Zoen Leed's Story

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Had he gone blind, or was there merely nothing for the vision to perceive? Did he lose his body, or did it merely have absolutely nothing to sense about itself? The surroundings had changed suddenly, but the movement between placed was not instantaneous. And in the period between there and here was a strange phenomenon. Vision, touch, smell and taste rendered temporarily obsolete, it was as though his hearing alone was left with something it could convey to its owner. And what it conveyed was a strange white noise. Though Zoen himself had little to do with it, the recognition of the sound came inevitably. It came from beyond. The sounds that had put him to sleep, throbbing in the skull of a man lying over his desk, pushed beyond his active cognition. And Zoen knew that this man right now had no place here. Yet the unnatural way in which he'd brought about his lucid dream clearly had some effect here. When the dream was rendered empty, the sound could be heard, the frequency, the overlaying waves, one lost beneath the other, each one eluding focus, merged and tangled into a signal, difficult to decipher, but compelling like a long-forgotten song.

He was more compelled however to have his other senses return. The sound was almost morbid, like the tapping of raindrops on the roof of a coffin, like nails driven into its cover with steady beats. Why such a frightening comparison would spring to his mind so soon he could not tell. Was he not inspired by the prospect of returning here? Was he not smiling genuinely at the sight of familiar places upon the world of Dreams? His journey was at least to an extent driven by necessity, but urgent as matters were, the Dream seemed ill at ease with being grasped forcefully. He needed to avoid tension and to calmly regard every step, else the waking man's rigidity would tear his very presence from this world. And what then? No one knows where a man neither dreaming nor awake could go.

Thankfully for both Zoen and the one beyond him, he remained dreaming. But the place to which he returned was far from welcoming...

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Even getting to see ruins was better than the discouraging feeling of being sightless even with both eyes wide open. The kaleidoscope-like patterns in his eyes shifted around his pupils, the strange dance of patterns hidden by golden bangs falling over the upper half of his face. The man with the golden sash sat up from the uncomfortable seat of rubble, observing his surroundings. Was there not supposed to have been a city...? There must have been one, yet now it was gone. There was broken rock everywhere and he made an effort to stand up as soon as he felt enough power over the muscles in his body. Slightly sore, perhaps due to having spent an unknown amount of time on hard ground, he was nonetheless capable of straightening up and drawing in a prolonged breath. The dust had settled in by now, but the air was strangely empty. It got Zoen wondering whether his senses would only return gradually. How could he have made a switch from a place so alive to such an empty one...?

As if unwilling to accept such a twist of fate, he began to walk, treading carefully and testing every foothold in his path before leaning his weight on it. He was blessed with a fairly light body, proceeding onward with little difficulty. But his movement did imply a desire to get somewhere or at least to discover something. Namely whether he was alone here and whether there was a way out? He would often repeat that the Dreamscape followed one's intentions, therefore simply setting off with a clear goal in mind would often yield results, as if reality itself rearranged itself to fetch you that for which you were looking. Yet some kind of will must have brought about the destruction that had made all this rubble. Thoughts on the subject kept Zoen's mind anything but clear for the time being.

With the elevation of the ground changing as he moved, he would find himself both climbing and descending at times. Eventually it seemed to him the rubble became less similar to the remains of buildings and more akin to shattered or upturned boulders strewn about a trench of sorts. Was it made by an impact, or was it here before? Unable to determine how old the rubble was, Zoen touched upon a sturdier-looking rock and focused for a moment. The use of a pulse came naturally and as he continued to move along the trench, he had a shimmering golden string with which to support himself during the descent. Leaving behind the rubble in which he'd awoken, he would move along using the trench as a road of sorts. It wasn't long before he saw something ahead. A slight shimmer, like that of a flame and a large figure next to it. He made his approach, steadily, taking little effort to remain in hiding. He believed there were few hostile beings in this environment and believed that the figure by the fire would do him no harm...

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After swimming through the sphere for what seemed an eternity, the surface of the ocean rippled and frothed as she approached the border of her domain--shoreline. The moon shone high above the water, reflecting a perfect white sphere of light down toward the depths, an eye attempting to pry into the inner machinations of what plans were being made underneath the water. Of course, it could not see as far as it wanted to--such information needed to be kept from prying eyes that would wish to know her secrets. She was merely an agent, an extension of the will of the sea, nothing more. Where she wandered was all part of its plan...

The sphere slammed onto the sandy shore, exploding in a shower of droplets that shimmered in the moonlight, leaving the creature inside unharmed and dripping with water. She took a look at her new surroundings: behind her, the calming sounds of the tides moving in and out; ahead of her, however, was a much different beast altogether. Massive outcrops of stone rose above patches of tall objects with greenish growths falling from them. The most unsettling part of all this was how dry this new environment was. This would not do at all! Something had to change.

With a quick inhale of breath, a column of water rose up from the waves behind her, rising up and over before quickly engulfing her once more in a perfect sphere of water. With her transportation at the ready once again, the creature's eyes looked around before turning forward toward a break in the spindly objects with the growths. From the sphere shot forth a long tube of water about a meter in diameter and easily several meters long. The creature swam through the tube, watching as it snaked around the environment effortlessly and created a flawless path through which she could swim. Even in her comfort inside the water, this place still looked ominous, barren, dead.

Up higher on the rock, she spied a spark of light, some speck in the distance that flickered like the other lights in the sky she occasionally saw if and when she breached the surface. This light, however, was unclean--a plume of some condensed gray cloudstuff rose above the stone, above the canopy of growths into the sky. The surface world was rather foreign to her still, but she did know that where there was light, there was life. Even in the murkiest of the depths, creatures existed that created their own light from their bodies and other chemical processes that she did not quite understand--

Her thoughts were wandering once again, as they were wont to do. The goal was now to investigate that light source, to see what sorts of creatures might be sacrificed to the Depths if they would not come willingly... Slowly the stream of water snaked its way up the rock, around the cylindrical spires that blocked the light from the moon. The ascent was far more laborous than in the ocean--there, it was effortless to move up or down, side to side; here, though, her concentration required her to maintain the shape and velocity of the water to move in the direction she desired.

After climbing the incline for a ways, the creature turned and regarded the ocean behind her. So calm, so serene, unobtrusive in comparison to all of this mess behind her. She reckoned that it would all look so much better under a few dozen meters of water--everything looked better underwater to her, but it mattered little so long as she was alone. That spark behind her, though, shone brighter as she swam closer. It was within her grasp now, just to see who or what was up there; she had no choice now.

Finally, she reached a rather rocky outcrop where the light was flickering. She maintained her distance when she spied two figures surrounding the flickering light source: one was a massive hulk whose skin glinted and reflected the sparks shooting from the stationary heat; the other was much smaller and appeared less of a threat, with yellow hair covering his eyes and a somewhat untidy look about him. Still, she waited and watched, wondering whether they would make the first move... or if she would be forced to...

He’d been here on this mountain side for a few hours now and had tried to relax and hope it eased his pains, but his body still ached after his impromptu landing. So having given up on that attempt he had instead decided to sit on a small makeshift seat gatherd from the pile of rubble and shaped himself a sword before beginning to use a stone to sharpen its blade. A reasonably futile task given that the blade formed sharp anyways, but it was a simple task. One which gave him a strange clarity of thought and helped to centre his thoughts by directing his body into a manual task that was little more than muscle memory, allowing him to concentrate more on other things.

There was a faint sound of disturbed stones nearby, growing slowly louder and more frequent as he listened. Almost as if another was traversing the rubble that had been strewn across this mountainside, which seemed to be rather odd considering its remote location as well as the chill in the air. But, he admitted to himself as he listened to the noise growing closer, the crash itself was likely to have alerted a rather large radius that something had impacted rather heavily and most likely draw them to its epicentre. That was most likely to result in attracting the wrong sort, which was not what he wanted, but at the same time it may also help to draw the others to him as well, especially considering that he had no idea where they could have went following the destruction of Tinker Tocker.

He lifted his head from his sword and stone at the appearance of a boy, with long flowing blonde hair that seemed to complete obscure his vision of the wider world beyond a brief glimpse of his feet.

"You seem lost, stranger. Take your rest by the fire, I seek no conflict."

He placed the rock into the pile he was currently using a seat before gesturing with the hand towards the fire and smiling beneath his helmet. Though moments after doing so he sighed inwardly and shook his head at the idiocy of trying to reassure someone who could not see anything of your features and even if it wasn’t completely concealed the boy’s hair would likely make sure it was.

Moments after the blonde haired boy had reached the relative safety of the fire, admittedly it was its mere existence which cultivated such a view, Martellus could have sworn there was another shape in the darkness. This time though there was no sound of footsteps on stone to confirm it. Wary that it was there and slowly contemplating that it may have been his imagination he went back to sharpening his blade, waiting for the boy to speak when he was ready.

He looked up again as he caught another flash of movement out of the corner of his eye. On one of the nearby rocky outcrops he could barely make out what appeared to be a faint shadow, though what exactly it was still seemed to be a mystery. As he watched for a few moments more he managed to catch it moving again; doing what appeared to be slowly trying to get a better look at them without revealing itself from what he could tell. The shape appeared to be vaguely humanoid, abet heavily concealed by the shadows, which made him decide to weigh his options.

Either it was someone hunting them or another who was as lost as they, or it may be someone who could direct them? If it was the former then so be it and if it turned out to be the latter then much the better

"You can approach slowly lass, we mean you know harm. Come, sit awhile."

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"You can approach slowly, lass; we mean you no harm. Come, sit awhile."

The voice that called to her from the light was rather unexpected--she knew that she was not very subtle at all in her floating sphere of water, but she hoped that she would at least be able to observe their actions for a bit longer. Surface dwellers were always so intriguing to watch, especially in places where they normally were not to be found... such as on the side of a mountain in the ruins of a place long forgotten. The ocean had plenty of places much like this--ancient locales that had been drowned in eons past, before even the Depths had contacted her for her services.

Even still, they had not attacked her on-sight, which was always a good sign. Most land-walkers she encountered thought her evil--then again, most land-walkers weren't hulking behemoths in armor like this. In fact, she had never seen a creature like this in her travels on land. What exactly was it?

The other human with the blond tuft atop its head did not respond to her presence, nor did he seem to respond to the other creature's invitation. Perhaps he was sleeping at the fire already, something that seemed rather rude for a guest to do. The customs of the land-walkers, though, were as foreign to her as her customs to them. They did not understand the ways of the Depths, the rituals and sacrifices that must be performed in order to keep it satisfied... keep it from dwindling down to a puddle...

In any case, if the creature in the armor invited her to join them, who was she to ignore a willing invitation? With a thought, the bubble she had been maintaining immediately splashed onto the ground, allowing her to land on her feet situated on the dampened earth. She inhaled deeply, letting the air rush through her body--it was always a new sensation to her, even after how many times she had actually been out on the surface. She could handle the dryness for a time, although with that bright light and the heat she could feel on her skin, she might dry out rather quickly. It might be a better idea to stay toward the shadows so she did not completely dehydrate herself.

The light glimmered off of the water covering her skin as she walked into the clearing, letting the two see her form for the first time. She imagined that it was rather unusual for either of them to take in her form--most land-walkers did; she looked rather alien in comparison to most of their kind. Still, the armored figure was more interesting than any land-walker she had ever seen before. She took a few steps around the light source, keeping her distance as to maintain as much of the moisture as possible on her skin.

She was certain that both of them were staring at her as she made her way around--it wasn't anything out of the ordinary. What was out of the ordinary, though, was the fact that she was not surrounded by her bubble. Perhaps she wanted to be more sociable, and removing that physical barrier would allow more of a connection between the three of them, even if that meant her immediate discomfort. The water was so much more comfortable than this dry heat, though... she was half-tempted to invite everyone for a quick swim, even the one completely covered in armor. She thought that it would have never tried it--new experiences and all that for potential new candidates... although how would it swim? It was not up to her how that was discovered, though; that was up to the infinite wisdom of the Depths.

As she walked around to the other side of the camp, she reached out and placed a dripping wet hand on the armor-clad figure. It felt unnaturally cold on the side away from the fire, almost as cold as the ocean floor in some places. A shiver of delight shot through her arm at the thought of home. She placed another hand on the armor and smiled, closing her eyes and letting the chill rush through her body.

"Cold... It's so... cold..." she murmured to herself, still loud enough for the armored creature to hear her voice. Some said it was rather soothing at times, like the sound of the tides hitting the beach at midnight. "Cold as the deepest trenches, yet this is only your surface... I wonder what secrets you hide from the world..." It almost sounded as if she was asleep, lost in the swirling memories of somewhere far away from this place...

She understood that this might seem rather off-putting to both of them, but she was intrigued by this figure. She released her still-wet hands from the armor and placed the backs of them on other shadowed spots, letting the chill run down her arms again. Her gills stood on end, emitting a bit of condensed air in response as she closed her eyes once more and grinned, displaying some sharpened teeth before slowly lifting her hands off of the figure and stepping back away from the fire.

"Shall I... sit here?" she mused as water began to trickle up from the ground and around her legs. "I... I believe I will..." Soon, a large hemiphere of water consumed the lower half of her body, forming larger and larger until her entire being was encased in a large sphere. Being careful to stay away from the hot light, she rolled the sphere around to the opposite side of the site, swimming in her bubble and staring at the other two all the while. She poked her head out of the side of the sphere closest to the others, making sure to keep the gills on her neck submerged.

They would have questions for her. Land-walkers always had questions for her. This did not bother her one bit. Large black eyes stared out at them, the faintest hint of a smile forming at her lips. Perhaps she was more than the armored figure had imagined her to be. In any case, she had been invited--she would remain until circumstances necessitated her exit.

The jester stomped around the landscape angrily, her gaze firmly fixed on her feet. How could this have happened?! How could someone have stolen Erixianti from her, from right under her nose?! ...Granted she was unconscious for the most part, but still! It was her responsibility to look after Erixi (sort of), protect her (not really) and make sure she's OK! (She may have decided on this and not actually told her new friend but alas, details.) And somehow she'd managed to let her get kidnapped.

Well, this. This was not going to fly. Who had the audacity to even think that they could kidnap her friend? Did they not know who she was? She was The Jester, the terror of Tinker Tocker, the thing children thought hid under their beds, the monster that stalked the city and she was not going to stand for this. Nope, there was no way this was even close to acceptable. But...what if they hurt Erixianti?

Oh, that would be...They couldn't...No... Quinera froze as all the anger drained from her and she gripped her sides tightly for comfort. What if her little companion was scared? What if they left her all on her own somewhere in the wilderness? What if she was hurt? The jester let out a little wail as she gripped her hair tightly and pulled. This was all her fault! She should have saved her, made sure she was OK! The young woman paced quickly, muttering under her breath. This was terrible and it was all her fault. Quinera fell to her knees as worry moved to despair. What if she never found her? What if Erixianti was lost forever? What if she...or...or what if...no. No.

The jester climbed to her feet, a determined look upon her face. What if Erixi was waiting for Quinera to get a move on and save her from her evil kidnappers?! And instead she was here, kneeling on the ground, complaining? Well. That simply wouldn't do! Not at all! She would save her friend! No matter what! And if anyone got it her way? Well, she'd have the mildly annoying task of either terrifying the living daylights out of them or driving them insane. Whichever came first. And with that, the jester started walking once again, her head held high and a determined grin on her face.

She had been walking for ages now. Her feet were tired, her eyes were drooping and she needed rest. But yet, the jester refused to sit and sleep a while. She had no time for sleeping when her dear companion was missing! Erixianti may be waiting to be found and Quinera was not going to delay the rescue in any way. Thus, she kept walking. Occasionally she stumbled. It was dark and there were many rocks for her to catch her foot on. Thankfully she hadn't fallen on her face yet but the jester sort of knew it was rather inevitable. At least the moon gave her some light, a silvery overlay upon the rocks. Quinera was aware just how dark and shadowy she must have looked walking under the moonlight.

She listened as the sea roared gently, waves lapping against the shore. The jester wanted to run down to the beach and splash and dive but, alas, she was on a mission. Perhaps, later, she and Erixianti could come back to the sea. She wasn't sure if her new friend liked the sea that much, she'd have to ask later. The ocean's roar was comforting in a way and it also helped mask the sound of her footsteps. From whom, she didn't really know but from someone. That unknown person wouldn't here her coming. Quinera looked around quickly, taking stock of her surroundings. The night sky glimmered with all the stars, the murky sea was dappled with silvery reflections and the rocks shone in the moonlight. And a plume of smoke rose above a rocky outcrop. Aha! A fire in such an isolated area, in the middle of nowhere? Very suspicious. The jester smirked as she moved quickly. Perhaps these were the kidnappers! Those thieves thought that they could outsmart her, huh? By climbing up there and hiding away in the dead of night? They didn't know who they were dealing with. The jester hid herself with dark illusions that melted into the darkness. There. Now they wouldn’t be able to see her approach. The element of surprise and all that after all. The jester snuck closer, quiet as a mouse, ready to fight. After all, these people (might have) stolen Erixianti! And that was an unforgivable offense. Quinn narrowed her eyes before she slowly made her way over to the fire, hiding behind her shadowy mask of illusions.

As she got closer, she began to make out shapes. Three people. Well...not really. Two people and a large...floating...sphere...Huh. Well...Quinera had to admit that that was not something you saw very regularly. The jester shook away that thought before moving closer and closer, her feet making little taps against the stones. The other two figures...seemed familiar but she couldn't (or, more precisely, she didn't want to) place them or recall very much about them. One was clad in armour, lots and lots of armour while the other seemed more casual with no armour and blonde hair. Something nipped at the back of her mind, telling her that she knew these people. Perhaps she caught a glance of them when they were kidnapping! Of course, that makes a lot more sense! No wonder she recognised them! Quinera snarled quietly, barely a sound, her illusions rippling. She stilled, not breathing as she readjusted her visual barrier. It simply wouldn't do to have them spot her now after all the trouble she went through to get here unnoticed. The jester quietly padded around this little site, her dark eyes taking in the people and the surroundings. Where was Erixianti then? If they had kidnapped her (and they had), surely she would be around? And yet, the jester saw neither hide nor tail of her friend. Although, perhaps they had hidden her away somewhere! Perhaps that was one of their pulses, making things invisible! Maybe they made Erixanti invisible so that it wouldn't seem suspicious. Thoroughly confused and more than a little angry, Quinera started looking around, gently searching the air for her possibly invisible friend. No luck. Now enraged, she decided that this sneaking had gone on, long enough! Now was the time to instigate fear and show these people just who they were up against. Quinera grabbed hold of her illusion and stretched it, encasing the site in her shadowy darkness. Dark hounds emerged from the shadows, hell beasts that snarled and gnashed teeth (of course, they couldn't actually bite...but pain was in the mind after all and if Quinera had one of them bit and then accidentally let the mind feel it...would it be such a hardship?) The hounds encircled the group, loud and fierce. The jester herself stayed back before walking through the shadowy barrier. Her head was held low, her eyes dark and glinting with hatred. She raised her long sinewy arms above her head and the hounds ceased their noise, making it clear that they were under her command. She slowly looked around the site, locking with eyes with everyone the best she could. When she spoke, her voice coated with venom and laced with poison.

"Where is she?"

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Tinker Tocker had exploded. He'd heard it from where he was and in the seconds after, saw several people and things go flying through the air. The entered the part of the dreamscape he was in, almost appearing out of thin air as they crossed the 'barrier'. He'd felt the dreamers presences in the area and started towards them.

Zakiriya was steadily making his way through the dreamscape. He wasn't in any particular rush, though. Nothing dangerous had peeked it's head out just yet. He was, though, a little worried about the sudden explosion. Tinker Tocker was probably nothing more then desolation by now. On the bright side, he was happy to have not been caught up in the explosion. One can only be so lucky at times.

Reaching up, he pushed his blue-black locks out of his eyes, brushing them aside to look up and judge the area before him. It was dark already. Strange how time worked in the dreamscape. His lips pulled into a frown. He hated how the dream worked, how things randomly changed and he could never really figure it out.

Climbing up a hill, he felt closer to the dreamers and in the far off distance he could actually see them. They were small dots from where he stood, barely even visible. He heaved a sigh and continued down the other side of the hill. It was always easier going down, or so he thought anyway. He was concentrating on his footing as he came down a particularly steep section, not thinking of anything else.

When he made it to the valley area he was much closer to the group than before, especially since they were heading towards his direction to begin with. That certainly made things much easier. However, he felt something else enter the area. His heart skipped a beat, a sharp breath filling his lungs. Zakiriya looked around sharply, trying to pinpoint the source of his sudden distress. The presence wasn't a nice one, oh no. There was definitely evil intentions mixed in there.

He finally spotted the being. Behind the unwelcome newcomer, three tiny little things that he couldn't make out bounced behind him. Squinting, he tried to figure out what it was that was following the tall figure. He grit his teeth and decided that it really didn't matter. All he knew was that this person was eminating out a really bad aura and the dreamers before him hadn't a clue about it.

Zakiriya had to rush, had to hurry to get there before something bad happened. He started running, his heart in his throat. Even so, he had the terrible feeling that he wouldn't make it in time anyway. There was too much ground to cover between himself and the others. As he watched, a dark mist formed up in front of one of the dreamers. It sunk into the boys body and he watched in horror as the body convulsed violently.

The once humanly shaped form of a dreamer slowly turned into something that resembled a 2-D piece of paper. Zakiriya felt bile at the back of his throat. His eyes widening in shock. He just about froze in his headlong rush to get to them. Terror flooded his whole body and a sense of realizing that he couldn't have done a damned thing made him shudder. What was he supposed to do then?

His gaze shifted to the man who gave him the chills. Something was wrong with this person, why would he just do that to someone?! Zakiriya summoned his first pulse. The enormous weapon materialized in his hand and over his lithe frame the dark blue clothing fit snugly to his body. The cloth flutter as it fell about him and he shifted the weapon, twisting it around into a better position.

He was just about to continue running over, but then he realized something. What exactly was he going to do? It wasn't like he could fight this guy right off the bat. Especially when he'd just witnessed one of the dreamers turned into nothing but a reminant of a dreamer, and so easily too. Zakiriya had to come with a plan... one much better than what he was thinking right at that moment.

The harlequin figure stepping out from the shadows surprised the creature, but then again, so did the baying of the quadrupeds that seemingly appeared out of thin air. Whether this was a ploy for intimidation or something that this newcomer was able to do naturally, she was unsure, but she immediately pulled her head back into the sphere around her. Those beasts would not be able to attack her under the water... and if they did, well, they would be in for a rather nasty surprise.

"Where is she!?" the harlequin figure growled, raising an arm to silence the quadrupeds. An interesting deveopment, considering the creature in the sphere was the only female at this campsite. There had never been any mention of someone that would be looking for her... Was this some sort of test that she would have to face to gain the good graces of her patron, or was this something else entirely? And if she was not indeed the she in question, then who was?

The creature, noticing that the quadrupeds were not coming to attack, slowly pushed her head through the surface of the sphere toward the harlequin. "...I am she... You are she..." she slowly formed the words. "...or perhaps you seek someone else? The siren sings her lullaby on the sharpened rocks that rise above the water... The oracle, she lives at the ocean floor in a palace of coral, but you seem ill-prepared to--"

Zhaleh...

The creature quickly retreated back into her sphere and looked toward the yellow-haired figure sitting on the log. Behind him, though... it was that dark figure! The same one that had showed her the light and infinite wisdom of the Depths! Was he here to convert this one, or...?

This creature would make a suitable sacrifice...

Underneath the water, the creature began to speak, but it seemed that no one would be able to understand a word or syllable she spoke. Not only was the language one that no land-walker would be able to understand or speak, but the water seemed to muffle and contort the words further. To the others around the camp, it seemed as if she was talking to thin air, but to her, she knew. She and she alone knew what was happening...

Another figure pushed through to the campsite as the creature extended a column of water out and completely engulfed the yellow-haired creature. Without another thought, she immediately swam over toward the drowning man and opened her mouth wide, displaying multiple rows of razor-sharp teeth before savagely biting into the man's shoulder and tearing away flesh and muscle. She chewed quickly, for she noticed that there was something happening to this creature--he was losing his depth, looking more and more like a flat piece of seaweed every second.

The water around the two of them was turning blood-red. She could taste the iron inside the column. If this creature was not dead before, then he most definitely was now. The aqueous creature, hoping to satiate the appetite of the smokey man watching this spectacle, took a second bite, this time from his side. She managed to tear away a larger portion of flesh with this bite, but after this point her victim had lost too much of his depth. It would make no more sense for her to attempt further consumption, so she swam back to the larger sphere she had left behind, leaving a bloody mess in her wake. The column holding the corpse suddenly dissipated, letting the body uncerimoniously hit the ground and contorting the limbs unnaturally.

You have done well, Zhaleh... Continue your work... Follow these creatures for more suitable sacrifices...

With that final message, the darkened creature faded from view. The creature in the sphere chewed the last of the flesh in her mouth before swallowing and speaking once more underneath the water. When she finally finished, she calmly turned back toward the harlequin and stuck her head out of the sphere once more.

"...You are ill-prepared to meet the oracle, as she does not come up for air..." She turned her head to look over at the newcomer. "...but is this landwalker prepared, I wonder...?"

He watched as the girl approached, her body surrounded by a bubble of water, almost as if it infused her with its form. At this closer sight he began to feel a little off balance, mainly due to water being an oddity to him, vague flashes of cloying darkness and suffocating blackness sparked inside his head at the half dreamt memories slowly trying to make themselves known again. Forcing them down he returned to the present, feeling a light touch against his armour he almost started when he realised it was this new arrival.

"I’d not let your fingers linger long lass. Me and water don’t ‘react’ well together."

He chuckled softly as the water from her hand-print trickled slightly and began to fizz as his armour became coated in spiraling lines of purple sparks. Lightning raking his outer flesh and would most likely have done so to hers had she rested too much longer. She appeared to be judging them both from what he could tell but for what purpose he could not say, though it would hardly be fair to say that she was the only one judging. He too was trying to decide what to make of her given the somewhat dangerous nature of this place and those around. It never paid too much to be wary of strangers here.

She sat at the edge of the firelight, after asking half to herself and half to them if she should sit there. Each to their own, and strangeness was neither uncommon nor surprising to Martellus. And she seemed to be getting comfortable as her bubble slowly reformed, till at last her head slowly emerged again to speak to them from what he could tell. He watched her for a few moments as the three of them sat in silence; the only sound to be heard was the crackle of the fire and the different tones of their breathing. It seemed, given her posture and positioning from the fire that its warmth and light may be somewhat detrimental to the woman, especially since she seemed to extrude an aura of cold and darkness. But he had to concede that may be his prior dislike of the black seas of this land from previous travels, and the pain he’d felt there.

He looked around them, something suddenly odd about their surroundings. It was as if they were surrounded by a void yet it didn’t look as if they were. But the cloying tightness of being in a trap was gnawing at his thoughts, as several sleek demonic looking hounds burst into existence from almost nothingness. It was then he could make out the vague impression of a dark overlay to the world beyond the fire.

So a trap then… What a great way to start a day. Crash landing halfway up a mountain and being caught in a noose with two strangers at the dripping jaws of hunting beasts. What next?

His internal debate was halted as a female figure detached itself from the darkness and stepped into the firelight. Her posture was all hate, and rage, and menace. But somehow familiar…

"Where is she?"

The voice was dripping venom and anger and the threat stated by it and the creatures circling them was clear enough. Yet despite that the familiarity seemed to jog something in his memory, has did her question. Vague yet still clear enough. The aquatic woman spoke to her in an oddly childish tone, almost goading her with her questioning, though abruptly stopped and withdrew in silence. Odd but it allowed him to respond to the question as well.

"You’re seeking that girl, aren’t you? The one who fell from the building?"

He looked around at the strewn rubble and crumbling architecture that had smashed across the mountain, several storeys of the buildings were phased through the rock itself lending a strange effect to the skyline view of this place.

"From this building?"

He jestured towards the brickwork behind the girl in her bubble, the rubble that he’d clawed his way out of earlier. Alone and without any of those he’d tried to save or the one who had helped him.

" You were with her, you both fell… I tried to stop you and my friend tried to catch you. Then nothingness and here was where I rested."

His rough, gravelly voice was attempting to be sympathetic due to the Jesters concern for her friend, a princess he believed she’d been called, but if she made any move to threaten him more, then events would sour quickly and not to his liking. Before either could truly react to events there was a odd sound coming from the direction of the girl in her bubble and the blonde haired boy. She had retreated completely into the bubble and appeared to be speaking to herself, rapidly and unintelligibly. Suddenly from the darkness a thing of water appeared and engulfed the boy with the floppy blonde hair, drowning and suffocating him as this sea maiden merged with the overflow, biting and tearing at his flesh as another creature did the same. Blood suffused her bubble, coating it with sickly liquid as her lips were stained below the surface of the orb.

At last she broke away, the remains of the body and the other creature vanishing into the night. Her eyes turned towards the dark Jester as she whispered to the night’s air, her head resurfaced.

"...but is this landwalker prepared, I wonder...?"

Martellus had tilted his head to one side, shock and slightly disgust plastering his hidden features as his hands tightened in rage at the meaningless slaughter of his friend. Well they had only just met, but he had felt no ill will from the boy. From his hands slowly grew the long shaft of a war maul, curved and deadly.

"What is the meaning of this?! What have you done?"

His voice echoed as he bellowed his rage at the sudden absence of life from their gathering, his armour growing razor-sharp spikes and chains dangling from his form as his emotions shaped it. Lightning was given new life as it overflowed across his body, melting the ground around his feet slightly as it sparked.

"You were a guest at my fire, and this is what you bring to my table? Murder and secrets? Darkness and death?"

---

Eludrest City

He was trying to get out of the strange city. Having seen his other half, it had unnerved him completely. What was worse was the look of evil intent in the being's eyes. Kiyu felt his heart race, a strange feeling at the back of his mind pressing forward. He fought to keep it down. The feeling was a strange one and it was scary as well. A kind of darkness that he didn't want to let invade his mind and body.

Kiyu moved swiftly, coming down a set of old stair in the short hill that went passed several broken down stone homes. The 'people' there seemed to turn their cold eyes upon him, causing him to fear even more and move faster. Always at the back of his neck, the feeling that someone was staring holes through his skin was present. He could almost feel his mirror image following him, if that were even possible. Kiyu continued to tell himself that it wasn't possible and that these people didn't mind his presence at all.

As he came down from the steps and the street leveled off he began to recognize where he'd come in at. The open courtyard was familiar with the fallen stones, the fountain at its center and the lack of the paper-like people. He felt a sigh of relief fill his chest as he slowed his advance. With his heart settling down, and his thoughts coming into a point of rest from their haywire earlier, he didn't notice the two sitting at the fountain.

Even so, he was a ways away from them, still on the edges of the main part of the city that was nothing but rubble. A sudden chill ran through his spine and he turned to look behind him. Golden eyes widening, he took a step backwards as he turned to face them. So, the people had followed him and they looked... upset. He wasn't sure really. Even so, they came at him with every intent to attack and Kiyu swiped his hand out in front of him, a shout of fear escaping him.

As his hand swiped out, a rush of black crystallized spikes erupted between him and those that wished him harm. He pulled away from them slowly, the crystal wall wasn't nearly high enough to keep them away for long and it wasn't all that thick either. He'd done it in a hurry with little to no thought at all. Kiyu's heart raced in his chest as he backed away, watching them carefully and preparing to raise another wall if he needed to.

---

---

Zakiriya edged closer to the growing tension. He'd not made it in time to save the boy, nor had he made it nearly close enough to do anything about the sudden attack of the girl in a sphere. She'd turned immediately and proceeded to... feast on the unfortunate companion. His heart twisted, wrenching as he watched her. It almost made him sick, but he kept control of his stomach.

His weapon, however, he did not put away and he kept a close eye on the man who had killed the boy in the first place. The others, though didn't seem to notice that their companion was indeed killed by something much worse. He wouldn't say anything though, they were not lucid dreamers and even if he did tell them... how were they supposed to believe him? Zakiriya swallowed dryly as he approached the group. His hand tightened around the shaft of his scythe.

"What is the meaning of this?! What have you done? You were a guest at my fire, and this is what you bring to my table? Murder and secrets? Darkness and death?"

The boy who spoke in enraged tones also materialized a weapon he too took an interesting look. Stopping just short of them all, Zakiriya shifted so that he was nearest to the boy who asked the question. The large blade of the scythe scrapped the ground as he moved ever so slightly into the better position. His gaze fell upon the woman who'd eaten their friend and he once again felt a wave of nausea ensue.

Zakiriya wouldn't say anything until the woman answered the given question. He would decide then if she was an enemy or not, even though everything about her screamed evil. He watched wearily, ready for a fight, but not really wanting one, not so early in the game...