To Titan Again

[zipcat]

Staying at the Golden Griffon brought back many old memories, which helped keep the more recent ones away. Still, she had kept to herself a lot. It felt confining to have to stay in a room here, but it was best to regain her health. There was always food here, adding up on the Inarus tab. Outside you had to search for it, grow it, or capture it. She had strength to do none.

Coming down to the tavern area, she left her room for the first time. It had taken a few days, but her vines were growing fully again. Their color was off, but at least she was covered. Carefully she stepped down the first few stairs, as if her legs wouldn’t hold her. Reassured, she continued downward, mentally thanking James for his care.

The walk to Titan felt a lot shorter than she knew it was. Either way, she was grateful that her and James didn’t need to speak to communicate. A touch or look was all they needed.

Taking a table against a windowless wall, she sat, tracing the wood’s lines with her finger. zip wondered if her husband received her message, or if he’d respond.

Her hand caught a passing barmaid’s skirt, the woman barely noticing the light tug. Looking up to the barmaid, zip frowned for a moment, as if confused about why she stopped the lady. The amentan wasn’t hungry. But she hadn’t eaten today. The barmaid shared a motherly smile, understanding and leaving zip to return to stair at the table.

[James]

They were finally back in Titan.

In home.

The familiar smells and sights had engulfed the wolf and gave him the incredible joy of success from having saved his sister.

An untouched bowl with a small portion of the flank of a pig was laid near the fireplace for James. Next to this he lay, his head resting upon his paws. He was tired of having searched so long for zipcat that he had forgotten what the luxury of a home was. He was a little restless and edgy, but such comes from having secluded ones' self from society after trying to become a part of it.

Hearing familiar footfalls the wolf's ears plucked themselves up from their rested state. A moment after his head followed, recognizing the sound to be zipcat's. Rising upon all four paws, James walked to the staircase and began to follow zip to the table she sat down at. When she was comfortable he stuck his nose into her side to let her know he was there.

After a few moments of looking up to her, James turned about and sat on his haunch by her chair. His eyes vigilantly watched about the tavern for anything dangerous. Seeing nothing out of the ordinary than from a few moments before, his eyes fixated upon the entrance of the tavern, keeping tabs on all who entered and left.


After having had to deal with it all night, the itch at the back of the wolf's head recessed and died again, content with James' current position in relation to his charge.

[Joe]

He could see the familiar doors to the tavern as he walked down the street and he smiled, the stress falling off his face. Joe had been traveling for weeks this time, since he'd found zip and James, but decided not to accompany them to Titan. He had unfinished business he had to attend to. Being back now though, he wished he had come sooner. It had been over a year since he'd last been here, at first, searching for zip, trying to rescue her, then, thinking she was dead, he decided on a sabbatical to clear his head. It wasn't just losing this friend, he'd lost his entire world when he came through that portal, and he'd never taken time for that either. He hit the ground running here, thinking that sinking into this world would be best to not be hurt by the loss of the other.

Joe was glad to be home though, and that's what this was, he thought, as he stepped through the doors of the tavern. Home.

[zipcat]

Smiling weakly down to her friend, she stroked the top of his head a few times. Even through his fur he felt warm on her cold hands. Running her fingers into his undercoat, she gave him a scratch. His eyes were always alert, or happy. That helped her smile gain strength.

Grateful that he was watching out for them, she relaxed, looking back to the wooden patterns. At least, until a bowl disrupted that view. It seamed that this barmaid remembered her; obvious from the warm apple cider and bowl of fruits. Most of them didn’t look to be in season, but they were still ripe. Heart fully she thanked the woman.

She carefully offered the first piece to James, not wanting to take him away from his watch if he didn’t want to. Still, she wanted to share. She might not have been hungry, but the mug was warm, and the fruit smelled wonderful. Before long she was nibbling.

Though, it didn’t take many nibbles to lead to savoring bites. It had been so long since she was gifted with a grand assortment of fruits. She didn’t even notice Joe entering.

[James]

James watched the door. Before he stepped in, James knew who it was would enter the tavern next, a man who was welcomed to join them at any time...

"Joe!" James wagged his mental tail in greetings. It was easy to communicate with him now; it was as if a link between them was automatically established when they were close enough. Though it was only a short range away, perhaps it would grow as their friendship did?

Distracted suddenly by zip's petting, James' eyes closed and he pushed his head into her hand. It was so good to not have to worry life or death anymore, and he was glad to have her back. When she removed her hand, he noticed her put out something to his side. It was a plum. He had never had one before, so before he did anything, James' nose moved to the fruit and sniffed it, tasting its sweet aroma before he felt its tender flesh.

Biting gently, the wolf gripped the plum and let zip let go before he took it to the floor. Laying down, James placed the plum in front of him, licking it first to test what to do with it. Soon, he learned how to properly eat it, and gripped the plum between his paws, his teeth ripping a piece of the plum off for him to eat. It was delicious.

Like zip, he was too busy to notice Joe's actual entrance, but he knew he was there. Upon his arrival to the tavern, James' ears perked and twitched but one time in response.

However, James quickly gutted the plum and ate all of it but the core. Its center was hard, so it must have been the seed. Leaving it on the floor, James' head popped up to look at Joe as his tail wagged lightly. In case Joe didn't notice them, James sent the signals of direction subconsciously, mentally flagging Joe over to the table.

[Joe]

Joe felt the wolfwere's mind as easily as James had felt his. He was glad at least one familiar face was in the tavern for his return. He smiled as he saw zipcat sitting at the table next to James as well. They were both distracted by their food, but their faces looked content.

He walked up to the table, the smile still on his face. "Do you mind if I join you?" he asked, looking around for any other familiar faces while he waited for a reply.

[zipcat]

James’ wagging tail caught her eye, direction her attention to Joe as he approached them. They might have parted ways for the walk to Titan, but it felt like they had been together the whole time. It was comforting to have friends around.

“Of course you may,” zip smiled, gesturing to the bowl to offer him his pick.

If he didn’t take it, she’d pick up the orange. They were so tedious to peal, but always worth it. At this moment there wasn't anything else like the orange. Everything was going easy. However she couldn't think about how--if you stretched things--it was sort of like before; lasting through the struggle was worth it, too.

[James]

When Joe came close, James stood and nuzzled the interdimensional traveler's calf. He was glad to see Joe again after having parted with him so quickly. Joe was the man who saved James from the Beast and the wolf respected this fact wholeheartedly.

Once done with greeting the lower portion of Joe's leg, James turned around and lifted his front paws onto the table top, leaning forward to grab another plum. They were delicious, and he was sure he was welcome.

Once it was in his mouth, James sat his rump back down where he was before Joe came close and laid down to grasp the fruit while chowing down. It was delicious, just like the last one.

[Joe]

Hello friend. Joe spoke to the wolfwere's mind at the greeting, as he scruffed up the top of James's head for a moment.

Joe signaled the barmaid again as he sat down, "Mead and some bread and cheese please." Fruit was good, but not nearly enough to fill him up after his long travel back.

"So how was the trip back? Any interesting tales?"

[zipcat]

The things James did were always so cute. If it wasn’t for having seen him transform into a young man before, she would have never known how old he was. After all, she hadn’t seen a wolf age. As cute as he was though, he was probably the most mature person she knew.

He transformed into other things, too. As little as she remembered of that day--having been in too much panic, not to mention labor--she knew she saw the beast in his eyes. It had taken over, just as her plant did her. zip feared the idea of her protector harming her friend, but she wondered where it was now.

She looked to Joe, glancing down a moment to apologize for spacing off and nearly missing his question. “No, it went well.”

Picking a seed out of the orange, she thought of the other seeds she’d have to gather from her home in the mountains. James and Joe were back, but there were other things taken from her she had to get again. She was done being stuck in the inn, and ready to get started, but for now the meal with them was most important.

[James]

James finished his plum quickly and stood back up again, his eyes alert and ready for danger. There was none, just like it used to be. He relaxed a little bit, his eyes closing to let him think.


A face pushed against the window of his mind. A memory, faded and jaded but still there and still thinking and still causing him to ponder new things and to protect her...

But, it was nothing. It couldn't hurt him anymore, no. It could look, it could watch and help him, but it would never again control him. It was dead, mostly. Still, he was scared.


James opened his eyes after the blink had passed. Nothing had changed. The minute he had spent staring into the eyes of his past meant less than a second here. Recovering from himself, James turned around and nuzzled zip's side and looked up at her. Like a faint gust of wind her hair, her name blew from James' mind across the Amentan's head. A faint whisper, and nothing more. He wanted nothing like that to ever happen again.

Then, the wolfwere turned to watch the door yet again, to make sure nobody else could come in that he didn't know about.

[Joe]

As they sat and talked a song broke out at a table across the room from them. It wasn't completely uncommon to hear singing and revelry in a bar, but Joe took notice at the song. A small cake sat in the middle of the table with six candles on it aflame, their light dancing off the face of a smiling child as the barmaid and rest of the table sang a birthday song. In all his time in Titan, in this dimension at all for that matter, Joe had never seen a birthday party, let alone a birthday cake. He smiled at the thought that some traditions seemed universal. "I must travel too much," he said, "we've never had the pleasure of celebrating any of our birthdays together."

[zipcat]

She’d nod and confirm her previous words, but soon her eyes drifted off to the fire across the room. It was far off, its warmth not reaching them, just as the fire in the room which left marks still fading on her wrists. James rescued her from those memories before they went any further. Rubbing his cheek and around his ear as he nuzzled her, she silently thanked him for the hug as well as the reminder that he was here.

The merry singing made her smile. zip knew of the ceremony, but never had she joined in the ritual. It was one of those differences in culture. Birthdays were a day when the father spent the whole day with their child, which in later years of life was a rarity. There were her own practices that James had joined in before, such as last Year’s Song. Aku was there for that one. She already knew she was welcome in their culture, so, nothing held back her idea.

“Lets celebrate all of our birthdays today, too.” Her hands came together joyfully at the thought, the orange cupped discreetly between them.

[James]

James' head turned curiously at the noise of raucous merriment. The people celebrating their birthday meant nothing to him, so his attention quickly turned back to zipcat and Joe, but it seemed they were more interested in the celebration than he was.

Curious now, James turned his head to look at Joe, the noiseless communication between them strong as ever.

"What is a birthday?"

Something leaked over to zip. It was a curious connection, one held less by words and more by pictures and emotion. It was his aura; it gave the question soundlessly to both recipients, though Joe would have less trouble comprehending the question. James didn't know what a birthday was and wanted to understand why it seemed important in the moment.

[Joe]

It's a mostly human tradition, though I guess some other races celebrate it too. It's the anniversary of the day you were born. People keep track to know how old you are, and to hold a celebration every year in your honor for another year lived. Do you know how old you are James?

Joe stopped to think. He really wasn't sure how old he was. The last birthday he'd celebrated was with his real parents. He was seven. He lost himself in thought, trying to remember the years passing until he remembered he hadn't said anything verbally, and left zip out of the conversation.

"That sounds great zip. I'll order us some dessert." Joe called the barmaid back over and whispered his order into her ear, something special for each of them.