Ghost Roots

[MadEmperor]

[ OOC: Continued From ] 

Zephyr and Asta were risking a lot by coming so near the capitol as Uthlyn. But they both needed to know the fate of her mother. He wasn't entirely sure what love was, but he thought his feelings for Abigail must have been it. It was enough to risk everything to find out.

As they walked into the city, he was immediately at a loss as to where to even start looking. He was pretty sure he'd never dared enter such a haven of science. That was going to make things challenging.

[DragonSong]

"Maybe—" Asta cut herself off with a quiet squeak as she darted out of the way of a street cart. She watched it trundle by for a moment, wide-eyed, then shook herself and cleared her throat. "Maybe we should...ask after the family? I know they aren't noble, but for her to be a lady's maid they would have needed some status, right? Surely someone would know who they are."

[MadEmperor]

Zephyr swallowed his trepidation and let his mind settle. "Right. A family with status is probably in the city registry. I... ever actually checked."

He gave her an embarrassed, shameful look. "I... was afraid to set foot here out of some paranoid fear that a city like this would be such an anathema to me that I would simply dissolve." He hated to admit such a human emotion that he only just now realized was what he had felt. It was if that time over two decades had made him more human somehow.

[DragonSong]

Asta gave him a small, thin smile. "I can understand that," she said softly. "This place makes me twitchy too, and I'm not an elemental—"

She suddenly went quiet as it abruptly occurred to her that that wasn't entirely true. She was, at the very least, half elemental.

[MadEmperor]

"Still getting used to what your connection to me means, huh?" He smiled as they walked. "Believe me, I am too."

[DragonSong]

"Mmm." She tried for another smile, but worried she didn't quite manage it. "It's just...well. Yes."

Despite the reason for their journey to the city and all the time they'd spent together, they hadn't actually talked much about...well. What they were to each other. What that meant. Mostly because she suspected neither of them really knew what it meant, from either side.

[MadEmperor]

Zephyr had originally thought to show her his true form. But he came to the conclusion that that could wait. The young woman had enough to process already and had more to come when the learned the whole story of what had become of Abigail.


After bluffing their way through acquiring an address for the Blythe family, the pair headed into the nicest district short of the one for nobles. There, the successful merchant families enjoyed their prosperity away from the lower classes  Zephyr was surprised by the revelation that Abigail's family had grown as wealthy as they had. They were never poor, but they didn't have any mansions that he knew of.

"We're looking for Laurel Street," he said absently.

[DragonSong]

Asta nodded and repeated, "Laurel Street," as she looked around. She couldn't stop herself from musing aloud, "These houses are all so...nice." And big.

And she'd grown up in the hollow of a tree.

She couldn't even tell if she felt bitter about it; currently, the noise and stifling closeness of the city just felt overwhelming, but would it have felt that way if she'd been raised in it?

[MadEmperor]

"Give me the open sky any day." He smiled at the heavens. "Although I suppose houses are good when it rains."

Asta could just make out the sign they were looking for at the intersection ahead.

[DragonSong]

Without thinking, she reached out to take Zephyr's arm lightly and pointed. "That one, right?"

She only realized after she'd done it that, while physical affection tended to be easier for her in her animal forms, she actually hadn't touched Zephyr much at all since her breakdown at the Norbraith estate. She quickly dropped her hand, wringing her fingers together in front of her body. "We should, you know--start to ask around," she said hurriedly. 

[MadEmperor]

They proceeded to travel up the street, stopping the occasional passerby to ask about the Blythe household. Few, however, were willing to talk with such odd-looking strangers; they could be mages, don't you know? Eventually they happened upon someone who started the second they laid eyes on the pair. Zephyr, too, for they looked unmistakably related to Abigail, with bright green eyes and the same freckled olive skin.

[DragonSong]

Asta paused when she felt Zephyr tense beside her, following his gaze to the finely if modestly dressed man across the street.

The stranger quickly ducked his head and hurried on, shoulders hunched.

Asta blinked. "Well. That's not suspicious."

[MadEmperor]

Zephyr nodded to her and hurried after the man, but not so quickly as to draw even more attention than they already were. He kept pace with the ease of a predator, graceful and implacable. Hopefully, he led them right where they needed to go.

[DragonSong]

As they tailed the stranger—or, Asta had to assume, not-quite-a-stranger—she felt the anxiety in her stomach growing until it was a black hole swallowing reason.

"W-wait." She grabbed Zephyr's arm as the man reached one of the nicer townhouses lined along the street and started up the front path. "Wait, I—I don't—I can't..."

She swallowed thickly and looked up at him. "I'm...not ready..."

[MadEmperor]

Zephyr stopped and turned to face her. His expression grew gentle and reassuring as he took her hands in his. "It's going to be okay; I'll be here with you the whole time."

[DragonSong]

Trembling, Asta shook her head. "I don't—I don't think I can—"

All but hyperventilating, she looked around quickly before tucking into the narrow space between two of the townhouses. Barely taking the time to make sure she wasn't seen, she quickly shifted into the form of a small white cat.

Padding slowly back out toward Zephyr, she kept her eyes fixed on her paws. I'm not ready, she told him quietly, ashamed of herself but unable to face the reality of what was happening. I don't...know what to be for her...

[MadEmperor]

He squatted and reached out as if beckoning a stray to come closer. You don't have to be anything but yourself. As long as you don't shift. That might not go over well. She might accept it, but her family certainly won't.

[DragonSong]

She crept a little close. I don't...can I stay like this? she asked rather plaintively. Her family, they might not...even let us see her. I don't know if I can...be human for that.

Their charade for the Norbraiths had sorely tested the limited of her ability to hide her emotions; she wasn't sure she could do it again, not for something like this.

[MadEmperor]

Very well. One surprise at a time might be best anyway. He gently scooped her up and stroked her fur. "That's a good kitty."

Or would you rather wait here?

[DragonSong]

She pressed into his chest, arching her back into his hand as any cat would.

No. No, I can—I want to see her. I think. She gave a very un-feline sigh. I just don't know if I can...talk to her.