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"Yeah, I have notes. How else will I remember everything?" Luci laughed, then glanced around the alley, which is still empty. "I guess. What do you want to know about? The Everlasting Woods? The Mortum Blade? I have it all. Or, welll, most of it." She pulled the folder out of her jacket. "Just be warned, if you try and steal this, I will set you on fire."
Runner gently look the folder like it was made of glass and began flipping through it, becoming more and more excited with each word. Christ, she's figured it out!
"Y-……fuck. You found a way though the forest?" he asked, looking up at her with a look of hope in his hazel eyes.
"Yeah. You wouldn't believe the things the gods created way back when. All you have to do is look through a lot of old scrolls and books, and tada! You learn new things." Luci shrugged. "And find out secret paths through the deadliest forest ever, apparently. Someone hid the information well, but I found it." She paused. "Do you know anything about this stuff, anyways?"
"I knew about the sword, but…a path?" he put a finger on something important. (Tell me to shut my face if I'm stepping over a line) "It says that "two people are needed to get though, since it's a 3 day trek and there needs to be lookouts at night." Have….have you found this 3rd person yet?"
"Hmm, yes. The sword is basically common knowledge by now. The path, though… I found that information in the middle of a book all about rare, collectable spoons, for some reason. I'm pretty sure someone was trying to hide it." Luci looked at the line he was pointing at. "Nope. As of now, it's just me."
Runner closed the file and handed it back to her, that boyish grin back on his face. "Well, you just did. Runner Tolliver, at your service." Was he dramatic? Yes. Was it charming? Well, he thought it was.
"Well, then." Luci tucked the folder under her jacket. "Welcome to the team, Runner. How do you feel about tomorrow?" She glanced up and down the alley again. "After all, if we kill the queen before winter begins, we really would win." Her dark green eyes landed back on Runner. She wasn't quite sure what to make of him, but he had helped her get away. And at least now she didn't have to search for anyone to join her.
He ran a hand through his brown hair, attempting to push it from his face, to no avail. Runner had a boyish charm about him, as if he saw everything as a big game he played solely for his own amusement,
"I'd say sign me the fuck up," he said, glancing down the alleyway. Two figures were walking towards them, each carrying billy clubs. Police. "Give me a blast of magic, if you got any. I know how to get away."
"Wonderful." Luci followed his gaze. "Oh, shit. Why are they back here?" She glanced at Runner in confusion. "Give you a blast of magic? What does that mean?" She checked to make sure the folder was secured in her coat– if they had to make another run for it, she didn't want everything to get lost.
"Exactly what I told you," he said, as the police finally noticed them. "Hit me with a spell or something."
"Stop, both of you!" one of them shouted as they both began running towards the new team.
"Okay. Have some fire, I guess." Luci shrugged and held up her hand. A ball of fire appeared in it, making the red in her hair glow. She gave Runner a weird look, then tossed the fireball at him. "I love how they said stop, when we aren't even running away yet."
"Yeah, they aren't the smartest," he agreed, catching the fire as if it was a baseball. As the cops (well, more like soldiers) approached, the fireball was sucked into his hand, like a black hole devouring the sun.
"Hop on my back," Runner said, his voice having a shaky, inhuman quality to it.
Luci nodded, watching in confusion as Runner first caught the fireball, then somehow sucked it into his hand. "Okay, then. You're going to have to explain what the hell that was later." She paused for a few seconds, then shrugged and climbed into Runner's back.
"Later," he agreed, then jumped.
Suddenly, they were enveloped by complete darkness, almost as if a bag was thrown over their heads. They couldn't even see each other, although they could feel. It was also ice cold, like they were dropped into a massive fridge.
Then….they were in a run-down home, the AC in the room gracefully warm compared to the place they were just in.
A young boy, barely over the age of 10, sat on the bed closest to the window, playing on a phone.
"Hey, Uncle R," he said, barely batting an eye at the scene. "Is that a new girlfriend?"
"What kinda weird transporting was that?" Luci slid off Runner's back and looked around. "Where are we? Is this your house?" She looked towards the young boy and frowned. "Is that why you're doing this? Nevermind, I don't need to know. What did you do back there with the fire?" Her questions came rapidly, and her eyes kept darting around the room, as if she was expecting something to jump at her from behind the furniture.
"One question at a time, damn." Runner walked over to the empty bed and sat down, looking up at Luci. "1, It's teleportation for people who can't actually teleport. 2, This is my home. 3, That's none of your business, and he has a name. 4, I absorbed the magic and used it to go into the InBetween."
"Okay… Okay… Well, are you going to let me in on his name, or am I not allowed that information yet?" Luci asked, giving Runner a smile that was half teasing, half annoyed. "Absorbed the magic? Is that a rare ability? I don't think I've ever heard of it." She had stopped looking around, although she still appeared very on-guard.
"From what I know, my family is the first and only to ever have it," Runner said, rubbing his hands on his knees.
"Name's Tega," the boy said, looking up from the phone to give her a small wave.
"I see. It's quite an… Interesting ability, that's for sure." Luci looked over at the boy and have him a smile. "I'm Luci. Nice to meet you." The smile dropped from her face as soon as she looked at Runner. "How far away are we from that bar?"
"Um….?" he turned to Tega, raising an eyebrow.
"13 and 5/8ths of a mile," the boy said immediately,, not even blinking an eye.
"He can do that, as well," Runner said, pushing himself off of the bed and pointing to her jacket. "Will we be making a game plan for our journey, or just rushing in there blindly?"
"Wonderful. I don't suppose you'll be able to take me back at some point?" Luci glanced down at her jacket. "I didn't do all that research to simply run in blind at the very end. We're making a game plan." She pulled the folder out and held it up. "Do you want to do that right now? Either way, you should probably read through the entire thing."
"Yeah, I can take you back. But why would you want to?" he asked, reaching out for the folder. "They'll be police swarming the place, man. You go there, and you're dead. Big time."
"Yeah, but I also live nearish to there." Luci handed him the folder and crossed her arms. "And I'd like to see them try and arrest me when everything is on fire." She smiled slightly at the thought. "Well, if you won't take me back there now, can you at least take me back tomorrow? I have a few things at my place that might help us."
(boop)
(Sorry!)
"Yeah, that's fine," he said, sitting down on the bed again and opening the folder. "You can sit down, if ya like. or you can stand there and keep lookin' around with a silly look on your face. Your choice."
( You're good!)
"Okay, thanks." Luci looked at him with a scandalized look on her face. "Silly look on my face? What do you mean?" She sat down next to him and peered at the papers. "Oh, by the way, I apologize if you can't read some of the notes. I was writing half of this early in the morning on about zero hours of sleep. If you need me to decode something, just ask."
(boop)
(I'm sorry, I've just…completely lost interest in this)
(Okay, that's totally fine. I'll just reboot it, then. Thank you for telling me!)