[FIN] The Fallen Knight and Her Guards [Kari/Jenn]

[Vyn]

With Xylia at stake, Oddr was terribly eager to learn and to please. He wanted everyone alive by the end of the night and he'd do anything to make certain that was achieved. At the same time, however, he was trying very hard to ascertain he didn't bother their host.

After everything that had happened he wasn't particularly ready to go back out into the woods and protect Xylia while her head was all woozy as it was.

When the food was plated and they returned to the room with Xylia and Thal, Oddr sheepishly offered his summoner they dish and awaited nervous judgment.

Xylia chuckled softly at Rosemary's concern - nourishment was nourishment. Xylia wasn't going to complain when all she could think about was getting her head to stop spinning. Accepting the dish from Oddr, she smiled weakly. "Thank you, Rosemary. You've been a great host." Xylia eagerly dug in and was thankful to find that the food was both pleasantly edible - Solo could have easily bested Oddie's skills but it was also his first time - and wonderfully grounding. It cleared the fuzziness from her head a little, though not completely. "It's wonderful. Oddr, you did a great."

As Xylia worked her way through her portion, her thoughts slowly cleared up once more. "Mm.. That really is helping, thank you... How can I ever repay you for all of this?"

[Kari Muffin]

Rosemary watched as Xylia ate. She still seemed a little off. It would have been better if they had managed to get her to a doctor. But. they were in Tulgey, and any doctor in Tulgey was more likely to kill Xylia than fix her.

It was frustrating. Rosemary's tail curled around her as she listened to Xylia's words of gratitude. Heh. "All you need to do is tell me stories. That's all the payment I require. I am a bard, and knowledge is everything to me." She grinned.

"And don't thank me yet, there's still quite a bit of work to be done to get you out of here. And you need to stay awake the night since I don't exactly want you dying in here. And the list of complications goes on," She sighed. Hopefully Alphonse wouldn't bother them, but considering the state of the meal that he had left behind they should be safe.

[Vyn]

Xylia wasn't really fond of the way Rosemary seemed to still be concerned, it made her worry about the wound when there was obviously nothing she could do to assist her own situation. It was easier to just pretend that everything was fine.

"Well, good... We can tell stories to stay awake, right? And if I run out I'm sure you must have dozens of stories to tell as well. Probably a great deal more interesting as well."

With the boys sitting on either side of her, Xylia thought back through her memories for stories that Rosemary might enjoy. "So, what would you like to hear first? Where should I start?" Undoubtedly Rosemary had a great many questions. She was an all-black card, nearly regionless, wandering aimlessly through The Wood with summoned weapons despite being a Spade. Should she start with how she wound up melanistic with a spade on her chest instead of a heart? or should she start with the story of how her emotionally wounded little brother had wound up here?

[Kari Muffin]

Rosemary rolled onto her back. Staying up for an extend period of time wasn't a problem for her. She just didn't want this woman dropping dead on her. She curled her toes as the woman asked her question.

"That's simple. Start from the beginning. I have no idea why an Outsider is in my Wood. And why you are the way you are, and why you have weapons. So, quite simply, you should explain who you are from the very beginning of your story." Rosemary's tail curled around her as she smiled up at the deer.

She hadn't met many deer before, let alone a Spade who had the ability to summon weapons. So much for being unique in the department of summoning weapons outside the Suit of Hearts. Whatever this woman had to say, it was going to be interesting, for sure. What region was she from anyway?

[Vyn]

With a smile and a soft sigh, Xylia brushed back an errant strand of her mane and launched herself into her story. She did not pretend she was a great story teller, but she recalled everything as accurately as was possible.

"Alright, the beginning is a little complex but I'll do my best to explain. My mother, Ophelia, is a well-known Corvistowne Scientist specializing in genetics. She was working with an assistant of hers, Maxwell, on producing a litter at the same time my father, Silvanus, was sweeping her off her feet. The product was two litters at roughly the same time and a great deal more children than one, mostly reclusive, woman was able to handle. There were a lot of us, four from my litter and five from Max's. We were all pretty close but there was still chaos amongst siblings, there always is. The worst was Seki and Rindal, but we'll get to them later.

It was Maxwell who raised me and all of my siblings, regardless of whether or not we were his but I still put my father on a pedestal. When I did see him, he always seemed larger than life - charming and chivalrous. I learned everything I know now about honor and charm from him, I dreamed of following in his footsteps. He lived in Capital City, Mom lived in Corvistowne, and so I spent my youth studying truth serums in Corvistowne all the while dreaming of the day when I'd follow my father out into the world.

I have my sister to thank," these words were spoken with quiet disdain, "for opening my eyes to the cruelty of the experiments going on in Corvistowne and for giving me the final push out of that region. I was still a reckless teen when I moved to Capital City but I was finally following my real dream: I wasn't going to spend my life in a lab like my mother - I was going to be a royal knight in the Court of Hearts, I was going to fight for justice and honor." Absently she touched the Spade on her chest and her smile faded briefly. "Back then I was a natural born 10 of Hearts and that was a far more reachable dream."

Xylia glanced over at Thal and Oddr briefly and received warm, consoling smiles from both boys. They were dreams come true, dreams that she had almost given up on.

[Kari Muffin]

Rosemary's ears perked as she listened to the story. It had been entirely too long since she had been subjected to something like this. The last good story she had heard was from her father. His story. And it sounded like he wasn't the only one with an interesting past.

Honestly she felt like she was normal compared to this woman. She was supposed to be a Corvie, and what was this about being a Heart? She clearly had a Spade on her Chest... though it would explain the weapons.... sort of. There seemed to be quite a bit she still needed to tell.

Her tail twitched as she twitched as the woman paused to look at the weapons. "Interesting..." she said as she continued to stare at Xylia. "So how on earth did you turn into a Spade of all things? And what happen to your regional colors? Some sort of horrible curse I assume?"

[Vyn]

Xylia snorted slightly and, were it not for her dark fur, would have been blushing something awful.

"That was a terribly accurate assumption, Rose. It all started with these." Xylia extended her arms to Rosemary to show off the beautiful dark metal gauntlets encrusted with three finely cut emeralds. Were the boys back in their weapon form Rosemary would've been able to see that they matched in the most wonderful way but that was a story for another time, Xylia was focused on the gauntlets themselves. "I had just moved to Capital City, was young and reckless and overly eager. While shopping one afternoon I happened upon an odds and ends shop selling these very bracers. They came with a warning - "never wear at night" - and as the age-old adage goes - curiosity killed the Corvie. I could leave Corvistowne but I couldn't take the scientist out of me. I wore the bracers overnight, of course, and when I woke the following morning it was to... this." Xylia swept a hand up to frame her face slightly and the slumped down, shaking her head. "All color on my body had turned as black as night. Sometimes, when the light hits just right, you can see some of the green that used to mark my coat but otherwise I'm entirely melanistic. This... included my rank. Somehow, I still don't know how, my suit turned black and I became a Spade."

Thal and Odd both smiled softly, obviously concerned, and Oddr gently squeezed his summoner's hand. Neither he nor his brother had been there for her during those times but they could feel the memory of it and how it troubled her even so long after the fact.

"It haunted me, for years. My joy in life was weaponry. Even before I gained bipedal I could make up for my lack of hands with my heart skill. The loss of my suit devastated me."

[Kari Muffin]

Curse Bracers? That was something she had never thought about. And wearing them at night was the trigger? That was one heck of a curse. And changing her suit from a noble dashing Heart to a Spade?

Rosemary snorted. Well at least she wasn't a Club right? She was sure that that would crush the heart of any Heart. She continued to watch the woman, and waited. My, she seemed to need quite a bit of moral support. Was everyone's life story depressing?

"But clearly you know your way around a sword if you're here." She said, "So it wasn't something you couldn't accomplish. And I imagine there's so much more you have to tell. I'll stop interrupting for the sake of this riveting story."

She curled her tail around herself as she smiled up at Xylia. This was a good story. Enough to let the woman get out of the Wood safely regardless of how difficult that could be.

[Vyn]

With a smile and a nod, Xylia returned to her story.

"Everything had fallen apart for me... I took it really hard. At the time, though, I'd been staying with my brother and three days of moping was enough for him to kick me out of the house for the day. Get out in the sunlight and what not." The doe laughed, embarrassed at the extreme she'd gone through on the way to getting better. "While out, however, I met a boy who helped me see the light in my devastation. He believed in me and it helped me to conquer my depression and pursue my dream once more. With his encouragement I began training again and by the time I gained my bipedal I had begun to make up for what I had lost in magic as a Heart with real skill that was all my own. As a child I had perfectly envisioned my future, to own twin rapiers and master the dual sword techniques and as soon as I achieved bipedal I searched everywhere for the perfect set." Xylia grinned a little, glancing over at the boys. They weren't rapiers, of course, but they were still the most perfect weapons she could have ever imagined.

"I'd become a regular in this little custom weapon's shop and it was there that I was given my swords. The store owner knew what I was looking for and... and I still don't know how he found these, but he did. They were perfectly balanced, emeralds laid in the hilt and everything - a real dream come true - and then... then I suppose they just chose me. It's so hard to explain. As a Heart I'd always hoped for my own summoned weapon, I'd heard all the stories of the perfection and the precision. Of course I'd always hoped for that, but never... never after I changed suits did I think I'd achieve that, but somehow... Somehow I did find them and I thought, in that moment, that my life would be perfect.

As we all know, nothing ever works out like that..."

[Kari Muffin]

Rosemary listened intently. So the weapons had picked her? They sounded similar to the rapiers that she and her sister shared, only obviously they were with one person rather than two, but perhaps that was how they were made.

It was quite the story of origin.

"All right, time for a little break," Rosemary said as she stretched out. She cracked her neck and her choices as she stood. Maybe there was a little bit of food somewhere that she had forgotten about? Chocolate would have been nice right about now. "I don't want to wear you out when you clearly have so much more to say. Would you like something to drink? I need to make something to eat for myself."

And if worse came to worst she would just run over to her parents, steal some food and run back. After double checking with Xylia, she made her way to rummage through the kitchen. After a few minutes she would return with a small sandwich for herself.