Monstro Town - Kyrk's Domicile: Barracks-Turned-Guest Room
This long room features several rows of bunk beds lined up against the
side walls almost all the way through, with a small locker stationed at the
foot of each. Across from each other, two doored stalls are embedded into
the opposing walls, bathrooms without being their own rooms, but still
privacy-enabled. A sliding door sits in the middle of the far southern
wall, and despite the almost militaristic feel of the room, it is carpeted
and the walls are painted a bright white, in whatever attempt to make it
seem more accommodating.

Lorastine is sleeping peacefully before her long ears twitch slightly at the sound of light footsteps. It woke her up a little just in time to see the sliding door shut to the baths. Half groggy, Lora sits up and yawns before rubbing the sleep from her eyes. Looking around the room, she noticed Tyrranis was snoring in his sleep, how she could sleep with that was beyond her.

Lorastine swings her feet out of bed and stretches. Her hair was a bit of a mess from sleeping so she decides that if Tyrranis was here, then it was safe to assume the baths weren't going to be awkward.

There isn't much in the way of surrounding noise in the room. Either its pretty secure by itself against the adjacent rooms, or whoever went in the bath just isn't making a lot of noise.

Tyrranis shifts at the sound of someone getting out of bed, and frowns. He attempts to roll over and get back to sleep, but he knocks his bat off the bed, sending it clattering to the floor.

Lorastine flinches a little when she hears a sound of Tyrranis' bat falling on the ground. She looks back and sighes with relief that it was only the bat. She yawns and grabs her towel that was now dry from the previous bath yesterday. A refreshing soak was the perfect way to get her ready for the trip back home.

Lorastine heads over to the door to the bath and opens it. Her movements were slow and tired, it was earlier then she normally woke up.

Lorastine leaves south.

The sound of the bat falling pulls Crossroads from her sleep and her eyes lazily drift open. For a moment she is disoriented and unsure of where she was but it doesn't take her very long to remember. She rolls over pulling the blanket higher over her head and muttering something along the lines of asking for a few more minutes.

Tyrranis grumbles to himself, and stands up, first taking care to tighten down his towel before picking up his bat, and rubbing at his eyes.

Crossroads doesn't move. And based on her steady breathing it is easy enough to tell that she had already gone back to sleep.

Tyrranis glances down at Crossroads, asleep, and shrugs. He heads north into the Den to check up on Kyrk instead of trying to go back to sleep.


[--------IN THE HOT SPRINGS...-------]

Monstro Town - Underground Hot Springs
The door from the north leads into an expansive underground region,
definitely not part of Kyrk's house in the least. The subterrane atmosphere
is rocky in nature, but a wide pool spreads out a great distance ahead,
steam wisping out from the surface as an indication to its heated
temperatures. A large rubber duck is seen sitting on the stone edge of the
spring, next to a small flight of carved stairs that lead safely down into
the water, and a transparent bin of supplies is sitting nearby as well.
High above, fixated into the ceiling directly above the spring, a large
light shines, cascading luminescence all around what would otherwise be a
very dark area.

Lorastine has arrived from the north.

Mollianne turns around rather suddenly as the door opens on her, sitting down in the middle of the water a good distance away from the edge, and waves happily at Lorastine as she enters, a wide grin on her face. "Hey, morning! You guys got up a lot earlier than I expected. Baths feel good first thing in the morning, right?"

The water easily comes up to Mollianne's neck from where she is, given her short frame, and her wings stand up considerably over the water's surface, droplets running down the length of them.

Lorastine pauses when she hears Mollianne's voice in her sleepy state. "Oh hey, Molli..."she starts with an interrupting yawn, "anne." she nods at Mollianne's question and starts to undress. "Is the water nice?"she asks, starting to wake up a bit more thanks to the natural steamy air of the baths.

Mollianne nods fervently, sliding back and forth a couple of times. The leather band and a bright blue skirt she wore is sitting on the edge of the rock by the bath supplies, and her hair is already damp despite not being submerged, a possible indication that she'd already cleaned up and was just relaxing now. "It always is. This is my favorite part of this place. Could you believe the luck?"

Lorastine folds her clothes neatly next to Mollianne's skirt and steps into the warm water. As she stepped in she could feel a shot of warmth go up her body. She smiled happily and dipped herself into the water some more joining Mollianne towards the deeper center. However Lorastine's shoulders could be seen due to her height. She sighes happily and smiles, "You guys are lucky to have such an amazing place."

Mollianne nods again. "I know. Its a blessing not a lot of people have, and I am thankful for all the things I have. Including Kyrk." She smiles fondly, one small fang poking out over her bottom lip. "But hey, I wanted to ask you guys something. You are not going home right away, are you?"

Mollianne wiggles around in the water, obviously a bit excited to find out.

Lorastine smiles at Mollianne's response. She giggles a little trying to come up with an answer to her question. "I know that Crossroads wanted to head out today back home, Tyrranis is likely to follow her. I kinda don't want to just yet." she says smiling a little. "I still wanted to talk to Kyrk about something, but I don't know how long that will take until he gets better."

Mollianne beams. "Yeah! Then we gotta convince them to stick around, 'cause I wanted to see if you guys wanted to go shopping and stuff today. There are a lot of neat places in Viorar, and I was thinking that we could have fun today, just the five of us! And Kyrk wanted to talk to the big guy anyway, so it would work out great!"

Mollianne pauses, calming down after a moment. "That is, if you guys wanted to."

Lorastine blinks a little and smiles big. "I'd love to go out and shop with you. I've never been to the Viorar before so it would be a perfect!" replies, happily sharing Mollianne's enthusiasm. "I'll talk to them once they decide to wake up." Lorastine ducks under the water for a second and rises with her golden blonde hair smooth and wet.

Lorastine pauses for a moment thinking back to when Mollianne mentioned the five of them and Kyrk wanting to speak to Tyrranis. "Wait. You mean, Kyrk is awake now?"

"Oh, yeah. He woke up a little while after you guys went to bed. We talked for a little bit before I went to bed, but I think he has been up most of the night. He was still in the den when I came into the bath." Mollianne spreads her wings broadly for a moment, tapping the water with their tips in a gentle manner as water drips off the edges.

Mollianne looks toward Lorastine, still smiling. "Kyrk can be pretty hardnosed sometimes. But you know, that is just how he is. He is really a great person. He works harder than most people give him credit for, even if it means making some people upset in the process. You guys' line of work generally does not create a lot of happy moments, from what I understand."

"Oh..." Lorastine says looking away a little, "But he didn't upset me, I just wanted to thank him for something. That is if what I'm thinking i true. My heart tells me that it is." She replies looking back at Mollianne with a smile.

Lorastine looks at Mollianne's wings and smiles, "You do have really beautiful wings, I'm envious."

Mollianne grins slightly, tucking her wings back in against her back. "They are waterproof. My kind are meant to leave out in the ocean, so we need to be able to hunt underwater effectively if need be. They help us glide through the water quickly, and catch things like fish with little trouble." She nods, informatively. "Of course, we can fly, too. But I do not fly too much, at least not around places I am not familiar with. Bad memories from home."

Mollianne's smile fades somewhat as she is hit with a memory, but she shakes it away quickly. "Did Kyrk heal your gem, then? I get the feeling that is what you are trying to say, and I have seen him do it before."

Lorastine imagines, Mollianne flying underwater catching fish, it was odd cause she figured wings weren't suited for being underwater, and that fins were. Nonetheless she was interested. She was snapped out of her thought when Mollianne brought up Kyrk healing her gem. "Yea, atleast thats what I think. Cause even after an encounter with a witch, I was terrified and I used up a lot of power as a result of panic. Somewhere along the line I passed out. When I woke up, however, I was back at the Inn in truce and my gem was perfectly pure. Which should have been impossible." Lorastine explains.

Mollianne thinks for a moment, and nods. "Sounds like it. Kyrk has his own brand of compassion, even it is not apparent. And, you know..." She trails off, looking at Lorastine quietly for a few moments.

"I would like to think that these wishes of yours are only so powerful by themselves. I think that that power has to have a finite source somewhere. I do not know for sure, but the only reason I say this is because... well... can you keep a secret?" Mollianne looks a little solemn.

Lorastine nods, curious to what Mollianne had to say.


[-------MEANWHILE, IN THE DEN--------]

Monstro Town - Kyrk's Domicile: Den
Despite being windowless and a bit claustrophobic, this living room is
actually very nice. A sofa and loveseat are set angled to each other in one
corner, and lighting similar to the previous hallway's is installed at
varying spots within the ceiling. A small table sits between the two pieces
of furniture, with a pictureframe set upright upon its flat surface. A door
is stationed along the northern wall, and an open entryway leads south into
what appears to be a small kitchenette.

Kyrk is standing in the Den near the foyer entrance, wearing a short-sleeved tank top and dark sweatpants. He looks to be in pretty good shape, though his hair's a bit on the messy side. He seems to be busy reading a note of some kind next to a cork bulletin board.

Tyrranis steps in from the kitchen, and glances at Kyrk, nodding to the fact that he was now well enough to stand. "About time. It only took two gems to get you cleaned up."

Kyrk looks up from the note, and pins it back to the corkboard, giving Tyrranis an appreciative nod. "I was in bad shape, I'll admit. I won't deny my capacity to play the fool at times, but I tend to lose track of common sense when it comes to keeping promises. But I doubt I am the only one, so it doesn't bother me as much as it could, otherwise."

Kyrk turns toward Tyrranis. "Did you rest well? I hope she was at least relatively accommodating."

Tyrranis shrugs simply at Kyrk's question. "Your room mate was... very vocal. I would put it like that to her face, yes. As for sleeping, I am still not fully used to sleeping on a bed, so I am still a bit tired." Tyrranis stretches a little, trying to get a sore spot out of his back.

"Understandable. And yes, she can be a handful at times, but she is a benefit to have around. You can't really change someone's personality, so instead, finding a way to embrace it is a far more positive solution to issues such as those." Kyrk pauses, realizing something after a moment. "Where are your companions? Still sleeping?"

"Lorastine was not in the room when I awoke. I assume she is in the bathroom. As for Crossroads, she still sleeps. Quite heavily it seems." Tyrranis crosses the room and sits down on the couch. "I think I understand the talk you gave to me a bit more now, however, after seeing your home."

Kyrk offers an empty semi-smile, turning away from Tyrranis and moving across the living room, gesturing toward the sofa in offering him a place to be seated if he desired. "It takes some time for those not used to having a woman's touch, but it can be a blessing in disguise. They know the best ways to keep wild hearts settled, and even bring out new feelings we never knew we had."

"In my case, a lot of this doesn't pertain. But regardless of the haves and have-nots, it is situations like what I have recently recovered from that enable her to shine the brightest. We both know I would not have survived if not for her actions and compassion." Kyrk looks toward the south, where Mollianne is assumed to be.

Tyrranis rubs at his chest, just above his heart. "I do not think you would have died from something so simple as a sickness, it is not the kind of path you have set for yourself. Regardless, you should watch your gem more closely. Even if you are some kind of 'special case' it would behoove you to not drop that low."

Kyrk doesn't say anything for a moment. When he does, his voice sounds a little weary. "'The path I have set for myself'? I'm not sure I believe in such a thing. I have a goal in life, but it is hardly a predetermined route. There are lots of things that try to bring us down; in my case, that illness could have been one of them. People die from disease and internal system malfunctions all the time; though we bear the heart of warriors through our Soul Gems, most of us are still flesh and blood. Viruses and bacteria do not care whether we are magical or not." Kyrk lowers his gaze looking, down toward a pictureframe on a nearby table. "Obstacles to our goals lie everywhere, Tyrranis. Its the ones you don't see coming that are often the hardest to overcome without some outside assistance."

Tyrranis is silent for a moment in return, before standing up, and pulling his Soul Gem out of his bat. He examines it for a moment, and then sets it on the table infront of him.

Tyrranis says ' Look at that Gem. It is a surface that is flat, and pure. Inside it, our souls may wage war with darkness, but on the outside, it is nothing more than the undisturbed surface of a lake. Now look to me. Look at my flesh. It is marred and ruined. Senselessly or on purpose, my body is a canvas or memories carved into my skin. You say there are no routes? You say I must fear against everything instead of what I can just see?'

Scoffing, Tyrranis holds his bat out and looks at the surface on it as well. "I say that this time, you speak more than you know. The only time I will die is in a battle. The only way I will succumb is when I am crushed. That is what was laid out for me. That is the path that I follow."


[--------AND AS CROSSROADS SLEEPS...--------]

The room seemed to have gotten very quiet and Crossroads eventually pulls herself from sleep enough to open one eye and peeks out from over her blankets. It seemed as though she was the only one left in the room. She sits up, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

There is, again, no noise coming from any direction of the room, or the ones beyond it. The density between these rooms must be quite formidable.

Eventually she manages to slide out of bed, frowning as her feet touch the cold floor. She blinks at the empty beds then quickly makes her own, wondering where everyone could have gone. When Crossroads is finished, she grabs her clothes and steps into one of the stalls to change. She emerges not long after and heads towards the den.


[---------BACK WITH MOLLIANNE AND LORASTINE...---------]


"I do not know how held to his wish Kyrk is, sometimes. He asked for no feeling, no emotions, so that he can better find the witch that killed his family with nothing to hold him back. But I have heard him crying before. Twice. I do not know if he knows I know, and I have not told him so. But if it was really true in his wish, how could he be crying for no reason?" One of Mollianne's wings twitch, noticeably.

Mollianne says 'If this is the case, maybe all wishes have a limit to the hold they have on those who take them. I cannot philo-.. pholo.. philosiff.. think on things like this as well as Kyrk does. But I think there may be more to it than we know.'

Lorastine thinks about what Mollianne said, trying to get the most information she can out of it. "Do you think eventually the wishes wear out?" she asks, wondering if that meant the contract was ended too. Although if that was true, what happens to the wisher? "I think you may be right though. I just don't know what there is to do about it at the moment." Lorastine moves a little in the water, trying to think, at the same time nervous about the future.

"I wish I knew. But just keep this between us for now, okay? I do not really know how everyone else would feel about it. But I feel comfortable talking to you about it." Mollianne smiles again, happily, and gets to her feet in the water, which comes up to her waist at that point, where a feathered hide begins to take over from the human portion of her voluptuous upper half. "I need to get out and dry off so we can see about going out for the day, then. Kyrk knows, so all we need to do is convince Crossroads and Tyrranis!" Now excited again, Mollianne splashes her way past Lorastine toward the bathing entrance, kicking the water with her avian feet a few times to elicit a couple extra but unnecessary splashes. "I'll see you when you get finished, okay?"

Lorastine blinks when Mollianne stands up, trying to not look directly at her. Apparently the wings weren't the only thing that Lorastine envied. She wasn't going to make that noted however. Too embarrassing. She did have a warm fuzzy feeling about being trusted though. "I'll see you later." Lora calls back while resting against a rock that sticks out from the spring.

Mollianne goes about drying off once out of the spring, hastily throwing on her leather band and slipping into her long skirt, fluffing her short hair somewhat before waving brightly at Lorastine, and leaving northward through the door.

Lorastine waits until Molliane has gone and sighs. "I guess for now we have to keep being positive." she says to herself. The warm water was soothing her body as she drifted about the underground bath.

The water seems to filter itself automatically overtime, coming from some underground source that cleanses the water with a fresh supply that comes in from an unseen source. Elsewise, it might be easy to assume the water would embrace a certain grubbiness without being drained after use.

Lorastine stops drifting and stands up, "I wonder if there is any shampoo or soap or anything." she askes herself as she looks around for a bit. Afterall just simply soaking would really be considered clean. Looking for a shelf or compartment of something for soap, she exits the water, not really bothering to grab her towel since she plans on going back in the water. No one was around anyway.

A transparent bin at the water's edge contains all kinds of bathtime essentials, including but not limited to soap, shampoo, bath scrubs, scented relaxation oils, and even some floating toys. Somebody is apparently still a child at heart.

Lorastine smiles when she finds the bin filled with supplies and takes a bottle of shampoo and some bar soap. A bathscrub helps too. She pauses at the toys and ends up giggling, imagining the emotionless Kyrk sitting in the water watching a small plastic boat float by at eye level. She takes a plastic boat and places it gently in the water, before giving it a shove off to drift aimlessly in the pool.

The little toy boat floats on across the water's surface, nearly tipping over a couple of times but remaining more or less upright, chugging along as a small plastic toy boat would.

Lorastine smiles and sits on the edge of the water to where it was deep enough to be like a little ledge where she could stick her feet in. She starts to wash her hair, rubbing the shampoo into her long blonde hair when the boat finds its way back and bumps against her leg. She nudges it with her leg and off it goes again.

Lorastine finishes up washing and rinishes her hair in the water. She had been in for a bit and she almost lost track of time. It was so easy to do here. She dries off and gets dressed before heading out of the bathing area.


[---------BACK IN THE DEN...---------]


Kyrk offers another empty half-smile. "Perhaps. I am willing to understand your views and opinions, and agree that they are not incorrect. But when our times comes, it will come, regardless of what it is that ends us. The thing about not knowing the future is that you really don't know just how it will all end. Therefore, you need to consider all possibilities. And that hardly requires living in fear of all things."

Kyrk turns somewhat, and gestures. "For example. Say an outside meteor from the reaches of space strikes the surface of our world. The realms are torn asunder as the world disintegrates beyond recognition, and eventually the atmosphere decomposes and collapses. You would perish in a fit of lost oxygen and asphyxiation, able to do nothing in all your power to prevent it. Unlikely, yes. But it is a possibility backed by logical premises."

"All I meant to say is there among all the possibilities that exist, one should not confine themselves to only one series of them." Kyrk's expression is even and level, as if this weren't the first time he'd thought of such things.

Crossroads walks into the den, still groggy but dressed and making an effort to get moving. She looks between the two men and nods to them with a small smile, hoping that her arrival didn't interrupt anything, "Morning." She said to both of them, then to you, "You seem to be feeling a lot better."

Tyrranis looks to be on the verge of speaking back to Kyrk, but bites it back visibly when Crossroads enters the room. Instead, he picks up his gem and puts it back inside his bat, and then sits back down on the couch. "Good morning Crossroads."

Kyrk's soul gem is actually still sitting on the table at the far end of the couch near the kitchen, and he doesn't seem overly concerned with it not being in his immediate possession. He nods to Crossroads in greeting. "I am, thanks to the lot of you. Is Lorastine with Molly, then?"

"I don't know. I didn't see her on the way here." Crossroads watches Tyrranis puts his gem back into his bat wondering just what the two of them were talking about a moment ago. "I hope I didn't interupt you guys. Would you like me to leave?"

Tyrranis shakes his head. "No. Your presence here is not a bad thing Crossroads. Kyrk. Who are the other wishborn we heard about yesterday. The Twins I think they were called?"

"Ah, yes. Rae Beth and May Ann Coldwater. Some people might call them my partners-in-crime, but they are really closer to Molly than they are to me. Between the three of us, we generally watch the Fa'Diel region for Witches and Yoma, hence my notion of "territories" that you may have heard me mention a time before. While not completely accurate, people tend to do the best in areas they are familiar with, correct?" Kyrk gestures to the corkboard on the wall.

Kyrk says 'They apparently left a seed here last night, according to the note they left. I assume it to be one of the two that you mentioned needing to use.'

The far southern door can be heard opening as someone comes in from it, closing behind them. Female humming can be heard from the kitchen by Crossroads, Tyrranis and Kyrk, as someone goes about rummaging around through something in there.

Crossroads nods taking a seat on the floor, frowning a little as the grief seeds from yesterday came up. She still wasn't sure how she should be feeling about the situation. She made Tyrranis promise to cleanse his gem as soon as he learned Lorastine was okay but then he had decided to use it to help you instead, on the other hand... She looks up, directing her attention back towards you mention of the twins, "So are there any other wishborn out here besides you and the Twins?"

Tyrranis stands up, freeing a nice spot on the sofa for Crossroads if she wants it, and moves over to this mysterious 'corkboard' to have a closer look at it.

Kyrk thinks for a moment, before nodding. "We are more numerous in number than it outright seems, at times. I pass by others every now and then on scouting missions, but they typically don't acknowledge or pay mind to it. Otherwise, they are the only two I actually know in any real depth. There used to be others, but..." He trails off, leaving the obvious ending to be self-imagined.

Crossroads frowns. That didn't help in giving her an idea reguarding the number of wishborn were currently in this region. And if she couldn't get a grasp on the number of wishborn in any area, she couldn't get a grasp of potential witches and yoma either. "I see." she says quietly.

Mollianne comes in from the kitchen, smiling rather happily. She is wearing her typical leather chestband and a flowing blue long skirt, and her damp hair is fluffed slightly, but unbrushed or combed as of yet. She nods at those in attendance. "Lorastine should be out soon. Did you guys sleep okay last night?" She makes her way across the room as she talks, apparently heading toward the north door.

Tyrranis nods to Molly as she enters the room. "A bit small for me, but I slept well enough."

Kyrk looks up at Mollianne for a moment, before glancing at Crossroads and Tyrranis. "It is fairly difficult to get an accurate account of all those who have taken Kyuubey's offer, since he is always out seeking more. But I would assume it to be a fluctuating number of those passing to those being recruited. Some people are tougher than others, but not everybody knows everyone else."

"Good morning." Crossroads nods to Mollianne, "Yes, I slept well enough. Thank you again for letting us stay."

Mollianne stops once at the other door, apparently pleased. "Great! I was talking to Lorastine in the bath, too. How about we all go out for the day? I will show you guys around Viorar, and we can go shopping, and I can show you were I work, and a bunch of other stuff. We can make a day out of it!" She stops, then adds, "Unless you guys were in a hurry to get back to Truce." She looks toward Kyrk, consideringly.

Kyrk looks toward Tyrranis briefly. "I thought it might be good to let them get out and do the things women tend to do together, if you want my opinion on the matter. These things help to reinforce the matter that we are all still regular people despite what we stand for. Beyond this, there was something I wanted to discuss with you as well, Tyrranis. Of fair importance."

Tyrranis considers for a moment, and then shrugs. "I suppose I shall stay behind and chat with you then Kyrk."

Lorastine walks in her hair still a little damp from the baths. When she sees Kyrk up and about she smiles. "Good Morning, sleeping beauty." she jokes, "Am I interrupting anything?"

A shopping trip did seem nice, and if felt as though it had been ages since she had done something normal without having to worry about things. Still Crossroads looked a little worried, "I don't know. Would Truce be alright if none of us are there to look after things?" She remembered last night joking with Lora about witches and yoma not agreeing to vacation time. She looks thoughtful for a moment, "I guess I could look into the future to see for myself though."

Kyrk wavs a hand lightly toward nothing in particular. "Though not pleased about the prospect, Kyuubey has informed us of the lack of corruption acitivty within the confines of Guardia lately. If ever there was a time for rest, this might be your opportunity. Which sounds... strange, coming from me. I don't think much of taking time off from work, either, myself. But you all aren't me, and I try to be open-minded in regards to the little one's ideas."

Mollianne grins real big, and nods. "Okay! I am gonna go get ready real quick, then. Give me just a minute!" And with that, she opens the door and disappears into the bedroom.

Mollianne leaves north.

Tyrranis leans against wall, and nods to Lorastine and Crossroads. "Have fun out there."

Lorastine smiles when she hears that they get to go on their little shopping trip that Mollianne was talking about earlier. She nods and smiles at Tyrranis. "You guys have fun to, ok?"

"Well, as long as everything is okay then." Crossroads said, then smiles and nods to Tyrranis only briefly looking at his face, "Thanks. Um... You should try to get some relaxation time in for you too, Tyr. We don't know when we might get another chance.""