Chronicles of The Omniverse Archived Westeria City: Azure Heights - West Side

Tiko

Draconic Administrator/Mentor
Administrator
Mentor
Nexus GM
as written by Tiko

It had been seven weeks since war had erupted over Westeria City, ravaging its streets and leaving it a shadow of its former self. Though the war had since moved on, the scars remained.

Scorch marks and bullet holes riddled buildings, and crumbled rubble filled many of the streets. Some regions still stood tall and proud over the damages, but for many residents of Westeria City, picking through the wreckages for supplies and food had become a norm of life. Many had willfully chosen to remain behind when the TNG began evacuating the city and the surrounding Midlands, for others they had simply been left behind through some error or another as the TNG finished pulling out four weeks ago.

They were on their own now. Abandoned.

For those cloistered together within small communities, life proved safer, but for those on the fringes making their way on their own... life was wrought with danger. Untold threats prowled the streets ranging from from alien creatures to criminals and cut-throats. Further adding to the dangers was the ongoing planar instability that left each day a gamble of survival as anomalies continued to wreck havoc on the city. Planar rifts were fast becoming a thing of the norm, and a massive and ominous portal still spanned out across the city from the sky over-head where it blotted out the sun.

____

Sunrise. It and the early morning hours were the one time of day that the sunlight managed to sweep across the rooftops of western Azure Heights. With the looming portal blotting out the sky overhead and the strange canopy of forest that had erupted from the city gardens to the east, the warm feel of the suns rays had become a limited commodity for those residing in the area. Even these early day hours of sunlight were marred by the the tall city buildings that seemed to keep the place cast in perpetual shadow.

Of all the areas of the city, western Azure Heights had suffered the greatest damages during the battle that had torn through it six weeks past, and many of the streets had been reduced to little more than rubble. Most had moved on in search of safety elsewhere, but for those with nowhere to go it now served as home.
 
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as written by Lisanna and Tiko

The morning chill loomed in the air, her breath coming out a smoky white, floating into the sky which was abnormally blue today. This brought a cheerful spring to her step as she walked through the back Alley of her house.

“Over the bridge… Around the Flower shop and through the Main square…” Alena whispered this to herself almost every day, the sun had yet to make its appearance though it was not far off, and all she had to do was make it to the centre.

It had been around 7 weeks… Just barely scrapping by, though, she wasn’t completely alone anymore. Her neighbours had stayed back voluntarily, suppose it’s what you’d call a ‘close knit’ community taken to the extreme, there were four of them all together, Alena, her neighbour Ralph and the old couple across the street, the Mavens.

As she emerged from the dark alley way to the side of the Main Square she paused for a moment, standing in the light she so dearly missed, she hadn’t been in Azure Heights long, but she’d gotten use to the feeling of the sun, warm and welcoming. The whole look of the Main Square changed, dark grey rubble from collapsed buildings had begun to spout tiny flowers of every colour, you wouldn’t usually notice, the chipping paint from the buildings seemed to pop out from all directions, the whole square got a makeover, but it would all disappear again soon.

Her moment was short lived unfortunately, the square wasn’t the best place to stand around, and although the sun was nice Alena waved it goodbye and hurried across the other side into darkness, she was heading towards the cheap shop, last time she looked it still had a bit of salvage left and was hoping it was still there.

____

As Alena had long learned already, looters didn't always come in the form of fellow humans. On this day her arrival at the store was punctuated by the sound of pottery shattering against the floor followed by a trilling hiss and scraping thumps from inside the darkened building. This whole stretch of the city was without power, and what light was available was what filtered in through the broken front windows.

Inside the shop several large reptilian creatures were ransacking the place as they climbed through shelves and display racks in search of something edible. One was chewing on a stack of jerky strips still in their plastic wrap, while another was shoving its head inside of a flower pot that quickly joined the shattered ones upon the floor as it was knocked off its shelf. A third yet was shoving a can across the floor with its snout.

The animals themselves didn't appear particularly imposing, and were little larger than iguanas. From the look and sound of it there was four, maybe five of them in the store.

____

Alena had indeed had her fair share of looters cross her path, by now she thought she’d be used to it, but every time one comes along her heart pounds and her body tingles with fear. Stood outside the shop, mostly hidden from view, Alena debated whether or not to take the risk. She knew she needed supplies yet wasn’t entirely sure how to get passed the reptiles without being seen, since she didn’t know what they could do, they could be harmless for all she knew but Alena didn’t feel like taking that chance.

She watched them for a while, cringing at every crunch and crash from inside. The Lizards seemed to be looking for something; her best bet was that they were looking for food. Alena always tried to carry at least a small amount of food with her, if she met a passer-by she usually gave it to them as a sort of peace offering, if not, she ate the food on her way home, or as a break from scavenging.

Today she had a stale piece of bread she reached into her back pocket and removed it, moving as close to the shattered window as she possibly could Alena looked for the shelf with the most items on it and threw the bread in the opposite direction, she was hoping it would draw the looters away by the smell, or at least have it knock something over and draw them by sound, all she needed was a small opening to grab what she could and run out of there.

On the shelf there were tin cans, most likely filled with food, next to them a few packets of dried pasta one ripped open and pasta spilt all around it. At the back of the store there were toiletries the stuff still came in handy even though they didn’t have power, that would be the next thing she went after.

____

Alena's efforts were rewarded as two of the animals took note of the flung bread. The one nudging a can looked up and began to crawl towards the stale bread while the one on the shelf moved with surprising athleticism as it climbed from shelf to shelf navigating its way back to the floor. The third reptilian creature remained undistracted from its snack of jerky sticks.

That just left one, maybe two more from the sounds of movement going on out of sight behind the racks. Though that was baring the possibility of any more of the animals resting quietly out of view
 
as written by Script, Tiko, and Lisanna

"Who daresss disssturb the domain of the lizard king?"

A harsh and reptilian voice boomed through the store, and a great shadow in the shape of what appeared to be a lizard man in a crown rose to loom on the wall, cast from just out of sight behind one of the shelves. The light in the entire shop seemed to dim beyond the gloom of the outside, as the sound of scales and claws scraping along tiles announced the movement of something vast.

____

The booming voice and sounds startled the reptilian creatures who grew rapidly agitated. Neck frills and dorsal spines raised up on the two largest of the group to quiver in a dazzling display of red and yellow, One let out a menacing hiss as it turned in place seemingly riled up. The smaller ones scattered with one crawling beneath a rack of shelves while two more spilled out of the doorway of the building paying Alena no mind as they made themselves scarce in either direction.

____

Her eyes widened fear chilling her body, she was frozen, she had time to grab the food and the much needed toiletries, but she couldn't make her legs move. "Come on. Just move-" She whispered harshly to herself, as the little lizard skittered past and the fearsome voice bellowed through the shop, she listened to the *Shhrp Shrrp* of the claws sliding against the tiles and decided she had to go in, making sure she knew where the sound of movement was coming from as she crawled through, slowly moving towards the shelf and hoping she wasn't making enough noise to draw the seemingly huge beast to her.

When she made it to the shelf she looked at the tins, pasta and other items, the toiletries had to wait... In a moment her arms wrapped around the contents on the shelf, grabbing what tins she could carry and biting a packet of pasta which sat on the next shelf up, making a break for the door dropping a few tins from the harsh movement.

____

Alena's abrupt movements drew immediate attention to her location for the aggitated reptiles, and as she bolted past. One of them let out a loud opened mouth hiss at her and shook its frills aggressively as it puffed itself up to look more menacing.

It seemed largely bluster though, until Alena made the return bolt for the entrance. It was too much provocation for the animal which spat a spray of corrosive liquid right into her path. If it struck clothes it would burn holes through it and leave the skin beneath inflamed and irritated, and likely leave minor burns if it struck exposed flesh.

Aside from pain the only real immediate danger the corrosive compound would pose is if she got it into an open wound, or into her eyes - either directly or by rubbing it in.

____

She’d been hoping she could get out before she disrupted the peace even more, hearing the hiss she turned her head to look at the lizard, missing the corrosive liquid being shot in front of her, only realizing what had happened when she felt the burning of when it hit her, clutching the sizzling skin on her neck and under her jaw, little holes burning away parts of her clothing.

She’d dropped the cans and packet of pasta, the rolled beneath her unmoving feet as she focused solely on the pain of her red spotted skin. After a few moments of time she began to pick them up again, finding a plastic bag on the ground, after all of this time, so she filled it, as much as she could without making bigger holes in it than it already had and placed the pasta back into her mouth, looking around and hoping she wasn’t about to be eaten alive by lizards. Or really huge Lizards.

____

The two reptilian creatures remained clearly agitated, but their behavior remained defensive. Despite the vibrant displays, open mouthed hissing, and the spitting, they seemed more intent on standing their ground than chasing Alena. Her pause to grab up the dropped items provoked a spit at her back from the second lizard, but neither moved to close in on her.

____

"Oops."

The dragging of scales and claws on the ground ceased in the moments after Alena was burned, and the shadow disappeared, as though the creature causing them had simply vanished. The single markedly more human utterance that followed came from somewhere near the door, but if Alena turned to look, nobody was there.

____

She squealed and ducked just in time to miss the second round of painful spit, Looking around when she heard the voice of her tormentor though not quite as lizardy as it was, frowning when she saw no one, except for the aggravated lizards behind her, wasting no more time she quickly made her way to the door and out, "Sorry for the interruption!" She couldn't help but call over her shoulder in Terran as she made a run for her home.
 
as written by Script and Lisanna

Alena wouldn't get far before her flight was interrupted by a figure stepping out a short distance ahead of her, shedding the shadows that had concealed them as they moved into the dim light of the street. His face was hidden by a sinister-looking fox mask of red and black, but his slight and slender figure - just barely as tall as Alena herself - somewhat detracted from the menace he might otherwise have projected. His hand rested beside an antique ceremonial sword that hung at his hip, though his posture - relaxed, half leaning back on one foot - gave off no indication of aggression.

"They're not chasing you," the figure stated, avoiding eye contact behind his mask. He sounded a little sheepish, though for what reason was unclear. "Running is just going to make more noise, and attract more unwanted attention."

He nodded towards the corner at the far end of the street. "There's a cluster of fire zombies round there, so unless you wanna run straight into them, I'd cool your jets."

____

She stopped dead, panting quietly as she observed the figure in front of her, masked and clothed in red and black, the mask he wore seemed quite a strange thing to wear though she'd seen many people wearing them, but what would it protect in the state of this city? He was nervous around him, if she didn't have the sword perhaps her voice would come easier to her.

When he spoke he sounded uncomfortable or self-conscious nearly his posture gave off an almost careless, giving her a warning which she appreciated more than he knew "There's a cluster of fire zombies round there.." As he spoke she piped up as well. "Fire zombies? I've never seen them this close..." Her voice now hushed as her heart rate began to slow, her Terran was just slightly broken as she felt the sharp pang of embarrassment with her poor performance. "My supply runs don't usually go so terribly..." Though he posed a threat to her safety, she felt more at ease with him, perhaps because he actually had a sword, she didn't really have a form of protection, she just ran usually.

____

The strange boy coughed awkwardly. "Yeah, that ... was my fault." He folded his arms, looking away and sighing. "I may have not anticipated the lizards spitting acid when I tried to spook you with uh..."

He brought a hand up to his mouth and cleared his throat. "Who daresss disssturb the domain of the lizard king?"

It wasn't as loud as before, but there was no mistaking the voice for anything other than the one that had echoed through the shop. "Sound familiar? Yeah... my bad. Still."

He spun back around on one foot with a casual shrug. "All's well that ends well! Aside from the burns. But they're totally not that ... bad. Eeeeh... Anyway!" Stepping forwards with a spring in his step, the boy held out a hand for Alena to shake. "Name's Vex. 'sup?"

____

Her expression hardened as the boy imitated the same voice of the "Lizard King" eyes narrowing as her embarrassment turned to irritation, and then to a rather calm anger her tongue running across her teeth. "You tricked me..." Her voice laced with her frustration, a high pitch in the hushed tone.

She looked at Vex's outstretched hand meant as a greeting, a proper greeting, with her left hand she swiped at his, if successful she would slap his hand away. "Why would I want to meet someone so cruel, the burns are bad, they hurt, because of you I am injured, something I wouldn't have been if you were more mature."

Alena began to walk around Vex, making sure to keep an eye out for the zombies he'd mentioned, taking a longer route towards her house to try and avoid them, now wasn't the time to be being chased by the undead.

____

"Heeey, c'mon!" Vex whined, trailing after Alena with his arms folded behind his back. "I'm not cruel! Who expects lizards to spit acid? It was supposed to be harmless! That's why I'm apologising!" He paused, thinking. He had apologised, right? "Which is what I'm doing. To clarify. Super sorry."

He stuck his hands in his pockets, lapsing into silence for a few moments as he continued to follow her, undeterred by her anger. "So you're out here on your own?" he asked, increasing his pace enough to come up alongside her and tilting his head with curiosity. "That's pretty bold, if you can't take on a few lizards by yourself. Not tryna be rude or anything, but you're gonna be in real trouble if anything actually dangerous catches your scent."

____

"Thank you for apologizing... But I'm not forgiving you, you owe me for the burns I've sustained. And as I've said, my supply runs don't usually go so badly, I've met creatures far scarier than you, even with your sword..." Silence fell over them again and she sighed, looking ahead as she spoke, turning a corner instinctively. "I'm only alone when I'm out here, I'm in a small group back at home..." She really shouldn't have been telling him all of this but her mood was lifted as she entered the sun, sighing quietly and slowly calming herself.

"Why do you wear the mask?... What's the point if it doesn't matter who you are any more?"
 
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as written by Tiko

As if to punctuate Alena's words the crack of a gunshot split the air, echoing from the direction that Alena had previously been trying to head.

____


Elsewhere in Azure Heights...

"Aaaaagh!"

Ralph's shout of pain would easily carry in the otherwise silent and abandoned streets of the city. Around him were a dozen armed men, two of whome had an older couple - the Mavens - down on their knees at gun point on the side of the street outside their house.

"Are you a fucking idiot?!" Rick Craymen hollered at a gangly looking teen by the name of Daves who was standing over top of Ralph with his discharged weapon held in both hands.

"He went for my gun!" Daves protested, his face ashen white as Ralph bled out onto the pavement at his feet.

"So you shot him?!"

"What was I suppose to do?"

"Shut him up before he attracts even more attention than your dumbass jumpy trigger finger already has!"

Daves raised shaky hands to point his gun at Ralph's writhing form. The man had his hands clutched against the gut wound that left his clothes soaked red. He spit several expletives at Daves between pained cries and he tried to pull himself to his knees.

Rick moved quickly to knock Daves' gun to the side before leveling a booted foot to the side of Ralph's head.

"Not with the gun you moron," Rick snarled. "We should have left you in that fucking alley where we found you."

"Then how-"

Ralph's pained cries turned to dazed groans as Rick slammed his boot into the side of the fallen man's head again and again.

"Stop it!" the elderly woman nearby finally shrieked.

"Shut them up too," Rick growled.

The men standing guard over the elderly couple exchanged grins as they holstered their weapons. Guns were good for intimidation, but noisy. One swift movement and the flash of a knife left the older woman sprawled forward on the pavement clutching at her throat as blood spilled through her fingers.

"No!" her husband shouted before his words were equally silenced and his twitching gurgling body was shoved over to fall on top of his wife's.

Meanwhile Rick shoved a knife into Daves' hand before pushing him towards Ralph's motionless body.

"You two keep an eye out," Rick told the two who had killed the elderly couple. "And everyone else spread out and search the nearby buildings. Find where they've been stashing their stuff and be quick about it. We want to be out of here before anything that heard that comes snooping."

Meanwhile Daves' licked his lips as he tightened his grip on the knife until his knuckles were white and his hand shook. He glanced up at Rick and then back to Ralph.

He's going to die anyways, and if I don't, Rick will kill me too...

The boy's thoughts struggled to justify his actions as he sank the knife into the side of Ralph's throat and jerked it out with a spurt of blood. A moment later he dropped the knife and stumbled away, retching.
 
as written by Script and Lisanna

Vex grinned, lifting up the mask enough to show his face. His features were boyishly pretty - a little narrow, but finely formed - but what stood out the most were his eyes. As fox-like as the mask he wore over them, they were coloured a dark but vibrant red and were very clearly unnatural, much like Alena's own.

"It's complicated," he started to answer. "It's not to hide my identi-"

He was cut off before he could finish, as the gunshot rang out. His smiled faded into a frown and he let his mask drop back into place. "Is there another way back you can go? Sounds like trouble ahead."

____

She was no longer listening to the cute boy watching her, her eye's fixed in the general direction of her home and before she knew it she'd stepped into a frantic sprint, her breath coming short and deliberate, fueling her to move faster, as fast as she could. But like any abnormal person, she ran towards the gun shot instead of away, looping around the building, over the bridge and towards the back of her house.

Her mind was racing quicker than her legs, tears streaking down her cheeks as she thought of the worst, It wasn't them, it was somewhere else... They'll be there, preparing the fire. She tried to persuade herself to believe, though she couldn't smell smoke, couldn't hear the hamming of nails in wood boards, couldn't hear anything, not yet, now just meters from her house, and potentially her doom.

____

"Ehhh..? Don't run towards the danger!" Vex groaned to himself as Alena ran off. He sighed, running a hand through his hair and resigning himself to what was to come. "Girl's lucky I owe her for the lizards," he muttered. Loosening his sword in its sheathe, he darted after her. His form shimmered as he ran, and once more, slipped from visibility.

Thus hidden, it was a simple matter to overtake Alena - with only an unusual brush of air to mark his passing - following the sound of the gunshot and the screaming. He took a perch on the edge of a half-demolished wall, looking out at the looters and their victims to try and get a feel for their numbers and how heavily they were armed.

There were two lookouts immediately visible, one on either side of a large military-style truck, armed with what looked like military grade assault rifles. Neither of the two looked military, though - going by the lack of uniforms, at least. As he watched, another two emerged from one of the buildings with bags full of looted supplies. One of them was carrying a shotgun, the other a pistol. All four had radios. There was another truck parked opposite the first. Both of them had been fitted with what looked like makeshift spears around their beds, presumably to discourage attempted boardings.

If there were two trucks, that meant there would be plenty more of them inside. It was way too dangerous to even consider confronting them. They were all armed - probably from some sort of military cache - and spirits only knew what kind of less visible dangers they posed in the way of magic or metahuman abilities.

Besides, the small cluster of bodies at the side of the road suggested that the damage had already been done.

Vex sighed, and was about to hop down from the wall to intercept Alena before she arrived, when he heard frantic footsteps approaching from the direction of the bridge.

Oh, fuck. Too slow.

____

The sound of her footsteps slowed and then disappeared almost all together, she walked the last few meters to her house as her chest rose and fell heavily, leaning over and resting her hands on her thighs as she caught her breath she listened to the crashing and smashing of the houses in front of her. Looters, she immediately assumed, though she could be wrong, but it was unlikely.

Keeping to the shadows of her wall next to her, letting the over grown vines and shrubbery hide her body from immediate view, she watched through the back door of her house a small window at the top showed what was going on inside, she couldn't see straight through but to one side, near the counter top of her kitchen, the cupboards all opened, food, water, essential supplies all being shoved into bags, boxes, whatever they could fit in. Alena placed down her own bags in the bushes out of sight for now.

She was about to move out of her cover as two men with bags walked across the alley way between the two houses, once gone she slowly made her way down that alleyway, crouching down low as she peered out into the street, her heart skipping several beats as she saw the pile of bloodied bodies on the ground, one man vomiting in a garden.

"I... I'm alone... What do I do?-"

____

"Preferably not commit suicide by gang," Vex said, slipping out of the shadows at Alena's side, having silently descended from his perch. He crouched next to her, his mask pulled up to the top of his head to show his face. His expression was grim with sympathy. "It's not what you wanna hear right now, but you can't stay here. They'll spot you eventually, and you really don't want that."

His eyes stayed locked on the street, wary of any of the men that so much as glanced in their direction. "I know you don't know me, lady, but I don't wanna see you die here. We should get some distance, then you can worry about what next."

____

She held her breath when she heard his voice, it was closer than she thought, but hushed, still she felt her heart faltering again, and at this rate suspected a heart attack was lurking around the corner, though she decided to deal with that later. "No, I don't want death by gang... But I don't want to leave them piled up like that either-" She was quite compassionate, and even though there were dead, well, she hoped they were, she wanted them to experience a real burial. "But..." The more she thought about the task the less appealing it seemed, "Perhaps getting myself killed in the process is not an exceptionally good idea."

She battled with her feelings, her eyes closed for a moment. "I just need a favor." Her eyes now on Vex, her lips twitching when she saw his expression, it was deathly serious, but he couldn't help but look boyish whilst doing it, some could say it was an advantage as well as a disadvantage.

She gestured to her house, "There's a photo, of my family... I need it."

____

Vex sighed, setting his jaw with frustration in a manner that could easily have been mistaken for a pout. Sentimentality. It would get him killed, one day. And this time it wasn't even his sentimentality that was the problem.

"Where is it?" he asked, rubbing at his forehead. "Which room? If I can get it safely, I will. But I'm not dying for a photo. A stranger's photo. You're seriously lucky I owe you for the lizard thing. And that I used to do this for a living. Sort of."

When he'd snuck into houses to steal things before, the occupants had generally either not been there, or had been asleep. Not heavily armed and actively looking for interlopers. At least he had the mask.

____

She hesitated "If you do not wish to help me further you don't have to... Telling me about the zombies was more than enough repayment.." She frowned and began to get up, the photos were in the living room, right next to the window. "They're right near the window, so you might be seen. I don't want you risking your life.. for a stranger.."

She walked back to the bushes and picked up her bag, looking back at Vex and the houses.

____

Vex waved a dismissive hand. "Nah, I'll just feel bad later. Wait here. I'll see what I can do. Just be ready to run if it comes to it. Not many people can see through my shrouding, but it's happened before."

With that he lowered the mask, and before her eyes, vanished in a ripple of shadow. "I'll be back before you know it," his disembodied voice reassured her. No footsteps announced his departure, but after a few seconds of silence, it was clear he was gone.

Vex stepped out into the street beneath the mask's shroud, hesitating just a moment to make sure that neither of the lookouts had any abilities that would let them spot him despite it. When they didn't react, he breathed a soft sigh of relief, and headed for the door to the house. He slipped silently past another pair of men emerging from it - one carrying a composite bow, and the other a rifle - and into the hallway.

There was a woman in the living room with a modern crossbow on her back, but she was to preoccupied with rifling through the house's 'man drawer' in search of batteries and other useful bits and bobs to pay attention to the photo by the window vanishing from sight. Vex slipped the picture, frame and all, into his satchel. Easy, he thought to himself. I bet I could probably take all of these losers out if I was so inclined.

Okay, he probably couldn't do that, but it was nice to think about. They deserved it, certainly, going by the corpses out front.

With the photo acquired, he slunk once again towards the door. Or he was about to, when he spotted something glimmering at the belt of the woman in the room. His eyes were inexorably drawn towards it, lighting up with glee. Strapped to her thigh was an ornate-looking dagger, its golden pommel inlaid with a shimmering ruby. He could almost smell the magic on it from here.

I need this.

Drawing close to the woman, he drew on the mask's power and laid a haze over her senses, leaving them dulled. She stopped what she was doing, swaying on the spot as her mind faded into a daze. With precision born from years of pickpocketing practice, Vex unstrapped the scabbard from her thigh and stuffed it into his bag. Whoever said that good deeds didn't go rewarded?

"Thank you, karma," he murmured under his breath as he hastily made his exit. He'd almost reached the alley again when he heard a voice coming from the door.

"Hey, what happened to my dagger? Has anyone seen it?"

Suppressing his giggling, Vex ducked into the alley and let his shroud drop again, the photo held extended in his hand towards Alena.

"Tadah!" he quietly proclaimed, grinning. "Now, let's get outta here."

____

Alena watched in amazement as Vex disappeared with the shadows, and couldn't stop her mind from becoming confused when she heard his voice but could't place where it was coming from, with a nod she lent against the wall and hid behind the leaves, there were no footsteps, but she dared not call out to him.

After a few minutes of silence she saw two looters walk from the building, practically holding her breath she'd hoped she hadn't sent him to his death, but she heard no commotion, no guns or cries so she made the decision he'd gotten in alright and out-

"Tadah!" Vex exclaimed, his hand held out to her with the photo, complete in its case.

A smirk grew on her lips taking it from him gently and placing it in the bag, "Thank you, I knew you'd get in and out without a problem." She straightened up and began walking from the houses, though she wasn't sure where she'd go, they had to get away from the area before they were spotted.
 
as written by Tiko

High over the city there was a deafening crack from the massive portal that still spanned across the sky overhead, blotting out the sun and leaving the city cast in perpetual shadow. Should any look up, arcs of energy danced along its surface, crackling and popping with all the intensity of a lightning storm before they died back down and the giant gaping tear seemed to stabilize and fall silent once more.

____


The strange fluctuation in the portal's stability drew uneasy glances from the armed men outside who shifted nervously.

"Come on, hurry it up!" Rick hollered to the rest.

As Alena and Vex put some distance between them and the looters, the voices faded to nothing and they were replaced only by the sound of their own footsteps upon the pavement.
 
as written by Script and Lisanna

Vex stared up at the rippling portal uneasily as they walked, his hands stuffed in his pockets. "That doesn't sound good," he murmured. "I've been wondering when something fucked up would come outta there."

He strained his eyes in an attempt to see if anything had fallen from the swirling light, but spotted nothing, so eventually he shrugged. "I guess it was nothing?"

It probably wasn't nothing. But hopefully it was at least something that wasn't going to adversely affect them.

Vex let a lull of silence pass for a while before he spoke again. "So. What will you do now?"

____

She cringed when she heard the loud cracking from the sky, her line of focus drawn to the tear, like thunder the sound made her body rumble and the lightning made her hairs stand on her skin. Though Vex didn't seem to show any worry, she was terrified. His attempt to change the subject grabbing her attention.

"I'm not sure what I'm going to do, do you intend on staying with me?... We could work together. Unless you'd rather split up. I'm sure I can make it on my own!" She smiled positively, she put a small skip in her step as she walked along side of him, having taken a small liking to the boy. "I forgive you, by the way."

____

Vex rolled his shoulders in a shrug. "I'll stick with you for a while, at least. Company that isn't trying to kill you is scarce out here. You probably wanna find one of the settlements, though. There's folks set up in East Azure Heights, Little Shintenchi..." He pointedly opted not to mention New Caprica. He had a feeling Alena's unusual eyes wouldn't go down well there.

"I know the East Heights lot are kind of overbearing. Their leaders are former WCPD, NPA types, and authority's kinda gone to their heads. But it's safe there, at least. The Little Shintenchi folk aren't letting anyone in lately, but you might be able to sweet-talk them around I guess."

He rubbed at the back of his head, shrugging. "And uh, thanks, I guess. I usually go for 'harmless but funny' when I play tricks like that. I don't generally care if I piss people off, but getting someone hurt's different."

____

"East Azure Heights... You're sure it's safe? I haven't heard anyone speak of anything happening over there, and if they don't kill on sight and I don't get let in-" she shrugs "-Oh well, how about you? Why aren't you there now? I mean, you're about the same size as I am. We could probably both pass as children you know, perhaps they'd have a sweet spot for someone as cute as you are" She giggled and stuck her tongue out, attempting to tease him.

It was weirdly peaceful around, she was pained due to the deaths of her neighbors and she didn't know whether it was showing, at times she felt herself frowning, or becoming silent all of the sudden, yet picked herself back up again. "Either way, it's not so bad out here."

____

"Heyy!" Vex scowled, flushing slightly red. "I'm not a kid, just 'cause I'm a little on the short side." Yeah, sure. A little. He'd keep telling himself that. "Anyway," he went on, clearing his throat to regain his composure. "I'm not there right now 'cause I don't get along well with authority. Particularly not their brand of it. I'm more of an 'anarchy rules' kinda guy, so I get along pretty well out here."

He shrugged, shaking his head. "But nah, they aren't 'shoot on sight'. I reckon they'd let you in, just don't count on it being a paradise. But I have to say, no offense, unless you're hiding some tricks up your sleeve then I don't think you'll last long on your own out here. Looters, fire zombies and lizards are a long way from the worst stuff you could run into."

____

"I understand the risks of living out here, and I've had my fair share of fights, I've only lost a few, which is why I live here now. And whether or not our world has fallen apart it's better than living there." She made a face at the thought of home, holding this place at a higher standard than her home town.

"Will you come with me than? Just to the gates, you don't have to come in if you're really set on staying out here. Perhaps I'd see you around." She had a strong feeling she'd get in, whether by luck or with a little help. She walked and tried to keep up the conversation with him, but didn't mind when they went silent. Following the paths which were quietest and had more places to hide if they needed it.
 
Vex tilted his head. "Sure," he answered after a moment's thought. Company really was scarce out here, so escorting this girl would likely be more interesting than any roaming he could do on his own. And he'd feel bad if she got herself hurt. "We can cut through the edge of the park. Or, the forest that was the park, at least. As long as we don't go too deep, or tread on any squirrels, the things in it shouldn't bother us."

With that decision made, he guided Alena off down the next turn. The colossal canopy still loomed overhead, but now they were making a line towards the city center, and the forest therein. The giant trees were landmarks in and of themselves, each so thick as to block entire roads or punch through multiple buildings, stretching up beyond the tallest skyscrapers of the city. Within them, the forest had spread out from Azure Park for a few blocks, bursting through the concrete and filling shopping centres, hospitals and blocks of flats with abundant foliage and wildlife. Very few people had ventured closer to the heart of the forest, where the park itself had been. Fewer still had returned.

"So where's 'there'?" Vex asked after a short while. "And what makes it so bad it's worse than this post-apocalyptic dump?"
 
She looked ahead of herself rather than at Vex, the skip in her step as they walked slowed for a moment before she caught up to him again, looked up at the trees as they drew closer, she hadn't really ventured any further than the cheap shop, she had little need, so her fear for the park was really null and void. She nodded to herself after another moment of silence, chewing on her lip as she decided to tell him, her parents weren't there so what did it matter and her secret didn't matter now, so what was the point in keeping it?

"I lived in a village, in the Northlands it was nice... When I was young and clueless. But the town was quite corrupt, people weren't getting the pay they deserved due to our towns money going missing, food was growing short for some "unknown" reason, or so they say. And the people ignored it, until there was an incident which lead to everyone fleeing, and now it's a ghost town." She kept it short, there was so much more she could've said about her old home, but she didn't let herself go off on a tangent. Shrugging it off as if it was no big deal.
 
"Ghost town doesn't sound so bad compared to this," Vex answered with a snort. "For most, at least." He himself was in his element in the chaos that was Westeria right now - he'd go so far as to say he found it fun - but he wasn't most people. He imagined that for someone that was as seemingly defenseless as Alena was, the danger was a lot more of a pressing concern. "But how come you all ran away instead of, y'know, starting a riot? Torches and pitchforks do wonders for scrubbing out corruption, right?"

He hopped up onto a particularly large root as they were walking, absently making his way along it like a balance-beam. The forest waited with its ominous shadows in the near distance. "I guess it wasn't that simple, but that's what I'd've done."
 
"I suppose its the memories which cause me to think of the town with such spite." She shrugged, watching the ground in case she tripped over hidden roots. She shook her head when he mentioned a riot, "A riot may have caused a change for the village, but at what cost? How many people would be injured or killed in the process of taking back a town without resources? Running was an easier and safer option" She glanced at him as she spoke, watching for his reaction.

Alena watched Vex with concern as he pranced atop of the large root, "Are you sure that's safe?..." She quietly interrupted him as the world around them grew darker, they were getting closer and further into the forest which meant they lost the light under leaves.
 
Vex shrugged. "Safe as anything else here," he pointed out. "If it's gonna come to life and whack us, think it'll do it whether I'm hopping on it or not."

It was a bizarre experience, walking into the outskirts of the forest. The sudden surge of foliage and life had swallowed entire blocks of the city, and so they remained flanked by the remnants of an urban centre even as they made their way between the trees. Vex guided them off of the main road and into what had once been a bustling central shopping mall, now overgrown with massive tree trunks and undergrowth that had swallowed entire stores whole.

"Y'know there's probably still some good loot in here," he remarked. "Most people are too spooked by the forest to poke their nose in, I'd bet."
 
After a small shudder from the thought of a tree coming to life and squashing them underneath it's trunk, she stopped and looked at the mall, crushed easily by the ever growing trees, smirking and looking at Vex "Well, want to go exploring or what? I'm sure we can poke around for a few minutes, maybe we'll find something fun." She laughed and began to stray from his side.

As she walked around she noticed various items of a toy store which had been partially swallowed by the trees and growth, the wheel of a bike which still spun once you pulled the vines from it, the side of a toy truck in the side of a trunk, she laughed at the strange sight, soon coming back to Vex, "Come on already."
 
T-RIV made sure to stay clear of the large hole in the oak flooring as he made his way towards the back of the jewelry shop in the mall. He occasionally stopped, smashed open a glass case, and would sweep up a watch or necklace that caught his attention. Then he would scan it, realize it had no properties of interest, and would chuck it into the chasm in the center of the room. He felt bitter disappointment like a sharp needle in his personality processor, and again cursed his decision to stay after the evacuation. He had planned to loot technological gadgets and magical items off of the bodies and abandoned homes of the multi-cultured people of Westeria City, but so far had found nothing. He had even had to waste a charge in his Forco-Ring to defend himself from sniper at one point. Despite the shitty name, the artifact picked up on planet Niquarst had saved his life on multiple occasions. It's forcefields never let him down. Now it only had three charges left, all because of this goddamned city. Now at the back of "Robertson's Jewelry" he crouched behind the counter. The cash register was of no interest to him. The safe tucked carefully inside on of the drawers, however, was. He grabbed it with his metal claw and pulled it up to his rusting face. "Very... interesting..." he droned in his robotic tone. Once his creator had tried to humanize him by giving him a human voice, but he had found it unsettling and switched T-RIV's voice back to normal. T-RIV sent a quick but powerful bolt of electricity up his arm from his core processor. The door of the safe was blasted off its hinges, and hit the wall with a loud clang, that echoed across the mall. T-RIV would have smiled at what lay inside the safe, if his face could twist in that fashion.
 
Vex grinned beneath his mask, following after Alena. They could probably afford to kill some time rummaging around here, sure. He was halfway through slipping past a particularly dense wall of thorns to get at an electronics store when there was a loud clang from elsewhere in the mall. He started, almost impaling himself on a thorn in the process, and retreated back to the main floor to find Alena.

"Sounds like trouble," he remarked once he reached her, sweeping his eyes across in the direction that the sound had come from. "Worth checking it out, though. I'm gonna take a look."

The slender boy slipped down the hall, footsteps making not a sound even as he vaulted over stray branches or beds of thorny foliage, and closed on the front of the shop in question. He paused just outside, pressed against the wall, and peered around to get a look through the broken glass windows. Beneath the mask, his eyebrows rose. A looting robot? That's new.

For the moment, he stayed hidden, intent on observing the metal man until he got a better idea of whether it was a threat.
 
Alena looked towards Vex when he returned to her side, nodding and looking in the direction the noise had echoed "Yes, I heard it... Hey- Wait up Vex!" She followed after him playing a game of copy cat as she followed his movements, seeing how easily he got through and over the over grown plants, and thinking it would be the best option rather than trying her own way.

As Vex peered around the wall so did she, crouched down her back was against the wall and one hand was place on the ground, supporting her so when she lent to peek out she wouldn't lose balance and give both of them away, when she saw the slightly rusted metal human she tilted her head. Her eyes wandered around the shop for a brief moment, catching sight of the glimmers of jewelry which had fallen on the ground after the smashing of their storage cases.

"What is that thing Vex?..." She whispered, her voice so quiet even he would struggle to interpret what she said.
 
T-RIV closed the box shut, then turned his head around the gaze out the window of the shop. Had he heard something...? Slowly and cautiously, with his finger ready to push the button on his Forco-Ring, he made his way towards the front door of the jewelry store.
 
"Some sorta robot, looks li- oh it heard us," Vex cut himself off as T-RIV turned to face the door, gesturing for Alena to stay hidden. As he did, an illusory image of himself stepped out of his body and into the open, into view of the cyborg, and lifted a hand in greeting. "Hey, robot-guy, I'm not looking for a fight if you aren't. I come in peace and all that."

The real Vex stayed around the corner: ready to bolt with Alena if the robot turned out to be the "exterminate all fleshbags" kind.
 
Alena backed away when Vex alerted her that the robot had heard them, even though they were incredibly quiet, nodding and shrinking down lower she stayed behind Vex, and watched him, becoming as quiet as she could which wasn't really that hard, she'd had plenty of time to practice. Hey eye's widened when there were suddenly two Vex's and she held back from making a groan of mock disappointment.

She waited, stiff and a little excited to see what would happen next, if the robot was friendly they would be able to come out, if not they'd be running for their lives.
 
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