Coming Home (Open)

In the early morning hours, while the rest of the guild slept, a cloaked figure walked in. With soundless foot steps, a steady pace, and knowledge of the area, the person effortlessly made a path towards the kitchen of the Silver Wolf Guild Hall. The figure moved through a few cabinets and cupboard, seemingly looking for specific items. Once everything was found, the large duffle bag was dropped in the corner and the cape was removed. The lights then flicked on to reveal the figure to be Mizumi, the Huntress returning home. Her left arm smooth and clear, not a bandage in sight.

The bluenette made short work of the batter, silently whisking it in a bowl. Her eyes caught the time. It was just a few hours that Silver Wolf at large should be awakening. She wondered what all has changed since she was last here a year ago. At least the kitchen was kept well stocked. If anything can make for a decent apology to her guild it would be her absolute best breakfast. With the batter settling in the bowl, she moved over to the coffee maker. She found old grounds in the filter. Bleh. After properly disposing of them, she pulled out a bag she had procured in the Minstrel Region. She placed the bag in a nice dry location near the grinder and set about washing the pot up.

Haley was no early riser, in fact the furthest from it. The only times she ever bothered to actually wake up was when there was plants to water for the morning, which was yesterday. Haley however could not help but be alarmed by the flashing lights, the loud chimes and lots and lots of noisy crows. The mage wondered what could possibly have gotten them so riled up.

After a loud shout and getting some order, they eventually her someone has entered the facilities without permission. Haley sighed and got out her suitcase, only to find said cloaked figure now fiddling with the kitchen ingredients. Taking a knife out, Haley slinks over to the figure, quiet as a mouse but poised like a cat. Haley moved with grace, always staying out of the figure's vision. After the figure placed her bag next to Haley's open suitcase, she pounced on the figure and held a knife to her neck.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" Haley demanded, one hand against the bluenette's chest, her other hand pointed poise with her knife close to the skin of the stranger's neck, a knee pressed against the belly button and her other leg in a leg lock with the stranger's.

However Haley spots something to the left of Mizumi's neck, and pulls the knife away but remains right on the girl. "Really... who are you?"

Unable to sleep any more because her thoughts kept drifting back to what had happened in Desierto a few days ago, Leona got out of bed and got dressed in her green-and-gold outfit. She slipped on her Argent Gloves and left her room to go get something to eat or at least get some coffee. She thought she had heard a bit of commotion earlier, but she quickly dismissed it as the result of an overactive mind. The heels of her boots clicked on the wooden floor of the guild hall as she made her way to the kitchen.

-In the guild kitchen-

Leona had just walked around the corner when she spotted Haley standing next to a blue-haired stranger. The blue-haired person looked familiar, but the Guild Master was not certain if the person was who she thought they were. As it turned out, Haley had already beaten Leona to questioning her about her identity.

"Hi there." Leona greeted Haley and the stranger. As the Guild Master walked around to look at the person's face she saw that the blue-haired person was a female with blue eyes. Leona thought that she recognized the person as Mizumi Aiyama, but the blonde was not entirely certain that she was really facing Mizumi. The blue-haired girl had went missing shortly after Leila's disappearance and before Poko Monstar became the new Guild Master. Was this girl the real Mizumi or just an imposter?

Not always was the time spent on the road a convenient one. Much like on this lazily waking day, Leila had spent pretty much the entirety of the solemn night walking. Her investigation has led her to many different places over the course of the past few weeks or so, but she always seemed to have returned back here, to Silver Wolf. It made sense. She created this haven to create a sense of safety. Perhaps even someone like herself required that from time to time.

Her own figure was hidden away by the long brown coat, effectively covering every last inch of her body with the exception of the left portion of her face. It was hard to walk anywhere when both of your eyes were covered up, after all. Even before reaching out for the front door, a whiff of familiar, yet long-lost magic washed over the wolf spirit. One that had brought along a wave of nostalgic memories of the past, back from when this guild was first built. Was it truly that long ago?

Entering the main hall and shedding the cloak from her body, the girl could not help but sigh at the commotion happening to her left, beyond the dining area and in the kitchen. Somehow, she already knew what was going on before even seeing it. Perhaps it was the experience of her life, or just the fact that all of this seemed awfully familiar to something that had happened in the past. With the speed that could hardly be matched, Leila had warped to the scene of the crime, holding Haley's hand firmly, as well as the back of her shirt's collar.

“It's a bit too early in the morning to be turning one another into colanders, don't you think?”

And with that, she pulled Haley a safe distance away from Mizumi at whom the goddess' gaze now felt upon. Due to the warp into the kitchen, Leila's magic activated and with it, she boasted her fluffy wolf ears on top of her head, as well as a long and puffy tail behind her slender frame. It appeared that she was not mistaken after all, that magical signature truly did belong to Mizumi. Leila did wonder where the girl went off to since she was not present upon the spirit's re-entry.

“Not to mention that this is no way to greet an old member who just came back. Truly, make sure you've rested enough to not be paranoid before picking up a knife...”

Suffice to say, Leila herself was a bit cranky after not having a night's sleep for a good while now. Leona's response to the situation also appeared a bit lackluster. How does one just say hello to a duo of people that look like they are about to kill one another? Or at least one of them is looking like they are about to stab the other person, anyway...

She heard foot steps coming from the hallway. Well it seems someone was awake tonight. She could have the griddles fired up and pancakes done in a few minutes. Maybe some coffee...before she could finish the thought, she was pounced and taken to the ground, a knife to her neck, a knee in her stomach, and a hand on her chest. Oh this was not the day to attempt to attack her. Her left hand was already clenching for her bow, but the girl leapt back. Finally asking who she was. Before she could answer, one of the old faces appeared, but she seemed a bit tired and untrusting. Sitting up from her position, she pulled out a small bag of candy she had made, tossing them to her. The small candies she made after their cave expedition.

Just a moment later, there was a warp in space before Leila appeared. The fluffy ears and tail had popped to. This caused a smile to cross her face. Corseted wait straightening up as she reached up and petted between the vixen ears. "Sorry for my unannounced return. I wanted to get the kitchen open like normal and cook everyone a breakfast so it was like I never left. But if the kitchen wasn't stocked enough, I would have to sneak out again." Her smiling face increased as her other hand came up, each one massaging the tips of the Goddess's ears. She had bad luck with most animals, but Miss Vergious was the one way she could pet a fluffy creature without instilling absolute fear in it.

Haley did not expect the others to already be here, never less the guild mistress and ex-guild mistress. However the crow girl was still confused. Old comrade? Haley had never actually seen this girl in her life.

"L-look! I had never seen her! I was woken up, saw her, and then tackle her with good old trusty knife, then I saw the symbol on her neck," Haley explained herself. "Then you both came in and bam here I am against the lovely Leila and Leona in armor despite it being early in the morning... A-anyway... Can you both fill me in?"

Leona was about to speak further when Leila suddenly appeared. The blonde guild mistress shrank from Leila's implied disapproval and felt like she could have handled the situation a lot better than she had. Seeing the knife in Haley's hand suddenly brought to light how awful things could have really gotten if Haley was serious and Leila did not suddenly teleport in to intervene when she did. Leona could not even bring herself to look at Leila but instead focused on Haley. Before the explanation started Leona casually caught a thrown bag of candy with reflexes that surprised the tired and unfocused blonde with a bright red blush on her face.

"Haley, I believe that our visitor's Mizumi Aiyama, a guild member who was around when Leila was the guild mistress of Silver Wolf. I met her a couple of times before, but I don't remember seeing her after Leila went missing and Poko Monstar took over as Guild Mistress." Leona attempted to explain what she believed was happening to the skeptical blonde. The armored blonde already had enough egg on her face to make a few omelettes. She needed to avoid making any more dumb mistakes around Leila if she wanted to get through the rest of the day with a modicum of self-esteem intact.

"From what I recall, Mizumi was the guild cook." Leona added to the explanation, shaking the bag of candy Mizumi had thrown to her and the blonde had caught a few minutes ago. Hopefully Leila could convince the skeptical Haley that Mizumi was a guild member who was returning to the fold and not an intruder or an imposter.

Since it seemed that the situation defused at least a little bit, Leila dared to let go of Haley in hopes that she would not immediately charge at Mizumi again. Because if she did, the situation would suddenly become much more troublesome for all of them. For now, the silver-haired maiden stepped to the side and sighed slightly at the whole situation. “Well, even if she were not a member of this very guild, you would have attacked and nearly gutted a customer who might have gotten confused and wandered into the kitchen. Or one with mental issues and didn’t know they could not go in here.”

The point was, you probably should not just grab a knife and put it this close to someone’s neck unless you absolutely knew they had ill intentions. “Not to mention that if she wanted to actually do any harm at all, she would not have been able to make it through the storm.” She made sure that it was a proper defensive mechanism when conjuring it and binding it to the mountain. Then the gentle hand trailed to her head, Leila twitching ever so slightly as it made contact.

It has been… a while, since someone even attempted to do this to her. Even though she has gotten quite used to it when Mizumi was around. Her ears flopped down against the rest of her hair as she blushed a bit and watched the whole situation unfold. When her ears started getting massaged, she even let out a purr-like noise as her eyes shut close. “S..so… where have you been all this time?” She probably should have the chance to explain herself before any three of the other girls started arriving at any conclusions.

Mizumi just sat there, petting Leila while they explained who she was. She was pretty much ignored by the other girl. But her eyes were focused on the fluffy ears and reaction. Fingertips lightly moved over the corners. Nails lightly scratching at the bases like she used to. This really made her feel like home. Now all she needed was her big comfy chair and Leila across her lap. "And a damn good one. My research was in magical ingrediants and cooking. I am also a huntress and would bring in fresh meat from the forest and mountains. She replied to Leona.

Oh how she missed the feel of the guild hall, and no pain in her left arm. She felt extra cuddly right now, especially with Leila so close and the purr caused her heart rate to increase. When she was asked where she had been, her left hand moved down the side of Eden's Caretaker's head to scratch lightly along the jawline and under her chin. "I was out hunting mouthy prideful pie bakers who thought thiers were better." The delivery of the statement she assassinated an little old lady for her baking skills was deadpan. It could have been a joke. It could have been true. It was something that she once had to do to get that Job posting off thier board, but it was not why she left.

"Actually I got a tip on the Golden Scorpio Key. So i went to look for the mage. I eventually met her and she helped me with the Claw Marks. They will come back, but I won't die now."

Haley wanted to counter argue that what customer would be up so early, wearing a cloak like an ominous villain and was messing around in the place filled with potentially deadly ingredients. However she is not one to talk right now. Right now she is watching Mizumi pacify Leila with cute ear scratches and the guild mistress purring in response. Haley was just quiet before snapping her fingers.

Lights emerged from her suitcase and dance about the room. Lights were now properly on, the eating area for the guild members being cleaned like magic and every moment was done efficiently thanks to this little lights. Haley then sighs. "Well um... this is awkward..." Haley tosses her knife into her suitcase and it disappears through it like it was a bottomless pit. "I'm currently the guild chef... To put it simply I'm basically doing your job, though I could not find any of your previous research notes in the guild lab... Um... well met?" Haley was never people person, and for once it is showing.

Leona was getting more and more confounded by the moment... not that confounding her first thing in the morning was too hard. Mizumi was the previous guild chef. Now Haley was asserting that she was the current guild chef. Leona had never seen the blonde anywhere near the kitchen, but Leona tended to spend time either in her office on or the road for a job, so she did not stop by the kitchen too often. The current Guild Mistress had to defuse a potential dispute and make up for the lackluster response from earlier, but she did not need to go about it in an overly forceful way.

"OK, so Mizumi was the former guild chef." Leona started.

"Haley claim's she's the current guild chef. If Mizumi wants her job back, now we'll have two guild chefs." Leona summed up what she understood so far. She was stating the obvious. The Guild Mistress was trying to figure out a solution to this interesting problem. Rather than overthinking the matter, maybe Leona should propose the simplest solution first.

"Mizumi, Haley, would either of you be opposed to... say, both of you being guild chefs? Or can there be only one?" Leona asked Mizumi and Haley. That "answer" might create more problems than it would solve. Leona did not know if she had just set in motion a conflict of personalities, but suggesting the simplest solution first was worth a shot. Now that she was alert to the problem, she could shut it down more forcefully before knives came out again.

The entire conversation appeared to be a bit more centered around Mizumi and Haley, as they metaphorically started butting heads over the rather simple matter of who was stuck in the kitchen jail. It didn’t make much sense to Leila to why this would be such a big deal, but everyone had their own pride in their craft, so she was also in no position to deny it. Only one thing was clear to her, and that was the fact she was enjoying the blue-haired girl’s touch just as much as in the past.

The joys of someone called nearly all-powerful by those beneath her, now subjected to scratches behind her ears. Truly, the world could turn upside-down in an instant sometimes. Her body even automatically raised her gaze up as to allow Mizumi’s fingers to continue scratching under her chin, the low hum of a purr continuing to escape from within her. Leona, on the other hand, tried to resolve the situation with the most obvious choice there was for the two girls. Leila could only sigh as she opened her somewhat watery eyes, looking over them all.

“Did you all by any chance forget how I build this place? I might not be the guild master anymore, but I still possibly know more about Silver Wolf than anyone. And I know quite well how I specifically designed this place to be visitable by outsiders so they can make use of our services, provided they pay. That’s how we make money. And last I checked, the more chefs, the easier it will be to serve everyone who comes around, so we don’t have to deal with complaints about long waiting times in the restaurant!”

Her voice was not exactly stern, though it was obviously more commanding anything else. The silver-haired maiden was just not interested in having a conflict between the members here. “And try not to forget that I created this place with only one original goal in mind - for it to be a sanctuary for anyone and everyone. A place where individuals can rest easy without the fear of being attacked or discriminated. So do try to play nice, all of you.”

Mizumi was a bit surprised when she heard that her assailant was the new guild chef. And apparently she did not find her notes. This brought a small chuckle from her. "Well if you are looking for research notes, you will not find them. But if you are looking for recipies, I have several books of them in the back that using exotic and magical ingrediants. To Serve Wolves Volumes 1 through 4."

Leona then piped up about settling a dispute before it even started. Her fingers left Leila's head so she could concentrate on the proposal of two chefs. Her mind went through and knew that two chefs in one kitchen was impossible. Like there being two Guild Mistresses. There could be many cooks working behind the scenes, but the Chef was the one who decided on the ingreidants, designed the menu, and chose the recipies. Having two clash was not posible. Even with Leila's impassioned speech about how the guild was designed. It wasn't so much about the guild as it was about the kitchen itself. But the pay part struck her in the right way.

"It is quite impossible for two chefs in one kitchen. A chef is the Guild Mistress of the kitchen. We can not have two in charge of every detail. However there really will not be a fight. It has become Chef Haley's kitchen in my absence and thus I will not be seeking tot ake over her area. Instead I will take up a role as Hostess. I can serve drinks and merchandise to bring in more funds to the guild to visitors and greet those who enter so we do not have cloaked scoundrals getting into the kitchen and shanked." Looking over at the entrance area, she pictured a small beverage island and a board of the newest Silver Wolf memorabilia. If this was an anime, her pupils would have changed to Jewel Signs.

Haley had no idea what to say, nor did she have any clue of what is going on. However she was misunderstood, she did not want to assert her position, she merely wanted to tell Mizumi what has become of her duties as the guild chef. However things have escalated, with different solutions have been presented. Multiple chefs or have Mizumi work under her.

"L-look... The only reason why I'm guild chef is because I'm the only who had skills in the kitchen," Haley told them. "Or rather... Could muster the manpower to cook for a large crowd... Thanks to these fairies." Haley glances towards the orbs of light peeking out her suitcase. "B-but l-look... Mizumi can take over as the guild chef I don't mind, I'm more a beverage kinda person anyway, being the guild's potionmistress and having mixed drinks for a bar in Rose Garden." Haley laughed awkwardly.

"So um..." Haley rubs her back of her head before bowing to all three. "I'm incredibly sorry for causing trouble!" And she kept herself bowed, not daring to standing straight till she is forgiven."

Leona was still feeling the sting of failure from her lackadaisical reaction to Haley holding a knife to Mizumi earlier, but it was starting to go away once Mizumi and Haley declared their intent to not fight over the kitchen. Leila's strongly implied disapproval hurt the blonde so much, but now that the problem was starting to work itself out, maybe Leona could recover a bit of face. Remaining on her course to not be heavy-handed in the resolution of the problem, Leona spoke to Haley.

"I'll leave it to you and Mizumi to work out who runs what, but I'll help if you two want the help." Leona said to Haley and Mizumi. The blonde would let them work it out since their expertise in the area was much greater than her own. She also wanted to give them a chance to work out a solution without them having to turn to her for an answer to every minor problem. Leona then addressed Haley, who was apologizing for what had happened earlier.

"I think we can let it go this time. Just try not to hold a knife to anyone else unless they're an enemy, OK Haley?" Leona requested of the brunette. The blonde was not a big believer in grinding people into the dirt for every mistake they made because she had made a good many mistakes over her career. She would let it go this time, but if Haley held a knife to someone else's neck without just cause the next response would be more forceful and less lackadaisical.

Well, it appeared that the conflict was resolved quite easily after all. Or perhaps there was no real conflict there, to begin with. Except for the whole knife to a throat, anyway. With that, Leila folded her arms across her chest and slowly started making her way away. Naturally, she was very happy that Mizumi was back. But it felt appropriate that she would get to know her new guild master right now. Leila no longer held any power within this community, and the two girls would surely manage to find plenty of time to catch up later on.

Mizumi smiled sweetly to Haley who was bowing in apology. Seem like she was defninitly a Man power type of person. The farries definitly made her a One Woman Staff. It was definitly the sort of improvement one could hope to be made in their absense. 'We missed you so much we had to get a whole army to fill your void.' That probably would sound worse actually spoken, but the pure wholesome sentiment got to her. And it seemed Leona was willing to help. Which brought a smile to her eyes. Leila was being uncharacteristicly quiet though.

"It is quite alright, Hayley. I can handle Breakfast, we can work together for Lunch since people will want thier food as quick as possible, and then you cna handle dinner since I can get prep done before hand. And the beverage island slash merchandise stand could be run at any time. But..." Yeah Mizumi was not the type of person to just let something like a knife to the neck just go. She stepped in close to Hayley quickly, Hand shooting up as her index finger laid diagonally against the other chef's jugular, slight pressure just to let her know where and how her finger was laid. Her Head next to Haley's as she whispered lightly to her. "Next time, hold the blade at a diagonal with a bit of pressure. Not only would the bleeding be uncontrolled, but the pressure would make them rethink any thoughts about moving you."[/u]

With that bit of intimidation out of her system, she gave her fellow wolf a hug and stepped to the side. [b]"Actually I could use all three of you to get some business flowing to the Merchandise." Yep, she was caught there.