2plus2isnot5

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Fucking bard, don’t think you’re getting away with it that easy. Just because you sneak in when I'm out doesn't mean I'm any more likely to let you get away with it.

The ship’s hull creeks; salt and wood and iron, groaning against the mechanical rolling of the ocean waves. It doesn’t bother Elsie so much anymore, although it took her a while to find her sea-legs, she’s adapted. Others, it seems, have not always been so lucky.

It’s one of the unlucky ones that she’s tending to now - a young deckhand who lost his footing on the slippery deck and was unfortunate enough to land on a rusty nail, sticking up out of one of the splintery planks of wood. Infection had set in quick, the wound quickly reduced to a foul-smelling mass of puss, the affected limb, his arm,swelling beyond recognition, the skin shiny and pink. When one of the crew found him, unconscious and feverish, Elsie had been awoken in the middle of the night by a sharp rapping at her door.

Of course, being sailors, their first thought had been amputation. Bloody butchers.

Good herbs and a little something magical had gone a long way to clearing the sickness from the boy’s blood, now it’s just a matter of seeing that the wound itself gets properly looked after. At least the boy’s unconscious state means he’s quiet. With hands deft from looking after patients far less cooperative than this one, Elsie passes a needle through the open flame of a candle, before setting to work.

The silence in the cabin is oppressive. And, not find of absolute silence at the best of times, Elsie finds herself talking, because talking is better than the alternative any day, and after a while, the subject of the ‘conversation’ turns to the Virtuous Company.

“.... they’re a right lot, I’m telling you. Even just the ones that are with us now. Most people are only interested in the fighting. Not really my area of expertise I’m afraid, which is good for you or you’d be dead’un by now.

“Reignald on the other hand… that’s a man that’s seen his fair share of battles, trust me, I can tell. Something in the eyes. He’s good to have around though, knows how to command, something which is in short supply round here. Stops the newer recruits coming back with quite so many unwanted holes in them. Mind you, he could do with learning how to fucking quit when things go tits-up, it’d certainly make my job a lot easier.” her expression takes on a slight scowl as she finishes draining the boy’s wound. Unflinching, she wipes the area clean with a rag soaked in rum, pilfered from the galley for this exact purpose. The stench of alcohol mingles in the air with that of the boy’s sickness, although Elsie is unfazed.

“Not that Rosha’s any better,” Elsie continues, picking up steam now that she’s gotten going, “half the time I don’t think she even bloody notices what she’s doing to her fists with all that ‘fighting with a sword is dishonourable’ bull. Honestly, the folks round here need to learn a bit more about self-preservation before they start mixing in ancient honour codes and what-not. Wouldn’t catch me messing around with that pugilist nonsense. I suppose it could be worse though.

From one of the pouches on her belt, Elsie withdraws a few different bundles of, which she shreds with her fingers before placing into a mortar and pestle along with a half a vial of something syrupy, “Could be like Fiers.” there is a harsh grinding sound as the begins to blend. Thoroughly. “ Fucking Fiers. I swear, from the day I met him that man has done nothing but get on my wick. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him with an injury not inflicted by someone he managed to prod into blind rage with nothing more than his own special Fiers blend of arrogance, stupidity, and twisted perversion,” the herbs are now little more than a mushy green paste, but Elsie continues to grind them, hand grasping the pestle to the point where her knuckles turn bone-white, indignation clear in her tone, “And if he thinks he’s getting away with what he did in my cabin then he’s got another thing coming- ‘a mop around here somewhere’- can you believe the cheek?! What a-” she lapses for a moment into unintillegable grumbling, before collecting herself long enough to realise that the paste is finished.

With something approximating care, Elsie pours the paste over the boy’s wound, ensuring that every inch of unnaturally warm, inflamed flesh is covered, “if he could learn to be more like Alya… although then again, even she’s not perfect. Not Fiers levels of troublesome, but it’d be nice if she could put that bloody flute down for a second and tell me where, exactly, she got run through with a polearm as opposed to just leaving me to figure it out on my own. Communication difficulties is an understatement, to say the least.

A slight frown of contemplation, “you know what though? She seems to get on strangely well with R’Ornn. And yes, I mean the one who’s gratingly cheerful, occasionally terrifying, and liable to find my boot connecting with his arse if he mentions those council-darned crystals of his again whilst we’re on this fucking boat!” she huffs in frustration as she pulls a fresh roll of bandages from her pouch.

“And, then, of course, there’s Ricardo. He’s a clever one, I’ll give him that much. Knows his lungweed from his dragonbane, perhaps better than I do. He is an alchemist afterall. Not a man for trusting though, if you get my meaning. He’s got a face that doesn’t always match his words. Aside from that... well, I don’t know who he thinks he’s fooling with them pills of his - I doubt that there’s one person in the company that doesn’t know an addict when they see one. Not that it makes much difference. As long as he doesn’t fuck it up for everyone else...” with a soft sigh, she finishes wrapping the deckhand’s wound, “and I suppose that’s you done.”

The boy still sleeps as Elsie stands, giving his prone form one last scowl for good measure, “that’s alright. Don’t thank me for saving your life or anything.” the door slams behind her as she exits the room, one last parting “ungrateful little shit,” lingering in the air long after she’s moved on to greener pastures, likely to track down a certain bard to make him clean up his own damned mess and pay her back for what he took.

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A crumpled note, pinned two doors down from Ricardo's, reads as follows in handwriting closely resembling that of a child -

To whom it may concern,

(and I think we all know which little fucker this concerns)

If you so much as sneeze in the direction of this door before sunrise, then you'll be all but begging for R'ornn to turn your blood to crystals again after I'm through with you.

And before you say it, no, not even if you're dying. You probably deserve it.

Sleep it off.

Yours faithfully,

- Someone who's too tired to deal with bards who don't know how to keep their mouths shut and their fingers to themselves.

P.S. Stay out of my stocks, you know better.

P.P.S Now fuck off.

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@ManoftheNorth That sounds ominous...

Hunters of the Midnight Realm - Signups open

Elsie

"I’m a healer not your mum, now either quit crying, or go where I can’t hear."

Name

Elsie

Race / Age

Human, 25

Personality

Elsie can be… somewhat cold. And grumpy. And pragmatic. She doesn’t like trusting people and she doesn’t like counting on them. Even when you get to know her, she doesn’t really tend to warm up to people (although she does treat members of the Virtuous Company somewhat less disdainfully than the general populace. Occasionally. If she's in a good mood.). She generally errs on the cynical side - whilst she used to be angry and bitter, now she’s just… kinda tired. She doesn’t really have the energy anymore for righteous anger, she knows better than to hope for things to improve, although she is quite capable of getting annoyed at people for...lesser offences. She can be kinda rude sometimes (although she prefers to think of it as forwardness) even towards her patients, although some find her standoffish-ness to be oddly calming (at least she’s not flinching at the blood gushing out of your abdomen, or screaming.) She doesn’t tend to spare people’s feelings just because, but she doesn’t go out of her way to get on the wrong side of people off either.

Backstory

Elsie’s is a story that’s all too common. Born in a small village on the outskirts of Auroch, when bandits inevitably raided the small settlement it was ‘too far’ for The Ruling Council to send help. Elsie, only five years old at the time, hid from them under the floorboards of the village tavern where she occasionally helped sweep the floors to earn money to help her parents. She managed to escape detection, but she couldn’t escape the truth that she was, for better or for worse, all alone in the world. Realising that there was no way she would be able to survive alone in an empty village, she packed her bags that night, and left for the Capital City under the cover of darkness.

It was a harsh journey and an even harsher arrival seeing as as a young girl travelling alone, she was an immediate target for all kinds of unsavoury characters. Through a combination of necessity and lessons-hard-learned, she developed an ability to keep quiet and keep out of sight. As she grew to be older, she learned how to make a grown man cry like a little girl with a well placed knee, and as she grew older still and fell in with the aforementioned unsavoury characters, the knee became a poisoned knife and the grown men became anyone she was pointed at by her new ‘friends’.

By the age of fifteen, she was well and truly hardened, bitter at the world and The Ruling Council for her circumstances, and unable to truly trust anyone, even if she wanted to. She was beginning to make a name for herself as a, if not necessarily brilliant, competent and reasonably talented assassin, able to sneak into places easily, assisted by the fact that she was still young and relatively innocent-looking.

And then, lo and behold, she discovered her true calling as a healer all at once. Kinda.

She had a job to assassinate one of the court healer’s assistants - a young woman relatively new to the post who, surprise surprise, looked a little like Elsie. She carried out the job with ease, and disposed of the body, and was just about to leave to collect payment when the healer, an elderly woman with rapidly failing eyesight and early-stage dementia, mistook Elsie for the assistant. Seeing an opportunity to get cosied up to a wide assortment of nobles with an even wider assortment of targets painted on their backs, Elsie assumed the other girl’s place and name (Marcy) , and thus began the most peaceful years of her life.

Over a period of five years, Elsie learned everything she could about healing and medicine - picking up a few healing spells along the way. Gradually, she stopped actively searching for contracts, instead preferring to spend her time learning about science and the human body, how to heal instead of hurt. She told herself that her interest was purely academic - she’d discovered an enquiring mind and keen intelligence that had been left more or less un-nurtured by her previous life, but that didn’t change the fact that she was starting to enjoy her work and spending time with the old healer, and her old skills and abilities were beginning to deteriorate through a lack of use.

And then, as things are wont to do, it all came crashing down around her ears. One night, the old healer was murdered, the next, Elsie was no longer Marcy, and had run off, back to where she came from. She was uncertain whether the old healer’s death was meant as a message for her, a punishment for leaving her old life, or if it was completely unrelated, but Elsie was certain of something- she wanted revenge. Unfortunately, she wasn’t as good as she used to be. Her disappearance meant that the hole she left in the market had been filled by a dozen younger, more skillful assassins, leaving Elsie stranded and frozen out by all her old contacts, with no means of making money seeing as her job as a healer was somewhat illegitimate.

She was homeless, jobless, and prospectless, sleeping rough and just about ready to throw in the towel when a deus ex machina arrived in the form of a couple of badly injured members of the Virtuous Company. They weren’t too fussed about legitimacy, so she offered to help them in return for a small sum. She saved their lives, and in turn, they told her about the company, and finally, she was home.

So far, she has been with the Virtuous Company for a little over four years - treating wounds and illnesses both major and minor in return for room, board, and a cut of the profits. She’s improved her physical abilities somewhat during this period in order to be able to defend herself should the need arise, but she prefers working as a healer as she sees it as more intellectually stimulating.

Physical Talents

She worked as an assassin as a child - relying more on her ability to blag her way through closed doors than anything else, but she still has skills in the arena of hand to hand combat, using knives, and general sneakiness. She’s nowhere near as good as she used to be however, and whilst she can hold her own against an opponent who’s not too much bigger than she is and is of a similar skill level, she’s not exactly a one-woman army in this regard,

She is, however a pretty good healer. Ready with an arsenal of herbs, poultices, and magical plants, Elsie has a remedy for most things, presuming you haven’t pissed her off at any point in the recent past. On the inverse of that, Elsie is just as versed in poisons as she is in their antidotes, having relied upon them during her time as an assassin, and then later on developing a fascination for them.

Magical Talents

Muffling Spell - A low-tier spell she learnt as a child, quiets her own footsteps so she can sneak into and out of places more easily.

Pain Killer Spell - Basically magic-morphine except without the being high part. Less painful for the recipient and less exhausting for Elsie than a standard heal spell, it’s useful in a wide variety of circumstances.low-tier

Drowsy Spell - A low-tier spell that’s useful for getting patients to shut up and stop screaming/freaking out/moving whilst she’s trying to carry out more complex procedures and spells.

Calm Spell - A low-tier spell that act to calm the immune response, which can be helpful in treating certain illnesses and injuries, and in relieving symptoms. Also helps with allergies to a certain degree.

Healing (Injuries) - A mid-tier healing spell -> takes a while and is kinda painful for the patient and exhausting for Elsie, but will thoroughly heal any injuries sustained by the target so long as Elsie is aware of them and can direct energy towards them.

Cleanse (Illnesses) - A mid-tier healing spell -> Purges the body of any unwanted ‘foreign bodies’ such as pathogens and toxins completely and thoroughly so long as Elsie is familiar with the thing she’s trying to cleanse (e.g. she couldn’t cure a poison unless she knew what it was). Is, again, time consuming and exhausting, and consequences for failure or misdirection can be dire, ranging from early to late stage symptoms of various autoimmune conditions that can sometimes be more devastating than the initial threat.

Equipment

In her day to day life, she carries a variety of items used in her work as a healer - ranging from commonly used herbs to clean bandages and the like. She also carries a knife, which she claims is for cutting herbs and healer-y things, but is really for self defence, and in case she happens to run into her mentor’s killer.

When travelling, she carries a backpack of standard supplies - water, cured meat in case of an emergency, a change of clothes, rope, a herbalist’s almanac, a notebook and writing implement. She carries a separate pack with a more comprehensive first aid kit as well. If there's a cart for luggage and she's going on a longer journey, she will sometimes take a more comprehensive library, containing volumes on the physiology of different races along with books about more specialist topics than she would usually encounter.

Fears

Abandonment/Betrayal - There’s a reason why she doesn’t let people in. She’s experienced this far too many times from far too many angles to trust that it won’t happen, and it’s something she’s always looking out for. When it does happen, she tries not to let it get to her, but inside, she’s devesetated every time.

Small Spaces - Hiding under the floorboards whilst everyone you ever knew gets brutally murdered will do that to a person.

Being Alone - As much as she pushes people away, being completely alone reminds her a little too much of the past for her to be comfortable with it.

Edited 08/09/17 for a few spelling/grammar mistakes I spotted and a couple of other mostly cosmetic changes, went more into detail with equipment as well.

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Elsie

"I’m a healer not your mum, now go and cry somewhere I can’t hear."

Name

Elsie

Race / Age

Human, 25

Personality

Elsie can be… somewhat cold. And grumpy. And pragmatic. She doesn’t like trusting people and she doesn’t like counting on them. Even when you get to know her, she doesn’t really tend to warm up to people (although she does treat members of the Virtuous Company somewhat less disdainfully than the general populace). She generally errs on the cynical side - whilst she used to be angry and bitter, now she’s just… kinda tired. She doesn’t really have the energy anymore for righteous anger, and she knows better than to hope. She can be kinda rude sometimes( although she prefers to think of it as forwardness) even towards her patients, although some find her standoffishness to be oddly calming (at least she’s not flinching at the blood gushing out of your abdomen, or screaming.) She doesn’t tend to spare people’s feelings just because, but she doesn’t go out of her way to piss people off either.

Backstory

Elsie’s is a story that’s all too common. Born in a small village on the outskirts of Auroch, when bandits inevitably raided the small settlement it was ‘too far’ for The Ruling Council to send help. Elsie, only five years old at the time, hid from them under the floorboards of the village tavern where she occasionally helped sweep the floors to earn money to help her parents. She managed to escape detection, but she couldn’t escape the truth that she was, for better or for worse, all alone in the world. Realising that there was no way she would be able to survive alone in an empty village, she packed her bags that night, and left for the Capital City under the cover of darkness.

It was a harsh journey and an even harsher arrival seeing as as a young girl travelling alone, she was an immediate target for all kinds of unsavoury characters. Through a combination of necessity and lessons-hard-learned, she developed an ability to keep quiet and keep out of sight. As she grew to be older, she learned how to make a grown man cry like a little girl with a well placed knee, and as she grew older still and fell in with the aforementioned unsavoury characters, the knee became a poisoned knife and the grown men became anyone she was pointed at by her new ‘friends’.

By the age of fifteen, she was well and truly hardened, bitter at the world and The Ruling Council for her circumstances, and unable to truly trust anyone, even if she wanted to. She was beginning to make a name for herself as a, if not necessarily brilliant, competent and reasonably talented assassin, able to sneak into places easily, assisted by the fact that she was still young and relatively innocent-looking.

And then, lo and behold, she discovered her true calling as a healer all at once. Kinda.

She had a job to assassinate one of the court healer’s assistants - a young woman relatively new to the post who, surprise surprise, looked a little like Elsie. She carried out the job with ease, and disposed of the body, and was just about to leave to collect payment when the healer, an elderly woman with rapidly failing eyesight and early-stage dementia, mistook Elsie for the assistant. Seeing an opportunity to get cosied up to a wide assortment of nobles with an even wider assortment of targets painted on their backs, Elsie assumed the other girl’s place and name (Marcy) , and thus began the most peaceful years of her life.

Over a period of five years, Elsie learned everything she could about healing and medicine - picking up a few healing spells along the way. Gradually, she stopped actively searching for contracts, instead preferring to spend her time learning about science and the human body, how to heal instead of hurt. She told herself that her interest was purely academic - she’d discovered an enquiring mind and keen intelligence that had been left more or less un-nurtured by her previous life, but that didn’t change the fact that she was starting to enjoy her work and spending time with the old healer, and her old skills and abilities were beginning to deteriorate through a lack of use.

And then, as things are wont to do, it all came crashing down around her ears. One night, the old healer was murdered, the next, Elsie was no longer Marcy, and had run off, back to where she came from. She was uncertain whether the old healer’s death was meant as a message for her, a punishment for leaving her old life, or if it was completely unrelated, but Elsie was certain of something- she wanted revenge. Unfortunately, she wasn’t as good as she used to be. Her disappearance meant that the hole she left in the market had been filled by a dozen younger, more skillful assassins, leaving Elsie stranded and frozen out by all her old contacts, with no means of making money seeing as her job as a healer was somewhat illegitimate.

She was homeless, jobless, and prospectless, sleeping rough and just about ready to throw in the towel when a deus ex machina arrived in the form of a couple of badly injured members of the Virtuous Company. They weren’t too fussed about legitimacy, so she offered to help them in return for a small sum. She saved their lives, and in turn, they told her about the company, and finally, she was home.

So far, she has been with the Virtuous Company for a little over four years - treating wounds and illnesses both major and minor in return for room, board, and a cut of the profits. She’s improved her physical abilities somewhat during this period in order to be able to defend herself should the need arise, but she prefers working as a healer as she sees it as more intellectually stimulating.

Physical Talents

She worked as an assassin as a child - relying more on her ability to blag her way through closed doors than anything else, but she still has skills in the arena of hand to hand combat, using knives, and general sneakiness. She’s nowhere near as good as she used to be however, and whilst she can hold her own against an opponent who’s not too much bigger than she is and is of a similar skill level, she’s not exactly a one-woman army in this regard,

She is, however a pretty good healer. Ready with an arsenal of herbs, poultices, and magical plants, Elsie has a remedy for most things, presuming you haven’t pissed her off at any point in the recent past. On the inverse of that, Elsie is just as versed in poisons as she is in their antidotes, having relied upon them during her time as an assassin, and then later on developing a fascination for them.

Magical Talents

Muffling Spell - A low-tier spell she learnt as a child, quiets her own footsteps so she can sneak into and out of places more easily.

Pain Killer Spell - Basically magic-morphine except without the being high part. Less painful for the recipient and less exhausting for Elsie than a standard heal spell, it’s useful in a wide variety of circumstances.low-tier

Drowsy Spell - A low-tier spell that’s useful for getting patients to shut up and stop screaming/freaking out/moving whilst she’s trying to carry out more complex procedures and spells.

Calm Spell - A low-tier spell that act to calm the immune response, which can be helpful in treating certain illnesses and injuries, and in relieving symptoms. Also helps with allergies to a certain degree.

Healing (Injuries) - A high-tier healing spell -> takes a while and is kinda painful for the patient and exhausting for Elsie, but will thoroughly heal any injuries sustained by the target so long as Elsie is aware of them and can direct energy towards them.

Cleanse (Illnesses) - A high-tier healing spell -> Purges the body of any unwanted ‘foreign bodies’ such as pathogens and toxins completely and thoroughly so long as Elsie is familiar with the thing she’s trying to cleanse (e.g. she couldn’t cure a poison unless she knew what it was). Is, again, time consuming and exhausting, and consequences for failure or misdirection can be dire, ranging from early to late stage symptoms of various autoimmune conditions that can sometimes be more devastating than the initial threat.

Equipment

In her day to day life, she carries a variety of items used in her work as a healer - ranging from commonly used herbs to clean bandages and the like. She also carries a knife, which she claims is for cutting herbs and healer-y things, but is really for self defense, and in case she happens to run into her mentor’s killer.

When travelling, she carries a backpack of standard supplies - water, cured meat in case of an emergency, a change of clothes, rope, a herbalist’s almanac, a notebook and writing implement. She carries a separate pack with a more comprehensive first aid kit.

Fears

Abandonment/Betrayal - There’s a reason why she doesn’t let people in. She’s experienced this far too many times from far too many angles to trust that it won’t happen, and it’s something she’s always looking out for. When it does happen, she tries not to let it get to her, but inside, she’s devesetated every time.

Small Spaces - Hiding under the floorboards whilst everyone you ever knew gets brutally murdered will do that to a person.

Being Alone - As much as she pushes people away, being completely alone hits a little too close to home.

Hunters of the Midnight Realm - Medieval Fantasy RP

Interested =)

Worlds Apart

A lot of things happened very quickly.

Shouting, screaming, banging, blood everywhere. Kate didn’t think she’d ever seen so much blood. On the policeman (could he really be called that anymore? He’d just drawn a gun on a group of, mostly, unarmed civilians.), on the other man, on the people who’d been standing near the man who- it was all dark though. Dyed brown by the dim lighting. Her fingers tingled, it was on odd sensation. Somewhere in the distance, there was a soft thump. Her bag had slipped of her shoulder and fell to the floor. The seam had split. Spilled pens and dog-eared textbooks across the concrete.

She blinked. In the distance, there was a sound like thunder. People saying things that possibly mattered? She couldn’t tell. Lights. It felt like the floor was shaking, even though it clearly wasn’t. She saw Saffron move- onto the tracks. He had his phone out, why did he have his phone out? Kate searched her pocket numbly for her own. It wasn’t there. It was in her bag. On the floor. Why was her bag on the floor? There was blood on the floor, if she left her bag there it would get blood on it. Could you get blood out of canvas, or was it like red wine and white carpets?

The not-thunder was louder now. Deafening. Saffron was on the tracks. Anni was running- jumping down- on the tracks. The thunder was deafening. The thunder was a train. Oh god. The thunder was a train and they were all on the tracks. She had to stop them. Had to stop this. How could she-

Running again. She was doing a lot of running, running tripping falling-

Light.

Warm air, the smell of flowers and grass, sunlight. They were underground, in the middle of the night, how-?

She collided with the ground with a soft “oof!”, spikes of grass digging into the bare skin of her arms. That was right. She’d been falling. Must have still been falling when… whatever that was happened. It was bright, and her eyes ached, white-hot spots burning onto her retina as they adjusted to the sudden change in lighting.

This was insane. Actually insane. Completely, utterly, nonsensical. Maybe she’d hit her head. Maybe this was some weird near-death-experience-phenomenon… thingy majig. She looked up, noticed the others. That guy who’d- the police officer, the one who’d attacked him. Anni going towards him, helpful and sweet as ever, and probably about to get herself killed. Again. Had she forgotten about the gun? The one currently still in his hand? Yes, he’d been hurt, but now, he looked fine. More than fine. That man was dangerous.

She picked herself up, quickly dusting herself off and storming towards them, “Hey! Don’t you talk to her! You can’t just threaten to shoot people and then pretend like it didn’t happen!” She came to a pause a few metres away from the officer, Keahi had he said his name was? She placed her hands firmly on her hips, slightly out of breath. She then noticed that his gaze was elsewhere - on the man that had attacked him. Oh god- that had all happened hadn’t it?

She paused, realising that she had, once again, confronted someone she knew to be dangerous. Right next to a someone else that she knew to be dangerous. Oh god. What was she- her heart stuttered, she let her hands fall to her sides, breath catching- no. She wasn’t doing this now. She felt her jaw set as she whirled on the other man.

“And you! What do you think you were doing! Attacking someone like that! Not that he didn’t deserve it off course, but that’s just… that’s just….”

Worlds Apart

First the signs, then the strange, falling from the sky mask-thing, and now this?

She hadn’t been sure what to expect earlier, walking through Lightbridge, feet aching as she walked past her usual stop, past the crowded bars packed tight into the city centre, past the boarded up shops plastered with graffiti and god-knows what else. It had been a blur of neon and darkness, and then she’d gone down the steps.

Hushed silence, anticipation, a sense of shear exhaustion. Saffron was there, so was Anni, alone. Kate wondered if her mom knew where her daughter was, her heart skipped a beat when she realised that no, she probably didn’t. There were other people too - that kid that stared at Saffron whenever he came in and looked downright disappointed if it was just Kate and Johnny working, he was with his sister, or the person Kate assumed was his his sister. A few other regulars, a few people she’d seen around Lightbridge, all just kinda… gathered round.

And then, the girl had arrived.

The crowd had seemingly exploded into life - question upon question fired at the girl standing in front of them. She’d just let them sink in, bounce off, whatever - unperturbed. The things she’d said were… off. Of course she’d heard things, fringe scientists in the back-end of nowhere, the slightly more stereotype-adhering of her lecturers talking animatedly but quietly to select groups of interested students as she walked past and pretended not to listen in, the rumours that poured out of the (in)famous Talos Building as a near-daily occurrence, but this? This was actually insane. Not one word out of that girl’s mouth was true, or even coherent.

What she said next was… well, worse.

And people were actually going along with it? What? Did they not realise that this… whoever she was, was obviously just some kind of… of…cult-person? Or something similar - persuasive, ethereal, apparently pretty good at special effects or whatever it was that had been going on earlier. She didn’t blame them, whoever this girl was, she was clearly very good at whatever she was trying to do. But still, did none of them realise that they were about to become a news story?

And then Anni - oh god, what was she doing? She should stop her, right? That’s what a sane person would do - try to stop the fifteen year old girl from dragging a possibly unconscious and definitely out-of-it woman in front of an oncoming train, but-

But-

Her feet were frozen to the floor, as if the gum-spotted concrete of the platform was reaching up, wrapping around her ankles, her legs, her throat, stilling her tongue into silence. She couldn’t really do anything but wait, stand there in her spot near the back of the small gathering, and watch the events unfold.

Which was when the police officer spoke. Finally, someone making sense. Officer Micheal Kaehi. Lightbridge PD. A lot of swearing. It was... a comfort. Maybe they’d all get to escape this relatively unscathed - perhaps a little worse for wear given the strange girl’s creepy-brain-washing tactics, but at least they’d get a good story out of it. Authority. Reason. If everything went according to plan, he would diffuse the situation, and they’d all get to go ho-

He pulled the gun out of his jacket.

"...to stop a crime in progress."

If he said anything after that, she didn’t hear it. He wasn’t pointing it, but - all she saw was a man, holding a gun, and threatening a teenaged girl.

Her feet were unstuck.

Her foot were moving.

Her feet were standing, directly between the man and Anni, and-

In the corner of her eye, she saw a shadow shift.

Hands up, eyes wide, she could feel the perspiration collecting at her hairline. God, this was stupid. So stupid. Why was she-? She probably looked like an idiot. She was an idiot. You didn’t run in front of people with guns, regardless of whether they were intending to use them or not, you certainly didn’t-

“Wait!” her tongue was ash in her mouth, “you can’t- you can’t shoot them! F-for christ’s sake, she’s fifteen!”

Worlds Apart

“Professor, please, I’m begging you - just read it through again, I-”

“How many times do I have to tell you ‘no’, Kate?” Professor Lufton kept up a furious pace along the corridor, his black converse squeaking along the J-wing hall of the Pertree Building. He was one of those ‘cool’ professors, one of the ones who didn’t do his top button up and tried to make them all follow his Twitter account for ‘daily tweets about the amazing world of physics everybody!’.

Behind him, Kate was struggling to keep up, only just managing to keep herself from breaking into an actual sprint as she scurried along. She readjusted the position of her strap on her shoulder. She had a shift at Johnny’s in an hour, and since she was heading straight there from Professor Lufton’s lecture, she’d had to resort to a quick bathroom change into clothes more appropriate for work, leaving her ponytail at an odd angle. She’d been set, but then... she’d gotten the paper back.

“If you just let me have another go at it, I’m sure I could do better this time,” she tried again, her voice taking on an eerie quality in the abandoned corridor “I had a deadline on my bank loan and I had to work a few extra shifts to try and get the money”. That, combined with the weird writing in her textbook (which she was definitely not telling the professor about) had really put a dent in her productivity - she hadn’t been able to get much of anything done.

It was late evening, and the Lightbridge twilight was starting to seep in through the windows, flooding orange-gold across the linoleum floor and causing Kate to squint. When the professor stopped suddenly, she almost walked straight into him. She managed to stop herself just in time, but she was still uncomfortably close. She took a step back, he pushed his wire rimmed glasses up his nose and sighed.

“That there is exactly the reason why you did so poorly on your paper,” he said, taking on a tone that made her skin crawl.

She grit her teeth, “I know that, but I had a payment due - what did you expect me to do? I was already late on last month’s rent, I can’t afford to do that again, and-”

“Kate!” he cut her off quickly, before she could work herself up too much, “take a deep breath and, calm down. In fact, y’know what?” he glanced down the corridor before beckoning her towards an empty classroom, “let’s discuss this somewhere a little more private, okay?”

She shook her head and secured her bag over he shoulder, “I…I don’t have time for that, I’m sorry, my shift starts at six, and If I’m late I’ll end up leaving Johnny on his own because the guy I work with leaves when I arrive today”

The professor ran a hand through his hair, looking closer to sixty than he usually did, “I know that you’re struggling financially, heck, I don’t think I’ve got many students who aren’t, but I can’t give you special treatment, you know that right?”

“I’m not asking for ‘special treatment’”, Kate said, air quotations and all, “I just… I think I know where I went wrong, and I think I can fix it, you just have to give me a chance, I know that I can do it,” she bit her lip, the skin rough and jagged from where she’d indulged in the habit previously, “please?”

He frowned, “I don’t like this but… where do you think the mistake was?”

Kate felt her stomach unknot almost immediately, he was going to let her try again, she knew it,“Well, I know for a fact that I messed up with Lorentz transformations, but I know how to do them now, and I understand everything, I had someone explain it to me.”


“Very well. I want it this time next week, you hear?”

She grinned, “Loud and clear, thanks professor!”

Now all she had to do was try again. As long as she could do that, she’d be fine.

---

She’d just about managed to make it to the subway on time to catch the B train East to Johnny’s, and now she was sat, textbook open on her lap, trying to make the best of her time.

The carriage smelled like sweat and chinese takeaway, and odour that slithered and crawled up her nose, poking at her olfactory nerve to the point where she could barely focus. It wasn’t busy at this time of day per se, rush hour was just dwindling to a close, leaving the carriage available to an odd mix of university students like Kate coming out of later classes, people who worked odd hours in the city centre, and a few tourists who seemed to have missed the memo that just because Lightbridge was on an island that didn’t make it a great destination for a family holiday.

Kate knuckled down, drawing her attention away from her surroundings and back to the book.

Lorentz transformations are coordinate transformations involving two coordinate frames moving at a constant velocity relevant to each other. Lorentz functions are useful when discussing special relativity. For example when it is nearly time Kate.

With a yelp, Kate slammed the book shut, heart pounding. It was happening again. Why was it happening again? She was going mad. That was the only plausible explanation. She’d read that paragraph before, several times over, and it had never said that before. The fluorescent lights overhead cast the book in a familiar shade stark white, bouncing off the shiny cover and creating a glare that obscured the cover.

Nearby, a tired looking student glared at her and she flinched away, “Sorry!” she hissed quietly by way of an apology. He scowled before looking away again, leaving Kate to once again ponder the book in front of her.

Slowly, she cracked it open, flicking back to the page she’d been on before.

For example when is the Lorentz function and c is the speed of light….

And it was back to how it was before. Huh. She allowed her eyes to slide shut and breathed deeply for a moment. She was probably just tired. Luckily her shift at Johnny’s was only a few hours long today, mostly involving helping close as opposed to serving. She’d go home tonight and go to bed straight away, she could get her re-do started tomorrow instead. Working on the subway was always a bad idea anyway, it was too easy to get distracted.

She closed the book, letting it sit on her lap for a few seconds. Glancing back down, about to slide it into her bag, she did a double take.

An Introduction to The Theory of Relativity was now Be Ready .

Like that wasn’t creepy. She needed sleep. She needed to get her shift at Johnny’s over and done with. She needed to figure out a way to tell Ruth at the shelter that she couldn’t make it this weekend. She needed to make sure her assignment was actually readable this time around. She needed to somehow do all that and pick up enough shifts to be able to cover bills and rent and her loan. She needed…. She needed a miracle, at this rate.

The train ground to a stop. Kate picked herself up, mistitled book still clutched in her fingers, and stepped out onto the platform. Not long now, she told herself, not long now.

---

As soon as she approached the small restaurant tucked into the little alley, it was if all the stress from earlier melted away. Johnny’s was a home away from home for anyone that needed it, and it was hard to let stresses from life and study reach her here, it was just so far removed from all the… bad. She was glad she was working somewhere like this and not in a cold, corporate chain restaurant like she’d been doing before she moved to Lightbridge.

It was the kind of place with more regulars than not, where the customers and staff treated each other like friends, where her boss actually smiled at her when she walked through the door. She remembered being told by a teacher when she was a kid not to use the word ‘nice’ to describe anything, but honestly? She couldn’t think of a word that fit better.

Well, for the most part.

Just as she was about to enter something, or rather someone, collided with her shoulder. She blinked in surprise, taken aback. Before she could say anything, they’d already gone. She looked back, trying to catch a glimpse of - oh. That explained it. She watched Saffron’s retreating form as he made his way down the street, something heavy and thick like tar settling in the pit of her stomach as she did so.

For a second, she thought about calling after him, but decided against it. She had work and he looked… not much different from how he always looked these days to be honest. She doubted he wanted to talk to her. And she wasn’t entirely sure if she wanted to talk to him, not after the day she’d been having, it wouldn’t end well.

Pushing the thought away, she made her way inside, ready to numb her mind with dishes and cleaning until she couldn’t even remember what had been bothering her in the first place.

---

“See you tomorrow Johnny!” Kate called as she pushed her way through the door, bag slung over her shoulder, skin crawling with the dirt and grime that accompanied closing shift. The open night air was cool in comparison to the cosy but cramped restaurant, even when there weren’t that many customers.

“Remember, bright and early! The breakfast rush are out for blood!” he replied with a wave and a smile as usual.

“Sure thing! Bye!” she laughed, stuffing her hands in the pockets of her coat as the door closed behind her, leaving her more or less alone. In the distance, drunken shouts and songs echoed, mostly male in tone, but backed by the ever present buzz of far-away traffic in the city centre. It was quiet here, so much as to almost feel muffled, but still connected, still a part of the city.

She began making her way to the subway, taking comfort in the familiar litany of shops and bars and restaurants, mostly independant or discount, that she walked past - The Toad in The Hole, EVERYDAY SALE FRENZY!!!!, Oakley’s Art Supply Store, Do not put it on yet.

Wait, what?


She blinked a couple of times, and the glowing neon sign above the hairdressers was back to showing it’s original, albeit questionable, name Belle’s Bangs. She rubbed her eyes, they were playing tricks on her again, although by this point it was more frustrating than it was bothersome. She continued walking. She just wanted to get home, get to bed, wake up in the morning, go to work, go to class, and get that assignment done. She needed to make sure she called Ruth as well, sooner rather than later. She’d be disappointed, and she’d be right to be disappointed. Kate was letting her down, again. It didn’t feel right, dropping the shelter to catch up on her studying, but she was falling behind, had already fallen behind to be perfectly honest. She couldn’t afford to miss any more grades, not if she wanted to succeed, not if she wanted it to have been worth-

A dark, glowing shape, falling from the sky. Fast.

Her heart stuttered. She leapt backwards. It was heavy. If it hit her. It’d kill her.

Seconds later it hit the pavement, with an explosive crack! sending out a concussive wave that slammed into Kate’s stomach knocking her backwards. An involuntary gasp escaped her lips as she staggered, overbalanced, and landed arse-first on the floor, coughing on the clouds of dust billowing upwards from the impact site.


She raised a shaking hand to cover her mouth - what had just-? She pushed herself to her feet, somewhat unsteady, legs trembling from the leftover adrenaline shooting through her veins, blood pounding in her ears.

She should run. There could be more of whatever that was. It could be some weird kind of terrorist attack. It could be anything - anything dangerous.

But, and why did there have to be a ‘but’, she felt… drawn towards it, whatever ‘it’ was. She looked up. All around her the signs on the shops had changed. From every angle all she could see in a million different colours and designs, just Take it, Kate. Take it. Take it. It is yours, take it.

A few steps forward, one terrified foot in front of the other, crushed on all sides by curiosity, excitement, things she hadn’t felt in so long it took her a second to realise what they were. There wasn’t a reason for her to do this. If anything there were a million reasons not to.

She got closer, close enough to see what it was.

A mask, like one of those ones art-y people paper mached over and painted. Except black, made of some kind of hard material that she didn’t think would break if it was thrown into the sun, despite the fact that it was covered in scratches and gauges, and looked generally worse for ware.

It steamed in the cool air, and the concrete in the small crater surrounding it looked damp,
melted even, yet somehow she knew that if she picked it up it wouldn’t hurt.

This went against… everything.

She picked it up.

It hung, slack from her fingers. Comfortably warm.

you know where you must go. the signs said.

Kate smiled, although it was a hesitant thing, threatening to shatter at the slightest knock.

“I do.”

Little shop of curiosities

“Gosh! I didn’t realise you worked here! Nice to meet you, V!” she exclaimed, raising her voice to be heard over the din of the numerous customers, “And don’t worry about not getting your letter yet, I’m sure Kale’ll give it to you soon” she gave the girl what she hoped was a welcoming smile, before being subjected to True’s reprimand.

Laila cringed under True’s withering glare, “Sorry True!” she called across the shop loudly, “won’t happen again!” she’d be sure to walk faster next time, not that it would stop the crotchety little wyvern being, well, himself. She watched as the wyvern took flight across the shop, a poster dangling from his… hands? Feet? Laila needed to bone up on her wyvern anatomy.She spared a glance for the woman who’d handed it to him. She looked... Laila wasn't sure of the word, but it sent twinges of sympathy tippling through her gut. She hoped that she found whoever she was looking for.

Not that that mattered right now though, she had bigger fish to fry - or rather, bigger goblins@Hazy. Laila hadn’t thought he’d be a problem, they got somewhat dodgy-looking customers in all the time by having customers, but True thought otherwise, and he had been at this a lot longer than she had, so obviously there was something she was missing about this one in particular. She turned to the girl again, “Well newbie, you want to take the lead on this one? It is your ‘test’ after all - Kale may be the big boss owner, but we all answer to True as well, and he's much more likely to have you doing nothing but cleaning out used potions-gear for a week solid than Kale is.”