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Post by mintedstar/fur on Feb 7, 2020 19:20:32 GMT -5
The stillness to Skye settled over him so quickly that Macon was silently shocked. Was that how swiftly sleep could come on?
He couldn't do that. He had tried and even now he couldn't figure out how it worked. It was something problematic, at least. He didn't need anyone to talk to, but he still didn't have anything else to do either. It left him alone to pay attention to the scent of blood. His didn't smell like that, did it? He couldn't tell.
He shifted in his seat, just a bit of creaking coming from the chair, but not enough to wake anyone up. He continued to brace his arms against his knees, but he closed his eyes again. His sense of hearing could pick up what was happening around him with more ease than his sense of sight would. But he could still hear the blood. Could Orpheus and Skye? Were they just managing the sense of it? Or was he the only one who was so bugged by it? He felt like it would be rude to ask. It would show too much of what he didn't know about himself.
He shook his head and stood up, adjusting his suit as he did so the wrinkled of his attempt at sleep were worked out. He felt a bit unsteady, like he should have something propping him up when he stood, but he pushed the feeling away.
His eyes open now, he cast a look around the room. Something about it had changed. He could sense a buzz in the base of his skull, like the low throb of a base-drum.
He turned, suddenly, and one of his hands raised as if to grab something - and froze. The air within the room pulsed, an energy that he could almost see infusing it. His mouth half opened, unsure what to do. Colors that he couldn't describe but seemed familiar blazed like some aurora borealis around Orpheus and Skye respectively. It wasn't as tantalizing as the smell of blood, but a thought, or maybe an instinct, to brush his hand through the float-some of colors was still there. It contained no images as of yet, but something told him if he waited he might be able to see what both of his companions were thinking about.
Reaching out, his hand hesitated, then the tips of his fingers brushed against the brilliance of colors around Orpheus ...
And for Macon, at least, everything went dark.
At least until he found himself watching Orpheus' dream, in his head like someone watching a movie.
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Transgender
strider
No mourners, no funerals
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Post by strider on Feb 14, 2020 22:12:36 GMT -5
Orpheus blinked away sunlight, aware he was looking up at the sky from a soft bed of flowers. It was comfortable, he realized, and somehow he knew that he felt safe here. He didn’t think about his lack of memories in the waking world, instead focusing on the details of the dream. He could hear a soft melody drifting through, a series of notes that soared over him and seemed to caress him in their arms. He smiled, letting his eyes close for a moment again. The sun burned hot and bright, shining through his eyelids and reminding him that now was not the time to sleep. He sat up, running his hand over the dainty petals of a wildflower growing near him. There were hundreds of them all around, white and purple, and he found he didn’t want to leave. He wasn’t afraid of being alone, because he wasn’t, not really. He could hear birdsong echoing throughout, and sometimes the wing of a particularly intrepid bird would block the sunlight streaming down on him. Orpheus smiled softly, letting the sounds of the birds and the music coming from a ways off envelop him. The wild flowers smelled so sweet he wanted to bottle their scent and carry it with him, though somehow he knew that was probably not the most realistic idea. Mind wandering, he stood up and brushed some errant petals off of himself before taking a cautious step forward. It was like the music swelled, reaching out to welcome him, to tell him that he was home, that this place was safe. The sky above was blue and almost cloudless, and Orpheus let himself laugh as his hand drifted over some of the flowers. Standing up he could see some houses in the distance, and people going about their daily lives, but he didn’t bother about them. He was content to stay in the middle of this field of flowers, humming the melody that soared overhead. It was hard to tell if it was carried over from the nearby village, if it came from the birds themselves, or if it was from somewhere else entirely, but it was achingly familiar, calling out to Orpheus. He took a step forward, towards where he thought it was coming from, but just as quickly it seemed to change directions, beckoning from another corner of the field of flowers. Orpheus shook his head with mild confusion, but he wasn’t too concerned. Finding the source didn’t seem too urgent, and he stopped to pick a flower or two, letting the soft petals brush against his fingers before he raised the flowers up to smell them, softly and slowly. This was where Orpheus belonged. Somewhere warm and gentle and free from danger. He felt at home there, like he was just part of the scenery. What would it take for him to stay there forever? Deep in his heart he knew he would have to leave at some point, but he brushed the thought away for the moment.
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Post by mintedstar/fur on Feb 19, 2020 21:12:29 GMT -5
It was like opening his mind to a world of colors and shapes without direction or purpose. It was a chaos around Macon that he revelled in.
It was the flowers he saw first, forming out of the light and running colors like landmarks out of a dust-storm. Then the rest of the world around Macon collected together until the colors made sense, each in a shape and form that he understood.
Orpheus.
He was there.
Macon shrank back, feeling as if he'd invaded a private room without knocking. But then he straightened just as quickly. He had every right to be here.
Didn't he? He'd gotten here. That in itself seemed to supply some rights.
Where was he though?
He couldn't guess. He knew what was around him, but it wasn't steady. He lifted his hand and around it light fractured off of his hand, dancing around his fingertips. His very presence seemed to be leeching the edges out of this world. Around him he could already see the tattered edges of black holes that gaped wider the longer he stood in one place.
The longer he was there, the better he felt.
He stepped forward, the same tattered black edges of dying dream following his footprints until he had wrented a tear from where he'd appeared to where Orpheus was.
Could he see Macon?
Macon was sure that if he didn't want to be seen then he wouldn't be. But he couldn't help being curious. He stepped in front of Orpheus and asked, "Can you see me?"
But at the same time the dream world was in tatters, most of it faded wisps of forgotten memory now. The slightest upset and Orpheus would wake.
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Transgender
strider
No mourners, no funerals
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Post by strider on Feb 29, 2020 3:27:13 GMT -5
Orpheus looked up, watching as the corners of the dream seemed to turn inwards on themselves, like a book burning around the edges. He wanted to cry out and hold the dream in place, but all he could do was watch as the dream faded. It felt like he should feel something, but he had no strong connection to what was around him. Or maybe he did, he just didn’t remember it yet. Still, it was like Macon was dissolving something safe and comforting in a cold, dark world that couldn’t even afford them the memories that they had spent all of their lives earning. He reached out as a flower near him seemed almost to rip apart as Macon drew nearer, the edges of Orpheus’ dream fragile, oh so fragile. Why did it matter? Orpheus wanted to hold onto the music, keep the scent of the flowers with him, but it was like Macon’s presence was stealing that chance from him. Taking the dream from him and in the same moment asking him if he was sure he was really losing something. He felt oddly detached from it all.
Macon felt so much more real than the rest of it, this paper world that was crumbling away by the second. How had it felt so real only moments before? “I… yes,” he commented, voice light. That couldn’t be right, could it? He looked at the space around Macon, at the tears in the dream, and wondered if what he had seen before had ever been real. Had what been real? Orpheus looked at the last remnants of the dream, saw a strip of blue sky and heard the faintest note of music, but the rest of it was black. Had there ever been anything besides the black? Orpheus had the distinct feeling he should be scared, should be upset, but he wasn’t. After all, that was how dreams were. They faded away.
Orpheus’ eyes jerked open and he found himself in a mostly dark room, Skye asleep on the couch behind him. He stood up to stretch his legs, blinking a few times as though trying to make sure he was truly awake. Distantly he grasped for the dream he’d been having, but there was nothing there. He was certain he had been dreaming. It was a disappointment, but not a surprise, that he couldn’t remember. It wasn’t as though his dreams had any memory to draw from, though. Even if he’d known where to start looking, it wasn’t as though he was capable of contextualizing anything he’d seen in a dream.
Macon was a few steps away, and Orpheus met his eyes carefully in the dark.
“I can take over if you want to try to get some sleep,” he commented lightly. Skye must have fallen asleep before completing first watch, which meant that Macon likely hadn’t slept yet.
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Post by mintedstar/fur on Mar 9, 2020 0:31:42 GMT -5
Brought out of the dream, Macon was caught, looking a bit shocked, and biting his lip. The movement felt awkward, however, and he stopped doing it. Deciding he wasn't the sort to bite his lip.
What had happened?
He looked at Orpheus, waiting to be called out on what he had done. But he didn't. Macon waited, but nothing seemed to change.
Finally, after a second, he said, "Sure."
He wouldn't be sleeping. It was confusing, but maybe he wasn't capable of it. He did feel more distracted though. He had other things to think of while he faked sleep.
---
The sun finally rose. By that time, Macon had already taken one other watch. Not that he had ever slept. But he had gotten to think over what had happened. The others had slept. He hadn't. And both of them had the odd light around them. He felt stronger as soon as he'd gotten near it.
Nothing had really made any connections, however. He needed to have more information. He just needed to get his memories back.
As soon as the sun made its way through the window properly, Macon stood up from the seat he'd been taking for most of the night. It was a relief. Just to stand and not fake sleep.
"It's morning," he said to himself and in case anyone else was up.
He glanced around. Then he started to head for the door. He didn't intend to go far, but he could see just a bit better in the day time than at night and he thought that maybe he'd see a bit more than when they had been out there the night before.
The door creaked as he opened, the morning air a bit cool against his skin. Macon took a step out, his eyes roving over the other houses. There wasn't much to see. There was just the same sort of building that he had seen last night.
No new sounds, either. He wasn't sure whether there were any more people out there other than those who were with him in the house.
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Post by mintedstar/fur on Mar 9, 2020 0:40:02 GMT -5
There was the sound of wind. It whipped through the boy's hair, dancing around his face in little waves and curls that bounced with the disturbance.
Opening his eyes, Sam found himself standing in the middle of a path. The wind blew around him, the pre-dawn light tickling (uncomfortably, almost painfully so) at his arms and face. He blinked several times, trying to work out where he was.
Then who he was.
Beyond the buildings, the horizon was alight withe a pink light, an orange band, and above stars. There was a town that way. There wasn't anything that he could see behind him.
He swallowed, feeling unsteady. He was ... he wasn't sure what he should be doing. There was a gaping hole in his head where he felt something should have been. But every time he reached for it he came back with nothing in return. As he had been standing there, the sun was already starting to rise further. Sam squinted, his eyes almost watering, even though the light wasn't that bad.
He felt like it must be though, if it hurt.
The only shelter he could see was the town. He really didn't want to leave where he was standing - what if he lost more of himself if he moved from this place? But the urgency caught in his throat and he started moving, heading toward town and shelter and what he hoped were answers.
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Mar 10, 2020 21:09:44 GMT -5
The creaking of the door was what tugged Skye from sleep. His eyes opened without him telling them to and he sat up, surprise flooding over him as he tried to remember where he was. He couldn’t and the unfamiliar surroundings weren’t helping him.
Then it all came back and he exhaled, the shock and fear fading down to his usual caution. This wasn’t fine, but it also wasn’t immediately dangerous, and he could work with potential danger. The others hadn’t killed him while he got some much needed sleep, and that more than anything else so far made him think that maybe they were actually on his side.
Maybe.
He glanced around. He didn’t see Orpheus right away, but he did notice that the door was open, and he could see a bit of Macon outside. Looking for something? Except, what would he be looking for when he couldn’t remember anything? So probably kist looking around to see if anything had changed overnight.
Which sounded like a good idea, actually. Skye got up and headed quietly for the door, slipped out, and joined Macon without saying anything for a few long seconds.
“We’re still here.” He murmured finally. It had been a night, they had slept, and they hadn’t gone back to wherever they came from. That...didn’t bode well for the future.
—
A man was standing, facing a town, feet planted on the path beneath him. His eyes were closed as though he were asleep, and even his chest rose and fell steadily, his expression peaceful and undisturbed. It wasn’t clear how long he stood there, but suddenly his eyes flew open and his face hardened into something else, something almost dangerous, as he fell back into his body and his surroundings threw itself at him. He tensed, but there was no one there to fight, nothing but the wind and the light of a morning sun streaming down on him, a path under him, and in the distance, something that looked like houses.
He frowned. His first thought was that something wasn’t right here. Then it hit him, and he stumbled back a step, as though it were a physical blow.
He didn’t know what wasn’t right because he didn’t know what was right.
Because he didn’t know anything at all.
Kelsier.
He knew one thing. A name. He didn’t even know who it belonged to. The man hesitated, breathing hard, then grit his tears and headed for the houses in the distance, his long stride kicking up dust behind him. Whatever was happening, he was going to find out, and whoever had done this to him was going to really, really wish they’d picked someone else.
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Transgender
strider
No mourners, no funerals
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Post by strider on Mar 10, 2020 21:39:36 GMT -5
Orpheus was the last to wake up, troubled by the faint feeling he had dreamed of something without quite remembering it. The feeling of not remembering was familiar enough now, it seemed, though the knowledge that he had probably ben close to remembering something in his dreams… was frustrating. Orpheus could tell he didn’t like frustration, though whether that was a human thing or an Orpheus thing was anybody’s guess. Sunlight was filtering into the room, and though Orpheus got the feeling it wasn’t late into the day yet, he couldn’t shake the feeling he had overslept. The young man sat up, running a hand through his hair – he realized with a start that he didn’t actually know what his hair looked like, only that it was so short he couldn’t even see the color of it. Well, then. Pushing the thought away, he took a few steps to the doorway, looking out into the faint morning light. Macon and Skye looked rather peaceful, standing outside, and Orpheus almost didn’t want to join them for fear of ruining an image of a morning where maybe the houses weren’t abandoned and maybe they knew what they were doing and maybe, just maybe, they remembered who they were. It felt like he was looking at a weathered and faded photograph. After a few moments, though, he joined them, just in time to hear Skye’s comment. So they were. Maybe it was time to start figuring out what that would mean for them.
---
It felt like appearing out of nowhere. It felt like running just as the ground was torn out from under him. The dark haired boy stumbled, eyes widening as the ground rushed towards him and he reached his arm out at an angle to catch him and rolled so the force of impact wouldn’t break anything. His body took a couple of rolls before it slowed to a stop, dust coating most of his dark clothing. His jeans were torn at the knees from the impact, but he was otherwise unharmed. It took him a while to leverage himself onto his elbows, and then his feet, but once he did, he realized he couldn’t see anything familiar. He brushed as much dust and dirt off himself as he could, trying to get oriented. Where was he? That he didn’t know. What time was it? Either early morning or late evening, but without directions he couldn’t tell that, either.
Who was he? That was the big one, wasn’t it? The question the boy had been avoiding asking himself during his little spill, even as he forced himself back to his feet. “Nico di Angelo,” he whispered to himself. The short answer. The name… sounded right, for what it was worth. The long answer was more complicated. Or perhaps it wasn’t, because the truth was, he didn’t know.
A few feet away from him, black metal lay in the middle of the path. A sword. His? With shaking fingers, Nico picked it up, finding its sheath only moments later. Well then… it couldn’t hurt to be armed, right? Without even knowing if he knew how to use it, Nico fastened the sheathed blade to his belt.
Looking up, Nico realized there was a town ahead of him. With nowhere else to go, Nico figured that was his best option. His only option, really. Something about the idea of seeing other people, wherever he was, sent an uncomfortable shudder down his spine, but he pushed it away. People would be better than no people, as long as those people could give him some sort of answer. Right? Before he could convince himself otherwise, Nico started forward, hugging his arms close to his chest as though that could protect him from the feeling of being exposed like this on every side.
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Post by mintedstar/fur on Mar 18, 2020 4:43:12 GMT -5
"It would seem so," Macon said, almost muttering it. His eyes scanned the buildings, but otherwise didn't make much of them. He heard Orpheus approach from behind, but didn't look back - didn't dare. There was something about last night which worried him. A lot of things, really. Turning to face Orpheus felt like facing those problems head-on.
But with everything he felt he was going through, it was worse leaving things.
He turned, looked Orpheus over once, then looked back at Skye.
"What is the plan?" he asked. The three of them were here, stuck in this place. He could sense the question from everyone.
What next?
He looked back out at the houses.
"I can't hear anything out there," he added. "No other people. If there are any to be heard."
He glanced back at Orpheus. He desperately wanted answers, but wasn't willing to ask. Not yet. He couldn't trust anyone here yet. Not really.
---
The boy who had decided to call himself Sam was having issues. He had reached the shelter of an overhang, which he gratefully huddled under. His skin hurt, red and then slowly healing back to pale brown as he waited in the shadows.
Why?
It must have been normal, or so he assumed. What else could he think? He was the only gauge. He was quiet and hard to hear when he moved, so as of yet he wasn't sure if he couldn't hear people just because they were all being very quiet or if they just weren't in this town at all.
He was looking out in the direction he came when he caught the distant sight of movement. He stood up almost at once, a leap of excitement going through him. They weren't moving as fast as he'd been able to, but he didn't mind. He couldn't really tell who they were yet, but if they had his eyesight they were bound to see him, right?
Sam raised a hand and started waving it a bit, keeping under the overhang.
"Hey!" he called, unable to keep the excitement out of his voice. He jumped in place a bit. "Hey!"
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Mar 19, 2020 22:43:52 GMT -5
Skye didn’t say anything for a long few minutes, as Orpheus joined them and he could almost see the way Macon didn’t want to look at him. He wasn’t sure whether that was real or imagined though, and he didn’t ask, because that would call attention to it and he was perfectly content to leave it alone.
He just wanted to know where - and who - he was. That was all. Somehow, having slept and not woken up with all his memories returned was even more upsetting to him than having realized they were gone to begin with, although he couldn’t have said why that was. It didn’t make sense, but there it was.
He turned back to the houses, gazing out at them with something like longing. For people? For someone, anyone, to give them some answers?
Maybe just for something he recognized. Because he didn’t recognize anything here, and that, more than anything else, made him feel utterly alone.
“What plan?” He asked, turning and fixing first Macon, then Orpheus with a look that was difficult to read. “What can we do? What are we supposed to do here?”
He was actually getting a bit upset now. He had been so calm earlier, and now it was really starting to sink in. He might never go home. He might never even know what home was.
Not that he minded exploring, but when it felt so completely pointless it was hard to summon the motivation.
He folded his arms, mostly for something to do with them. “I want to find out who Pierre is.” He said finally. He hadn’t even meant to say that, not really, but there it was and it was the truth, he really did want to know who owned the name in his head.
-
The cloaked man had reached the outskirts of the town.
He stopped, staring at the looming buildings with intense hazel eyes, the wind playing with the locks of his pale blond hair. So this was what he’d seen from far away, was it? It looked both bigger and smaller close up; bigger because of how many houses there were, and smaller because of the size of those houses. The Mistborn called Kelsier reached out a hand and cautiously touched the wall of the building. It was warm in the morning sun, and dirty, like no one had bothered to clean it in quite some time. The bleached wood looked old too, and even the roof looked in need of some attention, making it seem like a bad idea to go inside.
Which, of course, was Exactly what Kelsier did next.
It was just as dirty inside as it was out. There wasn’t much furniture, and what was there was old and in desperate need of dusting, maybe even polishing, thought for some reason that idea made his lip curl. He turned away, and explored the rest of the house.
No one. Not that he had exactly expected to find anyone, but he had let himself hope. He stepped out of the house, and that was when he heard it, not too far away.
Hey!
Someone was shouting.
Which meant there was someone there who could shout.
Kelsier was moving towards the sound before he’d even made the conscious decision to do it, and hope sprang alive in his heart as he drew closer, close enough to see a shape huddled under something, shadowed and distorted but still clearly human.
“Hello!” He shouted back, raising a hand. “Who’s there?”
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Transgender
strider
No mourners, no funerals
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Post by strider on Mar 20, 2020 12:13:39 GMT -5
Orpheus swallowed, surveying the town as though it might yield some answers if he was just… patient enough. He knew that wouldn’t work. He knew the pain in his head was from something different than his missing memories, he had a feeling the way he couldn’t quite stand still could be answered by regaining even the slightest bit of memory, but he didn’t have that right now. It seemed so easy for Macon and Skye to just stand there, but Orpheus was restless, couldn’t stop shifting position, tapping his foot, all manner of odd behavior. Orpheus, it seemed, had been an anxious man. Deep down, Orpheus wondered if he’d ever found a release for it before, in the life he couldn’t remember.
Skye was asking the important questions now, questions that Orpheus couldn’t help but cringe away from because he didn’t know. He didn’t have any more answers than his companions.
“I know finding out who we were is important,” Orpheus began, looking between them. He had caught the fact that Macon wasn’t quite looking at him, but he didn’t know what it meant and he didn’t want to ask. “But figuring out who we are now, what we’re supposed to be doing here… for me that’s just as important. And if there’s nobody alive here, the least we can do is figure out what kind of people lived here, figure out why they left… there must be a story of some kind, don’t you think? Even if it’s not why we’re here, we might be able to uncover that story.” It was honestly the closest he could get to a plan. If the others didn’t like it, then they could figure something out and he’d go along with it, but… at least where he was standing, he didn’t really see another option besides sit here and be miserable.
-
Nico heard something, the closer he drew to the town. His heart was racing, but two thoughts popped into his head at once. One was a flaring of hope in his chest, an exuberant People! The knowledge that wherever he was, he wasn’t alone. The second was a much more grim thought, a warning of sorts: people… as though he had been hurt before and didn’t want to risk drawing nearer. If he squinted he could see a form huddling under an overhang, and another figure coming closer to him. There was nowhere to hide. He was out in the open. If the two people were being vigilant, they would see him, and then there would be trouble. Nico ducked down, pressing himself against the ground as though that would prevent him from being seen. Except he was wearing all black, and he stood out starkly against the ground. Great. Grateful that (hopefully) nobody had seen him, he stood back up and brushed himself off. There was nowhere to hide. He wasn’t close enough to the town to make it all the way there without being spotted, and he was scared. Distantly, he was aware that the air around him was a little bit cooler than he had expected, given how brightly the sun was burning over the horizon, but for some reason the cold made him feel a little less out of control.
There was really only one option here. Nico took a few steps closer to the figures, hoping to get close enough to watch their movements without being seen himself. The chances of that were slim with how little cover there was, but a boy could dream, right?
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Post by mintedstar/fur on Mar 21, 2020 17:58:15 GMT -5
Macon wanted the same answer as Skye did. He just couldn't help feeling uncomfortable as Skye asked, however. How were they supposed to find those sorts of answers when there was nothing here?
He could tell Skye was panicking. Rather than following him, Macon grounded himself in Orpheus' words. He could agree with most of them.
"He's right," Macon said, nodding to Orpheus. "I think ... I think some memories may come back. But until then we need to find out what to do now."
Should he tell? He knew that something in Orpheus had been able to produce a dream that didn't seem based in the area they were currently inhabiting. But he couldn't. Something in him was screaming about how that was dangerous, and he couldn't ignore it.
"I know instincts are still there," he said. "Muscle memory. If that's the case, we'll learn a bit about ourselves as situations arise that have us using them."
He could at least admit that. "Learning who Pierre is will have to come with that."
He glanced at Orpheus again. "Three people without memories appeared near a deserted town. There's a story. Something in the town - or maybe at its edges. Where we remember turning up." The last place they remembered being. "Or maybe we could try the center of town?" He didn't make any definitive answer. He felt like Skye should probably do that. It might ground him.
-
The figure that Sam had spotted at once flattened himself to the ground. Sam stiffened, his hand raised in the air. Were they okay? Were they hurt? Maybe the pain he was feeling from the brightness really had effected them.
He was just about to risk stepping out when he heard someone's voice. He hurriedly looked around, spotting Kelsier approaching, and Sam raised his hand in excitement again. "Hello!" he called.
To his relief, he saw that the figure who had flattened himself to the ground had gotten back to his feet. Maybe Sam had just scared him? Was that a normal reaction to being scared? Sam wasn't completely sure, but for the time being he would assume it was.
"Hello?" he said to Kelsier. "Do you know where we are?" He shifted, not really thinking too much about how risky it was to perhaps be exposed. "I don't know where I am. I can't remember anything."
At least, he wasn't sure if the name he remembered counted. He was just assuming that it was his name, but there wasn't much to go off of.
"Who are you?" he asked.
He looked toward the distant figure again. It looked like they were still approaching, though it was at a slower pace than before. Were they trying to avoid attention? Sam wondered if it was just easier for him to see them because they were moving ...
"You're standing in the sunlight," he noted after a second, only now noticing where Kelsier was standing.
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Mar 27, 2020 15:45:44 GMT -5
Skye closed his mouth, almost wishing he hadn’t said anything. The looks on the other two’s faces said they hadn’t wanted to think about it, and especially Orpheus made him think he should have somehow kept his thoughts to himself.
But he hadn’t, and it was too late now. He listened to Orpheus speak, trying to breathe normally at the same time. Maybe he was right. Maybe finding who they were now could be important too.
Not only important, but possible. Which was exactly what he needed.
“Yeah. Okay.” He agreed, letting how a deep sigh and brushing his curly hair back from his face. “Okay.”
In that case, the question was what did they do now? He knew they couldn’t just stay there indefinitely, and he knew better than to let his panic get the better of him, no matter how much it tried. It was like a weight, crushing him, but he took another breath and closed his eyes, fighting back. The other two weren’t losing it yet.
Neither was he.
“We need to find the story.” He murmured, though it wasn’t clear whether he meant their story or the town's. He glanced at the other two, eyes rapid and searching, and then he nodded. “I think we should explore the town first.” He said, though without much authority behind it. “Because we’ve already seen the edges. Maybe we can find out what happened here if we look around.”
-
Kelsier smiled and waved as the figure shouted back, and closed the distance between them quickly. He was just turning to give his surroundings one more inspection when he caught sight of a black shape collapsed on the ground in the sun, and his heart almost stopped beating.
Were they dead? He swerved, about to run towards the other stranger, when they got up and stood still in the distance.
He stopped, frowning. They seemed to be okay now, not moving but no longer on the ground. Had they fainted? It wasn’t that hot, but they were wearing all black and Kelsier had the odd idea that that might make a difference somehow.
He looked back at the first figure, who was close enough now to see clearly. His first impression was that the boy was younger than he was, though he could have been wrong. His second impression was that the boy was scared,
“I don’t know.” He admitted after a long couple of seconds spent deciding whether or not to lie. But he couldn’t see what good it would do under the circumstances. “I don’t know anything either. All I have is a name...Kelsier. I think it might be mine?”
He shook his head again. “Do you know who you are?” He questioned, then glanced again at the person further away from them. They seemed to be approaching now, slowly. He was about to mention them when Sam spoke and he glanced back, eyebrows raised in surprise. “I guess I am.” He agreed, a bit puzzled. “It feels nice.”
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Transgender
strider
No mourners, no funerals
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Post by strider on Mar 27, 2020 16:50:01 GMT -5
Orpheus looked at the others, offering a hint of a smile. What they had wasn’t as solid as a plan, but it was something, and they could build off of it. It also seemed as though Skye wasn’t panicking about it quite as much as he had been before, but that was also possibly just because he was hiding it. Orpheus shifted, frowning suddenly. Were people capable of hiding their emotions? Both Macon and Skye seemed to be fairly difficult to read, but maybe that was just because he had no memory of reading other people’s expressions before. Somehow, he felt his own face betrayed everything he was feeling. It was something he’d have to ask later, if he ever felt like he could fully trust Macon and Skye. He saw no reason why he couldn’t now, considering they were in the same position he was, but he didn’t even know if he could trust himself.
“I agree with Skye,” Orpheus murmured, hoping to bolster the kid’s confidence in his answer, at least a little bit. They didn’t know what they were getting into, and the only thing they could control was the way they interacted with each other. The more confident – and the more supported – each of them felt, the better. “Plus we’ve got daylight to help now,” he added. “Maybe we’ll be able to see if there are things we missed last night when it was getting dark.”
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When both people looked up in Nico’s direction, he cursed softly under his breath, aware that he’d probably made himself even more obvious by trying to hide. Great. The only thing to do now was to decide whether he was going to join them, or decide to enter the town alone. Two people or a town probably full of them? Nico hesitated, glancing at the buildings for a moment. He didn’t know where he was or who he was, only that the sound echoing in his head was probably his name, and that people were a bad sign. He could try to go back the way he came, but maybe there would be food in town. Maybe some place to rest his head for a little bit… he didn’t know why, but he was absolutely exhausted. Almost instinctively, Nico’s hand went towards the hilt of his sword.
That… was that a normal human reflex? Anxiety built in Nico’s throat. Was he the kind of person who attacked first, who carried this because he wanted to hurt people? The thought made him almost want to drop the weapon and run, but he didn’t. No, he wasn’t going to be afraid. He wasn’t going to attack either, not unless he had to. What he wanted was answers, and if these people could help him… they could just as easily be enemies, Nico’s thoughts reminded him, and he grit his teeth. If they were enemies, he was lucky he had a sword, even if he had no idea how to use it. Mind made up, he quickened his pace, leaving no room to question whether he was actually approaching the two.
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Post by mintedstar/fur on Apr 6, 2020 17:40:15 GMT -5
Alright, it was movement. Macon's shoulders sagged a little and he nodded several times. It was nice that there was something they could do and focus on.
"Center of town," he murmured, stepping out from the safety of the doorway and the house they had spent the night in. If need be, they could return later. After all, it was the only location that smelled of life.
Stepping out into complete sunlight was ... Macon didn't know. Uncomfortable. He remembered the previous morning, when the sun had been setting, it hadn't felt this ... odd to be in complete daylight. He glanced down at his hands, but everything seemed okay. He was just slightly uncomfortable.
He pushed the feeling away. It was focus he could have been spending on something else. It didn't stop him from glancing at the other two, but it was reserved for a single look only. They seemed fine. But then again, they had been able to sleep. Macon was already being to wonder whether or not he was a bit different from Skye and Orpheus, but he didn't have enough to back it up.
He didn't try to justify his reasoning for the center of town, they'd been there last night, but it was likely that it was the location where things would happen. If they were looking for a story, whoever's it may be, then the center would be closest point to all of them.
"What are the things we do know about this place?" he asked after a second. It wouldn't take very long to make it to the center of the town, but he thought it was a good idea to start with the basics.
"It's empty and has been for a while," he said after a second, starting things off.
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"I ... I think I'm Samuel?" said the boy, shaking his head a little, as if that would dislodge anything in his head. But there wasn't exactly a lot to fill it up.
He glanced back at the short figure approaching them. He was clearer to Sam than he was to Kelsier, though Sam was unaware of this. He could tell that the boy wasn't that much difference in height than Sam, so Sam assumed that they were simular ages. It was a fair guess, he hoped. He thought Kelsier was older. And the boy had ... something with him. Sam really didn't know enough to be afraid of the sword, though he knew what it was like he knew he was wearing shoes. But that was the extent of his knowledge on the matter.
Turning back to Kelsier, he said with concern in his eyes, "I think that they're scared of us." He could tell from the boy's stance, but also the faint sounds of thumping sound that he was beginning to hear. The same sound had mimicked Kelsier's nervousness and continued to go along with his tones a bit now. It was cool. It was like a hint about the emotions. Sam wondered why he couldn't hear any from himself.
He glanced back at the patch of sun that Kelsier was standing in and frowned. The other boy was standing in it as well.
He stuck his hand out into the light, which still wasn't complete just yet. He it been a mistake?
He yelped, pressing himself back into the stone behind him as quickly as he could, clutching at his hand. The fingers hurt, were red with pain. Sam gritted his teeth, holding in a scream. The pain was passing quickly, but he had to keep his eyes closed and his breath was frozen in his chest. After several seconds, the blaze of pain ebbed away and Sam squinted his eyes, looking at his fingers. They weren't as red as they had been before.
He gasped several times before he said to Kelsier, almost a snap, "No. No, it doesn't feel nice."
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Apr 11, 2020 10:41:34 GMT -5
Skye glanced between the other two, grateful for both of their methods of supporting him. He could tell they were trying to aid his confidence, and he also knew that that was probably for the best, since he didn’t seem to have much at the moment. Was he really that much of a worrier? Apparently so.
Either way, they had a plan now, and that made him feel much better. He didn’t like having no idea what he was doing, it seemed. The kid moved to follow Macon, glancing back at Orpheus to make sure they weren’t leaving the other man behind. “Right.” He agreed, hoping to return the support he’d been given. “Light should help us. Maybe we can even figure out what we’re doing here by the end of the day.”
It was a long shot, but why not reach for the stars? Or...whatever that meant. Skye wasn’t sure where that thought had come from, but it seemed fitting so he left it alone. He glanced around their deserted surroundings again, hoping to see something he’d missed, before he answered Macon.
“We know there were people here at some point.” He offered. “Because there are houses in the first place, and I don’t think there’s any way they could have come to be here on their own.” He wasn’t kidding. He really was considering whether the houses could have happened spontaneously. It felt unlikely, but then again, so did everything else. “Orpheus? What do you think?”
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Kelsier looked back at the figure, watching as it seemed to hesitate. He couldn’t make out its exact movements, and he couldn’t see it nearly as well as Sam could, but he could see well enough to know that whoever it was, was probably as uncertain as the two of them were. So they probably didn’t have their memories, either. That meant, in turn, that they were probably not to blame for what had happened here. Good to know.
Kelsier glanced back at Samuel, as the other boy introduced himself. “I think my name is Kelsier.” He answered, trying to sound more confident in that fact than he felt. It seemed important, somehow, that he remain confident and in control, even when he had no idea what was going on. He didn’t need to know what was happening, he just needed to make sure everyone was okay, and then they could all figure out the rest together. Assuming they were all on the same page, which wasn’t necessarily a given.
Still, he got the sense that he was older than the other two, so he was probably in charge. He drew himself up and smiled at Samuel , an easy, confident expression. “We’ll have to prove we aren’t a threat to them, then.” He said simply, turning and shading his eyes to look at the other figure again.
It was moving towards them now, faster than before, clearly approaching. He raised a hand in greeting, smiling even though he knew the person probably couldn’t see him well enough to tell yet. He wanted his first impression to be as good as possible, especially if the other person was afraid of them, like Samuel had said.
He looked back in time to see the boy draw his hand back, and his eyes widened. “What happened?” He questioned, concern flooding his tone as he saw the angry red skin, the way Samuel’s expression had gone still and contorted with pain. “Are you alright? It wasn’t...”
he moved his hand out, through the sunlight, and stared. “...the light did that to you?”
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Transgender
strider
No mourners, no funerals
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Post by strider on Apr 12, 2020 18:22:51 GMT -5
Orpheus nodded, listening to Macon and glancing out at the center of town. He wanted to know the lives of the people who had lived there, once. He wanted to be able to tell their story, but how could they possibly start? They had nothing but abandoned houses to go off of, and no way of telling what things meant without the context of their memories. They could go off their instincts, they could try to figure things out on their own, but they could look over even the most obvious of clues if they didn’t know what was important. Without their memories, everything seemed important, and therefore every small detail simultaneously meant nothing and everything.
Orpheus glanced at Skye, not wanting to tell him that figuring it out by the end of the day was probably wishful thinking. If he had that hope driving him forward, who was Orpheus to take it away from him?
“The houses look lived in,” Orpheus replied to Skye, frowning a little bit. “Even if they did just… appear here, there were people who lived in them. I wonder, though…” he considered, letting his hand brush against the side of the building. “What if they came from elsewhere? What if they appeared here just like we did, what if…” he frowned, looking at the other two. “It’s possible there were never people here before, these are just houses from elsewhere. I don’t know if that can happen, but… then again I suppose I don’t know much of anything at all.” Deep down, what he was thinking was this: what if these were their homes from before, what if that meant there were going to be more people arriving?
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Nico didn’t let himself question his decision, didn’t let himself turn back, because how could he? How could he go back the way he had come when his body felt like it was moments away from giving out, when he wanted nothing more than a solid meal and a good night’s sleep? How could he when he had already made his presence known to the other two figures that were slowly becoming more visible as he approached? This wasn’t a good idea, and his entire body screamed that at him, but he didn’t care. They were his only chance to find out what was going on here, and if they really had been a threat, why would the taller one be waving and… and smiling? Squinting, Nico thought that was what he saw.
As he got closer, he could see what seemed almost like a fiery ring around the taller man’s body, faint and barely visible in the light, but definitely there. The shorter boy had one too, but his was darker, flickering in and out and spreading out over more area. Frowning, Nico held out his own hand, trying to get a glimpse of something similar around his own form. There was nothing, which was odd. Unless he wasn’t supposed to have one and they just… did. Not that he was going to ask them. The less he seemed like he had no clue what was going on the better. That way they might not be so eager to take advantage of him.
As soon as Nico was close enough to see their faces clearly and hear them if they talked just a little louder, he stopped. There was something telling him not to get too close, not to get himself in range of any weapons they might have. He grimaced, trying to push away the thought as he waited for one of them – either of them, really – to say something. His hand rested comfortably on the hilt of his sword and he tried to draw himself up to his full height – almost an entire foot shorter than the man. The next few seconds could decide everything. After all, this moment right here was his entire life as he knew it. Best not to mess that up right away.
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Post by mintedstar/fur on Apr 22, 2020 4:15:45 GMT -5
Orpheus just saying things like that meant Macon almost at once started to think along the same lines. If these were houses from elsewhere, were they their houses?
Suddenly it seemed more important that he look around, but Macon knew that even if he did see any house that he had potentially known, he wouldn't know it.
"We should look in the houses," he said. Somehow, he made the statement sound open, like it could be at some point in the future that they looked at the houses, but could also be a suggestion for right now.
The same location they'd met each other at was approaching. They hadn't walked very far from it last night, not really. The town was small, so the trip would have been short however you looked at it.
There didn't seem to be anything very interesting about the center of the town. The few roads, the ones which Macon assumed led out of town, met here. They weren't even very good roads. He assumed that they weren't meant to be pockmarked with holes, for example.
But that was besides the point. They were at the center of everything in the small world they'd come to find themselves in and that meant some sort of action. Macon felt a pickle in his chest, the desire to speak up. But it was like the prickle was trying to work off information he didn't have. How could he do anything like work out what to do next when there didn't seem to be anything he could do anyway? What answers could he give? What questions?
His hearing strained, but caught nothing. So instead he looked around, checking the various directions.
"We need to get high," he finally muttered. He couldn't tell anything from here. It was all too low, all too hard to place. He couldn't get his barrings.
-
Still clutching his hand, Sam stared at Nico, bright brown eyes looking at him with curiosity. Why didn't he say anything?
Sam glanced at Kelsier, in case he had an answer, before looking back at Nico and saying, or rather asking, "Hello?"
He shifted his position deeper into the shadows so his hand would be at risk, but only then did he answer Kelsier's question.
"Um," he started. He wasn't completely sure if he should answer, but finally he nodded. "Yeah, it did." Something told him that he didn't like having his weaknesses exposed to complete strangers, but there wasn't much he could do about it. Instead he just hoped Kelsier wasn't the sort to push him out of the shadows.
"It doesn't bother you though," he murmured. He looked Kelsier up and down, not really understanding why that was the case. He then thought, Why? Why does that confuse me? I don't have any baseline for any of this, so ... I guess people having different reactions to sunlight is normal.
Then it was back to looking at Nico, Sam smiling reassuringly. He waved, using his good hand, and still winced as the other one was jostled a bit. But the pain faded soon after and Sam could relax a bit.
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on May 10, 2020 17:33:43 GMT -5
Skye probably could have guessed that figuring it out that quickly wasn’t going to happen, but truthfully, he didn’t want to. Why not believe in the impossible? Because, really, who were they to say anything was impossible in their current condition? They were here, weren’t they? Maybe this was normal. Maybe they’d discover that this happened all the time.
“I agree,” he answered Macon, following the other two at a more tiring pace, due to his shorter legs. He was assuming the other person meant right now, but he didn’t actually know that for sure.
Orpheus’ comment made him wonder. Had this whole town really just come here like they had? Did these houses belong somewhere else? Or maybe they’d been in this town when whatever had happened, happened. Maybe they’d all been taken together.
“We were outside town when we...woke up.” He pointed out. “We were walking forward. Maybe this town was here all along and we just walked here and don’t remember it.”
He was just tossing out ideas. He really didn’t know what had happened.
He was silent for a moment, then continued, looking at the houses as they passed them. They were around the same place where they’d first met up now. “I think we should try and be organized about searching. We might miss stuff.”
He looked at Macon, then nodded. The other person was right, of course. They needed to find somewhere high to get a view of this place.
Well, he could climb a house, couldn’t he?
He broke off from the group and jogged for the nearest house. Then, without giving himself time to talk himself out of it, he began to climb.
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Kelsier watched the boy come closer, splitting his attention between him and Sam fairly equally. The newcomer looked far more wary than Sam did, which put Kelsier a bit on edge too. He (probably) didn’t want to start anything without even knowing who these people were, but if something went down, he’d be ready.
He blinked. He didn’t actually know whether he’d be ready. It was just that...something told him he’d be fine if it came to a fight. Maybe it was because he was significantly taller than both of the others.
“Hello there.” He called, raising a hand in greeting and giving his best amiable smile. He didn’t want to give away too much without knowing more, but he was willing to admit that he didn’t know anything. Whether someone wanted to take advantage of that or not, he was confident he could handle it.
He looked back at Sam, eyeing his hand. “Maybe some people are allergic to the sun?” He suggested, raising an eyebrow thoughtfully. That would make sense, right? He was a little vague on the details of what an allergy was, but he thought it made sense.
He looked back at the newer boy, who had stopped a ways away. Smart move, seeing as he didn’t know either of them, or whether they had done this to him. “I’m guessing you don’t know who or where you are.” He called, his tone confident and easygoing. He was still smiling cheerfully, as though this didn’t bother him at all. “Except your name. Mine’s Kelsier. What’s yours?”
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Transgender
strider
No mourners, no funerals
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Post by strider on May 16, 2020 14:35:57 GMT -5
Orpheus wasn’t honestly sure he was ready to look in the houses. If he entered one and it had been his, once, would he even know it? Or would he walk through his own belongings and not recognize any of them? Would he look at the things he had thought were precious to him and regard them only as trash? Fragments of a life that he didn’t lead anymore? He might see pictures of his loved ones and barely give them a passing glance. Orpheus didn’t know why that thought hurt as much as it did.
“It would take us an entire lifetime to search each of these houses thoroughly, maybe more,” he mused, looking at the rows and rows of houses, some of their front doors hanging slightly ajar. He wanted to know all of these stories. He wanted to connect with the people who had been here at some point, wanted to know what had happened to them. Had there been others before, who had been thrown here with no clue who they were? Had they built these houses? Or was he right about them belonging to the three of them? If that was correct, then there would likely be others joining them at some point. An entire city full, they were just the first “chosen” to be a part of it.
Orpheus watched as Skye broke off from the group, following him to make sure he didn’t get hurt. Somehow, he had a feeling that he wouldn’t be as good at climbing as the boy appeared to be.
“Be careful!” he called up, though he figured it didn’t really need to be said. If they could get any insight from a birds-eye view, Orpheus figured he shouldn’t try to stop Skye from giving them that information. He just didn’t want any of their small company to get hurt so soon into this. Unless they found answers soon, he had a feeling they would be here for a while.
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Nico watched both of them warily, put even more on edge by the fact that they both seemed so friendly. Friendly people usually had something to hide. At least… that made sense to Nico. If they were all suspicious of each other, at least they were on even ground. These two being friendly put Nico even more on edge. It felt like they knew something he didn’t know. If they were as clueless as he was, then they’d be a little bit more wary, right? They wouldn’t trust each other, or their surroundings, or Nico.
“Hello,” he returned, almost jumping at the sound of his own voice. It was so high, he sounded so young. How old was he anyway? It was frightening not knowing. It didn’t matter, probably, but… he felt older than his voice sounded. If that made any sense at all. Not that this situation made sense in the slightest.
His gaze snapped towards Kelsier and his hand twitched towards the sword he’d found as the man called out his exact situation. Could he lie? Could he say he knew who he was? It was a lie he wouldn’t be able to substantiate, and he knew the others would probably have questions. Lying about knowing things was out of the question, but part of him didn’t want to give up the only part of himself he was aware of. Nico di Angelo was just a name, but he was so certain it was his name. It was the only thing he was certain of. Then again, if he didn’t tell them, they might get angry and attack. If he lied, would they know the truth? Was this a test, did they already know who he was? Nico took a nervous step backwards, eying them both nervously.
“Orsino.” The lie left his lips before he could stop it. He didn’t know where the name had come from, but he was grateful for how easily it yielded itself up to him. One more layer of protection from these strangers. The only layer of protection he had.
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Post by mintedstar/fur on May 22, 2020 16:05:09 GMT -5
Macon looked after Skye, but didn't seem to have the same trepidation that Orpheus did. Instead, he just stepped after Orpheus, his gait a bit uneven for a second before he caught up. He kept getting the impression that there should be something gripped in his hand, but he wasn't sure what.
"He'll be fine," he said to Orpheus. He could see how Skye climbed. Which made him wonder. He was fairly sure that he could climb with just as much ease, or maybe more. He thought he could make it to the top with twice the speed that Skye was going. But that seemed like drawing too much attention to himself again.
Instead, Macon waited, arms crossed in front of his chest, and looked up at Skye's retreating form. When he was at the top, Macon called out, "What can you see?" He assumed he was in hearing distance, but he wasn't sure what the wind was like up there or anything like that.
His attention returned to being Earth-bound and he glanced at Orpheus.
"If all of these houses belong to people who aren't us ... then what happened to the people who were here before?"
What if there was death here? Just because one house had shown no sign of life - past or present - didn't mean there weren't some very literal skeletons in some of the closets here.
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Da-thump, da-thump.
Sam had been hearing the noises from both Kelsier and "Orsino" for a while, but hadn't really payed very much attention to them in the long run. They were just noises after all. But now, the easy rhythm, faster than Kelsier's was, wavered in a way that Orsino's personal thump-thumping noise hadn't before. Sam didn't have any idea what it meant though. He thought about it for maybe a second before he said, "Nice to meet you!"
He remained in the shadow of the house, but inclined his head to look at Orsino's attire. It was different from his own, but only in the aspect of the item that his hands kept going to. Both of them were dressed differently from Kelsier.
"I'm Sam," he introduced. "Or Samuel, I think. Samuel Salinas." Why had he said 'Sam'? Then again, the shortening of the name had seemed easier to say.
"So none of us know anything that's going on?" he checked again, shifting his hands so that one cupped the other. His body language screamed awkward, but that was just some of the nervousness showing through. "Do we just say here or something? Or do you think more people might turn up?"
He looked to Kelsier here. Something about his height, maybe? Sam felt like, somehow, he should have answers.
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on May 24, 2020 22:43:22 GMT -5
Skye climbed higher, ignoring the figures on the ground, though not in a pan antagonistic sort of way. He was just concentrating on what he was doing, trying to get to the top as quickly as possible.
It turned out he was quite good at it. He reached the top, panting a little with exertion, and looked out over the town. He could see a lot from up there; all the houses and the streets and the places they’d been and all the places they hadn’t. There was more space than he’d originally thought there was, that was for sure.
“I’m fine!” He echoed down, finally turning his attention to the other two on the ground again. “It’s great up here. I can probably see my house!” He didn’t know why he said that. It just seemed like the thing to say. He looked back out over the houses, and frowned a little. “Most of them look really similar.” He admitted. Somehow, he felt confident off the ground, like he knew what he was doing. “I can’t see much in the way of a path. Um....there’s streets, but we already knew that. I don’t know what I’m looking for.”
If these were their houses, shouldn’t he recognize them or something? Shouldn’t he remember something? He could be sitting on his own roof right now and not even know it, and for some reason that really bothered him. He suddenly didn’t feel as comfortable anymore.
“What do you want me to look for?” He called down, changing the subject in his head quickly, before he could freak himself out too much.
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Kelsier, for his part, wasn’t sure why he felt like being so friendly. It seemed like the natural thing to do, and if that was the case, why argue with it?
He narrowed his eyes. Thay thinking right there seems like a good reason to rethink your approach, doesn’t it, Kel? He pointed out to himself, then blinked at the shortened version of the name in his head being applied to himself. Odd. Though of course, everything about this was odd. Why should he be surprised about it at all?
So he decided he wasn’t. Surprised, that is. He wasn’t surprised about any of it, he was just thinking of ways he could use it to his advantage. Which was noticeably harder to think about when he had no idea what his goals, but....
Damn that. He knew what his goals were now, even if he has no idea what they’d been before. He was going to find his memories, figure out who’s taken them and why, and he was going to give them a good punch. Then he was going to get them back and figure out who the hell he was and why this had happened in the first place.
That was a solid plan to start with, anyway. He smiled easily at the kid - Orsino - and the other kid, Sam. Orsino and Sam. And Kelsier. He had no idea which names were normal and which weren’t, or even whether there were normal names and abnormal names, or what he would judge them up against, so he just committed them to memory and gave a quick, dramatic half bow.
Since Samual - not Sam, what was with him and breaking chunks off of people’s names - seemed to be looking to him, he cleared his throat and spoke as confidently as he could. “So none of us remember anything.” He began thoughtfully. “Okay. Well, what’s the last thing you two do remember? I was standing over there,” he pointed to the spot, “and looking over here,” he pointed again, this time towards the town itself. “If TJ three of us turned up, there could be others. I say we start a search and see if we can cover the town by nightfall.”
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Transgender
strider
No mourners, no funerals
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Post by strider on May 27, 2020 21:44:21 GMT -5
Orpheus wished he knew what to say. He wished he could make it easier, wished he had answers, wished… well, wished he knew anything useful. He already got the feeling that he was the weak link in the group – Macon looked like he would be good in a fight, if it came down to it, and Skye, though young, was fast. Orpheus had the distinct impression that neither of those traits applied to him. Perhaps if he tried? No, he wouldn’t unless he needed to. If Skye felt comfortable fighting and Macon felt comfortable taking the lead (which still mildly annoyed Orpheus for reasons he didn’t understand yet), then he would let them. He would figure out his own niche, soon enough. Assuming he even had one.
“Ideally there would be people around,” he called up to Skye, though they all knew the chances of that were slim. “But barring anyone alive, look for landmarks. Things that… stick out, perhaps?” He didn’t want to tell Skye to look for anything familiar, because he didn’t want Skye feeling bad if he didn’t recall anything. Orpheus shared the feeling that he should know… something, but he kept it to himself. “Can you see anything beyond the town in any direction?” Orpheus asked after a moment’s hesitation. If they weren’t stranded there, then perhaps there would be people in other towns to ask. Perhaps they weren’t as alone as it seemed. Then again, the chances of that were slim to none. “It’s okay if you don’t find anything,” he told Skye after another long moment. “If looking this way doesn’t work, there are still plenty of other ways we might be able to figure this out.” Now if only Orpheus could think of those other ways.
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Had Nico known that Sam was privy to people’s lies, perhaps he would have refrained from telling one. With both of these strangers accepting Orsino as his name, though, Nico took in a deep breath. It felt safer to keep the only thing he knew about himself… well, to himself. Although he wanted to believe that both Samuel and Kelsier were telling the truth about their memories, the truth was that one or both of them could be lying. One or both of them could be stringing him along, leading him into a trap. Nico wasn’t sure why, but he had the distinct impression he’d fallen into a trap before. Perhaps that was why he was here. Perhaps this in and of itself was a trap. Or a challenge or punishment of some sort.
Nico looked between the two of them, completely uncertain whether or not to trust them. Was he the kind of person who trusted? Given that he was still standing several feet away and had his hand resting on a sharp piece of metal that could probably kill someone, he decided he probably wasn’t. Which probably also meant he was the kind of person who had been betrayed before. More than once. He didn’t say anything, although any number of pleasantries popped into his head. He would remember the names – they weren’t that difficult anyway – but that didn’t mean he was going to come any closer yet. It didn’t mean he was looking for Kelsier’s guidance like Samuel seemed to be.
“I uh… tumbled from the sky,” Nico mumbled, glancing in the direction he’d come from. It didn’t sound any more normal having said it aloud. “Over there.” He didn’t say that his arm still hurt a little bit from where he’d had to catch himself, nor did he elaborate on why it had taken him so long to get over here. He didn’t know how to explain, even to himself, how he had known how to catch himself so he didn’t do any permanent damage.
Nico’s gaze flicked over to Samuel, almost panicked as Kelsier continued. No, he decided, he didn’t trust these people, not yet.
”That’s your plan?” Nico demanded, crossing his arms. “Even if we are alone, do you really want to be surrounded in on all sides? Are you sure you’re willing to take that risk?” As terrifying as being exposed was, something about entering the town seemed… worse. “We must be here for a reason. And any reason that’s willing to take people’s memories isn’t likely to play fair.”
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Post by mintedstar/fur on May 29, 2020 4:16:19 GMT -5
Macon had thought of other ways. But it involved more of what had happened last night. There hadn't so much been a memory in Orpheus' ... whatever that had been, and for a second he thought he'd remembered a name, only for nothing to come ... but it was a concept. Which meant what?
Night, Macon had to assume, meant there would be more of that ... something. He just wished he could have the same nighttime reaction as the other two seemed to. He just couldn't work out how. But maybe he could find out something if that was the case.
If that was the case, though, then why didn't Orpheus seem to have that concept anymore? It didn't seem like he did. Once again, Macon couldn't help side-eyeing the other man, if only to be a bit worried.
Then he looked up again, not really adding anything more to what Orpheus had suggested that Skye look out for.
Other people was being hopeful, but not unlikely. There had to be more people somewhere. Worst came to worst, if Skye couldn't see something in the way of another town beyond this one, they could all try walking in a direction they had come. And hope. But that seemed like leaving a location which was already safe enough.
Either way, Macon wasn't going to give up. He just wasn't really confident that he could get the others to trust him. What had happened last night had seemed like something that they wouldn't approve of, though he wasn't sure why. He just felt ... antsy ... thinking about mentioning it to either of his traveling companions.
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"Tumbled from the sky," Sam said, as if the sentence would sound any less odd coming from his mouth. He tilted his head to look at the sky, though he had to squint his eyes against it. Even in the shade, it was causing him problems.
Was that normal? Did people normally fall from the sky?
He couldn't be sure. Things seemed to be stacking up normal was to an individual rather than a set of people. Sam wasn't sure why he should have thought differently ...
As he'd been standing here, however, he had noticed that the more he payed attention, and the more the wind shifted in a certain direction, he could smell Kelsier and Orsino.
It was a good smell. He liked it. He wasn't sure if the hunger that started nagging was directly because of it or not. Maybe?
"Uh," Sam said slowly, not sure if he wanted to interrupt. "The last thing I remember is walking toward here. Then it started getting really ... painful ... so I ran the rest of the way."
He sounded sheepish, which was appropriate, since that was how he felt.
Orsino seemed to get distressed pretty easily, which Sam found he didn't like. He didn't like people not feeling well. Good to know ...
"What do you want to do?" he asked Orsino politely. "We could always ... uh ... go along the edge of the town to start?" He glanced at Kelsier again, unsure if that was an acceptable compromise.
He had to agree with the latter part of what the other boy had said though. That seemed right. However, even as they discussed what to do, Sam was eyeing his shrinking section of shadow. He wasn't sure if going around the edge of the town would be applicable to him when he apparently couldn't get hit by direct - or even too much indirect - sunlight.
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Post by mintedstar/fur on Jun 26, 2020 22:12:26 GMT -5
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Jul 2, 2020 8:10:36 GMT -5
Skye liked it up high, where he could feel the wind through his hair and feel the freedom at his fingertips. He also liked it a ways away from the other two. Not that he hated them or anything, it was just that they were strangers and that made Skye nervous.
It also let him think a little clearer. Where were they? This place had to be somewhere, in relation to somewhere else. Was that helpful? Or not?
He sighed, comfortable in the knowledge that at least for a few minutes he could let any emotions he cross his face and no one would know.
Then he looked around, dutifully scouting even though he’d really rather have done it on his own. He didn’t like being someone else’s eyes, but it had been his idea, and he was going to follow through.
He shaded his eyes with one hand, using the other for balance. No...no...no one. He couldn’t see anyone at all. Then again, the houses were blocking a good deal of his line of sight, but still. If this were a full town, he should have seen someone.
“Nothing.” He called down, letting a bit of his disgust slip into his tone. “The houses all look the same, and they’re blocking me. If there’sanything here, I’m not gonna be able to see it from here.”
He sighed. He was probably going to have to climb down, but he didn’t want to, not yet. There was nothing else to do, though, and so he started his descent.
Halfway down, he stopped. He’d just thought of something….something obvious. Why hadn’t he thought of it before?
He jumped the last few feet, hit the ground, and turned. “We need to leave messages.” He said, breathless from the climb. “That was, if anyone else is here, we’ll be able to communicate with them, even if we don’t run into them physically.”
Kelsier wouldn’t have minded, even if he knew that Orsino was lying about his name. Could anyone really blame him for keeping the one thing he knew private? Of course not. Kelsier might have done the same, under different circumstances.
As it was, he wanted to start with trust. He didn’t trust these two, but at the same time, he didn’t not trust them, either. There was a very fine line, here. He wasn’t entirely sure where it ended, but he knew he could go either way, trust or mistrust, in a second.
“Tumbled from the sky.” He repeated, at the same time Sam did. “Makes sense. I’m sure that’s perfectly normal, and nothing to worry about at all.”
Was he joking? It was hard to say, coming from him. Even if he was, it was a loose attempt, probably prompted by the fact that he didn’t know either of these people and he wanted to start off on the right foot.
His eyes moved towards Orsino’s weapon again. Was it a weapon? Kelsier thought it was, and from the way Orsino was touching it, so did he. He glanced at Sam. If it came to it, his first instinct was to protect the boy as much as possible, no matter what that meant for him. He wasn’t sure that was an entirely good instinct. Would he follow it? Perhaps. Or maybe he would ignore it and run. It was hard to say without putting it to the test.
His eyes narrowed. He didn’t like Nico’s tone, but at the same time he understood where it was coming from, and didn’t blame him for it. Why should they trust each other, after all?
“You don’t know the danger is coming from the outside.” He pointed out, his tone calm. “For all you know, the most dangerous thing is right at the center of the town. If I was suggesting we split up, Orsino, that would have been a stupid thing for me to say, and your reaction would have been understandable. But all I’m suggesting is that we make sure there isn’t a massive threat in there that we were too cowardly to inspect.”
He wasn’t trying to be harsh. But Nico had gotten on his nerves, and he didn’t like that. What he wanted was for them all to get along, but if that wasn’t happening, he would do what he could to make sure they were safe regardless.
He was quite the protector, wasn’t he?
He glanced at Sam, and smiled. “Alright.” He agreed. “Sounds good to me. we need to make sure we stay near shade though, or you’ll burn, and no one wants that.” He glanced at Orsino, waiting to hear his reply. He was still smiling, though, which hopefully made his words seem less harsh.
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strider
No mourners, no funerals
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Post by strider on Jul 11, 2020 10:27:07 GMT -5
Orpheus caught the way Macon was looking at him, though he chalked it up to the fact that they were strangers and almost certainly all on edge. If you didn’t know someone, how could you trust them at all? Of course, they had all survived the night, but that was just a small challenge. There was a lot more they’d have to go through before any of them trusted each other. Still, Orpheus got the feeling he probably trusteed Macon and Skye a lot more than they trusted him. He didn’t know why – maybe he was just that naïve. Then again, given that none of them had any experiences to draw from at all, they were all technically naïve by definition.
He turned his attention away from Macon, looking back up at Skye. He almost rushed forward to make sure that Skye didn’t hurt himself as he jumped the last couple of feet, but he figured the kid probably wouldn’t appreciate Orpheus interfering. They were all being as careful as they could be, but they did have a sense of their own abilities, it seemed. Orpheus hadn’t found his strength yet, though. He wondered if it would come to him soon – or maybe he was just mediocre at everything. That was a depressing thought.
“That’s alright,” he told Skye, giving a comforting smile. His expression turned more thoughtful as he heard what else Skye had to say. “That’s a good idea,” he considered. “We’ll need to find paper somewhere, or…” he frowned, looking at the ground. It struck him as odd that it was concrete. Perhaps he wasn’t used to concrete roads. Or perhaps he was just grasping at anything to give him clues. “Chalk could work too.” Then again… maybe large arrows leading directly to where they were staying was a bad idea. “We need a neutral location,” he said aloud, looking between them. “Somewhere so that whoever finds the notes won’t know exactly where we’re staying, but will know where to find us if they have answers or are confused as we are.”
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Nico shifted uncomfortably. He may not have considered the way he’d arrived particularly “normal,” but hearing the skepticism in the voices of his new companions just served to hammer that in. People didn’t just fall from the sky, except for him. Could he… could he fly then? That sounded unlikely at best, and fatal at worst. No, he wasn’t going to be leaping off any buildings to test that theory anytime soon.
He didn’t miss the way Kelsier glanced at his weapon, nor the way his next motion seemed to insinuate Nico was a threat against Samuel. Casting his own look at the other boy, Nico knew he wouldn’t attack him (or Kelsier for that matter) unless one of them struck first. He was the defensive type, then. He didn’t really know what to do with that information.
The idea to explore the edge of the town first was a good one, though he had a feeling Kelsier wasn’t going to be quite as receptive. And there it was, Kelsier’s argument about Nico’s perfectly reasonable concerns. Anger flared in his stomach and a bit of a cold bubble began to appear around him, though he didn’t notice it.
“Are you calling me a coward?” he challenged, brows raising. “It doesn’t matter where the danger is coming from. Outside or inside, we don’t know. Plunging into the middle of the town means we’re on its turf, if it’s coming from inside. If there’s any danger at all. Are either of you even armed?” He neglected to mention that he had no idea how to use the wicked black sword attached to his belt. It gave his argument more weight if he made himself out to be more experienced than he was. What he was really was scared. He felt he had every right to be.
He took in a deep breath to steady himself, then glanced back at Samuel. The issue of being burned was getting more and more pressing. Nico could feel the sun, hot and unpleasant against his own pale skin, but it didn’t seem to impact him the way it impacted Samuel. He liked Samuel, though he couldn’t quite say why. Maybe it was because he was trying so hard to find a compromise, while also being the most vulnerable one in the situation.
“Let’s do the edge of town,” Nico conceded after a long pause. He had a feeling he was going to regret this, but no turning back now.
He didn’t notice it other than a slight siphoning of his energy, barely enough to miss, but the shadow Sam currently stood in was lengthening in the direction they needed to go. Even if he had noticed, he wouldn’t have thought it was his doing.
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Post by mintedstar/fur on Jul 26, 2020 4:56:16 GMT -5
Leaving a message was a good plan. Macon wasn't adverse to the idea. He wasn't particularly inclined to meet new people, he was getting the impression with how he was dealing with these two that he wasn't that good with others, but he did want to learn more about himself and that meant that he would probably have to face the idea that others were going to be needed to talk to them.
If there were other people here at all.
"The walls of a building would also work," he suggested. "If we found something to paint things on. Something tells me that chalk might be a bit hard to come by just by looking in the nearest house. But it isn't as difficult to get creative with the use of paint. If it's on a wall, and it's in the shade, it will also be a message that last longer."
He wasn't sure how he was aware of this. The idea wasn't one he'd usually gone over in his head. Did he paint? Or did he just know a thing of two about the shade houses provided?
Maybe he was just smarter than he felt.
"A different sort of message that isn't written might also be a clue," he pointed out. "Everything here is dusty and disused. Dragging a table out into the middle of the street and cleaning up some things to put on it might be just as much of a prominent message as a sign."
He felt a bit like he was lecturing, actually. He didn't mind.
...
Sam almost stepped forward, just so he could get a bit of the attention that seemed to negatively flying between Orsino and Kelsier.
He wasn't so sure why it was important that someone be armed anyway. Things could be dangerous, but was solving it with sharp things really going to help? He doubted that anyone here knew how to fight as well as they thought they might if they really had only just turned up here and apparently didn't remember anything.
At least, he thought they wouldn't.
He couldn't.
Maybe that didn't mean anything.
"The edge of town sounds good," he insisted again. He hoped that Kelsier would just go along with it and Sam once again shot him a look which asked for that consideration.
It wasn't cowardly to wait and see, was it?
Come on," he said.
He stuck close to the buildings as he moved along, stepping carefully so he was in as thick a shadow as possible. Luckily, the one he was in connected up to the building's shadow next to it, so he skipped across without mild uncomfortableness.
He glanced back, just to see if the other two really were following.
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Aug 1, 2020 13:02:24 GMT -5
Skye nodded, agreeing with the others. It was a bad idea to point out right where they were, like a big neon sign saying “DESTROY ME”. Even if they did seem to be alone.
They might not be, after all.
He wasn’t sure he trusted the others just yet, either. He almost wanted to, but it wasn’t that simple. He could just as easily believe one of them were responsible for this happening in the first place. It wasn’t that unlikely, was it?
Well, even if they were, he supposed all he could do was go along with this for now. There wasn’t any other options. He could sneak away, of course, but that seemed like a bad idea when he didn’t know whether there were any worse people around. At least these two were pretending to be nice, right?
He nodded. “That’s a good idea.” He said, glancing at Macon. “The only problem is that things are so weird already that it might not strike anyone as strange to see something completely out of the ordinary.” He didn’t really appreciate being lectured. He didn’t get the feeling Macon intended to be condescending, though. So he didn’t mind as much as he might have.
He looked at the other two. They were both so much taller than he was, it made him feel somehow like he needed to defend himself. Even if he didn’t want to. He shook the thought away.
“Maybe there isn’t even anyone else here.” He muttered.
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If Orsino could fly, well….Kelsier wouldn’t be believing that anytime soon, not without proof. Orsino was armed, he was wary, and Kelsier didn’t trust him. He didn’t trust Sam, either, but he also wanted to protect the boy from the most obvious threat. Who, currently, happened to be Orsino. He saw the boy’s glance, and he knew his protective stance had not gone unnoticed, but he didn’t care. Let Orsino catch on.
Maybe he would be less inclined to try anything.
Kelsier raised his eyebrows, and a small smile lifted his features. “Depends.” He retorted coolly. “I don’t make a habit of lying. Are you a coward?”
He knew he shouldn’t bait the kid, but it was difficult not to. He just seemed so….full of himself. Maybe it was an act, maybe it wasn’t, but either way he found he wanted to knock the kid off his high horse.
He glanced at Sam, and his face softened. The other kid was just trying to make things easier. Half of him wanted to just be difficult, while, the other half wanted to make this easier on the kids. Even Orsino, who was probably just scared.
“Alright.” He agreed reluctantly. “Edge of town it is. But if we don’t find anything there, I’m not going to hang around out here forever.”
He considered Orsino for a moment longer, then made his decision. He reached swiftly into his pockets with both hands and pulled out two glass daggers, held expertly in either hand.
“Yes.” He said softly, a small, mischievous smile on his hawklike features. “I’m armed.”
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strider
No mourners, no funerals
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Post by strider on Aug 1, 2020 18:20:25 GMT -5
Orpheus bristled away from the way Macon seemed to be lecturing. He didn’t like being condescended to. That was good information, that was an important piece of the puzzle… right? Even if it put him at odds against someone who he was relying on now.
“Maybe we should find something to eat first,” he said, suddenly aware of how hungry he was. When was the last time he had eaten? When was the last time any of them had eaten? Surely there was food in some of these houses, something they could take for themselves. “We can always talk about the best way to do this over a meal, and any house that has food might also have chalk or paint or… something.” He was considering, thinking of everything that could go wrong if they went about sending a sign the wrong way. That was, after all, the last thing he wanted to do. If a sign put them in more danger than they were in now… he looked between the other two, hoping to get their opinions.
“I just… think it probably isn’t something we should rush into. Not until we’ve thought about it a little bit more. We may not remember things, but we obviously all think differently. Maybe… maybe that’s a good thing.” He was speaking slowly, going over each word in his head before he said it. “We can point out flaws in each others’ plans so we hopefully don’t lead anything bad right to us.”
His attention flickered over to Skye and he frowned slightly. The kid was right.
“There were people here. That has to mean something.”
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Nico’s eyes narrowed. Was he a coward? He didn’t want to think so, but he also couldn’t deny the way he felt when he glanced between Samuel and Kelsier, like he might completely freeze if he so much as took a step closer. He couldn’t deny how exposed he felt standing in the open, nor how trapped he was going to feel in the middle of the city. He was frightened of a lot, but he also got the feeling he survived anyway. If the scars he’d noticed on himself were any indication, he had been through enough to warrant being frightened. But being scared didn’t make one a coward. It was giving in to that fear that warranted the label.
Anger burned through him despite his attempt to quash it down. He didn’t like Kelsier, that much was obvious.
“I don’t know,” he replied, voice icy. “Are you?” Though Nico didn’t say it out loud, Kelsier antagonizing a kid half his height and probably about a fourth of his weight seemed pretty damn cowardly to him. His knuckles turned white where they rested around the hilt of his sword, and he waited to see if Kelsier was going to follow Samuel or if he was going to attack.
That could be interesting, a voice in the back of his head piped up. That way he would at least figure out if he could fight. And he would know what he was up against here. He cast a glance towards Samuel, wanting to follow, but not wanting to turn his back to Kelsier for even a second. He didn’t like him, and he didn’t trust him. For a moment it seemed as though Kelsier was going to break the tension and follow, but almost faster than Nico’s eyes could follow there were two daggers in the man’s hands.
Nico smiled, cold and humorless. The expression felt foreign on his face, which, as he would reflect later, was depressing as hell. What kind of a kid felt weird smiling? He found he didn’t much like who he was turning out to be.
“Good.” His tone was guarded, unreadable, but the sentiment was genuine. At least he knew what kind of fighter Kelsier was now. He knew the benefits of his own weapon and the benefits of Kelsier’s. And he also knew that if they did find something in the city, he wouldn’t be fighting alone.
He stayed where he was, unmoving. He wouldn’t leave himself vulnerable here, least of all to Kelsier. Especially not now that he’d seen his weapons.
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