Personification Life IC IX - [Semi Open]

[Cerillium]

On any other day at any other time Aegis might have detected the drone solider. But today he was meditating, he was cleansing his mind, he was trying to become as distant as he could from his senses and because of this he was completely oblivious to the machines presence. The various sensors in his mask had been switched off to provide a better sense of peace and his peripheral awareness retarded. He found himself walking slowly over to a very large hole in the ground that looked like a tree had been yanked out at the roots, the hole was at least two meters deep but it was completely absent of any roots or other signs that a tree had been there, which was perplexing to Aegis. Looking around he found a small pile of stones about a foot high, what was strange is that were no gaps in the stones despite the obvious all being from different sources and it looked a lot like a strange Jigsaw puzzle. Aegis didn’t need to investigate to know that the thing was hollow.

Darius's activation frightened Ilun, as 5the machine drew forth its full arsenal, weapons of every kind Ilun knew to be wielded by such battlefield terrors, and more, those that stretched even beyond Ilun's recently accelerated knowledge. He receded himself, pulling a good number of paces back; his form was formidable, but any backfire received would with ease do critical damage to his own self, something he'd rather not suffer, as he crouched himself behind a low lying boulder.

The identification call was intimidating, but the targets were... unrecognized. He himself could not recall nor locate exactly what 'Cthulu' meant, but was likely to soon find out. In the event that this newly detected threat came upon him, he himself prepared a small weapon. He knew not how to engage threats of such an unknown nature, but spontaneous improvisations were something he was quite familiar with. Ancient and degraded combat routines came back into faded view, as his body awoke, the surrounding environment was no more viewed in an eye of intrigue, but with that of a tactical mindset.

Darius crouched at a distance. He was torn by conflict. The Agent should be followed but Darius had no way to communicate his findings to others should he be forced into a new dimension. He briefly wondered if Ilun was capable of such silent information transmission. The thought was pushed from his mind as the Agent approached the scene.

His sensors could determine that a large hole was nearby but little else could be made of it. Stripped of much of his previous data, the Drone found himself in a tight spot. He spoke as softly as possible in Dronic flourished with too many words.

"Ilun. I can not approach further without being detected. The Agent appears to be alone. He has not drawn Others to him yet. These creatures posses dangerous technology. They can manipulate minds. They can drive organic creatures insane. Approach with extreme caution until their abilities have been determined. We will wait. He may or may not summon"

And then -

"Are you able to receive and send data transmissions?"

The Drone wasn't accustomed to Aegis or the Cthulhu (the true mythos) of his current dimension. His limited knowledge came from the warped insanity that plagued his place of origin. His assumptions were based on that experience. His Vafflehelm was plagued by Shoggoth and other dreadful things. Very little life or hope remained there for any faction.

[The Carlisle]

Kale thought for a bit. "Hmmm.... I don't know?" she said, "Gio? No, maybe Jasmine. Ergh... I have no clue." She giggled a bit a the pairings in her head. She got her mind off of the pairings and focused on what to do next. "Oh Torii. Didn't you have plans with Mr. Bran?" she said, "I kind of heard of them at breakfast. Maybe you should go back and me and Toscha will hang around." She giggled a bit before speaking again.

"Two dates in one night. Me and Toscha and you and Mr. Bran. Oooh! Maybe we can turn it into a double date! Our groups can go to the same restaurant and stuff!" She giggled again at her mischief.

"I kid. But you should head back and get ready form= your meeting with Mr. Bran. I don't want you to be late and keep him waiting."

[Mincaldenteans]

Ah! The creature looked up and around the falling frail leaves that took to the wind. This was different, certainly not the other one with the strange tail and oversized ears. In fact, this one kinda looked like him, just... different, you know, sleeker yet round (not in a rotund sense of the word), and its claws. It looked at its own paws for a second, it had nails but nowhere near as large. How'd it do that? Was it a cousin? It didn't know it had family. Oh well, back to the leaves. Oh, wasn't there another one roaming about here? Honestly, who tracks these things anyway, in daylight, not less?

It pounced upon one like it would on prey. invertebrates mostly. and then scattered it to the wind in fragmented pieces while others fell around it and couldn't decide which falling leaf to target or plunge head first into (which naturally meant into a new pile of leaves). Its spotted/stripe fur was an energetic jump from one to another that would put any hyper child to shame. So many to pounce and play with, so little time. It usually only woke at night, such was its nocturnal nature, but today was different and it would have all night of this - well, food involved later, but mostly this!

It tilted its head and looked about for the first stranger that caught its scent. Hey, maybe it was this one instead. It couldn't really figure out who was who, the wind had mixed things up and unless it was truly night, it wasn't about to let something like a newcomer interrupt its fun. Oh! Maybe it'd join in the fun!

It huffed and scratched at its paws, indicating a shy hello. But as quickly as it gestured the greeting, it went back to the leaves and dived into.

[Cerillium]

My leaves! No, that wasn't right. His eyes looked at the clouds rolling along beyond his paws. These leaves were the sky's leaves. They came down from there. The sky hadn't swatted at him for playing with them. (He secretly believed his sometimes poor behavior caused it to rain.) His belly lifted and another puff of air scattered debris. Well, these were sky leaves which meant they could be shared.

He rolled to his feet again and padded towards the other creature. And so it was that Toddycat and Ratel, two creatures from vastly different biomes, made first contact. . It was a weirdness only made possible by the equally weird land of Bielefeld, not that either creature was aware of it. Or perhaps they were and the cosmic practical joke was on us?

"khrya-ya-ya-ya!" The noise was the laughter of depraved lunatics and creaky screen doors but it was his noise and he owned it. The galloping white and black beast plowed into the leaves and then through them, and then nearly into the creature playing amidst them. He reached the other side and would have seen the canine in the bushes had his mind not been so occupied by the game at hand. He plunged back into the mix.

Black paws stopped him short of the mystery creature. His head was already outstretched on a long, thick neck but he flickered his nostrils for added reach. It was an inquisitive 'hello'. Was this a dog or a cat? Was it a weasel? He didn't know. It was roughly his height and that earned it a free pass.

[Primordial Luxa]

On any other day at any other time Aegis might have detected the drone solider. But today he was meditating, he was cleansing his mind, he was trying to become as distant as he could from his senses and because of this he was completely oblivious to the machines presence. The various sensors in his mask had been switched off to provide a better sense of peace and his peripheral awareness retarded. He found himself walking slowly over to a very large hole in the ground that looked like a tree had been yanked out at the roots, the hole was at least two meters deep but it was completely absent of any roots or other signs that a tree had been there, which was perplexing to Aegis. Looking around he found a small pile of stones about a foot high, what was strange is that were no gaps in the stones despite the obvious all being from different sources and it looked a lot like a strange Jigsaw puzzle. Aegis didn’t need to investigate to know that the thing was hollow.

Darius's activation frightened Ilun, as 5the machine drew forth its full arsenal, weapons of every kind Ilun knew to be wielded by such battlefield terrors, and more, those that stretched even beyond Ilun's recently accelerated knowledge. He receded himself, pulling a good number of paces back; his form was formidable, but any backfire received would with ease do critical damage to his own self, something he'd rather not suffer, as he crouched himself behind a low lying boulder.

The identification call was intimidating, but the targets were... unrecognized. He himself could not recall nor locate exactly what 'Cthulu' meant, but was likely to soon find out. In the event that this newly detected threat came upon him, he himself prepared a small weapon. He knew not how to engage threats of such an unknown nature, but spontaneous improvisations were something he was quite familiar with. Ancient and degraded combat routines came back into faded view, as his body awoke, the surrounding environment was no more viewed in an eye of intrigue, but with that of a tactical mindset.

Darius crouched at a distance. He was torn by conflict. The Agent should be followed but Darius had no way to communicate his findings to others should he be forced into a new dimension. He briefly wondered if Ilun was capable of such silent information transmission. The thought was pushed from his mind as the Agent approached the scene.

His sensors could determine that a large hole was nearby but little else could be made of it. Stripped of much of his previous data, the Drone found himself in a tight spot. He spoke as softly as possible in Dronic flourished with too many words.

"Ilun. I can not approach further without being detected. The Agent appears to be alone. He has not drawn Others to him yet. These creatures posses dangerous technology. They can manipulate minds. They can drive organic creatures insane. Approach with extreme caution until their abilities have been determined. We will wait. He may or may not summon"

And then -

"Are you able to receive and send data transmissions?"

The Drone wasn't accustomed to Aegis or the Cthulhu (the true mythos) of his current dimension. His limited knowledge came from the warped insanity that plagued his place of origin. His assumptions were based on that experience. His Vafflehelm was plagued by Shoggoth and other dreadful things. Very little life or hope remained there for any faction.

Aegis's stared at the large mechanical creature for a long while cycling through a variety of lens and screens to better analysis it. He saw in it, through it, beyond it, and all of it but he found that is was very complex and still evaded a total scan for some reason. His audio sensors were able to pick up bits and pieces of the drones conversation but nothing complete. "...approach further...detected...Others...dangerous technology...manipulate...organic creatures...abilities...determined...summon..." sufficient to say even though he only had half of the conversation he didn't like what he was hearing. Aegis began moving in a wide arch trying to move around the large drone all while chanting softly inside his mask. As he did so the ground throughout the clearing began to slowly fill with a sickly green mist that reeked of sea rotted meat and decaying rocks, it pours out subtly from between rocks and the groves of trees but it barely registered on the machines sensors. They were able to see that it was slowly obscuring their view and they regardless of whatever filters they might possess it they found they couldn't see through it, however they wouldn't register any chemical or physical changes in the properties of the air.

[Mincaldenteans]

My leaves! No, that wasn't right. His eyes looked at the clouds rolling along beyond his paws. These leaves were the sky's leaves. They came down from there. The sky hadn't swatted at him for playing with them. (He secretly believed his sometimes poor behavior caused it to rain.) His belly lifted and another puff of air scattered debris. Well, these were sky leaves which meant they could be shared.

He rolled to his feet again and padded towards the other creature. And so it was that Toddycat and Ratel, two creatures from vastly different biomes, made first contact. . It was a weirdness only made possible by the equally weird land of Bielefeld, not that either creature was aware of it. Or perhaps they were and the cosmic practical joke was on us?

"khrya-ya-ya-ya!" The noise was the laughter of depraved lunatics and creaky screen doors but it was his noise and he owned it. The galloping white and black beast plowed into the leaves and then through them, and then nearly into the creature playing amidst them. He reached the other side and would have seen the canine in the bushes had his mind not been so occupied by the game at hand. He plunged back into the mix.

Black paws stopped him short of the mystery creature. His head was already outstretched on a long, thick neck but he flickered his nostrils for added reach. It was an inquisitive 'hello'. Was this a dog or a cat? Was it a weasel? He didn't know. It was roughly his height and that earned it a free pass.

Isn't it great! One morning I was sleeping on a tree, and a leaf fell upon my back and then another and the next thing you know its all over the place! It perked its head up from a blanket of thick autumn leaves and twitched its nose, its own canines now shown (it might be frowned on), but blinked its eyes and wiggled its head to and fro.

You're new. Or I'm new? I've never seen you before. Oh did you see the other one? It looks fuzzy and warm. I like fuzzy and warm! You're fuzzy too and where did you get your claws from, they different but in a good way! It quit its rambling as sudden as it had aired, for all he knew his new playmate would be easily irritated by his energetic nature.

[Torsiedelle]

"You're kind of right.", Torii said with a bashful smile. "Oh, but please stop guessing!"

The teen laughed again and wiped her eyes. "Yea, you're right. I should go get ready for my date. So, I'll see you guys later?", She asked. "I'd love to hang out again. You're...you're really fun to be around, you two. See ya around."

She waved goodbye before turning to walk away.

The park was beautiful, she knew it, but didn't really appreciate the scenery until now. Perhaps it was just because she was preoccupied with her friends, but whatever it was, she was fled that she could see it now. She appreciated her walk until reaching the street, and, facing her fear of large crowds, decided to give public transportation a go...

[The BranRiech]

"A date?"

Toscha's reddened cheeks nearly betrayed his thoughts as the friends discussed their various plans for dinner as Torii started to leave, leaving the Lamia and the Plant-Girl alone in the park at the base of the statue. He watched as the sun lowered ever further, the skies darkening with the soon-to-be onset of nighttime. It was definitely a little nippy out, but still warm enough to allow him to function normally without much hassle. Looking over at Kale, Toscha nodded. "Well, we could go to dinner as well, or whatever you want."

He still hadn't known that Kale bought him something . . .

[Cerillium]

He took in the ear posture, and the tail and rise and fall of the other creature's chest. Excitement. Curiosity! More excitement! What was it looking at?

His head rolled to the side and he caught site of the tawny thing under the bushes. Good sky and ground, what the hell is that? Unbeknownst to him, they shared Africa. He focused on the first strange creature again and his eyes asked the same question. Whatever it was, it seemed very calm and not at all jumpy. Unbeknownst to him, her species were loud and spastic.

There were many things unbeknownst to him. His own existence, for example. He awoke here and this wasn't his native land. Once again, he sought the civet's face and his head cocked. How come we here?

[Tiltjuice]

A dark beak emerged from the waves. Then similarly black wings and a white belly. The penguin rolled/stood up and flippers met wet sand with a soft slapping noise. He paced swiftly up to where the strange cry had passed over water. Spotting the trio of land creatures, he approached at near breakneck speed, beak waving from side to side and wings pointed slightly back toward the water. The green blades were far removed from his usual haunts, and they felt bizarre to his flippers. He tried leaning down and pecking at some.

[Monfrox]

Sinyaya was beyond ecstatic, even for words. And in her state, she wasn't about to really speak anyway. She curled up into a ball in the wagon and let the bumps and jolts lull her into a relaxed feeling. She still wasn't sure what had happened, but she knew she enjoyed the trip and was glad she came.

---

In the other part of town, near a lonely alley, a tall and slender form lay prone. It stirred and picked it's head up and groaned. "Where the fuck am I and why does my head and chest hurt?" Came a slightly deep female voice. The form picked itself up and wandered into the dusk light, holding their head. A young woman just out of her teens was wearing a black zip-up hoodie with a t-shirt, and a pair of faded blue jeans that were half like that when she bought them and half her own doing. Some odd stains were proof enough of that. A black baseball cap with an emblem on the front donned itself on her head and matched her hoodie and Bates Tactical composite-toe work shoes that she had taken a liking too since her tennis shoes were getting on.

It took a few seconds before the girl realized that she was, in fact, a girl. Doing her best to keep from freaking out in a public place, she stepped back into the alley and went through her pockets. Wallet, check. Phone, check. Jackknife, check. iPod nano, check. Car and house keys with a US Airforce emblem and Walking Dead ear keychains and P38 can opener, check. Wrists? Watch on the left, and black paracord bracelet on the right. Everything seemed to be in place, yet she still felt disconnected. She tried calling her mother, her father, her sister, her best friends, anyone really. Nothing. Busy tones for days. She felt tears start to well up as she asked herself the burning question. "What the fuck am I going to do?" She decided to put her faith in that people of this city would have her same good Samaritan attitude and went to look for a place to stay. At least she remembered to charge her iPod, so she had music to listen to while she walked.

She eventually found the Building, but did not recognize it for what it was. Opening the door and stepping in, she found it looked like a plain apartment lobby. No one was at the desk, though. "Okay." She thought to herself as she took a seat to keep from blocking the doorway as she planned her next move while waiting to see if the person at the desk would come back. She assumed they were on break, and would rather not disturb them.

[Mincaldenteans]

He took in the ear posture, and the tail and rise and fall of the other creature's chest. Excitement. Curiosity! More excitement! What was it looking at?

His head rolled to the side and he caught site of the tawny thing under the bushes. Good sky and ground, what the hell is that? Unbeknownst to him, they shared Africa. He focused on the first strange creature again and his eyes asked the same question. Whatever it was, it seemed very calm and not at all jumpy. Unbeknownst to him, her species were loud and spastic.

There were many things unbeknownst to him. His own existence, for example. He awoke here and this wasn't his native land. Once again, he sought the civet's face and his head cocked. How come we here?

If a civet could shrug, it translated to a quick back and forth of its head, its haunches raised ever so slightly and then back to his relaxed state. I dunno. Its a nice place though. I wonder if there's any food though, night is coming...

A dark beak emerged from the waves. Then similarly black wings and a white belly. The penguin rolled/stood up and flippers met wet sand with a soft slapping noise. He paced swiftly up to where the strange cry had passed over water. Spotting the trio of land creatures, he approached at near breakneck speed, beak waving from side to side and wings pointed slightly back toward the water. The green blades were far removed from his usual haunts, and they felt bizarre to his flippers. He tried leaning down and pecking at some.

What is that? It has no fur and it walks on two legs. Its very tall! The civet tilted its head even more so, studying it and sniffing the air in attempt to pick up some kind of scent. All it could was water and not much else. It looked shiny even in the dimming light. The civet sat back on his hind legs and looked at the newcomer. This was turning into an exciting night indeed!

[Torsiedelle]

The trolley wasn't as crowded as Torii thought...actually, she found herself with only a few others, who got off at different stops, and the trip was mostly peaceful. It was nice, and it gave her room to think and breath. It would also help, since she really needed a shower. She'd do that soon enough...

After her stop, it was a quick walk home. Entering the lobby, she made little noise, and remained oblivious to any happenings while she was gone. She merely walked to her apartment, finding it empty, and cleaned up a little beforehand.

"I need to get spruced up."

She started by checking the dresser for clothes. It was easy enough, finding their nice clothes. She still had that dress from the ball...too flashy. What about those other clothes that she had bought a year back? She remembered them. They were similar to her sister's outfits....that'd work. It was flashy, but not too flashy.

"No....it's not...me."

Okay, that was out of the question...

She carefully laid out her outfit for the date -- her white sundress, since it looked nice enough, her jacket to keep warm, and her boots, kicked off and laid at the bedside. She jumped into her shower, washed her hair, plucked her eyebrows, shaved, brushed her teeth, and helped herself generously to some expensive perfume, and got dressed for a date. She was looking forward to it, big time.

[Cerillium]

The civet was right. It was a nice place. The leaves were solid proof. The other proof was the creature that had approached.

At first the Ratel was soundly spooked and thought to rush forward to defend his leaves from the strange bird. Then he remembered that they belonged to the sky. There wasn't any reason to bluster at all. His second impression was that the ground had extraordinarily good taste to fashion a bird with black and white colors. Sensible bird. He sniffed and smelled strange water on the sleek body.

It's a bird. A swimming bird? Do you swim, bird? He had grown accustomed to various birds, especially the large scavengers that circled free meals, but this short legged walking bird was completely different. The ratel's thick skin would prevent dangerous pecks so he crept forward until he was fairly close and then sat on his haunches.

[Tiltjuice]

"No, arranged marriages aren't a thing anymore.", Katya got out through clenched teeth. After the pain had passed for the moment, she looked back at her friend. "What do you mean there's more going on? I don't understand."

Was there something going on with the people here? What did Dora mean with her saying, Katya wondered. She showed the nurse her arm for the shot.

"To hell what mother thinks.", She said sternly. "She may have raised me, but she doesn't care about Tora, and little for me. I don't see how she ended up that way. This is my choice. I'm twenty years old now, and I can make my own decisions!"

Dora's smile held an otherworldly quality to it, something undefinable.

"You and I aren't the same, and yet we are. Trust me when I say life has mysteries for us all." She nodded to the daemonette, who swabbed down Katya's arm for fluids and her back for the anesthetic.

"Stay still, all right? Enough drama for one day." And before Katya could register anything else, the catheter was in and the pump whooshing. The daemonette was efficient and professional, and Dora had moved off a few paces, bridging the gap among the three women.

[Tiltjuice]

The civet was right. It was a nice place. The leaves were solid proof. The other proof was the creature that had approached.

At first the Ratel was soundly spooked and thought to rush forward to defend his leaves from the strange bird. Then he remembered that they belonged to the sky. There wasn't any reason to bluster at all. His second impression was that the ground had extraordinarily good taste to fashion a bird with black and white colors. Sensible bird. He sniffed and smelled strange water on the sleek body.

It's a bird. A swimming bird? Do you swim, bird? He had grown accustomed to various birds, especially the large scavengers that circled free meals, but this short legged walking bird was completely different. The ratel's thick skin would prevent dangerous pecks so he crept forward until he was fairly close and then sat on his haunches.

Swim! Water! the penguin burbled rather foolishly and giddily, looking on at the two furred land dwellers. He supposed that their sitting back was a form of greeting, so he did the best he could to emulate them by lying on his back. Another leaf came down and covered his throat.

I swim! Swimming is fun! Do any of you swim?

[Germanic Templars]

The cellos, which died out for a moment, came back to life with a new tune to them. To this tune, once it got a heavy part, came descending slowly to the music was a winged knight with a long sword on his back with a hilt that represented a balance scale made out of fine gold with a blade made out of the most perfect, shiny steel ever to be forged.

When the tip of the knight's toe touched the ground, all the pillars caved inward towards the center as the lower elevated ground on both sides of the bridge gave way and crumbled into a an endless abyss. Now only two sides and a bridge stood in the room. For after the knight touched ground, the skeletons dissipated into nothing.

Samael stood speechless and impassive to the presence of the knight as if it were to happen. Superbia on the other hand took a defensive stance as he spread his wings out and clenched his fists.

---

"Good idea. I can see if I can put Levi or someone to use. Always good to use valuable resources." Thriller added. The sound of running water stopped as doors to the shower slid open. Thriller came out with a towel around his waste with his feet and hair still wet.

"Who is he?" Xanthe hissed into Samuel's ear. A delicate hand rested on his shoulder as she peered over it to look at the strange knight. She was on unfamiliar grounds. She'd attack, if the knight attacked, or she'd flee into a safe space and leave the others to sort it out.

The cello music had been nice but some angelic thing had come along and ruined it. Blythe's tail lashed once but then she seemed to grow emotionless. She stepped forward to stand beside Superbia. "Does he have what we need?"

---

"Mrs. Barox! That should be our first stop!"

Thriller's towel was liberated from his body but applied to his skull moments later as Sanemi began to dry his hair. "We really should see how she's doing. And then we need to go to market. I want to plan out a meal for the banquet. I can't do that if I don't know what's available locally. Plus I need to get the twins sometime this week. I'm sure they'd be happier here than stuck with Naomi."

"That, is the Guardian." Samuel answered, "And judging by the looks of that sword, it could most possibly be Archangel Michael. That or a person with his sword; and no he does not have our book. That is behind this door, but can only be open if he is defeated in a duel between one of us. And since I am an archangel and me fighting another angel would be wrong, I am opting out of this."

"Then Ii'll challenge him." Superbia responded. "Been a long time since I killed an angel, hell it would be the first time beating an archangel." He then stepped further, regarding that Blythe was next to him, but found that it was best if he were to accept the challenge.

As Superbia walked onto the bridge, a dome of energy shielded the side that the door was on, protecting the group from any damage that might come from the fight. The knight drew his sword from behind him and held it out to his side with the tip pointing away from the group. "Prepare yourself, demon. It is time to pay the toll." His sword, which was a 4 feet in length, grew to 6 feet in length with a width of 2 feet. Sword looked heavy, but how he held it with one hand made it as if it was weightless.

The knight then took a stance with his sword in both hands and pointed at Superbia. "Come at me, demon!" the knight exclaimed. Superbia, too eager to oblige him, lunged forward at the knight.

---

On a better note then what is happening with Superbia and the group, we hear in on what Thriller is about to say, "Well from hat Barox told me, she was doing alright. Survived the war, but got a nasty scare across her face. Never fully healed though, but we can still visit. As for the shopping, I can give you a catalog of food and drinks that are sold here on the planet and can have them delivered here. As for the twins, we can get Levi to bring them here, no need to waste energy. Besides, it is the least he can do to help out a little.. See, I have it all planned out in just under 2 seconds." He remarked before giving her a kiss.

---

Natiya, freshly out of an entire week's worth of shit to do, swimming, seeing the sights, traveling through space, and getting in a large and deadly firefight, wanted nothing more at this point than her suit, but then again, she also wanted to sleep as well, so since she had time to kill before then, sleeping was the next best option. "Well, I wouldn't mind a rest and a shower." She noted, running a finger over her current articles of clothing, drawing a fair bit of dust from the surface of the fabric, mostly from the firefight she assumed.

"Yeah, that's actually be awesome, Aleki, want to head out there?"

"Sounds like a great plan to me. Better then what my place looks like." He chuckled.

"Speaking of which, what happened to your place?" Khro asked with a bit of concern as she looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh you know, war happened and a 105 mm shell came hurdling into my apartment room. You know, the stuff."

"That sucks to hear, well lets get you two out of here and back to my place." Khro then stood up and walked towards the exit. A time skip later, they were in Khro's apartment room. "Alright, before anyone sit on the couch, please clean yourself up and take your shoes off and place them by the door. Took me a while to clean this place up once I got back. And it didn't help that there were squatters living here after I got back."

---

"Rabbits can be, but your case is complicated because you are not just a "bunny" you are one with different properties...Okay, I can't explain why..May I ask, how old are you?" Sapphire asked; her curiosity was beginning to eat at her when her furless little friend mentioned a mad alchemist.

Three years! MB preened. Alchemicisicizeded when one year. Not know what changes exactly, though. Other than eating glass. And this many color ear thing. You like?

He twirled his ears around in circles like a kid waving sparklers.

Sapphire giggled at MB's little ear twirling. "Your a funny little creature."

The clock on the wall struck the time for lunch. The scientist that worked in the lab walked out chattering about work and other subjects as they piled onto the elevator. Sapphire watched them leave before looking back at MB. "Okay, now is out time to get in there."

[Swith Witherward]

Izzat a bird?

She had remained partially concealed in the overgrowth but had poked her nose into the fading sunlight when the civet and honey badger began their play. The leaf game seemed interesting enough but the other two animals were much larger than she. They had quick claws and probably more teeth in their heads than she did, plus they could sit on her and that would be her end.

She took a few steps forward with her fluffy rump lowered and ears towards the sun. The Spotty-stripey and the Grumbler-claws seemed at ease with the bird, but nothing was certain in life. Large ears rocked towards the group and her whiskers quivered. Many things were uncertain but what was certain was the calm attitudes of the other creatures. Plus they might have food. Or even be food. Well, maybe not. The bird was huge. Maybe the other two would take it down and she could snatch intestines while they were chewing?

She approached a few steps more, and then some more, and then some more. Little drips and drabs of pitter-patters carried her across the leaves and between Spotty-stripey and Grumbler-claws. Her head tilted and she observed the bird.

Izzit dead?

It didn't look too dead. That is to say that it might be almost dead or even fake dead. She could hear its heart beating, though, so she wouldn't proclaim the large bird as edible until it was very dead. The little fennec had never seen a bird this close before. She cautiously took a step beyond the Spotty/Grumbler front line and leaned as far forward as possible to sniff at the sleek creature. She couldn't understand his feathers... they reminded her of scales almost, or prickles... or his funny wings. His feet and beak meant that he was a bird, so what did all this mean?

[Giovenith]

Sinyaya was beyond ecstatic, even for words. And in her state, she wasn't about to really speak anyway. She curled up into a ball in the wagon and let the bumps and jolts lull her into a relaxed feeling. She still wasn't sure what had happened, but she knew she enjoyed the trip and was glad she came.

Soon they arrived back at the building, and Giovenith lead Sinyaya back into the lobby and gave her a pat on the head.

"I had fun little one, but you should get back home now," Giovenith told Sinyaya, smiling. "It's getting late, and I'm sure your auntie is getting anxious. Have very sweet dreams."

The godling then turned around and dragged her wagon upstairs, the wheels giving a metallic thump, bump, bump each time, until she finally reached her room. It had felt like such an incredibly long day, and although it still wasn't over, she was happy to begin settling down again. Once inside her room, she found her golem and pony working together to stretch canvas fabric over a wooden rectangle, as Willow used his hoof to hammer in the nails keeping it in place.

"Hey, what are you two up to?" Giovenith asked, while carefully rolling her wagon into her closet for momentary keeping. "Willow, I don't usually see you making canvases from scratch."

Willow finished with the last few bangs of a nail and inspected it, giving the stretched canvas a little drum to make sure it was tight enough. Satisfied, he smiled at his roommate. "Ah, Giovenith, I'm glad you're home. I wanted to ask, is there a printing press available for public use anywhere near here?"

"A printer?" Giovenith asked, fully thinking of the modern electronic printing machines. "Uh, yeah, sure, I think we can find one."

"Excellent, and are you going to be too terribly busy anytime soon?"

"Nnnnnnot that I'm currently aware of!"

"Doubly excellent," Willow held up the canvas and blew some extra dust off. "I was wondering if you could assist me with a few commissions, since I know that you excel in surrealism and expressionism."

"Well of course!"

And so they planned.

[Torsiedelle]

Once again, the girl's feet pitter-pattered against the floor of the lobby. She was pondering on whether or not it was time to go knock on the Nikanors' door. She amused herself by looking out the door, playing around the front desk, and even giving the Teen Club room a look around, just in case anyone was there. When was the last time it had been used, anyway? Torii hadn't seen her favorite half-dragon friend all summer. The two boxes of cigarettes were still there for them. When were they all going to fix it up and have a party?

She'd ask about that later. Stepping back out into the lobby, Torii decided that it was better to be early than on time, and climbed down the stairs to the bomb shelter, where her strange neighbors lived. There was no getting out of it for them tonight; she was going on a date. Not a romantic one, really, but it was still a date: dinner at a restaurant, her and Bran, talking. It made her a little nervous...it made her really nervous. She had a few questions, and some ideas, and she was waiting to get them out, she just hoped that everything would go well. Had she left a note for her sister beforehand? Yes. She looked good, she was cleaned up...

She gave the door four light knocks, and held her breath.

[The BranRiech]

She gave the door four light knocks, and held her breath.

Once the door slid open, the same way it always had for all those years, it revealed Bran, standing there. His hair was slicked back, and he was wearing a white-buttoned shirt, collar crisp and clean. He shrugged, and chuckled. "Heya, Torii." He nodded as he looked beyond her, seeing the sunset. "Wanna' head out? Where are we gonna' go?" He asked as he thought about heading to Chaos. He hadn't been there in a while, but then again, it was the place he'd been so many times before. Maybe they should try something new?

[Monfrox]

Sinyaya smiled and watched Giovenith return to her room before yawning. She noticed a figure hunched over with it's head down, but wanted to go tell her aunt the good news first. She climbed the stairs and came to room. "Auntie! I did it!" She shouted. Varona looked up from her book as the girl bounded inside after shutting the door. "I made a friend!"

"That's great. Who was it?" Varona asked.

"I don't know her name, but she has white hair and is a bit older than me...maybe..."

Varona smiled and patted Sinyaya on her head. "That's good. But now it's bed time."

Sinyaya nodded and forgot about the person in the lobby and crawled into the bed. She fell asleep quickly as Varona continued reading.

[Mincaldenteans]

In the other part of town, near a lonely alley, a tall and slender form lay prone. It stirred and picked it's head up and groaned. "Where the fuck am I and why does my head and chest hurt?" Came a slightly deep female voice. The form picked itself up and wandered into the dusk light, holding their head. A young woman just out of her teens was wearing a black zip-up hoodie with a t-shirt, and a pair of faded blue jeans that were half like that when she bought them and half her own doing. Some odd stains were proof enough of that. A black baseball cap with an emblem on the front donned itself on her head and matched her hoodie and Bates Tactical composite-toe work shoes that she had taken a liking too since her tennis shoes were getting on.

It took a few seconds before the girl realized that she was, in fact, a girl. Doing her best to keep from freaking out in a public place, she stepped back into the alley and went through her pockets. Wallet, check. Phone, check. Jackknife, check. iPod nano, check. Car and house keys with a US Airforce emblem and Walking Dead ear keychains and P38 can opener, check. Wrists? Watch on the left, and black paracord bracelet on the right. Everything seemed to be in place, yet she still felt disconnected. She tried calling her mother, her father, her sister, her best friends, anyone really. Nothing. Busy tones for days. She felt tears start to well up as she asked herself the burning question. "What the fuck am I going to do?" She decided to put her faith in that people of this city would have her same good Samaritan attitude and went to look for a place to stay. At least she remembered to charge her iPod, so she had music to listen to while she walked.

She eventually found the Building, but did not recognize it for what it was. Opening the door and stepping in, she found it looked like a plain apartment lobby. No one was at the desk, though. "Okay." She thought to herself as she took a seat to keep from blocking the doorway as she planned her next move while waiting to see if the person at the desk would come back. She assumed they were on break, and would rather not disturb them.

The steaming cup of herbal tea warmed her bones and Myra gave an elated smile as she took in the aroma of the warm drink. The lobby was much cooler than it was hours ago and she wondered if the air conditioner had gone wonky. Oh well, it did her good to get up and stretch her limbs. That's when she saw a new person at the desk. "Oh hello!" Myra greeted with the same smile, pushing her thick framed glasses up instinctively.

She placed her cup down behind the desk and continued while she assembled the necessary paperwork onto a clipboard and pamphlets in another hand. "You must the other new tenant Demens was expecting. He's usually around here somewhere and I'm just a filler. Welcome to the building!" Myra gently placed the clipboard in front of their soon-to-be neighbor.

"I'm Myra Bones, its a pleasure to meet you. Please fill this out, its just your typical information and what not and place it in that slot over there," she gestured lightly to the receptacle on her right. "Once you do, you'll receive a key. There's a bunch of other things you'd might like to take a look at, like this building - we totally have a shared kitchen and dining room, pool, backyard, library, rec room, the works. There's also some information on the city, and a few stores around here you might like to visit. Sorry if I'm rambling, by the way, it can be a lot to take in."

[Monfrox]

"Huh?" The girl stood up and walked over to the front desk. "Thank you I was wondering what I might be able to d-" The girl stopped mid-sentence as her eyes zeroed in on the name of the city. Bielefeld. She had a sudden and dramatic change in mood. She thought that maybe something had happened on some sort of trip with the addition of too much alcohol, however a ludicrous reasoning it'd be since she was only twenty and wasn't old enough to drink. Now, she quickly grasped the severity of her situation. She went a bit pale, felt her heart beating irregularly fast, and was having a shortness of breath. She swallowed hard and looked up from the form at Myra. "T-tell me...what kind of uh...history does this place have? What are the residents like?"

[Torsiedelle]

"No, arranged marriages aren't a thing anymore.", Katya got out through clenched teeth. After the pain had passed for the moment, she looked back at her friend. "What do you mean there's more going on? I don't understand."

Was there something going on with the people here? What did Dora mean with her saying, Katya wondered. She showed the nurse her arm for the shot.

"To hell what mother thinks.", She said sternly. "She may have raised me, but she doesn't care about Tora, and little for me. I don't see how she ended up that way. This is my choice. I'm twenty years old now, and I can make my own decisions!"

Dora's smile held an otherworldly quality to it, something undefinable.

"You and I aren't the same, and yet we are. Trust me when I say life has mysteries for us all." She nodded to the daemonette, who swabbed down Katya's arm for fluids and her back for the anesthetic.

"Stay still, all right? Enough drama for one day." And before Katya could register anything else, the catheter was in and the pump whooshing. The daemonette was efficient and professional, and Dora had moved off a few paces, bridging the gap among the three women.

"Um...yea, sure...."

Katya looked back at Dora, a little strange, but thought that maybe she was just not thinking right. It was hard, trying to understand that in pain. Now, the nurse was taking care of her. That was good, too, since the entire fiasco was about to come to its climax.

"Say, after this, what will we do?", She asked. "I don't know how I'll take this...I'm going crazy, I swear, ha. What's the procedure? Dora? Nurse?"

.....

She gave the door four light knocks, and held her breath.

Once the door slid open, the same way it always had for all those years, it revealed Bran, standing there. His hair was slicked back, and he was wearing a white-buttoned shirt, collar crisp and clean. He shrugged, and chuckled. "Heya, Torii." He nodded as he looked beyond her, seeing the sunset. "Wanna' head out? Where are we gonna' go?" He asked as he thought about heading to Chaos. He hadn't been there in a while, but then again, it was the place he'd been so many times before. Maybe they should try something new?

"Hi, Mr. Nikanor.", Torii waved. "Um, I was thinking Chaos, but do you want to go somewhere else? It's totally up to you, you know. I'm just a girl, and I remember Papa always saying that the man took charge and decided the date. I like the sound of that. It's kind of nice...."

She shook her head. She was rambling. "Oh, but yea, wherever is fine with me. I'm just glad we can do this. As long as the restaraunt is nearby, I'll follow."