RP:The Bear Necessities

Part of the Thy Kingdom Come Arc

Summary: Alex rushes to find Khitti and explain the situation in Frostmaw to her knowing that he can count on her for help.

Kelay Way

Khitti was in the middle of her walk out of Cenril, headed in the direction of Xalious, and then Venturil beyond that. Absently, she twirled that fang necklace of hers between the thumb and forefinger of her left hand, dark verdant eyes focused on the ground. She manages to keep her attention focused enough to pay attention for potential attackers, though she was clearly about in her thoughts, a frown creasing her lips. There was quite a bit for the vampiress to worry about now. The impending doom that was Daneyfey, Daer's other fledgling that had recently surfaced, as well as that whole situation with Revan, and now leaving House Dragana and finding a place to build a house. -Zhat's all I vant. Just a house away from everyone. Nothing else.-, she thought to herself as she headed into Kelay. ~You know nothing is never that simple. It never has been with us.~, answered Amarrah. The dark ranger sighed heavily and continued on her way.

Alex cries out an order to the passing travelers of the well worn Kelay Way "Move! Move!" he shouts while waving his right hand frantically, motioning for those in his path to quickly take cover. The six foot tall bard barreling down the street on top of an absolutely massive brown dire bear double his height in length that is roaring and snarling to anyone sluggishly moving along. Blue eyes frantically scan the area until they land upon a rather gloom looking female that causes the pale skinned man to pull the bear's neck fur hard with his left hand while shouting "Woah!" leading the four ton beast to slide his paws against the dirt to a halt sending the human atop of him tipping over the front end as a projectile destined to land on his hands and roll multiple times through the road sending up a large cloud of dust and causing an adorable little brown and white rat to scurry from his coat pocket and up the bears fur with a squeak until he rests on the behemoth's head. The groaning bard lay in pain with an appearance not fitting of himself, usually groomed black hair is matted and greasy and fresh clothes have been replaced with multiple days dirtied ones. Forcing himself up through the pain of the collision the man staggers to his feet while clutching his likely bruised, if not broken, rib cage and quickly moves to the red headed vampire to clutch her right shoulder tightly in his hand, "We need to talk. Now."

Khitti first heard the shouts from the bard, but chalked it up to some big shot making their way through to Cenril. She mutters to herself beneath her breath but keeps on walking. It's only then that she smells Alex...and...a bear?...and looks up from her point of fixation on the road. She manages to see the bear sliding to a halt, his rider tumbling forward, and that rat of his running away. The vampiress doesn't really know what to make of it and so she stands there, staring first at the bard, then the bear. Then the bard. Then the bear. The demand to talk is made, but her attention is quickly shifting back to the bear. "Alex. Is zhat a bear?" Of course it's a bear, Khitti. It's certainly not a moose. "Also, vhat zhe hell is going on? Vhy are you in a rush?"

Alex shakes his head to Khitti's questioning, "Not here! Too public. Come on, we -have- to talk!" he demands grabbing her hand and pulling her towards the bear, if she'd allow him too, he'd quickly help her mount up onto the creature.

Khitti has dealt with mind flayers. She's dealt with dinosaurs. She's even been fused to a shadow creature. But you know what she can't handle? Bears. Bears are terrifying. Bears will mess you up, man. It didn't matter if she was a vampire. "BUT! Um. It's a bear!" She's pulled along by the bard and lets out a soft squeak, something akin to what Alex's rat had done. "B-b-but Alex!" There was a lot of things that scared Khitti, but bears were the worst. "Vhy c-can't ve do it here?! Vhat's so important?" Her continued questioning would be ignored, of course, and she'd be forced to comply with his demands. Khitti was definitely terrified, however, as Alex helps her up onto the bear, much like the bard had been with her on the first day that they had met.

Alex does in fact ignore Khitti's questioning and literally picks her up to place her on top of the bear, a rare showcase of the human's actual strength, while stating loudly "Shut up! He doesn't bite unless I tell him!" then climbing up onto the beast himself with a bit of a struggle but once he's mounted in front of Khitti he holds out his left hand to Rattimus who scurries into his palm then turns to hand the small rodent to Khitti, "Here. Hold him." he orders thought it isn't like the vampire would have any say in the matter as the little rat jumps up onto her shoulder and rushes behind her neck to hide in her mane of red hair. "Hold on" Alex states while scratching the bear behind the ear and then clicking his tongue three times causing him to take off in a full sprint to the north.

Khitti has demands and a rat thrown at her all at once and with the bear mixed in it's quite overwhelming. She doesn't have any time to think things over though before the bear is heading off into the forest faster than Khitti expected a beast of its size to be able to run. And then there's the screaming. Lots of terrified screaming. She manages to wrap her arms around Alex's waist just in time before she fell off, his warning to hold on almost going unheeded.

Forest

Alex continues to direct his new companion through the thicket of the sage forest at an insanely high rate of speed until his right heel clicks into the mounts side to have him slow down. The bard is surveying the area so fast you might expect his neck to snap before he seems satisfied with their current location. Leaning to his right he slides off of the bear and pulls out a piece of raw meat from his disgustingly filthy satchel and tosses it into the awaiting mouth of the dire beast before moving back to it's side to look up at Khitti and offer her a hand to get down.

Khitti :: The forest is a blur to the vampiress as the bear gallops through the trees. She'd certainly have thrown up is she were still human with that ridiculously weak constitution she once had. Even after Alex had slid off the bear and offered his hand, she sat there for a few moments, trying to contain herself. Khitti shuddered, that ocean of red hair a mess as she turns her head to peer down at him, finally taking his hand. She keeps her thoughts and threats to herself as there seemed to be more pressing matters at hand. It's then, when she hops off the bear with his help, that she realizes he's not his usual neat and tidy self. A red flag goes off in her head, a frown lining her lips again as she moves to tame her tresses, lithe fingers running through them, "Alex, you're a mess. Vhat zhe hell is going on?"

Alex makes sure to hold Khitti by the waist while he lowers her down so the drop doesn't injure her ankles, an ironic gesture considering his tumble not ten minutes ago out in the way. Once she's safely down on the ground his left hand rests on her shoulder and his eyes look past her when she asks her question, Rattimus scurries from behind her neck, across his arm and tucks away in his hood. It's now that Khitti is given his full and undivided attention, the words erupting from his mouth in a single breath are more of an explosion that an explanation. "Hildegarde the silver is alive, the xenophobic frost giants are taking Frostmaw, I have been banished from the city and stripped of my title with the instruction of finding those who are willing to fight in Hildegarde's name and YOU" he extends a long index finger and applies pressure in the dead center of her chest "are going to help me... us... me... well, us fight for the throne. Because, er, well... I need you, and I really miss my bandanna." The hand that rested on her shoulder reaches up to where the blue bandanna usually covers Alex's neck, the bard feeling quite naked without it accompanied by a slight frown filling in his expression. Satisfied with the explanation however he moves around to the front of the dire bear who is finishing up his treat allowing the human to pet his head vigorously while speaking to him in baby gibberish asking great questions such as "Who's a good boy?"

Khitti probably would've blushed when Alex helped her down. Thankfully, she could no longer do that. As the whole situation spills from his mouth like a waterfall, she's left to stare at him, taking it all in. "M-me? Vhat? You zhink I can help?" Frowning, she shakes her head, blinking as things start to register with her, "But vhat can I do?" She's hesitant, but as the bear is quite entertained with the baby talk that spouts from the bard and the meaty treat, she steps over next to him, with a sigh. Oh good. Another thing to add to her long list of things to worry about. Despite all the protesting, she adds in finally, "I'll help you, Alex." Because why would she deny him anything? He ~is~ her best friend after all.

Alex is still occupied with loving on his giant friend who is now licking his face and play biting his entire head which earns a giggle fit from the bard as he pulls away and places a playful pop on the bears head "Oh you!" he expresses in a joyfu tone before finally looking back at Khitti, the dirty human displaying an absolutely massive grin when he holds his arms wide open then stumbles into her to give a huge, tight 'bear' hug forgetting that his face is totally covered in bear spit "Yay! See, I knew I could count on you!" Pulling away he looks up into the corner of his eyes for a moment with a soft hum while thinking about what he expected her to do, "As for what you could do to help, that part I'm not sure of yet. I'm under direct instruction to rally support for Lady Silver and, uh, well, you're the support. Maybe we will have a nice sit in protest with signs and stuff but more than likely we're going to be pretty bloody before this is all over. Ever fought a giant before?" He doesn't wait for an answer "Me either. But I figure my odds are pretty good since I'm going to be fighting in the Titans of Winter tournament here soon. I guess the more experience the better." His revelation is so lightly expressed that it's possible to miss the severity of it at first listen, little -Alex the bard- was going to be fighting in Frostmaw's tournament -after- he had been banished from there. He doesn't seem to worried however and is already moving to collapse against the base of a tree and ripping his robe top off to examine his rib from the earlier crash which is already a nice brown color. In his negligence he forgets Rattimus is in the hood who squeaks again and burrows around in the downed top before settling again, that poor rat was being tossed everywhere today.

Khitti resists the urge to freak out because of the bear spit, allowing the human to hug her. She ~did~ miss him and worried as usual. And, it seemed he had gotten himself into trouble. When he pulls away, she looks him over and sighs again, "No, I've never fought a giant before...but I'm sure I can handle myself." Well, maybe. She still wasn't sure on this. "Amarrah vill help me." The shadow creature had been itching for a real fight for days now and was quite eager to help. "Zhings are going to get bad...aren't they?"

Alex prods at his rib with his finger and winces in pain each and every time, his motivation to do such left a complete mystery or the assumption that the bard is really just an idiot though at Khitti's final remark he looks up to her with a cocky smile and nods once, "Absolutely."

Khitti 's brows furrow as he pokes at his ribs and winces, and got that ominous answer. The cocky smile is frowned at, the vampiress turning and taking a few steps away from him to survey the forest that surrounded them. "I see. It's a good zhing Daer's been training me zhen. Too bad I've had no help from Larewen. Some of my magic is still unpredictable." Now he'd likely see what it was she could do. Well, what Amarrah could do. No. Both of them. They were in it together. The vampiress didn't want him to ever know, though. It was terrible, awful magic. Nothing at all like that of his music.

Alex goes right back to poking his wound when Khitti turns away to examine the forest, the man then moving to address the multiple cuts and scrapes on his legs and feet, tossing multiple articles of clothing all around him as he goes. The mention of training under Daermon earns a seldom nod though he opts not to speak on the topic right away instead sitting now nearly nude he calls out, "Hey, you don't have like a spare dress or something I can borrow do you? All the blood and dirt is making this stuff pretty stiff and I'm afraid all my gear is back in Frostmaw... Also, do you uh, have like... the location of a stream or something?" Adagio turns to look at the human with a grumble and the bard rapidly shakes his head, "No, no more spit baths. I need a real one. I feel like a goblin over here."

Khitti glances over her shoulder at him, her frowning growing as she watches him tend to the cuts and scrapes. "No. Not on me. You're coming to stay at zhe inn vith me and ve vill get you something to vear vhile ve're zhere." The vampiress made it perfectly clear with her tone of voice that she wasn't going to be argued with on that point. She also didn't mention Daer being there too, but the elder vampire would be quite distracted with Daneyfey anyway and would likely not be at the inn much. "I have some pull now vith zhe shops since I vork vith Kree. I'll make sure you don't have to pay for it."

Alex assumes Daermon would be about wherever Khitti laid her head at night but still didn't offer any debate, after all he was sick of sleeping in the middle of the woods though Adagio keeping him safe was a great feeling. It's the mention of Kreekitaka that warrants a raised brow from the man and an audible, insulting laugh. "You mean the crab freak!?" Alex points to his left leg which is still very bruised and a variety of colors, "Your employer nearly took my god damn leg off, like two weeks ago! He was pissed that I slapped you at the ball and that I made his scorpion do a dance or something. Awful guy, really." Alex shines a toothy grin, "So I collapsed the fool with my voice. It was awesome actually, you should have been there."

Khitti 's eyes widen at the mention of Kree hurting the bard, the gap between them quickly closing, anger flaring, "HE DID VHAT?!" Despite the fact that the bard had obviously dealt with the crab-man, the vampiress wasn't happy. "I'll have to have a...talk...vith him zhen. Zhere vas no need for him to do anything at all. It vasn't his business." A low growl passes the dark ranger's lips as she stares at nothing over Alex's shoulder, "Do you vish to go to zhe inn so you can get cleaned up?"

Alex seems almost excited at Khitti's anger and clasps his hands tightly together as he reveals in her anger, "Yes! Good! Talk to him! Break all of that freaks legs! Then use what you learned to help in Frostmaw!" He's laughing now as he nods in agreement to go to the Inn and whistles, "Adagio, here" he calls out causing the bear to growl and then move by his side brushing his head on Khitti's arm on the way over. Using the bears head as a prop he picks himself back up and nods to the back of the bear before moving to gather his clothes and forcing Rattimus onto the dire bears head again. "You want to steer this time?"

Khitti raises a brow at his excitement, but merely shakes that red-haired head of hers, "No. I zhink not. I'll valk." Walk? Really? The bard and his bear is eyed carefully and then the vampiress spins on booted heel and takes off in the direction of Cenril. This isn't any normal human walking, however. Nor is it running at all. The female, almost elf-like in nature with her sprinting about the forest, starts off slow and then becomes naught but a blur as she uses her vampiric speed to carry her to the inn in that port town.

Alex had a lot of trouble trying to keep up with the flash over here but Adagio, Rattimus and he finally made it to the inn and after a long argument with the keeper finally agreed that Adagio simply couldn't fit through the door frame which caused both of them a great deal of sadness before deciding Rattimus would stay outside with him to keep him company. The massive bear would sprawl out taking up almost all of Beloy Street with his head resting on his paw and Rattimus curled up just below his neck for a nice, well deserved nap. Alex on the other hand was still pretty much naked excluding his underwear as he made a rude gesture to the keeper and insisted that they kiss his, er, anyway he eventually makes his way to the small room with Khitti and slams the door shut behind them before smiling to her, "Sorry, need to keep up appearances and stuff."

Khitti manages a faint chuckle for him once they reach the room that she herself paid for for him. "Of course." She points out the wash basin, and the change of clothes that she had managed to gather from her room, "Here you go." Unfortunately for him, it was Daer's, but the simple cotton pants and short-sleeved black shirt would fit him nicely. They both just happened to be the same height and around the same build. "I'll uh...be...over here." Knowing what was to come, she found a nice spot on the other side of the room, with her back turned to him, letting him have as much privacy as he could possibly get with her present.

Alex didn't have any shame in his current appearance around Khitti and it could be contributed to either the absolutely massive amount of stress the bard was enduring leading to exhaustion and genuinely not caring about crap, or the fact that he was just comfortable around the vampire. Regardless, he doesn't check to see where her eyes are before removing what was left of his undergarment, grabbing the clothes and moving off to take care of his filthy situation rubbing the water all over his body and scrubbing hard against the piled up muck and grime, taking special care of his hair. After a few minutes he seems to be satisfied and looks at Daer's clothes, sticking his tongue out in a mock expression of disgust before sliding them on without any debate or complaints. Once he's decent he moves back to the bed and just collapses on it face first where his muffled voice calls out asking for a brush or something to take care of the mess that was his hair.

Khitti could almost sense the disgust with Daer's clothes as the feeling towards them was so strong. Smirking, she shakes her head, "Don't be zhat vay. Just be glad I had something for you to put on in zhe mean time. I vill gather something later from zhe shops." When a brush is called for, she fetches her own and sits on the bed beside him, "Sit up." Once again, it's a command, and if he did comply, she'd use her hand to turn him away from her, but also pull him close so she could tend to his hair herself, "I need you to promise me something if I'm to help you."

Alex groans loudly as she demands that he pick himself up from his current much more desired position of being face down with the world blacked out and the sweet call of rest literally shouting in his mind but he doesn't disobey instead pushing his knuckles into the mattress to lift himself up, turn and hang his legs off the edge of the bed then dropping his head down to face his legs and allow Khitti to brush his hair. "Oh, yeah? Well considered it promised then. Because without you I'm just going to get myself killed anyway and I'm wayyy too young and beautiful to be dead yet."

Khitti being the female that she is with long luxurious hair, takes special care to be as gentle as possible as she brushes the tangles from his raven locks. "I'm glad you knew exactly vhat I vanted. You're not allowed to die yet. Not on my vatch." Once she's finished, she lets his hair hang loose for now, though a black ribbon is left on the nightstand beside the bed, as well as the brush now. The vampiress pulls him back into her, slender arms wrapping around him in a hug, and then releasing him to allow the bard to resume his face down position in the bed. "You can sleep if you vish. I'll vatch over you. I've nothing else to do today."

Alex smiles at the promise he is made to keep and doesn't even bother bringing up the fact that he can only be -so- in control of his own demise instead opting to lean the back of his wet head against the vampire's shoulder while she hugs him from behind, "That's kind of what I'm hoping for. You crush some skulls and I'll cheer you on from the bear." He chuckles before turning around in her hold and placing his right palm on her left cheek and his lips against her right, pulling her into the peck tightly before forcing himself to collapse back onto the bed, he mutters something but it's nearly inaudible and just sounds like a bunch of groaning, I'm sure it wasn't important. Though it seems Alex is full and ready to take up the offer of sleep before deciding his next move, how long was he to wait before finding Leone? Was he supposed to find Leone? Should he just go and start throwing rocks at giants? How the hell was he supposed to know? He makes a mental note to find Hildegarde and make sure she really is alive and that all the talk isn't nonsense, a note he made sure to keep from Khitti earlier unless he wanted to face even more questioning. But for now, he's going to sleep a deep and long sleep and then worry about the whole freaking out thing later.

Khitti manages a faint smile for the bard and nods to his words. She knew all too well that she couldn't protect him as much as she wanted to. Hell, she could barely keep out of trouble herself. She doesn't disturb him though, instead covering up the human with the bed covers and sliding from the furniture entirely. One of the two chairs in the room is pulled up next to the fireplace, the seat occupied now by the vampiress, and the flames watched in silent contemplation as her dearest friend sleeps away his troubles for now.