In Need of a Cure

It's been a few days, and now, fully rested, put together, and with all of his clothing dried, restored, or replaced, Dolan ventures back up the mountain road, past the Temple of Vardama. This time, he has come alone, and is much better put together. Deeming it prudent to arm and armor when venturing past the Temple on the mountain road, he has done so, the harness holding the greatsword pinning the now-warm and dry traveler's cloak to his back and keeping it from flapping excessively in the wind.

He pauses outside the house that he now knows to belong to the two ladies, thumbs in his belt, and draws a deep breath.

There are none occupying the chairs on the portico, though change is imminent. The door opens to allow Verna egress, followed by a (comparatively) small tome hovering behind her. She is approaching what has become her favorite chair before Dolan's presence is caught in her peripheral. She pauses and turns fully to Dolan. "Oh, my apologies. If you knocked upon the door, I was not aware. Good day to you, regardless."

With the door slightly ajar, Auranar can hear Verna's voice from inside the house. "What was that Verna?" Asks the elvish woman from the interior, walking idly toward the door until she reaches it and spies Verna and Dolan standing without. "Oh! Welcome back Dolan. Did you want to come in?"

Dolan had still been well back from the porch when Verna emerged, but he straightens at the greeting - and tenses at the second emergence. "Not a bit of it, Mourner, I just walked up half a breath ago," he answers cheerfully enough, but only takes a couple of steps towards the house. "I was hoping for a moment of the Mourner's time, when it's not dinnertime and I'm not throwing heavy discussions into a social call." A cheeky grin accompanies that.

"It appears that we have a visitor, dearest," Verna answers Auranar's inquiry despite such being redundant. She then gestures invitingly from Dolan to the portico. "Please. You do not intrude, and have earned far more than a single moment. There are no further unexpected social calls of which I am aware..." A glance follows to Auranar with a slightly arched brow to seek confirmation before she asks Dolan, "What brings you?"

A bit more attuned to social niceties than is her girlfriend, Auranar catches Dolan's specific wording and offers a bit of a smile to the pair. "I think he wants to talk to you, not me." She clarifies for the other woman, and offers a small nod of her head to Dolan. "I owe you a great deal for helping me bring back Verna, is there anything I can bring you while you talk? Snacks? Tea?"

"Oh, I'm not kicking you out, Auranar, although it's true that I was looking for her," he tilts his head at Verna. "I'm hoping this'll be quick." At the invitation, Dolan hops up onto the portico quite readily and with a great deal more energy than he previously had. "It's got to do with what happened the other night," he starts, leaning against the railing and re-hooking his thumbs into his belt. "I was hoping you could tell me what actually happened to you, as much as you know. I was pretty tired by the time we found you."

Verna ahs softly at Auranar's clarification. "Indeed, you will be informed, regardless, Aura," she assures. Full transparency from this point forward (as it probably should have always been). Then to the direct question.

Her lips and brow furrow as she recollects. "I was also quite exhausted when all arrived. The lycanthrope pursued me for unknown time. I wish to believe that I intentionally led it away from the girl and others... but it might only have been random flight to escape. The situation was far too similar to the nightmares..."

A pause is taken to return to fact. "I ran until I could only walk, but continued to move. I do not recall when it ceased to give chase."

Auranar hesitates a moment longer, then proceeds to grab her coat from the hook by the door and close the door itself so that the internal heat does not escape. With the door securely closed behind her, she listens with care to the conversation going on between Verna and Dolan. She doesn't add to it. Not yet. But she is clearly curious about Verna's experiences.

Dolan gives Verna the full force of his regard, his face turned entirely towards her, watching her closely. "Fuck," he mutters. "Damn it, I shouldn't have had you throw it. Sorry about that. We got her out okay, and took her to the Temple of Eluna. She'd been bitten, and was fighting the change. We couldn't wait, but we got her back before she did, and as far as I know, she's cured."

Another few moments of that stare. "How likely do you think it is that that bastard caught you, and you don't remember?"

Verna frowns, and not due to Dolan's colorful vernacular. She is a close friend to Aryia, afterall. "The very nature of that question makes it difficult for me to answer. I cannot discount what I do not recall. Had I not had other... issues regarding memories, I would consider it unlikely." She looks to Auranar, expression darkening further at the related recollection. "However, there are means to recall otherwise buried memories."

Auranar starts to say something, her mouth opening and then closing without a word passing her lips. She lets Verna explain and then nods. "It might serve us well then to have such a spell cast." She murmurs, her brow somewhat furrowed. "I dislike the idea of anything in your mind where it ought not be."

"Other issues? What do you mean?" Dolan doesn't move, but somehow, his frame tenses again. "Yeah, she's right," he nods to Auranar when the sildanyar chimes in. "Halani's got missing memories, too, and although I haven't seen her, if I'm right about where she ended up in that mess, I'd bet my," and here he pauses, coughs, and offers a sheepish grin to Auranar. "I'd bet quite a bit she got bitten and doesn't remember. I've got to find her, too. Maybe we ought to talk to the Dreamer's temple, just rule it out?" The suggestion tries so hard to be offhanded, but it's not, not really.

"I had some of another's memories attached to my mind, for a time," Verna offers a general explanation. "A most unpleasant individual, with memories to match." She does not expound further. A sigh is exhaled and she rubs the bridge of her nose. She had though such troubles behind them, and yet the current situation suggests otherwise.

"Auranar can aid me with the memories. She did so before, she is already in my thoughts, and she deserves to know the results as much as I." Verna's attention then shifts to matters Halani. "If you fear she is infected, it is better she is cured sooner rather than later. You may need assistance if she does not go willingly or has succumbed."

Without hesitation, Auranar reaches out and touches Verna on the shoulder. "Anything I can do to help." She seems more worried now than she was before, and with good reason. The thought that something might be messing with Verna's memories - again - is a discomforting one. Thankfully however, it is something they can rectify. "Halani seemed fine, but then... so does Verna absent the nightmares..."

"This something you can do now, or do you need to prepare?" Dolan now looks between the pair of them. He hasn't moved from where he's leaning against the railing, thumbs hooked into his belt beneath the breastplate, but there's a coiled tension in him, and all trace of smile is gone. "I don't know about you, but from what the Temple told me, if you do get bit, as long as you're cured by the next full moon, it's curable. Wait too long, and it's for good. I wouldn't like to find out the hard way and have it be too late."

Verna reaches a hand across herself to place atop Auranar's. "Minimal time to prepare. A few hours to scribe the spell for Aura to use. You and the temple are correct, to my knowledge. While I do not believe that I was infected, it is best to be certain before such is irrevocable. As I may have noted less than politely the prior night, I wish no further interlopers nor influencers in my mind."

Auranar's worry deepens as she looks at Verna. "Are you sure you can scribe a scroll in your condition? You hardly slept at all last night." She looks at Dolan a little helplessly. "The nightmares again. They don't seem to be getting any better. In fact I'd estimate that they're getting worse." She squeezes Verna's shoulder. "Perhaps... if you are infected... The cure might allow you restful sleep so that we can uncover your memories more readily?"

Forbearing to comment that his aren't exactly nice ones either, Dolan nods. At least he can sleep most nights, and knowing what's causing it helps. Not that he's mentioning any such thing to either of these two, just yet. "Not a bad idea," he agrees. "It can't hurt, and it might help. If they need a donation, that noble paid good coin. At least it's worth checking."

"We can go to the temple," Verna concedes, "at once, if desired. While I believe I can manage a scroll readily enough, I defer to Auranar's wishes and your prudence. At worse, it is a few moments of spent time for peace of mind. I do not expect my own temple to seek excessive tithe." Their logic is sound, and there is no reason to contest, much less argue, with either of them. Especially Aura.

"Better done now, than to wait and find the cure beyond our reach should you need it." Auranar states simply, removing her hand so that Verna can rise to her feet without bumping into her. "Nor do I think that the temple itself matters overly much, but that the Elunan temple might have more experience with curing such than yours Verna."

Dolan, too, straightens to his feet and drops his arms, but takes a courteous step back to let the ladies go first. After all, they're the ones in need, it's only courteous. He seems more than content to be a quiet escort on this.

Verna rises to her feet. "As a welcome point, the journey will be dry, at the least." While it cannot be termed sunny, the trio can travel without being doused and sodden (and perhaps even not flying into any gates) for once. "Indeed," she admits to Auranar's point. "Those we Mourners tend have left such concerns behind, more often than not. Eluna's Hall it is. Shall we?" She gestures ahead to road with one hand, the other reaching for Auranar's.

As always, Auranar's hand is there to catch hers. She offers a wane smile to the other woman before they head off the porch and into the city.

-End