A Masked Dance

[Ashbringer]

24 minutes ago, Sorana said:

He was from Roshar and had arrived here only recently. Maybe he had knews. When she had travelled there with Max, they had spent so much time on the market, and then in the highstorm, that she'd missed to get some actual news. "How is the situation on Roshar?" she asked carefully. "Especially around Iri?"

Well, you certainly got yourself into the conversation.

“I... I don’t really know. I was living on the streets of Thaylen City for a lot of the time. And... that was before I really started.” Byron waved at the bubble above their heads, still visible from within. “You know, doing this. Running from place to place. Flaring cadmium so much. Especially in the Alleys or when I got cau- got in trouble.”

He looked at his feet. “I... it’s been a long time. Too much time.”

About four hundred years.

[+Sorana]

28 minutes ago, Ashbringer said:

He looked at his feet. “I... it’s been a long time. Too much time.”

Disappointment swapped over her, stronger than she had expected. She had visited it, so that she a memory, any kind of memory apart from the orphanage, but she hadn't been able to connect these two parts of her live. Adult Althea had walked the streets and had been above all of it, her cloths telling the story of a rich Vorin lady. Child Althea had fought for bread in a dormitory.

When he mentioned the Alleys she raised an eyebrow, but didn't adress the topic, granting him his privacy. She didn't like peoply prying into her own personal matterand she had stopped doing the same. Hopefully he knew that she noticed by her obvious reaction - everything else was up to him.

"I was born there." She offered as an explanation. "Left so soon, I don't have more than a few, vague memories, so I don't really miss it either."

Running from place to place. She found herself nodding at his words, grasping what he was aiming at. "This place can turn into a home for you." Her voice was quieter than before and she looked down at her hands. Remembered holding the spike, too young to grasp what she was doing, knowing only one thing. If she followed her orders she'd have a home." Or the city would swallow him completely spit him out a corpse in one of the conflicts to come.

"If you want to - I know people around here in- and outside of the guilds. If you need some work, I might be able to get you a few names." Her hand moved up to the bubble. "Some don't care about ... quirks as long as you do your job. Just think about it - no need to decide now or tomorrow."

[I think I am here.]

On 22/05/2020 at 5:10 PM, Sorana said:

Looking at him she realized that he hadn't asked her to come along, had only spoken about himself. Knowing that she sometimes went on his nerves by tagging along when he was doing 'boy's stuff', she hesitated moved from one foot to the other. Looking up at him, she put on her best nice face and smiled. "I'll be nice, I promise. And I won't disturb you at all."

Looking at her cotton candy she pursed her lips in thought and then offered it to him heavy hearted. "And you can have my cotton candy."

Reval looked from his sister to his father to his sister again, hoping in the slightest for some event or word or situation where his father would actually need Vivi to come with him and Reval could leave alone. But there was no such event, and he knew he’d feel guilty about it later if he rejected Vivi straight off the bat, because no matter how annoying she sometimes was, she was genuine and real and that was more than he could say about anyone else.

Already making up his mind, he toyed with his little sister a bit, placing a hand on his chin, pretending to be in deep thought when she offered him the cotton candy. He made a few ‘hmms’ and ‘huhs’ for dramatics and stretched out the thinking as long as he realistically could, before smiling and leaning down a bit so he was almost at Vivi’s height.

“I’ll let you come with me,” he said, grinning. “And you can keep your cotton candy. If you promise to do all my chores for a week.” He stopped, gave her time to deliberate. It was an empty dilemma, even if she said yes he wouldn’t have her do all of his chores, just maybe one or two extra. She was far too short for some things and according to Reval, only he could wash the dishes exactly right. But he still found a little entertainment in knowing the childish turmoil his sister would now face in making a choice.

———

Max was too caught up in the moment of Vivacia getting cotton candy on her face and laughing to pay attention to anything else. He wished he’d had a video camera or something to record it for Althea, it was amazing and it suffused him with warmth to hear her happy and laughing. He held onto that moment for a while. One day, Vivacia would be an adult and have her own life and all he’d have would be these memories, but he pushed that thought back. He was here, now. In the present. And in the present, his daughter was a cute little kid who laughed at getting cotton candy on her face.

Edited May 23, 2020 by I think I am here.

[Rushu42]

Aln smiled when Ben accepted her offer. A chance to help someone, she thought. Maybe coming to this festival was a good idea, after all. She glanced at her pocket, where her spren could be seen, softly shimmering. The third ideal has something to do with helping people, right?

Pel took a moment to respond. "I don't know. I think it does. But you're not ready to swear it yet. I'm sorry."

It's fine. Aln didn't add that she had spent nearly 10 years with that response. You're not ready yet. 

She watched the conversation dance in the air, silently. I still think Eiran's hiding something.

"Oh?"

Yes. He barely answered my question, and then immediately diverted everyone's attention by revealing his name. 

"What, so you think he has something to do with the van?"

I don't know. I'm still not sure what the story around it is. But I think he's one to watch.

She turned her attention back to her acquaintances. They were talking about Roshar, now. Something about Ben's last statement bugged her. He had claimed to have come directly from Roshar just recently. But now it was too long ago? From what she knew about recent events on that planet, even the most oblivious person could hardly have failed to notice a backwards highstorm, or the return of the Voidbringers. So what - it clicked. A cadmium savant. If he had flared his cadmium before the start of the desolation, he might have been able to jump through time. He could have completely skipped the recent events.

"Seems a lot to deduce from one statement," Pel commented.

But it fits, doesn't it? 

Aln watched him as Althea offered him a job. I won't say anything about it, she decided. Not unless he brings it up. 

"I'm from Roshar as well," she mentioned. "I haven't been back in a few years, but I try to pay attention to the news. It's...not looking great, over there. The Voibringers have returned, but the Heralds have not. And the highstorms are blowing the wrong way. I don't know what's happening in Iri, specifically, but I suspect that most of the countries are in the same state of chaos. I'm sorry."

@Sorana @Ashbringer @Silva

Edited May 23, 2020 by Rushu42
My computer has decided that I may only tag one person at a time, so I have to edit it every time I want to add another.

[Ashbringer]

Quote

Long post incoming.

A job. Byron had hardly worked a day in his life. Even within Thaylen City, he didn't fit in enough to be trusted by merchants, although he had better luck than living as a darkened Alethi.

But... Althea and Aln seemed at odds about this. Byron wasn't sure why. He would have to think about it some.

He looked at the two of them. "I'd... I'd love to have a job, but... I think learning more about this place is the better place to start. I need to know what this place is before I can start a job. And maybe I can figure out this-" he waved at the bubble "-a little better."

He paused.

"There was... one thing I noticed. About Roshar. Everytime I flared, everything became different. Everyone's faces were different. Except... there was always one man who stayed the same. Never getting close, never staying around, but always showing up in the city. Watching. Dark skinned with a mark on his face. He was like a hunter. A shadow. A... darkness."

Byron's face grew a little distant. He shuddered.

"I don't think he was hunting me. I think he was after... something else."

:-:-:-:-:-:

It was a night of festivities in the Alleycity, but festivities generally led to drunken fools wandering about, getting themselves into trouble. Chekar was on patrol tonight, looking around for anyone causing mischief. He was fairly bored; he only had three more hours left on his shift, then he could hang up his badge for the night and let someone else in his small security detail do the perimeter checks. Chekar had heard of wonderful stories from the people leaving the main city; storytellers, street vendors, wonderful foods, and that special brand of chaos only the Alleyplanet and large crowds could produce.

Focus. You’re on patrol. You can go to all the parties in the world so long as you don’t get yourself court-martialed for desertion.

A can clanked from behind him. He whirled around, instinctively inhaling a touch of Stormlight. He watched as two people stumbled out of a small alleyway, another man with darting eyes raising a second can and shouting something Chekar couldn’t make out. He ran over to the group, mentally calling his highspren from her own patrol.

“And don’t come back!” the man was yelling, drunkenly throwing another empty can at the couple. Fortunately, he had terrible aim. “I don’t want anyone disturbing my home! MY home!”

Chekar approached the group cautiously, nonchalantly sticking out his hand, readying his Shardblade in case any of the individuals were more dangerous than they appeared. “What appears to be the trouble here, citizens?” he shouted over the man, letting his security uniform show. The couple didn’t even seem to notice his presence; they just kept walking back toward the city, most likely to find another place to drink. The angry man was another story.

“I don’t want ANYONE in my home! I live here! No one else! So, LEAVE!” he screeched at him. 

Chekar’s eyes narrowed. “I don’t want any trouble, sir, I just want-“

The crazy man interrupted him. “Don’t want any trouble? I don’t want ANYTHING! What gives you the authority to tell me what causes trouble?”

That does it. Chekar mentally summoned his Shardblade, snapping it into existence before the man’s open eyes. “I am a Skybreaker of the Third Ideal. I serve the laws of this city, to the letter, even if it’s as security for the wall. You, on the other hand, have no power to tell me where my jurisdiction begins or ends. So, stand down.”

The man’s eyes seemed to double in size as he considered this, but he said nothing. He took a single step back.

Then he toppled over forward, dead.

Chekar rushed forward toward the man, Shardblade at the ready. He heard a scraping sound from behind the A thin trail of smoke was rising out of the back of the man’s head. He was dead, alright.

Suddenly a red spark shot out from under the man’s corpse, shooting down the alleyway. Chekar rushed after it – anything that could do this to a man couldn’t be let go free. He would have to-

A fist shot out of a nook and slammed into his skull.

Chekar looked up, dazed, Shardblade falling from his grasp. He felt his spren pulling on him, almost panicking, but his body wouldn’t respond. He could only watch as an impossible figure stood above him. It looked like someone had painted a man, but had only one color to do it. Everything was just… gray. Dead. Except the eyes.

“Skybreaker,” the thing growled. In a flash he had pulled something from his jacket and held it over Chekar’s chest. A long piece of metal. A spike. Chekar could only watch as it fell, almost lazily, into his heart. Then the creature turned his eyes toward him. Red eyes. Burning, red, mismatched eyes.

Those eyes were the last thing he ever saw.

:-:-:-:-:-:

“Find the spren,” he growled. His ashspren, Cinder, whirled around over to the corpse on the ground, whizzing into pockets. The figure crouched, waiting, hand still on the spike buried in the Skybreaker’s chest. 

“He had a Blade. He was powerful. You did well,” he whispered to the spark of light. He heard a slight pop from under the body. First Cinder shot out, looking like a tiny flamespren with tendrils of ash and smoke shooting from his arms and legs. Those tentacles soon dragged out a small, starry rip in existence.

The figure moved, twisting the top of the spike, taking out a pencil-wide core. Unlike the gray metal it came from, this core was a deep black crystal. The highspren shook, bolts of energy darting from its core, but Cinder held it fast. And the man plunged the gem into the spren’s center.

It vanished, trapped within the now-glowing smokestone, dead to the world. “That makes six,” the figure said, placing the core back into the spike. Then he ripped the bloody metal out and returned it to his jacket’s small bandolier. He reached out, cupping the face of the being he had slaughtered. A young face. But a tainted one.

He pulled Stormlight from the stones in his pocket and turned the man to dust and ash. Beautiful dust. Beautiful ash. 

The creature stood up, looking out the alleyway, then started moving toward the city’s center. This had been a fun excursion, but he had an appointment to make.

Prepare yourself, Alleycity, he thought.

Tyrian has arrived.

[Rushu42]

10 hours ago, Ashbringer said:

A job. Byron had hardly worked a day in his life. Even within Thaylen City, he didn't fit in enough to be trusted by merchants, although he had better luck than living as a darkened Alethi.

But... Althea and Aln seemed at odds about this. Byron wasn't sure why. He would have to think about it some.

He looked at the two of them. "I'd... I'd love to have a job, but... I think learning more about this place is the better place to start. I need to know what this place is before I can start a job. And maybe I can figure out this-" he waved at the bubble "-a little better."

He paused.

"There was... one thing I noticed. About Roshar. Everytime I flared, everything became different. Everyone's faces were different. Except... there was always one man who stayed the same. Never getting close, never staying around, but always showing up in the city. Watching. Dark skinned with a mark on his face. He was like a hunter. A shadow. A... darkness."

Byron's face grew a little distant. He shuddered.

"I don't think he was hunting me. I think he was after... something else."

Aln felt a chill. Years ago, she had combed through piles of obscure documents in search of other surgebinders. It was then that she had discovered that man. He appeared in seemingly random places, a commanding figure with dead eyes and a shardblade, demanding the death of some small thief. And with him were other oddities. Dead spheres after a highstorm. Images with no substance. A woman who fell in the wrong direction. And they had all died at his hand. Several months later, she had finally connected him to Nale, Herald of the Almighty. It had been then that the last of her faith had perished. 

The Heralds were not gods. Even Honor, the Almighty himself, was not a god, but a man, wielding stolen power and thinking himself unconquerable. A mortal who dared to claim divinity was nothing but a liar, if an invested one.

Aln stopped herself. She hadn't realized how much anger still lingered around the subject. Even nine years from the revelation, she could still fell the pain of betrayal, the pain of discovering that those she had worshipped were only pretenders. She pushed it away. That was something to unpack later. 

"You likely encountered a man called Nale," she explained. "He was once a servant of Honor, dedicated to opposing evil, but at some point he instead began to hunt and kill surgebinders. Be thankful he didn't mistake you for one." 

Aside from reawakening her own crises of faith, she realized, his statement had also further confirmed her previous hunch. He had flared cadmium straight through the Everstorm. How old was this boy? 

@Ashbringer @Sorana @Silva

[+Sorana]

"Please." Vivi added when Reval touched his chin and held out her cotton candy a little more. But her brother took his time, let her anxiously shift her weight from one foot to the other. She knew that this was nothing but a show, that since their father had said nothing against her going with him, Reval most likely would have to take her - but she wanted to have him take her because of her. Not because her father said it. She wanted to be strong as well, taken seriously.

“I’ll let you come with me,” he said finally, grinning. “And you can keep your cotton candy. If you promise to do all my chores for a week.” Vivi stared at him open mouthed. All his chores for a week. Plus her own she would end up with a week doing little else but chores. It would reduce her dancing time to maybe only an hour daily, especially as her mother insisted on her finishing all homework before she was allowed to do anything else. And he always mocked her for not cleaning the dishes as well as he did. Instead he always pointed out non-existing spots and had her redo everything. the one little red dot, she could have swiped it away using her finger. There had been no need to wash all plates again.

Biting on her lip she plucked some cotton candy of the stick and stuck it in her mouth. "I will do all chores you have to do during a week. But I'll spread them out. Half of them the first week, half of them the week after." she bargained and held out her slightly sticky hand for him. "Do we have a deal?"

@I think I am here.

====================

He was old. There was no other explanation for his words, for the references both he and Aln made. It didn't really change anything, not here, not in Alleycity where so many worldhoppers lived side by side with those born here. It still felt weird to think of herself as a worldhopper, one of those old, powerful people that were able to break through the borders within the worlds, that were able to travel from one place to the other. Which she was. With enough stormlight it was surprisingly easy, once you knew what you were looking for. Shadesmar would lead you where you belonged.

She shifted her weight to her other foot, eyes turning back to the bonfire in the middle of the place. "Do you know why they light a fire?" she asked those around her in an attempt to steer the conversation away from old herolds and a homecountry destroyed by war. She tried to capture first Aln's, then Ben's eyes and quickly, covertly shook her head. If one of them heard and came to the same conclusion, There was a chance Ben would be in grave danger. He had hinted at knowledge about times long lost and knowledge was powerful. So powerful many were willing to kill for it, or worse.

She sent Brashen out of the bubble again, to scout and take a look around. Festival night was a night of celebration, but it also was a night used by those who prefered to walk in the shadows. And igven the crowd that had gathered around them only minutes ago she would be surprised if they were being ignored now. After a short while her spren returned and lifted four fingers into the air. "We are being observed." she stated calmly. "By four. I think we should start to move at least until we know what they're up to."

Quote

If something happens is totally up to you.

@Rushu42 @Ashbringer @Silva

Edited May 24, 2020 by Sorana
added Vivi (wanted to save after writing Althea)

[Ashbringer]

Quote

The problem is, Byron could probably talk at great length what Roshar was like in his time, ~200-300 years before WoK. I, on the other hand, have no idea what was happening, since there’s so little happening that we know about and know when it happened.

It’s possible he could “out” a few more Heralds (probably Ishar and then make up a position for one we haven’t seen yet), or maybe even give hints about Aimia or the Heirocracy. But it’s more potential than something I could pull off.

Nale wasn’t hunting Byron, either. Just unsure of what his powers meant. Now Tyrian is another story.

“I think there’s a spren hiding behind a box across the street,” Byron offered. “It’s... been following me for a while. From the Alleys. I felt it before. But it was always alone.”

He looked up at the two women. “And why would somebody follow me?”

[+Sorana]

 

1 hour ago, Ashbringer said:

The problem is, Byron could probably talk at great length what Roshar was like in his time, ~200-300 years before WoK. I, on the other hand, have no idea what was happening, since there’s so little happening that we know about and know when it happened.

Quote

I have to admit that was part of the reason why I decided to change the topic a little. I tried to do it in a way that allows you to go on with it, if you want, but switch over to something else easily if you prefer that.

"Don't ask me about that spren." Althea replied calmly. If it really was from the Alleys that tended to be bad news, she knew that with every fiber of her being. The feeling disturbed her, it was too strong to be based on any facts, and yet she was too certain of it, to discard with nothing but a shrug. "But the others - " she made a slight shrug, dismissing them a little to reassure those around her.

"Honestly I doubt that they are here because of you. At least not because of who you are. We've drawn attention, and I suspect some continue to keep an eye on us. If they mean any harm, or are simply curious, I have no way to deduce that from standing here, with them outside of your bubble. Chances are high they only watch until we leave, and then resume their drinking."

She brushed a strand of her hair out of her face, tried to take the direction Brashen indicated, but the bubble made it hard to determine who he was refering to. "Alternatively they might be thugs. We are two women, and two young looking men, with two of us having used Investiture in the open. Add to that some well looking cloths easily lables us as 'possible targets with some crysts in their bags'."

Focussing on him again she spread her hands a little. "There are other possibilities as well. The spren could have contacted whoever it is bonded to, and they arrived, maybe pose a serious threat. Or someone learned of your -" she made a vague gesture with her hands "past and suspects you've got some knowledge in your head they would like to have. But especially the last one is highly improbable. Personally I think it's either spectators, or some looking for an easy grab and run."

"Either way, I'm not too fond of strangers observing me, so I think we could maybe move our conversation a little, maybe grab something to eat and see what they do."

[Silva]

7 hours ago, Sorana said:

"Either way, I'm not too fond of strangers observing me, so I think we could maybe move our conversation a little, maybe grab something to eat and see what they do."

Eiran was surprised he hadn't noticed them. He also knew that meant they were safe. Or, at least, he was. They weren't likely to cause him harm. 

That was good because he also needed to extricate himself. He checked his watch, the motion once again reminding him of the weird feeling he'd felt that morning. It had been a couple of minutes since the code beige. Knowing the amount of paperwork it took to do anything, he still had some time, just not much.

"And," Eiran said, speaking up for the first time in a while. He hadn't had anything to say during the conversation regarding Roshar and preferred to listen. "Since I need to get somewhere anyways, we'll be able to judge their intent better. Given that I'll be an easier target, alone and unarmed, if they intend to cause harm, they'll follow me. Should they simply be curious, they will continue to watch the three of you."

He smiled. "All right?"

[Ashbringer]

Quote

It can still be a plot point, albiet one that I couldn't functionally pull off. If someone does catch Byron for intel, he can give snippets, but he'd probably resist interrogation/capture. Cutting off his cadmium long-term would be liable to kill him, but I don't know any way for someone to control his Allomancy without it.

"If you need to go, go ahead, Eiran," Byron said. "But I have an idea that could help..." he didn't want to say it out loud. That would ruin the point. 

"Where is it you need to go?" he asked offhandedly, reaching into his coinage pocket. "It does appear we need to go somewhere, and-"

His arm spasmed. Hopefully it looked realistic enough - he'd felt enough of them to know what they were supposed to be. A single sphere flew from his palm, landing with enough force to bounce. Clink. Clink. Clink.

"Storms!" Byron cursed, chasing the rolling firemark. However, he deConnected his bubble as he did so - no need to alert any watchers how his savantism affected him. Hopefully this would dispel any illusions of his wealth. And give his companions his message.

He hesitated as the firemark neared the edge of the bubble, then started intently at it. He didn't want to pop the bubble - he could reach outside it a bit, but turning off his cadmium did... nasty things. The sphere kept bouncing. Clink. Clink Cli-

The sphere hit the bubble, turning the rhythm of the sphere into high-pitched nonsense. Clikclikclikclikclikclikclik. It was enough to just barely make out what the individual sounds are.

Byron reached through the bubble and grabbed his firemark. Then he turned back to the rest, hoping they understood what he meant.

Quote

If you don't get it, Byron can just say it, but I want to see if this makes sense. It made a lot more sense in my head.

:-:-:-:-:-:

"They're only one story high. And you can't be walking on foot around so many people. You know what happens."

"I don't care," Tyrian responded. "I'm not climbing a building. That wasn't in the job."

Cinder put his hands on his hips. "Then the job isn't happening. Not until we can actually find it. Which we can't do unless we get the high ground and look around."

"Then why don't you look around," Tyrian replied. "You can hide. And fly. And-"

"And as soon as I get to far from you you'll forget I told you to stay and go hunting the first thing you see that looks remotely like a Skybreaker," Cinder interrupted. "And, I'll be too far to help you with Stormlight. We know almost nothing about this world besides the power within it, and we have no idea what kind of power is out there. And we're in the middle of a festival, for the Sibling's sake. Attack someone in the open and you'll bring the whole city down on our heads."

Tyrian merely growled. Cinder was, as far as he could see correct. That didn't make him right. "I can handle myself. I've killed Skybreakers without Surges or Chromium. I can do it again."

"From what I've seen, Surges are only a fraction of the Investiture on this planet. If we don't-" Cinder stopped himself. "Can we please just do the job? If you just get up to the building, I can go higher and find the thing. Then we go down and we're done. Then you can destroy things."

Tyrian sighed - a long, grumbling noise. "Fine," he said, reaching toward the top of a nearby windowsill. He drew in a bit of Stormlight, trying to maximize the friction in his fingertips. He didn't want to lose his grip. Then he pulled, forcing himself up off the ground, forcing himself not to look down. A Dustbringer's place was on the ground, not the sky. Especially for Tyrian.

He grabbed the edge of the roof, then lurched up again, scrambling to the roof's top. Cinder followed, hovering behind him. "There, that wasn't so bad, was it?"

Tyrian growled again, trying to stand tall. He didn't mention that he'd maximized the friction in his feet. He was not sliding off. He'd never hear the end of it. Cinder nodded, seeing the Dustbringer was secure, then shot up into the sky. After a few second's of searching, he came back down. "I see it," he said, pointing. "Past that building with the broken wall."

Tyrian looked, trying not to focus on the ground below. Yes, that was the target. Just as described.

An Alleycity moving van.

@bees?

Quote

Bees, you have your rescue, if you want it. Although Tyrian's method is a tad more bloody than Byron's.

Also, is there anyone specific who'd hire Tyrian to break Silas out/capture him? I can just say it was some individual looking to sow chaos, but that's a bit weak plot-wise.

 

[little wheel]

Quote

Well, that'd be perfect, especially since one of the four guards is a Skybreaker

Also bloody = good in this scenario

Hmm

How does Tyrian feel about cults?

message me if you wish to continue this conversation

 

1 hour ago, Ashbringer said:

@bees?

 

Edited May 25, 2020 by bees?

[AonEne]

Quote

Would it help to have one of the guards or the driver get possessed and just up and leave?  (Have you decided all their Investiture yet? I know one’s a Leecher and one’s a Skybreaker, am I forgetting anything?) 

@bees? 

Edited May 25, 2020 by AonEne

[Rushu42]

11 hours ago, Ashbringer said:

If you don't get it, Byron can just say it, but I want to see if this makes sense. It made a lot more sense in my head.

Quote

I think I'll clarify what you mean before posting in character, if that's alright; Aln, with her genius brain, would likely understand it much quicker than me with my average intelligence. Is Byron proposing that they make a show of wealth to determine the intentions of the people watching?

 

[mathiau]

14 minutes ago, Rushu42 said:

I think I'll clarify what you mean before posting in character, if that's alright; Aln, with her genius brain, would likely understand it much quicker than me with my average intelligence. Is Byron proposing that they make a show of wealth to determine the intentions of the people watching?

Quote

I think he's faking having little wealth by chasing a mere firemark as it was his most valuable possession

 

[Silva]

Eiran nodded and excused himself then left the bubble. The people inside, Althea, Aln, and Byron, now seemed slower. 

@Sorana @Rushu42 @Ashbringer

That's cadmium's effect, Eiran, he reminded himself.

Again, he found himself overwhelmed by the masses. The crushing hordes of people there to celebrate the coming year. He passed the kid he'd seen earlier; he was holding another sword, likely provided by the same seller, though that crazy man was nowhere in sight. Sighing, he knelt down besides the toddler and pried it from his grasp. The thing was heavy, but he dragged it away quickly before the kid began to wail again. 

The kid's cries reached him. He didn't feel bad. Toddlers weren't supposed to have swords. No one should. 

Dragging the sword behind him, for he hoped he might encounter the vendor again, Eiran picked his way through the crowd, finally reaching an emptier portion of the street.

He let himself breathe in the fresh air then checked a street sign. It wasn't far. He'd get there fairly quickly, even carrying a sword. 

[Ashbringer]

Quote

The wealth thing is part of it - what mathiau said, chasing a small sphere to retrieve it. But there's another thing involving the bubble:

Spoiler

While light mostly ignores the bubble's timeskip, sound does not. If Byron slows time down enough, anyone outside the bubble won't be able to hear what we say - right now it's just barely (9/10ths) slowed. But he doesn't want to accidentally future-warp anyone who needs to go somewhere.

Not the best way of getting it across, but Byron thinks by instinct more than planning.

Once Tyrian starts causing chaos we all may have something more important to worry about anyway.

Eiran nodded and left, not answering Byron's question. He hadn't really expected him to - it was rather personal, and the question was more to be saying something than for actual information. However, it was hard to tell if Aln and Althea had gotten his message - Aln seemed to be deep in thought, while Althea was as unreadable as she'd been all night.

"I won't lose it again. I promise. I'm just a little... wobbly some times," he said. Then he sighed. That made no sense. He looked expectantly at the pair. Anyone watching would see his cadmium-exaggerated movements, but hopefully Aln would get what he meant before the watchers did.

[Rushu42]

Four people watching them. And a spren? That suggested either a Radiant or a voidspren, although anything could come out of the alleys. A robbery was the most likely explanation; the four of them likely seemed profitable targets, especially if she had been recognized. The most obvious way out was lightweaving. It would take some maneuvering, but it would not be overly difficult to give their observers the slip.

Aln cocked her head, staring at the shimmering in the air. How would a cadmium bubble affect the illusion? If she crafted one on the edge of the time warp, would a section of it run out of stormlight faster than the rest? What if she put the power source within the bubble, and the illusion without? Could she make it last longer? Aln itched for her notebook, cursing her decision to leave it behind once more. Khriss had had something to say about energy transference in speed bubbles - Aln remembered it from one of her books - but she didn't believe that the famed researcher had ever directly observed the interactions between Illumination and Cadmium. She suppressed her excitement as she realized that they were still being watched by potential thieves. Hopefully there would be a chance for experimentation later.

Ben pushed past her suddenly, chasing a sphere. He hesitated for a second at the edge of the bubble, then grabbed it before it could escape. Aln made a mental note of several aspects of the interaction - he was easily able to disconnect the center of the bubble from himself, yet another aspect of his savantism, and his arm did not change trajectory when it exited the bubble - before returning her attention to the boy as he awkwardly apologized for his clumsiness. 

A show of great concern over a sphere of middling value, she thought. Probably a ploy to give the impression of a lack of wealth. Unless he was just drawing our attention to the edge of the bubble, in which case he could be proposing a time jump as a diversionary tactic. It would certainly make us harder to eavesdrop on. 

She glanced up as Eiran politely took his leave. She looked at Althea. If the watchers followed him, then it would mean that they were, indeed, thieves looking for some easy coin. If they didn't, though, then they were either much less of a threat, or much more of one. 

"Is our friend safe walking alone?" she asked, nodding towards Eiran in a way that she hoped wasn't too obvious. 

Quote

I hope I understood everything correctly there. Aln didn't immediately pick up on the sound distortion, since she can't hear it, but she knows what a cadmium bubble does. If you want to time-jump, she doesn't have anything scheduled, as far as I know. 

I think I need to start trimming down my post lengths; this took forever to write, and I fear that it was a bit incoherent. (Sorry for the delay, too.)

@Ashbringer @Sorana

Edited May 26, 2020 by Rushu42
My computer rarely ceases to betray me. It had decided to randomly post this in the middle of my writing it.

[+Sorana]

"I think so." Althea  watched Eiran leave. He had known about the Van before anybody else had done so, there was a high chance he would know if he was walking into danger. Instead she focused back on the two he had left her with. Aln and Ben. The name Ben struck a chord, as if hinting at a memory she had somehow lost. It brought with it a feeling of a quiet boy wearing glases, a healer. The feeling vanished again, left her feeling a little emptier behind, supressing a frown. Ben. She had never known a Ben, and while there had to be many people of that name in the Alleyverse, she was sure she had never met someone in person. Never interacted with one of them as well.

Turning her thoughts back on the matter at hand she saw Ben stuff the sphere back into his pocket, after chasing it through the bubble. "Better make sure you keep it safe." she told him with a frown that felt exxagerated. It probably wasn't for anybody except for herself, but the habits of concealing her facial expressions and emotions for years had left their traces, even when she was a little more open now. Having children had changed a lot of things. Meeting Max had changed at least as many.

It was a good idea to pretend to be poor, or at least not rich, there was no way they would mistake the three of them for those living in the slums. Not even in costumes. But with sound carrying outside, albeit a little distorted and Eiran leaving, the show could work out well for them. Not poor, but not rich enough to warrant further interest either. Just the perfect mixture. And with the van leaving as well, they hopefully appeared completely harmless.

"They are leaving." Brashen whispered in her ear, "and they don't follow Eira either."

"It worked." Althea stated, just loud enough for Ben and Aln to hear. "Good idea."

@Ashbringer @Rushu42

[mathiau]

7 hours ago, Rushu42 said:

Four people watching them. And a spren? That suggested either a Radiant or a voidspren, although anything could come out of the alleys. A robbery was the most likely explanation; the four of them likely seemed profitable targets, especially if she had been recognized. The most obvious way out was lightweaving. It would take some maneuvering, but it would not be overly difficult to give their observers the slip.

Aln cocked her head, staring at the shimmering in the air. How would a cadmium bubble affect the illusion? If she crafted one on the edge of the time warp, would a section of it run out of stormlight faster than the rest? What if she put the power source within the bubble, and the illusion without? Could she make it last longer? Aln itched for her notebook, cursing her decision to leave it behind once more. Khriss had had something to say about energy transference in speed bubbles - Aln remembered it from one of her books - but she didn't believe that the famed researcher had ever directly observed the interactions between Illumination and Cadmium. She suppressed her excitement as she realized that they were still being watched by potential thieves. Hopefully there would be a chance for experimentation later.

Ben pushed past her suddenly, chasing a sphere. He hesitated for a second at the edge of the bubble, then grabbed it before it could escape. Aln made a mental note of several aspects of the interaction - he was easily able to disconnect the center of the bubble from himself, yet another aspect of his savantism, and his arm did not change trajectory when it exited the bubble - before returning her attention to the boy as he awkwardly apologized for his clumsiness. 

A show of great concern over a sphere of middling value, she thought. Probably a ploy to give the impression of a lack of wealth. Unless he was just drawing our attention to the edge of the bubble, in which case he could be proposing a time jump as a diversionary tactic. It would certainly make us harder to eavesdrop on. 

She glanced up as Eiran politely took his leave. She looked at Althea. If the watchers followed him, then it would mean that they were, indeed, thieves looking for some easy coin. If they didn't, though, then they were either much less of a threat, or much more of one. 

"Is our friend safe walking alone?" she asked, nodding towards Eiran in a way that she hoped wasn't too obvious. 

@Ashbringer @Sorana

How do you manage to follow a conversation with just the voice of one person again?

I don't, you're supposed to focus on the conversation instead of just Aln. Also, why are you talking so slow?

I'm not talking slow, you're talking fast. It seems they're having problems with some people outside, which make no sense since we're already outside.

Well, ask Aln if we can help her. For the outside part, you're probably in a time dilatation zone, hence why you hear me fast and I hear you slow; of course it's weaker than Cadmium, we wouldn't be able to understand each other otherwise.

Kerr crawled toward Aln's legs

"Do you need our help?"

[I think I am here.]

On 24/05/2020 at 0:48 PM, Sorana said:

Biting on her lip she plucked some cotton candy of the stick and stuck it in her mouth. "I will do all chores you have to do during a week. But I'll spread them out. Half of them the first week, half of them the week after." she bargained and held out her slightly sticky hand for him. "Do we have a deal?"

“Deal.”

Reval shook her hand and wondered how his sister felt, thinking he’d actually make her do all of his chores. Knowing her, she’d probably try her best to actually keep her word. Or maybe she wouldn’t. Vivi was unpredictable, even to Reval, who prided himself in being able to win board games by trying to calculate statistics with the dice. But he hadn’t played a board game in a while. Too busy with schoolwork and research and everything else.

“Spoken like a true businesswoman” he said, drawing his gaze back to Vivi and smiling. Idly, he rubbed the hand he shook with over his trousers, trying to remove that slightly sticky feeling, and he glanced up at his father.

“We’ll keep safe.” He assured him and began walking a little backwards, bringing an arm up and sliding the smooth, black, Lonely God mask over his face, obscuring his features and tinting everything in a bluish-grey tone to him. He looked to Vivi and jerked a thumb over his shoulder for them to go. “We should be going. I think they’re going to fire another batch of fireworks soon.”

[kenod]

Shade walked through the streets, the only one around who wasn't wearing a costume. She had thought about it, but the idea of wearing something that eye-catching just felt wrong to her. Of course, on a day like this wearing normal clothing would cause her to stand out a lot more than when wearing a costume, but it still felt wrong somehow. Besides, even with her attire nobody even looked at her. Which was how Shade preferred it.

Silently she walked through the crowds, the amount of people making her feel slightly uncomfortable, but the knowledge that nobody was looking at her alleviated that, making her feel more at ease. She kept walking along, noticing a number of people around what looked like an armoured van, though she couldn't figure out what was going on. Still, it didn't concern her, so she kept moving, grabbing a cotton candy as she walked past the vendor, the man not even noticing he was missing one as she continued walking.

Finally, after what had seemed about an hour, she finally found her target. He was hanging around at the edge of the crowd, selling firemoss to some random person in a scraggy Monster costume, probably because it was the cheapest he could get. She leaned against the wall, waiting for the buyer to finish his transaction. When he was finally finished two others came up though, and she sighed in annoyance.

Finally she decided that she wasn't interested in wasting any more of her time waiting for his clients to be gone she walked forwards, still hiding herself. As she walked towards them she projected a Presence further down into the Alley, in the shadows, and immediately everyone turned around to look for it. As they did she quietly slid a knife out of her sleeve, and stabbed it in the man's throat, and his eyes widened for a moment as he recognized her, and then they widened even more as the pain hit him, and he started wheezing as he tried to breath. She took out the knife as she kept on walking, slipping past the buyers who now finally noticed their supply was dying, none of them capable of noticing her as they tried to figure out what to do, one of them running of in a panic while the other two decided to loot the not-quite-dead body to get their moss for free.

Annoyed she flicked the knife clean, and decided to stick to the alleys on the way back. At least that way she didn't have to go through that crowd of maddeningly happy people again. At least the cut-throats and thieves in the alleys had enough awareness to notice someone being killed around them, unlike the partying people just outside the alley, even if they only noticed because it told them to either get out or loot the body.

[AonEne]

18 hours ago, Sorana said:

The name Ben struck a chord, as if hinting at a memory she had somehow lost. It brought with it a feeling of a quiet boy wearing glases, a healer. The feeling vanished again, left her feeling a little emptier behind, supressing a frown. Ben. She had never known a Ben, and while there had to be many people of that name in the Alleyverse, she was sure she had never met someone in person. Never interacted with one of them as well. 

Quote

Did she actually know a Ben in the Alleyverse, or is this a TKND reference? Because that sounds exactly like Ben... 

 

[Ashbringer]

Quote

I just picked Ben as an alias/nickname because it's common enough and close to Byron. Not trying to reference anything, within the Alleyverse or outside it. Although IDK what Sorana is refering to.

Byron couldn't quite tell if Althea and Aln got his secret message, but they seemed to see that he was trying to convey something. It had beeen a fairly bad attempt at communicating. So he took a risk and flared his cadmium, slowing time to about 1/10th of normal and letting the motions of the people around them blur. If they had any appointments to attend in the next hour, they would have to wait.

"Sound is affected by my bubble, even though light isn't. If I slow time enough, nobody can hear what we say unless they find some way to record it and play it back. And even that will take time."

He turned toward where he'd seen that strange spren. It had followed him through the Alleys, even through his own timeskipping. It may have even been on Roshar - he couldn't remember. Parts of that time were... fuzzy.

He shook himself, remembering he didn't have time to waste. "So if you have a better plan to draw any followers out, now would be a good time."

:-:-:-:-:-:

"Easy," Cinder said, watching as Tyrian slowly edged down the building.

"This isn't easy," he replied. He moved brick to brick, constantly using Stormlight to help his grip.

"I've seen you go down things faster. I've seen you jump off a building twice as high as this one," Cinder said. He was sparking a bit now - he was frustrated. Not as frustrated as Tyrian was, but quite frustrated as spren went.

"I move quick when I have to move quick. I don't when I don't," Tyrian growled, as he scrambled down the last four inches. He turned in the direction that the van had been sighted, sprinting down the alleyway, Cinder following behind.

The pair reached the end of the street. Cinder darted out, looking just like one of the sparklers a few partygoers carried. "You have a minute before the van arrives. It's going pretty fast, so be ready."

Tyrian ran a few strides back into the alley. He checked his equipment. His two aluminum sickles, chromium vials, and a vast Stormlight reserve in his bandolier and cloak pockets. His last reserve was full, as always, but he didn't think he would need it. He never did.

"How can you even take this job? Those people are law-keepers, not savages. How do you see them as evil?"

Tyrian grunted. "Why do you care? They are evil. Simple."

Cinder didn't seem to appreciate that. "If you see them as evil, that's what matters, but how?"

"They serve the law," Tyrian replied, crouching in a runner's position. "The Skybreakers serve the law, and they are evil. So any who serve the law are evil." He tensed, waiting.

"And I will destroy those who stand for evil."

Tyrian burst into a sprint, relying on Cinder's timing to get him to the right place. Wait... now. He shot his legs out and hit the ground, pulling in Stormlight to Slick his legs, shooting out of the alleyway into the street, just as the van passed the entrance. Tyrian ducked his head under the axles, then grabbed a hold of the van's underbelly, letting his frictionless body drag underneath the vehicle until he got a good grip. Then he placed his finger on an open patch and started Dustbringing.

:-:-:-:-:-:

Cinder watched as Tyrian ran off, reply still on his lips. "I... don't think that logic is sound."

Then he shrugged and flew after him. If he had wanted a logical companion, he wouldn't have bonded to Tyrian.

That being thought, he had little choice.

Quote

Next post Tyrian breaks Silas out. Anyone with sharp eyes may have seen him slip under the van, but it's unlikely, especially since Byron, Althea, and Aln are still in the bubble.

Also, is Tyrian's bolded text getting weird? It was nice to introduce him but it seems... pompus. Or something.

 

[AonEne]

Quote

Yeah, I know you weren’t referencing him, I just wondered if Sorana was. 

You can bold his text or not, it’s all up to you and how you want to write him. I’m not sure why you’re doing it, personally, but I have nothing against it.