Fantasy Willowwood Conduits

[Keeperoftheghosts]

"That explains that part of the warning.. oh my apologies, I never properly introduced myself. I'm Ivory Johnson, owner of this shop and an aid to the Haunt found within the woods sent by the council. This is my bondmate, Chester... I'll introduce you to Vanilla once we're in a place she can run around at without scaring citizens or destroying anything...I'm assuming you're Jay. " she smiled to the ghost with a nod before turning back to Bolt.
"....And I don't believe I caught your name Mr....?"

 

[Prairerosethefirst]

“Bolt Trelawney. Pleasure to meet you. The only other conduits I know try to kill me… so it’s a breath of fresh air to meet you.” He sighed in relief as Jay instantly moved closer and went to chat with Chester. Happy to be social now that Bolt had wound down some.
“A haunt you said? Nana right? I don’t see her much because all my time is spent with the wisps… and dealing with more unsavory sorts of ghosts.”

 

[Keeperoftheghosts]

"Ah so you at least know of her then? Yes, Nana, and the other residents of the manor. And it's a pleasure to meet you Mr. Trelawney. And I can relate, the Appalachians have their reputation for a reason. " she said with a soft laugh at her own joke.
Chester raised his eyebrows flicking his tail in greeting to Jay.
"So how many bonds have you had?" He asked with his usual charm. So none.
"...Anyway I suppose we should go handle these wisps then before they become more of a problem?" She suggested.

 

[Prairerosethefirst]

Bolt chuckled at her joke sighing softly. “We best handle them yes. Last thing I need is them migrating out of the forest.” He moved to gather Jay to get ready to go.

Jay frowned a bit before smiling again. “Bolt is the first. So we’ve been learning the ropes together.” He muttered out itching under his chin. His fingers brushing back his hair enough to cover a nasty scar on the back of his neck.

 

[Keeperoftheghosts]

Ivory nodded reaching under her counter and pulling out a large messenger bag shoving the journal and the books she brought from upstairs in it grabbing her keys. She took a second to refill her large to go mug with coffee.
"Agreed, that could get deadly." She said heading towards the shop door and unlocking it motioning that Jay and Bolt should leave first.

Chester nodded
"....So he killed you? Or did you die naturally?" He asked ignoring Ivory's scolding glare.

 

[Prairerosethefirst]

Bolt had already walked over glancing back at Jay who shuffled a little. “It was an accident.” Jay firmly stated and glanced at Bolt. “It wasn’t anyone’s fault.” He said as Bolt looked away from them. His lips pressed in a thin line filled with guilt.
Jay sighed gently and hurried after his boyfriend taking his hand and rubbing his thumb against it.

 

[Keeperoftheghosts]

Ivory immediately shot Chester a reproachful look.
"I'm so sorry for him. " She turned towards the couple an apologetic look adorning her face. She bit her lip before turning to her own ghostly companion laying a disappointed look his way. "Chester you stay here and watch the shop." She said taking a stern tone to her voice before closing her eyes brief for a couple seconds rubbing her forehead and letting out an exhausted sigh.
"I'm sorry."

 

[Prairerosethefirst]

“It’s fine.” Jay smiled gently waving her apology off.
Bolt shrugging and pulling away as he walked ahead. His boyfriend looking after him a little bit before facing Ivory again. “I’m not worried about it. It’s been pretty close to over ten years now. I don’t mind talking about it. No hard feelings here.” His smile was genuine as he walked beside Ivory.

 

[Keeperoftheghosts]

Ivory gave a small smile back but still shook her head insistently.
"As glad as I am that it wasn't too triggering, he said it with the intent to be. So I'm more so sorry for that. He just....likes to push people's buttons for the attention until he decides whether or not he likes them. He went too far." She apologized taking a sip from her mug taking in the town around her as she spoke.
"Anyway...are you two a couple? I just want to make sure I'm not misinterpreting things. "

 

[Prairerosethefirst]

“Ah well he’s not the worst we’ve dealt with. I’m gonna be honest that it’s a surprise Bolt is still alive.” He itched at his shoulder and looked to where Bolt was leading.
Clicking his tongue a moment before he faced Ivory again. “I’m glad you aren’t a part of Everett’s. Bolt has been needing social interaction from breathing individuals.” He chuckled as he more gently pushed the conversation into a lighter one.

 

[Keeperoftheghosts]

Ivory let out a soft airy laugh
"Yeah...Chester is a jerk with a taste for blood but he's semi- reasonable at least. There's far worse." She agreed her attention split between the conversation and trying to memorize the route they were taking.
"And yeah....due to the nature of how Conduits come about we do certainly tend to become recluses. Besides having allies is always useful...especially considering that I've heard Willowwood is kind of like the Appalachians with having an abnormal amount of paranormal activity. " she commented.

 

[Prairerosethefirst]

“It does… this council that Chester mentioned… what does it do? How come we’ve never heard of it before? Since supposedly someone else had been sent from there.” Jay floated on his back beside her as they were now walking through thick underbrush and foliage.
Bolt had paused and had grabbed a stick etching something into the ground as he seemed to be working on something.

 

[Keeperoftheghosts]

Ivory chewed her lip a moment trying to determine how to best explain it.
"Think of it like a world wide network for Conduits and our allies, it helps figure out what areas need aid, provide general information and warnings and honestly more importantly provides shelter and training, since most of us initially believe ourselves to be insane or seeing things...Especially considering you don't become one by having a great childhood. " she said easily maneuvering through the foliage and crossing over to see what Bolt was doing curiously.
"Plus, it's a safety net...we tend to go missing a lot."

 

[Prairerosethefirst]

“Oh… do you like the council?” Jay hovered curiously by her.
Bolt was mumbling something under his breath and seemed to be setting up something to catch the wisps in. Then walking over to where a few stray ones were and coaxing them over. Clearly this caused his long and tedious process of handling the wisps. One hand held out to make sure that Jay and Ivory didn't stray too close.

 

[Keeperoftheghosts]

"...Yeah I do...let's just say they helped me escape a situation that wasn't the greatest." She said raising an eyebrow at Bolt's technique and pulling out a bottle with runes carved into it, a ceremonial dagger and a crystalline orb taking a breath and moving over where a clump of wisps were removing her fingerless gloves and unsheathed the silver blade, she pricked her finger on the device and smeared the droplet across the orb muttering a few words under her breath before tossing the orb into the midst of the small swarm she was handling it floated there and the nearby wisps started to flock around it.
"Mr. Trelawney, could you come do what you just did over here?" She requested calling over her shoulder to him.

 

[Prairerosethefirst]

He finished with the batch he had and nodded walking over. Reaching down to etch runes into the dirt. They were similar to hers on the bottle as he moved his hand to bite on his thumb and smear a bit of his blood in the dirt. Glancing up at her and watching for her reaction. Wiping his hand on his pants and standing back up as he muttered under his breath to coax some more over.
Jay had backed up to let them work on it as he took in Ivory’s words.

 

[Keeperoftheghosts]

Ivory nodded at him
"Try baiting them instead of chasing them to it. In folklore Wisps have often appeared as false lanterns tricking lost travelers to follow them deeper into the woods. Following them to try and guide is less effective, I haven't seen this sort of trap rune before...that's a brilliant idea, where did you learn that?" She asked twisting her hand so the orb and wisps surrounding it followed after her into the trap he laid out. She glanced over her shoulder to him just to ensure that he and Jay were doing okay.

 

[Prairerosethefirst]

Bolt glanced at the trap he had made and smiled. “Well, the books said runes work wonders. I had a hard time getting enough supplies to make anything easier to tote but found that it works just as well this way. Same with using herbs on concrete for the pesky wisps who get too close to town.” He was setting up another one as he spoke and waved Jay to his side.
The ghost eagerly floated to round up some wisps guiding them to the trap. A little more effective than Bolt coaxing them. Jay clearly wasn't affected by the wisps.

 

[Keeperoftheghosts]

"Fascinating, would you mind showing me which runes you used after we finish this?" She asked sending the orb back into another cluster of the wisps with one hand pulling out her notebook and a pen with the other.
"Also I can lend you some supplies if you like, and any herbs from my rooftop you're free to use as well." She offered jotting something down I to the pages by balancing the notebook on her leg.

 

[Prairerosethefirst]

Bolt smiled. “Yeah, not a problem. I'll try to make what I have work though, I don't want to intrude.” He finished and stood up. “That's a major amount of them… thanks, you've made this a thousand times faster.” He walked past and started covering the traces of the runes. Looking around a little paranoid.

 

[Keeperoftheghosts]

Ivory shook her head "Oh! It wouldn't be an intrusion don't worry."
The orb fell to the ground with plop now that there were no spirits other then Jay to keep it afloat. Ivory crossed over to pick it up and moved to help Bolt with cleaning up the runes.
"It's no issue, I've been sent here to help after all....I take it there are bloodhunters around here then?" She asked gesturing at the erasure the drawn out runes. She looked around the woods around them suddenly wary.

 

[Prairerosethefirst]

Bolt finished and rocked back on his heels. A thoughtful look coming across his face. “Well, not that I'm aware of. I'm more worried about serial killers and assassins being sent after us. Most people around here are… special to say the least. Paranormal is a better term for lack of one. The dangerous sort.” He turned and shot a glance to Jay who had a smile on his face. Bolt tsking before making sure things looked as close to the same as possible.

 

[Keeperoftheghosts]

"....Why would they be sent after us? And I well figured there was something going on....there's more ghosts and the like surrounding this area then your typical large city. " she commented glancing around them.
"I think we're good, you could only tell the runes had been there if you already knew it and were looking really hard...probably not even then. " she assured. She paused making sure that her bag was closed properly and that none of her equipment had fallen out.

 

[Prairerosethefirst]

Bolt nodded gently. “Thanks. But I’ve been in these areas for over ten years. Some of them attack anything that even remotely moves…” He sighed and brushed off as he walked over to Ivory. “Okay come on, we had best hurry on.”

 

[Keeperoftheghosts]

Ivory's eyes flickered once more over their surroundings and nodded.
"Alright, I shouldn't leave my shop unattended for too long anyhow considering that's how I feed myself. " she said motioning for him to lead the way, not quite familiar with the paths and turns of the cursed forest quite yet.
"These people...they follow the keyholders? Right? I don't know much but Blue has mentioned them before." She asked after about a minute of silent walking.