Forums » Fantasy Roleplay » Trip to the Churchground [closed]

Haku had to deal with teh invisible guards in the way (not that you couldn't see anything as they were.. invisible anyway, but still the shimmer made it seem a bit surreal, which to Haku, had his PTSD rear it's ugly head.) Haku grabbed Landi's arm hard, and yanked him back several feet as Toby came around the corner. ".... she be one lolo wahine, akahele ya. Toby what's happenening!" He barked out to the little kid, as he tried to get Landi to sit down. Poor Landi hadn't thought to store th energy in the armor, which was that small downfall, and Haku hadn't thought to remind him to do that either. Haku mostly blamed himself. But now? Now there was another problem. "Landi sit down, Ikarus, don't touch da lolo keiki, go find my bag inside, ya!" Maybe the girl was just.. you know, delierious from the heat? Maybe she didn't have any food? Maybe that was it. Haku was trying to think of a logical explanation for the crazy. "Minuette, talk to me, It's Haku." He tried. Haku constantly looked back and forth between one and the other "vessel? Toby, what she be talking 'bout?"

Still dazed from the over-work of revitalizing the churchyard, Illiandi remains just a bit useless in the face of strangeness, and cannot manage the panic growing around him in his party. Not a connoisseur of magics; only able to recognize the kind he's caused pain by and the kind he can use, he has no clue what the woman is doing. Not knowing what 'vessel' is being spoken about either, his dumb question is, "Didjoo loose something?"

Haku yanks him back, however, and being slighter than his husband, and wobbly at the moment, he's practically flung into Ikarus who has darted behind him. "Sorry," he mumbles, catching onto Ikarus for stability before holding his friend's arm and obediently lowering back down to the grass. Seated, it comes up just under his chin, and folds like dog's fur beneath him. Due to the scrabble of the Church's visitors, several tufts of dandelion seeds lift into the air. Parked thusly on his behind, the man tries to gather his senses back to himself.

Toby's attention is brought back to his sister, not that the bell is safely on the ground, still he did not draw any closer to her. Instead he simply looked pale and worried, it was clear from his reaction that this had happened before, but it might have also been assumed that the boy understood it about as well as they did.

"I don't... I don't know. She's sick again. It happens all the time now, more and more frequently since the days of darkness..."

Minuette's head rolled on her shoulders again. Whatever this was, it would appear it was very difficult for her body to withstand. Her nose had begun to bleed, just a little bit, her body shaking as if she were cold, and yet she was not present enough to determine if she were chilly or not.

"...The darkness of my will, the land dies in penance for the man's sin upon it..." The voice mumbled.

When Landi bumps back into him, Ikarus's hands hold onto the outside of the other's arms until Haku starts instructing people. A leader there, really. Ikarus helped Landi to the ground a moment, and was just about to circle around the strangely rolling form of Minuette when the girl spoke in a voice that wasn't the one she'd introduced herself with. Ikarus visibly shuddered, and turned right back from where he'd come around from, hovering near the seated Landi, back behind the invisible guards. Nopenopenopenope. He wasn't going to go anywhere near something like that.

Looking up to Haku, Ikarus shook his head with a pleading look. He'd probably go back if Haku told him to again, but he'd really rather just not. It wasn't the kind of thing that he'd been prepared to deal with here, and he's beginning to wonder if the 'danger' wasn't on the road, but here the whole time!

Haku let Landi drop to his knees, accidentally forgetting that Ikarus had been there until the man had moved since, well, haku had asked him to. How could he forget? Simple. There was a possessed girl in front of them with odd nonsense phrases coming from her, that's how. Haku was doing his best to keep HIMSELF together. A memory similar to this incident wanted to surface, which he had to remind himself over and over, that it wasn't the same day, the same girl, the same voice, and they were outside, not in an abandoned building (The church was a close second to that thought) and that he wasn't alone. He had to think about four people now.
Haku canted his head as the invisible body guards passively stood between the three men and the kids. "what do you mean... sick again? This has happened before? when, and how many times has this happened before?" He growled softly. He looked back to the girl when he noticed the blood. ".... Ikarus?" He glanced over to see that the poor man was about as rifled as Haku felt about it. He thinned his lips. "She need's help.. now. Illiandi, I need you alive, and coherent.. draw energy from me if you have to... but I need you to remain awake.. and I need to get the bag" Since apparently no one else was brave enough to.
However, something shimmered and faded, which could only have meant that one of the body guards has moved away, and several minutes later, Haku' medical bag came floating along toward them. Ok, that worked too. Haku narrowed his eyes and didn't move until the bag was dropped at his feet and the guard replaced itself where it was originally. Haku gave a nod, and knelt down, and then cringed at the phrase the girl... thing muttered. Haku growled again. "THis land has paid enough, the girl did nothing. Remove yourself from her!" He firmly stated, though Haku wasn't sure how well that would go, or if he would even be acknowledged. He pulled out a few rags. "Toby, tell me how often this happens? Tell me what happens if and when this... thing leaves." Haku slowly stood up with the rags in hand, and stared at minuette.

Illiandi, starting to come back to from having to move, pats the back of Ikarus' leg comfortingly, He remains down, however, as his eyes still feel a bit spotty and generally bad things go a bit better if there are fewer people running around. His ears are open now, at least, and he's ~listening again.

"Mm?" he reacts when Haku calls to him specifically. None of them were willing to undo the hard work for the churchyard, and it seems that both Landi and Haku were trying to keep the dearth to themselves rather than risk Ikarus. "I'm awake," he confirms. "I'll be fine just..." he waves a hand up and down in front of his body. "Borders." Haku would know what that meant, since it was a recent struggle and learning experience for them.

During the bag transfer, however, he turns his blindfolded eyes to the boy. "Toby. We did ask if there was anything," he pauses and reaches a hand, armored but with bare fingers, up to the side of his head, like a man warding off a headache. "Anything we needed to know, or be warned about. This? Slipped your mind? Is she possessed?" The other townsfolk from the last one in seemed to think so. "Does she need a Priest?"

Toby crossed his arms defensively at Landi's accusation that he'd been withholding the truth from them. This was more or less true, but in his mind he hadn't. "Now... Now hold on a minute. I told you she was sick didn't I? It's.. It's not as if she's a threat. Min hasn't never hurt anyone." He paused to ruffle angrily.

"..The village doesn't know what they're talking about, she's sick I tell yah... course they told you that though, they'd rather keep us to themselves, inducing these things in her with their magical, stolen objects, or getting her to find things for 'em. Course they warned you away. Thing is, they almost never find what they're looking for, more often they just make her terribly i--." He added after a moment, when he'd calmed himself some. He would have carried on trying to explain himself, but his sister was speaking loudly again.

"...The land dies so we may continue to use the Vessel. It continues to die to drive the evil away. The vessel has done nothing... the vessel is pure of heart. What dies for one, sustains the other... this is not a threat, but a caution..." It was hard to tell exactly what was trying to be said, the being was woefully unclear.

Ikarus is not the kind of man who can deal with 'scary' things very well. And 'scary' was a good word for the possession of an otherwise kind-hearted girl. However, as we keep coming back to it, the benefit of living on Ikarus's home island, was that seeing these kinds of things was not very strange at all. As the newness of the situation wears off, Ikarus stares at the girl as she speaks over her brother.

"Then..." He cleared his throat to speak up a bit more. "Then you are being selfish. You take possession of a girl whose body can hardly stand such trials, but that you say is good, and pure of heart. You take life out from the land and force a struggle into being which never should've existed. A church is meant to provide. People come seeking sanctuary, and if it cannot be found even in a church, the gentle people will leave. If only the rough and undesirable stay, only rough and undesirable things will happen. You must give up your claim on your 'vessel' who is a young, impressionable girl, and let her leave this place. Or let whatever right you have to possess Miss Minuette die with her when the garden no longer grows, or the violent people find no resistance, or you push her body too far. You need to go. And you need to let the children go, too." Ikarus folds his arms over his chest, and watches the slumped form of Minuette with a judging frown.

Haku thinned his lips as his and Landi's questions had gone.. unanswered basically. "I had asked how many times this has happened. How.. often does this happen, Toby?" He remembered the villagers, once they found out where they had been gonig, had tried to warn thme.. and then shunned them when they passed through. Haku looked over to Ikarus as he now spoke to the... thing that possessed the girl. Haku was listening. "I don't see any evil here around this dying land but that which is possessing the girl. Hele Aku, ho'okalakupuna loko'ino." He gestured for the... thing to leave, like it'd do much. Again, no one touched the girl, as far as the three men were concerned. Haku licked at his lips as he looked down to Landi. ".. Illiandi, I think this is out of our hands." He raised a brow, and once Haku caught Landi's eyes looking to him, Haku Saw. To the outside world, it only lasted a mere few moments, before Haku blinked and then looked back to the possesion. "Ikarus is right.. You need to leave them be. why are you here, 'Uhane Kapu?" He tried to talk to the .. spirit again. Haku needed answers he wasn't getting.

Illiandi, slowly climbing back to his feet, though he's still likely easy to knock back over, braces himself against Ikarus' shoulder while the man sensibly scolds the Inhabitant.

Reaching up, Landi slides the blindfold up off his face, squinting at first as if he expected something to cause him pain, but then rubbing his heterochromatic eyes. "Toby, you did not tell us she was like this, not at all. And 'the people' will turn on you rapidly if things continue to go poorly for the land." Looking up to Haku when the man calls his name, however. He suddenly holds very, very still.

The bearer of a kernel of Truth in his eyes allows others to see their own life replaying in their mind. Shorn of supposition, doubt, and uncertainty, all lies viewed are known to be lies. All misunderstandings are shown in full clarity. Haku would be able to review, and show to Landi, what his intentions were in that moment, and also double check the information they both have. A skilled user of Landi's eyes, such as Haku was, can also view ~Landi's memories in return. It happens at the speed of light, crackling quickly between them in sloppy communication. To Landi, however, it's a stunning experience, and as Haku looks away he grunts and turns his face down against Ikarus's shoulder.

He'd just gotten back on his feet, too, but was out in a daze yet again!

Toby blew out a sigh of frustration as he was faced with the very real issue of telling them everything he knew, which wasn't all that much to be honest. Still, it didn't seem like he had a choice, these men deserved to know what they were in the middle of.

"Alright, alright, I'll tell you all I know, but it's going to leave you feeling as in the dark about it as you do now. It's not like I understand what this is, whatever it is." Sure he was being a little defensive with them, but his mood had soured, degrading with his sister's condition.

"When it started it only happened once or twice. My Father called her a conduit. An empty shell of some kind, for the use of the gods, only I don't think she's empty at all, I think she's sick. It happens fairly often now. Once a month, sometimes twice or three times, almost always when someone's been pushing her for something, sometimes out of the blue. A lot of people come here to use her. To induce them, and profit off of it. They herald her as an Oracle, however, those closer to home believe her to be a demon, or a witch... I think she's batty. Ill in the head. I swear that's all I know." He crossed himself for good measure.

Meanwhile Minuette was apparently talkative. " A church is meant to provide sanctuary to those in need, but judgement should not so easily be given. The ungrateful have been driven away, and the land reaped for it's life to sustain the vessel, whom is needed. We will not be sent away..."

Far too used to dealing with magical things (although 'possession' didn't rank very high on the list), Ikarus listened to Toby, and then the retort from the voice. Keeping his arms folded, Ikarus shifted his weight to one leg with a raised brow and a sigh.

"How is giving your vessel the reputation of being a demon or a witch a good thing? She's being used for what sounds like greed and ill will. Life spent as nothing more than a tool or an experiment is no way to live a life. There are better solutions for sustaining an existence than by killing the world around her." A very 'knock it off' tone, and spoken in a much more from-personal-experience kind of way. "Your presence endangers her, worries her brother, and ultimately endangers visitors like us as well. My suggestions stand; leave her, leave here, and be done with it." His hand untucked itself from against his side, turning over palm up towards the slumped girl. "Or. Of course. You could also be so kind as to inform us all of what you are, what you're doing here, and what can be done to help. Mystery and airs will only ward off people who are willing to lend a hand while it's available. But make it quick and to the point, or we'll be forced to take our leave and sort this out at a safer distance." Did Ikarus just threaten something? Ikarus? Making threats? Yes, yes it was. Although he glanced over to Landi and Haku shortly afterwards, in case there was immediate rebuttal to his 'we'll send someone more equipped'.

Haku glancced to Landi who again seemed to be out of it.. again. He arched a brow, and then listened, watched Toby, then the girl, then looked over to Ikarus and then back to Toby. "When we got the last letter, it was written by you, Toby, and you had stated you wanted a doctor. We all practice the art of healing in some form or fashion, howeever, it sounds like you don't need a doctor. At least not a medical one." He thinned his lips as he watched the girl again, feeling a little sorry for her.. possesion taking place. The kids seemed like really decent kids, to have to suffer through what the men were seeing. "If you know that the town is using her .. gifts improperly, why do you stay? why not leave this place, and start new somewhere else? If remaining here is harming your sister, and eventually might harm you, Then what is really making you two stay here? I am sorry to say this, but there's nothing here. There's no one here. The small village has nothing, and if what this.. possessor says is true, that the lands will be purged again, then our coming here to try and help is for nothing. I don't want that to be." He shook his head, as he looked over to the girl. He narrowed his eyes. "I don't know what else we can do."

Illiandi, dazedly, replaces his blindfold. Newp, not going through that again at the moment. Once it's back into place, and his mind has had a few moments to process what his party is saying, and what their party is saying, he reaches up to run a hand through his hair, feeling it snag a few times on the armor.

"I cannot say if she is mentally ill or possessed," he finally weighs in, speaking very slowly. "Toby. I'm sorry. If she's mentally ill, she needs better drugs than we brought, and longer help than we can give, and she shouldn't be in charge here." He glances to the faltering body of the girl, saying, "And if she is possessed, she needs a proper Priest, trained in exorcisms, longer help than we can give her here, and she shouldn't be in charge in that case, either."

Moving up to touch Haku's back, he adds - still speaking to Toby, "Your neighbors will always only be one drunk man away from coming up here with the intention of harming you. I've been called 'Oracle' before and it didn't end well for me. I've also seen too many witch-hunts." Exhausted, he rests his head to the side, on Haku's arm. "We came here to see what help we could provide in terms of cloth and food. We've done that."

Haku's question was an easy one to answer on Toby's part. He wanted to leave, he would have run away and never looked back given half a chance and the means to do so... but life was not that easy for him. His purpose in life was simple to him, and he could not simply walk away from it. "Minuette will not leave. Someones gotta make sure she's okay. I wont leave without her. "

He frowned at Landi's words of warning, not because he did not believe them, or because he found them offensive, but because he knew Landi was correct. Still, it couldn't change the way things were. "I don't study hard enough to take over, and honestly short of locking her away, I don't think I could stop her from doing the things she does anyway. I'm well aware of what's coming for us... and... and I guess we'll be here until it does." He rubbed the back on his slightly sun burnt neck. "we appreciate the kindness you've shown us though..."

Minuette on the other hand, or what ever entity was present anyway, seemed content to bicker with Ikarus, not taking kindly to the threat. "The Vessel is a tool, a tool for the divine, for divine purpose. We shall not explain ourselves to you. All shall become clear in time."

And just like that it was done. The magic hanging it the air, wisped off, disappearing back into the atmosphere, and the girl slumped to the ground in a dead faint. Toby was at her side in seconds.

Watching as the entity left Minuette's body, Ikarus snorted in defiance. Like a child much younger than his form suggested, Ikarus started to make a mocking gesture of talking. Nyehnyehnyeh. Wiggling his head side to side, Ikarus walked over to Minuette as Toby came to her side. With the voices past, he was less wary of getting close. Kneeling down, he looked between Toby and the others of his party.

"Let's get Miss Minuette inside, and then we'll figure out what to do. ... Yes?" His courage waxed and waned with remarkable speed, and he was now checking with the people who traveled more often. Although if he could (or was allowed), Ikarus would carry Minuette inside, and set her up most likely in a pew rather than putting her away in her bed up all those stairs. (He could lift a girl, but holding her up for too long wasn't something Ikarus was willing to test with a live body.)

Helping where he could, Ikarus made sure to help get things in order, although he was still tempted to see if his own powers couldn't reach into the earth and wrest out some life from it- just to spite the Voice. He wouldn't, but he thought about it.

Haku remained quiet as he listened. He merely nodded his head as Toby spoke. "she won't leave... " He trailed off. He arched a brow as the possessor spoke again. Clearly, Haku wasn't amused, nor was he afraid. (He DID live in a place for a while where demons and possession were rampant at one point, nothing new there) and he took a step as the girl fell over. Ikarus got to her first, though, and Haku nodded "yea, get her inside." He turned to landi and if he could helped the man to where Ikarus brought the girl, taking his medical bag with them. With silent focus, Haku quietly cleaned the girl up from teh blooded nose, and put a damp compress to her head. "I'm sorry she is put through this. I'm sorry she won't leave. There are so many questions here that are left unanswered... and we can't know how much more help we can give until we have more answers." He murmured quietly. It sounded like he was talking to himself. Once done with making sure that Minuette was as comfortable as he could, he turned to Toby. He rummaged through the bag and held out a small vial. "This will help with any headaches she has from ... this mess you two are going through. This bag.. I'm going to leave here with you. You two need what's in it. You can read, I won't need to explain what everything is or what it does. There' creams and ointments for every ailment." He looked over to Landi and then nodded. "There's nothing more that we can do. I'm sure that the seeds and grass that was planted will last for a while until the... possessor comes back again. we have tried to help the church as we could. There are wood piles neatly stacked along the path to the church if you ever need wood for fire or rebuilding things. But I'm afraid that is all we can do at the time. I think we might need to return with more once we have more anwers. I'll have to research this." He watched Toby quietly. "You keep strong for your sister. We'll be keeping in touch."
Despite Haku' unease around Children and his claim for not liking them much, he really didn't mind them. He moved to where they had their things, and packed up, and if the others grabbed their gear, Haku again, thanked Toby for his allowance for their help, and to keep in touch, as he led the party back to the stables, where the horse and the cart were. He tossed everything in the back and then giving the church one more look back, waved, and then started back the way they came.
It was hard for haku to turn his back to that church with the children. They couldn't do much more than what they had done. "Illiandi, if you can try and store ome energy in your armor. I fear we might need to give the horse a small boost of energy for it to make it back to town healthy." There was the spoon for eating food. They had the flask. Haku was quiet the way back with stopping once to rest, and in the morning, it was a hard trek with no stopping until nightfall, where the clouds were grey. There was warning about sailing on the seas with a storm around, and haku didn't care. They needed to get home, or at least try to. He let the others gather their things, as he waited for the ship to dock. He woul be the last one on that ship, making sure everyone was on.
The beings of the town weren't kidding when they warned about a storm. The breathstealers could manage the hip in all weather, but the passengers would have a harder time with it. Haku was grumpy, wanting ot be home already, and knowing that he'd probalby be dealing with a freaked out Landi. He also had to make sure Ikarus didn't get blown away if he was out and about on the deck. The storm would have lasted several days, delaying their time making it back home. [indefinite closing]