Vernigen Soletra's Story

Rillian Yelst

Rillian absentmindedly ran her fingers down the worn, once serrated edges of the sharktooth on her necklace. Today seemed like it was going to be another day that the Lost would sit around in their latest hideout. Not that that was exactly a bad thing, but it wasn't really that good of a thing, either. Sure, they weren't out risking their necks on a raid but heck, it was boring!

Her mother's words came to her mind. Boredom is a choice. Rillian knew of this message because of the small notebook her mother had left her. Her mother left other bits of wisdom, too, such as Make sure you have a positive attitude and Advocate for yourself. Things that seemed obvious but weren't always apparent. Various phrases weren't the only things in the book. Sketches of plants, recipes, and journal entries were in there, too.

She brushed her hair behind her ears. Morgan, the leader of the Lost, stood up and left, walking towards the control room. Rillian wordlessly watched him leave. When he exited the room she interwove her fingers and played around with her hands, examining the various shapes she could make with them. Her fingernails were longer than the short stubs most other people kept theirs as. Maybe it was partly because of the fact she was birdlike. Her bird form had talons, why shouldn't her human one?

Taking a deep breath, she stood up. It was time to do something else other than sit around and do nothing. She walked over to Oryn and saw that he was drawing something. "What are you drawing, Oryn?" she asked softly. She usually found it easy to talk to Oryn; he was a bit childlike and gentle most of the time. Not always, probably not even most of the time, but pretty close to it.

Vernigen Soletra

Vernigen woke up to find that the suffocatingly hot water he was under was actually a tangle of blankets. He had been dreaming again. Drowning dreams were semi-frequent for him. They were his most common bad dream, although they weren't the worst. The worst had to be the dreams of him reliving being sent away from his family. That had happened eight years ago and he hardly cared to conciously remember it but his subconcious wouldn't let him forget.

He dressed, putting on a navy blue shirt and a pair of khaki pants. Casting a glance at Tlys, he decided he didn't need the staff, at least for right now. I should see what Nekria wants me to do, first. No guarantee she wants me doing some fighting today. "Tlys, I'm leaving you here for now. I might pick you up later," he said. Not that the weapon cared, it was just that Vernigen thought it was polite to tell the staff what he was doing.

If worst came to worst and unfortunate circumstances found him without a weapon he was still alright. Hand to hand combat was his second best fighting skill. He had never been too interested in slicing people up with swords or whatnot. Why make such a bloody mess when you can just beat your opponent senseless? A staff or a pair of hands required less maintenance than a sword. There was no reason to saddle yourself with the tasks of sharpening a sword or worry about it rusting when you could have a staff that simply needed a washing every now and then.

He made his way to Nekria's office and knocked on the door. When she admitted him he entered and asked, "What are my orders for today, Lady?"
Standing up straight, it was all he could do to withstand from making a mock salute. That would be disrespectful, even if it was meant for a joke. It was better to be formal than personable, especially when talking to your superiors. Especially when you cannot lie.

Clyde Maxum

Clyde acknowledged the smile lacing his leader's face and, satisfied with that reply, turned back around in his chair and planned on subjecting him to a dramatic pause before he revealed his newest, greatest idea. Unfortunately, the whole attempt at dramatics was completely ruined by the nearly pathetic show of Morgan lifting him up by the back of his shirt and dropping him unceremoniously back to the ground. Well, at least he was on his feet. If he'd lost his balance, he would have been totally done and stormed right out that door like a child in a temper tantrum. Not to say something that was even his sort of thing, because uh it definitely wasn't, but that's what he had a feeling would of happened. Public humiliation was usually something he tried brushing off, but blatant displays of embarrassment were mostly unacceptable. He'd give Morgan the silent treatment for days.

But anyway, he was getting off track. He landed on his feet, crisis avoided, and unnecessary immaturity was not to be expressed. Not now anyway. Maybe there'd be some time or reason for it to happen later. "C'mon, you can walk and talk at the same time. What's your idea?" Clyde nodded as Morgan pointed to Fleur, grinning easily in anticipation. "You, follow us. I'll show you to where ever it is that you're going. Where are you going, anyway?"

Clyde waited until Fleur replied to the question before chirping up with his own reply as they walked. "Okay, I've got the greatest idea of the century. Well, it should be anyway. Greater than anything those Noble nerds could think up--even though they've got some seriously cool tech. Have you seen that stuff? One of them had a plasma gun. I would give a kid's arm for one of those." No, he wasn't rambling just because he lost his train of thoughts. Not at all. He was rambling because if he couldn't have his dramatic pauses, then dammit, he would have some sort of dramatic finesse that would make Morgan wait for his stupidly amazing answer. That is, if Morgan didn't totally decapitate him for making him wait. That wouldn't be very cool either. Taking a quick check of Morgan's expression, Clyde finally went on, pretending as if he'd just suddenly remembered what he was going to say.

"We should make friends with the Underground."

Nekria

Ooh, Games were so much fun~

Nekria sat on the couch that was put in her office for means of comfort and relaxation, a water bottle within reach on the obsidian table in front of her, as she considered all she had accomplished. She enjoyed this, but those thoughts had lingered for too long and now it was about time to move on to more important details. It had been a while since she'd been given a proper update on all that was going on and she didn't feel comfortable not having a firm grasp on each and every situation. She wove a complicated web and for anyone else it might be too much to keep up with in a general view, nonetheless a detailed one, but she knew everything going on at all times. She was the ruler of her own kingdom and, although she not a Queen, she surely felt higher than one.

A knock at the door interrupted her silent musings and she allowed the person entrance. When she spotted Vernigan enter, she gave him a soft smile. "What are my orders for today, Lady?" He was so young to her, merely a simple-minded teenager who hardly has a grasp on the world and its realities. Or perhaps he did know and chose this way regardless; which, of course, was all but reasonable, considering this way was the only right way. What Nekria was doing was not only smart, but progressive, and nothing could be considered more important. However, when it came to Vernigan, she always made sure to keep a watchful eye on him. He was one of her younger ones and, although he claimed to be unable to tell a lie, that did not mean that he didn't still have rebellion in his heart. As a teen, he still has the room to develop. Who knows what he could be thinking? Someone so young and easily influenced is not to be the most trusted.

She waved a dismissing hand. "Please, Vernigan, there is no need to be so official around me. Think of me as family. You wouldn't treat family so stiffly, would you?" She patted the seat next to her with a welcoming smile. "Come, sit with me. I just might have a use for you today." For anyone else, that may have sounded passive-aggressive, but for Nekria with her sugary sweet tone, it should have sounded completely legitimate. She took a small, lady-like sip of her water and handed a bottle to Vernigan before continuing, taking time to enunciate her words properly. "Vernigan sweetie, today I would like you to check up on Randle. After that, I would appreciate if you went ahead and took your mission to the outside. I haven't heard from Tallen in too long. Perhaps she is in need of assistance on her mission. However, if she dismisses you, accept it and return. I trust her skills."

Nekria took another slow drink of water. She had no reason to rush. "Before you do any of that, however, I want you to fetch me Drean and Rorian, if you wouldn't mind." Not that he had a real choice. She gave him another honey-glazed smile and fixed up his bed head, smoothing it out until it looked proper to her. When she finished, she lightly patted his cheek and went back to her thoughts, waving a hand to dismiss him. "That will be all. You are dismissed."

Blood. So much of it. A pity that it wasn't nearly worth enough.

Rorian stepped out from that little room he liked to call the 'Exchange Centre' and into the hallway. While he had just witnessed the brutal murder of a family, his clothes were neatly cleaned and pressed, for Nekria would not have him be a filthy butler - no, that just would not do. Rorian raised the black book in his left hand, with Bloody Mary giddily twirling in the right. Rorian quickly scanned through the book while he started his pacing towards the office of his Master, his pen tapping against his face as he did. Selbergs, Sensens, ahh! Here we are. The Shamsils. He smiled as he found the name of the family, noting that their debt to him was 27 478 credits, and would have increased to 28 075 due to interest had he not decided to dispose of them today. Rorian gave a little sigh, seeing as how the family had only saved 5500 in cash, and their valuables were pitiful - he could only auction them off for miniscule amounts, nothing close to their debts. This was the only reason he had come to the conclusion that extraction of their blood would be the only way to make back his money.

Speaking of which, the child's blood had tasted awful - she was a dirty O+, which seemed to taste of the dirt her family wallowed in. In all honesty, Rorian himself wasn't even sure why he decided to drink the child's blood to restock on his own - the parents would have probably tasted better. He gave a small shrug, a smirk forming on his lips as he continued his pace. Oh well. Back to Work I go. Rorian gave a creepy smile as he made his way to the grand door that lead to His Lady's office. Before entering, however, he noticed that someone had slightly scuffed the right side of the door. He scowled profusely, making a small mental note to ask Nekria what should be done with the door, before nearly knocking on the door to enter her room. Just as his right hand rose to knock on the now-scuffed door, he heard that sugary voice he knew too well say to another 'Before you do any of that, however, I want you to fetch me Drean and Rorian, if you wouldn't mind.

Rorian gave another one of his semi-creepy smirks before knocking on the door, and spoke - however muffled it would sound through a wall - in his standard speech. "My Lady Nekria, that will be quite unnecessary." Rorian softly opened the door to reveal Vernigan, the supposed 'Man-Who-Couldn't-Lie' being shooed away by his Master. Rorian gave a bow, crossing his right arm - which placed his pen in his pocket beforehand - to his left shoulder to do so. "I am here and at your disposal, Lady Nekria." Rorian said before raising his head, and giving a a shallow bow to Vernigan.

Rorian couldn't wait to inform her of the details of the past few hours. He simply was dying to tell her.


Corvin McMordy

Near the entrance to the sewers, along the main drag, cigarette smoke slowly filtered its way out of a massive casing. To one new to the Underground, they would probably avoid this place, for taking own glance in was to look into a chaotic disaster: buts littered the ground, clothes were hanging from different places, food packages thrown around the room like a piece of modern art. A newbie would never have dreamed that the kid that lived in there was one of the weapon's dealers for the Underground: Corvin the Cobra. The kid was basically passed out on his bed, only awake enough to have a cigarette sticking out of his mouth. If this was an amateur who had attempted this, their bed would probably be roasting that certain loser, but not Corvin. Nope, his head hung off the side just enough that the onlooker could see his face, and his cig didn't turn his bed into an inferno.

By now the newbie would have probably passed on, not really noticing that one of Corvin's eyes had been half open the entire time. Corvin didn't need rando's thinking they could just pop in, still one of his guns, and make a run for it without him noticing. To be fair, Corvin should probably be up by now, like the rest of the Underground, but he was always too lazy and too tired to bother. His goggles were on, filtering out the little bit of sunlight that peered through the hole in his roof, which landed right on his body: Corvin liked to believe that he was solar powered. (Corvin still isn't sure how he got a place near a manhole, but he ain't complaining.)

However, as all good sleeps before this one, it was rudely interrupted by the Underground's constant noise. Sure, he could probably sleep through it if he needed to, but he heard a few other voices that kept his eyes open: well, maybe half open. For starters, he heard the Princess' voice cutting through the rabble, talking too those brats she carried around with her. Once her voice slowly faded away, Corvin legitimately thought that he would be able to fall back asleep. Until Diaren's voice cut through the sleep and made Corvin roll his eyes in annoyance. With that, knowing that he probably wouldn't be able to sleep knowing that Kier had done something weird and out of place again, he got up and changed in a flash. It was Corvin's philosophy that it was better to be fully prepared and lazy, than slowly get through things and be lazy. That way, you could sleep more. Or something.

Once in his normal attire and the cigarette in his mouth still there, he stumbled out of his 'house' to see what was going on. Some people from the Underground even stopped to stare or snicker at him, for it wasn't normal for Corvin to be up at this hour. Sure, he was up for fights, but there wasn't any fighting going on yet.

Rillian nearly slapped the butt of her hand against her face at the suprised look Oryn gave her. He had some... issues when it came to talking, especially when approached right out of the blue. She should have remembered that by now. Digging her fingernails into the palm of her hand, she made an attempt at an encouraging, friendly smile.

"B-Bunnies," he stuttered after staring at her with wide green eyes. "You know, the bunny-bombs I make? It's a concept idea, I think." He pulled a bunny-bomb out of his pocket and showed it to her. It was small, making Rillian think of how young Oryn seemed to be at times. Small sometimes equated young in peoples' minds. How old was the concept of that particular bomb? Oryn giggled, saying, "You can see if you want." He showed her a picture of a bunny in a field. It was a cute, cheery looking drawing. Rillian decided he had a pretty good imagination. He couldn't have seen grassy fields too often in his life.

"How are you? What have you been up to recently?" The blonde boy flipped through his notebook. "Do I need to thank you for something I've forgotten? I'll remember next week, I promise."

"I'm doing well, thank you. A little sick of all of this sitting around and doing nothing, but good nonetheless. What have I been up to? Well, thanks to you I've been looking at some cool artwork," she said, tapping his picture. "Recently I have been cooking. When you have the food needs of a bird you need to eat quite a bit. I'd really like to go flying, but it's too risky right now. I wouldn't want to betray the location of the Lost." She genuinely grinned at Oryn's closing statement. "No, you don't need to thank me. Unless I've forgotten, too. Which in that case, it doesn't matter."

"What about you? Have you been busy?" She snorted. That was a stupid question. What was there to be busy with? "Maybe a better question to ask would be how have you been doing."




"Please, Vernigan, there is no need to be so official around me. Think of me as family. You wouldn't treat family so stiffly, would you?" Nekria said, a sweet smile on her face. Vernigen refrained from answering, deciding instead to go with a small nod. He wasn't sure how he would treat his family after they had sent him away. Maybe he would still be on a good foot with Roger, but heck, he hadn't seen them for eight years!

"Come, sit with me. I just might have a use for you today." Nekria said, patting the seat beside her and making room. Vernigen sat down beside her, taking the spot she indicated. She handed him a water bottle and he held it, unsure if she wanted him to drink or not. Probably not, he decided, so he continued holding it. "Vernigan sweetie, today I would like you to check up on Randle. After that, I would appreciate if you went ahead and took your mission to the outside. I haven't heard from Tallen in too long. Perhaps she is in need of assistance on her mission. However, if she dismisses you, accept it and return. I trust her skills."

Vernigen nodded, accepting her orders. "I will do that, then." He said.

"Before you do any of that, however, I want you to fetch me Drean and Rorian, if you wouldn't mind."

"Of course, Lady," he said, calling her the title out of habit. He winced as the word left his mouth. Rude, rude, rude! He shouldn't call his superior something she didn't want to be. Especially when that superior was Nekria!

"That will be all. You are dismissed." Nekria said, making shooing motions.

A muffled voice could be heard through the door. "My Lady Nekria, that will be quite unnecessary." Rorian walked into the room. "I am here and at your disposal, Lady Nekria," he said, bowing. He even gave Vernigen a bow.

Vernigen inclined his head to Rorian, not wanting to show greater respect to Rorian than he did Nekria. "I will work on my tasks. Good day, Nekria and Rorian." There! He had called Nekria by name. The down side was that he had called Rorian by name too, and he wasn't sure how that particular Noble would like that.

He left the room. His first task was to check on Randle. To tell the truth (like he could tell anything else) Randle creeped him out a little. The guy was a big hulk of rage that needed to be sedated for half of the time. Randle scared Vernigen a little. Randle had brute strength and a beserker's rage that would last for long periods of time. He was unstable and unsafe. He supposed Nekria had a reason for the beserk-knight but it wasn't apparent to Vernigen.

He made his way down the halls, walking with a quite step. He reached the place of Randle's room. Cautiously, he opened the door and barely refrained from letting out a sigh of relief. By the looks of Randle was still half-sedated. Vernigen walked a couple steps into the room. Hopefully he wasn't too close to the behemoth, but one could never be sure.

"Hello, Randle. It's Vernigen. How are you?" he asked, unsure of how much Randle really comprehended. "Nekria wanted me to check on you, so here I am. Do you need anything?" It was a good idea to get on the good side of people. Unfortuantely, Vernigen wasn't sure if Randle had a good side. It was still worth trying, though.

Hey! Leave my sister alone you punk!

It was happening again. The dreams. They only came to him when he was in deep slumber. The Behemoth was restless as the phantom images played in his mind. This time he heard a voice in his dream. Was it his? He couldn't tell. It was too distorted for the beast to tell.

Jeez, you really should tell me if people are bugging you like that.

There was someone standing before him in the dream. A child. A little girl. Who was she? Why did it feel like he should know? He had been having the same dreams over and over. And they always came with the same word. Sister. He didn't know what that word meant, his head hurt greatly whenever he thought about it, but somehow he felt it was important. He'd ask mama about it from time to time, but she said not to worry about them and show him the thing-that-makes-spinning-lights again, and the dreams would go away... for a short time at least.

The Behemoth still wondered about them. But the more he thought on it, the more his head started to hurt. Eventually a fog began to drift back over his mind and the dreams became too distorted for him to understand anymore. With a frustrated hiss, the giant forced himself back to wakefulness. The sedatives were starting to wear off, but he was still left groggy. He slumped against the reinforced steel bindings that held him fast against the wall, blinking the tiredness out of his eyes. The restraints annoyed the armored behemoth, but were an necessity that everyone else in the facility couldn't disagree with, considering his mood swings. The last time the giant had a tantrum and got free, he had caused a few hundred thousand dollars of property damage before mama could calm him back down again.

"Hello, Randle. It's Vernigen. How are you?" A voice register to the behemoths ears, and Randle slowly looked up to see Vernigen standing across the room from him. Randle only snorted, and left out a deep exhale of air. He didn't really care much about the other knight. Randle only really cared about mama. "Nekria wanted me to check on you, so here I am. Do you need anything?" He let out a slight growl, not liking that the smaller knight wasn't referring to mama as what she often asked them to call her. However after a brief moment of silence, the giant spoke. "...Thirsty..." He didn't say anything else.

Rorian the Scholar

Rorian, in hindsight, probably shouldn't have bowed to the child known as Vernigan: it let loose the fact that he may consider Vernigan to be of actual importance, and he didn't. Mentally, however, Rorian shrugged the meager idea off, and kept his smile on as the boy returned the bow. His action made Rorian add a taste of sinister to his smile, for Rorian confirmed that the kid knew his place. Rorian knew that Nekria convinced all of her followers/mutations that she cared deeply for all of them, saying that they should refer to her as her first name, and sit with her. Rorian knew this to be a front, just as his was. When he first found out, it pained him dearly to know that the only one to whom he thought cared for him actually thought of him to be less than trash. However, over the years, Rorian has accepted this fact, for one reason, and one reason only: he would have done the same.

"I will work on my tasks. Good day, Nekria and Rorian. Rorian merely kept his 'friendly' smile present as Vernigan addressed them both, and then quickly left the room. The smile never really left Rorian's face, but it changed somewhat - instead of inviting and amiable, it looked a little more creepy - instead of looking like a smile, it began to form into a smirk. He said absolutely nothing as the time passed, for it was not his turn to speak - he had done so when he entered the office of his Lady, and he would not speak until addressed. It was just one of those things that he did - after all, he was below her, so she had the authority over him at all times to dictate his speech patterns, thoughts, and actions.

The only difference between himself and the rest of the Noble followers was that he was fully aware of his actions: for some reason, they could not see past their own faces. That thought made the smile even more awkward on his face, and he knew it.



To Corvin, this entire morning seemed to be staged: Step one, wake up a guy that doesn't wake up for another hour or two. It makes him drowsy and more easily controlled, which was exactly what Corvin was at the moment. He didn't really care what happened, but if somebody told him that something was going on, or to do something, he would probably just do it so they would leave him alone. Step 2, get Amelia to give him an order. Corvin was completely shocked to hear Amelia's voice cut through the common rabble amongst the people.

“I want you to come with me as well. Things we need to talk about.” Corvin's eyes were wide with semi shock, until he gave a sigh of exasperated fatigue, and turned around to re-enter his house. Now, this may look like Corvin was ignoring the Princess' order, but he really wasn't - he hadn't eaten yet, so he grabbed a disposable drink and bag of... something to go with his cigarette (Corvin had a feeling it was a bag of chips, but he couldn't really be certain until he opened it.) With his goggles now firmly attached to his head - for they were leaning a little to the right when he came out - and #42 making some prophetic nonsense while being shoved into his back pocket, Corvin came back out of his house and started towards Amelia. His posture was, to say the least, highly laid back - he had a little bit of a slouch going from not doing anything recently. He finally opened the bag of 'whatever it was - turned out to be pretzels... - and was munching on a few when he finally reached Amelia.

For Princess of the Underground, Amelia really didn't look like it. She was technically older than he, but those oddly large eyes certainly didn't solidify that fact. Instead, she looked about 15-16, but Corvin knew better than to feel superior to the Princess. Corvin looked slightly down to meet her eyes, since she was a few inches shorter than his own height, and swallowed the rest of his pretzels. "Alrighty, you got me out of my sleep. What's this all about?" Corvin's voice normally sounded quite nice when he was fully awake, but at the moment his voice was somewhat hoarse. Didn't help that those pretzels made it so damn dry, so he took a drink of his juice - at least, it tasted like juice - to wash them down. It tasted like liquified crap.

Rillian Yelst

Orryn grinned at Rillian. "Well, recently, I've felt like my head was going to explode and I don't know if that has to do with being a half-complete, or rather, failed experiment or something. But yes, I've been having a raging headache and I feel like I'm going to rip something apart. Other than that, I've felt rather happy." he said.

Rillian kept her face in a calm smile, although Orryn's admission bothered her a little. He had such a headache and he was smiling about it? I guess I should be used to it by now. Orryn is unstable. We all are, but he is more so than the rest. Not that unstable meant bad, at least not all of the time, but it definitely meant unpredictable.

She watched as Orryn took out some small candies and unwrapped one with a curious display. He balanced one precisely on his middle finger, holding it out in front of her. "Have one, if you want," he said. The boy looked into her eyes with a happy expression.

"Thank you, Orryn," Rillian said, taking the candy. She popped it into her mouth and felt a gush of saliva. She swallowed, careful not to down the candy, too. She had been getting hungry, after all. It was annoying that she had to eat more often than others but she couldn't remember anything different. She weighed far less than most other people her age, too, but it felt like it had always been that way. It was creepy how one could become so used to being changed.

Rillian saw Kyveli, the gasmask girl, sitting alone on the other side of the room. "Do you want to join us, Kyveli?" she asked.

Vernigen Soletra

"...Thirsty..." The lone word came out of Randle's mouth as if it wanted to escape.

"I'll get you some water," Vernigen said. He kept his face neutral and bland, not betraying the unease he felt when in the presence of the behemoth. Randle's arms were bound to the wall along with the rest of his body, meaning Vernigen would have to pour the water into his mouth. That's not safe. Still, I have to follow orders. He went over to the place where Randle's food and water was stored and took out a plastic cup. After filling it up with water he walked over to Randle and stood on the tips of his toes, gingerly pouring the water into the giant's open mouth.

When he was finished giving Randle water he washed the cup and his hands. He was glad the only part of his mutation was the inability to lie. Sure, it wasn't some flashy power, but at least it wasn't some mindless primal insanity, either.

Now he had his next mission. He had to find Drean, too. Where that Noble was could be anyone's guess. Drean had a tendency to want to blend in with the crowd. He seemed to want everyone to think that an armored robot was him, but Vernigen knew better. For the sake of simplicty Vernigen ended up telling the robot that Nekria wanted it instead. He figured the robot could record information and tell it to Drean while Vernigen kept an eye out for the strange Noble.

Now he had to find Tallen. He decided to leave Tlys behind for now. A weapon would make him stand out in the crowd more. Tallen was somewhere in the city, looking for the Prince of the underground and Morgan, the errant leader of the lost.

Vernigen walked out of the Noble's complex and blended into the crowd. People walked from place to place. It was sort of sad and funny at the same time that they all looked somewhat different but had one thing in their hearts: fear. That was what the Nobles had wrought. That was what Vernigen hoped to be able to mitigate somewhat. If someone was going to serve Nekria, it might as well be someone who was willing to do some good.

He spotted Tallen's purple hair and began to walk towards her. She was confronted by a red haired man and it happened that someone had fallen down in between her and the man. Was that Drean?

Vernigen rushed over and helped Drean to his feet, whispering, "Sir, Lady Nekria wants to see you." Then he turned to Tallen and said, "Sorry to interrupt, but do you need help with your mission, Knightmare?"

Morgan sighed as Clyde stomped on Oryn's stuffed animal. "Honestly, you're worse than a child sometimes." He turned to Fluer. "You can find your way around from here, right? And the others can help you, if you get lost again." He then grabed Clyde again, litteraly dragging him from the others. He stopped when they had reached the edge of the steel complex. There were many different buidlings, the mil only one of them. But the mill was in the best shape. He sighed as he let go of Clyde. His back was to the other boy, and he was staring at the borders of the city. "People are beginning to move, and there are whisperings. It would seem that I've gotten the Noble's attention. They're looking for me, Clyde. The way I see it, we have two options. Either we get the hell out of dodge, fast, or I do something to get them off my tail. I'd prefer to do it myself, but I can't leave you behind, I'd never hear the end of it. As much as I hate to admit it, you're probably right about the Underground. But if we do this, it's you and me. The others stay behind until we know whether or not we're even welcome. Then we'll bring along the others." He finally turned and looked at Clyde, his green eye like fire. "Deal?"




Tallen wasn't quite sure what to make of everything. The man who had claimed to be her brother had left as quickly as he had appeared, Drean fell in front of her, and her fellow Knight, Vernigen was there helping him. Slightly caught off-guard for a second, Tallen simply stood there, before realizing Vernigen had addressed her. She cleared her throat. "Knighttruth...no, I do not need any assistance. But I could do with the company." She knew very well Vernigen had no ability to lie, and would welcome his point of veiw without having to consider the possibility of being lied to. "That is assuming, Ser, that you'll be alright making your way back on your own?" She asked Drean, who loked slightly...well, grey. But then, he always looked like that.




Diaren silently followed, this time keeping his mouth shut. His superiors were talking, he had no right to intervigne. Instead, he turned to Corvin, studying the other boy. However, he was cut short by Keir returning, followed by Desaro speaking harshly to him. She was probably the only one who could do that. There was something bugging him though, it was just a feeling he had. Non-chalantly, he checked the small monitor built into his arm that was linked to a security cam outside the entrance. Nothing, only garbage, rubble, and shadows. Though there was something quite unnerving about the shadows. They seemed to...move.

Drean opened his eyes and started getting up only to be helped up by Vernigen, who also whispered to Drean "Sir, Lady Nekria wants to see you.". As he brushed himself off he noticed the strange man had left. The message that Vernigen delivered suddenly sunk in. He'd have to return to Headquarters and be stuck in a meeting with Nekria and probably Rorian for god knows how long. Drean was about to run for it when Tallen spoke to him "That is assuming, Ser, that you'll be alright making your way back on your own?" which made him stop and think for a moment. He probably could have gotten away if it was only Vernigen and would probably have no punishment from Nekria but since Tallen was here there was extremely little chance of him successfully getting away. "Ah no I think I'll be just fine," Drean said to Tallen with a bit of a sigh. He would have probably gotten her to accompany him back but then Vernigen would have tagged along as well which would have ruined the mood. He was smiling on the inside slightly at Tallen's offer, completly ignoring the fact that she was doing it because of his rank.

Just as Drean was about to head off he noticed that his watch had a tiny light flashing so he quickly pulled out his laptop and noticed that his robotic armour had started heading towards Nekria's office meaning that it had probably been told by someone that Nekria wanted to speak to him. Drean's mind suddenly had a brilliant idea, he then put his laptop away and crouched down to make it look like he was tying his shoelace but instead picked up some loose dirt. "Actually Vernigen, a difficult situation arose and you were unable to get a 'hold' of me," Drean said before standing up and quickly throwing the dirt at Vernigen's eyes and running away disappearing into the crowd. He disliked Rorian and was afraid of what some what afraid of Nekria, he wasn't going to the meeting. Clearly the message to Vernigen was for if he was asked about why Drean didn't go see Nekria himself, since Drean knew Vernigen couldn't lie he'd instead made the message into simply not telling the whole truth. Drean having much experience about weaving through crowds and the fact that he kept a constant high speed meant he easily managed to get away, even if Tallen had of been after him as well.

After having snuck away down some back allyways Drean quickly ducked into an old house he'd taken to using as a bit of a hide away. Not even the Noble's knew where the place was exactly as Drean had set up certain devices to keep the place secure. He dropped down onto a couch and set up an earpiece before reopening his laptop and pulling up what the robot saw. It was just arriving outside of the door to Nekria's office, it knocked with a sort of heaviness that could not be copied by other hands before waiting for a second and then it opened the door and walked in. While the robot could not actually talk it could print out messages from it's 'mouth'. A message was soon printed off, it read "Hello Nekria, you seem as lovely as ever today, how can I help?". Drean could easily hear what Nekria said and could easily see her but Drean didn't have to deal with Nekria face to face which was a bonus for him. Still she could be quite scary even from a computer screen. Drean noticed Rorian was also there like he guessed and so printed off a second message, "Hey there Mr.Money-bags, had any good 'wine' lately?" the 'wine' obviously was refering to blood.

Rillian Yelst

"Are y-you two alright.. or good?" Kyveli asked in her near monotonous voice. Rillian thought that something about her was... lacking, maybe? Kyveli hardly had an expression on her face and her voice was usually pretty flat.

"I think we're both okay, but bored." Orryn said brightly.

"All in all life is good," Rillian said. Just a little lackluster at the moment.

Morgan, Clyde, and Fleur walked into the room. Something was biting at Clyde. He had a nasty expression on his face. Viciously he stomped on Orryn's bunny, Calcifer. Rillian watched as he did it with a horrified expression. Families don't ruin each other's prized possesions! Or maybe they did? Rillian didn't have much experience with families. No, it can't be. How would they work together if their too focused on destroying each other's things and getting revenge?

She watched Orryn to see his reaction and was relieved to see he wasn't openly fighting back. Clyde was another very unstable person and it would be catastrophic for the two to fight. Instead the blonde boy was playing with his toy with his powers, muttering about something. Things could be much worse at the moment. Clyde really didn't have to do that. What is it that he's upset about now?

Orryn greeted Kyveli and Fleur, asking them how they were. Rillian trained her attention on them too, looking back and forth between the two. She rubbed her arms. When she went without flying for too long her arms started to feel stiff, which led into pain when left unsolved. I hope we get to do something soon.

To Kyveli and Fleur she said, "Done anything interesting lately?" It was unlikely they hadn't done anything interesting. They were in a group of rebels, after all.

Vernigen Soletra

"Knighttruth...no, I do not need any assistance. But I could do with the company." Tallen said. Vernigen nodded. "That is assuming, Ser, that you'll be alright making your way back on your own?" she said to Drean.

"Ah no I think I'll be just fine," Drean said. "Actually Vernigen, a difficult situation arose and you were unable to get a 'hold' of me," he said, bending over to tie his shoe. Vernigen looked at him with a puzzled expression. Drean was there in front of him, Vernigen had managed to find the Noble. Maybe he meant-

Whatever it was that Drean meant was to be undecided at the moment. The Noble stood up and flung dirt in Vernigen's face and dashed off into the crowd. Vernigen was blinked rapidly, trying to clear his vision. That definitely wasn't a noble trick! When he could see again Drean was gone. That was unnecessary. It wasn't like I would have manhandled him to Nekria's office. Or at least I probably wouldn't have.

"That was a dirty trick," Vernigen said to Tallen, smiling a little at his rather lame joke. His hands flew to his head as sudden splitting pain tore through his body. This hasn't happened before, I don't think. "I'll stay with you, then, Knightmare," he said to Tallen, his smile a little strained by the pain. The pain quickly receded, leaving him wondering if he had really felt it. I hope that doesn't happen again.

Rillian Yelst

Fleur confessed that she wasn't doing anything special lately, other than getting lost again. A small grin played across Rillian's face for a moment. Everyone in the Lost had something special about them, and Fleur's thing was getting lost. It sort of fit her. She was in a rebel group called the Lost and she got lost often. Irony was funny.

Morgan dragged Clyde off to the back and the two continued talking. Rillian was curious but she knew better than to disrupt the conversation of the leader and his second and command. Maybe they were planning a new raid. That would be exciting and a break from the monotony. Even if it was dangerous. If there was a good enough plan danger could be reduced.

Kyveli shook her head at Rillian's question. It was true there wasn't much to do but there had to be something people were doing in the meantime. I guess not. Nevertheless, it was good to try at conversation, even if it fell flat. In a raid things could be planned to a certain extent. People guarding things would have orders to do certain things and act certain ways. They had an objective in mind: to keep whatever they were guarding safe. In a conversation no one had orders or directions. It was much harder to predict how people would react. You couldn't even tell what they wanted unless they straight out told you. Even then they could be lying. Sometimes raiding was much simpler than talking to people.

Morgan and Clyde left. Kyveli would probably be in charge in their absence.

Rillian rubbed her arms again. The feeling they had was honestly unpleasant; they felt sort of asleep. "I need to fly. I'm just going to head out to the roof and change. I won't be long."

Rillian stood up and left the common room. She took the stairs to the top of the roof and changed shape. She looked about with her keen osprey eyes. The run down city wasn't much to look at, especially for a bird of prey, but at least people were not inclined to look at the sky in it. Launching into the air, she couldn't surpress a screech of pleasure. Flying equated freedom, even if there were some risks to it.

The rivers of air were buoyant enough to support her. Rillian slowly spiraled upward, surveying the city from her height. Some movement at the base of the mill caught her eye. Someone was milling about, probably looking for an entrance. What the heck was he doing? She angled downward and circled about aout ten feet over his head. Landing on a window ledge she rapped the window loudly with her beak twice, the signal that something was going on outside. She looked down at the man. He didn't look like anything special, but that could easily be a disguise. Rillian fluttered down to a lower perch to get a better look at him. There was nothing that out of the ordinary about him, but he did carry a pack with him. Could he be carrying explosive? Another screech, a warning this time, warbled out of her throat. If this man tried anything funny she would defend her home and friends.

Vernigen Soletra

Vernigen followed Tallen to a sewage pipehole. With brief words she told him her plan and he nodded. He decided to stay out of the way unless she needed help. Tallen seemed to be fine with that. Vernigen went to a pile of rubbish behind some garbage cans, pretending to be fully absorbed in trying to find something useful in the junk.

Sooner than later he heard a male voice explaining the attributes of members of the underground. Then Tallen said, "I'd honestly hoped you'd be a bit more of a challenge to catch, Kishitora...but thank you. You've provided me with the Intel that I need about the underground. It will be easy aprehending the Prince now."

Kishitora? That was the code name of the Knight Morgan before he left and formed the Lost. So Tallen had him. "You are the one known as Clyde, no? Your number...what was it...ah yes, I remember now. 0-5-1-3-7, and your power...a minor type of Pyrokenisys. Family of two other siblings, both male, one deceased. Parents deceased soon after your younger brother was born. No, you are not on my capture list, you may go," Vernigen's fellow knight continued.

Vernigen heard a faint cracking noise. He slowly moved over so he could see what was going on. He would be visible to others now, but that could help Tallen if she was in trouble. There was strength in numbers. He saw two orange haired males confronting Tallen, one of them being Morgan. Vernigen hadn't actually seen Morgan in real life before but he could recognize the once-Knight from pictures. Morgan had apparently broken through Tallen's power.

"I take it...you're a Knight, correct?" Morgan said.

Vernigen took a step forward, about to announce himself, when he felt a shiver of pain brush up against his body. It was gone in an instant, but it made him stumble. In his haste to regain balance he stepped on an old, brittle metal can, the resulting crunching noise horribly loud. With more graceful steps he made his way to Tallen's side. There was no chance of a surprise attack now. What was with the pain?

"Yes, Kishitora, we are Knights. This will be easier if you surrender now." Vernigen said. It wasn't a walk in the park to say a truthful statement in this situation. His mutation was an annoyance. Vernigen desperately wished he had his staff with him now. Oh well, hands would have to do. "What say you, Ki-"

Vernigen gasped as the pain hit him again. This time it was hot, raging hot, and shot throughout his body. He crumpled over and curled up into a fetal position as the pain continued. It felt like every nerve was being burned, electrocuted, and jabbed with needles all at the same time. Normally it would have been embarassing to be curled up like a small child in front of enemies but at the moment Vernigen could care less. He couldn't think of anything other than the pain. His breathing rate accelerated and he became totally unaware of anything else. Thankfully unconciousness enveloped him like a soft, dark blanket that shut out the intolerable, mind numbing pain.

-----

Although he was unaware of it Vernigen's body changed. It lengthened and stretched. Clothes melted away. Red and blue wings sprouted from his back. His skin changed to a blood red and his entire body became serpentine. His alternate body and personality had taken over.

-----

Veritas found himself lying on the ground. He quickly rose and opened his eyes. His surroundings were blurry at first but they came into focus within seconds. The last time he had emerged he had been in a different place, one with far less people. No people, in fact. This time there were other beings, sentient beings, who were present. Of course, he had only emerged once before, so he had little idea of the surrounding area. He was weaker then. He wasn't used to having a physical form at the time, and still probably wouldn't have perfect coordination, but he was more ready for true life than before.

He looked at the people around him. One was a female with a white haze about her that had streaks of the dark blue color of caution. There was a male with an eyepatch and orange hair who also had dark blue in his aura but he had a more curious blend of determination's stone grey and anger's burnt orange. Another oranged-hair male had a fiery red aura of bright-as-blood recklessness.

It looked like some sort of fight was going on, or at least a conflict. It probably would have been easiest for Veritas to just leave the scene, but that would have been cowardly and undignified. Instead he stretched his wings and let a growl rumble out of his throat, just to show the humans that he was not to be taken lightly. He was terribly outnumbered and slightly unused to a body, but they didn't need to be reminded of that. What they did need to know was how impressive he was.

"I am Veritas," he announced, his voice a little raspy. What should he say past that? He wasn't sure, but something would be better than sitting around and looking stupid. Perhaps something awe inspiring or threatening? No, that wouldn't be the best idea. He was outnumbered, after all. If he was perceived as too much of a threat that would be just as bad as being viewed as a weakling. He flicked his tail uneasily. Veritas couldn't really control when he emerged, and now definintely was a bad time to have done so. Oh well. He couldn't take that back now. Who knew when he would have another chance to live? "What is going on here?" he asked.

Probably not the most eloquent of questions, but it would get information flowing. If the situation turned sour he could still turn tail. He found himself mot wanting this, though. He wanted to pick a side amongst these humans. The world was empty when it was lonely. Without telling them he decided this would be a time for them to try to win him over. Although he didn't know it, Veritas was going through a sort of imprinting stage. Like a baby bird to its mother, he would imprint on a living thing that he would acknowledge as a leader. This could be changed, but it wouldn't be easy to break a first impression. He was still rather new to real life instead of being an experiment induced fragment of conciousness.

Veritas looked expectantly from human to human, wanting an answer and wanting it soon. Why were they taking so long?

Clyde Maxum

Clyde had to admit that he was feeling a little excited to finally get the chance to meet the Prince face-to-face. It would be the first time for him. He'd seen pictures of the guy before and he'd heard a few rumors here and there about him. He knew who he was for the most part, but he'd never actually had a conversation with him. It was very possible that he could just be another one of those boring shades of gray that made up the world. But Clyde highly doubted that. No gray lame-o could get Morgan as fired up as that Prince seemed to be able to. And that's one reason Clyde was so excited to meet him, because he had that control over Morgan that nobody else really did. Not to misunderstand--Clyde had no intentions of taking the guy aside and asking him all his knowledge on Morgan or anything like that, he just thought it was...cool. Yeah. Cool.

Oh, wait, he was spacing out. He should probably listen to what Morgan was saying. Man, he sure was chatty all of a sudden. Clyde just kept his mouth shut and continued to nod his head here and there as they made their way through the city to get to...wherever it was Morgan was taking him--probably to the Underground, obviously. "Here. Let's go give the Prince a surprise visit, shall we?" Again, Clyde merely nodded, smirking a little. In all honestly, he'd hardly retained any of the information Morgan was trying to spew out at him all at once. Okay, so the Prince guy had powers to...what was it? Read minds? He had a feeling there was something else about it...but Clyde couldn't remember. All he could remember was that Morgan told him the guy had the power to know everything in peoples' heads. So mind-reading. Right. Got it. The idea made him totally uncomfortable, but maybe he could protect himself somehow? He'd figure it out when he got there. Then there was something about security cameras and some dude with an arm issue and...well, whatever. He got the gist of it.

At the sudden appearance of shadows (at this time of day?), Clyde jumped, stepping away from the Morgan that was no longer there; at least, not in his line of sight. All he could see were shadows, even when he squinted. He was smart enough to know that there was some sort of mutation behind this. They had to be...oh, there she was. "I'd honestly hoped you'd be a bit more of a challenge to catch, Kishitora...but thank you. You've provided me with the Intel that I need about the underground. It will be easy apprehending the Prince now." Clyde frowned. She was definitely not part of the Underground.

He was wondering how to go about this when she suddenly turned to speak to him. "You are the one known as Clyde, no? Your number...what was it...ah yes, I remember now. 0-5-1-3-7, and your power...a minor type of Pyrokenisys. Family of two other siblings, both male, one deceased. Parents deceased soon after your younger brother was born. No, you are not on my capture list, you may go." Huh? He had nothing to say to that. She was obviously off her rocker. She could remember his number right off the top of her head, but she still managed to get his history wrong. Because of course it was wrong. He only had one brother and that brother was dead. She must have her information incorrect. Right. That wasn't the point right now. The point was that she wanted to take the Prince and he wasn't going to let that happen. It would put a major whole in his plans.

He was relieved, but not surprised, so see Morgan break free, shooting him a grin of satisfaction. That was definitely his leader. Totally cool. Totally strong. "I take it...you're a Knight, correct?"

Clyde nearly asked what they should do about the situation--he didn't want to bring unnecessary attention to themselves, but then again, who gave a crap when he could just set any of these guys on fire anyway?--but another voice caught his attention. "Yes, Kishitora, we are Knights. This will be easier if you surrender now. What say you, Ki-" And then he simply passed out. Clyde paid more attention to him than to the Knight, watching carefully as the guy changed from human to something...else. Something much uglier. When the guy, thing, whatever, stood again, Clyde couldn't help but wrinkle his nose at it. "I am Veritas." Oh, so great, it had a name. Because he cared. Not. "What is going on here?" Ugh, shut up, shut up. Let me figure out the situation and shut up before I burn your stupid faces off.

“Good afternoon gentlemen, and lady. As much as I love to have female company, if you could kindly return to wherever you came from and leave these poor pitiful men alone would be of great service to me.” Clyde's head turned again, this time to face...who exactly was this guy? Boring. He looked boring. He talked boring. He was good-looking, he had to admit, but ugh, he was probably just another loser coming here to bug them. So what was it now? Three against two or something? “As much as I would love to know what the hell your doing back here, I would like to have Princess with me when we grill your ass. For right now you two can head inside. Tell them I sent you if you’re asked.” Ohohoh, nevermind. Spicy. So he did have a color. Wait. Wait. Woah. Hold on. Back up. This guy wasn't...was he? He was the Prince? This was the big deal?! Are you serious.

He didn't move from where he was, staring stubbornly at the redhead even as the assumed Prince spoke to the Knight. He couldn't care less what they were talking about. "This is the guy?" Clyde said suddenly, talking specifically to Morgan. He might of been talking a little louder than he intended, but he didn't really care. "This is the big deal you've been so worked up about? Look at him! He's a loser in cloth! He's like...like a pretty boy." He laughed and ran a hand through his hair, not at all concerned by those around him. "Man, I don't get you. This is stupid. I mean really, Morgan, what can he even do? Ugh. Dragging me all the way here, talking my ear off, get attacked by this chick," he pointed a thumb behind him at the girl in question, "just to build up to the one great moment I get to see this great Prince guy and he's totally nothing. Great, cool, awesome. You know what? I will head inside." He nodded his head at the boy who'd transformed, walking up to him with a mixed look of annoyance and disinterest. "Veritas, right? Lead me inside, will you? Maybe the Princess will be something worth looking at."

Nekria

Nekria waited for Rorian to read off the pages Drean printed from the robot. "Rorian, maybe I'll take you up on that offer some time, I've sorta wondered what blood tastes like. My dear lady Nekria, I'll work on your request and I might be gone for awhile but I'll try and contact when I can, also when I do I'd like to know if some information is true or not. Does your knight 'Tallen' really have a brother? until we 'meet' again, take care." She nearly frowned at this, but maintained her neutral expression. However, she wondered what he really wanted with that sort of information. She knew the answer, of course. She knew everything about her 'children.' Whether or not she wanted to disclose this with Drean was a different matter. She would decide on that by the next time they were able to speak. For now, she placed his robot on the ground and let it continue on its way. "Lady Nekria, I too will begin preparation for this request by doing only what I was meant to - serving and money watching. If you so wish, I shall leave immediately on a lead I have pending."

She nodded at him, standing and brushing him off with a simple wave of her hand. "Please do." She brushed the wrinkles out of her clothes and fixed a few misplaced strands of hair before continuing. "There are a few matters of business that I need to attend to, so I will no longer be here." She continued to the door, pausing with her hand on the handle. "If you need me, I will be with my special child." And with that, she nodded to him once again and left the room.

After a short walk, Nekria arrived where they were keeping her 'special child.' Randle. She smiled softly when she saw him, nearing him without fear. "Hello, Randle darling, how are you? I've missed the time we've spent apart." Although she referred to him as her special child, she did not consider him to be her favorite. She did not have a favorite child. That was unethical. A mother could never pick a favorite child. Randle, however, was special in many ways. Although he wasn't a completely success, he wasn't a failure, either. She and her team were able to succeed things with him that they weren't able to with many of the others and although his mental instability was concerning, his attachment and his delusions were excellent assets. "Would you like some fresh air? I think you have earned it. Are you hungry? Is there anything Mother can get you?" She placed a hand on his metal-covered face. "All you have to do is ask."

[Morgan]



[Les Soldats]

[Tallen]



[Salva Nos]

---

A clawed hand reached out and grabbed Clyde, pulling him back away from Veritas. "Damnit, you idiot. He's not apart of the Underground. He's a Knight." Morgan's voice was deep, throaty, and strained. Fighting against hte beast locked within him was not a fight he needed right now. Apart of him was thankful Keir was there. He at least knew how to stop Morgan should he loose control. Stripes had already begun to etch themselves onto Morgan's skin, and his one eye had gone cat-like. He growled. "You can grill me all you want later, Keir. But I'll tell you what I want you what I want you to know." Fangs. Morgan also had fangs. He ran his tounge over them. This wasn't a good situation.

Tallen glanced back and forth. Kishitora was transforming, not a good thing. She'd never seen it firsthand, but...there was something so familiar about it, she simply couldn't place it. A memory suddeny flashed through her mind. She was a little girl, being carried by something large and hairy. It was orange, whatever it was. She could hear someone shouting her name, and she was shouting, too. Someone's name, it started with a "k". But she couldn't remember anything else. Her head hurt. Tallen sank to her knees with a groan. What was this? What was going on? She glared at Kishitora, at the other boy, at the Prince. She then glanced over at Veritas. "You are my comerade, Veritas. Now get me the hell out of here." Her voice too, was strained.

Morgan watched at the snake-like-dragon carried the Knight off. What had happened to her? A fash of pain seared through his body, and it was through sheer effort alone that he let go of Clyde, sinking to his knees himself, letting out a growl. It was actually more of a snarl. His face had growm and shifted into somthing of a half-man half-cat. "Keir. You may want to get my lovely restraints out...if you still have them." He was growling more than talking.

Keir Craig

Keir was about to snatch the other redhead boy but Morgan beat him to it. Somehow. He should have been in a lot of pain, too much to do anything. Perhaps he had learned to control his power, more like a weakness if you asked Keir, a little better. “Dammit, you idiot. He’s not apart of the Underground. He’s a Knight.” Morgan’s voice was strained and Keir wanted to step in and help him like all those years ago but he steeled himself, glaring icily at his sister. Or the person who used his sister’s body. One or the other. In anger, he bared his teeth and backed away a step, just enough to snag the young redhead and pull him behind him, closer to the entrance of the Underground. If worst came to worst, Keir was sure that Morgan would want him to keep the dumb child safe. “You can grill me all you want later, Keir. But I’ll tell you what I want you to know.” Keir turned his glare to Morgan himself and help back a few choice words. When this thing was over Morgan was getting locked in a cell with only Keir and the Princess and they were going to talk about everything. Fucker walks out on him and expects him not to be angry? Keir was going to give him a piece of his mind.

Finally Tallen spoke, “You are my comrade, Veritas. Now get me the hell out of here.” Keir sneered darkly and stepped forward, grabbing the purple shadow-controlling girl, “You listen to me, bitch,” he snarled out, actually beyond angry for the first time in years, “You get the hell out of here, and you stay away from here. If I ever, ever, see you or any other Noble sneaking their scum-asses over here I will not hesitate to kill them myself. And it won’t be a quick death, you understand me. I will make it painful.” He let her go with a shove, “Tell that to Nekria.” And with that she left.

“Keir. You may want to get my lovely restraints out…if you still have them.” Morgan let out a half snarl, half growl and Keir turned his frozen green eyes to him, thinking about stabbing his sickle through his other eye out of pure anger and spite.

“Oh yes Morgan. Let me just go grab the shackles I made for you all those years ago when you were still here,” he growled lowly and pointed the sickle at the boy behind him. He looked scared. He should be, “I want to know why you brought your ass back here.” He was going to kill him, “I want to know what you brought someone else back here,” he was going to kill him and feed the pieces to the birds, “Did you bring him here as bait? So I wouldn’t kill you?” he laughed and shook his head, “Well guess what, I’ve changed Morgan. What made you think I wouldn’t kill you and your little boy over here too? What made you think,” He was going to cry, “What made you think that you would be welcome back after what you did to me?!” He was already crying. When did that happen, “What made you assume that I would I would help you?!” he threw the sickle at the changing man, watching as it stuck into the ground just inches from him. Keir took a deep breath and sighed, “I’m not helping you with you’re changing. Figure it out. Come inside when you’re human.”

He turned away and pushed past the frightened redheaded boy, “You stay with him. Come alone and I will shoot you.” He rumbled as he passed. Keir strode back underground with a purpose, brushing past everyone that tried to ask him what had happened. They could ask someone else. He didn’t want to talk to them. He needed some peace. Slamming the door to his room, Keir curled into his favorite chair and brought his knees to his chest, taking deep calming breaths. He needed to get his sickle back when he walked out of this room, but hopefully that wouldn’t be for a few hours.

And it was in that position that Keir fell asleep.

---

Everything hurt. There was so much pain. Blinding pain. It was all Morgan could do to keep concious. And he certianly wasn't paying any attentionto those around him any longer. People left, something flew by his head, and then pain, pain, pain. He just wanted to be swallowed by the darkness. And why couldn't he? Why couldn't he just give up, and give in to the sweet nothingness that was the darkness...?

Clyde. Where was Clyde? He didn't know, he couldn't see. Faintly, he thought he heard somehting. Maybe Clyde was trying to talk to him, he wasn't sure.

All the while this was going on in his head, his body was switching back and forth between thrashing in pain as the tiger tried to take control, frantically snarling and glancing around, and hunching over panting. It was like Clyde wasn't even there. Until the tiger-like-Morgan finally grabbed at Clye, slamming him up against a wall, growling and sniffing at him, fury in the bright green eye.

---

---

Tallen's head hurt. Veritas' tail thumping did not help any. And she was getting more and more pissed off as she tried to sort out her own thoughts and tried to ignore the dragon-snake-thing. Until she actually registered that he had called her 'Tallen'. Now she was really pissed off. She glared at the creature with blazing eyes as shadows shot out of nowhere and seized him by his legs, neck, tail, and snout. She stood up, bringing herself inches away from his face. "Now you listen to me, you fucking overgrown lizard. Your name is Veritas, and you don't share a body with anyone. Vernigen is the Knight known as Knighttruth, and you are nothing more than his mutation, powers given to him by the Noble Nekria, who gave us all our powers. Us Knights are meant to protect her, as well as carry out any orders she has for us. Why you have a seperate conciousness apart from his own I do not know. Nor do I care. I am also a Knight. My name is Knightmare. Do. Not. Call. Me. Tallen." She spat the last five words at him, turning away from him, but not releasing him. She needed to figure out what was going on, and what it was that she was suddenly remembering. She needed to talk to Nekria.

---

---

Silently, in the background, Dairen had watched everything. From the attack, to his leader showing up, and his subsequent melt-down, and now Morgan going berserk. It made him feel sick, and suddenly he thought he understood why Morgan had left in the first place. He wanted to help his former comerade, but he knew he wouldn't be much of a match for him. Sighing, Dairen drew on teh anger slowly welling up inside of him. Normally, Dairen was rather laid-back. Normally, he spoke softly. Normally, he didn't blow up like he was about to.

But this was not a normal situation.

He slowly walked to the door behind which his leader was currently cowering. Eyes blazing, he grabbed the handle, and pulled. The entire thing wrenched out of the wall it was bolted in with groans and creaks of metal giving way to brute strength. For a second, Dairen just stood there. And then helaunched forward and punched Keir in the face. "You...you...fucking...piece...of shit!" He yelled at him, grabbing him by the collar and bringing his face close to his own. Many other Underground members had crowded at the door to watch what was going on, some muttering and others yelling protests. Dairen ignored them.

"When did you get so damn spineless?! I thought...you told me once...that Morgan was your friend, and that you would do anything to save him, even though he had left. Where's that now?! Are you going to just let him die?! Or have you forgotten what happened last time Morgan tried to fight the changing?!" It hadn't been pretty. In an effort to restrain himself, Morgan had nearly torn himself apart, and it had taken him a week to heal completely, which was unheard of for him. "And if by chance he doesn't restrain himself, then what do you think he'll do? Maybe break his way into here, slaughter everyone. Then you'll be some fucking leader, with no one to lead, becase you let your damn hurt pride get in the way of sense and let everyone die! And to think..." Dairen let him go, taking three steps back, his metal wing scraping against stone. "And to think I actually looked up to you once. But because Morgan didn't agree with you years ago and left, you're just going to throw him at the mercy of something he didn't and doesn't want, and jepordize your own people. You're no better than the Nobles you say that you're against." He spat blood out of his mouth onto the floor, shoving his way through the crowd, who hurredly let him pass.

Rorian the Scholar

"You are right about one thing, KnightMare Tallen: You were made for Nekria."

Rorian walked onto the roof from the doorway, seemingly at a perfect time. It was a little talent of Rorian, one that had been perfected many years ago: the art of simply appearing, seemingly out of nowhere. In reality, he had just finished getting information from his informant, and needless to say Rorian was disappointed in Mr. Kangley. The man barely had enough information to shrink his debt down to Two thousand, one hundred and fifty-six dollars, so Rorian changed the deal to $2159. Mr. Kangley wasn't impressed, but Rorian didn't care: in fact, Rorian had been even drawn the deal out longer than normal, hoping the little man would break and the butler could kill him. Recently, Mr. Kangley's information had become less informative, and more trivial. The only thing that Rorian really had gotten from the man was a street, and that wasn't very useful to him. It wasn't until he saw that stupid dragon Vernigan that Rorian decided to talk to the Knights.

Rorian had followed the dragonoid human carrying the purple haired knight all the way through the city, and when he saw the decent he instantly raced up the stairs - but it wouldn't even look like he had. No sweat covered his brow, no heavy breath came from his mouth. Rorian looked the same as always as he emerged from dark doorway of the somewhat deserted building. The metal roof's resonance of his footsteps almost echoed the emptiness of the building, but that meant nothing to Rorian. After all, this building was practically useless.

"Greetings to you, KnightTruth Vernigan, or in this case Veritas. Knightmare Tallen." He gave a small bow when he had stopped, as was his custom. Naturally, he didn't mean it in any form of respect: Rorian just went through the motions. He gazed at both Tallen and Veritas, and gave them a dry smile. Veritas was by no means intimidating to him, even if he was some dragonoid freak. Tallen had seemingly restrained the beast, but that also held nothing to him. While her power over the shadows would be unnerving to a human, to a man that created the illusion of duplication just by staring into another's eyes it was simple.

"It seems that you did require the assistance of Knighttruth, Knightmare. Nekria sends her regards." While she never told him to send her regards to anybody, Rorian did so anyway to remind those that he spoke to that Nekria was everywhere, and disobeying her was punishable by death. "However, I am not here for simpilties: I have my own matters to attend to. Money to collect, blood to extract." He gave another dry smile, and then it disappeared just as fast.

"You're mission was to head after the Prince, if I am not mistaken. And from what I have heard and seen, is that you ran into some trouble along the way." That dry smile was back. "Tell me, Knightmare - as you would so avidly like to be called - where is the entrance to the Underground?" He did not care if she wanted to know why he was headed towards the Underground, and he would answer if she asked. It would be better, however, if she just assumed that it was not any of her business and answered.

Corvin McMordy

Corvin gave a sigh of relief mixed with annoyances as he peeled his eye away from the scope. It felt like a four year reunion from hell, and Corvin wasn't there to join the party. There were two uninvited party guests, but they flew away with that dragon thing as the plane - weird as shit, if you asked Corvin. Then you had Keir getting all emotional, and Corvin was happy that they were all quite loud so he could pick up the vibrations of their speech. So, Keir was screaming about how Morgan was a dick, Morgan was going all feral and stuff, and the red head looked like a complete idiot. Corvin stood up to leave just as Morgan was starting to go a little psycho, and he knew that it wouldn't be that funny to watch. Corvin gave a puff of his cigarette, and slowly made his way down the stairs, back down to his home.

However, when he made it to the bottom, he instantly picked up very angry sounding tones. While they weren't loud enough for him to catch the words, he could catch the loud vibrations in his hypersensitivity, and his jawbone caught the anger. (Yeah, it is kind of weird to talk about his hearing in his jaw. So many people are completely confused as to how a guy can hear with his jaw bone, but it isn't his fault that the Nobles wanted him to be some sort of snake freak). Corvin sauntered his way towards the sounds, slowly picking up words that were none too tasteful. When he finally found out where they were coming from, he was somewhat shocked: The angry voice was Diaren, who wasn't an angry person to begin with, and Keir, the other end of the yelling. Corvin shoved his way through all of the losers that had crowded around as Diaren parted his way through the crowd. Now, with all the information he needed, Corvin spat out his cigarette onto the ground and spoke.

"I didn't know you were a pansy, Diaren." Corvin had his back to Diaren, and then turned around with the same dull eyes that he always had before nighttime. "It's been four years, kiddo, Four Fucking Years. That's one hell of a long time for a friendship to splinter. But apparently you don't understand that." Corvin narrowed his lazy eyes, and said a little more softly. "Best friends hold the longest grudges. Best friends make the worst enemies." He started walking away when he piped up. "Now, if you're not too busy bitching, help me find those restraints so we can go save that dumbass red head. It's either that, or get Keir to kill him, after all." Corvin's words held no remorse, and no excitement. He would truly hate it if the Underground had to go to war against Morgan, but if that was a stepping stone to killing Nekria, he would take it - regardless of his feelings towards an old smoking buddy.