Bittersweet Candy Bowl

Amaja pet the white cats head softly, a soft gentle smile on her face. Continuing to comfort the distraught cat. She looked over to the group still gathered around Mollith, wondering if they’d ever continue on, or atleast get some rest before the next task set before them. Setting her hands to Lieselotte’s shoulders she moved her away from her chest lightly and smiled sweetly down at her. She stood up slowly and took the white cats hands into her own to help her to her feet. Motioning her head to the group hoping she’d composed herself enough to return to the group and hopefully get something progressing in this night.

Icarus wakes up with a monster headache, unsure if he could stand up. He tries sitting up, but this produces negative effects.

“…Ugh… What happened…? …Oww…”

He lays back down slowly.

“…Where am I? What happened? How long have I been out?”

Lieselotte wipes away the last of her tears and stands. She gives the Tabby one last tight hug, whispering her words into her ear.
Thank you, I’m sorry for all that, I really am but thank you so much though, for just being there. I think for now at least, I’ll be fine.
After the tight friendly hug, she returns to the rest of the group, unnerved, but able to contain it now.

((Auto-play I’m fallin asleep at my desk and shit, need sleep so fuckin bad))

Susanna wanders over to the paladin as the new playmates head off.

“You’ve been out for, what, half an hour? In which time we’ve been stalked by zombie beasts, attacked by walking zombies, suffered the onslaught of a (temporarily) possessed vampiress, sung to a murderous young girl with a scythe, and let Paulson play hide and seek with her to take her mind off the suggestions of a demonic doll.”

She lies down, trying to recover some of the energy she’d used today.

“You didn’t miss much,” she added.

(Yeah, I’m going to recharge myself. See you all in 7 hours or so.)
(Oh, username. Oops.)

The paladin smiles, slightly dazed.

“Oh, well that’s a rel-

WAIT WHAT?!? OWW!!”

Icarus winces, the screaming causing his head to throb.

“Shit, bad idea… Is there anything you can do about this pounding headache?”

(Um…Yappy. Apparently, the DM wants to fuck you. So yeah. Get ready for some Rukral lovin’!)

Jasmina is simply laying against a tree ,she wants there for the events of last night though (whatever the fuck happened) she knew that girl was with the group now,she wasnt afraid of her but her magic still disturbed jasmina

A loud high pitched buzz starts to echo in Keith’s ears. It wakes him up suddenly, and covers his ears to try to mitigate the sound, to no avail. The pain is unbearable for the first few seconds, but it gradually loses intensity. The sound gets replaced by leaves rustling, and the voices of his friends talking around him.

Whatever made Keith deaf, he seems to have recovered from it. The headache is also gone now.

I’m glad that was only temporary…

He is eager to stand and ask the group about all that happened while hes was out, but all he sees when he opens his eyes is still complete darkness.

I’m still blind… but it shouldn’t last for much longer.

Knowing that his hearing came back with time, he trusted that the same would happen with his sight. He calms down.

Still… I was unable to hold the tower… I was unable to even be of help during that fight…

I think I’ve gone too far already… there’s no way I can just go back to the life I had before coming here…

My powers… so far I’ve only used them for practical uses… carrying, loading. All these shields, all that telekinesis… is only the basic stuff. I guess I can expect more danger from here on so… I really need to train my abilities further, I need to be stronger, I need to be able to use those abilities in a real fight.

But… it’s going to be hard to practice without being able to see, I hope my sight comes back soon. I’ll have to make up for it with my other senses for now, even If they are not as honed as that vampire’s, it’s better than nothing.

Keith remains immersed in his own thoughts.

As the girl wandered off all smiles and cheer Lily gave a light wave, letting her have some fun with the folk who as lily put it aloud: “Match her level of maturity heh…”

But as it became clear the young girl could no longer see her face… it became nothing but serious. A frown and worry as one of her signature little cards was pulled out, Makar coming up beside her to voice his concerns and quickly being silenced with a..

“Shhh!”

A match was lit, and the small note was brought to a flame stern eyes staring through the flowing smoke, peering at the bouncing girl and her ‘doll’ through the twisting gray. From the good knights perspective the smoke seemed to twist and shake… he could see something distort… but not quite place his finger on it.

That’s around when Lord Makar was free to be startled as the eyes of the Priestest beside him saw so much more. Going wide and then completely blank the Hedgehog woman shaking before the card simply burst into nothing in her hands. She stumbled into his arms just barely gathering herself…

“…. Well then… That confirms what we already know….” Lily slid her hand across her nose, a stain of red coming with, as color slowly came back to her eyes “… It’s the doll… Most certainly the doll….just… a little….stronger then I expected. I’ll be fine…”

She ushered Makar a step back as she regained her footing, giving some dismissive waves as if to assure she was alright, though it was clear she was still somewhat shaken.

“… It’s using the girl as some sort of…. how do I put it… conduit? Something to funnel and direct it’s power from which it has…-a lot- of. As strong as it is it seems it’s stuck doing things in a round about way… no reason for it…if it was a matter of stealth it’s a moot point now.. it knows we know.. or at least suspect. The poor girls being manipulated as if it weren’t obvious…” Lily chuckled a bit at the irony of the situation glancing down at the ground, hands on her knees as she took a breath “… seems the puppet is doing the puppetiering…” a certain grimness tied in with her usual sarcasm.

Makar frowned by listening to Lily and guided his hand towards his face, letting it slowly slip downwards.
Just like that Reinhild from a month ago… the diference is that she was being controlled by a cursed ghost and was way weaker than this Mollith the knight muttered under his faint breath, looking at the necromancer while she played with Paulson and Theresa.
No need to point out that it’s useless to try and take the doll away from her. He made a little pause and sighed. It would just make… Mollith… kill us in the most painful way possible.
The Lord made a slight grimace of displeasure after hearing her sarcasm.
The last thing I want is that necromancer slaughtering us while we’re asleep… but I must rest if I want to be at full disposal at the morning… He wispered to himself, turning his gaze to Lily afterwards. Let’s pray for a safe rest. She seems to like you, so be careful.
After noticing Lieselotte coming closer, the crestfallen knight walked towards her, apologizing fornot leaving her alone sooner.

He wandered around the campsite for a few moments untill he finally rested his body under a tree, turning his cape to the front to use it as a sheet. His eyes didn’t close, still looking to the sky, but glancing towards Mollith once in a while.

(Okay, I’m gone now. Lily and Lieselotte can autoplay Makar. If nothing happen untill the morning, Makar will be asleep.)

Sit’s in a nerby tree stump to rest a bit,notice that Liesolette looks a bit better now and that Mollith is having fun playing.
Hope that she don’t cause trouble.

“Hm… no.. not quite. Reinhild had hate in her heart. I’m not sure if this girl even understands what hate is…” finally Lily finds a seat against one of the tree’s groaning a bit from soreness as she went down, talking to Lord Makar before he wandered off, and maybe one or two others within earshot “… as for the doll…. well I think I’m going to see about having a ‘chat’ with Mr. Ardanious. He knows more about what’s going on then we do…but I’d like to be prepared first…”

She stretched one arm a bit, trying to shake out some of that aching feeling, she was going to be up for a while. “You’d be surprised how talkative spirits, all powerful, or other wise, can be. Guess they don’t get all that grand conversation.. and there’s the whole pride thing going on…” Lily gave a smirk “…Once a month my deceased Grandmother shows up to nag me about why I’m not married yet…the price of being a Priestess who talks to spirits I suppose” bit by bit she started to get out her supplies, blessed inks, charms, and papers, and other odds and ends “..The scariest part of all is I’m actually starting to agree with the old wind bag………nugh…” the irony clearly lost on the hedgehog as she continued her little rant.

“….if we’re lucky this ‘doll’ is some sort of guardian spirit that simply exists outside the laws of men…”

She started her little protective charms “.. Or if we’re unlucky…Well I think you can imagine that on your own.”

(And Auto for me. Bri needs some rest Arge. Mav, TD, and Ruk as always)

Keith has an idea.

Wait… that pole-arm Theresa gave me… it can serve as more than just a weapon to strike my enemies with. It can also be… a heat sink. That would make for a useful battle technique.

He crawls on the ground, looking to feel something that might be a pole-arm. After crawling around for a few seconds, he finds a long object near to where he was lying. He lifts it up, making a metallic sound. He feels it heavy towards one end.

This must be it.

He stands with the weapon in hand. But as he is about to start swinging, he stops, knowing that he might hurt somebody if he blindly waves that thing around.

(INTERNAL MONOLOGUE HERE)

Damn… I can’t train myself like this. Now I realize how important it is to be able to see…

Hmm… I remember hearing some espers were able to avoid all kinds of surprise attacks. They were able to perceive what was beyond their senses. It sounded interesting, but I never got around to try something like that. Maybe now is the best time to try it.

Now… how would I do that..? Ideas, I need ideas.

Okay I have one, what are the powers that can relate to other people? Hmm, I could move people around with telekinesis, but I need to know their location to do so. How about imprinting? I would need to know where they are as well… hmm… telepathy… now that could work. Their ideas are there, the reason I can’t read most people’s minds is because of their natural shields that keeps the weaker espers away. If I could at least perceive that mind energy, I should be able to map everyone’s locations from it.

I have to concentrate, and perceive all the mind energy around this place, everything that isn’t mine…

He places the weapon on the ground, and sits next to it to meditate.

Jasmina decides to make use of the peacefulness around her at the moment and begins to meditate

Wait… something fluctuated just now.

He perceives a change in his surroundings the moment Jasmina began her meditation.

Somebody probably changed their mental state. This one feels… serene and calm. I wonder who could it be…

So this is how it should feel like, I should look for similar sensations, I know this isn’t the only presence here, must try harder.

He concentrates, trying to pay closer attention to dimmer energies.

(Auto play,Konar will stay in the group,may act when necessary,night to all)

(Hebs, are you planning on being blind for the rest of the RP?)

(I don’t really know If I’m gonna leave him permanently blind, or if he is going to recover just like he did with his hearing.)

Delilah had been there the whole time, her voice having joined quite quickly with Lily’s during the rhyming game with the child, the pregnant cat knowing many by heart. When Albert fell, Delilah rushed over to his prone form, and she had hovered by his side after his healing, trying to prevent him from moving too much, the ache in her own shoulder making her flinch more than once at the hypocrisy.

Once the knight drifted off to sleep, Delilah went over to speak with Lily; listening to her discussion about the doll, Delilah screws up her face. Mollith is such a cute little thing, but the child certainly is dangerous…

I wonder if that doll is why she is not with her parents…

Delilah murmurs, to herself as much as to anyone else. After smiling at the hedgehog as Lily readies herself for a while (almost turning to a smirk as the hedgehog grouses about wanting to get married), the dancer skulks off to the woods. Spying Mollith hiding, she taps the side of her nose and winks at the little girl, before going off a different direction, not wanting to give her away too quickly to Paulson, who, judging by the direction he was going at the moment, probably wasn’t trying TOO hard to find her…

Finding what she was looking for, Delilah picks a fistful of yellow flowers and puts them into a pocket in her skirt before returning to the campsite. Kneeling by her sleeping husband, she leans over and gives him a kiss on the forehead, murmuring to his unconscious form.

I’m going to have to teach you more rhymes. Isn’t that right, little one?

The last is directed downwards towards her own belly as the dancer smiles fondly, the look on her face fading as she sees the slashes on Albert’s armor, leaning forward to give him a stiff hug as she snuggles up next to him, watching others go around their business in the camp.

For the longest time, Hannibal’s been sitting in a tree a short distance away from the camp in a deep, fitful sleep, wanting to have some time alone. Upon awakening, Hannibal groans and rubs a crick in his neck.

Still dark out…better get back to camp. Knowing them, they were probably assaulted by a dragon or some nonsense while I slept.

And so Hannibal returned to the campsite.

[[I have no clue what’s passed since I’m too lazy to backread. I only know that there was Mollith shenanigans. So yeah. Somebody interact with me, fill me in, ask me about my brother, ect.]]

Theresa, having become tired of hiding, decided to wander off for a bit. Finding Hannibal, she thought this an opportune time to strike up a conversation with him.
“Hey there, boozer. You missed one hell of a show!”

((Well I would but I’m playing hide and go seek with Mollith right now and I can’t bring her back untill you guys decide what we’re doing next. Initiative!))

The cat looked behind tree after tree after bush aftet tree trying to find Mollith and Theresa. Come out, come out where ever you are. He calls to the girls expecting no answer.

Come on how hard is it for find two cats and a doll in the woods? He asks himself before slapping his face. Unless of course you’re a master of stealth like Theresa. I should have made her been it.

Hannibal is in much better spirits and back to his old humor after a few hours of R&R.

Heh, I see that my reputation precedes me. Show? What, did something blow up? Did I miss a fight with a dragon?

(Yes. You should have. But I beat you to it, Commie! XP)
“*smirks* Better. We fought an entire zombie hoard! And that isn’t even the best part. Remember that creepy little girl that we meet back in the village? Well, that aforementioned hoard was her’s, and now she’s in our party! Ain’t life grand?”

In…our party? Wait. What? How? And…but…

Hannibal is clearly confused and obviously a bit hung over. He sputters in confusion and gets less articulate each moment. Perhaps more explanation would help?

She senses keith and shuffles slightly while meditating

I wonder who that could be,but i think they’ve already sensed my presence……

Her body stiffens slightly but she remains calm

Theresa is a little pissed at Hannibal’s behavior, which indicates that she needs to elaborate a bit.
“Fine. I’ll go into a little more detail…”

After a more thorough explanation of the past events (Backread, bitch! You don’t have to read every little thing, just skim through if you don’t want to bother reading all of it!)…
“There! Happy now?”

((I’m not even participating and I’ve read everything. Despite leaving for almost a day))

[[I have 20 minutes left, but I guess I’ll spend them backreading >:[ grr

EDIT: FFFFFFUUUUUUUUU- gotta go. Hopefully I’ll actually be on tomorrow. Take orders from people I listed before.]]

(DO YOU FREAKING READ THE ADVENTURE JOURNAL?!?! )
There was him, moveless, with his tired eyes open, feeling like they were burning. If he slept, he don’t remember.
… He tried to speak with his dry throat, but could just keep the name in his thoughts.
Lieselotte…
He got up with some dificulties and arranged his cape while trying to spot the vampiress. Shortly after, he started to look for her.

She sees the others walking around the camp, all talking amongst themselves. Here eyes stop on Albert and Delilah, the scratch across his chest sending shivers down her spine. She walks over to the couple and takes a seat next to them, guiltily staring at the dancer.
So…how is he?

It didn’t took long for Makar’s vision get back to normal, allowing him see his surroundings. After spotting Lieselotte, he almost started to walk towards her, but a sudden thought came to his mind before he could do so.
She don’t want to see me… It would be just like the last time…
He sighed and walked towards Albert and sat down besides him, avoiding eye contact with the vampiress.
Hey… is he okay?

Keith starts to feel many different presences now, but is unable to identify any of them, or even their location.

So far I can only perceive various minds, but this is useless. I’ll never be useful like this, if only I had a way… I know there must be more information that I can perceive this way, but that I just can’t seem comprehend.

Yes… that must be it. That healer long time ago even told me so. In order to be able to form stronger links with people’s minds, one must be able to place themselves into other person’s shoes. Empathy, is how he called it. If I am to improve as an esper, I must be able to understand the people around me, understand the situations the live in, be able to place myself in their situation.

…

I guess the best thing to do right now is to stop trying this way, and just try to know these people better.

Keith stands, and seeks to join a conversation. He guides hears some talking nearby, so he slowly walks with his eyes closed, and carefully sits near Lieselotte and Makar, whose voices he just heard.

Umm… hi… how is who? Something’s wrong?

After significant rest, the paladin sits up adn pauses, waiting for a throb from his head. When he feels nothing, he walks over to Makar.

“Ooh… Makar, any ideas for food? WHat are we going to eat here? And what’s wrong with him?”

Icarus Inquires about Keith, who seems to be walking around with his eyes shut.

Makar turned his gaze to Icarus. His eyes were starting to feel like burning again.
I’m not sure, Sir Icarus… in fact, I can’t even think properly right now… Sir albert got wounded in the chest. I hope his recovery be successful.
He turned his attention to Delilah. the knight felt a slight headache.
He’s strong and has your support… I know he’ll be better in no time. He smiled softly, but unable to hide the sadness in his eyes.
He turned to Lieselotte, just seeing her darkened silhouette.
… He opened his mouth while guiding his arm towards the vampiress, but him throat became dry suddenly.
He faced the ground, crestfallen, and started to walk away.

(Alright, I’m going to sleep now. As always, Rukral can autoplay Makar. He’ll keep wandering around the campsite for a couple minutes before passing out.)

Delilah kisses Albert on the bridge of his nose, before hearing the vampire’s words, looking up at Lieselotte. She twists to look at her, grunting a little as she bends her back, her shoulder still feeling sore from where the arrow was taken.

He’s like me… fine, but he’ll need rest.

The dancer absently strokes her mate’s shoulder, sighing quietly.

He was so happy earlier, learning he was a father… I feel so bad for not telling him sooner, though I think that may be why he was so savagely defensive earlier… he’s scared for me.

Her ears droop a little.

Its not your fault, Lieselotte. You attacked Makar… you obviously weren’t in control of yourself. He’s the last one in the world you would ever want to hurt.

The dancer disentangles herself slightly from her sleeping mate to scoot over closer to the vampire.

How are you? Are you okay? That must have taken a lot out of you…

She smiles at the vampire, her eyes concerned rather than happy.

She doesn’t move away as Delilah moves closer as she would normally. She remains focused on the scratches, absent-mindedly bring her hands to her throat, were her own are.
It took a lot out of me Delilah, but in ways I didn’t think possible. The whole time I was trying to fight it, but it was so strong. It’s not like it warped my mind into a rage either, it was far worse then that. The whole time I was aware of what was happening, but I could only watch. I don’t ever want to do that again. Helplessness is not something I’ve dealt with often, and at that point there was nothing I could do.

Delilah reaches over slowly with one hand, pulling it back for a moment before resting her fingers on Liselotte’s white shoulder, rubbing it gently, her smile replaced with a sympathetic expression.

I hope so too. Its a terrible feeling, being helpless, knowing there is nothing you can do to help…

The dancer’s eyes are shining with tears at the memory of struggling against Sunday’s magic, leaning in closer to the vampire.

I let it eat away at me sometimes… you shouldn’t. You’re stronger than I am, Lieselotte. We expect so much of you, and yet, even tonight, you didn’t let me down. You did what you could… I saw you break out of it, for a moment. You didn’t kill Albert, but knocked him down. You tried to stop yourself, and that may have saved his life, or others’…

I can’t blame you for it.

The smile the dancer wears is genuine, her eyes soft as she looks upon her guilty friend.

The white mage quietly sits there in meditation for an unknown amount of time ,the whole time sensing everyone elses presensce elsewhere.

I hope that’s them.I haven’t seen them for awhile now…i hope they’re all ok.

She noticeably tenses up at the dancers touch for a few seconds, before sighing deep and relaxing once more. She lowers her hands to her lap again and looks back to Delilah, seeming more confident then moments before.
I’m glad I didn’t let you down Delilah, even though I feel I left myself down. My concern is Makar though, I feel like if anything I’ve let him down, He probably really does believe me to be a fiend now. I don’t know what to do with him now, I don’t want to scare him away. I’ll just do what I can to remain confident in events like what happened today.I don’t know if I can, but I’ll try at least. Maybe then I can redeem myself in his eyes as well as the others…

Delilah shakes her head.

Makar… I can’t imagine he, of all people, would see you as a monster. He loves you, Lieselotte. He CHOSE you. You are his love, his wife… I think he’s just scared and worried.

With Reinhild, he thought he had things under control the whole time. He was the Hero of Light, and he would prevail. He never had any doubt in our victory, even when things seemed uncertain. But now… now he can’t solve everything with that sword of his, and has to rely on others…

He never saw that he always did, even then. Maybe he does now, and that is what bothers him. You’re not the only one who felt helpless, there… I saw the despair in his eyes when you faced him. He wouldn’t hurt you, even if you would hurt him. He loves you, Lieselotte.

But if you doubt me… walk over there and give him a kiss. I’m sure you’ll see it then.

She smiles encouragingly at her friend, her head tilted slightly, hand squeezing the pale feline’s shoulder.

She looks over to Makar who was dozing under a tree at this point. Looks back to Delilah and her encouraging smile and stands up.
I think…for now I need to just think. I need some time alone to really go over these past events. I really don’t feel like I can face him now, as much as I would love to do that Delilah. I’m going to go for a walk and just think everything over. I need sometime to myself, it’s been so long since I’ve had the opportunity. Thank you for your words though, they help more then you think.
She looks one last time at Makar as she walks off into the woods, the morning sun peaking out over the canopy as she leaves the campsite.

(No time to read right now, but I need to go on autoplay. Icarus will be drifting around camp looking for food. Anyone can auto him.)

Delilah watches the vampire go a bit sadly, sighing.

She’s so worried… but I’m sure he’ll have her back.

The woman smiles fondly over at Albert, moving back over to kiss him on the top of his head between his long ears, stroking them gently with her fingers.

So strong, but so full of doubt… maybe that’s how Susanna sees me as well.

She looks up towards the rising sun.

Morning already?

The dancer rises, stretching.

I hope Paulson and Theresa managed to get some sleep… though maybe its for the best if that little girl is tuckered out from playing with them.

Delilah goes off to find a nearby stream to bathe in, folding up her clothes neatly and setting them by the bank before wading in. She scoops up the water and lets it flow over her fur, washing away what’s left of the blood from her healed wound, her shoulder aching in the cold water, shivering as the stream flows around her legs, closing her eyes as she thinks of the day ahead, letting the sun peeking through the trees warm her face.

Theresa, having gotten bored by Hannibal’s ramblings, has decided to check up on the Big Four. After witnessing Delilah and Lieselotte’s exchange, she facepalms at the latter’s ignorance.
You idiot. That man cares about you more than anything in the world. Take Delilah’s advice and claim that mopey dumbass! Ugh… At least I know that drunkard gives a damn about Amaja. Maybe I should give her that talk I’ve been planning on giving her…?

With that, Theresa goes off in search of Amaja.

She opens her eyes after meditating for hours and notices its already daylight;She leaves her meditative state and stands up slowly.

Hmm…I guess the others can’t be too far away…

The White Mage wanders off in the direction she felt another person’s presence.

The game of hide and seek lasted most of the night, with Mollith displaying her knack for not being found when she didn’t want to be. After a few hours passed, and Paulson seemed to tire a great deal, the young girl allowed herself to be found, grinning widely. “You’re not very good at this game Mr. Paul. You’re much better at my game!” Her grin seemed like it would be cause for concern, but after a moment she seems to get distracted, seeing the vampire walking off.

She lost her train of thought and forgot all about suggesting the new game. She turned to the tired looking man and gave a cute giggle. “Time for you to sleep! I’m going to go talk to the puppet lady!” Before the man could protest, he felt his eyes grow heavy, as sleep took him unexpectedly. Mollith smiled happily and skipped off towards Lieselotte, aproaching her and tilting her head a little. “Why were you crying before? You were winning.” Her logic stemming from the fact that she had joined Mollith’s team.

(I see a Falcom Paunch to the face in Mollith’s immediate future.)

She looks up from the corpse of a guard she had found whilst wandering the woods. His body is relatively pale, and the fur around her mouth is stained red with blood. She nervously stands and steps back over the corpse away from the young girl.
T-that was not winning. I don’t know what you think is a game or not, but that was no game to me. Please, just leave me be I don’t want anything to do with you.
It’s obvious she is more frightened then anything as she glances around to see if anyone else is around. It is silent apart from the two.

Mollith frowns a little, not really sure what to make of the Vampire’s reaction. It’s at this point that the child notices the corpse that Lieselotte was feeding off. She looked slightly shocked for a moment, but not for the reasons likely forming in Lieselotte’s head. “Oh no! I forgot to feed Mr. Ardanious!” She turned her attention back to the vampire. “Is it ok if he shares your dinner?” Her smile was sweet and childlike, as though she were asking for a bite of some candy.