The new life of Hochi Banto

[HochiBanto]

((this is an open thread so if you know Hochi anyway just post here))

He had been living he for a few days and he loved it. A warm bed pillows his own room new cloths. A bathtub! Running water hochi never knew existed. But one thing he loved more than anything was his new mother. Yes that was the word mother a family something he never knew before.

He was able to get food when he wanted water too. But one thing he still was not very comfortable with was those dogs. The memory of the two hounds attacking him was still fresh in his mind. He would stand outside for hours staring at the horses running around but keeping his distance from the dogs. His vibrant green eyes studying the horses intently. He was always smiling some of the people around the ranch always thought this was strange as the child ran around the ranch.

With him now was a book of animals that Quinn had given him. He tried despretely but each time he could not. Everytime he failed at reading he would cry for a couple minutes. He would wipe his eyes and try again not wanting to dissappoint Quinn.

[HochiBanto]

Hochi woke up and dove into his overalls which had now become his play cloths. He ran down the hallway ate his breakfast quickly and outside he went. He headed to the stables to pet and feed the horses happily. Hochi would then sit in the stables and look at what kind of pet that he wanted to get. Quinn said that he could get one he wanted one so bad now.

[Anjolie Quinn]

Elizabeth and Anjolie were chattering away in their usual hen-like manner whenever Hochi came barrelling down the stairs. Hank snorted a bit at the ball of energy, but he soon stepped in line with the glare he was getting from Elizabeth. The morning feast of biscuits and gravy with bacon, eggs, and grits seemed to have been met with enthusiasm from the child and this caused Quinn to smile. She hardly had time to mess with his hair before he bolted out the door to run to the stables.

"He seems ta like it here alot more than Ol' Market."Quinn noted as she went to the task of gathering up the dirty dishes.

Elizabeth smiled and gave a nod as she moved to shove some leftover biscuits (a true rarity) into a plastic bag to keep them moist.

"It's nice havin' the little one here."

Elizabeth's approval had meant alot to Quinn. The women went to the task of their cleaning and miscellaneous chores as Hank, Chuck, and the gang of misfit men went to the barn to tend to the stock.

Anjolie began to plan their day and, hopefully, a trip to the pet store to introduce Hochi to what might be his new best friend.

[HochiBanto]

Hochi, anjolie and cory entered the pet shop. Hochi's mind raced he was so excited he kept looking around seeing all of the animals. Cory let hochi down off of his shoulders and he ran through out the store oblivious to everything else. He ran down aisle after aisle smiling he stopped seeing a polar bear. He almost jumped into the small cage with the cub. But he stopped and just started to play with the exotic animal.

The sales lady walked over and said something about the animal being enchanted. He saw how cory felt about this word enchanted and decided not to get the polar bear cub yet. He continued down the aisle looking around excitedly he walked down the dog aisle. Suddenly images of the dogs attacking him flooded his mind.

Then he heard a small barking and he looked to his right and saw a small beagle puppy wagging his tail. It's tongue hanging out of the side of his mouth. He walked towards the puppy slowly and sticking his hand into the cage slowly. The puppy happily licked it wanting to play Hochi played with the puppy the two were instant friends.

Everything else was a blur to him the buying of toys and a bed for the beagle. The trip home was very quick, as soon as he entered the house he was told he had to go to bed. The two ran up stairs jumped onto the bed. The puppy and hochi fell asleep hochi's arms wrapped around the dog.

[HochiBanto]

Hochi and Lennie ran outside happily, Lennie was barking jumping around Hochi. He looked at the blue skies laughing, suddenly the sound of blood hounds could be heard in the distance getting closer. The sound was different from every other dog on the ranch. Men's voices could be heard in the distance yelling and laughing. Hochi stopped and watched as the group ran towards the house.

Within a few minutes the group surrounded Hochi wrapped ropes around him and started to take him from the ranch. He cried screaming at the top of his lungs. He kicked squirmed trying to get free.

Hochi woke up screaming thrashing about throwing his pillow into the darkness of his room. He fell from his bed making a loud THUMP! The echoed throughout the house. He ran to the door instead of opening it he ran through it as if it wasnt there. He ran to a corner and curled up in a ball covering his face tears streamed down his face.

[Anjolie Quinn]

The femme was curled up beneath the fluffy white comforter in the master bedroom. Cory was undoubtedly still out dueling. She admired his commitment. This was something she had been lacking of late.

As dreams of happier times played through her head and Pathfinder cooed his barely audible message a loud *thump* stirred her from her sleep with a jarring jump. The pit fell from her stomach and suddenly Anjolie had no concept of place or time.

The covers were thrown off at top speed as Anjolie stumbled to her feet. The wooden floor gave her very little traction and as she rounded the bed the dresser's edge caught the side of her arm hard enough to draw blood. The femme could almost feel the bruise forming as she darted through the door and down the hallway.

An already pale face went white with fear. Elizabeth and Hank were staggering out of their beds. Quinn raced down the hallways and flew through the door to Kallie's room.

Darkness and silence greeted her frantic movements. It was Elizabeth's voice that brought her back from this panicked state.


"Anjolie, it was from Hochi's room.." The woman stared at Quinn with a strange expression. Why was Quinn looking in her daughter's room.

The fear returned. Hochi was not her child, but was it possible that the Aphilliad would seek revenge against him regardless? Was it possible that the demoness would seek out her adopted children as well as her natural-born children?

She raced down the hall and burst through his door. The sight of the child on the floor crying caused her to rush forth with her arms wide open.

Thank God he was still here...

"Hochi... baby... momma's here."

Quinn knelt down next to the child and held him close while trying to hide the fact that she, too, was crying. Thank God he was still here...

[HochiBanto]

He held onto Anjolie tightly his crying continued for another hour. Until he fell asleep in her arms still not letting go. He muttered in his sleep

"They coming...they gonna get Hochi."

He was scared out of his mind, he knew something inside of him. Kept repeating that he had not escaped the whips. They would find him sooner or later.

"Help me momma..." He muttered in his sleep over and over tears seemed to continue to stream down his face as he slept in her arms. Lennie layed next to Hochi whinning quietly.

[HochiBanto]

Hochi left the Isle where Anjolie had left him the night before. He took a few steps away from the portal and onto the streets. He looked back and forth nervously, he felt as if he was being watched. He walked quickly towards the Outback where he had hoped to see his new mother. As he rounded a corner he stopped and looked behind him, was someone following him. His green eyes suddenly filled with fear as a very familiar man came into view. The man was a goliath, the whip in his right hand dragging on the ground behind him.

“ ‘ello there ‘ochi you ‘ave been very bad lately. Runnin’ away and such, I’m here to take you back home.” the man said

The man reached forward with the empty hand, Hochi looked at the hand then the man. He shook his head turned around and started to run. But he didn’t get far when another giant of a man stepped into the path of Hochi.

“Hochi, Hochi, come home with us. Everyone misses you!”

The second man reached forward quickly grabbing the child by the shoulders.

“I got him boss! Get that collar on him!” The first man ran forward quickly snapping a dog collar around his neck. As soon as the collar was fastened around Hochi’s neck another three men came out of the shadows.

“Bout damn time we get this little bastard!” a man said.

Hochi was kicking and screaming, the man holding him got a shin full of kicks. He let go of the boy as he reached for his shin. Hochi sprinted away as fast as he could towards the Outback. The men behind him following closely, the outback door grew closer and closer. The markings on his back glowed he was going to be safe. Anjolie would protect him, he was going to make it be free! He concentrated entirely on the door, the markings glowed brighter. The instead for straight through the door, he hit the door incredibly hard.

He laid on the ground crying holding his now broken nose. Blood flowing from it, the men raced picked up the child and ran deeper into town. As they reached an inn they headed inside with the still crying Hochi. They entered the room laughing,

“Boss when are we leaving for the mine?” a man asked laughing.

The leader of the group looked at the clock “in the morning I don’t want to go through the forest at night. Plus this boy needs to learn a lesson on running away from his owners” The man grinned evilly.

[HochiBanto]

As the sun gleamed through the window of the room and showned onto Hochi's eyelids, he woke up. He moved his head slightly so the sun did not shine directly into them. His captors had beaten him for hours before sending him in a corner to sleep. His entire body was bruised or cut, he had no more tears left to shed.

He realized that his hands were not bound together niether were his feet. He quietly stood up and limped towards the door. Almost there he thought to himself. He slowly turned the knob the door made a click he stopped everything. He didnt breathe or blink, he opened the door quickly it made a loud squeaking sound as he rushed out of the room and down the hall.

The men woke up quickly ran into the hallway looking both ways seeing the boy at the stairs. They climbed over each other trying to stop hochi from escaping. "Move it you lazy pigs! Get him or we dont get paid!" the leader yelled loudly waking the others in the inn. They reached the stairs but the boy had gotten to the bottom and was moving as fast as he could towards the door.

Hochi was breathing hard his entire body protested all of this movement. But he had to leave he would not go back to the mine again. He reached the front door pushing on it with all his might but it wouldnt budge. His heart fell he started to panic pounding his fists on the door begging it to open for him. The men got to him first pulling him away from the door covering his mouth.

One of the captors laughed "I guess he couldnt read the word pull!" the rest of the men laughed loudly. As the brought the child back into the room got ready for the journey ahead. As a hour passed Hochi was strapped to the back of one of the men as they walked through the city heading eastward.

[Anjolie Quinn]

Pale fingers rubbed furiously over sore and swollen eyes. The motion caused the eyelined to smudge and intensify the dark circles which had been there for weeks on end. Blackened fingertips then reached down to push a pencil out of the way of a map laying on the femme's desk in her greenhouse sanctuary. A soothing voice incased in peridot and emerald swirls seemed to chip at the edge of her mind, breaking away what little sanity still remained.

It had been nearly four days since the child taken on as her ward had gone missing. Hochi was supposed to have met her at the Outback for dueling earlier in the week. Anjolie had called Elizabeth whenever an hour went by and he still hadn't arrived. The femme had searched in all the usual places, but was forced to retire to her Ranch for the evening and just pray that he would show up in the morning to receive a relieved hug and some serious scolding. Quinn hadn't been that lucky.

The disappearance of her daughter had put her relationship with Cory on the rocks, but he was now more distant than ever. It would be unfair to say that this was all his fault. In fact, the femme knew all too well that her own need for solitude was likely pushing the rift even further open. The retirement of Old Market had taken her by surprise and, as each day passed, she began to wonder if Cory resented her challenge to him for the mantle.

Pathfinder proved to be a mind-boggling ally amidst all this mess. When the search for Kallie now proved uneventful it was the opal's idea that Anjolie's husband should go away to find their daughter. The challenge to Cory seemed partly his own idea.

Now, as Quinn sat and stared at the maps of RhyDin, she felt on the verge of breaking in half. It was peculiar that at this moment golden eyes focused in on the map infront of her and a strange darkness seemed to creep across the desk.

"Anjolie... you have magic." The surprised opal cooed at her subconscious.

The femme felt the tingling rush of the supernatural suddenly coming to life within her blood. A tinge of pink and biege blush returned to her skin as arms stretched out with curiosity. The dormant touch of magic left by the demoness's touch was rising to an active state as the femme sat hunched over on her wooden chair.

The green opal took delight in this new feeling of power moving through his holder's mind. Quinn stood quickly and moved to the door of her greenhouse haven and onto the house with a purposeful stride.

The Aphilliad was close by and maybe...

...so was Kallie.

[HochiBanto]

As day turned into night the men started to make camp. They built a fire sat around it forcing Hochi away from the warmth. The men drank themselves to sleep, Hochi forced himself to stay awake. His entire body was stiff with pain, he rolled onto his side seeing a knife sticking out of a bag. He crawled towards it trying to be as quiet as he could. He reached the knife turned around and started to cut through the ropes around his hands.

When his hands were free he quickly untied the ropes around his feet. He looked at the leader of the group holding the key to the collar around his neck. He tiptoed his way over looked at the key in the man's hands. He grabbed onto it slowly pulled it out of his grasp, he hurriedly unlocked the collar letting it fall to the ground. He turned around looked at the road and ran towards the city. His body was screaming in protest telling him to stop, sleep and wait until he could run.

But he would not stop until he was safe, he ran all night the moon slowly falling below the horizon and the sun just breaching it. He saw the walls of the city but he turned away from them heading towards Anjolie's ranch. Suddenly his legs stopped working he fell to the ground gasping for air, he laid there for a few seconds before falling asleep.

Miles behind him the men woke up hungover looking around groggy. After a few minutes when their brains finally grasped the thought. The boy escaped! The leader lept around looking behind rocks and trees "We need to find him! The boss wants him!" The others soon started to look around as well. "He went this way towards town!" one man was looking at the small footprints on the ground. The men grabbed their whips and knives following the tracks.

Hochi woke up dazed his body hurt more then before. He climbed to his feet and slowly started to walk towards the ranch. He knew he was close he remebered this path, he took this path everyday before he was taken. He could hear yelling behind him he picked up his pace limping as his left leg fell asleep. He reached the ranch later that night tears coming down his cheeks in pain. He climbed onto the porch pulling on the knob. Locked he looked around cold he remebered what Cory looked like. He remembered close details, his body changed of that of Cory's.

He limped to the barn he looked behind him at the tracks on the ground. He smiled he started to wipe the ground clearing his old tracks from the dirt. He walked to the stables fell into a pile of straw laying there. His body changing back to its normal form. He layed in the stray using it as a bed and as a blanket. He layed there until the taskmasters came saw the tracks vanished and left. Then he knew he was safe he closed his eyes falling asleep letting the rest of the straw cover his entire body.

[HochiBanto]

He climbed out of the straw at noon, Hochi quickly got out of the stack of hay and walked towards the house. He tried the front door unlocked he smiled. He walked in and closed the door loudly,

"Momma? Quinn?"

his voice echoed slightly in the empty house.

[Anjolie Quinn]

It was still early in the morning. The sun had barely been given the chance to turn the complete darkness into an overcast state before the snow began to fall. The cold wind stung pale cheeks and turned them bright red. A certain sense of numbness worked its way through the femme's body as she lay in the back garden of the Overlord's Isle. The green opal was nestled securely in its holder around her neck. Golden peepers stared up in silent confusion at the dancing pieces of white floating down to the ground below.

"Harris comes for tha Isle this Thursday..." Anjolie's somber tone was hardly above a whisper.

"The Mantle is not what you should be focusing on. Your friend Artemus wants me and your husband is seeking the dominance of my sister." The opal felt warm against her throat as they lay together in quiet conversation.

"Do you think tha' Cory really wants ShadoWeaver, or he jus' wants ta beat Jaycy?"

"Cory is a very powerful man. I am not whether or not my sister would possess him, but I do imagine that he would like to dominate her."

"What if I shoul' lose you... I dun' think I coul' bear ta lose you. No' now." A tear managed to break free and make its way down her cheek. The opal grew warmer against her throat.

"I know that you will come back for me. We are close, you and I. I make you a better being, Anjolie. If Artemus takes me you will not have help in finding your daughter. We both know how much you need me, Anjolie."

The femme felt her breath catch in her throat. Subtle vibrations soon caught Quinn's attention as she snapped back to reality. A hand slipped down to pluck her cell phone from the pocket of her robe. It was the Ranch phone. Fingers flipped it open and pressed it against her ear. Anjolie's sad and strained voice sounded with reluctance.

"Hello.."

"Quinn!" The voice on the other end was Elizabeth. She seemed excited and hardly able to contain herself.

"Quinn! You mus' come home immediately!"

Anjolie felt even more exhausted at the very sound of such enthusiasm. "What is it, Liz?"

"Quinn, Hochi's here! He jus' showed up a' the front door." This comment caused Anjolie to sit up quickly with a shocked expression and a smile.

"He's there! How? Where has he--- I mean, is he alrigh'?"

"He's a bit roughed up, bu' you need ta git over here now!"

"I'm on m' way." The phone was slammed shut and Anjolie rose with a swift shift and a push with her hands. The heat at her neck was suddenly gone. A strange sadness seemed to make its way across her mind and a dizzying feeling of confusion.

"You should not trust that child. Let the other woman care for him. He is not your concern." Anjolie staggered and then settled back down to her knees in the back garden.

"Wha-- what are you sayin'?" Golden peepers darted back and forth as her head grew heavy and her eyes felt as if they were being weighted down.

Stay with me now." The opal commanded and the femme felt herself fall back to the ground with her eyes staring once more up at the falling snowflakes.

"Yes, my love. I will stay with you..."

[Anjolie Quinn]

The sound of the child's voice had awoken Elizabeth. The men had already gone to town to get some feed for the morning chores. There was cornbread in the oven and a timer set next to the couch where the middle-aged woman was stretched out for a bit of a shut eye while the morning news played in the background.

Graying pieces of long, brown hair fell around her face as she sat up with speed. "Hochi!" She called from the living room. Liz's knees protested at the sudden movement, but the southern woman was up and heading for the hallway with a wide grin on her face.

She turned the corner and hazel eyes went immediately to the small stature of the child standing there in the entryway. It was obvious that he had been hurt, but for now it seemed more important to make him aware that he had been missed and that he was safe. The woman dropped to her knee and sent both arms outstretched.

"Hochi!! Thank God you're alrigh'." Overwhelmed with emotion it was hard to keep the woman from crying. First she would make sure that he was alright and then she would call Quinn and have her come home. At least one of the children were safe.

[HochiBanto]

Hochi smiled as he saw Elizabeth wiping the dry blood off of his face. He limped towards her, finally reaching her he wrapped his arms around her.

"Where Momma?"

He put his face into her shoulder crying, The back of his shirt was ripped up badly from whips. His ankle was badly sprained, his nose broken and, his stomach was empty. He yelled as her arms pushed onto his badly whipped back.

"Where Momma!?"

He held onto Elizabeth tightly not wanting to let go.