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Post by KayKay on Jun 23, 2018 7:36:06 GMT
Vesyka did her best to draw out a pot beneath a fire, hoping that Adra understood what it meant. She pointed to herself, then to the pot of food, and then proceeded to draw an arrow towards the same drawing of Adra.
She smiled at the girl when she rose her eyes from the drawing. Vesyka suspected that Adra hadn't had a hot meal in a long time.
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Post by Stage on Jun 23, 2018 8:18:27 GMT
Adra nodded, but her head was titled in confusion. She scratched something into the dirt, a blob that vaguely resembled the very island they were on when viewed from above. She then drew a line between it and Vesyka's recreation of Kyra. Beneath the curved line, the strange, alien girl drew a symbol composed of two parts. The upper part was a tailed shape most closely resembled an upside down musical note or a lowercase Q. The lower half was a petite, open circle, like a lowercase O. Taken together, they somewhat resembled a question mark.
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Post by KayKay on Jun 23, 2018 8:27:39 GMT
"Oh, I will show you."
Vesyka plucked a stick from the ground and made sure Adra could see it in her hand. She climbed to her feet and made her way towards a low-slung tree behind her. The sunlight didn't reach here, and at the base of the tree the shade was great enough to darken Veyka's pale features. They began to grow darker yet, however, and the shade grew into a thick blackness that surrounded the base of the tree and obscured Vesyka's small form entirely. There was a hair-raising screech, something that sounded more like metal being torn apart than the cry of an animal. When the darkness faded, Vesyka was gone.
"That is how I travel!" came a voice from behind Adra. Vesyka stepped out of the shadows of a completely different tree, only a few meters from Adra's back. She raised the same stick she had taken off the ground earlier. "I can bring people with me."
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Post by Stage on Jun 23, 2018 8:33:23 GMT
Adra seemed impressed by the display, her black eyes wide. Excitedly, she drew several arrows of varying length into the dirt, all of them besides a larger version of the symbol she had drawn before. For reference, she added several simple images besides the arrows. Two blobs that seemed to be Hyul and Lall next to the shortest one, a variety of small blobs and a jagged line that seemed to be the shoreline of the mainland next to the longer one, and, finally, a grand blob that was assumably the whole of Lemuria next to the longest one, though it was obvious she had not seen large portions of the continent.
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Post by KayKay on Jun 23, 2018 8:39:05 GMT
Vesyka pointed to the longest arrow. "Oh, but Kyra says that it feels very funny," she warned. She wrapped her mud-coated arms around her belly and squeezed, trying to demonstrate what it was like.
"But it does not hurt," she quickly clarified, leaning down to draw in the dirt – a sad face, and then an X crossing it out.
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Post by Stage on Jun 23, 2018 8:43:50 GMT
The girl gave a small smile. She did not seem discouraged by the idea. Still squatting, looking up whenever she needed to communicate with Vesyka through her face rather than art, she hastily draw herself. Then she drew her wings. While the lines she had composed her own body with were harsh and crooked and seemed to be filled with a certain spite, those she made for her wings were long, sloping, and soft, crafted with much more time and love behind them. The wings curved and looped bonelessly, unrestricted by any anatomy.
When she had finished, she drew a large, joyous, smiling face.
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Post by KayKay on Jun 23, 2018 8:58:21 GMT
Vesyka smiled too. She remembered those wings from the night they had first seen each other. She was a little envious – while the Phantom could fly, Vesyka was forced to experience it from within the completely enveloping cocoon of its body, and the prison of a blank mental state not guided by any kind of emotions.
Reaching down, Vesyka traced her body again. Then she drew something around it, a great winged thing with a serpentine body and many long tentacles growing from the base of its neck like the arms of a squid. She drew two arrows pointing towards the wings, highlighting that she, too, could also create wings.
She did not smile, however.
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Post by Stage on Jun 23, 2018 9:02:26 GMT
Adra's own smile faded. She tapped a long finger on her drawing of the four-armed creature and looked up at the older woman with understanding. She soon looked down at her when she stood though, towering over a foot above her.
Shyly, the girl offered a hand to Vesyka, signifying she was ready to go.
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Post by KayKay on Jun 23, 2018 9:10:50 GMT
Taking Adra's hand with nervous gentleness, Vesyka nodded and led her back towards the shade of the tree she had emerged from. Darkness began to swell around them, and Vesyka's silver eyes watched Adra's through the blackness, waiting and hoping that she wouldn't be afraid.
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Post by Stage on Jun 23, 2018 9:24:40 GMT
To Vesyka's relief, Adra did not look frightened, but curious, her eyes roving the darkness that enshrouded them.
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Post by KayKay on Jun 23, 2018 9:54:25 GMT
Once she was certain Adra was prepared, the darkness closed in around them.
All sights and sounds in the world went out at once. The ground beneath Adra left her feet, and the cool air of the swamp disappeared entirely. Her stomach dropped as though she was falling, and it became impossible to breath. There was nothing in this black void but the sensation of Vesyka's hand still over her own. Her braided hair trailed behind her, and it became evident that they were moving. Fast. Faster than would ever be possible in a realm where wind and air resistance existed.
But here there was nothing but the strong pit in her gut and the pull of Vesyka's grip as they spiraled through what could have been miles – it was impossible to tell.
Then, with a sickening metallic screech that rang in their ears, the world returned to her senses.
They were standing on the pavement of a dark alleyway, with towering buildings facing both sides. The sounds of traffic played out beyond in the streets, and the once moist air now smelled strongly of smog.
"Mival," Vesyka introduced.
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Post by Stage on Jun 24, 2018 5:29:30 GMT
Despite the confidence she had displayed, Adra staggered once the shadows had withdrawn, her tall frame slumping against the much smaller Vesyka. For the first time, she realized how truly tiny the older woman was, not just in height, but in weight as well. She likely weighed almost half as much as the corruption of the human form that was Adra. This sent several different sorts of heat through the girl, but hottest among them was embarrassment. She drew back from Vesyka with a flushed face and a muttered apology before her black eyes hurriedly peered out from the alleyway instead of at her silver-haired companion.
The sight of the city was not totally alien to Adra. She herself lived in a city after all. The strangest things were the metallic, horseless carriages that cluttered the streets, but even those were rather like Souhold's famous trains, albeit much smaller of course. Rather, it was herself she worried would be strange. She knew all manner of creatures had been deposited in this mysterious land, but it seemed as though demons were not among them. How would the people of the city, who appeared to be largely human, react to something like her? Something half them, half something unknown and frightening?
Turning to Vesyka, the girl gestured at her face, her skin dark and shell-like and her brow fierce- though her mouth made a questioning frown- then mimicked a person running with two fingers.
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Post by KayKay on Jun 24, 2018 7:24:00 GMT
Vesyka nodded to show that she understood. Her large eyes narrowed as she studied Adra's features.
"Perhaps a cloak would work?" she asked. She pulled her jacket off and held the collar up over her head like a hood as an example.
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Post by Stage on Jun 24, 2018 8:01:19 GMT
With a dark-cheeked start, Adra began to dig through the deep pockets of her uniform. Within a few seconds, she produced a folded square of thin fabric from one. With a shake, it unfolded into a long, dusty brown hood and cloak.
After giving Vesyka a small, strangled, sheepish smile, the strange girl threw the cloak around herself. Despite its length, it only fell to her mid-shins, her sleek, dark ankles extending beyond its tattered edge. Her black eyes and brown skin blended into the shadow cast by its hood though, making the entirety of her face aside from her chin and thin lips vanish. After tucking her pale braid away, she resembled nothing more than an abnormally tall, dark-skinned traveler, on passing inspection at least. A closer look would reveal her more subtle inhuman qualities, such as the glossiness of her skin or the disproportionate length of her limbs, but if they kept a brisk pace she would be relatively well disguised.
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Post by KayKay on Jun 24, 2018 8:27:59 GMT
Vesyka's eyes lit up. "That is a very good disguise!"she said, standing up on her toes to try and get a better look. "You remind me very much of Kadrah now."
Now it was her turn to peek out of the allyway. Remembering the old hotel that she, Kyra, and Mole had been planning to stay at and sighting it off in the distance, Vesyka took Adra's hand gently in her own and led her out onto the street.
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Post by Stage on Jun 24, 2018 8:56:14 GMT
Beneath her hood, Adra could not help but smile. The young woman's enthusiasm was energizing, though she had to subdue that energy or risk overtaking Vesyka with her longer strides. Her smile faded. She was suddenly conscious of her size again.
As they walked, the feral, lightless eyes of the strange girl scanned passersby. Though most appeared to be human, some were quite clearly of species she had never seen. Never dreamed. Feathered humanoids with wings instead of arms. Human-like creatures with odd, dry, spine-like hair. Once, they even passed the sleeping form of an enormous, golden-furred creature with the hairy body of a man and the head of a wolf in an alleyway. This city, Mival, was something the girl had never imagined existed, even here, where worlds meet.
Black eyes found Vesyka's small, narrow back. Adra wondered what else this woman would show her.
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Post by KayKay on Jun 24, 2018 9:56:29 GMT
Vesyka had started to walk faster as they pressed on, growing uncomfortably aware of the many eyes of passersby on her. Though Adra's disguise appeared to be working, Vesyka had forgotten that she was still completely caked in dry mud from her trek though the swamp. It covered her legs and waist in a hard, brown crust, and smeared across her arms, shoulders and face. She carefully avoided looking anyone in the eye, keenly aware of their judging stares.
It was almost a relief once they reached the hotel – almost. Vesyka still had to ask for a room, which was a job usually reserved for T.J or Kyra. She had never done this before, much less while in a filthy state like this.
She realized she had stopped in front of the entrance. Not wanting to worry Adra, Vesyka took a deep breath and pressed on through the doors to the hotel.
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Post by Stage on Jun 24, 2018 10:59:07 GMT
Despite steeling herself, Vesyka found she could not enter the hotel. Not because she lacked the strength of heart, but because she was anchored at the arm. Adra had become a dead weight at the end of her hand.
"Dilai."
Faster than she could react, the silver-haired woman was whisked away from the hotel and pulled into the nearest alleyway, where the cloaked figure of Adra loomed over her like a reaper. The long arms and spindly fingers of the girl rose up, and an indescribably color crackled in her palms, jumping between every color imaginable and a few colors not, though the hues it found most often were of black and gray. With a dull flash, the crackling light converted into a wall of force that struck Vesyka full on: wind.
As if under an enormous air drier, a strong breeze peeled over the petite woman and flaked away the dirt and grim that clung to her, leaving her dusty, but cleaner than she had been before.
Hands falling back beneath her cloak, Adra looked down for approval, her black eyes somewhat guilty. She had been so concerned with her own conspicuousness, she had overlooked Vesyka's.
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Post by KayKay on Jun 25, 2018 2:04:02 GMT
After patting her dusty, but otherwise clean jacket experimentally, Vesyka looked up at the taller woman with a wide smile. "Merci beaucoup." While she knew Adra couldn't speak French, she hoped that she would understand her thanks.
Brushing some of the dust off her clothes, Vesyka led the way back towards the hotel entrance. Although she was still nervous, Adra's presence brought a warm comfort to her – although she did not yet know the woman very well, at least she wasn't alone.
The hotel lobby was little more than a single, small room with white drywall and a well worn grey carpet. There was only a small desk, a couple of waiting chairs, and a single potted plant next to the door. It wasn't much to look at, chosen by Kyra for the extremely cheap price of its rooms and inconspicuous look. Her heart pounding, Vesyka approached the desk.
"Excuse me, could my friend and I please rent a room for the evening?"
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Post by Executus Gira on Jun 25, 2018 2:43:57 GMT
The figure at the desk, or rather pair of figures, had their backs turned and had been in hushed whispers to one another when Vesyka had spoken up. At once, they both turned in their chairs to face her. On the left was a young man, a fair haired and skinned boy who couldn't have been older than twenty, in a pale blue button up shirt and a hair clip in the shape of a sword above his left eye, and that of a that of a brown burning hippo over the right. On the right was a girl of around the same age, a head taller than the boy, with golden brown hair in a single side ponytail and pale blue eyes, and skin as fair as the boys. Her dress was long and white with yellow trim around the bottom edge and detatched sleeves.
"A room? Why sure, everyone is welcome here at our quaint little hotel, if you're not a trouble ma-" The boy began to say, before his eyes landed on Vesyka specifically. He began to stare at her, intensely...
Until the girl grabbed him by the face and yanked him back. "Victor, what did I say about eyeing our guests?" She snapped at him. "If you keep doing this to every girl that shows up, we'll never make a profit!" She sighed, then looked back and Vesyka. "Ignore him. He's just... drawn to pretty faces I guess. He's at that age. So, a room for you and your friend? Any specifics you need?"
"I don't even care for women, Barina!" Victor began to say, only for Barina to cover his mouth again.
"Yes, you do. And please just let me handle this. If you're going to be weird and creep out our customers, go do that on the computer or something, and not at the front desk."
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