Keep on running in the free world (Open)

[Anonymous]

The lush meadow was calm for the moment, a slight breeze rushing through the blades of grass causing them to dance slowly back and forth. The sunlight sky was dotted with a few small clouds that lazily wandered in front of the sun, causing a shadow to slowly pass along the land. It was a warm day, one of those lazy feeling days where you wanted to lay under a tree or on the grass and just let the world pass you by. That's what you hoped for, but you didn't always get what you hoped for. The peace of the meadow was suddenly broken by the electrical crackling noise of lightning. It wasn't accompanied by thunder, and rightly so, as it wasn't actually lightning.

Hovering above the ground was a strange rip or tear in the very fabric of reality. It looked as if someone had taken some purple paint and somehow drew a crooked line right in a person's vision. It was just there, strange energy crackling along the surface of the break in reality. It began to pulsate rhythmically, growing brighter and then going dim, growing bright and them dim, doing this almost like a person's heart beat. With a sudden intense noise and a blast of energy, the crack expanded until it was a large circle hovering in mid-air. The edges still glowed and pulsated with strange energy, while the surface was a shimmering black.

With a sudden pop, something suddenly came hurtling through the portal's surface. It was...something. Anyone who was watching this event would see what could have been a humanoid, though covered in a strange black substance, a glossy coating of hardened tar or oil. With strange peaks around the head, pointing upward at the sky, almost like a deformed crown was stuck on the creature's head. It had five bright green eyes, each of different size and location stuck onto where you would assume the 'face' was. Underneath those eyes was a mouth, filled with sharp teeth, though some appeared broken instead of 'filed' down. The strange creature was pulling at the grass, legs constantly pumping as it tried to stand up, tried to get a good grip on the ground. Oddly enough the creature had only four fingers on each hand instead of five, though it had rather normal looking feet, well, normal for something covered in a strange malleable black ooze or gel.

The strange covering on his body didn't appear to leave any sort of trace on the surrounding area that he touched, it didn't seem to act like any sort of ooze or thick liquid, but more of a shell covering perhaps. The creature struggled, panting for breath as he finally got his footing and began to scramble further from the portal. Just in time too, as a large hand suddenly came through the portal. This hand looked like it could easily grab the strange creature and crush it between the index finger and thumb. It was also covered in that strange substance of the first creature. The weird creature gave a yelp as the hand patted the ground around the portal, looking for him. Then it moved outward, attached by a large bulky arm, until it came to grab him.

That was when something weird...well...weirder happened. A strange energy force surrounded the creature, protecting it as the large hand tried to grab it, but found that it was unable. There was a strange monstrous roar from through the portal, as if whatever was connected to the hand was frustrated at this sudden interference. However, as the light began to surround the hand, the roar was more of pain as it was being shunted back into the portal. It only took a few moments, but soon the hand was inside the portal, and the light now surrounded the portal. It began to shrink, it began to collapse in on itself until the portal was no longer there, and the light was gone.

The five brightly coloured green eyes of the creature stared at where the portal had been, where the hand had been...and then...began to laugh. It was slow at first, but it was a laugh of absolute happiness. The creature collapsed onto its back and just...laughed. A jovial sound that carried on the wind.

Free. Finally free.

[Anonymous]

it was an impossibly bright, sunny day and pretty much everything that Elou looked at seemed to glimmer or sparkle. Elou didn't mind the glimmering, or the sparkling, or having to squint to see five feet in front of her, but the damn heat was driving her insane. having been born and raised in sub-zero temperatures in the arctic mountains of Skelthwaite, heat was not something that the shapeshifter was accustomed to. she'd been alternating between her Skelthian and human form, on her way to Serendipity, for almost three hours and it seemed that she was equally affected by the sun in either form. she longed for the frost of Hyoite a whole lot more when she left it to travel, and scolded herself for bitching about it so much earlier.

for now, she walked dejectedly in her Skelthian form, picking at pieces of bark and particularly tasty stalks of grass as she passed them. nothing, however, could have prepared her for the most definitely out-of-the-ordinary rip in space-time that just decided to open itself up fifteen feet away. to be completely honest, she wondered briefly if she'd gone insane while the logic inside her wasn't looking, and no amount of what-the-freaking-hell's or no-freaking-way's could accurately describe it. not averse to the strange and certainly not one to let an opportunity for information slip away, Elou stopped and watched with a calm sort of bewilderment as the shimmering, purplish slash stretched and morphed into an otherworldly circle.

when an inky black... thing shot through the circle like a bat out of hell -- shit, even hell was too tame for this -- Elou honestly almost jumped out of her skin. the figure was unlike anything she'd ever seen; completely black and resembling a muffed-up tree wearing a crown, with the most peculiar set of oddly-placed jade eyes and an imposing set of pointed teeth. awed, more than a little bit frightened and thoroughly interested, Elou refused to move and watched as a beastial hand appeared through the circle, apparently feeling around for the black being.

unsure of what she was seeing and hearing, Elou opted to say still and silent until the portal vanished and the black thing stopped cackling in apparent glee. I think I'd be laughing too, if a ginormous black hand was after me. now, there were several possible scenarios to follow this strange experience: she could stay here, the black humanoid could see her and it could destroy her; she could stay here and the black humanoid could see her and not destroy her; or she could haul ass far, far away from the black humanoid and forget that this ever happened. third option was out of the question, she was too stubborn for that. so, it was up to the black thing; if it saw her, it would either kill her or run away. if it didn't see her, she'd follow it to find out more.

whichever way she looked at it, this thing had just made her day a whole lot more tolerable, and infinitely more interesting.

[Anonymous]

Freedom! He was free!

"FREEDOM! AH HAH HAH HAH HAH! FREE AT LAST! FREEEEE! YOU HEAR ME! FREE!" The creature was on his feet, screaming at the top of his lungs. He of course didn't think that anyone was around. No, he had no real idea that there, just a little bit away from him...was another person. Slowly he began to calm down, the original rush was wearing off, and he started to look at himself, making sure he was all there. Arms...legs...body...and a head. Yep! He was completely here! For a second, he really thought he had lost something on the run but...no, he was all together.

"Now I guess...I gotta keep running. Bad idea to stop. What are the odds of another portal...they couldn't know where the portal went right...? Yeah. Sure. No. Gotta keep moving for a while, away from this spot at least." The creature nodded to itself and turned to look around at the world about him.

That's when he saw something looking at him. It was...it was...uh...He didn't know WHAT it was. It was on four legs, which meant it was a quadruped! But...other than that...he had no idea. In his world...worlds...the many places he had been to with the Culmination, he had never seen anything like that. Which is why he didn't feel afraid of it. He had never seen it, which meant it wasn't part of the Culmination. He'd know...they sort of shared that sort of thing. He'd have seen something like this.

The big questions now followed. What was it, was it harmless, and was it capable of speech? All of his five eyes were slightly covered, and it almost looked like his brow was slightly furrowed, but it was hard to tell exactly what he was expressing. "Uhhh...." Alright. Play it cool. This thing could be the main race here! It had large...things on its head just like he had a crown of sorts! That was pretty neat really! "Hello there uhm...new...being I have never met..." He gave a tentative wave toward it as he took a step closer before stopping. Okay...uh...was it the right idea to try and approach it? What if this creature was just...uh...one of those...subspecies? Is that what they were called? He really didn't know.

Well...now what to do? Should he continue talking to the strange creature or...did it even understand him? Did they speak the same language? Oh this was a bit of a headache now.

[Anonymous]

Elou felt less shock and more relief when the humanoid spoke- er, screamed. loudly. unable to cover her sensitive ears, she managed an internal scowl and prepared to transform when the thing finally saw her. she froze, it froze, and there was an eerie and hilarious silence as both of them figured out what they were going to do. speak? not speak? were either of them going to be devoured in the next ten seconds of confusion? running like hell felt really good to Elou right about then, but her interest forbade her to. instead, she stood there dumbly, unable to reply, as the humanoid said hello.

she still had no earthly idea what in god's name this thing was. it seriously reminded her of a tree. in fact, if it wasn't made of, or covered by that inky black goop, it could be. but trees didn't talk, and this thing was talking-- oh, it was talking to her. mentally slapping herself out of her reverie, she transformed as smoothly and quietly as possible into her human form. luckily for her race, they didn't have to worry about carrying clothes around with them -- when they shifted into humans, the clothes were already there. Elou put on her best nonchalant, play-it-cool face and efficiently hid her nervousness. she kept her hands down and by her side in plain view, lest the creature think she was holding a weapon.

"um, hello." awkwardly, she moved to take a step forward, but chickened out half-way through the manouvre and ended up doing an odd little dance to keep her balance. smooooth. despite being a wealth of knowledge and intelligence, Elou was at a complete loss for words. what could you possibly say to a black tree-thing that had shot out of space-time rip? a name would be nice. start with that.

"I'm Elou'era... I'm, um... a shapeshifter." she blinked, licked her lips and her gaze wandered off to the side in search of something intelligent to say. all she found was more sunlight and the most unnerving sense of bewilderment in existence. this had gone from interesting to freakin' creepy, way too quickly for her liking. and she wasn't even sure how! this was gonna make for one hell of a good story.

[Anonymous]

It almost seemed to him, that both of them were quite confused as to what to do. He had to make the first move of course, in case that was tradition or the culture or something like that. It was also just polite, since he was kinda...a guest...or invader. No. Not invader. That was a pretty strong and incorrect term. He was a refugee. He was running from his world, his people, and all that they stood for, so he was a refugee. That was good because invader was a really bad term. His people WERE invaders, but not him. He was different. He had gotten out...which one rarely did. He really hoped that he could stop himself from being one of them again. They couldn't find him, he was sure hoping they couldn't. The chances of opening another rip here was absolutely astronomical.

Even still. Best not to let your guard down.

The creature appeared to stare at him for a few moments before...it suddenly wasn't a creature anymore. It was a person! He knew about people of course. They had different names everywhere, but he knew about people! Humans, elves, humanoid shapes, he knew those! Still, he wasn't sure he'd ever seen a four legged creature turn into a people...er...person before. This strange surprise caused him to fall back on his rear and scoot away slightly. He was more shocked and confused than he was scared. Well, maybe a tiny bit scared.

At least it spoke. It spoke in a language he understood too! Not it though, no... it looked like...they had genders in the Culmination, women had the curves of course, men had the more...not curves. This could have applied. This person had curves after all. It looked like a female of most of the humanoid races he had seen. Yes. This was a she then. She spoke to him! He tilted his head slightly as she...danced in some way. That...must have been a custom. Yeah. People didn't do little dances after all for no reason. They did it because there was music, or some sort of tradition behind it. At least, that's how it worked with the Culmination.

"Yes, hello!" Quickly he scrambled to his feet and tried to recreate the little dance she had done. He thought he had done quite well actually! Nothing as smooth as she had done, but then again, he was limited in some way. He may have looked a bit like a tree of some kind, he was surely not, but still...he was a bit stiff.

"I'm...not sure you could pronounce my name. So...call me Niff! I'm Niff." To him, it was his name. He wasn't sure it was his name BEFORE he was absorbed into the Culmination, but it certainly was a name that he felt comfortable with. It was simple enough, and it wasn't a very threatening sounding name. It was just...Niff! "Uhm...so...where am I?" He asked as he put his hands behind his back, trying to appear less threatening. "Oh! I'm a Culmination too! I forgot. You said what you were. Shape shifter. I'm a Culmination. It's hard to explain."

[Anonymous]

now that she was in her human form, Elou could finally squint her eyes to block out most of that blasted sunlight. it really hurt, when she was in Skelthian form, not having any eyelids and being forced to endure sunny days like this one. it didn't help that she enjoyed her Skelthian form more than her human form, either. Elou wondered if the humanoid had another form too, but when it copied her little dance, she figured it would have also transformed after she did. monkey see, monkey do. wait... why did it copy her? a flash of irritation streaked through her as she thought it may have been mocking her, but it didn't really seem arrogant. in fact, it seemed really quite nice. Elou was tired of referring to it as a "thing" or "humanoid" and was glad when he introduced himself as "Niff." huh, what a cute name.

"um, well... Earth. yeah, you're on Earth. where did you come from? I mean.. you came through a rip in space..." even though it confused her, Elou had no trouble believing in alternate dimensions. there were so many out-of-the-ordinary things in existence on Earth, so anything not from Earth must be much, much more strange. it was all very fascinating, really, and Elou was getting a first-row seat and free popcorn.

completely disregarding the fact that she didn't know what popcorn was, Elou pondered for a moment over what Niff said about his race: The Culmination. it wasn't familiar at all; she'd never heard of it, but it instilled some kind of fear in her. it was probably just the fact that anything new or unfamiliar scared Elou, but she was curiouser than any ol' cat and wanted to know all about it. what Niff had screamed out before, about "freedom," set Elou's tongue wagging. there was something deeper going on here; she knew it.

she took a few little steps forward (they were getting quite close to each other, now) and squinted at Niff. his five eyes were actually a very sparkly, pretty shade of green. "do they.. look like you?" she began to count the sharp teeth in Niff's mouth, when her eyes marginally widened for a second as she remembered the gargantuan hand. "what about that hand? that huge hand, was that a Culmination?" stealing her attention for a moment was the most sensational, pleasant smell; it was like a flower, but there were no flowers where either of them stood. perplexed and dazed by the sweet scent, it took all of her willpower not to hunt it down right then and there.

[Anonymous]

Why was this shape shifter irritated at him?! What did he do!? Oh! What if he was supposed to the dance the opposite way? What if he was supposed to do something OTHER than copy her dance. Okay, still, he could be uh...he could get by this. He'd just have to figure out the best way to apologize. When you apologized in his world, you prostrated yourself before the person you had offended. But...what if it was different here? What if they found that offensive too! What if they wanted to put him to death?! Would he be able to find another rip in the world to escape THIS one? Augh, how unlucky was he?

"Earth? That's a nice name...I like that name. I came from...uhm...yeah. That r-rip!" That's where he had come from. "I don't uh...know the name of the place. It was just another...one...that...yeah! It was just another world." He said with a determined nod. That's what it had been. Just another world. Yeah! Plain and simple. No need to go into the details after all. Like how his people (Not that he felt like one of them) invaded other worlds, infecting it with the black...goop stuff that everything had on it, turning everyone into a part of the Culmination, and removing all culture that wasn't their own.

Yeah. No need at all to go into THAT.

"Like me? Yeah like me! Not all like me. I mean we all have different shapes. Women have more...uh..." He made a curving motion at the front of his chest. "And some have more eyes. Or less eyes. Some have chomping teeth. Some have flat teeth with little spikes. Some have six fingers too. Some have more arms...oh, but we all have this stuff!" He poked at the black covering on his body and nodded. Yes, they at least all had this stuff in common. He really didn't know what it was either, but it was...kinda nice to have. Though it sorta took his identity away, but...still!

"That hand? Oh, that was a...well we sometimes call it a Colossus, or a Gargantuan. It was uh...I kinda..." He rubbed the back of his head as he thought about what he had done. "Uhm. Well it has a sort of...master. He was gonna make it do some bad stuff...so I sorta...stopped him. Then the entire Culmination declared me a traitor to the race and...yeah...so it was trying to get me! But it couldn't get in! Hah! It was too big to go through the rip!" Niff clapped his hands happily as he thought about it. He was free for the most part! There was no one here to get him! Well not yet. There were probably still people somewhere who would try to get him...but...not yet! Unless this Elou'era person tried to kill him, but she seemed really sweet! Hopefully she wouldn't.

"Is...is everything? Does...does something smell bad? Am I standing in something?" He quickly began to hop around on one foot trying to get a good look to see if he had stepped in anything. Not on that foot! The process was repeated as he checked the other one...oh! He had sat down too! Well, knocked on his backside from Elou changing shape. Maybe he had sat in something. For the next few moments, Niff spent that time spinning in a circle trying to look at his backside for anything. It was however not going to happen it seemed like.

"Guh..." He stopped spinning, putting one hand to his head, all five eyes blinking randomly. "Little dizzy there...ahem. Sorry. What did I say...oh yeah! Bad smell! I...I can't smell. No nostrils. Can hear really well though!"

[Anonymous]

Elou was trying desperately to ignore how hot it had become. it seemed after all that it was hotter in her human form than in her skelthian form, but in order to have a decent conversation with Niff, she'd have to duke it out as a human. luckily for her, she was quite a good actress and none of her discomfort showed on her face; except for the beads of sweat that had accumulated on her hairline and the back of her neck.

and anyway, how could Niff not know what his world was called? it was so incredibly strange to Elou, that you could live your entire life somewhere and not know what it was called. wouldn't you hear it from your leader? learn it in school? hell, even see it on a billboard? then again... she looked at Niff while he explained what his people looked like (while stifling a giggle at his description of a woman's chest) and came to the conclusion that Niff's world was a damn strange place, and maybe he was better off not knowing what it was called.

a wave of sympathy swept over her, when he revealed that he was running. she knew was it was like to have to run away. whether you ran from something physical, like a Colossus, or something immaterial, like your own fear, it was not pleasant. paranoia, Elou thought sadly, is not pleasant. "I know what that's like," she muttered softly, not really directing it at Niff. it was really too early to say, but somehow Elou felt good about meeting Niff.

"oh! um, no, no... you're.. not-" but Niff was already hopelessly twirling around, trying to catch a glimpse of whatever he thought was on his behind. Elou muffled another giggle once he'd stopped spinning.

"actually... I don't know what it is... you can't smell? at all?" she inhaled deeply, wiggling her tongue around in the back of her throat to catch the scent. "it's not a bad smell.. it's really nice." Elou turned around a full circle, moving her head this way and that. her sense of smell was excellent, and she soon located the source of the flowery scent: Niff!

"it's you!" she leaned closer and sniffed Niff, and the fragrance assaulted her. her grin marginally widened, but when she realised that she was only inches from Niff, she recoiled with an almost imperceptible blush and quietly cleared her throat.

"you smell like a flower."

[Anonymous]

His rather good eyesight could catch the sweat upon her brow, but after being in the Culmination for so long, where people didn't sweat when they were hot, he hadn't a clue what it all meant. He figured it was something that her race did, perhaps when they were happy or something along those lines. That was nice then, she was happy that he was here with her! Of course...it could have meant a host of other things, so he decided not to get his spirits up too much about it. Really it could have meant anything...he wouldn't ask of course, it was impolite to do so.

Niff didn't know his world's name because it technically wasn't his world. Yet. The big leaders had planned to call it Alraus, but the original name...he just didn't know. He didn't want to tell her what those people planned on calling it after they took over. Already he had been away from the Culmination for a few minutes and he felt less like one of them. Maybe this strange black stuff would finally come off completely and he could get a good look at what he really was. He knew that he looked kinda like a tree, but he didn't feel like a kinda tree. It was much too hard to explain, even to himself!

Though she didn't know of his good hearing yet, Niff caught her little comment. It made his heart, though he wasn't sure if he had one, soar when she said it. It hadn't sounded mean or sarcastic, and she said it quietly enough that she thought it was to herself. However, he had caught it, and it made him feel good. She could relate to him. That was the best thing usually, when a person could relate to them. Niff instantly felt better around Elou, he didn't feel like running that much. He did want to run from this spot, in case a rip opened here again...but...for the most part, he was quite happy once more.

"At all. We don't have...noses I guess. Which could be good if we all smelled bad." Some people would find that impossible to imagine. A world where you had no smell, where nothing smelled. Sure, you'd miss out on the bad smells, which was okay, no one really liked bad smells...that's why they were bad. You'd miss out on the good smells though. Flowers, food, meadows after a rain, the good outdoors, all that sort of thing. However, since Niff never had a sense of smell (At least, since he could remember after being absorbed into the Culmination) he never felt he was missing out on anything.

When Elou came close he tilted his head slightly as she started...sniffing again. She was sniffing him! This was all sorts of in his personal space. Not that he wasn't used to having his personal space invaded but even still! "It's me?" He asked as she sniffed him against.  She seemed to realize that she was right there sniffing him and moved away, which he felt a bit of relief, and oddly enough, regret wash over him. Maybe he liked being sniffed. She seemed to enjoy his smell after all.

"I...I will have to take your word for that. At least it's a good smell right? I mean, you said it's a really nice smell so...at least I smell good." He seemed rather proud of that actually, he liked knowing that he smelled good. "I...I can't say that you smell good, cause...no nose...but your voice is really nice!" He had excellent hearing after all, and her voice was a really nice voice. "Uhm...Do you think we could...move now though? I don't...I don't want to be near this spot. In case a rip happens...I mean, it shouldn't, the chances are absurdly high but...just in case." He began to look around however, realizing that he had no idea where he was. Or what would be a good place to go toward.

"You...y-you know a good place to go, Elou?"

[Anonymous]

Niff wasn't missing out on much in the way of smells when it came to Elou. in fact, she didn't have much of a scent at all, if she was in a cold climate. coming from sub-zero temperatures meant that bacteria didn't stand a chance living on her skin. however, taking in consideration that she'd been traveling for solid day and a half, in the blazing heat, without bathing in a spring or lake... Elou ever so discreetly took a whiff of herself. holy mother of pearl! thank goodness Niff couldn't smell. god, Elou, take a damn bath. wow.

Elou's face felt oddly warm when Niff complimented her voice... she didn't know what she really sounded like, but then again, no one did. she was a little bit relieved when Niff changed the subject. if Elou's memory served her correctly, they were in the Meeting Place; a neutral cross-roads, so to speak. could... could another rip happen? even if the chances were slim, Elou's hair stood up on the back of her neck. she'd found it to be interesting when Niff popped out of it, but what if another Colossus, or worse came out? they'd go after Niff, wouldn't they? an unusual sense of protection washed over Elou, for Niff. she didn't know if he was really innocent, but her instincts were usually right, and she had a good feeling about him. she ignored the little buzz that spread through her when Niff used her nickname.

"um, well... I was on my way to Serendipity, when you... you know. fell out of the sky." actually, she'd been on her way to Serendipity to spill the latest on the whole "who the hell is the king" fiasco. unfortunately, something much less relevant had quite literally fallen in front of her (not that Niff falling in front of her was a bad thing, but she doubted her high-class client would find a Culmination from a rip in space to be interesting). alas, Elou had a job to keep, and in order for her to continue living comfortably, she'd have to take Niff somewhere while she located her client.

"you can... um, will you come with me to Serendipity? it's one of the countries here..." Elou turned around one-eighty degrees and motioned for Niff to follow her. she was still battling with the heat, and her eyes were intensely burning from so much exposure to sunlight, but the trip would be made substantially better with Niff there (which is not something she'd readily admit). it felt good to stretch her legs and walk again, after standing still for a little while.

"it's a nice place... a lot of strange-looking people, so you shouldn't stand out too much." Elou came close to slapping a hand over her mouth with shock at her statement. rude much! "oh! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend you, if I did... you're not strange, it's just, well... you don't look at all human." thoroughly disgruntled, Elou sucked in a breath and mentally slapped herself. why was she having so much trouble getting her words right? she was a master of speech! that's why she spoke for a living! I have an excellent idea -- let's change the subject!

"I have a little villa on the edge of town... you could stay there, while I work... i-if you want."

[Anonymous]

Niff really only could compliment her on her voice after all. Oh, and her personality, but that was because she was nice to him. As for physical attraction, Niff wasn't particularly sure he could be attracted to someone while he was...part of the Culmination. While two Culmination could engage in some...strange thing that was like a physical relationship, he'd never heard of it happening outside of the Culmination. For that matter, he had just MET this person! It was no time to be thinking of them like that! However, she was nice, and had a very pleasant voice to hear. For him at this time, that was good enough for him! He could worry about other things later, but for now he just wanted to make sure that he didn't do anything to offend her, or make her angry. Having to run from her seemed like it wouldn't be fun, and he was sure he'd feel a little sad about it.

Still, she seemed like she was going to run him off anytime soon!

"I did kinda...splat didn't I?" It hadn't been the most graceful of entrances, but of course, he had been running for his life. He didn't have time to make any sort of flash entrance. Nor was he sure that he'd be able to. It was hard to be flashy and what not when you looked like he did. He wished he looked a little more humanoid, instead of a little more...tree like? While he didn't look exactly like a tree, you could tell he had a neck, shoulders, head, his body looked a little...square. He was sure it was because of the process of how they made more Culmination, which included dipping...though he was sure that they left weird things inside the goo that got attached to people. Like his crown.

His crown didn't hurt when it got hit. It didn't feel like part of his body.

"Really? You'd let me come with you?" He perked up immediately at that, though, he was already pretty perky to begin with. While a little nervous and talkative, Niff didn't even seem turned off  of being bubbly despite being a refugee. When she motioned for him to follow, he was quick to get to her side, having dashed after her suddenly. He was really glad to have made this new friend, she was really nice, and now she was gonna let him join her on her trip! He didn't know what Serendipity was about, but he could find out when he was there after all!

All five of his eyes blinked as she spoke again. He didn't think it had been rude. He knew he stood out. He doubted people looked like the Culmination here. "Huh? Oh! No! I look weird, I know. I like it, cause that means I look unique here! Everyone looked kinda like me back on...my world. But not here! people won't look like me." While he wasn't liking the idea of full attention on him cause he was different...he kinda...well he also kind of liked it. People would notice him!

"That would be really nice of you if you Elou! I uh...will try to find a way to pay you back. That's the right thing to do isn't it?" His question sounded a little more rhetorical than it did directed at her. He was pretty sure that he was supposed to pay her back somehow, and he'd have to find a way to do so. Suddenly however, Niff giggled to himself.

"My people...uh...my name...my real one. It means 'He Who Walks Alone in the Shadows.' It's cause it's dark in my world...and I uh...liked to walk." He coughed as he tried to get to his point. "But! I'm not walking alone in the dark anymore right?" He told her as he flashed her a grin, all five of his green eyes full of happiness and joy. He really was truly happy about this turn of events, that was obvious.

"So! What is your work? What do you do?"

[Anonymous]

Elou wasn't sure how to accurately describe Niff without using the word tree at least once. he had slight human curves; he probably had more curves than she did, with her being so skeletal. she'd never been attracted to another human, or even another Skelthian. Niff was a little bit stiff-looking, but the more Elou looked at him, the more she could see elegance in his geometry. and the tall structure atop his head made her burn with curiosity: was it actually a crown? was he in fact a king, but didn't yet know it? or was it an elongation of his skull? the other thing piquing her interest was that black substance all over him. she wanted to badly to see what it felt like, but she knew better than to go around touching people "just because."

Elou felt a burst of elation at Niff's apparent excitement about going with her. not many people were ever excited to travel with her. she usually preferred to travel alone, and to do her job with minimal interruptions. for this interruption, though, Elou was willing to make an exception. with a firm internal nod of her head, she decided that she liked Niff. as a friend, of course; she wasn't sure she could be attracted to Niff just yet. it wasn't his appearance (she wasn't one to talk, resembling a giraffe more than a woman), just that she didn't know if she could trust him. yet. she was hopeful. just give it time, and don't get your hopes up too high.

"oh, it's... it's okay. you're welcome." she didn't immediately reject his offer to pay her beck; under normal circumstances, Elou would trade her services for information, and the information she requested directly related to whichever client she was currently working for. but these were not normal circumstances, and it wasn't unusual for Elou to make exceptions for kind folk. just in case you were wondering, Niff, Elou thought to herself with a tiny smile, you're kind. you don't have to pay me back. kind people were hard to come by these days. Elou appreciated kindness more than she loved food (which is, if you're wondering, a hell of a lot!).

"that's quite a name," Elou remarked, pursing her lips in thought. she only had one name: Elou'era. she didn't know what it meant, or who gave it to her. she couldn't even remember when she'd first used it when introducing herself. she smiled widely at Niff, and felt an incredible happiness blooming in her chest. "no, you're not. not anymore." even if the sunlight hurt her eyes and made her sweaty, she was glad that Niff wasn't in the dark anymore. even if she'd only just met him, this strange, black creature from the Culmination, she was glad. it had been a long time since she'd felt joy this pure.

"uh, I'm an information broker. people pay me to find out information for them." she wore a wry smile and scratched the back of her head. "it's not a royal job, but I'm pretty damn good at it, hehee." well, she was. her memory was tip-top and she was an excellent eavesdropper, with hearing that could span hundreds of feet, through walls and other barriers. she didn't have the best eyesight, because they were a little damaged from so much sunlight exposure, so she had to rely to smell and hearing. also being able to squeeze into tight, narrow spaces meant that she could spy, too, and gain information first-hand. despite being a big, fat coward (so to speak) Elou put one hundred and twenty percent into her job to make her clients happy. she was beginning to make a name for herself: if you want information, find Elou'era.

"did you... have a job? in your world?"

as they walked, Elou slipped into a hazy, albeit sweaty, daze, smelling Niff's sweet fragrance and closing her eyes, letting her ears do the seeing for her. flowers were definitely her favorite scent, she decided.

[Anonymous]

Niff was pretty sure that no matter where he went, people would be questioning his strange skin. He couldn't exactly tell them what it was, but he knew that he liked it. It helped to protect him, and it helped him to hear better as well! Of course, it could get messy if it started glooping off of him, and he had no idea how it made more, but it did...Still, it had other uses! It was like a thick glue, and great for...being...glue? Ahem. Yes. That wasn't as thought out as it could have been, but no one was listening to his thoughts, so it's not like it mattered. Unless...

Eyes looked to Elou for a moment. She couldn't read his mind. That was just silly.

"It isn't that okay! I mean, you're letting me stay with you! I'm a complete stranger! Well, not complete, because we know each other names, and races, so we're kinda...well we're friends I guess at this point...alright, you're letting a friend stay with you!" That made it all better to Niff really! He still would want to try and pay her back for her generosity. It just seemed wrong not to. She was such a nice person after all, he'd feel guilty about taking advantage of her kindness as a friend. It wasn't right, but he could make it right! He just had...to figure out how to pay her back.

Maybe he could...uh...tidy things up around her house if it was messy?

"Cause you're here in the sunlight with me walking!" He reiterated happily. It seemed to be a really big thing for him, and in his mind it was. She wasn't evil, she wasn't part of the Culmination, she wasn't anything but a person who was helping him, and walking with him and talking to him. In the Culmination he had been such an insignificant part of things. People either ignored him, or they gave him some order and bossed him around. There was no just...talking to him usually. It also probably was because he didn't rise through the ranks in the Culmination. Niff didn't care of course, because really...he knew he didn't belong there.

Now he was free!

Now he wasn't sure if that was like a spy, or a scout of some kind...but...her explanation sounded pretty easy to understand. She found out information for money! He hoped that people didn't get hurt because of what she did. Like ordering a Colossus to crush a town. No...that couldn't have been what she did! That was...from his world. Not this world. Not Elou! "Well you must be if you have a little villa and all that!" It was... a really simple thing to say, and he rubbed the back of his head.  Yeah. If you weren't successful at a job, you wouldn't...really have anything. She seemed to have things, so she must have been good. He felt a little silly for having said that but...it was out there now wasn't it?

"M-me? Um...sort of. There isn't...pay in my world...but if you do a job, you eat, and you get to sleep somewhere nice...I just...cleaned things up." There was a lot of hesitation in his voice and he was obviously trying to pick his words very carefully. He didn't want to scare her off after all, he didn't want her to really...worry about him being...evil. He wasn't of course! But he cleaned up corpses in his world, people who didn't submit and fought against the Culmination died and so...he had to clean up the people who didn't submit. It wasn't pretty or glamorous but it probably helped explain why he smelled like flowers...despite no one actually being able to smell.

Just one of those things however.

"I guess that I should find something that I can do here though. I hope that the jobs here aren't that hard to do." What could a six foot tall, crown headed, black goo covered, creature who smells like flowers and used to clean up dead bodies do for society? He knew that's what it was all about...society. He'd have to be able to contribute to society.

He was pretty sure that being able to run from things was going to be a useful skill.

[Anonymous]

Elou was glad that Niff considered them to be friends. she considered them to be friends, too, which was strange... she'd never really had friends. only clients and acquaintances, people she worked for. when you travelled as much as Elou did, you didn't have much time for friends. it didn't help that there was so much tension running through Le'raana due to things like kings disappearing, and Mordecai getting more ruthless with their mage-culling. if you wanted to be truly safe, you knew to keep your head down, mouth shut and ears open. Elou should be a spokesperson for that philosophy, really. having friends could help you or break you. Elou was placing her bets on the former, in Niff's case.

Elou loved walking. she loved to travel, but what she called traveling others called running away. she didn't care, because when she was moving she was happy. moving around gave her a sense of freedom, and there was nothing she detested more than feeling trapped. out in the wilderness of Le'raana, she was free: nothing could catch her. Elou loved huge, wide-open spaces, where she could see and hear and smell for miles without coming across another human. humans, to be honest, terrified her... they were so unpredictable. in Skelthwaite, it was rare to see anger or sadness, because those emotions were so insignificant in a Skelthian's heart. humans, it seemed, were the personification of lies. maybe the reason Elou liked Niff so much was because he wasn't human.

Niff's little remark about her owning a villa put another smile on her face, but it slowly vanished as he explained what his job had been. it wasn't specific; if he tidied things up, he got to eat and sleep somewhere. Elou knew what that was like, having to work to (pretty much) stay alive. she was curious and wanted to ask more about it, but Niff's obvious hesitation stopped her. she didn't like it when people pried into her past, so she wouldn't pry into Niff's. Elou had no earthly idea what kind of job Niff could be suited to. his appearance wouldn't be much of a problem, considering some of the strange-looking creatures that worked here. as long as he followed the rules, and didn't cause trouble, he'd do well, Elou was sure of it.

"work shouldn't be hard to find. I can help you... I know some people. well, a lot of people." Elou chuckled meekly and shrugged. "I know pretty much everyone."

Elou opened her eyes (internally shouting obscenities at the cursed sun) and could faintly see in the distance where the portal was supposed to be. the route Elou had taken through the Meeting Place this time was new to her, and she knew the general location of many of the portals, including the Serenian one. "um, it's not much longer to the portal," she explained to Niff, pointing in the general direction of the one up ahead. "oh, um..." she looked at Niff and then at the ground, because eye contact had become increasingly difficult for her ever since this whole adventure began.

"what do you, er, eat?" Elou herself was a vegetarian by default, but she didn't hate meat. in her Skelthian form she ate grass, leaves, bark... pretty much any leaf matter that contained nutrients. as a human, she mostly ate vegetables and fruit, and then meat if nothing else was available. and man, did she love to eat!

[Anonymous]

Any place was better than the one he had been on. Niff couldn't be sure of what problems might be here on Earth, but he knew that they weren't being invaded by the Culmination, and they weren't on the verge of being invaded any time soon. In fact, from what Elou had said and she acted, things were, for the most part...local. She would have told him after all if there was some real trouble right? She was a nice person that way! He nodded in his mind at that thought. She was a nice person.

Niff's mind would never be changed on that.

And they were walking! They were getting away from the spot he had come through. Already he was feeling a whole lot better. Besides, walking felt good, walking felt...REALLY...good. He loved to walk, he loved to run, he loved to just keep moving. Of course, he also loved to sleep, when he could, but running and walking? Those were simple and easy activities. It made him wonder and yearn to know what he had been before getting sucked into the Culmination. Had he been some sort of runner, some person who just ran everywhere? Maybe he delivered mail to people over vast distances, or maybe...maybe he had just been running though...maybe that's all it was.

He just ran.

"Then it's really good that we met! Can we find someone like you though that I can work for? I'd rather work for someone who is like you." Yes, he was a bit of a suck up, and he wouldn't be the one to deny it. But he had been around people who had treated him like...well...like he had been nothing. But Elou treated him like...well, a friend. Like she wanted him around, and not just to boss him around or anything like that.

"There's a portal?" He blinked, all five of his eyes blinking in unison. What did she mean there was a portal? Did they use portals to get around here? That wasn't unusual of course, his people used portals to get from world to world...maybe these people just used portals on their world to get from city to city. He focused on the area where she pointed, and he was sure that he could see...something. It kind of looked like a shimmering pool hovering in the air...maybe? It looked like a portal to him in the very least. Well, that was very interesting wasn't it?

"Huh? Oh food! I eat lots of things. You don't...you don't get to be picky in the Culmination. If there's something edible, you eat it. Even if it's a little raw or...has been around a while." Niff told her with a shrug of his shoulders. He was NOT a picky eater, he couldn't afford to be. If you got served food by some of the Chefs in the Culmination, you ate it. You didn't complain, you didn't ask for something different, you ate it and you were damn grateful that you were allowed to eat. If Elou wanted to feed him anything, then he would eat it, no matter what it was.

"B-but I don't need to eat a lot! I can do with just scraps! I d-don't want to be a burden!" Niff told her as he quickly waved his arms, not wanting to seem like he was going to freeload off of her. He really was going to try and pay her back, and he'd keep track of the food he ate as well.

[Anonymous]

Niff doing Elou's line of work? she pursed her lips in thought, inwardly grinning like a madman at the idea, but it didn't seem impossible, not in the slightest. after all, Elou had met many curious creatures in her travels, doing the same job as she. she let her smile surface on her lips and resolved to see what she could do for him. couldn't be that hard to get him a job, right? and Elou found it irresistibly cute that he wanted to work for someone who was like her.

Elou personally didn't enjoy the portals all that much. she had to admit, though, that stepping into a portal and ending up where you wanted to go, instantaneously, was pretty convenient. she was always scared that some part of her body would get left behind, or lost inside the portal's dimensions. the thought of coming out the other end missing a foot, or ear, made her shake.

"don't worry," Elou reassured Niff, "you definitely won't starve at my house." she said this with a chuckle, because, well, there was enough food there to keep a small family of four nourished for eight months, at any given time. Elou ate at least five or six times to amount of food as a regular human. as she was not able to eat any leaf matter - grass, leaves and the like - in human form, and was human ninety percent of the time, fresh vegetables and meat had to be in abundant supply.

"and don't worry, Niff," she added, more quietly than before, looking somewhere at her feet. "you're... not a burden..." Elou briefly glanced at him out of the corner of her eye, biting her cheeks to keep from smiling. "friends aren't burdens."

before the situation became too cheesy, Elou found them only a few hundred metres from the portal. it was great that Niff had long legs like her; she could walk at her normal pace, without having to slow down or wait, which deeply annoyed her. "it's just up ahead," she announced. "um.. once, when I went through a portal in human form, it... didn't really agree with me..." memories of puking unmentionable liquids made her grimace, and her stomach flip in protest. "so I'll go through in my other form... is that okay? I... can't speak in that form, though. but I'll go right back to this one when we jump to Serendipity." she added the last part confidently, if only to reassure herself.

I better reappear with all my body parts, she thought grimly.


( OOC I think.. your next reply, and then we can mosey on over to Arca? )

[Anonymous]

It wasn't as if he wanted to do her line of work. He wanted to just...work with someone who was nice like her. His life hadn't been difficult, at least, not by some orphan standards, he just hadn't been liked, nor had he ever advanced because of his disposition toward what the Culmination did. However, he did feel sad for himself a lot, but that was just his nature. If people pitied him, then they wouldn't be mean to him. They wouldn't beat him, or treat him wrong. If the hardest heart could feel some pity.

Though, from what he heard of some...of the Culmination, pity could end with them killing him.

"Oh! I never thought I would! I just...don't need lots, that's all! Yeah, I can eat very little so it's okay!" He didn't want to think that he would pig himself out. No no, that would be wrong! He wasn't one to take advantage of people in that way. Sure, he manipulated people a LITTLE bit with pity, but it was only to save his life. It wasn't as if he was hurting anyone. He was just...surviving.

At her mention of him not being a burden, of friends not being burdens, he could have hugged her right there. He instinctively moved a little bit closer, almost going to hug her, but he decided against it. She might freak out, she might not like the fact that he was hugging her. It wasn't as if she was gonna get sticky! Why would she not want a hug! Then he remembered that...he hadn't asked her...and it had been all in his head. Well then, he felt just a little bit silly now.

She mentioned her other form and he blinked, trying to remember what she was talking about. Other...OH! He had almost completely forgotten that strange creature on four legs from before! Right! He nodded rapidly. "Yes! That's fine! I know it's you after all, so I won't be scared." He might have ran if he didn't know it was her. That would have been interesting, ending up in a strange city and suddenly dashing away. He probably wouldn't have run, now that he thought of it. He'd have been too scared to run, he wouldn't know WHERE to run. He'd either run into a wall, or just plain hiding in some place dark.

"Alright...I think I can do this." He told her with a nod as he gazed at the portal in front of him. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. Think happy thoughts. A place to stay. A really nice lady! A job that wasn't cleaning up the dead. Food. A nice warm, but hopefully not TOO warm place to live. People that wouldn't try to kill him. With that, he stepped through the portal into what would essentially be the unknown.

Anything could be on the other side...

And for once he didn't feel like running.