Salticiel and beyond

[Drusia]

"And you ask for me to trust you based off nothing but your assurance that you birthed the line of Rose' husband." She shook her head. "No... You are demanding it. Now." "You are immortal. Undying. So know this. If you are lying, and this kills me, I will not leave this world. I will stay here, a spirit, and make your every immortal day a living hell even if you live another ten thousand years."

I really want to tell her that I'm not asking her to trust me, I'm asking her to trust Rose and Argus who've judged me trustworthy. I'm also very tempted to tell her that if she want to haunt me, she can get the fuck in line. I've got plenty of ghosts already, and one as cute as her isn't gonna bother me. I really, really want to. But that wouldn't be constructive, so I won't. Maybe later, after I've saved her ungrateful ass, I can regale her with my excellent sarcasm.

"Thank you," I say instead. "I know it isn't easy to trust me. And it's because of elves like the one tracking you that we have the reputation you grew up with. She and hers are a nightmare, one I've had myself from time to time. And, whether you believe me or not, I will do everything I can to keep you safe from her."

"So," I ask, "Do you need a minute with your father? Or do you just want to get on with it?"

-- Drusia

[Sareth]

Lillith turned to Argus a moment, then turned back to Drusia. "Just... Just do it."

[OOC]I'm going to be away for the next week. I *may* have some net access during that time, but I won't garuntee it. So feel free to knock Lillith silly and play on with her being a prop. If anyone NEEDS actual insider stuff from her for any reason, I trust Graybeard's grasp of her to let him answer/write that sort of stuff. Have a good Yule. (Even though technically Yule was two days ago.)[/OOC]

[Drusia]

"Just... Just do it."

I nod and retrieve my needle. Once Lillith tells me her correct weight, I extract the necessary amount and swab her arm with iodine.

"Once I inject you," I tell her, "You are going to want to go downstairs and head out on the street. There's a big square just down the street. Walk there. By the time you arrive, you should be feeling tired and stiff at the same time. It will be unpleasant. You will probably feel afraid. Go with it. Yell that something's wrong, that you're scared. Once you start feeling the effects, it won't be long before you collapse. From that point, you'll be asleep for a few days, and then wake feeling hung-over. Don't worry about how you fall - Argus and I will follow you and make sure you don't hurt yourself when you collapse."

I press the needle into her arm. She flinches; I press the plunger. When I pull it back out, there's no more than a drop of blood. I wipe it, and the iodine, away.

"Okay, get going," I say, helping her stand up. She glares at me, but lets me help her. Well. It's a start. "Argus and I will be right behind you."

Lillith turns and leaves the room. I can hear her thudding down the stairs. Ah adolescents, how overly dramatic.

"So," I say, turning to Argus, "Shall we?"

-- Drusia


OOC: Happy Solstice! ^^
And yes, while I have reliable internet here, I will be somewhat occupied for the next few days. So I wanted to go ahead and get things moving.

Anyway, Happy Holidays! ^^

[Graybeard]

"I don't understand at all about the Millenarians," Brad said. Sister Rose had to give him one thing: the man was fit. He was practically jogging back toward the inn, and yet able to maintain his end of the conversation. Rose was in good shape herself, but there were limits.

"Brad, when ... was the last time ... you saw ... a beat-up Millenarian temple?" Rose puffed. "And ... slow down! ... Your legs are ... longer than mine."

"Oh. Sorry." He slowed his pace. "I take your point. But what does that have to do with your Egbert?"

"I'm not sure," Rose answered. She was getting her wind back, but short sentences were going to be the norm for a while yet. "But it looks like nobody worships there now. The other woman said Egbert was 'energetic.' Not energetic enough to plant a church that lasted, though."

"Hmmm. I see what you mean. But still, so what? Churches other than the Orthodox one fail all the time."

"Millenarian churches don't," Rose said. "They're about the most effective of any of us in -- hey, is that who I think it is?"

A decidedly apprehensive-looking Lillith was angling toward the square, Argus and Drusia following half a block behind her. The girl's steps were starting to look labored...

[OOC: One of the "advantages" to getting old and creaky is that at Christmas time, our kids come to visit us. So I'll be around, with internet access, through the end of the year. I'll understand if the action is slow, though.]

[Drannin]

(OOC: Merry Christmas, y'all! And family time will probably trump RP time, so I'll be a little lax in posting the next few days)

Argus walked behind Lillith, at a distance that Drusia deemed safe. He was apprehensive, but calm. This would work. It had to. Looking up, he noticed Rose and Brad walking towards them. "Well, at least Brad should be good at appearing concerned," Argus quietly commented to Drusia.

It did little to dispel the awkward air between them.

[Graybeard]

"Is -- is she all right?" Brad gasped, as he quickened his pace again, and diverted from the path toward the inn to a route toward the increasingly wobbly Lillith.

Sister Rose cursed inwardly. It looked like Brad had forgotten about the plan. That wasn't necessarily bad -- after all, the original intention had been to keep him in the dark, the better to get a genuine-looking reaction out of him. However, since that hadn't worked out, there was a danger that he might suddenly remember it again under inauspicious conditions. More worrisome, why was the drug starting to take effect here and now? The plan, as Rose understood it, was for the girl to "collapse" in the town square, where there would be plenty of spectators -- not that the place had been exactly swarming with crowds when she and Brad had left the temple. There'd be fewer here, which was bad. Worse still, it might mean that Drusia had miscalculated the dose (she couldn't have done it intentionally... could she?, a corner of Rose's mind shrieked at her) or that Lillith was abnormally sensitive to the drug. Either of those possibilities could be very bad indeed. She quickened her own pace ...

... But not enough to reach the girl before she staggered and fell.

"LILLITH!" Brad screamed, in a voice that would wake the dead.

[Sareth]

[OOC]And I'm back just in time for... Lillith to... Hrm... I'm going back on vacation.[/OOC]

Colapsed on the ground, Lillith managed to open one eye long enough to rasp out a single "Brad..." before her eyes closed and she went completely limp.

[Graybeard]

[OOC: Sorry, S; the hope had been to get Lillith's unconsciousness and recovery all transacted while you were out of touch, but understandably, things got kinda slow over the holidays. Let's see what we can do...]

"Lillith!" Brad screamed again, panic rising in his voice as he saw Sister Rose coming up behind him. "Is -- is she --"

"I don't know," Rose answered, and was horrified at the fact that she was being truthful. Things weren't supposed to be working this way. The girl was supposed to make it to the square before losing consciousness, conveniently surrounded by her friends, and her "murderer." Had Drusia miscalculated the dose? Or was Lillith unexpectedly sensitive to the drug? Or ...

As she knelt to Lillith's prostrate form and, to her relief, detected a faint pulse (not that she was going to tell Brad that), she realized what had happened. Drusia had said the dosage was pegged to the recipient's weight, and Lillith had probably lost some weight on the trip without realizing it. Rose was aware that she herself had shed some pounds; she could feel it in her shapeshifting, because she couldn't take a form weighing more or less than her actual weight without a great deal of effort. Argus looked trimmer than in Kiyoka as well. Well, Luminosita willing, Drusia would have made sure there was a safety margin in the dose (wouldn't she?), but the drug would act faster on a lighter body (wouldn't it?). One way or another, on with the act.

"Argus! Drusia! Thank Luminosita you're here!" she called to the approaching pair, hoping she wasn't piling it on too thick. "Something's wrong with -- our friend, very wrong. We'd better get her back to the inn!" She turned back to where Brad was bordering on hysterics ...

... And that was when she saw a blond, blue-eyed head poke out of the "abandoned" Millenarian temple down the street. I really should investigate that ... but first things first.

[Sareth]

[OOC]No worries. Take your time. I may be thinking of ways to get Jamie unglued in the time I'm not devoting to Lillith...[/OOC]

[Graybeard]

OOC:

[OOC]No worries. Take your time. I may be thinking of ways to get Jamie unglued in the time I'm not devoting to Lillith...[/OOC]

OK, for your writing convenience , I've written some off-stage action in the Farrel Sea thread. Lillith can get some beauty sleep. The rest of us do have things to do, though...