An Unlikely Mentor

An Unlikely Mentor
Date of Scene:	03 April 2013
Location:	Traverse Town - District 3
Synopsis:	A troubled Gargoyle seeks out aid in controlling a curse.
Cast of Characters:	Hati, Percival

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Percival has posed:
This was supposed to be their meeting spot.

He didn't really know all that much about her, just a few details. That she could help him with his problem if she decided she wanted to. While originally he had intended to go to Angantyr, the best laid plans failed the moment he used his unconscious body to bludgeon Evja into unconsciousness.

Ever since his battle with Demona, he'd become increasingly self-conscious of how he might lose control. She was immortal, and would always regenerate, but he hadn't known that at the time.. Had she been aught else, he might have had her blood on his hands. And that frightened him, he didn't want to raise arms against his own kind, to have the death of anyone of them on his hands would be unthinkable.

Still, he'd managed to calm since then. Some lighthearted fun in the aftermath of Manhatten's restoration combined with the plans to make Avira her airship had allowed him to settle in the short term, and yet thoughts of the Demona still lingered in his mind..

He tried to focus on his book instead. He was a patient sort, and the stories within were more calming than thoughts of the Red-haired Gargess that sat at the forefront of his mind.

Should anyone try to sneak up on him, they'd find him seated on the ledge of a rooftop, his legs and tail dangling off it, his wings relaxed on his shoulders, with a book open upon his lap. The book's spine was wellworn and the pages had the look of being frequently dogeared. On occasion, he'd lick the side of the part of his finger from which the talon jutted, before turning the pages.

Hati has posed:
Some are predator, some are prey. Though Percival might be searching for her, the wolf comes on her own terms. Her ability to sink into darkness makes her an elusive creature. It is probably best that he had waited rather than trying to hunt her down. Cornering a beast means risking driving the creature to lash out. This way, she has time to watch the strange creature. Hati has never really seen a gargoyle up close until now.

Unlike many who would feel ill at ease on a rooftop, the wolf is as comfortable here as anywhere else. She steps free from the shadows, her footsteps seeming to come out of nowhere. Clearly, she wants him to hear them, or else he would not have. For the most part, the wolf-girl looks human. There are a few odd things here and there: the animated ears that nearly hide within her hair at times, her slightly clawed fingers, and the tail that sways behind her. She looks /young/ though. If it weren't for those wolfish features, she might pass as any teenager on the street in his world.

"So..." She begins. The girl's lips look odd as she speaks. There's a hint of black around the edges that doesn't come from makeup. The same color lingers around her wrists and around her one blue eye. It's faint, fading, but she still carries the price of the last few weeks. "You must be the one looking for me." She has no idea if it was Skoll or Faruja, or maybe even Zeke that sent this young man her way. It could be anyone, really. Then again, her brother had let a fairly substantial bomb drop during that last battle for Manhattan. He'd revealed to Percival as well as others... Hati had once worked for the Shadow Lords.

It isn't something that she's particularly proud of, but the girl's eyes narrow as she stands there, hands in her pockets, looking the picture of ease. "If you're here to attack me, I can tell you that you'll make worse enemies than me in the process." Her brother, afterall, was an immortal of sorts. She also has a fairly strong idea that Faruja would not let harm to her go unavenged. It felt strange to have friends she could count on. Strange, but good.

Percival has posed:
The Gargoyle hears her voice. His fin-like ears perking up as he listens to her. He doesn't turn initially, giving her the oppurtunity to speak. He takes a moment to dogear the page of his book, and shut it, before he looks up, staring at the sky. "I doubt I could attack you unless you wanted me to, given how easily you were able to sneak up on me. I can promise you that if I did attack you, that it wouldn't be by choice."

He'd slowly turn, and set the book upon the roof. It appears to be a ponderous tome of Scottish history at a glance. A moment later, he was rising, his gaze sweeping over her appraisingly. She had features that marked her as one of Skoll's race, except slighter and more feminine. He knew from experience with his own race that that hardly meant she wasn't a threat, for they were typically able to trounce him with ease.

While he tried to appear relaxed, she might see that he's a little anxious, given his body language. He crossed his arms, his tail twitching at an anxious rhythm. "I'm Percival, by the way. I presume you're Lady Ulfang? I'm pleased to make your acquaintance. I.." He gave her an almost embarassed look. "..I don't really know how to talk about this. I'm in need of assistance, and yet I barely even know who you are. It seems wrong of me to be here, asking for your help given my nescience of you."

Hati has posed:
"Hati." The girl replies almost in a bark. Her mismatched eyes narrow slightly, a hint of a growl beneath her breath. The wolf is more like her beastly namesake, calm on the surface, but there is something fierce that lies beneath the surface, as if it were just waiting to burst through. "I don't use my blood-father's name. Skoll can do what he likes, but I refuse to take the name of a monster who left me to die." In another time, Hati might have taken that first impression - that slight mistake, and used it to make a judgement about this gargoyle.

Now, she just lets out a huff of breath, blowing a few strands of hair out of her eyes. It isn't his fault. He wouldn't have any way of knowing. "Just... Hati. Please." She looks away from him then, breaking that moment of intense eye contact. She stalks to the edge of the rooftop, looking down. There's no fear of the heights, or of the fall. "What do you want to know?" She asks simply, tail twitching behind her. The girl isn't offering up much just yet, but then again, she's still at a loss as to exactly why this creature might have been sent to look for her. Hrm.

Percival has posed:
The Gargoyle nods his head. "Hati it is.." Right, well he wouldn't make that mistake again.

He'd turn with her, his eyes watching her movements. "I.. well just to be a brief, I did something terrible a long time ago, and I think I let darkness into my heart as a result. One of the Shadow Lords... well, I think he sensed it and set a trap for me. Or mayhaps the trap just lay in wait for anyone. I wouldn't know." He waves a taloned hand as if to ward off speculation. "The Elf created some sort of cursed rapier that I can't rid myself of, and if I don't learn some measure of control his warning was that it would eventually consume me. The path he offered for me is.. not even up for consideration. I'd like to try to learn to suppress my own darkness, if its at all possible."

He'd close his eyes briefly, a snort emitting from his nostrils. "Let's just say I haven't had much luck thus far with learning how to do it on my own."

Hati has posed:
"Of course, it always has to be about darkness." Hati sighs to herself. At first, it was Katyna who had come to her time and time again, looking for someone to teach her to harness the darkness as a weapon. For all her love for the girl, the wolf had not wanted to see her be dragged down by the power she sought. Even now, no matter how much she might struggle, herself, she's still being sought out for that knack.

Clawed fingers drum on her arm, "Everyone has darkness in their heart, save for a rare few true lights in this world." Her voice is distant, but thoughtful. "So no, Percival. It wasn't your actions that let in darkness. Everyone is born with jealousy, hate, anger. Whatever protects those lights, the rest of us aren't born so lucky." She tugs on her jacket, pulling it closer around her neck.

Hrm. An Elven Shadow Lord who likes to meddle in the lives of others. That sounds familiar. For all that she might have gone her own way, thus far the wolf has done her best not to cross lines with the Shadow Lords directly. "I think you have to ask yourself how much you trust this Shadow Lord." How much does anyone actually trust /her/ now? Hrmph. "Do you think that he is so knowledgable about your fate? Or perhaps maybe he is simply trying to place a trial in your way, and see what you do."

She shrugs her shoulders, still a far cry from being able to figure out Seith, as much as she might work with him a time or two. Her eyes still followed Reize now and again under his orders, and he still offered her some services in exchange. "My first suggestion would be to find someone who can give you a second opinion on the spell. Perhaps the fool wizard, or that blind witch in the swamps." She hesitates then, "As for learning to suppress darkness... I could try teaching you what I know. But I warn you: Keeping back the darkness is a test of the strength of your own heart. If you are not up to the task, then anything I do to help you will only quicken your decline."

Her tail sways, and she shivers from the wind. "Can we go somewhere? I don't care for the cold." She hunches into her coat, then motions down the street. "I have a room at the hotel. Come." With that, she's off. The girl makes surprising grace over the rooftops, although perhaps not as skilled as a gargoyle with the use of wings. Nevertheless, she manages to get through the city relatively quickly, swinging down from a rooftop to land on a balcony, which she neatly unlocks.

If nothing else, she's giving him time to think.

Percival has posed:
Perhaps, as if sensing her thoughts, he'd seem even more embarassed. "I wish we could have met under different circumstances. That this subject might have been broached more gracefully. It seems so wrong of me just to seek your aid without having your friendship first." He'd run the back of his hand across his face. When she speaks on the darkness in his heart, his wings would unfurl to their full span, as he grows a touch more anxious. "Call it what you wish, darkness that I'm born with, original sin. Either way, what I did causes me to lose the innate control most individuals have over it at times. Were I still in my world, it would probably be labelled as some sort of mental illness, PTSD or something." Another hand wave, he's no psychiatrist and he certainly isn't capable of psychoanalyzing himself. "...as the Elf stated, the darkness spreads out from me in such a way to show that I have very little control over it."

And then on the Shadow Lord, he'd sigh. "I don't trust him, but there's something about him... it seems like he plays games with me because there's something that he is lacking. Someone or something that he has lost. Even so, I'd rather not put his warning to the test."

He didn't even know his name was Seith yet, and he certainly didn't know all that much about him. "I'll have Isaac take a look at it in the future. I just don't want anyone to get hurt by it. I don't know what will happen if he examines it. Merlin or Mama Odie...well, mayhaps, they seem powerful enough to do it without any ill effects."

And then she spoke of how if he's not up for the task, his situation would worsen. He'd breathe out a sigh. "If my decline worsens as a result, so swiftly that it seems like I'd be a danger, then you have my permission to end my life without there being any burden on your conscience for doing so. Just... if you must do it, then tell the Agency, Zia, and Maira that I'm sorry that I wasn't strong enough."

When she suggests going elsewhere, he'd nod in acquiescence. He didn't tend to notice the cold as swiftly as the other races. Climbing atop a higher position on the rooftop, he'd allow one of the currents at this altitude to catch his wings, and glide after her.

On the way, his thoughts turned to a crimson-haired Gargess that was begging him to kill her, to finish her off. With a grim twist of his lips, he'd continue to follow her, the thoughts of her strengthening his resolve.

Hati has posed:
"I don't believe in sin." Hati replies in a voice that seems to still carry that distant, dead-pan quality. For all her heart had been awakened by her interactions with Faruja, she couldn't bring herself to really believe in his way of thinking. "Everyone makes mistakes. Let them be judged by the path they choose to follow, not by the deeds of the past." It's something she hopes for herself, but she doesn't expect it from anyone. She'd have to face their eyes soon enough, but for now, she simply regards the gargoyle.

"I will say this. I know the man you speak of. It isn't just you that he tries to play games with. You aren't far from the truth of the matter, but that isn't my story to tell." If she has thoughts about his offer to take his life, the wolf doesn't speak them right away. The running helps. It clears her mind, focuses her thoughts.

Back at the hotel, Hati steps in, leaving the door open behind her. The room is decorated primarily in red, enough so that one might wonder if this were not some house of ill repute. Then again, people came and went here regularly, except perhaps for Hati. Clearly, this place has been well lived in as of late. The covers are tossed about, and there are more than a few dishes in the sink that suggest that she isn't the only one taking meals here. In fact, more interesting for Percival, perhaps, is a robe that lays across the bed, and looks quite similar to ones he might have seen a certain churchmouse wearing.

Stranger still, is a bowl of oil that sits on a table. The bowl is clearly ornate, meant for some sort of ritual. Strange wolf he has found himself in the company of. "Percival. What you ask isn't something you can lay in my hands to decide. I once said the same thing to my brother. I asked him, that if I failed in coming back from the brink, if he would make sure I didn't become a monster. And the reason I asked it of him is because I trusted him to know when there was no part of me left to save." Her eyes are serious as she looks at him in that instant, and then she turns away.

The room is warm, and she slips her coat off, wearing a sleeveless vest beneath it that shows off the myriad of scars down one arm and visible across her belly. "If you want to ask that, ask it of someone who cares. Not of a stranger."

Percival has posed:
Well he certainly couldn't argue with that. He was trying to redeem the irredeemable in Demona after all. Perhaps it was just that the Gargoyle saw his own sin, and refused to look upon anyone else's with the same disdain unless they were so vile that noone could ignore it. "As you say then..."

And then the subject of Seith, again. "I know. I fought him once, after our first encounter. He was aiding Hades in retrieving Lady Avira. I.. the man seems overly concerned with achieving power, for some end. Perhaps to strengthen others, perhaps for survival. He doesn't seem to seek it for its own sake, but it makes him no less dangerous."

Once they arrived at the hotel, he noted the robe, but didn't speak upon it. HIs gaze swept the room, but if he had any thoughts upon its decor, he didn't voice them. After all, he slept on rooftops, what would he know about interior decorating?

He runs a hand through his hair. "I can't... I can't put that in their hands. They would hesitate. And if they succeeded, most of them would blame themselves in some way. Or they might try to save me... I...." He trails off, not wanting to really speak on the subject any longer. "...they're my new clan, whether they know it or not. Whether they know /me/ or not. I can't ask them to do it."

He'd breathe out a sigh. "...Let's not speak on that any longer. I'd prefer optimism. Lady Zia wouldn't want me to dwell on the worst case scenario. Might we remedy the stranger part? Is there anything you wouldn't mind telling me of yourself?"

Hati has posed:
Once inside, the wolf-girl moves to put on a pot of water, "Sit where you like." This was far and away a different place from her own home, where she might be more defensive of her territory. Here, so few things actually were important to her. It was a place to sleep, not a place to truly call her own. Hati doesn't comment about Seith any further, perhaps defending his own secrets. For all she had served the Shadow Lords, she isn't interested in betraying them now that she's left. Besides, it wouldn't help Percival's situation to know more about the Elf's personal life, anyways.

As she waits, the wolf leans back against the counter, shaking her head. "I have plenty of blood on my hands, gargoyle. Enough that yours would only be a drop in the bucket. If it came to protecting my life, I would end yours in a heartbeat, but wolves don't kill needlessly." She runs a hand through her own hair, the dyed strands moving back from the scarred side of her face.

"Besides, if it fell to my hands, do you really think your friends and loved ones would forgive me? Don't you think they'd turn on me. Get revenge for the loss of your life?" Shaking her head, Hati dismisses his request. "It has to come from someone who has realized that they have no other choice. All it does for me is earn me another set of enemies, and I've got plenty without adding your 'clan' amongst them."

The name he speaks is familiar, one of those that his brother had mentioned. Her ear twitches. Rather than ask, she simply pours two cups of tea, offering one out to him without so much as asking if he wants it or not. It's likely a familiar scent, the sort of old English Tea he might have had around back home. Coincidence?

"What do you want to know about me?" Hati says simply, warming her hands on her own mug, her darkened wrists standing out even more so now that they are fully exposed.

Percival has posed:
The Gargoyle furled his wings, allowing them to come to a rest upon his shoulders again. When she bids him to find a seat, he'd sit down upon the bed, trying not to look into the robe's presence all that much.

Her canine grace and nonchalant wolfish attitude towards taking his life raised a smile to his lipse. "There would be need, if I failed."

He'd raise a hand, running it through his hair. "I don't think they'd seek revenge. They don't know how much I care about them, and they know so very little about me. I don't think it would suprise them overmuch given what little they do know of me."

A pause, as his smile would thin out, and turn into a frown. "A clan isn't like a wolf pack, Hati. We /don't/ turn on each other, ever, even when it would be a mercy. Its not something I can ask of them. I couldn't allow my blood to stain any of their hands. If my death came from a stranger, it would be far more palatable than.."

He'd close his eyes, the thought of Maira, Avira, Legion, or Zia killing him was just too much. "..than that."

He'd open his eyes to take the cup of tea. When he smelled the aroma, he'd give her a suprised look, before taking a sip. He seemed extraordinarily proper when he drank tea.

And then the subject shifted to her once again. Given that she seemed to have a rather shady past, and many dark memories given how she reacted ot her father's name, he decided to tread carefully. "Something of yourself that would be a more cheerful subject for you. Something that isn't of the darkness, or your family. We could chit chat about idle pleasantries I suppose but... what makes you happy, Hati?"

Hati has posed:
"Don't be so quick to judge wolves, gargoyle." She aims a claw-tipped finger in his direction. There is a flash of anger in her eyes, that seems almost like a force in itself. It's a dangerous line that Percival is walking, and this second mistake has edged him that much closer ot her ire. "You think your people are so saintly? You'd be surprised." She growls under her breath then, taking a step back and closing that hand into a fist, forcing some of the anger down. Though he can't likely sense such things, this is her battle against darkness that she deals with every day.

"Pack in my world, is like family to humans, or clan to you. It is home, safety, trust, love, warmth..." She blows over the edge of her cup of tea, then drinks, letting the warmth flow through her and lessen the cold in her veins. "Wolves don't turn on their packmates. Not usually. My blood-father was an exception to that rule."

She doesn't bother trying to argue against his ideas about who should be the one to end his life. Instead, she simply offers this: "Better to live than to die either way, gargoyle."

Hati moves then to sit down, resting in a plush chair before the bowl of oil. "What makes me happy?" The wolf chuckles then, laughing at the how abserd the question seems. "A warm fire. More blankets then I rightfully need. The thrill of the hunt. Good food. Good booze. My brother when he smiles. Katyna when she's being her usual hyper, spaz-brained self. Faruja when he says things that make my chest feel warm." She shrugs then, at least the later of those things causing her to avert her eyes, looking out towards the window. Emotions are not the wolf-girl's strong point.

Percival has posed:
He'd erred yet again. He didn't try to argue the point despite all the stories he'd read of members of wolf packs fighting for dominance, rarely even to a deadly degree. His earlier tale of her father he'd thought had been a more common one than he knew. He'd never heard of there being the same behavior in Gargoyle culture, but again, he wasn't trying to insult her. He just takes another sip of tea, before his tone would become sheepish, embarassed. "My apologies, it was not my intent to insult your people."

He would watch her when spoke of the pack and packmates being family, home, trust, love. "Then you understand why I can't ask them."

He'd only nod when she states it is better to live than to die.

While she'd laugh at the absurdity of the question, he was smiling. Better to dwell on these subjects than talk of the /darkness/. "Thank you for sharing. As for myself.. A good book, an old movie, classic Jazz music.. The laughter of Zia, Avira, or Maira when I say something absurd. Listening to what small part of their dreams they're willing to share and hoping that I can help them come true. Thoughts of someone I once loved, before we spread her ashes."

Hati has posed:
There is a great deal of separation between wolves in nature and werewolves who spend most of their lives as humans. Dominance, of course, still plays a role, but it is mostly involved in maintaining certain social hierarchies. The fact that werewolves change into their more beastly form when giving eyecontact is a sign of it - the wolf emerges when they choose to challenge. But what her father did was unheard of in their culture, as much as it might be elsewhere.

"No, I don't understand." Hati states with a shake of her head. "If the darkness takes you that far down, then there is nothing of the person you are left behind. The closer you get to it, the less of you remains." Her mind wanders then, thoughtful. "Would you think it much different if you were turned into a zombie? A walking corpse with no real thoughts or feelings, only the impulse to eat and destroy...? It's much the same, except you still look alive. Whatever made you, you, is gone."

With another sip of tea, the wolf-girl tries to push past that morbid topic. Her own experiences taint the subject terribly, and her clawed fingers itch at the dark lines on her wrists. "Honestly, if it wasn't for Katyna, Skoll, and Faruja, I wouldn't be here multiple times over. You'd be surprised how much other people worm their way into your life." She chuckles, but it's a sort of dry sound. She hadn't needed anyone before, but now? Hrmph.

"Those things you hold dear are going to be important in learning to keep the darkness at bay." She points a finger at him. "Not sadness. Not regret. The things that hold you here. The things that nail your feet to the ground and keep you alive. Those are the sorts of things you have to hold on to. Darkness is entropy. It will wear those things away if you let it." Lesson one.

Percival has posed:
When Hati speaks of how far down the darkness takes him, he would set the teacup and saucer on the bed beside him. "I don't think you understand, that is how far I fall already when it takes control. The only difference is that..." He'd breathe out a sigh. "You're going to think that this sounds ridiculous, but lately... whenever it has happened, I remember nothing of it, save one thing. Sometimes I hear the voice of one of my friends, pleading with me to stop. And I'm able to claw my way out of that state before I do something that I'd forever regret."

He'd pick up the teacup again. "I'm not suprised. I know very little of your brother, but he's a good friend to Lady Zia, and seems a gallant sort. Ser Senra..." He chuckles. "He's very..zealous, and doesn't look past my faults, but notes each and every one of them, then tries to let me try work my way past them. He's a good friend and mentor, even if we don't agree on spiritual matters from time to time."

And then his first lesson is related to him. To his credit, he doesn't let any sort of pride, or ego get in the way of the reality of the situation. "Then this will be very difficult for me. If I'm to try to put aside my greatest regret. The things I hold dear to me might be my anchor in the midst of some chaotic tempest, but even so..."

A pause as he takes another sip of tea, then lifts his chin up to look at her. "I'm afraid, and I think I'd have to be the greatest fool in the world not to be."

Hati has posed:
"No, you don't." Hati replies without a moment of hesitaton. "If you go that far, you don't come back. Besides, from someone who knows... you don't radiate the darkness like the rest of us." She looks at him with a more serious gaze then. "Not unless you can summon it at will." Her hand raises, and on her palm, a ghostly purple and black wolf appears as if out of mist and flame. It circles there, then leaps into the air before vanishing again, "Or if you can travel using the dark portals." She doesn't demonstrate this one, but she does raise an eyebrow. "Then you've got a long way to go before you're that far gone."

"I think you're confusing two things that may or may not be related." Setting her mug down, Hati ticks them off on her fingers. "There's the cursed sword and the darkness that comes with it, and there's these black outs of yours, which I'm guessing started long before that." It's a guess, but based on everything he's said, it seems like a good wager. "I can teach you about the darkness, but I'm not sure I can do much about your black outs. They aren't a regular symptom of those who wield darkness."

Her tail sways against the chair, "It's not a matter of forgetting sorrow or loss or regret. You just have to find something /stronger/ than that." Hati smirks then, "I was treading the edge, far closer than you are, when Skoll found me. I couldn't even remember him at first, but who he was... what he meant to me was strong enough to break that hold and bring me back." Her ears tuck back along her head, but she looks at him with some understanding in her eyes. "You're nowhere near that, so what you need to do is shore up those things you have to cling to. Start there."

Her mismatched eyes look at him for a long time, but she nods slowly. "Fear is good. Fear means you have a healthy respect for the darkness within you. Fear means you won't be drawn by the promise of the strength it offers." Her mind goes back to Katyna again, how much she had /wanted/ that darkness. This is different. "Find some oakwood. Get someone to make a scabbard for that sword out of it. Oak is a powerful wood for protection." It's the sort of thing that he might expect to have heard out of one of those psychics back home, but Hati seems to believe it.

"I have a few bits of my own darkness to deal with before I start training you in earnest, but it's a place for you to start. When we've shielded the sword, we can start seeing just how strong your heart really is." Her eyes look at him in that feral sort of way. It's intense, and probably a bit uncomfortable for most people.

Percival has posed:
She seemed correct to him. Maybe he doesn't know. All of his experience with the darkness was based on assumptions and those he'd fought.

After considering what she says for a time, he'd shake his head. "Not.. not without the cursed blade that I've been saddled with, and not with any degree of control. It just spreads out everywhere. People appear to me as nothing but purple auras of life force when it happens. To others, I all but disappear. You can ask Ser Senra, if you'd like an account of what I'm like before I had the blade. I'm ashamed to say that I nearly beat him to death in a friendly arena match that went awry." He knew that this was a dangerous thing to say to her, but he gives her full disclosure nevertheless.

He gives her a speculative look. "Well, the Elf did say that there was a malevolent spirit within the blade, though he stated that it was amplifying my own darkness, making it something tangible. I suppose its possible that instead, its just using my negative emotions, feeding off of them, then converting it to darkness. Whenever its awake.. I hear a heartbeat that isn't my own."

He'd take a deep breath before sighing. "I'm not sure if my feelings for them are strong enough to overcome my regrets. Mayhaps if one of my friends were nearby, to offer support but.." He'd shake his head. "No, I don't think I can endanger them like that. I suppose I'll have to find out without them there. I have little other choice."

He'd nod once again to her. "I don't think I've ever been tempted by what the darkness has to offer me.. as I told the Elf, I'd rather fall upon my own sword than allow myself to become what he described."

Oakwood? He didn't know what to make of that. He seemed to recall that in some of the old tales that spirits of the forest, or dryads would make manifest their protection in the wood of their trees, but he had no idea if they were just legends or not. "I'll see it done."

She may have looked at him with a sort of feral intensity, but it didn't perturb him all that much at first... ...and then he imagined how he must look at others when he's lost it. Hati would see a sort of unconscious shiver at that moment, for which he places the tea cup back then. "I'll be ready.."

Hati has posed:
"That's usually the way of it. Think of darkness like any other element in nature. Fire burns, wind howls, water freezes, and all of them usually do so without any concern for those their path crosses." Hati drains the last of her tea, looking down into the leaves at the bottom. She isn't that kind of seer, but the thought fascinates her for a moment before she puts it down. "Only a rare few develop the skills to mold the darkness, but like any other element, you can figure out ways of holding it at bay."

His story about losing control has a faint smirk finding a way onto her darkened lips. "I'd appreciate it if you don't beat the crap out of my boyfriend. It kind of puts a damper on things, you know?" This is Hati's own form of wry humor. It's probably the first time she's used the word 'boyfriend', but it probably suits well enough. There was certainly something between her and the mouseling, she'd just yet to figure out what it is for herself.

She considers him from across the room, then pushes herself to her feet, walking over towards him. "If you don't find a way to trust in your own strength, then there's little I can do to convince you of it, myself." Hati stands before him then, "Stand up." She commands, if only to show the difference in their heights. He's easily got a foot and a half in height, and more than that in bulk on the tiny wolf-girl. "You're already strong on the outside. You need to find it inside." As is common for the wolf, she doesn't much care about other people's personal boundaries. Thus, her hand reaches up to lay her palm on his chest, just over his heart.

Percival has posed:
The Gargoyle just saw tea, as tea. So when he finally finished his cup as Hati describes darkness as any other force of nature, he isn't staring at the leaves at the bottom. Maybe it was because Will taught him that fate and destiny were two very different things, or maybe.. he just didn't want to think his future was already decided for him, he had a feeling that it wouldn't be a happy one.

And then on to Faruja, well that certainly answered any lingering questions he might have. For his part, he does manage a wan smile. "I'll certainly try, Hati. I imagine he doesn't take to your nursing all that well, he doesn't seem the type for it."

When she bids him to stand up, he'd give her a peculiar look, before doing as he was bidden. And then she presses her hand against his heart. He doesn't shy away. He didn't tend to be bashful about his personal space unless there were other factors involved that indicated an ulterior motive for invading it. When she states that he needs to find strength on the inside, he speaks only a single word as his question. "How?"

Hati has posed:
"I wouldn't know." Hati replies in a somber voice. While she had seen Faruja injured time and time again, the most he had ever truly let her do was to create the salve for his burns. "I don't like to see people I care about being hurt. It's as simple as that. I protect my own, as I assume you would do as well." Her tail sways behind her, the steady rhythm of a calm mind.

"I wish I could answer that question for you, Percival, but it's something you'll have to discover for yourself. I can only act as a guide." That said, the wolf steps back. "You will need to challenge darkness in many ways soon enough if you want to learn to fight it. The first task will be seeing how you fare against me."

She walks over towards the window, unlatching it. "Take care of that sword, and be ready. I want to see this darkness of yours first hand." Clearly, she's bidding him to leave for now. There is much to think about.

Percival has posed:
He replied in a throaty sort of voice. "Then that is something else that we have in common, Hati."

He'd consider her words for a time, before nodding. "As you say. I'll steel myself for the task that lay ahead."

He'd walk towards the window, opening it, and beginning to climb out of it, hesitating halfway as his voice softened considerably. "...I'm glad that you and Ser Senra are happy together. Please take care of yourselves. Farewell." And then he climbed out entirely, and was gone shortly after.