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Post by Lucca on Mar 9, 2011 13:51:59 GMT -5
 The whole nightmare of the day, culminating in Argo's sudden disappearance after bringing them to a scene of a bloody Card battle, played back in his mind, over and over, like a horrid recurring dream. While the Cards were busy cleaning up, the Rabbits all made their way outside, and Shelby partially just wanted to run far away. But something wouldn't let him. He had to talk to his Father Jack. So, in the back of the Court grounds, in a small, dark garden, Shelby stood, fidgeting with awkward new limbs and waiting for Heike to say something. He wished Maeve was still here to encourage him. He wished he'd never been so foolish as to drink the vial. He wished...he didn't even know what he wished, anymore. His eyes were wide and staring at the ground, his mismatched hands started tugging roughly at his ears in a familiar nervous motion. His long tail lashed about in a decidedly unfamiliar one. Finally, he could stand the silence no more, and he looked nervously up at Heike. " Sir? I...I'm sorry." |
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Post by Kari Muffin on Mar 9, 2011 21:45:17 GMT -5
Heike was clutching a box rather tightly. He had cleaned himself up, collected what was left of his daughter, and had hoped that this was all some horrible hallucination. That was hardly the case. He had had a nice chat with the Queen of Spades, he had watched several surreal events and had to deal with quite a bit of panic. Good times. He was hoping that the silence would last a bit longer. However it was broken by his son. His poor son who looked like the bastard child of a Card and a Rabbit. The Jack's ears twitched as he squeezed the box tighter. It wasn't like he could ignore this for much longer. "Sorry?" He finally said as he glanced down at Shelby. They should probably get moving before anything else happened. Nadja was close by and getting ready. "About what exactly? Your sister was the one who dragged you to the river wasn't she?"This was a horrible way of going about things. He sighed. Maybe he should come out and ask the boy what happened? "Shelby.... what happened to you? Are you...?" |
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Post by Lucca on Mar 10, 2011 9:39:00 GMT -5
Shelby couldn't help it. He winced when Heike looked at him. Despite the fact that the reproach and disgust he so expected to be in the expression weren't even there, he winced anyway. At the mention of his sister, Shelby's eyes unconsciously went to the box the Jack was clutching like a lifeline. He blinked back a few tears that he couldn't afford right now. It was still hard to believe she was actually dead...she'd always been so full of life, before.
"Y-yes, sir," he said quietly, shuffling his feet. But that didn't mean any of this was really her fault! He knew she'd never meant for it to turn out like this. If only he could have protected her a bit better, then...then maybe none of this would have had to happen. Or, the thought came, unbidden, if she'd actually listened to you for once and stayed in the Warren.
He glanced up at Heike and switched to fidgeting with a small ring he wore on his right hand, turning it over and over. Was he...what? A Card? A Jack? At least the answer to both of those were the same. "No," he said, voice so quiet Heike might have a hard time picking it up even with his large ears. "At least, I don't think so. And I...I drank this bottle...it said it would make me stronger and there was that dangerous...creature that you saw. The one that looked like a Jack." Shelby swallowed and chanced another look at Heike.
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Post by Kari Muffin on Mar 10, 2011 14:23:45 GMT -5
The rabbit's ears strained to pick up the little whisper of no. His eyes drifted down to the hands that his son suddenly had. He would have known if he was a Jack. And if he was a Card he would have had a rank wouldn't he? Unless he was one of those... shape shifting things. Of course if he was one of those he wouldn't look like he did would he?
By the White Rabbit this was a mess he didn't want to deal with. Heike could feel his mouth drying out as he listened to Shelby. He had drank from a mysterious bottle? How wonderful. And there had been that Jack which had turned into something else entirely.
"So you drank a mysterious potion and ended up like that. You're still a leveret though, because I imagine you would know if you were a Jack... but there's the matter of you just... it shouldn't be possible." He did his best not to frown as he shifted the box in his arms. None of this should have been possible. How was he going to explain any of this to Seena? How was she going to take any of this at all? "But it obviously is... I can try to find something that might help you in some of my books when we get home."
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Post by Lucca on Mar 10, 2011 16:53:43 GMT -5
Well, Heike was actually taking this a lot better than Shelby had thought he might, and he found himself relaxing just slightly. Maybe it would all be okay? He knew he'd done a very stupid thing and was now a freak of nature, but at least Heike was willing to give him a chance. He fidgeted a bit more with his ring and then stuck his new hands firmly behind his back and out of the way, ears perking a bit as his listened to his Father-Jack.
Yes, he was still a Leveret, however odd he looked. At least that was one thing he could hold onto in all of this. He nodded, slowly. Nothing that had happened to him today should have been possible. It certainly shouldn't be possible that his sister was dead and he was a monster and...
"Home?" Shelby's eyes lit up and a hesitant smile touched the edges of his mouth. "N-nothing...happened...to the Warren, did it?" It was a worry he'd been having all day, ever since he'd seen the horrible Warren they'd all gotten stuck in and heard about the state of the other Jack's Warren. It was bad enough that this nightmare was actually real, but the thought of coming home to yet another disaster was more than he could take.
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Post by Kari Muffin on Mar 10, 2011 18:40:30 GMT -5
Heike hadn't thought about something happening to the Warren. He hadn't been gone for that long, and really he had left a competent leveret in charge. Things could function without him, but the tone in Shelby's voice was enough to make his fur stand on end a bit.
What if something had happened while he was out? A brief look of panic flickered on his face.
"Yes, Home. You need to see your mother and plenty of things need to be sorted out. I wouldn't expect anything to happen while we were gone. Before leaving I made arrangements for everything to run smoothly." He shifted uncomfortably as he decided that walking would probably be a good idea at this point. He motioned for the boy to start going so they could walk and talk.
His Does were hardly helpless, but getting a move on couldn't hurt.
What was Seena going to say about all of this? What was she going to think of her own son? It wasn't like he could stay in the Warren forever, and it wasn't like he could be easily hidden.
"Have you thought about your future, Shelby?" he asked suddenly.
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Post by Lucca on Mar 11, 2011 7:09:07 GMT -5
The look of panic that went across his Father's face was in some ways slightly reassuring, and in some ways very not. It meant that Heike hadn't considered anything bad happening to home before this moment, which meant that it was fine when he left to look for Fleur. But at the same time...they had no way of knowing, did they? He nodded a bit, feeling uncomfortable with the fact that Heike seemed so unsure.
It had just been a messed up day, and Shelby followed his Father, able to match his walk as he was now practically as tall as the Jack. Strange things. He, sadly, was also wondering about his Mother. She'd be sad about him, he knew. He hoped she'd be open-minded enough not to shriek or anything else that would make him feel horrible, but would she ever accept him truly now? As they left, he couldn't help but throw one look over his shoulder, trying to seek out a little Josiggy Leveret among the chaos...but Maeve had probably already left. That made him very sad to think about, for some reason. Possibly because he might never see her again...
Shelby blinked up at Heike. "I...not...really." He looked down at himself, clutching at his own, strange arms as if he were cold. "No Warren is going to want me like this."
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Post by Kari Muffin on Mar 12, 2011 1:56:54 GMT -5
The Rabbit frowned. As far as leverets went, Shelby was impossible to trade now. He was, putting it simply, a monster. He looked like he was supposed to be a card, but he lacked the suit and rank of one. He could probably blend in better with them if constantly covered his chest or there was a tattoo. Cards were pretty stupid sometimes.
Heike was frowning deeply as he looked down at the smaller rabbit. If he became a Jack, what would that do to him? Would that make things worse? That was perfectly possible--anything was possible at this point.
"You're right, but I had to ask," He said as he turned away. He needed to watch where he was going, and keep an eye on his sister. Today had been a nightmare and he didn't want it to get worse. "We could see how well you would blend in with Cards now. You could visit that little village. I don't think your tail and mismatched feet would make anyone suspicious, so you'd just have to cover your chest and ears."
A sigh escaped him. "We will figure out something. Your mother is going to be the first thing we have to face. I suppose we can talk about the future after that."
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Post by Lucca on Mar 12, 2011 9:53:01 GMT -5
Shelby's face fell more. He didn't want to think about the future. He didn't want to live among Cards. He wouldn't know -how- to be a Card. They were scary and weird and confusing, and they'd all looked at him like he was a monster. He doubted it was just the ears. Even the Cards he'd seen didn't have so very many different parts to them. His little wings fluttered nervously as he kept pace as best as he could with the Jack.
"I guess," he said in a quiet voice, after a few moments of silence. At least Heike wanted to help. That gave him hope. Although, part of him just wanted to run, and find Maeve, and go wherever she was going. It was a funny sort of feeling. Shelby had never cared about anyone outside of his Warren before (never mind that he'd never really met anyone outside his Warren before) and so this...this desire to be near his...friend? Was that what Maeve was? Were Leverets allowed to have friends? Was a monster like him allowed to have friends?
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Post by Kari Muffin on Mar 14, 2011 20:14:54 GMT -5
It was depressing. More than a little. The rabbit eyed his son with a small frown as he spoke. Everything about him was strange now, physically, but he was still the same. Heike clutched the box tighter as they continued to walk.
How was he going to fix this? Was there even a way to "fix" something like this? His ears pulled back a bit as he tried to think of something encouraging to say. This was not going to be a long painful walk in silence. They had already lost Fleur, at the very least Shelby was alive, even if he wasn't in the best condition.
"Is there anything else you want to tell me about, while we're walking? It's going to be a while and I don't think silence is going to make the walking go any faster." Nothing was coming out of his mouth properly today.
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