RP:What's Past Is Prologue

Part of the Through The Looking-Glass: Return To Wonderland Arc

Summary: Khitti receives the Hollow-version of a Howler--several of them, in fact--and comes to find out that something is frakking up the Shadow Plane and that the denizens of the other realm are in need of their Harbinger once more..

The Tranquility, Middle Of The Ocean

Khitti || Today was an off day for Khitti. There’d be no going to the bakery, nor guild duties, or practicing with her band. No, instead she was reading on how the heck to enchant her hair to change colors when she wanted it. It’s Kailani’s fault. Her blue hair was really nice; obviously Khitti was jealous. So, there she sat at the table in the Captain’s quarters, scribbling away in a notebook things that she’d need to know so she didn’t accidentally set her hair aflame. Or worse. Dominic was… being a normal toddler. The hallway on this level of the ship was his domain and no one was safe from his giggling and cackling as he ran back at forth from either end of the ship with his three chickens. It’s a wonder anyone gets anything done on the Tranquility with all that noise. Khitti had become a master at getting used to it--or so she’d tell others.

Brand || Captain Brand was… captaining. Yep. That’s a thing he does. The ship couldn’t just sit in port all the time, after all. Wouldn’t make any money that way. And Brand was saving up. Trying to, anyway. Children are expensive, as it turns out, and so are weddings. Or, the appropriate bureaucratic paperwork for them, anyway. Filing adjusted taxes, changing marital status and family name with seemingly every business and agency on the entire continent, hiring someone to help with all the pesky legal details… none of it was cheap, and they hadn’t even gotten to the wedding itself, yet. So much as breathe the word ‘marriage’, Brand had learned, and the price of everything jacked up three hundred percent or more. So… why was he doing this again? Oh, yeah -- apparently there was at least one person out there worth all that hassle. Hopefully the wind would pick up and the dock workers would be speedy, and he could finish this shipment before the day got too late. He looked forward to settling down for the night with a cold drink in his hand and warm food in his belly. Maybe, y’know, actually see that family he was working so hard for, sometime today.

Khitii || Brand was captaining and Dominic was screaming happily. And then, Dominic was not screaming. It took a bit for Khitti to figure it out, so entranced by her task to get cool hair colors. Things hadn’t clicked for the kid’s poor mother until Dominic’s chickens ran inside the room and into the washroom, squawking and screeching as if they were the toddler they love so dearly. All three of them jumped right into the tub to hide, and Khitti was left to just stare from one doorway to another. The chickens were spooked. The Dominic was silent. Okay, that’s not good. Time to go find out what the heck he’d gotten into now. The redhead managed to find her son, alone in his room, sitting on the floor, with an orb the size of tennis ball. The heavy glass object was rolled across the floor, back and forth between Dominic’s chubby little legs, those big green eyes of his fixed on his new toy. “Dominic, what the heck did I tell you--” Khitti didn’t get to finish her scolding. Confusion set in and soon she was sending the nearest crewmember to find Brand. Whenever he’d show up, Khitti was in the midst of asking Dominic where he got it from… to which the kid would point a tiny fat finger at the looming shadows in the corner of his room and giggle gleefully.

Brand || What? Khitti called for him? Well, on the bright side, at least he’d be seeing his family sooner. Poor Dozla, though. She almost got stuck working for him more often than he actually worked, himself. She didn’t seem to mind, but Brand was sure he’d be pranked that much harder this week as some form of ‘payment’. Anyway, it was soon enough that he’d come find Dominic on the floor and Khitti freaking out. “Uhhhh? Care to enlighten me what the fr--” Kid’s around. Try not to cuss. “--what’s going on?”

Khitti wasn’t freaking out -that- much, Brand. Geez. “Your son… found a thing. A thing that I’ve never seen before. Did someone on the ship give it to him? Anyone say they had a gift for him? He just pointed at the corner of his room when I asked him about it.” Dominic was still playing with the foreign object, rolling it about on the floor since it was too heavy for him to pick it up. Considering the last few times a random thing fell into their laps, Khitti was hesitant to touch it, but she soon convinced herself to do so. She picked it up and the glass ball pulsed red, like a beating heart. An image soon flickered into view above it, the form of one of Emeritus’ Shadowseers brought into view. “Help us, Harbinger. You’re our only hope.” The Shadowseer looked behind them, as one does when someone unsavory is headed their way, and then the image flickered out. Seemingly stuck on repeat, Khitti quickly shoved it into Brand’s hands in an effort to get it away from herself. Just like with Dominic, it would do nothing in the Catalian’s hold. Okay, now she was sort of freaking out.

Brand || Like a spinster with a bad knee, Brand could sense the storm that was coming. The fact that Khitti wasn’t freaking out at the time he found her didn’t mean she wasn’t -about- to be. Spidey senses: tingling. “No, I haven’t heard anything about this. We sure he didn’t get it from Onyx’s room, somehow?” Nope, probably not, as the orb soon revealed its purpose in Khitti’s grasp. When it was foisted upon him, Brand eyed the thing suspiciously, but it did nothing of further consequence. “Alright, uh… that sure was a thing.” Here’s Brand with the sage words of wisdom, once again. He looked to Khitti, questioningly. Sorry, peach. This call is clearly for you.

Khitti glared at Brand, but said nothing. He was being helpful again, as per usual. “It’s clearly not Onyx’s,” she said at length, stating the obvious. “I don’t want it either.” Pulling down the sleeves of her shirt so that she could grab the orb without actually touching it, Khitti crossed the room, opened the porthole window, and chucked the wretched thing out into the ocean. “I can’t help them. I couldn’t help them when I was supposed to help them before. I just fell into Facilier’s trap instead.” The window’s door was all but slammed shut and Khitti turned around, with the idea that she was going to pick up Dominic and put him down for a nap. Things were that easy right? As Khitti’s narrator, I would like to remind you that no, things were never easy for her. At all. And to further prove this, the glass orb rolled from the shadows again, leaving a trail of seawater behind it, until it came to a stop next to Brand’s shoe.

Brand || Okay, that was some Onyx-level trolling, right there. If the orb hadn’t been -pretty- clear about where it came from and who sent it, Brand might have suspected shenanigans from a certain undead child. Still, Brand couldn’t help himself. He nudged the ball back into the shadowy corner, only for it to return with even greater speed. He had to hop over it to dodge the thing from bruising his ankle, and cussed in front of the Dominic despite himself. Yep, that orb was not leaving. Sorry.

Khitti || It’s okay, Brand. Khitti was swearing right along with you. A little bit in Dhavislaavian, a little bit in Common. Dominic was going to learn a lot of new words. The latest one? Scheisse. It was probably one of the easier ones for him to learn. They should be proud! He’s moving right along in learning how to speak. Khitti had bigger things to worry about right now and wasn’t having any of this orb nonsense. It was picked up, without her shirt sleeves and started up its message again. “Help us, Harbinger. You’re our only--” Nope. With an angry scream, the window’s opened again, the ball set on fire with holy magic and tossed out the window as far as Khitti can possibly manage. It doesn’t matter though--because instead of one orb, there’s now two rolling out from the darkness. And then three more on top of that. Clearly, someone was sending spam mail. More flames are conjured in both hands, as Khitti decides that clearly the shadows had to gtfo. Brand, if you want to continue captaining this nice ship, you might wanna stop your woman.

Brand || “Hey! Hey, hey heyheyheyheyheyhey.” Brand scrambled to get behind Khitti, to restrain her (and her flames) before she could put an end to his home, his job, and probably also their lives. “Fire bad. Ship wood. And we’re kinda in the middle of the ocean right now.” Eloquent as ever, Brand.

Khitti struggled quite a bit, “Lemme go! It’s the only way to get rid of it! I’ll buy you a new ship! I’ll buy you ten new ships!” She eventually stopped wriggling about like an Alaskan Bull Worm, thankfully for Brand, but… more orbs fell out of the shadows. Staring at them all now, and attempting to pull herself out of Brand’s grasp so that she could actually examine them (now that she’s calmed down the tiniest bit), she noticed something… off. They were all different. Each one of them pulsed a different color as she picked them up. Each one a different message. Cries of help, screaming as people were struck down mid-message--they only got worse as Khitti picked up a new one. The question was then… how the hell did they even end up here if most of their owners were dead? As if to answer the unspoken question on Khitti’s mind, one last glass ball emerged. This one looked more like a billiard ball lacking a number, its glass an opaque white. Hesitantly, Khitti picked up this final orb and the image on it played. The magical hologram showed the upper half of Emeritus, the treant seemingly restrained and unmoving. A hand appeared then, holding a large vial, the contents of which were poured down the treants throat (or what was left of it anyway). The image flickered out and Khitti dropped the orb, letting it hit the floor and clink against the others. It wasn’t often that Khitti was at a loss for words, but she certainly was now, her attention soon fixed on Brand instead, looking to him for answers he obviously didn’t have.

Brand || Despite the grim content of many of the orbs, Brand couldn’t help but laugh. It was just the tiniest bit ridiculous to see the room so filled with these things. If they were made of a softer material, he’d shove them into a pen somewhere and give Dominic a ball pit to play in. “I dunno what you’re lookin’ at me like that for. Doesn’t sound like they’re giving you a choice. Something’s up with the Shadow Plane, and they want -your- help, specifically.” Brand would tag along, of course, but he wasn’t the one they’d bombarded with this… strange sort of mail. It was Khitti. One way or another, it seemed like she was always the one getting into trouble.

Khitti sighed. Because Brand was being unhelpful again. Because she knew she was going to have to answer these various cries for help. Because, goddamn it, nothing ever goes right over there in the Shadow Plane. Nothing ever goes right over here either, but don’t mention that. But she was The Chosen One™ and fate willed it of her. Just like it had with everything else. “Who was the idiot that opened up that door to the Shadow Plane in the first place? They really need their ass kicked.” Let’s, uh, I don’t know… blame someone. Anyone. I can’t think of someone right now, but it’s not Khitti. Nope. Nuh uh. Khitti picked up the white orb again, watching the hologram of Emeritus. “We probably wouldn’t be where we are right now if it wasn’t for him. He may have been talking in riddles the entire time, but he was still a hell of a lot more help than most people. Ugh. Why does it have to be me though? I’m not even useful over there anymore.” Khitti clearly had a lot of questions (most of which she knew the answers too), a whole lot of whining in her just waiting to come out, and not a whole lot of hope that she’d be able to deal with… whatever the hell was going on over there.

Brand shrugged. He didn’t seem too bothered. Honestly, it wasn’t -that- different from contracting his skills out any other way. Except there was no payment upfront. And he himself hadn’t even been asked for, specifically. And there was no guarantee they’d be paid at the end, either… hmm. Okay, maybe it was like taking a contract, except in all of the ways that it wasn’t. “They’ll pay you,” he said, as if saying so with confidence would make it true. “One way or another, I’m sure they’ll make it worth your while.”

Khitti || “I don’t know if this is that sort of problem, Brand…” Khitti had a bad feeling about this, as she did about most things, but she eventually shrugged as well and sighed again--this time with less whining. “But, I guess we might as well find out what the hell is going on, regardless. It’s not like I’ve got anything better to do.” The razurath would take care of themselves, right? And the guild. And the bakery. They basically ran themselves! Mostly. Khitti pulled herself up off the floor, plucked one of the many orbs she’d received out of Dominic’s grasp for the tenth time since the conversation started, and handed him off to Brand. “Take this kid of ours before he finds anymore things addressed to me from places I don’t want to know about.” She pointed at Dominic, then poked his stomach a bit, “No more getting your mother into trouble. I do it enough on my own, damn it.” Dominic would of course cackle in that adorable way of his and Khitti spun around to deal with the orbs, shoving some into her pockets here and there in an attempt to take them into the cargo area to pile into a box with all of their other weird stuff.