RP:Where Do We Go?

Part of the Do You Believe In Magic? Arc

Summary: The unfortunate capture of KhittiDom have begun to take its toll on the two. Will the best ship in Hollow survive their tenure in Raiez's cave and sail off into the sunset? Or will it sink faster than Jack's frozen corpse after he let go of that damn door and left Rose forever in 'Titanic'? (THERE WAS ROOM FOR TWO PEOPLE ON THAT DOOR, DAMN IT! HE COULD'VE LIVED! #I'mNotBitterAtAll #HatechuJamesCameron)

Raiez's Cave (Dead End)

Khitti had watched over Dominic the entire time he slept. It didn't matter if he slept for a few hours or if his body decided that he'd need to sleep for a couple days. There was no way she'd put her attention elsewhere when there was the chance of the other redhead getting bitey. She had to keep her wits about her, had to protect him. He had done so much to try to find her, it was the least she could do. After a time, she'd move their positions about to make him more comfortable. His head rested in her lap, his coat having been taken off and laid across him to use as a makeshift blanket. The vampiress runs her hand through his hair soothingly, doing her best to keep him calm as he slept. She was tired too, of course, but it didn't matter.

Days of worry and fear had taken their toll. Dominic slept and slept and slept some more, right through all of the bitey one’s quips, right through all of his zany, stress-addled dreams, right through Raiez’s occasional comings and goings. It was beginning to look like he’d become that princess from one of Khitti’s fairy tales, and he might slumber forever if not awakened by true love’s embrace. Luckily for him, this was currently readily accessible, though he’d certainly blush at the mushiness of the notion were it brought up to him. When he awoke his eyes would flit wildly around their surroundings a moment before meeting Khitti; the momentary tension would release again. However bad their predicament now, at least they were in it together. That was… something, wasn’t it?

Khitti had actually begun to wonder if she needed to go the true love's kiss route to awaken him, thanks to all of those aforementioned stories she'd read and known since she was a little girl. She'd had her head turned and pressed against the jar, staring blankly out the glass that encased them, until he began to stir. Her line of sight moved to focus on him before she finally shifted her head as well, the corners of her mouth twitching upwards in a faint, but loving smile, "Hello, sleeping beauty." He may have already been awake, but nevertheless, she leans down to press her lips to his, sharing in that display of affection that they were both likely in need of as she twirls a bit of his dark locks around her index finger.

Dominic returned Khitti’s kiss, though a yawn and the need to stretch broke it off after a few seconds. “ ‘Sleeping beauty’? How long has it been?” Not that she’d likely know any better than he would. Gods, not being able to track the time was just -one- of the ways any kind of normal routine would elude them in here. Was Raiez going to let them out to bathe, at least? He had a change of clothes in his bag, but he hadn’t exactly packed it with an extended stay in mind… hmm. “And how long ago did you last see Raiez?” She had to come by at some point to feed them if she was trying to keep them all alive, wouldn’t she? Maybe he could inquire about a bath then… and a pillow. And a shirt to cover a certain someone’s dangly bits. And maybe if he was let out he could use some of that time to look for a way out… though he doubted that that kind of inspection of his surroundings would escape Raiez’s notice for long.

Khitti stroked his cheek softly, "I'm not sure. It's been awhile, I know zhat. I hope she hurries zhough...I'm starting to get hungry." A side glance is given towards the other redhead on the other side of the jar. While she loved having Dominic here with her, it wasn't exactly safe. Either Raiez hadn't thought that through clearly enough or she just didn't care. The vampiress remembered the last few times she'd met with the bitey murdery one. Back then when she was a he, he wasn't exactly pleasant and his apetite for blood seemed nigh unsatiable. That was something that likely hadn't changed at all just because now a few parts of their body was magically altered. A brief look of worry graced Khitti's features, but she soon wiped it away, looking towards Dominic again as she repeated her words, though they were laced with concern, "I'm sure she'll be back soon..."

Dominic rose out of her lap, smirking a bit. “Sure, -now- you are. But you turned down that cakelog earlier… I wasn’t even sure it was -possible- for you to turn down cake!” The remark was followed up by a playful sticking out of his tongue, and a series of kisses to distract her from the fact that he was rummaging in his pack again. It wasn’t long before he produced -another- slice of cakelog and a couple of apples. The cakelog was for Khitti, of course; the apples were for Dominic and the murdery one with the bits hanging out, if she’d accept the thing being tossed to her. And, hey! Don’t look at him like that! Dominic -always- has food with him. It’s not weird or anything!

Khitti shook her head at her beloved human, frowning a bit. "Not -zhat- kind of hungry, Dominic. I don't -have- to eat mortal food. I do it because I choose to, because I like zhe taste. But no, zhat...zhat is not vhat I mean." Her gaze shifted back out the wall of the jar, eyeing the inside of the cave quietly. That gnawing hunger in the back of her mind tried to eek it's way through to the surface, but she fought it off rather well. "If you're hungry, zhen you eat zhat. It's more important for you to keep your strength up, especially if Raiez isn't going to be here very often." A brief side glance is sent again towards the murdery one as the apple is tossed her way. "She's not going to vant zhat either. I don't even know if she chooses to eat normal, every day zhings. I've only ever seen her feast on the living." As if to spite Khitti, the other redhead catches the bit of fruit with ease and takes a bite out of it, grinning mischievously. Khitti's upper lip curls in a slight snarl, but she otherwise makes no attempt at retaliation. What was the point?

Dominic looked almost triumphant. The other vampiress was more than a little bit intimidating, but hey, she’d taken his food! That meant… something, right? His victory didn’t last long, however, as he was reminded of that certain pesky -need- of vampires. You’d think he’d remember that better, having a vampire for a girlfriend and all. But no. Of course his thoughts had gone to actual, y’know, -human- food rather than blood. Sweet, innocent Dominic -- he probably thought he could bribe Raiez with food, too. And not seared mortal or grilled vampire, either. Frowning at Khitti now, he shoved the cakelog into her hands to do with it as she would (and hopefully eat it. He’d gone to the trouble of bringing it along for her, after all). “Well, I can help -you- with that, but…” His eyes flicked to the bitey one and back, a look implying that he didn’t entirely trust her not to make him into a corpse. Okay, so he wasn’t -entirely- naive.

Khitti let out a flat, stern "No." in response to his offer. "Zhere vill not be one drop of blood spilled by you vhile ve share zhis cage vith -her-." She pushes herself up off the floor, stepping away from Dominic, pacing somewhat. "You eat. Don't give anything more to her. She's like me. She von't need it. Don't show zhat egotistical murderer any kindness." Both arms cross over her chest, a smirk forming on her lips.

Dominic sighed and took a comically large bite out of his apple. “I mean, she’s trapped in here just like the rest of us,” he grumbled through bits of fruit. She couldn’t truly be so bad, could she? And she’d apparently gone through a rather traumatic change. He felt a bit sorry for her, even if she didn’t look like any of this had phased her. And even if she was bitey. And murdery. And snarky. “But I understand.” He chomped down again, squinting all the while at the lid overhead. “What’ve you tried so far to get out?”

Khitti rolled her eyes as Dominic took pity on their cellmate. "-She- tried to get out vhen Raiez let me out to give me zhe books. I vas going to get time outside of zhe jar for awhile and -she- ruined it." Clearly, Khitti was still bitter about it because she uttered a few curses in her native tongue, sending them along towards the other redhead. While neither of them probably understood it, the things Khitti said was not pleasant by any means. "She managed to knock over her jar and break it...and zhen Raiez put her in here vith me." A glare is sent towards the bitey one, another satisfied grin from the older redhead returned to her. It was odd, almost like they were sisters. Sort of, but not really. Thankfully. She's quick to look at Dominic with a serious gaze after she realizes her words, "Do -not- attempt to do zhe same, Dominic. I don't vant anyone else zhrown in here vith us because another jar vas broken. It's so damned cramped as it is."

Dominic was already scrutinizing the glass walls well before Khitti finished what she was saying, one hand spread flat against its surface. What would be the best angle to hit it from to break themselves free? A brief conferring with Brand was interrupted as Khitti concluded; he took another bite out of his apple before peering back over a shoulder at her. “But if we could get out of the whole place entirely, that wouldn’t matter. Did you get a look at the layout at all?”

Khitti shook her head, "I saw nothing. Raiez knocked me out...because of course, I didn't exactly go quietly for her." She narrowed her line of sight at Dominic, watched as he ate that apple with that look on his face. She knew that look. Knew that the gears were turning in his head. "Can't you just accept zhe fact zhat ve're probably never going to get out of here?" Her features softened, another frown forming as she looked down at the jar's floor between them. She knew full well what it was like to be stuck in a cage for months. It seemed it was to be the way of things in her life. She'd never escape it.

Dominic finished everything he could of his apple, and suddenly realized he had nowhere to dispose of the core. Whoops. Didn’t really think that through, did you? “No, Khitti, I can’t. There’s got to be a way. Or there’s a reason Raiez is holding us and maybe it’s temporary.” His eyes were glued to the ceiling, searching the lid to their glass cage with an intensity that was only growing with time. Sulking somewhat, he hurled the apple’s core; it ricocheted with the exact wrong trajectory to come back and clobber Khitti in the head. Dominic merely gaped, mortified. “...Whoops.”

Khitti took the full force of that apple core to the side of her head, which in turn causes her head to hit against the glass wall. She really wasn't paying attention, okay?! After composing herself somewhat and a glare in Dominic's direction. "Instead of trying to kill me vith an apple, you could just sit down, pick up a book, and try to read it. I've no idea vhy Raiez vants us? Maybe she doesn't have a reason? Maybe zhis is her hobby instead of...I don't know...bug collecting? Maybe, just maybe, you -should- accept zhe fact zhat ve're not getting out. Hell, ve might not even be on zhe same continent." Well, she's definitely moody today. Might have to do with the fact that she's heard nothing but bad from Amarrah inside that head of hers. You know how -that- usually goes.

“S-s-sorry. It wasn’t on purpose!” Dominic insisted, alongside a nervous chuckle. He looked sincere enough, yet there was still the faintest glimmer of amusement lurking underneath. Brand wouldn’t use him to toy with her, would he? Surely not. “And honestly, what does it matter if we’re on the same continent or not? Freedom is freedom.” Easy for him to say. He’d barely ever had it for long enough to understand what it was. “And there’d have to be a way back…”

Khitti grew somber again, shaking her head at him as she pulled her long hair over her shoulder to braid it idly. "But...I just found my home again. Ve may not have had a place to live, but...I zhought it vas some place I could belong. Someplace vhere I'd have you...and my friends." Clearly, she'd concocted some sort of fairy tale-happily ever after in her head already. It was likely Pilar's doing. She -did- bring up that whole wedding nonsense. "I vas ready to stay put. To not have to leave. It's been so long, Dominic...So very long. I'm so tired. So tired of running about vith nowhere to go. But no. I shall not have even zhat. I shall not have anything I vant ever. I shall forever be some sort of veird experiment locked up in a cage for all to see. Forever a 'frankenstein'."

Dominic regarded her with a contemplative stare. For a moment he’d been too absorbed by his own feelings on this serial magenapping to consider hers. Sighing, he stepped forward and drew the vampiress in for a hug. “I’m sorry, Khitti. You have so much more to lose.” His line of sight rose to the lid once more. “But no, I’m sure we must still be in Lithrydel somewhere. Think of the number of mages lost. Do you really think Raiez would be able to take so many so quickly if she was carting us all off to another realm?” Well, he supposed some sort of teleportation magic wasn’t completely out of the question. Better not mention that thought to Khitti.

He didn't get it. He was never going to get it. Maybe Brand would understand, but then again, sometimes it was worse trying to talk to him. She allowed Dominic to hug her, but she didn't it return it as much as she usually did, a step back away from him taken once he's released her. "I don't know, Dominic. Do I look like I understand a crazed, magic-hungry dragon?" She looked towards the other redhead, eyeing her carefully as she did what was needed to get used to her new body. The new dangly bits that still went uncovered no longer phased her. She seemed like the type to always have some sort of plan and Khitti wondered if something that wasn't snarky and possibly helpful would pop up in that bitey, long-eared jerk's head once she was done bouncing around like a psycho. Her attention returned to Dominic, her expression a cross one, "Stop trying to rush zhings. Vhen zhe moment is right to escape, ve vill know it." Of course, that was something like that likely wouldn't sit well with Brand.

The frown on Dominic’s face deepened. “I don’t think it works that way, Khitti.” Still, he pulled away and plopped down, cross-legged with his back to the jar wall. “We could end up waiting forever if we’re holding out for some ‘right moment’ that might not even exist.” He peered over his shoulder and away from her, examining the world outside the jar. “Or we starve to death, in one fashion or another.”

Khitti went to pick up a book, but as soon as the first of his words his her ears, she threw it back down angrily, "Vhat zhe hell do you know? You zhink escaping is going to be so easy?! -She- tried and it didn't vork!" She pointed at the ever-bouncy redhead across the jar. "Raiez vill find us even if ve did get away. She always finds you vhen she vants you. Ve're never going to get out of here. Never!" Tears filled Khitti's eyes as she had her anxiety attack, the first of many to come as the days edged on without fresh blood. The flashes of memory from dark days come and gone didn't help either. Too bad their link was dead, and she didn't want to feed from him right now, or else he'd know. Or maybe it was for the better?

Dominic had no response to that that was likely to satisfy her -- he was quickly realizing that now. Besides, he was becoming more than a little agitated himself. Likely wouldn’t be able to word it right, anyway. And so he simply turned further, pressing his nose and one splayed hand against the glass. The especially infuriating part of it all was that he’d -chosen- this, in some respects. He -chose- to seek out Raiez and goad her into capturing him just to at least lay eyes on Khitti again. And here she was, and yet… bother. He’d pictured this whole thing being different, somehow. In his mind’s eye, him being here took more of the edge out of Khitti’s anxiety. He’d expected Raiez to take some actual convincing, too, and that hadn’t happened either. Hell, maybe Khitti was right and she was so confident in her jars and the secrecy of her cave that it hadn’t mattered what Dominic’s aim was. Or she was toying with them all and this was all just to see who would try to escape and in what fashion? There was probably no point in trying to understand a dragon’s mind, anyway.

Khitti took a second to calm her mind after her little tantrum. As Dominic opted for introspection instead of trying to calm her down, she immediately felt awful. He had searched for her for so long. Lost so much sleep. And this...this is how she repays him. She took a step forward towards him, her hand reaching out to cup the side of his face, to turn him to look at her. "Dominic..." Her voice was soft, apologetic, the complete opposite of what it had been moments ago. "I'm sorry, love. I just..." She pauses, looking down at the floor, "I can show you. Vithout zhe blood transfer." A side glance towards the electrified redhead, "Vithout causing her to vant to attack you." Her line of sight returns to him, "It vas an ability Daermon showed me quite some time ago and I'm certain I'm strong enough to do it now."

Dominic waved an annoyed hand at her. “Show me -what-, exactly? Show me how hopeless you think everything is? I get it, Khitti. I don’t need to see it.” He pulled further away, withdrawing into himself and the glass barrier around them. It looked for a moment like that might be all he had to say, but no -- he turned back to her, brows furrowed, with one more irritated jab to throw in before he returned to brooding watchfulness. “And you don’t even see when you’re contradicting yourself. If you’re ‘strong enough’ to do something now that you couldn’t before, what about all those times you’ve insisted you can’t become more capable at anything?”

Khitti felt that pang of guilt in her heart as he waved her away, her hand withdrawing from him as he moved away. "It's...it's not magic zhat allows me to do it. It's vampire stuff." She didn't really have a better way to explain it and it seemed like there really wasn't a point in trying. "I-it's not zhe same, Dominic. And..." She cut herself off, breathing a heavy sigh. It didn't matter. So, instead of trying to get through to him, she gives up and settles herself down onto the see-through floor beneath them, a bit of a distance from him, her back against the wall. There was a bit of scolding going on in that head of hers, of course, her face scrunching up in disgust at her actions.

Dominic stubbornly refused her an answer. He didn’t have one, anyway. He didn’t even know why he’d become so irritated. Usually, he was so much better at being patient with Khitti, with always finding a way to be optimistic or at least vaguely comforting. But no, not today. Today her pessimism might very well be the reality, and perhaps he wasn’t grappling so well with the possibility. Getting himself kidnapped just so Khitti could be returned to (and maybe even saved by) him? Seemed like a good idea at the time. Now? Maybe Khitti was right, maybe they were going to starve to death. “We can’t afford to sit here predicting our own doom,” was all he replied, minutes later, his stare to the world beyond never faltering. It was as much meant for her as it was a reminder for himself.

Khitti idly played with the bracelet he'd returned to her. Each shell was inspected, in hopes nothing had broken. For once, something had gone right. Nothing seemed to be amiss. After his words had trailed off, there was a long silence between the two. She didn't know what to say on the subject. He wouldn't let her show him her memories and she didn't want their cellmate to hear her excuse. They'd be at an unfortunate impasse. After a time, she'd attempt to change the subject, though there was hesitation in her voice. "You...said...zhat you saw Lydia...?" It came out as a sort of statement at first and then formed itself into a question towards the end. The vampiress doesn't look in his direction, nor does she move to sit near him at all.

Dominic ’s brows quirked at the realization. He -had- mentioned that when he’d been half-asleep, hadn’t he? “Hmm? ...Yeah. I dunno. Maybe.” At last he’d turn to face her again, lips twisted into a contemplative frown. “I was… beyond exhausted. It’s hard to say for sure. Brand is… skeptical, to say the least, but I don’t know how else to explain what I saw. It didn’t -seem- like a dream. And I -did- find your bracelet, that much is demonstrably true.”

Khitti continued to stare at the bracelet, doing her best to hide the emotion that welled up deep down inside her again as it usually did when there was talk of Lydia. "Brand's always skeptical. About -everything-. Either zhat or he chooses to just ignore things he doesn't understand." There was a pause and a sigh. "You said zhat she mentioned a song. Zhat I played on zhe violin." The thought of it being something that was just in Dominic's sleep-deprived head and not an actual reality made her want to pocket the bracelet so she didn't have to look at it right now, but she didn't dare upset Dominic further. Instead, she folded her arms across her chest and tilted her head back against the glass behind her, dark eyes shifting upwards to gaze out the top of the jar.

“Heh. I guess he is.” That remark earned Dominic some irritated words from the other being in his head; Dominic visibly shooed them away as if trying to swat at a bug. “She said… she said to tell you she’d heard you play, every time you had.” He peered at her, head canted, observing her body language. He should probably at least get up and hug her. She looked like she could use one. But still, he stayed rooted in place, his earlier tension not faded enough yet. “That doesn’t mean anything to you, does it?”

Khitti's brows knit together, her lips twisting into a slight frown. Had she? Had she really heard her play? If she'd even been real that is. Now that she wasn't hysterical after finally being reunited with Dominic, she did recall mentioned the violin at one point, but had she talked about the song? Who knows. After a few minutes of contemplation, she says quietly, "Come here." If he hesitated, she'd reach out a hand in his direction, silently begging him to sit in front of her.

Dominic had indeed waited for that outstretched hand before crawling over to meet Khitti. He, too, rested his back against the wall, intent on keeping proper posture at first -- but it wasn’t long before he was sinking into Khitti, curling up around her like a lost child. “Well, regardless of if she was real or not, that’s how I found you. So I’m grateful.” His eyes trailed hers to the ceiling. “I can’t just sit here and wait and hope, though. There -must- be a way…”

Khitti turned to face him somewhat, shaking her head at him. "Dominic...shush." A brief, suspicious glance was sent towards their jar mate, studying her carefully before returning her attention back to Dominic. Both hands reach up, cupping his jaw gently, holding him their as she leans forward to kiss him. The embrace is fleeting, however, as her fingertips trail up to his temples. "Just...try to relax." The vampiress closed her eyes and tried to find that part of her mind where their link had fallen dead since before her kidnapping. A frown forms on her lips as she struggles to reopen it, that trick she'd spoken of that she'd seen Daermon do was still a bit advanced for her. On top of that, she'd gone so long without feeding thanks to that dragon that'd stolen them all. She manages a slight success, the link barely there, but enough to get the job done. He'd soon hear that song Lydia had spoken of, the one Khitti had taught herself on the violin. "It's always zhere...in zhe back of my head...like a reminder..." While Khitti was distracted with Dominic, Amarrah finally deemed it the right time to make her presence known, if it was only to that other redhead across the jar. She'd settle on the stack of books just near the vampiress and her dear human, though her focus was on the lightning-wielder. It didn't take long for the aforementioned bitey elf to take notice, though she kept to whatever training she'd been doing. The butterfly merely watched. If only poor Khitti knew what was going on in that shadow creature's mind.

Dominic seemed very briefly cross in the moment between when he realized what she was doing and when the chilling melody of that violin soared through his mind. “Khitti, I told you I didn’t want --” And then he was stunned into silence, some mix of awe and relief dancing on his features. “Okay. No, I take it back. I’m sorry. That’s beautiful…” He reached for Khitti’s free hand and squeezed it. “I want to hear you play that sometime. If we can find you a violin.” Which required getting the hell out of there, of course… or maybe Raiez would deem to be extra generous and give her a violin to toy with in addition to all the books. He imagined it might terribly annoy the other occupant in their jar, though.

Khitti had begun to tense up a bit as it was clear he'd become annoyed at her. And then, suddenly, it went away and his irritation was replaced with compliments. This drew out a faint smile, but she didn't speak until the link was dead again. Amarrah had been studying the other redhead so intently that she didn't notice Khitti had finished with her task so quickly. Khitti parts her lips to speak, but upon feeling Amarrah actually out and about for once, blinks and looks over her shoulder at the butterfly, still holding onto Dominic's face. "A-Amarrah?" The butterfly almost didn't register Khitti's voice as she was so intently staring at the bitey elf, and instead of giving Khitti any sort of explanation, she'd disappate and remain silent as if nothing had happened. A quick glance is shot towards the topless female across the jar, a frown and a narrowing of her eyes also sent in the other redhead's direction. The dark ranger would give a shake of her head, and return her thoughts to Dominic, her response making her seem almost psychic, "Maybe I'll ask Raiez. She villingly gave me zhe books vithout my asking, so maybe. It'd be nice to play again, even if it is zhe one song."

Dominic sighed heavily . “Yes, -such- a kind-hearted captor she is. What’s the point, though? Why capture us and then… not even do anything? She doesn’t seem to want information, she doesn’t seem to want to hurt us -- unless it’s to starve us to death, perhaps -- so.. What? What’s her aim? Why give you books in the first place? I don’t understand.” He bashed the back of his head against the wall a few times, just to make his frustration even more evident than it already was. All it did was give him a headache.

Khitti sighed as well, a hand moving behind Dominic's head to shield it from harm as he bashed his head against the glass, "Maybe she just...likes collecting zhings. I don't know. Dragons are veird." Hopefully Hildegarde never finds out she said that. Lookin' at you, bitey murdery elf. You say anything and I'll cut you. "I'm sure if she vas planning anything, she vould have taken me a long time ago. Or maybe she's just lazy? I have no idea, Dominic. I've got no answers for you." Once he stopped, she'd retract her hand and bring it to rest in her lap with it's twin. "She can't be all zhat bad or else she probably vould've eaten us by now."

Dominic shot her an exasperated look and buried his face in his knees. One heavy sigh later, he picked his head back up and went back to curling against her, eyes searching the lid of the jar. “You have a point. But still… this is… not what I’d thought it would be. Somehow I’d thought it would be easier to figure a way out, or at least that we’d have a little space to move around and not be shrunken down and trapped in a tiny space with random strangers. But no. It’s fine. I’m an idiot for being optimistic. Whatever.” He’d conclude his cryptic self-deprecating remark with an aggravated wave of his hand before sinking a little further toward the ground.

Khitti didn't really know how to make things any better right now. She was just as upset as he was, and of course in that head of hers there was no limit to the self-deprecation. Amarrah didn't help any on that front either. Well, she -had- been quiet as of late. Pretty much since her and the other redhead had had their first little interaction. That...did not bode well. Amarrah had always been the more cunning of the two and now Khitti wondered what she might be up to back in those dark recesses of Khitti's mind. So, instead of adding to the already dour mood with her thoughts on their plight and that of Amarrah, Khitti did nothing more than sigh heavily and rest her head against the wall of glass behind her. She took to staring at the bitey one again, the fact that her chest was still exposed made no difference to her now. No, Khitti was going to figure her out...and hopefully soon because she had a bad feeling again.