns to the kitchen...and actually starts making dinner. This won't be suspicious at all. No.

Khitti started to get all misty-eyed. Why was her kid so cute? How did Khitti and Brand create this? Is it because they’re terrible awful people that they created something the exact opposite? Ugh, gods, not the mom feels. She already had this enough with Quintessa this week, damn it! “Good idea! Come on, sprout, before your uncle comes home and murders you.” Dominic did not mind being picked up either and carried back into the house. Did he ever mind anything? Well, there were some things he didn’t like, but this was just another game to him. “See, your dad and your uncle Cal are from the same place your uncle Lio is from. They can get really mad if their babies are messed with. You know how your dad got when you used to set parts of his ship on fire? Uncle Cal is like that with his plants. So, we’ll have him teach you how to do things right one day, okay?” Dominic nodded as his position in Khitti’s arms was adjusted, “What’s Uncle Lio’s baby?” Khitti blinked and looked at Meri. What -was- Lionel’s “baby”? “Uhhhhhh. Uncle Lio… loves… You know, I don’t know what the heck he likes. Maybe you should ask him when you see him again.” The raven-haired child nodded again, this time much more enthusiastically. “But, for now, it’s time to help your aunt make dinner before we leave so Uncle Cal doesn’t get suspicious, okay?” Cue more nodding. Dominic loved helping.

Meri sort of wished she could share those mom feels right now, as much as she loved Fleur. Meri did not have those mom feels at this exact moment. When Khitti and Dominic start in the discussion of Catalian and their babies, specifically when it comes to Lionel...all Meri can do is shrug. "I guess...maybe..the world...with how much he loves running around and protecting it...?" Cue another shrug from Meri. A confused look is cast upon Khitti when she mentions that 'we' would be leaving. "I thought it was just 'you' leaving...?" Not that Meri minds, she just wanted to make sure she had her kid-duty details straight. "Dominic isn't staying with us? Don't you have some fancy mission to run off to...? Or are you bringing him by tomorrow?" Stay or leave, Meri would be happy to put Dominic to good use within the kitchen. As much as she safely could for someone his age. Fleur on the other hand? She seems to take a bit more after her mother in this area, the kitchen does not seem like her favorite place to be. It might be why Meri has trapped her within the high chair until dinner is cooked and served.

Khitti hadn’t fully thought things through. If she had, she would have brought some of Dominic’s clothes. She did, however, manage to pack his stuffed chicken. “Oh right. You know, if I was smart and not doing way too many things thanks to Lionel’s disappearing act, I would’ve remembered to bring Dominic’s clothes.” She paused and looked at her kid, “Do you wanna start your sleepover tonight? And I’ll bring you your clothes tomorrow before your dad and I leave?” Dominic had started to look sad at the mention of leaving, but Aunt Meri saved the day and he could only cheer and shout “Yes!”. The redhead smirked and eyed Meri, “Looks like you’ve got your answer. I think we’re leaving early, so if you guys are all still asleep, I’ll just slip it inside next to the door.” And then Dominic remembered, “CHICKEN!” And Khitti set him down. “Go on. The tikifhlee should be back by now. Go get your chicken.” The kid ran off towards the door, stood on his tiptoes, and headed outside to where the big feline was resting. Stuffed chickens are very very important and must not be forgotten.

Yes, stuffed chickens were important and should not be forgotten. Meri did not want Dominic having a mental breakdown over the weekend becuase he forgot his chicken and it got taken to some demon realm. Then again, maybe it would be safer there. For when Dominic returns with that chicken, Mountain seems very interested in it. So interested that Meri has to pause in the cooking of dinner to deal with her dog. "No, that is not your toy. That is Dominic's toy. You have a whole box full of your own toys." She reminds Mountain of it's location, just in case the giant ditz of a dog has forgotten. And then back to dinner. "Sounds good, I'm sure we'll be up. You know how it goes with kids. What is sleeping in again?" Cue a bit of a smirk from the blonde. "But if we've been graced with a miracle, it's not like you don't have key. Leaving it just inside would be perfect."

Khitti || If Mountain had gotten that chicken? Well, let’s just say that it’s a good thing that that cat of Khitti’s ran really fast and then Dominic had yet another chicken at home. Seeing Mountain’s reaction to it really started to make Khitti wonder whether or not she should try to dog-proof it somehow. Magic was a serious lifesaver when kids and animals were involved. “Okay, you,” Khitti said, “let put Mr. Chicky up here for now. Don’t want to get it dirty.” She put it up on a countertop away from where they’d be helping with dinner and hopefully out of Mountain’s reach. And then? Well, Khitti would help her poor sister with dinner and pray that Cal didn’t notice one of his plants had been watered in his absence.