Saga of the Worm and the Dragon- Part One: Never Again (I... Fight... On!)

[Sarai and Samiel]

((*WARNING WARNING WARNING* *POST INCOMING SOON* *SLOWLY* *WARNING WARNING WARNING*

Please do not post. Threadmistress presence impending.

Thank you.

-Reiko Kameno))

[Sarai and Samiel]

Many people, asked to pick any food at all and be given it, will choose all manner of delicacies and extremely hard-to-cook foods. This is seen, often, as a form of greed. However, there is something that must be remembered- every thing made from other things comes from somewhere. Someone had to either think of doing it, such as escargot or turkey tettrazini, or had to have goofed, and then ate it anyways, such as with yogurt or lutefisk. Why is this important?

Because what is a delicacy one place, may be the common, everyday, tired-of-it faire in another.

Yume, of course, comes from someplace that does not even exist anymore- and thus, what might be considered commonplace of home to her, would be an especial rarity to anyone not from her home. On her part of the table, was what she would have considered basic, simple, home-cooking. To the others, it probably looked like either Chinese takeout, or some sort of exotic rarity. The vegetable fried rice that composed more than half of the scaled lady's meal was full of plants that would elsewhere be considered either seasonal, difficult to grow, completely alien, or some combination of the three. That, however, was about as traditionally identifiable, by Terran standards, as her meal got.

One plate was full of what looked like anemones, quartered and apparently stuffed with some sort of grain mash. A pungent, salty green sauce was drizzled over the pinkish things, and the aroma of that mixed well with that of what could have been cheeseballs, had they not been skewered, grilled, and obviously some sort of fruit, from the seeds oozing out around the shishkabob skewer. A small bowl held what would have been oatmeal, were it not made of beans. And the one concession to the need for non-vegetable matter was a claw. It looked like it might have been a lobster claw, if lobsters grew to be about ten feet long. Yume ate the thing with obvious reluctance, but quite completely, using her fangs to help her crack the shell and get at the nearly-gelatinous flesh inside.

Having just eaten an amount that would have been quite startling if not in the face of the nearly half-ton meal consumed by Lycrios and his companion, Yume took up a saucer with a lump of what was probably rice pudding on it. Slowing down from 'black hole' to 'bird' eating speed, Yume frowned thoughtfully as she scooped up tiny bites of the pudding with her chopsticks, holding up the saucer with her left fingertips.

There was quite a lot to think about here, and with the meal had, and the time to savor the pudding, Yume intended to get some thinking done.

To begin with, there was this strange place that they were this time. It wasn't the most imperative thing to think about, but it was, to her, the most immediate for the moment. Ancolyte was probably right about this place; there were still people of some sort somewhere, and someone was using the machinery in the distance that was staining the sky all manner of unnatural colors. Still, something told her that the forest was the place to go for the moment- partly for the ease of some members of the group, namely Lycrios and Aidan, and partly because she herself was rather leery of anyone that unconcerned with what they were doing to their own health, much less the surrounding environment. A few moments on that, and she firmed her decision, having no reason to change it- she would continue to the forest.

The others would probably follow her, feeling that the group should stay together.

Yume wasn't sure what she thought of that. The only ones she could really see to have a good reason for following her were Aidan and Boolean. Aidan was a bit crazy, but not in so bad a way, and he found her not only a friend to have around, but quite entertaining. Given that he seemed to have nothing else to do but entertain himself, that gave him plenty of reason to follow her- and she didn't mind, really. Aidan, she knew, could not only take care of himself, but thrived on the sort of wierdness that tended to follow her around. That was no worry.

Boolean had at once a better and a worse reason. Namely, Yume was the only person he knew who was around- at least, as far as she could tell. She'd felt, from shortly after their first meeting, in that timespace-hopping Inn, that Boolean was a kindred spirit- and not because they both had an incredible speed inborn to them. Somehow, she could feel that Boolean, like herself, had been more or less tossed around by life. That he, also, had had to face situations where mere hope and gumption weren't enough. That he too understood that the words to the song should not have been 'but if you try sometimes, you get what you need', but rather, 'but if you try sometmies, you might survive well enough to try again'. One could always have hope, and that was good- but it wasn't enough. Not that things would always end out badly, or even most of the time- but there *were* times when they did, and when you really got down to it, all you could do was keep it from happening again if you were lucky. She had learned this, and she believed that the feline man had learned it as well.

Boolean could take care of himself- to a point. He had speed, after all, and a very quick wit. Not as excessive a speed as her own, but certainly plenty, and he definitely had a much better head for people than she did. But... with the way they were going.... she hated to admit it, but unless Boolean had a few tricks she didn't know of (which was certainly not out of the question), he would be right about his ability to help in the event that Kry'tull was around.

The others, she could understand why they might want to come along, but not why they did. Zado was more or less lost, and supposedly, one direction would be as good as another for him, but why the same direction as her? She wasn't sure she wanted to know. The reptile (for all her scales, tail, and wallcrawling ability, Yume was not, actually, a lizard) was not distinctly unpleasant to be around. He was more of a neutral presence, someone that was there, and dealt with it, and didn't do especially much to hamper or aid others. He relied, she thought, perhaps a bit too heavily on his high technology, but he was at least able to stay out of trouble, and deal with what came his way.

Lycrios honestly confused Yume. How what was effectively a druid had wound up arrogant and yet mysteriously sharp-minded was beyond her. He had happened by on a job, and solely on the fact that Aidan was choosing to come with her, Lycrios had decided to as well. Completely abandoned his job, whatever it was, in order to go have an adventure and kick monster butt. She had tried to make it clear that this was not by any means a sightseeing trip, and that if he got in it deep enough, he'd wind up much more permanently removed than any previous death, but somehow, she didn't think it had totally registered on the lycanthrope.

Galen, as near as she could tell, was coming along out of sheer whim. The man seemed to know very little of manners, having taken a language straight out of Ancolyte's head without even trying to communicate what he was actually going to do. Furthermore, he tended not to speak much, if at all, and had little to say- which could be a sign of thoughtfulness, or a sign of an empty head. She was reserving opinion on which that was until she saw more of the man actually doing things.

The robot who had crawled out of the scrap metal upon which they'd landed was really odd, to her. He stood much better of a chance if he attempted to operate on his own- he had no need for the extra risk associated with her, and gained nothing she could even vaguely imagine from coming along. As to the android itself, she was also reserving opinion.

Ancolyte... what he had said earlier, as they ate... Ancolyte really bothered Yume now. At first, he had worried her by being immediately likeable before even speaking. She had quickly given up on worrying about that- she'd had to change her mind on people that had been friends before, and knew she could do so again, if it came down to it. Then had been the thing with that angel-creature. When Ancolyte had destroyed it, he had shown absolutely no effort at all, not even seeming to bother paying especial attention to it- aside from words of pity. His attitude towards the event- not so much the pity for the apparently delusional creature, but the manner it seemed to spring from- was somewhat disturbing. What he had said now at the dinner table was still moreso. What had seemed at first a slightly odd priest of some sort was quickly turning into something Yume saw as supremely dangerous.

Father Ancolyte appeared to be a religious fanatic.

Yume had grown up in a place of gods and religions, of competition between faiths for the beliefs and prayers of ordinary people. A place where, in some parts, people would kill for finding belief in a different deity, and where others would willingly die out of it. The problems with religious fanatics were many. Among other things, they often were granted power by their deities, they rarely listened to others' viewpoints enough to be reasonable, and worst of all, they tended to make you think they were much less dangerous than they really were.

Yume had been wary of Ancolyte before- now she was really on edge about him. Not in a constant nervousness, but she was sharply aware that the man was effectively a multi-kiloton nuclear weapon on legs walking around with a hair trigger concealed somewhere that somebody might hit without realizing what they were doing. Of course, seeing what he had done to the angel-thing, she was now stuck with him tagging along- at least for the time being.

The last foot or so of her tail lashed slowly, lacquered wood clinking against thin china, and she set the empty saucer down, chopsticks across it, and murmured something in that odd language she used now and again.

Of course, there was something going on more dangerous than Ancolyte- and that fact only enhanced the man's own threat. Just, not enough to elevate him beyond it. Namely- Kry'tull.

She still had no guarantee that Kry'tull was back- or still around, depending on how one looked at it. For all that she knew, that landscape that she had encountered the Protoss-like Elite on could have been the same world as the mountain that she had been used to bind Kry'tull within-

No. That was a fool's way to think. She would have to make sure, otherwise, she'd be leaving It around, consuming and Undoing all....

******

"City city, little city, such a pretty little city..."

She regretted that her charge had wound up dying. She had been so sure that she would be able to survive in that situation, but no- circumstance and an unusual foe had made an end of that. She had to try again- and so she was doing.

The short, blue-eyed redhead sat in a chair by the cradle, and looked out of the bay window of her Rhode Island home. Paragon... she belonged in Paragon, for some reason. Maybe it had to do with the spawn of this world's Thor, maybe the one who had encountered The Entity, or maybe just because here she fit.

Peering into the crib, she grinned at her blue-skinned, blonde-haired child, and resumed her murmuring lullalow.

******

"So. Decay is now following the Rain Dragon...."

Another nodded, then licked one hand, rubbing it over her muzzle as if to clean a spot off. "So odd, from this side seeing. Yes? Perhaps of it, our view is wrong?"

A heavy grating chuckle came from the big one- the Big one. "That is always possible, and we try to account for it, Indigo. None are perfect." Eyes like two huge crystals peered through the darkness at something that could have been a scrying pool, could have been a crystal ball, could have been a set of gates, or a well, or a colendar, or a screen....

"Mmm- true, true." Indigo half-mewled, and then featureless green eyes caught on something. "This place they are at.... isn't it-"

"Yes. The Overlanders and the Mobians. It will be interesting if Harinezumi encounters Rain Dragon. Perhaps they will have a contest of sorts?" This speaker wore a black cloak, the hood pulled back. Pale skin laden with thin scars, yellow eyes, sky-blue hair.

"Doubtful. It is not the way of Croquet to give Rain Dragon a glimpse of the center of a place while she is there." Big one. "Possible... but not likely. No, I worry more if they meet the Rotten Egg."

"Not our concern at the moment." This from a small woman with wings. Green hair, loose, and eyes that appeared to be rough-cut emeralds. "No, we should be worrying about the Worm, and the other pieces. Worm is seeking Rain Dragon. I do not think that Decay will really try to stop Worm, and instead Worm will meet Void- and that is troublesome."

Black cloak replied. "We can hope that Croquet will be there, when Worm meets Void- and that may stop things entirely. Is that not so, Se-mmph!"

Wings and green held her hand over black cloak's mouth for a moment, glancing about, then took it away. "Have a care, Battery. True names here are dangerous, on this side."

Battery chewed the inside of her cheek, the cat-head shape on her forehead glowing breifly. "True... I am sorry, Emerald."

"Forgotten. We need to know how to guide the others, now, to make things happen as they must... and hope that Rain Dragon is as we believe..."

"Direct intervention, the prohibition is irritating..." Indigo commented, splaying her claws, tail lashing slowly. "Still it is useful, guidance from afar. To bring her in, the Final yet?"

Emerald shook her head. "No... my heir must come before Final, and she is not yet ready. We will have to play this carefully."

******

Aidan looked at Yume with both eyes- she knew, because she had surprised him, and she could feel that he was completely looking at her now. It would have raised some questions, her asking to speak to him aside and alone, but she had made it patently obvious that she was intending to lay some sort of responsibility on him, which caused most of the others to shy off from eavesdropping like the plague.

Boolean, at least, hadn't needed any convincing to stay behind.

"Could I have that again?" He asked, for the briefest of times, totally surprised.

Yume grumbled, and continued in the irritated tone of voice she'd started off with. "I said, I c'n give ya some o' my blood. I seen yer gettin' a bit antsy, an' ya keep commentin' about wantin' blood. So I figger, 's somethin' I c'n do about it, so I should."

Aidan paused, thinking about it. "Okay, and you wanted to drag me way off the side about it because...?" Then he had to stare a bit. It was hard to tell in the dark, even for him, particularly because she had scales, but Yume seemed to be blushing a bit.

"....'cos y'd hafta kiss me fer it. Er I'd hafta kiss you. 'Bout th' only place t' bite on me as won' break yer fang again's my tongue." She shifted slightly, tail lashing broadly. She didn't *want* to kiss anyone right now, but if Aidan needed blood....

She never had been that good at putting herself before others.

"Well, gee, how could I turn down an offer like that, from such a pretty girl?" Yume was amazed the man could say that with a straight face, and started to scowl.

"Great, I make 'n offer ta help, an' yer gonna tease me 'bout it?" Yume snorted. Still, she didn't walk off- Aidan hadn't given an answer at all yet. "Mebbe I should jus' ferget about it, huh?"

"Oh, I dunno." Dreiks commented. This was pretty damn amusing, if he did say so himself. Who would have thought- Yume was a bit of a prude! "I can see why you'd want to, after all, I *am* reckoned quite a good kisser. Word must have gotten around a bit better than I thought."

The scowl deepened. "Yer not that self-absorbed, an' you know I know it. Ya know what? Ferget this, I'm goin', yer obviously not takin' th' thought serious-" She stopped when Aidan grabbed her wrist. Yes, she could have pulled free, or kicked his nose in or something, but he usually didn't do things without some sort of good reason, even if nobody else would have a clue what the reason was at that time. Or any other time for that matter.

Carefully, he turned her to face him, and peered at her with his one eye, then, on a whim, lifted the eyepatch, and peered with both eyes.

Stunningly, Yume refused to even flinch, looking into one eye and one hovering flame. "What?"

From the way she was chewing the inside of her cheek, the agitated lashing of her tail, and shuffling of her feet, as well as what he could see, Aidan drew a conclusion, lowering the eyepatch. "Well, I'm quite flattered, my dear." He said, causing Yume to give him what is commonly known as 'the hairy eyeball'. "You'd give your first kiss to nutty old Aidan Dreiks? My, my."

Yume winced, and grumbled. She didn't like admitting the concept- but it would be, if he did. Which, of course, only elevated the discomfort of kissing someone you didn't see like that. It took an effort to keep from ducking her head entirely.

So, she was a little startled when Aidan, passing by her, patted her lightly on the cheek. "Now, now, I'm good for a while yet. I'm not far gone enough to bother you that way..."

Yume visibly relaxed, her tail settling into a gentler motion.

"Yet." Aidan added, from about two inches behind Yume's left ear, completely restoring all the tension in her body, and causing her tail to whip out. As he ducked the reflexive blow that she pulled, Aidan chuckled, and made his merry way back to the campsite, leaving Yume to grumble and sort herself out in the dark distance as she stared at the flickering light, and wonder just how pitiful it really was that after over 350 years of life not in stasis total, she'd still never even liked anyone like that.

******

"What is it, Uncle Chuck?"

"Well, Sonny, there's some new people up here, very strange ones at that. Looks like a couple or three overlanders, a robot, some sort of alien, and... I'm not sure. A Gecko? That's leaving out the floating overlander and the wolf- that's lower-case, but HUGE."

"Damn. We're gonna have another one of those mix-ups on our hands, aren't we? I hope we get there before Buttnik. Alright, thanks for the heads-up. Gotta motor."

"You take care of yourself, Sonny."

A white-gloved hand flipped the switch, and the comm array operator turned and stepped into the next room.

"Sal, ol' gal, you ain't gonna believe what's headed our way..."

******

Having finished recomposing herself, Yume stepped back into the 'encampment', ignoring Aidan's amused glance.

"Awright, folks, I dunno 'bout you all, but I'm turnin' in. You all get ta figger out who's watchin' when if you wanna do that, I don' ever bother. Anyone got any questions left, keep 'em fer mornin'. An' put th' fire out when yer done decidin', I can't sleep with a light on."

That said, Yume pulled out a small wad of cloth, flapped her arm to unfurl it into a large, thick sleeping bag, and set it up. Not even bothering to take off her boots, she slipped into it, and turned away from the fire, waiting for everyone to quiet down so she could go to sleep.

*********************

((Okay. Time to post all evening conversation post-dinner, and, if applicable, what you do while everyone who sleeps is sleeping.

Sorry about the hiatus, a combination of life-administered beatdowns struck while the idea was still refusing to finish forming enough to post.

Needless to say, things are back on track now.

Post well, and don't worry about trying to post fast.

-Kameno Reiko))

[ June 27, 2005, 11:16 PM: Message edited by: The Willful Wanderer- Reiko Kameno ]

[Repster™]

Aidan took a place facing the opposite direction the sun had set. Making sure nobody would be in front of him. More often then not he began his day with the rise of the sun, and ended it with it’s setting. Sitting there he closed his eyes and relaxed his body as much as he could.

Sleep would have been welcomed right now, but it was not to be. He never had been able to sleep properly. Even as a mortal half his nights were spend awake, or else he was unconscious from having gotten piss drunk. That was one thing he missed from those days. Being able to force sleep on himself. Aside from that he truly needed to relax or wear out his body to be able to have blissful sleep. Neither was truly possible right now. What could relax him would keep one or more awake, and his body was hard to wear out.

Water, a puddle, a pond. A clear calm pond, smooth mirror like water. Not a single ripple in the lake. An ocean of water as far as the mind's eye to see, and nothing to disturb it. Not a sound, not even a thought. Just the simple water. This was the only thing in Aidan's mind. Pure serene emptiness. Then, a thought, like a skipping stone flashed across it and the ripples where endless. No, this would never do. That part of his life was long gone, he could no longer rely on the old methods.

Fire. Yes, that worked. A simple candle flame. Soft and flickering in the dark void. A campfire to warm all around. More, fire to burn a house, fire to burn the world. A small star, a sun, the largest star of all. The all consuming fire that began his life, and the universe itself. There it was, nothing but pure fire was in his mind. The softly flickering flames. Never the same as before, and never the same again. Thoughts drifted in and out, but they where only a part of the flow.

He stayed like that for some time, his inactive state further being instilled as he snuffed out the fire with a thought once everybody was properly settled down. Now he was no longer noticed. The only thing left where memories. One would need to look straight at him to tell where he was, and even then the common eye wanted to slip away and see nothing. His breathing was no longer heard by even Lycrios. Truth is, he no longer did breath. His heart slowed. blood no longer pumped, it flowed threw his veins like a river. Not a sound to be heard, not a movement to be seen. Even the very heat of his body adjusted perfectly into it's setting.

That only went one way, for himself, he notice all. Every sound, every movement, every scent. None that did not concern him registered fully, but they were there tucked away in the recesses of his mind.

[Sarai and Samiel]

((OY! WAKEY WAKEY! Did you really think I was going to let this slide away into nothing?

Zado, Lycrios, Galen, Slife... POST!!!!!

-Reiko.))

[Lycrios]

As he sat back against his long time companion, Lycrios’ trail of thought began to wander. Recent events flooded his mind like a constant river of turmoil. Rare were the times when he lost the sent of something, even rarer when he lost the track altogether. There was only one explanation that came to his mind, and this meant a little chatting with a certain individual in the midst of the group. He stopped with his nervous habit of playing with the ring on his finger and looked around. Even though this small action wasn’t interpreted as anything to most of the group, the monk, who had traveled with Lycrios for countless years knew what this meant. Even more so when Lycrios’ gaze rested upon him. The monk slowly trotted in the direction of the now standing man. Both then made their way a decent distance from the makeshift campsite, not before Aidan made a motion of the hand to everyone not to worry. When both were far enough, Lycrios let out his concern to the monk.

“I’ve lost a sent,” said Lycrios, the simple words hiding more to them. Aidan nodded, knowing what this meant. “So, I’ll need your help with this. Plane jumpers aren’t actually my specialty. That is why I need your help to get back on his trail monk, but I see that you are set on staying around this bunch. Mention of anything powerful to your ears is bound to get your attention. It will get you killed one day, you know that?”

“Bah, like you don’t like to test your strength every now and then?” asked the monk, of course knowing that he had struck a nerve in what he had always thought of as a brother. He knew Lycrios very well, more than the black-haired man would ever admit. “So, if I’m hearing you correctly, you’ll tag along until this thing is over, then you want to finish this job of yours right?” asked the monk, waiting for Lycrios to nod before continuing. “And you have no gain in this?” questioned Aidan, with a growing smile as Lycrios expectedly looked away for the briefest of moments. Aidan chuckled as he always did. He knew Lycrios was fond of the great battles, and he thrived to find creatures of great power to test his own. But still, the monk could also feel the worry in him, although this was hard for him to detect, even for the monk. Lycrios was not one to get worried quickly, but facing a new challenge always had the chance of failure.

Although only a few words were exchanged between the two, much more had been said. A hidden promise had been made between the two to stick to this new quest to the end, then to return to their lives, or whatever was left of it after this. How many times had they recklessly ran off to adventure to find themselves faced up against creatures which could destroy them with a very thought. Still, they had come out victorious in those battles. But this one, this one would be different. How Lycrios knew this did not matter, but he knew that this was no ordinary adventure. This would have repercussions that would haunt him forever afterwards, that is, if he survived.

He shook the thoughts from his mind. He never liked to think of his demise. Although it had happened before, he knew that this Kry’tull had the power to actually end his existence eternally. How he had worked to keep his realm, and others, from such a destruction. He could not let this happen, he would not. Lycrios was a prideful creature indeed, but this had sometimes proven to be an unfortunate characteristic in the past. Then something caught his ear. He thought he had heard something moving from within the giant towers of steel and debris, but he could not be sure. These things looked unstable as they were, and it looked plausible that things could easily slip off them. Then another sound strengthened his suspicions that something was within the towers. The low growl form his trusted companion, almost inaudible to many (except maybe Yume, although in slumber) was all he needed to make his way back to the camp in long strides, quickly followed by the monk. Although the monk did share his attuned sense of smell and earring, Lycrios’ far exceeded that of the monks. Still, he knew the monk had heard Nightstrike’s growl, for it had been a signal many times before.

It was evident that Lycrios was in a hurry when he walked back into the light of the fire. This caught the attention of the ones who were still awake. Lycrios walked next to his companion, almost ignoring the ones around him, although he always kept an eye on the priest. His ways were not as distant from that of a cleric he had once ventured with. This cleric had proven to be of somewhat maniacal tendencies, and although Lycrios could not know if this was true of the priests of these realms, it had been one of the only holy figures that he had ever had a chance to travel with. Lycrios was still uneasy around this one. Still, he made his way next to Nightstrike and whispered something in the giant wolf’s ear. It began to sniff the air around it, as did Lycrios. Lycrios seemed to converse with the creature, although no words were spoken. Then Lycrios made his way to Aidan. He was still weary of approaching the others just yet, and Aidan being the only familiar being around, was the choice to divulge this information to.

“Something’s lurking about. I know you can feel them. I smell them quite distinctively now. How I did not catch their sent earlier is beyond me. I was too troubled by the thought of the hunt,” whispered Lycrios, his head lowered to reach down to the shorter Aidan. “Be ready, I do not know if they are hostile of not yet, but I do know they have a certain intelligence, I can tell from the patterns their from which they are moving. They can hide their bodies, but even with this filthy smoke about, I can still distinguish their smell clearly. Be ready for anything,” was his final words before the monk added with a smile, “Aren’t I always?”

[ July 05, 2005, 11:33 AM: Message edited by: Lycrios ]

[Boolean]

Boolean sat back and sighed contentedly, a few empty plates before him the only remnants of the sumptuous meal he'd consumed. The expression didn't draw much attention, if any -- in fact, nothing he'd done since describing his recent past had stood out in anyone's mind.

Oh, he'd listened politely to the banter about him, and responded where appropriate. But the lanky feline got the distinct impression that the light dinner and after-dinner conversation was a thin cover, a veneer put up by each individual diner, to cover for something else.

Everyone seemed preoccupied, distant, to some degree or other. Given the quest ahead of them, hanging above them as ominous as a guillotine blade, the lion-cheetah couldn't blame them in the least. It was a sombering prospect, unpleasant to even ponder, much less to discuss.

Boolean frowned slightly at that. Were they indeed pondering... that? He started to wonder. It was true that Yume and Aidan had stepped aside to discuss strategy and duties, or something of the sort, and Ancolyte had reflected on the fate that would unroll before them just before he'd started his solitary pacing. But the werewolf's and prince's eyes, and for as much as he could read the alien expressions, perhaps even the Elite's, all seemed to be turned inwards.

A rounded lion ear twitched amongst a loose thatch of unruly mane, and the rest of Boolean's head soon followed, to watch Aidan return... alone, with a slight amused grin on his face. Boolean's eyes widened with concern -- what had happened to the only one of the group he knew and trusted? -- but before he could voice it, Yume returned as well. The slender reptile was walking calmly and her expression was even, but the tip of her tail was twitching irritatedly behind her. He'd known and worked with her long enough to know that she was tense over something. Just what had transpired?

As if anticipating questions along that exact vein, and not wanting to deal with them, Yume sighed and addressed the group. "Awright, folks, I dunno 'bout you all, but I'm turnin' in. You all get ta figger out who's watchin' when if you wanna do that, I don' ever bother. Anyone got any questions left, keep 'em fer mornin'. An' put th' fire out when yer done decidin', I can't sleep with a light on." She promptly laid herself down to sleep.

Aidan moved a short distance away, as if nothing had happened, and reposed for what appeared to be some sort of meditation. Perhaps it was the closest he came to sleep; Boolean had gathered the man to be a monk of some sort. Ancolyte started to softly hum a hymn, and Galen reposed on his back, staring up at the faintly-visible smog overhead.

Almost nobody seemed to be sleeping, and yet, nobody seemed to be in a watchful state of mind.

"I'll take the first watch," Boolean quietly volunteered, reluctant to break the uneasy peace. "This land is a few hours ahead of my schedule at the pub," he explained to unlistening ears. He stood and took up the long pipe he'd claimed as a weapon, and started pacing slowly around the camp, eyes cast outward.

The moon was full and bright, but veiled as it was in smog, only a faint gray light was let through to pick out the edges of the rubbish around them once the fire had been extinguished. The feline's keen eyes reflected a very faint yellow-green from the light, helping him to see the details around him. There was no breeze, and almost no ambient noise to interfere with his watch, though an occasional creak or groan from some debris cooling and contracting in the night caused him to spin around more than once.

Boolean didn't mind the false alarms. They helped keep him alert and focussed on his watch duty. He couldn't afford to let his mind wander into its own introspection. His new companions' welfare depended on it.

That, and he knew he wouldn't like what he saw.

The group didn't actually depend on his watch duty, he realized with a slight grimace-smirk. All of them carried themselves with the self-assurance of someone who can do anything they want or need to do, and with the calm poise of a soul who has existed for centuries. Mortality wasn't something that concerned them as it did him. They didn't seem limited by the fragility of flesh, the weakness of --

Another noise brought Boolean's head about. It was footsteps, perhaps running footsteps. He jogged forward to meet it, moving silently on feline grace with his makeshift staff held in front of him, ready to strike if needed.

He stopped short when he recognized Lycrios' big frame, moving toward Aidan's place of repose. In the calm night, his ears easily picked out the hunter's warning: they were not alone.

Boolean pursed his lips and moved to the nearest mound of refuse, trying to gain a higher vantage point. If there really were more than a few beings approaching them, he wanted to be able to see them as early as possible, to parley or to fight or just to awaken the others.

[Sarai and Samiel]

((Okay, I've heard from Galen, but...

ZADO! SLIFE!!! I know you're out there!

Post, or do something to let me know you're still posting here!

-Reiko))

[Slife]

OOC: You needed a reason for him to tag along?

Ghona suddenly sat up out of the “trance” he had been in. His energy stores were high enough already, and he was more concerned with being able to record how the magic worked and then analyze it. He'd ruled out the whole thing being pre-planned; it was obvious that the group had, for the most part, never met each other, and it was e19 against everyone being gathered together just for the purposes of this demonstration, so that was out too. So far, the most likely explanation was another, controlled, dimensional rift – food didn't just appear out of nowhere. He wasn't satisfied at all with the answer he had come up with, however, and he planned to watch more of these in action. There was also the small matter of the reality devouring worm that had been mentioned. It was certainly unlikely, but the risk was too great to discard out of hand without more information. Because learning more about both of them would require the group (or, at least, two of its members) to remain alive, he came to a conclusion.

“I'll take the second watch through morning.”

He motioned at the surrounding junk, saying to Boolean “If you don't mind, I'll seal us from prying eyes,”
The view of the outside went dim, then took a mirror sheen, then returned to normal. “I've set it to absorb light going out. Any hawk-eyed prowler who looks around will see a black sphere instead of us.”

Ghona lay down, and put himself in standby/repair, setting a timer to bring him out when second watch came around. The forcefield generator was absorbing almost enough light to power itself, so he wouldn't get drained by it.

[ July 21, 2005, 10:58 PM: Message edited by: Slife remembers the Home ]

[Boolean]

((OOC: I guess Silfe or I killed it. Either that, or Reiko's vanished off the face of the earth, but I really hope that's not it..))

[Slife]

Originally posted by Boolean:
((OOC: I guess Silfe or I killed it. Either that, or Reiko's vanished off the face of the earth, but I really hope that's not it..))

I PMed Reiko about this. The message is still unread, and it's been a fortnight.

[Lycrios]

((I shall be lurking in the shadows in the meantime. I can't really bring myself to come back fully to this place yet. Just to much work. But I can still find a way to post in this topic.))

[Sarai and Samiel]

((Aaaaand I'm back. Again. Life is not being friendly, in general. Grr. But, I'm managing to make time to post here, so I'll edit it into this post. And where the heck is Zado, anyways?))

*****************

Elsewhere....

Somewhere out in space, in a place where gravity has no meaning, where there is no such thing as traction.... something, somehow, was managing to pretend there is, and succeed. Something ancient, something deadly. Something... huge.

It did not think, per se. This thing was not a planner, was not a schemer. This thing was something that would see, and react. Much like an animal, no forethought, no thought of the past. But in this case, it was not because it couldn't think of the future or the past. Instead, it was because it simply did not matter.

Several miles long, a full thirty yards wide.... there would be little in reality that could actually affect the thing in any meaningful way, not just from its size, but from its incredible durability. It could go where it wanted, could do what it wanted... could eat what it wanted.

Yes.... it would eat what it wanted. It wanted to eat everything. Not just everything, but everywhere. And then it would eat every Where, and there wouldn't be any Where left- except for it. Maybe then it would eat itself. It didn't think about it, though, no... its concern was with eating everything and every Where it could. And yet.... there was an order it wanted. Yes.... something it wanted to eat *first*, to consume as soon as possible. Something it should have devoured long ago...

Some would liken this thing to the great C'thulhu. They would be both right, and very, very wrong. The great Elder God had a concept of Time, of Rest, of Wait. This thing had none- and was worse for it. C'thulhu existed outside of All, beyond More, possibly even out of reach of Again or New. This thing originated within the Nowhere, but existed inside All- and was not so bad for it. In the end, one would be hard-put to say which was less favorable- the patient, lurking End that would devour all with an immeasurably slow swiftness, and could never be fought; or the solid, tangible End that had no concept of patience, consuming at its own rate, and could be balked- but never stopped.

But, this thing was being specific. It didn't take the time to consume any Where right then, for devouring Where would not make it more capable of eating... that. That which it had failed to ingest. That which had stopped it, for a time. That which it had failed to eat.

That which called herself Yume.

A momentary sensation- it... the Devouring Worm.... Kry'tull, some called it, did not know where these sensations came from. Did not know why it had them now. But it knew somehow that they were telling it where she was. Feeling that sensation, it turned... headed that way.

It would finish that first meal. It would. If it had to rip Hole in all of the realities of All, it would reach her, and consume her.

It could never be stopped again.

******

"We are watching, he knows."

"Hrm." the Big one grated. "Or thinks he does."

Battery snorted. "Let him. So he knows someone is here. He knows not our nature, reason, or intent."

"That way, then, let us keep it." Returned Indigo, with a sharp look. "To pretend we do not know you are willing to influence the steel harinezumi, a great egotism would be. Try it not."

A grumble was the reply.

"Oooooooooooohhhhhh, whatcha lookin' at?" From above- Emerald looked up.

"Greetings, croquet. Do try not to... oh, dear. Now it's custard."

"A scrying-pool is not supposed to be white," Big one mused, "But so long as we may see in it, small matter."

Poke. Poke poke.

"One more try, and I'll break your finger, Croquet."

"Oooooooh, cranky alkaline!" Crowed the new arrival, and made a face at Indigo- who returned one of her own. Giggling, Croquet polka-ed up into nothing and away.

"For that visit, the reason, what it is, I wonder?" Indigo whispered, tail lashing excitedly.

"Sore wa...."

All the others turned to look at the suddenly-there Croquet, a good forty feet below the not-floor they weren't standing on.

"...himitsu desu!" She crowed, and then dived into her own handbag, which fell away into nothing.

"I should never have let her see those tapes." Grumbled Battery. "Oh, look, they're waking up. Let us gaze into the bowl full of custard and observe." This last with a grimace, gesturing to the large bowl which they had been looking at.

"Don't much like the amusement?" Questioned Big one.

"Oh, shut it."

******

With a sound not entirely unlike someone flicking a sheet of rubber with one finger, the obscuring dome disappeared. It seemed to be morning- at least, the sun had risen- and Ghona had concluded that the group wanted to be on their way as soon as possible, yes?

Without the light-absorbing properties of the dome, it suddenly became a bit brighter in the area, as if a cloud had passed from before the sun. It hadn't, of course, because there were no clouds in the sky over the machine graveyard. It didn't seem like there were EVER clouds over the machine graveyard, with the occasional exception of a lone, wispy stratus. Not exactly the most pleasant weather, given an environs composed nearly two thirds of shiny, reflective metal, perfect for putting the sun right into your eyes, and administering sunburn to anyone capable.

Yume might never discover the latter property, as scales do not sunburn, but she sure as hell got an eyeful of the former property when she opened her eyes, instinctively waking at the higher light level. With a groan, she rolled over, the very picture of the reluctant, slow waker who would be perfectly happy with the sun not rising until somewhere about noon.

That image lasted for all of three seconds, and then she was getting up and out of the bag, completely wide awake, and stretching her arms a little bit. Her legs wouldn't need it- walking, particularly in uncertain, junky terrain like this, made for a great stretch itself. Turning about, she noted that Ghona seemed to be on watch, Boolean was rubbing his eyes and making a bit of a fuss about the light, though a quiet one (Yume guessed the cheetah-lion-man wasn't quite awake just yet), Aidan had his eyes open and was watching the sun strain to break free of the horizon, and the others were mostly just sitting there.

"Breakfast would be nice." Lycrios grunted. Not disgruntled, just... hungry.

"Yes, it would." Yume deadpanned- and did nothing about it.

With a shrug, the lycanthrope dismissed the subject the rest of the way, to the possible consternation of his stomach, and rose. "Someone is watching us." He said. "Many of them. They don't want us to know they are.... and they seem to be intelligent. They've been lurking about the trashheaps all night."

"Aright." Answered Yume. "An' the reason you didn' do anything is...?"

"They didn't. I don't know what they want or intend of or towards us." He shrugged, and ran his hand over his- no, not his wolf. The wolf. Over the wolf's shaggy shoulders.

Yume nodded. About what she would have done- she'd expected the lycanthrope, with all his talk of having died before and come back, as though it were nothing big, to be a bit more... rash, perhaps. Good to see he wasn't too trusting in his supposed irremovability.

"They're alive. Or part of them is." Aidan threw over his shoulder.

"Mm-hmm." The scaled woman grunted, noncommitally. Stepping over to Boolean, she crouched down and shook him gently by the shoulder. "'Ey. 'Ey, Boo. 'S mornin', Boo. Ya gotta wake up."

The feline cracked an eye open. "Huzzum?" He mumbled.

"Wakey-wakey time, fuzzy. We gotta keep movin'." Yume paused, glancing at the others, who were all going about their own morning wake-up activities. "I think you 'n I 're just 'bout th' only ones in this li'l group haveta sleep. C'mon, can' go 'bout doin' it all day. There's walkin' ta be done."

While Boolean muttered something about being 'up already' and 'ready in a minute', Yume stood, smirking slightly, though it disappeared fairly quickly.

"Awright, I know breakfast'd be nice. I'm hungry too, ya know. But I ain' just got an in'fnite number a' them banquet spheres, so we're gonna hafta make do with a light breakfast. I know I don' got anythin' on me fer you, Lyc, but anyone who wants 'em, I gotta whole lotta these 'Quaker Granola Bar' thingies, picked 'em up on a sale somewhere 'r other. Kinda salty, but they keep for-freakin'-ever. An' they are good."

So saying, she pulled one of the small bars out, expertly parting the wrapper and taking a bite. Wielding the food in her right hand, she reached up with her left, and ran her fingers through her hair, neatening it up a little- not that it needed much. Despite being very thick and fine-stranded, Yume's hair seemed to be very resistant to tangling and mussing.

"Soon's ever'ones ready, we're movin' out, 'kay? Gonna be walkin' again. I figger we'll reach th' forest edge 'round about noonish er so.... not sure how long th' day is here." Her tail, as ever, maintained a slow, loose lashing, positively refusing the possibility of staying still. As she waited, she continued to munch on the granola bar.

******

"What's th' word, Rotor?"

"Well, the strange field is down- I have no idea how they projected it. It's not something that egg-head has ever done before, and it was stable, so I'm pretty sure this isn't an experiment of his."

"Good news comin' out of the scrap heap for once, huh? That's something different."

"I'll say." A third one. "I wonder if he knows about this yet?"

"Ah'll jus' hope he du'nt." Piped up a fourth. "Ah can' think ah nothin' worse 'n us gettin' sum good news, onlay fer him tah up an' ruin it, ya know."

"We'll hope not, Bunny. We'll hope not."

******

"Sir," Came the whiny, thin voice. "The SWATbots are in position around the unknown intruders. They... they're not Mobian, sir."

"Weelll.... That will make things most interesting, won't it Snively?"

"Yes, Sir. How soon should we spring the trap, sir?"

"I want to be in the area when you do it. I'm taking off. Send the order as soon as I get within a quarter-mile. I should get there just in time to see what happens."

"Yes, Sir."

"Raaawk!"

************************************************** *******************************

((Okay. So.... life is now trying very hard to beat my head in with a sledgehammer. I can manage to check regularly, but I can't guarantee the ability to post each time without taking a chunk out of something else. If neccessary, though, I will take a chunk out of something else, just so I can continue this. Believe me, I feel awful about having let it stagnate for so long.

Here's Hoping,
Reiko.))

[ October 05, 2005, 12:55 PM: Message edited by: The Willful Wanderer- Reiko Kameno ]

[Repster™]

Aidan smiled as Yume mention food. One analogy of a human’s stomach is the furnace that fuels the body. In Aidan’s case, the comparison was much more evident. As for what she offered, it provided far less efficient fuel then his flask. Which he promptly took a swig from.

He rose from his sitting position ignoring his body’s protests. However, by the time he was on his feet, his body felt like it had gone threw a nice long stretch. It always did adapt and adjust itself to new situation quickly. A welcomed side effect of his regeneration.

Unlike some of the others, the reflected light did not hamper him. It enhanced his senses, and sunlight was always a wonderful secondary source of strength to him. He grabbed a handful of nuts, bolts, nails, and other small metallic pieces. Rolling them around in his hand he walked back in more or less the middle of the ground and began working them. Soon it was nothing but a glob of molten metal. Liquid Metal hot enough that could sear threw flesh and bone, yet he moulded like child with putty. He hummed softly as he did so, was not building anything in particular. He just wanted to make something, so he let his hands work unguided by the mind.

He chuckled as the heat drained into his flesh and the metal cooled. A rose, strange thing to make. Oh well, he tucked it behind his ear took another swig of his flask and started walking.

[Boolean]

((I'm glad to see you're still alive, Reiko. I was starting to wonder!))

Boolean groaned softly and covered his eyes with one large paw to shield them from the too-bright colours of dawn. The sun was supposed to be a rainbow of pleasing colours as it breached the horizon, not a smog-induced yellow-white as bright as midmorning.

"Wakey-wakey time, fuzzy. We gotta keep movin'."

The feline masked a slight smirk behind his arm, and muttered something to satisfy Yume that he would be awake soon. He stretched his arms above him and his legs below him all at once, and the lion-cheetah was flexible enough that it almost looked like he was actually elongating. He propped himself up to his feet, and checked the pockets of his jeans out of habit, followed by those of the bartending apron he still wore. All the interesting toys he'd found amongst the wreckage were accounted for. Finally, he bent and reclaimed his metal staff.

He idly munched on a proffered granola bar as he looked around at his companions. True to Yume's suspicion, none of them looked to have slept, nor to have needed it, beyond him and her. Even Ghona, who had put himself on standby last night, seemed to have little need for whatever regenerative purpose the mode may have.

As they set off toward the forest, Boolean couldn't shake an uneasy feeling. Aidan and Lycrios both said they were being watched, but the feline's keen ears weren't able to pick out any sounds of life outside their party. Whoever it was could move stealthily over the junk like an eel through water.

The feline found himself staying close to Yume. She was the only one he knew, but he knew it would serve him no good to hide from the others, no matter how shy he was.

Aidan seemed to be keeping close to Yume too. Ignoring the unease that realization brought him when he recalled last night's events, Boolean smiled amicably and stepped next to the monk. "You seem to have quite a talent with metal," the cheetah started. "What sort of power is that?"

[Lycrios]

((I might not be active in the Gunjin at the moment, but I will not let this topic slip by. Count me in until the bitter end.))

He shook his head to clear the lingering thought of hunger. He could go for many a day without food, his pure survival instincts would help him through, but he didn’t like the thought of not eating. The forest, the only comforting word that chased the thought away. He didn’t know if the forest would be influenced by the surrounding graveyard of metal, he could only hope that wildlife still roamed the woods. Oh what a feast he would have if given the chance.

He followed the general direction where everyone seemed to be headed. In the lead as always was Yume, closely followed by Aidan and the cat creature. Nightsrike seemed fond of the being, as it strolled behind it. Lycrios knew that this creature reminded him of one of their old companions, one that had treated the wolf well, almost as well as Lycrios had for the many years they had traveled together. Oh so many adventures he had been on, and so many places he had seen. He smiled for he somehow knew that this would be one of these memorable adventures when he would meet many new individuals, and hopefully have fond memories such as that of his old feline friend and of course, of the lunatic monk.

He held his cloak tight against himself, making sure not to expose his skin to the damaging light. He had ventured through deserts and he knew of the stinging red skin caused by the sun’s light. Another disadvantage was that his vision was impaired due to the reflections all around him. His eyes were particularly sensitive to the light, and in this smog infested landscape, he couldn’t rely on his sense of smell as he would have when deprived of his sight. All he could do was glance through his half-shut eyes and listen to the footsteps of his companions. He felt the sudden urge to smack the monk behind the head. He heard him walk at several different locations at once, then nowhere, then behind him, although he knew he wasn’t there, then right next to his ears. The monk snickered as Lycrios growled at him, the ones around him not really understanding the nature of the growl, but not really intent of finding out. He concentrated his sight on the huge black blob in front of him he knew to be Nightstrike. As long as the wolf would be near, Lycrios could find his whereabouts with ease.

Although his hearing was concentrated on his companion’s footsteps, he still kept a slight awareness around him for any movement out of the ordinary. Whatever had made the noises the night before were still around, although now he had no clue where, or even if they were still the same things. All he knew was that his guard was up and all his senses were telling something was wrong. How he yearned for the forest in this metal wasteland, now more so than ever.

[Repster™]

Aidan turn to Boolean, his stride unaffected by walking slightly to the side, and smiled.
"Fire. Almost everything about me will come back to fire. Metal, glass, stone, you name it. If it melts, I can mold it just as easily as I did this." He tapped the rose above his ear with a smile. " When something is hot enough, it just bends to my will almost easilly as fire does. Have to admit thought, if I did not know what I was working with, it would not do as much of a good job. That's where being a blacksmith comes in handy. You just can't cool any one alloy the same way. It's like quenching a sword in cold sea water after tempering it, it just ruins the blade."

He turned around completely walking backwards. Casting a glance around in that direction to confirm what his sense told him, before looking forward again. Lycrios still had the slight problem with a lot of light. Not enough to hamper him, but just right to annoy.
"So, kitty cat, what makes you special? Right now all I know to expect is what I would form a feline, and for you to know your way around liquor. What kind of pub owner would not?" Just the fact that the feline had worked in a tavern of some sort was an immediate good impression on the monk. The only smell that really was noticeable on him was that of alcohol. Whiskey stronger then it should be to be precise.

[Galen]

Timelines were a fickle thing, ever changing, never remaining as it was. How could it? As many humans had speculated, if a butterfly were to beat its wings, a hurricane would blow harshly on the other side of the world. The Chaos effect, a radical theory, unpredictable in design. Unpredictable also, was the dissappearance of the armored one. Though of course, none in the group seemed to have noticed; it is what happens when time shifts, and the fate of two men are realigned. They no longer remembered him, had no longer any memory of his passing. A gateway did open, however, for a new straddler in the turmoil that swet all worlds, all universes, and all beyond.

A thud and a dull clang, followed soon after by a series of dwarven curses, including a very prominent 'Orc kissin' gnome-licker!', came to their ears, a ways away. Though the piles of trash were somewhat large, the smaller clefts could not hide the rather hefty looking weapon sticking out from the earth, completely unremarkable in design. A boy, seemingly no more than eighteen, rubbed his ribs disconcertingly, getting uneasilly to his feet. Kicking the sword -- nearly twice the boy's length, and most acertaedly twice his width, the blade was planted deep enough in the ground though it had only fallen from a small height, -- and cursing as he rubbed his foot. "The next time we be fallin' from a hole in th' ground, I'll be putting ye under me." He muttered, waggling a finger at his weapon. Slender in appearance, he seemed almost an elf, but the green tinge to his temples, and the green ridges on his pointed ears told otherwise. Some would think that it was a dwarf in an elf's body by the accent, a strange occurence indeed.

A golden bracer, etched with many different letterings all across its flat surface, glimmered softly as a hand went to the hilt, gripping hard as he tugged the clumsy weapon out from the earth. Dusting off the tip of the sword, the 'elf' shouldered his weapon, appearing not to have any problem lifting the thing. His eyes caught sight of something, people, walking in a loosely formed group not far from his own position. "Aye, that'd be a good place tae start if any."