Vanishing Blond {Open}

[Kristopher Roberts]

The jingle of bells was a normal thing this time of year, however no bells where jingling tonight , except for a very small one. This bell belonged to a small feline, hanging from a thin collar upon its neck. The feline itself went by the name of Kender, otherwise known as Ken.

Ken, was currently trying to find his Master, a human named Kristopher Allen Roberts, but he was having no luck at all. His little paws where rather sore from all the walking he had done. His fur was totally out of control as well. Try as he might, he just simply couldn't lick away the substance from his fur coat. It tasted disgusting and left a copper taste on his tongue for hours. It wasn't a flavor he liked at all.

It was actually really annoying, but annoying as it was he had something to do. If he couldn't locate his blond master than some other human could do it! Furthermore, they would take full responsibility in cleaning his dirty red/brown stained fur!

Stopping for a moment, Ken looked to his left and to his right down a hallway, then he looked behind himself. Oh dear, it seemed he was leaving gooey tracks behind. Huh, well, some human could clean it up! After all, there was no way this feline was ever going to clean up a hallway!

Fixing his attention back to his original plan, Ken moved forward quickly, his little heart was racing when his small mind played back what he witnessed. Meowing pathetically, he came upon a door and raised up on his hind legs, scratching into the wood of a door way.

His little mouth opened to let loose the most tragetic and pitifully meow a kitten could muster! Someone would open the door and someone would find his human master and everything would be right as rain by noon!

Or so, Kender thought anyways.

[Elric Vlarintos]

Once again, the price of being a few inches too tall in a world built to accommodate much shorter humans was an obnoxious price to pay. Elric had been unable to use his legs immediately after the Devil's Ball, but since then his leg had healed up. According to the doctors it would still be best to keep weight off of his ankle for a couple more weeks. The stab wound had been reasonably deep considering the area and pain still shot up through it if Elric set it on the ground. His other leg was still sore, but that could largely be ignored.

What Elric was having issues ignoring was the Godawful pain that using a pair of crutches was causing him. Normally it would not be so bad, except they were a couple inches too short for a man his size. That meant that he had to crunch up his body when moving along. He suddenly envied the chair that had seemed so limiting before.

The sound of a tiny mew was barely audible in the hallway. Elric's heart skipped a short beat when he heard it. Private detail of his life that he never told people: he loved cats. Maybe it was because his father liked dogs and he just wanted to be different, or maybe it was their attitude and natural cunning. Elric looked down one end of the hallway to another to see if there was anyone around who could catch him in the incriminating act of petting the kitten.

He hobbled a little more quickly as he heard the sound of the paws scratching against a door. The little creature loosed a mew that could have shattered stone hearts. It was adorable... except for one minor detail.

The little thing was covered in blood.

Elric caught himself running his tongue slowly across his lips as he considered the little thing and he forced himself to stop. Kristopher had a kitten, but it was hard to tell if that was his under all that blood. That, and Kristopher was nowhere about. It looked like the little thing had been tracking blood down the hallway too. He might be able to follow that trail and figure out where it had come from, but part of him didn't want to lose the kitten either. Something small and fuzzy like that was sure to attract the unwanted attention of the food chain if left alone out here.

"Come here, little guy," Elric muttered as he gently lowered himself to reach the cat. He was stiff from weeks in a chair and his body was certain to complain as he stretched it more than it had been in a while. With an outstretched hand he tried to scoop up the little blood-covered kitten so he could cradle it in his arm and hobble to his room. It wasn't much further along and it was where he had been heading anyways.

[Kristopher Roberts]

The small kitten scratched at the door again and again but it didn't seem like anyone was home. How dare the human's ignore such a thing as Ken! He was in dire need of a bath and help finding his blond human! How was he going to be able to do such a thing if no one answered the door!

Surely, his cries would of caught someones attention! His little ears twitched and rotated around at the sound of something thumbing on the ground. Turning his small fuzzy head, the large eyes of the feline caught Elric right in sight.

Ken stood there against the door for a moment and let out another meow in the worst way.

"Come here, little guy,"

Finally! Someone was paying him attention. Bounding from the door, Ken went right up to Elric and allowed him to pick him up. As soon as Elric had the small kitten, Kender song out his little heart to him with more meowing. One right after the other as if the human could understand him.

In the terms of meows, he was begging to attention, a bath, help and wanting to go back to his blond human that loved him so much. His head jerked around as he looked towards the hallway where he came from and meowed again. Surely, this human would listen to such cries.

Ken wanted to go one way and Elric was going the other. Then again, maybe he was smart enough to follow the paw tracks in a few moments which would lead to a very unhappy sceen.

[Elric Vlarintos]

Elric slowed a little bit as he carefully hobbled away. The kitten seemed to be meowing down away from the direction he was moving, but Elric really could not be certain how far he'd have to follow those bloodied tracks. Carrying the kitten and walking with crutches at the same time was much harder than just walking with the short crutches.

"I know you probably don't like water, but I'm going to clean you right up as soon as I get the chance." He wasn't terribly certain why he was talking to a kitten. It wasn't like the kitten could understand him. But his tones were deep and calm and he hoped that it would settle the very vocal baby down. It he wasn't covered in blood he'd be simply adorable.

Elric opened the door to his room and gently set the little kitten down on a small pile of his dirty laundry. He'd have to get some hot water, and that would mean a trip to the kitchens or the baths. That would be miserable. He looked around his room for a moment. It had been a while since he had been here. It was empty, like it usually was, but a few things seemed off. Had someone moved in during his absence? He supposed that occasionally slaves got shuffled around. Not that there was much of anything to worry about. As Kristopher so often made it a case and point, Elric was one of the scariest slaves.

The scariest slave brought home a kitten because it was irresistibly cute. Yeah, real convincing argument there. Rumors would abound that he ate kittens now. He rolled his eyes before stepping out the door once again. "I'll be back with water, little guy. Wait here and try not to tear everything apart." Not that Elric really had much for the little kitten to ruin.

Now, for following those little pawprints before going to the bathroom for some water. Curiosity had gotten the better of him, and it quite obviously had not killed the cat. By that logic, he should be safe, right?

For some reason that didn't seem terribly reassuring as he followed the pawprints into the North Wing. Nope, this did not seem like a good thing at all. Lone slave on a set of crutches in the North Wing? Didn't matter how scary he looked, the Boogies were much worse. That copper tang was hanging a little more thickly in the air too.

[Kristopher Roberts]

Water wasn't a big thing to Ken, he didn't mind water so much as long as it was at room temperature or else it would burn his tiny paws. But right now he decided to settle down with Elric near by. It didn't stop him from letting out small cries of longing and distress.

Bring ploped down on the dirty landuary was fine with him, the small kitten sat in it, looking up at Elric with huge, round eyes. Wait? What? This human was going to leave him here? In this tall pile of clothing?

Oh. Oh well. At least it was nice and warm. He would get cleaned up and his human would return. Just like a cat to keep chaning thier mind and subject matter of worry, he turned around a few tiems on his small feet before laying down in a ball.

Of course, as Elric decided to find out what was going on, he would come across the North Wing and the further he went with the paw tracks the closer he was getting to a scene.

About ten feet from the door of Naelona Ezel was a thin puddle of blood, that had a clear streak through it. Mystery solved on how the feline got painted red. Now, the curious thing was, is that the blood only pooled on the floor lightly, being soaked up by the carpet, and then there was very little splatter on the lower walls, actually hardly any was there.

Also, something was missing. It just wasn't clear what item was gone at the time. Maybe a thick candle stick holder, or a metal object of some kind.

Either way, Kristopher would no be in Naelona's room like he should of been, due to the fact he had been put into isolation only a mere two days ago.

[Elric Vlarintos]

Elric knew this placement well, even if he had only been in Naelona's service for a few months. As he approached her door Elric paused. There was a pool of blood sitting by the door. Elric didn't notice anything else about the hallway anymore. Just that there was blood. It had pooled up there, which meant that whatever had been bleeding must have rested there for a few moments. How long had it been there, though? The carpet must have soaked up some of the blood, so he couldn't really tell. The thought of checking to see exactly how much blood was contained in the carpet at that spot made him feel slightly nauseous.

Was there a trail leading anywhere else? Why would it be right outside Naelona's door? A stone fell into the pit of his stomach as he put the cat together in his mind with Naelona. Naelona had allowed Kristopher to have a small cat, so was Kristopher involved in this somehow? He really hoped that wasn't Kristohper's blood on the floor. Just let it be someone he didn't know. Anyone else. He wasn't certain that he could stomach something happening to Kristopher right now.

Elric forced himself past those feelings of uneasiness and tried to settle himself down so he could think about this. There wasn't much splatter on the walls, so did they get pulled here from somewhere else after they started bleeding, or had the bleeding started here? Didn't seem like the blood went anywhere else but here. Elric felt a chill crawl up his spine as he reached out to his Mistress' door.

He knocked twice, making sure that his knock was loud enough to be heard, yet quiet enough so as not to seem too panicked. He felt like his hand was quivering as he did so, however. "Ma'am? It's Elric. Are you there?" He forgot his manners a little bit, but was too nervous to make it a point of waiting to be spoken to before speaking.

[Naelona Ezel]

That morning Naelona had woken with a groan and a pulling of blankets higher over her head. Snaking an arm through the blankets she reached for a familiar presence, but found nothing but blankets and a few more pillows. Throwing back the blankets a sleepy and disheveled looking Naelona frowned confusedly in the morning light. Kristopher wasn't near where he was supposed to be.

Minutes later confusion had turned into irritation, to concern. The boy was no-where to be found in her quarters, him or his 'pet' kitten. For the past few days since Shaehern had brought her the troubled boy, Naelona had been keeping the child in close proximity at all times. On top of this he was confined to her quarters, and under no circumstances was he to leave, pass through, or touch any door save by her permission. Even at night the boy wasn't allowed to sleep alone, but rather by her instead. It served as a two-fold purpose, but again all the more reason to require it.

One of those was to prevent this very situation.

Dressing, Naelona ran over in her mind as many possibilities as possible as to why the boy wasn't where she had instructed him to remain. Despite his feeble state of mind, he was very obedient. Who else would dare enter her quarters without her permission? Before she awoke even? Each concept was more disturbing than the last one. She froze mid-tie as the sound of a knock broke the relative silence, followed by a voice and a question. It was only Elric. "Yes, yes, my presence is in this place.." Muttering, Nae glanced at the mirror, the boogie wasn't even dressed properly yet.

If Elric had news about Kristopher, she didn't want to keep him waiting, but she didn't want to answer the door half-dressed either. Even if it was merely a slave, a reputation required keeping, and likewise urgent matters couldn't wait. He might have news..

Grumbling Naelona wrapped a dark bathrobe about herself, folding the collar snugly just beneath her neck. Securing it closed, the fingers of one hand rested lightly upon the collar she answered the door, observing first the boy and secondly a glance for anyone who might have accompanied him. "I am here. What is it?" The boogie spoke too soon, as the heavy smell of blood assaulted her senses. Equally confusing was the slave didn't seem to have any wayward blood upon him, but the smell was heavy upon the air.

Not willing to step outside of her quarters lest she be seen, Naelona likewise missed noting the pool of blood down the hall. The smell was heavy enough to know there was a respectable pool somewhere close, but from her vantage point it was impossible to locate. "What has happened?" She hissed. Fresh blood in the hallway was like bacon in a frying pan. Especially in the morning.

[Elric Vlarintos]

For a moment there was no answer. Elric dreaded that there would be no answer and he'd be stuck out in the hallway waiting for some Boogie to happen by and see him and a pile of blood before jumping to the wrong conclusion. You could never tell what to what conclusion a faceless threat would jump, but Elric figured that any conclusion would be a bad one for him in the end.

Then he heard an answer, a very foreign sounding one. Elric did not know all of the sounds, and the ones he did know made absolutely no sense in the scheme of things. He wasn't even going to try and think about the sounds he didn't recognize. Some topics were dangerous to think about, and the disciplined mind should be trained to forget them as soon as it comes across them.

It took a moment after the response before his Mistress had opened the door to her room. She was hardly dressed and that fact alone caught Elric off guard more than had she come to the door with a lead pipe in hand.

What was the matter at hand? A very direct question, but certainly she could smell the blood? Or had her nose become accustomed to such scents over the years? Given enough time would Elric even take care to notice? There were already so many things that he no longer paid attention to that went on around him. The eventuality of losing all feeling had occurred to him, and he never was certain how he would feel about it.

"I had found a kitten covered in blood earlier, and remembered Kristopher mentioning that he had such a pet. It had left a small trail so I followed it. It led to a pool of blood right here." Elric pointed, since it seemed that Naelona could not see it from her current vantage point. He felt uneasy on his crutches now. Did Naelona understand what he was hinting at? What would she say?

His mind filled in the blank: she would tell him to speak his thought completely. Then, she would probably berate him for having such a thought in the first place if there was no truth to it. "Is Kristopher all right?" Elric dreaded the answer, and was not certain that he wanted the answer to this question.

[Naelona Ezel]

Kristopher had a kitten, a small feline he called Kender. It was rare for her to allow the boy to keep the creature, though it seemed to have brought him a measure of comfort within the past few days. Poor child. Like the boy, the kitten wasn't within her quarters, either. Kristopher had taken the cat with him? He toted it around like a lost child with a stuffed toy sometimes.

Coal-colored eyes followed the direction Elric pointed in. The supposed pool he spoke of wasn't visible from the shelter of her quarters. The fearsome Ezel paused before poking her head just far enough into the hallway to see the pool.. a pool of crimson blood. Hesitating, Naelona glanced both ways to ensure the hallway was deserted, snugged the folded collar of her bathrobe a bit higher about her neck and shuffled out, bare feet patting silently upon the carpet.

For the moment Naelona ignored the slave and his untimely question. Crouching by the pool Naelona frowned, scrunching her nose as the strong smell. The boogie then pressed the pad of her finger into the red goo, sniffing her stained fingers before licking the blood off from them. Reaching towards the pool again Naelona stopped, retracted her hand and got to her feet again, making short time of a quick shuffle back into the privacy of her quarters. A purposeful stride would have been quicker - but hardly proper in such attire. Not to mention difficult.

"Fetch the kitten and bring it here immediately. Do not knock, just enter and wait for me. I will be dressing. Now be quick and silent about it." Naelona hissed quietly. Not waiting for a response she closed the door to the hall quietly and moved back into her quarters. Moving through the main room into her bed room, where she resumed dressing. There would be enough thoughts and considerations to go over until the hobbler returned. Already what Naelona knew and what she had found was sitting less and less calmly upon her mind.

[Elric Vlarintos]

It had all seemed very otherworldly for a few moments as he watched Naelona stoop by the pile of blood. There was no answer to his question. He did not need an answer. What he had been given was commands. He had hoped to avoid walking down to investigate with the kitten, but now he had no choice but to go back and fetch him. The door shut in front of him. Had it been done more forcefully it might have been the equivalent of having it slammed in his face.

He had not time to tarry. With crutches that were too small for him he hurried along down the hallway back to his room. He had no time to pause and have a word with anyone, not that there was anyone he was interested in speaking to at the moment. He rushed to his room and opened the door. Business as usual, but no time to grab anything other than the kitten.

He certainly hoped that this was Kristopher's cat. If he wasn't, then this was going to be quite a miserable addition to his list of demerits. "Come on, little guy," he said as he lifted the tiny creature from its resting position in the clothes. It was a shame to disturb a cat at rest, but there really was no choice in the matter. Naelona made the orders clear.

Hobbling back down the hallway with the kitten was more complicated, and he almost dropped him twice on the way back. Thankfully, nobody really saw his journey down the hall. So far as Elric could tell, he had managed that part of the order correctly, at least. He paused at the door for just a moment. Elric remembered that Naelona had said not to bother knocking, but just come in. At some level the idea of entering a room without knocking seemed horrific and unspeakable.

If it wasn't so pathetic it would be funny what you think is unspeakable now. Elric reached out and opened the door in a minimalistic fashion; just enough for him to squeeze in with the kitten and close the door behind him. He tried not to make any noise, but was certain that Naelona would have heard him enter anyways. Now that he was inside, he waited.

[Naelona Ezel]

Naelona was troubled, and troubled was quickly becoming too weak of a word for this sort of situation. Having cast aside the bathrobe it hung across a chair before the smooth fabric gave way and slid off into a heap upon the floor. The blood in the hallways certainly was Kristopher's. How splended. Her slave was not only missing but also wounded, but probably still alive. The blood was fresh.. there was obviously another involved. Had it been an accident Kristopher would have come back in and woken her, or a passer-byer would have. But no - not a soul had save to let her sleep even longer.

Someone must have removed the boy instead.

With the soft click of the door in the front room Naelona paused briefly, before swiftly pinning up her hair and resuming closing the small army of buttons that kept her dress snug and secure. Glancing into the mirror her dark eyes followed the black fabric from her waist up to her neck, fastening the last few, ending just below her jaw. There were just too many details in a matter like this. Each of them more unpleasant than the last.

A minute later the quick clicking of her shoes upon the floor followed Naelona, leaving her room and coming to the main room where Elric was waiting for her, with the kitten, as instructed. "Where did you find this kitten?" Naelona asked, closing the last couple buttons on her wrist. It's counterpart already sufficiently fastened. "And which direction was it going?" Despite all the blood in it's fur, she didn't need to clean off the kitten to tell who it belonged to.

Mutterings of old curses were very much on the tip of her tongue.

[Elric Vlarintos]

Elric waited quietly at the entrance of her room. He could not begin to comprehend what Naelona was doing just out of sight. She was dressing, yes, but Elric had no idea what details must have went into picking her attire. Her clothes resembled something Elric's mother might have worn, considering the traditional and conservative tone. It must take a while to prepare to dress in such a fashion. That was the only reasoning Elric could come up with as to why he was able to hobble from one wing to the other and back and have her still be dressing.

Then again, perhaps Naelona had no one's schedule to keep other than her own. She took her time to make sure it was done right the first time. Either that, or maybe she was shaken up over something.

When she approached finally Elric noted that her clothes seemed to be well in place. She inspected the cat from a distance and asked her typical questions. This was a familiar situation, but with a peculiar twist given that Naelona had nothing with which to write.

"I was in the hallway of the south wing when I heard him cry. He was covered in blood and scratching at a seemingly random door." Elric tried to remember which room it had been exactly. "Room six," he added with fair certainty. No one that he knew lived there. "He had walked there from this area, the north wing, and left a trail of bloodied paw prints which I followed here." Hard to tell where the kitten had been going exactly. Elric remained convinced that the creature had been wandering aimlessly--lost, even. In spite of the blood-matted fur he stroked the creature gently along the side of its neck.

[Kristopher Roberts]

The small feline woken with a start, when did he get into the arms of Elric. Kender turned his head up towards Elric and then to Elric. He had been sleeping the whole time and now that he was awake, he was wanting attention.

Small, weak, meows came from the feline as he moved within the human's hands but did not harm him. He stood up on his hind legs and put his front paws on the humans chest. Crying out his little heart.

What happened to his blond master? Where was he? who was going to feed him? Who was going to love on him! Who was he going to sleep by? Ken didn't know how to handle all of this and became stressed.

But at least the two humans where talking now, asking each other questions about where he was going and why. Well, obviously to find help to find his blond human!

Now, Ken looked towards the boogie, pleadingly. He meowed once again and wiggled out of Elrics hands. Kender went right to Naelona and put his paws on her robe, looking up, ears drooping and crying.

[Naelona Ezel]

"Kender is intelligent for a mere pet." Pets weren't quite on par with familiars, though this particular one seemed to give them a run for their money. Either that or Mar was remarkably stupid on occasion. Both were quite possible.

From across the room Mar came scampering in along the door, shelves, and any other object of reasonable elevation - until it saw that feline. At sight of the kitten Mar dropped to the floor instead, hissed at the kitten and then scampered around a few feet, and hissed again. Truth, the tiny ball of furry terror was in company of the overgrown boy, but only one of then had bitten and scratched back! Rather successfully at that too..

The kitten's crying sounds were impossible to ignore, even for Naelona. Looking down coldly at the kitten, the look hardly lasted but to relent for something slightly softer. Crouching briefly Naelona scooped up the bloodied kitten, holding it gently in her hands and keeping the matted blood carefully away from her clothing. Reaching a finger she petted it's fuzzy little head a few times before scratching under it's tiny jaw, taking a cloth to wrap up the kitten in, holding it close to her chest.

"Go to the Dinning Room, Kyle should already be there. Find him and meet me in the South Wing." Naelona instructed, motioning for the door and already starting for the hallway at a brisk pace. "Keep your eyes open, this isn't the time to dally."

[Elric Vlarintos]

Elric tried to hold the kitten in place, but it escaped from his hands and went up to Naelona. He was filled with concern that somehow that little kitten would manage to set off his Mistress's nerves, but no such explosion happened. She lifted up the small creature and stroked it in a calm manner. Elric almost wondered if there was anything wrong at all and if he was just being paranoid.

Mar's intrusion seemed mostly a non sequitur in the scheme of things, but after his last encounter with the beast Elric made it a point to pay attention to where the little creature went. He wanted to be prepared in case Mar decided to test his luck again.

Then came the order. The white-haired boy nodded his head solemnly. "As you command, ma'am." The order was simple, but being commanded to 'keep his eyes open' seemed very peculiar. There were a great many things Naelona could have meant by it, and it was possible that she intended for Elric to take it in several or all of those meanings. She was right, however. There was no time to tarry here and he moved out of the room as quickly as he could manage with the door giving him only a minimal delay.

It seemed that he was moving about much more this morning than he had in a while and he felt his arms getting tired from pushing himself forward with the crutches. He took care to be observant in case he found Kyle before reaching the dining hall or he saw any sign of Kristopher. At least, that was what he presumed Naelona intended for him to do when he went to fetch Kristopher's brother.

That was right. Kyle and Kristopher were brothers. Elric paused for a moment as he took a deep breath. Now really was not the time to brood about the little details of the past. It happened years ago, after all. Elric should have just let it go by now.

Moving into the dining hall he scanned around quickly for Kyle Roberts. He hoped that Naelona knew his fellow slave's schedule well enough that she was right and he would not have to wait. The longer Elric had to wait meant that Naelona would have to wait longer. That was when Elric spotted the Roberts boy.

"Kyle!" he called out. It felt somewhat weird, considering that the two never really spoke before. "Madam Ezel needs us both in the South Wing." There really wasn't much time to explain, especially since all of Elric's thoughts were inferences.