Gummadoon Corridors

"I said release me, Sir Plucki!"

The knight-captain stared in shock at the Toni's mother. He'd seen her attack on Cubbi. Never, even with his own eyes, would he have believed it possible for a gummi to harm another in such disregard, if at all. It was unconscionable. Unthinkable! Was she mad? Possessed? He was at a loss but held her firm.

"Plucki...?" Gumlittle, brother in arms that he was, came upon the remnants of the scene a bit slower but none-the-less got a look at something very wrong.

"Karleni is not well. She must be restrained until we can solve her condition."

"What kind of condition?" Gumlittle hoped it wasn't another epidemic.

"A problem of the mind. There's no time to explain now. Take her."

"There's nothing wrong with me, oaf! Let me go!" Toni's mother struggled some as she was passed from Plucki to Gumlittle but was otherwise unconcerned with the two knights' presence or dialogue.

"Toni?"

Plucki shook his head. "He was here. Karleni..." The knight-captain suppressed a shudder. He could not even speak of such un-gummi behavior right now. "Toni ran off again. Flynn and Cubbi went after him. I know you want to be the one to get him, brother, but I need you to secure this sick gummi. Under no conditions should she be released. Hold her in the prison if you must but the Gummadoon Council needs to see her with their own eyes. I cannot make full sense of it."

Nodding a shallow nod, Gumlittle tightened his grip on Karleni.

Plucki raced off.

Eyes following after his captain, Gumlittle was still wondering what sort of ailment was afflicting the gummi in his arms when she sagged without warning. Her legs just gave out beneath her. She let out a faint and strangled cry. She went limp.

"Karleni?" Still keeping his hold, Gumlittle turned her over in his arms, picking up her smaller body. Her eyes were open but haunted and staring at nothing. Her mouth was open in a full expression of horror. He felt for a pulse, because she looked scared to death. Very much alive. An active heartbeat. This woman was in no condition to be placed in a cell. Gumlittle jogged through the corridors, the unresponsive Karleni in his arms, seeking Healer Sarrika.

Lady Bane's Castle

Hmph. A bit premature to withdraw her hold on the gummi woman but enough damage was done. Quickly, the evil sorceress turned her focus on the gummi's abused son, Antonius. Just a little push...

Lady Bane smirked as her spell wound its way into his mind, prodding just that extra little bit to make the cub do the unthinkable. She truly lived for these moments. True that power was delectable and magic was power of an extreme faction but to use it to toy in the affairs and lives of others, of whole nations. Intoxicating. Her smirk twisted into a greedy grin. She felt like dancing when the cub slit his wrists and as he leaned forward to finish off with his jugular vein.

Her evil glee was premature when the meddling younger cub tackled Antonius and thwarted the final blow. So taken with rage, her delicately woven hold on Antonius slipped a fraction. She wanted to end it now, quickly! Too late. It took time to gain control of a person, even one weakened like Antonius, and he time for full control had passed. She must wait. Again. She HATED waiting. Damn that interfering cub!

She'd been so close. Several times now she'd nearly had the lot of them. How did they keep countering her attempts to drink in their misery? Well... it didn't matter. Perhaps Mother was right. The living are NOT the way to go.

Lady Bane straightened from bending in concentration over her scrying bowl. Slowly, she turned to a small corner of her spell chamber occupied by a small corpse. It hovered over ancient symbols on the floor and the ceiling, held in a kind of stasis not unlike that of the grip of death itself. However, within the seals inscribed, death was losing its decaying hold on the corpse.

Lady Bane felt herself renewed at the sight of her newest project. Her head tilted slightly to one side, a light smile on her face as she examined the recreation of the corpse in her master spell. Patience. She need only wait a little more.

She snarled at herself. Patience? She hated to wait. But this... This would be worth it. Calming her inner desires was hard but for this project? Worth it. Mother was right about one thing. Taking over a living creature was faster but could be easily countered. Controlling someone long dead? Let them try. There would be no way to counter her next move. It was impossible.

Again, Lady Bane smirked, admiring the great potential in repairing the wreck of bones, flesh, and green fur in front of her.

Gummadoon's Interior

Tavi sighed wearily as she wandered about an empty hall. She didn't feel tired really. She should. She should be zonked out in bed, sleeping for two days straight. No. Her sigh reflected the weariness of being unable to solve any of the myriad of problems and thoughts bouncing around in her young head. Really, what she wanted was to talk more with her Aunt Toffi but she was off being Wooddale right now with the other Councillors. That was the trouble with having her only living relative be one of the city's leaders. Always busy. Especially now. Weird stuff was going on, and not just in Tavi's head. She was sure it weighed on her aunt's mind but maybe it was easier to solve Gummadoon's other weird problems and just wait on what to do about Tavi and the gummi medallions inside her and the disturbing talk of Emi.

Tavi shuddered. She didn't want to sleep, either, and was glad she didn't feel tired. Right now she just wanted to feel normal and do and act normal. Maybe she should go outside and find Cubbi. He wasn't much of an inside cub like her. He was probably outside right now fighting imaginary dragons or training with the other squires or—

Sir Gumlittle ran past her, in such a rush he didn't say a thing. The brush by left Tavi reeling but not from his passage. He was carrying someone in his arms. When he went by, Tavi felt... empty. No, that wasn't the right word. Not empty. What was it called when the soul hurts so bad? Despair. Great despair. It made Tavi sick. Who could be feeling that way? Was it Gumlittle or the gummi he carried?

Perhaps against her better judgment, she was a gummi and wanted to make sure if she could help, she'd be available. She followed after Sir Gumlittle.

Gummadoon Infirmary

Reading past healer tales and gaining insight from their stories was a pastime Healer Sarrika enjoyed in her leisure time. The problem was that the healer rarely got such leisure time to herself.

As Gumlittle hurried in to the infirmary, she privately wished her sister would have stayed this time as another gifted healer for Gummadoon. The city appeared to be in need of more than one of late.

"She collapsed. Sort of. She's awake I think. Just unresponsive." Gumlittle said as soon as he lay eyes on the healer. "Plucki's off looking for Toni, left me with her, said she's not to be left alone because she could be dangerous or some such. Is it just me or is Gummadoon falling apart?"
Sarrika ignored his comment, motioning him to one of the beds to set Karleni upon. She saw young Tavi peeking in but set that aside, as well, and focused on her job. Yes, lately, Gummadoon was falling apart from the inside.

Bare minutes into her examination, Sir Plucki rushed in, Cubbi and Flynn behind him. Blood covered a portion of each one of them. In Plucki's arms was Toni, pale and unconscious. Sarrika looked between her first patient and the second. Toni was in further danger if it were his blood. She turned away from the listless mother and focused on the son.

The boy's wrists were slashed, clearly. Shocked at wounds, she covered it quickly and got down to her chosen trade, enlisting the help of those around her to fetch this or that already handy from shelves in the infirmary. While she worked to patch up the cub, she had only one other matter on her mind, which she pointedly asked Sir Plucki. "How did this happen?"