Extending a claw towards the cut, Zech closed his eyes. He could imagine the stream of light that poured out from the tip of his claw, seeping into the cut and the blood vessels around it. Tissue and skin stitched back together under the light, and the cut quickly disappeared.
The light faded away. Opening his eyes, Zech saw the lack of a cut and nodded his head. "Let me know if you need anything else," he said, standing up and turning back to Lasan in time to see the lizard start to pull himself up.
The tiger pressed a paw against Lasan's chest. "Take it easy," Zech said. "You don't want to stand up too quickly and pass out."
Lasan nodded, sagging back onto the table.
S'io credesse che mia risposta fosse a persona che mai tornasse al mondo, questa fiamma staria senza piu scosse. Ma per ciò che giammai di questo fondo non tornò vivo alcun, s'i' odo il vero, senza tema d'infamia ti rispondo.
Kirux's lip quivered as he watched the exchanges. They didn't get it! He wasn't just a little sleepy - he was a lot sleepy. He had just been about to go to bed, so he hadn't gotten a good night's rest. He couldn't bring them home until he slept, but he couldn't sleep in a situation like this! And Queenie was going to get really mad when he couldn't...
Wearing their respective white and blue robes, Mal and Thytes walked back into the room. Mal made a beeline for Lasan, who raised his head just in time for the lion to throw his paws around his neck. Which was Zech's cue to make his way over to Thytes.
"He should be back to normal in a minute," Zech said. "It would've been a lot worse if he'd been in there any longer, so we were a bit lucky that there was someone else here."
Thytes nodded. "I hope we can continue to be so fortunate," he said, reaching down to pick up Zech's loincloth and toss it at him. The tiger caught it, then also made his way across the room to the door to the left of the counter.
Grabbing a few of his bows, the lion rose back up and started threading them into his mane when he caught sight of Kirux. "Is something wrong?" he said, walking over to Kirux. "You look a little distressed."
S'io credesse che mia risposta fosse a persona che mai tornasse al mondo, questa fiamma staria senza piu scosse. Ma per ciò che giammai di questo fondo non tornò vivo alcun, s'i' odo il vero, senza tema d'infamia ti rispondo.
Well, if Kirux freezing up wasn't enough, him shaking his head all but confirmed that there was something on his mind.
"Are you sure you would not like to talk about it?" Thytes said. "I do not believe there is anything or anyone here to be especially afraid of, nor do I believe anyone would be angry at you if you were to have trouble making these portals. A small chance of escaping this world is better than none at all."
S'io credesse che mia risposta fosse a persona che mai tornasse al mondo, questa fiamma staria senza piu scosse. Ma per ciò che giammai di questo fondo non tornò vivo alcun, s'i' odo il vero, senza tema d'infamia ti rispondo.
Briar cast a wary glance at Queenie, "You may be incorrect in your assumptions," she said.
Queenie glared back, "I'm going to carve your tongue out," she said casually.
Briar shook her head, "No, you aren't."
"How would you know?"
Briar didn't respond. Instead, she addressed Kirux, "Are you worried about her getting violent?" she asked, her quiet monotone almost passing for gentle.
Queenie glared at her sister even harder after that, looking like she was seriously considering pulling out that gun she had stowed away just a minute before.
His lips quivered again. Ducking his head down, Kirux tried - and failed - to fight back against the tears beginning to form in his eyes. "Not violent," he signed with shaking hands. He was usually good about using more words, but he was really, really scared, and he didn't want to tug. He just wanted to hug Klein. "Angry at me."
Spoiler
This is definitely going to come up in Big Apple at some point (maybe even in the near future) but Kirux is a nobody oc from Kingdom Hearts. He's supposed to be Riku's nobody, and he's technically only a year old - which is why he acts so much like a sweet little kid. @TheSilverFox already knows, even though the characters here wouldn't know that, but Queenie would definitely know how old Kirux really is.
Briar and Queenie exchanged looks, Queenie's facial expression shifting slightly from bored to unreadable as the two had a silent exchange.
Suddenly, Queenie turned around, "I'm going outside to see if we can figure out what brought us here, anyone care to join me?" Briar opened her mouth to say something, but Queenie gestured for her to stay quiet, "No thanks sis," she responded to Briar's unsaid offer, "I'm sure dad would prefer if his favorite little disciple didn't go running into potentially dangerous situations when it was unnecessary."
Briar blinked, unable to form a response.
She turned back to Kirux and signed, "No one is going to get angry. She has more patience than she shows."
If it wasn't for Zech stepping back into the room, Thytes would've had a hard time making out what Kirux was singing. Ugh - when he got back to Fayne, Thytes was going to have to pay either Mal or Zech a visit and brush up on his sign language.
"Who's angry at you?" Zech said, before picking up on the conversation between Briar and Queenie and mouthing an "oh."
Thytes waited for that conversation to wrap up, a tad happy to have the room to think of something reassuring to say to Kirux. "Queenie is just frustrated," he said at last. "As we all are, to land in yet another world and be yanked around by the powers at play. If she does become angry, it will not be your fault. Besides, there are multiple people here, like Briar and Lasan, who can settle any disputes peacefully." Noticing how Kirux had started to shake and cry, Thytes gave a gentle smile. "And would you like a hug?"
In the meantime, Zech walked over to Queenie. "I can go outside with you," he said, stretching his arms out. "I could use some fresh air."
S'io credesse che mia risposta fosse a persona che mai tornasse al mondo, questa fiamma staria senza piu scosse. Ma per ciò che giammai di questo fondo non tornò vivo alcun, s'i' odo il vero, senza tema d'infamia ti rispondo.
Queenie nodded and motioned him after her toward the door, "Lovely." She shot one last look at Briar before stepping out the door.
Her sister watched her go.
Briar was surprised at being named as someone who could settle anything peacefully. The last time she'd been enlisted to help solve a dispute, heads rolled. She wasn't supposed to be the negotiator, she was meant for the role of executioner but, looking around at the group, it seemed the former was far more needed than the later.
She resigned herself to her role. She didn't think her father would find fault in that. None of these people needed to die. Yes, he would advise her to end them now and focus on her goal, but such actions seemed drastic, even for her family.
Zech didn't know what to expect on the other side of the door. He'd volunteered to go because he hadn't liked the idea of Queenie being alone, especially with her reputation; he'd figured he could talk to her, get her to relax a little. It was only when she opened the door that he realized he was heading into the outside world, and only when he crossed through the doorframe that a wave of fear washed over him.
A fear that wasn't entirely unjustified.
The tiger found himself on the street of a city. Well, he was reasonably sure it was a city. The buildings were far taller than anything he'd seen before, the ones in the distance disappearing into the clouds. In front of him, a foul-smelling road stretched in either direction, passing by countless other buildings with bright colors, brick and adobe walls, windows, and lights. Not exactly the strangest place he'd ever been in, but it was close.
And that wasn't even considering the fires.
He could spot the columns of black and gray smoke in the distance, adding to the red-tinged clouds. Even on the street in front of him, large metal wagons had been scattered like toys. Many of them had collided with each other; some had run into posts and lights. A few smoldered, while others honked.
"Do you recognize any of this?" Zech said, trying not to throw paws up over his ears. As much as he hated the mingled sounds of burning and blaring horns, it was better than the eerie silence that filled up the space between them.
Spoiler
Abode walls is plaster, and the large metal wagons are cars.
S'io credesse che mia risposta fosse a persona che mai tornasse al mondo, questa fiamma staria senza piu scosse. Ma per ciò che giammai di questo fondo non tornò vivo alcun, s'i' odo il vero, senza tema d'infamia ti rispondo.
"Yes and no," she said, her voice a perfect mirror to her false expression, "It looks like where I'm from, just...well, in ruins," she laughed, and easy, bubbly sound one would never guess was a filter for the panic that built up in her chest like a pressurized time bomb, "How much you wanna bet whatever happened here had something to do with our little unexpected field trip?"
The wreckage around her wasn't unfamiliar. No, it was actually quite like a bit of chaos she and Briar had caused a year or so before. A couple of bombs planted in the right places could get a neighborhood in a state of such panic, something like this wasn't unlikely to be the result.
But she doubted that was the case. She wasn't meant to be here. She'd been getting ready to head home, get patched up, changed and in bed when she was snatched from her home world and dropped here. She was just thankful that her dress was red. It would be difficult to explain the blood that stiffened the material in the most uncomfortable of ways.
She flashed Zech her signature devil-may-care smile, "Good news is, I probably won't have to pay for a change of clothes at the next shop we come across."
"Er, that's true," Zech said, showing his teeth in an awkward smile. Clothes didn't feel like the biggest concern in a place like this, but Zech had no idea how to bring it up. Queenie's strange amount of energy and warmth unnerved him - he had no idea if she was being genuine, or if it was out of anxiety.
S'io credesse che mia risposta fosse a persona che mai tornasse al mondo, questa fiamma staria senza piu scosse. Ma per ciò che giammai di questo fondo non tornò vivo alcun, s'i' odo il vero, senza tema d'infamia ti rispondo.
