Young Writers Society

Bo's attention was temporarily diverted as he began to recognize the scenery. It wasn't that it was particularly different. Bo had just been through this enough times that he knew the trees. He put a hand on Krazter's shoulder, halting their walk for a moment.

"Okay, so, thing is. With the guild and stuff. Our base is underground, and our ways of getting there are a bit... unconventional. So just so you're prepared, we're gonna walk forward, and in probably something like 30 seconds to a minute, Mickey will know we're here, and will just uhhh... use his earth-bending magics to ZOOP! Plop us through the earth down into the ground. But like, into a room. It might feel more alarming than it sounds, but just want you to be ready!" he said with a smile.

He blinked and nodded slowly. He'd been teleported before but this didn't quite sound like "spoofing," as most put it.

"Right then," he said, acknowledging the warning and shaking off the last of the morose demeanor that had come with his momentary flash of memory. Azrael wasn't the best of subjects, not after...He pushed that away before he completed the thought.

Bo smiled and nodded, and continued to lead the way. Just as he'd said, it didn't take long for Mickey to sense their presence.

It was a familiar feeling to Bo. The ground gave way beneath them suddenly, and the two began to fall through the earth. But it was a peculiar type of falling - a falling that was controlled, and not chaotic.

It was quick. Only a few seconds passed of moving through the earth before they were plopped into a hallway of stone, as if untouched by the earth around them. Only a few flecks of dirt followed them through, and the ceiling closed up above them as their feet gently landed on the ground. The hallway was lit with flickering torches lining the wall, illuminating the white marble that made up the hall. Despite the fire, it did feel a few degrees cooler.

Bo turned to Kratzer with a smile, looking to him for his reaction.

He let out a short yelp of surprise as they phased through the ground and he stumbled when they landed, unprepared for the sudden jolt of hitting stone despite Bo's warning. He pushed himself up to his feet and surveyed his surroundings. Kratzer wasn't particularly perturbed - he'd seen far more bizarre things in his time - but he didn't like that feeling of going through the earth and he was admittedly a little off-put by the unfamiliar environment.

"You okay there, bud?" he asked.

Somehow, even after spending the last hour with him, Bo's kindness and consideration for his well-being still took Kratzer off-guard. Since Genette, there really hadn't been anyone to give a damn aside from Sly, but even his motivation for making sure Kratzer was alive was selfish. The Guild wanted decent assassins because it made the Guild look good and names like der Silberfuchs kept business rolling in.

"Uh, ja," he said with a slight smile. "Danke."

Bo returned the smile and gave him a pat on the shoulder. "No problem, man."

He looked down the hallway, and a head poked out from one of the doorways. It was an older man. His age was hard to pinpoint, but he looked like he was probably in his late 40's. He had dark, tan skin an smile lines around his eyes. He wore two greying black braids that rested on his shoulders and appeared to have a mellow, peaceful countenance. He stepped out into the hallway and approached with a friendly grin, nodding to acknowledge their presence.

"I see you brought a new friend again, Bo?" the older man asked. "My name's Mickey. What might your name be, friend?"

Kratzer dipped his head in greeting. "Hallo, Herr Mickey. Most call me Kratzer. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

Mickey smiled. "And I, you." He looked up to Bo, being considerably shorter than the two men in front of him. "See anything else in the area?"

Bo shook his head. "Nope! Just this fine gentleman. He happens to be another guy from another world."

Mickey looked over to Kratzer with a warmth in his expression. He didn't look surprised. "Ah. It seems our world is prone to harbor lost souls on occasion. I welcome you here, dearest Kratzer. I hope you feel at home, as much as you can in a foreign place. I'll leave Bo to show you around, but I'd love to chat more with you at mealtime and catch up. It seems you're not the average human, and neither are we. Though what makes us different is not the same, at the very least we have that in common, right?" he laughed a little. "Well, I've got to get going, but as I said, you're in good hands with Bo around," he said as he gave Bo a pat on the arm and started walking down the hall, before walking... into a wall. The stone opened up for him, as if on command, and he disappeared.

Kratzer's awkwardness came back without warning in generous amounts as Mickey spoke. He was so unused to one nice person, much less two, and it'd been so long since he'd dealt with anyone who gave a damn that he wasn't quite sure how to handle it. He raised a hand in farewell to the mage - or magic-user, anyways - as he left and turned back to Bo, ready to follow his lead.

Bo nodded his head for them to walk forward, leading the way. "So! Food'll be ready in about an hour, but until then I can show you around! What kind of stuff are you interested in? We've got the stables, if you like hangin' with animals and critters. And we've got a library if books and reading are more your style. We've also got a training arena if you like sparring and stuff. Then there's the clinic and the gardens, and that's where Mel and Raj run a lot of the medicinal doctory stuff that tends to go over my head. But it's always cool to see them make medicines and stuff! Oh! And I could also show you where you'll be staying! We have a few spare rooms, if you want one of your own. But, you're also welcome to stay with me if you'd want -" he laughed. "No pressure of course, I just know some people don't like being alone in a strange new place!"

"Uh," he shakes his head, trying to focus. "No need to take up a spare room if you don't mind me lodging with you," he finally says with a slightly forced smile. His mind is racing a million miles an hour - he doesn't know how to handle this, and that scares him.

Bo's smile grew slightly and he nodded. "That works for me!" There was a small pause as they continued to walk, and Bo decided to leave some room for Kratzer to think.

"So... do you have any preference on what you'd like to see first?"

"Training yard seems as good a place as any, ja?" he says. That's something he knows how to handle: combat. He's not half bad with horses, either, since Aurick taught him, but he's unsure of how they'll react to his vampirism in this unfamiliar land.

"Yeah! Sounds good. Then that's this way," he said as he pointed, taking Kratzer to the left through another hallway. "What kind of weapons are you familiar with? Guns, I assume, but anything like... swords or bow and arrows?"