The Underground City

He screamed.

It was more of a mix between a startled cry and a terrified yelp, but calling it a scream was also an accurate description. Aleks just barely kept a grip on their sword. He would have likely complained about the reaction - he hated when their actions were the complete opposite of what he would have done - but he was in just as much shock as his counterpart was.

She-she talked! he shouted into their mind, trying his hardest to remain calm yet ultimately failing. Aleks, she talked! Players aren't supposed to do that!

You think I don't now!?

He took a shaky deep breath. Let's run through this. She's either a chosen or a slime who took the humanizing potion. There's nothing unusual about that-

Then explain how we don't know her, genius!

He was silent. Aleks had a good point.

Spoiler

I hope I'm not disrupting anyone's flow lol. It's been ages since I've roleplayed- let's do this thing!
Character Name: Casey Oslow
Height: 5'10"
Appearance: Has hair that changes color according to his mood- usually keeps it hidden.
He was an escapee of a complicated genetic testing facility. Brown eyes, a smattering of freckles, and (what else) numerous random scars on his body. Is wearing a ripped t-shirt,
raggedy jeans, a worn canvas jacket, boots, and, of course, a pageboy-style cap. His only posessions are currently the clothes on his back

Casey huddled at the entrance of a yawning, damp cave. He heard a distant drip of water behind him that was starting to drive him a little crazy. His coat was drawn up just under his ears, and he stared straight ahead in the comfort of its warmth. There was no use exploring just yet until he figured out where he was and how he got there- getting lost now wouldn't help anything. On the other hand, the drip seemed to be getting more pressing and annoying, if that was possible. Plus, Casey could have sworn that he kept hearing voices drifting in and out of the clearing across the bridge. Making up his mind, he stood and readjusted his cap, shadowing the strands of hair framing his face that were a mild orange-ish red for caution. He started to make his way over to what he decided were definitely voices.

Jay slowed to a stop as it looked like a fight was about to break out. "Who-oa there, maybe ain't no need t' be violent 'r nothin'...?"

He opened their mouth to scream again, but Aleks quickly shut it. Whether it was because he was annoyed that the action would make him seem weak - something that had come up less frequently in recent times but was still evident every so often - or because they had other, more pressing matters than his scream, he wasn't sure. But he complied with what Aleks did and silently looked at the people around them.

Is this Earth?

What?

You heard me. Is this Earth? He set their gaze in the direction of the woman and the girl. They're talking. They shouldn't be. Maybe, just for once, we're the odd ones out here.

He shook their head out of habit. He made them take a deep breath as well, since Ether knew they needed it. Earth's different than this. We don't have underground cities, and we don't have fox-people. And the outfits those people are wearing over there are bizarre by Earth standards.

So another world, then?

We don't even know of-actually, that would explain a lot. He thought for another moment. So this world can have people-people, and then it can have, at the very least, fox-people. I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that we're still not normal here either. So we keep up the Lexal act, right?

Yes.

As Aleks pushed away the katana that was being pointed at their throat, Lex began to wrap up the sword in the bandages it had been in earlier. They put it on their back in the position it had been in before. "I'm sorry," Lex apologized. "I overreacted. I thought-I thought something else was going on here."

"Something that's normal in the place I come from," Aleks added.

Lex adopted a sheepish look on their face, glancing between the fox-woman and the two people that had approached the bridge. There was a third one in the distance, but they were too far away to have noticed the commotion earlier. "It's easy for me to forget that things don't work the same way here that they do back home."

Casey crossed the bridge, shifting his attention from the people ahead in the distance to the scenery. It looked like he was... underground? And there were hulking structures in the distance that looked like a hodge-pudge of architecture.

He twisted his cap's brim between his fingers several times as he got closer to the group that was starting to gather.

"Um, hello?" He called, wincing at how loud his voice was when it reverberated.

Spoiler

He's a boy of about 15 years old, wearing some sunglasses and a bright yellow hoodie. He's got a katana attached to his hip, he's wearing jeans and a pair of black sneakers

"Yeah, Yeah, I said this is my path don't mess with me
I didn't choose this life it was destiny
God tested me to find the best of me
And I know I'm going to make it even without a degree
Cause the test scores don't mean s*** to me
And when you said that I would fail it didn't get to me," said a boy who waltzed through their whole group as if nothing suspicious had been going on. He had earphones in his ears, and his sunglasses obscured any noticeable facial features. He passed by Lexal, pointing at him as he continued the song, rapping to a rhythm nobody but he himself could hear. He slid past the fox and spun around the boy in ragged clothing with a cap.
"Totally didn't steal from any of you, I swear," he said, before walking away.

Casey narrowed his eyes at the strange bright yellow boy, trying to figure him out. He seemed to be chanting some sort of incantation.

"I don't have anything to be stolen." He shrugged and hesitantly approached the rest of the people, eyes going to the one with the silver hair- he seemed to be the one with the most confidence about him.

"Excuse me, do you know where we are?"

Enide nodded and sheathed her katana. "Understandable," she said. "Customs may vary wildly depending on the place" - she gestured to the boy who had just walked past, singing strange music - "My own reaction derives from a culture that...I cannot deny is violent, but less overt. It seemed to me like you were threatening innocent strangers, when it seems that was not how you saw it." She also couldn't rule out that they were temperamental or a little unhinged, as much as they shifted from coordinated to lumbering, but she wasn't going to say that. It would be impolite.

She waved to the others. "There will be no violence, I am afraid," she said, looking down at the girl with the odd device. "So sorry to have disappointed you."

"Aw, so we arent fighting? Truly a shame," Alyis said, putting her pocket watch away. "You, Boy McChanto. Touch anything of mine and I pump you full of holes. I've done it before to more pickpockets then I got fingers." She relaxes and strolled back towards the group. "This guy has a good question, one I ain't got an answer for. Anyone know where this is?"

Casey examined the faces of those around him. He assumed that no one knew. his hair shuddered into a light purple under his cap as he tried not to panic.

"How far down is this?" he mumbled to himself, staring up at the distant ceiling, which he judged to be packed earth.

Enide watched the kid wearing the cap. Hadn't his hair been a different color a moment ago? She'd have to keep an eye on him.

"If this place resembles the city of Wyandanch," she said, "Not far. Yet, since it appears to be unlike anything I have seen before, I cannot rightly say. You should not be afraid of the ceiling collapsing - if it has not done so already, our presence will not change that fact."

Casey nodded and sized up the girl. Something over her shoulder caught his eye. He walked over to the edge of the bridge and knelled down, sticking his hand into the surprisingly clear water.

"Its moving." he said quietly, "but where could it be coming from?"

He stood and wiped his hand on his pants before adjusting the cap again nervously.

Spoiler

Camille's a boy of 18. His skin is pale and covered with a bit of dirt. He has long curly blonde hair, which he keeps pulled back in a ponytail. He wears a red jacket, jeans, and a pair of hiking boots. He carries a messenger bag stuffed to the brim with papers and books, and that's covered with various pins. He speaks with a slight French accent and carries a saber on his hip.

Camille eyed the strangers silently from a distance. It had been a long time since he'd seen other living creatures, let alone people. When he'd woken up in this strange city, he'd believed himself to be dead and in some sort of hell. But perhaps that wasn't the case. Keeping one hand on his saber, he carefully walked towards them.

"Hey," He said, raising his other hand in a half-formed greeting. "Do any of you know where we are?"

"Nope," Jay replies. "A cave, really, but I don' think that's terribly specific 'r nothin'," she chuckles.

Casey stared off into the distance at the architectural jumble. His hair faded to a periwinkle blue.

"We might be able to find answers if we search some of the buildings," he suggested, loud enough to be heard, but not loud enough to assert dominance.

He was still weary of these strangers, and there wasn't one that he could trust not to injure him if he made a wrong move.