Back here again {DragonSong}

[Lowen Thorn]

"Ipsen?" the man asked in a befuddled tone. "Why, I don't think I know any Ipsen. Like I said, I'm just a kitsune from Thantos that's also lost his way. Do you know what a kitsune is? Well, let me explain it to ya."

The man scratched at his chin, contemplating his next choice of words, but his eyes widened - though hardly noticeably with the intense shade of black. "No! No that is just not right!" he said in a rather feminine tone. "Oh, dear. What was I saying? My name is Lucy. Lucy Tur, at your service, m'lady. I'm a bard from Connloath-"

The man shook his head from left to right rapidly before returning his gaze back to Hana, this time with the look of fright an uncertainty. "U-Um.. W-Who are you?" he asked with a whimpered voice. "H-Have you seen my mommy? I-I-I do not-"

"Well, my goodness, what do we have here?" he interrupted himself again, this time with a broad, energetic voice. "Dax is the name, fuckin' is my game! Who might you be, little lady?!"

He stopped.

He just stopped. For a moment. No more talking and no more surprise voices as he face washed over in a blank slate. He slowly tilted his head to look at Hana as the black finally drifted away from his eyes.

Hello Hana," Ipsen said with a sinister grin. "Miss me?"

[DragonSong]

The kitsune gritted her teeth. "How do I help him?" she snapped, not in the mood to play games. "How-- how many of you are there?"

[Lowen Thorn]

Ipsen snorted a laugh.

"Oh, please. Don't be so naive, Hana," he said. "It's just the two of us. Well, the three of us if you count the original, which you shouldn't."

He laughed again, this time louder and more cynical. "Did you really believe that whole bit back there? A kitsune named Tobin? Gods' sake, lady! I expected better from you!"

The man got to his feet, dusted himself off, and pulled his dagger out into the open. "Now, what the fuck do you want from me, anyway? Do you really think I'm going to help you help him? Come now, Hana," he said, his voice trailing off at the end. "You disappoint me."

[DragonSong]

Hana hissed at him, backing up a few paces at the sight of the dagger. "Why?" she demanded. "This man deserves to be whole. You and Lowen...you're two pieces of him. Not all him, not all you. Why don't you want to help him?"

[Lowen Thorn]

Ipsen's sinister grin faded and he stood there with a look of pure hatred.

"Where would be the fun in that?" he asked softly. "Why should I make that bastard whole again? He couldn't handle it. He'd kill himself, you do know that right? Do you think I want to fucking die, Hana?"

He took a step closer to her. "I want to live, but I don't want to live with Lowen. I don't want to live with that wife murdering piece of shit Art either. I want to live the way I was meant to live: as Ipsen."

He pointed his dagger at her and that twisted smile returned. "I'm staying longer now. I've got more control. Each time is longer than the last. It's only a matter of time before I'm the only one in charge. Got it?"

[DragonSong]

"No." Hana kept her voice soft. Carefully, she reached up to wrap her fingers around his wrist, gently pointing the tip of the dagger away from them both. "No, Ipsen. This isn't right, and you know it. You need help, you all do."

She held his gaze, making sure to keep her voice calm and even. "Please, just let me try to help you."

[Lowen Thorn]

Ipsen scowled as the woman took hold of his wrists, but stopped himself from acting any further. What was the point? The woman was hell-bent on "saving" him, after all.

He loosened his grip and the dagger fell to the dirt by their feet. "Fine," he said reluctantly. "I will let you talk to him. Then you can decide for yourself."

In an almost miss-able transition, the little flint of forestry green in his brown eyes washed over the irises, until that green was the dominant, and only, color that gazed at the Kitsune woman.

The man stared at her solemnly for several moments before speaking.

"Hello, Hana," the man said, his voice different from anything else before. "My name is Art Tur. I believe you wanted to speak with me."

[DragonSong]

Hana caught her breath. "Um...hello." She cleared her throat and ran a hand nervously through her hair, not quite sure what she should be doing or saying.

"You're-- you're him then? The first, I mean."

[Lowen Thorn]

He gave her an apologetic smile. "I am," he said with a slight nod. "I am indeed me. It's been a long time since I've seen the outside world... four years, in fact."

He stepped away from her, looking up through the tree limbs. He took a big whiff of the woodsy air, almost as if he had smelt it for the first time. He continued to admire their surroundings for several more moments before returning his gaze to the woman.

"Thank you, really, for taking care of Lowen this past day," he said gently. "Oh. And I apologize about Ipsen. He's a bit of a loose dagger, but he means well at heart. Taking care of that side of me - Lowen, I mean, that I cannot do myself."

The way the man spoke, and his overall demeanor in general, captured the personas of both Lowen and Ipsen. He had the gentle, warm nature of Lowen, but the confidence and realism of Ipsen.

"So, what did you want to know?"

[DragonSong]

She sighed and slowly sank down onto a nearby fallen tree, dropping her head into her hands.

"I want to help you," she murmured after a long moment. "But I don't know how to do that. And-- and if I do, Lowen and Ipsen..." She shook her head. "They'd be gone."

[Lowen Thorn]

"Help me?" he asked, a small smile of surprise curled into his face. "Why, that's a very nice thing to say. But you're right, helping me would be the end of them. I had no idea when I created Lowen four years ago that he would have such an impact on all the people around him."

He placed his thumb and forefinger across his chin as if to think. "Ipsen, too. For different reasons."

Stepping over, he took a seat in the dirt near her. "But you don't know me, Hana. Not really. I do not deserve any type of help, especially someone as generous and kind as you have been," he explained. "Just being out here... out in the open, talking and moving about freely.. makes me sick. Makes me feel guilty."

[DragonSong]

Hana hesitated a moment, then leaned toward him slightly, hands folded in her lap.

"Tell me why?" She tried for a small smile. "I don't believe anyone is incapable of being saved, Art Tur."

[Lowen Thorn]

The man's face grew very stern.

"I murdered my wife, Hana," he said absolutely. "I murdered her and our unborn baby in cold blood. And then I ran away."

[DragonSong]

She swallowed, her stomach churning.

"Oh gods..." Hana placed a hand over her mouth. "You— why?!"

[Lowen Thorn]

"Well, I was not exactly in control," he informed her. "It was some sort of demoncraft. Some sort of possession. I do not know how much I could tell you to make you believe me, so I will just keep it at that. But the truth of the matter is that I still killed her. I butchered the one I loved most in this world, and I ran away."

The man looked away from Hana, disgusted with himself. "Sure, I tried to fight the one who caused me to do this.." he started again, his voice shaken with grief and anger. "But I was outmatched and I failed. So, I ran away. I ran like a coward, and that's when I created Lowen."

[DragonSong]

Focusing on her breathing for a moment, Hana settled herself in front of this familiar stranger, legs crossed and hands folded in her lap.

"I'm sorry," she murmured. "I'm so sorry. I...do believe you. About the demoncraft. I've-- I've seen things like that before." She sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "But Low- Art. I don't think running from something like that makes you a coward."

[Lowen Thorn]

Art smiled lightly when she almost called him Lowen.

"Lowen is a fascinating fellow, is he not?"he asked, purposely changing the subject. "I had no idea what sort of impact he would make when I ducked off into my little shell of isolation."

[DragonSong]

"Art." Hana frowned, not so easily distracted. She reached out to him cautiously. "Let me help you," she murmured. "I think-- I think you needed Lowen and Ipsen, once. Just to survive. But you're fracturing. You need to be...you again."

[Lowen Thorn]

Art threw her a sharp, Ipsen-like, look.

"How would you help me?" he asked sincerely. "And why? Would you want to keep going if you murdered the one you loved most, and there was nothing you could do about it?"

[DragonSong]

"Because there's always a way back." Hana narrowed her eyes, determined. She had to believe that. "Art, I won't pretend I know exactly what you're going through, but I have lost people. And you have to keep going. For them, if nothing else."