RP:Runestone Riddles

Summary: Back in Finding Your Way, Orange answered some questions about Dominic's rune stone, and Dominic promised to return if he learned anything new about it. Their reunion leads to more answers -- but also even more questions, and potentially one major problem.

Thorne Estate

Dominic approached the manse at an unhurried pace, though his gaze was constantly searching his surroundings for any sign of danger. As he reached the doors, the path behind him was regarded over his shoulder with a long, wary stare before he faced forward and knocked, three firm raps. He’d stare at his boots contemplatively until it was answered, or try once more after a time if there was no response from within.

Shishi ’s colorful nickname is called inside the large home by his daughter, “Blue! Somebody’s here!” Orange is in the foyer in a similar position to how the man at the other side of the door had first seen her, draped over her favorite chair, though this time there’s no book being picked through, she’s just boredly snapping her fingers on her right hand, watching a flame appear and disappear at her fingertip. She’s easily the closest to the entrance when Dominic comes knocking, but she’ll leave it to her father to answer as he comes in with his son in tow from some nearby room. A Dad-like shrug is thrown Leralynn’s way with no words to accompany it, but clearly the vampire means to say, ‘Why? You’re right here.’ and he is met with an equally wordless widening of the blonde girl’s eyes and a shake of her head like, ‘What?’ When Shishi opens the door Yellow is behind him, peering around his father to get a peek at, “Dominic.” The assassin greets the man, “Hey there. What’s brought you out here? Come in.” He steps aside and nearly into Arius as the pair vacate the doorway to allow entrance into the home. Orange, on hearing the name swings her legs around, off the arm of the chair, so that she’s in a normal sitting position by the time she’s back into anyone’s field of view, no fire at her hands now.

Dominic gave Blue and his son a slight smile that never quite made it to his eyes -- those were too busy caught up in a wide, unsettled expression. Dear gods, why was he willingly coming to Vailkrin again…? He’d relax once he made it into the estate, though, shuffling into the hall after one last momentary glance behind him. Paranoid, much? “Hi, again. And thanks. I, uh… well, you remember that chunk of rock, right? I told Orange I’d let her know if I figured anything else out?” He paused for one long breath, eyes scanning from his vantage point just past the threshold. “Is she here?”

Shishi nods along with the new arrival’s words and the vampire looks over his shoulder towards his daughter who hops off of the chair when her name and that magic enhancing stone are mentioned. The girl comes bouncing over to the Dominic and her two family members. Her brother is given a bump with her shoulder that is retaliated to with an extended hand and a light shove. Leralynn stumbles to the side one step before turning her eyes to the guest and stating the obvious, “I’m here.” Curiosity abounds in her voice when she then asks, “You learned something about that thing?” Then blue eyes narrow and she kind of playfully asks, “Or did it explode?” calling back to a warning she had given him during their first encounter.

Dominic actually looked slightly amused at the sibling antics. Orange’s second question was rewarded with a small smirk, along with a slight narrowing of the eyes. He was still an anxious sort, but he seemed a bit more comfortable with Blue’s family the second time around. “Not yet... though I’m not ruling out the possibility.” He pulled that same stone out of his pocket now, turning it and giving it a quick inspection of its many faces before offering it forward to the girl again. “I thought you might take a look at it one more time. I don’t know if the stone has anything to do with this or not, but --” How to explain? “...Uh, I dunno, it’s odd. I’ve been able to do a couple things I couldn’t before, though I don’t really have a good control on it yet. Some kind of illusion-y… shadow… thing? Plus the usual elemental stuff.”

Shishi raises a brow when the stone changes hands and the subject of a ‘shadow thing’ comes up. He and the blonde boy beside him exchange a look to which the so called Blue Demon shrugs. Leralynn, with the enhancing rock in her hands, turns the thing over a few times. Nothing new as far as she could tell, “Illusiony shadow thing…” she repeats, trailing off while she extends her right arm away from her body with the stone still in her left hand, “Close your eyes.” she directs this to the entire room, giving them all very little time to react when she snaps her fingers and a brilliant white flame ignites at her fingertip. This one doesn’t tower up to the ceiling like the previous experiment with the magic rock, instead the mysterious item is used to enhance the intensity of the fire, rather than its size. Once she’s satisfied with the test the flame disappears with another snap of the girl’s fingers and she admits, “I don’t know much about illusions or… Shadows…” that second part is a lie and is said while looking her father’s way, “But Blue actually might be able to help with that…” The azure eyes on the father blink a few times as he bounces his gaze back and forth between his daughter, Dominic, and the stone, “Eh? Maybe… Can you do the shadow thing here?” he questions the man, unsure if he wants the answer to be yes or no.

Dominic did not at all pick up on the fib, only blinking at Blue’s question. Here? Now? The man could only shrug. “Uh, maybe. I’ve mostly only been able to do it when attacked or at least pretty badly startled. But I can … try to do it without a catalyst like that? It’d be good practice, anyway.” Emerald eyes peered toward the ceiling. “You sure you want to do that here, though? Like I said, I don’t really know what I’m doing yet. And it would be just my luck to bring your whole house down on top of us in the attempt.” Not that he actually thought he was anywhere near strong enough for that to happen, with or without the stone. It just seemed like the kind of thing that would find some way to happen to him, if it was at all remotely possible. Just so the universe could have a good laugh at what he considered to be more or less perpetual misfortune.

Shishi nods once and points back towards the door, “Aye. Let’s do it out in the garden then. It is still a wreck anyway. Probably for the best that I not do my thing in here either.” Leralynn nods once at the idea. She had been about to hand the stone back to Dominic when he made the comment about bringing the house down that made her retract her hand and narrow her gaze at him again, though this time the expression is given more seriously. With Blue’s suggestion that they move outside the rock is once again presented to the guest. Dominic gets a pat on the shoulder from the vampiric father before he moves past the stone’s owner and pushes open the door to exit into the front yard. Yellow and Orange will follow, the latter waiting for their guest to exit first. “Worst case scenario…” Shishi begins to joke, “...we can always put you in some danger to get you to do it.” This is said through a fanged smile, but his back is to Dominic as the move into the still mostly upturned garden, so the full effect of a vampire saying such a thing is probably lost in the process.

Dominic took the stone back from Orange and stepped outside after his vampiric... acquaintance? “It wouldn’t be the first time someone’s had to do that so I could demonstrate,” he admitted. It hadn’t been -much- danger, but an armored boot to the stomach still wouldn’t have exactly been pleasant. “Okay, this is, uh, probably far enough.” There was that uneasiness again. The air still felt strange to him here and he certainly hadn’t been to Vailkrin enough times to be acclimated to it yet. Dominic tossed the stone from his right hand to his left, looking past Shishi with a nod toward some nearby tree. Hopefully he wouldn’t topple that, either. Still better than the whole house, though. He cleared his throat and stared intensely at it, clenching the stone in a fist and widening his posture, and... absolutely nothing happened. No, wait -- there was a vague smoky darkness that wafted up from the grass, somewhat humanoid in shape and size, and then it was gone again. Dominic sighed, relaxed his pose, and shook his head. “Well, it was worth a shot. I’m still not good enough yet. I-it’s... more like a protective reflex right now, I guess.”

Shishi blinks a few times, coaxing his irises through their accursed transformation. From their usual oceanic shade of blue they shift to a glowing crimson that will eerily illuminate the assassin’s face in the perpetual night that is Vailkrin’s climate.This is all in preparation for Dominic’s magic trick, but as it turns out just activating the family’s curse produces more of a show than the stone wielding man is able to at about the same moment in time. A visible pulse moves through the shadows cast around the Thorne Estate, spreading down the road likely far enough to reach the landmark Blood Fountain. That wisp of a shadow man probably sways slightly under the influence of those accursed crimson eyes. Both of the children have seen this all before countless times, so their focus is on what Dominic barely manages to conjure up before it disappears. The Blue Demon is left to give the poor analysis, “Just seems like ordinary shadow magic to me.” This is said to the male mage, but he’s looking towards his daughter to see if she can confirm. She can’t, but she does ask, “Can you only do that while you’re holding the stone? Or…?” she trails off hoping Dominic can finish the thought.

Dominic, if he was alarmed by the Shishi’s doings, hadn’t shown it. Too busy fixating on his own task, maybe. “It might be different if I could actually get it to work all the way. I’m not sure,” he said to Shishi. “When it’s fully formed, it looks almost like an actual person.” Like Brand, though he wouldn’t explain that part unless a time came that he felt he had to. “Just, uh... a bit wispy and see-through?” He shrugged before turning to address Orange: “You know, I hadn’t actually thought about that long enough to try anything without it.” A shake of the head. “Probably even more pitiful. But if we’re out here running experiments anyway, that’s another thing worth figuring out.”

Shishi can likely get the shadows to produce something like what is being described here by Dominic, but they aren’t out in the garden for him to show off what ‘he’ can do so The Blue Demon remains silent, maintaining that crimson glow in his eyes. Orange nods once, “Aye. Why not. Try it without the rock.” She halfheartedly holds out her right hand in case the mage needed her to hold the thing while he conducts the experiment and then her brother finally speaks, “Is it always a person? Or can you make it into other things?” “That’s a good question…” Shishi says aloud, mostly to himself. It would seem the boy might know a thing or two about manipulating shadows as well and the answer to this question could shed some light (heh) on how closely this ‘illusiony shadow thing’ relates to what this Colorful Family can do via their curse. Speaking of the family's curse it would seem the assassin's control over it is waning slightly as the darkness that covers the garden is starting to kind of sway slightly, like the ebb and flow of a dark ocean projected on the ground... They're restless.

“I dunno, but it’s only ever been a person so far. Maybe I could figure that out once I know what I’m doing more,” Dominic said, addressing the boy first. He nodded at Orange and was about to hand off the stone to her when he finally noticed the stirring of the shadows. He paused, hand still extended but grip solidly on the rock, head pivoting with a questioning gaze towards Blue. “Is that something we need to be worried about…?”

Shishi blinks a couple times at Dominic before his eyes scan the garden and the movement of the shadows, “Hmm… Stop.” That last word is barked into the night air, or maybe at it and this is likely the most serious the mage has ever seen Blue in their short time of knowing each other. The command seems to do the trick however and the shade cast over the estate ceases its ominous movements, returning to a relatively normal, motionless state. Inside The Blue Demon’s mind, unheard by the rest of the party most likely, the shadows lodge complaints about being forced to stay still and such. With a shake of his head the accursed assassin finally responds to Dominic, “Not yet, no.”

Dominic raised an eyebrow at Blue, repeating, “ ‘Not yet’...?” But despite the hesitation in his voice he seemed adequately satisfied by that answer, because he finally placed the stone in Orange’s grasp and took a few further steps away from her. He stared off in the distance again, but it was a reflection of his first attempt -- only this time even more anticlimactic, because not even the vaguest of shadows manifested. “Hmm.” The schismed Catalian twisted his lips, expression pensive while he conferred within his own head. At length, he shook himself out of his thoughts, regarding the family with an apprehensive gaze. “There’s, uh, something else I should try, Orange, if y-you don’t mind holding on to that a little longer.” He didn’t elaborate. It would be easier to show than tell. An apologetic grimace was sent Shishi’s way, however, before he took one more step away and turned his back to the family. “I apologize in advance if, uh…” No, that wasn’t going to work, either. “...if things get heated.” Hah, fire puns.

It didn’t take long at all. One foot raised for another step forward, and Dominic’s form seemed to ripple violently, as if he was a glass of water in an earthquake. By the time his boot touched the ground again, his form had solidified into almost that of a different person entirely. A bit taller, a tad bulkier, lighter hair and a bit of stubble and an entirely different way of carrying himself... this one confident, even cocky, as he turned back around and set a smirk and a piercing gaze -- the same eyes, just expressing a different range of thoughts and emotions -- onto Shishi. One hand raised in a half-hearted salute, and when he spoke his voice was a rougher and lower reflection of Dominic’s. “Brand. The kid’s better half, so to speak.” It was all the introduction or explanation the family would get for the moment, as Brand was the straight-to-business type… and somewhere within, ‘the kid’ was probably dying of embarrassment too much to push Brand toward any more civil demeanor. The man stretched clasped hands out before him, cracking his knuckles, then hunched down and punched into the earth of the garden. There was a rumble and some of the soil raised itself up, but judging by the scowl on Brand’s face, he’d been expecting something more. Another jab at the ground, another rumble, another mediocre movement of the soil. He righted himself, squinting suspiciously at the rune stone. “Seven hells. That’s problematic.” A grand understatement, surely.

Shishi watches the transformation taking place before him through those accursed crimson eyes. It is a strange feat to change one’s appearance like that, but not something this family hasn’t seen before, Lithrydel is an odd place afterall. Once the change is complete and the introduction given Yellow lets out a low whistle in subdued amazement and Blue looks towards his daughter with a questioning glance. That look is met with a slight shrug, ending the short, silent conversation between the pair. Once the garden is rocked and socked a couple of times Orange tilts her head, trying to get in the way of the stare sent the stone that she is holding’s way, “Something wrong?” she questions of Brand, unphased by the change, but unwilling yet to use the new name he’s given.

Brand fixed his attention on the girl, then closed the gap between them. He wasn’t -that- much taller than Dominic -- enough that it could maybe even just be attributed to posture -- but he stood before Orange in such a way that he might even be, very subtly, -trying- to tower over her. However, his words weren’t laced with any kind of threat or intimidation tactic to match. Just... terse, rough. “Yeah, maybe. Give it here, I should try that again with.” Left arm extended, a pale ring of skin visible around the wrist, scars on the upper arm, fingers wiggling outward and above the stone.

Shishi ’s daughter tilts her blonde head upward, narrowing her blue gaze at Brand where he looms over her. The girl puffs out her cheeks and lets a sigh out through her nostrils before relinquishing the stone with an upward toss of the magical object towards the outstretched hand, “Aye. Here.” Arms, pale from the family’s extended residency in the sunless Vailkrin then fold at Orange’s stomach, just below the chest. She turns her head and looks back towards her twin brother and father, though she still speaks to the transformed mage when she advises, “Move farther away from the house this time… just in case.” Clearly this little mimic is very protective of Miss Thorne’s Mansion. Meanwhile Shishi might be quite literally biting his tongue watching the new form of his once guide through sage forest and beyond. He is still unsure what to make of this ‘Brand’, if that’s even his real name.

Brand retrieved the stone and responded to Orange with a simple, “you got it, kiddo.” His tone wasn’t exactly... cuddly, but it wasn’t unfriendly, either. He twisted around and started his pace back further away from the house, catching Shishi’s expression as he turned and meeting it with a mildly questioning eyebrow. Three paces further than before and the man crouched again. This time, the downward thrust of his fist was met with a thin cracking of the earth, dirt and pebbles shooting upwards out of it at projectile speed and crashing like a horde of arrows out onto the pavement beyond. Green eyes were fixed steadily on Shishi as he rose and pivoted with tensed muscles back toward the family. “You lot gather what I’m seein’ here, or should I spell it out?”

Shishi most likely needs it to be spelled out for him, the assassin as in the dark as ever in regards to wielding magic despite what this family’s curse allows him to do. With a shrug he ventures a guess as to what Brand might be getting at, “The stone makes you stronger… but we knew that already, right?” the question accompanies a glance towards Orange, one that is mirrored by his son, the two males looking her way for confirmation now. Leralynn seems deep in thought, not even flinching at the query sent at her, the young girl blinking azure eyes down at the ground. She opens her mouth to speak, but nothing comes of it in that moment and the pensive staring match with the garden floor continues for a few more seconds before she finally looks up and eyes Brand, “Is the stone getting stronger?” The Orange Witch is more on track than her father, but there might be even more to this story than that, she just has nothing to compare Brand’s current strength with, having only seen it this once. "I thought I noticed it before, when I used it inside, but it wasn't enough of a difference to be sure..." Leralynn adds.

Brand had turned to Leralynn as she spoke, but now he addressed her dad again: “She’s a sharp one, heh.” Just a hint of amusement broke through his serious demeanor; he was still troubled by this new discovery. Or annoyed -- annoyed might be more accurate, judging by the way he held himself. Like he might spring forward onto someone at the slightest provocation. To Orange, he replied, “You’d know better than I would. S’been awhile since you used it last. But nah, not just that. The spell? That first one? Shoulda been stronger.” He twirled and twisted the stone in his hands, watching as each of its many faces came up in turn. “Don’t -feel- any different, but s’like the damned thing’s sucking strength out of me like a gorram vampire.” Eyes blinked up at Shishi now. “No offense or nothin’.”

Shishi nods proudly with a slight grin when the compliment for Orange is sent his way, “Aye~!” Again Blue and Yellow are left to watch the exchange between the two magically inclined individuals (or more than that in Brand/Dominic’s case). Once the mage looks his way again The Blue Demon’s grin shifts into one that exposes his fangs and he nods again, “Mmmhmm.” “Hmm…” Leralynn unfolds her arms and looks down at her right hand, closed into a fist but for her index finger. A small orange flame ignites at the tip of that digit, flickering like the end of a candle. She’s only made use of the stone for two minor spell casts now, maybe that wasn’t enough to create a discernable difference in her strength, “How many times have you used it..? Er… Either one of you.” she appends the question to include Dominic’s usage of the stone. She’s seen them use it twice already tonight so her guess is that the number will far eclipse her own, “And for what?” the second question might not even be relevant, but it is to indulge her own curiosity as to what this pair occupying a single body (kind of) can do.

“How many times?” Brand seemed a bit struck by this; he hadn’t been expecting to have to keep track. His gaze searches the darkened skies for a usage log as he recounts: “Mmm… well, ‘cept for you holdin’ it just now it hasn’t -not- been near us for maybe six weeks, so... three counts death by fire, couple fireballs that didn’t go anywhere, one fight with some lunatic wolf-man, so… couple counts of lightning, tried to cage him in with some dirt, more fire… Seven counts shadows over the last couple’a weeks, three-ish fully formed -- that’s all the kid -- aaaand then I had to kill some spiders, so ice and more fire, and then Cenril… yep, more fire. Man, I should really head that way more, easy to find folks lookin’ for trouble there.” He’d been counting on his fingers throughout his thought, but ran out of digits all too soon and closed them into fists instead. “So. Lots.” Finally shutting up, he canted his head at Leralynn.

Shishi and Arius glance at each other and mutter, “Spiders…” simultaneously. Orange shoots them both an angry sneer at which they both straighten their posture and avert their eyes to the side, each trying to blame the other for bringing up that one word recent memory. Blue’s eyes, sometime during the course of this conversation, have faded back to their usual shade of oceanic blue and that extra eerie feeling that the darkness of Vailkrin was emanating has faded away with it. Now only the normal eerie feeling of The Undead City remains. At Brand’s count of Rune Stone usages Lynn blinks, “Hmm… that is a lot. Maybe there’s a way to reverse it…” The girl can recall performing a similar procedure not long ago to revive ‘Lady Dragana,’ but the mana stone utilized for that seems like a much less complex object than what Brand holds in his hand here tonight. “Anyway… I think if you keep using it that much you’ll become useless without it… Only in emergencies, maybe.” Then Yellow offers an alternative solution that might appeal to the current persona using that body, “Or you could trick someone -else- into using it a bunch and then take it back and never lose it.” Excellent advice that last bit there…

“Now -that’s- an idea,” Brand chuckled, looking sidelong at Yellow. He shoved the stone into a trouser pocket and turned back to Orange, his expression contemplative. “Neither of those solve the long-term problem, though -- namely, what if it gets lost?” He folded his arms, leaning back slightly in a casual stance. “There may be some kinda way to... fuse with it, or take the essence from it, or somethin’.” A shrug; Brand was just spitballing ideas wildly. “I dunno. I can’t even read those runes but maybe they got somethin’ to do with it.” He glanced down at his arms, talking mostly to himself now -- though how much of that was truly to him and how much was addressing Dominic aloud, who knew. “Wouldn’t mind an excuse for a tattoo or twenty if that’d solve it. Could even cover up some of the worse war stories.” A thumb dragged over a particularly uneven scar along his bicep.

Shishi ’s little mimic shrugs up her shoulders and raises her hands up at her sides, donning a slight smirk, “Don’t lose it. You know?” With that problem ‘solved’ Orange lets out a defeated sigh and agrees, “Aye… I still don’t know what those other runes are saying, but if you can find someone who can read them that will probably help… The mage tower, maybe?” The comment about tattoos manages to silence the girl. This family has only known one tattoo artist in their time in Lithrydel and the last time they saw that goblin he wasn’t a goblin at all anymore and well...that’s a story for another time. Lynn drops her left hand into a pant pocket and frowns, biting slightly at her lower lip. “Anyway!” Blue steps forward into the silence and towards Brand. On his way he idly kicks some dirt into the cracks in the garden floor that the stone empowered display have left. The transformed mage will get a single pat on the shoulder from the vampire, “That’s probably enough for tonight... “ he says glancing back at Orange and Yellow, “We’ll be sure to let you know if we can think of anyone that might be able to help with those…” he trails off like he’s forgotten the word already, “...runes!”

“Right. Thanks, lass.” Brand said with a simple nod extended Orange’s way. He gave a lazy wave ‘goodbye’ in the direction of the children, but as he turned as if to leave, he leaned in to Blue with a hushed, “I haven’t lost track of what the kid came here for. You -sure- you don’t know anything about bein’ able to project y’self into shadows or nothin’? Control what they do and what they look like? Anything like that?” He was giving Shishi a scowling side-eye, looking for all the world like he might project his grasp onto Shishi’s collar if the schismed man thought the vampire was withholding information that could help them. Who knew if he’d actually be able to manage such a thing or if there was any actual intent behind the intense expression.

Shishi ’s fangs are visible once more, bared in a wicked grin when he is more or less accused of holding something back earlier from Dominic. Those crimson irises make a return as well, the vampire’s eye color changing so quickly he probably only needed to blink to hide the entire transformation. Another pulse moves through the darkness of Vailkrin as the Blue Demon speaks to Brand, not loud enough for the twins to hear, “Whatever it was he was doing before does not translate to what I -am-.” The pair is close enough so that the glow from those accursed eyes bathes both of them in red, “Tell him to go find a necromancer or something if he wants to learn to mess with that stuff.” Shadows bear down on the two of them from all around The Undead City, swirling in a violent torrent on the ground, giving them about a meter’s berth on all sides, harmless darkness at the moment, despite the appearance. “You don’t ask a horse to teach you how to tame it. It is the same for the shade.” Now that Shishi has essentially implied that he is darkness incarnate his colorful nickname is called out by both of his children, “Blue?” with Leralynn adding, “What are you doing?” A sideways glance from the cursed assassin has the black entities retreating further and presenting Brand with a clear path out of the dark vortex.

Hmm, yep. Brand had sized up this guy and quickly realized, despite his ego, that he came up short. Well, that settled that -- he wasn’t going to press the guy. He wasn’t -that- kind of foolhardy. Though he wouldn’t overtly show fear in the face of the danger Shishi’s abilities represented, he did wordlessly back down and, emerald eyes still on Blue, took another step down the path away from the house. “...Kid.” Eyes closed, and opened again as Dominic after a momentary flickering of their shared form. Dominic, for his part, wouldn’t look Blue in the eyes at all. His frame was posed shyly, as if trying to curl up within himself so tightly that he’d disappear. “S-sorry, he’s…” words failed him, and he shook his head at the ground instead. “Thank you.” The more meek of the two personalities within now flicked his gaze to Blue’s children, gracing them with a brief, dry smile before he turned for the exit.

Shishi lets out a deep, unnecessary breath in a sigh when Brand backs away and Dominic reappears. Again the assassin's eyes go through their color shift and all of those lovely, wildly moving shadows slink back to their natural positions around the garden and the nearby road. A stare, blue again, is sent the 'Kid's' way along with a wave that is more like a single tip of the vampire's left hand in the air, "Don't worry about it." is the farewell Blue gives while Orange and Yellow wave sweetly behind their father towards the departing mage. "Come back again if you figure out those runes. Or if you find out how to get the magic back out of it. I used that thing too, you know!" Orange calls out, only half serious about getting the minimal amount of magic power back that she's put into the stone.