ROLEPLAY HQ - the-onlookers-war

Tʜᴀᴛ ᴡʜɪᴄʜ ᴡᴀs Uɴᴍᴀᴅᴇ... She was... Nothing. Yes, that felt right. Niamh was Nothing. Her body told her she was flying. But that wasn't quite right. She was falling. Falling upwards. Down had become Up. But that did not quite make sense, either. Because, after all, Niamh was Nothing, and Nothing did not adhere to directions. Still, she fell. In blatant opposition to her Nothing. She couldn't see. Surrounding her was a perfect blackness. She wasn't blind, she simply saw Nothing. But then... Then there was Something. A streak of light. Then another, and another... Until she was surrounded, encircled, within a column of light. Illuminating the Nothing that surrounded Niamh, the Nothing that was Niamh. Something in the back of her mind baulked at the sight of herself. She was Nothing. She was a Niamh-shaped hole in the Everything. The light was all around her now, closing in. And her Nothing drew it in. The light didn't find it. It almost seemed eager, to be drawn into Niamh. To turn her Nothing into Something. For a brief, glorious moment... Niamh was Everything. She drew in a breath on reflex. Creating the concept. The idea of breathing. The idea of the Somethings that needed to be joined together to be inhaled. The idea of the numbers needed to form the percentages of those Somethings. The idea of a shocked inhalation. The idea of shock. An infinite cascade of Somethings. An interger of Everything. This made sense to her. The underlying mathematical truths that underpinned all of existence. Niamh loved numbers, and in that moment she created the idea of love, of passion for a concept, of dedication to that passion. But she also knew she was not... Creating these things. Merely coming to understand them. Because they had always existed. They simply needed... Something. The lights were gone, now. But so was her Nothing. In its place, she was... Something. Something between Everything and Nothing. A little Niamh-shaped piece of Something. The prior perfect blackness of Nothing, and the perfect light of Everything. The former shaped her, the latter filled her. Little pinpricks of light. Like twinkling stars. Niamh, now Something, and no longer Nothing, came to her senses then. Alone, confused and, yes, still falling. She screamed. ...Cᴀɴ ʙᴇ Mᴀᴅᴇ ᴏɴᴄᴇ ᴍᴏʀᴇ. ❃❃❃ Niamh bolted upright, gasping. She was immediately overwhelmed. Eyes, ears, nose, an onslaught of a hundred-hundred different things. The overwhelming brightness of a midday sun. The riotous cacophony of a forest in bloom, on ear and nose alike. Forest. Forest? That's not right. I was outside the office... Her eyes opened, inviting a lance of pain. Bright. So bright. She raised a hand to shield her eyes from the light. Niamh saw... Skin. Normal, too-pale skin. Not a Niamh-shaped sea of stars. That had been a dream, then? It hadn't felt like a dream. Her eyes adjusted to the light, and she blinked spots from her vision. Her glasses sat crooked on her nose, so she adjusted them. It was a normal motion. Practiced. Repeated countless times over the course of countless days. It calmed her, the familiarity of that movement. Niamh had not been imagining these disorienting things. She was in a forest. It was familiar... But not quite right. Like a painting she passed every day in the hall, but like the frame had suddenly been tilted several degrees off-center. Green grass. Green leaves. But the trees weren't of a species she recognized. The grass was different, too. The air was different. Sweeter. Could air be sweet? It was all just... Different. Alien. But not in a way that wildly proclaimed it to be so. There were similarities, here and there. The bark of the trees, it gnarled in a familiar way.

4:18 AM

The trees themselves were tall. Gangly. With huge, sweeping boughs. They gave her shade from the sun overhead. Bright, yellow. Like home. But different. Niamh's mind reeled. This isn't right. She had been standing outside the office. Talking with... With... Someone. She couldn't remember her face, or her name. They'd never spoken much. Niamh had always been cloistered in her office, preferring the company of records and spreadsheets. But the other woman, she'd struck up a conversation with her... Outside the office, why had they been outside the office? Her stomach lurched. Cramping. She hadn't eaten yet, and she'd forgotten to eat breakfast. Again. Lunch. We were... Going to get lunch. Then... Nothing. Something. And she was here. But where was here? Niamh pushed herself up, wobbling on her feet. Her heels sank into the soil. She hated wearing heels, hated how they scrunched her feet up, making her feel the textures of the inside of the uncomfortable shoes, the textures of her skin scrunching up together. But she wore them because the other women in the office did, and she didn't want to stick out. She slid out of the heels. Planted her feet in the grass. She was still dressed for the office. Business casual. Striped pants, grey on black. A white dress shirt, grey blazer to match the pants. A couple of her better pencils still tucked into the breast pocket of her blazer. Perfectly arranged so they didn't apply unwanted pressure on her skin. Niamh swallowed anxiously, taking a few tentative steps forward. They'd been standing outside of the office... But now she was here. But where was... What was her name? She tried so hard to remember people's names, but people weren't easy like numbers were. They didn't follow rules. They didn't adhere to rote and rhythm. They didn't... Didn't stick in her head, like she always thought they ought've. Where was she? What was her name? Names could be like numbers. They had structure, too. The way the sounds fit together. There was order to that. And order... Order, Niamh could remember. So she thought back, to how the words fit together. And she remembered. "...Madeline?" Niamh didn't speak very often. She had a soft voice. Mousy, one woman had called it. "Madeline? Madeline, are you here?" She tried to keep the urgency, the growing panic, from creeping into her voice. "Please. Please say something. I don't want to be alone..."

4:18 AM

@Deleted User

Tʜᴏsᴇ ᴡʜᴏ ᴀʀᴇ ɴᴏ ᴍᴏʀᴇ... Madeline had never been in a position where she wasn't acutely aware of herself... It was Madeline. Perfect princess of her own life, feminist icon, fan favorite, honored and esteemed... None of it mattered when everything about your identity was suddenly stripped away into the void. Void in the complete and truest sense - there was everything and then the next second there was nothing. Like scientists said online, the absense of atoms? She didn't even really know what an atom was. Then she didn't know anything; her name, her age, where she was, her identity, she felt as though she was just a zipping or whizzing energy. A concept? She wouldn't know. Before her mind was ripped away from anything and into the void, viscerally she felt her heart beat faster... Was she dying? This was such a stupid way to go! Then she was surrounded by lights, they became the zipping and the whizzing she felt, bubbling up around her like a wormhole through the channels of space. Like a solar flare, like falling into the sun. She felt herself being ripped around, but really she didn't know if she was feeling it, or if it was just the only way her mixed up brain was able to conceptualize the waves of nothingness and uncertainty that invaded her sense of self. She fell, she didn't know where she was falling, but the first thing she knew she felt, truly felt, was her fear if heights which she had completely and totally forgotten she even had. How does someone forget that? She wasn't even sure if she knew her name... After the fear of heights finished racking her, next came her second largest fear... Was she ever going to remember herself? Who was this form she was taking, this figure in the radiant beams wrapping around her while she fell through the 'atomic nothingness' she didn't even have the capacity to understand. She couldn't even scream, which was so unlike her... She gasped as she recalled that simple fact about herself, the first thing since fear... Cᴀɴ ʙᴇ ᴘɪᴇᴄᴇᴅ ᴛᴏɢᴇᴛʜᴇʀ ᴀɢᴀɪɴ...

4:58 AM

❃❃❃ Madeline didn't even move. She had 'landed' perched against something which scratched her - catching her pantyhose and probably putting a hole in it. Her legs in the air and her torso against the grass, she hitched in a breath and for a second, as the fear from heights, from nothingness, from death subsided, she felt the grass between her fingers, and the scratching bark against her calf, and she breathed. Then she remembered she usually screamed - and so it came. No words, just a short, trill, yelp, which echoed and horrified her. Why was there an echo. There was no echo outside the high-rise office building, it was too... busy. She shimmied, unlatching a stocking from the bark and kicking against the tree with her nude stiletto pumps, dislodging herself from this position and landing in the grass fully. She gripped it between her acrylic-lined fingers, coated in a classy french tip, tearing up grass by the handful. A grunt came out of her. Oh my god, I've been kidnapped, it's finally happened. She shuffled to an upright sit, and looked around, jaw agape. She didn't even have the capacity to reflect upon her emotions from just a moment ago - that was probably what happened when someone chloroform's you, or something... She wouldn't know. She looked at the tree she had just been perched on, but honestly, she didn't know enough about different trees to recognize them. Hence she couldn't be in the city anymore, the trees there were small, strangled by concrete. And the grass too. There was no concrete, nothing she recognized from the city, or the office. How the hell had she gotten here, she was just in the middle of a conversation - Wait! A conversation! She shot onto her knees, running a hand over her long hair, unsure of the state she was in. She reflexively smoothed out her pinstripe vest and miniskirt as she knelt, tidying herself as a calming ritual. Who was that chic? The one she was talking to. She only had to press her mind for a moment before it came to her. She only remembered because of how weird it was they were even talking. She had spent maybe a week trying to crack this chic's exterior before deciding she was better off chatting it up with the other office ladies. Nerdy Niamh. She didn't come up with it, someone else did. What someone didn't know they were called, wouldn't hurt them. She would never call someone a name to their face, but names did help with memory. Peculiar Pete, Loud Linda, it all helped. Maybe she was a bit judgmental... She ran a hand down the sleeve of her blue blouse, a cheap one from Zara, but it looked good on her. She took a deep breath, rationalizing her rationalizing. Why would someone who kidnapped me kidnap Niamh too? It would be stupid to do a double snatch, wouldn't it? Don't start calling people's names... She opened her mouth to call 'Hello?', like in a dumb horror movie, then she heard it - "Oh my god, Niamh!" She basically screamed back. Her voice was clear and lilt, a sing-song charm which came natural to her. She jumped up and her heels sank into the soft dirt, so she remained still, not willing to take them off and get her stockings all up in the dirt...

4:58 AM

@Lesbingus

I don't want to be alone. Please. Please don't let me be alone. Pleasepleasepleaseplease-- A scream. Niamh whirled to the right, towards the source of it. Her heart thundered in her chest. Panic rising within her, overflowing like a mug left under the faucet for too long. The sound carried, quick and sharp. It was familiar. Something about it. Her legs were carrying Niamh forward before her brain caught up with her actions. And by then, she had committed. She had no way to defend herself. No way to know what may lay around the next twist in the tree-line, around each gnarled trunk, every tangle of roots. Then, as she pushed past the final trunk-- "Oh my god, Niamh!" Did she know? She was the only one who got her name right. Neev. Not Nee-am. Madeline Bailey was the only one who got it right, despite the fact she and Niamh were strangers. And in that moment, this woman, who she barely knew... Was the most wonderful thing Niamh had ever seen. Niamh appeared from the woods like something out of a folk tale. She was gangly. Tall. Very, very tall. Awkward, long of limb, thin as a rail. She kept her auburn hair in a neat bun, her bangs cut to a certain, strange, mathematical precision. Framing her face well. But in a way that felt... Designed. Measured. Inauthentic. Like she'd learned how to do it from a book-- Which she had. "Madeline," she said, standing there. Her quiet voice carrying in the empty air. She approached, timid. Her eyes darted this way and that, arms tucked in close to her body. As she drew to a stop exactly six feet from Madeline, she drew in a breath. Niamh could feel it. A trace of Something, clinging to Madeline. It was a different Something to her Something. It was a query posed, begging to be answered. But she forced herself to focus. Her logical brain had to take the front. Her questioning brain was too distracted by... Everything. "Something happened," Niamh said, matter-of-factly.

5:31 AM

@Deleted User

Madeline heard the shuffling through the trees before she saw the other woman. She didn’t feel the same stress of strangers, of danger, since she had heard Niamh calling her name. Kidnapping was something she took self defence classes at the gym for, she did a four week martial arts class for this. She had studied gender and psychology in her SS course - she was prepared! She saw Niamh come around the corner and tears welled up in her eyes, she was actually so so stressed out - she pouted, her glossy lips still clinging to her nude lipstick. She shuffled over to the other woman who had halted before reaching her. Her heels punched holes in the ground. “I know, yeah…” She says, a wobble in her voice. “What the hell is going on…?” The question wasn’t directed to Niamh. Madeline wasn’t as tall as Niamh, although she was a couple inches above the women’s average height for her age. Her hair was down to her waist, half-up and curled with so much style protectant that the golden-blonde ringlets hadn’t moved despite all the falling and tumbling she’d done in the metaphysical plane or whatever. Her full best makeup wasn’t even smeared, she must use a lot of setting spray. Madeline wondered if her purse was around here somewhere. She didn’t know why it would be if they had been snatched, but it would be helpful. “Where are we…?” Was her final huffed question. She peered around, shuffling due to her sinking heels, still against abandoning them. Her miniskirt kept riding up due to her weird walking pattern, it was already short enough but out in the forest she felt super exposed, even though she could only see one other person. If they’d been kidnapped, then why’d they been dumped here? Unharmed apart from the stress. No, something else must have happened.

5:45 AM

@Lesbingus

What had happened? Where were they? Those were good questions. Such incredible questions, with answers not easily found. They were puzzles, and Niamh was eager to challenge them. Her intellect against their intricacy. It was the kind of thing she lived for. Madeline closed the distance. Niamh didn't have the heart to protest. She didn't know she liked her space, so Niamh had no right to be fussy. But now she had to actively tilt her head down to look at Madeline. Or, well, at that little space just off Madeline's shoulder. Her coworker was distressed. She could hear it in her voice, see it written across her face, when she dared to pass her eyes over it, before they skittered back to that spot just out of the way of true eye contact. "What the hell is going on...?" "Mmh. Something." "Where are we...?" "Not home. Mmh." Her right hand, hanging at her side, stirred. She flapped it, then caught herself. Stilling her hand with a moment's effort. It wasn't professional to do that in front of others. She heard what they said about her. They thought she didn't, but she did, and Niamh tried her best not to be so... Different. It never worked. "Not..." She paused, backing up a few steps. Niamh needed thinking space. Her eyes flickered over the forest. Across the trees, the grass, over the strange flowers. None of them were familiar to her. Which meant they were somewhere... Else. "Not Earth. Mmh." Niamh stifled a lot of her Things. But that pensive hum, she never could get rid of that. But she was glad it was here. The noise had a familiar, comforting rhythm. It helped to ground her. Keep her in the Here and Now. "The trees, the grass... Mmh... They're--" She gestured ineffectually, words failing her. Her mouth worked silently, as she tried to squeeze the concept into as few words as possible. People always started looking at her funny when she spoke the right way. So she always had to dumb it down for them. Because they didn't get it. "They're... Mmh... Different. Not just those. Everything." Niamh closed her eyes, practicing her breathing exercises. She brought herself back down to earth. Centered herself. The tension visibly left her. It was mostly an act for Madeline. To hopefully make her worry less. "Just a hypothesis. Mmh. I hope I'm wrong. I probably sound crazy."

6:08 AM

@Deleted User

Madeline didn’t come any closer then the space required to make a usual conversation. No hugs, no squeezing her with joy that she wasn’t just by herself in this strange forest. She just stood in front of Niamh, and looked up at her to bridge the gap. When the taller woman’s eyes flickered across hers, even she wasn’t making eye contact, she seemed to be staring off into space. “Not earth?” Madeline baulked. She scoffed and looked around - at the trees and branches, the sky and leaves, and then down at the grass and soil where her red bottoms were sinking into. She felt grounded for a second, then finally stepped out of her heels and onto the grass. “Not to agree with you, but that’s pretty crazy.” She mumbled, squinting her eyes at the trees. “It’s not you, I just… well you know. surely not…” She took a deep breath and furrowed her manicured brows. “Wherever we are, the forest isn’t safe. I can get us to a path.” She snaps confidently, before looking at through the trees and orienting herself with where the sun was. “Or some way out of here…” She looks around for her purse, for anything that the world might have left her in this dire situation. “You can tell me more about these ‘hypotheses’ while we walk.” She said. There was a deep uncertainty in her voice - clearly she’s never put any of her survival classes to the test before, but she was willing to try. Follow steps given to her. she looked through the trees and takes note of the easiest paths through them. Picking up her heels she points with one towards a northern-facing direction, without as many tree-obstructions. “That way.” (edited)

12:50 PM

@Lesbingus

"Not Earth?" "Not Earth." She reaffirmed her prior statement, meeting Madeline's scoff with a nod. This was the conclusion Niamh had come to. It was logical. It made sense. It... Was a fulfilment of every wishful, daydreamt fantasy she had ever had. Madeline was confident. Always so self assured. She spoke in a way that just... Bade you to follow. Niamh wouldn't complain about that. She didn't lead, she followed. That was comfortable, that was safe. Others were so much better with their words. That was their strength. Even with that uncertain note in her voice, Madeline felt... Solid. She was right. The forest wasn't safe. It wasn't dangerous, either. But what they needed right now was safe. So, Niamh followed Madeline. As they did, her brain backtracked. Put her coworker's words back together. Had she said she wanted to hear Niamh's hypotheses? She had! The two of them began to trek... "North... Mmh... North-by-Northeast..." She was good with directions. Directions were numbers. These numbers were off, however. The sky was wrong, the sun sat wrong in the sky. But the baseline remained, shadowed as it was by this new, skewed data. "The trees, see? Mmh... The trunks are too long, the boughs stretch out thinner than any species I know... The leaves aren't the right shape," Niamh stooped as she walked, picking up a leaf. Turning it over in her hand as they walked, she inspected it closer. It was close to a willow leaf. A short stem, a rounded base, a "toothed" margin. But where a willow leaf was long, like the head of a lance, this leaf was... Squatter. Like a spearhead. She explained this to Madeline, offering her the leaf. They walked, and walked, and walked. Through what felt like an endless maze of trees. The underbursh wasn't particularly thick. The canopy was just heavy enough to provide consistent shade from the sun overhead, without being so dense that it shrouded everything below in darkness. "Mmh. Days are shorter here," Niamh observed after an hour, as the two of them paused to rest. Something struck Niamh then, and she looked down, abashed. She twiddled her thumbs, chewing on the inside of her cheek. "I'm sorry. I keep talking. Going on like a machine. I'm just scared."

1:41 PM

@Deleted User

Lesbingus

Madeline knew that the best way out of a forest was to walk straight on, trek only forward, taking the past with least resistance. So she nodded when Niamh affirmed her Northern decision. North was the best bet, even if north wasn’t really north, they just needed to keep on a straight path. She twisted a twiggy branch on a tree every thirty or so steps forward, as a note she could look for in case they felt turned around. Part of doing that felt a little… fairy tale. Like the trail of breadcrumbs, or something. She thought about her mother reading her stories, then her friends. Oh GOD, her friends. It made her miserable to be temporarily alone in the middle of the forest. Only one other person around for as far as she could see. The city was gone. Temporary. She did want to hear this hypothesis because she didn’t know much better about trees. She might have just thought she’d been taken out of town, not off the planet. She looked at everything Niamh looked at, walking forward and gazing at leaves and branches as she was told to. The leave that was acquired was indeed strange. the grizzly comb-like pattern and the flattened shape. She hadn’t seen willow leaves in a long time. Her backyard only had manicured Aspens, and some white birches which were not fully matured yet. The lady who worked as the housekeeper at her place was usually the one in the garden actually looking at the plants. “And you think it’s a not earth thing? Not like a… different city thing? Maybe we’re just across state lines.” She said, but the fact she didn’t believe that at all was easily readable. She rolls her eyes at herself, her false lashes fluttering. Her eyes were getting irritated. While resting Niamh pointed out how short the days were, in comparison. It had been a while since Madeline had asked about the leaves and the state lines and suddenly she felt the great weight of it not mattering descend upon her. Oh my god, it was shorter. It had to have been… only 12 or 1pm when they popped up here. Now the sun crowned like it did when she was at the gym after work - 4pm or such. She rubbed her temples and then seemed to jolt with a boggled expression when Niamh spoke again. “Huh? Girl c’mon, you know I love to talk. You seem to have better shit to say than I do. I don’t even know how to identify an ‘earthly tree’…” She did little air quotes around the work. Her frustration was obvious. “I reckon the next crest we see we climb, perhaps we can get a view from up high…” (edited)

2:10 PM

@Lesbingus

Before she had noted the drastically shortened length of the day-- She held the numbers in her mind. Considered them. Measured the sun's journey in the sky, its position relative to her own. It came out to... Twenty hour days, at her best estimation. She would need to stay up and count. Back on track. Before she had noticed the shortened day, Niamh had also held on to the hope that they had simply crossed state lines. There was such breadth to the diversity in the continental U.S., it had seemed very nearly plausible. But only for a very brief period of time. The evidence she had collected since proved their situation to be far more... Drastic. Niamh was relieved that Madeline didn't find her talking aggravating. She was always so worried. When she spoke, people knew she was... Different. Niamh was a grown woman, now. Long past her high school days. But the wounds of near life-long social exile ran deep. The two of them rested for a while longer, then continued on their way. Madeline had the right idea, marking their path. She was smart. Niamh wouldn't have thought of that. She wanted to give her a compliment, but the words evaded her. So, Niamh kept quiet. Thinking. And walking. She did lots, and lots, and lots of walking. Until, at last, the tree-line broke. "Mmmmhhh..." Niamh tapped the pads of her fingers together, hands held out in front of her waist. Her head was tilted back, eyes scanning the sky. They had been walking for another... Two hours? And the sun had begun to set. Casting the world into twilight. Revealing a sea of stars above... As well as the source of Niamh's low, pensive hum. She shifted awkwardly. "I don't think... Mmh... I don't think different cities have three moons," she commented at last. The words delivered with her usual matter-of-factness. Like she was stating the obvious, despite the absurdity of the entire situation. Like they were not staring out over a rolling grassland, under a sea of stars unpolluted by the lights of sprawling metropolises. A sea of stars within which hung a trio of grand moons. One which shone with a pale red light, another a muted a violet, whilst the furthest shone white.

2:37 PM

@Deleted User

Madeline didn’t find the chatter disruptive - although she may have found Niamh weird years ago in high school. She had grown out of her mean girl, angsty and bitter self, she was a lot more secure in herself, and in her ‘real girl job’ there was no ranking the pecking order by being a bully. People preferred when you’re genuine. She was learning that method, and her friendly nature did show through most of the time. “This is ridiculous…” Madeline snapped, feeling tired of walking at this point. She wanted to be home. “How can the days be shorter?” She was holding onto the hope that they weren’t shorter, that she was just mistaken. She saw the trees letting up and she moved a little quicker into the grasslands. She hadn’t been out of the city in so long the sky amazed her. No light pollution, no hum and buzz and car alarms. The place her mother had was in a high-rise, and she got to see the living city at night all bright and scenic - but this was scenic in other ways. This was a deep and vast scenic. She watched Niamh watch the sky, letting her make landscape observations while she peered into the distance for a glimpse of a town or civilisation. She put her hands on her hips and felt something in the little side pocket of her miniskirt. She was reminded of it, excited. It had her lighter and a pen, as well as a couple dollar coins. No cigarettes, maybe a lose one? She paused as Niamh sighed deeply, directing attention to the bizarre moons, radiant and red, mixed with purples, and then the final moon, one more familiar bit the uncanniness of it all was already deeply unsettling. “Oh.” Was all she said. She just sighed, deeply and gutturally, and squinted on the horizon. “I don’t see anything, but I’m not sure if it will be good to keep walking in the dark… Tell me, think it’ll rain?” She pulled out her lighter and flicked it, watching the flame burst into a little bead above her fingers. She looked at Niamh, lips pursed in stress.

8:51 PM

@Lesbingus

Three moons. Niamh was transfixed by the sight. The lights of an alien sky reflected in her eyes. Madeline's questions lingered in the back of her mind. She wanted to answer, but she knew that they were the kind of questions she didn't actually want an answer to. Not at that moment. The horizon stretched on, and on... But there. There, far in the distance. The light of buildings. Madeline was more practical than Niamh. She knew to look for that, whilst the willowy accountant's gaze remained skyward. "Tell me, think it'll rain?" Her attention was dragged back down to earth by the flick of Madeline's lighter. That was good fortune. Niamh hummed thoughtfully, looking up at the sky once more. It had darkened, but the night was far brighter here. The clouds visible in the sky were high in the sky, and their numbers sparse. "No. Don't think so." ❃❃❃ They'd gotten lucky. The grassland had sparse cover, but the two of them had found shelter in what, by Niamh's estimate, had once been a riverbed. Here, the passage of water over the course of epochs had carved out clefts in the stone. Under one such overhang, they sat around a small fire. They'd caught sight of some wildlife since stepping out into the grasslands. Long-limbed, graceful creatures that seemed to dance across the landscape. They seemed, to Niamh's eye, to be somewhere between a gazelle and an elk. From watching them, she'd found food. Not by hunting, of course. Niamh was not a hunter. But she had watched them graze. Digging into the earth with their hooves to get to tubers and roots. She'd found some of her own, and brought them back to Madeline. Luckily enough, they were edible... "Bleh..." They just tasted horrible. "Mmh... Better than starving," she mumbled between bites, scrunching up her face as she did.

3:26 AM

@Deleted User

With the opinion of rain set by Niamh, Madeline put herself to work. Using the heel of her red-bottom pump (with much anguish) she overturned the earth on what was, according to Niamh, an ex-riverbed, to create a dirty pit. While her companion followed the beasts from nearby which showed her the dug up roots and greenery, she snapped twigs from the trees back in the forest, and collected any dry leaves. Piling it up in her dirt ditch she also collected some other branches, anything she could break off without breaking a nail. Madeline was resourceful, intelligent but not in the way Niamh was. She used her lighter to set the leaves alight, making sure the little fire didn’t spread outside the pit, and she sat on the rocky outcrops staring at it like this was the worst day she’d ever had. And it probably was. She babysat the fire and added wood, hoping that this wood burnt alright. If her tights weren’t snagged before they were now. She had a rip and the knee and the back of her calf, as well as the feet of them being dirty. Her miniskirt was also dirty too, as she had nowhere to wipe her hands. She looked at the roots Niamh brought back, and was happy at the efforts. She wondered if she could roast them but she actually had no idea how to cook… What do you know, she knew the basics of survival but not a single thing about roasting vegetables. She looked at Niamh try the fauna and watched her face scrunch. She was braver then Madeline. “Yeah…” Was all she could say, not even taking a bite. She could wait… She did intermittent fasting anyway, she was good at ignoring hunger pangs. She looked utterly horrified as she watched Niamh though, and she ended up not being able to do so anymore, fidgeting with her gold charm bracelet in a rhythmic way, self soothing. “We should try get into a hill still, now we’re out of the forest. See if there is a town or something…” She suggested, twirling a charm she had gotten in Italy, then the Berlin one, then a little diamond shaped as a bow, and so on. She felt the texture under her fingertips and it was pleasant. She felt her eyelids getting heavy and irritated - from sleepiness and from the false lashes. She didn’t have makeup remover here. I hope I don’t get pink eye too… I wonder if she wears makeup? She looked back at Niamh, analysing her a bit. She tried to take note of anything she hadn’t seen before, while they were both illuminated by the fire. What kind of person was Niamh, outside of being ‘Nerdy’? She’d never gotten to know since they’d never made it to lunch hours ago.

3:45 AM

@Lesbingus

The food was rough going down, but food was food. "You need to eat," Niamh said at last. She extended the other tuber towards Madeline. Those words were more... Pushy than usual. Insistant, more like. Niamh was worried for the both of them, if they collapsed from hunger in the middle of nowhere. "Mh. Remember those lights? We just need to follow the river." Niamh felt Madeline's eyes on her once more, and she tried not to fidget. The spindly woman had high cheekbones and an arched nose. Her grey-green eyes were traced by winged eyeliner, her lips coloured ever so slightly by some lipstick that was no more than a shade or two darker than natural. But that was about it, as far as makeup went. Though, the closer she looked... Niamh had a little scar. Just a tiny, silvery nick on her upper lip. It was faded, an old mark, but still visible in the right lighting. "We'll need to... Get money. New clothes. Place to stay." Niamh worked best when she had a list of things to do. She pulled a little notepad from her pants, and one of the pencils from her breast pocket. Jotting the plans down in neat bullet points. It felt good to write. Niamh's eyes flickered back up to Madeline. She wished she was as confident as her coworker. Able to just... Talk to people. "Do you feel... Different? I do. Something happened. When we crossed over. I just haven't figured out what it is, not yet."

3:33 AM

@Deleted User

Madeline was surprised at the pushiness. She didn’t know Niamh that well and she slowly raised a hand and took the tuber, fiddling with it in her hands. “Geez, Niamh, I won’t die from not eating one meal…” She says, picking at some of the vegetation awkwardly. She holds the plant on her lap, not willing to eat it. Perhaps there was food over yonder, where the lights were. Along this river? If they found clean water she would just have a big drink, and that would be a fine supplement for a meal, in Madeline’s books. She looked at her companions makeup and felt a little… kinship. Just a couple gals in their makeup and heels, in the middle of nowhere. She rolled her eyes at herself. This wasn’t some fun little expedition - they were either in some kind of weird dream world with bizarre moons and freak fauna, or they were just tripping so hard while being somehow as level headed as usual. Not exactly ‘girl-time’. “Money, new clothes, look I’m hoping to just… get in there, get an explanation, then maybe… get zapped back to the city and convince my mama I am fine and my uncle not to fire me, then it’s all over and we can go for lunch some other day or literally never again I just wanna go home.” She snaps, not wanting to think about actually living a life in this state. Getting money? Finding somewhere to stay? In her head she wanted to be back at home within 24 hours… or 20, if the days were that short. “Sorry, sorry, I just don’t really understand this all yet.” She mumbles, seeing as she had just snapped at the one person in her presence right now. The question about feeling different pulled her from the wallowing. “I don’t really know, I mean, I do a lot of shit, back at home. Every day is a bit different, you should see my weekends. Feels like… this place is what’s different. Not me. But maybe I haven’t noticed it yet. Doing a line feels ‘different’, not… teleportation. Maybe part of us got left behind back home and… we don’t know what it is yet. Apart from all our friends, boyfriend, side chic, parents - I don’t know who you have in your life, girl… This is so confusing.” It seems Madeline also does like to talk, more about herself and what she likes to do. Like bragging without realising it. She digs through her little skirt pocket and fishes out… one skinny cigarette (probably one she was going to have after lunch) and two strawberry bonbons (for the smokers breath). “Ugh, here…” She says, offering the bonbon to Niamh and finally submitting to the taste of the vegetable she was fiddling with.

3:48 AM

@Lesbingus

She accepted the bonbon, drawing her legs up to her chest as she began to nibble at it. Her disparate thoughts drew in, collecting themselves. Stilling her mind. Making room for the melancholy realization. Madeline had so much back home. "I don't know who you have in your life, girl..." "I don't have anyone." Her voice was flat, and Niamh just nibbled at her bonbon. Savoring it. This little treat may be the last sweet thing she tasted for a long, long time... So Niamh wanted to commit it to memory. She looked up, at Madeline. If she could help her get back, she would. But Niamh would stay. "I worked. Went home. Did nothing. Then went back to work. Family doesn't talk to me. Wasn't good at making friends. Mmh... I left nothing behind." She just... Shrugged. As if the fact she thought her absence wouldn't be noticed was no big deal at all. Niamh stared at the ground as she spoke, though her gaze did flick up to watch as Madeline finally gave in to her prompting and ate a bit. That was good. Madeline was more grounded. She had things to return to. A lot of things, a lot of people. Who were probably very worried that she had turned up missing. Niamh decided, in that moment, on a goal. She would help Madeline find her way back.

4:19 AM

@Deleted User

Madeline is silent when Niamh admits there isn’t anyone back at home who’s up worrying about her. She stares at the fire eating her disgusting vegetable with a sort of deep sad inside her. She never had thought of that, really. Some people just have themselves… Obviously she knew this but she didn’t think about it like she did now, when there was nothing else to think about but how shitty their situation was right now. She sat the tuber on her lap and fiddled with her charm bracelet instead, the grounding ritual. “Well, I’m glad you’re not here alone.” She says, an earnest tone to her voice which was gentle and wholesome. “When we get back we can definitely grab lunch.” She says, turning and smiling. it’s a little awkward - Madeline didn’t think Niamh seemed like the kinda girl who throws her hands up at parties, but maybe did trigonometry for fun, perhaps wrote short-form poetry about something menial like cats, or whatever. Not the jump and bump type. Perhaps when they got home Niamh could hang out more. “Either way, we’ll head over to those lights tomorrow morning - put your list into action.” She said, motioning to the notebook. She pops the bonbon into her mouth, and it washes away the taste of the rudimentary dinner. With the toss of another branch on the fire, she gets up to settle down onto a slightly softer place to lay, tucking her heels beside her and wishing she had a pillow or something. She makes sure Niamh finds a spot to lay if she wants too, not sure how sleeping will go. The fire crackles nicely, so it’s not cold at least, but she stays up to make sure Niamh can find a good spot to take root for the night under the trio of moons and the field of stars. “This sucks…” - It’s the last thing she says before she pushes herself to sleep… ❃❃❃ Madeline wasn’t a big dreamer. She’d never had dreams she could recall, or maybe she never dreamt at all. She was just not very imaginative, so there was nothing to dream about rattling on in her head. Perhaps something inside her very being HAD changed, though, a visceral part of her brain released, As that night she had a dream. Something she never got, something stupid too, like the dreams psychiatrists say are caused by stress. All her teeth falling out, and being naked in the club. That her boyfriend thought she was ugly, and cheated on her with the girl she was cheating on him with. Even in her lucid, toothless, sleep state, Madeline felt… aware that this dream was stupid. In the visions of yelling at her boyfriend while in the astral plane, she also dreamt of Niamh, who wasn’t there for any plot specific reason, just watching. Like a figure. The strait-laced woman was watching her, and before she woke up, seemed to mumble something she couldn’t understand to Madeline. Madeline opened her eyes and the sun wasn’t even fully up yet. She didn’t jolt or jump, but she did flick her eyes over to look at Niamh. If she was still asleep, Madeline could get some yoga in - something she did before work. It would help if they were going to be walking. Maybe if Niamh was up, she’d like to join in. Madeline’s mouth was dry, she wanted a drink. Her pink lipstick had rubbed off and her lashes were hanging on by a thread, glitter smeared across her face from the eye shadow. Water in a few forms would be great right now. She felt grubby. She focused on Niamh, back sore from the dirt-bed. She didn’t bother looking at the sunrise, scared she’d notice more than one sun…

4:44 AM

@Lesbingus

"I'm glad, too." Niamh smiled at that. She really was. This was the most social she had been in... A long time. It was a shame that the circumstances were so dire, she would've stopped to appreciate the moment more had they not been. "Lunch sounds nice." She looked up, returning the smile. Hers was awkward and small, but a smile nonetheless. Niamh nodded along with Madeline's plan. Heading towards those lights was their best bet, their best hope, of finding other people. With that said, there was a mutual agreement that it was time to turn in. To attempt to get some sleep. Sleep came far easier than Niamh thought it would. Her exhaustion, until that moment, pushed to the back of her mind. But then, with nothing left to do... It finally caught up with her. So, there on a dirt floor, under a sky she didn't recognize... Niamh drifted off to sleep. As fitful as it was... Sleep was sleep. ❃❃❃ Niamh was Nothing again. For a brief moment, she was Everything... Then... Something. She stood amidst nothingness. Feet planted solidly on a little big of Something. Blank white, solid as stone. She took a step, and some more Something sprung up beneath her foot. There wasn't much of anything around her, in the Nothing. Until... There was. ᴅɪsᴏʀɪᴇɴᴛɪɴɢ, ɪsɴ'ᴛ ɪᴛ? "Mmh. Yeah." A person-shaped Nothing stood beside her. It was like how she had been. A sea of stars in the shape of a person. It stood tall and stately, arms behind its back. Looking out over the Nothing with the air of a ruler overlooking their domain. Niamh wasn't startled by its appearance. Some part of her had been expecting it. ʏᴏᴜ ᴀʀᴇɴ'ᴛ ɢᴏɪɴɢ ᴛᴏ ᴅᴇᴍᴀɴᴅ I sᴇɴᴅ ʏᴏᴜ ʙᴀᴄᴋ? "No." I ᴀᴍ-- "Wisdom." Its head snapped to look at her. It did not have a face, but there was shock registered there, somehow. ʜᴏᴡ? "Mmh. I don't know. It's what you did to me." Wisdom nodded, settling itself with a calming breath. Niamh took another few steps forward. There was more here, now. Madeline. Arguing with someone, far in the distance. Niamh just... Watched. And Wisdom stood beside her, hand coming to rest on Niamh's shoulder. I ᴀᴍ... I ᴡᴀs... Gᴏᴅ. ᴛʜᴇ ᴏɴᴇ ᴛʜᴇ ᴘᴇᴏᴘʟᴇ ᴏғ ᴛʜɪs ᴡᴏʀʟᴅ ɴᴀᴍᴇᴅ Aʟʟ-Kɴᴏᴡɪɴɢ. ᴀɴᴅ Hᴇ ʜᴀs ᴋɪʟʟᴇᴅ ᴍᴇ. I ᴀᴍ sᴏʀʀʏ. "So you brought us here?" ɴᴏ. ʏᴏᴜ ᴡᴇʀᴇ sᴡᴇᴘᴛ ᴀʟᴏɴɢ ʙʏ ᴀᴄᴄɪᴅᴇɴᴛ. ʙʏ ᴡʜᴀᴛ ᴛʜᴇʏ ᴅɪᴅ ᴛᴏ ᴋɪʟʟ ᴍᴇ. I... ᴜsᴇᴅ ᴡʜᴀᴛ ʟɪᴛᴛʟᴇ I ʜᴀᴅ ʟᴇғᴛ ᴛᴏ ʜᴏʟᴅ ʏᴏᴜ ᴛᴏɢᴇᴛʜᴇʀ ᴀs ʏᴏᴜ ᴛʀᴀᴠᴇʟʟᴇᴅ. ᴀɴᴏᴛʜᴇʀ ɪɴᴛᴇʀᴠᴇɴᴇᴅ ғᴏʀ ᴛʜᴇ ᴡᴏᴍᴀɴ ʏᴏᴜ ᴛʀᴀᴠᴇʟʟᴇᴅ ʜᴇʀᴇ ᴡɪᴛʜ. "Mmh. Is there a way home?" ᴍᴀʏʙᴇ. ɪᴛ ɪs ʙᴇᴄᴏᴍɪɴɢ... ᴅɪғғɪᴄᴜʟᴛ ᴛᴏ ʀᴇᴍᴇᴍʙᴇʀ. "That's okay. Thank you. For what you did." Wisdom nodded somberly. Niamh continued to watch Madeline argue in her dream. Then, Madeline turned to face her. Looking at Niamh, as if she could... "She can see me?" ʏᴇs. Niamh chewed the inside of her cheek, looking down. "I'll find a way to get her home..." ❃❃❃ Niamh awoke with a start. She was fully herself again. Remembering the dream was easy. It didn't slip from her mind like most dreams did. Madeline was doing yoga, and Niamh sat up, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. She felt a pang of loss for the being that had been Wisdom. That was the feeling in the air, wasn't it? This place, it mourned. Something great and terrible had occurred in this world. One of its gods was dead. Killed by... Something. Or someone. And the two of them had simply been... Swept up in the wake of that mysterious thing's passing. "Did you sleep okay?" Niamh asked, pushing herself unsteadily to her feet.

5:53 AM

@Deleted User

Yoga was the best. Peace, good energy, and Madeline was good at it. She had a really good sense of balance, and her general athleticism meant her stamina was robust. When Niamh woke up she was in a leaning lunge, stretching out her calves and back. She had her eyes closed and was trying her best to be in the most ‘wound down’ mood. She felt a little.. strange, especially after the dream. She wishes she’d spent less of the dream yelling with her boyfriend, and more paying attention to Niamh. She couldn’t avoid the feeling that she had missed something important. Who was she talking to? What was the mumbling? The uncertainty brought back all those strange fears from before. Now realising that the disassociation from the nothingness wasn’t from being drugged, she felt pangs of that fear again. The fear of becoming a nothingness in the void. Never seen again, never remembered, never allowed another moment doing things she loved. Playing the piano, running on the treadmill, talking to her mama, watching Desperate Housewives with her stepmom and half-siblings… Parts of her identity she’d spent so much time building… Literally all her life. On top of that she couldn’t help but feel… sad… Sad that Niamh seemed to be so alone. She knew people didn’t like being pitied, but she did pity Niamh, just a bit. How could someone cope with nothing? Madeline shakes it off though, she hasn’t dealt with loneliness in years, since she was the over-emotional and annoying weird kid in kindergarten. Madeline wasn’t that little girl now, she was superior to that. Better then the had ever been. I guess some people don’t grow out of the weird kid phase? That was a rude thing to think, hence she’d never say it out loud. She isn’t startled when Niamh speaks, too in the zone. She balances on a tree pose, stretching her biceps while she does. “Mmmmh, weird dreams. It was like… since I haven’t dreamt since i was a kid, my brain decided to make me have all the weird dreams teens have. Teeth falling out.. Boyfriends, naked in public, like all the stereotypical stuff.” She explains, as usual eagerly chatting about it. “You were there too but kinda just.. off to the side.” She says, opening her eyes. “Wanna do some stretches with me? It’ll be good since we’re gonna do a lot of walking.” She offers, moving onto a lunge stretch of the opposite leg. “How’d you sleep?” She asks, curious as to if Niamh was a ‘dreamer’ as well. I might have my last cigarette after this… She thinks, feeling her mind wander a bit. Foggy. She wasn’t the ‘pack a day’ kinda smoker, but she was still addicted to nicotine. She wasn’t looking forward to the moody phase that was to come when someone tries to quit. This situation was pushing her into cold turkey. Maybe the town up ahead had them. Just a normal… Human city… But with some extra moons and weird livestock? Ugh. (edited)

3:43 PM

@Lesbingus

Niamh was a morning person. Conditionally. She could push through just about anything. No matter how bleary a morning... So long as she had her coffee. But here and now? She was sorely without it. Everyone has their vices. Madeline had her nicotine... And Niamh had her caffeine. Niamh ran her hands over her face, biting back a yawn. Fighting the drowsiness, the fog in her head. It was a miserable feeling. But one she would have to push through, regardless. No matter how miserable it made her feel, Niamh didn't have a choice. The dream from the night before played out in her mind, time and again. The discussion with Wisdom. The revelations laid at her feet by the dead deity. The implications... The idea that a god could die That something powerful enough to kill one existed? And what it done to her? She looked down at her hands, frowning. How had she known its name, then? It had called to her. Like a part of... Herself. Madeline spoke of her dream. How she had seen Niamh in it. Wisdom hadn't lied, then... She was relieved at that. But also, equally, terrified. That she had somehow... Invaded that dream? It felt... Inappropriate. Like she had trespassed amidst something intimate. She perked up when Madeline asked her to join in her stretches. Niamh nodded, padding over and joining in. She wasn't nearly as practiced as Madeline was, but she followed quickly. Picking up the fundamentals in no time at all. She had always been a quick study, but this... It was definitely too quick to be natural. "I slept alright," she said, as the two of them wound down from their stretches. She was feeling more awake now, at the very least. Though her lack of caffeine clawed at the back of her mind like a fresh bruise. "We should probably head for that town today. Mmh... I'd guess it'd be... A day's walk? We could make it in one, if we hurry." Niamh surveyed her clothes. Her heels were in rough shape. Her pants were no better. Her blazer was dusty, and her white shirt stained. But they would all hold up for a while longer. Another few days' travel, at the very worst. She just dearly wanted new shoes. Her feet hurt. Reaching up, Niamh brushed the small earrings she wore. They were the only jewelry she had. A pricey pair of rose gold studs, with a pink quartz set into each. Niamh didn't want to... But... "I'm going to sell these in that town. We're going to need the money," she said at last. It was the most practical thing to do... Even if they were something sentimental. Her chest panged at the thought of parting with them. But, she rationalized, having money, food, shelter-- Those were worth more than memories. Despite herself, she sighed. Sitting back down, she looked up at the sky, coloured in shades of orange and pink by the dawn. "We probably shouldn't waste any time. Anything you need to do before we set off?"

6:11 PM

@Deleted User

Madeline was relaxed and refined, she had done yoga for years now and it soothed her sore body well in this moment of stress. She was pleased to see Niamh get into it, and do quite well at that. She didn’t know how athletic Niamh was but was charmed to show her all the moves and stretches. Once the yoga class was complete, Madeline kicked dirt over the pit of ash and charcoal to make sure there was no chance of being responsible for a wildfire in the future. She picked up her heels and held them in the crook of her arm. “Yeah, I agree. Let’s just get there as fast as possible, and hopefully we will be in time for some kinda… place to bunk. I don’t wanna sleep in the dirt again. She lit her skinny cigarette and smoked it as they headed off, relaying that there was no reason to stand around smoking, she could do it on the go. She puffed it to a butt while they started off over the grasslands next to the riverbed. When Niamh shared wanting to sell her earrings, Madeline reflexively touched her own earrings. They were solid yellow gold studs with lab-grown diamonds arranged in a flower. In her second piercings were hammered white gold hoops. Her ring was a blue topaz on a sterling silver setting and her thumb ring was also yellow gold, engraved with little leaves. Even her anklet was gold, but it was hidden under her tights, like her white gold belly button piercing was hidden under her vest. She had on two necklaces, a silver pearl pendant and then a yellow gold chain with a pink diamond heart. None of her jewellery was large and gaudy, but a subtle expensive. People assumed it was fake since if it was real, she’d be walking around with 20 thousand dollars worth of jewellery on. That was impossible. It was others ignorance that kept her safe. And none of this jewellery was actually sentimental. Besides the charm bracelet, a lot of it was gifts from her dad that he got her while trying to love-bomb her. She squinted at Niamh. She only had those earrings. One reason was that she was just really humble and wore only one thing a day, or the second reason was they were her only piece. Madeline knew most people didn’t have access to diamond dealers like she did. “Oh my god, girl.” She says, waving a hand. “Is that all you have? If it is, I don’t want you selling it like that, that’s silly.” She said, taking off her rings, a good few hundred dollars combined. “We can sell these, I’ve got heaps at home.” She says. She was partly unintentionally bragging - and partly trying to be a good person. She didn’t know how it came off. “We should get some shoes…” She sighed, looking at her once nude heels, now tarnished brown. She kept walking alongside Niamh, only stopping once to step out the butt of the cigarette on the dirt, mourning its finality…

11:48 PM

@Lesbingus

Niamh didn't seem like the sort, being such a shut-in, but she actually enjoyed a good walk. It was her preferred kind of exercise. A morning walk, before anyone else was awake. Just her, her usual cafe order, and the morning air. The dew still damp on the grass. Her quiet apartment hadn't ever felt like home. Just... Another place to stay. Madeline had it good. Niamh wasn't envious, though. Hers was the kind of life that took a different kind of personality. The sort that her coworker had been blessed with, and she hadn't. They each led their own lives, and had lifestyles that were the best suited for the ways they were led. She turned her head as Madeline proffered her rings in place of Niamh's earrings. The accountant frowned, a disconcertingly natural expression on her face. Madeline could see it, now. The frown lines etched into Niamh's face, carefully hidden behind a practiced mask of neutrality. "Mmh... If you're certain, then we can." The last thing Niamh wanted was to be the reason Madeline parted with something she loved. But her comment on proper shoes drew Niamh's attention away from that. She was right-- Heels were terrible to walk in. But walk they did. Walk, and walk... And walk. ❃ ❃ ❃ The two of them walked for the better part of the entire day. Their path wound alongside the river. It was a wide, majestic thing. Crystalline blue water, moving along slowly. At its deepest, the river was no deeper than waist-height. The fish that swam within it were almost familiar. The grassland around them rolled into grand hills, stretching to the horizon. To their back was the massive forest in which they'd woken up. And then there was what Niamh had assumed to be a dried-out riverbed. The true nature of their shelter became clear, however, as the pair stopped to rest atop a hill. "Mmh... So that's what it was..." The "riverbed" was, in fact, a scar. A torn out, ruined swathe of land that had been gouged out by the passage of something massive. Niamh rubbed her chin, looking down at the rough map she'd begun to draw out in her notepad. She carefully erased, then redrew that scar upon it, tongue poking out of the corner of her mouth. She turned back towards Madeline... And the town. Or what, from a distance, had appeared to be little more than a town. In reality, it was a city. Grand walls of massive stone bricks. Towering battlements, reinforced gates... A veritable fortress-city. Niamh couldn't hide her astonishment... And her excitement. The road leading in towards the main gate was busy. Wagons pulled by colossal beasts that looked to be somewhere between an ox and a rhinocerous. Their pelts, thick and shaggy, draped over their gargantuan frames. Each one of them pulling a wagon the size of a small mobile home. These were interspersed with smaller beasts of burden. Surprisingly enough, they were horses. They were draft horses of some variety-- Massive and muscular. Built for long-haul trips like that, pulling carriages and wagons. It was... Anachronistic. That kind of horse hadn't been bred until the 19th century on Earth, but this world had obviously sought out those traits far earlier. The people were too far away to see properly. But there were dozens, filing past the gates alongside their convoys. Niamh came up alongside Madeline, looking down at her. They were both exhausted, ran ragged by the journey. But, goodness, Niamh was relieved. There were people here! And a lot of them! She couldn't help but smile, a rare expression on the face of someone as reserved as Niamh. "Ready?" She asked softly, eyes closed. "I'm kind of scared. But things seem fine down there..."

4:42 AM

@Deleted User

The river was beautiful, when they finally came to it. Madeline so badly wanted to find water before, and she was thrilled when they came upon it. “Hold on, can we pause for just a minute?” She asked eagerly, and she ran down the hill to the water, kneeling and dipping her hands in the water as it rushed past. She’d heard that running water was cleaner, and so while her companion drew out the land formations from the top of the hill, she dunked her face in. Cold or not, she didn’t care, she was desperate for makeup removal and a drink, and literally just to feel cleaner. Her blonde hair pooled in it and she held her breath. The world was quiet when she was in this water, eyes closed, ears covered. Muffled sounds of the outside world. She kept her head in until her lungs started to burn. Then she heard something - an unidentifiable muffled whispering. Something that sounded both far away and nearby. Something that came from a distant place and inside her head. She ducked her head up, startled, and looked for Niamh. Why would it be her? Even if she had come down to the water, Niamh didn’t seem like the ‘whispers into your soul’ type. Madeline was obviously off-put by something, but she kept her mouth shit this time. She was happy to return to walking with a clean, fresh face. Her skin was clear and smooth without makeup and her lashes were already long when she didn’t have false ones. She was still pretty. She pulled her hair back for the first time since arriving, into an effortlessly messy bun on top of her head. The walk kept them busy again and Madeline was unusually quiet. She was only thinking, just about the situation, about what would happen when they came up on town, about how they’d get home. She was looking forlorn and when they finally came across a path leading to this city and horses which she actually recognised… She was less worried. Humans, Horses, perfect. The moment she could put her heels on without sinking into the ground, she did. “Oh my god, I’m so ready, Niamh.” She said, putting a hand out as if she’d rest it on Niamh’s back for comfort, but she doesn’t actually touch her. It’s just the initial motion. “We’ll be fine!” She says, shrugging. Trying to be casual and confident - things she knew normally. It wavered a bit. But she’d never been disliked in a new place before. She’d travelled far when back at home, gone to new towns, big cities, people liked her, looked up to her, she had the air about her. “C’mon!” She began the final stretch of this trek. It finally dawned on her after maybe only 10 steps that… Horse drawn carriages and stone walls didn’t scream… modern. She felt anxious pangs in her chest and her step faltered a little, from what Niamh could see, but she trudged onward. What if these people speak like fantasy books? I’ve got no chance… She looked at Niamh, lips pursed. Her manicured hands moved to smooth out her vest and miniskirt.

12:16 PM

@Lesbingus

She was glad that Madeline had gotten the opportunity to wash up. She'd seemed to have hated having old makeup on-- And Niamh assumed that it couldn't be particularly healthy to keep it on for too long, either. Her own eyeliner had been gone. Wiped away easily enough. She wore it so thin that it took next to nothing to wipe it away... Just as she preferred. Makeup was too full of... Textures. Too much of it made her skin crawl. But as they'd walked, Niamh had noted something else. Madeline had something on her mind. She'd been less chatty than usual, even if only slightly. That was a noteworthy break in the pattern. Niamh brought her hand up to her chin, humming thoughtfully as the two of them continued on their way. Madeline was far more eager to engage with others, so Niamh allowed her to take the lead. Her coworker looked back at her, and Niamh gave her an encouraging nod. The two of them certainly looked worse for wear. They could only hope that that wouldn't see them turned away... ❃ ❃ ❃ They'd integrated into the line without issue. It was a wide trade road, constructed from paved stone. They were well worn, implying that this area saw a great deal of traffic. Niamh found that to be something of a relief. They, at the very least, hadn't wandered into a half-abandoned backwater. But the process was... Slow. Cart by cart, person by person, inch by inch, they drew closer to the gate. There was no shortage of guards-- Men in leather jerkins and breeches, with simple steel caps and breastplates. They were grim-faced and series, holding their spears in firm grips. They were meticulous, searching every cart and wagon that passed through the checkpoint. "They must be searching for something?" Niamh said under her breath, leaning in towards Madeline so only she would be privy to their conversation. They were near to the front, now. Only the wagon in front of them needing to be searched before it was their turn. As they had with every other wagon, the guards began to inspect the one in front of the pair. They opened crates, checked beneath the carriage, and even pried up the floorboards in order to look under them. Their search turned up nothing, and the wagon was allowed passage through the gates. Niamh stepped forward. "Halt." Two spears crossed, stopping her in her tracks. "Your business?" The man wasn't speaking English. But, nonetheless, she could understand him. It wasn't that it was being translated... Niamh simply knew what it meant. As if she had been speaking the very same language her entire life. She looked over her shoulder at Madeline, unsure if the same could be said for her. "We were separated... from our caravan several days ago," Niamh said at last, staring at the ground. "We've... Mmh... been on our own since then. And... need to rest and resupply..." The guards looked between one another, grimacing. Niamh seemed to wither under their scrutiny. Their intensity was blistering. She wasn't accustomed to being under such pressure, and had never been good at sticking up for herself to begin with. "That so?" Niamh nodded meekly. One of the guards stepped forward, towards Madeline. He did a slow circle, inspecting the both of them. Given their lack of bags, or really any kind of belongings, there was precious little to be checked over. Regardless, the men were on edge. Seeming somewhat unconvinced of their story, regarding the both of them-- Niamh in particular-- with suspicion.

1:01 PM

@Deleted User

Madeline was eager to talk to people. She was eager to get answers, eager to grab the first person she saw and shake them, tell them she had been zapped away into this strange medieval land and that she wanted to go home. She was ready to break down at someone, to kick and scream and go rabid. But realistically, she just took deep breaths as she neared closer and closer to the city. Getting stuck in a line was not what she wanted. With her heels tapping the dirt path, she waited, stepping forward when prompted by the moving line, and crossing her arms. She used her usual analytical self to watch the other people in line. Villagers? Merchants? Any cart and any animal she gazed at with her intense gravel-eyed stare. She looked like her glare would put a nail through something - well and truly tired of being in this situation. Dirty, tired, sore, lonely, it was irritating and overstimulating. She noticed the guards searching carts, and she squinted to try and read the lips of these guards as they whispered to each other after each search. She was good at reading lips, it was something you had to do in clubs, since the music was so loud. She wanted to know what they were looking for. She was especially eager to know when her companion noticed it too. Searching... What for...? She stared at the lips of the guards, seeing if they'd divulge any information. She felt like she'd been in this position before. She thought for a moment, and finally came to the careful conclusion she had been in this position before. Being lined up and searched - Bouncers. Guards, Bouncers, Madeline had been to many many clubs over the years, since graduating. She had perfected the art of interacting with bouncers. Men were always men, but people trained to guard were something on top of that. They wanted to be respected, and understood. Their position was hard and they spoke to heaps of assholes every night. Don't lie to them, comply and bat your eyelids, a head tilt, a sweet smile. Don't flirt, they get flirted with by drunk women all night... You're an angel when you speak to bouncers. It was a perfect act she did every Friday and Saturday, when trying to convince someone she wasn't too smashed to come in. She watched Niamh step forward and winced, hoping she didn't try take the lead... She was shocked when she realized they didn't speak the same language. She understood it though, which disconcerted her. She had a semi-suspicious squint as he spoke. She lets out a reserved internal groan of anguish when the first thing Madeline does is give way too verbose of a lie, right to this man's face. She places a hand on Niamh's back, the first time she'd ever touched the other women. The motion screamed of warning. She stepped up, taller in her heels. (edited)

11:24 PM

Madeline had a modern kind of beauty, something which was only attainable through the years of reproduction that existed in the world they came from. Full lips, peachy without lip gloss. High cheekbones and a perfect pointed nose. Large almond eyes, full lashes despite the lack of mascara. Her blonde hair was still captured in a bun, soft curls cascading down her chin to surround her heart shaped face alluringly. She had always been so proud of her looks. She was very conventionally attractive, but lacked some of the 'flair' that someone might see on a high-fashion model. She was a New York Sweetheart kind of beauty. She smiled and her teeth were straight and white. She didn't seem a moment offput by their intense stare, her expression shifting into a perfect recreation of The Damsel, one who had perhaps been lost from her caravan. As the guard circled them, She turned her had to gaze over her shoulder with that subtle expression, a sweet desperation and helplessness that screamed 'Take care of me'. She stood straight, tucking a hand behind her and letting her fingers rest like a ballet dancer, parted slightly to add to her genuine wholesomeness. Madeline was made of short skirts and long long legs, and it showed through her snagged tights, and nude heels which lengthened her already slim legs. "We don't mean to be trouble, I can see you're working hard." She said, a gentleness, almost a maternal-ness. Precise and careful in her words, full of respect. "Please, we'd let you search anything we had, if we had anything." She puts her hands out slightly, palms up. Whether or not these men had ever experienced this kind of modern-day manipulation didn't matter to her. Her act was so well refined and subtle that no one would be able to tell it wasn't the genuine, real her, except maybe someone who had seen her sleeping on the dirt just 11 hours earlier. She briefly makes eye contact with Niamh and wordlessly urges her to take a breath, to relax. There was no need to panic if they had nothing to hide.

11:24 PM

@Lesbingus

She turned heads. Madeline was a woman with the bearing and grace of a highborn woman, not to mention the looks. Yet here she stood, dressed like a pauper. It drew the attention of the guards, giving them pause. Some of their earlier intensity fading. She'd watched them closely. Seen pieces of what they were looking for on their lips, spoken in hushed tones as they'd searched caravan after caravan. '...Contraband... Fugitives... Warfront flaring up again...' Bits and pieces of information, teased out via careful observation. Hints of the events of a wider world. It wasn't hard to piece together-- This was a nation at war. The grim intensity of the guards, the rigorous checks... It all began to click into place. Niamh stiffened when Madeline placed her hand on her back, just slightly. She could feel her tense up, but the accountant let out a breath. The guard facing the pair down looked at Madeline, trying to say... Something. But the man's face flushed and he tripped over his words. He wasn't the only one who paused and listened when she spoke. Paying her rapt attention. Gazes flickered between the guards. The two highest ranking men amongst them-- Niamh guessed that based off of the coloured knots tied to their shoulder pauldrons-- stepped away and conversed in hush tones. They turned away to do so, preventing their lips from being read. At long last, they returned. "You may pass." ❃ ❃ ❃ Niamh let out a shuddering breath as the two of them distanced themselves from the checkpoint, passing into the city proper. The streets were laid out neat and orderly, constructed from the same paved stone as the trade road. Both sides of the street were lined with all manner of shops. Blacksmiths, Clothiers, General Goods Stores... The pair had wandered into a veritable merchant-city, from the looks of things. "I'm sorry," Niamh murmured, eyes still pointed at the ground. "I-I'm not a good liar... But... We needed a believable cover story and I pushed ahead without conferring with you..." The streets were busy, but not crowded. There was plenty of room, something that must have been accounted for in the city's construction. Niamh's mind raced, flooded with things she knew... And new things. Things she knew but shouldn't. That gave her pause, and she waved Madeline to a stop. She found a place to sit, holding her head in her hands. Her head hurt. Pressure built, and built... Concepts, names, places... Words and ideas filling her mind in an endless cascade. Her mind felt like a shallow basin in a torrential downpour, rendered overfull in seconds. It hurt. A migraine thundered behind her eyes. Her jaw clenched, Niamh just rocked back and forth, fingerings tangling in her hair. It came free of the loose bun she'd put it up in, wavy locks of auburn hair tumbling down to her shoulders. Slowly, the pain began to subside. Niamh let out littles huffs through her nose, before finally raising her head. Madeline saw it immediately. Something was wrong. Niamh's eyes, previously a pleasant grey-green, had darkened. Not just the iris, but the sclera. An endless sea of inky black, filled with pinpricks of brilliant light. It called back to... That. The sea of Nothing. Her eyes wept a black, oily substance that faded as it rolled down her cheeks, fading into nothingness just past the cheekbone. "Madeline?" Niamh whispered, her voice little more than a whimper. "Madeline, it hurts..." She felt out clumsily, finding her coworker, resting one long-fingered hand on Madeline's. Niamh looked terrified, her strange eyes wide, staring off blankly. "Are you there?" Those eyes... They were so easily lost in. But it wasn't in that sappy, romantic sense. Her eyes were captivating, dragging in a person's attention. It was the sense of loss found when falling endlessly into Nothingness. "Madeline...?" Her grip tightened on Madeline's hand. Niamh was shaking. "Madeline, I can't see. I can't see." (edited)

6:03 AM

@Deleted User

War. Of course it was what kept these guards on edge. Madeline had obviously never been at war but her grandfather was a veteran. She remembers how he used to be too scared to answer the phone in case the government was listening. In case they made him fight again. Despite all the war, he had never hated the other side, his hatred and paranoia was for his own government. The people who forced him to kill. She feels somber. Are we just in some fucked up land at war? She pondered it while she worked her final magic on these soldiers. As they made it through the gates, a gentle caress of the back of the guards hand - the one who let them through. A sweet ‘thank you…’ in a sultry and innocent combination. She led Niamh through and gazed one last time over her shoulder. She was magnetic in this form. Making it onto the streets, Madeline has this expression of self-satisfaction. She’s done it again, perfect, as usual. She smiles at Niamh happily and then winces as she notices the other woman looking at the ground like it was about to bite her head off. “Oh, Niamh, it’s okay - I literally don’t care about you talking to them. I just think you might have given a bit too much information. Now we can’t forget the caravan lie, in case we ever get caught up with these soldiers again. The more detail we give them, the more we need to remember.” She gives a sympathetic expression and a soft smile. “It’s not your fault. We should have spoken about a plan before we were first in line.” She says, laughing lightheartedly. Clearly her confident nature was restored - that is until Niamh slowed to a halt and took to a seat. She sits beside her, concerned for her new friend. Huh, friend… She watched Niamh pull her hair out of the bun and leans a little closer, observing her with her acute stern look. When they meet eyes, she leans back, in a lot of shock but at this point it was just another weird thing in it all. She stares into the darkness and void inside Niamh’s eyes and for a second she sees a flash, into her dream from that past night. A figure, not with the murmuring Niamh, but something way off in the vast white expanse. It’s gone as fast as it is there. “Niamh.” She echoes the name calling, tilting her head. The captivating nothingness reminded her of something she couldn’t quite grasp right now, but the fear of the void panged in her and she forced herself to look away. She held Niamh’s hands back, but the grip is a little awkward. “I’m here.” She says slowly, about to question what’s wrong. What hurts, what she’s seeing in that void- Then the answer spills out. “Uh.” She waved her free hand over Niamh’s eyes, searching for a response or reaction. She purses her lips and takes a deep breath. “Okay, okay, uh… Don’t panic, Niamh.” She says, searching for rationality which she knew her companion liked. “Considering everything, this isn’t entirely too concerning. Just breathe…” She says slowly. Her voice carries soothing energy even though her expression searches for words in her catalogue of dialogue. Luckily for Niamh, she couldn’t see that process, only her gentle and comforting tone. “… it’s likely a reaction to something, the air here, or something in the tuber you ate. I had a lot less than you, it was gross…” She says, keeping the energy light. She coaches Niamh’s breathing. “I’m still here, not going anywhere, just relax and then we can find a doctor. I’ll lead you.” She says, rubbing a pattern into the back of Niamh’s hand with her thumb. She takes deep breaths with Niamh because she needs them well. She looks around at the street, hoping to recognise some sort of inter dimensional sign of medical clinics. She refuses to panic, not yet, it’s just food poisoning, or something simple and temporary. She begins jittering her leg, heel tapping. Temporary… “Just breathe…” She says, for the both of them.

6:33 AM

@Lesbingus

Madeline was there. Niamh wasn't alone. Everything was dark. She couldn't see. The pain had built, and built, and built. Pressure squeezing around the inside of her skill, making her feel like her head was about to pop. Like a sinus headache and a migraine firing off at the same time, but the pain had been magnified. Then, as quickly as it had come, it had started to fade. And it had taken her sight with it. "I'm here." Madeline's voice grounded her. The fear was overwhelming, that innate, animal panic at the loss of one of her most important senses. Her rapidly beating heart began to settle, Niamh's terror subsiding. Her friend was here. She was safe. My friend. She rationalized for the both of them, as best she could. Niamh knew why this had happened to her, but... Something about the way Madeline tried to offer far more grounded answers, it calmed her nerves. Niamh had never liked being touched, yet the way Madeline's thumb rubbed against the back of her hand was soothing. "Ida..." Niamh whispered that name, looking up. She closed her eyes. She knew that to look into them was... Bad. Anyone who hadn't seen what she and Madeline had seen would suffer far worse than her friend's momentary entrancement. She didn't know how she knew this, yet she did. "The Free City of Ida... Th-That's... Mmh... That's what this place is called," Niamh said at last. The black tears, or whatever they were, continued to stream down her face. But Madeline could, at least, look at her face again. "Don't let... Anyone else look at my eyes. It would be... Bad..." She took Madeline's hand more firmly, grip tightening. Like she was holding on for dear life. Niamh was still shaking, her breathing shallow and panicked. But she was beginning to piece herself back together. She had to be calm. Whatever had been done to her, it allowed her to know things. That knowledge would keep the both of them alive. "We need to... Get lodging. I need a blindfold, too... Mmh..." Niamh pressed her free hand to her head. The pain had faded, but not entirely subsided. It roiled inside of her head like a caged beast thrashing against its confines. Niamh pushed it to the back of her mind, forcing herself to focus, to move past the discomfort. If not for herself, then for Madeline. "What's happened to me isn't... Unusual... Don't worry about that part... It's the specifics," Niamh explained under her breath, as the two of them stood. She was reliant on Madeline as her guide, clutching her hand as the two of them continued down the street. No one gave them odd looks. Not what Madeline may have expected. Instead, they looked at Niamh with... Pity? "Poor thing," one older woman mumbled as she passed them by. "Guess hers was the unpleasant sort," A man said to his companion as the pair walked past him. They managed to get directions to an inn, luckily enough. There was plenty of signage, and the city possessed multiple large boards that mapped its layout. It was almost like something out of a theme park, or a mall. Sections of the city had been laid out for specific purposes. The two were presently in the Traveler's District, which primarily held the city's markets and inns. It was adjacent to the Common District, to the left, and the Militant Quarter, to the right. The centre of the city was the District of Lords, containing the most opulent homes, as well as the Citylord's manor and various administrative buildings. "Let's... Get to that inn," Niamh mumbled, forcing herself to stand straighter.

7:58 AM

❃ ❃ ❃ "Oh, goodness me!" The woman behind the reception desk of the inn raised her hand to her mouth as she beheld the two travelers. She was a pretty middle-aged woman with straw blonde hair that was beginning to fade to silver. Her kindly eyes were the grey of a stormcloud, framed by wrinkles that only enhanced her beauty. She wore her age like an elegant dress, undiminished by the passage of time. It could only leave them wondering how beautiful she had been in her prime. The innkeeper pushed out from behind the desk, pulling out a seat and ushering Madeline to deposit Niamh within it. The spindly woman sunk into the seat, limp. She'd grown weaker and weaker as they'd walked, until Madeline had been reduced to practically dragging her through the door of the inn. The woman knelt in front of Niamh, gently touching her cheek. She turned her head this way and that, inspecting her. It gave time for Madeline to inspect her further in turn. The innkeeper was indeed beautiful, some of the finest models back home would have paled in comparison to her. But, after a moment's inspection... This woman wasn't human. Her ears were long. They swept back like a knife blade, narrow and tapered to points. They moved almost like a cat's, flicking and shifting up or down with expressive micro-movements. Each ear was several inches long, and decorated with all manner of earrings, interlinked with chains and baubles. "She's Awakening," the innkeeper said, standing up. She didn't look concerned, not in the way one would look if she'd been presented with someone in mortal danger. "Goodness me, you both look like you've been through it." She clicked her tongue, shaking her head. "Dear, how rude of me... I am Tiav, proprietor of the Heart and Hearth. Let's get the two of you somewhere to rest--" Tiav held up a hand. "Don't worry about payment right now. Hearthkeeper's Bond." She said that like it was something Madeline ought to have been aware of, but didn't wait around for any kind of response. Tiav waved her over, taking Niamh under one arm and directing Madeline to do the same on the other. Madeline was shown to a room on the first floor, and the two of them laid an insensate Niamh out on the bed. Tiav swiped a finger over Niamh's cheek, rubbing the oily tears between her thumb and forefinger with a pensive expression on her refined face. She seemed just as confused-- So that part wasn't normal. "I can show you to the connected bathhouse, and we can get you some intact clothes. Hearthkeeper's Bond," Tiav said, motioning for Madeline to follow her out of the room. "Is it just the two of you, dear?" (edited)

7:58 AM

@Deleted User

Madeline listened to Niamh's pondering, her announcement of where they were, all the random bits of information that she was spewing out. She remained as calm as she could and allowed her to rattle off pieces of knowledge into the world, maintaining her grip on Niamh's hand. She took note of the name of the city. Ida. She'd never heard of it before and it irritated her. She didn't know what to feel, it was just another reminder that she was so far from home, with only the clothes she war and now a blind companion. She gritted her teeth a little. "Yeah, yeah, I won't let people look. Keep them closed." She says, using the back of her fingers to wipe away some of the tears from Niamh's cheek. She didn't want her looking too roughed up. She began leading them through the street when given the direction to find a place to stay. After all, she intended to follow Niamh's plan anyway... but moreso the one in the notebook, not the one from the blind stupor. She listened to Niamh explaining away the condition she was in, and frowned. "Yeah, so not unusual, girl." She says, shaking her head. She kept an eye out for inns or places advertising rooms. "At least everyone else seems to... not find it weird..." She says, staring at people as they looked back. Pity was something she never wanted in her general direction, so she glared back at people with a gravel drawn dead eye. She finally made her way to an inn, using the signage which she could luckily read clearly, despite feeling like there was an uncanny language barrier of some sort, or mental block. Madeline led the way, mentally taking note of the kinds of people she saw, and was concerned that she would get lost without the help of her more directional friend. "Yeah, lets..." She mumbles, making a beeline for the inn with Niamh's hand in hers. ❃ ❃ ❃ When Madeline saw the woman at the desk, for just a second she hoped she was as beautiful as she was when she got older. She was terrified of aging poorly, and had already been considering getting botox. People said to start young for good aging, and she was going to be 30 within the next five years... That didn't matter if she never made it back to a place where botox existed. Madeline followed her orders, pulling Niamh into a seat provided by the woman. She paces tensely while the woman examines Niamh. She doesn't know why she would trust her, she doesn't really, but this was what they were searching for. She watches the woman and is stunned by the ears, jaw dropping. She wants to touch them, but that would be strange. "Tiav..." She repeats post-introduction. Tasteful Tiav... She commited the woman's name to memory, with an adjective for her beauty and kindness. She was grateful to not have to pay immediately, and she helped carry Niamh where Tiav wanted to go, and assisted her onto the bed. She watched Tiav touch the tears and looked at her fingers where some of it resided from touching them before. She kept her mouth shut for now. then finally looked at Tiav as they exited the room. "Yes, Ma'am, it's just us two. Although, I do have some questions..." She said slowly, reading Tiav's expression carefully to see whether this was a trustworthy person to divulge some more information to. "I have no idea what Awakening is, but others do, like, on the street." She says, in a hushed voice. If this awakening was common knowledge here, then she would need to have a reason why she doesn't know... "I'm not from around here, neither is she..." She says carefully, looking at Tiav with innocent eyes, but a different kind. The kind she used on her mothers friends, when she wanted them to divulge a little gossip.

4:17 PM

@Lesbingus

The elf's expression was pensive, her ears twitching upwards slightly as she pondered what Madeline had just disclosed. Given her reaction, it seemed like a lack of knowledge regarding the subject wasn't something that would immediately paint Madeline and her friend as being strangers to this world. "I see..." Tiav made a thoughtful noise, the second knuckle of her index finger pressed to her lips. She flicked one ear, like how anyone else might have tilted their head to indicate someone to follow. The innkeeper led Madeline further down the hall, pushing open a pair of large double doors at the very end. It revealed, surprisingly enough, an open bath. Something like the lovechild of a sauna and a roman bathhouse. The water was a deep crystalline blue, rich herbal perfumes hanging in the air. Not so thick as to be cloying, but applied enough to make the entire room smell pleasant. "Freshen up first, dear. I'll leave clothes for you. Then we can talk." ❃ ❃ ❃ When Madeline emerged from the bath, there clothes waiting for her, as Tiav had promised. A comfortable cotton chemise and a long skirt, as well as some more practical, flat-soled shoes. It was practical, well-made clothing, with just a hint of finery in the weaving to make it stand out from a commoner's garb. She found Tiav sitting behind the reception desk once more, and the woman smiled, waving her over. She'd been reading a thick, leatherbound book, holding up a pair of reading spectacles on a thin handle. "You must be terribly confused, dear," Tiav said gently, setting the spectacles down and weaving her fingers together, hands placed atop the book before herself. "Not everyone knows what an Awakening is. Given that they can occur at any point in your life, some places never see one happen to someone in their prime. It might affect an infant, and be chalked up to sickness, or it may take an elder in their final moments, unseen by the rest of the family..." She explained, pouring a cup of tea for Madeline, and then for herself. It smelled strongly of honey, and the elf offered a platter of sugar cubes. Tiav took a long sip, closing her eyes for a moment before she continued. "In short, my dear-- Awakening is the process undergone by a person in which they are... Changed." Placing a hand to her chin, Tiav clicked her tongue. "Think of it as... A second puberty, if you will. It's a poor comparison, but it will have to do." Once more she became quiet, eyes closed, simply enjoying her tea. She gave Madeline time to digest the initial deluge of information, being careful not to speak too quickly. Tiav may have been an innkeeper, but she had the considerate, pensive bearing of a schoolteacher. "The body, mind, and soul are influenced. And changed." Tiav took a breath, then continued. "Firstly, the individual gains certain... Abilities. It varies from person to person, but over time these abilities have been loosely categorized. There are those blessed with enhanced physical capabilities; Agility, Endurance, Strength, Speed. There are tens of different names for these, but we'll call them Warriors." She raised one finger. "Then, there are individuals who become attuned to the arcane. Their bodies gain access to, and thus start to metabolize, mana. The raw essence of creation. These Magi are capable of casting all manner of spells, though you will find that most are blessed with a particular aptitude-- Such as a proclivity for fire or ice magic-- And are skilled in little else. The truly rare, and terrifying, Magi are capable of casting spells of multiple varieties." Tiav raised a second finger, and took a long sip from her tea. She offered Madeline a sympathetic smile, once more giving her time to digest the information. "Lastly, are the Spellswords. Individuals with aptitude for magic, and enhanced physical abilities. Though they are typically weaker in either area than a full Magi or Warrior, their versatility is their greatest asset."

4:54 PM

She raised a third finger, then let her hand drop. Tiav topped off her tea, and then offered Madeline a refill as well, should she require or want one. It was good tea, she would find. Rich and sweet, with a unique flavour, like ginseng steeped in honey. "One thing all Awakened individuals share is that they all gain the ability to grow. To strengthen their abilities and aptitudes in a way that a normal person cannot. By carrying out actions relevant to a skill or trait, they grow in skill." Tiav gestured to her teapot. "I've been making my own tea for decades. I Awakened young, so I've had a long time to grow my skills. But that isn't all. An Awakened individual will passively become more intelligent, more agile, more durable. Simply by carrying out actions relevant to that skill. And as far as scholars are aware, there is no limit to this growth. Though past a certain limit, the progression slows to such a degree that it might as well have stopped." Finally, the elf took a long breath and leaned back in her seat. She suddenly looked quite self conscious, almost embarrassed, and dipped her head apologetically. "I talked your ear off, dear. I'm terribly sorry. Please, ask your questions. I'm no scholar, but I've been around long enough to have mastered the fundamentals."

4:54 PM

@Deleted User

Madeline was so very excited to a bath. She didn't have much shame and had been in saunas before, so she was ready to literally jump out of her clothes and into the water. She liked the smell, she liked the atmosphere, she was ready. She restrained though, not sure if she trusted the elven-inspired woman enough yet. Madeline kept her eyes peeled, waiting for her to leave, before shedding off her work clothes and heels, and finally getting a chance to cleanse herself. ❃ ❃ ❃ She felt pretty in these clothes. She was already rather pretty, but the strange sort of medieval nature of her new outfit was sort of wholesome. She was sad to give up her heels, since she didn't have the same kind of feet pain that Niamh had. She spent all her time walking in heels, it didn't hurt anymore, but the shoes were so dirty that it wasn't feasible to wear them anymore. She made it to the woman, after a brief snoop of the building. She planted the old clothes next to the resting Niamh, making sure she was still alive and breathing, if not 'well'. She finally made it to Tiav in this reception desk, approaching it with a serious but tender expression. "Yes, very confused." She agrees, tilting her head. She listened closely, and it was all... Just too ridiculous to take in at once like she was expected to. She didn't touch her tea, she wasn't a major tea drinker. She mostly just wanted water, tequila, and maybe a bunch of liquid Benadryl. She finds all the magic and mysticism talk a but much for her brain, even though Tiav explained it slowly. She purses her lips, taking in the final part about Spellswords. Warriors, Magi, blah, blah, blah... She pursed her lips. It all meant nothing to her... Of course, it could be the main reason why Niamh was blind. But she didn't need to know about Niamh's magical powers, or whatever. She needed to know why she was blind. She waved a hand when the woman self-silenced. "No, no it's fine." She muttered, processing it. Magic like this is so stupid, I just... I wish I was in a place where I never have to think about this... Where I was working in business and living life. She takes a deep breath. "So, the blindness?" She strains her brain to find a reason herself, so she didn't just look stupid and clueless. She doesn't know the real reasons, of course. She does recall a line from a TV show she watched when she was twelve. "All magic comes at a price, type thing?" She says. Her modern dialect was very obvious, she didn't talk like others, or have the accent or affectation of others in this world. "Is she gonna get better?" She has no idea how to help Niamh if it's permanent... It takes years to learn how to function blind, Niamh would struggle to keep up for so much of the 'trying to get home' process if she remained blind... Although maybe this magic power (which Madeline wasn't 100% convinced of, anyway) would have some kind of use. But why had Niamh been changed like this, but not Madeline. She was a little... disappointed. She felt like this was all a huge psychedelic prank... Tears welled up in her eyes. "What do I do to fix it...?"

5:47 PM

@Lesbingus

"Magic often has a price, yes..." Tiav's tone was grave, but her concern was evident. She held her tea, peering at it, measuring her words before continuing. "It is not unheard of... For an Awakening to exact some physical toll upon a person. It's said that some of the most powerful adventurers of our time were, in some way, left scarred by their Awakenings in exchange for great power..." There was a but there, however. Tiav paused, her ears, usually perky and alert, drooped. It was difficult to avoid comparing that bit of body language to a pet that had just been scolded, the way they tipped down to express her uncertainty. "But blindness? People have been scarred, yes, but disabled?" The elf shook her head emphatically. "I've never heard of such a thing occurring. Ever. And my dear, I have been alive for a very long time." Tiav gave Madeline a sympathetic glance as she began to tear up. She looked down when she asked what she could do to fix this, and offered a sombre shake of her head. Tiav seemed reluctant to give her the bad news, but she took a fortifying breath and did so anyway. "There is no... Fixing an Awakening. It is a natural process, as irreversible as the changing of the tides, or the phases of the moons. I cannot say for certain that her blindness will be permanent. I cannot say that, once she awakens, she will even have need for eyes any longer." Standing, the innkeeper moved to a shelf lined with books. She raised the spectacles once more, perusing the titles for a moment before pulling a book from the shelf. Tiav took her seat once again, and opened the book up, flipping through it without the need for an index. "Now, there may be those with more answers. The avenue to getting those answers, however..." Tiav clicked her tongue, landing on the page she sought. "You could see out the Mage's Circle, or perhaps a high-ranking member of the Adventurer's Guild. But both paths would more than likely require membership in the Adventurer's Guild itself, and a considerable rank as well." The elf pinched the bridge of her elegant hooked nose between her thumb and forefinger, sighing heavily. Her shoulders slumped, and she closed the book. "The Church of the All-Knowing could have provided answers more readily, but... I fear their deity was killed in the Godswar."

6:21 PM

@Deleted User

Madeline took a deep breath, and rubs her temples. Blind, but perhaps able to use magic to do some other cool things. Nice. Just what Madeline wanted, a blind companion during this already troublesome time. She grits her teeth and continues her breathing. "Great, so... possible permanent blindness." She mumbled. She looked up at Tiav, tilting her head. She wanted more information, with a little more secrecy. She knew there was a limit to this woman's knowledge, but she wanted some more. A little bit of information about the places she could get information would be helpful. "Now, We're not from around here, of course... We've only just arrived in this city." She makes eye contact with Tiav, a small, gentle smile on her lips. "There was a lot of war-talk going around... The Godswar is this war? I heard chatter of... interdimensional transportation. Like something not of this world... being transported here." She keeps it subtle, as much as she can when basically questioning her own existence in this world. "There was a lot happening at the gates. Is it safe here? Is... that kind of travel possible?" She makes it known that she isn't necessarily talking about herself - yet seemingly concerned with the safety of herself and her blind companion. "If she is to... be blind for a long while, I want to know what's going on here.. Where do I ask these kinda questions?" She brushed her drying hair behind her ears, to keep up the act of a young woman who really needed her mother's advice, who needed help. She racked all this new information into the behind of her brain like a filing cabinet, ready to recal, and relay to Niamh when she awoke. She was tense, but tried to remain calm, blinking away any tears. She wanted to just ask, just scream 'How do I home?! How do I leave this place?!' - She forced herself to take deep breaths, calming herself. She refused to break down....

7:09 PM

@Lesbingus

“The war? Oh, dear me, no. The Godswar happened when I was a girl— Centuries ago,” Tiav replied with a laugh. She said that so… Casually. Revealing that she had lived countless human lifetimes like how one would discuss what they’d had for breakfast that morning. “The Free City of Ida rests between three nations. Béllenor, Eredis, and Tu Aletha. As it stands currently, Béllenor and Tu Aletha are at war. The Citylord is worried that it will spill over into Ida, so the guards are out in force. To keep deserters from either side out, mostly. But also to stop smuggling— It’s bad for proper business.” She opened up another book, revealing a map of the region. Ida lay in the centre of a massive plain, drawn with a large rift cutting across it. ’The Godscar’, the label below it read. “You needn’t worry, dear. Ida is a neutral city. Any one nation attacks it, the others will likely strike back. We’ve trading parts across the continent, not just with our three neighbours.” Tiav had taken note of her second question. Madeline saw it, a flash in her eyes. The elf’s gaze had sharpened momentarily, but that had passed, and she’d carried on into her explanation of the state of the region. “No idea of Awakenings, but you’re aware of one of the concepts of Realmatic Theory? My, you’re an interesting one…” The elf ran a finger along one ear thoughtfully, chewing her lip. “They say that’s what killed the All-Knowing. Another god, summoned in some… Unknowably immense ritual. It shattered mountains, split the continent. You can see one of those cracks out in the plains, one of the Godscars. Summoning rituals are fairly common— Plenty of people who Awaken gain the ability to summon familiars.” Tiav leaned back in her chair, shaking her head after a moment. “Never heard of people being summoned. The brightest minds across the continent have debated for centuries. Best we know, such travel would annihilate the soul, not to mention the body.” Madeline could see the innkeeper’s expression soften. The dire straits that she and Niamh had found themselves in had obviously struck some maternal chord in their host. “I would recommend getting in with the Adventurer’s Guild. I can’t promise they’ll have the answers you seek, but they’re a continent-spanning organization. It would take time, and a lot of effort… But I’d say earning their trust is your best bet.”

7:32 PM

@Deleted User

She frowns a little, and it's a very subtle crinkle of her brow. She takes in the map and tries to commit it to memory so she can relay this information to Niamh when she's up. She bites her bottom lip a little, from stress. They're chapped and she doesn't have any chapstick or anything of the sort. "Ah, Awakening's aren't a large part of life where were were before - and I just heard about... Realmatic Theory... When passing by. Call me paranoid but the idea of different realms colliding sounds a bit scary." She plays with her hair. "But if this area is safe, then maybe things will be okay." She smiles a little, and looks over her shoulder, back through the door in which she came. "What do I need to pay you to make this whole? We'd like to stay, maybe get some food, that sort of thing." She knows after all the walking, it must be night - She wants to go to this guild, but She's also tired and hungry, and knows that when Niamh awakes she will probably be too. She doesn't know if she is willing to buddy buddy with some strange group of fighters, or adventurers. In her mind, part of her thinks one good night with a medieval man might get her the answers she wants, seeing as the men in this time, and this land, probably didn't know half the things that humans could do together then she did, as a modern woman. But that was slimy, and she wasn't that type of person.... That was cliche, like what men who write spy novels did to women in the books. She wasn't about to stoop to that level, as well as she knew men. She wasn't a book character despite how much she felt like she was in a fantasy right now. She'd rather be at home, with her sub-par boyfriend, Asher, and some of the other friends she'd made. She'd even rather be with Casey, who she didn't ever talk to outside of being non-commital. She wanted to be around the people she knew, even if she didn't like them. She was never one to turn down new friends, but this place was so foreign that she was nervous to try anything outrageous to get what she wanted. "We'd like to go to the guild when my friend wakes up, but where can I find details about this... All-Knowing Church. I get they're de-funct but still..." It seemed like a fast track if she could play her cards right.

7:44 PM

@Lesbingus

"Far be it for me scrutinize, dear. The world is a large place," Tiav replied, finishing her tea and politely disposing of Madeline's untouched cup. She empties out and cleans the teapot, listening to Madeline speak as she does. "The area is stable. Work is consistent. Ida is a good place to begin again, many come here to do just that." The sky had darkened outside, the light of the three moons shining down upon the world below. Tiav made her way out the front door, lighting a lantern with a snap of her fingers, then pulling the door closed. Custom seemed to dictate that, during the day, doors were left open, but closed at night. "Get yourselves some rest, and then some work. We can discuss payment after you're situated, dear. Hearthkeeper's Bond." Tiav's inn didn't seem to receive many customers, but the elf didn't seem bothered. Madeline had grown up around wealthy people, and she got that sense from Tiav in spades. She struck the young woman as one of those wealthy eccentrics who ran a business not for the profits, but simply to give themselves something to occupy their minds. She crossed back over, opening a door near the reception desk. There was a small kitchen within, and she lit a cookfire with another snap. Tiav came back out as she waited for it to finish heating up, pondering Madeline's final question. "The Church of the All-Knowing used to have libraries in every major city. Even Ida. But this was centuries ago, they've long since been converted into other buildings. I've heard tell of an intact library in Tu Aletha's capital, but I can't verify that for certain, dear." Tiav smiled apologetically, before disappearing into the kitchen to prepare dinner for the night. ❃ ❃ ❃ The fare was simple, but finely made. Roasted vegetables and meats, and freshly baked bread. None of the foods were anything Madeline could recognize, not even the grain used in the bread, but the food was delicious. Tiav had mentioned herself to have had many years to finely hone her skills, and that became readily apparent in her cooking. "Your friend should be mostly recuperated come morning. And I wouldn't fear an Awakening like that yourself, dear. Cases that severe are exceedingly rare," the innkeeper said, in an attempt to raise Madeline's spirits. "She's lucky to have you by her side." She didn't initiate much conversation after that, having worn through all she had to say. Tiav offered answers where she could, but the innkeeper had evidently expended much of the knowledge she had to offer. Things had been moving frighteningly quickly, but finally it seemed as if things had begun to calm down. There was so much to take in. No one could blame Madeline for feeling overwhelmed.

10:30 AM

@Deleted User

Madeline was cautious of this generosity. Maybe there was something fundamentally wrong with the kind of rich person her family came from, or there was some taint on the modern world, but most wealthy people had done something exploitative to get to where they are in life. Even Madeline’s mother had turned an eye at her job on the city council once or twice. Politics made dirty, dirty money. She pursed her lips a little as the woman refused to let her pay again, citing this bond she didn’t know anything about. She was grateful though, especially to have food presented to her. She ate, mental counting calories like the did back home, even though she wasn’t quite sure what anything was. She compared it to human potatoes, carrots, onion, and roast lamb. She knew the calorie counts of these things by heart. The meal left her satisfied though, and she wished the housekeeper back at home made heartier meals. She ate salad most days. You could eat a lot MORE salad for less calories. She came to the front desk again just to thank the inn keeper for her meal and for the information, wishing her a good night. She shuffled over to where they had left Niamh. Madeline decided she mostly just need to sleep. She wanted to sink into a bed, fall asleep, maybe for a few good years, until the stress and overwhelming nature of the situation washed away. She found the room Niamh was in again, checking on her in all the good and reliable modern ways - pulse, breathing test - before carefully rolling her into the recovery position to for the remainder of her rest. She didn't know what the repercussions of this condition was, so she wanted to be safe then sorry. She stripped off into the chemise like a night-gown and made her place in one of the beds, obviously not the one Niamh was in, and then allowed herself to succumb to rest. She expected a deep sleep, dreamless and exhausted... ❃ ❃ ❃ She was surprised. Another dream, lucid and vivid. She was in a classroom, doing a test in high school. Despite being out of school for eight years, she didn't feel alarmed at being in this scenario. Looking down at the test paper she realized she did not know a single thing that was happening on paper. It was in some language she didn't even think was English, or anything she'd seen when she was at school. Her heart began to beat rapidly, squinting at the paper. She was panicking, despite knowing it was a dream. She started on the test and the things she was writing were also not in English. She spent a lot of the dream taking this test while a far off teachers voice mumbled and grunted random, teacher sounding words. This was such a childish dream... She furrowed her brow and finally decided to look over her shoulder, hoping she would see Niamh again, standing off to the side, like the dream she had last night. She smiled unknowingly when Niamh was still there, just like she had been before. Still mumbling to something she couldn't see. She stood and stared at Niamh, unable to read lips for some reason, unable to talk or do anything that she would usually be able to do. She tilted her head and took a step closer to Niamh, and behind her there was the sound of a school bell, and she whips around, and then suddenly her boyfriend was there. Asher started talking about something to do with their life, something insignificant, and Madeline whipped around again to look at Niamh. She didn't want to be arguing with Asher for another night, she focused on Niamh and then suddenly, randomly, her eyes locked onto something far off in the background. Past the impenetrable white she saw something there, but it was so far off she didn't know how to identify it. Just a smudge on the horizon. She looked at Niamh again, and then suddenly she was awake... ❃ ❃ ❃ This time she sat up quickly, awake suddenly when the dream ended and morning crowned. She rubbed her temples and then immediately turned her head around to look at Niamh... (edited)

11:00 PM

@Lesbingus

Niamh Hier had never been much of a dreamer. Her sleep had always been blank and restful. She would close her eyes, and awaken the next morning. The sudden advent of dreams in her sleep was... Odd. Out of place. A disruption of her precious routines. But these... Weren't quite dreams, were they? sʜᴀʀᴅ. "Wisdom." There was no spectacular explosion of colour, light, or noise. The world simply came to be between blinks. One moment, Niamh had been surrounded by that familiar Nothing, and the next she was standing by her lonesome in a field. Well, not entirely by her lonesome. Wisdom was there. They always were. Standing politely by her side, hands behind their back. The All-Knowing was looking upwards, today, and raised one arm to point to the sky. There, a bright red streak burned through the atmosphere. Looking at it... Enflamed something in Niamh. Every emotion. Anger, Fear, Lust, Shame, every other emotion she both had words for and did not. They flared and raged and roared, filling her head with a thousand disparate thoughts. Niamh staggered back, closing her eyes and shaking her head, which suddenly pounded with a fearsome headache. ᴛʜᴀᴛ, Wisdom said at last. ɪs ᴡʜᴀᴛ, ᴏʀ ʀᴀᴛʜᴇʀ Wʜᴏ, ᴋɪʟʟᴇᴅ ᴍᴇ. The All-Knowing spoke with that careful, practiced dispassion of a true scholar. Detached from all bias-- Even the discussion of their murderer. Niamh nodded, shaking off her headache and moving to stand alongside Wisdom once more. "Does it have a name?" ɴᴏᴛ ᴏɴᴇ ʏᴏᴜ ᴡᴏᴜʟᴅ ᴋɴᴏᴡ. "Mmh." Niamh took a seat on a rock, staring at the ground. Wisdom mirrored her, though they simply sat upon the air as if it were solid. The deity's physical form no longer hurt her eyes to look at-- As that would require functioning eyes. Niamh didn't see anymore. She understood that implicitly. Her senses now extended out from herself in a different way. Scents, Sounds, Sensations, they joined together with more... Esoteric senses. Painting her a picture of the world around her that was, in a way, far more vibrant than mere sight had ever been. Something vital had been taken from her, and in exchange she had been given something of equal, perhaps even greater, value. That was how magic worked. A price, usually mana, exacted in return for some change acted upon the world. When there was no mana, a different price could be paid. Her Awakening had been strange, even by the standards of this strange world. A truly unique case, Wisdom had said. For never before had an Awakening taken a sense. They occasionally left scars, yes. But never before had an Awakening exacted such a price. ᴛʜᴀᴛ ɪs ʙᴇᴄᴀᴜsᴇ ʏᴏᴜ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ʙᴇᴇɴ ɪᴍʙᴜᴇᴅ ᴡɪᴛʜ ᴀ sʜᴀʀᴅ, explained Wisdom. ᴀ sᴘʟɪɴᴛᴇʀ ᴏғ ᴀ sᴘʟɪɴᴛᴇʀ. ᴀ ᴘɪᴇᴄᴇ ᴏғ ᴍᴇ. That made sense. Greater power demanded in exchange a greater commensurate price. With that knowledge in hand, Niamh was no longer troubled by her circumstances. The math had been laid out before her, and she had been given time to check it. Math. That was how she saw things, now. Laid out before her, the underlying, fundamental mathematics of all creation. A new unique viewpoint, Wisdom had told her. sʜᴇ'ʟʟ ɴᴇᴇᴅ ʏᴏᴜ ᴀɢᴀɪɴ. "Thank you for sitting with me again, Wisdom." ᴏғ ᴄᴏᴜʀsᴇ, sʜᴀʀᴅ.

2:28 AM

❃ ❃ ❃ Niamh's head raised from where it had laid against the desk, and she blinked sleep from her eyes. They were secured behind a strip of cloth, now. More to prevent others from looking in than to keep her from looking out. She perceived the shapes of this place. The angles that made up each piece, the underlying formulae of each part. These things came together to give form to the world around her. The scents and sounds added further detail. The feeling of it all beneath her hands and the rest of her body solidifying the image. They were in a classroom. Taking a test. Niamh was not naturally a part of this dream. She was an intruder, a rogue variable. Brought here in part by Wisdom, but only because Madeline's expectation of her presence here had been, in a way, an invitation. The mind was inviolable. Only through the grace of the individual could another person be party to thoughts or dreams. Even gods were beholden to this rule. She watched Madeline take her test, watched her struggle and strain to comprehend the words written before her, the words spoken around her. It was the language of this new world, Niamh noted. Madeline had had no issue speaking it or reading it in the waking world... Perhaps it was in her dreams that she dealt with that incongruity. Then, she looked up, searching Niamh out. sᴛʀᴀɴɢᴇ. sʜᴇ sᴇᴇᴍs ᴛᴏ ʙᴇ ᴀᴄᴛɪᴠᴇʟʏ sᴇᴇᴋɪɴɢ ʏᴏᴜ ᴏᴜᴛ ᴛʜɪs ᴛɪᴍᴇ. "Mmh. I hope she's okay..." Madeline began to approach Niamh, who remained seated at her desk. Wisdom had taken a desk next to Niamh's, and peered at the test with genuine interest. Niamh started at the sound of the bell, before Wisdom rested a comforting hand on her forearm. She stilled, mumbling her thanks. A man... No more than a boy in this vision... Had appeared behind Madeline, and she whirled to face him. Then she turned again, back towards Niamh... Before her eyes focused on something else. Far away, not within this vision. ᴡᴀᴋᴇ ʜᴇʀ ᴜᴘ. ᴡᴀᴋᴇ ʜᴇʀ ᴜᴘ ɴᴏᴡ, Nɪᴀᴍʜ. Wisdom had never used her name before. And she had never heard such urgency in their usually calm voice. Niamh and Madeline locked eyes. "You need to wake up, Madeline." ❃ ❃ ❃ When Madeline awoke, she found Niamh already awake, awaiting her. Niamh sat on the side of her bed, dressed in new clothes. A cloth tunic and linen breeches, supported by a pair of suspenders, laced leather boots reached the middle of her ankle. Most striking, however, was the blindfold. It was made from fine black silk, embroidered with silvery patterns. The black tears continued to pour from beneath it, fading away into nothingness past the cheekbone. Either Niamh didn't feel the tears, or they didn't bother her, as she made no movements to daub at them or to wipe them away. "Mmh... Morning," Niamh said groggily, stifling a yawn behind her hand. "You sleep alright?"

2:28 AM

@Deleted User

Madeline was shaken from her dream, but she had no real idea why. For some reason that... smudge... it was imbued in her vision, like some kind of burn on her retina. What was it? She couldn't comfortably say, it just looked as things do when they're super far away. She'd been way too distracted by all the other crazy stuff happening in the dream world to focus on it. It was a cluster-fuck... That's what she thought, at least. She must have been on edge, seeing as she jolted when Niamh spoke, it was uncharacteristic for her to be so... jumpy. She was usually so level headed, self-confident, all the usual stuff. She had a rough night, why was she offput in this way? Perhaps if she had another dream tomorrow she could investigate. She watched her new friend, looking at her outfit, and shrugging a bit. As fashionable as the other old-fashioned clothes around... But the blindfold was something else. She frowned and wondered if Niamh knew what she was doing, if this 'Awakening' had given her magic powers like that 'sixth sense' movie. She brushed her hands through her hair as Niamh spoke first. Madeline's chattiness was stunted, and weird feelings tumbled in her gut. She stood up and took a deep breath. "Yeah..." She said, approaching Niamh, coming within a few feet of her, so she could get a better look at this blindfold. "Weird dreams, but honestly not worth talking about it. Same shit different night." She said, leaning down a bit. "Glad... you're up." She said pensively. "And... not so glad you're still blind." She flicks the elastic band around her wrist and pulls her hair into a ponytail, before going to find her dress. "The... innkeeper chic told me about all this magic stuff. Like you're blind because you can do cool stuff now, and.. also a bunch of gods died ages ago, and that we were probably zapped here by something being summoned. I don't really get it. I'm sure you'd get a lot more out of this if you spoke to her." She said, getting dressed while she rambled. "And also, we need to find some guild to figure out a way back, but it's like... an Adventurers guild..." She struggled to get buttons up on her overdress, and groans loudly. She was moody, as expected. Nicotine. She stomped a foot a little and then took a deep breath. "I'm not in a great mood, I wish I was just at home." She sighs. "Aaaa-aaanyy-wayy... We need to find this guild, or some like.. defunct church in another city. The guild sounds like a hassle, but like... I could probably get someone talking with a bit of modern lovin', but that makes me feel so gross. Like you would know, ha." Even Madeline is taken aback by the random stray she shot at Niamh. She shakes her head and waves her hands as if Niamh could see them like normal. "No, wait I'm not like.. calling you sexless or whatever. Sorry that was rude." She suddenly tears up and sits down on the bed, buttons not done up and stress evident on her face. "I wanna wash my face." She looks at Niamh, not sure what to expect of her expression but maybe a little frustration or anger at being randomly called a virgin, for no reason other then Madeline succumbing to withdrawal. "How... was your... sleep? If that's what you were doing." She asks, an awkwardness lingering as she struggles to recover the social suicide she just commited on them both.

2:47 AM

@Lesbingus

"Mmh. Not blind. Not really. Just see things differently, now." Niamh listened to Madeline's little debrief, nodding thoughtfully as she was caught up on her discussions with the innkeeper. It all came in line with what she... Knew. It was a benefit of her connection to Wisdom, she had been told. ʏᴏᴜ ᴀʀᴇɴ'ᴛ Aʟʟ-Kɴᴏᴡɪɴɢ, ᴀs I ᴡᴀs. ᴛʜᴀᴛ ᴡᴏᴜʟᴅ ᴍᴇʟᴛ ʏᴏᴜʀ ʙʀᴀɪɴ, Wisdom had explained to her. They had had plenty of time to speak whilst she was unconscious, undergoing that laborious Awakening. Her entire body still ached. ʙᴜᴛ ʏᴏᴜ ᴋɴᴏᴡ ᴍᴏʀᴇ ᴛʜᴀɴ ʏᴏᴜ ᴏᴜɢʜᴛ ᴛᴏ. ᴇɴᴏᴜɢʜ ᴛᴏ ɢᴇᴛ ʏᴏᴜ ʙʏ. "Good to know... You did good," Niamh said, pulling out her notepad. She bulleted out their plans for the day, writing as if nothing had happened to her at all. It was strange, seeing someone who was ostensibly blind writing things down as if nothing of the sort had occurred at all. Madeline's comment gave her pause. Niamh's lips thinning into a line, jaw stiff. When Madeline looked over at her, she could see that tension in Niamh's face-- Before it cracked, as the laughter she had been struggling to contain finally slipped free. She snorted as she laughed, causing her to double over and laugh all the harder because of that. "I--" She tried to speak, huffing and puffing, before another fit of giggles overtook her. It was several long moments before Niamh got herself under control, sitting back up at long last. The grin on her face was the most expressive Madeline had ever seen her. "I needed that laugh," Niamh said, reaching out and laying a hand overtop of Madeline's. She didn't seem angry in the slightest, more concerned for Madeline in her current state than anything else. The moment passed, and she pulled back, drawing herself up into her usual stiff passive posture. A faint smile still curled her lips, however. Which was better than her usual blank-faced resting expression. "I slept well. I'm..." Niamh looked down at her hands, turning them this way and that. She hummed, trying to find the right words. "...Different." She stood, lurching awkwardly. Niamh nearly tripped, before steadying herself with some effort. She could still perceive the world, yes, but it was still terribly disorienting. She was learning how to see the world in an entirely new, alien way. It would take months, if not longer, to adjust to life this way. Barely twelve hours into it? It was like learning to walk all over again. Niamh felt her way around the room, piecing together the things she sensed. The sounds gave it shape. The touch of it beneath her fingers gave it solidity. The scents gave it colour-- After a fashion. She was still unsteady on her feet, and prone to bumping into things... But that was all a part of learning, wasn't it? "I know you miss home," she said at last, turning back towards Madeline. "I'll help you find... us... A way home," she added that 'us' hesitantly. Like an afterthought. "But it will take time. Mmh... I know it isn't the best... But we should focus on the here and now. Direct all of our energy towards making sure we can get back... You know?" Niamh rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly, shifting her weight from one foot to the other. "Why don't you go wash your face, like you wanted? Then we can head to this Adventurer's Guild."

3:26 AM

@Deleted User

Madeline was flooded with relief when Niamh laughed, and she took a deep breath, allowing herself to wind down from the stress of accidentally insulting her new friend, and she also laughed a little. "I am so sorry, that was so out of left field." She said, shakily approaching the buttons again and succeeding with a little fight from the fabric. She stood and watched Niamh walk around and familiarize herself. She pursed her lips a little. "We're gonna get home, just the pressure of this whole thing is a lot." She says, catching on to Niamh's tone when she said 'us'. She was perplexed at the idea Niamh wouldn't want to go home, yet she did recall that Niamh didn't have a lot going on back there. Madeline would have to think about it a bit, rationalize that feeling. She didn't wanna think about it now, though. "I'll wash my face, maybe we can find that keeper and get something to eat, try get her to let me pay, again. I don't want to owe someone anything." She takes off some rings and approaches Niamh, placing them carefully in her hand. "Are you... able to see? Like.. Will you end up dying accidentally if you walk down the hallways alone?" She knows the front desk of this place was relatively nearby, and she knew Niamh would be safe waiting there where Tiav probably was too - but she did want to wash her face. She hadn't been able to get through to Tiav about taking payment, but wanted to pay because of her own self-importance. Hearthkeepers bond? Silly, just take the money. "If you can get to the front desk and get to her take payment of some kind, the rings are real 24K gold, but not sure if... Karats... exist now. But gold should. Just say they're really... uh.. dense gold, purest they've probably got in this place." She shrugs. "If you wanna wait, I'll just go wash my face, then we can go together." "She keeps talking about this Hearthkeepers bond thing, I have no idea what it is, but I'd feel really dumb bringing it up again." Madeline feels weird not wearing any rings, but she knows it'll be fine, she has so much more at home. "If this woman is as honest as she's been acting... then maybe we can find out where to exchange gold for currency." She looks at the black 'goo' on Niamh's face and frowns a bit. She decides it must feel like when mascara runs, and she cant imagine why Niamh wouldn't brush it away or wipe it. "Maybe we can find like... a cane too. Like.. this 'different seeing' combined with... what blind people actually do back home." She suggests.

3:43 AM

@Lesbingus

"I don't... Mmh... I don't see like I used to, like you do," Niamh began, accepting the rings carefully. There was a hesitance to her actions, as she felt her way around. "But I'm not helpless. I view things differently, now. I can perceive the world around me with my other senses, and... Magic. There's some magical component to it all. I see, yet I don't. It's... Paradoxical." Niamh took a step back, still holding on to the rings. She bumped against the wall, then righted herself. Madeline watched as she extended one hand to the wall, feeling it out. That seemed to strengthen her understanding of her surroundings, as she avoided hitting her foot against the bedframe as she stepped towards the door. "The Hearthkeeper's Bond is a serious thing," she said, head tilted to the side. Niamh's lips parted thoughtfully, and her expression grew slightly distant, like she was listening to something from far away. "It's a tenet of the god Hospitality... Offering those in need a place to rest their heads, food to eat. Charity." Niamh slumped a little, as if that sudden knowledge had somehow exhausted her. She took a shaky breath and stood up straight again, shaking off her exhaustion. It took her a moment, but she seemed to fully recover, stifling yet another yawn and looking over towards Madeline. "I'll ask her where we can get money for these. I'll see you then." With that, she opened the door and stepped out. Niamh would pause occasionally, placing a hand to the wall, before continuing on her way unimpeded. ❃ ❃ ❃ Once she had finished freshening up, Madeline found Niamh waiting for her by the door. It had once again been left open, revealing the light of the early morning. She perked up as Madeline approached, head turning towards her friend. Niamh gave her a little wave, falling into step alongside Madeline as they passed out of the Heart and Hearth. The air was warm, dew glistening on the grass and the leaves of the trees. There wasn't as much traffic as there had been when they'd arrived, but it Ida was evidently still quite populous. "The Adventurer's Guild has a currency exchange, so we can... Mmh... We can exchange your rings there. Two birds with one stone," Niamh said. She rested one hand on Madeline's forearm, her first steps out of the inn hesitant. "I don't have much to touch out here, to... Mmh... To get my bearings. Some kind of cane or staff would... Would be good. Can I... Mmh... Can I lean on you until then? I can't... See as well in open spaces... As it were." The pair found another one of the guide-signs, which directed them out of the Traveler's District. The streets wound alongside the river, before they passed across a stone bridge and into the District of Lords. The change was immediate. The buildings were far grander in this place, the shops decorated with opulent signage. It was here that the city's elite lived and did their business, as well as where the Citylord and the city's administration dwelt. It was also the location of the regional headquarters of the Adventurer's Guild-- Which stood out amongst the finery. The building was solid and well built, but quite plain. It bore the sigil of the Guild, a crossed sword and staff, over the open doorway. ❃ ❃ ❃ Inside, the building appeared to be something between a gathering hall, office space, and tavern. People stood alone and in groups, dressed in all manner of things. From robes to full suits of plate mail. Humans were predominant amongst them, but there were others. Elves like Tiav, long-limbed and graceful. And even more, far stranger individuals. It was... Well... Fantastical. "So many people... So much noise..." Niamh made a distressed whining noise in the back of her throat, holding her head in her free hand. Her grip on Madeline's arm tightened as she swayed on her feet. Niamh grit her teeth, pushing through the strain on her senses. It began to subside... Slowly.

4:44 AM

She filtered the noises in her mind. The scents, the sensations. Niamh forced them to be orderly. The math needed to be cleaned up, the stray numbers put where they belonged. As soon as the equations made sense... It all snapped back into place. Niamh straightened, still rubbing her temple, and lightened her grip on Madeline's arm. "Sorry," she mumbled. "Got overwhelmed." Niamh motioned for Madeline to follow, shuffling her way across the room, her other hand held out to feel around. A few odd looks were tossed their way, but Niamh either didn't notice, or didn't care. Likely a little bit of both. "We should register with the Guild," Niamh said quietly. "Get work, get money... I think it'd be better if we weren't just a couple... Mmh... A couple of strangers in a strange land." They found an empty table, and Niamh sank into a seat. She tilted her head back with a sigh, massaging the bridge of her nose between her thumb and forefinger. After a moment, Niamh looked up, meeting Madeline's gaze. "What do you think? I think it'd be... Mmh... It'd be a little fun... And useful for trying to find a way home."

4:44 AM

@Deleted User

Madeline kept her reaction to the 'Hearthkeepers Bond' short. "I don't need charity. Find where we get money, and I'll meet you." She didn't need to be pitied like anyone else, she wasn't like others, she knew that, in a way. She wasn't interested in being looked down upon someone who didn't know anything about her. ❃ ❃ ❃ Madeline was happy to get a chance to wash her face, she felt fresh after running cold water over her cheeks and past her hairline, taming her messy curls. After the bath last night, her usually straightened and then ringletted hair was simply curly. Not nice curls, tight curls that got frizzy. She would usually straighten them in this phase, but there was straightener here. She wet her hair to allow for some control and decided she would let it air-dry. She leaves it loose, in this curly phase it reached half way down her back, not reaching her waist. She braids the front though, as it would keep it from her eyes. She finally decides to submerge her whole face underwater, and close her eyes. She feels the cold on her and it's refreshing... She jolts as she suddenly sees that strange burnt shape in the darkness of her closed eyes. That smudge on the horizon of her dream. She exits the water, drying her face and shaking it out of her head, favoring the waking world more at this moment. She found Niamh and began the discussion of where to go. She agreed to head to the guild, if she could exchange money there. "You can hold my arm, it's kinda weird being on like... these kinda streets, so mind any bumps. We'll find something for a cane when we have time, and money." She advises, guiding Niamh along as she read out signs and gave people who looked at them death glares. They'd need evil eye protection with the looks she was dishing out. She was not feeling well enough to deal with anything other then her already blind companion. Madeline felt a little... seen... in this finer area of town they stumbled into. She liked it here immediately, and it made her long for the high-rise apartment with a pool she had at home. She was used to this kind of life... When she saw the guild she didn't think much of it. Of course it wasn't as fine, it was for like... fighting and stuff - she had no idea what people did when 'adventuring'. She hoped to never do that. "Oh my god, it's busy." She hisses, and she squeezes Niamh's hand back as a kind of reassurance, a deep pressure, and she pauses their walk to let Niamh gather herself. When people look at her, it puts her into a bit of fight or flight. "It's fine, I'd be overwhelmed here too." She mumbled, and she assisted Niamh on her shuffle over to a table. She sits her friend and wishes she could slip into her usual self like a skin suit. She takes a few deep breaths and ignores all the weird, otherworldly people... She scoffs when Niamh says 'job'. "Niamh, I wanna not work at an adventuring guild. Not to sound stuck up, but I'd rather die then do whatever people did back in medieval times." She says, shaking her head. "Let's find out how much money we have in gold, and then maybe find a way to fast track getting home..." She grits her teeth, and takes a long, hard breath. "Sorry, sorry. I'm... stressed." She says, admitting to being to hasty. "It could be fun, but lets just start with knowing what we have. Do you want to wait here while I find someone? It's crowded in here." She says. She looks around, seeking some kind of important looking person. She eyes off men, mostly, figuring in this day and age they were probably the soliders and adventurers in charge. But honestly, she doesn't really know that. It's just that women had more emotional depth to them, and she respected most ladies too much to be manipulative. Or maybe it was that she just didn't respect men at all. She searches for men in uniform first, one's who looked helpful. Then came people at desks, or any signs that say 'We buy gold', or something silly like that.

5:16 AM

@Lesbingus

"Everything people do here is what people did in medieval times," Niamh countered, but didn't argue further. She sank a little further into her seat, waving Madeline onwards when she mentioned looking around for help. "I need to catch my breath. Go on ahead." ❃ ❃ ❃ There were, perhaps coming as some surprise to Madeline, roughly an equal divide of the sexes when it came to adventurers. There were just as many women encased from head to toe in imposing plate armour as there were men in robes and carrying staves. Her search for important-looking individuals bore some fruit as well. Namely, far above there seemed to be some manner of delegation of important looking people. They were fine uniforms bearing the insignia of the Adventurer's Guild, their shoulders shining with epaulettes in hues of bronze, silver and gold. Looking around the ground floor, there was the bulky reception desk. Behind which sat a short, densely built man. His massive red beard was bound into plaits, amber eyes shining under a bushy brow. He couldn't have been taller than four feet, yet appeared to way as much as two of her. His uniform had dark grey epaulettes, the colour of iron. "Need help, lass?" His voice was shockingly high. The dwarf waved her down, smiling warmly. Yet as Madeline drew closer, it became quite apparent that this receptionist was a she. Her eyes sparkled warmly, thick fingers that shone with all manner of rings placed primly on the desk. "Never seen a dwarf before, aye? Can't blame you! We're rare in these parts!" The dwarf ran one hand through her beard, humming thoughtfully, sizing Madeline up. "Here to register with the Guild? Submit a job request? Currency exchange?" Rattling off a list of things, she then leaned back in her seat, awaiting Madeline's answer. Suddenly, a shocked expression lit up the dwarf's face. Her thick brow shooting up almost comically high, eyes wide. "Ach! How rude of me! I'm Miia, Guild Receptionist!" She stuck out a hand as big around as a bodybuilder's thigh, a grin lighting her face up from beneath her massive beard. "Pleasure to meet'ye!"

5:54 AM

@Deleted User

"Yeah, okay. medieval this, and that, you know what I mean, Niamh." She says, collecting all the rings and jewellery she intended to sell, that Niamh had been safekeeping. "Stay safe." She said softly, promising to be back when she had things sorted out. She entered the crowds, and as chatter rained out the buzz of living people brought her to life a little. Part of Madeline lit up when she saw so many women in adventuring roles. It was like the little girl obsessed with equestrian, but being told girls only do dressage, screamed inside her. It was a faint moment of joy in her heart, and she couldn't find it in her to be salty about it, or displeased. She... felt good. She approaches the desk, because she wasn't stupid and knew that guards were not as helpful as receptionists were. She initially thought her task an easy one, some man at the counter, although a little person, she didn't care, men were men. Then she spoke and Madeline raised her brows. She obviously knew women could have facial hair, an aunt on her dad's side had PCOS and had more then just facial hair. But this was a beard, a braided one at that. It was... impressive... As well as it was strange. She furrowed her brow a bit, approaching and hesitantly pulling out the jewelry, having collected everything besides her charm bracelet and a necklace which tucked safely under the bust of her dress, hidden. She had also slid one ring onto the chain... "Yeah, I don't think... dwarfs... are around at all where I'm from. I mean, not... technically." It was... so so wrong to call people with dwarfism back home 'dwarfs'. There was more respectful language surrounding the medical condition. And like.. different categorization and DNA and stuff. Madeline didn't know much more then that. Her experience started with her age seven calling someone a 'midget', and ended when her mother lectured her and told her all about how inappropriate that was. She went to explain her precious goods, when she was prompted for a hand shake. She placed the tangled gems on the reception counter with her free hand over them, and then reached out to shake the dwarf woman's hand. "Miia. Hey. I'm Maddi, nice to meet you." She introduces. She didn't usually go by Madeline with anyone besides Niamh, because when they met Madeline had her guard up from previous awkwardness. "Urhm, I'm here for money stuff, firstly. I'm from very, very far away, and am curious about the currency here in-" She stretched her brain. "-Ida." She said, making it. She didn't know her geography back at home, besides the capital cities of a few popular states. Let alone a land she had just shown up in a couple days ago. "I have things from home to trade, I'm curious about the worth of gold and diamond's here." She said softly, keeping her voice sweetly between herself and Miia. She didn't know what the economy was like - was gold something they didn't have pure versions of, had they even figured out diamonds were super valuable? Her multiple grands of gems were under her hand still. "It's very precious and high quality where I am from. Pure." Her diamonds were lab-grown. In this land they were likely the purest and clearest diamonds on earth right now - until science happened. Unless they had like... Alchemy and stuff, but that was usually just for gold and metals, not literal diamonds. That was very fantasy, alchemy. Madeline kept her mind open and a pleasant and friendly expression on her face... "Sorry if I seem a little out of my head right now, a lot of travelling." She says, pulling the 'heartstrings' card.

6:13 AM

@Lesbingus

"Not surprised! Most of us come from one wee spot, rest'a ya are all spread out an' the like," Miia replied with a laugh. Her grip was fearsome. The kind of handshake an overeager uncle might offer at a family reunion. Madeline could see the damn muscles bunch in Miia's forearm. She looked like she could tear any normal person limb from limb with no trouble at all. But all of that was offset by the dwarf woman's bubbly demeanor. Miia nodded as Madeline explained her situation, then looked to the jewelry that had been laid out on the desk. The dwarf's eyes widened, and she reached one hand into the breast pocket of her uniform. "May I?" She waited, then plucked up one of the rings. In her other hand, she raised a jeweler's loupe, inspecting the ring with a practiced eye. An awed silence overcame the dwarf, until she finally set the ring down. She seemed... Frazzled. Blinking a few times, then going so far as to pinch herself. "I... Lass-- Miss Maddi..." Miia ran a hand through her beard, visibily collecting herself before continuing. She motioned for Madeline to come in closer, continuing in a hushed whisper. Miia pushed the jewels back towards Madeline, motioning for her to cover them with her hand once again. "You're carrying more wealth in those jewels than some adventurers make in a year, lass," she said quietly. "I don't know where you're from, and it isn't my business to ask, but it's good you came here as soon as you did. Walking around with that much on you is dangerous." Stepping back, the dwarf ducked under the desk, coming back up a moment later with a hefty strongbox. It thumped against the desktop, causing the entire thing to shudder. It looked heavier than something a normal person could even hope to lift, let alone handle with the relative ease that Miia did. "I can give you... A lot of money for that. Ten gold. That's..." She paused to do the math. "The culmination of a decade's wages for any normal city functionary. However, if you'd be willing to take my recommendation... I can open an account with the Guild for you, and give you a sum in silver, which is more widely used and far less likely to get you robbed." Madeline could tell she wasn't being played. Miia was sincere, and genuinely concerned for her safety, given this newfound wealth she was apparently just casually walking around with. The dwarf wrung her hands, awaiting her answer. "Ten gold is equal to ten thousand silver, if'n you don't know the conversion off the top of your head," she added softly.

6:46 AM

@Deleted User

Madeline is surprised by the handshake, but let’s Miia shake her hand the way she wants, it was good to be on someone’s good side. She isn’t entirely surprised at the price, seeing as it was worth about ten thousand dollars now days too. She relied on modern peoples stupidity to not rob her, but she was immediately tense at the idea she had walked about town wearing all this before. In a new city, covered in jewels. She sees Miia’s sincerity and ponders a moment. “Ah, right… ten thousand silver…” She scrunches her brow. “And this is… 100% secure, yes? I have… a little more…” She mumbles, taking off her necklace - a multi-coloured diamond and precious stone pendant in dazzling colours, as well as a delicate, intricate gold chain. The sterling silver topaz ring was looped over it. Sterling silver was something she had no idea if it existed in the past. It wasn’t the same as just.. common silver, she knew that, but it was still silver. less valuable then gold by a couple hundred dollars, or whatever that was in this currency. “This much can… sustain two people for a while? I have a friend, she’s… she’s blind right now and as much as she’d like to work for extra money too, I dunno what blind people can do around here.” She pauses. “I guess if you have job recommendations for blind people and… people who aren’t into fighting so much, then I’d accept that information too.” She is still a chatter, even when in a hushed whisper. She places the necklace with the ring on it on the counter with all the other stuff. “Also, if all this stuff is dangerous to have… I might need to show you my bracelet too…” She didn’t want it sold, but she didn’t want someone to steal it if they were to get robbed. “If I can keep it in a safe or something, I don’t know if this city has safety deposit boxes… Like mine…” A safety deposit was probably called something else in this time period too, Madeline knew. She didn’t know what. She slips off her charm bracelet, a thick gold plated band with little gems dangling off it, showing flags of places she’d been, and little trinkets and symbols of things she’d done and loved. Each charm was worth a few thousand back at home, but she didn’t know what the value was here exactly. She placed it separate from the pile of other items. “This bracelet is very special to me, but I don’t want it sold, just kept safe. Where do I do that?” She must seem insane, pulling riches out of her ears, while wearing clothes only just above the commoner, and seeming to not know much about anything. She sighs, finishing her blabbering and smiling at Miia. (edited)

7:02 AM

@Lesbingus

"It's secure, aye. Accessible continent-wide once it's been notarized. Any Guild Hall can transfer and exchange currency from your accounts..." She paused as Madeline took off the necklace. Her jaw fell slack, and she gently pushed it back towards Madeline, shaking her head. "Keep that. Any item offered last in a deal is something you usually don't want to part with. I won't take it, but I can keep it safe, if that's what you'd prefer." Miia took a breath, shaking off her shock. She cracked her knuckles, eliciting a series of deep, cracking pops. The dwarf shook her hands out, then folded them atop the desktop once more. Madeline's question about the wealth sustaining them earned a laugh from the receptionist. "Lass, ten thousand silver is enough to last a lifetime." She settled back as Madeline asked after available work, hand running through her beard pensively. Next came her question of keeping things safe, and the unveiling of that bracelet. Miia choked on air, nodding emphatically and opening the strongbox up. She motioned for Madeline to place it in, alongside her necklace, before snapping it shut. "Aye, I can get you both some work. And these boxes are all secure. Only you, or a guild receptionist, can open it. It was a good call to store that bracelet, lass... I won't even attempt a valuation..." Miia wiped her brow, looking at Madeline with newfound respect. She viewed her the same way Madeline expected a noble might be looked at, with a mixture of awe and hesitation. Miia evidently viewed her as someone fabulously wealthy. Perhaps assuming her to be a royal in disguise, or something along those lines. "I'll keep those safe, and you can get them from any similar strongbox at any Guild Hall. They're all magically linked. Now, about a job..." ❃ ❃ ❃ Niamh couldn't have willed herself to remain seated if she'd tried. This place was amazing! Once she had sorted through all of the chaos, it fit together nicely to her senses. She stood, feeling out the area around her. The shapes of the walls sprung into her perception, the tables, the boards that hung with job listings. And the people! So many shapes and sounds. They wove together into a beautiful tapestry. There was Madeline, standing at the counter and speaking in hushed tones with a dwarf! There were elves and humans, and all other sorts of people! Niamh beamed, crossing the room on unsteady feet. 'Last job went well...' 'I'm one job from Bronze...' 'More monsters out this year. Things are getting pretty bad, huh...?' Fragments of conversations met her ears, and she clung eagerly to every new bit of information. She could feel every part of this place. The underlying equations that made up its ability to exist. The formulae necessary for gravity, for mass, for the expenditure of energy to make every motion. It all fit together, mathematically perfect. The world was so beautiful. ❃ ❃ ❃ "There are a few options," Miia said, flipping through a hefty book that seemed nearly as heavy as the strongbox that now stored her valuables. She had been given a form to fill out, in order to register for the Guild, as well as one to give to Niamh. Alongside that, Miia had handed over a coin-purse. It contained only one-hundred silver pieces, but that was, according to the dwarf, more than a month's wage. "An adventurer who don't like fightin'... Guess there's a first for everythin'!" The form was simple. It asked for her name, age, sex, as well as whether or not she'd Awakened. Not being Awakened didn't bar anyone from becoming an Adventurer, according to Miia. It was just like "Going into a knife fight with a wood skewer." "I have a few requests for medicinal herbs to be gathered... One here requesting the area around the Godscar to be mapped... That seems to be about it for things that don't need fightin', I'm afraid. Things have been getting pretty dicey lately."

8:03 AM

❃ ❃ ❃ Niamh had been enjoying her exploration of the Guild Hall. There were so many things to perceive, to build the picture of the world in her mind's eye. Though that all came to a sudden end, as she laid a hand on a table. There was a sudden lurch. A hand pressed down on her shoulder, and shoved Niamh harshly to the side. She stumbled, nearly sent sprawling. A few mumbles flitted through the air, as an Adventurer pushed himself into Niamh's face. He was the very definition of smarmy. The kind of rich, peacocking douchebag that existed no matter the world one found themself in. "I'm sorry, did I give you permission to sit at my table?" He sneered, to which Niamh meekly shook her head. She retreated a few steps, until her back was pressed against the wall. But the man didn't relent, following after her. "That's right. I didn't. So what got into your head that made you think to lay even a hand upon it?" "I--" "Commoners live longer when they know their place, girl. I'd take that into consideration, were I you." He shoved her-- *hard**-- then turned sharply on his heel and returned to his table. Niamh remained where she was, shaking. She stood there for a long while, before, her head down and previous enthusiasm extinguished, making her way over to Madeline's side. Niamh sniffled, her hands shaking fiercely. "I was just trying to look around..." She mumbled, a few genuine tears slipping out from under her blindfold. "I couldn't sense him, or his friends..."

8:03 AM

@Deleted User

Madeline shrugged, like this wealth was not particularly something that concerned her - although getting mugged was. She pushed the necklace forward again. "Store the bracelet, but sell the necklace. The bracelet is the only thing I need in safe keeping. It's precious to me." She says, smiling a little. She is satisfied to know that the silver will last them for plenty of time, and that work wasn't super necessary, but she knew Niamh wanted to try working, and it was good for connections and the such. When the 'no fighting' thing was commented on, Madeline laughed a little bit. "Yeah, sorry, I'm just not the fighting kind - Not sure if you can tell." She says, raising her brows and looking between the gems and Miia. She literally never wanted to fight anyone ever, unlesss absolutely necessary. Physical fights were things her boyfriend got into at bars, causing them to be sent out. Madeline usually fought with wit and words. She took both forms, and thanked Miia. "Ah, well, my friend is 'Awakened' - or whatever, and I have different skills under my belt." She assured, not really liking being compared to a skewer." The mapping seemed like something Niamh would be into, so she asked to apply for that one once the forms were complete. She didn't like the sound of 'dicey', but at least the mapping one would give them a chance to explore the world a bit, feel like they actually got their feet down. ❃ ❃ ❃ Madeline was making her way to where Niamh was, and rolled her eyes when the seat was empty. No notice, just wanders off, like I'll find her in all these people... She begins looking around, and surprisingly it was easier to find her, as the brief moment of ruckus from over yonder caught her perceptive eye. She noticed this man, she scoffed as he shoved Niamh like a doll. It reminded her of her boyfriend. Asher was some rich idiot who wanted to be a DJ, but was really bad at mixing music. He only got headlines because he was wealthy, and Madeline always lied about being in the crowd at his shows. She stepped through the crowd and met with Niamh, bumping their shoulders together to allow Niamh to use her as stabilization. She sighs and looks at this guy and his likely goonies as they probably laughed, she knew how these types of men felt about mocking 'weird people'. She gives Niamh the forms, and shakes her head. "Absolutely not." She wanted to put him in his place like the waste of space he was. That's how she met Asher, actually, with a slap across the face and a hand on his chest. Scumbag men tended to find a 'feisty' woman attractive. But she didn't want to be the feisty woman... "I want to sit at that table." She hissed. Madeline felt a little refreshed, and recalled her own beauty like her weapon of choice. ❃ ❃ ❃

2:05 PM

Madeline was still pretty in these clothes, particularly when she pushed up her breasts a little, and brushed her hands over her curls, smoothing them. With no makeup, she had more of an 'innocent, girl next door' kind of look, not the usual cutting beauty. With no heels she was a few inches shorter, but it added to the perception. She found Niamh a place to stand, somewhere she'd be safe, and she approached that man, whoever he may be, with a sultry and tempting expression painted on her face with gentle brush-strokes. She wouldn't go for the main man, she knew he had to be shaken a moment first, have a slight blow to his ego. She went for maybe his second or third in command crony, approaching sweetly. "Pardon me~" It came out like a purr in human form. "Couldn't help but notice you, thought I might get to know you, handsome... I'm Madeline." She said, and it wasn't necessarily her words she needed, but where he saw her moving her eyes. His face, lips, down to his chest, arms, then finally meeting his eyes. Like he was the prize being taken in, the prime cut of meat, and the best asset in the room. That this man was so fetching that even a woman like Madeline had to soak it all in. Her plump lips curved into a small smile. And she knew that a cocky ringleader like one who shoves blind people and snaps at service people, like Asher, like this other man, hated not being the center of attention. But she was pretty enough to not be contested, no, men liked to try and 'win her', she was the maiden for a conquering. She knew if this man tried to prove himself to her, in any way, she could crush him. If not, this gentleman she had begun weaving around her fingers now would likely jump the ranks in his little boy-crew, and could be convinced to leave the table. "What's your name.. sir?" A title of respect, something men liked to be, and thought they deserved. She had no respect for these men, nor any man, really. They were dolls in her dollhouse back home. She would not let some man, who probably liked the smell of his own shit, lay hands on any woman, even Niamh, in a way she did not consent to. Besides, it was actually a good, well lit table. She tilted her head a little, her favourite finishing move. A simple tilt of the head, while looking up at a man, eyes wide and doe-like, fluttering lashes, and a sweet smile. She was an artist in her own right. Her only other addition was a quick flick of her eyes - She, for just a moment, gazed into the eyes of that ringleader, the big mouthed loser, just for a moment. Just to let him know he had been noticed... But not chosen.

2:06 PM

@Lesbingus

"I can do that, aye. I'll send you a note once the necklace has been valued. I... Can't do that off the top of my head. I'll need to get another set of eyes on it," Miia replied, rubbing the back of her neck with an awkward smile. "No judgement about not wantin' to fight! The Guild takes all sorts! And she's Awakened, aye? Wonderful to hear!" Miia nodded as Madeline requested the mapping job, pulling out a large stamp press. It labeled the job request [ ACCEPTED ], with a satisfying klunk! of machinery. The dwarf gave her a big thumbs-up, a seemingly universal gesture, and they were set. As soon as Niamh filled out her own registration form, anyhow. ❃ ❃ ❃ Niamh let out a little squeak when Madeline bumped into her, but calmed nearly immediately. She leaned against her friend for support, the worst of her shaking beginning to subside. As soon as the forms were in her hands, the blind woman seemed to calm immediately. These were familiar. Familiar was good. Familiar was safe. ❃ ❃ ❃ There were four of them in total. That was the average size of an adventuring party, according to Miia. Their leader, judging by the way he carried himself amongst his fellows, was the same man who had been giving Niamh a hard time. He was a man of average height-- several inches taller than Madeline, perhaps half a foot. Like many of the humans in this city, he had tan skin and blonde hair. Amber eyes seemed to be the common colour, though his were closer to gold. On Earth, she'd have placed the majority of these people to be from Southeast Asia. Though the climates didn't seem to line up, as the plains were very moderate. The man setting next to him caught Madeline's eye as a good target for her plan. He was taller, leaner and frankly; far better looking than his leader. His head tilted back to acknowledge Madeline as she approached and introduced herself, his arms thrown casually back over the table to support himself. "Tol," he said by way of introduction. He was a man of narrow features and long, dark hair. He had full lips and long lashes, a certain softness to his features that didn't diminish any other quality; only enhancing them. His voice was shockingly melodic, and he sized Madeline up in turn. Though where she eyed him like a butcher did a fresh slab of beef, she found herself surveyed like a fine bolt of cloth. "I'm honoured to have caught the eye of one such as you, my lady," Tol said, taking her hand gently. He kissed the top of her hand in a way straight out of a chivalric romance flick, grip loose, not demanding and tight. It struck her that this man was spectacularly out of place amongst the group. The others were all of noble birth, as was he at a glance. But where this man seemed to ooze that sense of noblesse oblige that could only be attributed to the wealthy in fiction, the other three were rich, spoiled man-children. It made her wonder why he chose to surround himself with these men-- It seemed like social suicide. Especially the leader, who seethed, watching Madeline with hungry, jealous eyes as she lavished his companion with attention, as opposed to himself. When her eyes landed on him for that brief moment, a lecherous smile began to curl his lips... Before fading away as her gaze once more returned to Tol. He fell right into Madeline's trap. "Well I am Vesh! Of House Lejiren! Silver-rank Adventurer, and leader of this party," he boasted loudly. Madeline noted that across the Guild Hall, eyes rolled in a wave, and faces were hidden, overcome with secondhand embarrassment. This was a common occurrence, so it would seem. "I can't help but notice you've just registered! Why, if you need a group to watch your back and... Show you the ropes... I'd be all too happy to oblige you!" His smile was not welcoming. It was a leer, whether he wanted it to appear as such or not. This Vesh was just... Gross. Not in appearance, perhaps. But his soul was hideous.

4:01 AM

@Deleted User

Madeline did like Tol, and she noticed the air about him when she finally got to stand close to him. He wasn't like the party boys which gathered at clubs, trying to be headliners one day, who maxxed cards out every spring break getting with 18 year olds right out of school. He was like one of the sons of her mothers friends. Going to get into finance one day, knows how to bookkeep, could be a male model but would never be proud enough to walk for Balenciaga. Internally she screams a little thinking about going home to Asher, not a man who cares more about the world then himself. She allows him to kiss the top of her hand, and her sweet smile becomes giddy for a second, showing her delight at being loved on by this man. She brushes the back of her hand against his cheek, and looked into his eyes with an expression which in modern times would be called 'bedroom'. Then the rat of a man to the side decided to open his nasty little mouth, and she initially doesn't even move her head. She decided to rely on the genuine nature of the better man, hoping he was as strong willed as he was attractive. To be able to protect her from this grimy man, for what she was about to say... A hand on his chest as leverage, she turned her eyes but not her head to meet this walking garbage sack. "Mmhmm." She says, and her smile snaps down into her recognizable gravel eyed dead stare. "Vash... right? Generous of you but... you're really not... my type. Not the kind I'd stay up all night thinking about...Maybe someone would, though..." She says, a hiss deep in the tones of her voice, before looking back at Tol with her sweet expression restored. "Lovely to meet you... We'd love to sit with you, sir, maybe without all this chatter..." She says, almost a whisper. She wasn't stupid either... She loved a good... brute force companion - and whether this man stormed off with the shit, or whether he did in fact sit with Niamh and Madeline, she saw benefit in both. Thinking analytically about... people, protection, the idea of two women not yet fit to be fighting wandering around alone... At least until she and Niamh got good with.. swords or whatever they waved around in this land, or time... A piece of equipment, or an accessory, as a good man should be, to someone like Madeline, at least. She kept it short and sweet, pulling her leverage as a pretty woman. (edited)

4:20 AM

@Lesbingus

Tol had a certain grace to him. He didn't stir against the hand gently brushed over his cheek, though he did affect Madeline with a demure little smile. His eyes followed her own, as the attention was turned on Vesh. Her words took him aback. Madeline knew his type. The rich boy who had never once been told no; who assumed everything was owed to him, simply because he existed. The kind of person who surrounded himself with sycophants and cronies. His jaw fell slack for a brief moment, before he snapped it shut harshly. He flushed with anger, jaw clenched. The affront in his eyes was almost comical. "I am Vesh," he hissed his correction with venom, "Of House Lejiren. You may be pretty for a commoner, but you will speak to me with the respect my station is due." There it was. The tantrum. He pushed himself to his feet, seemingly just trying to leverage his height at first... Until Madeline's second comment, directed at Tol. Vesh's eyes bulged out, a vein pulsing at his temple. He visibly seethed, teeth bared, as his hand went for his sword. "You lowborn whore! I've had enough of this farce!" Steel rasped against leather as he drew. A collective silence fell over the Guild Hall, the shocked hush of a crowd who hadn't expected things to go quite so far. Vesh held his weapon so tightly that his knuckles paled, glaring daggers at Madeline. This was another level of spoiled. The kind of spoiled only possible in a world like this. A place of noble houses and feudal hierarchies. She could see him grow more tense, the muscles bunching in his sword arm. Chatter in the hall suddenly picked up, shocked mutterings and gasps rolling out like a wave. Madeline realized in a single, terrifying moment, that he hadn't just drawn his sword to intimidate her. Vesh advanced, and swung. ❃ ❃ ❃ All Niamh could do was stand by and watch. Madeline was so much braver than she was. So confident. So assured of her ability to charm others. She was blessed with a silver tongue and the beauty to match. She was so out of her depth in this place, same as Niamh, yet she carried herself like she had it all figured out. Her friend talked up one of the noble's lackeys. She talked to him, implied things, that made Niamh's face go hot. She covered her mouth with one hand, completely shocked by Madeline's confidence. Had Niamh ever tried something like that, she'd have keeled over and died from embarrassment! Then... Things began to go wrong. The noble, Vesh, affronted at Madeline's brazen denial, lost his temper. Niamh saw his actions before they occurred. Watched the equation shift, variables changing. There was the formulae of energy expended to reach for his sword, the calculations of the force required to draw it from its sheath... Behind her blindfold, Niamh's eyes opened, then widened. The equations rolled and shifted like waves in a storm. The actions followed a moment later. She saw the calculation of the force required to raise his arm with the added weight of the sword... Then again the numbers changed... Force equals Mass times Acceleration. He was going to swing. He raised his arm, sword sweeping high. His body pivoted into the strike, blade descending... Niamh saw it all in the moment before it happened. In the numbers. In those underlying truths that made up the world around her. Something surged inside of her. A sudden understanding. An... Investiture of something greater. Niamh saw the equations that created this man's actions... Niamh saw them... Niamh reached out, and changed them.

5:12 AM

❃ ❃ ❃ The steel flashed as it swung. Catching the light of the Guild Hall. Alarmed cries went out as he lashed out at Madeline, lashing out in a way that any modern man, no matter how spoiled, likely never would have... Except in the rarest of cases. Madeline saw her own reflection in the blade. Stared back at herself as it drew closer, and closer... Then stopped. No, it hadn't stopped. Rather, the blade had slowed. As if he had swung it into molasses. She watched it tick, millimeter by millimeter, closer to her. As if time itself had slowed to a crawl before her very eyes. But everything else was moving normally... A strong hand settled on her bicep and her hip, hauling Madeline out of harm's way. Tol had leapt to her aid, pulling Madeline away. Yet the both of them, and everyone else, watched Vesh. He was frozen in a distorted, slowed state. Eyes wide, darting around, even as he continued on his earlier path. The source of what had happened to him wasn't difficult to determine. Niamh stood tall, one arm extended. She was muttering to herself, and Madeline could read the words on her lips. Some of them, at least. Numbers. A complex string of numbers and other words... An equation? Vesh's sudden slowness disappeared, and the sudden removal of the inhibition on his movement sent him sprawling. His sword clattered to the ground as he slammed into the ground, as if the force he had used to swing his sword had built up within him, despite being slowed. Then, when he'd come back to normal, that force had needed to go somewhere. No one moved for several seconds... But Vesh didn't rise. Then the Guild Hall exploded with noise, as one of the uniformed individuals from above vaulted the railing. She dropped the full storey without hesitation, landing with her feet braced. The newcomer strode over to the fallen noble, kneeling and taking his pulse. "Unconscious," the stranger said, before picking him up with the same ease one would pick up a sack of potatoes. "Return to your business! The situation is resolved!" With that, Vesh was unceremoniously hauled from the Guild Hall, his other two lackies following in his wake, one quickly collecting his sword. Tol remained, however. He stepped back from Madeline, nodding politely. His expression was pensive, flickering over towards... Niamh. She still stood, arm falling back to her side. She shuddered, sweat dripping from her face in rivulets. Niamh had the look of someone who had just run a marathon, swaying unsteadily on her feet. She teetered, then caught herself against the wall. "Are you okay?" She murmured towards Madeline, unable to even keep her head up. "I was so worried... I..." (edited)

5:12 AM

@Deleted User

Madeline's reflexes were fast, and she had been attacked by men before. As he grasped his weapon, her mind flicked back to a random man punching her in the street - completely randomly and unprovoked. That fear, full force in the face, breaking her nose and splitting her lip. She'd had two black eyes for weeks... She'd also been attacked by a man with a knife before, that one was provoked, in a similar way to this. Whether men were able to act this way in this world or not, she was aware of it. And she was already reacting before he had the chance to swing. She knew how scum acted, and it wasn't that which scared her, but of course, blades did... Back at home men had guns, and they murdered women without needing to swing a sword, or feel the blade touch flesh. They were just as cowardly then as they were in this moment, when through the adrenaline, life slowed down. She didn't fight back, she couldn't do so, she wasn't tall, strong, or a fighter - but she was agile and fast, and she dropped down quickly, letting her legs go slack so she could essentially fall out of harms way. She was surprised when she didn't really fall, as she was grabbed and hauled out of the way. When Vesh's blade slowed like someone trying to cut jello, she immediately looked at Niamh, because who else... Whether she could see it or not, Madeline beamed with a desperate and genuine smile - somehow she knew, and as her heart palpitated out of her chest from the fear, she couldn't help but smile from adrenaline. At Niamh's raised hand, she pushed Tol away from her to scramble onto her feet again, and Niamh was the first person to move towards, though her legs initially shook. Her shove was a little stronger then expected, she felt almost a little recoil and surprise at how hard she accidentally pushed the grown man, but the moment was too fast for her to care. Madeline gave the fallen brat a glace and in his eyes she saw all the violent men she knew, and she felt no pity. She wanted to stabilize Nimah first, approaching her and letting any eyes that flicked around the room bounce off of her. Her hands shook a bit, but that was only natural after being attacked. "Nimah, are you okay?" She fell very serious, and with ironic success she brought Niamh over to the vacated table, since the only one to remain was Tol. She gave him a glance from the side. "Appreciated." She says curtly, a waver in her voice as adrenaline wore off a little. She knows had he not shifted her, the sword would have clipped her cascading hair at the most - but Tol had made a valiant effort to protect her, despite not knowing her. She felt a little embarrassment, but in the end, how was anyone to know she wasn't seriously flirting with him before. The only person who would know would be Niamh, who had been there at the start, and perhaps now Tol, who got to watch her strip her romanticized wholesomeness. "Thank you." She says, with more sincerity, knowing she had technically become a victim, but it wasn't something she'd never been before. She much rather owe her current safety to Niamh. "Tol, was it?" She uses a sleeve on the dress to wipe sweat and any of those oily black tears from Niamh. The only thing she didn't piece together, was the crowd. There was a strangeness regarding these people - the lack of stepping in. The air of 'minding your own business' was different here then in the real world. In a public place like this? A man would be pulverized. Men did most of their killing in private, nowadays...

5:40 AM

@Lesbingus

Niamh practically collapsed into Madeline's arms, letting herself be brought over to the table. She sagged into her seat, going slack in the way that the truly exhausted did. Like all of her bones are turned to gelatin. "...Mm'okay..." She mumbled, chin resting against her chest. Tol stood off to the side, apparently having taken no offense to being shoved aside. He rubbed his chin thoughtfully, looking at her differently. He seemed... Impressed? "You're brave," he said finally, retaking his seat. He swiped up the drink he had left untouched since Madeline had first approached him, taking a long pull from it. The hall around them slowly began to return to normal, conversations starting back up. Life moved quickly here, and Adventurers moved even quicker than most. "Vesh is one of Ida's few Silver-ranked Adventurers. So that puts him at the top of the pile, so to speak," Tol said, inspecting his nails idly. His eyes flashed back over to Madeline, then to Niamh, then back to Madeline. "Very few people would stand up to him like that. It's... Refreshing to see." That explained the lack of intervention, then. She'd just faced off with one of this Guild's higher ranked Adventurers. He didn't seem to mind that she'd simply been pretending to flirt. Tol struck her as the kind of person who was unbothered by all but the worst of circumstances. He shot her a lazy grin, a tinge of something apologetic in the expression. "You seemed to have had it handled. Are you experienced in swordplay? That evasion was good, especially for an Iron-ranker." Niamh's face was cleaned up for a moment, at least. Madeline's dress sleeve was stained with sweat, though that oily substance faded out of her sleeve as soon as her arm drew far enough away from Niamh's face. It continued to streak down her cheeks unabated. The accountant wasn't quite unconscious, but she was very clearly exhausted from whatever she'd done. No one came to speak with her from up above, though the mysterious woman from before returned a while later. She was tall. Freakishly so. With dark skin, and unsettling eyes. Black on yellow, like a bird of prey. She passed right by their table, taking the stairs to the upper level. "Now that," Tol commented quietly, "That is unusual. Lady Hagar never gets involved."

6:12 AM

@Deleted User

Madeline let Niamh rest on her shoulder, sitting next to her at the table and making sure she was able to recover as best as possible. Considering just yesterday this ‘Awakening’ thing had rendered her unconscious for a while, she was noticeable careful. Madeline looked at Tol and raised a manicured brow, a half smiling coming off her. “Brave, tch.” She listens to Vesh being described and ‘Silver’ meant nothing to her. She’d make it known- “Ha, Silver rank… I really don’t care. Where I’m from I might be what you lot all a ‘precious gem’, so I’m more hurt he dare call me a ‘lowborn whore’, if i’m gonna be a whore at least put my money in your mouth.” She grumbled. Her hand shook a little as she smoothed her hair out, checking her nails. “Never even touched a sword.” She says. “I’m just fast. Dealt with random attacks before. I’m more impressed by what Niamh did…” She says, squeezing the other woman’s hand. “I like riling men up, I’d have to say Niamh probably doesn’t.” She jokes lightly, taking deep breaths to maintain a calm composure post-threat. She watches this tall woman passed by, and Madeline watched her. She looks at Tol when he speaks, examining his expression for more insight. “Huh, Lady Hagar… What a name..” She says. She’s obviously never heard of this woman, and at this point the uncanny height was ‘whatever’, her friend just put a man in slow-motion. She looks at Tol. “We’re supposed to be doing some mapping or something, don’t know our way around this place so I thought it’d be a good… adventure or whatever they’re called. But now I think my friend needs some food and rest - we have a place to stay, fancy coming with? I’d like to pamper you with a few questions.” She says, giving a smile which looks a little worn. Despite the crinkle on her forehead from a furrowed brow, she still looks well put together for someone who was just threatened by sword. She could use some food too, honestly. “Just gotta hand in some paperwork…” She remembers the forms and places them on the table.

6:27 AM

@Lesbingus

Niamh sank against Madeline, beginning to softly snore nearly immediately. It was little more than a whisper, luckily. Allowing her to continue her conversation with Tol with little interruption. Eyes were on Niamh, only some of which were warded away by Madeline. "My lady, I appreciate your... Free attitude... But Silver-rank ought to mean something. It is not just a rank. Someone of Silver-rank is on a level far above your own," Tol explained, apprising her more carefully. He emptied his cup, and flagged down a server for a refill, settling into his seat. "They are faster, stronger... Smarter, in most cases-- Though Vesh is a notable exception. Your abilities, your attributes, actively rise as you age as an Adventurer. And the changes become... Exponential, past a certain point." Tol gave her a surprised look when she mentioned having never touched a sword before. Then, he nods, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. Niamh stirred when Madeline squeezed her hand, and she straightened up in a long, languid stretch. It really put into perspective how damn tall Niamh was. And how much taller she was than damn near every person there. When she mentioned what Niamh had done, his attention turned to her. Tol just shook his head in amazement. "She, an Iron-rank Adventurer, stopped someone several tiers above her with that spell. And the energy requirement didn't burn her out from the inside? Your friend is either a prodigy, or very lucky..." When the topic changed to that of the mysterious woman who had passed by, the air grew notably more tense. Not just around Tol, but of all the nearby tables. Gazes dropped to hands, or focused on food or paperwork. "Lady Hagar is more than just a name, my dear. She is a living legend. The only Diamond-rank Adventurer in the city. One of only ten Diamond-rankers in the world," the man said, tone reverent. And also tinged with... Fear. Madeline could pick up on it, now. Tol, and everyone in this Hall, were terrified of that woman. It was like they'd strung up a live bomb in the middle of the room, and were all being forced to remain, just waiting for it to go off and kill them all. Lady Hagar could be seen, up above. Tol had mentioned her being Diamond-rank. It seemed the epaulettes on the uniforms many of the people up above distinguished their rank, whilst those on the ground floor, who did not wear uniforms, signified rank with metal plates tied to simple cords; Silver, Gold, an odd silver-blue metal, and a deep green metal, stood out to her amongst them all. But this Hagar wore no signifier at all. Just looking at her more directly caused Madeline's eyes to ache. Not as if Hagar were unpleasant to look at; she was preternaturally beautiful-- But as if her eyes struggled to... Understand what they were looking at. Hagar's eyes met her own, for just a moment. It lanced through Madeline like a needle. Like she had just set her hand on a doorknob and received a static shock. Her entire body froze, locking up, until the mysterious woman turned away. It was a deep, instinctual response. That primordial, animal part of her brain responding to the presence of a predator. Tol shook her, and they slowly got back on track with their conversation. "I'll join you," the man said with a smile. "You intrigue me." (edited)

2:21 AM

❃ ❃ ❃ Madeline had turned in their paperwork soon after. Niamh had somehow found time to fill her own forms out; probably with some magic bullshit. Either way, she was passed two Iron name plates to signify their ranks. Just like that, the two of them had officially become adventurers. There was little ceremony to it, just a welcoming smile of Miia, and a nod from Tol. The two picked up the slumbering Niamh between themselves, and began to long walk back to the Heart & Hearth. It passed quicker than expected, however. They made good time, and were seldom forced to move out of the way of crowds. ❃ ❃ ❃ Niamh once more laid out on her bed, curled up against her pillow. Tol and Madeline had slipped from the room after setting her down, and Tiav had greeted them both warmly. Tol, shockingly enough, had bowed, though Tiav had waved that off bashfully. "I'm retired, dear. There is no need for that." The elf had bustled back into the kitchen once she'd heard their story, shaking her head and muttering to herself about 'the state of the nobility these days.' Tol blinked off his surprise, settling into a seat next to Madeline and making himself comfortable. "So... Your questions. I'll answer what I can."

2:21 AM

@Deleted User

"Yeah, yeah. Silver rank is nothing in my world." She muttered. "Not this kind... I'm not an Adventurer by choice, at this point... Rather be back were I came from..." She has a wistfulness in her voice, a longing. The longing to be back home, and to just stay there. This world felt like it was poisoning her with the laws and lore. None of it was supposed to feel real to Madeline, but it had been a few days and she hasn't woken up. She looked at Niamh. "Yeah, she's got this whole Awakening thing down-pat." She says, making sure the woman was stable and as relaxed as it got after the magical feat. She felt a mild pang of jealousy that the whole situation was going this way. As much of a feminist as she was, deep inside she did hate other woman thriving. Niamh seemed to take to this world in an almost natural way, and Madeline felt like she was walking over rocks in heels. Baby steps... She looked up at Hagar and grimaced. It wasn't like... she didn't like this woman, of course. She had the same pangs of childlike joy at seeing a woman at the top, diamond, but it made her hate this world even more. Adventuring... This medieval shit had Madeline loathing. She didn't like swords and armor, although she understood this was how life was now, at least temporarily. "Right..." Was all she mustered out at Lady Hagar's description. She felt de-armed as she was stared at, and she stared back stupidly. She didn't really feel much, but a gnawing sort of feeling deep in her guts. Lady Hagar felt like the bubbling hatred for this world inside Madeline, and her needle stares threaded through her guts like a prophesy. Yᴇs... Madeline blinked and shook her head a little, looking at Tol with a mirrored smile, pleased to be able to intrigue people as she did back home. Familiarity. "Why, thank you, sir." She purred, raising her brows. ❃ ❃ ❃ Once Niamh was safe in bed, and once Madeline had put her into the recovery position again, she found themself a place to sit, with food to enjoy, and Madeline was starving, as the stress of this all had taken it's toll on her pledge to intermittent fasting and she was ready to commit a crime against a carb. She watched Tol carefully though, wanting to commit anything she could learn about the man to memory, and anything she saw in him, she wanted to know it all without having to ask. "How far is it to..." She pauses and stretches her brain out. "Tu Aletha's capital..." She isn't sure her pronunciation is right but what did it matter. She wandered if people adventuring in this city even got themselves out of it often. The surrounding area seemed large enough. She was still fixated on this God situation, a fast track back home... She would take what she could get - as little time spent here as possible would satisfy her greatly. She wishes she had some chapstick right now, since she could feel her lips getting dry. She wondered what the cosmetic situation in this time period was. Women had always liked makeup, so surely there would be something... Maybe not a plumping gloss, but like... a kohl or rouge? She pulled her hair out from it's constraints and the fluffy blonde curls puffed from their trap. It would only be a week or so until her roots showed, and Madeline didn't want to lose her modern charm. She didn't want to become like these people.

2:46 AM

@Lesbingus

"From Ida...? Alethela is... 900 kilometers from here, give or take?" Tiav had laid out a fine spread for the two of them. Fresh, warm bread and roasted vegetables. A savory white meat not unlike chicken, spiced and seasoned masterfully. There was extra bread placed out for Madeline, and Tiav's eyes sparkled knowingly. "You have family there?" Tol asked, one hand raised to his chin. He mulled something over visibly, taking a sip from a flask at his hip and leaning against the countertop. "It's dangerous. With the war between Béllenor and Tu Aletha at its height, the border is locked down. Skirmishes spring up all across it, seemingly at random. The two are currently locked in a stalemate, but who knows when one side might push?" His fingers tapped out a nervous rhythm on the wood, and the seasoned adventurer eventually shook his head. With a hefty sigh, he leaned back into his seat. This situation seemed to be weighing heavily on him; not that anyone could blame him. His home was caught between a rock and a hard place. Tol watched Madeline as she let her hair down, head tilted to the side. "Golden hair... I've never seen anything of the like," he commented softly, wonderment evident in his tone. Then, shaking his head, Tol returned to his food. "In brief... I wouldn't recommend heading for Tu Aletha right now."

2:43 AM

@Deleted User

At the knowledge of it being far further than worth travelling for, she groans. “No, no family… Just a personal interest.” She is furthermore frustrated when he mentions all the war and various moment of combat happening outside Ida’s walls, and she munches on bread with a pressed expression on her face. Her manicured brows were furrowed, and she wasn’t concerned about creases on her forehead for once. She looked at Tol. Reading his expression she had a pang of sympathy. War ruined lives back home and it surely still did in this world. She wonders if drafting is a thing, or forced service. There was so much terrible shit back home that she was finding out still existed here, despite all the changes. She wants to ask, just to know if this place was as terrible as everywhere else she knew, but she didn’t know if she trusted him enough to express the idea that she and Niamh were accidentally dimension jumpers of the sort. She leans back a bit when he tilts his head at her, in intrigue. “Ah, it’s not real.” She say, playing with a curl. She winces, feeling that they probably didn’t have bleach way back when. She didn’t even know when bleach for hair was invented or what was in it. Just she liked being honey-blonde not dirty-blonde. Even though both were blonde in the end. “Whatever…” She aimed to move on. “Yeah, so… no travelling… great…” She racks her brain trying to think of a direction. A way out, a place to go to which wasn’t this world, this life. She didn’t want it to fall to normalcy. And even though she had picked up on the subtle idea that Niamh didn’t intend to return back - from last time she hesitated to say they’d both find a way - she wondered if Niamh’s eyesight would return, whether she’d keep her new magic stuff, whether… Niamh was better off here, because back home she’d just be another poor blind person. She sighed. “Are there any… like… libraries catered to books about the magic here? Like places to do research on Awakening… the universe… Realmatic Theory, that sort of thing.” She pushed in as her next question, seeming casual and relaxed, confident in her question, or as confident as she could be under today’s pressure. She went to fiddle with her precious bracelet but was miserable to find it was not there, but being safely kept back in the adventurers guild… The adventurers bank, as she thought of it.

4:02 AM

@Lesbingus

"Libraries? Certainly. There's the Grand Conclave here in Ida. It's nothing like the old library that the Church of the All-Knowing used to maintain, but, well... Nothing could compare to that, so I've been told," Tol replied, earning an emphatic nod of agreement from Tiav. Behind them, a door creaked open in the hall. Slowly, gaining a little confidence with each step, Niamh emerged. She rested her hand against the wall, teetering unsteadily, then took a breath and righted herself. "Mmh... I wanna see this Conclave thing..." she mused, walking up alongside Madeline. She rested one hand lightly on her friend's bicep, using her as the anchor-point for that limited magical augury she seemed to possess. "We can go together, Madeline? When... Mmh... When we finished the job...?" The mention of the job they had taken caused Tol to nod, as if reminding himself of something. He put a hand to his waist, pulling a bundle from where it had rested at his hip, tied to a loop in his belt by a length of cord. "Catch." He tossed the bundle to Madeline, underhand. It was roughly two and a half feet long, weighty but well-balanced. Unwrapping the cloth revealed a sword. It's blade was broad and curved, with a circular guard and a slightly canted hilt. "Even if you don't want to fight, there's always the possibility of needing to defend yourself. I'll teach you how to use it later."

6:02 AM

@Deleted User

Madeline took a deep breath, glad to know libraries were not a building full of Colleen Hoover and Danielle Steele, as so many were in the modern world. Now that the internet was full of books for free, libraries were only used by middle aged women, who's kids run amuck. She cant say she utilized the library well, but she did take a weekly 'Y/A and Yoga' class there, where she read a young adult drama book, and did the 'cat-cow' pose. She smiled with satisfaction. "Great, a library is just what I need..." She says, and she looks at Niamh as she makes her way in, assuring she finds a seat with the two of them, and gets some food. "I wanna see the Conclave too, hopefully mapping this... scar or whatever wont be too hard." She has no idea how to map, or how to do anything like cartography, but that did seem like something Nimah would be good at, it was very practical. Hopefully she could still be good at directions if she cant see like usual. Nimah made it clear she still saw something though... When presented the sword she raised a brow. "A sword..." She mumbled. She didn't have heaps of an interest in using a sword, she had never used anything like it before. In middle school her father wanted to pay for some kind of sports for her, so she'd had a choice of two between a few 'rich kid' sports, ice skating, equestrian, fencing, the sort. But she'd picked equestrian and archery... She'd quit archery once in high school, but done equestrian dressage for a long time... But she'd longed to do racing... "I can't say I really want to use a sword, Tol." She said. "I've never even touched one before, you'd be teaching me from nothing." She pushes the sword back towards him. "Now, I used to do archery as a child, for sport, so I'd have better luck learning that." A compound bow was probably very different to what they had in a fantasy land - probably a longbow or something, but she was not particularly worried. She hated to try new things, for the sake of not being embarrassingly bad at it. "I want to buy a horse, and a bow, and a cane for Niamh." She says, planning things out in her head for what she'd like to acquire with her newfound wealth. "And anything that can make this world more comfortable... Perhaps some boots... Something for my hair and face." Her high maintanence showed and she looked at Niamh. "We can get basically anything we need. Any suggestions would be good." She looks at Tol. "I assume you'd rather not come with the iron-rank adventuring gang or whatever, since you seem to be more above us in terms of doing... that. But you're welcome to." She smiles and it looks... hopeful, like there is something deep inside that is missing...

9:04 PM

@Lesbingus

"It shouldn't be. Mmh... The mapping, I mean... I've got a pretty clear mental image of the area from when we passed through, I just need to get another walk-through to be sure..." Niamh said quietly, retrieving her notepad from within her blouse. With no pockets, she'd resorted to storing it in her bra. It was uncomfortable; a new texture against her skin, conflicting with the familiar. But it was all she had at the moment. Bleh. The sketches within were neat and orderly. Well done, considering her lack of any kind of cartography training. She laid it out on the countertop for Tiav to inspect, whilst Tol and Madeline continued their conversation following his presentation of the sword. "I won't ask you to use it now," he replied, holding his hand out to stop her as she began to push it back his way. "Just wear it at your hip while we travel. It's better than going unarmed." He nodded as she spoke of her familiarity with the bow. He perked up when she stated her intent to go purchase some items, a miserly little light sparking in his eyes. The idea of going shopping seemed to get his attention, garnering a bit of excitement. "You've come to the right man, then! I'll show you to my tailor! Oh, and I know a good bowyer as well! I'm more than happy to show you around the Traveler's District! You can find a shop for just about anything." There was a spring in his step as Tol pushed himself upright, planting his hands on his hips. Niamh nodded along, standing up alongside the others. Hesitantly, her hand settled on Madeline's forearm. She chewed the inside of her cheek, head pointed down. When she spoke, her voice was quiet-- And she switched to English, as opposed to the local language. "...Can I hold your hand? When we walk... walk through the shop area? It's loud, too loud... Mmh... Going to have trouble navigating... Sorry to ask, I know it's a weird... weird request."

11:19 AM

@Deleted User

Madeline lets Niamh work on her map, willing to take any head-start to the navigational journey. She does keep an eye on her map-making through her peripherals, though, intrigued by the talent. "Take this sword, I will get a bow and then we can be done with it." She snaps, not angrily, just assertively. She also perks up as he does - perhaps the shopping situation in this district will bring her as much joy as shopping in the huge malls did back home. Shopping was a personal favorite of hers, and it usually brought her much joy. "I'd love to see a tailor, but I also just need to get out of a skirt. You'll have to show me some of the horses here, not sure what... kinda steeds this place has." She twirls a golden curl on her finger, since she has no bracelet. She stands alongside Tol, and smooths her skirt out. "Let's find a cane first, or anything Niamh needs to deal with the blindness thing." She says firmly, wanting to settle that immediately since it'd come up earlier that day. She looks at Niamh when the taller woman's hand lands on her forearm. She was surprised to hear English, as she'd forgotten how naturally this other tongue had come to them both. "Oh, what? Girl, it's fine." She says, grabbing Niamh's hand firmly, and smiling as if Niamh could even see it. Her long nails brushed on the back of Niamh's hand. They weren't sharp, just long and thick, made from well filed acrylic. She looked at Tol. "Lead the way, sir. Canes or sticks first, then clothes, weapons, then horses." She says purposefully, raising her free hand to motion with her words. "I also want to get like... a pocket, or something to tie around me to carry pocket stuff. Even my miniskirt had a pocket..." She sighs. Part of her wishes she still had heels, still felt pretty in that materialistic way...

11:58 PM

@Lesbingus

Tol finally relented, taking the sword back. "Right. Itinerary..." Niamh mumbled, her hand now clasped in Madeline's. She flipped the page on her notepad, scribbling out a bulleted list with her other hand. She hadn't been born ambidextrous, but had rather brute-forced that skill on her lonesome, after she'd broken her right arm as a girl. "I want a staff," she commented as she wrote. "Then we go visit a clothier... Mmh... And then a bowyer... Then steeds..." She mumbled it all to herself as Madeline laid it out to Tol; tearing the page free from her notepad and handing it to their guide. He nodded, eyes scanning the page. "Right! Let's be off, then!" ❃ ❃ ❃ Niamh was... Content. Madeline was nice. She had been wary of her, at first. She was wary of anyone who reminded her of those popular-girl types; the types who had always treated her so awfully. But Maddie was different... She was her friend. The two of them walked through the bustling streets of the Traveler's District. Niamh was forced to reign her senses in; every second in such a busy place was like a saturation bombardment on her brain. Scents and sounds pounding into her head relentlessly. It coloured her Unsight-- That was what she'd settled on calling it-- In a garish series of jumbled lines. It turned her brain into a damned Pollock painting. Their first stop was an artisan's shop. One that specialized in staves. It was mercifully quiet within the store itself, and Niamh, somewhat reluctantly, withdrew her hand from Madeline's. With both hands free, she was able to get a better image of her surroundings, and of what she sought. "No... Mmh... No..." She stepped between the rows of staves, pausing occasionally to brush her fingers over one staff or another. "There..." The staff that Niamh selected was plain. Carved from black wood, its only adornment was a silver cap on the bottom, and a large ornament on the top. It was, at first glance, a spiked halo. But the raised disc of silver in that centre, pushing up from the wood, lent it the appearance of an eye. "A Philomath's Staff? I see..." The old shopkeeper said, hand to his chin. It wasn't terribly expensive; not that money was an object for any of them. She left the shop under her own power, though Niamh was quick to retake Madeline's hand when the noise hit her. The staff hung across her shoulder by a leather strap, and her free hand never left her new possession for the rest of the trip. ❃ ❃ ❃ "What do you think?" The clothier had a rather anachronistic facility; Changing stalls. Much like something one would find at the mall. And it was from one such stall that Niamh stepped. She had picked out a black coat, and a large, simple skirt of the same colour. They were made from breathable yet hardy fabrics; Adventurer's clothing. Stylish, yet also practical. The skirt descended to mid-calf, ruffled into three layers. It was cinched at the waist by a wide belt-- Something that seemed to bridge the gap between a belt and a corset, really. But the thing she'd been most excited for? The hat. It was a bonafide, genuine witch's hat. Extraordinarily wide, the brim extending out over her shoulders, drooping ever so slightly. With a top that pointed up, curving down in an arch behind Niamh's head. Niamh did a little twirl, smiling giddily. "I feel cute..." She admitted bashfully, tipping that massive hat down to hide her face a little.

5:54 AM

@Deleted User

Maddi cant hold in a little laugh. "A staff... like a wizard." She says, shrugging. "Sure, whatever." She felt a little unsettled that Niamh is leaning into this magic stuff, and almost jealous of her again. Jealous that she is just... at home here. Although not socially swell, she's just meant for this world. The 'Awakening', and the magic, the staff and shit. Madeline purses her lips a little and brushes all these feelings away. ❃ ❃ ❃ Purchasing the staff gave Maddi no reason to be pressed. Whatever Niamh wanted, the blonde wasn't about to say no; not her problem. She allowed the woman to make her own choices, and get her own shit, as Niamh wasn't a child now she couldn't see. Still just a grown woman. Madeline's frustration was at bay, as they made their way into further shops. She was yet to look for her own clothes, as she sat outside a stall now waiting for Niamh. Unwilling to let her wander alone in the clothing shop, but also feeling like she was obligated to support the awkward companion. She raises a brow when the woman stepped out in black. "Huh." Is her first motion. It's not a bad outfit by any means, of course. The whole vibe suited the weird woman, Nerdy Niamh. Skirts bustling to the calf, the corset, the ruffles. She hadn't seen Niamh in something so self-expressive, but she couldn't say it was out of the kind of character Maddi saw for her. Character - that was it. And the witches hat seeded that into Maddi's mind. Niamh was like a character in this world, someone who was wearing a costume, who thought they were really a witch when they were just trapped in this place, and handed powers neither of them fully understood on a silver platter. She pushed her momentary frustration aside... "Nice, girl! Suits you!" She smiles, and it's pleasant and bright. She wonders if Niamh can tell she's going through it - even if Niamh cant even see. "You look cute, so of course you should feel cute. Although, I plan on getting horses, so you're gonna get an ass-rash in a skirt. Might need something for that too." She advises. "Unless you plan on side-riding like a ma'am. I don't care." She shrugs, laughing. "You look great." It wasn't a lie, Niamh undeniably looked like she'd fallen into her own skin. ❃ ❃ ❃ (edited)

3:48 AM

Madeline didn't have magic. There was no buffer between the real world and Maddi's body, no slow motion barrier or sudden ability to blast a laser through a grown man. She was Madeline, as usual, and it pained her in this world. At home she was special because of who she was. Her mother in the city government, her daddy a finance man, dating a headlining DJ (even if he was shit), and known for her lovely penthouse with an Italian holiday home. She was the status, and she had forged her personality from the ground up. Made her connections, got the guy, and the girl. She was special there - her armor was just being herself. But in this world, her armor didn't exist. If she got shot back home, she'd have private healthcare and a lawyer who would pulverize her attacker into the bottom of prison. Here she'd get sepsis and die in her 20s. Her armor here was just... real armor. She didn't feel cute, she didn't feel like it fit her at all. She'd scraped the shelves for what she knew she needed - guided by Tol when she asked or a shopkeeper when they came near. A blouse, black, because they didn't have all the fancy colors from back home. Brown leather cuffs for her forearms. She recalled the snapback on a bow and knew she didn't want to cut her forearms up, so she invested in leather cuffs for anywhere necessary. A leather vest which fit tightly, and snapped shut with metal closures, and a belt to hold something, a holster it was, maybe a dagger later on. She peered at dresses of course, skirts, and nice linens, and it made her hurt a little, because she wanted that for herself, but she wasn't powerful. If she couldn't fight, and couldn't use magic to blast bad guys away, then she needed to be able to run. Linen trousers, stitching on the inner thigh for horse-riding. Thick leather boots, a riding heel, and knee pads. She wanted metal shoulder plates, and a high neckline. She searched for the colors she liked in anything, pinks, blues, purples, finding less purple and some blue. More earthy reds though, and plenty of greens and yellows. She didn't like green and yellow. She bought a bag, something over-shoulder, sick of not having pockets. She could keep money, trinkets, tools, whatever in a little bag. Leather, sturdy, whatever they needed. She didn't come out when she tried things on, partly embarrassed to not look how she used to. No short skirts or high heels, no skeezy blouses. She bought archery gloves and made herself a mental reminder to break her acrylic nails off if she got the chance tonight.

3:49 AM

A leather breastplate was the final thing she needed, for safety. She hoped to not encounter anything, but the earlier events of a sword to her body had made her a little nervous. She was confident, but not too confident. She owed her ease of escape to Niamh, after all. The magical one. Finally, she browsed fabrics... Blues, reds, patterned and plain. She almost lusted over the idea of clothes which brought her joy. The dresses she could have made with silks like this. Satin skirts, and bones bustier's. She selected a simple blue one, with white floral detailing, likely made through dip-dye. She learned about dip-dye in elementary school, but it was likely more novel in this kind of world. She finally sought out a coat, settling on something with soft fur around the shoulders, and flowing blue fabric, embroidered detail on the hem - something to make her feel beautiful. She bought a ream of lace too, and a sewing kit. She wondered what kind of makeup women in this time wore. People had always worn makeup, humans had always desired to make themselves beautiful, and she was sure other creatures liked it too. Kohl for the eyes, anything for the lips, she purchased anything she could to bring her a little joy. ❃ ❃ ❃ With Tol's guidance, she selected a bow at the bowyer. She was surprised to find it easier to pull back the strings - especially after so long. It wasn't like a compound bow for sure, but she wasn't worried. Skills like this tended to be like riding a bike. It'd come back fast enough? She selected a simple one, a quiver, arrows (as many as could fit), and a small knife, only a few inches long with a steel hilt. "Steeds." She said firmly, looking at Tol and Niamh, smiling at the latter.

3:49 AM

@Lesbingus

"Huh." That was the first thing Madeline said... And Niamh was suddenly lanced by a paralyzing worry. That she was being judged, that in the end, Maddi would also be talking behind her back; hiding a sneer behind a raised hand. "You look great." And with just three words, those worries were banished. The power of a single compliment could never be understated. Especially for someone like Niamh. Who was so used to the only attention she received being mocking. She paused, pulling that hat down even further. She wanted to melt into a puddle, to vanish into a puff of smoke. To hide how she felt. "Thank... Thank you..." ❃ ❃ ❃ Maddi's turn came, and Niamh stood off to the side. She felt... Whole. This outfit, it made her feel like she belonged. She'd shed the old clothes, shed her old life, her old world, her old worries and her old fears. Like a snake shedding its skin, or a beetle molting into a new carapace. She was a new Niamh, for a new world. Niamh had picked up on Maddi's unease, bit by bit. She didn't like this place, not one bit. She wanted to go home, to the life she knew... And she was chafing. Straining against the situation in which they found themselves. Her friend picked out her outfit. Her armour. She took her time, but that was no bother. Maddi had a good sense of fashion... And her eyes still worked. She could still look out over the world, and appreciate all of its hues. Admire that kind of beauty. Maddi saw the world in more than achromatic lines and shapes. When it was all done, Niamh approached. She reached out, hesitating for a moment, before resting her hand against Maddi's shoulder. It filled in her shape in Niamh's mind; the new lines and angles of her garb. The little equations that made up the colours. It may not have been in colour... But Niamh was good at assembling equations. Finding the sum. "Smart..." She mumbled, voice soft. "Good decisions..." Niamh paused, shuffling her feet awkwardly. There was more she wanted to say... But she wasn't sure how to put it. Terrified that she'd do it wrong, say the incorrect thing... Make her friend angry, or uncomfortable... "Beautiful..." It slipped out before she could agonize over it more, and Niamh clammed up immediately. She excused herself, bustling as far away as she could manage without abandoning their little group entirely. Idiot! ❃ ❃ ❃ "Steeds," Tol had repeated. At long last, the two of them had been led to the stables; and that was where they found them. The horses. There were several varieties. Each of them close to, but not quite the same as those found back on Earth. They ranged in size, some bred for travel, others for war. The latter outnumbered the former, and given the current political climate of the region, that made a deal of sense. As they inspected them, Maddi saw that some of these horses were not... Well, horses. They looked mostly like horses... Save for the scales around their eyes, and the horns that swept back, then curled up ever so slightly to wicked points. Sinuous, scaled tails waved behind them, and their eyes glowed in shades of yellow and orange, slit reptilian pupils peering back at her with uncanny intellect. These were housed right alongside normal horses; what could have an Arabian, an Andalusian, even a Caspian.

8:02 AM

KLAK! A sound like a heavy stone being thrown against the ground cut through the air, and Niamh jumped, letting out a frightened shriek. She clutched her staff, startled by the noise, and hid her face behind her hat as she calmed herself. KLAK! KLAK! A shadow loomed within the stables. Approaching Maddi slowly, it's colossal hooves striking the stone floor. Sending up sparkles with every step. Those hooves were not the usual tough keratin... No. These were hooves of stone. Rough, tough, and the source of those sharp, heavy sounds. It could have been a Shire, if you'd shrunk it. The horse stood, at a glance, at roughly 25 hands. A coat like marbled slate, swirling greys and whites. A black mane, dreaded and matted into natural braids. Eyes like amber, eyes that did not just look at Maddi; This beast was watching her, not the other way around. Approaching slowly, until it loomed over Maddi. "Gods be good..." Tol whispered, awestruck. That massive, majestic head swinging down to eye-level with Madeline. It huffed, blowing air into her face. One hoof scraped back against the ground, drawing a line of sparks as it carved into the stone. So tough was that hoof that worked stone gave way effortlessly beneath it. "That is... I..." He seemed at a genuine loss for words, and she watched as the man lowered his gaze, ever so slightly. Showing reverence to... This horse? "A Tress... Gods above and below, a Tress..."

8:02 AM

@cowboy

Maddi didn’t feel beautiful in these plain clothes, in this armour. Even if she were to play a fantasy game, where she’d get to pick the clothes, she’d pick something pretty. Gold armour with ornate detailing and a musical quality to them that was impractical. But the whole point was practicality. “Thanks, Niamh.” She says, with appreciation in her voice, and she went to say more, then the blind woman practically ran away. She raised her brows and made a strange surprised sound. “W-ha?” She shook her head and something about the absurdity of it made her laugh. She followed behind, knowing that despite zipping off, Niamh would probably like to be guided through the crowd still. ❃ ❃ ❃ Madeline fell in love with horses again the moment she saw these strange ones. She gravitated towards the Arabians, as they were what she’d always wanted back home, but these ones looked different still. She was calm and careful in her disposition, and raised her hand up for any horse with a well enough temperament to nuzzle against. She seemed happier here, and deep inside she acknowledged that fact. Perhaps when she got home she’d get back into equestrian. The world was better then it was 16 or so years ago, and she’d be allowed more then to do dressage if she truly wanted. Canters and jumps, show-racing, things she never got to compete in and only did in her spare time. The things that needed up making her quit, because she felt slighted by judges. The KLAK made her head whip around. She then looked at Niamh who screamed, rolling her eyes, before looking back into the shadows. She analysed this built, these stony hooves, a hoof that probably didn’t even need a shoe, it was so hard. The splintering ground, sparking like flint against steel. Maddi’s jaw dropped. She didn’t even step back, smiling at it as it came closer. In her side eye she saw Tol’s reverence and as she felt that, she also felt a sense of bewilderment and excitement. “That’s a nice fucking horse…” She mumbled, and slowly she raised her hand like all the others, her gauge of temperament, not reaching to touch it looking above her, but just raising it up, allowing the horse the choice to come closer. If she’d brought apples she’d let this one eat the fuck out of some apples. The marble coat, the jet black mane, it was so stunning, and whether these were travel horses or war horses, she didn’t really care. This horse was amazing. She wondered if it was broken in, did this land have the need to do that? Horses back home were born wild, needed to be encouraged to make an easy ride through a lot of training, discipline and falling off. Maybe something about this world was different because how in gods name did one break in this stony horse. “What’s your name?” She whispered, not as if it could answer, but more so to bond, to converse, so it knew her voice. She was so awestruck there would only be once thing that would ruin her mood now… But she waited.

11:22 AM

@Lesbingus

"That's more than a horse..." Niamh mumbled, half to herself. She looked towards Maddi, and that towering steed, then jerked her head to the side, as if struck. She let out a pained hiss, teeth gritted. One spindly hand waved a concerned Tol away, as she quieted down. Maddi was having a moment of her own. A well deserved thing. Niamh didn't want to tear that away from her. Maddi's hand rose up, and the horse-- the Tress, as Tol had called it-- leaned in. The blast of air from its nostrils felt like steam. Not so hot as to scald, but it felt damn near close enough. It drew in close enough to sniff her hand, before it turned its head to the side. Just enough to fix her in the gaze of one of those unsettlingly keen amber eyes. Her own temperament was being tested, so it would seem... A long moment passed. Eye-to-eye, a standoff unlike any other. More eyes within the stables were drawn; the stablemaster himself watching closely. Every breath in the chamber seemed to be held; anticipatory. The Tress snorted, shaking out its mane... And sank slowly to the ground. Even then it towered over Madeline, but the invitation was clear. "It chose her?" "Never would I have thought..." Tol blinked rapidly, his jaw threatening to fall off of his face with how low it had opened. He collected himself, shaking his head fiercely. He ushered Madeline on hurriedly, nodding encouragingly. "Go! Tress aren't broken in, Madeline. Not like other horses. They choose their riders."

5:15 AM

@cowboy

Maddi also heard Niamh’s noise of stress, and her left brow twitched just a second before taking a deep breath. She was having a moment. Maddi watched the Tress lean in, and its hot breath reminded her of steam geysers she’d seen on holidays. She was surprised when it was so hot, but let it sniff her hand, keeping it flat and careful to pay attention to the great creatures body language. She smiled as it judged her and luckily she’d never been intimidated by any animal before, so she studied it back, a fondness and excitement in her eyes. It began to sink downwards and she initiated a firm touch to the head, rubbing the mane which puffed over its forehead. Once it is fully down she rubs its cheek with the other hand down its neck, ruffling the mane. “Oh you’re so lovely!” She says, not understanding the reverence others had for this horse as that didn’t exist back home - she was just in awe of the positive temperament and seemingly vivid personality of this beast. She poke to it with the adoration she would any other horse. “Are you a prince, or a princess?” She cooed, and her elation was clear in her assertive and bright tone. She ran her hand down its mane to the spine and looked at Tol as he waved her towards mounting the horse. She raised her brows when he said they weren’t even broken in. I’d hope not… a fall from this one could kill someone. She was elated to know she’d gotten this far with a horse of good nature enough to be allowed this close. She had mounted horses before, perhaps none this big, but she knew the steps. Bareback mounting was different. No saddle to grip, only the thick mane. The biggest horse she’d gotten on was 19 Hands, and that WAS standing. 25 sitting was still a feat, Maddi wasn’t the tallest but it wasn’t being tall that helped with horses it was being nimble. She balled two hands in the lower mane, standing perpendicular to the horses head. Taking a swift, light step forward, she swung herself around, bouncing off her new riding boot and using the momentum to leap onto the steeds back, one careful, precise motion. No pulling of the mane was necessary - it was for stability. In the case she overshot or became unbalanced she could guide the horse into her. She had to do a slight wiggle to fully mount, but once one leg was over the spine, it was easy work. It was like riding a bike, maybe she’d never forgotten this. And perhaps in a world where women were not confined to dressage, she’d be able to actually canter, actually go fast. She took a deep breath while mounted, gripping the mane with one hand and stroking the side of the Tress’ neck with the other. “Good baby, good…” She purred, not at all pressed about calling an 8 foot horse ‘baby’. Horses will always be either ‘baby’ or ‘old’. She peered at Tol first then the stablemaster, muscles in her legs engaged in case something went horrible wrong.

5:36 AM

@Lesbingus