Dog's Story

/It appears we’re leaving. Time to get up, I suppose/

The young man stood carefully, lifted his sodden bag, and then nodded at his Mirror, which nodded back and vanished, revealing Verge to the sight of the arena. He hefted his sodden bag onto his shoulder, with all its remarkably ordinary supplies, yawned and walked closer to the main group, smirking just a bit at the sight of all the overconfident ones suffering the punishment set out by this Rend being, and trotted up beside the woman who had last spoken to the fairy who had drenched him, resulting on sopping wet locks that he constantly had to push out of his eyes, and in his clothes clinging uncomfortably to his body with every turn.

“Excuse me, ma’am.” He bowed gently, then kept talking. “What did the fairy want? Any hints on how to get out, perhaps?” he winked and grinned, then looked around the arena, his eyes landing on an unclaimed bag not far from where he’d woken up. “Be right back, sorry.” He jogged over and checked for a label, finding nothing, so he shrugged and unzipped it, finding some clothes, a squeaky bone, a jar of peanut butter and multiple packets of dog treats.

Verge blinked, lifting out one of the foil packs. Maybe it was for the Adira girl and her dragon pet?

Verge's discovery of one of the bags had not gone entirely unnoticed.

At least one of the assembled creatures was watching rather intently.

The skitter of blunt, canine claws on the wet rock sounded as a large, rather damp dog came bounding over, shook itself off extravagantly and dropped into a sitting position at the young man's feet. It long tail sweeping back and forth furiously across the ground as the animal's mismatched eyes flicked from hi, to the bag, then bag to him, with a look of great expectation.

Whilst Verge had been somewhat unsure of who exactly this bag was meant for, this dog appeared to know exactly where it belonged.

----

Of the folks that hand landed, for lack of a better word, there was still one who had yet to actually rise to their feet.

A figure was lying sprawled over by the side of the arena, by this point surrounded by a puddle of rain after their inert body had been pushed into a small dip in the irregular rock by the force of the storm. Some ceremonial headdress made from some fossilized bone hung askew from their head and the odd, slightly sinister assortment of ragged clothes and skins it wore were now soaked and sodden.

Tendrils of red hair spread across the rock like some kind of deep sea creature washed ashore.

Odd, crude talismans on flax and leather stings hung splayed out on the rocks, glinting with moisture.

Red and blue dyes has seeped into the still water in disparate webs of stringy colour.

Somewhere, a ritual had been interrupted.

Ma’am. While others might have chosen to correct what was, really, a completely honest mistake, Madison chose not to- at least, not for the moment. He hardly bothered these days until it was completely necessary for him to do so, and the young man had already flounced off before he could have the chance to do so. As such, the vampire merely blinked once, twice, thrice, then trailed after. It was rude not to answer a question, after all- especially when said question pertained to someone who had escaped captivity as easily as waving her wrist.

As soon as he was in proper earshot once again, Madison slowed to a stop, taking care not to plant himself in a puddle or anything of the sort (these heels had been expensive, after all!) before speaking. “I’m afraid that she didn’t tell me anything about getting out,” he admitted. “She was in a bit of a...rush to get out, you could say. All she gave me was a warning before- well, considering you saw her before she left, I’m sure you know what she did just now, too.”

The lie came naturally, the researcher not missing a beat throughout his words. While he was sure that this one wasn’t as...volatile as the others, he was still determined to keep the existence of the fairy’s presents hidden for the time being. With how the gathering had been acting, and how powerful the woman had shown herself to be, there was enough evidence to make Madison reasonably wary- or so he felt. Even if they decided to properly ally, there was still the chance they would attempt to use the capsules for more malicious purposes. So he simply decided to keep his lips sealed, absentmindedly adjusting his packs as he stood.

Soon enough, Madison seemed to realize something, and smiled brightly even if the other’s eyes were not on him. “I’m Madison, by the way; it’s nice to meet you.” Curious as to what had drawn the man’s attention, he peered over his shoulder, looking at the contents of the bag from where he was. A question had begun to form itself on his lips, although it was soon and suddenly replaced upon catching sight of a dog trotting up.

The question itself was delayed again as the vampire cooed at the canine, bending a little in order to pet its head.

Once he had remembered what he had been about to say, Madison raised his head, although he kept his eyes locked on the little beast for the time being. “Is she yours? She’s beautiful!” Although he typically disliked assumptions, the other had been rifling through a bag stuffed to the brim with dog treats and other miscellaneous objects, so there was at least some evidence to do so.

By the point that both Adira and Rasteva had spoken, he had lowered himself to the ground already, tucking his duffel bag beneath him so as to avoid getting himself wet. He appeared completely and utterly distracted by this point, so his sudden raising of voice seemed to only spring from nowhere at first.


“I have to agree with Kora on this, actually. After all, you two- such a cute little puppy- you two seem to be assuming that our host didn’t add in other challenges for us to deal with. This...being has been acting extremely erratically which leads me to believe that there may be some things that we can’t expect outside- I’m sure you all remember the sudden lava, after all. We have enough rations to feed all of us, I’m sure, and the gate can be barricaded…” He paused once again, moving to actually look back at the others.

“I would say that we should cast a vote. From what we’ve heard, we’re all a team, and if one of us ends up wounded, we’ll all end up punished one way or another. Shall we?”

After all, he was no leader. Calling a vote and conducting himself as if he was was only stir more tension, or so Madison believed.

Khojin gave a very exaggerated look around the arena. "No poison dolphin's here," she commented, letting her duffle bag fall to the ground.

There was a point to what she said, of course; thus far none of the dangers claimed to be present in this world had appeared in the arena. Even the lava sharks had stopped at the gate, with one only passing the iron barrier when it was yanked in by a homicidal man encased in magic metal. This also seemed to be the only known location people had arrived at; wouldn't it make sense for the area to be warded against outside dangers? She said as much to the others.

"I mean, yeah, I could be wrong, but judging by our current track record this is our best bet," she waved up at the iron wires strung over the arena's mouth. "That's a good defense against anything from the air, an' the only t'restrial entrance is the gate, which we could probably close if needed. Or, failing that, drop Big Man Metal in the center of it. He seems reasonably impervious. Did you get smaller?"

She didn't notice before, but the suit of armor seemed to have shrunk several feet. Unfortunate. Still, her point remained. Oh, she almost forgot.

"Hey, jus' by the by, if we're s'pose to be a team wouldn't it be better to separate into groups?" she asked, lacing her fingers behind her head. "I mean, we'd be slower and attract more attention if we all jus' followed each other. Like, I dunno bout you guys but in my world travel in the Wastelands mandated groups no larger than four or five, unless you were lookin' to raid one of the Gaian settlements."

"Oh. And, uh, I'm Khojin. Not sure if we did introductions."

---

Azai had been enjoying a night's rest in his web just moments before and now he was falling... and falling... and falling. He wasn't a fly! He didn't have wings! How the hell did that ominous voice think that it was a great idea to have him spiraling down in the darkness like this? He had tried to use his webs to cling to something but this inky blackness had no ledge, branch, or ceiling. It was just emptiness. He did have a strange bag that appeared beside him but that wasn't helping him right now. He almost wished he was back in the mansion he despised. At least things there made sense! Why was it that he was the one that always got snatched away from his home and brought somewhere else? This was the second time, damn it! And this time, he hadn't even done anything to warrant his capture!

Suddenly, the shadow seemed to break open and spit the spider out and he continued to drop. The ground and people were fast approaching. "Ah!" he cried out a bit undignified as he landed on one of the creatures below. Both he and the stranger hit the ground hard though Azai had to admit, he was lucky this guy cushioned his fall. He winced and started to try and get to his feet but the damn bag dropped on his back then and he winced as he hit the man beneath him again. He groaned and shook his head, his dark strands falling against his pale skin. He looked up, his deep amethyst gaze catching a glimpse of the dog in front of him. He had never seen a creature like him before. His eyes widened as he got on his hands and knees, careful to actually use the ground as leverage instead of the man. He pulled himself off the stranger and dusted himself off, his gaze never leaving the strange four-legged beasty. He wondered how the creature's innards tasted like.

The black widow then realized there were others in the strange place he found himself. He tensed and crouched low. He gave a hiss and bared his fangs. He really didn't like meeting strangers as of late. The voice said he was in a different world, but was it really a different world or was the master of the house toying with him? Punishing him for biting that patron? He wasn't supposed to bite or harm the others after all but it really wasn't his fault the man kept poking his face. The guy was asking to be bitten. He didn't recognize anyone or anything here. And being out in the open like this put him at a disadvantage. His only true weapons in this situation were his fangs and claws but he couldn't take on all of these strangers. Some of them looked like their skin wouldn't be easily penetrated.

Khojin gazed up at the sky for a moment, considering. If she were alone, then sure, she'd go out no problem, probably get 20 malms by the end of the night. But with a group of... how many people were there? Here, Adira, Rasteva, the four or five from the same world, Stride, Lightning Hei-Senn, armor dude 2, white hair boy, girl with worse black clothing than her, Shao in the dress, a dog, and the new guy who apparently fell on... Who was that? Regardless, their number was easily around a dozen, far more than she felt comfortable travelling with.

She clicked her tongue and dropped her arms, swinging them a bit at her sides. "Fine. But I still think we should split into smaller groups. If Rend has somethin' he wants us to do, I'm sure he can organize it in stages. Besides, three of the others already bolted, so..." She flicked her finger to Stride, Rasteva, and Adira. "I call these three. If we do go with that idea."

She picked her bag back up and slung it over her shoulder. No use leaving it in the dust. She lifted her leg to begin walking before another thought struck her.

"Hey," she began, resettling her foot. "If we are s'pose to work with each other, shouldn't we know what everyone brings to the team?"

“Oh, aren’t you gorgeous!” Verge held out a hand for the dog to sniff while the other fumbled out two of the treats, which he offered flat on his palm to the large canine. He was already soaked, so he didn’t mind the droplets thrown and he examined the animal, an unknown breed but seeming healthy enough, lots of fur, bright eyes, wet nose (he’d read somewhere that was a good sign) and a healthy appetite.

“Ah, too bad.” he muttered, turning to look at the lady as the dog bounded to her, “But I guess I wouldn’t be in too much of a hurry to explain. Think she knew this Rend being could take away powers? Name’s Verge, by the way.” he introduced, while looking into her eyes. The skills that gave him a Mirror of Deception gave him a feeling that she might be lying, but he didn;t push. He assumed the lady would be kind enough to share, if there truly was a solution in the box he’d seen passed over. “And ah, no, she’s not mine. The bag wasn't labelled, so I was curious, and I guess she smelled the treats?” he offered by way of explanation. And then, with a shout, he stumbled back as a man fell from the sky, right onto the lady he’d been speaking with.

Verge blinked golden eyes and stared at the black haired being now raising himself off the squashed lady (she appeared to be alright, if maybe a bit winded). Pretty purple eyes locked on the dog hungrily, and Verge took another step back. His summon, which had appeared in his panic, did the opposite and stepped forward. A friendly silhouette of a Peter pan style, it waved, gestured back at verge, and then spun a finger near its head in the gesture for “crazy”, before shaking it’s head as if with exasperation. Verge, standing behind it, rolled his own eyes as he glanced over the true form, a tall spindly demon with razor sharp claws. “Um, hello?” he greeted, already regaining composure. “I’m Verge, I’m not going to hurt you, what’s your name? We need to find your bag.”

Kora folded her arms and rolled her eyes upon her point getting met rather..well very dismissively.

"Fine. Believe whatever you like. By all means just stroll out and eat whatever you find on the floor if it suits you. No-one is obligated to follow though. If experience has taught me one thing, it's that running into a place with no idea what's waiting for you is the best way to get you, and other people killed. I'd vote for Madison's proposal, but splitting up suits me fine, though Glowstick and Saika are staying with me regardless."

She'd cast a glance toward Makorai upon the mention of 'experience'. She was rather less concerned about individuals getting themselves killed, that was, ultimately, their own choice. She was however more concerned about one person's hubris being paid in the lives of others. She'd seen more of that than she really wanted to think over.

"And it sounds like me, Madison and Masky there are all on the same page about it. I dunno how everybody else feels."

At least partially she was more inclined to stick with these people, even though them being aware of her name was.... a little disconcerting...because they'd been taking her concerns even moderately more seriously. Also one of them hadn't just tried to kill her.

Plus now they had Skip in tow, and environmental extremes were a bit of a problems for someone with his rather....unique talents. Triggering Skip's special skill would end the game for all concerned, she was pretty sure of that.

At the point the new figure fell from the sky.
Kora took a moment to dwell on the fact that that would probably have really surprised her maybe an hour ago, and now was getting to be sort of an everyday occurrence. Like a rain shower or something.


---

The Dog had padded up to Madison upon being called, and, almost immediately flopped onto her back, all four feet in the air, and was enjoying being petted through the talking.

She was perfectly contented with this during the speech.... right up until the moment when something landed on its new friend.

Dog scrambled to her feet, gazing over at the thing with mismatched eyes for a moment before skittering back in alarm and standing, feet planted and hackles raised, some distance away.


----

Over by the edge, the figure in the skins and paint lifted its head from the puddle, coughing feebly and pushing itself onto the edge of the shallow dip with its elbows, making it far enough to avoid the imminent thread of drowning before dropping its head again, resting it on one arm and attempting, rather vaguely, to make some sense of all the non-sensical things that were taking place through half-lidded eyes.

It was all strange, but she was quite used to strange.

He didn’t know.

Even without looking within his mind, his obliviousness towards...well, what had happened was obvious enough. Drake was just as animated as before, as alive as before, just as Dawn had remembered. He brought up the presence of the Erubesco troops, but it was the thing that he had added after that truly caught her attention- the idea of an alternate world. Of them having been taken as the voice had said, and thrown into a place where the beings they had seen were completely natural. It didn’t take long for the girl to put the pieces together, to work out the implications of what had been told to her, and what she had seen with her own eyes.

If they really were in an alternate world, then…

Dawn had already seen proof that others had come from her world already. The woman, Kora, and another from the attack, the radioactive man whose name had slipped her mind, and now Drake. Given the fact that they were currently surrounded by walking suits of armor and actual dragons, this...being having the ability to take some from alternate timelines- even alternate dimensions, perhaps- didn’t seem too far-fetched.

Or perhaps the fever dream theory was still plausible.

Either way, there would be no point in making any dry comments of actually seeing ghosts, or even bringing up the subject of what had happened in her own time. Dawn only turned to look at her company once more, put up a smile that was- hopefully- more genuine in appearance than the first, and did her best to steady her emotions for the time being. Brooding over all of...this would only bring more problems than they already had, after all.

“I’m fine,” she lied, a soft, breathy laugh escaping her. “I’m just...a bit surprised at all this, really. Nothing too bad, really- we just need to focus on what ‘Rend’ wants from us, right?” Before Drake had a chance to answer, however, Dawn’s attention was once again drawn away. Not by the brewing tensions, or even the fact that the person who had fallen was now eying a...dog? as if it were a piece of meat.

No; while the eerie nature of how the man was observing the canine was something to be concerned about, Dawn was more focused on the girl currently drowning in a puddle. Eyes widened, she quickly muttered a “hold on” before practically sprinting over to the person. With as much gentleness as she could muster for the situation, she dragged the girl out of the water and onto a relatively dry section of tile, and began to check to see if her airways were blocked. While Dawn didn’t have the same medical experience that others could boast, she at least knew well enough to perform the basics- namely, how to keep someone from choking to death if necessary.

An argument- a polite one, as one would expect from the vampire, but an argument nonetheless- was on Madison’s lips in response to Rasteva’s. He had been ready to point out the position of the sun in the sky, note that he only thought that the arena would make a better camp for the night instead of the outside- after all, as he had mentioned earlier, there was far more defense in the construct than going out in the open. Someone, he would have said, could have stood watch, and awoken the others if necessary. It could serve as a base until they had come up with a proper course of action, instead of merely charging out into the wilds completely unprepared.

However, he had no chance to say any of this, for as soon as the first syllable had sounded into the air, Madison had found himself abruptly carrying the weight of another out of nowhere. He stumbled, hands moving to secure his hat to his head before he collided with the ground. Hopefully, he thought, the dog wouldn’t end up injured in his fall- she was quite the sweet thing, after all, and it would be a shame if she getting hurt.

Luckily, from what he could see, she had managed to get away before he had fully hit the tile- while she was obviously startled by the suddenness of what had happened. Smiling at the creature, Madison moved to lift himself from the ground, finding it a much easier task when the weight rolled from his back. Curious as to see what had fallen onto him, he rose, brushing himself off as he looked down at the being.

It was another humanoid, by the looks of it. Not human, that was for sure- his scent gave him away as something...else, although Madison could not tell- but humanoid enough, especially when in comparison to some of their other company. The man had no wings, however, making it a bit of a puzzle as to how he had ended up so far in the air anyway. The researcher looked up, peering at the clouds above for a moment before lowering himself a little and extending a hand to help the fellow up.

“Well, that was quite the entrance you made!” He said chipperly, apparently not fazed at all by having someone fall onto him. “Are you alright, there? It seemed you landed a bit hard, there.” Seeing as he had not had the chance to answer his other companion before the little surprise, Madison briefly turned his head, flashing a smile at Verge yet again.

“At any rate, my name’s Madison. She may have known about what our host had intended, although she had left too soon for me to really tell-”

It was this moment that Madison had laid eyes upon the odd shadow that had begun to dance about Verge, causing another flare of goodnatured curiosity in his features. He didn’t get the chance to ask what it was (a shame this kept happening, really, he needed to sit some of these people down and properly interview them) before the sound of shouting rose into the air. Blinking, he looked over, took sight of the person- a human, most likely-, and regarded them for a few moments before turning back to the one on the ground. Didn’t want to leave him hanging, after all.

Nevertheless, it was still rude to ignore someone, so Madison once again raised his voice in order to properly reply. “Our company has a feeling that we’ll end up in more danger here than outside, because they believe that this world is made up of parts of ours.” An odd logic, really, given that there was no evidence of such an idea, but there was no point trying to figure out a puzzle that didn’t need to be solved so shortly. “They also think we should all split up for the time being- and, oh, I'm fine, Kora, thank you for asking."

A bit of a summary for both him, as well as any who had missed a majority of the argument. It wasn' t the most complete, really, but as long as they were there, they would have to learn how to work together on short notice.

---

Azai's narrowed eyes scanned the rather numerous members of this arena at a bit of a loss. Most had ignored his appearance which suited him just fine in this situation. At this point, being ignored or missed was a good thing. That meant he could find his way out of this situation as quickly as possible without being attacked or something. Then he could sit in a corner and watch what was happening and try and piece together the events. Right now, absolutely nothing was making sense. There was a tin can speaking about powers and talking in the third person maybe? She was odd. There were a wide range of humans and non-human looking things around and some had wings to. He couldn't tell who was friend and who was foe in this situation. He couldn't be back at the manor that was for sure. Kenner would not approve of this and though the man had threatened to put him in the arena if he didn't shape up, this wasn't the arena he spoke of.

The spider began to calm and shift out of his defensive position. Without everyone distracted he could slip away. Unfortunately a couple did spot him and spoke to him. The one he fell on even extended a hand towards him. He instantly crouched and hissed, baring his fangs again in panicked defense. He glanced to the side when he heard a commotion and saw a couple of people saving a stranger from drowning but quickly put that out of mind. That didn't concern him. He turned his gaze back to creature that extended a hand towards him and sniffed the air. Huh. Strange. He smelled male. Why did he wear female attire? It did look good on him but he was sure a male's outfit or perhaps something more revealing would suit him just as well. Azai's own clothing was airy and exposed to show off the elegant markings on his body. Kenner had refused to allow him the gems that normally adorned his body to accent them, but whatever.

He glanced at the two that had spoken to him. One had asked about his name and baggage? Was he talking about that thing that had fallen on him? Why did he want his baggage? He didn't know what was in it, but still. He said he didn't want to harm him but he did call up that... thing. Whatever it was. It was shadowed but it didn't look very friendly. Its motions confused the shit out of him though. What did he want? Verge... that was an interesting name to. He wasn't sure how he wanted to respond.

"Who are you people?" he asked the strangers then. "What is happening? Desert outside?" He glanced around at everyone again and backed away a bit to keep people in his line of sight. He didn't trust any of these people. That voice had said they were from different worlds. That meant he wouldn't know anything about these creatures. But if there was a desert outside, he preferred being in here. there were darker corners that he could tuck himself away in. It was safer than the open. He didn't care if these people died. If they died, more food for him. He didn't exactly want to go back to his world either. This place meant he was free from slavery. He glanced down at the black ribbon on his arm marking him as a black-tier slave. He grinned. He didn't need that anymore. He quickly ripped it off and let it fall to the floor.

Perhaps he wouldn't be attacked. No one here seemed to be attacking each other. He straightened himself slowly. He could easily spring and run away if he needed to. "Madison was it? Interesting...And Verge..." he mused. "You may call me Azai. Why are you wearing female clothing, Madison?" He glanced at Verge again. "And what is that shadow thing? Is that part of you?"

The man seemed quite obviously wary of Madison, even with the gesture being made towards him in all good intentions. His behavior was reminiscent of a cornered animal, tensing and baring now-visible fangs as if he expected the other to try and strike. Blinking in surprise, Madison drew his hand back again, not wanting to startle the poor soul any further. He had had enough experience in his days to know better than cause more stress in such a situation, so it was with a open smile that he backed away a few steps, providing the stranger with enough room to breathe.

As a flow of questions broke loose from the man, Madison merely waited, patiently listening until there was a large enough lapse for him to answer. “Like Verge said, we’re not here to hurt you or anything of that sort,” he replied. “We’ve all been...taken, you could say, by Rend- the voice you probably heard before you fell. Like you. Apparently, everyone here has to work together to escape.” He paused, going over what questions had been asked within his head, before going on once again. “And, yes, there’s a desert outside- I don’t think we know for sure how far it goes, but some of us are planning to camp for a while here before taking everything on.”

Upon the other’s introduction and following inquiries, the researcher brightened, and moved to rise after his company did so- taking care not to move too fast in the process. “My name is Madison, yes,” he beamed, apparently delighted that his words had been taken into account. “It’s nice to meet you, too Azai- and as for why I’m wearing woman’s clothing…”

Taking a hold of his skirts with both hands, Madison gave a bit of a twirl, the fabrics moving cleanly along with his action. “They’re very comfortable,” he chirped, once he had fully completed his little show. “I’d be glad to let you try one of my outfits if you’re curious. Since I’m currently away from home, I can’t really get out some of my better ones, but I’m sure that they’ll be something that can fit you in there, somewhere.” Even when in the face of danger, and held under the thumb of some omnipotent being, Madison was still focused on wardrobe choice by the sound of it.

Rasteva’s suggestion caused him to turn once again, eyes bright. His second love, just behind fashion; the pursuit of knowledge. What gave meaning to his immortality, drove him to avoid stagnation instead of embracing it like others of his kind. “Personally, I would love to hear any reality theories, if it’s possible. I’ve come up with a few of my own, but I’m very curious as to any other opinions on the matter.” A part of Madison wondered if he should ask to participate in the little spar-session, as well; while he did not count himself among the fighters of SCION, he, admittedly, enjoyed a bit of attention once in awhile. However, the thought was quickly dismissed- after all, showing his hand now would only give away what surprises would liven up the experience later.

So, he chose to abstain. He divided his focus between both current company and Rasteva, eager to gain information from both- because, really, it would be a shame to miss any opportunity to learn in a situation of this sort.

Skip III took Drake's failure to respond to his verbal jabs with pursed lips but unusual patience. There was so much going on to occupy his attention that he figured his unwilling foil could wait.

He listened to the exchanges, the tantrums, catching himself up on the situation, valiantly resisting the urge to run and pet Dog or Fell. Or Eze. Or anyone else with scales, feathers, fur, or tails. His patience held, for now.

Rasteva was saying something about showcasing skills.

First order of procedure when he was to be spending extended amounts of time with a new team... Skip checked his pocket. Still there. Probably not enough for everyone, but, he fished out the small plastic container and popped it open as he spoke.

"All right, I can spar," he volunteered, smiling at Stride broadly. He held up one of the small pills from the container and danced over to the masked woman to give her the gift. "I'll try not to produce any gamma rads, because ya know, nonlethal, but uh-- You should probably still have one of these. Actually--" He looked around, pouring the lot into his hand and beaming like nothing was at all alarming, "You should probably all have one." He passed one to Madison and the rest of the huddle by the puddle, smilingly giving Cain an extra for when their drowning victim recovered. To the man who had fallen from the sky, "Hi, I'm Skip the Third, you missed it. Welcome to not-the -afterlife. This'll keep you from getting thyroid cancer." One for Dawn. One for Amos. Not one for Drake. Drake came back to life. One for Makorai, with an apologetic edge to his smile because Skip knew Makorai was among the majority of Erubescans who avoided him like the apocalyptic plague he was. "Um no guarantees about other kinds of cancer. Except there's uh--not enough, but..." He counted the remaining iodide blockers. Three remaining. Everyone in the arena except Drake, Eze and Rasteva had now been handed a pill, and then there were the three scouts when they returned...

Skip looked at Rasteva. "Do you need one, Legion?" he asked, unsure about the suit of armor's mortality status.

He handed one of the remaining three to Ezenvare.
...And now he was so close. Whether or not it was offensive did not even cross his mind. He couldn't resist giving the reptilian man's scaley neck a pet.

Verge resolved to speak to Madison in private and ask again, maybe the other didn't want to share the fairy's secrets in such a public place.

However, at the moment, he was preoccupied with being told that Madison, the lovely woman he was chatting up, was in fact, a man. He looked at "her" again, blushing just a bit, then decided to stall, speaking to the newcomer that had fallen upon Madison.

"I'm an ordinary human." he said, calmly so that he wound't agitate the scared being. "The only thing not ordinary is that I can summon that shadow thing over there. It's part of me, in a way. I've been told it represents my mind" he shrugged.

Hopefully, that would lead the others to underestimate him. The shadow they saw, now dancing and playing around, gave off a much different impression than the twisted true form hidden under all the illusions. "That guy over there," he waved towards the group by the puddle, "the one without wings, he came in yelling that it was a desert. If he's telling the truth, then yeah. It's a desert. I haven't left yet myself. And yeah, we don't really know what happened, but there is a powerful being keeping us here until we complete some kind of tasks it's set. Are those tattoos?" he then asked curiously, referring to the webs on the black haired boy's pale skin.

And then, having exhausted his list of things to answer, Verge had to face Madison.

"I'm not going to apologize." he said slowly, "because I don't think you're insulted, or else you'd have corrected me when I first called you ma'am. You do look very good though, and clearly." he laughed with just a touch of awkward, "you had me fooled. Nice to meet you, sir." he greeted, and the moment of not knowing what to say next was broken by a glowing man offering him a pill to prevent radiation poisoning. "Um, thanks?" he said, then looked around at his two human companions as if asking what they made of this.