Elara Nirvana's Story

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Reality...

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Reality was something like an adventure, yes, that’s Elara’s opinion. Although the sight down the mountains were pretty much all the same – a bit of a grassland, nothing else than small flowers, not much bloom and more black and ugly earth; all in all, she was always excited to see those ‘interesting’ colours – grey and black. You can say that it’s lucky that she had interest in those ‘ugly’ things because that made her to meet her now travelling companions – her friends if we are at it. They had a hard time explaining her everything, and sometimes she was so stubborn by not believing it however, they survived her questions that came like a tsunami.

Now they had, in her opinion, quite the good relationship and finally they trusted her also to go alone to the outside, exploring, and searching for nourishment. So now, Elara was sitting there in the city- like city and stared up to a high something.

Elara did not dislike it. Probably because of the strange, grey colour and the hard walls which were the whole opposite of what she had met in the world of her parents. It lacked the colourful and bright feeling so she was amazed. Before, she only saw some houses out of wood. Indeed, it was strong and nice build however, it didn’t impress her as much as those grey monstrous buildings outstand from a very hard ground. Her travelling companions tried to explain her that those were build out of sand and then was fabricated into concrete however, she never understood what that really means. All explanation didn’t really go through her – she always had complains and questions. In the end, they gave up explaining. She was well, as stubborn as always.

Grabbing for her little block, she was about to sketch something to perpetuate the building in front, as she noticed black and grey colours not far away from her. They were familiar to Elara – well, she heard the story upon them however, never really met one before. She only could watch them from far away. Truly, Elara had the desire now to jump up from her kneeling position and chase those strange but for Elara very interesting things and find out what there is need to find out. However, Micah and Lucien warned her– and Elara, even if her curiosity is bigger than her intellect, she showed respect to those two individuals who seem to be mature enough to know what they are doing.

Means, she had to run away.

Anyhow – she wasn’t in hurry to do that. Slowly, she packed the things she had found – probably something to eat, she didn’t really know – in her little bag while still staring at those unknown creatures with amazement. It was a rare opportunity that she won’t miss – however, she followed the words from the elders anyway and ran, away from the city, to the place where they should meet back.

‘Shadders’ it was the name that Micah gave to those creatures. For Elara, it sounds very alluring, whatever she has in mind as she heard that name. Then she had to smile instinctively as she is thinking about Micah. She liked how he called her – “Elly”. It was a name that someone can rapidly say without having any difficulties. “Elly Elly Elly Elly,” she whispered. Yes, it sounds very nice. There was other vocabulary that Elara learnt from Micah. “Shit. F*ck. Mother- Fucker,” she then added in a whisper tone with a frown on her face. All of them never answered her question what those words actually mean although Elara was really curious. Indeed, she was a bit disappointed that they did not gave her any answers, but it was Lucien comforted her, saying those words were bad. She did not really know what bad words actually are, however, if Lucien says so, it had to be right.

As Elara glanced back, she could not sight the shadows anymore. No, it was not relief she felt, it was sadness. Just like a child had lost its toy. She sighed as she ran towards the meeting place, carrying her back and her little wooden staff.

Then suddenly a thunder was was heard from the distance, the wind was getting stronger and she felt a light change of the air surround her. Startled for a moment, she stayed on her spot and glanced up. The sun and the blue sky were all covered with those grey and black clouds. Not a good sign as her travelling companions had told her. Now she began to worry about ‘Nazzy’ or just Nad… she blinked. Her name was just too complicated. So, she stayed with the nickname that Micah gave her, it was definitely easier and Elara could easily remember it also – it was perfect. It was then when she sighted those shadows again. A smile hushed on her face as she ran towards the cities entrance.

Already near them, she already saw those familiar green haired and that brown haired guy beside her and slowly waved. Her voice is very quiet – she knew that in that distance, they would never hear her yell, so she quickly ran to them, as quick as her short legs let her and arrived in front of them with a smile. “There are Shadders… Micah, Nezzy and the sky… is angry…,” She uttered strangely quite happy with her usual quiet and slow voice, as if it was only a whisper - but still understandable under the noise that is going through the wet air. Not noticing the other group of travellers not far away, she excited watched the unfamiliar change of events, what is for her, an inspiring new experience she'd definitely never forget.

Already, Robin was sure that this was not going to be a fruitful endeavor. Nothing ever seemed to go the easy way, which would be cool if this was one of those black and white detective films where some guy with a cigar played badcop and another guy named Finny Friendly played goodcop, but it wasn't because this wasn't a movie. He supposed that should be a bit unfortunate, which it kinda-sorta was, but he was in the real world for a reason so he decided to shut up and suck it up before his mind started to wander too far into a fictional realm where cliches were a thing. There was a time and a place to let the imagination run rampant, and now was not in, not when they could very well be in serious danger.

Well, that's what Robin thought anyway. It seemed like those with him were not feeling the same. "Look." He didn't bother bracing himself for the whiny, unnecessary complaints that were surely to come from the short-stocked little nuisance himself because he was pretty used to it all by now. He liked to consider himself patient. It was a good trait. He had lots of those. "The whole reason why Homo Sapiens were able to survive through everything, the tough climate of Earth and all that, is because they had communication. They spoke to one another and they understood each other. And then they gave each other names to make said communication easier. A helluva lot easier. So I'm telling you this one more time, for the sake of our survival and in respect to our ancestors, that I'm Raven and he's Nayu." Oh, whatever. Specifics were irrelevant.

What was relevant, however, was the fact that they needed to keep moving rather than stand around arguing about names. He could refer to them as Thing One and Thing Two for all that mattered. It would still get his point across. Names were not important. They were binding and, generally, boring. They were just conveniences given to them by their parents. He supposed names should be considered sentimental in a way, but to him they weren't. He didn't really care what people called him as long as it wasn't insulting or completely stupid. "The Shadows will be here soon. Very soon. Let's keep moving, and..." Again, they were forced to stop because of...Raven's--he didn't forget!--distractions, which were more inconvenient than they were worth it, probably. "There is going to be an eternity of them near the library. Perhaps we can sneak in through a back door though, or something like that." The shorter boy pulled them along again as if they stopped on their own wills and not because of him in the first place. "Let's get going then, before they catch up."

Of course, Robin's luck of silence and movement hardly lasted a moment before the other...the other whose... Just the other because screw that guy. He didn't care. Because the other started up almost immediately. “And whatta we gonna do ‘bout the girl? Leave her there?” What? What girl? Robin blinked and brought it upon himself to bring the group to a stop this time around, turning his head every which way to find the supposed girl and, just when he was sure the...other...was hallucinating, he spotted just the one he was sure he was talking about; a girl, sure enough, with short-cropped hair the color of leaves that had been pressed too hard between his fingers. It was a strange sort of green, but it gave him a good feeling for a reason he couldn't exactly explain. Maybe it was some sort of psychology about how colors brought up emotional responses, but now was definitely not the time for that.

“Fuck that, fuck you Raven. She’s telling us something. Can your brain not process that information with all the useless information you have crammed in there or something? We gotta do something, yeah? Maybe she has others with her. Fuck the library now. With just the three of us, if any of us are caught, we are going to be fucked so bad, it’s going to be like. Being fucked up the ass with something hard and prickly and that’s just awful.” Robin originally planned to be all for the rescue of someone damsel in distress, although being knightly wasn't exactly his thing, but that look Mr. Other shot him did not elicit an excited response. If anything, he almost wanted to leave the poor girl there just to spite him, with her providing the role of a casualty of immaturity. “We are getting that girl and whoever is with her. More man-power. Let’s go, assholes. Or are you too pussy to follow me?”

Being the mature man that Robin knew he was, he went without question because, I'm not a pussy you fucking prick, I swear to god I'd wring your stupid little neck if I wasn't so sure you would beat me into juice pulp before I even touched you. They hardly got a foot ahead of each other before the girl with the alluring hair was swooped up and taken away by someone who most certainly was not a shadow. He watched as they ran, and as another seemed to join them, and sighed in frustration because the shadows were looming and disturbing and he was starting to feel a terrible mix of claustrophobic and anxious.

"Okay, well, see--whatever. The situation resolved itself!" He shot a glare at the man with the name that started with an M, he was sure of it, before giving a snooty huff and walking off ahead of the both of them. "I literally don't care what happens from this point on." Literally was not the right word to use there because it made the sentence incorrect, but this wasn't one of his stories that he could simply crumple up and start over and use a better verse, so he decided it was good enough and left it alone. Regardless of what he said, he still felt obligated to keep the group in-tact, so he still motioned for them to follow, and hopefully they would do so at a brisk pace because there was no way he was running to escape the shadows. He was nervous, not outright motivated.

The shadows seemed to lose track of them, as they were never very bright in the first place (Robin grinned at the pun), and it didn't seem to be very hard at all to get to a safer place. He spotted the others, those whose names he definitely did not know and still wouldn't care to, at a closer distance than he was expecting because he never intended to go in their direction in the first place, but seemed to end up there anyway. He cupped his hands and shouted, "Library!" before adding, "Books!" because he felt the need to clarify in case they were not completely mentally there. He then turned to the two with him. "I think that got the point across. We should be near it by now. I was thinking, maybe, a distraction, to get the Shadows away from the entrance." He didn't forget Raven's suggestion of a back door, but he wasn't sure how well that would go.

Nadezda Marinovic

Introductions had never exactly been Nadezda's forte. When she was younger she'd always had the bad habit of making Mairin do the talking and, well, she'd never really outgrown that. It'd been one of those things she'd always wanted to work on--and did intend to at some point--yet there she was, almost an adult and barely containing the urge crawl into a fetal position at the prospect of talking to another.

It was all just so...overwhelming, she knew oh too well introductions were the entire basis for what others would think of her from that point on; one mistake, one wrong gesture, one misspoken word, one look, and you'd earn someone's ire for a lifetime. There were just so many things she could screw up too--like she knew she would--that it seemed easier to avoid the entire situation all together.

So when her eyes made contact with the off-white haired one, saw his single wave and realized what it meant, Nadezda was predictably besieged by a wave of worries. Every single horrible, detailed scenario she could possibly imagine seemed to reel through her mind in an instant. For a moment, she near forgot she even had a body as she considered it all, until it was she recalled the import of appearance.

It was then that she became oh-so aware of the ragged...thing she called her body and the real anxiety started to bloom. Instinctively her hands reached for the scarf around her neck, adjusting the fabric with a quivering grasp to hide her exposed flesh. Even as her fingertips just grazed the skin beneath, she couldn't help but picture each and every scar that marred her body all too vividly. Though she would have much preferred a clean set of more stylish clothes, Nadezda found herself oddly grateful for the coverage offered by her dirtied attire.

Sure, she was a tad aghast at the prospect of anyone seeing her in such an undignified state--well, other than her little of band equally dirty companions--but nowhere near to the same level she would have been, had she been horribly dressed and had one of her greatest insecurities presented to guests. She hadn't even shown Micah or Elara that for goodness' sake!...Voluntarily at least, and if she couldn't trust even them to accept her with those ghastly things, surely she couldn't, wouldn't trust total strangers to either.

It'd seemed an eternity she'd been left with her thoughts, though in truth hardly seconds had passed; the towering off-white haired one had only taken a few strolls closer and Micah appeared to be--actually, she'd realized with a start, she had no idea where he was.

He hadn't left her had he--no, he wouldn't do that...unless, was she supposed to have already began running...?--Oh dear, had she miss a cue, was there a plan?! Panic furthered its grip on her, frantic gaze darting from where her companion had been moments before, to where the group of boys was now, before she'd felt the gentle tug of an arm against her waist. Pivoting on her heel to face whatever had grabbed her, she readied her still shaking arms to push and claw whatever she could should a struggle ensue against her captor.

It was with no small sense of relief that she realized it was only Micah and barely withholding the urge to hug him in her joy, she stumbled after his brisk pace. She wondered for a moment when he'd come up behind her, though vaguely recalled having heard someone talking during her little...episode a few seconds prior. It seemed best not to question such random acts of kindness by the universe though, so she merrily followed in his footsteps without another thought on the matter, secretly glad to use the chain of events as an excuse to avoid dealing with new people, at least for the time being.

When the older male released her from his grip, turned to her for a moment and then continued forward, she blinked thrice in confusion before scampering off after him. At first they'd been moving at a rather brisk jog, but the echo of thunder seemed to stir them both to near a sprint. They pressed forward in a haste, Nadezda's much shorter strides struggling to keep up with her companion's pace. She'd been about to finally ask that they take a quick break after only a few blocks distance away Elara had popped up.

"Popped up" being the phrase of choice if only as Nadezda hadn't seen even a hint of the girl before she was directly in front of her. It seemed to be a common occurrence today though, so she shrugged it off as a bit of luck not to be questioned like so many other things before it.

“There are Shadders… Micah, Nezzy and the sky… is angry…,” the smaller girl chirped, oddly cheery despite her words. Sometimes Nadezda couldn't help but wonder what went on in that girl's head. She was quite an oddity at times, that one; she must have had a pleasant outlook on things to be so chipper at the very least.

"You saw them too?" The bespectacled girl inquired, a deep frown etching itself across her face, "Are you okay then? Did they get to you at all?" She'd begun to grab for girls arms as though to inspect for injuries, before she hurriedly interjected again, "No, I suppose not, you're still here after all...and I wouldn't have been able to tell anyways, would I?" A hollow chuckle escaped her lips with her finishing words, arms worming their way around the older girl to envelop her in a tight embrace.

Though it was a concept she'd found difficult to grasp entirely, Nadezda knew well enough that shadows were a force to be feared for their psychological toll, not the physical. As far as she was concerned, she was infinitely lucky to still have her dear friend in-tact considering such an encounter.

They were all lucky to be quite frank; she hated knowing that at any moment any one of her friends could be left nothing but a husk, a shell of who they were, but that's how things were. One moment's carelessness, and poof, everything she held dear gone in an instant. Again.

Unconsciously, Nadezda's grip on Elara had tightened with her thoughts, her face all but buried in the girl's tendrils of ebony hair by that point in time. For some reason she tended to be a bit more open in her affections towards her than any of the others and what she perceived as a near-death experience had made what little boundaries she had towards the girl all but vanish.

The sound of another's voice though, echoing slightly down the lane on which they currently were, drew the girl back from her thoughts, "Library!" Wha-what...? Craning her neck in the direction of the voice, Nadezda was met with none-other than the sight of the trio from earlier, yet again. Odd coincidence that. To be quite frank though, such coincidence might be easily misconstrued as fate if it continued much longer... "Books!" Her eyes narrowed a bit with that addition, a tad indignant at the perceived implication she was illiterate. She might have been dressed in only a Drawers and Chemise, maybe slightly dirtied ones at that, but...well, actually, she did look awfully ragged at the moment...dammit, she looked like an uneducated vagrant, who was she kidding.

Why'd he bother yelling library at them though...? What was the point of that? Other than to get some books, perhaps...? Although, given the state of things, the library might be an ideal place to set up camp actually; if it was anything like the library in her world, it'd probably be a reinforced, rather structurally sound building...And she did quite dearly miss her literature, there was just so much time in reality and nothing to do with it she often found.

"Do we...want to follow them, perhaps?" her words wavered as she spoke, "I mean, maybe, it might be a good idea. Libraries tend to be old buildings--that is, um, they're often foundation pieces to a town and, well, they tend to be built with the intent of lasting through the ages. If anything in this town could hold up against a hurricane, I think that might be our best bet, if--if you all think so too, that is." She'd avoided eye contact the entire time she spoke, gaze downcast to rest squarely on their chins; she always felt ridiculous voicing her opinion, she'd always somehow say something foolish or stammer through her words, even after all this time it was hard to actually look them in the eye with stuff like this. It'd been an improvement over staring at their feet at the very least.

Raven groaned when Nayu started talking. “Fuck that, fuck you Raven. She’s telling us something. Can your brain not process that information with all the useless information you have crammed in there or something? We gotta do something, yeah? Maybe she has others with her. Fuck the library now. With just the three of us, if any of us are caught, we are going to be fucked so bad, it’s going to be like. Being fucked up the ass with something hard and prickly and that’s just awful.”

He didn't even goddamn say anything about the frigging girl! This was ridiculous, the dumbest idea he'd ever had. Raven just knew, due to common sense and previous experiences, that when you're trying to hide from people, especially non-people-type-people (like Shadows), it's better if everyone is in smaller groups. Then, if they get caught, at least others have the minor chance of living. “We are getting that girl and whoever is with her. More man-power. Let’s go, assholes. Or are you too pussy to follow me?”

"She's not even talking to us, numbnuts." Raven said quietly, pinching the bridge of his nose. "She's talking to the normal haired guy."

"Okay, well, see--whatever. The situation resolved itself!" Robin said and Raven sighed. How the hell had they even formed this team, considering the inhumane amount of arguing which would drive any sane person, of which there were few, over the cliff and into the river of insanity. . "I literally don't care what happens from this point on." The silver-haired boy nodded in silent agreement, giving up and following Nayu quietly.

There were no more shadows, hallelujah, and Raven smirked. Dumbass creatures. It was a wonder people managed to get killed by them when they're in small numbers. Everyone knows, obviously, that Shadows are essentially only hard to lose in large numbers. They're not particularly smart. Robin, apparently, had decided to inform the other, random strangers they didn't know and could possibly stab them and steal all of their utensils they had all individually scavenged for. "Library!" Robin yelled, making the boy nod. He was most certainly good at informing people in the smallest amount of words possible. How was that not clear? "Books!" The writer has a way with words. Raven thought honestly, sighing. "I think that got the point across. We should be near it by now. I was thinking, maybe, a distraction, to get the Shadows away from the entrance."

Raven's stoic face changed to one of mild anger. "Oh hell no. If you are thinking of using me as Shadow distraction bait, that's never happening again. Never. Never in a million lightyears." Raven took his works to his mind, hoping the mostly pouty glare was getting his point across well enough. He eyed the green-haired-girl and her companions.

Well, it seemed like they'd be going to the library with them. They might as well. The Shadows had left now and anyways, everyone knew that even if you travel in groups, it's every man for himself... Okay, Raven knew that, but he would most likely still try to save his two travelling partners. "No bait-type ideas, unless you wanna take the reigns."

Sagira Massari

It was a fun exercise, imagining what the city was like when people still lived there. Sagira would climb old fire escapes, when she had the time, to the highest points she could get to and check out the view. The shadows avoided the higher up places, mostly, preferring the ground for its cover and victims. The dream-walkers never thought to climb, never thought to look around when there was a different world waiting for them just beyond the trees. And the shadows didn’t go anywhere the humans didn’t. They didn’t care about anything like a view.

Supply trips had become less about goals and more about keeping her sanity, now that her mother was gone. What once took two days now took five, just because a person could only stay alone in a house for so long before even the bright colors of the walls became suffocating. She knew she couldn’t stay there forever, on her own like that. But the prospect of abandoning what her mother had so gingerly cared for was… not something she wanted to worry on just yet.

So when she found everything she was going to find, Sagira would stash it away in the secret places only she knew, and she would climb. She would feel the wind in her hair, listen to the tinkering of her jewelry as the only real sound around her, and imagine people on those empty streets. Talking to one another, getting dinner together, even ignoring each other, but no less present. No less a part of something greater. A humanity that existed together, for better or for worse. The girl craved to be part of something like that. At the very least, she wanted to know what the world had looked like when people actually cared about one another. She could hardly imagine it. She barely even knew what other people were like, barely having talked to any outside of her mom. An understanding of humanity eluded her, but oh if she didn’t want to learn.

It was during one of these trips to the various perches she had deemed as safe that she saw them. At first, Sagira had actually thought she’d lost it. Heart pounding in her chest, she hastened her climb to get to the top, using empty window frames for purchase to haul herself up when the fire escape became too rusted for safe travel. She practically threw herself over the edge of the wall on the roof, landing with a thud against the cement, and wasted no time in picking herself up and rushing to a better place to get a good look. And they were still there.

She nearly dropped her binoculars in her haste to pull them out of her backpack. People. Actual people, in living color. Sagira knew immediately they were dream-walkers, they all had a look about them that the people of Earth didn’t, but they didn’t appear as dazed, as apathetic as the usual. They looked like they were wandering, searching, even. And she’d never in her entire life seen so many of them at one time. She practically started bouncing in place she was so excited.

Then, faintly, she heard one of them shout to the other smaller group. ”Library! Books!” Sagira’s excitement faded a bit. The Library? That’s where they were headed? So, they were leaving after all, simply headed for another fantasy world. Still, this was the biggest group she’d ever seen, and they would be too good for the shadows to resist.

Getting to the library from the rooftops wasn’t hard, but you couldn’t get inside it that way, and anyway she could see even from far away that not all the people in the group would be strong enough to climb up the buildings without help. So that wasn’t an option for them. If ever there was a time to activate her “safety protocols”, it was now. With decisive nod to herself, Sagira snapped her binoculars together and put them away, securing her bag for another trip.

Making her way across the buildings, either via connected rooftops or rigs she’d built herself, she finally arrived at what she’d fondly dubbed her “Master Genius HQ”, the roof just behind the library. She had to pause for a moment and catch her breath when she got there after climbing so damn fast, then she rushed to check on her little party, as she already considered them to be. Still all alive, and still heading for the library. Awesome.

She rushed back over to check her crude-but-hopefully-effective-invention. They didn’t look like much to the casual outsider; a series of chords that stretched from various points on the roof, over to two worn looking stone pots next to the doors of the library. It had been a bitch setting it all up, and she’d nearly been swallowed by the shadows twice in the process. This was only going to work once, and after that it was doubtful she’d ever get a chance to set it up again without dying, let alone find all the supplies she’d need. She was sure she was crazy for doing this for strangers. But this was seven whole people, and even if they were dream-walkers, she couldn’t let the shadows take them. She wouldn’t.

She pulled her lighter out of her pocket and grinned at the thing. “Alright Kiara, it’s our time to shine,” she told it seriously, and with that she either did the dumbest or the coolest thing she’d ever done. Probably both. She liked to think it was both.
Running quickly to make sure they all lit up relatively close to one another, Sagira held the flame to the chords and watched them burn. The spread of the fire along the length of them was rapid, aided by accelerator, and reached the end before they burned through and snapped, one by one chords raining down onto the ground. One of them snapped prematurely and she had to grab it before it fell, burning her hand in the process, but it was a small price to pray.

The moment the fire touched the stone pots, they erupted into bright flame. She’d filled them with tons of burn-y stuff, during one of the few days of the year when the sun was bright enough the shadows slunk back to the darker places. She’d had to wait for days, but she just knew something like that would come in handy someday, considering the library was their favorite hangout spot. She’d been right.

Nothing freaked shadows worse than fire. It was light, and warmth, and beauty, three things they hated. It wouldn’t kill them, anymore than anything else, but it did send them running for a small amount of time. And the moment those stone basins lit, emanating the most light the city had to offer all in one place at one moment, the little buggers fled like the ethereal scum-suckers they were. Better yet, she was sure her little party could see it even from their distance, considering how dark the city was. Even just flickers, but she had to believe they could see them and know that, even for a moment, they were safe. Maybe then they’d believe Earth wasn’t always so bad, and that would be a great bonus.

The group didn’t have a lot of time. It wasn’t a permanent fix, and Sagira knew a storm was coming. The moment the rain started, her little setup would wash away. Luckily the city was a quiet place, and her voice echoed. So, leaning against the wall of the roof, she cupped her hands to her mouth, took a breath and screamed in the loudest voice she could muster, “THAT’S YOUR CUE TO RUN!”

She knew it was stupid, but if they all made it the library, she’d be so happy she wouldn’t know what to do with herself. She didn’t have time to dwell on it, though. She’d just drawn attention to herself. The shadows were brainless creatures, so they’d forget eventually, but for the moment her rooftops were no longer safe places. She turned away to make her descent and do some running herself, but she couldn’t stop the grin on her face that not only had her contraption work, it had been useful. It was the best she’d felt in months.

It was freezing. Though Lucien had bundled up, as per his usual style, the cold managed to locate all of his apparel’s weak points. Icy fingers crept down his turtleneck, brushing against jaw and cheekbone. The few centimeters of space between leather glove and trenchcoat.

But Lucien didn’t particularly mind. Though the steadily increasing winds blew his bangs from his eyes and tugged at the belt of his coat, to Lucien it only served as a reminder that he wasn’t as alone as he’d like to think. Stepping silently as ever in rubber-soled jumper boots, the whooshing that filled his ears offered some distraction from the sheer emptiness that followed him whenever he traveled alone like this.

‘Manically depressed’. The term lingered in the back of the eighteen year old’s mind, but it didn’t have much of an impact on his dull, static-ridden thought processes. When the internal weight has hit him two weeks ago, Lucien had tried to remind himself that this mental state was simply a thing that had to happen, but with little success. It didn’t take very long before he quit fighting it and instead began to invest what little energy he had towards enduring.

He hadn’t slept last night. Or the night before. Blank, meaningless stretches of time spent staring at the ceiling of his surburban lair. It would probably be best if he tried again at Micah’s place. With a hurricane coming, it would probably be a smart idea to do so anyways. Though Lucien had been wondering if some group interaction might take his mind off things, everyone had separated to go gather supplies before the storm hit. Alone at home, alone in a group. Not much of a difference. Lucien was by himself either way.

Though Lucien kept habitual awareness of his surroundings, he wasn’t too worried about encountering Shadows. Whether it was because of his natural stealth or perhaps even his already damaged mind, they never seemed to be as attracted to Lucien as they were to the others. It wasn’t that big of a difference, not enough to make him safer, but just enough to be noticed. However, when he was depressed the Shadows rarely appeared before him. He was too lifeless, lacking the warmth and creativity that drew them to humans. Which was good, in a way, because Lucien might not be able to bring himself to run if such a situation were ever to occur. Though the thought may be strange to some, utter insanity was less of a motivator than death. Lucien didn’t care about living. As long as his heart was beating, even if he was frothing at the mouth and attacking people, as long as he was not dead, Lucien was fine.

Or, at least as fine as a manically depressed person can be.

Gloved fingers loosely hooked in the handle of his water jug (his offering to the anti-hurricane supplies), Lucien proceeded with his mission to find someone else in his group. He hadn’t been paying attention when they decided on a meeting place, or more likely he had but forgot. Failing memory was one of the many benefits of Lucien’s current mood frame. But in any case, if Lucien ever managed to locate another human being in this vast, desolate city, he would prefer the human to be Micah. The new one... Elara... though sweet, was likely to be as lost as he, and Nadezda seemed to be a magnet for trouble. Micah was not only the most reliable, but was also the only one who knew about the cyclothymia.

As Lucien turned a corner, his purple eyes were assaulted with bursts of color in the distance. Black, brown, and mint instantly marked out his companions, but who were those people beyond them? A pink haired human was shouting something about books, and a library.

Ah. The unfamiliar humans were seeking a fantasy world. It would be tough. The areas around places of creativity were always infested with Shadows. Though there was a library close by, a wiser choice would be to find a privately owned residence, and look through the books and paintings available there. Fewer options, but it would be preferable to insanity at any rate.

Being closer to the said library than he was to the group, Lucien automatically gave the building a look over and was surprised, to say the least, by the more color. A browned girl traveled from roof to roof with alarming speed, quickly landing atop of the library. If he had been in the mood, at this point Lucien’s eyebrows would be closer to his hairline. She appeared to be fiddling around with some unseen device, but to what end?

Then the top of the library caught on fire.

As soon as he saw the first Shadow flee, Lucien knew exactly what she was doing. The girl must have heard the pink-haired human as well, and known that a distraction would be needed for any safe entry to the building. Clever.

“THAT’S YOUR CUE TO RUN!”

Lucien’s heart jumped, and survival instincts took over. If someone tells you to run, you sprint. The eighteen year old sprung forward, veins awash with adrenaline and rubber soled boots creating more than enough friction for needed speed. Though the area around the library would be cleared of Shadows, that meant that everywhere else would soon have the opposite happen. Therefore, the library was the safest place to be at the moment.

The girl finished her descent just as Lucien was racing by. Without pause or thought, his free arm flashed out, gloved hand latching onto her wrist. Pulling the unfamiliar human behind him, Lucien rounded the library’s corner, turned his head and shouted for the first time in a while. “Micah! Get the girls in here!”

Lucien bounded up the stone steps two at a time, yanking open the handle without any thought to whether it was locked or not. But luckily it wasn’t, and the two refugees sprinted inside without any major problems.

Though the ones that were farther away might have greater difficulty.

They started walking. Well of course they did because he said they were going to get to that girl and they were going to, god fucking dammit. But before they could reach her there was someone else there and Nayu scowled. Great, now the other two asshats were going to bitch. About something, everything, he didn’t know. Hell, he was positive that Robin would bitch and moan about the air he was breathing if he wasn’t scared that Nayu wasn’t going to hit his face. With his fist. Many times. “Okay, well see—whatever. The situation resolved itself.” he heard the two birds sigh in unison and it made his blood boil and steam and he felt like a kettle on a stove just ready. To hit something. Preferably that something being the bubblegum head behind him. “I literally don’t care what happens from this point on.” He sneered and rolled his eyes while sneering because fuck you he wasn’t dumb. He could chew gum and walk at the same time. So he could totally sneer and roll his eyes and not hit anything. He did however miss the people doing this action called moving and he barely reined in jump that tensed his body when Robin yelled. “Library! Books!” he scowled and turned to glare at the other because he could. “I think that got the point across. We should be near it by now. I was thinking, maybe, a distraction, to get the Shadows away from the entrance.”

Nayu shrugged at that idea, he didn’t care one way or the other. Run in screaming, or plan it out. If he died, well great. Kari would just be all pissy and pout and Nayu would feel like a jerk. So, dying. Off the list. Couldn’t do it, no way. He was a total badass, but his perfect little angel that was in no way an angel in shape or form or personality, was the single thing that could make him cower with a simple glare. Or a pout. Or an anything really. Nayu was Kari’s slave, till death fell upon both of them. Anyways. Nayu liked the idea of a distraction, they did shit like this all the time, but apparently the little bird with white hair didn’t like it. Dumbass Black Bird. Couldn’t he just keep his beak shut and roll with it? “Oh hell no. If you are thinking of using me as Shadow distraction bait, that’s never happening again. Never. Never in a million lightyears.” Okay. Okay that was one time and even though he was really close to being attacked and touched by those things, guess who saved him? Nayu. So he could keep his bird mouth shut because he didn’t want to hear it. Little inconsiderate prick. Only thought about himself. “No bait-type ideas, unless you wanna take the reigns.”

“I was fine with making some noise and you two darting in, but throwing you to the Shadows so you shut the fuck up,” Nayu glanced back at them and paused for a step so they weren’t so far behind, “because I don’t care what you don’t like. I don’t like you, and do I voice it? Yeah. How often do I say it? All the fucking time but is that the point? No. the point is for you to not talk about things you don’t like because it would make me feel better if I didn’t have to hear your voice.” He huffed and rolled his eyes, “Besides, look. Some idiot is on the roof. How great. This is great. I hope she fucking dies.” There was a sneer in his voice, but there was a note of worry in it too. He had never seen someone be attacked and touched by a Shadow, and he didn’t want to find out because of this girl. He hoped she would stay safe.

“THAT’S YOUR CUE TO RUN!”

Well guess who needed to be told twice. Not him. But honestly, guess who did. The Birds. “Oh my fucking god I will leave you two standing there and gawking I swear it on my mother’s grave.” He growled and shouldered the two others. He didn’t need to see his family be separated, regardless of how much he bitched about it, “Fucking run you idiots!” He didn’t wait for them to reply, just took off sprinting to the library door. The other group of people were already in there as well as the girl. Thank fuck. It took a while but they managed to make it to the building, just as Shadows were beginning to creep back out. He burst through the door and stood staring at the other people in the room. Huh. People. Cool.

“There are Shadders… Micah, Nezzy and the sky… is angry…,” Ely said, approaching Micah and Nazzy. Although he felt a slight tension between Nazzy and Ely, he knew that both of them could appreciate each others’ value. Despite their individual uniqueness, both of the girls resembled each to some extent. "You saw them too?" Nazzy questioned, a frown dominating her face, now. "Are you okay then? Did they get to you at all?" She'd begun to grab for girls arms, at which point Micah opted to pop out of the situation to let the girls do girl things.

Micah’s disassociation was erupted with a loud "Library!" The damn strangers! "Books!" The sea-dog scratched his head in dissatisfaction, wishing to avoid the traffic-ridden library at all costs. And the strangers. And the shadders. And the impending storm – a Hurricane, if Micah’s nose was right. For a moment, Micah flipped his heel back to his intended path and began wal – only to be interrupted by the sweet, green-haired girl.

"Do we...want to follow them, perhaps?" Nazzy stumbled to ask. "I mean, maybe, it might be a good idea. Libraries tend to be old buildings--that is, um, they're often foundation pieces to a town and, well, they tend to be built with the intent of lasting through the ages. If anything in this town could hold up against a hurricane, I think that might be our best bet, if--if you all think so too, that is." She'd avoided eye contact the entire time she spoke, gaze downcast to rest squarely on their chins. Micah hated that. He HATED not keeping eye contact. Can’t trust no dog that can’t see ya’ eye to eye. Ain’t got nothing but a knife for your back! But Nazzy wasn’t a dog. She was a girl. A girl! Not just a female, but a young woman yet to reach adulthood. Still in her prime. Micah knew to trust her. Micah trusted her more than he trusted himself.

He hadn’t much time to register her request, however, when a bright flash atop the library took flame. “THAT’S YOUR CUE TO RUN!” the group had heard from the roof of the library. He had less than a moment to react; shadders began swarming from all around the city, he felt it. Nazzy and Ely had seemed to run ahead of him when he heard Lucy’s voice shout “Micah! Get the girls in here!” Micah thought to himself, Dammit, that boy’s voice is gonna get me my guts cut someday.

Micah had blackened out, though he had only to assume that he ran ahead and lead the girls into the Library. As to why and how he now found his feet plainly planted in the middle of a library lobby, he wasn’t sure. The girls were there, including an unfamiliar yet friendly face, and of course Lucy. He offered Lucy a hug, opening his arms and staring at the other boy’s face with despair. Despair? Micah never felt despair. Indeed, sometimes he was the only one in the group that COULDN’T feel despair. Why on Earth had Lucy’s face forced an eruption of emotion and puppy-dog whimpering was beyond Micah.

”Alright, ladies, ‘seems we’re in here for the vespers. We might as well make the best of it. Introductions will have to be made when we have a more established nest, a’ight? Commands were Micah’s only way to cope in stressful situation. It was a characteristic he picked up in his fantasy, back when his crew and his ship were all he had and he had them well. His commands, however, were interrupted when the bright-colored strangers broke through the front door.

He took one look at them, and felt a new, resounding responsibility to an even larger group. A white-haired boy, an azure-haired boy and a pink-haired boy. Not that the hair bothered him at this point. Pink? He was already used to that with Lucy. Blue? Perfect! Reminded Micah of the endless seas. White? Means the boy wasn’t a shadder. All three looked unkempt, tense and not so friendly. At least they were all pretty cute looking. Damn my sea snake in the middle of a storm! Micah said to himself.

Taking a moment to breathe, he motioned for the three new boys to come closer to his growing group of pups. Without waiting for acknowledgement, he shouted loudly, ”We need to find ourselves a room that seems safe from shadders. This room is fine f’r now, but soon the outside will be crawlin’ with the creatures and they’ll see right through this glass. I ain’t lookin’ f’r heroes or martyrs, so we’re not splittin’ up. If you don’t want in, then stay here. But I’m gonna be lookin’ to make a fire, eat something, pass out and kiss somebody. Not exactly in that order. Come with me, we’ll cut through the belly of the beast. If not, have fun playing ‘buccaneer’s bet’ by yourself. Any questions?” With that he waited for questions and then motioned to whoever to follow him.

He went into the closest hallway and started down to find a set of double doors – they were oak, boring and exhausting. He tapped three times, out of habit, and broke them ajar. His knife drawn, Micah breached through the darkness of a large auditorium, possibly once a lecture hall. ”No shadders. Lucy, hand me that-” his words broke, finding himself falling on the floor and blacking out.

Biting his tongue, Robin continued to look from Raven to Nayu, then to the group in the distance. Were they real? Or were they fictional characters stuck in some sort of plot going blindly along with him just for the sake of doing so? It was disturbing to think that they might be fake. "Oh hell no. If you are thinking of using me as Shadow distraction bait, that's never happening again. Never. Never in a million lightyears." He jumped subconsciously and cursed himself for doing so. Oh, idiot. He shot a glare at the shortest of the three of them as if it was his fault for surprising him with words and sound. For a moment, Robin almost didn't understand what'd been said to him until he remembered the initial situation. Right. Library. Right. If they got there and got inside, then he'd know whether or not this was the real world and whether or not these were real people. "No bait-type ideas, unless you wanna take the reigns."

Nayu walked on with long strides that lead him ahead of them, further than either Robin or Raven seemed to be able to keep up with. Robin never realized how competitional and inferior he could feel until he met this guy, and now all he wanted to do was show him up. He was sure if a Genie were to appear before him, he would wish for stalks for legs and rocks for muscles so he could laugh and stomp around and crush Nayu's idiotic self right into the ground. Maybe kick him across the city like a football. That'd show him. It might kill him too. But whatever murder is always legal in the confines of the mind.

“I was fine with making some noise and you two darting in, but throwing you to the Shadows so you shut the fuck up, because I don’t care what you don’t like. I don’t like you, and do I voice it? Yeah. How often do I say it? All the fucking time but is that the point? No. the point is for you to not talk about things you don’t like because it would make me feel better if I didn’t have to hear your voice.” At least there's no competition in intelligence, Robin thought egotistically. That was one thing he was absolutely sure of. There was no doubt that he was definitely smarter than Nayu could ever be. “Besides, look. Some idiot is on the roof. How great. This is great. I hope she fucking dies.”

What? Robin looked up, half-expecting to find nothing there at all, but his eyes widened when he did see a girl, just a blurry spec from the distance (maybe it wasn't really all that far away, but he really did need to consider getting glasses. As if that was ever going to happen. Nayu didn't need glasses, so why should he?). There were Shadows lingering around. Maybe that was her reason for being all the way up there in the first place? He squinted, trying to get a better view. Suddenly, a spark flew off and a bright, heated light consumed his area of vision. Fire?! “THAT’S YOUR CUE TO RUN!”

RUN? Why would they RUN? Where were they running towards? Why should he trust this girl who just set fire to the area? Was it a controlled fire? Was the building on fire? Sure, the Shadows were gone, but-- “Oh my fucking god I will leave you two standing there and gawking I swear it on my mother’s grave.” Robin blinked. “Fucking run you idiots!” Nayu took off before he could even ask why and that was when he decided he couldn't stand there thinking about it because if Nayu thought it was a good idea to run off into the library, then so did he. Robin grabbed Raven by the hand and pulled him along with him, panting and wheezing when they finally did get to the library, which turned out to be much safer than he originally though.

"Oh dear god, I'm dying." Physical activities were not his thing. He almost missed being crammed up in that technological anomoly floating around the false-Earth his old, long-lost fantasy world. He never had to do much physical stuff there. He just had to think his way out of situation. Way easier.

”We need to find ourselves a room that seems safe from shadders. This room is fine f’r now, but soon the outside will be crawlin’ with the creatures and they’ll see right through this glass. I ain’t lookin’ f’r heroes or martyrs, so we’re not splittin’ up. If you don’t want in, then stay here. But I’m gonna be lookin’ to make a fire, eat something, pass out and kiss somebody. Not exactly in that order. Come with me, we’ll cut through the belly of the beast. If not, have fun playing ‘buccaneer’s bet’ by yourself. Any questions?” Robin pushed aside his half a heart attack to send the male a look of annoyance, although it only hit his back as he meandered down the hall. And who put Mr. Seasalt in charge? He followed, although he would rather say it was because it was the only way in. ”No shadders. Lucy, hand me that-”

Robin stopped and stared, blank in the face, at the man laying on the ground. He nudged him with his foot before sighing, as if this was all just one huge inconvenience for him. "Great." He looked at the other unfamiliar faces, those who weren't Nayu or Raven. "Was he really that important or is he an option we can leave behind?" His eyes scrolled over the others and stopped on the dark-skinned, bright-eyed female who most certainly stuck out the most from them all. Whatever rude comment he'd had coming next dried in his throat and he pushed his way forward, caring little about the man on the ground.

He wandered through the room, noting the large television that seemed to of been dragged forcibly off the wall at some point and pulled to the center of the room. The tables and chairs were pushed carelessly against the walls and the movies stacked around the television seemed to be the only tidy thing. He didn't care so much for movies, though, and television shows were no longer existent with nobody around to broadcast them. Any shows had to be in the form of movies. "Where are the books?" He almost pouted. Books were the only things that mattered. He needed to see if this world was the real one.

Sagira Massari

Sagira barely made it out of the building before her wrist was snatched, nearly causing her to lose her footing from the force of the abrupt tug. It didn’t scare her or anything; shadows didn’t grab, they just invaded. But it was definitely a surprise, and the girl’s eyes widened even as she began sprinting behind her snatcher without really questioning it. She’d never seen dream-walkers act like that before, though. More importantly, it was literally the first human contact she’d ever had outside her mother. Despite the adrenaline pumping situation, she took the time to notice the warmth of the person’s hand around her wrist. To him it was probably instinct, but to her, it was a connection. Brief, but it was there and it was amazing.

"Hi!" she called to him with a grin, but it wasn't like they really had time for an actual conversation.

When they got inside the library, she was pleased to find the others weren’t far behind. She’d never been inside the building before, for various reasons, but it was clearly better maintained on the inside than the out. It kinda reminded her of herself, she felt. She counted heads even as people talked around her, letting out a sigh of relief when she finally reached seven. Seven whole people, standing around her all at once. Wow.

The person let go of her wrist once they were inside, but she was too busy drinking in the sight of all these humans to really mourn the loss. Some of them were even male, as far as she could tell. She’d spoken to a boy here and there during her life, but never for any great length of time and they were always a little zoned out. Or possessed, on occasion.

There were two other girls, but they were both small in comparison to her. Actually, almost all of them looked kinda small compared to her, either in height or muscle mass or both. She also noticed they were all light-skinned, which was something she wasn’t used to. The differences between her and them practically had her quivering with excitement. Real, honest people right in front of her! She couldn’t get over it. That was way more interesting than the giant screen she had never seen before or the tables and chairs littered around her. They all looked so serious and nervous, but to be truthful all Sagira wanted to do was break out into a big grin.

She nearly did, too, until the guy who’d been talking from earlier abruptly passed out on the floor. No time to ask the person who’d dragged her inside who he was, then (or possibly she, it was kind of hard for Sagira to tell). She quickly went over to the unconscious boy and dropped to her knees, her fingers expertly brushing over the pulse point on his neck and pressing down. She had obviously done this before. She let out another relieved sigh, then smiled up at the first person whose gaze she caught.

“He’s alright. Probably just a little dehydrated,” she assured them, though none of them looked particularly concerned. In fact, one of the boys had stepped right over him, content to leave him behind on a search for books. She stood up, figuring if she needed to lift him she could, but there was a chance he’d wake up quickly and they were relatively safe for the moment. The rain hadn’t started yet.

Sagira opened her mouth to speak again, and then abruptly shut it as she looked around her, bashfulness clear as day on her face. It was one thing to say a sentence or two, but she was about to have a real conversation with actual people and what if she screwed it up?! Who knew when she’d get this kinda opportunity again?! If they were looking for books, then that meant they didn’t have any intention of staying on Earth. She’d be back to being alone again soon, and the quicker she messed it all up, the quicker that would happen.

Taking a deep breath, Sagira started again. “I know this is probably not the best time because of the book search thing, but I’m glad you guys are all safe! And sorry if the fire startled you, shadows have a thing about fire and I built that rig forever ago so I figured, hey, these guys obviously have a plan and I can help, sooo why not?” Was she talking too much? Was that a dumb thing to say? Oh man, talking was nerve-wracking. Better stick to business.

“Um. Anyway. The lower floors should be safe for a while, while you look for your books. Shadows don’t have memories the way you and I do. They saw me on the roof, and when the fire goes out, the upper floors are where they’ll go, if they even get into the building at all, which almost never happens cuz honestly they’re pretty dumb. They won’t move back to the lower ones until they remember there’s more prey on the ground, but you all should be out of here by the time that happens so don’t worry about it. I wouldn’t go back outside again, though. ” In fact, she realized, she was even more stuck than they were. Oh well.

Rocking back onto her heels as a method of containing herself, she kept all the burning questions she had for them locked away in her chest, making it feel like it was about to burst. “Um… now that that guy isn’t awake, do we still have to wait for introductions or can I learn everyone’s name?” she asked finally, unable to stop it from slipping but, names! How could she wait for their names?!

Nayu walked ahead and Raven sighed. It was tough work being part of a team which only formed because of their mutual dislike towards most things, including each other. “I was fine with making some noise and you two darting in, but throwing you to the Shadows so you shut the fuck up, because I don’t care what you don’t like. I don’t like you, and do I voice it? Yeah. How often do I say it? All the fucking time but is that the point? No. the point is for you to not talk about things you don’t like because it would make me feel better if I didn’t have to hear your voice.” Raven just rolled his eyes. Well, what did he have to say? Quite a lot, but it was all rather rude and included numbers. Something Nayu had told him at some point in the past not to ramble on about. “Besides, look. Some idiot is on the roof. How great. This is great. I hope she fucking dies.”

Wait, what? Raven glanced up and saw some chick standing on the roof. This literally made no sense whatsoever. “THAT’S YOUR CUE TO RUN!” Fire. Fire?! I did not expect this to happen at all. Not even 0.1%. Or 0.000001%, or 0.0000000000000000- Seriously, what? Raven just paused as he looked around, trying to see if anyone was even half as confused as he. Nayu seemed to have a quick grasp on the situation. How?! “Oh my fucking god I will leave you two standing there and gawking I swear it on my mother’s grave.” Raven sighed. If you're gonna leave us, why comment on it?Nayu “Fucking run you idiots!” Nayu ran and Robin ran and for some ridiculously stupid reason, he was running too. Raven looked down at his hand. Ah, that explains a lot. Would have been seriously weird if I'd just started running without even thinking about it first, as well as highly improbable.

"Oh dear god, I'm dying." Robin said, basically wheezing. Raven patted him on the shoulder, breathing heavily himself. Oh man, we need more exercise.

He turned at the sound of a voice. ”We need to find ourselves a room that seems safe from shadders. This room is fine f’r now, but soon the outside will be crawlin’ with the creatures and they’ll see right through this glass. I ain’t lookin’ f’r heroes or martyrs, so we’re not splittin’ up. If you don’t want in, then stay here. But I’m gonna be lookin’ to make a fire, eat something, pass out and kiss somebody. Not exactly in that order. Come with me, we’ll cut through the belly of the beast. If not, have fun playing ‘buccaneer’s bet’ by yourself. Any questions?” Shadders? The lack of proper grammar makes be feel slightly disturbed. ”No shadders. Lucy, hand me that-”

And there he goes. Raven didn't even so much as bat an eye. He just watched him, on the ground, just sort of lying there like a lemon. Now that he'd passed out, did that mean he was going to wake up and make his fire, eat and kiss someone? Is that how it works? "Great. Was he really that important or is he an option we can leave behind?" Raven groaned.

"Seriously? For these people, leaving this seabiscuit has about a 23.9118% chance of actually ending in success, which leaves them with a 76.0882% chance of failure, which is basically how it is for us but with the added factor of an extra person, and also there's the fact that-" Raven cut himself off for no reason, staring blankly at nothing in particular. He only fazed back into reality when the newest arrival began to speak.

“He’s alright. Probably just a little dehydrated,” Well, it still made no sense. Why would the seabiscuit be deprived of water? You'd think he basks in it. Raven didn't understand.

Robin began wandering and Raven turned to keep an eye on him. "Where are the books?" Well, 92.77 of the books in this library are gone. People burned them for warmth and to scare away Shadows. he thought, looking around stoically.

"Maybe we have to, you know, search for them. Like we do with everything."

The new girl was speaking again. “I know this is probably not the best time because of the book search thing, but I’m glad you guys are all safe! And sorry if the fire startled you, shadows have a thing about fire and I built that rig forever ago so I figured, hey, these guys obviously have a plan and I can help, sooo why not?” A plan? Well, that's a rather... wrong assumption. If anything, the man with the fire-eat-faint-kiss plan seemed to be the only one with an actual plan.

[i]“Um. Anyway. The lower floors should be safe for a while, while you look for your books. Shadows don’t have memories the way you and I do. They saw me on the roof, and when the fire goes out, the upper floors are where they’ll go, if they even get into the building at all, which almost never happens cuz honestly they’re pretty dumb. They won’t move back to the lower ones until they remember there’s more prey on the ground, but you all should be out of here by the time that happens so don’t worry about it. I wouldn’t go back outside again, though. ” Oh hey, another person with a plan! Raven decided he didn't particularly dislike the new girl, since she had plans and he liked plans. Maybe he could make an attempt not to be a jerk to her. Maybe to the other people too.

Perhaps he could just be a jerk to Nayu and Robin. Not that he was too particularly involved in the two's arguments, considering he usually fights his part in his head.

“Um… now that that guy isn’t awake, do we still have to wait for introductions or can I learn everyone’s name?”

Raven audibly groaned. And now it was time to reveal his ironic, ridiculous name. Oh woe, why did it always come to this? The moment of truth is nigh. Hopefully, he wouldn't go into more detail than he should. "It's... Well, I'm Raven." he paused, before suddenly blurting things out. "And yes, it's a really stupid and ironic name and I wish my parents had called me something like Dove and not Raven Noir but I was born with black hair so it kind of makes sense! Just... Don't comment on it." Raven practically lost his uncaring look and got one that was a lot more flustered than usual, which was basically how he had introduced himself to Nayu and Robin. RobiNayu. Sounds like a robot version of Nayu.

The white haired boy looked around, glancing at the other people. The other pink haired male, the short black haired female and Greenie over there. And then the guy on the floor and new girl, who hadn't introduced herself despite being the one asking for names.

Elara Nirvana

Reality...

It was obvious that Elara didn’t really notice the small awkwardness between her and Nezzy. She always thought that she is nice – well, that counts for mostly everyone though – and honestly, she liked her laugh. She liked creepy things – craps, which aren’t normal – well, something like that. So she smiled. “I am very okay,” she said while volunteer showed her arms, but on that point, Nezzy already grabbed for it and took a very critical glance on her white skin. ‘Okay’ – another word that made her proud. She’d never heard about it until meeting other humans. Words like that was from the start something that her parents never taught her, they always used 'correct' words. However, she missed the point. She was not only ‘okay’, but she was overly happy. Though it was obvious seeing her never ending grin, just trying to verify things.

“See? I am okay, Nezzy. It was very entertaining, first time seeing Shadders! I don’t think they were scary though…,” she added while peaking to Micah, who didn’t say anything what made her wonder. Suddenly she heard unfamiliar voices from far away, what was also the time when she finally noticed the other group consist of those 3 male creatures with unusual hair colour. Pink and white – something that she didn’t found awkward though, having Nezzy and Lucy around.

‘Books’?

That word made her listen closely. Where? There is a library? Elara loved books; generally, she loved to read, finding out many different things, though that made her not able to difference reality and fantasy. Well, not like it’s something that one should be able to in this kind of world. It was only as Nezzy pointed it out, that it should be somekind of an invitation. Elara respected Nezzy for realising that. With only two words, she understood! Nezzy is really someone ‘sharp’. “Let’s go… Let’s go… !,” Her small voice was pumped up with determination. Not having any time to wonder about her averting her eyes, she went ahead her brain like always and wanted to just go ahead and follow those 3 ahead as she noticed the grab of Nezzy was so tight, that she had to drag Nezzy with her – something she isn’t able to, obviously, so she stopped.

That was the time when she heard the anonymous yell from high above – and then she saw it. A flickering red above the roof of a building which threatening aura already could be sensed from far away. “Fire? Flame? Dancing Red?,” She muttered simply staring above, forgetting the warning to run. You could say that she was overwhelmed by the beauty of the red danger, as if wanting to grab for her and just took her inside, burning her into ashes. Honestly, she was pleased with that imagination thinking of her curiosity and her lack of experience in the real world. She was indeed aware of the dangers and hell, it couldn’t be the first time she saw a flame, how could they survive out here without having made a fire?, however, a fire in that amount was new. And that made her pupils dance with the melody of the dancing flames.

A familiar yell from a pink haired boy ended her trance and made her eyes concentrated on him. He stood not far away from them, a place that should be safe from the fire. Something that Elara won’t like, although it was Lucien. However, seeing Micah leading the way, she followed obediently nonetheless. Not forgetting to steal one last glance to the beautiful ocean of fire up there.

“Lucy!,” Elara squeaked as she spent him a smile. Although her disappointment was indeed very big, she couldn’t help to be pleased seeing his appearance. Somehow, it made her secure. Not having a time to hug him because of Micah, she let her eyes wander around the room where she was in. So many people – she recognized those three boys again, only one girl was unfamiliar. Wasn’t she the girl. “Fire girl?,” she asked with her slow and small voice beside Nezzy, which was almost not heard. So it would be likely for her not to hear her small question, which wasn’t really a question. She knew it was her and she liked her on the spot, not only because of her sighting her near the fire, also because her skin colour was difference. And as always, Elara really appreciated differences.

Micah was an admirable person, that’s for sure. He always knew to handle a situation; although this time certain people in the room seem not to be as pleased as her hearing his somekind of orders. She followed him, obviously. “Lucy, is that your family?,” It was an obvious question that someone like Elara should come up with seeing their familiar hair. Pink and Pink. “You both look familiar,” she explained well, if she saw only the hair. To make it even more clear, she pointed at the other pink haired boy there, who doesn’t really seem very happy with the whole situation. Something that Elara questioned.

Little was Elara’s worry about the whole ‘situation’. Honestly, she didn’t really think that they were in trouble. In the contrary, she was very happy having seen shadders and fire in such an amount for the first time of her life. Two things which could take ones life – a fact that she didn’t really understand yet.

However, seeing Micah suddenly collapse, she actually felt a slight hear attack. “Nezzy…. Lucy… What is with Micah?,” she asked worried as she kneeled down as the other pink haired boy whose expression was pretty much annoyed. The words that he spoke was like a blade going through her small heart. “Someone like you… should be called ‘nuts’… and ‘irresponsible’. You’re… definitely nothing like Lucy,” She said slightly raising her usual small voice. It was like always spoken in a slow pace, however, clear enough to hear and understand even for an idiot. It was definitely not and option to leave this man – it was an event that is unlikely to happen, having Nezzy and Lucy in this room.

Her eyes averted to the girl who is checking up Micah. The smile came back on her face. “He needs water, right?,” she asked as she took her small bottle of water and carelessly poured all of it above Micah’s face in the naïve thought of waking him up. Well, from the start, she doesn’t really think much at what she is doing.

Being releaved having done anything she could and being verified that it was nothing to be worried about by the girl from before she introduced herself: “Elara… and you, Black Miss?,” It was something that didn’t meant to be an insult, Elara never had such black thoughts. She only say what she saw, and well, she saw her dark skin what was probably something the one notice the first seeing the female human in front of her.

“Micah,” She pointed to the brown haired guy in front as a sharp eye went into the direction of the boy who made felt dislike for the first time. “Someone who looks front and always ahead, having a flower grow out of his heart, with a black- blue touch and interesting words!,” It should be a praise and something like an introduction of his interesting traits and personality, though it is explained with her somehow artistic and unusual adjectives. ”Right, Right?,” To make her words give out even more impact to the people, she stared to the other two persons in the room who knew him. A stare that could only be satisfied with a strong and clear ‘you bet’ or something like that.

Then her attention went to the guy who just intoduced himself. Raven. Like the beautiful black bird. "I don't think that... it's a bad name. Black is.. a beautiful colour..., why did you change it... and how?," Her eyes grow bigger, showing her true wonder. Elara couldn't help to think that this boy is unusual -- and that made her somehow happy.

Basically, she didn't really hate the situation knowing that Micah isn't going to die or something.

There was a thing. And it was called paying attention to people. And Nayu. Well he was good at not doing that. Or disregarding their entire existence. That was great to do when he didn’t feel like…well, listening. So when the weirdo with the accent passed out, he didn’t really notice. One would think that his focus was only on listening to Robin and Raven bitch about everything. Those people would be right. Because he hated the two of them, but hell. They were his…family, in a sense. A twisted sense. And he listened to them because what if something was wrong? He wasn’t a bad person, just rude and rash and pretended not to listen. And then gave really shitty advice so they would figure it out on their own. He was good with that. But only for those he knew. And these new people, he didn’t know them. Therefore he didn’t care if they all dropped dead. “Great. Was he really that important or is he an option we can leave behind?” Nayu snorted and rolled his eyes. Wow, insensitive much? Even he wouldn’t go that far. Okay yeah he would, but that wasn’t the point at all. God. “Seriously? For these people, leaving this seabiscuit,” the not-quite-white haired boy smirked. Raven was an idiot, in the sense of he had too much information that wasn’t relevant on Earth at the moment, when he wanted to be, the things he said were pretty entertaining. “has about a 23.9118% chance of actually ending in success, which leaves them with a 76.0882 chance of failure, which is basically how it is for us but with the added factor of an extra person, and also there’s the fact that—” Nay was so close to telling him to shut his fucking mouth, but Raven did it to himself.

There was more talking, about the dude on the floor he really didn’t care about, and Nayu rocked on his heels in boredom. He wanted to move. He was good at work. Looking for a certain book, tearing down the shelves for wood for a fire, anything. Just. Not standing around. Because standing around was bullshit and he hated every second he wasn’t actually doing something. Damn Robin. “Where are the books?” See, damn Robin. What a fucking idiot. They were in a library. If they weren’t where they were currently standing, then the place had to have a second story. To which the books would be there. God, what a dumb hoe. There was more talking, and this time Nayu sort of listened. Something about a plan and scaring everyone because of the fire and oh. It was the girl who was on the roof. Thank god she was okay. There was more talking about fucking…something. And looking for books. And where the Shadows would go. Cool. He would listen when it was in the middle of getting away from them. One task mind. Not really, he was smart, but he wasn’t like. Smart. His world required little education and so he only knew what he retained from his family and whatever he needed to learn when he was with Kari. Bless his soul.

Introductions were next and Nayu listened in veiled amusement as Raven blurted out almost the same thing he had told him when they met. And Robin, but fuck Robin. Jesus Fuck. There was another run down of some of the others. Guy on the floor was something like Mica, and the roof girl was referred to as “Black Girl” which made him give a little scowl. But whatever. “Nayu.” He stated with a calm that Raven didn’t possess in any part of his body. “Not Raven, don’t get me mixed with him, I’ll fuck you up real good.” There was a scowl on his face and he was pretty sure that only Robin and maybe Raven saw that he really didn’t want to speak. At all. And that his was annoyed and ancy and he need to fucking move or somebody was going to get hurt. “The pink idiot is Robin, nice to meet you. Not really. We’re here for books. So fuck intros, let’s look for. Books.” He tossed a glance at Robin and he hoped the other saw the panic in his eyes because. Moving. It was something he needed to partake in. A task, or something, “Right, asshole?”

---

Once inside, Lucien directed his paranoia towards the new environment. It seemed sound, but who knew how long that was going to last. He gave a mental shrug. Oh well. Though it was getting a little easier, at this point it was still hard to care about anything for extended periods of time.

And with that, the lavender-haired man turned his attention towards the person he’d abducted. Despite himself, the side of Lucien’s mouth twitched upward. Props to her for giving a proper greeting, considering the circumstances. It would be simply unforgivable for him to not return the gesture. He pulled his hand out from hers. "Oh, and hi... I guess."

But at that moment, Micah burst in, trailed by the girls. It was like a light had been switched on somewhere inside of Lucien. Maybe he’d become a little too dependant on their companionship? But whatever. How important could that be? It wasn’t like he was trying to be a loner. The exact opposite, actually. Wait. No, that couldn’t be right either...-

Micah took one look at Lucien and spread his arms wide open. Lucien blinked, his eyes watering. His brows creased together and lower lip began to tremble.

Lucien practically flung himself onto the open invitation, sobbing unabashedly. "M-Micaaaahhhhh....” He warbled, clutching the back of the sailor’s jacket. "You’re here! I-I’m so d-depressed... I don’t- I don’t even know what to do with myself anymore...." The two men were about of equal height, so Lucien had to make do with burying his tear-soaked face into Micah’s shoulder.

Eventually, however, Lucien pulled back, using his glove-covered hand to dab delicately at the underneath of his eyes. He took a deep breath. “I-I’m fine now.” He sniffed. In truth, he was feeling a little better, perhaps. Maybe.

As Micah, true to form, began dishing out commands, Lucien, true to form, wasn’t paying much attention. Still feeling a little shaky, Lucien inched behind a certain Victorian girl, fingers absentmindedly entangling themselves in her hair, still blinking tears out of his eyes. Man, he just lost it back there, didn’t he? Good thing Nadezda still had hair he could mess around with. No telling what would happen to him if it had all fallen out since the last time he saw her!

Lucien didn’t really pay attention to the new people, though of course he noticed them enter. So what? He was feeling a little better at this point, so the more the merrier. Nevertheless, Lucien watched them from the corner of his eye, keeping the majority of his attention directed towards combing out Nadezda’s hair with his fingers. How therapeutic! But then they needed to walk forward, and Lucien let out a little huff of irritation.

Though he freed his hands from her hair, Lucien wasn’t feeling particularly keen on giving her up entirely. Sociable? Why in the world should he be feeling sociable? He grumbled to himself, engulfing one of Nadezda’s hand with both of his, and toying with her fingers as they walked.

“Lucy, is that your family?” Elara. Lucien stiffened. Well... maybe he could be sociable for a little bit. Maybe.

Lucien looked up, regarding the pink haired fellow with quick eyes. Nope. Definitely not family. He resumed massaging the ensnared Nadezda’s pinkie. “No.” Lucien murmured. "Elly, my hair is lavender, not pink." He patiently corrected the small girl. All of that crying had calmed Lucien significantly, but left him with quite the dark mood, that while it was getting lighter, was still rather dark.

Thump. Lucien froze as Micah suddenly collapsed in front of him. Ouch. That had to hurt. But, luckily, the brightly-dressed girl began to look the sailor over before Lucien might be inclined to. Ironically, it seemed that all Micah needed was water. Lucien dimly remembered leaving his water jug in the lobby. But at least he wasn’t going to die. Good. That would be gross.

Lucien eyed Micah’s unconscious body for a bit before finally pulling away from Nadezda. He ignored the newcomers, hooking onto Micah’s jacket and slinging the larger man’s arm over his shoulder. Though Micah had him beat in terms of muscle, Lucien had enough inches of height on him to be able to drag the sailor into the lecture hall, or whatever the room used to be. But once he found a suitable patch of carpet, Lucien freed himself from the extra baggage as quickly as possible, meandering back to the group in time to witness little Elara chew out his “relative”.

Ah, how cute. And flattering. While Lucien didn’t particularly consider himself very responsible, he had just dragged Micah’s unconscious body to safety, so he supposed the praise wasn’t too off at that point of time.

Feeling a little better, Lucien turned to the brightly-dressed girl. “I’m Lucien. We met earlier.” And, as an afterthought, he gestured towards Nadezda. Poor girl, she was probably tripping over herself to come up with something to say. "This is Nadezda."

Lucien listened to the Nayu guy cuss a lot about books before deciding to reply, face blank even under his sunglasses. "There’s going to be a hurricane here pretty soon, so you guys should go down the hall and grab as many books as you can, then come back here to take your time picking one."

He didn’t really know why he was being nice to these people. But whatever.