T - Kitty, Xenon, Nako, Bee

[Nathalia]

((Once they get the door open, the hinges appear to have been bashed in, they smell something awful...
Eugh, smells like the whole house is going foul...something in the fridge rotting, maybe?

Yuck, better check the place out, quick.))


~Nathalia

[Kitty]

Well, he was alive ... that was a relief. he really wanted to avoid bumping into corpses altogether, but if that wasn't possible well, at least they weren't meeting one straight away. however, he had a feeling that before the day was done, one way or another, that would happen. Perhaps it was simply paranoia, no one grew up with his mother without having a little touch of that, or perhaps something more. Whatever it was, he didn't like this feeling.

Or the creeping sensation that they were being watched by whatever was making those noises. thus why he was going to make some short, sweet introductions and get the hell out of the alleyway.

I am Morpheus, the Avignton is Mirai and that.... chicken is Charlie. I think... it might be best to go inside now.

He would nod when the skunk introduced himself, should he take the hint, and then step over to the door of his home. He kept listening for the shuffling to shift positions, get closer... change... anything stranger then it being there to begin with. He wasn't about to get jumped from behind from something malicious.

He turned the knob, which was still locked, but the door shifted oddly after he'd given it a little tug. his gaze traveled up to the hinges and his eyes narrowed ever so lightly, they weren't attached anymore. Someone had gotten in and gone to the trouble of putting the door back in it's place. This made him like this situation even less.

Still, he brought the key out of his pocket and unlocked the door, catching it when it tried to fall forward. He grabbed it and set it down on the outside against the wall and was then hit fully by an ungodly stench. He coughed once and covered his nose before stepping inside.

The decor had a distinctly Torquehelm theme, purple, black and silver, but the house also looked pretty lived in. Toys, books and various other items that had been left behind were evident ... you couldn't really keep a home spotless with a bunch of kids living in it, and it didn't look much different then how the family had left it when they'd evacuated. It just... stunk. Well, better be safe and clear the first floor before heading down to the basement to see what might be there.

A frown settled it's self on his features, this wasn't looking good.

Just leave it here, go back to the Hisstor where it's safe.
You know I can't do that.
Yes, you can. I don't like this ....
Nothing's happened yet, I'll be fine. Stop worrying.

All he got in return was a worried little hiss and then silence. He;d won for now, but he knew she'd speak up again soon.

[carcinoGeneticist]

Something left behind? Mirai's eyes furrowed - this whole thing felt odd to her. Why had the elegant, well-dressed man have to leave because of violence to Lowlanders? She found herself staring at him much more closely, and when the truth hit her it was like a ton of bricks.

Oh, god. He was a Lowlander. But how could that be?!

Forcing her mouth to close, the girl gave a silent little nod. A pet? She supposed that was as good a reason as any to return to the Capital, but part of her still didn't understand. Couldn't he just... get a different pet, when his life wasn't at risk? All the same, the Two understood well her place in the world, and in this man's life. She was here to help, and in return, he would help her find her own way home. When they stumbled upon the Ace, she brightened noticeably - could this be the pet in question? - but before she could even ask, the man had answered that one for her.

She shrugged her shoulders awkwardly, noting the tightness the movement caused on the rest of her swollen body. "Should we, uh, get the bucket off his head?"

No time for an answer, they'd found someone else! The girl's hair stood up along her hackles, though she willed it down - what was going on?! The boy looked near dead until he started to move, seeming very much as confused as she was. The Ace was still making a racket, and Mirai was utterly stumped as to what she should do. Luckily, it didn't really seem to be her place to decide, so she simply took a deep breath and settled in behind the tall Human. She heard the Skunk say something, and felt herself nod.

Foulness, indeed.

There was only more foulness to be had, but this time it was inside of the man's house. That didn't seem right - that smell was the only thing about him that seemed at all fitting for his Realm, and he seemed just as horrified as she was. She gagged lightly upon stepping in, struggling to keep the contents of her too-full stomach inside of her. Throwing up just wasn't going to help matters at all. She slowly made her way through the living room, glancing all around - there was a toy on the ground that had been partially disemboweled, stuffing guts strewn across the floor, but otherwise nothing of note - and her eyes found their way to the ceiling.

"I hope your pet is okay," she said softly, the mental image of an Ace, dead and rotting, coming unbidden to her mind.

[Nathalia]

((The door to the basement opened without much push and leans crazily inward, off-balance and askew.

The smell is horrific confirming whatever fears Mo may have begun to foster.
Lying where he was left, Khizr is in a pathetic heap on the floor. Eyes rolled up in his head, he has a crazed grin affixed to his face that has set in rigor mortis and begun to decay.

His chest and forelegs appear to have been torn from him...but outward, as though the blow came from inside.
Blood and organs litter the ground and a sticky trail of blood leads away from the body...and stops halfway across the room...simply stops, as though whatever had been causing it had been carried away...

A pathetic mewling noise alerts them all.
Huddled against what remains of Khizr's backside...are 5 lumpy forms.
One, a tiny, baby Lowland Weasel, is clearly dead...it looks as though its siblings have been feasting on it.









They...they certainly appear to be Mo's children...but...hang on...
Khizr was a Heart...and Morpheus a Diamond...what are these Spades doing here?! Looking like Mo?
What the devil?
Upon touching them, Mo will know for certain that they are his children, Suits be damned...pathetic and starved, here they are.
Did...did they do this?
And what about the blood trail?

Suits, this is bad...

Up above...they can hear something...moving...))

[Kitty]

Well, there wasn't anything that tugged at him as especially off besides the smell, and he was getting rather antsy to just go down and see what there was to see.... and he gave into it. He stepped over to the basement door and test the knob, nope... not locked anymore and it hung at an odd angle. That wasn't a good sign. And the fact that the smell grew even more retched was an even worse sign.

He hesitated at the top of the steps until a sound came up the stairs, a sound that was a little more pathetic then he was used to hearing, but familiar none the less. Oh.... shit, could it really be? If it was, it certainly made things more difficult.

He brought his free hand up to cover his nose for a little bit and just dodged using the stairs altogether and instead floated down to the basement using his flight ability.

He touched down and just stared at the mess before him. He was expecting to see his pet's lifeless body, that smell couldn't mean anything but death, but he hadn't anticipated the expression, nor the Heart's innards being strewn across the floor.

He just stared for a moment, soaking it all in before another of those little cries brought his attention from the mess and onto the..... children. mostly Highland with just a touch of Lowland and ..... they certainly looked like they'd be his. Except when he spotted a black rank marking on not only one, but two of them. He glanced over the other two... heart and diamond.... three suits? How was that possible?

The human blinked a few times before dropping his pole arm to the floor with a rather loud clunk and stepping toward the little fuzzy forms. His heart sank a little, and his stomach churned a bit as well, to see the noticeably deceased one that had been nibbled on, but he tried to avert his gaze away from that one and focus on the other little faces. He reached out and touched the closet one, the little deer, and then preceded to brush the scraggly manes of each one out of their eyes to get a better glimpse. Yes, even the two spades.... they were his. He wasn't sure how he knew precisely from touching them, but he just knew. And the happy little noise from the back of his mind only confirmed it, she only really like his family after all.

He couldn't leave them here like this, but he wasn't exactly certain what to do. Four was definitely an awkward amount to carry alone, and Mirai and Nephy didn't exactly look up to the challenge.

And then there was a noise coming from upstairs. He narrowed his eyes at the ceiling and straightened up.... ignoring the little ones for now. Whoever was up there was very likely to be the one who had done this and they were going to pay. He clenched his fists, nails digging into his palms a bit, and stalked over toward the stairs again.

Unfortunately, the safest room in the house right now was the basement. Only one way in and one way out. He hated to leave the little furry bundles down there like that but.... it'd be easiest to keep them out of an even worse threat's way.

He picked his weapon up off the floor and came back up the stairs in the same manner he descended them.

Mirai, Nephy..... guard this door would you? Call out if you see or hear anything, it's very important.

His voice was even, but it had that undertone that you just knew a decline wouldn't be acceptable. He was going to investigate that noise he'd heard, but he didn't want these two either getting in the way or getting into any trouble.

[carcinoGeneticist]

In this strange place, Mirai wanted nothing more than to stick close to the Human. This was his home, after all, and he was clearly a person with some power. As much as she really didn't want to drop down into the basement and move towards the source of that smell, she wanted even less to be left behind. She shot the Yarrow a sidelong glance, then gave him a rather pathetic half-shrug before slipping through the doorway.

The smell was enough to make her heave, though her stomach contents managed to remain right where they should have been. That was only a small favor, because it meant the terrible churning didn't end, and the taste of bile filled her mouth. She paused for a moment on the top step, closing her eyes tightly and breathing through her mouth to try and lessen the terrible smell. A quiet noise came to her ears, and she felt herself hesitate: it sounded, for all the world, like... babies.

Had his pet given birth? If so... Her stomach gave another small flip as she considered the smell. There was no way it meant anything good. A bubbling panic started to rise in her gut as she slowly continued down the stairs.

There were no words for the sight that met her.

Nearly doubling over from the force of it, Mirai did vomit this time. No - this was just -- this was so wrong. It reminded her of her own mother, what surely would have happened had doctors not been on the scene to slice her open with sterile knives. She started to shake, to sob, to trip over her own feet as she tried to back up the stairs without turning away from the carnage unfolding before her. It wasn't until Morpheus himself started to head for the stairs that Mirai actually climbed them, coming to stand back in the main room and panting.

"S-sorry," she murmured, staring down at her feet. "I t-threw up on your floor." But from her stance, it was obvious that she'd do as he'd requested, and stay right where she was.

Nothing could make her go back down those stairs.

[Kitty]

If he wasn't in the mood he was in he would have found quite a bit of humor in the girl's apology. With blood, organs and who knows what other sorts of fluids all over the floor a little vomit wasn't going to make a difference. However, he was not in a mood anywhere near one that had room for enjoyment.

He also wasn't especially interested in the responses of the two younger cards and didn't give a large window for them to do so before he turned and set off for the only rooms that were over the basement. He bypassed the storage closet, definitely not enough room in there for something to be moving around, and headed for his own bedroom. There was a decent sized washroom attached to it, but he put more faith in whoever it was would be located in a more comfortable area.

As soon as he touched the doorknob his eyes changed to a solid purple with a bit of a glow to them. He turned the knob sharply and thrust the door open with a bit of force. His voice was icy, but relatively even.

Come out, come out wherever you are.

His mood was made even more sour by the agitated growling resonating in his mind. Even the shadow demon wanted to come out and play with the one responsible for the ... mess.

[Nako]

((I hope it's safe to assume maybe charlie somehow found a way out of his bucket :< ))

Klink Klink Klink. That was the sound of what began to head toward the door which the skunk guarded… but there was also the sound of vigorous and anxious clucking.

When he'd heard the voices, he'd kicked and heaved! But that mostly made it so that his bucket merely rolled in circles. It wasn't until he'd managed to roll himself into a corner and wedge himself in between two fence poles and pull himself out. But.. where had everyone went??? He had followed them into the house, clucking worriedly but sounding happy that someone familiar had come home. This skunk though.. was not familiar. But he'd heard her voice alongside one of his masters. Where -was- master? He'd had to go down into the place where he wasn't allowed to go, where Mo kept his things. There was a dead thing there, and squirmy little things among the dead thing. His feathers stood on end in alarm.

[Nathalia]

((At the sound of Mo's voice something slid out of the room across from him.))

"Hello? Oh, wow...um. At least it's another Lowlander, eh? Thought it might'a been one a'those damn Josiggies runnin' around."
A broad-shouldered, Lowland Heifer steps out into the main room.
The rot on her face is a little severe, but otherwise, she seems exceptionally healthy and hale, the nose even looks clean.
"I been searchin' fer survivors, glad t'see you're ok."
She extends a hand to shake.
"My name's Viast, I'm right up from the Lowlands wit' the other crew wit' the Diamonds flyin' us."

She stops, looking confused.
"You...you're not from the organization, are you? Do...do you even know there's a war on?"
She pauses.
"Is this even your house?"

[Kitty]

He wasn't expecting a Lowlander to be up here, but it didn't smooth his temper over in the slightest bit, it actually made him a little worse. His eyes narrowed in suspicion at the heifer .... what the snot was she babbling about? Survivors, organization, war? So that's what all the strangeness was about then, a stupid war that had been going on for who knows how long for what reasons? And it came all the way to his home to disturb he and other lowlanders who hadn't really spent any time in the desolate region?

He curled his lip back a bit, it wasn't nearly as impressive in this form in others but it might help her see how utterly pissed off he was.

If you're looking for Osias he isn't here.

Maybe that's why she was here, looking for mother? Osias had lived in the Lowlands for a good long time and he'd heard the stories of what the rat had done to Jossiggies so many time he could probably compile them into a rather accurate book. However, he was still angry, and being asked if this was his home made him lift up his weapon and point it at her.

You were just going to leave them down there, weren't you? Leave them to starve to death cause they aren't fully lowland?

The purple glow to his eyes got a little more intense, he fully blamed her for the scene in the basement.. After all, she was the only one in his home snooping around, it made sense.

I should rend you limb from limb for what you've done to them and my avenge my Heart as well!

Broken Mirror Boost: This SD's eyes now glow with a rather disturbing purple tinge when either aroused or feeling especially violent. The glow seems to seep up from the tear ducts until it has consumed the surface of the eye itself. This glow can cause Cards ranked 10 and lower to feel as though the floor is tilting out from under them, though in reality they are simply being forced off balance.....