Yuki!
“…what do you mean you arrested Yuki Edogawa?”
It’s later! A serpentine cordon has been placed around the entrance to the Crevas Stone, barring entry. See, the thing is, those fireworks have some enchantment on them which triggers if you get too close, which we all know because you got too close and nearly set off a disastrous chain reaction of explosions, and then you got tackled by a Nagi guard.
(They’re not quite the same as cops, incidentally. It’s technically a volunteer position, but it’s a power move for the ruling families to have enough members of their client families that they can make some take shifts in the city watch, and enough resources to pay them for their work. This also means that unlike cops, there’s a bunch of city guard cliques that don’t work together well, and like cops, some of them are thugs for hire on the side.)
So here you are, handcuffed and stuck under someone’s tail, and who’s come to save you but Sulochana? Okay, technically she’s here to figure out what happened, but—
“—she saved Thellamie and you decided it was a good idea to arrest her, do you have the brains that the First Fallen gave an ant—“
You have, unfortunately, had time to stew— to plead and be ignored— to worry about Hazel, gone with Seli and Keli and that villain maid— and to get a cramp in your shoulders.
That sounds like time enough to have taken a Condition, don’t you think?
But here’s the tail of Beti Karn-Daga slithering off you sheepishly, and Sulochana pulling you up onto your feet and sweeping you into a crushing, desperate hug. And she looks like she’s had as terrible a night as you have.
Eclair!
The wind kisses your face like the breath of slumbering dragons.
It’s later. The edge of a Hub, any one you care to name, tends to be rundown and poor when compared to the rich urban center. But you’re past even the shacks and the guardposts and the fertilizer warehouses now, staring out into the desert, its colors pale phantasms under the light of the judging moon and stars.
The Khatun and her pack have already had their tracks be blown away by that wind; on the horizon, they might as well be tricks of the Outside. They ride furiously, having lost whatever dispute they were having with the city guard of Crevas. But this barely matters to you, Eclair.
What matters is that you must pursue Timtam. Now, perhaps it would be more sensible for you to go back down into the city, examine crime scenes for clues, and be methodical about this.
But you’re not feeling particularly methodical, are you?
Because she’s out there. She’s played you for a fool. You’re no closer to understanding what she wants, why she’s betrayed you, or what she was doing in Crevas. And on a night like tonight, that might make a Knight of the Aurora march out into the desert, on the edge between the real and the half-real, chasing until she finally admits that she’s let the trail grow cold.
Not that Timtam will let— but I get ahead of myself.
Hazel!
Tsk tsk tsk young man. Thinking you could get away from Amali that easily! “Nonsense,” she says, with the sternness of (comparative) age. “You don’t know the first thing about evasion, stealth, or Stone-navigation! You’ll be snapped up as soon as a wink. But not to worry, Auntie knows a safe place to stay, one of the most comfortable and luxurious places from here to the Moon! And I’ll get you there, see if I don’t.”
The Chrysanthemum. Oh, I could roll that name (and more) around my tongue all day long.
She putters off (to check the locks on the door) and leaves you to your tea, and your tablet, and… oh, looks like you had a message from Yuki! Had, mind you.
Your fate’s in your hands. And Yuki, oh, she’s with a hunter. And you’ve just been promised comfort and luxury. Surely it wouldn’t be too bad to let that offer pass you by…?
Tsane!
What does the Hero’s Shadow want from an encounter? This. This moment of conviction. This unfolding of knowledge. This willingness to act. The Outside exists most strongly when it is being observed and has a frame of reference to be defined by. And this is their frame of reference.
They unfold their talons, holding out to you a folded square of palm leaves. Inside: the Sleepless Charm that Civelia once made for Heron when the Hero of Ages expressed a wish to be able to work around the clock. (The aftereffects, mind you, were detrimental enough that she went back to stimulant drinks in the end.)
Its chain is wrapped around a tube of resin.
“Cair should present as my shadow,” they say. They are filling the whole of the corridor. Their heat is suffusing clothing and hair. “Go before the Doll and fear you not.”
This is when the Lunarian’s knees finally start buckling, seeing as the fever’s really started to kick in.
“…what do you mean you arrested Yuki Edogawa?”
It’s later! A serpentine cordon has been placed around the entrance to the Crevas Stone, barring entry. See, the thing is, those fireworks have some enchantment on them which triggers if you get too close, which we all know because you got too close and nearly set off a disastrous chain reaction of explosions, and then you got tackled by a Nagi guard.
(They’re not quite the same as cops, incidentally. It’s technically a volunteer position, but it’s a power move for the ruling families to have enough members of their client families that they can make some take shifts in the city watch, and enough resources to pay them for their work. This also means that unlike cops, there’s a bunch of city guard cliques that don’t work together well, and like cops, some of them are thugs for hire on the side.)
So here you are, handcuffed and stuck under someone’s tail, and who’s come to save you but Sulochana? Okay, technically she’s here to figure out what happened, but—
“—she saved Thellamie and you decided it was a good idea to arrest her, do you have the brains that the First Fallen gave an ant—“
You have, unfortunately, had time to stew— to plead and be ignored— to worry about Hazel, gone with Seli and Keli and that villain maid— and to get a cramp in your shoulders.
That sounds like time enough to have taken a Condition, don’t you think?
But here’s the tail of Beti Karn-Daga slithering off you sheepishly, and Sulochana pulling you up onto your feet and sweeping you into a crushing, desperate hug. And she looks like she’s had as terrible a night as you have.
Eclair!
The wind kisses your face like the breath of slumbering dragons.
It’s later. The edge of a Hub, any one you care to name, tends to be rundown and poor when compared to the rich urban center. But you’re past even the shacks and the guardposts and the fertilizer warehouses now, staring out into the desert, its colors pale phantasms under the light of the judging moon and stars.
The Khatun and her pack have already had their tracks be blown away by that wind; on the horizon, they might as well be tricks of the Outside. They ride furiously, having lost whatever dispute they were having with the city guard of Crevas. But this barely matters to you, Eclair.
What matters is that you must pursue Timtam. Now, perhaps it would be more sensible for you to go back down into the city, examine crime scenes for clues, and be methodical about this.
But you’re not feeling particularly methodical, are you?
Because she’s out there. She’s played you for a fool. You’re no closer to understanding what she wants, why she’s betrayed you, or what she was doing in Crevas. And on a night like tonight, that might make a Knight of the Aurora march out into the desert, on the edge between the real and the half-real, chasing until she finally admits that she’s let the trail grow cold.
Not that Timtam will let— but I get ahead of myself.
Hazel!
Tsk tsk tsk young man. Thinking you could get away from Amali that easily! “Nonsense,” she says, with the sternness of (comparative) age. “You don’t know the first thing about evasion, stealth, or Stone-navigation! You’ll be snapped up as soon as a wink. But not to worry, Auntie knows a safe place to stay, one of the most comfortable and luxurious places from here to the Moon! And I’ll get you there, see if I don’t.”
The Chrysanthemum. Oh, I could roll that name (and more) around my tongue all day long.
She putters off (to check the locks on the door) and leaves you to your tea, and your tablet, and… oh, looks like you had a message from Yuki! Had, mind you.
Your fate’s in your hands. And Yuki, oh, she’s with a hunter. And you’ve just been promised comfort and luxury. Surely it wouldn’t be too bad to let that offer pass you by…?
Tsane!
What does the Hero’s Shadow want from an encounter? This. This moment of conviction. This unfolding of knowledge. This willingness to act. The Outside exists most strongly when it is being observed and has a frame of reference to be defined by. And this is their frame of reference.
They unfold their talons, holding out to you a folded square of palm leaves. Inside: the Sleepless Charm that Civelia once made for Heron when the Hero of Ages expressed a wish to be able to work around the clock. (The aftereffects, mind you, were detrimental enough that she went back to stimulant drinks in the end.)
Its chain is wrapped around a tube of resin.
“Cair should present as my shadow,” they say. They are filling the whole of the corridor. Their heat is suffusing clothing and hair. “Go before the Doll and fear you not.”
This is when the Lunarian’s knees finally start buckling, seeing as the fever’s really started to kick in.
