Hunting [Closed]

[Kari Muffin]

Kazifel didn't expect the tree, and found that he was actually rather closer to it. Shit, good going Femi for not thinking. He bolted backwards, and yelped to high heavens when the tree hit the ground. For a moment he stared at it wide eyed and twitching before turning to Femi, "What the hells were you thinking? That could have killed me too! Next time let me handle it!" He flailed his hands as he spoke. Being squashed by a tree was night his ideal evening.

Loreta had decided to move far enough away that she was up in a tree looking down at the entire scene. She was shaking rather horribly as she clutched onto the limb. Yes, that was absolutely terrifying.

Kazifel's attention snapped back at the use of the word "doll maker" and "living dolls." Bright colors. Crazy. Corvistowne. The man was from his home town.

"Who are you? Why are you looking into my sister's research?"

[The Jenn]

Femi hugged Alphonse closer and glared at Kazifel, slightly hurt. She wished the tree had fallen on the strange man, but hadn't really expected the aim of the fall to be good enough to manage it. She wasn't the brightest crayon in the box and hadn't considered the possibility of the tree falling on her husband as well. He was back far enough from the man that if it was falling towards him... but if the aim had been off... oh damn, it really could have hit him, couldn't it? She hadn't been thinking about that at all.

She looked away, ignoring them all - except that she very much wasn't with an Outsider so close - and stroked Alphonse's fur. His crying had died down to pathetic whimpering. His mouth hurt and he didn't want to talk because it would probably hurt too.

And then he started talking about Kazifel's sister and she stiffened slightly, wondering what exactly was going on.

[Vyn]

Hatter took a moment, while Kazifel was flailing at Femi, to catch his breath and search for Loreta. Oi! He hoped she wasn't too frightened or, worse yet, hurt. He couldn't bare that. It was his fault that she'd come in the first place! "Loreta?" He called softly, peeking around. She wasn't on the ground and didn't appear to be injured somewhere...he would've heard if she was.

Kazifel's voice spun him back to attention, causing him to arch a brow slightly. Hmm... Yes, Rocky had just called him a doll man not the actual doll maker. Oops. He was close enough though, and the wolf man wasn't trying to kill him anymore which was a definite plus in Hatter's mind.

"I am The Mad Hatter, but you can just call me Hatter." The brightly colored Corvie took off his top hat and bowed lightly to them both before straightening once more and offering that large smile once more. "And my friend is Loreta...wherever she went..." Doorie's limp weight in his arms was horrible unsettling, but he ignored it as best he could for now. "Well, my Corvistownien specialty is living mechanics... I want to make a sentient human doll." He nodded slightly and absently stroked Doorie. "From what I heard of it, her research is along the same vein as mine...just coming from a different direction. I thought it might help progress my own mastery."

Despite Doorie being disabled and unconscious in his arms, she would have been a perfect example of his work. The doll was well crafted and had, obviously, been sentient despite her malfunctioning after being bitten. Hatter's problem was in taking the next step up in the ladder of sentience. Momes and Toves were a cinch, but anything larger was...awkward.

[Kiki]

Jenn, Kari and Vyn receive 1 token each, to be redeemed in Ashwin's Shoppe. This will automatically be added to your recorded totals in the shoppe. Congratulations, and keep up the good RP!

[Kari Muffin]

Kazifel stared blankly for a few moments as he absorbed the information that he had just been given. Living dolls? Oh well then. This was kind of important to him wasn't it now? He growled. Screw this, he was going to be comfortable.



The man shifted to his human form and looked at his wife and child. Femi didn't like outsiders, and Alphonse had been hurt for biting something he shouldn't have, how was he going to explain this to them? "I'm really sorry, Femi, but I have to deal with this. It's kind of important."

Loreta flew down from her perch to land next to Hatter. "Figured I'd search for high ground... you know." She said quietly to the man. This idea of being in the Woods still had her freaked out something awful. Why had she been talked into this?

"Uh... just... we need to get inside before night falls," Kazifel called to the man dubbed Hatter. The Mad Hatter? What a horribly strange name. He offered Femi his hand. She wasn't going to like this at all.

[The Jenn]

No, Femi didn't like this at all, any of it. From a 'first hunt', this had turned into something rather nasty and she just didn't want to deal with it. And now her husband was inviting these Outsiders... into their home. With their other children. Her fur bristled but she didn't say anything, just took Kazifel's hand and held her son closer. The note of insistence in his voice couldn't be ignored. It just made her hackles rise and her tail poof more, what they were about to do.

Could she really have killed him with that tree? She hadn't thought about just how close it was... and her aim had been okay, but what if it hadn't? It would have squished him, probably not killed him... probably. But he would have been very hurt. And it would have been her fault. She drew closer to him, trembling a little. This was the absolute worst kind of stress. She had nearly injured her husband through her own lack of common sense and her son was still whimpering against her chest and they were bringing home brightly-colored nasty Outsiders to talk about Kazifel's sister. Could it be worse than this?

Well. She could have killed Kazifel. The thought made her nails bite into his hand involuntarily.

[Vyn]

When Kazifel assumed his human form, Hatter arched a brow and smiled. He was a good looking human when he wasn't being a rather unnerving wolf. On a more professional note, however, he was also not a doll despite the fact that he was definitely the guy Hatter was looking for.

He really had fixed his 'problem', hadn't he? Hatter would ask about the doll girl later, he had other more important things to ask about first.

Or perhaps more selfish, whatever.

When Loreta alighted beside him, Hatter wrapped an arm briefly around Loreta and gave her a light hug as if to ascertain to himself that the heron was still all in one piece. "That was probably a good idea, all things considered." He smiled wryly, glancing at the couple nearby before nodding to the wolf. "True enough."

Inside first, questions later. Hatter approved of that. Maybe he'd even have some tools inside so that Hatter could check on Doorie...

[Kari Muffin]

Kazifel winced. "Hand, Femi, hand!" He almost hissed as he pulled his hand out of her grip. It would have been bleeding either way, but taking it out like that was probably worse. He made a disgruntled sound before shifting to glance behind him.

He didn't like the prospect of people at all, but this was someone looking into his sister's research. It was something he couldn't ignore, even if it did bother Femi. Without much else to say he led them to the house. He wasn't going to play games with strangers.

Loreta was very unnerved by all of the events, but she hugged Hatter with one arm in return. He was fine, even though he had a freak out over Doorie. Poor thing, didn't deserve to be bitten like that. And that... squirrel thing that bit him? What the heck sort of teeth did he happen to have? Was everything in the Wood strange? And why the heck was a Corvie living in this place? Didn't he feel the weird?

[The Jenn]

Femi's fingers twitched when he hissed that and her eyes widened looking down at her lightly blooded nails. Well... dammit. She hadn't meant to hurt him then, either. That was enough to make her eyes water up a little bit with upset, but she just looked away and kissed the top of Alphonse's head until the prickling sensation was gone. The bit of moisture would just absorb into her fur and wouldn't be noticeable.

They were only a short walk from the house, no more than fifteen or twenty minutes, and she traveled the whole way in silence. Kazifel could talk to the nasty strangers if he wanted to, but she wasn't going to say anything. She deliberately skirted a few other buildings in the small village so no one would catch sight of their 'guests'.

When they got home, she went inside and up the stairs, taking Alphonse into his room with his brother. He whimpered and she shushed him, nuzzling at his cheeks. "I'll get you something to suck on to help your mouth, and we'll see about dinner a little bit later. I'm so sorry that horrible little shiny thing hurt you, baby." Afterwards, she went back downstairs to find her husband. She didn't want him to have to be alone with those people, even if she was feeling horribly guilty herself.

[Vyn]

Hatted studied the pair as he followed along behind them, curious but only silently so. It wasn't wise to butt in now and ask questions, not when he was relying on the pair to get he and Loreta inside before the monsters came out to play.

Hatter felt a weight lift off his shoulders once they reached the house, pleased to be out of the dark of The Wood. As much as he could tolerate the weird, Hatter was not a fan of mysterious danger of the twilight outside. Especially not when Doorie was out of commission and couldn't help in the least.

"Oh, uhm... You wouldn't have a few mechanical tools, would you?" Hatter could really make use of any work room if he had to, but a bit of a break would be nice. "Also, I'm afraid I didn't properly gain your name; was it Kazifel, or am I sorely mistaken?" He flashed one of those charming smiles, trying to be as personable as possible without going 'overboard' and frightening the wolf.