((OMFG I CANNOT EVEN FATHOM THE TIME GAP! So sorry! ;_; ))
Janine nodded her head as Chestnut explained the primal thirsts of a werewolf. It was, admittedly, unnerving and concerning - but only in the sense that she felt for Raban. He must hate feeling his own humanity pulled away from him in the face of an uncontrollable thirst… But what if she felt that as well one day? Some intense thirst that pushed down her humanity and unleashed the full capabilities of her demonic side? A dread-filled shudder shook her at the thought. She had her own urges herself, yet they were different. In any case, she hoped that they didn't have to deal with the likes of either her own urges, nor Raban's urges for a good while.
She proceeded to talk to Chestnut and Raban for the entire trip to the edge of the forest, injecting a few jokes here and there to lighten the mood. Thankfully, nothing had stalked them, or at least, Janine didn't sense anybody stalking them. She had enough of the ridiculously dangerous incidents that seemed to happen every time they went in the forest - she had the foreboding feeling that this would become some strange habit, though she hoped that it was just her imagination. Finally, the three had reached the edge of the forest, overlooking the city of Amastad.
Janine felt a little nervous as she looked to the sky. Damn, it was damn near sundown already. How did the time fly so damn fast? With a small clearing of her throat, Janine continued on, her mind racing on what to say to Sir Kiegal when she got to the courtyard. She steered her horse through the open gates, through the large crowd of people, and made a few turns before they made it to the courtyard without a hitch. Janine paused as she stared inside the walled area - she could see Sir Kiegal on his horse, talking to someone else. She looked to Raban and Chestnut in their switched bodies, and nodded towards them, but not without saying 'wish me luck' on her way inside.
She and Sir Kiegal spoke for about five or six minutes before being sent on her way back home. She was especially fortunate - it seemed as if the older knight figured that she was going through personal problems at home and couldn't keep up with the emotional pressure. He gave small anecdotes pertaining to similar problems in his youth, and how to deal with them. He then gave Janine a slight punishment regarding her behavior from earlier in the day, and sent her home. Thankful for such a merciful leader, Janine took today at heart. She had to remind herself that she had a little more friends and a little less enemies in her life, and that they were going to be there for her, as she was for them. She had to remember this, or else risk losing control like she had done these last several days.
She led herself home, excited to tell her mother the good news.
~~~~~~~~~~~
When she finally got home, Janine unsaddled her horse and put the saddle away, then let him loose in the designated area for himself and Venus. Janine went over to her recovering horse and brushed her body for a short moment.
"Hey girl. How are you? Your leg is holding up?" Janine asked her equine comrade. The headstrong mare snorted as she tried to pick up some of her rider's hair with her lips, making Janine giggle as she gently nudged the mouth away.
"Come on girl, knock it off! But I miss you too. Here, I got you a treat," Janine said as she lifted three shiny apples, one of a different color. The horse seemed to beam with an excited nicker, and reached out to eat one, in which Janine stepped back several feet. The mare snorted as she watched the apples get further away from her, soon to stomp a hoof into the ground. Janine laughed.
"You can have them if you walk over here. It's not that far," Janine said with a small smile. Venus snorted softly before smoothly getting to her feet - which was already a good sign of a nice recovery - and went towards her owner. Janine studied the gait and smiled, knowing that her horse was almost ready to get back out and ride her again. She gave Venus an apple as promised, and examined her as she ate her apple. The scratches on her hind leg were healing rather nicely, but she wanted to be safe than sorry.
"I'm so happy that you're getting better, but I'm gonna have you stay here for another day or two, just to be safe," Janine said with a small pat on the back. Venus snorted and neighed in what seemed to be protest, and Janine backed out of the stable with her hands up. "I'm sorry, but I just want you to be better. I can't have you running around when you aren't ready to go back out. Just a couple more days, okay? In the meantime, why don't you run around with Headmire? It could be fun for you," Janine said with a smirk as she gestured towards the large and hefty stallion. Venus snorted as she flipped her lip upward, making Janine laugh as she sat the two apples down. "Ohhh, stop it. I don’t think he’s that bad. Play nice alright?" Janine said as she walked towards the house.
When she walked inside the house, she closed the door slowly, so she wouldn't scare her mother. "Mom? I'm home."
But there was no answer. Hmm. Perhaps she went to go get some food for dinner? Either way, it allowed her to get more comfortable for the rest of the evening. She went upstairs to undress her armor and into more comfortable clothing.
She went downstairs to wait for her mother, getting an apple to snack on as she did so. As she waited, Janine looked towards the fireplace, staring blankly as she swirled the events of her day in her mind. Soon, the door opened. Janine reflexively stood to her feet, her eyes focusing on the woman entering the house. Her mother didn’t see her at first, but when she turned around, she saw Janine at the table. Janine immediately sensed her mother’s fear rise the moment they laid eyes on each other, which made her sigh sadly. She never meant for this to happen. To make her own mom afraid to be near her…. It just made her shake her head solemnly.
“Mom?”
The woman hurried over to Janine and sat the basket that was in her arms down on the table. “Now Janine, I know that you said that I wasn’t supposed to go outside -”
“Mom.”
“- but I had to go shopping for dinner. And besides, I am the mother here, not you. So I can go in and out of my house as I please.”
“Mom, you -”
“Don’t interrupt me! I know what you're gonna say, and I’m sorry. That being said, I brought something for you.”
“Mom, seriously, I -”
But Janine couldn’t get a word out before her mother revealed a well tied up sack from out of the basket.
“I normally wouldn’t have ever done this, but since this is an emergency dinner, I made an exception - I know you have your preferences sometimes.”
Janine eyed the sack before grabbing it. The scents from inside the sack wafted to her nostrils, making ehr sniff reflexively before gasping softly. Was it really? She untied it slowly, and when she finally opened the sack, her suspicions were confirmed: in the bag were six large rats laying still on top of one another.
“Well? Aren’t you gonna eat? This is what satiates you right? I want you better by the time morning comes along. Now go along, shoo. Go on and eat it upstairs,” Janine’s mother said.
Janine couldn't help the tears that formed in her eyes. One by one they streamed down her face, making her mother’s facial expression soften immediately. “Oh dear. Why are you crying? What are you doing that for? Shouldn’t I be the one crying?”
“Mom. I’m so sorry.”
“Sorry for what?”
“For making you feel this way. For doing all this for me. I’ve been trying to tell you that I’m fine now. I’m all better. I’m normal now - ya know, what evr normal means for us. I’ve finally eaten, so I’m good for a while,” Janine said behind her soft crying gasps.
Her mother paused to take in the words she heard, and the tone they were said in. When she finally processed them, she began to cry as well. The mother and daughter hugged one another in a relieved embrace. “Oh, Janine. I’m so so relieved. You have no idea how worried I was about you. You had me so worried.”
Janine looked at her mother’s face, shaking her head softly. “I’m so sorry. About everything. I should’ve told you what was happening to me from the beginning. I just didn’t want you to -”
“Cause a scene? Is that what you were gonna say?” Janine’s mother asked.
Janine gave a sheepish chuckle. “Oh… Um… Nooo? Okay, yes. Kind of. But I was mainly worried about you being caught in the crossfire. I don’t want anything to happen to you,” Janine said with a sigh. Her mother put her hand on her daughter’s shoulders, shaking her head slowly.
“Child, if something is going on with you, it is going to affect me, whether you like it or not. Who’s to say that something won't happen to me, just for being your mother? Anybody who has an inkling of intelligence knows that the quickest way to your enemy’s mind is to go after what they care about most. And for you, that means a few things; and anybody who’s seen you for any more than twenty minutes will have to be blind to not know that you care for your own. It’s just as simple as that.
Janine sighed and nodded her head. What ehr mother said was true - but she wished that she wasn’t right. “I know mom. But I just wish that I could do something about it. I don’t want you to get hurt.”
“Janine, baby, if I didn’t want to deal with all this, I wouldn’t have you. Hell, I wouldn't have married your father. I knew what I was getting myself into the moment I fell in love with him. Do not think that you are a burden on me Janine. Yes, you drive me crazy sometimes, but what child doesn't do that to their parents? And besides, your mother’s not completely useless - remember, I taught you a little of the basics about horse riding. And how to defend yourself. Everything else was from the Guard and your father. I’m pretty sure I could help you with some things if you asked me. I thought you told me what was on your mind?”
“I know. I was just…. So rattled about the incident. I didn’t know what to do. It wasn’t a good feeling really.” Janine said with a sigh. Being what she was, she subconsciously developed the idea that she was the main protector of the house. Be it from strange men or dangerous animals or rampaging dragons, she was the one to keep her family safe. The mentality was exhausting, but she kept dutiful in that ideal for years, even before she strove to be part of the Guard.
Her mother nodded with understanding, despite never really being in that specific situation before. She may have never been attacked before, but she knew how bad of a feeling it was when you felt helpless. Like you can’t do anything on your own.
“Sweetie… I may not be as strong as you, but I can still help you. You just have to let me help you. I’m your mother for god’s sake! If I can’t at least assist you in your life, then I’m a failure as a mother,” Janine’s mom said as she looked down to her lap.
Janine shook her head. “Mom, you’re strong. Mentisly strong. And physically. You can still slap someone pretty hard; you’re not a failure. Ever.” Janine said with a tight hug. “But…. There is something that you can help me with. I’m… Unsure about my abilities. Papa and I were the same, right?”
Her mother blinked in confusion as she pulled back a little. “Yes… Why do you ask that?”
“I was wondering if you knew my strengths and weaknesses. I want to be able to fight it off or at least know when I’m in danger. It’s the only way to know if I can confidently fend for myself if someone wanted to exploit me any further. I just want to know what I have to watch out for.” Janine explained as she put her hands in her lap.
Her mother pondered on the question, but she only took about a minute before shaking her head. “Sorry baby. I’m afraid that I don’t know much. We never really talked much about vulnerability - not sure if he just avoided the topic, or if the topic never came up.”
Janine blinked in surprise. “Really? You being with someone like Papa, and you never asked not one question about him? Not even out of curiosity?”
“Well, we did do a lot of things, but surprisingly, we had more discoveries regarding personality and behavior. Questions about weaknesses just never happened. Maybe he didn’t feel confident in explaining in detail…. Or maybe I just never wanted to impose on him. It didn’t seem too important to me.”
Janine sighed softly to herself at the answer given to her. Strange how no questions were made about her father. She figured that anybody would be all over a demon with questions if they were somehow together. So strange indeed. The young woman stared at the wall in front of her as her mind searched for answers. What were her weaknesses then? How would she defend herself?
“However, I did happen upon a couple of curious events that happened to both you and your father. Perhaps they can help you understand yourself better?” Janine’s mother asked. Janine tilted her head for a second before nodding it. Why not? Even if she might’ve rembre something.
“Oh really? Okay. What do you remember?”
“I do remember the first winter with your father. He was nervous during the fall. He shivered more often than usual, and became focused on gathering wood for the winter. I understood why he was worried about being warm, considering how cold the winters got, but I thought he was being a little... extra if you will.”
Janine paid close attention to the story - she always liked hearing a story about her father, since her mother seemed to have endless amounts of them.
“When winter came around, I asked him why he was so uptight. He said that he was worried about food and keeping warm. He couldn't handle the cold, he told me. I rubbed his shoulder and said that I didn’t like the cold either, but he just shook his head and said that I didn’t understand. When he said that, I immediately grew worried, because when he said that, I suddenly had this ominous feeling. So I watched your father gather as much wood as he possibly could, and hunt animals to the point where I had to interfere. When winter finally came around, we stayed inside for the majority of the winter - until one night, he decided to go check on the few animals we had.
Janine blinked at the story being told by her mother. She couldn’t recall this story being told - that, or she couldn’t remember it being told this way. “What happened to you? Was this when I was around?”
“Oh no, Janine. This was a few years before you were born. He went to go outside, and I offered to go outside instead, but he just told me to keep the fire going. So I stayed, rather reluctantly might I add. I waited for your father to come back around the corner, since the animals we had were only chickens, cows and horses. At first, the time went by and it was easy to forget the fact that it was supposed to be a quick endeavor. But as time passed, I realized that he should've been back already.
I waited for him as patiently as I could, but the time was passing too long. I got up and peeked my head outside to see where he was, but I didn’t see anything. However, I heard the horses crying out. Worry settled inside me, and I hurried to put on something warm before venturing out to the barn. The winds were blowing rather hard that night, so I hurried along to find your father. And that’s when I saw him. Your father was lying at the very edge of the barn doors, his feet exposed to the winds, and the rest of his body covered in straw. The animals were having fits most likely due to the cold weather.
I called out his name, but he didn’t respond. I shook him, but he wouldn’t move. I was so scared, I had to hurry and get him back to the house. I tried my hardest to drag him back, but he was so heavy.” Janine’s breath was soft and shallow as she listened to her take a pause in the story. What happened next? It was so interesting.
“What happened to you? What did you do Mom?” Janine asked with a bated breath.
“Well, I kept trying. In normal circumstances, I most likely wouldn't have made it. But I think desperation and worry was my motivation that night. I dragged your father from the barn to the house, slowly but surely. I felt myself getting frozen stiff from being outside so damn long, but I couldn’t give up on him. By the grace of God, I managed to drag myself and your father back home. I opened the door, and pulled him inside, laying him right in front of the fire. I hurried to put more wood in, so I had to go back outside. When everything was right outside, I came back inside to tend to your father. I will never forget how your father’s skin felt that night. He was so cold. Colder than I thought possible for a person to feel. Like he was made of ice. I had him sitting by the fire, wrapped in my blanket, despite how cold I was. I remember crying, because I couldn’t hear him breathing. I had to put my ear right on his lips to even hear the faintest sign of him being alive. He was barely alive.
But I was going to be worried for a long time after that. He didn’t wake up after I brought him inside. He stayed still long after the house was warm as a baker’s oven. I tried rubbing him, wrapping him up, anything I could to warm him, but it just didn’t work. I feared that I had lost him… Days had gone by, and I stayed by your father’s side. I ate of course, but he didn’t. Or couldn't. It puzzled me so. It was about two whole weeks after that incident before your father showed signs of waking up. I had since laid him on the bed, wrapped in warm blankets.”
Janine’s mother sighed as she searched her memories. “When he woke up, he was ravenous. He was a bit scary if I might admit; there was a hunger in him that I hadn’t seen in a long while before then. After eating and gathering his bearings, I explained to him what happened that night. And that’s when he told me why he was so worried about winter. If he got too cold, his body would shut down into some deep sleep. That was why he wasn’t moving all that time. He said that it lasted two weeks at least, and that it could’ve been longer. Either way, he would’ve surely died had I not gone out to see him. We were surely more grateful for each other’s presence after that. And I went outside to do any and all errands for the rest of winter,” Janine’s mother said with a soft chuckle.
Janine sat in awe at the story. It was a little scary - to think that mom almost didn’t have her husband at that moment in time. She paused her train of thought and looked down in her lap. “So, you’re saying that I might have the same weakness as Papa?” Janine asked.
Her mother nodded her head. “Oh, I don’t ‘think’ - I know. You had snuck outside during winter one day, after I had told you not to go. You were outside for all of ten minutes before you shivered yourself to the ground. Much quicker than a normal human would, but still slower than your father. I believe that your human half made you a bit more tolerable towards the cold, but you still have to be very careful around it. Which is why I worry for you this winter season. You’re going to be obligated to be outside during the snowy season - you won’t last very long out there! What are you going to say to your superiors?” Her mother asked with a soft hiss in her tone.
“Mom, calm down! I’ll just wear thicker clothing. Or maybe I’ll ask to be inside most of the time. I’ll figure something out.”
“You better. I might have to help you out though. Nothing scares people away from home faster than sickness. Not too sick though - don’t want to spread panic among the town.”
“Mom! Calm down. We don’t even know if we’ll need to get to that…. Is there anything else that I should watch out for?” Janine asked.
“Well…. Typical holy items. Why do you think we never went to church?”
“Well, I never really thought about it much. Besides, I don’t think I’d have liked it anyway - those prissy little girls looked too snobby anyway.” Janine joked.
Her mother laughed. “Haha. Well, that’s good on you. Well, I’m pretty sure there are more stories to tell you. But how about we go over them while making dinner?” the woman asked as she got on her feet to reach for the potatoes in her basket. Janine got up after her and smiled. “Sure. Oh…. Mom?”
“Yes baby?”
“Why do you keep saying, “your father?” Did you not know his name?” Janine asked with a lowered head.
“Well, I never wanted you to address your father by his name. It’s not proper. Besides, are you gonna call him by his name?”
“Well, no. But I’d like to know it…. If you can remember,” Janine innocently added.
“Hmmm…. Well, his name is hard to pronounce - I had a lot of trouble saying it at first. His birth name was Rudith’zkart, but he made it easier on me and had me just say plain “Rudy”. To be honest, I liked Rudy better,” Janine’s mother mused with a chuckle. After the small banter, mother and daughter began their evening movements around the house, starting with dinner. And since Janine was feeling much better, she was able to sense all the apprehension and fear dissipate from the atmosphere within the house. It made her very happy indeed.