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Post by demikara on Jul 20, 2019 11:49:10 GMT -6
Lex had packed the suitcase that Molly was now carrying. Given her current bindings, her family had come to help out, Pwyll helping Molly, Zander next to Tyrus and a quiet Alex helping Catherine, letting her lean against them. The steps there weren't long, and it was a well traveled path so it wasn't long for them to arrive at a small farm house, sheep grazing in a field next to the house. There was a vegetable patch behind the house, enough to feed a family of four throughout the year. An apple tree was in the front yard and blue berry bushes were under one of the windows. Two shepherd's crooks were leaning against the wall next to the doorway.
There were no signs of electricity, no signs of other people for miles. The air was clearer and cleaner, the smells stronger and sweeter. It was a world untouched by modern pollution. Molly stepped away from Pwyll the second they were there. "We're putting you in my room Catherine! It's not big, but you'll have some privacy there!"
Tyrus paused and took in the world around him, tasting the ambient magic with no small awe. This was his first time traveling like that, his first time in this world at all. "It's beautiful. Thank you for letting us stay."
Zander clapped him on the shoulder firmly. "It's fine! You'll be in with Pwyll. It's not much, but we've got a cot set up in there for you." Having a guest like this was an unusual situation. They didn't have an extra room for a bedroom. They had needed to add a room to the house when Pwyll and Molly got too old to be sharing a room as kids. The house would be full to overflowing, but it was what they had. Besides, Tyrus had planned to send a messenger off once Catherine was lucid enough to let him know who to send it off to.
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Recovery
Jul 20, 2019 11:58:01 GMT -6
via mobile
Post by Circe on Jul 20, 2019 11:58:01 GMT -6
Lucidity would however be a difficult task to achieve as the release of the bindings had come with complications with the psionic talents Catherine normally had such good control over. This was exhibited for now by the exhaustion, incoherent replies, and inability to make sense much beyond right or left. However, she was able to nod her appreciation to Molly and her family.
She had a vague idea of where they were, based if only on the lack of minds projecting and telegraphing their every thought. "Blessed silence..." Catherine said, speaking some of the first coherent words she'd said in the last 24 hours.
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Post by demikara on Jul 20, 2019 12:34:24 GMT -6
Molly smiled, knowing what Catherine meant. "Yeah. There's no one for miles." She said and led the way. The bedroom was small, big enough for a bed and a small dresser. There was no closet. It was clean and simple and Molly put the suitcase down on the small dresser. "This is my room. I hope it suits." Pwyll's room wasn't much bigger and as Molly stepped out so Catherine could step in, she wondered how they were going to actually manage that one.
Pwyll pulled Tyrus over, showing him where to put his suitcase. There was a bed, and a cot wedged between that and the wall. It would be a tight fit for the two of them, but possible. The set up was much the same. Tyrus spared a moment to wonder where he was going to put his clothes. Alex watched this quietly and slipped off. He wasn't one for much conversation. Zander stood in the common area and looked it over.
"You two will be safe to do magic here. We can set you up in one of the farther fields in case it gets too destructive."
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Recovery
Jul 20, 2019 13:02:31 GMT -6
via mobile
Post by Circe on Jul 20, 2019 13:02:31 GMT -6
Catherine nodded her approval as she looked at the bedroom. She had experienced worse conditions and likely still would given her job, but the room, even shared was fine with her. The silence by far outweighed the what Molly or the others might have considered meager accomodations.
For a moment, her face twisted into a brief grimace as she tried to think of what to say next. "Is airgead é an t-eiseamal, ach tá an tost níos mó ná an fad órga." Catherine sighed with a combination of frustration and exhaustion. The words were still coming out wrong. She'd be lucky if anyone could even understand her.
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Post by demikara on Jul 20, 2019 13:09:11 GMT -6
"Hey, tá sé ceart go leor. Feicfidh tú níos fearr go luath." Hey, it's ok. You'll get better soon Molly responded, her accent thick. Though from her point of view, Catherine had the thick accent. If she stuck to speaking fae, they'd be fine. It was a little jumbled, but Molly had almost gotten it. "Beidh mé i Dallas. Tá an seomra díreach ar do shon. Beidh sé deas agus ciúin." I'll be in Dallas. The room is just for you. It'll be nice and quiet. And hopefully she could sleep off the worst of this.
Tyrus moved to the common area. It seemed to be a kitchen, a dining room and a living room all in one, each sectioned off by grouping more than anything else. This was going to be roughing it, as far as he was concerned. For 12 human weeks, he'd be roughing it here.
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Recovery
Jul 20, 2019 13:18:07 GMT -6
via mobile
Post by Circe on Jul 20, 2019 13:18:07 GMT -6
Looking at Molly with a combination of relief and suspicion, Catherine instead nodded. She wasn't sure that she wanted to continue to have her words come out like they had been, but at least there was some relief to be had that she wasn't speaking utter nonsense. "Behave." She said pointedly, unsure what sort of chaos would happen in her absence.
From what she had been made to understand was that Xiaolian was filling in temporarily. That could mean anything, especially with Molly as her partner. Catherine just prayed that she didn't return to any political disasters, but she didn't expect her luck to hold.
But for now, she was safe and she could at least begin to pick up the pieces.
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Post by demikara on Jul 20, 2019 13:27:31 GMT -6
Pwyll burst into laughter at this comment and dragged Molly over to give her a noogie. Molly spluttered and pushed him away. "She's got your number. I think I'm going to like her." He teased Molly in fae. The specialist grumbled and righted her hair again. "Come on. I'll give you a ride back to Dallas, since you're grounded and all."
"I'm not grounded! I'm on probation!" She went with him regardless. There was a firm no Walking in the house rule so Catherine would be able to hear the bickering until they left the small home. Tyrus watched them go with no small confusion and amusement. He had understood none of that. All he had caught was Molly said something about Dallas and Catherine told her to behave. This was going to be fun.
Hopefully his friend remembered how to speak english soon. Of course, then she was likely to tear him a new one.
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Recovery
Jul 20, 2019 13:45:29 GMT -6
via mobile
Post by Circe on Jul 20, 2019 13:45:29 GMT -6
Shaking her head, Catherine sat down on the bed unsure of where to go from there. She wasn't exactly sure where there was either. When Molly was involved, it could generally mean anywhere. Anywhere could mean a few towns away, or worlds away. Either way, she could at least sense that the world was magically rich.
The mundane realm was by far weaker in magic than this one.
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Post by demikara on Jul 20, 2019 13:54:23 GMT -6
Zander stuck his head in and smiled. "We have some food ready if you're hungry." He assured her. After a moment he hesitated. "Did she even tell you where you are?" He said, uncertain. "You're on a sheep farm in Breckenridge lands. We're...about twenty miles in from the seelie border, on the seelie side. There's a town to the north of us about five miles. The Breckridge estate is...south southwest of here?" He was certain on that one. "Molly said you were familiar with the fae realm. I hope that helps."
The food would be simple. Fresh bread, some goat milk and cheese. Some carrots to the side, and some apples. There'd be a lack of meat, but Catherine would soon discover the only time they had meet was for dinner.
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Post by Circe on Jul 20, 2019 15:14:33 GMT -6
"Yes, please. That would be wonderful." Catherine answered as she pushed herself up off the small bed. By this point any food would be a welcome respite from the dry crackers and water she'd been living off as she struggled to adapt to her new reality. It was one that still made her feel disoriented, sick, and groggy. All she wanted was for it to stop, but at least the pain had largely subsided.
Catherine couldn't remember things being so rough the first time through, but more than likely she had been forced to forget the initial hell that the binding had brought. With it's removal, it seemed like she was just beginning to wake up from a terrible fevered dream. Everything seemed much more than it had been, and the world in general hyper realistic. Although, that was more likely a characteristic of the fae realms themselves.
"A... sheep farm. That is.. interesting." She said. Thinking for a moment, Catherine still wasn't able to get a clear map in her mind of where exactly that was in relation to everything. But they were uncomfortably close to the Unseelie for her tastes. She had grown up hearing the stories of the unrest in the holdings that lay so close to the divide between the two fae kingdoms. That alone gave her more cause for concern than she had had initially.
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Post by demikara on Jul 20, 2019 15:25:42 GMT -6
"We're safe here. Alex and I are good at fighting and we have wards to alert us if something crosses the property line." He recognized the look. Being this close to the unseelie meant the land was dirt cheap, but it came with some complications. If there was ever a border clash, they were close enough to be in the thick of it. The fact that they were a family of Ratatoskr just meant they could get away quickly if needed. Better the farm then their lives. "We'll evacuate you if anything happens. The Ratatoskr school is much further in the borders. Still rural, but safer." She was their guest. Until she was ready to go, she was their responsibility to look after and ensure the safety of.
"When you're up for it, the human wants to send a message on. He says one of your emergency contacts was fae." Said human was now talking with Alex in the other room, Alex amusing himself by trying to teach Tyrus the names of various things in the house. Tyrus was going along with it more from a lack of a clue of what else to do and a desire to understand the language everyone else here was speaking. It was going to be a long six months for him.
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Post by Circe on Jul 20, 2019 15:38:25 GMT -6
Catherine glanced back to where Alex and Tyrus were amusing themselves with what sounded to her like a grade school lesson on the language. "For now." She was capable of fighting, and defending herself; her father had seen to it that she knew at least as much as he did about how to handle a sword or any other weapon. Sir William had been of the opinion that while she might not have been a male heir, she had the potential to be just as capable if or when the time came. He hadn't always been thrilled with her choices of occupation through the various decades and centuries, but at least tried to offer an out if necessary.
"Oh...that...is complicated." Catherine added looking back at Zander, frowning. She would rather the Unseelie not get wind of her being there. One of Maab's daughters, Aisling, was always spoiling for a fight; especially after the last time.
"How far are we from the Summer Court?" She asked after a moment, trying to calculate how long it would take to get a message where and to who she wanted.
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Post by demikara on Jul 20, 2019 15:51:09 GMT -6
"A month by horse. But five minutes by Pwyll, who we'll send the message with. Or at least to get him to a closer messenger. He can clean up and look respectable." Though respectable enough for the summer court was debatable. They herded sheep and did the various duties that came with being Ratatoskr. It wasn't like they had fancy clothes. He'd be clean and polite though and that was what counted.
They were all like Molly here. Distance didn't really mean much to any of them. Neither did privacy or wards, though the last one was mostly Molly. If Catherine ended up needing something from the human realm they would easily be able to fetch it. She was here to recuperate from what he had been told was a hard ordeal, though he hadn't been given any details on the matter. Hopefully the quick turn around would appease their guest. Much of this world moved fairly slowly, but here, at least, messages could be sent rapidly.
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Post by Circe on Jul 20, 2019 15:59:39 GMT -6
A month by horse was astonishing to Catherine, and made her realize just how used to the mundane and human realms she'd become. But, she did agree that the Ratatoskr's penchant for cheating was convenient to say the least. "That was never my concern... I was more concerned with the amount of time required." She had never said why, and it seemed that Zander assumed that she was worried about how Pwyll would appear. The Seelie court could be unforgiving, but if he came bearing a note with her family's crest then much would be over looked.
Resigning herself to whatever her fate was here, temporarily or longer, Catherine nodded if only in agreement to herself. "After supper then."
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Post by demikara on Jul 20, 2019 16:46:41 GMT -6
Pwyll, letter and all, had been turned away at the palace, even with the key Catherine had given as proof of identity. After some discussion, this time in English for Tyrus benefit, they had come on a solution, though not one that Tyrus was particularly fond of, given Catherine was still in rough shape. He just hoped that Catherine could handle the trip to the palace and had insisted on coming with. He was currently responsible for her, as far as the council was concerned, and had no doubt he'd be considered responsible for the rest of his life.
He really needed to sit down and talk to her about that. It wasn't going to be pretty. He basically had a 3/4 taught apprentice at this point.
Their 'rides' for the day had disappeared, leaving them at the palace gate with a token to summon them with when it was time to return to the farm.
Tyrus was not dressed for anything involving a palace. He had packed primarily to be outside, in heat, dealing with magic. He had one suit, which he as wearing now. At least he still had the suit, even if putting it on before coming to the fae realm had been more habit than thought.
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