Gwenneth Yuan's Story

Harper woke up somewhere in between "I'm Haru Karaknov" and "handpicked by the goddess." Harper was never one to wake up easily, and it took him several seconds just to keep his eyes open and register the clean, blue sky above him.

He registered "I'm not sure when the others will show up" and definitely woke up at "could be months, maybe later even."

"Woah, woah, woah!" Harper exclaimed, sitting up, "Months?!"

And then he blinked, the pastoral scenery surrounding him entirely.

With a shout, Harper leaped to his feet, spinning around in disbelief. He almost lost his balance, jeans still stiff from the water. "What the hell!?" he gasped. Where was the park? Where was the CITY?! Didn't that one girl say it was possible this was a dream? Why wasn't he back? Was this actually...was this actually happening?!?

"OHHHHhh My GoD!" Harper wailed, grabbing his damp locks and falling dramatically to his knees, "HOly sweet--Mary mother of JesusfrickinCHRIST"

Yeah, he had walked through that portal, but he didn't think anything would actually happen. This had to be a joke. A dream. That cyclopenis or peony or whatever the hell that was...that was also a joke, right? This wasn't real, right?

"Aaaauuughgh" he hissed gutturally, staring blankly at this foreign landscape. He heard footsteps and rustling and whipped around. Instead of an attacker he instead saw the 11 people walking away, 10 of which he recognized.

Not wanting to be left behind in this bizarre, crazy world, Harper quickly scrambled to his feet and raced after the group, imagining one of those cyclone-monsters leaping out under ever blade of grass. He ended up diving through the middle, forcing himself to skid to a halt before crashing entirely with the person in front of him, but still bumping them slightly.

The guy in the front seemed to know where he was going, some red-headed dude dressed in weird clothes. Harper just followed along, but was surprised to suddenly hear his name. "What?" he asked without thinking, and was answered with "sea and salt water instead."

It took him until Autumn Jones to realize the guy was saying everyone's names, a month, and then some sort of ability. When he finished, Harper raised his hand and asked, "Hey, can you repeat all of that please? I didn't realize what you were doing until just now."

As they entered the town, the change in scenery became more evident. Crowds began to form, and modest wooden buildings began to sprout.
Tallyho choked a little bit when she felt a force from behind bump her forward. She grunted quietly as she glanced back at the loud one, or er, Harper?
Not even an apology?
Before leading the children into the crowds, Haru made a point of stopping the group.

“Now here’s a little lesson about Aires. They don’t have the same technologies that earth does. No cell phones, no cameras, no computers. So it would be in your best interest if you keep your electronic devices as well out of the way as possible while we are in here. Though… it’s not like they can help you here anyway. We need to speed through here because; well most of you are dressed outlandishly for this world. But we will get that fixed soon,“he said sternly.
He gave a quick, enthusicastic point at Harper, “Well I can’t really do that now, but you will definitely get a chance to mingle and make friends when we get to a room.”
With that, Haru lead the group to the village square. It was the same village that Tallyho was in before she arrived on earth. The small shops like bakeries and butcheries were beginning to close and honest workers were locking their business doors.

Mothers were fixing their daughter’s bows and bonnets as they dragged them on home. And the much too ripe—maybe even a little rotten—bachelors were moving into the taverns.

“Oh and ladies,” Haru said, “I need to tell you now before you cause a commotion tomorrow. It’s not necessarily normal for women to wear pants and such around here and it really makes you stand out if you are. Although you boys don’t seem to be fitting in either, tomorrow I’m going to give you all money to go to the markets and buy clothes that are more fitting for the area. This is Tabbard, a pleasant little town the women are pretty modest. They wear sundresses, aprons, nothing too short—something very agrarian and simple. The men are not particularly extravagant either. They are dressed pretty plainly as you can see. A simple shirt and pants, so not quite a suit like mine. But I’m sure it’s much more comfortable.”

He lead them into the inn, and of course they looked rather odd travelling as a large herd.
The inside of the inn was quite cozy. At the front, there was a simple wooden desk with a shelf of keys behind it. Adjacent to the desk was a stone fireplace on a wall that led to an oaky dining area open to the guests.
The woman at the desk had mousy brown hair and a nervous twitch to her hands. She nearly dropped the keys she was organizing when they came into the building.

“Hello sir,” she said to Haru who she automatically assumed as the one paying.
“Hello there. Do you have enough space for twelve?”
The woman bit the inside of the cheek as the thought. “Ah well I’m afraid that we only have one regular room available sir.”
“Ah, I see, well then good tidings,” he said as he turned to leave.
“Oh but we do have the big room available!” she yelped.
“A larger room?”
“Oh yes, in the attic. We have a large set up of beds up there for missionary groups who come through. You can have that if you’re willing to pay the sum.”
Haru laughed, “Oh that won’t be a problem, here you go. I’ll take the smaller room too.”
He set a heavy sack of coins on the desk. “This should cover it—keep it all.”
The woman shook her head, “But sir I’m afraid that’s too much—“
“It’s fine. If you want, I’ll get my change at the end of the stay. But right now my friends and I are a bit tired. They’ve endured a long day. So could we please have the keys?”
The woman nodded once, “of course,” and she handed two keys to Haru, one of which he gave to Tallyho to open the group’s door.

“Now to get to your room you need to continue up the steps until you are running into the ceiling. There is a floor door that you will open to access the room,” she said. Tallyho nodded and started up the stairs, disappearing around its dark velvet corner.
The woman questioned Haru’s owl.
“I assure you she is very well trained,” he said.

Tallyho kept climbing; finally beat by the time she reached the third flight but luckily that’s all she had to climb for the latch was insight.

She stuck the rusted key in the lock and turned it before pushing the door up and open—climbing through. She was taken to a plain, candle lit room with about twenty beds and night stands lined side to side all against all four walls. Without much thought, she claimed a bed by a window in the corner.

She was sure that she wouldn’t enjoy being cooped up in a room with so many. And besides, as earthlings, they probably identified with each other better than they could with her.

She wasn’t one to meet people around her age anyway, usually being surrounded by old people and children. She turned her back to the group and stared out of the window. She looked down and caught sight of the tavern doors opening for the night. She had a pretty good idea where she would be in an hour or two.

Harper followed the group up the stairs and into the room. His expectations were already ground level when he overheard 'attic' in what was apparently Westeros, what with no technology whatsoever. He had almost pulled out his phone too when whatshisface mentioned not to.

The attic, however, wasn't entirely terrible. He had certainly lived in worse. At least this room was large. 1, 2, 3...20 beds. Wow. In his first apartment he couldn't even fit one bed and had to sleep in the tub. Ah, memories...

He chose a bed somewhere in the middle, really just sitting down randomly, and tried to process everything in a way that made sense.

1. He was clearly not in New York City anymore. Or Earth, for that matter. This was just too big of a production for it to be faked. Somehow, for whatever reason, he was in a completely different world where people still probably thought the world was flat. Which it might be, in this world, for all he knew.

2. He could control seawater. And oceans. Apparently. Because why not.

3. Everyone else could also control something. But not seawater. That was only him.

4. Cyclopens came from this world. And he would probably see more. That was annoying.

5. He wouldn't see Sadie for quite some time.

and lastly, he'd be stuck with these punks in this world for quite some time...

He sighed. For all the protests he had made against coming here, it didn't seem to make a difference. Well, if he was going to be stuck here...might as well adapt. Without warning he pulled off his jacket, slinging it on the mattress, and then pulled off his hollister shirt, leaving behind only a white undershirt beneath which he tugged back down over his jeans.

Falke remained silent, weary but thoughtful and honestly a little annoyed, throughout and after the yelling demands and hissing insults floating about amongst members of this so called 'team'. Destiny by itself was one rather hard pill too swallow on it's own. But another, well, being stuck with this lot of likely and undoubtedly insane lunatics wasn't a very appetizing thought to stomach either, especially considering how easily and quickly they went at one another's throats. Given that, he wasn't keen to voice his own thoughts or a possible decision on the matter at hand, mostly to keep the fore-mentioned 'hounds' at bay and save him the trouble of tripping over himself attempting to argue in a language that was still unfamiliar generally to his tongue. While it seemed that his given silence seemed to be working in his favor in the long run, because no one seemed to notice him standing there off in the back and too the side alone, and no one had come up to bother him about his own yet to be made (verbally, or not...) decision. But of course, his luck had run out and the supposed 'peace' he felt didn't last for long...

His shoulder's jerked as a twitch ran along down their length in response to a gentle, but rather unexpected tap on his shoulder blade, and a surprised hiss escaped his lips. Falke had already taken two harried steps backward in flight, before her voice, well he assumed a she because of how she sounded, interrupted his 'escape' and asked him a simple, almost hesitant question. "Hey, are you coming?" Was he? Good question. Blearily he scanned his surroundings, focusing on the general direction the others echoing, then abruptly disappearing footsteps, were heading, and then focused or well, attempted to focus somewhere above where her voice had come from nearby - but for all he knew he could be looking in an opposite direction. "Yes, I-... I was just thinking." He hummed softly in response. His thick German accent was heavy with a brassy touch, and seemed to be mauling the words a little as he spoke but it all still intelligible enough though still. Alright, fine. His decision had been made, though he necessarily didn't fully agree with it, but he put it out of his mind for now (it would do no sense in chewing cud over it). The stone trapped in the bounds of the ring on his finger, came to life with a faint, barely noticeable glow - likely a testament to his rather what could be called a wishy-washy decision at best, or to be simply be nice about it. While his decision was made, he still hesitated before following 'blindly'. "I'll follow after you," He added, before she could ask if he needed help. She agreed, turning around and lead the way, Falke reluctantly following behind like he said he would. She slipped through the portal to the other world, and paused momentarily before doing the same - allowing him to be the last left in this cold, empty, in-between place. He frowned, eyes narrowed as he sightlessly tried to size up what was just in front of him, the golden portal. The humming was louder now this close and that he was facing it, an odd queasy feeling came from it rolling around in his gut. "Here goes nothing..." He muttered to himself. Confidently he stepped forward, the light seemingly liquid pressing tightly against his body, and then nothing for the second time that day...

The second time he "woke up", he'd landed on his back, and slowly he shoved himself into a sitting position with a low, nearly inaudible groan. Okay. He really could deal with a little less of this brain meddling, teleporting, or what ever you'd call it, nonsense. Blinking, he glanced around. Nostrils flaring. He felt soft greenery tickling between his fingers, very overgrown grass. The air seemed cleaner, gentler. Well, where ever they'd ended up this time, it wasn't anywhere close to Central Park, or even New York for that matter. Aires then, alright. And then there was the matter when his brain finally caught up and was able to process what his ears were hearing from a man named Haru, Falke just sat there, not bothering to get up just yet. Trying to process all the information he was getting, with some success. In sort order, himself and the others (minus a missing Dorian), following this supposed guardian, unwilling mostly except for the promise of food and shelter, and hopefully to figure out more of how this all worked...

He didn't mind Haru's noting of names, and powers, and certain quirks or items they possessed. It was interesting in the scheme of things, and he wouldn't be one to ignore any information given (especially considering the mess-, situation they were now in). And all though it would be harder for him to start putting names to "voices", it was nice to have the names at least starting out. They continued into town until stopping at the inn, and that they had the attic available for then teens - the other room he assumed was for Haru, and his owl. And while some of the teens cringed at the thought of an attic, the spider-webs, dust, etc, that were often associated with an attic, Falke more so mentally cringed at how many flights of stairs he'd need to climb to get up there. Stair's were his bane; he tripped going down them, and going up them. But despite his worries, he made it up all three flights, without a trip that would send him to break his fool neck. And upon coming into the room, the first bed he quite literally ran into, he just claimed as his. He sat down, uneasily. Seemingly attempting to watch everything and everyone at the same time, with his wide, veiled eyes, without the ability the focus on anything. He remained silent, not honestly one to break any ice, or talk in general pretty much...

---

The owl twitching about on the ginger man's shoulders, seemed just as fine-feathered as the clothes the man wore. It's basic build to be something like that of the North American Snowy Owl: Its wings (a grand 5-foot wingspan) seemed a little to large for its smaller albeit lean seeming body. A beak of rough gold, and talons the same hue, glinted eagerly in the sunshine, it's own natural weapons of a sort. His feathers were a fair and pure white mostly, but tarnished honey strips and stripes clashed across it in an interesting display. Frightening, if only because of the intensity they held, gray-blue eyes (odd for an owl to have, instead of the normal yellow/orange) unnervingly focused on each member of the group, seemingly assessing them, as it's owner walked confidently down the hill to great them. When Haru began laughing, a soft, but particularly merry, cooing sound echoed from around it's beak, laughing in it's own way right along with him. When he stopped laughing and reached up to rub the back of it's head, the owl's "laughter" ceased but it's lids dropped over it's haunting gaze in pleasure of the scratch. When he moved forward suddenly, one of it's great wings flashed out to kept it's balance on it's moving perch, lids snapping open and intently focused on the the girl's who's necklace he held clasped in his hand. Prepared when he moved back, it's balance not bothered, it crouched slightly and leaned forward, alarmingly as if trying to get a good look at the girl itself. “Ah so she’s mine then… Isn't that interesting, Lillian?” Haru had mused to her, and Lillian, now named, hooted in confirmation. She moved back to her original position, her assessment done, standing quite regally if eerily silent. Her head tilted listening, as Haru continued, “Hey, aren’t there supposed to be twelve of you…? It seems that the March Warrior was mis-transported... Lillian, why don’t you send word up to Ryou?” Lillian twittered softly in response, almost as if she was that she'd be back as soon as she was able too. Spreading her large wings, she confidently leapt off Haru's shoulder. With heavy flaps she rose slowly as close as she was to the ground, until a gentle breeze caught a wing a spun her farther upward - swirling a few times in a circle above the rag-tag group to gain further height and her bearings, before she got a well-moving current of wind. Flashing off, and was but a distance speck of white in moments. Going to the person, Ryou, Haru had named, to fix the issue with Dorian's mis-teleportation.

"um...Okay." Darn! He wasn't used to this. Kyle usually didn't have problems keeping up with people, but he was certainly having trouble keeping up with Haru. At least he knew that someone was going to look for Dorian, and he hoped that the guy would be okay. Even if the redhead didn't send someone, he didn't give Kyle a chance to argue the issue anyway. The boy wasn't sure how he felt about that.

With Haru gone to the tavern, and pretty much everyone else gone to the room, There was only one thing left to do. What were the directions the lady gave? Three flights of stairs and a trap door in the ceiling? Considering she also said it's an attic, that did make sense, and Kyle wasn't sure how he felt about that either. Beggars can't be choosers, so he'd just have to deal with it. With a deep breath, he started purposely towards the stairs, but on passing the desk lady again, he gave a brief smile and bowed his head in her direction.

One...Two...Three, there was the door. Up the final ladder he popped his head into the room with a quick glance over all the beds. He'd think about that when they got back from dinner. "Umm... Mr. Haru said to meet him across the quad for dinner at Mackal's Tavern. He went on ahead to make arrangements." His job done he lowered himself down the ladder so he wouldn't be in the way of the others, two of which immediately rushed down.

Tallyho listened to, Autumn (at least that’s what she thought her name was), briefly explain the clothing situation on Earth.
“What a strange style—is it uncomfortable?” she asked, a look of genuine curiosity flashed in the lights of her eyes.

It was then that the shorter boy—Kyle was his name—peaked out from the floor door to inform them of their meal.

“Oh thank the Goddess,” The blonde huffed as she stood up, immediately cutting ties with all conversation. She was starving—just starving—she took another glance outside of the window to see the nightlife glowing from the tavern porch.

In the glass she caught a gander of her reflection and boy did she look a mess with her dust tanned face, and her hair harboring pieces of nature as it splayed about her crown and knotted at the name of her neck. She decided that a bath would be her first course of action.

Besides, she caught sight of the inn’s well when they first approached the building.

“You guys go ahead. I’m going to freshen up. Tell him I should be down in thirty minutes,” she mumbled as she scooped a wooden bucket from the corner of the room and into her arms. Hopefully the second floor’s washroom tub wasn’t too big, and she could fill it up after five trips.

“Just head on across the way, and don’t look at anybody for Aires’ sake,” she huffed as she made her way towards the exit, knowing well the anger of drunk Solacian.

Gwen was getting a lot of new information thrown her way. That was unfortunate because, distracted and shocked as she was, she didn't have enough mental resources to pay attention to what their guide was saying. She managed to gather that, as their guide, Haru was probably guiding them somewhere. Following seemed the best course of action, seeing as she would be stranded in an unfamiliar setting otherwise.

It just got stranger and stranger. The scene that gradually built before the group was like the set of a movie, set in medieval times. Gwen had a hard time not seeing the unfamiliar clothing as costumes and the old-fashioned buildings as set pieces. But even this she could believe more readily than any of the magic nonsense she had been bombarded with over the past hour or so. Nothing around her really defied her understanding of reality in the same way concepts like magical portals did.

What was most interesting to Gwen was that the environment didn't actually look that foreign. They could have been on Earth several hundred years ago for all she could tell. There was nothing strange about what she saw before her. Everything from the people to the construct of the buildings had aspects of familiarity that caused Gwen some degree of comfort.

Haru led the group, haphazard and motley, to an inn that shared the same aspects of modest familiarity as the rest of the town. He bought them a room in the attic, where it seemed they were expected, rather than instructed, to go.

Gwen emerged into the attic room, panting slightly, along with the others. The room was long and regular, both sides of it lined with identical beds. It reminded Gwen of a hospital or a homeless shelter. She chose a bed at random, settling for one in the middle of the right side. It was quite warm, heating rising or whatever, but she hesitated to take off her sweatshirt. She didn't have any problems with the people of New York seeing her physical condition, and even though she was still around strangers, the situation was different. These were strangers who would actually care. Probably. Maybe she was just fooling herself.

Gwen sat, crossed-legged, on her mattress. It was extremely nice, actually. She hadn't slept on a proper mattress since she had been very, very small. She could hardly remember it. She pushed her hands into it, savoring the feel of it giving way beneath her weight. From her perch, she watched the others as they themselves settled down and mingled among themselves. With a small twinge of regret, she rubbed the outside of her upper left arm. Pity she'd lost her dagger, especially when entered a new environment like this. Even if she wasn't very good at using it, she preferred having the sense of security the weapon provided her.

Gwen was surprised when a long-haired teen announced that they would be having dinner at a tavern. She had assumed that they would be cooped up in this room until they found suitable clothes. They would be sure to work up some gossip dressed the way they were, particularly if this town was as small as it looked. At least her clothes were so torn up that they were hardly recognizable even on Earth as any specific pieces of clothing. Ultimately she was grateful, though. The last thing she had eaten was that burger out of the garbage, and who knew how long ago that had been, what with the dimension-jumping or whatever.

Gwen looked up at the lake-guy in the bed across from her. She sighed, drawing her knees up to her chest. There was nothing now to do except wait, it seemed. The situation suddenly seemed dreadfully stifling.

“Well, I guess that just leaves us.” Skylar said out loud as Tallyho slipped out the door, not speaking to anyone in particular.

She wondered if they should wait for her, after all she was the native here and would know what to do if they ran in to anyone along the way who pointed them out for being outsiders. She let out a soft grunt- figures that as soon as she felt comfortable in New York she was whisked away to another place where she stuck out even more.

After a few minutes of everyone sitting in silence Skylar decided that she was too hungry to wait any longer, her stomach growling in protest.

“I’m going to head over right now, if anyone wants to join me. I don’t know about y’all but I’m starving.” She said, waiting to see if the others would join her before she made her way down to the tavern.

Harper rolled his eyes at Skylar's comment. "You know, I'm right here," he stated, stretching his arms behind his head, "And people think I'm the rude one."

Bored with where the conversation was going now (clothes, really?) he pulled out his phone, just to double-check whether there was reception here or not. No bars...he called Sadie just to make sure and was met with an obnoxious beeping. Well, that did make sense...since he doubted there were any satellites or phone towers here. They probably still relied on snail mail.

"Well, it was worth a shot," he mumbled. He still had some battery life left and turned the phone off to conserve it, shoving it back into his pocket.

Around here the announcement for dinner arrangements was made. As if in response, Harper's stomach growled loudly, and he stood up. "Finally!" he exclaimed, "I'm starving."

He was already down the ladder by the time Tallyho announced the others to leave without her, and he was out the door and walking briskly towards the tavern when Skylar spoke up. A tavern... he thought brightly as he pulled open the heavy wooden door and peered around for the ginger, That means Harper will be drunk as a fish tonight!

His eyes followed after a barmaid and his grin tugged wider. And possibly laid.

The wash room was tucked at the end of the hall of the second floor. It was a small room, with a simple tub and a little side table where a basket of homemade soaps and sheabutter scrapings were kept for the use of customers. A full length mirror was propped in the corner.

Tallyho made about four trips to the well before the tub water was at a decent level; then again, the tub was quite small. It was a lavish wash bowl for a rich woman’s dog and Tallyho had to draw her knees to her chest in order to fit and be at least moderately comfortable.

After getting over the lack of space, and the stale, lukewarm water, Tallyho was able to take a decent wash. She spent minutes on her hair, doing as much as she could with what she had, by lathering her locks with a light rose soap, and conditioning with shea butter she melted by rubbing shavings between her palms until they melted. To be honest, she felt pretty clean, cleaner than she had felt in a long time.

Her dirt tan made way for her natural milky glow. Her hair, though wet, seemed to be a shade lighter; honey blonde curls spiraled down and stuck to her back like fine silk webs. Her lips outgrew their crude, chapped salmons and fitted themselves into a soft, refined pink.

When she finished, she dried herself with one of the crude towels the house keepers place into wash rooms every fifteen minutes. She observed herself in the mirror, pleased with her softer features.

“Too bad I’m gonna get roughed up again,” she offered a slight chuckle when she thought about what a fun night she would have at the tavern—how fat she would get—how many drinks she would have. But her laughter died when she thought about the month warrior business.

She redressed.



The tavern was a lively place. The men were rough, bearded fellows, and the women, most being barmaids, ran on the scale of being a bit homely to rather attractive. Folk music plucked about the room, sheepskin drums were tapped, the lutenists yodeled and howled as they plucked the strings of their wooden lutes and sung oral legends to which their audiences sang along. A few burly men danced about with lazy barmaids. Surly guys held drinking games on the other side of the room. A pack of old men laughed loudly at dirty jokes at a table nearby Haru’s. This was truly a working class man’s paradise.

Seeing the warriors flood in, Haru waved his hand, inviting the first to arrive—Harper—to the largest table in the room, and he continued to do the same to the others as they stumbled in.

“Well welcome to your first dining experience here on Aires,” he said as he gestured to the seats. “I suppose I should begin by giving you an idea about the country you are in and the most common foods that are around here.”

The redhead reached down into his pocket and withdrew a small map. He flattened it out on the table and set his finger on a large continent in the south west corner of the drawing. Within that form, he gestured towards a tiny mark labelled “Tabbard”.

“We are in Solace right now, a very rural, agricultural country where the wheat fields are high, and the beer is fresh. Here you will find lots of corn dishes—fried corn, smoked corn, corn pudding. Wheat is pretty big here too, so there are lots of plain cakes and what not. But meat is a little sparse, so people here mainly each chicken, but sometimes trappers can snag bears and stags. There are lots of peaches in this country, and I mean a lot. I mean, every dessert on this menu probably has peaches in it. But if there aren’t peaches, there is probably Banya in your cake—a fruit that is only native to this region. It’s pretty good raw, but people like to put it in pastries, liquors, even medicine if their crazy enough.”



Tallyho entered the tavern. The familiar smells washed over her and the corners of her mouth twitched into a slight smile. She could feel the light breezes against her pores—and oh—it felt great to be fresh and clean. It was as if she never knew the little vagabond she once was. She felt great, she looked great—at least she thought she did—and now she was getting free food and alcohol. Oh, this Month Warrior thing might be a little amazing.

She made her way to Haru’s table and took a seat—in too good of a mood to pay attention to who she was sitting next to. Just as she settled down, a middle-aged bar maid made her way over to the table.

“Would you all like the house beer?” Her voice was a little raspy. Haru leaned forward, asserting his position as the speaker of the table, knowing that most of them had no idea what they were doing.

He held his finger up as if to tell their waitress to wait a second, then looked back at the group.

“You people are all about seventeen, right?” he didn’t wait for an answer, “they’ll each take one. No seconds though. I’m not sure how they will react to such a strong one.”

As the maid walked away, Haru looked back at the group.

“If I find out that you’re under seventeen and your drinking this shit, I’m going to kick your asses,” he made his threat short, sweet, and to the point. He wanted to give them a good time, but he didn’t want them dying of alcohol poisoning so early in the game.

“Says the boy who bolted at the first sign of trouble back in Central Park. And for the record,” Skylar said sweetly in response to Harper’s earlier remark as she slid into one of the chairs at the table. “You did deserve it.”

She felt the grumbling in her stomach growing louder as Haru described all the food, the smells alone making her mouth water.
Free food and free beer? And it was completely legal? Skylar was beginning to think that this alone made up for the pure chaos that the tavern offered. Maybe if she got drunk enough she’d be able to ignore the noise and stench of the place.

An awkward sort of silence had fallen over the group, the tension making Skylar slightly uncomfortable.

“Alright, I know this is lame but we might as well get to know each other if we’re going to be spending so much time together,” She said suddenly, running a hand through her hair. “Anyway, um. I’m Skylar. I’m originally from Florida but I’m studying communications at New York University…” She trailed off, hoping that someone else would hopefully join in and she wouldn’t feel like a huge dumbass.

Allowing her gaze to flicker over to Skylar, the brunette gave off what seemed to be a soft smile. "I'm Lux. I was born in Cincinnati, but my family moved to Buffalo. I'm still in high school and I'm looking at going to college in New York City." She commented, sympathizing with the girl for trying to make a valiant effort on breaking the ice that seemed to have covered the warrior's table.

However, the idea of the food and the smell that lingered in the air was making Lux start to chew a little on the inside of her lip. She heard what was her own stomach growl before letting out a sigh. It was hard to tell how hungry she was until she fully realized it! And it was also the description of all the types of food here on Aires that made her hungrier just thinking about the similarities. Perhaps this place wasn't so bad once you got past the fact that it did not rely on technology like her world did.

Harper scoffed at Haru's words. "Please," he said, leaning back in his seat, hands behind his head. He had to fight the urge to put his feet on the table and compromised by propping one foot up against his other knee in the stereotypical '4' position men liked to sit in. "I haven't been 17 in 5 years." Besides, how strong could beer be? It wasn't like hard liquor.

He shrugged at Skylar's comment, "Hey, if I had run faster sooner, some other pearl-wearing sucker would be here instead of me. So, really, you guys are stuck with me because I wasn't more of an asshole."

He snorted at the introduction, and added at the end of Skylar's, "Yeah, she's trying to become a professional liar. Believe me, you don't need to go to school for that."

As more and more people introduced theirselves (mainly herselves) Harper realized that he was correct: most of these people still lived with their parents. Or were just starting college. Either way, all were younger than him.

"Sheesh," he said, "I can't believe the world is supposed to get saved by a bunch of teenagers."

Jason had been unusually quiet for himself, but these people wouldn't know that since he just met them. The place they were staying was way different than anything he'd ever seen, but, hey, this was a different world after all. It reminded him of a book series he read once. Wheel of Time or something like that? Eh, doesn't matter.

At the mention of food, Jason realized how hungry he actually was, and was eager enough to follow the others to the tavern. The smell of the food, and the descriptions Haru gave had his mouth watering... but for him, the beer was a definite no go. Being one of those people who quickly adapts and feels comfortable around new people, Jason didn't even notice the awkward atmosphere around the table until on of the girls, Skylar, she said, introduced herself, and he noticed the others uncomfortable expressions or postures. Two other girls, Lux and Autumn, followed up.

But, of course, that annoying guy... I think it's Harper or something? just had to make more stupid comments. He shook his head and sighed, a little annoyed. "Hey, lighten up, dude. Your attitude sucks. We're all stuck here whether you like it or not, so just deal with it. Like the adult you so proudly claim to be."

He turned towards the others and gave a small smile. "Jason Carter. Grew up in Music City, AKA, Nashville, Tennessee. Do to some... circumstances, I've been live'n on my own for the past two years. Came to New York to check out a scholarship opportunity, and luckily I'm able to stay with a family friend." He remembered the reason he'd gone out anyways and ended up at the park, turning a little red, "I, uh, kind'a got lost and ended up at Central Park, so, yeah, but kind'a glad I ended up there. This is all pretty interesting."

Autumn rolled her eyes at Harper’s remark. Was he trying to be a jerk? She made a mental note not to be bothered by anything he said. If anything, he was probably just trying to get a rise out of everyone. How long would he last like this? If he continued to be so rude, she couldn’t imagine him staying around very long.

Still, teenagers probably weren’t what Autumn would choose if she had a world to save. “I’m sure we’ll do fine.” She smiled hopefully, though she wasn’t quite sure if she believed her statement. She couldn’t even move when the cyclopean first attacked at the park. If that trend continued, she just knew she wouldn’t be alive for very long. If that was the case, she had to face her fears. Fast. The thought of having to fight those monstrosities left an unsettling pit in her stomach.

Harper raised his eyebrows at the southern kid's comment. "I am dealing with it," he said, and then grinned, "Right now I'm dealing with it by complaining. And in a few minutes I'll be dealing with it by eating, getting smashed, and hopefully getting laid, like the adult I am.

He leaned back some more, balancing on the two back legs of his chair and musing at the ceiling. "You know, they did some sort of study where if you complain and whine and bitch about all the bad stuff, it leaves your system and you end up more clear-headed on the inside."

He wasn't sure if this was true or not, but it sounded legitimate to him. "It's like burping," he explained further with a wave of his hand, "If you don't let it out, the gas inverts and you end up with the shits."

The southern kid introduced himself as Jason, and when he mentioned he was from Tennessee, Harper snapped his fingers and pointed in his direction with an excited "Called it!"

Harper grew more excited by the end of his intro, since he himself was involved in it. "Yeah, this guy asked me for directions," he said, "And, you know, I told him exactly where to go, but I guess he doesn't know his right from his left. You know, actually, it's hard to get lost in New York City, at least in the Manhattan part, because everything goes by numbers. Like, 32nd comes before 33rd and after 31st. It's great."

He snorted at Autumn's hopeful comment. "Yeah, I'm sure we'll do fine too, once we get our food and drinks," he said sarcastically, sitting forward with a heavy 'thud' from the chair, "But seriously, where's the food? Do we just order or do they bring it to us, or what?" He raised an eyebrow at Haru's direction.

Harper held up his hands as Skylar snapped at him, "Hey, I'm not saying I'm better than you. I didn't even want to save the world, remember?" He leaned forward on the table and held out a finger, "There's only one thing I'm competitive in, and that's swimming."

He snorted at Skylar's liar comment, though. "That's funny. I don't have a great memory, but if I recall correctly, you said you wanted to work in PR for companies, specifically to cover up for them when they screw up, amirite? That's pretty much the closest you can get to professional lying, besides lawyers."

And then the blonde guy spoke...Harper's eyes widened and he laughed loudly. Guffawed, more like...he even clapped his hands. "Dude, I have a god-damned P-H-D in assholery," Harper finally answered, still giggling, "And I didn't need to go to college for it, let me tell you."

Before he could, Autumn interrupted, apparently wanting to diffuse the energy. Still, she had a point. "I bet you're right," he said, still grinning from the blonde's comment. "I don't know what you're talking about with the calm stuff, though. I'm calm as a cucumber. It's these guys who don't know how to take a joke."

Jason, turning red, was about to say something in response to explain why he kept getting lost in New York, but then the blond boy commented. It kind of took him off guard, so there was a split second where he completely froze, and could almost hear an audible switch in his mind and an unwanted visualization. Now he was really just trying to hold in his laugh. Harper's response to the blond almost pushed him over the edge, so he covered his face with his hand and pressed his other arm into his stomach, trying to get his composure back. Even after one of the girls spoke about calming down and getting food and rest, he was still struggling to hold it in, but recovered... sort of, and let out a breath.

"Rest. Yeah. Rest would be good."

Jason, feeling way more carefree, still not fully recovered, smiled when he heard another girl introduce herself as Aria, "Hey. Kind'a like Arya from those Eragon books, huh? Definitely an awesome name. Mine's kind'a boring, but," he shrugged, "eh, who cares?" There were suddenly lots of questions he wanted to ask people on his hype, but they were too muddled in his mind to get one out verbally, so he shook his head, leaning back into the chair.

Suddenly remembering something Haru mentioned, asked, "Did Haru say one of you had a talent for reading tarot cards? How does that work?" He'd always been curious about that, but never enough to look into it for himself.

Haru rolled his eyes as Harper deliberately ordered another beer despite his advice. He didn’t care if he got something else but that house beer, that just wasn’t for him. Or any of the earthlings for that matter. But he wasn't going to take it away.

“That for me, man?” He hummed as he sat back in his chair and chewed on an unlit cigar. Honestly all of them were kind of idiots. Skylar didn’t have to call them stupid directly to see that. But he wasn't going to say anything, at least until it was time to get to business. If anything, his off hands approach was a good way of seeing what was wrong with them all.

Tallyho slid her way through a crowd of burly men who hovered over a table of gold and liquor.

Two men were seated face to face. One was very rough-looking—thick red beard, a wart under his right eye, broad, thick freckled shoulders, and a body just as large and strong. But his face seemed troubled. He looked ill, and he hissed as the man before him gulped down his last shot.

The other was a little lankier, but he was breaded for sure, and perhaps even a little older than the man he faced. One of his eyes were blue from blindness while the other was slightly crooked. As he finished his last shot, she wiped his beard, and spooned all of the gold from the redhead’s side, to his own. The crowd erupted into cheers and grunts.

“What are you playing? I want to play,” Tallyho said bluntly. She never considered herself a dainty person, but compared to the gruff voices of the barmen, and their hard stares when she announced her desire to play, she certainly fit the part. She tried to reestablish her poker face.

“You?” The redhead man burst into a gravelly chuckle, “You ain’t nothing but a little daisy!”

Another man chimed in, “yeah, you here with yer papa? Yer man?”

“He certainly ain’t doin’ a good job of keepin’ her in place, whoever he is,” the black bearded man huffed.

They erupted with laughter.

Tallyho’s face flushed scarlet with anger. She hated these bar types—loved the bars—but hated the sounds and smells of drunk men when she had to deal with them first hand.

As they laughed she balled up her fist and slammed it against the table. The glasses shook and the room grew quiet—but in an amused way. Some even began to chime into the silence with a patronizing, “oooooooooh”.

“I ain’t got no Pa and I aint got no man—so let me play,” she said. Her voice was firm.

The redhead man closed his eyes, raised his brows and held up his palms, “alrighty! Go on, play. But don’t expect noneofus’ to be kind to ye and get yer caretaker after yer wasted.”

As he moved away from the seat, Tallyho sat down, and struggled to scoot her seat up to the table. A few men whispered crass jokes. But the blonde focused on the black bearded man, whose face was relaxed.

“He used to be the drunkard,” he whispered loudly, “that is before he built up such a tolerance.”

Tallyho waved him off. The barmaid came around and cleared the table, replacing them with fresh rounds of shots for each competitor.

Tallyho eyed the gold on his side of the table. She was ready.

Haru took note of the situation. He was disturbed by two things, one that Tallyho was currently the most likely to get into a bar fight, and two, that the others probably didn't even notice, or care, that their comrade left the group.
He was also a little depressed by the group's tendency to fight, Harper's role as an attention whore, and some of their overly optimistic attitudes. It wasn't like Aires was a game....

He chuckled.