Tess beamed, face as bright as the sun. "Great!" She waved a hand between Demitri and Cinthia. Neither blinked. "Hello?"
Demitri broke the stare and waved a hand. A large shadow appeared at his side, and Fenris, Kiriti, and Cinthia walks through. Tess squeezed Runner's hand in farewell. "See you next time," then hopped through the swirling shadows. Demitri hesitated, eyeing Runner. "Don't break her," he finally said, then disappeared himself, bringing the shadow along with him
He sat down heavily, groaning. His head still pounded from the empty voice that the rage left in his mind, his chest ached from the amount of energy he had to hold, and he just felt like shit. But, at the same time, she had kissed him. He could still feel it on his cheek and hoped it wouldn't fade, knowing good and well that it would.
"Damn," he mumbled, leaning onto his back. "I should have went with them."
(It's fine! It is getting pretty late)
The figure had remained in the shadows. He had returned to his place further away from the rest of the individuals present. A sudden caw drew his attention. The male turned his head, seeing what appeared to be a large raven in a tree. Though it was clear, this wasn't your average bird. The tips of its wings seemed to glow blue, the same blue energy seeming to flow off of its form.
As for the male, he raised his eyebrow, "For you to be here…something is not right."
The raven tilted its head, blue eyes glowing. It flapped its wings a bit, giving another harsh caw. A sudden voice echoed in his mind ~Yes, you are correct. Though tis too dangerous to speak about it here~.
"Hm, I see…"
He finally got off of his back, unaware that he had taken a nap but happy he did.
~Do report anything…should you see the soul I am searching for~.
The cloaked figure gave a slight nod to the raven, "Shall I call one of your reaper dragons if I cross paths with this soul?"
The bird that perched above the male shifted a bit on the branch. Its blue eyes seemed to glow even brighter. The blue tips of its wings pulsed with the energy it held.
~I suggest calling for Vokun. I have put him on the soul's trail, though having heard that it had escaped to another place, even world, it is making things quite difficult…enough chat, the others have started to awake, and most likely will see me. I'd prefer not being seen, as I have other things to attend to back home~.
The strange raven then released another harsh caw. It opened its wings, lifting off its branch, swiftly taking off and disappearing into the darkness. As for the male, he watched where the creature had taken off, then looked back to the world around him.
He made eye contact with Runner, who heard the whole thing through the still-open portal.
The male could sense the eyes upon him. His head shifted, looking directly at the boy. Yet his composure remained completely relaxed. His red eye was a dull, the black pupil round, showing his still calm state.
"Tis rather rude to listen into a conversation…though I suppose we should've taken better precautions."
The cloaked figure's voice remained emotionless, "I'm going to assume you have questions, as most do."
"To be honest, not really. You and your crew are chasing someone."
"Hm…these residents are quite surprising," he mumbled under his breath.
The figure spoke louder again, "Observant…"
He started to mutter under his breath again, shifting his gaze back to the depths of the forest nearby.
The Alnaschari shuffled back into view, now in buttoned-up dusters and boots. "What'd we miss?" Stardew asked. "Sorry, we decided to do something … else."
She glanced over to the portal. "You guys really need to teach us how to do stuff like this."
He crawled back into their world, closing the portal behind his as if it had a zipper. "I blew shit up and got Tessie." He looked tired as all hell.
The figure glances over as the others reappeared again. He simply gave a shrug in response. The back of his mind, thoughts were being processed, looked over, thinking. As his form remained still, the darkness around him seemed to twitch now and then, swirling around his cloaked body.
Stardew sighs. "Why do we leave just when people are blowing things up?"
The three Alnaschari toss their rucksacks down. Trouble's has what appears to be a huge gemstone half sticking out of it, and Stardew's moves uneasily before she casually steps on it and pulls out something that she offers to Runner.
"You want a teajak? When used properly, it eases exhaustion, and you look like you could use it."
He tilts his head, looking at the item for a moment before taking it in his hands. "How do I use it?"
"You chew on it like gum, and then swallow the juice. It's a quick-burning vampire magic distill, but as long as you don't swallow the whole thing you'll be fine. It also keeps you safe from zombies trying to bite you and/or eat your brains if that's a problem you find yourself in. Spit it out when you're finished. The flavor runs out after a while, but you can keep chewing it and swallowing the juice as long as you like."
He shook his head, handing it back. "I'll be fine. I appreciate it, though."
He thought about the presence he felt when the shadow was opened for Tessie. Heavy worry, with a mix of joy and…..longing. Someone on the other side of that thing was waiting for Tessie. Probably gave her a hug. Maybe even a kiss on the cheek, just like she did to him.
He sat down very suddenly, hanging his head in his hands and groaning slightly.
Stardew shrugs. "Suit yourself."
She puts it away, and then yelps as claws rip from the bag and take a swipe at her ankle.
"Damn it!" she swears, and hops on one foot, clutching her ankle, as a small, boxy chest hops out.
She glances over at Runner. "You okay?"
He ignored her, too consumed in his own thoughts to hear anything else.
The male looked over as he noticed the boy suddenly sit down, though his gaze quickly shifted over to the woman who yelped. His red eye landed on the claws that had seemingly appeared to lash out.
However, he kept in his place, the darkness continuing to swirl around him.
The chest vibrates, as if it's shaking itself off, and then a pair of leathery legs pops out, with long, razor-sharp claws at the end. Foxglove dives for it as Stardew walks over to Runner.
He sniffed as he wiped his eyes, all the while shaking his head. Am I thinking too far into this? What if it's nothing and I'm just emotional because I'm tired?
"Hey, are you okay?" Stardew asks.
He shrugged, leaning onto his back. "I honestly don't know. Today has been horrendous."
