((Follow the Braid everyone)) The Arival pt 2

Nephalei watched everyone leave, with the dreadful, curious urge to follow and find out exactly what was going on. But she knew that she shouldn't - after all, this didn't seem to be something that Selene and the others wanted to be public, and after being such a nuisance, the least she could do was respect their wishes. Instead, seeing that everyone around here was clearly very busy, she decided to check in officially later. She'd come back and check in, she thought, once things had calmed down.

For she wandered aimlessly about the inn, not knowing what to do with herself. But she then noticed a door at the back of the inn. Pushing it open slightly, she realized it was a garden - and a gorgeous one at that. She slipped through the door, entering the Zen Garden.

*Followed along silently, trying to keep emotions on check. On one hand he struggled with his anger at Vlad for doing this to them, anger at himself for not being able to do anything for them at the time then on the other hand his joy of seeing them again. his wife and one of his best friends, no matter what condition they were in. Then there was the possibility of their reaction. How pissed would they be that he had tracked them down early? In their weakened state he knew he cut put them down if he had to...He didn't know what Vlad had done to their minds or if he could repair the physical, psychological and emotional damage he had done. His body visibily struggles with the desire to rush ahead, hold back or hit something. Closing his eyes he works on his breathing as they get closer..Bearing himself for the inevitable*

Tasha was laying on the bed, she tried very softly to get comfortable. With every slight movement she cringed. Then she heard footsteps on the stairs. She looked around the room and counted employees. Manny was the only one missing. So she figured that Seleen was with him. But she heard more ... four sets of footprints. Manny was bringing others? Perhaps they were employees comming down to check on their needs, this was an Inn after all.

But then, there it was. Two very faint, yet very familiar scents in the air. And one was getting a little stronger, the other was getting a lot stronger. She had to call out to make sure that her nose wasn't deceiving her. "Manny, who's with you?" She started to get a little frightened. There was one other scent ... she knew Manny's, she knew Seleen's, then there was the faint but familiar one, then there was the less faint but familiar one, but there was one other. And she smelt slightly of fear. Not human either.

"Manny, tell your friend that she has no reason to be afraid, I cannot nor will not hurt her. I promise." She looked over to V's coffin and it was quivering.

Manny snickered. "Lady Epiphany, she senses your fear. Please, calm yourself. You are safe." He opened the door at the bottom of the stairs and walked into the room. He stepped aside and let everyone walk passed him into the room. The Lt. walked over and brushed Tasha's hair back from her face and then kissed her forehead. From there she went to one of her garment bags and began riffeling through it, watching the occupied coffin out of the corner of her eye.

"Lady Masterson, this is my friend Epiphany. She works here. I invited her down to see you, I didn't want her to think that there was any danger with us all being here. And I brought you one other surprise." He held the door and turned and bowed allowing him to enter.

*Smiles at Manny as the mountain of a man appears in the doorway. Gazing down to Tasha softly, trying to keep any bloodtears from flowing.. It had been eons. He makes the way to the foot of her bed, ready to help should she die of shock or fright. Those steely grey eyes soft as he looks her over, being cautious, not knowing the extent of her injuries."

"Dark blessings Tasha. Been awhile my sweet"

"Tis a pleasure to meet you Lady Epiphany. Welcome, please, sit." She glanced to the chair that Manny was placing down for her. Then she looked to V's coffin. It was still quivering. That was when she looked up.

The large impossing dark figure that came through the door didn't scare her one bit. The minute she saw him enter the room she knew who it was. She laid there in that bed as the tears rolled from her eyes. She squealed his name in such a high pitch it awoke the other animals in the room and made them all perk up and look at her. "KKKAAAAAHHHHHHNNNNNN!!!!!!!" His wolf and tiger looked at him, as did Leviathan and Midnight. All four had been resting side by side on the floor.

She had the body of a human, covered in the fur of a panther. She had human ears, but still had her tail. Her feet were paws, yet she had hands. She had the facial structure of a human, save for the muzzle of her panther form, whiskers and all. Her emerald eyes were full of falling tears and her fire red human hair was wild atop her head. She was truly stuck half and half.

When he came to stand at the foot of her bed she couldn't control herself any longer. Dispite the pain of her broken ribs and the torn muscles from not being in either true form, she moved to get up on her knees. She crawled a few steps across the bed before slowly standing upright upon it. She walked the last few steps as she flung her arms around his neck and held him close. "Thank the Gods you are here." And she just held onto him and cried ... cringing from the pain the entire time.

Spoiler:

Venis' eyes shot open. The blood tears ran from her eyes. She took several deep breaths, not that she needed to breathe, just that she needed to calm herself down. He was right there in the room with her. She felt another as well, a holy one. She hoped it wasn't a Paladin. Paladins were not her biggest fans in general.

She was noticably shaken, she loved her husband greatly and was so overjoyed that he was here. But her face, her body, the scars. How could she expect him to love her when he can't even touch her. She remembered the last time she saw him ... not through the mental link ... was truly in the same room as him. She kissed him goodbye and left the house headed to get his Christmas presents. She was headed to an automobile dealership where they had a car she thought he would truly love to have in thier collection. It was a 1954 1/2 Ford Mustang Ragtop Convertable. It was black and in mint condition.

She remembered going to a jeweler she had seen across the street and seeing the perfect set of gold wedding bands with celtic knotwork on them. A matching pair, she had them engraved with the words 'Eternaly yours'. Both the car and the rings were set to be delivered by Christmas. But she wasn't there to give them to him. She had missed the joy that would have been upon his face when he got them ... Did he even get them?

She was so thankful that Tasha was awake so she could have a moment to collect herself before facing him. She didn't feel Gawain in the room. She knew he was there, in the Inn somewhere, but not down here with everyone else. He would be along though, she knew he would. She wiped at her blood tears and realized that when her coffin opened he would see what she had unconciously done to the lid.

She closed her eyes and consentrated hard. She ran her right hand over the blood and the scratches and they vanished. Her breathing was labored with the exertion of that one simple move. The scars were causing her tremendous pain. She had her cloak on, but it wasn't actualy touching her. In fact she wasn't actualy touching anything. She was rather levitating. To touch anything caused her great pain.

She knew that she would need to wait a moment before getting out of her coffin after making those markings disapear. She used that time to try and figure out a way to get out of her coffin short of floating out like something out of a horror movie. She thought that might frighten the holy one in the room. So she pondered that while she gave Tasha a chance to feel the love that she so needed to feel and that Venis herself could feel filling the room. Kahn loved Tasha like a little sister and she truly needed that right now. It would help her heal.

Then she realized that she couldn't feel Gypzee. Now she was worried again, she needed Gypzee's help to heal herself. She needed someone who was schooled enough in the dark magics and yet had the control to not bring harm to her. But she tasted the holy ones energy again. It gave her a very bright idea. She thought she might have a way to heal herself without damaging all that was good about her. Just in case they couldn't find Gypzee she now had a back up plan. It would require three ... Her husband, her best friend, and the holy one who was in the room with them.

She whispered to herself, barely a sound, the animals might have heard her, maybe even Tash, but that's about it. "Calm down woman, don't get so ahead of yourself. Just wait a moment and you will be able to figure out how to get out of this box without scarring anyone. Worry about everything else afterwards."

[Sorry, folks. I kind of lost my link, and didn't think to ask me wife for a replacement. Yeah, I'm -that- thick. Old age and such? Eh, anyway, I'm gonna post a lame-o excuse to get my guy back into the flow. Sorry to everyone for dropping out like that. -sheepish grin-]

Gawain...had fallen asleep. The strain of the night, along with the post-hypnotic suggestion he had placed upon him when he returned from the other plane, tired him out until he was near catatonia during the days leading up to and following the full moon. More on that later, if the question arises.

Aw, lookit, he's running in his sleep.....

Manny looked over at her and just nodded. "They have been through a lot to get back here. They endured a lot just to stay alive. The Goddess needs someone named Gypzee to help her. If we cannot find her we will have to figure something else out. And it's a good thing Gawain is here, she'll need his help to heal Tasha."

He looked over to the coffin and saw the quivering calming. He knew she was awake and calming herself down. He was happy about it.

That was one habbit Seleen had that had always bothered her. Venis and Tasha had long well manicured nails and they had been trying to get Seleen to quit biteing hers the entire time they had been together. She didn't hear Tasha giving her trouble for it so she figured that she was preoccupied with the death grip she had on Kahn. That was fine, she needed him too.

Something was wrong with Gawain, she felt it in her gut, litteraly. She hadn't been able to figure out what was making her sick until just then. It was Gawain. Their bond had weakened almost to the point of being severed, but she still felt it. She hoped he did too. Most alpha bonds were beteen two of the same. Theirs was different, he didn't just get her blood in the exchange, he got some of her power, some of her imortality, her omnipotence. That was why he had been such a good candidate for God of Death. It was also why her husband was as well. She made a mental note to check on him as soon as possable, be it him comming to her, or her comming to him.

Seleen was still biting her nails. It was getting quite nerve racking. So she figured she could spare a touch of energy, she opened a mind link with Seleen. "Seleen Orenda DeChamp, stop biteing your nails this instant or I will put a hex on them." Link closed, no energy to listen to her argue. She figured she might be able to find a way to get someone to help her out of the coffin if she could figure out how to not get touched on the left hand side.

Seleen pulled her finger out of her mouth with a quickness. Without even thinking she spoke outloud, yet quietly as if she was standing right next to the person she was speaking to. "Yes ma'am." Then she went back to looking through her garment bag.

She was going to have to find something to wear that she would be more comfortable in. Her leather was begining to chaif. She hadn't thought to bring casual clothes when she packed. Not that she owned many clothes at all anyway. Mostly leather.

*Smiles and holds Tasha as close as possible without injuring her, burying his head in the crook of her neck and shoulder. Blood tears trickling down the side of his cheek. Not of the sight of her condition, but the happiness and joy that she was finally safe*

"Easy babe. don't hurt yourself on my account."

*Slowly lays her back down on the bed and runs fingers through her hair*

"Don't you worry none. we'll get you fixed up..Good as new. I'm just glad to see you two got out of there. Hope you gave good ol Vlad some beatings for me...wish I could've delivered them personally"

*He glances over to V's coffin and felt her still. Knowing she was awake he smiled but didn't move to it just yet.. She would make herself presentable when she felt like it. And yes he had received the car. gotten the note attached to the window, but hadn't driven it yet.. Just didn't feel right without her there. He glances back down to Tasha, continuing to stroke her hair and leans down placing a small kiss on her forehead*

"One day, one of you two will have to sit down and tell me everything"

"That's how I tore my muscles worse, kicking some bad vamp arse." She wiped a tear from his cheek and slowly blonked her eyes. If she had a human mouth she would be smiling, as it was she was talking rather funny. She sniffed the air. "Kahn, are we at the Blood Rose Inn?" There were so many familiar scents in the air.

She turned her head to look at Epiphany. "Please forgive my nudity, broken ribs and torn muscles make it hard to dress, but I thought I had myself pretty well covered already with the fur." She tried to chuckle, but it hurt too much.

She looked back at Kahn. "I have missed you so much, you're like the big brother I never had. I am so happy to see you." Then she started coughing. "Damned broken ribs. I wish I could heal and then go kick his arse again."

Manny stepped over to the bed and handed her the glass of blended hamburger meat that Epiphany had made for her. "Here you are M'Lady." He then stepped back and went back to Epiphany's side.

He leaned down to speak only to her. "You're more than what you appear, aren't you?" He smiled and touched her shoulder in an effort to show that it mattered not to him what she was, she was his friend and that was all that counted in his book.

*Sitting on the bed beside her he shakes his head and sighs softly. He had missed both of them two.. Hell he missed a few people from his days at the Society. The boys were grown and on their own. It was lonely at times with only the animals and his rangers to speak with. He sighs and absentmindely lets his hand dangle, Krynn coming up to nuzzle it, sensing the range of emotions. Chuckling softly he pets his best friend and looks to her*

"No Tasha...Blood Rose closed it's doors a long time ago. From the sign in front of the building we're at the Wandering Hills Inn. I wouldn't even be here if it weren't for Venis's....or one of her troops calling card left in the treasury"

*He too had sensed the light in the room, it didn't make him uneasy. but did make him a little bit weary. He glances over to Manny and Epiphany, seemingly trying to get a read of her aura. albeit briefly. Then turns his attention to Tasha, tempted to lift that coffin lid and see that beautiful face of his wife, no matter how scarred*

She smiled. There was her opening and she figured it out, how to get out of the coffin. Slowly the lid started to swing open, she wished to herself that it wasn't so well oiled. "Well, if we are not at the Rose then why in the hell does it feel like a family reunion in this place?" She slowly began to sit up. She smiled because of the joke.

She looked over to the holy one and smiled. "Forgive my mouth, I tend to be a little foul. Sorry." She raised her right hand out of the coffin and held it up. "Someone think they could help a lady out here?"

Tasha wished she could smile. She loved Venis' dramatic enterences. She swallowed down the rest of her meat-shake and set the glass down on the bedside table. "Good-morn fireball. If you all will forgive me, that medication is fast acting. I should know, it's my creation. So I'm going to nod off for a while. But if anyone needs me, just wake me. It was nice meeting you Lady Epiphany."

She rolled over and whimpered for a sec before she yawned and dozed off.

Manny walked over and picked up the glass intending to take it back upstairs when he got a chance. "Goodnight Lady Masterson." He returned to Epiphany's side and glanced towards Seleen to see if she was slinking away into a corner yet.

*Chuckles and slides over to place his hand under hers, looking at hers twice..making sure in his mind this is real. Leaning down he kisses that hand then grins at her comment*

"Venis m'love..when did you apologize for anything?"

Seleen had not in fact. She was sitting in a chair with a glass of bloodwine awaiting her stern lecture. "Goodnight Tasha." She sipped from her glass and watched for Venis to get up.