Travelers (IC)

In stark contrast to the reactions of her companions, Callisto found herself reeling from the sight before her.

The tree-mammal had been lit aflame, her body melting into a smouldering puddle of goo. And from the dreadful remains came a tiny creature, like the tree-mammal in build, which then proceeded to yip with glee, vomit up some disgusting rag through its wolflike maw, and slide in circles around the beast of fur that had immolated it in the first place. As the tree-mammal drew even somewhat close, Callisto took several precursory steps backwards up the stairs, as if she were afraid that it might in some way touch her and spread its filth.

While Callisto remained mercifully quiet regarding her sheer disgust of the situation for the time being, she also managed to notice Riley's seeming amusement at the sight, and even Veil's apparent boredom. "Yes. Ridiculous. That is the word I'd use to describe that." She responded to Riley's bemused comment rather stiffly, not quite believing in her own words, head turning to face the sunrise over the distant skyscrapers. Yes, the sun was so much cleaner than this earthly coil. So much cleaner.

Goose plopped down into a seat near the corner of the cafeteria that was furthest away from the food carts. He cursed, "Byauk, where's my damn food?" He stretched and spread himself outwards from the chair. It was like the staff refused to feed him. He sighed and whispered to Desin, "Hey watch this." He crossed his fingers together and put his hands in such a way where it looked like he was in casual prayer. He closed his eyes, and then began to sense the world around him.

There was a vague darkness about his sixth sense, but he would manage. He used his sense to make his way through the kitchen, reaching out his telekinesis. He found a raw egg, and decided that would be perfect. He dragged it out of the kitchen and threw it right in Thray's general direction via telekinesis. Goose made no motions that indicated that he threw the egg.

Though Thray was distracted and distressed, this did not prevent him from seeing the egg flying toward his face from the kitchen. Without thinking about it he snatched it from the air deftly and with surprising speed, careful not to break the shell. He gazed at the egg for a moment, both surprised and distinctly unamused. “Really?” he growled, for the moment all anxiety leaving him as it was replaced with anger. He hadn’t had an object thrown at him in such a juvenile manner since his days in school, when he was no more than ten cycles old. The troubling part was he hadn’t seen anyone throw it either, it seemed to have just been pulled from the kitchen of its own accord. “Cursed eggs,” he muttered, glaring down at the one in his hands. “Or invisible children. Hmph.”

Kin had let the tablemates stew about the topic, not wanting to intrude much further. It was grim, the idea of practically missing your entire life, and time making such a significant jump.

She was surprised at the suddenness of an egg sailing past her, only to be clutched by Thray with finesse. She wanted to simply give a nice job and go about the day, but she figured she could be of some use. Her eye was able to analyze environments and could scan projectiles for sources. Usually helped in the event of firefights, pinpointing sniper locations and such. She took a scan of the egg itself as Thray muttered to it, starting to trace its origin. She saw the line travel, and has the walls and various kitchen equipment and staff outlines began to show, she saw its origin. A carton, missing one egg. Fairly typical. Only question was how. No staff was around the fridge recently...

She gave a nod to Thray, "Definitely wasn't a staff member. I'd blame someone with supernatural abilities." she pointed to her eye, "This says so anyway. Doesn't detect any recent heat signatures or anything." Kin stated matter-of-factly

Desin watched the flight of the egg with interest, making a quiet "hmmm" of slight surprise as Thray easily reacted and grabbed it from the air. So it seems he has excellent reflexes, and is quite fast. I suppose that makes sense with that sword of his, especially since there's likely guns where he comes from he thought, as the growl from the green alien reached his ears, boosted by his own extrasensory abilities.

He turned back to Goose with a hint of a smile, as while it was a little juvenile, it was still a little funny as well. And it was a nice break from the boring atmosphere of Central. "Very nice. So I take it you can see things with your abilities, even if you cannot with your eyes?"

Goose quickly broke from his trance. He took a very tiny amount of time to regather his bearings and turn to Desin, "Well yeah, but it takes a bit more out of me if I use my sixth sense in conjunction with my telekinesis."

Konrad, Elysia, & Lynn
 
Konrad seemed neither amused nor disgusted by Thukr’s transformation; his reaction was practically nonexistent, and appeared more like an acknowledgement that something had logically happened, versus an attempt to make sense of it. He raised one brow as Thukr raced around in circles, mostly because she was moving very quickly, and he was not going to make the effort to turn around in an attempt to track her position. “I am glad to see you are happy,” Konrad replied, his voice even and rather placid, but despite saying he was glad, it seemed there was little to no emotional reaction at all. Konrad had seen many strange things working as an escort, and Thukr’s transformation was the tip of the iceberg for what could be witnessed across the countless worlds he had been through. Konrad knew it was probably ‘normal’ to have some sort of reaction, but ‘normal’ was a worthless term to Travelers.
 
It was then that a large, brilliant red haze of wiry fur sailed past, jumping clear over Thukr as she ran, and landing on the far side of the circle, revealing itself to be what resembled a two-headed wolfhound. Konrad knew it was unmistakably a wolfhound, for they, along with greyhounds, were known as symbols of the nobility and royalty in his old world. One of the two heads held a very distinct black leather glove, shaped for fitting a woman’s right hand. Konrad recognized it as the glove belonging to the sorceress from the day before. What was the dog doing with her glove?
 
It was then that the woman herself appeared around the corner, clearly missing her right glove as she kept her hood pulled over her head, as if on impulse not wanting it to fall away and show her face. “Hey! You cannot take a person’s glove like that!” She shouted after the dog, although it was clear from her tone there was no malice or anger in her voice. It was not infantile, either, but more like how someone would talk to a person standing next to them, if they were on good terms.
 
The two-headed dog saw her appear, and its ears raised up, both tails wagging as it lowered the front of its body, as if it wanted her to chase it. That seemed to be something dogs did, Konrad thought, they often stole the favored ‘toy’ or shoe or boot or sock, and tried to run off with it, so their masters would give chase to get it back. There were people who occasionally found this behavior problematic or annoying, but it was clear the shapeshifter did not fall into this category.
 
Her face was hidden by the shadow of her hood, but Konrad suspected she was faintly smiling from the way she spoke, finding the large, two-headed dog endearing and amusing.
 
…Not that Konrad blamed her. Many people were probably wary of the woman, especially after her actions the day before, but this dog might have known and never have cared, even then. A creature that did not harshly judge, threaten, or run in fear was sometimes sorely needed.
 
Elysia ran up to the dog, but when she came close enough, it took off again, this time darting past Konrad, too fast for him to grab it. The dog was clearly capable of running faster than it was currently, but it had toned down its speed for the sake of play.
 
The dog ran to the other side of Konrad, and the head that was not holding the glove barked excitedly. The dog’s bark was deep, powerful, and terrifying, though it was clearly a happy bark.
 
The shapeshifter, Konrad could now see her face at this distance, frowned slightly, “…So that will be how you go about it?” She murmured quietly.
 
The dog, meanwhile, was watching her carefully, and moved opposite the direction that its pursuer shifted in. Seemingly, the two were locked in a battle of wits now.
 
Konrad raised one eyebrow at this, “Early to chase a dog, is it not?” He asked the shapeshifter.
 
“….Yes, it is very early, but this dog came sailing over the wall while I was outside, and I have been attempting to reclaim my glove since.”
 
“…You do not seem to be very upset…”
 
“…Ah, no, I would never be angry at a dog who simply wishes to play.”
 
“…You….like dogs, I presume?”
 
“Very much, I have worked with dogs many times.”
 
The exchange was ended by the dog running up and startling another person who had emerged from within Central and walked further out into the parking lot to figure out where everyone was, having been somewhat repelled by the duck-griffin creature he had seen inside, possessing something of an aversion to louder noises. “….Where did this dog come from!?” Lynn jumped back, the dog’s heads being level with his stomach, extremely tall. His reaction was rather normal, as most people did not like strange, extremely large dogs approaching them at a swift speed.
 
The unnerving part was that it had taken him just that much time to grab the bow off his back and draw back an arrow, aiming it right at one of the dog’s heads, and barely stopping the impulse to release it.
 
Fast reflexes. Impressive, given his behavior and reactions to everything so far.
 
“Over the wall…” Elysia walked over, finally snatching her glove from the dog’s mouth. “Got you,” She said to the dog, who merely wagged its tails at her. Slowly putting the slobber-covered glove back on her hand, she looked at Lynn, “Good reflexes when faced with animals, I see, but you better not release that arrow on this dog, I doubt an arrow would kill him, but you, on the other hand, are only human.”
 
The dog’s tails had stopped wagging, and both heads stared at the arrow ominously.
 
Lynn slowly let the arrow go slack on the bow, and as he slid it back into the quiver, the dog’s tails began to slowly wag again. One head’s ears pricked up as it cocked its head at him, and the other head began to sniff the ends of his cloak.
 
“He dislikes arrows, I would not be surprised if he has been shot at before.” Elysia said, scratching one head behind the ears, the corresponding tail wagging happily. The second head continued inspecting Lynn’s cloak. It seemed that the left head was more thorough in investigating scents while the right was not nearly as concerned.
 
The dog stopped inspecting Lynn, and then began sniffing the ground, and then the air, before it proceeded to dart away, right past the group gathered by the door, and into Central.
 
“….Well, off he goes. He must have smelled food.”
 
“….Are you not concerned that it will get into trouble?”
 
“…Well, perhaps, except that I doubt most weapons or abilities would affect that creature.”
 
“….Then should you not be worried for other’s safety?”
 
“…That….is a different matter.”
 
Elysia turned and slowly walked past the group by the door herself, and into the building, presumably to follow the dog.
 
 
Elysia
 
In the cafeteria, the small group of people waiting for food to be served were greeted by the presence of a large, two-headed dog with wiry red fur and two brass collars dashing through the entrance, followed by Elysia. The dog, clearly looking for food, fixed its attention on Thray, and walked up to him, sitting down and proceeding to stare longingly at the egg he had snatched from the air earlier, wagging its tails and raising its ears whenever someone looked in its direction.
 
“Ah, good morning.” Elysia politely greeted everyone as she entered the room. “Did anyone perhaps see a large dog with two—ah, there he is. Well, so far, no trouble, only begging for that egg in your hand.”
 
It was at this moment that a mechanical grinding was heard, and the metal shutters that had been covering the serving area were raised, people wearing plastic gloves and hairnets setting out trays of breakfast items. Mostly eggs, bacon, hash browns, and fresh fruit, but there were also salads, and options exclusively consisting of meat. It was likely a challenge to prepare food for Travelers when nobody knew what the dietary restrictions are.
 
“…What a cute dog!” A lunch server exclaimed, leaning out over the window, speaking in a baby-sort of tone.
 
The dog turned and slowly proceeded in this man’s direction, and the man held out a piece of bacon for it, which the dog greedily snapped up.
 
“I’ll have to change my gloves after this, but good boy.” The man said, before walking off somewhere back into the kitchen.
 
Meanwhile, Elysia looked at the group in the cafeteria, as the dog ran back up to her and sat down, staring at her in the same way that it had been staring at Thray. Elysia scratched one of the head’s ears, and looked at everyone, “He jumped over the wall earlier this morning, but as far as I can tell, despite the collars, he does not seem to have an owner with him. He may have run off on his own.”
 
 
……

 

Meanwhile, throughout the rest of the building, Travelers that had not been woken up by the commotion in the hallway caused by a duck-griffin creature were now disturbed from their sleep by Central Agents.

 

“Come on! Wakey wakey! Breakfast is ready! Head down to the cafeteria!”

Du-Gant entered the cafeteria, and screamed, slightly angrily, "Esat don't like this place! People get to eat but esat have no mouth!" He moved himself through the air and dropped onto a table. There were whispers and mumblings coming from his hearts about how he wished he was outside, enjoying the new white sun that ruled over the realm.

***

Thukr raced into the cafeteria with a certain renewed value of life. She stopped in front of Goose, "Excuse me, but I want to apologize for being stinky before. I am no longer stinky."

Goose gave Thukr a spiteful glare, "You're still ugly as **** though."

Thukr seemed to ignore that comment. She then stopped in front of Thray and said the same thing that she told Goose. She then proceeded to do that with everyone that knew of her stench before her cleansing, saying those exact same words.

***

Goose stared at Thukr, confused as to why she seemingly un-aged herself by a billion years. He got himself up off of the chair, and decided to get some breakfast. He filled his plate up with about three pounds of bacon and hash browns. Most of it was bacon.

Riley noticed Callisto's emotions and was quick to stop laughing, shocked at the realization that Callisto's emotions were far more normal than her own. Maybe knowledge of the emotions of those involved made the situation less repulsive, perhaps? Or perhaps she had changed so much - or so little - since Legerman, that such a scene didn't affect her? The thought was slightly disturbing, and Riley quickly shifted her attention to the bandaged Traveler.

"Your question about what a human is can get philosophical, honestly," Riley responded, "But the human race erm... the people that you see who work at Central, who are indigenous to this world - they're all humans. Uh… yeah. It’s ” Riley furrowed her brow, trying to think of a better way to explain it. She was a Changeling, and no one knew of the Changelings’ origins, so there was the debate of whether or not she, herself, was a human. She felt human, however – did the actions of someone determine if they were human? But that could define some psychopaths as not being human. Then again, humanity, being human, and being humane could all be different ideas. She decided it would be best to stop wondering about the question before she ponders it for an hour like Celo was going to do.

It was then that a dog – or more like something resembling a dog – appeared, followed by Elysia, who Riley winced at the sight of as memories from the previous night emerged. Even so, there was a pleasant feeling radiating from both the multi-headed canine and Elysia, and it visibly relaxed Riley. She looked over at Callisto and the other Traveler. “You heading for breakfast?” Even though Callisto probably didn’t need food, she figured that it was still polite to ask.

-------------------------
Lexy
-------------------------
Lexy examined all of the food available with great interest. Since she had skipped supper, the hunger gnawing at her stomach had become unignorable. She got in line next to someone who had black, cat-like pupils that looked, as she would describe them, “pretty cool”. Her bright green eyes traveled down to his plate as she loaded her own. Naturally, she spoke before thinking, a grin mirroring her own happy emotions. “That’s a lot of bacon,” she noted.

At Riley's proposition to eat, Callisto was momentarily taken aback. Callisto, of course, wasn't able to eat or taste, nor did she hunger for food. Therefore, her first instinctual reaction to her conversation partner's question was nearly "No, I'm not." But once more, the knight stopped herself. There was surely more to this question than a simple factual answer.

How was one supposed to respond to such a request, again..?

"I will be heading for breakfast," was Callisto's final answer to Riley, repeating her question rather awkwardly but answering it nonetheless. It would be interesting to see how her fellow travelers fared overnight, after all. And manners (as she now seemed to remember) dictated that it would be rude to turn down a request such as this one. "Lead the way, if it'd please you. ...I don't remember where the cafeteria is."

"Noted" Desin replied to Goose, thinking it interesting that it would be exhausting like that. Using his extrasensory abilities along with his manipulation was trivial for Desin.
At the dog-creature's appearance, Desin rapidly devoted his attention to it, looking it up and down and trying to see if it was something he had to worry about. However after a minute or two, he decided that the creature was harmless, and decided to ignore it for now. Therefore when Goose got up to grab food, he simply followed quietly, getting in line behind him. Unlike Goose however, he only grabbed a few things, electing to sample the food more for taste than anything.

Goose turned to Lexy, "Damn right it is." He didn't have bacon available in triviis. Any food there was hard to find. Falsehoods and truths didn't need to eat to survive, so they never bothered farming or domesticating animals.

***

The food, now ready to eat, gave off a smell that didn't sit well with Thukr. It was probably just her, but she couldn't stand the smell of normal food. Each biprimae had their tastes, and Thukr had hers. While other biprimae loved the feeling of flesh and marrow being squashed between their jaws, others would rather consume the more obscure and inanimate. Thukr was one of the latter.

She approached the buffet, and was able to just peek over the top of the counter. She used her nose to find the silverware and picked up a mouthful of forks. She then scurried off under one of the tables, and gnawed on the utensils.

For the most part, Thray ignored everyone as they entered the room, only grunting at Thukr as she apologized for her earlier awful smell. He didn’t bother questioning how she’d managed to shrink herself. He did take some interest in the two-headed creature and the woman that had entered with it. He would’ve given the thing the egg when it was begging, but it bounded away before he could react. Frowning faintly, he set it on the floor so if the creature really wanted it, it could have it.

“I’m gonna go get food,” Thray mumbled to Kin and Zefanyo. He stood, meandering over to the counter and picked out a few things, bacon and some fruit. A smell hit his nose and immediately his expression brightened. Did his nose deceive him? Were his eyes lying to his brain? No... no… they were real. Beautiful, golden-brown pancakes. Exhaling excitedly he used a pair of tongs to pull six of them onto his tray. A minute or two later he returned to his seat, his stack of pancakes glistening deliciously along with a hearty pile of bacon, and some fruit.

The pancakes weren’t as good as his homemade ones, but they were passable. The bacon was crispy, just the way he liked it. It was a nice improvement from the trash of a morning he had. Sighing mentally, he continued to eat and tried to forget about what had been upsetting him.

Honey
 
Just as everyone had finally begun filtering into the cafeteria and gotten their food, and the strange, two-headed dog that Elysia had found greedily ate up a raw egg that Thray had set down for it, leaving a mess on the floor, everyone’s somewhat confusing morning was abruptly ruined by the sound of police sirens outside. Not long after this, the cafeteria workers hurriedly shuttered their doors to the kitchen and serving area, seemingly terrified. Black-clad workers carrying weapons that looked far-more advanced (or magical) than what the world of Cavitrum had to offer barged in through every available door, blocking it, and filing around and covering every wall. Shadowy forms crawled out of cracks under doors and through ceiling panels, accumulating above and along places where humans could not go, fixing their violet eyes onto the Travelers who had been peacefully eating.
 
Everyone froze in response to this, but as far as anyone could tell, especially Honey, there was no attack or enemy assault. It looked more as though they were attempting to find something, as someone shouted from the apparent Central SWAT team, “Please remain calm! Nobody move! There is a dangerous non-sapient life form we’ve tracked to this spot!”
 
One anonymous Traveler, finding the very statement itself stupid (remain calm with something dangerous?), and no doubt (As most people thought by now) thinking that these people were ill-equipped to deal with the so-called life-form, immediately shouted back, “Obviously, it’s enjoying breakfast like the rest of us! Go home already!”
 
Honey, out of the corner of her eye, saw Elysia lower her head so that her hood shadowed her features, and quickly grab one of the two-headed dog’s collars. So it was the dog? Were they talking about the dog?
 
The dog, it seemed, heavily disliked these people. Its fur was bristling, and its snouts were wrinkling into the beginnings of a snarl. She might have imagined it, but its nails looked a bit sharper than they had moments ago, and their glint seemed less like nails or claws, and more like hard minerals. They were a bit too shiny to be normal. They had not looked like that a moment before. Not only that, but the whole aura of the dog had changed. It looked extremely hostile, now, and ready to attack at a moment’s notice. It also seemed that its fur, too, was changing. It seemed as though the hairs were growing stiffer, and sharper, into a coat of porcupine-like quills.
 
“We are looking for a red, two-headed dog!” Someone from the group of agents shouted. “A red, two-headed dog! If anyone here sees it, please notify us immediately! The animal is extremely dangerous and must be contained for everyone’s safety!”
 
Honey saw Elysia shrink even more, and the dog that was now clearly the source of this mess was growling.
 
It was then that a shadow dropped down from the ceiling and landed on the table, melting into an oily blob that looked vaguely like a human, looking at Elysia and hissing in a snake-like manner.
 
Elysia looked up and glared at it, “He has hurt no one since I found him.” She said to it. “If you leave him be, he will calm down. Even with all of the people you have, I do not believe you can capture him properly, nor do you need to.”
 
It was then that a voice, metallic, almost, as if coming from a radio, came out of the shadow, and it became a large set of beeps and static as agents began clicking on the devices they wore on their belts, getting whatever strange message the shadow was transmitting. Vague statements in some code nobody understood, and a clear, “Target found.”
 
The things on the ceiling and the agents along the walls began to slowly advance towards the center of the room, “Nobody move! We’ve found the animal!”
 
Elysia, meanwhile, continued to hold the dog’s collar, sharp red quills seemingly scratching into the gloves on her hand, shredding up the leather as it continued to growl. She seemed frozen, and very resigned to whatever was about to happen. She kept her head down.
 
An agent who seemed to be decorated with a specific, higher-ranking badge approached slowly, “Ma’am,” The agent said, “We need to take that dog off your hands.”
 
“Take this dog and you will likely cause a large number of people to lose their lives.” She replied.
 
“Is that a threat?”
 
“No. I am stating a fact.” The words were cold and hollow.
 
“I doubt that it can do anything we can’t handle.”
 
“Your words do not reassure me. Can you sense magic, stranger?”
 
The face of the agent, in his gear, was hidden by the visor of his helmet.
 
“No, ma’am, I cannot.”
 
“Then you are in no place to say you can handle this dog. You will cause this entire building to be destroyed, and everyone in it, if you provoke him any further. My hand is already a mess.”
 
True, there seemed to be quills digging into her hand now.
 
“I am a shapeshifter, I am good with animals. If you know the world he came from, I will go and take this dog back. I am begging you, do not stay here.” A note of urgency crept into her voice.
 
The dog was now growling viciously.
 
There was a beep from the man’s radio, and this time, it was more clear, “Wilson, we have identified the dog. It’s an IUD, neighboring world, please stand down.”
 
The man swore and hurriedly backed off.
 
“…What does that code mean, exactly?” Elysia continued to keep a firm grip on the dog.
 
“An Intra-Universal Deity. Belongs to some world that’s immediately approximate to ours, through a permanent portal link. Can’t risk angering whatever created it, or the higher being might decide to execute everyone who passes through.” The man clicked onto his belt, “Stand down team, IUD, neighboring world.”
 
“That would explain some things.” Elysia watched as the shadow on the table also backed away. The dog’s growling softened a bit as it saw this. The ranks of the people in the Central agent’s attack force began to grow messy as they slowly began filing out of the room.
 
“Well…I suppose we have to simply let everyone finish their food, then.”
 
“I doubt you will give me the same luxury?”
 
“We will call in someone to discuss this with you. It would be better not to remove the dog from the premises.”
 
“So what will we discuss?”
 
“…Probably going to ask you for a favor?”
 
“And…?”
 
“You’ll get an offer in exchange for taking the dog back to its world since you seem capable of controlling it to some extent.”
 
“…Oh I am not controlling him in the slightest. He is simply allowing me to direct him. What offer?”
 
“…Getting processed faster for getting home. You and anyone who helps out. The processing for new Travelers in the registry takes awhile, but we shift things around for creatures we don’t want to keep around in our world for too long…”
 
“I have already said I would be willing to do such a thing.”
 
“Well….alright….will you and anyone else who wishes to join come with me…ah….bring the….dog…After you’re done eating, I mean.”
 
“Alright.”
 
“…what a mess…dog trashes ten whole city blocks and we lose it, and then the dog runs right back here. Thought this would be an easy contain-kill. You can’t touch a creature that belongs to a powerful class of beings, though. Too many consequences…”
 
 
 
….several hours later…
 
After everyone had decided to join in the mission to bring the dog back home, they were rushed to a bunch of people in private offices asking various questions, and later returned to a long, narrow white hallway sectioned off from the public, with papers written out for them detailing their world’s name, as well as a list mentioning the chain of worlds needed to get home from Cavitrum, and useful information regarding portal locations, and even maps.
 
Elysia squinted at her own paper, which was written in runes that must have been from her own world, but she looked horribly confused. “….this writing is terrible…” she finally said aloud. “…I can scarcely read it.” She said as the dog, whose name everyone had been told was ‘Rodulfr’, appeared from the doorway she had entered from, having followed her ever since the incident in the cafeteria.
 
“Ah….you too?” Lynn was squinting hard at his own paper. “The grammar here is….very odd…and I did not have much formal schooling to say such a thing.”
 
“….I suppose we cannot blame the translator?”
 
“…probably not.”
 
“….Good, because I feel like strangling whoever wrote this.”
 
“….You would not seriously consider-“
 
“-No, I would not. Please do not take that literally. It is simply frustrating to see arcane runes written this badly. Although this is not a magical spell by any means, if it were, it would have caused a terrible accident. I can barely read this. Is this rune ‘vitzoi’ or ‘emxa?’ I suppose emxa, because that is the only one that makes clear sense here, but it is still extremely poor, by all means.”
 
“…I would not have thought you were someone who would be so frustrated over grammar.”
 
“...Do not let my identity as a fugitive or criminal be the only thing you rely upon to define me as a person. I am also a mage and a scholar. If our library had obtained a book of any sort like this, I would be forced to spend hours re-copying it by hand.”
 
“…That sounds rather unpleasant…”
 
“…If you had joined a guild, this is what an apprentice would do. Apprentices, and elders who are no longer able-bodied enough to physically handle other tasks.”
 
“You were an apprentice?”
 
Elysia looked at Lynn sharply, “Yes, but I would rather not reflect on that. There are some things I do not wish to discuss, and with very good reason.”
 
“So, regarding the dog,” Lynn began, deciding to change the subject and not probe any further, “We were told his name was Rodulfr, but I suspect they told you more as he was with you.”
 
Rodulfr, who had returned to his original, friendly appearance as soon as the people in the cafeteria had left, wagged his tails and the heads tilted from side to side, looking at Lynn expectantly, upon hearing his name. It was hard to believe that a dog that looked so friendly could behave in such a vicious manner as to destroy the amount of human structures that was mentioned. A few photographs of levelled city blocks were shown to the people during their interviews, with the mention that the dog had done it. The dog had accidentally obliterated the place where it had appeared, having been in some alternate form that was too big for the building to properly contain, and had proceeded to fight the people attempting to subdue it.
 
“Rodulfr is a guard dog, from what I was told.” Elysia said. “He is from the world of Yggdrasil, and was created by a ‘Great Hunter’ deity along with two other legendary animals. He was originally the hunting hound of the deity, but was later sent to guard the gateway to the tomb of the first generation of gods in that world, the two beings that support the world’s very existence itself, light and darkness, respectively. Apparently, the gateway’s physical location is known, set deep within a mountain. The mountain itself is ringed by a hidden, walled city, populated by a nation of secretive ancients known as the Beosites, who are dedicated to also guarding the gates, and who are the formal owners of the dog. The dog was closer to the entrance, to kill anyone who succeeded in infiltrating the inner circle of the city.”
 
Elysia continued, “Apparently, Rodulfr has historically gone through portals in the past, at least once, to go after the Great Hunter’s quarry, this happened thousands of years ago. A supernatural being later followed to return him home, but as Rodulfr belongs to mortals, now, that will not happen. It was mortal Beosites who decided that the tomb needed to be guarded from outside influence, and curried favor with the Great Hunter. The dog does not know how to navigate in the worlds he visits, but recognizes what portals are, and as far as I would know, he did not willingly go through the portal that brought him here. Something forced him through.”
 
“…That seems rather strange. Why would only the mortals bear responsibility for something like the tomb of creator-beings?”
 
“Apparently, most deities in that world do not care if Illumis or Tenebrun, the two creators, awaken or not, since there is little conflict or hostility between their ranks. To say that Rodulfr was guarding a ‘tomb’ is not quite accurate. The beings did not die, they have merely fallen into a deep slumber. For mortals, this is ideal, as they will not interfere with the world as it is. If they were to awaken, the entire form of the world itself would possibly be transformed, and that could involve making life impossible for the current flora and fauna, or people.”
 
“….then what pushed the dog through the portal?”
 
“…that is the problem. Nobody is aware of who or what had the capacity to do that, but whatever it was, it has gained access to the tomb.”

Callisto had overheard Elysia's conversation, a finger stroking the chin of her visor thoughtfully. She could recall her own interactions with a most peculiar deity, of unclear form and unclear mind. He wasn't the first one she had met, nor was he the last one, but her meeting with him had divided her life - or rather, afterlife - into stages of "before" and "after."

...Of course, remembering the specific details was always a chore.

Her sighting of Du-Gant immediately erased her thoughts of her past meeting as she lost interest, now focused on the floating farming tool. Casting one last cursory glance at Riley, Callisto left her new companion in favor of her old one. She hadn't thought that she'd be able to miss someone after only a day of separation until now, as she discovered.

"Du-Gant," she greeted as she approached, sending a firm, short nod in his direction, "How have you been getting by so far?"

Du-Gant did not acknowledge Callisto in any other way than by screaming, rather happily for once, "Well... Esat getting by just fine. Esat have a few qualms with this new realm, but the problems here are much less worthy of my attention, which esat actually a great improvement. How do you like this place?" Other than the fact that Du-Gant was terrified beyond his wits of the possibility that he might be missed, he seemed rather jubial. He seemed to hide his utter mortification quite well.

***

Thukr barked playfully at Rodulfr. Thukr was once one of his kind, maybe the dog would recognize her scent? It was worth a try. She slid in small circles.

While each traveler was interviewed, Desin in particular was a source of interest due his interviewer...or rather perhaps more accurately frustration, due to his answers concerning his home and where it was in the scheme of the universe and various dimensions. It wasn't his intention to be annoying or troublesome in the slightest either, merely that his home was not a normal plane that one would visited nor did it really have portals going through it like the other dimensions. Hence, after answering as best as could, or at least cared to, he was given a basic map and his small stack of papers and promptly sent out of the office.

He breathed an unnecessary breath of fresh air, finding the grind of navigating offices an paperwork tiresome. Had it been up to him, they would already have been well on their way, and this process would've been much faster. It was fortunate therefore that he didn't otherwise have to deal with the government any more than this, as he likely would've been driven insane by the endless bureaucracy and mountains of paperwork that all government workers, especially the military, had to endure.

He cleared his thoughts, his expression betraying little apart from the fact that he was bored, as usual. Meanwhile he moved over to where he saw the others waiting, along with the dog creature, which apparently was named 'Rodolfr'. Even for Desin, this seemed an interesting name, although the creature it was attached to seemed anything but. In fact, were it not for the cafeteria incident, he would've continued to ignore it. However since apparently it was of respectable power, he elected to keep an eye on it. He looked around for Goose, looking for someone to speak to, in order to pass the time.

"I enjoy it enough," was Callisto's unenthusiastic, noncommittal answer to Du-Gant's inquiry. It wasn't as if the knight had anywhere better to be, but Central was not exactly Callisto's idea of a stimulating setting. While she had traveled long and far in her time, she had yet to see a place quite like this one; a place that experienced travelers so much, they set up a bureaucracy to deal with it. Her past personal experiences with bureaucracies aside, there was something... incredibly limiting to all this.

Therefore, she had jumped at the opportunity to embark on this mission, despite her disinterest in Rodulfr's situation, save for the mentioning of deities. A new journey meant a new goal beyond simply survival, as well as the freedom to pursue that goal. Callisto, with these thoughts in mind, admitted to Du-Gant, "I'm relieved to be leaving this place so soon."

Thray

Pet-sitting was not Thray’s idea of a good time, though he supposed the ‘dog’ as everyone called it was not a very good pet. It had seemed friendly enough until people threatened it. To him, that at least suggested semi-sentience. Still, getting home was his primary goal, and if helping the so-called ‘dog’ find home would get him there faster… it was a no-brainer. Even if it did mean sticking around with a bunch of these oddball aliens. Not typically his style, sticking with a group, but for now they all had the same goal. That would have to do.

Thray rifled through the papers they’d handed him. Paper. He was mildly astonished that official documents would be given to him in such a temporary form. What if they got wet or mysteriously lit on fire? Bye-bye documents, hello weeks of bureaucratic nightmare fuel. Disdainful of this thought, Thray rapidly began taking pictures of each document on his holowatch, just to ensure he had proof of process in case anything misfortunate happened. When this was done, he folded the papers up carefully and let out a soft sigh, his gaze wandering over to Elysia and the dog at her heels.


Gip

Interviewing a duck had been a nightmare, though Gip was unaware of this fact as he exited the room with papers tucked in his beak. Gip did not much mind where he ended up as long as there were pretty things to see and hear, and no scary things trying to pull his feathers out. So far this place had been a mix of both. There were thousands of new sounds he’d picked up during his brief time here. Laughter. Screams. Explosions. Angry yelling. Creature sounds. Gunshots. Shower dripping. Echoes. Dog barks. The list went on.

Gip sat down, his tail curling around his front legs as he craned his neck around, tucking his documents in the fold of his left wing. He then began preening, smoothing his feathers and making sure he looked and felt his best, his ears twitching every now and then as he honed in on another sound to add to his collection.

Rodulfr looked at Thukr, and one tail wagged playfully as the dog’s left head gave a high-pitched, excited yip. The other head, meanwhile, cocked to one side, sniffing the ground, looking perplexed, more reserved than the other. If the left head was excitable and social, the right was curious and reserved, more inclined to investigate before freely showing affection. Rodulfr’s right head seemed friendly after it was done sniffing, but the dog did not move to approach Thukr. It was clear that, like everyone else, he thought physical contact was probably dangerous. A smart dog, clearly, that he would figure out what was risky so fast. A shame that Rodulfr had shown hostility to Central Agents, or the situation and how people regarded him might have been radically different.
 
Elysia, meanwhile, gave Thukr a perplexed look, “You are….a dog…?” For some reason, there was a disconnect here. She reacted as Rodulfr had, with some sort of recognition that was probably only reserved for dogs. Thukr, of course, did not quite resemble a dog, except for perhaps the nose. Given whatever she was, it was too much to think about unless Thukr decided to explain this herself. Elysia decided to turn her focus back to decrypting the horrible scrawl that had been given to her, explaining the path back home.
 
“Uniquely enough, the dog’s world is the first stop in the chain back to our own world.”
 
Honey, who had arrived through a doorway around this time, looked at Elysia, “Yours, too? That’s pretty weird.”
 
Another voice joined it, “Well, at least they found your world. Mine is so similar to so many others, they could only give me a list of three worlds. I really hope the one that this leads to is the right one, but to satisfy any curiosity, yes, the dog’s world is the first one in the chain. Dad’s going to start calling the police and sending out search parties by this point, he’s probably wondering where I’ve gone by now.” Edward rounded a corner, Scylla lagging behind him. Ed let little show on his face, but it was obvious he was not happy with the results of his interview, from the tone he used. The fact that family was involved, here, was an obvious reason to be concerned. The way he talked was more out of anxiety, than rudeness.
 
Mouse quietly approached from the far distance of the hallway ahead, raising up a list in front of her. “…Dog’s world…..” She said quietly, shifting Whisker in one arm. “Forests….never seen forests….living….”
 
Lynn, meanwhile, frowned with growing confusion, “How many of us had worlds with this dog’s being the first?”
 
Honey frowned, “A really good coincidence?”
 
“Let us not dwell on the idea that this is something beyond a wonderful coincidence, or we might drive ourselves mad looking for answers.” Elysia interrupted.
 
“This has been known to happen, rarely…” Konrad appeared down the hallway, following Mouse, “I have been assigned to be the Escort, for those who are not familiar with how Traveling works. The portal we will use to visit Yggdrasil is a permanent one located in a remote cavern, conveniently, within the foothills of the mountains outside of this city. There is also a Corridor Guardian there, so we must be on our best behavior.”
 
“Corridor Guardian? Are you saying there’s monsters that come to kill you when you try to pass through portals, but you can earn their favor, like some sort of bizarre movie script?” Scylla blurted out suddenly, without stuttering.
 
“No, Corridors are spaces between worlds, which is why something like a compass that works through portals does not exist. No device has ever successfully been crafted that can track through portals without first mapping the worlds they connect. There is always a threshold between portals that machines cannot see past. Corridors, you could say, are like long hallways, compared to thresholds. Guardians live within them. They can be anything, and the Corridor itself can look like anything that the Guardian wishes.”
 
Konrad raised one bushy brow, “This in mind, even experienced Travelers can go a lifetime and never encounter a single Guardian. In all my years, I have only ever met one. They are helpful beings, gathering information from multiple worlds. They can choose to assist you and provide advice, but behave rudely, and they may choose to mislead you instead. You cannot harm or intimidate a Guardian for answers; they are incorporeal beings, nothing we do, not magic, energy, or otherwise, can injure them. Their Corridor is their domain, and they have complete control over what is inside. They defy conventional understanding. Even beings that could be regarded as gods in their own world have been lead to their deaths in return for angering a Guardian.”
 
The Veteran Traveler frowned, “This in mind….the one we about to meet is generally friendly and social, but it is crucial that we are polite.”

Thukr snorted excitedly and then barked at Elysia, "I am a biprimae. I do not know what a dog is." She licked her lips with a thin, mottled tongue. It was like she was an entirely different being after being torched. It wouldn't be that way forever though. The cycle would run its course once more if it had to.

Du-Gant noticed the sentient pata and made an observation, "Why are you smaller? Pata can't shrink, they can only grow."

Thukr turned to Du-Gant. She remembered his scent from the time he was lodged into her collar bone. She also remembered the term pata coming from the sickle. Putting this together, she could identify the sickle as someone she didn't particularly like. She growled, failing at intimidation and then mocked him, "Why are you talking? Steel can not talk. Steel can only be steel."

Du-Gant paused and processed what he heard. He then yelled, "Though you fail at being clever, you still succeed at offending me." He would've frowned if he had a face. He then floated away from Thukr.

***

"Hot damn!" Goose seemed rather happy that he found Triviis directly under the dog's realm. Apparently they were going to go to Triviis relatively soon, which meant that there was still a chance to save his realm. He called over to Konrad as he approached him, "When are we gonna get going? We might as well get this out of the way so we can go home."

If Kumori had eyes, she would've blinked.

Even if she was told what was going on and what her situation was, things were still...foreign to her. Not too foreign to make her hesitate on coming back home, though. Whatever strange thing she had to do to return, she would do it, despite there being a small chance of danger of going forth without hesitation. It wasn't like she had anything to lose - a masterless Meshitsukai was useless anyway - so the risk of...no longer existing didn't bother Kumori too much.

Hm.

For some reason, that took on a darker tone than her thoughts intended. It had to be her previous master's sense of humor rubbing off on her. Though "technically speaking", Kumori was incapable of being able to find things funny...

Kumori's..."face" matched her neutral feelings to everything. To a degree, she was confused, though that confusion was brushed aside. There was nothing to come back to if she were to find her home again. She knew that.

Still, she preferred being in a place that wasn't unfamiliar. Her steps were light and silent as she kept her distance from the group of people nearby. One could have made the comparison of Kumori being like a ninja, however, such a comparison didn't fit someone with the appearance of a samurai (though her armor was relatively light, so it wasn't like she was walking around all sneakily just for her armor to give her away so easily). These people did not seem to be threats (in the sense that they didn't seem openly aggressive, anyway) but Kumori wasn't the type to begin a conversation. Was it her personality? Or was it her species usual tendency of putting others first?

Well, it didn't matter. What mattered was going back where she used to be.

Honey & Scylla
 
Honey looked around at everyone discussing various things, from the dog to what seemed to be the start of distinctly negative interactions between Du-Gant and Thukr. This came in addition to everyone looking unhappy or irritable in general, perhaps because the entire interview process was a pain, and so was the agency that was responsible for helping Travelers. Honey sighed after Goose’s comment, thinking that she could see it now, this group was headed towards turning into a complete, dysfunctional mess. Even Thukr, who appeared to be very sweet and docile, whatever she was, was seemingly provoking Du-Gant. It was not that these people were essentially bad, or ill-tempered by nature, but there was a certain mixing of personalities that, unless kept in check, would end badly.
 
Honey thrived on reading people, and while some of the members of this strange group resembled open books to her, even ones that thought they could conceal things, there were others she did not fully understand, and this unnerved her. People dodging her radar were dangerous; in her own world, people could do anything from gossip behind your back, to plotting a kidnapping. The last person Honey had failed to accurately read had been conspiring with an enemy, and by the time she had identified this hidden threat, many people who might have otherwise survived were trapped and slaughtered. There were the people Honey could read, and then the people that gave her those instinctive feelings. Instinct made up for what Honey could not logically discern. Some people, Honey felt she could trust, even if others found it questionable. Others that seemed trustworthy on the exterior, likewise, felt more like a hidden serpent.
 
Honey was not sure what would happen, she could not predict many outcomes that seemed positive, if communication kept halting, or drifting towards negative feelings, or sensitive topics.
 
Her thoughts were halted when Scylla walked over to her, his face bright red, “I’m such an idiot….” He murmured, “Why did I blurt that out loud…?”
 
“Well, we all have moments like that.” Honey replied quietly, before sighing heavily, “I think I’m ready to get out of this place. I’m sick of not being able to tell where I am, or what time of day it is. I’m starting to get a bit claustrophobic, and I’m not even the type to be bothered by that.”
 
“…Well….this place feels….depressing….and disappointing….” Scylla responded, slowly.
 
“….Well, there’s the conversation going south again.” Honey murmured quietly.
 
“The conversation went what?” Scylla looked perplexed.
 
“….Don’t mind me, I’m thinking too much.”
 
 
 
Everyone was interrupted by Konrad at this moment.
 
“Alright, everyone, follow me, please. We have a vehicle ready outside to transport us to the portal site.”
 
 
……………………………………….
….Two hours later…….
 
 
Everyone was crammed into the back of a rectangular van that seemed more like the interior of a prison transport convoy, than a comfortable bus. Apart from seatbelts, everyone was forced to sit along benches on each wall, rocked around uncomfortably as the van gradually entered into rough, wilderness territory. The sound of gravel hitting the bottom of the vehicle left everyone with the terrible feeling they were in a paper-thin, metal box, and the tree branches hitting the top felt more like a bear, attempting to claw its way in.
 
By the time the back of the van opened, everyone was relieved to escape. The Travelers stepped out into dense woodlands, riddled with pine trees, the ground covered with random vines, pine needles and cones. Plants with red berries sprouted around the base of various trees, and birds could be heard singing, far up in the treetops. A tall cliff loomed up a distance away, and various dips in the ground were filled with a mix of water and mud, frogs and crickets filling the air with croaks and chirps.
 
It was such a soothing sight, but not enough to immediately comfort the unfortunate passengers who had ridden in the van.
 
“…That was horrible…may we never ride in such a contraption ever again.” Lynn commented, his face strangely pale.
 
“I would not have cared, but for the complete lack of windows or doors aside from the one in the back of this machine, and that awful clanging from below.” A brief flicker of anxiety passed over Elysia’s features, before quickly being hidden again behind the usual, stony expression. Looking more closely, one could see her gloved hands were clenched tightly together. One thing was for certain, the van felt like a prison cell, and there was very little that would allow people to avoid injury, should the driver, in a mad fit of rage, decide drive his vehicle off a cliffside.
 
“These transport vans, I would agree, are not pleasant.” Konrad, who had been forced to hold his head lower than normal because the tips of his horns would not accommodate him, stretched, stepping out of the van so he could assume his normal height. He rubbed the back of his neck with one hand, leaving many wondering how he did not accidentally slice himself with his long, razor-sharp claws.
 
“I suspect your experience was even worse, how stiff is your neck, having had to hold your head like that?” Elysia asked, the question oddly polite, compared to what others might have expected of her, perhaps. Her fists relaxed, as if this simple gesture was in some way calming.
 
“Stiff, but nothing that will not correct itself in a brief period.” Konrad replied.
 
“I…d-did not like that van…” Scylla was tugging hard at his sleeves as he stepped out of the van, the poor young man looking so stressed that Lynn immediately looked ashamed of himself for complaining at all.
 
“Just when you thought Central couldn’t get any better.” Honey stepped out, following Scylla, her voice dripping with sarcasm. “Then, they give us this thing.”

Thukr plopped herself out of the vehicle, and spoke to no one in general, "I am happy that I was not big and stinky in the van. I think people would not have liked it if I was big and stinky in the van." She slid forward, away from the mobile cage. She could sense the presence of plants and wood, which reminded her of various beings in Scccr, all of which had the same scent of the forest. She slithered around, just for the sake of movement.

***

Just like Thukr, Du-Gant could sense the plants, but he didn't seem to understand what they were. They were living, he could tell that, but everything else about them didn't really register with him. The sickle made some somewhat quiet and rather indecipherable mumblings, and then went silent.

***

Goose couldn't help but smile when he saw the forest. It didn't look familiar, but boy was it inviting. He inhaled deeply through his nose, and exhaled through his mouth. He said to Desin, "I needed this. Central was ****."

"Indeed" was all Desin replied with to Goose's comment. He looked around, taking in the forest surrounding them, listening to every sound and getting a feel for things. He did prefer this to the bureaucratic chaos of Central, and while he didn't require fresh air, it was still refreshing nonetheless.
He turned his grey eyes towards Konrad and addressed him "So, where is the portal that we will be going to?"