Reunion in Marrowbrook (Phoenix City Chronicles)

"Yeah Tally, let's have 'fuuunnn'," Cellus slurred slightly in a singsong voice, starting to play and tug at the front of Tal's gi.

As his childhood friend made her intentions very clear, Tal could not help but look her over and admire, perhaps for the first time, how sturdily she'd grown over the years.

He was torn. On one hand, his inner womanizer thoroughly agreed with Knuckles, feeling that she was quite literally asking for it. On the other, his conscience nagged, citing that she was quite intoxicated. So which would it be? Insult the girl by not sleeping with her, or take a chance on genuinely hurting her later if she had intended to do this under different circumstances?

With a deep breath, Tal smiled down at her with benevolence as he scooped her up into his arms and carried her up the stairs. One could not plan for everything, he reasoned, but perhaps he could stall her with idle conversation long enough to allow her to fall asleep.

While under the influence of the alcohol, Cellus had none of the inner struggle going on inside her that Tal had. Admittedly she had neve been this drunk before, perhaps a little tipsy, but not drunk. She giggled uproariously as her childhood friend picked her up, and she began playing with the strands of hair which fell in his face.

Tal found a vacant room easily enough, and after setting Cellus gently down on the bed, he secured the door behind them before walking over and sitting down with that same, gentle smile, "Been a long time since we have been home, it has."

Flipping over on her hands and knees, Cellus moved slowly towards Tal, a sultry swing in her hips, "Yes, a long time," she whispered, "I missed home... like I missed you," she practically purred, unsteadily tracing his jawline.

Being pushed back against the bed by Cellus' advances, Tal realized she was not as incapacitated as he had planned for, and resorted to stalling for time, "Missed you too, I did. Remember, do you, when we last passed by this town? A happier place, it was then, and the night of the autumn festival it had been..."

Cellus continued to move forward, she had a goal in sight now, and she wasn't about to let it go, "yess," she slurred softly, "Burk wanted to stop and see what was going on..."

"Hai, he did," Tal smiled and cradled her close, holding her securely in his arms to give her the attention she desired without the negative consequences, "A dance that night, I believe there was..."

"Dance... yes... and I love dances," Cellus purred, "You could see so many stars," she murmured, misinterpretting Tal's embrace as she nuzzled into his neck.

Smiling at this, he gently rubbed her back, "Many stars, have I seen on my journeys, but truly spectacular, that night was..."

He wanted to tell her that she was the brightest of them all, but Tal knew where that would lead, and decided tactful silence would be best.

"How we danced that night, you, me, even ol' Burk, even though he has two left feet," Cellus giggled before leaning up and nipping at Tal's earlobe.

"Hai... how we danced," Tal murmured in thought as Cellus's sweet, floral scent caught him off-guard, "Cellus...? If... if stayed through the night, I had, and had not been summoned away by the shaman... how, think you, the night would have ended?"

"How I want this night to end," Cellus mumured, before quickly leaning forward to capture Tal's mouth in a passionate kiss. She released him after a few moments, "I loved you, Tal, and I still-" she paused as if to find the courage to say it. But Tal only had to look down to see that she had fallen alseep.

Holding her even closer, Tal's stoic mask was just that as he let himself mutter what he hoped she would forget she heard by morning, "The... only woman I have ever truly loved, you are."

While Cerys watched the drinking game between the grasslander Burk and Knuckels, thinking to himself that this game could be awhile went to find a small alcove in the building to take a rest, since they wouldnt be heading out during the night.

'Well i guess they will be at this for awhile since they seemed to be pratically experienced drinkers, i could take a rest and they still proablly would be at it knowing them.'

As he found a small opening in the crowd cerys hopped up into one of the lower rafters in his cat form, and stretched out to relax into a restful posisition.

'Well seems that this will be about the only place i would be able to stay here for free anyways... so might as well make it last.'


As the night went on, the feline rested up on the ratfer with the crowd of people below drinking away the night, Eventually as Cerys began to wake up, nearly falling off the rafter as he did, he looks around noticing that most of the people have left during the evening hours.

'Huh... how long was i asleep up here?'

Looking around in more detail as the room came into focus, he didnt see Tal or Celllus anywhere, as he looked near where he was staying at, he sees Burk leaned up against the wall dozing away, giving off a faint laugh,

'Well i guess you lost the game against Kunckles... dont worry though, hes always up for drinking that stuff.'

As the last part of the room came into focus, he sees the faint outline of Mason sitting at a bar table in the back corner surrounded by a couple people, interested by this, Cerys hops down off the railing, nearly missing someone that was walking under him, he wanders over to the table where Knuckles was sitting to listen in on the conversation.

"So, you're saying we wouldn't be the first guys to go?," Knuckles leaned in to listen to a story the old dwarf was apparently in the middle of telling.



"That's right lad," the dwarf nodded gravely, "Come to think've it, a pretty young girl with a sword came through nary a week ago with the same fool errand on her mind. Went to investigate somethin' up at the cemetery, and nobody's seen hide nor hair of her since."

"I hate to admit it," the young half-elf sighed, "But for once, old Brundo's right on the ball. That place is bad news man."

Listinging to the dwarf tell his tale,
'Well this is kinda sounding a little out of the normal, why would only one person go to check up on something alone... most times you would go with a couple people at least.'


Hopping up near Knuckels in his cat form, looking up at him, talking to him through the bracelet,

'Well at least we have more than just only one of us, with the group we should be able to find out what is up there and be fine.'

Giving out a small cat smile at the end of the small talk, cerys hops back down to the floor weaving his way through the people over to see how Burk was doing.

Burk was fast asleep against the far wall, having been moved from the table earlier on in the evening by presumably a couple of strong men. His snoring was surprisingly light this evening, in spite of the ale in his system and the fact that the chatter had all died down at this hour except for the conversation between Knuckles and the three barflies that he was pumping for information.

Looking onward as his was fast asleep snoring the night away,
'Well i guess youll have to be tended by in the morning by your Dr. Cellus..."

Looking around on that note, he didnt see Cellus around anywhere... nor did he see Tal.

Going back over to the Table where Knuckles was at, he looked onward outside the windows into the bleak night that was around them.

Talking to Knuckles through the braclets,
'Hey, i know you might have a headache from hearing me with all the ale in your head, but any idea where Tal and Cellus ran off to... im not seeing them around here, and Burk is layin out over on the wall knocked out.'

"That cat really seems to like you," the human woman laying against the half-elf noted with a grin.



"Yeah, he's been following me for awhile now," Knuckles grinned mischievously down at the cat near his feet as he answered the voice in his head, 'Those two lovebirds got a room while you were napping; let 'em be or I'll have you neutered.'

Giving out a small laugh sounding like the cat was coughing, Cerys looked up to Knuckels with a small tear from the pain of laughing,

'Well i guess you can leave it up to Tal to get cozy with everyone he meets of the oppisite gender in less than a day...'

'Eh, you don't know nothing about relationships cat,' Knuckles smirked as he reached down to pat Cerys on the head as a diversion to keep up the illusion, 'They're totally into each other; trust me, I know about this stuff. Anyway, the priest and Spooky went out to look for Kage earlier and didn't come back. Why doncha go check up on 'em?"

'I thought i saw him come in here... did he leave again...'

At this he noticed that the others were gone and guess he was right,

'Well i guess ill go join them in trying to find him... hopefully we do soon, but as for him, who knows what or where he could be.'

At this Cerys leaves Knuckles to the three at the table, and goes off to search for Brother Light and Nevara in their search for Kage.

The streets of the little town were empty this late, and the chilling fog that hung in the air was almost numbingly cold at the witching hour. While the town was relatively small, it was impossible to tell exactly which house his intended targets would be near without some sort of hint. But where would they have gone to look?

Looking through the citys narrow streets, and being in unfamiliar territory, Cerys wandered around a littlebit, they he had an idea...

'Hey this bracelet works between the four of us, bein me, tal, mason, and brother light... why look for them when he could tell me where they were at...'

Thinking of this, be envisioned brother light, and tried to contact him,

'Brother Light, this is Cerys, where are you at with Nevara... ill join up with you two to search for Kage...'

Awaiting a response before moving around too much, Cerys stays near the bar's entrance incase they decided to stop back by there.