Travelers (IC)

At Veil's prompt, Callisto suddenly sat up, her body rigid. She seemed almost faint, staring straight into the wall opposite of her in the brief moment of silence she was allowed. The sound of Du-Gant's voice several rooms over, however, seemed more than enough to bring her at least partly back to reality. Her posture slouched slightly into a more natural position, and her head turned to face Veil.

"I couldn't sleep if I wanted to," she murmured, vexation audible in her usually monotonous voice. "Should... one of us give it a look?"

She retained little memory of what exactly happened to her to result in losing lucidity overnight. With loss of lucidity, there was always the risk of not being able to reawaken. To be honest, she had long stopped worrying - a century is a little long to constantly stay on edge. That train of thought, however, brought a different subject to mind... Her roommate.

Veil possessed an... exotic soul. As she understood it, a soul was heavily molded by the realms and realities it experienced, every physical law reshaping it to fit the realm's boundaries and conceptions. Sometimes, traveling damaged the soul. The oldest travelers' souls were withered and distorted, portions of it lost or altered, unchangeably so. The youngest, purest souls were heavy and solid, strong and centralized; Callisto's was but an indistinct haze. Veil's, Callisto found, was a thick, festering thundercloud - heavy and very much alive, yet still somehow thin and wispy, and with the slightest detectable cracks within it. Yes... he had traveled before; he must have.

While her insight had taken no more than two seconds at most, it had soon occurred to her that Veil may not much appreciate her snooping around. Especially when he was still practically right beside her. Feeling a sudden flush of embarrassment (as if staring into someone's very soul was a common thing to do), the knight shifted off of the bed into a standing position, taking a brief moment to stretch. "Well, I'm going to look, anyway... You're welcome to continue sleeping. If you choose to."

At that, Callisto walked around Veil's bed and headed for the exit of the dormitory. She had resolved that reading and looking into a friend's very soul was probably very rude and that she wouldn't do it again. After all, she wanted to retain these new relationships. They formed quite the pleasant mental anchor.

Slow to recognize Honey’s initial statement as a joke, Lexy’s eyebrows knitted. “I’m sorry if I woke you,” she said, her voice laced with worry. The concern for Honey did not last long, however, as her worry and attention quickly shifted to what was said regarding the commotion in the hallway. So much has happened in the past day, she didn’t get why someone would want to add to the commotion. Lexy stood up to put on her boots as her thoughts wandered. Then again, maybe that person did have a good reason? After all, the Ellie – Elysia – lady Honey mentioned had defended whoever it was, so obviously the person must’ve had a good enough reason, right? Maybe she could meet her later on…

Lexy’s attention once again shifted as she began to smooth down her hair to the best of her ability (which wasn’t much, considering she didn’t have a brush). “Ooh, you like plants? But then I guess that does explain the one plant you have kinda attached to you. Did you put it there, or did it just appear there one day like ‘hi guys what’s up? I’m staying here, now, so please water me daily, kaythanksbye’ or something?” She didn’t even think about the fact that maybe she shouldn’t have asked such a question; curiosity drowned out all such thoughts. If Honey did have to take care of it, Lexy also wondered how – she had tried to take care of plants tons or times, and each time had resulted in less favorable results. Her plants were murdered often times for her forgetfulness. She either watered too little because she forgot that she hadn’t watered them or watered too often because she forgot about the last time she watered them. Maybe she should try again only with a timer or something? That might work if she remembered to charge her phone more often so the alarms would actually go off.

Attention once again shifted and Lexy attached to her seemingly endless stream of questions, “Where’s Scylla, by the way?”

It seemed that whatever the commotion had been, it was over by the time Thray walked outside the room. Instead there were just a few people milling about, though he wasn’t sure why. There was no promise of food anywhere. They hadn’t been directed to any facilities where they might shower or get a change of clothes for the day. Lovely. Stars, he would’ve washed his own clothes had he been presented with the machines to do so. From somewhere he heard the screaming sickle and his expression soured. It was too early to be screaming.

“Doesn’t look like a fight,” he mumbled. “Looks more like a… I don’t know. More importantly, do showers exist in this insane place?” He wasn’t addressing anyone specifically and didn’t particularly care who might hear him. He didn’t expect an answer either way and considered turning around and going back to sleep.

"Indeed. But the rat might not hesitate to eat you if given the chance..." was all Desin said, keeping his thoughts on having to care for the ugly baby rodent to himself. To him at least, while the rat might be useful later, it would likely take a while for it to get to the point of being useful, however he wasn't sure if it was worth the time and effort she was putting into it. But no matter, it was her problem really, not his.

Without saying any more, he continued walking, passing her and going down the hallway. He wanted to continue exploring before the day started, and this was the perfect opportunity. He was particularly interested in getting to the roof, and to this end, he made his way upwards through the building. Eventually, after bypassing some locked doors and ascending numerous flights of stairs, he arrived at his destination, and gazed out over the city.

Elysia
 
When Elysia made her way outside, she found it was still dark, with only the faintest hint of light over the horizon indicating the sun would rise soon. A heavy fog was hanging in the air, making most objects fade into a gray haze, although none of this would hide the sky. The light from the few lampposts scattered about the black paved area around Central hung about their sources in fuzzy yellow orbs. The brick walls loomed up, hiding the area outside the property from view, and not a single bird was singing, a damp chill hanging in the air. The painted white lines indicating the alignment of the buses were empty; all of them were gone, the agents already having left to gather the Travelers that would be arriving later in the day. Complete silence, apart from the strange, eerie gusts of wind as it passed in currents through buildings, came to greet anyone outside.
 
Some people would have found this scenery unnerving; the world was void of life and seemed frighteningly isolated. The fog made seeing for a long distance impossible, and the light afforded by the lampposts was minimal. Elysia, however, found this comforting, as so often, the darkness of night and dense mists would obscure her presence. Standing out in the open made her nervous, as did crowds and places without trees and wildlife. The mists and silence made her feel safe, and free to roam about as she pleased.
 
Elysia was never able to stand even at the corners of a developed place like Central. It was within the heart of civilization, densely-populated, and even now, it was open and free of obstacles to obscure a person’s sight. Only mists could afford her safety in such places, where nobody would notice her eyes, or pay too close attention to her cloak. Even then, she only appeared in the outskirts of distant towns, never within cities. She was free from her pursuers here, and few things she had encountered scared her more than what she had been running from. Her greatest gratitude was that her family was across the sea, in an unknown place, and hopefully safe…though she would not put it past people to try to find them.
 
 
It was then that Elysia heard a bark in the distance, and looked up to see an enormous, muscular sighthound that must have been seven feet in length from snout to tail—snouts to tails, plural—sailing over the wall that protected Central. Not only did it clear a jump that was far too large for any dog Elysia had seen, landing perfectly on all fours, but it had two heads, with two tails that showed independent movements in relation to their owners. The dog had a rough, wiry coat of bright red fur, and its heads possessed polished, flattened collars that seemed like chain links, made of what looked like tarnished brass with a distinct golden hue. The dog’s two heads looked around, dark brown eyes very large and observant, and it seemed as though the creature was distinctly unhappy. Its ears were flattened, its tails quivered, and its mouths were closed in firm lines, very tense.
 
Elysia sighed, and gave a brief whistle. Both of the dog’s heads looked in her direction, ears pricking up, with one head cocking to the side, while the other sniffed in her direction, concentrating. After it seemed to think it was fine to approach, it warily walked up to her, its eyes staring holes into her.
 
“What are you doing here, boy?” Elysia said to it quietly, not using any sort of baby-ish tone in her voice, though it was definitely a question directed at the dog, no hostility, not exactly expecting an answer. Elysia often did this with horses, dogs, cats, and many other creatures she encountered. Humans were a threat to her safety, so she often talked to animals, as odd as that tic was sometimes perceived.
 
“Where did you come from?” She asked it, allowing herself to have a warm tone in her voice.
 
The dog’s ears raised up even more, and one tail gave a slight wag. The other head, meanwhile, was sniffing at Elysia’s cloak, and then one gloved hand that she offered for it to smell. After a moment, that head gingerly grabbed the glove, though only that and not the hand beneath, and gently tugged at it, removing it. It dropped the glove and sniffed at Elysia’s bare hand instead. The tail that seemed to belong to this head began to wag slowly, and speed up.
 
Elysia was used to this. Dogs recognized her as another dog, even in human form. They generally became excited when they registered her scent.
 
“You jumped over that wall, what are you doing, eh?”
 
The one head that was still carefully inspecting Elysia’s face tilted its head to one side, then another, its tail wagging just as hard as the other, now. It had a distinct, smile-like expression on its face. This head lowered down and butted the top of its skull against her stomach, as this was how tall the dog was. Elysia slowly reached up and gave it a scratch behind the ears.
 
“You are a sweet one, I see.” Elysia, in spite of herself, smiled.
 
The other head that had begun licking Elysia’s other hand whined, wanting attention, also, so Elysia found herself scratching a different ear on each of the dog’s two heads.
 
Elysia had no idea how two heads on a dog worked, although she supposed it was similar to the various kinds of two-headed dragons in her own world. Despite being attached to the same body, there was generally good control over it, and both heads were independent personalities, almost akin to siblings. The personalities could be somewhat different, but usually, the reason a two-headed creature was capable of functioning was that they could easily reach an agreement, having been attached since birth.
 
Overall, whatever had been troubling this two-headed dog seemed to no longer bother it. It had completely calmed down.
 
 
Edward
 
Edward’s eyes opened, and he blinked slowly, looking up at Du-Gant. “Oh….wow…..how long was I out….?” He sat up and rubbed his eyes. His hair fell in his face and he had to smooth it behind his ears. Ed was a heavy sleeper, it was not uncommon for people to scream, or shake him, or even try to carefully push him off the bed so that he woke upon falling on the ground. He could sleep through nearly anything, and only when he was well-rested did sound have any effect. If he was left alone he would wake up of his own accord, but Edward was not only one known for sleeping deeply, but also, an irregular sleep schedule, overall.
 
Left alone without school or work or any other sort of routine, Ed would sleep whenever he felt tired, and wake up whenever he was rested. As a result, most of his life was work broken up by irregular naps. When he was not studying he was working, and were it not for his ability to ignore everything around him when resting, he would be severely hampered by exhaustion. Unlike anyone who might have been bothered by being woken up early, Ed was used to this sort of irregularity, and was completely fine with Du-Gant screaming.
 
Ed slowly got out of the bed, “Sorry, how long were you trying to wake me? I’m pretty much dead when I’m asleep.” He looked down at his leg that had gotten injured yesterday and twisted the limb, testing his range of movement, “Unbelievable, like it never happened….Magic doesn’t exist in my world…”
 
Despite the initial way he had woken up, Ed seemed to immediately snap back into functioning once awake.
 
 
Konrad
 
Konrad shook his head, “Time is a precious concept when you are mortal, your life is a finite thing. Your life is limited and each passing moment is closer to death. When you are immortal, you need not worry. Only in the circumstance that you depend upon shifting seasons for food does it matter then.”
 
He slowly rose up, “If you do not understand its importance, that is fine. I do, but I lost my mortality through magic. Unfortunately, that has resulted in many negative effects. I was meant to grow old and die, and I have exceeded my lifespan now. My thought processes are now filled with holes.”
 
 
Honey
 
Honey felt a bit more alert when Lexy mentioned her plant, but did not think she needed to be too alarmed about it; the questions she asked were perfectly normal, after all. “Ah, this thing…?” She reached over and patted the leaves of the plant delicately. A root tendril lifted itself up like a tentacle and twined around her index finger, looking much more ‘alive’ in an animal sense than a plant should have been. “One time when I was around sixteen, I tripped while I was going out to pick some basil in our herb garden for my mom…” Honey looked at Lexy, “When I did, I fell on top of some of the chamomile that we’d planted just for the sake of it. When I came in contact with it, the whole plant just dissolved into this mist and…..kinda….re-formed into what it looks like now…”
 
Honey looked back at her plant and shrugged, “I know it doesn’t look anything like a daisy…but…..it’s basically a type of daisy. You take a clip of the leaf for some genetic testing, it’s one-hundred-percent English Chamomile, Chamaemelum nobile. Taking care of it isn’t actually that hard. Plants are a part of my powers, my presence alone pretty much sustains them…like, it wasn’t very strong when I was a baby….but it got really strong as I got older. Used to it was just if I touched something and it was sick it would begin to get better, it looked more like I was just a green thumb. Then it turned into this long-lasting effect thing. I can keep things alive just by being in close proximity, and even if I leave, if I touch it, my power lingers.”
 
She turned to Lexy, “When I was at Legerman, they had a special thing set up for my powers. Since my powers also cause seeds to sprout and take away all these restrictions that usually kill things, they often funneled critically endangered stuff towards me to help reproduce them, and I was learning advanced growing techniques. I can clone you infinite orchids from a few petri dishes…” She shrugged, “Of course, that doesn’t mean I don’t also know how to grow things without my powers. I give pretty good advice.”
 
Her ears raised slightly, “I think for Scylla….he’s in another room somewhere with….that mage guy, Lynn. He’s from the same world as Ellie….Elysia, she’d probably get mad if I don’t call her by her real name….” Honey’s ears lowered again, “Uh, Lynn, really sweet person, a bit naïve, he’s very….innocent….I guess would be the word. He’s always asking questions about things, and a little stubborn, I think. Ellie…Elysia, picks at him a bunch, but I’m pretty positive it’s because he makes it way too easy to mess with him. It looks like she’s trying to make friends, but she’s having trouble reaching out to people, I think.”
 
Honey winked a bit, “She’s got problems, but…well, I ain’t one to judge. Sometimes Changelings have it pretty rough.”
 
 
Lynn & Scylla
 
“At least you have facial hair, I’ve never grown any hair except on the top of my head!” Scylla fussed.
 
Lynn, despite everyone having been woken up astoundingly early, had proceeded to go through a morning routine without any sort of fuss whatsoever. He had dragged a trash can over from the corner of the room, uncorked his canteen from his belt, wet his face, and was now using the edge of a small razor he kept with him to shave, trying not to make a mess, but regardless, Scylla could see that this would not exactly work out in a proper way. Hence, he had grabbed a broom and dustpan hanging from some hooks on the wall, and was now irately sitting on his bed, watching Lynn, holding the cleaning tools like a soldier held his spear and shield.
 
“You will eventually, give it a few more years,” Lynn replied, careful not to cut his skin with the blade.
 
“I’m eighteen, I’m an adult, not a kid.” Scylla replied icily.
 
“Eighteen is still rather young,” Lynn continued in his calm tone.
 
“Uh, no, I’ve never grown hair anywhere except on my head. I mean, not anywhere. Look, look at my arms, here, you see any hair? There isn’t any. Facial hair ain’t gonna happen for me.”
 
“Ain’t? That is an unusual dialect.”
 
“…I’m from the Deep South, it’s a part of the Primacy, that’s how we talk. It isn’t grammatically correct, but sometimes it slips out.”
 
Scylla was very frustrated, especially now that Lynn would choose his ‘ain’ts’ to pick at. Generally, Scylla tried to avoid using incorrect grammar, but sometimes people intentionally used ain’t to make a point, and this was especially for an important statement. Sometimes, it was unintentional because it shortened the length of a sentence and made it sound more frank. Still, it irked Scylla that the next thing Lynn would reply was to ask about his dialect.
 
“Do you guys not have a version of America in your world? Have you not found the New World yet or something?”
 
“I have never heard of an ‘America’ or a ‘New World.’”
 
“Well, obviously not. You didn’t recognize anything from the New World, you even missed Asian spices like black pepper.”
 
“I do not know if these lands exist or not. I am only familiar with Ingenarva. That is the continent I am from. There is talk of lands far to the east, but that road is long, dangerous, and filled with hazards.”
 
“You mean a Silk Road?”
 
“Silk? You are referring to those reflective fabrics that are worn by royalty and the nobility? Yes, those come from there.”
 
“Then how did you not know what pepper was?”
 
“You need a great amount of wealth to purchase anything from the east. Never would we use those spices to eat, that is for those with enormous fortunes. It is used as medicine, or as currency to barter with.”
 
“Well, your appearance tells a different story. Why are your robes so shiny and brightly-colored?”
 
“Mages wear robes woven with mana that helps them to channel their power, and bright colors help to advertise the profession, it is generally a mage’s most prized possession, due to dyes and the process of weaving mana fibers. My appearance is not so strange for a mage, although the shapeshifter’s cloak is a different matter. It is quite conservative, black hides the shine of mana greatly, especially in low light, and dark blue is less-visible. Blue is a dye that is less common, but woad is becoming increasingly cheaper due to competition from indigo, and it is easy to dye something black with acorns or oak gall.”
 
“Well, what about the dyes in your cloak?”
 
“Light blue made from diluted indigo, purple from shellfish, and black from oak gall. The price I pay is primarily the indigo and shellfish, but the patterns on the inner lining, you pay for the work of the tailor who makes your clothes.”
 
“Huh, interesting…” Scylla mused.
 
Lynn came from a world so far-removed from the one he was in currently, his whole definition of reality was drastically different. He possessed a healthy eagerness to learn, and asked questions about everything, which might have seemed childish, but how was it strange, being filled with wonder at flying machines, horseless carriages, or flameless torches? When magic in his world was normally the thing that mattered, how a machine or new technology was built and operated independent of these was interesting. Lynn wanted knowledge, and it was clear that if you asked him the right questions, he knew a great deal of things about certain subjects. Not many people paid close attention to markets, or the process of making a final product, although from this conversation, it was clear Lynn did.
 
Granted, Lynn was slow to understand other people, or varying points of view, but given that he seemed self-sufficient, he probably did not need to interact with others that often outside of business. He was a natural loner, probably not too bothered by being alone, though he enjoyed the company of others. It was a healthy capacity to live in solitude without suffering from loneliness, although Scylla did not perceive any intentional acts of isolation. Lynn was not rejecting society, but he did not seem to seek out conversation due to boredom, or out of an anxious need to talk in general, either. He had vented over Elysia’s actions, but given that she was from the same world as Lynn, similar to how Scylla interacted with Honey, you felt a stronger connection towards people who were from your own world.
 
For the moment, however, it seemed Lynn was choosing to stay around the people he was familiar with, more so than going along with strangers. Given the situation he was in, Scylla could not blame him. It was also probably unfair to judge Lynn’s practices of shaving outside of a bathroom, when running water was probably an alien concept to someone like him.
 
Still, it was a bit messy, and Scylla had no idea how clean Lynn’s habits actually were, if he would go out of his way to clean up any hairs that failed to fall into the trash can after he had finished shaving. Scylla had only ever been forced to clean up after his father in a circumstance like this, and his father had left hairs all in the sink. Although he would not dare say anything wrong to his parents in the past, Scylla had always considered them slovenly, almost on purpose, as if to spite him. Given that Scylla’s primary responsibilities were to keep the house, it was no wonder when people consistently vanished after dinner, or left horrid messes in the bathroom. Scylla had gone off to Legerman Academy, not even telling his parents where he was going.
 
 
Scylla had been wise to apply for the school before he turned eighteen. It was not long after his birthday that he was kicked out of the house and left to fend for himself on the streets. Scylla knew they would do that. What did they care, that their non-human Changeling kid was homeless? That was not the worst that they had done to him, in fact, losing contact with them was like a luxury.
 
 
After realizing that he was obsessing too much over memories of his father, Scylla sighed and laid the dustpan and broom down on his bed.
 
 
“I’m going outside to see what was going on, whenever you get finished, don’t forget to sweep up any messes you’ve made.”
 
 
“Ah, no worries, it is common courtesy to not leave a pigsty for your host.” Lynn replied.
 
 
How he was able to cleanly shave without a mirror was beyond Scylla, but somehow, he was succeeding in doing so.
 
 
Sighing, Scylla went over to the door and opened it, stepping out into the hallway, and seeing the burlap-clad woman with the gigantic rat pup standing there, and the tall green alien from before.
 
“Ah…..Hello, there….? Ah….Wait……”
 
Before Scylla could say anything, the woman darted down the hallway and like a phantom, was gone.
 
“Ah……” Scylla felt very awkward now.
 
He looked over at the green alien, “Uh….hey, do you know what happened out here, or did you come to investigate, too?”

Seeing that most of the group had disappeared at the conclusion of whatever “fight” had been going on, the idea of going back to sleep seemed all the more promising… at least until the screaming of the sickle started up again. Sighing, Thray was about to go off looking for showers when the female holding her ugly baby ran away, leaving him in the hallway with another newly-appeared creature he recognized from earlier. This one had been with the furry one, he recalled.

“I didn’t really see anything,” Thray replied with a slight shrug. “I heard the commotion but by the time I got out here it seemed resolved.” He glanced around, uncomfortable himself just because of the alien environment he found himself in. “I don’t suppose you know where we’re supposed to be?” he asked, gaze turning back to Scylla. “I thought this was some sort of distribution center… Surely we’re not supposed to just wander around?”

Lexy
Lexy listened with interest to Honey's explanation for her plant. Based on what her friend was saying, Honey seemed really smsart to her, right now - or at least, smarter than she was. The response only made Lexy more curious about Honey's plant, however. How come only that one plant was on her if she dealt with a lot a plant? Like, what made that one plant special in comparison to all the other plants, making it appear on Honey? Lexy shrugged it off - it's not like she would get any sorta scientific discussion, anyways.

"Maybe we could see if Scylla's awake, then?" Lexy asked, wincing slightly as she used her fingers to try to comb through her currently unruly hair. In truth she also wanted to meet the people Honey was saying so much about. "I get called naive a lot, too, sometimes," Lexy recalled aloud in response to Lynn's description. In spite of the small amount of sleep, she was already anxious to leave the room and find these people to talk to, and maybe look around the building some. She once again found herself wondering about Honey's plant, but a voice in the hallway interrupted the returning train of thought.

"He's up," she announced, grinning. "Wanna go out and see him? Could we?"


-------------------
Riley
-------------------

Not long after she began to leave the group, Riley felt the worries from her nightmare emerge. It was similar to the feeling that comes when one turns off the light in an unfamiliar place. You turn off the light and suddenly that loneliness becomes all the more noticeable, and the unknown becomes more noticeable, and suddenly you find yourself hurrying out of that room because of your fears about what isn't even present. In the same way, Riley found herself not wanting to be alone as she traveled the hallway and turned around. She took a couple steps towards Thray and was about to ask him if he wanted to join her when she noticed Scylla entering the hallway. This resulted in her being quick to decide against approaching him, and instead she turned away from the two, trying to keep a slower pace, though it was slightly faster in comparison to her walking speed just moments ago, her fears now directed toward a physical object.

Du-Gant screeched, "Esat was scared that you might have a heart attack if esat screamed. It's good to see that you didn't die." The sickle floated over to the door, "Esat cannot open the hatch. Can you open it for me?" His hearts slapped against the door because of how far they were orbiting around him.

***

Thukr moved her pillar arms, cracking the joints in them. Her syllables were slow to come out, and when they did, there was a delay between them, "Did you say that you are immortal due to magic? Can you do fire magic? It would be rather soothing if a fire spell was cast on me. Fire doesn't affect me like it does with the soft-seeds. It fuels my insides and cleanses my outsides." She slid outside the room while her stench followed, leaving behind a limestone and mucus covered bed. She had tried her hardest to keep the bed from being consumed, but most of it was simply corroded away.

She spoke to Konrad as they came into the hall, "If you could, I would appreciate it very much if you set me on fire. Outside would probably be the best place." She spoke to Konrad in a nervous voice. She was unsure how he would take it.

***

Goose noticed the girl from last night, and took the opportunity to approach her. "Oh ****, Ryley was it? I just wanted to say that I'm sorry for spouting off at you last night." He continued, making sure to clarify, "Also, I'm gonna say this too. You're still wrong for thinking that that ****** deserved mercy. So uh, yeah, just clearing that up." He scoffed, "Don't want anyone thinking that I'm actually sucking up to you."

Riley was relieved when she heard someone address her - for a moment, that is. She remembered speaking to Goose in an attempt to distract herself when she first arrived, and remembered him speaking to others last night following the attack, but his words now only angered her. She could not even recall him saying anything last night that he needed to apologize to her about. Then again, she was primarily paying attention to Elysia's words at the time of the incident she imagined him talking about. That aside, it seemed more like Goose had approached her more in an attempt to clarify that he was right and she was wrong. The thought amused her for a moment, before annoying her. She smirked slightly as she looked at Goose, her irritation effecting her forgetting about the guilt she had.

"You know, I was fine with the first sentences, but last I checked, the second half of whatever you just said is usually stated by people who appear a bit more... juvenile, I suppose? Or do they just mature a lot more slowly where you're from? I mean, approaching someone just to try to correct them over a question of opinion?" Her expression shifted to one of mock worry, "Oh, I'm sorry about saying that, but just to let you know, I'm right. Don't want anyone think I'm sucking up to you, am I right?" she parroted Goose's own words in her response.

The moment Riley finished speaking, however, her demeanor deflated and she quickly looked away. Now that her irritation had died down, she regretted those words; it wasn't the best way to stay unnoticed and out of trouble. She felt her face heat up, but with her final statement she found it unfavorable to add in an actual - albeit unfeeling - apology. Instead Riley just grew quiet, turning away from Goose in hopes of being able to leave.

Veil followed Callisto silently. He towered over her, but pretended not to notice this, or perhaps really did not notice.  As she walked out of the sleeping quarters, he addressed her in his usual muffled tone; "Will you be asking questions about getting home?"

This query seemed rather blunt, but it was his usual tone of speech. Brusque, but efficient (or so he thought).  If Callisto had a nose to smell, she might have remarked on the absence of any particular scent, despite the dirty appearance of Veil's bandages.  This lack of smell was due to an odor-cancelling ointment that Veil periodically rubbed into the bandages, thus avoiding any unpleasant smells from his body, and also eliminating the possibility of his being hunted by specially-trained animals.

"To whom?" Callisto responded to Veil's question smoothly. "Our hosts are not going to help us home. Not until they are finished with us, anyway." She felt the souls moving down the hall and out of sight. Whoever had created the commotion is now gone, and the knight didn't feel particularly interested in finding the perpetrator.

Taking a moment to shoot Veil a mere cursory glance, she chose a direction - left, to the opposite of where the sound had originally came from - and began to walk. She trailed her left hand along the wall, as if feeling to ensure that she did not stray from her direction. "Home is a long ways away," she murmured to Veil, now quiet and further away. He may not have heard her.

Scylla
 
Scylla frowned, and shook his head in response to the green alien’s question, “Sorry, I don’t have any idea who we’re supposed to talk to or where we should be going, maybe we’re awake way too early, I don’t know because there’s no clocks or windows, but in all honesty, I’m pretty convinced this whole place is a disaster.” He fidgeted with his arms by his side, “Uh…not trying to be negative, but…there’s no nice way to say it, at some point, someone has to say it.”
 
Scylla flinched upon hearing the exchange between Goose and Riley, but said nothing, apparently not wanting to become involved.
 
It was then that the wet sound of water spattering on the floor, and the squeaky wheels of a yellow cart came from down the hallway. A disgruntled, grumbling old man with wiry silver hair in a blue jumpsuit appeared from around the corner, growling as he spattered a blue cleaning solution from his cart basin with his trusty mop over the white tile floors. “Hate this place, hate this place, getting paid minimum while the execs get another raise…” He grumbled at the floors, scrubbing them with the white mop so hard that it seemed more as if he were trying to rub the linoleum out of existence. It did not seem as though this were part of the man’s typical behavior, as there was a distinct, upset note to his voice.
 
Scylla looked over in the janitor’s direction strangely, “Uh….maybe….he knows?”
 
The janitor, hearing the question, looked up at them, rough, aged lines bent into a scowl, “Eh? You callin’ for old Jeremy?” His response came more in a natural, gruff manner, like someone who had not been paying attention and wanted to clarify. It did not seem that he was directing his anger at the Travelers in front of him, despite his apparent hatred for Central.
 
“Uh….we were wondering, where are the showers here, if there are any….and who do we go talk to? We just got funneled into the rooms after dinner…” Scylla said politely, now twiddling his thumbs.
 
“Showers, eh?” The janitor, or Jeremy, raised his hand and pointed past the group, “You folks…you go down that there hallway….make a right….keep going until you’ve passed three hallways on the left, and then turn left at the fourth hall…that should get you there…The door leads to a showers, they’re all individual rooms that lock for privacy…”
 
“…Oh…thank you…” Scylla nodded.
 
“…Now…young feller….your other question…were it not for that security gap that they should have known was there in the first place….you folks would’ve been filed over to the interviewers…you’d give a basic description of your world, varies, races, writing forms, and we try to figure out where home is. Since it was late everyone turned in for the night.”
 
The old man squinted, “Ah…Jeremy, you’ve done it again, caught another group of folks not doing their job. Bet ya they didn’t say a word about what to do in the morning, did they?”
 
“No, not really.” Scylla tensed uncomfortably, but he knew this was just anxiety. This old man was relatively polite, and seemed to be exerting a lot of effort in making sure he didn’t take out his apparent irritation on the Travelers.
 
“Well…it’s about…five in the morning right now,” Jeremy checked his watch on his left arm, and looked back at the group, “In an hour, they’ll start setting out breakfast in the cafeteria, and last until seven, so…it’s taken for granted you’ll all be asleep, main rush doesn’t start until six when they normally wake everyone up to direct you, but if you want your showers, get ‘em now. Easier to get your meal if you’re not fighting with a bunch of others.”
 
 
Konrad
 
Konrad frowned slightly at Thukr’s request, but slowly nodded, “Alright…I can use a basic spark, I hope that will do, but if there is fuel, it will burn.”
 
Konrad did not question Thukr’s bizarre request too much. Using mist bottles or canteens to help fish-people or amphibious beings was something that occasionally Escorts had to do, so being told that fire was beneficial to something like Thukr was hardly strange. There were also fire elementals that needed constant supplies of flammable materials, or some way of shielding themselves from the rain or other exposure to water that might put them out.
 
“I believe outside is down that hall, we simply go straight.” Konrad recalled.
 
 
Edward
 
Edward hurriedly walked over to the door and opened it, allowing Du-Gant to escape out of the room and into the hallway, where other people were gathered, “No, I insist, if I do not wake up, scream, or knock me out of the bed, I am realistically that heavy a sleeper.
 
He noted that the people in the hallway were the same ones he’d seen earlier yesterday. Scylla, the green alien, the dragon-like being and the sulfuric monster, as well as Goose and the girl, who Ed recalled saying her name was Riley on the bus.
 
The two did not seem to be enjoying a friendly conversation.
 
 
Honey
 
Honey heard a distinctly harsh-sounding exchange from outside as she nodded in agreement with Lexy and moved to open the door. The argument appeared to be between Goose and the empathic girl, Riley, that Honey was increasingly convinced had been avoiding her, despite her kindness towards Scylla yesterday. She only caught the very end of what Goose had said, but she heard everything said by Riley. Honey could only tell that it was very, very unpleasant, and flinched, ears lowering, for a moment contemplating that she did not want to go out and see what was happening.
 
After hearing Scylla’s voice pick up in an exchange with who sounded like an elderly old man, Honey relaxed and sighed, opening the door and stepping out into the hallway, only to see the two people who had been in the confrontational exchange standing right in front of her.
 
…It would be hard to not think Honey had at least heard some of it, but luckily, her fur on top of her head still wasn’t quite as orderly, and she still felt tired from waking up early.
 
Sighing, Honey rubbed one eye, “…Uh, hey, guys, morning….or night…what time is it?” She asked pleasantly, pretending nothing had happened. Even if nobody fell for her bluff, it was obvious she had no desire to get involved in the conflict, and if she did know, she was a flawless actor. It really looked as though she were still slightly drowsy, but having had a pleasant conversation, was in a good mood.
 
“Uh, hey…anyone seen Scylla…Oh…Morning, Goose…hey, Riley…” Honey’s ears lowered as she looked over at everyone else, “Oh…there he is…”


She looked back at the two and her ears raised slightly, “Guess what? My school was a hotspot, I think. My new friend from Legerman was my roommate.” Her face lit up in a cat-like smile, "Scylla and I fell through the same portal, but Lexy fell through a different one."

Riley heard Honey's voice interrupt her... quarrel with Goose. She did notice a significantly lighter emotion coming from nearby the speaker, however, and looked up. Following the Changeling was a small girl who appeared to be rather young, her curly hair tousled, showing a failed attempt to fix it after waking up. The girl's kaleidescope of bright emotions was enough to make Riley's own emotions feel as though they were on a slightly higher note, as well, even if the girl's emotions were mixed with slight worry, and the girl's own expression mirrored those worries, as though she wore each emotion on her sleeve. They probably heard us, for such a happy girl to be worried.

"Hey," Riley replied, her voice quickly changing to casual as though she was experiencing no irritation. When Honey asked where Scylla was, the girl piped up that he was "Right down there," and pointed towards the other Changeling, obviously not understanding that Honey was only thinking of an excuse to intercede Riley's and Goose's conflict. With such a positive, dense person present, it was easy for Riley to at least tolerate being with the other Changelings, and she thought it would be okay to wait a little bit before excusing herself out of the conversation.

That was before Honey introduced the girl, Lexy, however. When the Form Changeling announced Legerman was a hotspot, Riley felt her blood turn cold as the color drained from her face. "A hotspot, hm?" she echoed, her voice suddenly quiet. It was then that Lexy spoke up, whose chipper personality now made Riley's stomach do somersaults. How can she be so happy after that?

"Yep, pretty neat, huh? So what if we could get, like, more people out of there, hm? The school is really bad right now," Lexy explained, her excitement at the first notion and sadness towards the second showing in both her emotions and on her face. She reached up a freckled hand to fiddle with a ringlet of hair, "It would be great to be able to help them escape, right?"

Escape? They're having to escape? I thought they just needed...

Riley managed a weak smile towards Lexy, "Yeah... right." She nervously looked around the hallway, "Well, I need to go get washed up." Even with her nerves skyrocketing, Riley's pride refused to let her apologize to Goose as she turned away from the others in order to leave the hallway. She needed some fresh air or... something.

Thray

Thray was disappointed to hear that Scylla did not know anything about this strange facility, but internally agreed with his sentiments. This place was a disaster. It seemed very disorganized, right down to its security being terribly lax. What if he had decided to go on a crazed rampage? Or what if someone else had? Perhaps the female that had broken the limbs of her assailant? Nehhhh… He’d rather not think about that.

Momentarily Thray became distracted listening to Riley’s exchange with the foul-mouthed, pale-faced being that had spoken briefly before. He considered intervening merely because Riley was somewhat familiar now, but as it turned out she didn’t seem to need any help. Thray smirked subtly, admiring her quick wit and sharp words.

Attention shifting back to Scylla as he addressed the janitor, Thray was relieved to hear there were in fact showers, and luckily enough, from the sound of it they’d be empty right now. Though the janitor’s directions were a bit confusing, he tried to log them to memory. “Thanks for the help,” Thray spoke, giving the old man a short, polite nod. He then started off down the hall, happy at the prospect of getting clean. His run through jungle mud and plants had been dirtying enough, but then he’d spent all day on a bus and in an alien environment. Gross! Other things the janitor had said reaffirmed his suspicions that the Central was not being run efficiently. People not doing their jobs? Bad management of the visitors from other worlds? All true, from what he could see. At least now he had an idea of where he was supposed to go. Showers, then food, then to whatever magical sorting station was supposed to help them get home.

It took Thray a few minutes to find the showers, but the janitor’s directions proved accurate. Sighing quietly in relief, he ducked inside, grabbed a towel from a nearby closet, and entered one of the stalls. For a moment he struggled with the alien shower, finding that there wasn’t any sort of sensor-activated tap nor touchscreen. Manual handles. How old-fashioned. Cold water immediately hit him in the face. Sputtering and shivering, he glared through the stream as water dribbled off his chin. Now distinctly unhappy, he waited impatiently for it to warm up.


Gip

Little did Thray know, right as he closed the door to his shower stall, another stall flew open and a green-feathered creature spilled out, quacking quietly to himself. His name was Gip, and of all the things he could have resembled, he looked most like a duck. If one ignored his quadruped body, fluffy ears, and long tail, he could’ve been mistaken for an overgrown mallard. Iridescent feathers glimmered as water dripped off his wings and down his feet. A silver chain hung around his neck, a circular device attached to it with a pair of—thankfully waterproof—headphones. Blinking around with his doe-like brown eyes, Gip thought it prudent to leave the showers for now. He wasn’t soaked, for his feathers repelled water like a duck’s, but he had been sitting in there all night with the hot water on. It had gotten cold over the last hour; it was likely he’d used up the shower’s reservoir. Oops.

Waddling out the door, Gip pranced down the hallway, his toes leaving wet footprints on the floor for the unwary to slip in. He wasn’t sure where he was going. A nice person had brought him here, he remembered, but they hadn’t said how to leave. And there were a lot of scary noises yesterday as well. He’d hidden in a closet somewhere far away.

Wandering could only get a four foot six overgrown duck so far. He peeked nervously around hallways, unsure what kind of sounds he might find around every bend. There were a lot of echoes to this place. Some scary sounds. Some pretty ones. He could hear voices. Maybe they were nice people? He couldn’t know for sure, but it beat the strange creaks and odd groans of the Central. Around another corner and down the hall he spotted the people. Lots of people. With a loud quack, he waddled toward them happily, his rotund body fluffing up its feathers, a dead giveaway to the initial nervousness he felt encountering strangers.

Goose cursed as Ryled escaped down the hall. Something about her didn't seem right. He didn't need a spiritual fluctuation to tell what was going on with her. She was guilty, but what about? He could feel it spark when Ledgerman was mentioned. Perhaps he'd learn eventually.

He heard a quack. Was that a duck? No... Was that a gryphon? Was that a gryphon that looked like a duck? Yep. He was surprised that that surprised him. He'd seen things, but nothing creative like that.

***

Thukr could sense the humidity of the water coming from the showers. She couldn't tell how far it was, all she knew was that there was water. She shuddered at the smell of it. Water had the same effect that fire did, at least until it reached her organs. It would cleanse her insides so hard that she would collapse in on herself. What's left of her would have no immune system and no control on her eggs. She followed, somewhat closer to Konrad, almost scarred.

***

Du-Gant thanked Ed, "Esat thank you." As he floated out into the hallway he could feel all the others' presences. It was good to have people that had no ill intentions around. Du-Gant would have smiled if he had a face.

Du-Gant heard the noise that came from the strange creature. It seemed to resonate with him. It was a certain frequency that made him feel soft. There was something about the noise. It was cute, if that was the right word for it. He'd never felt that before. There was never something cute in Devil's Haven. It was all grotesque and deliberately unnerving. The sickle decided that he liked how he felt.

As the other Travelers were going about their own various affairs, squabbling and talking, Desin decided to go back inside, as the view from the roof was not as good as he would have liked, since the building wasn't that tall. In fact it seemed rather boring and somewhat run down, as all government buildings on Earth invariably do (although Desin was not aware of this). It was rather odd, that such a place which seemed rather important, was so ordinary, despite having to handle the exact opposite. Then again though, Desin hadn't been the most impressed with the way the Traveler agency had handled things so far, and so this was not that big a surprise.

He entered the building once again, and began to more or less retrace his steps, walking down the halls with an eerie silence, as not even his clothes seemed to make noise. His path soon took him towards the area where the guest rooms and showers were located, as he decided to look for Goose.

Keeping a constant pace, Callisto was surprisingly quiet in her movement, save for the incessant noise of her metallic fingertips dragging along the wall of the softly-lit hallway. Whenever she reached an occasional door, she lifted her hand from the wall to avoid it, as if to not awake anyone who may be resting behind it. Apart from this, she was constant in her movements, her posture not so much confident as it was simply straight and fluid, if not apathetic to herself or anyone else.

Well, she wasn't entirely apathetic, truth be told. She could feel Veil's quiet gaze burning into her from behind. His soul, while nothing truly special (not like hers, anyway), still had its unique signature to it, and feeling the weight of it nearby just seemed to be grating on her. A part of her wanted to tell Veil to go away, to snap at him to mind his own business. But she was no better, and with little choice, she let it be. She wouldn't lower herself to the level of a hypocrite.

The hall was finite, and Callisto discovered proof of this at the doorway at its very end. Standing beneath the door frame, in the process of leaving the building, was a somewhat familiar woman. You saw her at Valentine's Diner, a voice echoed in her head. It wasn't quite hers, but she didn't question it. Not much made sense to her these days.

Indeed, not much made sense, such as... well... Callisto slowed, her line of sight locked firmly onto the girl as she left, the door shutting behind her. The glow of the rising sun caused her darker form to greatly stand out against the brighter backdrop ahead. She outreached her hand, grabbing the handle and reopening it, following her outdoors. Yes, this was a most fascinating soul. Powerful, yet fragile, and in turmoil. And it was a most observant soul, open to information... and almost certainly also to prying eyes, like Callisto's. A sudden jolt shot through the knight's body at the prospect being able to feel her peering into her soul, like Callisto was. She was a little more than disturbed.

"You have a lot on your mind," Callisto called after the girl, before internally smacking herself on the forehead. She would have rather dealt with Veil, who, in retrospect, she had been rather unfair to in judgement, than this stranger.

Riley felt both cold and hot as she headed outside, one hand reaching up to feel her face that was now a mess of pink and pale patches. She hadn't realized that she was holding her breath until then and sucked in a breath of air, her shoulders heaving in shaky movements as she caught her breath, her eyes stinging.

A hotspot... Why hadn't she thought of that? And now kids are having to escape Legerman - weren't they initially after only a handful of specific people? It made no sense. Then again, nothing they had discussed regarding the Legerman mission made sense when it was discussed, but Riley let herself feign ignorance for her own sake. She winced and held in a curse. Maybe she already understood it, but she pretended not to in order to avoid all the messy questions. The thought made Riley grit her teeth as she Los herself to her thoughts, not even noticing the knight that had followed her until a voice piped up.

"You have a lot on your mind.

Riley visibly jumped before turning around rather quickly to face the knight. The orange sunrise brilliantly reflected off of their armor. Riley recalled thinking the knight was unusual upon her initial arrival, but since seeing the many other Travellers, this one seemed normal. The question asked was unnerving, as it implied that the knight knew something about her. The emotions coming from the figure did not show any negative intentions, however, so much as slight curiosity and... Was it regret? It took a few awkward seconds for Riley to form words in her throat, and she licked her dry lips before doing so, warily forming a response.

"Who isn't, these days?"

-
Lexy
-

Lexy's expression changed from one of curiosity towards the girl who left to excitement as some duck... Cat... Bird - wait, a duck is a bird - thing approached, not even noticing the trail of water it left behind. She grinned and covered her mouth, letting out a quiet squeal. This place got better with (almost) every other Traveler she met, it seemed. She didn't know what this creature was, but it was adorable. Bright green eyes shifted between this animal and Honey before she blurted out a string of words, each statement switching from Honey to the newcomer, making it difficult for those only listening to the girl to differentiate between the subjects in question.

"What is it? You're so cute! Have you seen this little guy before, Honey? Can I, like, pet your feathers? Ah he's so cute, isn't he!?" Her voice fluctuated quiet a bit with this excitement as she took heed of neither the Travelers who were still sleeping nor the those who preferred quieter environments.

Gip

Gip seemed to shrink into himself at first, recoiling away from the sudden movement and noise displayed by Lexy. Then, almost instantaneously, he decided he liked the sound of her voice and seemed to return to his normal fluffy self. He looked between the strange, two-legged creatures for a moment while he listened to Lexy talk, his ears twitching while he continued to quack softly to himself. Slowly he sat back on his haunches and shuffled his wings, his tail curling around his legs.

Then, unexpectedly, Gip opened his beak to speak, though his voice mimicked Lexy’s perfectly. “You’re so cute!” he echoed, the girlish fluctuations in each word very unfitting coming from him. Unfortunately he wasn’t any quieter than she. Quite happy with himself and the sound of Lexy’s voice, he squinted at her and peeped softly.


Thray

After about five minutes of waiting for the water to get warm with no results, Thray gritted his teeth and stepped back into the cold shower. It wasn’t that bad—he actually had a great liking for water—but he still would’ve preferred a nice warm shower to what felt like cold rain. Part of him wondered if he’d broken the shower or perhaps just hadn’t set the temperature right, but he’d fiddled with it long enough and was out of patience. He couldn’t imagine a place like this could run out of hot water. Grumbling to himself, he rinsed his clothes under the stream and then put them on, glad at least that the fabric his clothes were made of did not retain water. It made cleaning them so much easier, as they were soft and dry within seconds.

Thray’s boots squeaked as he exited the room of showers, their undersides damp from the wet floor. Briefly he questioned the trail of water leading from the room, but he couldn’t see a culprit, so he instead left his towel over the wettest part in the hopes that no one would slip. The cold shower had at least woken him up fully, but there was one downside to this—now he was absolutely starving. He reckoned the cafeteria had to be nearby, and within a few minutes he managed to find it.

Unfortunately the cafeteria was empty and there didn’t seem to be any food out. That was alright. He could smell it. He could wait. He sat down at one of the tables, specifically one closest to the serving station, and tried to ignore his growling stomach. Disappointed with how the day was starting, he lifted his wrist and tapped at his holowatch, bringing up the library of pictures he’d taken. Almost immediately he was saddened. There were only pictures of he and his wife, Wyvlen, here. Happy pictures. There was one of her standing against the window aboard his ship, the starlight outlining her in silver. There was another of her laughing. Many pictures depicted her being flirtatious. There were even a few she’d forced him to take, her arms wrapped around his neck, his face barely in frame. Still, he was smiling, she was laughing, their eyes only focused on each other and not the viewfinder.

A quiet sigh escaped Thray and he closed out the little holographic pictures, placing one hand over his wrist. Hopefully those pictures wouldn’t be the last he saw of her. He had to get home… even if it took him two hundred years.

Zefanyo hadn't quite accepted she still wasn't home. She'd woken up early, her mane a mess as she sat up and rubbed her eyes, green-dyed braids falling over her shoulders and down her back haphazardly. After a moment of staring at a wall, her sky blue eyes shifted and she snagged her small backpack- which was surprisingly heavier than it looked- and stood, slinging it over her shoulder loosely. This place gave her the creeps for some reason, maybe she was just imagining it, but had there been bugs in her bed? She felt itchy and she couldn't decide if it was the sudden change in the temperature of worlds, or if she was just in need of a sandbath.

"Hnn..." she mumbled, scratching behind one of her four ears as she hopped out of her room and into the hallway, noticing there were quite a few people up. What time was it, anyway? She lifted her holowatch and frowned. Early. About two seconds later she shrugged, and made her way down the hallway in delicate hops, and soon as she gained speed, longer leaps that ate up ground as she dodged between the early risers.

The Avarrian didn't have a smile on her face, but she definitely didn't look unhappy. She did wonder how much business she was losing from being away, but she supposed she would have to figure that mess out after she figured out how to fix her current predicament. Stuck in some shabby, weird looking motel? She didn't know. There weren't any sandbaths. Or sand. Just dirt. She felt a little unkempt in all honesty. She hadn't been able to get a change of clothes, and hers were oil stained and dirty from work- usually not something she wanted to make first impressions in.

Again, she couldn't help it, and she decided she might find someplace to fiddle with the few intricate speeder parts in her backpack. She had most of the tools for it, as they folded up and were made out of a light, but strong material so she could carry just about everything she needed. Her holowatch had diagrams of all sorts of speeders and starships that could keep her distracted for hours, and books downloaded from larger databases about mechanical things most wouldn't care to even read one page on.

She found herself heading toward the direction of food smell, and didn't change course, guessing there were tables she could use to set her stuff on and fiddle with parts for a while, until she got bored anyway. She soon arrived, hopping up to one of the many tables, and before she sat she glanced around, noticing what looked to be a Kyrenien waiting just a little ways away from her. He looked grouchy. Deciding quickly not to bother him, she sat down and opened her backpack, taking out some tools and a few speeder parts. With a delicate hand and sharp eyes, she set to work ignoring her slight hunger and the little thunder cloud above the unhappy alien sitting a table away from her.

Thukr was now outside. She could sense the canine in the distance, as well as the vague light from the sun that hadn't at all broke through the horizon yet. Hopefully she wouldn't have to spend close to the entire day without sun again. She could tell that the others didn't appreciate the smell.

She slowly turned to face Konrad. "My skin is very flammable. All I need from you is a spark. The smell will be bad for a little bit. The bad smell means that it is working. After that, I do not think that the smell will be much of an issue for at least a few days."

***

Du-Gant approached the creature and joined Lexi in gushing over it, "Esat like the sound you make. Nothing under the black sun makes any noise like that. The noise, esat like a..." The sickle quieted itself and searched for a noise to make. He attempted to imitate the noise that the creature made with terrible accuracy. It sounded more like a scream of pain than anything else. "Nakat. Esat don't know the onamonapia for that noise. Esat can only make screams anyway."

***

Goose opted not to tell the cursed sickle to shut up. Instead he walked past the little group and made his way to the cafeteria. As he walked, he saw Desin down the hall. He worked up a mischievous smile as he approached him, "Hey Desin. Where'd you slink off to?" He assumed that he was somewhere he shouldn't be. With the terrible security, Desin could've been anywhere in the complex.

Callisto felt a sudden shiver run up her spine as she suddenly felt very vulnerable and a little uncomfortable near this woman. She had looked at her, and saw her feelings as if they were presented right in front of her for everyone to see. Callisto could feel it as a sudden chill that had set upon her. Once again, she supposed that she was no better... But she tightly gripped the railing to the short staircase from the exit, as if she were certain that she might just leave anyways if she weren't anchored to the spot.

Of course, the knight felt no better about this conversation than this girl did. What was her name, anyway?

"I am Callisto. Who are you? I've seen you before." Her voice was smooth as ever, if not somewhat hasty-sounding, but was otherwise slightly on-edge. Even this girl, who had never heard Callisto's voice prior to this moment, could surely tell. And stop looking at me, she wanted to add.

Desin turned to look at Goose, hearing his footsteps as he approached before the man spoke. "I was on the roof, trying to see more of this city we are in. Unfortunately the view leaves much to be desired" he paused, however his grey eyes continued to bore into Goose as they seemed to do with everyone, his expression serious as usual "What things have been going on while I was up there?" he inquired

((typed on my phone; sorry for shortness))

The emotions of the knight changed just as Riley began to study them, resulting in her feeling more uncomfortable in the midst of this situation. Maybe this Traveler did know about her and all the crap she was having to deal with, after all; her changing emotions certainly mirrored something along those lines. That, or social anxiety. Either way, it was obvious that neither she nor the knight wanted to have their current conversation. Riley was tempted to point this out, but decided against it as some part of her was also curious about this woman who approached her in spite of her own emotions screaming against it, and why was this woman curious about her, in the first place? Then the woman introduced herself as Callisto.

"Riley," was the one-word response as she folded her arms and her tired brown eyes continued to study the knight. After a couple of moments, she added a question to hopefully encourage some explanation for the current situation. "Did you come here for some fresh air, as well?"

-
Lexy
-

Lexy beamed at the creature's response before moving a hand forward, holding it up in front of the duck-cat-thing's beak in the way that people do to dogs when they want permission to pet them. She jumped back when a scream interrupted her train of (many) thoughts, however, and looked around to face a sickle with floating hearts. The Traveller's appearance was unnerving, but it sparked more of Lexy's curiosity and her attention quickly shifted.

"So do the hearts keep you in place, or do you keep the hearts in place? Or are the hearts talking, so should I call them 'you'? And what's 'esat' mean?"

Suddenly bombarded by questions, Du-Gant aimed to answer all of them. "These hearts don't have anything ter do with keeping me in place, nor do esat have anything ter do with keeping the hearts in place. Kre are separate beings." The hearts seemed to react when they were mentioned. Some added some eccentricity, and some changed their path entirely. "As for my language, esat don't know the direct translation for the word 'esat'. From what esat heard, the word 'esat' means different things depending on how it esat used." He shrieked a short scream, worried that she didn't understand, "Esat sorry for language barrier!"

***

Du-Gant was heard in the distance. Goose flinched when he heard it, "It seems like I can't get anywhere without hearing that ****en thing. Anyway, there's this duck gryphon thing that everyone found adorable, even the sickle." He didn't seem too excited about Gip or Du-Gant when he mentioned them. He pointed in the direction where the showers were, and then said, "Some old coot said that there were some showers down that hall. I don't need showers though. I don't sweat, and I could just clean myself with my telekinesis if I ever get dirty. Other than that, I think I might go get some breakfast. If you wanna come with me that's fine."