Castle Armory

[Red Gypsy]

Wolfe Garm

Bast moved up to support Desmond without hesitation, "I have no idea. It was another Hylarr, but I've never seen him before. We had to stop Sebastet, though. As long as she doesn't leave the island, there's no problem. But she was about to Run, like I told you about before. Hylarr females also do it when their Mate dies. It's mostly out of grief, but our instinct demands a Mate once we've been bonded. When our Mate dies, instinct makes us Run for another to claim that bond. It's usually not a permanent bond, just something to keep the female from running off and getting herself killed, or worse... It wears us out if there's no one there, but with Sebastet... She can make portals and travel to just about any realm. But if she leaves the island... The island blows up..." she explained to Desmond, not realizing that the words would travel through the shadows as well.

She started him walking slowly towards the exit, "It's a fail-safe she set up shortly after she got here. If she has to leave, everyone here is already dead and she'll take out their attackers in one move. That kind of thinking... But it's been in place so long that she can't remove it.

"She's got a room in the basement of her tower where I was planning on us taking her if we caught her. She can't get out of that one unless you open the door. She set it up a long time ago. But if a male Hylarr has shown up and taken her down, she's his responsibility for the next few days..." she finished.

She kept having to shake his hands off of her, keep him from inspecting her too closely and finally gave an exasperated sound, "I'm not hurt. I didn't even get a scratch. They never saw me until I slit their throats. Now let's get you to your room and get you cleaned up and patched up. You look like you need a nap," she told him firmly. She'd already picked up his new bow and was trying to get him back to his room so that she could take care of him.

And yes, she'd completely forgotten about having him chase her there. Him being wounded kind of took it out of her a bit...


Sebastet struggled against the body that pulled her into the shadows but had to stop when she realized that he was stronger than she was. She let out another cry of pain then stopped to pant hard with her hands over her face. Thankfully it didn't take her long to, seemingly, come to her senses. She simply answered his question then waited for him to let her go. Then she'd run...

"The fail-safe... If I leave the island, it blows up within an hour... I wasn't about to let the Hunters have it... If I have to leave the island like that, then everyone there is either evacuated or dead. I'm tired of losing family and friends... And I'm tired of losing Mates... Lio was my fourth... What the hell is wrong with me that they keep dying on me?!" she finished with a yell then reached for her own ability with the shadows to pull herself out of here so that she could run.

The only place in the castle she couldn't escape from was the Lock-Up room she'd set up in the basement of her tower. Of course, that one was mainly to keep her from going on a rage-induced rampage... But it would do for this one as well...

She finally pulled her hands away from her face to look at him and gave a harsh gasp, sitting up and scooting away from in in complete shock while shaking her head in denial. Another Hylarr? How? How was he here? Was it Fate bringing one in from another dimension or something like that again?

Her shock was justifiable, of course, so he didn't have much room to protest it... But now he'd have to do some explaining...  

[Wolfe Garm]

The patient Hunter gets the prey

Red Gypsy

Khajhan Rakhhasin
Desmond

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Desmond nodded and replied “alright let’s go, though these aren’t…” he winced when she tapped one of the wounds and continued “alright, Alright… they are bad but nothing my body can’t recover from with a little help” he smiled wryly as she helped him out of the armory and to the werehall and eventually back to his suites, all the while annoyed but relieved that the Hylarr had shown up when he did, a failsafe that destroys the island, he couldn’t fathom why someone would do such a thing but he wouldn’t dwell on it as they went into the suite as well as helped into the bedroom and stood there a moment to give her a kiss before he laid down to let her tend to his injuries.




Khajhan nodded and replied “I see, well then I guess it is a good thing that I did arrive when I did else it truly would have been the end for our race in some fashion” he noted that she was shocked by his presence and simply nodded “I see, you’re probably wondering where I came from, well it is better to introduce myself properly” he knelt down before her and bowed his head before he continued “I am Khajhan Rakhhasin and I am the sole remaining shadow hunter left alive, and how I’m alive and not dead like the rest of our kinsmen, well that’s perhaps a long story.” Khajhan paused for a moment and sat down on the floor before he continued his tail wrapping around his waist “the short of it is, I survived only because this hunter was out hunting at the time when the church started their attack on our kinsmen, I arrived to late to save them and spent most of my life wondering the human lands believing that I was the last remaining Hylarr around. A few years back I had heard rumors about this island and the inhabitants and took a few months to get here, always walking the shadows and never letting anyone aware that I was alive. After I got here I was surprised to discover that you and your mate as well as the young one were here, ever since then I’ve strived to remain hidden from everyone, and hunted any hunters that set foot on the island so that if nothing else I could ensure that at least someone would still live on” he bowed his head and continued “apologies for your mate, I picked up on their scent too late and figured out where they were heading and moved as quick as I could to get here before they attacked, to that end I have failed.” If it weren’t for his mixed eye colors his appearance would almost be too hard to discern as his clothes and his fur nearly blending into the shadows so easily and flawlessly, it was like he was meant to walk through those shadow as he sat there. Eventually he stood up and continued “as for you mates, with respect one can never tell why one’s time comes when it does, and I couldn’t begin to guess as to the reason why it was their time to pass on, nor the reason why you’ve had to endure so much loss in your time, but if I had to guess, perhaps there are yet those who are counting on you and relying on your strength to keep them safe, after all is it not why you created this sanctuary to begin with, to give those a place where they can be safe? And I’m sure the young one would find it difficult if she lost you while at such a young age” Khajhan stood there for a moment before he walked over to her and offered her a hand to get up off the floor.

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though hunting through the shadows never hurts either.

 

[Red Gypsy]

Wolfe Garm

Sebastet listened as he explained himself to her then hesitated to take his hand. But she did finally let him pull her to her feet, not able to hide her surprise at the strength in him when he nearly pulled her off of her feet... Like most Hylarr females, she tended to be impressed by strength...

"So you're the reason that I haven't been able to get a decent feed in two years... I'd wondered why we had so few Hunters. I've been relegated to poachers and bottled blood...." she met his eyes without hesitation and found something there that had been strangely lacking in Lio's eyes: common history... They'd lost everything... Lio had come from a world where there were numerous Hylarr and hadn't fully understood what it meant to lose every single person in a village, then two, then more... To go through the world and never encounter another being like yourself... Lio had never had that... But this one did...

She finally reached for her control over the shadows and pulled them both back into the armory, probably surprising the hell out of him in the process. She grabbed her cloak and slid it over her shoulders then pulled the hood up to protect her from the sunlight when she crossed to her tower.

"Come on. I can't offer much, but I can offer a bed and a meal," she told him simply, intending on moving an extra bed into her room until he moved on. She remembered her traditions better than most people thought. Since he'd caught her, he had to stay with her for at least three days. Meaning that he couldn't let her out of his sight for three days. Including sleeping in her room. But she'd be 'polite' and move in an extra bed.

He was supposed to keep her from running off during that time. She was going to be fighting her instincts badly enough over those three days, so he was going to have his hands full...  

[Wolfe Garm]

The patient Hunter gets the prey

Red Gypsy

Khajhan Rakhhasin

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Khajhan was surprised by her prowess with the shadows and stood there a moment before he replied about the hunters “ah yes that was me, my teacher did teach me well to be a hunter within the shadows, so apologies for not being aware of your other needs, otherwise I’d have let a few slip by here in there in small numbers so that you could feed” admittedly he should have known since this hadn’t been the first time that he had seen her in a cloak and should have put two and two together. He followed her when she spoke and replied at the thought of a bed “thank you, but a bed won’t be necessary, I haven’t forgotten tradition, but having been in solitude for so long, a bed doesn’t concern me all that much, the shadows will keep me comfortable as they have done in the past, plus my focus on you could prove impaired if I get to comfortable, though know this your scent is known to me, for as long as your are my charge there is no place you can go that I won’t find you, the shadows themselves cannot hide your scent from me. As for a meal that will do me just fine” he was a testament to an old way of living, since he was taught to walk and work with the shadows, he’d been a very solitary since his prowess with the shadows was as much as strong as his strength and agility, but also his abilities with crossbow and sword, though his abilities weren’t limited to so few things since he had to learn to cook, and use throwing knives, which surprisingly made for a makeshift dagger when the situation cause for it, to which he was just as capable.

Looking at Sebastet he placed a hand on her shoulder to get her attention “you know walking among the sun shouldn’t be a concern that you have to worry about, a simple demonstration is perhaps in order” he grinned as he lived his hand up and seemingly the sun’s light faded, wrapped the shadows around them though, they weren’t fully enveloped as they were before, instead Khajhan simply created shade in which to allow Sebastet to walk unhindered. “my teacher, was as much like you, she couldn’t walk out in the sunlight but she was able to create a shadow barrier that gave her enough shade to walk freely without having to cover up” he grinned as he stood there and would follow Sebastet wherever she went.

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though hunting through the shadows never hurts either.

 

[Red Gypsy]

Wolfe Garm

Sebastet shrugged over the bed issue, knowing that she'd get her opportunity to run soon enough. Instead, she actually shivered when he put his hand on her shoulder and covered her with a light shadow, letting her push the hood of her cloak back. She gave him a nod of thanks over it, "That does help... Especially on warmer days. I got used to the cloak, to be honest. Too many years having to stay in hiding, I guess," she said simply.

She really wasn't used to being touched anymore. Which was a sad thing because the Hylarr were very much into touch. They were a sensual race and physical contact was a sign that they weren't alone. Signs of affection were always welcome, even among friends and casual acquaintances. In a Hylarr village, everyone touched each other in some way: a hand on the shoulder, a casual hug, touching cheeks, a hand to the back when walking together, a teasing tug of the hair, a goose to the ribs... There were playful touches as much as general affection.

But Sebastet hadn't experienced much of that. Lio did his best, but he'd also come from a different Hylarr culture where touch was restricted.

Aside from that one shiver, though, Sebastet said nothing about his hand on her shoulder. Instead, she led the way across the garden to her tower, pausing in the kitchen long enough to order two meals to be brought up to her rooms.

As they left, Lio's body was consumed by ShadowFlames and a touch of magic collected his ashes for her to inter them later. She would put him with the others in the garden and carve his name with theirs, the black marble a fitting memorial she thought.

She shook herself back to reality and and continued on up to her tower then up to her room.  

[Red Gypsy]

Wolfe Garm

You can set up a separate thread for it if you want to...

Bast excitedly pulled Desmond into the Armory again but led him to a back corner, handing him the key, "When it appears, use the key," she told him simply then unrolled the scroll. She took in a deep breath and started reading in a soft whisper, not pausing at all.

Finally, the door appeared and he unlocked it in quick order as she finished reading. She rolled the scroll back up then opened the door and pulled him in.

They took a few steps in the dark then she paused and struck a match to light a lantern, "Come on. I'll get the other lights," she said excitedly then took him the rest of the way down a set of stairs carved into the rock. It seemed to go on forever, but Desmond was oddly patient with the whole thing.

They came to another door and she used the same key to open it. That led to a huge chamber. She left him by the door and moved around to light lanterns around the room to reveal a different kind of armory....

She finally came back to him and made him meet her eyes, "Only you and your pack can ever know about this place... Sebastet had it sealed up for good reason when she found it..." she told him softly, knowing that she could trust him with it...