TRP: Ba'ob and Luci (Wolf Totem)

[Setting: Day 314 Castle.]

Ba'ob had wanted to go visit Ombre. And he'd even had the nerve to think that-- maybe he'd be okay for the time it took travelling to the castle.  He asked Azriel first, cause he was still too much a slave to not, but 'course Azriel said he could.

Ombre wasn't in the book room though. But someone else was. Ba'ob stopped in the doorway and stared at her a second. She looked familiar--  she was a regular around here. Ba'ob hadn't talked to her though. And after a moment's consideration, he climbed up on the table in front of her and waited to see what she'd say about it.

IZZY

Luci lifted her eyes from her book, but not her head.

"Hello." She studied him. Ah. Yes. The feral boy Hansel had been feeding. "Can I help you with something?"

ABBY

Ba'ob cocked his head and thought a second. "No," he said. "Who you?"

IZZY

"Lucienne Sterling." She kept staring at him, mildly unimpressed. "I live here."

ABBY

Lucienn-- that was a mouthful. "Your name too long," he said. He placed a hand on his chest. "Am Ba'ob. Is short, see? That wolf." He pointed at where the wolf was standing, giving them both tolerant loos. "She doesn't have name." He completely ignored the comment about living here-- of course she did. So did a lot of other people. Like Ombre!

Instead he grabbed for her book, holding it upside down in front of him for a second. There were a lot of words. He dropped it back in her lap. "I can't read."

IZZY

Luci opened her mouth and closed it. She turned the book back around. "You can call me Luci," she offered. "Most people do. I can read to you, if you like."

ABBY

"Luci. Luuuuci. Is shorter. Good!" Ba'ob nodded firmly. Better this way. "No read," he declared. "Am here visit Ombre. Books boring."

IZZY

"I see." Luci looked at him a moment more. "Ombre is out, right now. I could make you some tea while you wait for her to return. Or something to eat. Hansel seems to think you're starving." She squinted at him. She didn't see it. All the same, she could feed him and his wolf.

ABBY

Ba'ob perked up at the mention of eating. "Food is good!" he declared and scrambled off the table. He paused before running out the door, sizing Luci up a second. "I like you," he decided, and flopped on top of her for a hug.

IZZY

Luci went to follow him, mildly intrigued and puzzled by this odd little man -- and he was little, smaller even than herself and Jonn -- then stopped short at the abrupt hug. She didn't even think about it, going tense and slamming her staff into the floor, sharply commanding, "Off!" and flooding her words with magic.

ABBY

By the time Ba'ob realized what was happening, the magic had seized control and sent him several steps away. He barely had time to panic and start fighting before it was over. Ba'ob didn't like this magic. He whined lowly, slinking further away and watching Luci warily.

IZZY

She shook it off and cleared her throat. "I don't like being hugged," she said firmly.

ABBY

"I don't like controlled," Ba'ob muttered. Still looking wary.

IZZY

"Yes, well." She paused. Likely she was supposed to apologize, but she didn't feel like it. "There are banana nut muffins my father made in the kitchen."

ABBY

Ba'ob glanced at the door, and back at Luci. "You coming too?"

IZZY

"Yes. Otherwise who will show you where the muffins are?" Satisfied he wouldn't do it again, she started for the kitchen.

ABBY

Ba'ob trailed along behind, the wolf trotting beside him. Unease was still prickling down his spine from the spell. Wasn't sure if there was anything else that she'd turn around and magic him for. Didn't like this feeling. She didn't have a right. Ba'ob was Azriel's, not hers.

Well. Guess he'd have to be careful for a bit. Ba'ob liked muffins, they were tasty. He still let Luci keep several paces ahead.

IZZY

Down in the kitchen, Luci removed the cloche covering the muffins and set two aside while she went to get glasses of milk for them both.

ABBY

Ba'ob shot a glance at Luci's turned back. And then he grabbed both muffins and darted under the table with a clatter. His now.

IZZY

Luci turned back, glasses in hand, and stopped. She spotted Ba'ob under the table.

"Well," she said, "you have all of the muffins, but I have all of the milk. We appear to be at an impasse."

ABBY

Ba'ob locked eyes with her and took a big bite out each muffin, one at a time.

IZZY

Looking back steadily, Luci turned her body and carefully, precisely poured one of the glasses back into the carton. She got a fresh muffin out from under the cloche, took a bite, and sipped her milk.

ABBY

Ba'ob choked on his muffin. She really did that. Okay maybe Luci wasn't so bad after all. Ba'ob scooted closer, holding up the less-eaten muffin to Luci. "You can have now."

IZZY

"I'm good, thank you."

ABBY

Ba'ob frowned. He knew that people didn't like to eat after each other. But now he wasn't sure what to do. Well-- he did have something else he could try.

Ba'ob climbed up onto a chair, sitting like a proper person, and gently set his muffins down on the table. "Will behave now, promise," he said.

IZZY

Luci kept watching him, nibbling on her muffin. He was very peculiar. "Would you like some milk?"

ABBY

"Yes. Please," he added. Behaving like a person. He could do it, when he wanted to.

IZZY

"Okay." She repoured the milk and brought it over, placing it down in front of him and sitting a chair away. "Does the wolf want anything?" she asked, tilting her head.

ABBY

Ba'ob glanced down. "Wolf always wanted something," he said with a shrug. "I got." He grabbed one of his muffins and held it down where she could get at it. Oh wait-- "Thank you," he added belatedly. "You are good..." what was Common word. "Hostess?" he tried in Elvish. Maybe she knew the word?

IZZY

"Oh." Puzzling. "You're very welcome. I'm not a hostess, though. I just live here and know where the kitchen is." She nibbled on her muffin more. "Hansel is responsible for the food."

ABBY

Ba'ob nodded. "Hansel is..." he wasn't sure what words to use. He was... trying to be better, about orcs. And elves. Still wasn't gone though. "Orcs were mean to me," he settled on. "Didn't like them. Think I like Hansel though. Maybe orcs ain't all as bad." He shrugged. "Humans okay though," he added. "Like Jasper, an' you!"

IZZY

"Oh, that's sad." She paused. "You know -- I don't think that I believe it, but ..." She tore a few little pieces off her muffin, watching them. "Um, my friend told me that I probably had an orc soul in a past life. If one subscribes to the concept of reincarnation, then most likely, we've all already been ... everything. One and the same." She chewed on her lip. "So, you know -- perhaps some other time, you were a human, and I was an orc, and Hansel was an elf."

ABBY

Ba'ob stared. "What."

IZZY

"Ah. Um, never mind." She started plucking up the crumbs and eating them.

ABBY

Ba'ob watched her for a second, trying to figure out what she'd meant. Ba'ob had been a... human? But Ba'ob was elf. How was he supposed to be human-- this was giving him a headache trying to think about.

"Ombre turned me into wolf once," he said suddenly. "Was fun. Wolf didn't like it though. She gets scared when I change like that."

IZZY

"Oh, Hansel can do that now," she said absently, then focused back in on the conversation, frowning slightly in thought. "Polymorph, you mean? Yes, you most likely smelled and behaved differently while polymorphed. She probably couldn't recognize you."

ABBY

Ba'ob looked at the wolf, who was now taking a nap again. "Yeah," he agreed quietly. "Try to explain to her. She still doesn't recognize me." Sometimes he thought it'd be fun to run around in another skin for a while. Explore more the new abilities. But he didn't want to scare the wolf-- or watch her turn on him 'cause he was prey now. He knew how fast it took for wolves to kill squirrels. It was scarier, once he'd been one.

IZZY

"Can you do magic?" she asked. She thought she remembered Hansel mentioning that he could. "Maybe you could learn a spell to speak to her in her own language."

ABBY

"Some," Ba'ob said. He rubbed at his chest. "Can do that. Used to be able to do more." It felt like he should be able to do more. But every time he tried to it twisted around inside him and didn't get out. Even though some days Ba'ob felt so full of magic he was ready to explode.

Thinking about it made the pulsing in his chest almost seem louder. Ba'ob shifted restlessly, calling a small flame in the palm of his hand. He started to bounce it, up and down, but it didn't help. To small. But calling up anything bigger never worked.

IZZY

"That's odd." She tilted her head. "Typically magic grows -- it doesn't diminish. Did something happen?" She eyed his arm. That was obvious, but wouldn't likely cause any injury to his ability to cast -- if anything, it would make him more adept, to compensate for the loss of limb.

ABBY

Ba'ob followed her eyes and tucked the stump of his arm under the table. Didn't like it being stared at. He snuffed out his small flame. "Magic... changed?" he said slowly. "Used to have scales," he said, shifting and tugging up his shirt to reveal skin. "All up there. Fell out. Feels different too. Was... like a fire before? It burned. Now is like... a heartbeat. More... alive."

IZZY

"Hm. Scales?" Sorcerers had scales -- some of them, like Mishka. She had never heard of anyone losing their scales like that, but she didn't know much about sorcery. More alive. Hm.

She thought of how Hansel had described his magic to her, in trying to ask for her help with certain things. "Druidry, perhaps. Can you turn into a wolf by yourself, now?"

ABBY

Ba'ob nodded. "And squirrel, and I think could do others."

IZZY

"Oh, well. Only druids can really do that. You're a druid. That's interesting. So is my father." She paused. "You know, he has this ... friend? A much older druid who has been helping him, some. Perhaps she could help you, too."

ABBY

Ba'ob shifted a bit. New person. He bit down the urge to ask what she was. Wasn't as important as he thought it was. "She here?" he asked.

IZZY

"Oh, no." Luci waved it off. "She lives very far away."

ABBY

Very far away. Ba'ob didn't like the sound of it. He didn't look at Luci, staring at the floor instead. "Can't go that far from Azriel," he mumbled.

IZZY

"Oh," Luci said, not understanding. Azriel -- the tiefling with the broken horn. Larkin's boyfriend. Larkin was Kheman's daughter. That was really all she knew. She want sure how he figured into this. "Well, perhaps he would go with you."

ABBY

Ba'ob fidgeted. He wasn't sure if he wanted that or not. "Will talk to him. Maybe we go."

IZZY

"Well, if nothing else, perhaps Hansel can ..." She trailed off. Hansel could barely work out how to use his own magic. "That is, maybe I could help. I'm a cleric, which is different from druidic magic, but there are some similarities."

ABBY

Cleric magic, druid magic-- Luci talked like it meant something but Ba'ob didn't get it. Maybe she was just smarter than him though. "Okay," he said. He held his hand out, and once again summoned his flame. "What you do?"

IZZY

"Well --." She started to get off-topic, explaining clerical magic and how it differed from druidic magic, then realized that even just lecturing on druidic magic alone might we'll be lost on Ba'ob.

She readjusted. "Druidic magic is about communing with nature," she tried, slowly, figuring out what needed to be said as she said it. "I sit and meditate with my deity -- you should sit and meditate with nature. Wherever you feel most at one with it. In a forest, or by the coast -- oh, maybe with your wolf friend?"

ABBY

Meditate-- that was sitting around being quiet. Ba'ob made a face. "Don't like meditating," he grumbled.

IZZY

"Perhaps it's something different for you." She mulled it over. "I don't know. I doubt Hansel meditates, either. Whatever you do to relax, I suppose."

ABBY

Relax. What did Ba'ob do to relax? Napped sometimes. Cuddled with someone. Went for a walk with the wolf. Hunting too but he'd mostly stopped since his arm. "Less boring," he said, perking up. "Wanna try!" he started clambering out of his chair. "You come?"

IZZY

"No," she said. "I'm busy." Ah, maybe that was rude, though. "I'll be in the library, though, if you want to come back later."

ABBY

"Will come show you!" Ba'ob promised. He yipped at the wolf and charged out the door, with her on his heels.

A while later a Ba'ob with more dirt on his clothes and leaves in his hair showed up in the library, climbing up on the table and flopping across it. "Didn't woooooork," he whined at Luci. "Can't do aaaaaanything."

IZZY

She stared at him, and picked a few leaves off her book, unimpressed. "I doubt you can't do anything," she said firmly. "You could do some things before."

ABBY

"Can't do anything new," Ba'ob whined. "Triiiiiied. Gets stuck."

IZZY

She picked off a few more leaves and twigs, then stopped, looking at them. She spun one between her fingers and stood.

"Okay. Come with me." She started for the door.

ABBY

Now what was going on? Ba'ob rolled off the table with a thump and scrambled up and after Luci. "What doing?"

IZZY

Luci led him downstairs, through the dining room and kitchen. "Spellcasters require an object to focus their casting. This is mine." She pulled her moon pendant out of her robes to show him, and tucked it away again. "It represents my deity. Druids use something related to nature."

She pushed out the back door and started towards the forest.

"Sometimes a staff, or a wand, made of a sacred wood. Sometimes a sprig of some other plant. It may call to you," she remembered, "but it may also seem innocuous."

ABBY

Ugh magic was so much work. Ba'ob could remember picking around the forest, finding this or that to channel specific spells through. But now it sounded like maybe he just needed one thing. That'd call to him. Guess that was better. "Okaaaay," he groaned.

He had managed to feel something when he was wandering around. He reached for it again when they entered the woods, resting his hand on the wolf's head. Huh. Something was calling to him. "Here," he said, bounding towards it.

IZZY

Luci trailed after him, curious.

ABBY

It wasn't too far. Ba'ob remembered this tree. The berry bush he'd ate off of and then threw up at Goro's feet was real close. It was harder one-handed, but Ba'ob grabbed at the branches and started climbing.

Of course one broke, sending him crashing back down to the ground, flat on his back.

IZZY

"Oh." Luci dropped down next to him and prodded him slightly with her staff. "Are you all right? Would you like some help?"

ABBY

"Am fine!" Ba'ob said, waving the broken-off branch in the air for a second. Nearly whapped Luci with it too. He scrambled up and glared at the tree-- and then took a closer look at the branch he was still gripping. "Is hiding!" he said, waving the branch around again. "Here!"

IZZY

Luci leaned away from the stick, scrunching her nose a little. Ba'ob needed to be more careful. She briefly wondered if she should really be helping him access greater magics, but she was too intrigued not to, really.

She folded her legs under her to settle beside him. "Can I see?" she asked, holding her hand out for the branch.

ABBY

Ba'ob shrugged and dropped it in her open palm. "Is hiding," he said again.

IZZY

Nonplussed, Luci turned it over in her hand. There didn't seem to be any sort of inherent, apparent value. She couldn't identify what sort of wood it was, and peered at the tree it had come from -- unfortunately, she wasn't well-versed on tree species. It could be a yew, or some other sort of sacred wood.

She gave it back to him. "What do you mean by 'hiding'?"

ABBY

"Hiding!" Ba'ob huffed out a breath, wasn't she listening? He grabbed his knife and stabbed it into the ground, trying to shift the branch where he could hold it steady in the crook of one arm. He got it good enough and then started slicing gashes down it. "See?"

IZZY

"Oh," Luci said, slightly alarmed by the knife. He seemed to have a decent grasp on it, though. Hesitantly, she offered, "Would you like me to help by holding it while you carve?"

Some druids, she thought, did carve their own little totems. Many druidic focii were formed naturally, but not all of them. She supposed he would have a better idea of what he was doing than she would.

ABBY

"Can--" Ba'ob started to say. Then yelped as the knife slipped and gashed into his arm. Blood started welling up, staining his shirtsleeve red. "Okay," he said, dropping the stick into Luci's lap and waiting for her to hold it steady.

IZZY

"Oh," she said again. "Oh, dear. Well." He seemed to be quite unfazed, but she frowned and channeled a little magic through one hand, rubbing her thumb against her fingertips as if she were warming them, summoning up a white glow streaked with red. The slash he'd given himself closed up.

A bit hesitantly, then, she held the branch for him. "Please do be careful."

ABBY

Ba'ob jumped a little when he felt the magic knitting his flesh together. He'd seen it before but, hadn't expected. Usually asked Azriel for healing. He poked at it for a second. Yeah that was healed good.

Neat! Ba'ob grinned and started carving on the branch again. Sawing at one end, cause it was too long. Little more careful this time-- didn't wanna cut Luci. Liked Luci. "Won't cut you," he promised.

IZZY

"Well, yes, I would appreciate it if you didn't," she said bluntly. She watched for a beat. "What are you carving?"

ABBY

"Dunno," Ba'ob said. The branch snapped and Ba'ob tapped one end with his knife. "Don't need this. Not here." He waited for Luci to shift her grip and set to carving again. "Is hiding."

IZZY

"Hmm." She tilted her head, and moved her hands. Interesting. She supposed all there was to do was wait for him to finish, and see what it was exactly that he was uncovering from the wood.

ABBY

Before too long Ba'ob started to get an idea what it was. A pointed snout, a tail, sitting and almost seeming to watch Ba'ob as he worked. It was the wolf.

IZZY

Luci nodded in understanding as the shape became clear. Yes, that made sense. She glanced over at the actual wolf, pondering the relationship between it and Ba'ob.

ABBY

Ba'ob sat back, grabbing the carving and turning it over in his hand. This was right. This wasn't hiding any more.

So maybe now spells? Ba'ob turned and concentrated on the biggest surge of magic in him. The shape it had settled into. And then he waved his totem around and yelled, "Light!"

Silvery beams of light appeared, forming a circle on the ground. Ba'ob turned and grinned at Luci. "Worked!!" he said excitedly.

IZZY

She winced a bit at the volume, then smiled, faintly. She wondered again if she may have only caused more trouble for someone -- possibly herself -- down the road in helping him cast. "Yes," she agreed. "Um. Mind you don't set fire to anything, or what have you."

ABBY

Ba'ob was already sticking his hand into the light-- and yelping when ghostly flames sizzled against his skin. It hurt. "That hurt!" he yelled. Grinning. Cause he had spells back! "Lookit!" he said, showing his blistered skin to Luci. "Looooook!"

IZZY

"Yes, that's ... very nice," Luci said, doubtfully -- both because one wouldn't typically be so excited about injuring themself, and because she was beginning to realize that Ba'ob was likely very young, and that's very nice was the sort of thing you were supposed to say to children. She'd never been very good with them, even when she had been one.

She hummed the gist of a prayer to heal his blisters, and reminded him, "Please do be careful. Perhaps you could learn your own healing magic." Hansel could do it. It wasn't as powerful as her own, or as Goro's, but if it was druidic, she expected Ba'ob could as well.

ABBY

Ba´ob lit up. His own healing magic! Magic was awesome. He love magic.

"You smart!" He said. She hadn't liked the hug last time-- so he ripped a flower up from the ground and handed it to her instead. "Like you."

IZZY

"Er, thank you." She took the flower. Hopefully this wasn't like the last time someone had given her a flower. That had been an entire ordeal.

Tucking it behind her ear absently, she added, "I am, yes," and pushed herself up, dusting off her robes. "I might go back to the library, now. Will you be all right by yourself?"

ABBY

"Not alone," Ba'ob gestured at the wolf. "Am fine."

IZZY

"I suppose that's true." She appraised the wolf. It could keep him safe from others, she imagined, but she had to wonder if it could keep him safe from himself. Ah, well. It wasn't really any of her concern.

"Well, take care of yourself," she told him, and turned back toward the castle.

ABBY

Ba'ob waved at her back and tacklehugged the wolf. He'd fixed his magic. He should tell someone-- hey! Ombre!

He scrambled up and after Luci. "Luuuuuuci!" he yelled. "Luci! Gonna tell Ombre!"

[END]