NIGHT

'As soon as possible' was a time frame that NIGHT wasn't in particular agreement with. She had the co-ordinates of the entrance to underbelly of the city ahead of her. Alongside Crow's contact. If her companion was missing, she didn't think he'd make a huge ruckus of his disappearance. (What sense of irony would befall her in times to come.) To: @Hirru NIGHT: i'll just msg him NIGHT: why not just meet up here w/ crow NIGHT: gonna move on for a quick scout b4 coming back NIGHT: > [Floor 25 - Lower Ladonia] (##,##,##) NIGHT: lyk if anyth happens To: @Crozeph

Friends? NIGHT's ears nearly pricked up at the mention of them. Had it not been for her meditation at the falls, she wouldn't have had the remembrance of her own isolation seep into the forefront of her thoughts. Her movements slowed, just as Seraphina began speaking; it bode well to pay attention to someone when they were talking, after all. But part of it was from that fresh taste of melancholy. And in addition... what was the best wish for them, for Sera? That she hoped they'd made it in, just to remain refugees of the iron castle? Or that they hadn't, to better leave her companio

That 'pretty' statement was supposed to make a point. It'd slipped out of both conversationalists' grasp, however, the moment Hidden had affirmed her considerations to NIGHT. Throat gulp, a duck of her head — there might have been a nigh unmissable flush if they had been outside of dreams. Here, she maintained her complexion, NIGHT forgetting how warm everything seemed when she was complimented by another woman. "Even though you look uninterested in everything around you, when you fight you get this look of confidence. As if everything is under your control. You always seem to know

"They're not following us, are they?" "No, no. I would 'ave known if t'ey were." Silent footsteps and heavy attention. Either NIGHT's gaze was genuinely imperceptible within her disclosed state of being, or the two boys hadn't felt the stern stare she'd fell upon them, her soles almost gliding across uneven stone. They were brisk-walking, the younger's eyes over the back of his shoulder as his older brother slung an arm over his shoulders, hurrying him along. "But if even foreigners are asking questions now, someone needs to be told about t'is." So they rounded another corner. "

A wild guess indeed. NIGHT hadn't expected to come off looking like a stealth-based player, but she knew when to be put to work, especially by someone she thought to be more senior than herself. That, and staying quiet was something she'd preferred to do at the end of the day. The player tucked the pouch of col away, silent. If there was a wry expression on her face, it would've been disdain at her approach not having worked from the get go. But the attempt had already been made. Back straightened and gloves dusted off, NIGHT nodded to Hirru's instructions once. "No promises, but I'll mak

Experienced? The thought of this other player being unlikely so had briefly crossed her mind. It didn't fully register to the woman the other implications of being referred to as 'experienced' until Sera had seated herself fully, when the woman was already in the midst of trying to rejudge the stranger's character while also gathering her composure. "U-Uh," NIGHT found herself stuttering, tucking a lock behind her ear out of habit. "Thanks— I guess. I mean, I'm not really much of a teacher myself, but..." It dawned on the woman to have made more sense vocalizing her assessment of Sera, by

A nice summer home. Had NIGHT been lucid, perhaps it would've filled her with an equal amount of fear as did pleasure to have known that sensation: the thought of warm sunlight, the catch of sweet spring water, the frost of the breeze that swept through the fields that laid around it. A cozy summer home; tiny dancing flowers on their long, thin stalks, stone steps that she could feel her sneakers, her bare feet even graze upon. Granite. Rough, unpolished, wild. That dream died just as the two of them came away from wistful thinking about such an idea. Wisteria trees wouldn't match, N

thread summary [total] + 8,865 XP + 200col

A culling? She'd watched the faint sparkles drift across the sky. Brighter stars obscuring the less visible, against the murky jet-set sky. Many more questions arose from her observation in that silence midst the underdark, and many more were filtered out just as she watched the man halt, pack up and leave. "That will have to suffice." Exactly what will, again? Fifteen minutes was exactly all she'd needed for her target to absolve back into the darkness, headed straight for a different location entirely, one that NIGHT wasn't even bothered to rise and follow him into. No, s

The lack of worry proved to be one hell of a distracting thought, despite it feeling to NIGHT that it should've been light on her mind. Was the atmosphere about them too subtle or sweet? That nagging feeling seemed to waver in the air, only for a split second, just long enough for the player to reflect on the thought. "If you say so," she responded. Though no tension remained still, it bothered her to let go of all pretense. The woman clung onto it, like a thread tied to her pinky; faint, still tethered. It felt like she was listening, just as Hidden was responding to her words, and then

NIGHT wasn't hoping to have left Crow's side so soon, not when he was just about to speak about their friend's unrest, but this matter seemed more pressing from the outset. To begin speaking with a random kid off the streets felt like such a catapult in the dark. The player wasn't too certain if she could've found herself on board with the plan... except for the fact that her party members had already decided to move on with the decision to ambush two of them. Just kidding. Though the confrontation did startle her just as much as the boys they'd halted. Hirru was the first to speak

One last arrangement, she'd hoped. And then, NIGHT might finally be on her way. For a moment, she could've sworn she'd met the broker's eyes; they weren't subtle about it, and while the player was desperately trying to be, neither did she seem to manage her discretion, bounding from light back into the darkness once the woman's gaze had passed over her. Finally let go of a witness' hold. She circled around tailing the guild master, more attention to her chatlogs than she originally had intended to give it. Because while following and trailing did seem to be an admittedly fun agenda, as NI

Surprised she was, finding herself tracing around his footsteps, finding herself whisked away down a path uncertain and unfamiliar, different from her expected venue. On one hand, she'd messaged her secondary in light of a potential outing, leaving the finer points of her missive both vague and unsent so far, finger hovering over that arrow button. On the other, she hadn't expected to have left her duple on read for this long. An exchange of intel. And the player wasn't supposed to be anywhere nearby. NIGHT left the shadows behind just when she noticed her impossibility of remaining

The book abandoned? That tiny little detail was but the most interesting tidbit NIGHT must've figured she'd gotten all day. After all of that effort, and the novel wasn't even delectably taken back with him in tow; either he must've appreciated the thought of sharing his stories with another interested party, even if they were one of Cardinal's pawns, or the book itself was nary something to retain in his hold. She read too much into the first reasoning, watching the waitress wish Raidou a farewell. Pleasantries were exchanged, likely on the basis of routine interaction, though if there w

"That's a bit of a keen insight I don't have on the floor," NIGHT replied, hearing what Macradon had to say about Ladonia. She'd winced; his guesses had stunned her for the first two seconds of her recognition of his words, and though she'd hummed for the few afterwards, trying to retrieve memories she did not have about the floor, her conclusion simply would not bear fruit. "But so you figure. You and Crow both, it seems." After all, the player couldn't bear to ignore one of her closest and trusted allies not only looking different but seeming on edge himself. The player let the silver-

Only one thought registered with her when NIGHT watched the other woman spiral around: —An airhead? The player could only tilt her head forward; just as Sera herself had been lost in both mind and body, so too was NIGHT on their individual dispositions. Multiple years in the Town of Beginnings, and someone could still find themselves lost in it? Had Cardinal not been shifting about the pieces of the realm as of recent, the latter would scarcely believe it. "You're in the north of the city," she replied, resting the black barb upon her shoulder by slant of its edge. Her other han

It was her readiness for the meetup that surprised her; NIGHT had entirely expected to show up knowing the least about the floor as it were, at least amongst her party of recruiters. And yet, with one of the more experienced members of their gathering starting off down an unmarked road, and their 'leader' asking aloud if anyone had any leads, the woman could only look around sheepishly in a pause, hand running through the back of her scalp. Were they, and no offense to the world around her, rather unprepared for such an expedition? NIGHT cleared her throat if only to draw attention t

A sudden ping would catch her attention somewhere at the end of their conversation, NIGHT turning around her interface to check on the reply. Right next to the teleporter? Hell — that was exactly where they were standing. The group wouldn't be too difficult to find. The player closed the window with a quick swipe of her hand, extending her other to lead her companion around the main square before she started walking. "They said they'd be around. One of them's got green hair, and the other person's in a blue haori. Katana." It would've taken the woman some extra effort to have linked

you guys didnt rly have to do this but okay <3