Foxside: The Temple of Inari 51

[Deathkeeper]

Garden

Steven raises his eyebrows.
"You...sound like you've got something extra troubling you again." he says hesitantly.

[Fenric]

[Garden]

Caroline sighs: her ability to keep secrets check is -15.

This is my last lifetime as a mortal... I'll never be back again.

then she chuckles and shakes her head

I cause so much drama for something that won't matter for such a long time. I am not just the descendent of Myobi... I'm actually her daughter, specifically re-incarnated over and over so I can learn how to do her job ... better than she does.

She sighs

And ... I can't say I'm overly thrilled with the notion right now. I don't like the idea that I am not who I thought I was. And yet...

[Rebonack]

[Sanctuary]

Nope.

Two hours isn't any time at all.

But, hopefully, it will be enough.

"Wisteria has always been in the same safe house when they let me visit her," Bella recounts. "That some small blessing, at least. Some amount of... normalcy she was afforded. It's here Inside, I can show you the way."

And with that?

She'll turn and gallop out of the temple!

...she'll probably need to slow down for the bipeds to keep up.

Silly slow bipeds!

~Dark Dreams? You stay here and tell the temple staff what Bell said about the suicide bomber,~ Sunder says. ~Help them any way you can until I get back.~

And then she gallops off too!

Awaaaaay to Inside!

[Fenric]

[Sanctuary]

Dark Dreams has her first assignment as Sunder's Messenger! Yay!

Very good

And she heads to the hospital.
Tsukiko hurries off after Sunder and Bella.

Felina shakes her head, still trembling a bit and not at all happy.

This has got to be the weirdest place, ever.

[Baeleck]

[Sanctuary]

Urias hurries off after the Inside crew!

Or, rather, he starts to. He comes to a slow halt just before the sanctuary door. His shoulders droop. He sighs.

There was a man in the hospital that he was responsible for. Watching Doctor Johnson was the task he'd been given, so he'd stick to it.

The boy turns on his heel and trudges back in the direction of the hospital. A small, solemn nod is given to Felina and anyone else who may still be stood in the sanctuary.

[Recaiden]

[Sanctuary]

Tavlii actually does hurry after the pones, beating wings carrying her faster than they probably should.

[Pond]

A briefly missing priest attempts to find himself swimming into the bottom of the place, quite disturbing the water.

[Fenric]

[Pond]

A small peacock blue and purple dragon swims swiftly through the water

Hi there! Need help?

---

[Hospital]

Urias will catch up to Dark Dreams as she trots to the hospital

Hello, healer. We must prevent an explosion!

[Recaiden]

[Pond

"Is this the temple of Inari?"

The !vulpan shakes his head, gulping down the water like a fish.

[Baeleck]

[Hospital]

'That we must, friend.' The boy gives an assured nod. 'We need staff on every doorway into this hospital, and at the temple boundaries, ready to spot and stop any intruders.'

Looks like Urias is taking charge here.

'We've still got a bit of time to make sure everyone knows what's going on. I'll take the east wards, you take the west?'

Time to spread the word! Without causing too much panic, obviously. There's no definite bomber yet.

[Fenric]

[Pond]

Kenji nods

Yup! You're at the bottom of the pond: air is that way.

He points in the direction of the surface.

---

[Hospital]

Dark Dreams nods

A very good plan, healer.

And swiftly people are being warned.

Meanwhile, an acolyte shows up at the hospital: her hand is cut and she seems to be in shock.

Excuse me...

A healer takes her to a basic room and starts to examine the cut...

[Baeleck]

[Hospital]

Urias's first port of call is Doctor Johnson's room.

As he arrives, he greets and thanks the the healer and housekeeper for their help. He briefly briefs them both, then addresses the healer more directly.

'I'm going to move Doctor Johnson to a different room. Do you happen to know if any over the other side of the hospital are free?'

Even if not, Urias would quite like to relocate the patient, and begins to ready the hospital bed by kicking off the brakes. If DART didn't know where he was, there'd be more time to catch the bomber wandering the corridors than if they had a definite location of their target.

[Recaiden]

[Pond]

"Thanks."

Arlem swims up to the top and attempts to crawl out onto land, shapeshifting momentarily in order to shed the water, and then back once he's dried.
"Huh. Nice pond. Should have come by earlier."

Then he supposes it's into the sanctuary.

[Fenric]

[Sanctuary]

Felina is in the sanctuary, trying to be inconspicuous and small and off to the side, and honestly hoping nobody comes in. She has a book and doesn't look up when she hears someone come in from the garden entrance because she doesn't really want to answer any more annoying acolyte questions right now.

---

[Hospital]

Urias succeeds! Dr. Johnson is moved two floors up and to the other side of the building, now facing the outer wall instead of the sanctuary as he was before.

Dark Dreams is walking by and hears the healer and the acolyte

So, how did you cut your hand this badly?
I don't remember
Really? But where were you?
I don't remember
That's... odd... what's your name?
I don't remember

She walks in

Please stand back from her, healer.

Who are you?! What are you?!

[Baeleck]

[Hospital]

Having moved the doctor, Urias ensures there's someone to watch him again. He'd return soon enough, but you can't be too careful.

Thus begins the spreading of news about his side of the building. He doesn't spend long in each place, giving only enough information as is needed. Quickly and efficiently, he descends through to the bottom floor, then heads out the main doors to ensure all the entrances are, indeed, covered.

[Deathkeeper]

Garden

Steven's eyes open in surprise, but after a moment he realizes that this revelation really doesn't concern him in any way, unless she'd been planning on finding him in her next lifetime.
"Well...at the very least it means you've got pretty much guaranteed job security, right?" he says with a smile.
"I'm sure you'll do fine. "
Reincarnation and that sort of thing tends to go over his head.

[Fenric]

[Garden -> Priest's Quarters]

Caroline nods

Yes... Weird as it is: unless I really mess things up, I'm getting promoted from Branch Manager to Regional Manager.

Then she grins in an uncharacteristically naughty fashion

And I am under direct orders from Inari herself to enjoy the time I have. So, my little mousie...

[Recaiden]

[Sanctuary]

Arlem creeps up as quietly as he can to the priestess and tries to give her a hug.
"Hello there! I've made it back!"

[Deathkeeper]

Garden-> Priest's Quarters

Steven's nose twitches. "Aw come on, I'm sure even immortals are allowed breaks at some point. But now just what are you thinking with that unfinished sentence of yours, Missy?" he asks with a smile.

[Fenric]

[Sanctuary]

Felina jumps with a squeaky, frightened yip! But sighs in relief when it's Arlem

Oh, thank goodness!

and then the hug is returned with interest.

---

[Priest's Quarters]

Having arrived back at the room, Caroline smiles

So, the other day I overheard one of Atorre's folks chatting with a celestial that lives up in the pagoda. I learned that we have three kinds of fox people here. There are us, of course, and I had known about the werefoxes, but there is another group. They are called kitsune, which I find silly because that is just the Yarissan word for fox, but apparently they are foxes that are quite adept at illusions and can shapeshift into other forms.

The celestial said you can tell the werefoxes because they are bigger and more assertive than us, and you can tell the kitsune because they are smaller and smell more strongly of fox. So, I went around and found one! I would add to the description that they are considerably more skittish and shy... anyway, I thought that if they can learn our magic, surely I can learn theirs.

Her grin broadens, and she closes her golden-amber eyes in concentration. The first and most striking thing to notice will be her size, as her height swiftly drops from 5 foot 3 down to 3 foot 7. Her ears get shorter and rounder, her muzzle gets even pointer while her face is a little more round. Her fur all but disappears from her tail, gets shorter overall, and turns snowy white! Her wild, musky fox scent is gone: replaced with the softer musty scent of a mouse. At last she opens her eyes, and the amber gold has changed to inky darkness.

mouse-Caroline giggles as she stands there, now dressed in a robe quite a few sizes too large

There!

She looks herself over

Odd... I did not turn white when I was practicing.

a shrug

What do you think?

---

[Hospital]

Urias finds a red-robed human blocked at the door with a very clearly broken finger. He is a little baffled at having to prove who he is before he can have it looked at.

Look, I seriously don't care who else is in the hospital! This *$@&% hurts! Bring a healer out here if it makes you feel better.

Meanwhile, Dark Dreams is still trying to convince the healer to listen

I work for Tsukiko, and I believe this person is a danger.

the vixen starts to reach her injured hand into her robe

No. Sleep now, vixen, and forget your instructions.

and she immediately slumps over. The doctor makes offended sounds as he keeps her from falling over.

What is going on here?
Please check under her robe.

[Deathkeeper]

Priest's Quarters

Steven gives a small squeak of surprise, and then grins a wide, wide grin.
"I think you didn't need to bother trying to appeal to me any more than usual, but you look good."

[Recaiden]

[Sanctuary]

He is technically an acolytes still, but hopefully she doesn't find any of this annoying.
"I hope you weren't worried about me."

Arlem draws to a more comfortable distance, grinning.

[Rebonack]

[Some Days After All That Other Nonsense!]

Sunder arrives with one of her nightmaere spawn. And Sunder seems... different. She seems more than she was on her last visit. She is true and trusting, with a simplicity to herself. She is soft and kind, an aura of soothing twilight having replaced the defiling zone of desecration. And she is resolute, faithful, a burning conviction kindled within her that blazes from her gaze. Where before she was imperious and frightful, she is now regal, a presence that can not be ignored.

Under her wing the nightmaere spawn walks with her, the undead creature differing sharply from her unliving sire. The aura of twilight calms and soothes Stormy Spring's hunger for the living, but if she were to stray too far...

"Stay close, my little pony," Sunder says. "And don't be afraid. Everything will be just tidy, you'll see."

And now?

Now they wait for a fox or two.

And it'll have to be one of the really fancy foxes. Making an undead creature living again is no small feat.

[Ionbound]

[Some Days After All That Other Nonsense!]

Stormy nods and stays close to Sunder, instinctually wary of the holy ground, but stays with her sire as they look for a fancy fox.

[Baeleck]

[Hospital]

Urias finds a red-robed human blocked at the door with a very clearly broken finger. He is a little baffled at having to prove who he is before he can have it looked at.

Look, I seriously don't care who else is in the hospital! This *$@&% hurts! Bring a healer out here if it makes you feel better.

[Hospital]

Yes, this man's finger is broken, but Urias is erring on the side of caution.

'Make sure he doesn't have anything wired to him, then let him in. I'll see to that finger,' he tells whoever is at the door.

He begins rooting around in his first aid pouch for some bandages.

[Fenric]

[Sanctuary - A Few Minutes After the Nonsense]

Felina smiles

I was a little... but we only just got your note.

---

[Hospital - In the Thick of the Nonsense]

The man has nothing suspicious under his robes, so the guards let him in. He broke his finger pretty thoroughly

I was working on a water pump, and the block slipped out - it let the gears start moving and it caught my finger.

Elsewhere, the healer finds a very suspicious looking vest under the now-sleeping vixen's robe

What is this?
Explosives. You need to remove that vest very carefully.
Oh, my!

---

[Priest's Quarters - the Night After the Nonsense]

Mouse-Caroline giggles as she wiggles out of her pile of robes and gathers it up to put in the hamper

Maybe not, but it was great fun to see the look on your face!

Then she stretches

Ooh, it is interesting to be this small again.

---

[Sanctuary - Some Days After the Nonsense]

At long last, Caroline is back on duty. She smiles at Sunder and Stormy

Greetings, neighbors: the blessings of Inari be upon you. What can we do for you today?

[Rebonack]

[Sanctuary - SDAtN]

Sunder inclines her head in a fashion that manages to look rather graceful. She's still... recognizable. But just wow has she ever changed a lot. That's what happens when you start recovering the pure soul fragments that were discarded when you got turned into an undead abomination.

"And to you. We had something of an accident," the nightmaere explains. "My good friend here is in need of resurrection services. I'm sorry to trouble the temple with this, but I wouldn't be a faithful friend leaving her in this state, especially when I know she wants to be living and human again."

The undead spirit, however, does not.

But that much is pretty obvious.

Undead spirits rarely want to be exorcised from a body so the body can be made alive once more.

"Siring her was completely unintentional. She declined to inform me of the dangers in her method of mending my mind and was consumed in my darkness," Sunder says, her tone heavy with shame. "And to my dismay, siring a living being produces an undead creature. My aura of twilight soothes her hunger, but if she were to stray far from me she would become a danger to any living person near her. This situation isn't tidy in the least and I wish it to be made right."

Wow.

Sunder is way more eloquent than she was before. That's probably Sweet Spring talking.

[Ionbound]

[Sanctuary - SDAtN]

Stormy frowns and says, "Do I have to, milady? I promise, we want to stay like this." Stormy seems to have picked up on the idea that her personal opinions don't seem to matter.

[Fenric]

[Sanctuary - SDAtN]

Caroline blinks, then tilts her head, then frowns.

So ... hmm.

As far as I know, if I were to purify and resurrect her as things stand right now she would be a pony, not a human. Back home, that would be no difficulty: form-changing magics there are permanent by nature. Things are not so clear here in the Nexus, and the magics have tended to work poorly when they work at all.

There are more powerful spells that could restore her body entirely, but they will not work while her spirit is hosted in another body like this. In a case like that you generally have to destroy the undead form, first, and only then can a spell like True Resurrection restore them as long as it hasn't been too long since they first died.

I could try something more drastic like a Miracle, but I have no idea exactly what it would do - her desires would get bound up in the spell and change the outcome.

[Rebonack]

[Sanctuary - SDAtN]

Sunder gives a mournful sight and a sorrowful nod. "I understand." She leans down to Stormy, placing her head against her gently, lovingly. The nightmaere's mane begins to enshroud the little nightmaere spawn in a motherly embrace as she shelters her under the shadow of her wings. Warm, comforting. "I'm sorry, my little pony, that it can't be as you desire. The time has come for you to rest."

And then?

The nightmaere's mane constricts, binding the undead creature as a powerful Twilight Burst detonates. The disruptive spell is potent in its own right, but confined as it is by Sunder's wings its power is only amplified. The undead spirit clinging to Hikari will be banished and stripped of the memory and personality it had stolen from the young human, its taint upon her flesh abolished.

Sunder unfurls her wings and carefully lets down her mane, setting Hikari's once again human corpse on the ground.

She looks... almost peaceful.

And Sunder looks heartbroken. Stormy may have been undead... but she was still one of her little ponies.

[Baeleck]

[Hospital - In the Thick of the Nonsense]

The man has nothing suspicious under his robes, so the guards let him in. He broke his finger pretty thoroughly

I was working on a water pump, and the block slipped out - it let the gears start moving and it caught my finger.

Elsewhere, the healer finds a very suspicious looking vest under the now-sleeping vixen's robe

What is this?
Explosives. You need to remove that vest very carefully.
Oh, my!

[Hospital - Nonsense Central]

Unaware of the bomb-related shenanigans elsewhere in the building, Urias takes the fellow with the broken finger to a consultation room.

'Sorry about the fuss at the door,' Urias says. 'Just a safety precaution. Sounds like a pretty nasty break. Could I take a proper look, a moment?'

Urias wants to get a good idea of the severity of the break so he knows how to best treat it.