Orchestratic

Chasing the Sky

Swiping his arm quickly up only a second after her reply, Praxis held Aruna in both arms. As before, his mind seemed emotionally attached to hers and he felt many things, including an uncomfortable fear. This girl feared him merely for his species, though he felt she was right to. This feeling made it harder to continue on carrying her. It needed to be pushed away... as did his own feeling of touching her legs. Though her skirt remained in a modest position, he could not help his attraction to her still unexplained in his mind; he continued to blame it on her emotions to move forward.

After a few steps, the Wolfen's swift speed picked up as they gracefully bound through branches and leaves, their destination a deeply dipping leaf that made a cupping shape. This particular area was surrounded mostly by thorns and small trees -- simple, natural defenses to Praxis.

Defensively, Praxis pulled Aruna into his chest and into a smaller position, also covering her with more of his body, as he maneuvered them through the defenses. Oddly enough, this did not bother him as he only thought of defending her = or what he needed to move to his stash - from the small spear-like thorns. Arriving unscathed to his spoils, he took a mental reminder of whether he had set any traps of his own her not, and set her down when remembering he had been too much in a rush to do so previously. He lay Aruna down on the higher twelve foot diameter perimeter of the leaf, sliding his hand down her legs to straighten them along the dip of the leaf that lead to his possessions, leaving her sitting straight up. "Get comfortable, I guess," he said with an almost nervous chuckle. Humor didn't fit the current demeanor.

Sliding down the small angle to the objects bellow, he quickly swept up a golden timepiece, it's chain dangling musically in his fingers as he ascended the opposing bank of the leaf and took a sitting position similar to the one in which he placed his guest. "As you... you probably know, right?" Praxis began, toying with the valuable object and chain. The timepiece itself told time for a much further away area, and was not made to be set for other zones on Yggdrasil and as such remained off-time and irrelevant. Still, the Wolfen eyed it rather than Aruna as he attempted interaction. "I read the woman's mind. She knew and let me but... I'm not good... with actual stuff like that anymore, y'know? Talking, interacting... Don't do much of it anymore. So, I took the knowledge... the rumors... the guess, I suppose, of that old crone. And I can only hope she's wrong, Aruna. I'm afraid you will, too... so I brought you here in case your interaction became one of rejection... hah, unless you rejected the idea, I mean -- look at me, attempting fancy styles of wording." As he spoke, he eyed her only a few times, following her exposed legs all the way up the eyes that challenged his emotions. Is this what a spontaneous crush felt like? He had never experienced it before. It almost bothered him, but now that he felt more certain of what he felt, he realized it was based on nothing but a situation and physical attraction, and was able to ignore it; the idea would bother her more now, he assumed, as she would hate his attention in that manner.

Contracted

Revived!

My obvious apologies for the long
long
long
wait.

We want at least one other round of posting before the time-skip (and we have a planned scene between Parker and Matt we're going to make in Matt's post). If you want to skip making any post in this lagging scene, Laura or Justice, that's fine -- the time-skip is next, as planned, to the first performance, where we meet Nonna in the after-party collectively thrown by the four bands that performed. We play... uhh... that one song I can't remember that Lindsey Stirling plays with the singer of Halestorm, and become sorta friends.

Hearing objections now.
Sorry again, love y'all.<3

Contracted

Mounting Jill's driver seat, Parker only reacted to Lucy's retorts with an amused smirk -- though amusement was easy to fake. Of course he wasn't commanding her to stop as she seemed to react, so he wanted nothing to do with the conversation further. Every interaction with Lucy seemed to only make something worsen, right in front of his eyes. Something he couldn't prevent. "How do you stop damaging something so fragile as their relationship without voiding it wholly?"he often thought. C'est la vie -- there was always something in the way, so why make a bigger deal out of this particular something?

"Noted," Parker replied, switching his attention to the vocalist. "First to the 'Matt Mobile', and then HDMI-laptop-Disney-pirating," another comment through another smirk; he knew Matt hated the nickname he gave his tiny vehicle long ago, but it was an easy target and not one to be avoided.

Once all the Harbingers had taken seats inside the van, it took it's path back to the studio, and lost one Harbinger to his vehicle in which Matt followed the van to the familiar apartment complex. Stopping Jill in it's usual spot, Parker escaped the vehicle in his usual fashion, quickly and ignorantly of anyone else. With crossed arms, he stood away from the van and slowed his steps to a stop, hearing Matt's Vespa purr into a spot near him. Why did he suddenly have the urge to be alone? He had just made plans to do the opposite. No -- he had to force this feeling away. It was one symptom of his addiction he would not be a slave to. Forcing himself to face the band, he sighed his stress out into a fake stretch of his arms to the sky and ascended the stairs.

"Søren," he called back as he freed the door with his keys. "Set up the HDMI, 'kay? I'm gonna start one some food." A moment later, he disappeared into the apartment, voiding his feeling of momentary loneliness with ideas on possible hors d'oeuvres.

Contracted

Before Søren had even mounted the table, Parker was nearly in hysterics. Even after being friends with him for years, living with him, and joining a dream-chasing band with him, watching his best friend make an entire room of people uncomfortable and/or annoyed would seemingly never get old. Watching between Søren and Lucy as she took in the dramatic story that was being played out in front of her, Parker couldn't help but let his eyes linger on the guitarist and her enchanting smile for just a few moments too long... before the entire group simultaneously noticed the angry working storming his way toward Søren's improvised stage. Parker knew that if it had just been himself and his best friend, they would continue the charade further, attempting to amuse (or further agitate) even the staff before taking their leave; this was the usual protocol for when the pair got themselves booted from places. To be fair, though, not all of those could be blamed on Søren; occasionally a worker disapproved of Parker's pill habits and they were 'escorted' from places for that reason instead. Watching as the others shoveled their remaining food into their mouths, Parker smiled as he attempted to stealthily sneak a few Roxy's from his sleeve into his mouth as he downed the rest of his drink at the approach of the angry Asian man, trying very hard not to laugh and choke while doing so. After Matt's discussion with the angry proprietor, Parker waited for Lucy to clear the way of the booth, shamefully keeping his eyes on her as she did. It only made him want to hit himself, but instead he ground his teeth slightly, stopping only at the word of 'cigarette'. As hypocritical as it was to challenge her on her vice, he never could help but to bring it up when it game to Lucy. Letting out a large sigh, he followed close to her until the group all stood outside near their mobile mascot. "You know," he spoke to Lucy as he passed her by to lean on his usual spot on Jill's hood, crossing his arms. "You promised you'd quit smoking those back when I did. I don't think it counts if you start up again." Parker smirked, this being one of the few things he'd said directly to Lucy in awhile that didn't include the entire band. A short chuckle later, he was rounding his lovely van to the driver's seat, feeling sober enough to drive for at least another 30 minutes or so. "It's kinda late, guys, and in solidarity with Matt here I'm not planning to let Søren behind this wheel again anytime soon. Y'all alright with crashing at our place? Sit around and chat, watch movies 'til we crash maybe..."

Chasing the Sky

"I'm not even close to sure," Praxis answered Aruna's inquiry about the cause of the giant chasm. His bloodline had been going for many generations, each with their own stories that they loved to pass down further and further into the clan, and although Praxis had heard many, many tales from the old days of Wolfen roaming Yggdrasil, not a single story entailed anything close to the awe they laid their eyes on now. Even the stories Praxis had pulled from the heads of others held no such details. He didn't like not being in the loop about something that worried him; even more than most people, he liked to think. Raising an eyebrow, he peered over to the face of the beautiful girl he held up on her feet with a confused look creeping on to his own. He wanted to ask what business Aruna had with the old bag, but it was obvious, and although he had saved her from certain death, he still felt partially responsible for injuring her. The thought made his eyes trace down her body to her injured legs, slightly bruised but clearly injured. It wasn't long before he realized his eyes were lingering on her attractive exposed legs. Quickly, he cleared his throat and shook his head, both trying to push the thought away and make his staring look nothing more than a natural absent gazing. "The woman, right..." he managed to fumble out of his mouth before pausing a moment. "Wait, really? She's really condescending and I already hate her..." he lowered his voice and moved closer to Aruna as he finished the sentence so she couldn't here. Praxis wasn't one to care what people thought of him, but as long as he was holding up Aruna, he had no intention of starting an argument that might upset her. Biting the corner of his lip - as he often did when he thought - he soon popped his head up with a small grin. "Actually, Miss Aruna, I have a better idea. Come now," he told her with a small snicker as they carefully backed away from the chasm a couple steps, then turned toward the woman. Beginning to walk again, Praxis opened his hand from the fist it had been in for Aruna to lean on for a better view of the chasm, and gently lay his hand around her side under her chest, far enough down in hopes not to offend her. Although he thought it entirely appropriate, the color in his face tinted red slightly, nearly hurting from lack of ever doing so before. As they walked, his hand slid down to her waist; this made their steps slightly less stable but made him feel more comfortable about helping her. Once they stood behind the old woman by about six feet, Praxis halted in his tracks but didn't turn to face her. Closing his eyes, he let his mind escape and search for hers, latching onto it and infiltrating it for all the relevant information Aruna and himself needed. It wasn't long before he came to a block, unable to continue into her thoughts any further, and at that moment the woman turned to look at him with a grin. Praxis couldn't help but return it with a more determined one, showing no signs of apologies. Soon after, the lady nodded and returned to gazing into the hole, allowing Praxis to once again search her mind. If it weren't obvious already that the woman possessed magic abilities, it became more clear when Praxis found certain parts of her mind that were inaccessible without further concentration, though he was uninterested in them. It wasn't long before he got the info he was searching for and returned to his own mind, eyes opening with a frown already set on his face. Quickly he regained the grip on Aruna he hadn't noticed he was losing while penetrating the barriers of the woman's mind, not even realizing he was holding her tighter than before as if he needed comfort. "Thank you," Praxis murmured quietly, knowing full well the old woman could hear him, as he gazed at the ground before taking steps away from the chasm and the path Aruna had just fled from, toward the stash he had left his spoils. "We should go somewhere and talk," he told Aruna, refusing to look at her. His voice was flat as if he was still contemplating something, even while thinking. "We're heading to temporary stash of mine I made while... searching for you. Would you allow me to carry you? We could get there sooner and it would be less strain on your legs."

Chasing the Sky

Praxis couldn't help but giggle at seeing Aruna uncomfortably helpless. It was a side of her he certainly hadn't seen yet, and he was sure she didn't want him or anyone else seeing it. It made him notice, however, that she had been crying earlier - which had clearly triggered the sad reaction from him - and he suddenly no longer enjoyed it. "Only because you asked nicely," he said with a smug grin before looking down in surprise. "... and because I'm 90% sure you just healed my leg. You didn't have to do that; it just hurt a bit. But, uh... thanks." His gratitude came out almost in question form, not entirely certain if he should thank her. Holy... ugh. My social skills really have plummeted.

"Alright," he continued, kneeling down next to her a bit. "You won't freak out if I pick you up to your feet, right?" Although he asked, he had no intention of waiting for an answer. Suddenly, he lightly put his hands under her arms and stood her up and ducked under her left arm and steadied her with his right arm. "Sorry, I just felt like you wouldn't," he snickered again. "Also, don't be so embarrassed." He was referring to how she had been looking at the people staring back at her earlier, all of which now seemed more interested in the chasm then the scene Praxis and Aruna had caused."Who cares what these people think? They probably have all kinds of weird races and weirder names... that old lady is definitely weird," he babbled absently, gesturing toward the old woman who had spoke to him earlier. "Although I think she might know something useful about whatever this is. I've certainly never seen anything like it..." his voice seemed to trail off as the pair approached the large gap, almost as if his voice had fallen into the darkness at the bottom of it, just like the rocks and dirt people were kicking and throwing in around him. It was just as astonishing as before, seeming to have it's own conscious omniscience about it, which only felt stronger now that Praxis saw the the dim glowing membrane that apparently signaled the breaking of Yggdrasil itself under it's protective bark. Praxis noticed now that they were all standing on leaves and dirt, meaning whatever made this hole had went through not only leaves and bark but plenty of actual earth to make the chasm. After a few seconds of staring, Praxis had almost forgotten he had been speaking. "... have you?"

Chasing the Sky

The path went black as Praxis closed his eyes moments before colliding with the speeding person, and suddenly he was on his back with the air being forced from his lungs. As he lay with his eyes being unable to focus, it suddenly struck him that it could be anyone with this power. Did he really just take a hit for someone he had no connection to? That certainly would not be ideal, but whoever it was seemed to react to the being called Aruna... or maybe just having another voice in their head. Although, he'd never seen this ability before, so the odds of finding it twice in one week seemed slim.

Instinctively, Praxis tried to move his hands to his temples to aid his now pounding headache, only to find his right arm was pinned to his chest. Placing his free hand over his eyes as they seemed to rattle around in his head attempting to gain focus, he took several sharp breaths in, followed by small coughs. "That certainly... did not... feel good," he whined. Suddenly he was tasting blood, and so he absently tried to move his right hand to his mouth. Unable to move it again, he suddenly felt confused and wondered how hard his head and hit the ground. Blinking wildly, he looked straight up to see the sky burning brightly for a moment, but his view was soon blocked by two more eyes looking back into his. He recognized them as Aruna's golden ones, suddenly having his stupid decision come back to him. Following her whisper, he responded "In the - slightly bruised - flesh. Speaking of, do you mind? I think I need to check myself for broken ribs."

Soon after pushing herself up, the girl was thrashing words about in her usual anger, just as he had expected. He waited for her to finish before sitting up, taking the time while laying flat to stretch his right arm and find he had no broken bones, contrary to what he expected. When Aruna had finally stopped yelling, Praxis slowly sat up and breathed out, peering over his shoulder to find the mass of people around the chasm staring at the spectacle the two had made. Rolling his eyes at both situations, he moved his shaky gaze back to his unintentional assailant. "Well, as much as I'd love to find out if you could make the jump at the speed you were going, there is a huge ass hole over there. I can't even see the bottom. Not to mention it's surrounded by gawking people who, granted would've made a better emergency brake for you in my opinion, but are probably not willing to fall straight to hell just because you can't watch where you're running." He met her glare with accidental intensity, not sure why he was suddenly angry. It wasn't long before he realized he was upset just because she was, due to being in her mind to make her stop. Coupled with the anger was also unfiltered sadness that he did not appreciate, so he shook his head and cleared the connection as fast as possible.

"Why are you sorry? It was my stupid idea to stand here. I much would've preferred to set up a snare, but I didn't have the time. That would've been pretty funny," he laughed as he stood up in pain and dusted himself off. Limping, he took a small step toward her. He wasn't sure he wanted to, but reluctantly he stuck out his hand to help her up. It seemed too vulnerable an action for his liking, so he moved his eyes away from hers and toward the chasm in the ground; he figured this would be enough to avoid explaining his ability to penetrate her thoughts. "C'mon, there are people watching," he teased. "Besides, you'll want to see this."

Contracted

Parker, already absent in thought and leaning against his hand with his eyes closed, almost entirely forgetting that he needed to get up and eat until he was alone at the table. Looking around with a slightly red complexion building up, he stood up quickly and put together a small plate at the buffet, returning just in time to join Søren in taking his seat. The two ate in silence, as they normally did for at least the first plate they attacked in primal hunger, until everyone returned to the table. It wasn't long before he found himself, as he often did, wondering why these gatherings were more rare than they should be. Though even if they visited everyday, he's sure he would still think it not enough. It was very difficult to feel lonely or bored around his favorite people.

As they exchanged lines, Parker idly moved his eyes between his friends before raising an eyebrow in confusion, gulping down his most recent bite. "This is truly a surreal moment," he spoke dramatically. "Søren was the first to say something productive." After a short laugh and a sip of his drink, he picked the topic back up with a shrug. "As new as it is to me to say this, he's kinda right. Today I was actually just thinking that we should be able to knock the rest out by the weekend." Parker had always heard that you should take an hour or two per minute of track time in the studio to record it, and seeing as they had most of two remaining songs to record and track Matt's vocals over, the timing added up. "Wouldn't you guys say so? Or is that too optimistic?" With a very real questioning look, he scanned over his friend's faces for their responses, continuing to fill his stomach up with pork fried rice completely covered in an unhealthy amount of soy sauce.

Chasing the Sky

"'Can I track someone who can move faster than hell? Sure, why not, I love a challenge!'" Praxis mocked his own thoughts from the previous day before aloud as he walked along the ground for the longest amount of time he could remember doing so in such a normal fashion -- he had lost both sight and sound of Aruna at this point, and could only rely on his sense of smell. Just like old times... he told himself dramatically. Praxis had already decided he would abandon his search if he couldn't find a sign of her soon, but even the tracks she left when she darted around were starting to become less frequent, as if she had slowed down. Maybe he'd missed her turn off somewhere? He had been talking out loud in a sarcastic tone quite a bit lately... after he realized his 'prey' was too far away to hear him for once, he started to enjoy actually being able to make noise and thought he'd try walking around like a normal person instead of using higher ground and leaves as usual. He only passed a few people, all who seemed puzzled by a lone Wolfen or wary of him being a Wolfen at all, but he paid them no mind.... realizing only later he probably could've asked at least one if they had seen a girl in red moving irritatingly fast.

Moving forward only on the last shreds of his own patience, a town's gate soon came into view. He soon thanked a higher power who seemed to have forsaken him long ago for this luck, because he was just beginning to question why the search for this girl was so important, and he still had no real answer for that question. "Is that where you went? Look's promising enough," Praxis said, again aloud although he was alone. With a sigh of relief he approached the gate and walked through without hesitation. The first order of business would be to... "...what.. the.." he looked around, partially astonished at the creatures he was seeing. Most of them were vibrant, and he wanted to say they were almost beautiful. Could Aruna really be in a place like this? They all seemed to be of the same breed, without noticeable exception, and Aruna certainly was not. She looked better than this anyway... these people were kind of creeping him out a little. However, it was comforting to see that he seemed to have the same effect on them, as most who saw him simply stared on in complete shock and awe. Most Wolfen were used to being despised, but no one seemed scared, just... well, he couldn't tell. He hadn't spent enough social time lately to pick up on many social cues, so it took a few mind readings to realize they were all more confused at his presence than his breed. Oh well, it was pretty much the same as them being frightened to Praxis, so he shrugged it off with relative ease.

Although he didn't feel the feeling alienation the population was clearly trying to give off, he did begin to feel rather irked by all the gawking. Catching one particular individual looking at him straight in the eye, Praxis stopped and turned toward them, irritated, making them tense up instantly. "Oh, for the love of-- If you're going to stare, can you be helpful? Looking for a girl that goes by Aruna Zeaxanthin. Ring a bell? Red cloak, annoyingly fast, kinda mouthy?" Before the sentences were fully spouted, the individual was rudely on their way, but not before Praxis was able to penetrate the barrier of his mind. The cloak and surname seemed to trigger some recognition in his mind of an old house very nearby. The memory seemed fresh enough; had Aruna just arrived? It was hard to believe this place slowed down someone with such intense quickness, but even Praxis was freaked out so he wasn't all that surprised. Turning toward the one who unknowingly helped him, Praxis continued and threw his arms up, still irritated. "Uh, 'kay then. Glad we could GET TO KNOW EACH OTHER." His voice raised in irritation to make sure they had heard him, but it only made them speed up and drew further vibrant and shocked eyes his direction. With an aggravated sigh, he threw his arms back down to his side and stormed off toward the house. "Yeah, okay, I'm the freak. Clearly this place has no mirrors... weirdos." He grumbled. The truth was, he was mostly aggravated at himself. People hated Wolfen with relative ease, so their collective attitude was an easy one to shrug off, but his own was not: He had just exhausted quite a bit of energy to dig so far into that person mind as to find out how recent the memory was, and he had done it right away so it caused a ton of strain. Finding Aruna shouldn't be this important to him if he didn't even know why...

"Oh." Praxis said so quietly he practically mouthed it. He was lucky Aruna didn't hear him, as she was now standing within earshot of even a human of her turned back. He almost had passed right over her, as she was not wearing the cloak he had been searching for. She was standing in front of the house he recognized, not seeming eager to knock on the door, but when she did Praxis immediately began walking off out of sight. Whoever answered the door would have a pretty clear sight of him and would probably react as the rest of the town had... he should probably let her conduct her business before approaching her... at least, that's what he told himself. Truthfully, he had no idea if he was even going to make such a move, and what he would do if he did. It wasn't long before he heard the door creak open, but his keen senses picked up nothing more. Taking a quick look behind him, their seemed to be just... tense silence. He wanted to listen in passed the greeting but... it didn't feel right. Since when did he have morals? This is the second time Aruna, a girl he knew nothing about, sparked morality from him that was out of character, and it was already two too many. Clearly, he needed to leave: his state of living depended on it, or it could change drastically... and Praxis wasn't ready for another life-altering event in his life. So, it was decided, and as soon as he picked up on the sound of the door closing he turned toward the gates exit and swiftly made an exit on all four limbs, feeling that the faster he got out of here, the better, for whatever reason. Ignoring the even more shocked stares of those around him now, he passed through the gate and continued the way he came from, not even bothering to take an upper route again. He continued straight, feeling like taking a long route home might help him clear his head, but a few minutes of running brought him to an unbelievable sight, and a skidding halt. When his traction finally stopped him, his heart felt like it was pounding out of his chest. Mere feet in front of him was the largest hole he had ever seen in his life, and a quick look down made it seem bottomless. He would most certainly have died had he not stopped. He was in awe for another few seconds before realizing there were people of all kinds surrounding the hole, which appeared to be about 600 meters in diameter. "A sinkhole...?"

"Actually, I don't think so." An old woman nearby him answered him, startling him slightly. She was very short and appeared to have a hunched back and grey skin. He didn't recognize her race, but was also very uninterested in it.
"Uhhh. Okay... was kinda talking to myself but sure." Praxis responded sarcastically, only looking at her from the corner of his eyes. After a moment of silence, he sighed. "Fine, I'll bite. What do you mean, old one?" He said, turning toward her. She never took her eyes off of the hole as she addressed him even though she was about ten feet away.
"You can't see it? The chasm goes down into Yggdrasil's bark itself; you can see the glow a little ways down that shows the bark was broken. Have you ever heard of Yggdrasil's bark actually sinking on it's own?" Others around her seemed to be agreeing with her, all studying the hole in awe as Praxis was himself.
"The glow? How the hell was I supposed to know that? I've not been around as long as you, so I've not exactly seen a lot of..." the Wolfen's voice slowed to a halt as his ears perked up at a familiar sound coming from directly behind him. He'd heard that sound nonstop lately: Aruna was zipping this way... straight at this chasm. "...uhhh-okay-thanks-bye!" He spat out quickly toward the woman as he moved toward the sound as fast as he could. She was moving fast. Really fast. Was she even paying attention? How would he stop something like that? As soon as she came within his eye line, time seemed to stop as he sighed. This is probably really going to hurt. She was now coming directly for him, but he was a small target compared to the hole. There was no time to yell to her, she'd never hear it in time anyway once she was close enough. It would take all of his focus but he'd have to get into her head at a vast distance to let her know.

"ARUNA, STOP!" He hadn't used his magic to communicate with someone this way since he had been in a pack, so he only hoped that he could still do it with precision to someone whose mind he'd only been inside of once or twice. With his only card played, he braced his body to be hit by the missile of emotions that was Aruna right now. He wanted to move, knowing very well that if she didn't stop she could easily throw them both in the hole, and he didn't like gambling with his life, so why was he? The only answer he got as he closed his eyes and thought the quickest prayer he'd ever thought in his life was that he'd rather be hit by the fastest thing he'd ever seen than consider his own emotional state.