Posts by MERLOT T.M.

This was the second of his tasks; he was meant to hold some kind of 'getting-to-know-you' game for everyone here in Solaris. Sangria had suggested Solaris, but that wasn't the type of thing he was prone to do. Instead, he had decided to go simpler—a question and answer session. He'd made sure it was known that it was going on, and had mentioned that it would be held in the guild hub, and then had ventured over and taken a seat as he waited. The rules were simple; someone would ask him a question, he'd answer it, he'd ask then next person a question, and so on, passing between people until they got bored and decided to stop.

Merlot needed to practice. What the fight with Ver had showed him, aside from the fact that he wasn't over the things that had happened to him and he could control fire, was that he was out of practice. He needed to improve; he wasn't going to let himself be hurt by anyone. Not Feliks, not Candela. If he saw either of them again, he needed to be able to take them down with ease. He needed to practice with someone, though, if he ever wanted to improve to a point that he could do so.

"I'm looking for a sparring partner," the serval called out, giving a look around as he waited for someone to decide to join him.

Bourbonkit is the first to respond, and he's quick to shake his head. The savannah is well aware of the fact that his children hold grudges towards him, but he refuses to fight any of them, especially when they're so inexperienced and he recently discovered his powers. "I'm not taking the chance that I'll hurt you," he states as he looks up at his child, keeping any expression off his face for the time being.

"I've seen," they reply, glancing over at her with the corners of their lips upturned slightly. They pause for a moment, gathering their thought, before explaining. "I've taken up living in the Cartel part-time to keep an eye on her. Didn't take long to figure it out, I know the signs." They look back towards her again, curious at the second part of what Arya has said. "It does surprise me that she would go to the Ruins, though. Did she mention why she came?"

Gardening was something Merlot had never actually tried before. It had never really interested him, but the more time he spent in Solaris, the more he felt that he should at least try it. The garden was something that seemed important to them, and he felt as if he should do something involving it. The savannah had taken to pulling weeds out as he came across them, careful not to touch the actual plants themselves. He planned on coming back through later on to water everything, but for the time being, he settled on the current task at hand.

Rosemary was next to approach, and he gave her a look over. He was still slightly hesitant, but this wasn't his child; he didn't have to worry as much. "It's meant to be casual, yes. Mistakes happen, so I can't promise neither of us would slip up, but there should be no intent to draw blood behind any of the hits," he explained. He paused for a moment and gave her time to think it over, before asking, "Are you in?"

Solkatt-Amadeus and Rosemary didn't take long to show up, although it seemed that the younger of the two wasn't aware that there was anything going on. Rosemary brought up the question game, leaving one less thing for him to say, although he still would need to explain it. "My name is Merlot," he said to Solkatt first. "I'm sure you've met Sangria; I'm her sibling." He glanced over at Rosemary, wondering if she wanted to explain the game since she seemed aware of what was going on, but it would probably be best if he did that, right?

"I'm holding a little question and answer game. One person will ask another a question. If they choose to answer, they then ask the next person. If they choose not to, they pass, and they're out of the game. The person who remains the longest will win a prize." It wasn't a game they had seen people play before, but it seemed like something interesting to him, and it would allow him to learn more about his fellow Solarians.

He had seen Solkatt just the other day, and though it was strange that he ran into the child yet again so soon, he wasn't too surprised. When one actually integrated themself into the group, it wasn't unlikely to see certain people more often. "That depends on what you find fun," he responded, glancing over a moment and dropping the weeds he had pulled from the sides of the hut. "I'm cleaning up the guild meeting areas. This one first, and then the other smaller ones. You're welcome to help if you like, but if you'd prefer not to, that's alright." He turned his attention back to the task at hand, but was listening carefully in case Solkatt spoke up again.

"If you'd like to, I won't turn you down," he replied, offering a small smile. Though he hadn't done any gardening before, his 'training' with Sangria had been teaching him more about plants; knowing herbs relied on knowing which plants were and weren't useful, which meant that one had to know what were weeds and what were not. "Garlic mustard plants are one of the weeds; they have sharp leaves, and the ones that were missed last year might have small white flowers at the top. You can pull those, and add them to the pile here." He gestured to the small clump on the ground a few feet away from him.

The longer Merlot thought about it, the more he felt sure that this was the right thing to do. He had always been a follower of the Red God(even though he considered himself a follower of Helios as well), and it seemed to him that things weren't as bad as they had been before the Ruiners had begun making sacrifices. And besides... what better way to use his new sword than for things such as this? It was a large weapon, difficult to wield in battle, but it was good for slicing; it would be perfect as a ceremonial blade for things such as this.

He had gone to gather a prisoner once he made up his mind. One wing hung over the prisoner's back, the claw at the thumb pressing against the softest part while he held the handle of the blade in his jaws, keeping it steady in front of the other's throat. Should they try to move in any direction that he wasn't, they would die anyways, and things would work out. After all, it was the intent that mattered, right? That wasn't to say that it wouldn't be better to do this over the Blood Nile and do as his mother had done and push them in afterwards, but it wouldn't be the end of the world.

As he reached the bank of the river, he used his wing and pushed the prisoner forward, quickly moving behind them and adjusting the blade. They couldn't say anything, which they didn't mind; actions spoke louder than words. They stood for a moment, ignoring the shaking of the person in front of him as they insisted that they needed to do this. They managed to settle their thoughts, and after a short moment's hesitations, they quickly drew the blade across the prisoner's throat. They dropped at once, and he stepped back, placing down the flamberge before moving back towards them. He shoved forward, leaving the body to drift away with the current.

This wasn't the first encounter Merlot would have had with Feliks since the other had attacked them, but it would be the first time while back in the Ruins as a member of their ranks. As they caught his scent, fire flickered to life at their paws almost unwillingly. They tried to put it out, but it wouldn't seem to dissipate, and so they might as well deal with this. They started walking towards where his scent originated from, doing their best to keep themself from shaking or turning away. They couldn't run from this, or from him.

They came to stand beside their mother, keeping enough of a distance that the flames wouldn't touch her; they had already burned her once, and they didn't want to hurt her again, especially when there was someone else right in front of them that they would much prefer to hurt.

Remaining quiet for the time being, Merlot joined the gathered crowd. They quietly walked over to sit beside Arya, murmuring a quiet hello in case she didn't realize that they had come up next to her. Once they were settled in, they turned their focus to their mother, watching and waiting to see what exactly she had decided to teach for the time being.

As Merlot catches the scent of the Hyperian Isles, a dread fills his chest. He is quick to follow it, and when he finds that its his mother of all people, it only worsens. Less than a week ago, he had delivered two of his children there personally. Solaris was allies with Hyperia; if they were to find out that two of their members had family that was looking to hurt them, how would they react? It makes it worse that he recognizes the face at Ver's feet; it's Spiritline, one of the people who had greeted him when he'd arrived.

"Mom, don't," he says, voice shaky as he calls out to her. "I know him, he didn't do anything, let him go." He has to do what he can, has to try to do this for his children, even if it means standing up to Ver and causing more problems for himself.

"Doing this won't bring her back to you." His voice is stronger, colder as he stands up to her. It's true; avenging her will do nothing except put more blood on Ver's paws. Besides, from the little he had seen of her, Ver's girlfriend had never seemed to be the type to want to see or do things such as this; he doubts she would enjoy having these things done in her name. He can't say that to her though. He knows how much it would hurt her to say that, and as defensive as he is right now, as much as he wants to protect his children, he can't do that to her. He falls silent, but stands strong nonetheless.

”If you hurt him again, I won’t forgive you.”

It’s said in a sure tone, one that leaves no room for debate. He understands, he does, but he can’t risk anything. Hyperia isn’t the type to hurt innocents and especially not children, but anyone could break if pushed to their limits. Who knew what they might be willing to do if Ver continued to hurt people? His children were there, in the thick of it all; Teddy was there, and she was of age to be captured or tortured by the laws of most groups. Was she truly safe from them? No, he couldn’t stand here and risk all three of their lives. If it comes down to it, he decides, Whiskey and Vodka come before Ver. He has to protect his children above all else, and he would be willing to fight back against her if he had to. Flames flicker to life over his paws in reaction to his emotions, something he can’t quite control yet, and thought it scares him, the idea that she might be risking his children’s lives scares him more. They’re six months in less than a week; from then on, they won’t be safe from harm.

"I'm interested, Ria," Merlot said, falling quiet after voicing his interest. This wouldn't be the first time Merlot had shown interest in medicinal duties; he had been a Nurse back in the Ruins before he had moved here, and had continued to learn from Sangria while she herself had been a Healinghand student. He could only hope that she would choose to officially take him on, now that she herself was a full Healinghand.

Merlot was soon to join the other two. It was clear that they were tired despite the fact that they were trying to hide it; living in three different groups, two of which were dealing with other groups that they had people to take care of in, took a lot out of them. Nonetheless, this was important, and they wouldn't miss it. The savannah took a seat, ready to listen to whatever Alcibiades had to say.

Despite Bourbonkit's clear distaste at seeing them, they stood still, refusing to walk away. It wasn't as if they were causing problems; they simply had decided to live here to make sure Carmenere was doing alright. It wasn't their fault that Carm had decided she hated being within sight of them, or that Boo despised them despite their attempts to make up for their former negligence when raising their children. They had nearly been a child themself when their children were born, and though it didn't excuse anything, it gave a reason. They were doing their best now, and they didn't expect to be forgiven, but they weren't here to cause problems. They couldn't help it if others decided to cause problems with them, instead.

"They're already a part of my family, Breakout," they responded evenly, not liking the look that they were given for daring to stand in an area available to everyone. "I'm their father, I'd be looking out for them regardless of whether you had chosen to take them under your wing or not." Their gaze stayed locked onto his for a few moments longer until they finally pulled theirs away glancing over towards Boo for just a second before turning away. "But I can see I'm not wanted here. If you need me at any point, come and find me." With that said, they removed themself from the situation, heading off to find busywork to do.