Travelers (IC)

As Desin was speaking, the attentions of all who could see it were drawn to yet another portal opening. And they didn’t have long to wait. With a loud thump, a creature resembling a giant turtle hopped through landing heavily. The creature was fully eight feet in height, and was at least four and a half feet at his broadest width, which was the middle of his shell. This was brown on the carapace, the top line of scutes bearing a prominent ridge, while the outermost ones were sharp, and shaped like spines. His plastron, was a light cream color, and covered a much smaller amount of his body. The rest of his skin was scaly and light green, except at the ends of is arms and legs, which had heavier, gray scales. His lower legs and arms were thicker and broader than the uppers, and his feet were stumpy, consisting of four large, hoof-like claws. His hands had four short fingers with long, sharp claws, and his he had a medium-long tail that resembled that of an armadillo in appearance. His longish neck, covered in loose-looking skin, especially around the upper throat, ended in a largish wedge-shaped head that had a beak-like mouth. His eyes were green and flecked in appearance, and his brows were ornamented with bony osteoderms. His head was topped with a short frill, bearing three pairs of spikes at the back, and a ridge of small spines went up his snout all the way to the end of the frill. In the middle of his brow there was a single osteoderm resembling a flattened cone. In his left hand, he had a huge pair of brass knuckles that were bound together by a chain.

For a moment, the large turtle-creature stood getting his bearings. At the sight of everyone else, and of the humanoids especially it seemed, he looked startled and suspicious, taking a step back as he scrutinized them, swinging the brass knuckles around a bit as if he was contemplating using them as a flail. After a moment, however, he grinned, revealing sharp teeth, and then flinging back his head, he let out a hearty guffaw.

“Well well,” he said in a loud voice, “looks like I’ve finally bumped into a few spirits. But then again, I suppose since I’m a’walkin the Spirit Roads, that’s to be expected, eh? I don’t suppose any a’ you ghostly types can show me the right way back to the Temple of Dukh Vorota?” With that, he guffawed again, tossing his brass knuckles over his shoulder the way one might do to a sack; despite his words, though, it seemed pretty apparent from his manner that he did not in fact believe anyone present to be spirits.

Honey


Honey’s ears pricked up, and she looked towards the gigantic blur that had just shown up, hearing what sounded to her like a jolly man's laughter. She couldn’t see much else, though, but when she sent out a tiny click of her tongue, she thought she picked up a larger shape than what a human should have been. The sound was audible, but it wasn’t to be critical or mocking. The large size of her constantly-twitching ears and the way her eyes didn’t quite focus suggested she was trying to actually look at what was going on, and had some sort of visual impairment keeping her from doing so. She sighed, “Alright, guess I need to get up and walk over, right? Can’t see a thing. It stinks being half-blind sometimes.” She slowly rose up to her feet, and walked over, squinting her eyes as though straining a bit. When she got close enough to make out the shape, Honey slowly nodded.
 
“Alright, now I can see.” She said, nodding harder as if far more satisfied. The strange plant clinging to her shoulder rustled faintly, and there was a faint, whisper-like voice drifting from it.
 
“H o w d y   d o?  W a n n a   p l a y?”
 
Honey didn’t appear to hear the sound at all, while Valentine, behind her, stared at it, looking concerned. The weird voice from the plant had no discernible gender, but it sounded distinctly child-like. It was also oddly menacing, the way the invitation to play sounded. It sounded more like it was voicing a desire to hurt the turtle-man, and not a genuine request to have fun, and if it was the voice of a child, the child in question was being strangled, for the tone sounded horribly choked and distorted.
 
Honey proceeded to explain her reason for walking over, as though completely oblivious to the plant’s apparent sentience and ill-will. “Sorry, everyone keeps showing up over here and I can’t tell what’s going on. Vision’s pretty bad,” She said. She looked over at Valentine, and saw the horrified expression on his face, as he was still gazing at the plant she was carrying on her shoulder, one hand over his heart. He’d gone pale.
 
Honey frowned, “Is something wrong?” She asked, as though sincerely unaware that anything strange had just happened.
 
Valentine stared at Honey’s perplexed face for a few moments, before plastering a clearly-fake smile on his face, “A-ah, nothing, dear! It’s fine, it’s fine,”
 
Honey’s ear twitched, “You sound like you’re not sure….do I look that bad or something? Do I have ashes in my mane?” She seemed to suddenly grow self-conscious. “I mean, I can go sit back down, if I’m causing trouble-“
 
Valentine cut her off, “No, no, just, had a bit of an...well my heart skipped a beat for a moment. Stressful job, thought I was going to pass out for a moment,” He had an expression that suggested that this was at the very least a half-true statement. “It’s fine, you don’t have any ashes on you, it’s just me being a bit too worried, doesn’t add a day to anyone’s life, does it?” He held up his hands, as if to assure her he was fine.
 
He then turned to the newcomers, first the man who had been punching the wall, with a forced expression on his face that suggested he had just realized something terrible, and proceeded to talk with a cheery tone that suggested nothing was wrong, although he seemed scared, for some reason, “As Mr. Desin says, you have fallen through a portal, one of many that connects various worlds throughout….well, we still don’t know what we should call it. Most portals are temporary, but my café is a type of hotspot for them, so at regular intervals, like today, people like you, Travelers, who have the ability to pass through them, fall through temporary portals and land here. I’m sorry to say this, but until we learn more about your world, we can’t really guarantee we can help you get back, but we’ll provide you with resources if we can. There’s many different worlds that have overlapping qualities, so we need your help to identify it.”
 
He then turned to the turtle-man, “I don’t recognize this temple you’re mentioning, but if you can give me more general information about your world, I might be able to identify it. You have very distinct features, and if you come from an entire race of people like you, there’s a good chance we can pick yours out among the look-alikes. I don’t see many people that match your description, but we’ve gotten them across our world before, so perhaps.”
 
He introduced himself, looking between first the violent alien and the turtle-man, “I am Valentine, owner of this establishment. People will keep arriving here until that clock up there,” He pointed to a clock above the kitchen opening, “-Strikes two in the evening. Then someone will come to pick everyone up and you can all go and ask the agency your questions. I only recognize the worlds where people have appeared from them several times, or, if there’s something I’ve been told to watch for. Some worlds have really dangerous people, and they might not even know it themselves until they get into ours.”
 
Everyone had a creeping suspicion this had something to deal with Honey, and although very carefully disguised, there was a tone that suggested that everyone be careful.
 
He continued, “Now, if everyone here can read that, good, but otherwise, if it’s not writing native to your own world, please let me know and I’ll give you a brief lesson on how to read Roman Numerals.”
 
 
Mouse
 
Mouse had been so quiet, Valentine had actually managed to forget her existence, although she still remained in her spot off to the side, carefully watching, and then tensing and reaching for her pocket knife again when she saw the gigantic, furry creature wearing rich-person clothing walk up to her. It looked like a gigantic cat, but its fur was mane-like, and it had a weird-looking tail that made her think of a fluffy lizard. Mouse guessed from the sound of its voice that it was female, and it even had something vaguely feminine about its figure, but she wasn’t entirely sure. Was it some sort of mutant, and why did the one man who claimed to run this business, this café-place, look so terrified of it? He had seemed fine with its approach moments before, and then the strange green plant on the creature’s shoulder had rustled, and he’d instantly gone pale.
 
The creature got extremely close, and then its ears twitched, one angling towards the hand reaching for her pocket, and it’s brightly-colored eyes looked at it, “You reaching for a weapon?” the thing asked, almost pointedly, a warning tone in its voice.
 
Mouse tensed further, and Whisker, in her arms, flailed and squeaked again.
 
“I’m not here for a fight, perhaps you don’t have anything like me in your world, but I’m a person. I’m not a thing out to hurt you. I heard a squeak over here. Is that a rat? She’s pretty big.” The creature looked at Whisker, and Mouse took her hand away from her knife, moving to shield the orphan from the thing’s gaze.
 
The monster shifted its gaze to look at Mouse again, “You don’t believe me, do you?” Its ears lowered slightly, but it never took its gaze away from Mouse, as it was wary of her hidden knife.
 
Mouse had never dealt with a creature like this before. She had dealt with rogue humans trying to take what she had scavenged, and various predatory animals, but never was there a predatory animal smart enough to read her movements just like a human, and humans weren’t as strong as Mouse suspected this creature was. She didn’t know how to deal with this thing, and it kept on talking, which only served to make her even more nervous. Mouse had taken down creatures far larger than herself, but the intelligence of this one monster in front of her was new.
 
“Listen, you can try to pull out whatever kind of thing you have in your pocket. Guns, blades, it doesn’t really matter, I’ve had all sorts of people threaten me because of what I am.” The creature said slowly, “But I wouldn’t be here if those things worked, those don’t work on me. Whatever it is, I’ll rip it out of your hand before you get the chance to shoot or cut me, but that won’t happen if you don’t do anything.”
 
Mouse, deciding that this thing meant what it said, slowly lowered her guard, but it was clearly only with great reluctance. She abandoned her crouched, battle-ready posture, and slowly straightened, her gaze glowering at the cat-monster from the folds of her head-rags.
 
“…Good…” The creature said, “Now, we’re going to not fight, okay? My name is Honey. What’s yours?” She spoke very slowly, as though this situation was very sensitive.
 
Mouse tensed, her free hand clenching into a fist as though she didn’t want to respond, before slowly spitting out the words, the sound muffled by the fabric over her mouth, “…Mouse….”
 
“Mouse, eh? That’s an interesting name, I think I know how you got it….you have a name for the little one? Did you decide it, or are you still thinking?” She asked, again, very slowly.
 
“Whisker.” Mouse responded, loathing having to talk to this ‘Honey’ creature. She hated speaking, it was too painful to think about how much breath was wasted trying to use words.
 
“Mouse and Whisker, alright, good names.” Honey spoke more normally this time, as though committing the names to memory.
 
“Well, Mouse….Whisker is cold, isn’t she?” Honey asked, looking at the small rat and how it was trembling. It wasn’t quite a shiver in a normal sense, but it suggested something was wrong.
 
“…Yes….” Mouse finally responded, realizing there was no threat, but at the same time, hating that she couldn’t back out of this interaction.
 
“Well, if I go and ask, I’m sure I can get a blanket for her. Will that be alright with you?” Honey asked.
 
Mouse nodded, and Honey shook her head, “I need an answer, moving your head doesn’t work, I’m half-blind.”
 
Mouse gritted her teeth. Nobody could see this expression, but her eyes wore an expression of sheer distain. She knew fully-well Honey could see her response, she was just forcing Mouse to respond verbally, even though she hated it.
 
“Please?” Mouse said, both to say yes to Honey’s question, and secondly, almost begging for her to stop pushing. This was draining on Mouse’s psyche, far more than anything else that she could have been doing.
 
Honey looked at Mouse intently for a few more moments, before nodding slowly, “Alright, I’ll see what I can do. Remember, though, I’m not out to get you. I like to help people, and I can’t help you if you never tell me something’s wrong. You need to talk to people, okay?”
 

Edward

Edward watched as walked over to where he and Dr. Blount were sitting, across the room from where she had been talking to the apocalypse-survivor, “Since Valentine is busy, I’m asking you. Dr. Blount, is there anywhere where we can get blankets? That girl over there is trying to keep a furless pup warm, but it’s not enough. Towels will work, too, but I think a hot water bottle might be good if there’s one here.” Honey’s ears pricked towards Dr. Blount, and she patiently waited for an answer.
 
“Valentine keeps towels and two hot water bottles under the counter beneath the expresso machine.” Dr. Blount stirred a tiny packet of creamer into her coffee, and gestured with the spoon, “You can use those, get the water out of the sink, anything else might make them too hot and they might burn. Baby animals have very sensitive skin.” She replied, her eyes glittering.
 
“Clever girl, aren’t you? You’ve dealt with that type of person before.” She commented.
 
Honey’s ears remained the same, as if there was no emotional response to this, “This is just how I’ve had to behave, if I wanted to ever have anything resembling a life in my world. If you don’t know how to talk to people, you’ll get shot dead.” She then turned abruptly and went off to get the supplies. Valentine glanced over at her briefly, but when he saw what she was doing, quickly dismissed it and went back to focusing on the others in the café.
 
Edward winced at Honey’s words, “Perhaps you shouldn’t have said anything…” He said quietly to Dr. Blount.
 
“Perhaps she was offended, but I don’t think that was taking offense, so much as a statement.” Dr. Blount murmured, “She’s from Meta-Chimeris, I can tell. That world has people with magical powers, they mix with the human population, but it was normal until only a few decades ago, their time. Changelings, most of ‘em can hide what they are in a human form. Honey’s not taken on a different form, so that must be what she looks like all the time.” She frowned slightly, “That would mean that she must’ve been from a not-so-accepting region that wasn’t so fond of her kind.”
 
Edward felt himself grow uneasy, not sure where the conversation was going, “I’m…not so sure I follow…” He said, for once at a loss. If most Changelings were human-like, did that just mean people mistook her for a monster, and didn’t see her as a person?

Edward recalled with shame his own initial reaction to seeing Honey.
 
“What I’m telling you in a roundabout way, Ed,” Dr. Blount began, “-Is that Honey’s had to learn how to be smart. She’s seen the worst of what a person can be, because she’s probably been judged more harshly in life than anyone else in her world. Most Changelings can hide what they are, or at least look semi-human. Honey has none of those things, so she’s had to learn how to work with people. She must be a quick-thinker, and she’s learned to navigate those dangerous situations that most of us can never be good at understanding.”
 
Dr. Blount continued, “She must be very clever, because she’s smart enough to think when she’s got a weapon pointed at her. Whoever has their gun or knife pointed at her, you can see it, she knows how to take that situation, and twist it into her advantage. If she can’t persuade them to stop behaving in a hostile way, she’ll move to disarm them instead.” Dr. Blount reached over for another packet of creamer that Valentine had deposited earlier in the center of the table, “That woman there was preparing to pull something on Honey, you saw how her hand was over that right pocket the whole time.”
 
Edward felt his pulse quicken, “So…does that mean that woman is dangerous?”
 
Blount shook her head, “Not exactly. Danger is a relative term, just like the word ‘Normal’. Honey, though, by my standards, would be dangerous.”
 
The doctor looked at Edward sidelong, “You should talk to them more; Honey, Scylla, and that desert-woman. I get the sense they’re good people, even if it isn’t clear or apparent to you. I’ve been working as the doctor here long enough to know who can be trusted.”
 
Edward looked at her quizzically, “Why?”
 
Dr. Blount shrugged, “I’m not a Traveler, Edward, so you realize, wherever you go, if it’s not in this world, you won’t be able to speak with me anymore. You’ll need to make friends with other people like you, because for all you know, you’ll be working with them for a while.”
 
She took an experimental sip of her coffee, before speaking again, “Those two mages that Valentine forced to go and rest, probably going to be at each other’s throats, of course, sleep deprivation was making the man somewhat incoherent, and that shapeshifter has quite a nasty temper when she’s tired. Don’t think too badly of them until you see them fully-rested. People’s personalities change drastically when they have plenty of energy. The man might not be so clueless, and the shapeshifter probably isn’t inclined to snarl at everyone she meets.”
 
Blount added another packet of creamer, “Of course, we won’t know until later, they’ll probably both sleep until someone wakes them up when it’s time to leave.”

Goose heard Valentine's response. He hated it immensely. The falsehoods were most likely dead and Goose could do nothing but pray to the Gjothyme; who was most likely dead with the falsehoods. Goose muttered a byauk under his breath. He wanted to ask for more explanation but Valentine looked busy. He turned to Desin instead, "As much as I am pissed off right now, I should probably apologize for threatening you." He sighed in such a way that made him seem like he was doing something wrong, "I'm sorry." His tone was once again that of an irritated one. "I don't know about you, but I was forced into that portal. Byaukef Nogjod..."

And the freak show grows.... Desin thought as the turtle arrived. Had he been familiar with Earth, he might've made a joke about Bowser, however as he had never heard of Earth, let alone Nintendo, this was not the case. Instead, he silently watched as Honey walked around and first spoke to the new creature and then to the apocalypse survivor, while he considered the writing on the clock Valentine had identified as 'Roman Numerals'. He was not familiar with these, as mentiond earlier for the lack of Bowser jokes, however he was not going to admit this.

At Goose's words, Desin turned his blond topped head to face the newcomer, his cold grey eyes regarding him as he spoke. "It is forgiven" he replied in a somewhat blunt manner, however his expression softened to more neutral than anything "I can actually sympathize with you there, I was originally forced out of my home dimension some time ago, and so I have been travelling the planes for some months now."

To add to the confusion, the light once more began to dance and waver, alerting of the imminent arrival of yet another traveler. Yet over several seconds, nothing seemed to emerge; the wavering light stayed in place for several seconds more, as if the traveler on the other end was hesitating. However, the wait eventually ended, the air fluctuating and warping to fit around the realm's newest visitor.

A pair of boots hit the ground, yet sounded surprisingly light, especially considering the apparent size of the new arrival. As the air settled, a clearer picture of the visitor became available to any who looked on. A humanoid figure, clad in a black set of knight's armor, with sunbleached maroon cloth draped around the lower body. The back was hunched over forward, unnaturally so. For a second, it seemed as if the person's back had been broken - until they managed to correct themselves, raising their body, and their head, to investigate the new surroundings. There was no hint of a breath behind the dark visor, and no shining eyes within the helmet to greet any onlookers. A simple yet cold emptiness was all that was there, in direct conflict with the fact that the apparently empty set of armor had just moved.

Apparently, the stranger had just barely noticed that they were, in fact, in an entirely new area. They again shifted their back to a straight, upright position, and began to look around, the only created sounds being that of metal brushing against metal. The stranger's gaze then seemed to lower from the ceiling to the horizon, or rather, the other patrons of this bar. The surprisingly large amount of people nearby seemed to cause the stranger to tense.

"...There are a lot of fresh souls here." The voice was barely audible, but was definitely female. She didn't seem to care at all that her portal closed behind her as she slowly began to walk backwards, pressing herself against a wall. She looked to the right to see - ...hmm. Who were those people? This was weird, even by her own standards.

...Does that man have a shell? And - And what is that giant hamster over there? She didn't really remember what a hamster was, actually. The thought fled from her as soon as it had came.

Goose sighed a very miffed sigh. He said to Desin, "You ever seen **** like this? It's downright weird. All these freaks gathering like this?" He glared at the black knight that seemed to instantly cure a broken spine, and then at the turtle who seemed to have worshiped at the wrong temple. It was all strange. He stared at the ground with his arms crossed, hoping that if he couldn't go home, he could at least get a few drinks.

"I have seen my fair share, although I haven't seen an animated suit of armor, or over grown turtle before" replied Design, smirking at the peculiar freaks who seemed by be gathering in the cafe, their numbers increasing by the minute.
His tone once more grew serious, and his voice softened "Where do you come from anyway?"

Goose turned his head to Desin, "I come from a place called Triviis. It's some island in the middle of the Imprisoned Ocean. I've never been anywhere else to tell you the truth. It gets really ****en boring living on an island for billions of years with no where else to go. I've tried killing myself, just to end the boredom, but the **** temple keeps bringing me back." He almost chuckled, "I'm shocked that I haven't gone insane yet. At least now I can see what it's like to be with actual mortals." He blinked twice and then asked, "What's your name?"

"My name, is Desin" Desin replied, taking note of this 'temple' that Goose had spoken of, finding it interesting that it would keep him from dying. And then there was that mention of mortals, implying he at least didn't consider himself one. But such questions could wait.
"What is your name?" he replied

"No need to worry about that, Mister," replied the turtle creature to Valentine. "I ain't in no hurry to get back. Nothin to get back to, really," he added, his voice for a moment taking what sounded almost like a hint of sadness. "Still," he continued, regaining his former cheer, "I sees you gots a refreshment spot here. I think I'll take advantage." With that, he stumped over, dropping his brass knuckles to the floor with a bang. The things were obviously quite heavy; their owner, however, seemed to have little trouble with them. "Watcha got that's strong?" he asked, taking a seat on a stool which creaked ominously under his weight.

Therese, meanwhile, somewhat distracted, almost forgot about her hot chocolate. There was so much going on, she was having trouble keeping track of things. Just a minute ago, it seemed to her that when the cat creature had gone up to investigate that giant turtle, Therese's sharp ears had caught what sounded like words coming from that plant thing on her tail (Therese assumed it was some sort of ornament). She could also hear that those two men who had been about to fight were now having some sort of conversation that seemed rather private, almost.

Therese decided to drink her hot chocolate later. The turtle creature seemed nice enough, and Therese, intrigued, would have liked to talk to him. However, she couldn't help but notice that other person in the desert outfit. Poor thing, she looked so uncomfortable and out of place, and that creature she was holding looked cold. As Honey came back with the supplies, Therese moved towards her.

"My I help with that?" she asked.

Honey
 
Honey had just finished filling up the water bottle with hot water, noting the strange, iconic red bag-thing was almost universal everywhere, and had also grabbed a towel. She had been walking over to give these items to Mouse, but she couldn’t quite do everything she needed with two hands. She’d need a little bit of assistance to wrap Whisker up with the towels so that the bottle wasn’t touching the rat pup’s skin. Therese had just walked up as Honey was pondering this, and offered her assistance.
 
Honey looked at Therese, “Oh, yes, thank you so much, I was just thinking I was going to need an extra set of hands for this.” She took the water bottle and handed it to Therese, so the only thing Honey was holding was two towels. “The water bottle is about…a hundred degrees, if I’d venture a guess, since it was steaming. That’s probably what a baby rodent needs, but we don’t want to risk burning the little thing, so we need to wrap the bottle in a towel, first, and then we need to swaddle the pup after that.” She explained, before walking over to Mouse, “May we see Whisker for a moment?” She asked.
 
Mouse’s eyes narrowed, before she tentatively held out the shivering rat pup, perhaps still not sure if this person was trustworthy. She was right, though, about the temperature, both the estimation linked to the presence of steam, and even though it was a guess, it was true that baby rodents needed something around that temperature. She also noted how Honey had gotten water on one arm from filling the hot water bottle, and how it was beading up on her fur; her fur was repelling the water perfectly.
 
Honey nodded, and gently took Whisker from Mouse’s hands, the motion so incredibly delicate that the small animal made no act of protest, remaining completely calm despite having been taken from her imprinted caregiver. “Alright,” Honey said, pulling Whisker close to her body with one arm, “Therese, take one of these towels and wrap up the hot water bottle, I’ll wrap up Whisker here.”
 
When the whole process was finished, Whisker was returned to Mouse, swaddled in a towel with only a tail tip and the top of the head visible, and a water bottle tied up so that it was against the rat pup’s stomach. Whisker was no longer shivering, and the small animal immediately laid its head against Mouse, and stopped moving, completely asleep.
 
“How precious,” Honey commented, “still surprising you’d take in an orphan so young, though. Baby squirrels, mice, and rats are completely dependent on their mothers until they grow fur. They can’t regulate their bodies, see, or even grow properly without someone massaging them so they have circulation. They can’t even clean themselves or poop without someone helping them. I’m guessing, though, you didn’t have domesticated giant rats where you come from?”
Mouse stared, and then shook her head slowly, “Man-eaters” She said quietly.
 
Honey nodded slowly, “So you don’t have a choice. Let them get old enough to be independent of their mom, and they’ll just hunt you as prey. Young, though, wild animals can be tamed. I can see the value in having a giant rat, though. Huge brains, really smart, teeth that can bite through steel, strong sense of smell and taste, agile and rather fast runners. I wouldn’t want to meet one of these man-eating ones you’re referring to, but as a pet, probably better than a lot of things.”
 
“Lives thirty years…” Mouse murmured.
 
Honey’s eyes widened, “So it’s not much of a sacrifice in that light, is it? I bet if she’s tame, people let you keep her?”
 
“Yes,” was the reply.
 
 ....................

Just as Valentine had finished hauling out an extremely heavy stool made from reinforced titanium rods for the turtle-man, a portal opened and deposited a tiny, dinosaur-like creature that looked like a cross between a featherless velociraptor and a jumping spider. The animal had snout filled with teeth and the distinct sharp claws on its feet, but it also had large, iridescent blue fangs and a huge set of arachnid-like eyes. Bristles were distinct on its head and legs, and on its tail it had iridescent blue-and-red fins.
 
When Valentine saw the creature he froze, and then slowly put a hand over his face as though he were now developing a migraine, “Someone….catch that thing quickly…I’m sick of getting these Demarik-creatures coming into my shop….”
 
When he spoke, the creature let out a loud, high-pitched, chittering squeal, and the Demarik’s legs bunched up, before jumping so high that it landed on the ceiling. From there, it stuck, and began to crawl all over the walls, looking for a way out of the building.
 
…..
2:00 P.M.

Callisto, who up until this point was motionless against a wall in the vain hopes of remaining unnoticed, was the nearest to the creature when it emerged from its portal. While the strange, small creature was unlike anything she had ever seen before, she spent little time dwelling on this fact. The knight reacted automatically and without hesitation, drawing a thin, long sword from her belt, and struck. While it may have looked as if she were trying to help Valentine, it is more likely that she never heard him in the first place.

But the creature was too fast, and Callisto only ended up denting the soft wooden floor beneath her, instead of skewering the animal as she had hoped. The other travelers nearby were now but a distant memory. She suddenly lunged at the small creature, only for it to once again jump out of her reach, and to latch onto the ceiling high above. Callisto almost lunged again, stopping only when it occurred to her that the creature was out of reach.

"Little vermin," Callisto intoned with malice. There was really no emotion audible in her quiet voice, meant for no one but herself to hear, but the tight fist around her weapon's handle implied frustration, as if this creature managing to escape her attack was some sort of grave offense. The thing vanished from her view for a moment, before reappearing nearby, on the wall. Immediately, the knight bolted, jumping over a short wooden handrail, as well as a very clearly occupied table. After having landing on the other side and unintentionally knocking a couple's meal to the floor, causing quite the scene in the process, she drew her arm back and, with a quick flick of her wrist, managed to drive her estoc deep into a wall, where the creature had been only moments before.

Reacting quickly, she quickly dislodged her weapon from the wall and once again gave chase. Unfortunately for Valentine's anxiety, Callisto had a very one-track mind.

Desin turned in annoyance and rolled his eyes as Callisto missed multiple times with her sword.
This is why you have power instead of weapons. Or at least get a gun... he thought.
His eyes focused on the creature, and twin invisible ultraviolet lasers lanced out of his eyes, aimed for the creature's center of mass, each carrying more than enough energy to vaporize a fist sized chunk of flesh.

?????

The lasers absorbed harmlessly into the animal's shell, but as though it saw Desin's attack, the Demarik turned to look at him, opening its mouth and hissing, raising its small claws by the sides of its face from where it now sat, up in a corner by the ceiling, after it had already caused some damage by leading the sentient suit of armor to smash several pieces of furniture and parts of the cafe. Thus far, whether using actual physical tools or unique, special powers, it was clear this creature was some special breed of nuisance. Valentine had seen many Demariks darken his doorstep. The animals were ridiculously hard to kill or even capture, and a large number of them, from whatever world they originated, had the Traveler's power. Perhaps it was for some special reason, or maybe their hardiness meant they had an enormous population. For whatever reason, a large number of Greeters dealt with these pests, and they were infamous in their own, special way.

The Demariks were, despite their prevailing ability to irritate Greeters in many different worlds, from a world of unknown origin, and nobody had been able to successfully figure out where the animals were coming from. Everyone wanted to know, however; either they wanted to find a place to dump all of the stranded Demariks that had shown up and had to be contained somewhere in their world, or perhaps they planned to send a weapon of mass destruction through a portal to destroy the root of the problem. The latter option, however, might remain ineffective, as Demariks had ridiculously strong immune systems that granted protections from whatever engineered toxic pathogen a person could devise, and they were surprisingly resistant to bomb blasts and radiation. Thus far, only deprivation of life-sustaining water, food, or air was capable of killing them, and even then, starvation could take several months.

"Listen!" Valentine shouted over the chaos that began to happen as the Demarik started to run across tables and jump over people's heads, "You can't kill these things! Physical blows, even magic, none of those things work on them! You have to round them up into a cage they can't break out of! That's the only thing that works."

He hurriedly ran over to a closet, shielding his head, and pulled out a large, reinforced-looking crate with buttons and panels on it, as well as tiny air-holes, presumably tailored for the animals. "We need to get it into this crate!" He shouted.


....


Unfortunately, this task would take the full time until 2:00 to complete.

(Anyone is free to take credit for the animal being captured)

Goose shrugged, "Seems easy enough." He then concentrated his telekinesis through a single hand motion in hope of moving it to the cage without it hurting anyone.

...

(Sorry for the one liner, lol)

After it became clear that it would take somewhat more force to even telekinetically get the Demarik into the specially-designed crate, Goose was finally able to force the creature in, as its legs finally gave out and it could no longer keep itself from falling into the opening on top. It had fought very hard, splaying out its limbs so that it wouldn’t fit, but even such a hardy creature as the spider-raptor animal would have a limit to its physical capabilities. As soon as it was in, Valentine slammed the top of the lid shut, and the crate automatically locked. It promptly began to rattle as the creature screeched and tried to find a way out, before it finally went quiet. Once it was trapped, the Demarik was quick to give up, deciding not to waste its energy.
 
Unfortunately for Valentine, a lot of the furniture in the café was smashed to bits, tables and chairs were overturned, and several planks of wood adorning the walls had deep cuts in them from where they’d been hit by mistake. Overall, the café looked as though a hurricane had passed through it, and Valentine sighed as he picked up a snapped chair leg, turning it over in his hands, “I’ve kept plenty of things from destroying this café,” He murmured, “But the very moment a Demarik comes in, it winds up like this.” He looked around at the plants on windowsills, very old ones, that seemed to have been there for a long time. “Even the vanilla orchids and tea bushes didn’t make it this time.” Indeed, a lot of plants had sadly been knocked over, snapped in two, their cute ceramic pots shattered.
 
“If you can get them new pots, they’ll live just fine.” Honey interrupted, having picked up a particularly damaged-looking coffee tree that had been knocked over, and setting it upright again by the window. At her touch, the leaves seemed to visibly rise and stiffen, as though miraculously developing some sort of vigor. Nothing had really changed; the tree still had a huge number of missing leaves and twigs had snapped off all over, but something about it looked better than it had, moments before. It was a property that someone couldn’t quite place. “I doubt a single one of your plants will die, and you probably get paid enough to repair the café and replace anything that was damaged. I’m guessing the whole process is simply a pain, dealing with Travelers appearing while you try to go about fixing things.”
 
Scylla, meanwhile, had gotten up and was using one of the shattered tables to lean against, not sure if he could set his injured left leg down yet. He wanted to help fix the carnage the Demarik had caused, but physically, he was in no condition to walk around properly. His bone wasn’t broken, and the gash wasn’t deep, but if he pulled stitches and his leg started bleeding again, it wouldn’t be of much help to anyone. His own powers were too combat-oriented to do anything truly delicate, he doubted using them would be of much help. It would probably just make everyone panic if he tried anything.
 
“Scylla, dear, it’s safe for you to walk on that leg. It might hurt, but it’s fine.” Dr. Blount was standing there, peacefully beside the table that she and Edward had been sitting at, now a crumbled mess. She must have managed to rescue her coffee before the knight destroyed it, because she had an empty mug in one hand. The woman had drunk about three cups of expresso, so she must have had a remarkable tolerance to caffeine.
 
Behind Dr. Blount, Ed was quietly picking up some of the less-damaged vanilla vines, and gently re-winding them around the trellises that had been knocked over. He wasn’t in possession of any special powers, so this was probably the most he could have done, being an average human. Scylla couldn’t help but feel bad for him, since he seemed to have been taken from a perfectly average life, and not only this, but as a boy, he was very thin, pale, and had long, shiny hair brown hair. He had an aura about him that reminded Scylla of a snake, but he still physically looked very young, and was probably just as delicate as he looked. He already had a concussion just from coming through the portal, so Scylla couldn’t help but be concerned, just from an animal that seemed to be a common pest causing so much chaos.
 
Scylla sighed, and set his foot down, wincing as he felt the tightness of his stitches on the injury. He slowly rolled down his pant leg, and carefully made his way through the wreckage to where Honey was still trying to pick up the plants and put them in order, “Your powers, you said they affect plants, right?” he asked her.

Honey nodded, “My presence alone makes a plant grow with unnatural strength and vigor. That’s regardless of care or the setting. It’ll survive in my presence even if the surrounding conditions could kill it. Physical touch leaves a lasting effect. In no possible way would a plant in this café die, even from a mess like this, because I’m here and that’s the most unique thing about my powers. Sure, I’m not going to be tossing cars, and I’m not going to use vines as weapons any time soon, but there’s benefits to having abilities like this. You figure, endangered plants are like that because they can’t survive, either due to slow or complicated propagation, or because the slightest disturbances can kill. I completely eliminate those problems.”
 
“I guess that’s what you meant by saving species from extinction.” Scylla murmured, moving to go and pick up other plants that had been knocked over.
 
“Well, look at it this way. You think to yourself, if you love that flower, you won’t let it go extinct, right?” Honey picked up a fallen tea shrub, “Actually, the exact opposite is usually true. Conservation is more based around supply and demand. I could go into a lot of detail here, being the plant-obsessed person I am, but I won’t bore you with the details, this isn’t a day for lecturing people about how plants and economics are related.”
 
Scylla looked up when he heard the front door of the trashed café open, and blinked twice.
 
There was something that looked like a bipedal crocodile in a grey pinstripe suit and blue tie standing in the doorway, quietly taking in the scene before him, and behind the crocodile there was a purple, bipedal frog wearing a white suit and a bright orange tie, with a white fedora with an orange ribbon to match on his head. There was a normal human wearing a black tuxedo with closely-shaved black hair and brown eyes standing there in the room, also, but most people couldn’t get past the two animal-bipeds. All three were dressed very sharply, so it seemed like there was some sort of authority, but regardless, it was an odd sight, even compared to all the other colorful characters that had appeared. Perhaps it was because most other people had unique features, but the frog and crocodile-men realistically looked like giant versions of the animals. It was like something from a child’s storybook.
 
“Valentine? Get over here, now!” The crocodile man barked in a deep, gravelly voice, baring his long rows of ominous teeth as he glared at the café owner with pale green eyes.
 
Valentine hurried over, “Ah, Mr. Humpback, I see you brought Dr. Gill and Mr. Snell with you! I apologize, a Demarik appeared here and the café was destroyed in the process of trying to catch it.”
 
As if on cue, there was a shrill screech from inside the Demarik’s crate in the corner of the room.
 
“Demarik, huh, it can’t be helped, then,” He gritted his teeth and scanned the room, “How many arrivals today?” He asked.
 
“Eleven. Two are upstairs, they were sleep-deprived when they arrived and didn’t come down even when the Demarik appeared. Thirteen, if you count two animals including the Demarik.” Valentine responded.
 
“Hmph, decent number of people for a day. Alright, you know the drill, any injured?” Mr. Humpback, as the crocodile-man was named, asked.
 
“One concussion, another required stitches for a cut leg, another for minor burns on the tail.” Valentine responded, almost soldierly in his behavior.
 
“Alright, then,” The frog-man cut in, his voice smooth and liquid, “Valentine, go up and get the two Travelers you sent to rest. It’s time to take everyone to the headquarters.” He clasped his suction-cupped fingers together with something like a smile on his froggy features as the café owner proceeded to head upstairs to retrieve the two mages.
 
The frog closed his eyes happily, and looked at everyone, “Alright, everyone, pleased to meet you, my name is Dr. Gill, this is my associate, Mr. Humpback, and that is Mr. Snell over there,” he gestured to everyone he had named. “Now, I am aware that you must have seen some strange sights, like myself, and I’m sorry to inform you it will only grow worse.” He continued as if this were completely normal, “Now, I would like to explain to you what is about to happen. There is a motorcade outside with various cars and trucks, built to accommodate passengers of varying shapes, sizes, and weights. We are going to calmly file out of the building and enter these vehicles. From there, we will proceed to the headquarters across town, it’s fairly close.”
 
Mr. Humpback snorted rudely, “In short, we’re your escorts. We’re going to take you to the center where we process Travelers for several other portal hotspots like this one. As you can see, myself and Dr. Gill are Travelers, so there is no need to worry about this process inhibiting your freedom in any way. We have no reason to imprison or otherwise contain someone unless they pose a threat.” He bared his teeth, “Of course, if you want to be foolish, go ahead and cause a ruckus and see how long that lasts.”
 
Not that anyone would take this thinly-veiled threat seriously, seeing as Mr. Humpback was literally a bipedal crocodile. Of course, who was really sure what could and couldn’t happen by this point?
 
Meanwhile, Valentine returned, dragging the mage, Lynn, by the collar of his brightly-colored robes. “Sir, there is no need to pull me by the collar!” Lynn protested, before Valentine released him, causing him to stumble a bit, before he slowly straightened, “It seems I have left a terrible impression of myself,” He muttered, dusting his collar irritably. Valentine walked back over to him and handed him his dagger that had been taken several hours prior.
 
“Don’t start threatening strangers with your dagger, now,” Valentine fussed, before starting to go back up and grab the shapeshifter.
 
Before Valentine could do this, a long-furred cat with brindle-colored markings slid through a narrow opening in the door, familiar rust-colored eyes watching him carefully.
 
Lynn looked at the cat, “Why have you not assumed your real form?” He asked.
 
The cat sat back on its haunches, tilting its head to one side, one ear twitching, as it looked at him with a gaze of complete indifference, dramatically different from the irritated look of the blue dragon before. “I enjoy being a cat, no other reason.” Came the brief reply, this time the voice was more human-like and feminine, slightly raspy and somewhat deeper than average. One could imagine this was the shapeshifter’s real voice in human form, and that it was somehow not affected by the cat’s form. Elysia looked around the room, “I thought I heard a commotion down here, though I suspected coming down and becoming involved would only cause more trouble. Figured someone might have decided to go on a rampage?” She looked up at Valentine for an answer.
 
Valentine sighed, “A troublesome animal, my shop can’t stay in one piece when one shows up.” He gestured to a rattling crate in the corner of the room.
 
Elysia looked at the crate, tail waving in the air, somehow amused, “Oh, I missed out on the fun, then.”
 
“I hope you’re not thinking of adding that to the list of forms you can adopt.” Valentine warned.
 
The cat laughed, “Well, I can’t see it anyway, inside of that crate. How would I know what it is?”
 
Lynn, standing near the cat, sighed, “At least the shapeshifter woke up, I somehow slept through all of this?” He gestured to the trashed scene of the café.
 
“Well, you were tired, weren’t you?” Valentine replied.
 
The cat looked at Lynn with an unamused expression, “I wake up at the slightest sounds, so don’t think you sleeping through all of that commotion is a bad thing. You’re better off for it, you’re probably better rested. Now that you’re awake and have your dagger back, please refrain from chasing me with your weapon.”
 
Lynn glared, “Believe me, I’m aware of how irrational that was now. I can only reflect on the embarrassment that I let someone see me in such a way.”
 
“As you should be, not that I’m any less guilty.” Elysia replied.

With some difficulty, the strange creature was caught, having been forced into a cage. Despite Callisto's behavior earlier, it seems that she was able to hear Valentine this time, and sheathed her weapon with a noise of disappointment. If she truly wasn't able to hurt that thing, then...

Wait. The others.

Callisto felt more awake than she had in a while, turning for the first time to get a good look at her fellow travelers. While she recognized absolutely none of these people, she had the distinct feeling that they, too, were in her situation. The knight, who was currently on the opposite side of the café, found herself staring at them. The pale, thin boy, the girl in the desert rags, the two furry creatures (one of which who appeared to be holding a plant), the avian woman... All of these people were outcasts. Callisto almost felt an immediate sense of empathy for their condition. She'd been traveling for quite some time now; judging by the rampant emotions, she could not say the same for most of them.

Deep in thought, Callisto was rudely reawakened by the sound of double doors slamming open. Jumping in surprise, she took a step back, knocking over another small table and shattering a lone plate on the ground in her movement. The two - no, three - newcomers didn't look human at all, and at this point, Callisto was much too weary to even spend time speculating on what they could be. The three spoke with Valentine briefly, before seeming to address the travelers themselves. Callisto found herself listening attentively.

...Hmm. Was she brought here on purpose? She hadn't really been bothered to ask before, come to think of it... If these people were as lost as they looked, Callisto figured she could help them if it came to it. And if anyone happened to die during this little 'adventure,' Callisto would be there to take their living, more vibrant soul for her own. It was actually rather easy to do when it came to it, especially for a wight such as herself-

That train of thought took a turn...

But I know I need their energy.

Have I really fallen so low as to consider this an acceptable way to solve my problems?

That was a rabbit hole that Callisto had absolutely no desire to go down.

I am above this. I know I am.

Her thought settled, Callisto set off, with a rather eager spring in her step, to join the others. Stepping by the mysterious talking cat, she was now much closer to the group. Out of the corner of her vision, the knight recognized the person that had seemed to try to help her capture the creature from earlier. She was sure that she had overheard his name to be 'Desin?' She could tell by the frown on his face and the annoyed gleam in his eyes that he would, if anything, be interesting. It would be best to talk soon, instead of waiting until Callisto again slipped from lucidity.

Taking a final glance at the guides at the doorway, Callisto quickly attempted to see if she could communicate with Desin, at least before they were all removed from Valentine's café. "What sort of ability was that?" As always, her voice was quiet, yet there was a tone of curiosity to it. "When you tried to attack that vermin - what was that?"

Desin watched with interest as Goose demonstrated what seemed to be telekinesis, restraining the creature and lowering it into the box. Ah, so that is what he does he thought to himself, reflecting on how it would be useful to be able to manipulate things telekinetically with such ease.

He turned at the noise of the three newcomers entering the cafe. Unfortunately, another opportunity for humor was missed at the crocodile and frog in suits, since Desin hadn't seen either animal before, and wasn't aware that they were animals in the first place rather than sentient beings.
He did not miss the thinly veiled threat however, and this annoyed him. At the same time though, he remembered Valentine had mentioned getting information and supplies, and he would find at least the first to be useful. Therefore he elected to go with them, with the thought that if he didn't like how things turned out, he could slip away later.

It was then Callisto asked him about the invisible ability that he had used on the creature, and he turned to look at the animated suit of armor "I tried to burn it with my gaze"

Callisto paused as she interpreted the information. "...That doesn't make any sense." Her tone turned somewhat accusatory, and she put a hand against her hip. Though he did sound completely serious, even if it made no sense to the wight. And that was completely ignoring the fact that Callisto herself was a soul that was able to interact with physical objects. Who knew what other abilities these strangers possessed?

...Perhaps she should be more careful around these people. If she angered someone like Desin, she figured that they may just try to melt her 'with their gaze.' Callisto's body gave no implication to her feelings on this, save for the subtle slouch in her posture.

The large turtle creature seemed to have been a bit disappointed by having missed the action with the intruding Demarik; he had picked up his brass knuckles by their chain and had looked ready to take a swing, but had not had the opportunity to do anything. He had just been about to go back to his drink, when the three individuals mentioned had entered and delivered their speech.

"Now wait just a bavon-pickin' minute," he said. Stumping forward a few steps, he stretched his neck up a bit, adding to his already considerable height as he looked down at the three people in a non too friendly manner.

"I don't know whatcha means by 'process,' but I don't like the sound of it," he continued. "Frankly, I doesn't take kindly to be ordered around. I's had more than enough a' that in me time, and I don't trust people who does it; in my own experience, them sorts is never up to no good. And as for causin' a ruckus," he continued, this time specifically focusing on Mr. Humpback, "if you wants to avoid any trouble, here's an idea for ya'; don't go messin' with old Zhesta’kai Ob’olok, and no trouble comes to ya', see? Reasonable enough, dontcha think?"

It was at this moment that Therese suddenly stepped up. "Wait a minute, Mr. Obilak was it? These people might be able to help us."

The turtle creature cast a glance at her. "It's Ob'olok, little Birdy, Zhesta'kai Ob'olok, but you can calls me by me first name. And I'd advise you to stand back. Wouldn't be able to forgive meself if a nice girl like you got caught in the cross-fire."

Therese, however, stood her ground. "Come one, Mr. Zhesta. . . um . . . Sir, there's no need to cause trouble. This is their world, after all. They can't be blamed for taking some precautions."

Zhesta'kai let out a growl, and cast another unfriendly glance at the three people. "I takes it you comes a life of freedom, little Birdy," he said, addressing Therese. "I envies you. But yer bein' naive. When you've seen things like what I've seen, you learns not to trust types like these."

Dr. Gill cleared his throat with a croak-like sound, “You’ll have to pardon my friend, Mr. Humpback is quick to resort to threats. We don’t know what kind of reaction we will receive when we appear, as we are clearly sentient animals…at least, that’s what we appear to be for most human-populated worlds. Frogs and Crocodiles are not normally capable of walking and talking in most worlds, and there is also a large disparity in physical size. Typically when we appear, we are either mocked or laughed at, if we aren’t mistreated or attacked first. Being a Turtle-like being, you might have received the same response, were it not for your horns and those brass knuckles there.” He closed his eyes with another amphibious smile, weirdly calm, and turned his head to look at Mr. Humpback, “Mr. Humpback, you are giving these people a poor impression of us. Please do not threaten peaceful Travelers. Tempers run short in unfamiliar situations, as we all know, you reacted the same way.”
 
Mr. Humpback’s eyes narrowed, and he produced a hiss, the signature sound of an irritated Crocodile, fixing his eyes on Zhesta'kai ,“Gill, I’ve already had one Doc get killed on my watch, and you’re from the same world as me. Maybe us Crocs killed you Frog folk, we weren’t the best of people, the way we marched around and attacked you as we pleased, but you’re the only other person from my world, so I don’t care about that old rivalry anymore. I don’t care if I make enemies, but if folks like this guy here,” He pointed at the turtle man with a webbed, reptilian claw, “If they attack you, or if they attack Snell, and I’m not there to protect you, I will never forgive myself for letting them go free.”
 
Dr. Gill sighed, “Ah, with your speeches again. I’ve told you, again and again, to worry about yourself, not just me or Snell. Provoking people only gives them reason to think certain types of narratives, or government authority, cannot be trusted.” He opened one eye and looked at the Crocodile, “-After all, we’ve both been prisoners. Not a fun feeling, definitely worth avoiding.”
 
“Hmph! Still got that scar on my back where those guys zapped me with their cattle prods.” Mr. Humpback muttered, unconsciously rubbing a spot on his back with one arm, before looking back at Zhesta'kai.
 
“I ain’t so good at offering apologies, now,” He growled, “But before you think we’re bad guys, here, please be aware, there’s much worse out there than having someone ‘process’ you. It’s a simple thing. You talk to guys like the Doc, here,” He placed a massive webbed hand on top of the Frog’s hat, “And their job is to figure out what world you’re from, using a database we’ve compiled. Before we were helping out Greeters, we were Explorers, trying to make all the maps you get to look at and use. If we figure out what world you came from, we can sometimes tell you how to get back to it. ‘Course, there’s limitations, especially if you came through random portals. Not everyone is from a documented world, and not every documented world out there can actually be found. You figure, we don’t really have some fancy map of multiple worlds. It’s a lot more confusing than that. We literally throw maps on a board and stick pins with lines between ‘em to indicate a portal. It’s an enormous mess, determining things about portals has become its own scientific field, there’s a lot of crazy work to be done before we can say it’s fine to digitize something.”
 
Dr. Gill cleared his throat again, “I…was preparing to explain that, but it seems I don’t need to.” He sighed, “Now, this in mind, finding your world isn’t the only thing we can do. You’re given several options. You can work for the agency if you choose, that’s a purely voluntary thing and this entire Traveler’s Alliance wouldn’t exist if it weren’t for people from other worlds, since most of this world’s Travelers are currently lost somewhere. You can do that, we can pull from funds to get you settled here or in one of our allied worlds through the portals if you don’t want to deal with some of the crazier stuff. You can be a Trader ferrying goods between allies, plenty of ways to live comfortably that way, or you can be an Explorer. That’s all your options in addition to just wandering through portals aimlessly, or going straight home if you have that option available.”
 
Dr. Gill clasped his fingers together again, “Now, that’s a lot to take in, perhaps, but be aware, we can’t just let complete strangers from other worlds run loose here without at least making sure we know who they are. That’s simply a bad idea, especially since this world is populated only by powerless humans. Even a Frog like myself, one of the weakest of beings, could hurt a human easily. The fact that such a defenseless race would have such a tolerant viewpoint of Travelers is actually quite unusual.”
 
“Ah…Gill, I’m right here…” Mr. Snell cleared his throat, “Please don’t take a human so lightly. I’ve picked up a little magic from one of those fantasy-ish realms.”
 
“Well, there’s exceptions.” Gill replied, before turning to leave.
 
“Now, we’ve been chatting enough, we’ve got two other hotspots we need to collect Travelers from before we head off to the agency. We’re going to run late.” He called as he walked outside and got into what looked like a large, battered white bus. The bus was reinforced and very large, but otherwise, nothing very unusual about it. It didn’t look like it was meant to contain anything like a cage, but rather, it looked more as though it were reinforced to handle large passengers.
 
When Dr. Gill left, Mr. Humpback looked at Snell and snorted, “fantasy-ish? You calling me and Gill a fantasy, Snell? ‘Fantasy’ is an obsolete word, how many times do we need to tell you that? Nothing is impossible. Dogs breathing fire is real, mythical beings are real. Frogs and Crocodiles that walk and talk are also real.” He said, before he walked outside to enter the bus alongside the Frog.
 
Snell sighed, and laughed nervously, “Ahah….I recently quit being an Explorer and got to go work with those two helping the Greeters.” He rubbed his fingers together by his sides uneasily, “This is actually my first week on the job. That Crocodile still freaks me out. He’s not a bad guy, though, he’s just really, really mean, ‘cause he doesn’t want to admit that he worries like the rest of us.”
Snell seemed very uneasy, now that he no longer had the reptilian bodyguard there, “So…uh…anyway….shall we be…going….?
 
He didn’t sound super confident that anyone was going to listen to him. One couldn’t help but pity him, the poor guy was terrified.

Goose hated to comply with such a weak authority figure, but it seemed like the only option that was in his favor. Snell seemed pretty normal, besides the fact that that Goose could sense nothing of importance in his spirit. The other two bipedal animals didn't seem much stronger, at least in comparison with his former comrades. Goose didn't bother memorizing the frog and crocodile's names, mostly because they weren't human enough to merit any sort of respect from him.

Goose said to Snell as he shoved his right hand into the pocket of his green leather pants, "I'll go. There are byauks that need to be murdered back home so the faster I can get home, the better." Goose patted Snell on the shoulder as he walked past and towards the bus. He gave the other two officials scowls.

Desin chuckled, addressing the human known as Snell "Your friend there seems a bit sensitive. I wonder how you don't have more incidents with him doing the talking instead of Gill and Valentine" He then turned and walked outside, not waiting for a response from Snell, having elected to go along for this 'processing', and fully intending to make use of Humpback's demeanor if possible.

He looked the white bus into which the others had stepped up and down, noting its battered look. Our chariot awaits he commented to himself mentally, before stepping aboard.

Callisto stepped outside and paused momentarily, examining the strange white vehicle. It was long and strangely looked almost like a building, with a roof and windows. But the outside walls were plated in white sheets of metal, and the wheels were small and fat - and looked almost too soft to be able to support the weight they held. She didn't recognize anything about any part of it, in fact, and something told her that it wasn't because she'd forgotten what it was. No, this appeared to be something entirely new. The strange rumbling sound being emitted from the vehicle's front end caused some hesitation. It honestly sounded like it might explode, which Callisto didn't particularly appreciate.

Yet the casual demeanor of everyone else caused her once again to reconsider. These people seemed fine being near this machine, even bravely entering it through one of its doors. Completely silent, Callisto slowly stepped onto the vehicle after Desin, clutching the handrail tightly as she ascended the short staircase. As soon as she boarded, the wight immediately retreated to the very end of the aisle, seating herself at the back, where the rumbling was the most quiet. Once seated, she then slid into a corner, clutching the rim of the seat in front of her, as if bracing for an impending accident. There was no way she was trusting this thing.

"So what are you going to do now?" asked Therese, looking at Zhesta'kai. The turtle creature muttered a bit to himself (Therese winced a few times as her sensitive hearing picked up some 'colorful' language thrown in), and then sighed.

"Well, everyone else seems to be runnin' to the big truck, or whatever they call these things round here, so why not?" With another grunt, he flung his brass knuckles over his shoulders and stumped out to the waiting transportation, climbing in with some difficulty. With a hop and a quick flap of her wings, Therese came on and took a seat across from him. "So how did you find the portals?" she asked. “You seem to have gone through more than one.”

Putting his brass knuckles down, Zhesta'kai shrugged. "So I have. Bit of a story, if you're willin' to listen."

"Sure!" said Therese eagerly.

Zhesta’kai looked at her for a moment, and a smile tinged his mouth. “Well if’n your willin. Accordin to legend, see, me family’s always had what were called Spirit Walkers, people who could walk the Spirit Paths through the gate at the Temple of Dukh Vorota. Most, it was said, didn’t come back, but those who did claimed to have seen all sorts o’ weird stuff, spirits and the like.”

“They were Travelers?” asked Therese.

Zhesta’kai shrugged. “I guess so. At the time, though, me still bein’ a hatchling, I didn’t put much stock in that sort a’ thing. Fairy tales, I thought em’, kid’s stuff.”

At this point, the turtle creature sighed. “And that’s when the Qulik came.”

“Who are they?” asked Therese.

“Monsters, that’s who,” growled Zhesta’kai. “Came across the Great Sea in their big ships, carryin’ all manner of weapons. Technologically speakin’, they was way ahead of us, way ahead, I’d say, of even the likes of the people around here, from what I’ve seen so far. My people, the Cher’pakha, we didn’t stand a chance.”

“I’m sorry,” said Therese sympathetically.

Zhesta’kai sighed, and then waved his hand. “No point cryin’ over it, what’s done is done,” he said, apparently not wanting to focus too much on the matter. “Anyways, me and me family was made servants, had to work all the time. That was the end of my old life, and as you can imagine, I was none too pleased. I assimilated all I could in the ways of things technical, hopin’ I could use it some day. And then about a month ago,” he continued, his eyes glittering a little as he spoke, “an interestin’ bit o’ news came through the vine, as they say. The leader of the Qulik, it seemed, had uncovered the gateway to the Spirit Road at the Temple of Dukh Vorota. Apparently, his two twin brats were able to go through it, and he had been up and trainin’ them real good and was sendin’ them through to explore.”

“They were Travelers?” asked Therese.

“Apparently so,” replied the Cher’pakha. “Well let me tell ya, this bit a’ news rocked me real; apparently, all the old stories I had heard was true. Knowin’ that spirit walkin’ ran in the family, I decided to give it a go. After a lot a plannin’ and preparations, I managed to break into the old temple, and wouldn’t you know it, when I got to the gateway, there was a shimmery circular thing, surrounded by Qulik instruments. With soldiers a’ runnin’ towards me, I took a deep old breath and jumped. Next thing ya’ know, I was on some sort a rocky beach, with a forest behind me and an ocean in front a’ me.”

“Wow!” said Therese. “That must have been awesome!”

“It was a real old whammer in the plastron, I’ll own,” said Zhesta’kai. “For a while, I just stood there gapin’, I was so blown away, but then I finally collected meself, and started lookin’ around. I quickly found that there was lots a’ portals on that island, some long-lastin’, and others just there for a few minutes.”

“It was a hotspot?” asked Therese.

“I presume so,” said Zhesta’kai. “Well, long story shortened, I started tryin’ out portals, and about a day and a half later, I’m here.” Here he looked with interest at Therese. “But enough about me. How about you? What’s your story, little Birdy?”

Therese shrugged. “Nothing dramatic, really. I was just walking along, and then a portal opened in front of me. I had heard of such things in science fiction magazines, so I decided to try it.”

Zhesta’kai arched a bony eyebrow. “Just like that? You got some guts there, little Birdy.”

Therese shrugged again. “Well,” she said, “I wasn’t really thinking, I suppose.” She paused a moment; the thought of her inability to return had brought back a little sadness. Then she looked up. “Those twins you mentioned, the ones who were the children of the Qulik leader guy, do you think they’re out there somewhere?”

Zhesta’kai looked grim. “I suspect so, and I would watch out for em’, if I was you. Nice little Birdy like you shouldn’t be a mixin’ with the likes of the Qulik.”

“What do Qulik look like?” asked Therese.

“Rather like these lot around here,” said Zhesta’kai, motioning to the human/human look-alikes on board, “only they’s all pasty white, with white eyes. In fact, when I first popped in here, I thought these folk was Qulik for a moment.” Here Zhesta’kai leaned forward with a serious look on his face. “Mark me words little Birdy, if there’s one thing I knows fer certain, there ain’t no such thing as a good Qulik. Them people is bad to the core, and should never be trusted.”