Impossible Child [Harps/Lucca]

[Callypso]

The aftermath of that dreadful night kept Iso at home for several days thereafter. It was a particularly blustery afternoon, and though the sun shone warmly across the living room and onto the sofa where she had draped herself under a blanket, the whistle of the wind against the window panes was impossible to ignore. The high-pitched keening of that invisible force was oddly reminiscent of the woeful, mourning voice of the ink-creature, Tamis. No. He had been a person, a Selkie. And now they were all dead. All of them.

She shuddered, remembering in the blur that was the aftermath of the Jossigy/Lowland War, how a message runner had pounded on everyone’s doors, screeching about how a Highlander with a telepathy ability had told him to spread the news. All of the Selkies. Dead. The water had been poisoned. Genetically engineered to wipe out Selkies. It was a marvel of science, but it brought her no joy. The Selkies that remained drifted absently through the streets like ghosts, as others now viewed them with awe or pity. The last of their kind…

Of course, she’d had some changes, too. When she was finally reunited with Aberforth, she had lunged at him, happy that he was alive, that he hadn’t been wrapped up in all the mess. He was startled, as startled as he ever was, but he hadn’t entirely pushed her away. Polina had fussed and bemoaned the crowning of her “beautiful skull”, but had been quick to backtrack when Iso glared at her. She was stuck with these things on her head, and the strange ink on her back, which seemed to react to her emotions. As long as they didn’t interfere with her work, or the birth of her children, she could live with them.

She shifted on the couch to better suit her needs, and marveled at how she had seemed to be more accustomed to the unborn litter inside her. Perhaps her body had been developing muscles to better support her without her knowledge, but she definitely felt as though some weight had lifted. It was nice, considering how she so hated the bowl-legged waddle that served as her means of transportation.

A light knock echoed from down the hallway, interrupting the doctor’s meandering thoughts. She turned her head, puzzled. Aberforth had rescheduled the contractor’s visit for later in the week, hadn’t he?

Polina? Aberforth? Are you expecting anyone?

[Lucca]

Aberforth had been...well. To say that he was terrified after waking up and remembering nothing and finding the city smelling like blood and ink...would be an understatement. He could truthfully say those were the worst moments of his adult life, running through the streets and trying to find something, anything that would indicate what this mess was and why he'd apparently been unconscious through all of it.

Someone had drugged him. Maybe even this was a dream. What if something had happened to Iaso and the babies? The paranoia had nearly crippled him, and it was only the intervention of a few of his fellow officers, who had apparently been through much the same thing, that reassured the Goat that if this was a joke, it was a bad one, and if it were a conspiracy, it was against all of them.

By the time he'd finally found Iaso, the fact that she was still -alive- brought him the sort of relief he didn't even know how to really feel, so he'd just taken her affection with a mild dose of confusion, and her new...accessories...with much of the same. It was a few days before the Goat realized something odd...he hadn't doubted Iaso was who she said she was.

All that brought them to their current place, in their house where he was doing his best with a particularly vengeful light fixture in the kitchen. His large ears flicked on hearing Iaso's voice call through the house, and he frowned and clopped off the step ladder and towards the door, throwing her a blank look. "No." That said, he went to answer, pink eyes narrowed slightly in suspicion. If this was someone else come to separate his family and cause more wars...

He opened the door, prepared for anything.

[Harpsdesire]

The door opened on a teen aged ferret with a slender build and impressive horns on her head. A little disheveled and worse for wear, it seemed she had at least made some attempt to smooth her fine silken mane into some sort of order before she knocked at the door, but her fur was dirty in spots, and her young face held the tension of sleepless nights. She blinked at Aberforth from behind round-framed glasses and hesitantly spoke. "D-dad?"

Kendra wasn't at all sure how she had found the place, but after escaping the devastated Lakes back to the capital and hesitantly parting ways with Kaden, she had just sort of wandered until things looked more familiar. Over the course of a few days she had narrowed her search to a particular neighborhood, then a single, slightly ramshackle house. It felt right, it looked right, although she couldn't say she recognized it, exactly. If she was lucky, her family would be inside waiting for her.

They would tell her the things she so deeply wanted to remember, but couldn't, and a sense of belonging would replace the horror and chaos that had filled every moment she could clearly recall. The thoughts of an inky beast, the lost Selkies, the Ace pelt that yellowed with deadly disease-- they would be gone, and let her sleep again. In her own bed, in her own house, with her own brothers and sisters nearby. Everything would be fine, and the out-of-control world that called her quick temper up to defend her would settle into a peaceful, domestic rhythm. She wouldn't need anger to chase away the fear any more.

It had taken longer than she expected to gather the courage to walk up to the almost-remembered house, and she couldn't bring herself to walk in with the confidence she would if she knew for certain that this was her home. Instead, she had slunk to the door nervously, waiting a few painfully slow-passing seconds, and nearly ran back into the street before the door swung open.

She moved forward a little, raising her nose as if to nuzzle the goat, then hesitated and dropped her head, trembling under his scrutiny. Kendra inspected Aberforth's oh-so-familiar face again and asked in a voice that was fragile with hope, "You are... my daddy?"

[Callypso]

Something wasn’t right.

Since they had begun living together, Iso had come to recognize a characteristic of Aberforth she hadn’t noticed before. He had this incredible way of filling up a space, exuding suspicion as though it were a tangible thing. There was a sudden stickiness to the air as well now, suggesting he was uncomfortable and unsure of what to do.

Perhaps she was the one being paranoid, but an investigation to their household visitor was better than continuing to let her thoughts carry her to unpleasant places. Beside, it might be one of those Sprouts selling goodies, and the goat might accidentally frighten them.

She slid laboriously off the couch and waddled down the hall to the front door, where Aberforth had placed himself just so. About to raise an eyebrow and gently chide him for being so gruff, she stopped herself, noticing the tension in his shoulders, noticing the way he had lowered his head just a bit.

What’s the matter, Aberforth?

Knowing better than to push the Tulgey aside (he could be rather protective), she hovered behind him and looked around him to find a slight, very pink teenager staring at the Club. The girl looked frightened and unsure, and she was positively filthy. In fact, she looked like she’d been through quite an ordeal and had tried to truss herself up as best she could. Had the girl come requesting a doctor’s services?

Young lady, are you quite well?

She had missed the brief exchange between the two Cards, seeing as how it took twice as long for her to move anywhere these days, but the way the young woman looked at the two of them made her uneasy. Brows furrowed, she looked at Aberforth and back to the girl, a nervous, itchy feeling beginning to manifest at the back of her neck.

Is there something we can help you with?

[Lucca]

Aberforth stared. His expression was caught somewhere between cold neutrality and deep shock. The teenager at the door gave him the most odd, uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach, and he found himself lowering his head slightly out of reflex. But when she spoke...she was familiar, and yet not. Her resemblance to Iaso was startling and obvious, but as far as Aberforth knew, the woman had never had any children before. And those horns...they looked so much like some of the array sprouting from Iaso's head. How could this even be possible? It didn't make any sense. She had to be lying.

He found himself shaking his head, but then stopped, as Iaso came to the door. He backed up slightly, though he never took his pink eyes from the girl. He never even seemed to blink. Finally, he found his voice, and it was the coldest it ever was. "What is your name?" He held himself rigidly, and a sidelong glance to Iaso showed him that she had no more recognition for this child than he did. Besides, what she claimed was outright impossible.

He didn't know what kind of trick this was, but when he found out who was responsible, they would be in for a world of hurt.

[Harpsdesire]

When Iaso appeared, Kendra's eyes grew quite wide, and her voice when she spoke had the timbre of a much younger child's. "Mommy!" While Aberforth looked vaguely familiar, Iso's face was blatantly family. Her sudden burst of joy faded as quickly as it had come. Why were her parents looking at her as if she was some sort of rather distasteful specimen?

"I- I'm okay, mostly, only I think I have some sort of amnesia and it took me days to remember how to get home. Are you mad at me?" She sounded worried and unsure. This was her home, wasn't it? It smelled like her home, at any rate. "I live here...?" She told the pair, and hated herself for the way it came out like a question. Of course she lived here. She knew her own house and parents. The young corvie looked at Iaso with hopeful longing. Why wasn't her mom giving her a hug or something? Weren't they even worried about her?

She trembled again at the ice in Aberforth's voice when he addressed her. "It's Kendra, Daddy." She told him, as if she wasn't sure if he was only pretending not to know her. But the chilly expression on his face let her know that something was wrong, this wasn't just some kind of unkind teasing, "Are... are you mad at me?" She repeated, " I didn't mean to be gone so long. The Selkies..." A dry little sob forced it's way out of the girl's throat.

[Callypso]

Mommy?

The ferret’s ears flicked back against her head as she recoiled slightly. It was a strange thing to be addressed that way. In all their preparations for the litter she hadn’t even considered the new moniker, and hearing it now, from this confused adolescent, gave her shivers she couldn’t explain.

Craning her neck out a bit to look better at the girl, an uncomfortable fluttering began in the pit of her stomach. This child looked remarkably like her – even the horns on her head, curling around the girl’s skull - were exactly like one of the few pairs that now adorned her own. There was even something strangely familiar about the girl, too, though she couldn’t determine why. Unconsciously, a paw lifted to clasp softly against her swollen stomach.

I’m sorry, but you must be mistaken. We haven’t any children, at least, not yet. She stepped around Aberforth for a moment so the girl could get a glimpse of her distended belly, then moved back to her earlier position, frowning slightly. Did you say amnesia? I’m afraid that may be why you think this is your home.

She looked to Aberforth for confirmation, his few flickers of expression mirroring her own bafflement at this untoward situation.

A short intake of breath caught in Iso’s throat when the girl mentioned her name. Though they had had only a few conversations about potential names for the children, Aberforth had been adamant that they honor his parents. Kendra had been his mother’s name. How could the girl know? Was this some sort of gross coincidence?

Suddenly there was a surge of some emotion Iso couldn’t identify, the girl looked as though she were about to burst into tears. The strange Corvie looked for all the world like she and the Tulgey were playing a horrible trick on her, not understanding why they hadn’t yet admitted her into the house.

I’m sorry, but it’s impossible for us to have grievance with you – we don’t know you. She hesitated, then looked back at the girl. Will you excuse us for a moment?, and gestured for the goat to shut the door before addressing him quietly.

Might we let her in? If she has amnesia then she probably has a family searching desperately for her… perhaps there’s a missing persons report at the station? She clearly needs an examination in any case... she looks horrible....

She blinked a few times and shrugged her shoulders, as though trying to physically remove the odd feelings stirring in her gut. There was something off about this, but what? Could Kendra just be another unfortunate victim of the War, of the Selkie genocide? Why did she feel a peculiar nattering at the back of her mind?

[Lucca]

Aberofrth stared at the girl. This felt...beyond bizarre. There was no way he could explain it. It was impossible. It had to be some trick. Sure, the girl looked upset, but that could easily be faked. His expression became more distant as the girl spoke further. It sounded like a typical sob story, and he had to wonder, who was she, really? Some street urchin hoping to get taken in? The child of a Corvie who had performed cruel experiments on their daughter to make her think she was the child of someone else?

And then...she said her name. Aberforth's heart leaping into his throat. He felt himself freeze as his insides turned to ice. What...how could she possibly know? He had been planning to name a child that, after his mother...he stared at her in something like horror, though the only way it showed on his face was that he'd become even more pale under his white fur.

When Iaso told him to, he shut the door on the girl, and turned toward her, shaking slightly. "Something...something's off about this," he said in a low, desperate voice, eyes searching her form as if she'd somehow have the answers written on her fur, or as if the ink that riled across her back like a living thing would spell them out. "How could she possibly know..." He trailed off, knowing Iaso knew of what he spoke. Kendra. It was his mother's name. And she'd kept calling them...

It was so strange to hear that name. To hear himself referred to with so loving a term.

But it was impossible. The whole situation was scaring him.

"We can let her in." They could hardly do anything else.

[Harpsdesire]

"What?" They didn't remember her, and it seemed they didn't remember the brothers and sisters she was convinced she had, either. Before Iaso made reference to it, Kendra hasn't even noticed the older ferret's rather obvious pregnancy. Now that she did, she stared in confusion. Her mother looked pretty far along, five or six months at least, and she could only remember being gone maybe a week. Had she actually been gone much longer, long enough that her own parents forgot her? "But what about my brothers and sisters?" She was sure she had siblings, once... they had played together, argued fiercely sometimes, made a blanket-fort somewhere, she thought she remembered a fort...

"Amnesia... but I-- remember this. This is where I grew up. I remember you." She looked miserably into Iaso's face. Had someone replaced her parents with near-duplicate strangers somehow? That seemed impossibly bizarre, but really no stranger than the rest of the week had been. "Mom..." Please remember me.

Both of the adults looked distinctly uncomfortable, as if they wished they could think of a way to be rid of her, but were too polite to say so. Kendra started running a paw through her tangled mane nervously. When the door shut in her face, the girl seriously considered running off, or possibly breaking down in tears. In the end she did neither. Letting out a miserably tremulous whimper, she hunkered down in a miserable heap on the sagging front steps to wait.

[Callypso]

At the girl’s assertion that she had siblings, Iso began chewing on the inside of her lower lip. She was certainly pregnant enough to have a big litter, but the way the girl carried on you’d think she was going to pop out half a dozen. Iso mentally shoved that thought aside. This girl was clearly confused, perhaps she’d ingested something that had made her forget where she was from. Still, her heart seemed to skip a beat at the plaintive call the young Corvie gave before Aberforth had shut the door on her.

Rattled, Iso looked to her partner who appeared to be just as disturbed as she, if not more so. It startled her to see the normally stoic goat visibly shaking, his eyes darting along her body as though searching for answers.

I know… I don’t understand. Is this merely coincidence?

The situation was impossible. What the girl was saying, her name. How could a stranger possibly know the significance of that? Aberforth was not one to share his feelings, and she very much doubted Polina had rambled about it to someone at the market – after all, she hadn’t actually birthed the children yet.

She stared uncertainly at the Tulgey before he affirmed they would allow the girl to enter. Just then, Polina shuffled down the hall toward them.

What’s all this, then? Someone at the door?

Iso lit up, suddenly grateful that her Great-Aunt insisted on being involved in every little matter. This was beyond her and clearly she and Aberforth were too shocked to handle the situation with much delicacy. She briefly explained the scenario to the badger.

Well, of course we can let her in! My goodness, she said she was involved in that Selkie business? Poor lamb probably doesn’t know up from down, let alone who her parents are!

The Morganberry/Corvie mix thrust herself between the expecting parents and flung open the door, stopping to place a hand neatly upon her chest.

Well, bless my soul if she doesn’t look like she belongs to you! Polina faltered a moment, as the girl's eye lit up with something like recognition. If that muted black wasn’t the result of a Tulgey heritage… she shook her head, smiling brightly at the girl.

Come on in, ducky, and let’s get you washed up. You look half-starved. I’ll put the kettle on and we’ll fix you up something nice to eat.

The badger ushered the girl down the hallway, leaving the baffled Iso and Aberforth to trail awkwardly after them. Iso closed her mouth, which had fallen open during the exchange between child and badger, and gently closed the door. A mixture of confusion, irritation and concern splashed across her face, the ink on her back waving indecisively. She shrugged.

I... suppose we should follow?