-insert name here-'s Place and Everywhere Else ~ Geezerville

[damecharlie]

dame stares off in the distance, voice soft, "I want to be happy," she crosses her arms across her middle, pausing between each statement, "I want the relationship between me and my guy to blossom. I want a sense of normalcy back in my life. I want a steady job...one that I actually enjoy and want to do, not have to do. I want to not worry about what's going to happen five months or weeks or days down the road. I want my friends to be safe. I want my family to be safe," she rolls her head over and looks at him, "and I want you to be safe."

After a few seconds, she asks, "Daniel do you know what events lead up to me checking myself into the institution? Did I ever tell you?"  

[FireSpark]

Daniel looks around and shrugs his shoulders at Dame's inquiry.

"Don't think so. Course, I never asked. Intentionally, mind you. Once I got a feel for the place, and you, I figured you had your reasons."

Looking back over at Dame, his uncertainty has waned somewhat. Though the faintest signs of concern began to show.

"You don't have to tell me. If you don't want to."  

[damecharlie]

"Lots of things happened in what seemed like all at once. And they were within a few weeks of one another. One event after another. I lost my two jobs in education, got arrested for a serious crime, which is why I lost my jobs...and in reality my career because with that arrest, my teacher certificate and license was revoked..." dame looks to the side, tightening her hold across her middle, "While in jail...I miscarried...I hadn't even known I was pregnant. After that, it seemed that...everything just wouldn't hold together right. I survived a month of keeping my wits about me, but...after it just felt like nothing I did was right, I wasn't working the right job, I wasn't doing the right thing, I was saying the right words, it just...all came tumbling down. I needed help before I lost myself completely. All my relationships were strained, I was working myself to death, and I wasn't...happy."  

[FireSpark]

Daniel listened solemnly, though he didn't want to. Not that he didn't want to here more of Dame's past, but he didn't want her to have to dredge up the things that made the saddest. He could hear the controlled sorrow in her voice, the regret of the past. It tore at him, almost viscerally. He wanted to reach out to her. Instead, he tucked his hands behind his back to still them.

"Dame. Don't. You don't have to pull out the past. Not on my account."

Daniel hung his head slightly, looking at the ground. there was so much more than he wanted to add but he forced his mind to stillness. Some managed to shake loose all the same.

"The past is just that. That's who you were. And I like you the way you are now."  

[damecharlie]

"No. Well, yes and no. The past is the past, but the past is what helps shape us, little by little or in big chunks, to what we are today. I like the dame before all the s**t happened. She was fun, carefree, loving and sweet kind of girl. I want to be like her again, but keep the wisdom I have. I was careless..." she stands up straighter, off the wall, "and I paid for that carelessness."

She puts her hands back in her pockets, "The past isn't something we should run from, Daniel. Not something we should cower from and try to pretend didn't happen. The past is the one thing we cannot change. It will stay forever the same. We should learn from it...and move on." dame turns and smiles at him, "Sometimes sadness reminds us of who we are now or who we were then, and it almost always certainly reminds us of who loved us then and now. ^_^ I certainly have some good people around me."

dame grins up at him, "Alright, Wolverine, let's go back inside." She turns away from him and heads that way, pep in her step.  

[FireSpark]

Daniel shrugs noncommittedly, but the sadness in his eyes lessens.

"Yeah well, if you want my opinion, I wouldn't be too sure about the past always staying the same. Well, not the exact same at least."

Holding onto the blanket so it didn't slip from his shoulders as he move, Daniel followed after Dame. As he walked he watched her legs skip slightly, a little hop as she popped in the door. Mentally, he kicked himself. Get a grip, man. Or whatever. He knew what had to happen, in order for him to resolve the issue, but he didn't like it.  

[damecharlie]

"Well...if the past changes, then the future and the present change and then you just have a big ball of mess. xd " she hip butts the door to open it, going to hang up her coat and keys. Once she does she returns to the livingroom, leaning up to kisses his cheek, "I'm gonna call it a night, okay? I'm really tired. Thank you for doing the dishes. ^_^ It was sweet." She heads to her bedroom, calling over her shoulder, "Good night, Daniel! 4laugh Sweet dreams." dame goes inside and shuts the door gently behind her.  

[FireSpark]

Daniel waited until he heard the soft click for Dame's door before he pulled off his shirt. Dropping to the couch he lay down, staring at the ceiling. The feellings he had finally begun to press back under control had almost over run his mind when she had leaned up to kiss his cheek. Never again. I can't do that again. Closing his eyes, Daniel suddenly brought a hand to his eyes and dabbed at them. his fingers came away damp. Great. Grabbing a blanket from under the couch, he spread it over him and rolled onto his side. He knew he was going to dream, but they would be anything but sweet.  

[FireSpark]

When Daniel opened his eyes he was expecting to see nothing, just the inky black void that he had come to expect from his dreams there were not dreams. So when he found himself staring out at an ocean stretching to the horizon with the sun rising, or possibly setting, he was somewhat surprised. Looking down he found that he was standing at the top of a cliff, with the ocean waves smashing against the rocks at its base some hundred feet below. Turning around Daniel found a short grass field that stretched away from the cliff side as far as the eye could see. No hills or rises, or even a stone marred the perfect landscape.

“Like it? I thought it might be a welcome change.”

Daniel’s head jerked to his left. A man, who he knew had not been standing there a moment before, had joined him. More surprisingly, he found he knew the man.

“You’re dead.”

“Dead? No. Well, not really. But he is mostly.”

Daniel cocked his head to one side at the comment. He looked around to make sure nothing else had popped out of the thin air to join them. None had, and his current company had a look of amusement on when he finally turned back.

“So what are you doing here? Even if you’re not dead. Entirely.”

The man smiled broadly, but the smile never reaches his eyes. Eyes which Daniel only now noticed. They were black as the void which he had been expecting. Suddenly, a faint outline appeared behind and above the man. A translucent outline of a flowing cloak, and topped with a black and white mask, grinning wildly. Just as suddenly the outline was gone.

Daniel could feel the name leaving his lips in a whisper. “Mahvatshi.”

“I figured a change of scene might do some good. And this face and form make communicating with you so much easier. I must say, you made it very difficult. These creatures are hard to find if you don’t know where to look. I might not have found that outpost if you hadn’t popped in.”

Daniel thought back, his mind reeling back. Finally his first memory of travelling came to mind. The one that had ended with him spilling into Dame’s room at the institution. The one that had started him down the path of truly uncovering who or what he was.

“The attack. That was you. You killed all those people just because of me? Why?!”

The man’s smile didn’t waver when he turned to look out over the ocean.

“Oh, you give me too much credit. I didn’t attack those people. I didn’t have the presence to risk that much. I just tipped off their opponents as to the location. I had hoped to be able to track you when you left. Imagine my mild surprise when someone else ported you out. I should’ve known. You always were drawn to us. Conscious of it or not.”

Again Daniel was shocked and confused.

“Us? Us who?”

This time the man looked surprised, as he turned to face Daniel, his smile thinning out. He chuckled slightly to himself as he walked towards Daniel.

“Ah yes, shame about that memory problem. A clever tactic, but we both know, not even you’re that powerful. But to clarify, I mean what you used to refer to as ‘potentials’ and ‘wakened’. You and your crusade to protect the universe, teaching anything with a heartbeat and the ability, to do what you do. On a much smaller scale of course.”

Daniel closed his eyes and concentrated. Faces began to flicker across his vision. Men, women, human and not. Some barely fit the definition of life forms as he recalled it. And of those that he truly recognized, they knew of him. Responded to him as an old friend.

“Students. Someone once referred to me having students.”

The man nodded solemnly.

“That was me. A long time ago. Relatively speaking of course. And yet, with all your teachings and trainings, it all came crumbling apart the moment one of your ‘students’ began thinking for themselves. Thinking of what they could achieve beyond what you had shown them. And now all existence will pay the price for your naiveté.”

Daniel opened his eyes, his face staring fury at the man that was in fact Mahvatshi. His fists clenched in anger and he very nearly growled.

“You.”

Mahvatshi smiled broadly.

<<<<>>>>

On the couch in Dame's apartment, Daniel was twitching violently and rapidly. His eyes flicked beneath closed lids, and his fingers clenched and released incessantly. His lips pulled back into a silent snarl, and the anger of his dream would've been obvious to anyone, had they been present.  

[damecharlie]

((Dun dun DUUUUUN!!!! surprised ))  

[FireSpark]

“Easy there, Pathfinder. This is just a dream after all.”

Mahvatshi’s voice was borderline smarmy, but Daniel took notice of his own actions as well. He was furious, yes, but there was something else. He felt stronger, more confident, more eager to confront someone than he ever could recall. Closing his eyes to calm himself, Daniel noticed that for just a moment there had been an orange-white haze around the edges of his vision. And in the brief moment that he had taken a step or two towards Mahvatshi, he did seem to recall a glow, and of having felt it more than seen it.

“Still, it seems you’ve found a new conduit. That’s something that I can’t say I expected. I had thought that there was only the one. Do you make them?”

Daniel took a deep breath and finally opened his eyes. Mahvatshi was standing across from him, arms crossed over his chest. Daniel could see the other ‘man’s’ gaze and followed it down to his own right thigh. Hovering there next to his thigh was the red rod that he had discovered during his trip to Adalanuis. His eyes searched for what was holding it there but could find nothing. It simply hung there, as steady and straight as if there were an invisible sheath strapped to his leg. He placed a hand on it carefully as he looked back up at Mahvatshi.

“I have a few of my own surprises.” He barely got the bluff out before Mahvatshi was already grinning slyly.

“Please. You have no idea what I’m talking about, and we both know it. But just for my own pleasure, I will tell you that I did keep your last one. Keilsarde I believe you called it. Though even if you could remember, I doubt you’d recognize it.”

Daniel was watching as one moment Mahvatshi’s hands were empty, and then one of them wasn’t, holding a twisted black dagger with a jagged blade. The appearance was so sudden that he couldn’t even think of haven’t not seen the blade in Mahvatshi’s hand. Without thinking Daniel found Batakos in his hand, and in its fully extended staff state. Mahvatshi only shrugged and shook his head.

“Mine can do that too you know. Of course it’s just for show. Its truth is so much more.”

Daniel’s eyes widened as he watched the blade of Mahvatshi’s dagger flow sinisterly into one appropriate to a long sword. The hilt and hand guard also extended to match the increase in size.

“Show or not Mahvatshi, I’m learning fast, and sooner or later I’m going to remember that one thing that lets me put a stop to you. It’s only a matter of time.”

“Oh really? Then puzzle out this little gem. If you knew of some way to stop me, don’t you think you would’ve used it? That’s what I thought.”

Daniel suddenly realized the shock of realization was painted all over his face. The logic was sound, and reasoning plain. If he had known how, he knew he would’ve stopped Mahvatshi. Instead, he had induced amnesia in himself, and dumped himself on a distant planet. His eyes tightened, and the sensation of the glow returned, tingeing his vision. All thought was gone, all emotion was muted, all of it swept beneath a simmering rage. With a wordless yell, he flung himself towards Mahvatshi, closing the faster than he had expected. As he approached, Mahvatshi raised the blade of Keilsarde steadily and held it in front of his body, and smiled.

“As you wish. It will simply end the same as before.”

The weapons clashed and color exploded.  

[Cuwen]

{{Earlier in the afternoon}}

Thistle had just been curling up on the couch in the living room for a nice nap. It was nice and warm inside, and she found she loved taking naps on the couch when it was cold outside.

Right before she fell asleep, though, she could swear she heard something nearby. She perked her head up and strained her ears to hear the sound again. She heard it again a few moments later and realized it was outside.

Thistle stood up on the couch and tried to gaze out the window that was right next to the couch, but she couldn't see anything. She knew she was hearing some type of whine, though.

After much debating, Thistle finally huffed and jumped off of the couch. She went to the front door, used her magic to unlock and open the front door, and went out toward the bushes on the side of the house, the side the living room was on. The sound was getting much louder now, and it was annoying Thistle quite a bit.

Thistle searched and sniffed in the bushes until she found the source of the sounds. Or she should say, sources. Before her eyes were three small kittens. Thistle knew what they were because Kits had cats and Thistle had interacted with them before.

Thistle's nose scrunched up slightly as she heard one of the kittens whine again and walk to the side until it hit the side of the house. How clumsy could you be to walk into a house?! These things were already getting on her nerves.

She huffed again and looked around. She couldn't see any adult cat, and there was no fourth scent she could sense nearby. These kittens must have been left here, and by the sound of them, they were hungry!

Huffing once more, Thistle grudgingly leaned down and scooped up one kitten in her mouth by the scruff of its neck. It instantly went limp and was quiet. This relieved Thistle greatly. She'd have to remember this trick if they got noisy again. Too bad she couldn't pick all three of them up at the same time so they'd all be quiet.

Thistle turned around and trekked back inside the house. She looked around for some place to put them. Finally, she simply put the kitten on the carpet of the living room floor, hopped up on the couch, grabbed one of the pillows with her mouth, and hopped back down. She laid it on the floor and then gently moved the kitten on top of it. Then, she turned around and went back for another kitten.

She repeated this process until all three were in the house on the pillow. Then, Thistle went to the kitchen, hopped up onto the counter, got out a couple cookies in the cookie jar, and went back into the living room. She set them on the pillow next to the kittens, but they wouldn't eat them! They licked it, but didn't eat it.

Thistle was growing frustrated quickly. What was she supposed to do?!  

[Chef_Karrie]

*walks up to his house after work and sees the door wide open. He knew that he'd been the last one to leave and only Thistle was there then* stressed Thistle, if you open the door, close it! *walks in, closing the door behind him and stops when he sees the pillow in the middle of the floor with three kittens and Thistle on it* Please tell me those are Kits' and she just wants us to watch them for a while...  

[Cuwen]

Thistle shook her head and then squeaked. Then, she moved her front hooves over her ears as the kittens continued to whine. Why wouldn't they eat the cookies?! She was so glad Karrie was here!  

[Chef_Karrie]

*sighs* Ok, I'll take care of the noise first. Then I'll deal with you. *walks into the kitchen and gets a bowl of milk. He warms it up slightly, then brings it out to the living room, setting it on the floor next to the pillow*