People you wouldn't want to meet in a dark alley

[+ZincAboutIt she/her]

Vivica sipped her coffee and watched the man grow several sets of extra arms, passing spikes to his new hands and spinning them in a dizzying array of patterns.

"Nox," she said politely, "I had no idea I knew that much Alleycant. When did I learn all those words?" Then, she smiled. "You look a bit like Bennington now."

With a giggle, she picked up one of the other cups of coffee and put it into one of Nox's extra arms. "Now you can drink all the cups of coffee you want!"

Something in her pocket started to twitch, and she brought out her own Alleycant spike. There were several messages trying to get through now, and Vivica had never been great at Alleycant. Generally, people delivered their own memos to her. More often than not, people just left her alone to observe their experiments at all hours. It would have been lonely, she supposed, if she didn't have so much company.

"Let's see what this message is all about, Bennington," she mumbled, trying to muddle through the Alleycant transmissions. "Something...found... lower caverns - oh yes, I remember those - hmm... something valuable... an atrium? They found an atrium down there?"

Vivica cocked her head at Nox. "How do you think they got an atrium built down there all this time, Nox? That is rather a puzzle, though, I mean, no offense - but, well. It's hardly interdepartmental news, isn't it?"

She took another sip of coffee, then moved on to the next message. It was someone in R&D, asking about the Atium.

Vivica blinked. "Atium?" She looked back to Nox. "Do you think they found it in the atrium down there, Nox? It would just go to figure, wouldn't it? Where else would anyone put their Atium?"

@Voidus

[Voidus]

"We remember a lot more than we think sometimes." Voidus replied with a smile, stowing one of the spikes and reaching out to accept the offered cup of coffee. "Perhaps it's the lack of sleep."

Not a frequent sleeper himself, Voidus had easily recognised the signs. Most likely she was a compounder abusing stores of Wakefulness to maintain consciousness. It was usually harmless enough for small periods of time, but spending years with no sleep was damaging to the brain, even without the added stresses of potential savantism. Judging from the looks of her it seemed that Vivica probably had progressed that far, the Investiture warping her body itself through constant use. Perhaps her hallucinations were a part of that.

"An atrium would definitely be one place." He said politely. "Arm bracers have also been common though. Or in a spike storage vial."

He took a grateful sip of coffee, relaxing as he felt the soothing warmth hit him. The perfect blend of alertness and comfort washing over him at the same time. His hands all paused for just a moment, taking the time to enjoy himself as he rarely did, before they began spinning once again in a dozen different conversations.

"If they did find it down there - in an atrium - what would you do? Would you be curious?" Voidus said, eyes watching his partner in conversation curiously.
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"So the universe-" The Professor began.

"Will be destroyed, yes." Voidus said, looking over the heads of others seated nearby and searching for someone. "Quite inevitable for all of you at the moment unless I manage to do something about it."

"And you need my help?" The Professor asked, eyes wide. "Why me?"

"Because you managed to do something that most people don't manage to do." Voidus said. "You accepted your death without embracing it and snapped into a power that few people do. And of those who do, almost none learn to successfully control it."

Finally spotting a nearby blonde Barista, Voidus looked over and smiled waiting as she made her way to their table and took their orders once again. As she walked away his eyes followed her before finally drifting back to the Professor.

"And the same thing happened to you?" The Professor asked, seeming to notice the attention that Voidus was putting on the waitress and frowning. "You nearly died?"

"Something like that." Voidus replied, waving a hand dismissively. "Not a very interesting story."

The two sat in silence as their coffee arrived, the Professor seeming to slowly perk up a little more as time passed. Recovering from the earlier lethargy and listlessness he'd experienced after their previous training. The coffee also seemed to help, both relaxing him and making him more alert at the same time.

"Something special about that waitress?" He asked, nodding his head as Voidus' gaze slipped once more.

"Everyone's special in a way." Voidus replied. "But she did seem interesting."

"You should talk to her then." The Professor said with a touch of irritation. "Better than staring creepily from across the store, and if the universe is doomed then might as well seize the day and all that."

"Perhaps I will." Voidus said with a grin.

The Professor watched as Voidus stood up and walked over to the blonde as she was making another coffee. After a minute of conversation they both began laughing at something and a moment later she wrote something down on a piece of paper and slid it across towards him. The Professor gave a tired smile but a frown still creased his brow, wondering if the universe was really about to end.

[+ZincAboutIt she/her]

At the mention of sleep, Vivica felt herself flinch a little. She took another sip of coffee, and her hand shook a little as she gazed up at Bennington. The octopus curled and uncurled his tentacles in obvious agitation.

"Bronze is so useful that way," she said, her voice a little too bright, too cheerful. "Sleep n-never, never did me much good, back when I was... back when I lived..." Vivica lowered her voice to a whisper. "Outside the Alleys."

She stared down into her cup, the edges of her mind growing hot and smoky, the memories of fire leaking back into her brain like molten lead. Vivica did her best to breathe normally. "We don't talk about sleep, Nox," she whispered, and all the cheer was gone from her voice. Vivica suddenly looked as she truly ought to, a woman in her late twenties, ragged and covered in smears of dried blood, her eyes ringed in purple bags, the whites shot through with red vessels. There was a hollowness to her face, to her entire being, a hollowness that came from her and settled around her. A hundred apparitions floated through her mind, a host of phantom companions, but at her core Vivica was terribly, irrevocably, alone.

From a long way off, Vivica's shattered mind finally processed Nox's latest question. She blinked once, then took a sip of coffee. The barest whisper of a smile flickered on her face, like a match in a strong wind. Then, like a magnesium pop of glow, it caught. Vivica looked up at Nox again, her smile bright as a new spike.

"Blessed ovens yes! I'd be more curious than a Copper Ferring in a room full of pennies. Do you really think they found it down there? Atium?"

[AonEne he/him]

8 hours ago, Coda said:

Corenar filed the knowledge away in his mind. It made sense, though he'd have to verify this knowledge with another source. Trusting a person to not be wrong was like trusting a Denizen to not spike you. "I thank you." 

“You’re welcome,” said Kios calmly. 

Quote

Tbh I have no plans from here. We could fight a minor abomination if you want, or find someone else and you could spend time with a real character? Whatever works for you. 

 

[Voidus]

Voidus' movement faltered again, ever so briefly, as he saw Vivica draw back into herself. The whisper of someone truly horrified of something, and the kind of thing that could horrify this woman must be something spectacular indeed. He inclined his head momentarily in apology but spoke no further about it, allowing her to move the topic on.

"I only know as much as you do." Voidus replied, giving her a small smile as her mood shifted back towards the exuberant. "But it certainly seems like it. Either that or someone is going to be in some serious trouble for a false report."

It was barely even a lie, truthfully he did only know a little more than Vivica, in this matter at least. He'd rather avoid lying too openly to someone like Vivica, someone who he could actually speak to genuinely, without a station or power hanging between them.

"I imagine they'll probably be sending people out to verify it shortly." He continued, quite sure of this since he'd just sent out the requests himself.

Voidus' hands began to slow, a few stopping entirely as less requests came back in. The DoCI was managing things itself now, even without Mac present they had plenty of organisational power to organise something like this. As his hands slowed, his smile began to fade as well. His mind flashed back to that brief, tortured face of Vivica. Nightmares? That too would be something they had in common. Sometimes the torture of a sleepless existence was still better than the torture of haunting memories returning to visit you while you dream.
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A long, but not quite as long as previously time ago, in a galaxy still approximately as far away.

The Professor sagged in his chair as the candle in front of him extinguished itself once again, the small flickering light being invaded by encroaching darkness until it sputtered out. It was less tiring than it had once been, he'd managed to extinguish it several times now without feeling that complete sense of apathy that he had when he'd tried this before. Destroying solid objects as Voidus did still proved far too difficult to try without completely draining himself, but perhaps some day even that would be easier.

He smiled tiredly to himself, looking over towards the clock and frowning at it. Voidus was late, it had been a somewhat frequent occurrence lately. Too frequent for someone who claimed to be working to stop the end of the universe.

Finally the doors open and Voidus strode in, looking about cheerfully until his eyes latched onto the Professor's. Clapping his hands together, his eyes scanned the Professor up and down before nodding approvingly.

"Been practicing?" Voidus asked. "You're getting much better. It's a shame there's not enough Investiture in this universe to test against that, but other forms of energy are quite similar. Generally a little harder actually so I suppose it's better practice."

"You're late." Was the Professor's irritated reply.

"Can't blame a man in love can you?" Voidus said with a sly wink. "I mean the universe is ending and all that sure, but don't you all have a million books and movies about how love is the ultimate force or something?"

"You're the one who told me that this was urgent in the first place." The Professor reminded him. "And you still haven't told me what from exactly, or why teaching me this will help. Just let me practice by myself most days for weeks on end."

The Professor stood as he spoke, striding angrily towards Voidus before stopping mere inches from him and looming over as his voice grew steadily more irate.

"All in good time." Voidus said, letting off a dark but silent pressure to remind the Professor who he was speaking to. "You've been making good progress without me needing to coach you through every step, once you've had the basics down the rest has mostly been repetition anyway. Not a lot I can do to help with that."

Cowed the Professor backed himself towards his chair before slumping into it, but seemed to still have enough confidence to at least shoot an angry glare at Voidus once again.

"Fine." Voidus said, holding his hands up in mock surrender. "I'll give you a bit of explanation then, I suppose you're ready for it."

The Professor's eyes lost their hostility immediately, instead becoming laser focused on Voidus, ready to drink in any information he could possibly pull from the dark and mysterious figure that had come to dominate so much of his life recently.

"We draw things into the Void." Voidus began. "Unmake them, destroy them. Whatever you want to call it. We take something and turn it to nothing."

He saw the Professor nod in understanding, but also seeming a little confused at why they were starting back here, at a discussion of Voidmaking.

"Well, Voidmakers aren't the only ones unmaking things. Sometimes the Void itself takes something back into itself. Sometimes something small, a single person. But sometimes..."

"It destroys and entire universe?" The Professor asked, eyes wide and horrified. "But how could we possibly stop it by unmaking more things? Isn't that just accelerating it?"

"You see part of my dilemma." Voidus said. "It is possible to combat Voidmaking with another Voidmaking, but to stop the Void itself? It's not something I can manage on my own. I doubt two of us will have any better luck with strength alone, but perhaps we can figure out something a little cleverer. Find some core that its using to influence this universe?"

"You haven't been idling." The Professor realized. "You've been thinking, keeping relaxed but trying to come up with some solution. Because you don't actually know how to stop the universe from ending."

Voidus gave a solemn nod, letting the pressure in the room increase before breaking it with a sudden smile.

"And so we might as well relax a bit while we can. Are you free for dinner tonight? I was thinking I could bring Laurelai over to meet you and your partner."

[Guest Coda]

Quote

If you think you'll have time to RP fighting a minor abomination, sure. If not, I could find some other Denizen.

@Ookla the Roleplayer

[AonEne he/him]

Quote

While I would love to, I’ve been a little busier than I’d like lately, so it might be best if someone else came in? Though if no one is available, I can probably find time. 

@Coda 

[Guest Coda]

Corenar left Kios in the Alley, seeking someone new to teach him the ways of Hemalurgy. 

Quote

It's alright, Ene. Don't overwork yourself trying to RP with a random stranger on the internet.

 

[Zephrun’s Imperium they/he]

Quote

Are you guys waiting on me?

@ZincAboutIt @Snipexe

Edited December 3, 2019 by Ookla The Narrator

[AonEne he/him]

Quote

Sorry  

 

[+ZincAboutIt she/her]

Quote

Snip? :] Don't mean to rush you but we have a lovely young lady here that needs to be experimented on initiated

@Snipexe

[Snipexe he/him]

46 minutes ago, ZincAboutIt said:

@Snipexe

Quote

Thank you for the reminder! Sorry about the delay. 

“It’s nearly calibrated now.

1.

Spoiler

Or 2.”

Spoiler

As Grey spoke, the image on the wall changed, fuzzing for a moment, then changed again. He took it in stride. Cleary the previous test had been unnecessary.

”1.

Spoiler

Or 2.”

Spoiler

@Ookla The Narrator

[+ZincAboutIt she/her]

Vivica perked up at the sound of Grey's voice filtering through a few doors, accompanied by the continued static and occasional high-pitched whine.

"Oh!" She said, then grinned - a little wider this time, and quite a bit sharper, less cheerful. More predatory. "I almost forgot about Sierra."

She looked over at Nox, who was still twirling his many spikes and pens. He really was something else, easily her most complex hallucination to date. And an excellent conversationalist.

There's a new girl back there," she said, sipping her coffee and looking around for the other cups. "We're doing an experiment. And then, afterwards, we'll have cinnamon rolls! Wanna join? You do seem busy, but I'll even let you have a roll. You seem like you can handle the sugar, Nox. Not like Bennington here - he just goes wild with sugar. Don't you Bennington?"

The little octopus gave a great loop through the air, then pulsed with a dark, violet light. Vivica could sense his eagerness to get back into the other room, back to the chair and the images on the wall and the sharp, snapping crackle of sound coming from the radio transmitter. Her blue eyes glittered with a reflection of that dark light, and her smile only widened.

"Come on, come on!" She beckoned Nox forward, then picked up the other two cups of coffee, holding them by their handles with a slightly-shaking hand. "It's getting good in there."

@Voidus

Edited December 3, 2019 by ZincAboutIt
alterations, weird formatting

[Zephrun’s Imperium they/he]

"One," Sierra said, shuddering.

@Snipexe

[+Sorana she/her]

Temeria walked along the street, carefully keeping away from the fast carriages and close to the wall of a nearby house. Aln had told her to walk into an alley, and Mac had did that and vanished. So it should be rather easy. Walking into an alley, sounded like something she could do. She paused at a crossroads and looked around, then randomly chose a small street to her right. It was narrow, the houses left and right casting it into deep shadows and she paused for a moment, took some time to collect herself. The sister she remembered was no brave person, but in the end, she couldn't discard the fact that her warning might have some merrit. Bracing herself for whatever might come Temeria took a step forward.

Her foot hit the ground with a soft sound and she carefully took another step, then another. There was a man lying on the ground, obviously begging for money and she tried to avoid his glance, his dark eyes, combined with the shadow's of the houses made her uneasy. Quickly she passed him, wondered when something would happen, where the huge unseen danger was her sister had been talking about. She was halfway through the alley when she realized that most likely she had gotten something wrong. Or maybe there was a rule as to which alley to choose. Exhaling her body relaxed when nothing jumped her from the dark and she continued to walk, randomly turned left and right. She could always ask for her way back later - had no idea how to get back to the boarding house in the first place. She would have to get a new set of cloths somewhere, something that fit this world better and maybe she would have to spend some time thinking about getting another weapon. Something less conspicious than a sword.

Lost in her thoughts she didn't notice the change in her surroundings, had stopped paying attention a while ago. Back in the army, someone would shout if an attack neared, it wasn't her role in the middle of a row to think of these things, and sometime between considering what to do and realizing that nothing happened, her attention had wandered. Deadly on a battlefield, but on a battlefield something happened. You weren't walking through a city, waiting for some magical stuff to happen.

When she looked up she sky was gone, replaced by something she couldn't find words for, apart from the fear in quietly instilled in her heart. Swallowing she forced her gaze away, her hand closed around the handle of her sword when she tried to understand what had happened, looked back the way she had come and only saw an alley, stretching a lot farther on than the last turn she'd taken. Sweat covered her palm and Temeria swallowed, forced herself to try to keep up a brave facade when something she couldn't even point at scared her to the bones.

"He-" Her voice shook and she stopped speaking, slowly took another hesistant step forward. "Hello!" She finally shouted. "I am looking for somebody who knew Mac."

The sounds echoed strangely and she flinched back at them, as if something unseen was sneaking up on her. When she whirled around, nothing was there, only the sky, that seemed to suck her up, and again, she looked away, as if pretending it wasn't there changed anything. "Come on." She added quietly. "Anybody, I don't care. Just let me get over with this." And then she could turn around and go away. Temeria clung to the thought, although a nagging voice told her, that maybe this time going home wasn't as easy as asking for the right way.

@Ookla the Foxed

[kenod]

KanMien was working on a set of documents, reading through the incident reports, while Kumiko sat in a corner, reading a weird book she had found in one of the storage warehouses. She frowned as she read through the current report. It seemed to detail an increase in activity in the underworld, something about a new crimeboss. She sighed and put the paper aside, feeling tired. The chaos following the Plasmacore incident was finally done it seemed, but it seemed other things were ramping up again. Crime was ramping up, strange reports about missing buildings and the like, and now reports of Atium of all things being found in some set of caverns below the city. Just as she wanted to sigh again she noticed something though, and stood up. Kumiko looked up at her, curious. "Come on," she told her, stretching out her arms as she walked to the door. "It seems we have visitors." Kumiko smiled and jumped out of the beanbag chair she had been sitting in, walking up besides her, and together they left the room.

The two of them walked out of an alley KanMien had twisted in front of them, and when they walked around the corner they found a young woman who looked like she was from Roshar. "You called?" KanMien asked, her voice being carried through the alleys.

[+Sorana she/her]

2 hours ago, Ookla the Foxed said:

The two of them walked out of an alley KanMien had twisted in front of them, and when they walked around the corner they found a young woman who looked like she was from Roshar. "You called?" KanMien asked, her voice being carried through the alleys.

Temeria jumped in surprise at the voice, it seemed to come from all sides at the same time, and she whirled around again, her heart beat calming a little when she saw the two of them. They looked positively human, at least as far as she could see. Of course they were. She chided herself. Mac had looked like a human as well. All the rest - it was only her imagination running wild. Change the sky a little, add some creepy shadows, and trust her mind to paint monsters everywhere.

"Hello." She repeated, shifted her weight from one feet to the other, something about these two made her uneasy. She couldn't pinpoint it, just like she couldn't pinpoint anything here, but something about them - maybe it was only the way they held themselves. "Yes, I called." She replied, surprised by how steady her voice sounded. Slowly she forced herself to removed her hand from her sword, tried to appear more or less relaxed. It was always better to try to appear strong in unknown territory.

"I am looking for somebody who knew Mac."

[kenod]

KanMien nodded, a slight smile on her face. "I guess I'm familiar with him," she said. "He is my boss after all." She looked at her, wondering why she was here. She obviously wasn't a denizen, and if she was a new initiate then Mac would have normally taken care of her personally, at least if he was the one who had recruited her. Then a frown appeared on her face as she thought about the woman's words. "Hang on a second," she said. "Did you just say 'knew'?"

As KanMien was talking Kumiko walked further out of the shadows, her tail and ears becoming visible. She gave the woman a somewhat disinterested look, though she did wonder what she was doing here. And, of course, why she and KanMien had to deal with it. Still, she was getting bored, and she figured KanMien would appreciate a distraction from her paperwork as well.

[Voidus]

The spren flitted from one street to the next. It raced along a street before hitting a wall and then backtracking before zooming down another side street, a small little bolt of light racing from street to street, attracting a few startled yelps as it rapidly twirled out of the way of people at the last minute, leaving some faint scorch marks on their clothes.

It had only looked away for a moment, seeing a new kind of flower and wondering what it would smell like when it burned, but when it burned back the person had gone again. They must have vanished into one of the side streets, but something about those made the spren a little uneasy. It didn't like that sensation, the faint sense of worry and discomfort that encouraged the spren to leave those alleyways alone.

Flaring itself a little brighter for comfort it had raced into the alleyways to try to find the person it was looking for, but streets were difficult to remember and the spren didn't even know which ones it was supposed to follow. Why didn't people glow like the spren did? It would make them much easier to find. Or they could burn, burning things were always easy to find.

It finally saw a familiar figure and raced to follow, but just as it was giving chase the spren noticed the sky changing, that happened sometimes but this wasn't the other sky either. This was something altogether different. The sprens brightness faded and it slowed its pace, its head swivelled about to look at the sights around it but it felt profoundly uncomfortable being alone in this place.

Catching sight of the figure ahead as it began calling out, the spren slid across the ground towards them, still watching it leapt into the air as two other figures appeared. Landing near the feet of the person it had been following, the spren gave another leap, soaring up from her ankle to shoulder where it landed, guardedly watching the other two figures.

"Danger" The spren said in a quiet flicker.

There was something it was supposed to do when there was danger, some way it was supposed to help. But the spren couldn't remember it, something else had to happen first.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Voidus followed Vivica's gaze, looking towards another room. He felt her excitement mounting, felt the eagerness of Bennington at whatever waited them in there. Voidus considered it, considered taking a break and simply speaking with some people for a short while. The news of the discovery of Atium would be able to be handled by other departments for the time being, surely he could spare a little while to catch up with some denizens?

But after a moments hesitation he shook his head, the DA was always better than those outside the guild but there were still far too many who regarded him with something close to awe, or fear. As something apart from the rest of the world. As a god.

"Tempting though cinnamon rolls are." Voidus said. "Perhaps next time."

With a final grateful smile he vanished, Elsecalling into another Alley. His smile slipped a little as he found himself alone once more, it had been nice to have a conversation like that again, however brief it may have been. How much of his life had he now spent wandering alone in an Alleyway?

Shaking his head, a determined light entered into his eyes. No time to be musing right now, there was something he'd need to check on. If Atium had been found beneath the city, and growing rather than simply stored there, then there was some undue Shardic influence in the world that he hadn't noticed, most likely it was simply an unintended side effect of the Worldspike. It was unlikely, but there was a small chance that there was some failure in the barrier that had caused this, something that allowed more than was intended to leak from the spike.

[+Sorana she/her]

Temeria took a step back when she saw the ears and the tail. Her foot caught on something and she stumbled, but when she looked down nothing was there. Maybe one of the cobbles. Her head jerked back to the second figure, the one with the ears and the tail and she realized that her hand was back at her weapon.

"I did." She started to explain, when the spren was there, sat down on her shoulder. Reliefed that she wasn't alone anymore she lifted a hand as if to touch it, but then remembered the burn marks it had left and stopped herself. Danger. A warning. The spren had followed her, only to deliver a warning. Spren didn't do that, and that this one had done it. There was a deeper meaning to it, there had to be. The spren had followed her around for a while now, so there had to be a reason. Temeria looked back at the two figures, she wasn't sure about the human part with the ears and tail and forced herself to concentrate on the situation at hand. She could figure out what to do with the spren later.

"I did say knew." She started a second time. "He left. Said he would never return. And then he vanished." She wondered if she should mentioned the coin, or maybe the house, wasn't sure if she should do it. Maybe they would take it away, and she wanted to keep them. It was a reminder, of his kindness, of the other words he had left her. Those about making a difference, but these words had been directed at her, and she wanted to keep them for a while. She shut her mouth, finally decided to stay quiet and not explain anything more, worried too late that her hesitation most likely had given away, that there was more.

Edited December 5, 2019 by Ookla the Dreamer

[kenod]

KanMien looked at her, trying to hide her shock. "He... left?" She asked slowly, trying to make sure she had heard it right. She shook herself trying to regain her calm. "Thank you," she said. "I don't suppose he left any message?" At the same time she wondered what she should do with the news. Nobody in the department seemed to have known about it yet, but everything still seemed to be running as it should right now, and there was no knowing of what that news should do once it got out. Normally she'd have to ask the department head, but he wasn't really available right now. Which likely only left Voidus, if he didn't already know about this somehow. Of course, all this did assume she was speaking the truth.

"Do you happen to have some time?" She asked of the woman. "My superior would probably want to talk about this with you."

[+Sorana she/her]

Uneasily Temeria looked around. There was only the alley, nothing else. Nothing apart from the shadows that seemed to move, as if they were waiting for her to take a wrong step. Or to stay here alone. Ice cold fear grabbed her heart and she swallowed. Alone. Here. No, it wasn't an option. She could deal with something corporal, something she could use her sword to hack apart. But this - this was something completely differet. She couldn't fight a shadow. The question of the one who had greeted her was no real question, although she supposed she should be glad that she didn't take her hair and drag her away. Somehow she felt as if they were able to do that.

"He did leave a message." She finally replied, her voice shaking slightly. Her eyes flickered over to the one with the tail. They were quiet, but that only meant that she wouldn't hear them before they sunk their knife in her chest. She had to be careful. The question hovered in the air between them, while she groped for words, tried to come up with something that was useful and at the same time hid her fear at being left along in this place. And her fear at going somewhere else but back to the boarding house. She could take the spren and run. The only question was where.

In the end there was no alternative and she stepped slightly to the side when it seemed as if something was moving towards her. Her eyes. It had to be her eyes, they were playing tricks on her mind. "And yes, I've got some time on my hands. I came here to bring this news and if it is relevant to your superior then I will gladly talk to him." There. That sounded as if she actually knew what she was doing.

[kenod]

KanMien nodded, glad the woman had time to come with them. "Alright, thanks," she said. "Now I just need to find out where they are," she muttered under her breath. Voidus would be the logical choice in this case, but she had no clue where he was right now. She decided to ask around, and took a pen out of her pocket. Twirling it around she sent a message around, asking if anyone knew of his whereabouts. Who knew, with some luck Voidus himself might answer.

In the mean time however, it seemed like they might need to make their guest feel more at ease. She thought for a second. "We don't seem to have introduced ourselves yet by the way," she said. "My name is KanMien, and this is Kumiko." she gestured to Kumiko, who gave a short cough. "Ah, right," she added. "Takamine Kumiko, I mean. Family names seem to be important in her culture, from what she says. For some reason they normally introduce themselves with their family name before their given name." She then looked at the woman expectantly.

[Voidus]

The spren watched on, caution and pleasure contrasting within it as the one it had followed stayed where she was, speaking confidently. She kept one hand on her weapon and didn't back down or move away as she spoke, remaining guarded but not allowing herself to be cowed. The spren felt a deep satisfaction, a confidence that it had made the right choice. As it heard her speak the spren felt a sudden sense of elation. The words were not the Words that it needed, but they were a start.

The spren slowly brightened again, gaining assured of itself now it stood proudly on the shoulder, facing the other two as they introduced themselves. The spren remembered names now, things usually called themselves by a name. It had a name too didn't it? And the one it had followed, she had a name didn't she? It turned towards her once more, curious this time.

--------------------------------------------------------------
One step away from exiting the Alleys, Voidus paused. The pens had all stilled, his arms returned to normal. But just as he was about to shift towards the street he felt one more message. After giving a tired sigh to himself he reached into the pocket once more, pulling the pen from within and activating it to receive the message. His tired expression shifted to a hint of regret as he realised what the message was about.

He could confirm it from here, simply be on his way and continue on towards the Worldspike. But he owed Mac more than that, owed it to the last one to see him in this world to hear their words. The last words that Mac had given before leaving.

He turned in place, heading alone, deeper into the Alleys once more.

[+Sorana she/her]

"My name is Temeria." She replied, committing the strange names to memory. "Temeria Shenet." Her last name sounded strange on her tongue, despite the fact that she had never changed it to fit the names in Iri better. But now, with her sister around, it had become something more than a reminder, it had turned into a real familiy name again. It might tell everybody who her sister was, and that immediatly placed her into the same house by nothing but affiliation. If that was good - she had no idea if Aln's guild was important enough to protect her, or if it was the other way round. Maybe she had just painted a huge target on her back.

Temeria grit her teeth when she realized that she had no way to judge the situation at all. She didn't know enough about the place, about this world and she still felt observed, as if something was there, right behind her shoulder, staring at her, waiting for a mistake. Focus. She chided herself and couldn't stop her head from turning, checking if the alley behind her was empty. It was. Only the shadow's appeared to have moved around a little. The spren was burning brighter, and  she found it standing on her shoulder, as if it was proud of something. It was here. Relief that she wasn't completely alone got rid of some of the fear and she took another breath. So far it was nothing but two persons. Mac had been nice. Ignore the shadow's and stay calm. Panicking wouldn't lead to anything as tempting as the thought was.

She tried to come with some nice tidbit as well, something like the comment about family names and when she couldn't think of something, went with a question. "Do you live here? Or is this, " She made a gesture along the alley, "More like a connection to a different place?" Too late she realized, that this was probably something everybody knew and that her words had revealed her as being completely clueless. Well, she couldn't change them now anyway.

@Ookla the Foxed

Edited December 8, 2019 by Ookla the Dreamer