A Wolf, a Ghost, and a Baby (Nir'wei)

[Qit'ria]

Cylus 25th, 719

Qit'ria was following around her incredibly active baby, who was crawling around the ground floor of Faith's house with incredibly vigor. She was babbling the whole time, and Qit was behind her, pretending to chase the little girl. Qit had found that while there wasn't much to do as a ghost, her baby could see and hear her. The little girl was babbling loudly, giggling and chortling as she crawled faster than a Gasping Skitterer.

The little girl disappeared under a coffee table. She danced around the table while Caza appeared to be hiding, still giggling all the while. Qit'ria was not in the Beneath, having finally discovered out how to move back and forth between the worlds. However, the mortal world was so strange to her. She crouched down next to the table, popping her head down to look at the little girl. "Boo!"

The little girl laughed loudly and fell over. Qit reached out, finding that should touch Caza as though she herself were alive. This elated her. She picked up her baby, and snoogled her close. She was so happy to have figured out how to come into the mortal world. And it was enlightening. She hadn't figured out how to move through things here like she could in the Beneath. She was sure it was possible though. She also hadn't expected the crossing over from the Beneath to be so tiring. Or that ghosts could get tired.

Faith had explained to her the concepts of anchors. Things, places, or people that a ghost held dear became anchors, binding them to this world. Faith was one such anchor, Caza another, and Oonah the final one. That was why they could see and hear her from the Beneath, and why she could see and hear them clearly as well. It was why she couldn't stray far from any of them, though she could just appear at any of them. But mostly, Qit spent her days taking care of her child.

Death wasn't going to stop her from being a better mom than her own. Carrying Caza, she grabbed the girl's winter garb, made by Faith, only to have dropped it. She sighed loudly. While her grip on her child was sound, it seemed interacting with other stuff was not near as simple. She bent down, feeling at the coat. She could feel the softness of it, but was struggling to get enough of a grip. It was like trying to pick it up with feathers instead of fingers. Qit glared at the coat, stubbornly trying her hardest to pick it up. Her transparent fingers darkened just a bit, and she could feel the coat more clearly. She picked it up and quickly got Caza dressed, complete with an adorable poofball hat.

Qit then made her way to the back door, only to stop, staring at the knob. She sighed again. Being a ghost was rather annoying. At least she didn't get cold. She set Caza down, as she struggled to work the knob, fighting herself to materialize enough to get a firm grip on it. It took an embarrassingly long time until the knob clicked and the door swung open. Qit smiled, triumphant, and picked Caza up once more. She stepped outside, trying to shut the door. But the effort of opening it had tired her out a good deal, so she left it open.

Caza pointed at the bright Cylus moons, "Ama!"

Qit'ria faced her toward them better, saying the words in Xanthean and then Common, "Those are moons, Blackbird. Moons."

Caza clapped her hands and giggled, and Qit'ria started walking toward the lake. She saw the incredibly distant copse of trees and her heart panged. That was where she'd made her final stand and died. That was where she'd fought off hundreds of undead, protecting, Faith, Padraig, Caza, and the others. Caza began wriggling and grunting, pushing against her chest, but Qit wasn't noticing it. Her eyes were fixated on the woods. She felt her arm being torn off at the socket again, the immense pain of it. She remembered the feel of her javelin being plunged into her chest. Her baby was crying now. She remembered apologizing to Faith and Caza for not being strong enough.

Caza's cries grew louder and roused Qit from her state. She hadn't realized how hard she had been squeezing the little girl. "Oh no, its okay, I'm sorry Blackbird, I'm so sorry. Mama lost her head a little bit." Qit sat down in the grass, setting Caza there upon her lap. She cooed and comforted the little girl, until the tears stopped and the little girl was happy once more. And there the two sat, a pale, translucent ghost, backlit by the moons and a 300 trial old child, black of skin, crimson of eyes, with a poofball hat.

A perfect little family.

[Nir'wei]

The flickering light of the makeshift torch ebbed as a casual breeze washed over it, nearly extinguishing the naked flames. "You should have invested in a lantern," Greyhide chuckled. Nir'wei was glad that at least the wolf could find it amusing as he bent down, tore up a small handful of dry grass and sprinkled it into the narrow crevice he'd dug into the top of a stripped tree branch. After a few crackles, orange tongues peeked from the edge once more, but he knew it wouldn't last; it wasn't really meant to, anyway. Just something to save him tripping over his own feet. "I told you that you could stay at home if you wanted, anyway. You don't have to be there every time I go, unless you don't trust me."

"Of course I do," he replied easily with a roll of his eyes. "Why would you even say that? I trust you like I trust my right hand." For emphasis, he casually scratched the large wolf between the ears as they walked, combing fingers through his thick winter coat and feeling the faint rumbles of approval from deep in his chest. "Honestly? Heh, I was waiting for an excuse to visit again." He'd last seen her only a few days ago, but they'd spent so long apart, he was itching to catch up. So much had been missed throughout his time in Desnind, his own family woes as well as hearing of hers. The children, and their puppies - that was the reason Greyhide was using, but Nir wanted to see them again as well, it was true. Perhaps when the weather improved and Squeak gained a little more muscle on his malnourished little body, he'd bring some of the others too, but he didn't want to crowd them, or frighten them. Squeak tended to grow a little too hyperactive when around new people.

They couldn't be far from the house when the torch blew out again, and this time even fresh leaves and a good deal of blowing weren't enough to bring it back to life. "Yeah, okay. Point taken, I'm buying a lantern." He dropped the stick and huffed through his nose, hoping that Faith and Padraig had left some lights on around the house. Even with the moons high and the clouds clear, the perpetual twilight wasn't easy on the eyes, and without the flames to guide his way, his toes caught on stones and roots more often than he cared to admit, especially as they drew close and the trees grew clustered, turning even the pale moonlight into weak slivers that barely lit up one footprint of ground. He was about to ask if they were getting any closer, because for the life of him he couldn't tell anymore, until he heard the first noises of small children. Thank Karem for that. "You go ahead, I'll catch up in a sec." Greyhide needed no more; he practically bounded after the sound, sniffing the ground and following familiar scents, while Nir'wei pursued behind at a slower pace, hands pressed firmly into his pockets. "Faith? Padraig, you back here?"

"Nir. Come." There was an intense urgency to the sudden mental pulse that turned his leisurely stroll into a near-run, and when he rounded the corner of the seemingly-empty house, he could tell why.

"Wh... who are you?" Perhaps one of Faith's patients was the first thought that came to mind, but he'd never seen them brought home with her - the Outpost should have had more than enough people and rooms to cater to their needs. Perhaps a friend? But there was something far, far too wrong about her. Perhaps it was her paleness, only highlighted by the moons. Or the pitch-black baby in her lap, that looked so out of place he had to wonder if the moonlight was starting to play tricks. Greyhide sniffed them both with a concerned look, unsure if he should start licking or growling.

[Qit'ria]

Date

Qit'ria sensed him before she saw him. She wasn't sure what the sense was, but it wasn't one she had in life. She looked over her shoulder to see a wolf looking at her, moving her way. Instantly Qit'ria was put on the defensive, scrambling to a stand, moving away from the wolf. She was not normally fearful, but this wasn't fear for herself, but in her ability to protect her baby. She was barely able to do anything as a ghost. Opening doors was one of the hardest part of her days.

Her eyes quickly moved to the door that was left open. It was too far. She could move just as fast as she could in life, but she knew wolves. She'd hunted many of them, been hunted by them. There was no way she'd make it in time AND get the door closed. And she knew better than to try and scare off or intimidate a wolf. Wolves were never alone, so they never feared one creature. She couldn't run, she couldn't hide, and she couldn't fight.

She'd have to wait it out. Keep calm, not allow Caza to be a target. Keep calm. Calm. Calm. She touched the vines around Caza's wrist, bridging the connection to the Desnind forest spirit. It felt her panic. And it reached a vine out of the bracelet, wrapping around Qit's arm in comfort. She calmed a bit. Qit's eyes were back on the wolf, when she noticed something... odd. There were... energies coming off of it, the edges were blurred. She'd seen that before.

It was a spirit.

She relaxed a bit more. She knew spirits, and while a wolf spirit is the epitome of a wolf, she trusted spirits more. She was bonded to them. Soon a man came around the corner as well, one she recognized. She remembered him. She'd hunted with him, and she remembered every one she hunted with. He was a Sev'ryn like herself. One of the few she'd met in her many years of travel. She'd never forget him, even if their time together had been fleeting.

"Nir'wei."

She stepped forward, holding Caza away to the other side of Greyhide, but not provoking the spirit wolf. She let him sniff, not challenging him, as she moved closer to the man she knew, to let him see her face. He knew her before her magic had twisted her face in life. Her ghostly visage was as he'd known it. She hoped he'd recognize her.

"It me. Qit'ria."

[Nir'wei]

Qit'ria.

He racked his brain, staring, squinting. Trying to conjure up something. Perhaps it was to be expected; they'd only met once, for a single day or less, on an island far away, for a mission neither of them had really looked forward to or enjoyed very much. In a time long ago, before so many horrible things. The name brought very little, the face even less, though the longer he stared the more little features started to bring back brief flashes of recognition. She'd never been so pale, surely. Qit'ria was a strong woman, dark-skinned, practically feral, and this... whatever this thing was claiming to be her, was quiet, with a burbling babe at her breast, staring at him with the wide doe-like eyes of a... an ordinary woman. With an ordinary dress, no rags, no loincloth. Combed hair, washed and straightened. The only thing that really matched was the voice, the broken vocabulary, the accent, yet even as he tried to use that to frame some resemblance, the fragile spiderweb memories broke apart in his fingers and scattered in the wind. "Qit... Qit'ria?"

Greyhide inched closer and sniffed cautiously at the hem of her skirt, tilted his head, sniffed again. There was something terribly off about it, that much he could sense, but it too wasn't enough to grasp properly. "It's been so long, I... I didn't expect to see you here. What, wait what are you doing here?" Did Faith know about her? Or perhaps Padraig? A new job, as a hunter here in Rharne, or perhaps... oh, perhaps she'd been at Beacon. Isonomia. Yes, perhaps. "Karem, it has been long, hasn't it. Heh." He looked down to the child at her chest and nearly recoiled as a realization slammed into his head like a train. "Heheh! You've learned how clothes work! Hahah, good for you!" That memory brought so much more of a grin than it should have, enough to draw out teeth... more even; a bold-faced laugh as it all came rushing back, like a dam breaking, flooding his skull. Scalvoris, hunting Halfrein in the Sweetvine Woods, when he'd been a simple animal handler for the Menagerie. His grin grew wider still. The good old days. Awkward, angsty, all full of himself... he'd been such an ass.

He opened his arms wide and went in for a hug, careful of the little one she was carrying. She certainly didn't look like one of Faith's... matter of fact he had absolutely no clue what she looked like, but at this point it didn't matter. "Oh, it's been long. So long. Mm, and look at you, how you've changed! I... I'm sorry, I didn't... oh, forget it." He sighed at himself and his own ineptitude. Once again, ruining the moment. "It's so good to see you. I know this is going to sound utterly stupid, but I never really got to say, and I, well. I enjoyed our trip together, you know? It was the most fun I'd had that season, and it's the most fun I've had for a long time." That really brought a rather sad smile to his face, thinking on it. Nearly an arc, and he'd never had a hunt as fun as the one he'd probably hated the most. "Not to mention I was the most unbelievable--" Oh shit, right! "Erm. I won't say it, but you know what I was. Sorry. Again." How was it that he suddenly became the one that couldn't string a proper sentence together?

[Qit'ria]

Date

Qit'ria smiled as recognition came across the man's face. He remembered her. She wasn't even offended by the joke he'd made. She had found it strange that in death, that she was wearing a dress, and not her usual hunter's garb. She hadn't really questioned it much. Death and being a ghost was all so strange to her. And it seemed the dress was just as much a part of her as her arms and legs.

As he laughed, she joined him, as did Caza, chortling happily. She saw him going in for a hug. She'd never really been a hugger, aside from with Faith, Oonah, and Caza, but she was trying to be more receptive to such... niceties. And she ignored his bumbling conversation, and moved in toward him. She tried to press against his skin with her arm, Qit into his right shoulder, Caza into his left. Caza was solid and warm against him, but Qit'ria was cold, frigid, as her head, her arm, slipped beneath his skin, as ghosts oft do.

And as she was there in the hug, she felt the joy coming off from this man, as it dominated her own emotions, and she found herself matching them. She held the awkward embrace as long as she could, not really able to feel him, not realizing she needed to solidify herself for him. She was solid for Caza, because she was an anchor, but Qit still hadn't fully learned how to ghost properly.

She pulled away from the embrace, looking at Greyhide now. Back then, she didn't know that Greyhide was a spirit. She wondered if he could recognize her for what she was as easily as she did him. "Well meet, Greyhide. I see you. True see."

Qit then looked back to Nir'wei, to answer his original question, "I here. Stay with Faith and Paddyrags. This be Caz'aria. My daughter." She hadn't bothered to confirm that she was dead, for to her, she assumed it to be obvious to others. Not that she was making it any easier.

"What bring you here? No hunt from great tree in Scalwhorus?"

[Nir'wei]

Honestly, he'd never met a ghost before. Never even thought about them, for that matter, but there was something about their embrace that made the hairs stand up on the backs of his arms. Like a needle sliding painlessly under his skin, except instead of being a needle, it was a whole arm briefly sliding into him. Awash with freezing chill, like trying to hug a bag of cold lake water. Not particularly painful but certainly not comfortable, and he almost moved to pull away, before realizing that Qit was still pressed tight. They'd not seen each-other in such a long time, so many things had changed, more than either of them could ever know. Don't ruin it all now, he told himself. He held the embrace until she pulled away and smiled the whole way through. "That thing might be flashy but it certainly doesn't keep you warm, does it. How can you be so cold and not even shiver?" There was a slight bit of amazement in his voice despite all the concern. "If I knew running around naked gave you superpowers I would have dropped them all a long time ago."

Wait. "What do you mean, true see?" The wolf glanced up at him, then back at Qit, cocking his head in curiosity and giving another sniff.

"I think she can see my spirit." At least Grey seemed as confused and surprised as he felt, so he wasn't the only one without any idea what was going on here. She knew he was kidding when he talked about superpowers right. "I think... uhm." Something crossed his expression, but the wolf offered nothing else. One thing at a time, he guessed.

"Doesn't matter." They'd discuss it all later. There was so much to talk about, too much. "Scal... yeah, that place. It got, well. It just lost its charm after a while I guess. Things all grew out of hand and I needed to get out, and then, I came here because why not?" It was the stupidest way to sum up all his adventures but also the most accurate. "I mean, look at you. Look at you!" Caz'aria. He didn't bother asking who the father was; he'd either meet him sometime or he wouldn't and if he didn't, better to just not mention it. "How old are you, hmm? I hope Faith gives you lots of sweets or I'm giving her some stern words, you know." Gods, if he'd have known he would have smuggled some over himself. "Do you take her on hunts yet? Hah! You know, your mum, she... she has the strangest way of hunting. But it works. Every. Single. Time."

[Qit'ria]

Date

Qit smiled at Greyhide politely, "Yes. I see you, spirit. It look... different." She didn't know how to explain it. She could tell that Greyhide was clearly a spirit, yet something was... off. But she didn't know as to what.

Then Nir'wei started rambling on like a nervous rabbit, and it was all fine. Pleasantries and niceties.The boring stuff Qit apparently needed to learn to better deal with people. He asked about Caza's age, and she was about to answer, but stopped cold. Did he just say he would speak sternly to Faith? Her Faith? The Faith that had saved her from so many things, that was her rock, that was the reason she was still here with her child. Her sister?! He would dare to threaten her like this?!

Qit would not dare to stand for this, as she felt her temper rising in leaps and bounds. As she did, the fog in the air began to swirl around the group.

"You no say stern to FAITH!"

Her ghost form grew slightly, her face taking on that of the mother bear she used to have as a totem. Her dress flared out, her hair spread far and wide, the bloody wound in her chest grew stark crimson and began to bleed, just like when she died. Her words reverberated with the anger that only a ghost could muster, "YOU BE RESPECT TO FAITH!"

After all, he'd just threatened one of her anchors.

[Nir'wei]

Things had started out so nice. So sweet and innocent. For a while it was almost as if everything were back as it once was; like he wasn't speaking with... well, it didn't matter, he kept telling himself. Now they had all the time in the world again. Even Greyhide, always stern and cautious, had started to let his guard down a little, though clearly the knowledge that someone could see him seemed to rattle his cage a little. He had to wonder if Archailist could be seen as well, though the spirit-squirrel didn't seem interested in coming out for now, tinkering away somewhere deep in the back of his mind on some unknowable little project of his.

His voice tempered and slowly died out as a light, unnatural gust tugged at his shirt. The day had been completely calm up until this moment, and as a second and a third pull of air started to really whip and tear around the group, he raised a hand defensively, swallowing. "Hey, now. I was joking! Hey... HEY!" Something was very wrong about this and Greyhide acted on instinct, rushing to put himself between the raging ghost and Nir'wei, lips pulled back into a harsh snarl. Had he touched a nerve? Since when had she grown so defensive of Faith of all people, and why did she seem to be growing a muzzle and rounded ears?

There were so many questions, but the first thought was always for his own safety. And the child, the innocent bystander. He didn't dare go near her, not in this state, trying to snatch her own kid away didn't sound like the de-escalating option, but what if she ended up hurting her?

Slowly raising both hands, palms open and fingers splayed, he backed away a step, then another, Greyhide mimicking him and backing away while never turning his back. In times of crisis, the best option seemed to be treating her the same way as he would a real bear. His heart was beating so fast it might have burst out of his chest, staring up at the twisted thing that might have been his friend at some point, but he didn't want to think what might happen if he turned his back right now and gave her an opening. "I'd never be stern with her, okay, I'd never do anything, I promise, I swear. Okay? I swear I'd never do anything of the sort."

Greyhide's back nudged against Nir's leg. At first he thought it might have just been an accident, but the wolf pushed again, more insistently. "We should go." He resisted the urge to frown or take his eyes off Qit for even a moment. But she'd never really hurt him! "Now." There was something in the wolf's insistence that really gave him room for pause. Qit being able to see the wolf, even when dematerialised... there was something else going on here, something that could put them at serious danger. Reluctantly, he let the wolf gently shove him backwards, out the gate, watching Qit carefully the entire time until they were past the gates of the estate. "It's time to head back to the others." He couldn't agree more, suddenly spinning on his heel and leaving as fast as he could.

[Nursia]

Can I just say that I love it when Nir'wei interacts with others?

Shame about the departure of Qit'ria. But regardless, there's nothing I can really comment on. Your prose is solid. The flow is unbroken and easy to read.

Enjoy your rewards!


Nir'wei

Rewards

Knowledges:
Detection: Identifying a ghost.
Negotiation: De-escalating a tense situation.
Wealth:
Renown:
EXP:
+10

Feedback

Understand that all criticisms are done in good faith. It would be a greater disrespect to not say anything in the face of problems. Please contact me through this account's inbox if you wish to further communicate on the matter of improvement, or if you feel as though anything is unduly harsh.

Qit

Rewards

Knowledges:
Wealth:
Renown:
EXP:
+15

Feedback

Understand that all criticisms are done in good faith. It would be a greater disrespect to not say anything in the face of problems. Please contact me through this account's inbox if you wish to further communicate on the matter of improvement, or if you feel as though anything is unduly harsh.