RP:The Khat And The Hound

Summary: In a moment of indecision on whether to go home or not, Khitti's met on the road by Tiber. She points out his obvious (obvious to her anyway) Catalian heritage and the two share a brief conversation before parting.

Outside the Sanctum of the Divine, Kelay Way

Outside the recently constructed cathedral-esque building smackdab in the center of Kelay, stood a redhead. The redhead just so happened to be the designer, owner, and leader of the cathedral and all of the people it housed within its stone walls and large stained glass windows, and currently, she looked as if she wasn’t sure which way to go. It’s because, unfortunately, Khitti wasn’t. The right would take her to the Milous Plains, just on the other side of the forest, and then Cenril beyond that; that was home. And the left? Well, that would eventually bring her to Venturil, to the place that she still looked out for, even if the people there weren’t exactly fond of her right now. That tended to happen when a murderer gets away and you’re the one responsible. Hung by her own indecision, she continued to linger there for a time, occasionally eyeing the road, ever in an internal struggle in her own mind.

The blonde man stood against a tree while talking to another woman. A cigarette lingered between his fingertips. Through pale lips he blew the smoke around her face rudely and gave her one of those wicked grins. She rose her hand as if to slap him, but instead he holds up what she desires. A gold chain with a heart-shaped pendant. The woman snatches it greedily before pushing him and walking quickly away while he is left with a pleased, dopey grin on his sharp-lined face. The angle the Catalian stands give him the opportunity to rest his amber gaze on the red-head who looks like a lost puppy. Normally, he would not do the whole knight and shining armor gig, but this chick looked familiar. The one who stared at his face too long, but what was her name? Tiberius slowly glides out into the path where she stands. “Better throw a fork in the road,” he takes a drag of his cigarette before dabbing the ash. The lycan keeps the smoke away from her and blows sideways.

Khitti just kinda blinked as that familiar-yet-not-familiar voice floated its way across the road towards her, the body that it came from soon following it. “You.” That’s all she says for the moment. Just ‘you’. It’s not in an accusing tone, or anything else; it just was. She just stared at him, those olive-green eyes of hers observing every inch of him before she finally blurted out a word, “Catalian.” She finally processed his words, then shrugged, “To go home or not to go home… that’s the question right now.” She didn’t enlighten him further on why this was such a difficult decision for her to make, but it didn’t seem to matter. She was much more interested in this very-not-dead Catalian, which was the total opposite of what nearly all of the other Catalians were these days. “How long have you been here…?” Khitti was somewhat suspicious of the man, as she had been of the other ones that’d crossed her path initially. How did he get here? When did he get here? How long has he been here? Did he come here on the Sunderia with Brand and neither of them really knew it? So many questions. Probably way more than Tiber wanted to be asked, so she didn’t. Yet.

Tiber raises his eyebrows at the strange woman who surprisingly remembers him. He might have been secretly charmed by that matter, but nevertheless, Tiberius keeps himself poised. She scrutinizes him again and this time it was starting to get a little weird. Eyes narrow until the observed words of his ethnicity stabs him in the chest. The wolf takes another drag of the cigarette. “Catalian,” he repeats. He keeps himself steady and lets the butt of the cigarette fall beneath his feet before smashing it down. “You obviously know your geography,” he almost jokes, but he is stand-offish. “Long enough to know my way around,” he was not about to begin the tale of the orphanage he was cooped up in. “And you know about the Catalian heritage?” However, was it not as obvious that she was one too? He kept that to himself, and did not even bother. Perhaps he was not as fascinated as the woman in front of him was, or maybe the man was just very good at hiding it.

“Considering the fact that my adopted brother, my fiance, and my child are all Catalian--yes, you might say I know a bit about it. Uh, mainly from my brother though and the library he used to have,” Khitti said with a shrug. “The fiance doesn’t have any fraks whatsoever for where he’s from.” She paused, considering her words carefully for the moment before continuing, “There’s another besides them, but he mostly keeps to himself.” Telling people about Callum wasn’t exactly on Khitti’s high priority list; Meri would probably kill her if she did. “-I’m- not Catalian, though, if that’s what you’re thinking. I’m from elsewhere. Somewhere worse.” At least in her opinion anyway. Grass is always greener, you know. Khitti eyed him a bit longer, then finally shifted her attention elsewhere, “I’m enough like Lionel and Brand in personality that it’s like a running joke that I’m a ‘Khatalian’. With a k-h instead of a c. Because of my name.” Awkward pause. “Which is Khitti.” More awkwardness ensued in the form of a cough, “Right. Yes. I’m really not the best at introductions. Or peopling. I’m just, uh, really observant. To a fault, I s’pose.” Brand would probably agree with this. It was up there with her penchant for arguing and endless worrying. But that’s why he loves her right? No. Probably not. He just loves her for the cheesecake she’s often supplying him with.

Tiber’s heart might have skipped a beat when she mentions that there were others. His face remains hollow, but his chest pumps with an uneasy adrenaline. There were others? Did that mean his parents were alive? His judgement is now off on her being Catalian and he cants his head to the side finally showing some emotion. “Somewhere worse…?” Could he imagine such a place? Though, Catal was a distant memory – fragments of the catastrophe were swiped away due to the spell he was put under. The woman keeps talking way too much for his taste, but he manages to form a smile for the woman who just cracked a horrible tasteless joke. “Khitti, right. I knew it started with the kuh sound. I almost called you Katie,” he grinned playfully before pausing. “Well, what an official pleasure. We have lack of peopling in common.” In a sense. Tiber was only good with manipulation and getting the things he desired from others. Other than that, there was no true feelings to Tiber -- so far with other people who surrounded him besides Lanara, but she knew more about him than most. Still, not enough to make a true judgement of character. Some might say he was a sociopath, but others believe he was just a hard shell to crack. “I’m Tiberius – most call me Tiber.” He then reflected back on the conversation they started off with. “I've been living off on my own for about ten years. I came here when I was twelve with an older gentlemen. I was young. He dumped me in Venturil at the orphanage there until I was released at eighteen.” Tiber became a little nonchalant, but the experience with Catal had ruined him – ruined him morally. Plus he could not remember four years of his life plus parts of his past in Catal was gone. “So now there are other Catalians…? So some survived… Are those the only ones you know of? Why so fascinated?” Really, he was trying to get answers.

Khitti did that, unfortunately--the over-talking thing--when she was excited. Or angry. Or stressed--she’s sort of a combination of the first thing and the last right now. “Worse for… someone not from Catal, I guess.” Her excitement deflated rather quickly as she reflected on her own homeland and then that of her Lithrydel family. There was a slight smirk to show that she wasn’t in an entirely dour mood now, once he mentioned nearly calling her ‘Katie’, but she was certainly a tad more somber. “Ah, I see. So, you definitely didn’t come here on the Sunderia with Brand and Callum then… And obviously, with what you just said, you weren’t one of Lionel’s lot either.” This info is filed away for now, her thoughts shifting to his questions, the redhead looking a little uncomfortable at the mention of Venturil. “There are, yes, as I’ve said, but… there were more, until Kahran showed up about a year or so ago. Lionel lived with a handful of dwarves who were also from Catal, but the place was torched and all of them murdered.” She wasn’t at all nonchalant about this bit of information. Unpainted, pale lips twisted into a frown, “There may be more from the Sunderia lurking around, but it was a slave ship and they probably did their best to intermingle with the rest of the Lithrydelians and put their past behind them.” It was something Brand had done as well. She would’ve done the same with her own past, if it hadn’t had the unfortunate tendency to constantly creep up on from time to time. “It’s less fascination and more surprise, I guess. I wasn’t really expecting to show up at my first Adventurer’s Guild meeting and find a Catalian there.” Realizing how intrusive she was likely coming off as, that frown of hers returned, and she promptly apologized for it, “Sorry. I really should not have been staring at you like that at the meeting. And I should not be spouting off people’s origins when I know damn well a lot of you don’t want it mentioned.”

The Catalian furrowed his brows in curiosity when she did not expand, but she was also a stranger. Tiber honestly did not remember how the old gentlemen brought him to these lands. The names she listed did not ring a bell. Did they know him? “Er… Those names do not sound familiar to me. Then again, I’m better at faces.” He was short with his own responses. When Khitti goes on to explain more about Kahran, he nods along. “I do remember Kahran – I remember getting the hell out of the land for a bit.” The fatal instances with the dwarves puts him at a flat line. He does not respond to their lives being taken. This conversation was depressing. He had to change the subject. Oh great – she did! “Eh, not the first time someone stared at me for surprising reasons,” he smiled slyly. “It does not bug me as much as you think it does. Just keep it at a low. I’m surprised you guessed. There are so few of us left. Plus, I don’t know much about my heritage as you think. I’m going to be honest, I do not remember much about those days. I’m just as surprised as you that there are others.” Now, he was being honest. Odd to be honest with a stranger. It was not like Tiber to do so. “I draw a blank everytime,” his brows furrow in deep thought. Nothing but empty, black space.

Khitti heard the things Tiber said. Oh, she heard them well. But there was one, tiny, itty bitty, little detail that the templar couldn’t overlook quite so quickly. “Wait wait wait wait -wait-. You don’t know who Lionel is? Lionel O’Connor. Knight-commander and Steward of Frostmaw. The Hero of Hellfire. Last surviving member of the Catalian royal family. The Butcher of Vailkrin. He who helped destroy Elazul and Khasad in the Second Immortal War.” She paused briefly to let Tiber take all of those many titles in and maybe even stew over them a bit (okay, let’s be honest, he probably won’t). During this time, Khitti just stared at much younger blonde, blinking repeatedly. Soon, however, she’d follow this up with, “OH THANK THE GODS. I get so damned tired of hearing people fawn over him.” Khitti looked a bit like she might collapse on the ground from the shock of realizing that -someone- hadn’t heard of Lionel and therefore she might not be referred to as just “Lionel’s sister” or “Lionel’s aide-de-camp” or “Hey aren’t you that redhead that’s always with Lionel? How’s he doing? Do you know where he lives now? I’ve been wanting to ask him out on a date and--” Yeah. You get the picture. That same redhead finally let out a sigh of relief, “I didn’t know who he was either when I first came here. And then I actually met him, heh. Lionel’s not the problem though; it’s his fangirls you have to watch out for. They’re bloodthirsty!” Khitti shook her head eventually, shifting the conversation back to his lack of a memory when it came to Catal. “Yeah. I know how that is… the memory thing. I had amnesia a while back. It… had its pros and cons. But…” There was another brief pause as she took a brief glance down the road towards Cenril, though not really at anything in particular, “...from what I’ve heard, there were many parts of Catal that weren’t so great. Various groups of assassins and whatnot that steal kids off the streets and force them to work for them. Alchemists that torture witches. And those are just the “minor” evils.” She’d not go into the whole destruction of Catal. If he didn’t know it or remember it, she’d not remind him. “So, I think that, perhaps, maybe you’re just better off not knowing. At least, until you and your brain deem yourself ready for it.”

Eyebrows raised high when the female when off on a tangent about the ever-so-famous Lionel O’Connor. He almost wanted to roll his eyes. All the woman swoon over the good ones. “Maybe I should meet him and see what the whole fan-girl thing is about.” Amber eyes danced in amusement now. He then looked down the road they were on while listening carefully. “The amnesia things do have pros and cons. I’d rather not remember what brought me here, nor does it really apply to me anyway since that was way back when, I suppose.” He shrugs this off. I guess enough talking about the depressive history of Catal. There is a long pause between them before eyes flick back onto her and gaze over her in a squint. “Well, I suppose I best leave you to your decision making. Besides, I got a business meeting anyway,” yes, a “business” meeting. A sketchy one at that. “Don’t want to keep the boss waiting.”

Khitti smirked at his mention of possibly meeting Lionel, “If you -really- want to, he’s easier to find in Cenril nowadays.” She mulled over his agreement on the topic of amnesia, frowning a little, “There’s things I wish would’ve remain hidden in the fog, so you’re lucky.” Shrugging, she looked towards the west again, that facial expression of hers remaining, “Right. Yes. Decisions. Have fun doing your business meeting. If you need anything, then let me know. I’m really not as unapproachable as I seem.” With that said, Khitti headed off. But, she took neither the west or east portions of the path. Instead, to spite her indecision, she decided to go around the back of the guild hall and head into the forest. She’d… figure it out later. Probably. Maybe.