Somewhere Else, Part 2

Fate

(To Aaren) The songs of the place, the songs of the people around you, the song of this girl are all incomplete; and the incompleteness is constantly shifting to different spots of each song. The result is something eerily unharmonious—not discordant, but not quite all there. Subsequently, it's exceedingly difficult trying to ascertain things from each song.

Vaguely familiar snatches of song show up here and there. That... could be Truong—yes, aged by a decade. Soheila. And a collection of other people. A large collection of other people. Not all in one place, either.

And something. It moves. It's big. It's not an animal that you've ever encountered. It may not even be an animal.

(To Daina) There's very little warmth in this place, save the ambiance of all the people within it—including this young girl. And, from what you can smell, given that all the scents are muted as if a thick veil had been thrown over your nose, all the smells here are ancient, as if the entire world itself hasn't been touched in eons.

(To Slavina) The mantle of Between usually settles easily over you, a familiar cloak. This, though, sits all wrong, like something ill-made and ill-fitting. And there are omens to be found here, but it's unclear what they mean. It's like looking at them through glass spiderwebbed with deep cracks, each fragment showing something different.

Aaren

Aaren's voices stumble as holes appear in the songs around her. She takes a breath, listening for one long quiet moment, and then reasserts herself. In quiet tones, she sings her calm song and her listening song and her learning song, and reaches out with her voices to feel the strangeness around them. She's looking for Troung, for the guests, for anyone.
(7 on Per-Notice)

Daina

Daina frowns as she gets so .. little.. From this place. She takes a deep breath and ... it’s like.. If someone had wrapped a thick scarf around her face, that she can’t remove. Quite frustrating. A soft little.. Growling sound of annoyance as she instinctively rubs a hand over her nose. The lack of colors was almost as disturbing. She peers at the young woman and her eyes narrow a little as she takes a deeper breath, Everything is so muted.. Save this girl. That had to mean something. She slowly creeps forward, towards the girl.

Slavina

Slavina's skin ripples, as if she'd just been coated in something foul and slimy. She takes in the new surroundings, gives Janin's hand a reassuring squeeze, and waits for Stu to say something to the girl.

Fate

Kelly's eyes go wide. They flick around, quick, frantic. As this happens, Janin's hand tightens over Slavina's in response to the dread that fills him.

Stu simply straightens, recovering quickly from his surprise. "Well hello there, miss." Then he examines her carefully, easing a little after a moment. "I'm Stu, Lady Baker's champion." He starts to offer a hand, stops as he notices that the girl's corresponding hand is occupied, and then switches the hand he offers.

The girl brightens. "I'm Vievka." Without any hints of awkwardness (despite her using her left hand) she shakes his hand. "You're really Lady Baker's champion?" She says this with a slight sense of eager awe.

"Yes, ma'am." Their hands part. He looks over her shoulder. "Have you come across anyone else here?"

Her expression gives way to incredulity. "Yes! There are a lot just down the hall."

"Mind showing us the way?" Stu asks.

"Sure!" She hesitates, curiosity overcoming her expression. The girl regards the group as a whole, eyes sliding from person to person. "But, um, were any of you the ones who made that sound?"

Aaren

Aaren sings quietly, to Stu "There are a bunch of people scattered around, as well as the ones down the hall. Would you like me to try and call them here? There's something... else too. I can't hear the shape of it, only that it is large."
Aaren focuses her song on the strange thing that's moving around out there.
(10 on singing-notice to determine if the thing has a biological body such as Aaren is familiar with.)

Fate

(To Aaren) This thing... has a pulse? But doesn't have a heart? Or is it the other way around? There's a rhythm, to be sure... or maybe it's just a feature of this thing's song, given how irregular it is.

Daina

Daina frowns a little and once more rubs her hand over her nose as if trying to clear it. She supposes she knows a bit more what it’s like to have a.. What was it... stuffy head? Ug it sucks. She grumbles softly as she still edges closer and once again takes a good sniff and wuffle of the air. Trying to build on what little knowledge she has of this place. Daina hmms softly and without looking to Aaren or Slavina says. “I wonder what the in between of this place looks like..” reaching into her bag and producing a joint... holding it up. “I mean.. It has to be interesting right?” she mumbles softly as she picks up a random item off the nearest flat surface and sniffs at it.

Slavina

Slavina places her free hand on Daina's, over the joint, pushing it down a little. "Ah, Danska, this place is Between." She turns a smile on the girl - Vievka. "A sound? No, that wasn't us. What did it sound like?" And then, almost as an afterthought, "My name is Zdeslava, but you can call me Slavina. Have you been here long?"

Fate

Stu looks briefly to Aaren. "Voices don't carry here like they do back there. And even if they did, they're likelier to get lost than to find us if they start looking. My plan was to go to them, and show them the way out." He opens his mouth to ask a question of Vievka, but Slavina beats him to it, so he simply waits. When Daina breaks out the joint he eyes it with slight unease but doesn't say anything.

Vievka crinkles her brow. "Well..." After a moment, she says, "It's not really a sound I can make. It was like... some kind of call." Her manner fades, growing a little inward, but is readily drawn back out when Slavina prods her a little more. "A long time or a short time." That phrase holds a lot of wry for a girl—and at the end of it she hangs onto the silence, not quite through with what she was saying. She turns to the hall, her manner open to indicate them to follow. Sure enough, Stu starts off this procession.

Once everyone gets moving, Vievka continues. "Me and my brother came here... at some point?" She thinks. "What season is it?"

Aaren

Aaren nods her assent to Stu's decision about the voices.
"Spring." Aaren sings, "333." She walks in line, behind Stu, still singing quietly to herself. She listens now to the ways that the songs move off, and through, the strange walls. She sings her learning song, and Kelly's learning song, and starts feeling out the edges of the group.
(5 on Singing-Notice to learn about the way that voices carry differently here.)

Fate

(To Aaren) The rules are definitely different here. In fact, it's difficult to tell if there even are rules. Sorry, penalty is not mitigated.

Daina

Daina puts the joint away and frowns some. “Man.. not the vacation spot in Between is it..” she mutters as she walks to the altar to the Swan Maiden and sprinkles a few bits of red glitter on the place for offerings. She listens to the others as they talk. Having gotten resigned to the lack of sensory input for the moment ... though if she’d had her wolf ears they would have piqued noticeably at the sound of “A long time or a short time” Her human ears do sort of twitch even. Her breath drawn in a slight gasp and then a resigned sigh leaves her. She pauses a moment and introduces herself to the girl. “I’m Daina by the way, it’s nice to meet you, can I call you Vivi?” smiling in a gentle playful way as she tries not to get twitchy.

Slavina

Slavina nods in acceptance of Stu's directions and follows along, still holding Janin's hand. "It's broken. I'm not sure why," she explains to Daina. "Vievka, please forgive my being so foreward, but have you come here on purpose? This doesn't seem like a very pleasant place to stay, no matter how long or short a time..."

4 on an insight roll on Vievka, 7 on a mystery roll

Fate

(To Slavina)

Vievka: There is indeed something significant about the spindle but it's difficult to put your finger on exacly what. It's a fine piece of craftsmanship, intricate but strong, and definitely not of either Chlovak or Bakersfield make. And there appears to be no material left to form the thread, so there are no hints there. Aside from that, this girl is dressed like a foreigner, but it's unclear from where.

Mystery: Whatever this place is, it's like a warped—and possibly also shattered—reflection of Truong's inn. It's unclear whether it was always here... wherever "here" is... or if some spirit made it for some reason.

Fate

As they get moving, Kelly follows. His movements are a little clumsy.

"Okay, so a short time, then," says Vievka, in response to Aaren.

"Aaren." Kelly's song is pianissimo, a bare whisper. "Can you sing my sight back?"

The altar to the Swan Maiden that Daina gives offerings to is only just recognizable. It's at an odd angle, and part of it is either stuck to the wall or a part of the wall. It's hard to say which. And it shouldn't be in this part of the house at all. There wouldn't have been room for it.

At Daina's introduction, Vievka's manner turns a little inward again. But it's not long before she repeats, brightly, "Vivi!" She flicks a look over her shoulder. "Sure. It's kinda cute." Then, at Slavina's question, Vievka answers smoothly, "We have. Gramma told us this is where we ought to start looking for Auntie Jo."

(Apparently Vievka has no trouble holding multiple conversations at once.)

"Your gramma told you to come here," Stu says, disbelieving.

"Mhmm!" Apparently the girl doesn't see anything amiss about that.

Aaren

Aaren frowns, her song rippling with shock. Then she turns all her attention to Kelly's song. Her voices ripple up and down, swirling around him like a small maelstorm. Aaren sings along, with her learning on, trying to hear how the new place has changed her brother.

(16 Singing-notice)

Fate

(To Aaren) Nothing happened to Kelly's sight. It's perfectly intact. He's simply experiencing the same thing you are with hearing songs, except visually.

Daina

Daina smiles a little at Vivi’s reaction and then her head tilts towards Kelly and Aaren as they all move forward. She pauses a moment and tries to summon warmth... or maybe fire. Her hand lifted up in front of her below eye level as she rubs her fingertips against her thumb. should I roll something?

Fate

No need. Summoning a small flame is well within Daina's capabilities.

Slavina

"Ah! Well, I guess that makes sense. This place seems to be the place to go for missing people." She flicks a glance at Stu, then looks back at where they're going. "Does this grandma of yours have a name?"

Daina

Daina sighs in releif when the flame alights her fingertips and she quietly snuffs it before continuing on. Nothing to add to the conversation or ask.. at the moment.

Fate

While Kelly's waiting on Aaren, Janin says, "Here," and takes Kelly's elbow with his free hand, to guide him along. Kelly's movements start out clumsier, then gradually become more sure. In response, Kelly sings the gratitude song, brief and quiet.

As they walk, Vievka smoothly begins gathering up the thread, spooling it back onto her spindle. She sends a completely deadpan look (save the slight mischief in her eyes) Slavina's way. "No. She used it as a bookmark one day and then lost it among the bookshelves."

At this, Janin lets out a small breath of a chuckle.

"Clever idea." Stu slides his comment underneath the existing conversations. "The thread. You're using it to find your way, right?"

Vievka's smile grows more, and takes a turn for the slightly pained. "Well... yeah. That's what it's there for. Finding my way isn't exactly a talent of mine."

Aaren

Aaren sings her grumbling song. "It's a result of being here." She informs Kelly. "The same thing is happening to my hearing. It's like... fog. Only I can't hear it, so I'm not sure how to make it go away."
Aaren refocuses her attention on the learning songs, and on the song of the strange being moving around.
The music of her voices cascades off the walls— except where it goes silent instead. As if they stand in cave with a hundred exits to the outside world.

Daina

The idea of thread to find the way... it ticked Daina's brain a little a memory she can't quite claim. Something from Home before she arrived home. Her tongue pokes out a moment as she tries to remember.. “Mini Tar...” she shakes her head after and sighs as she resolves to get Auntie Ange to tell her all the stories again when she returns Home. A happy sort of flush flairs on her cheeks as she half remembers the comradery and stories. Now wasn’t the time though for thoughts of Home. She instead tries to extend her perception to the people they’re going to meet.. Do any of them have strange warmth or bigger than usual warmth.. Anything of note really? Her brows furrow slightly and she takes a deep breath again this time to help her focus a bit as she tries to make up for her sensory cut off with her only non dulled sense. The twists and turns of In Between though.. It doesn’t seem to tell her anything new. A soft grumble as she continues on with the group, frustrated by this place and how much she doesn’t know about it. .. Also a bit irked about her mother’s alter being .. wrong.

Fate

The group proceeds onwards, behind Vievka, hanging in tense silence. She hums along to one of Aaren's voices, managing to be mostly on key—there are just some things that are out of her range, though.

And then, after passing through several doors (one you had to crawl through, one a sliding door that ought to have led to a closet), the way opens up.

It's the main room of Truong's inn. Except there are some tables and chairs on the ceilings and walls. The large altar to the Swan Maiden is missing too.

But notably not missing is quite the group of people, which is a wonderful change. A boy holds onto Vievka's thread, the other end of which continues on past him in another direction. Momentarily pressing the boy to his side with one great paw is Truong, (with, Aaren and Dain will note, considerably more gray hair and wrinkles and considerably less weight), who is working with the boy to facilitate a game of Red-Light Green-Light which features an overwhelming amount of children. (The resemblance of the man and boy is perhaps more than coincidental.) Soheila is there too, her clearly trained voice leading others in a bawdy song.

Truong looks up at the new arrivals, and utter relief overcomes his expression. He pats the boy and then makes his way over.

Aaren

Aaren turns one of her voices to sing broad reaching delight. She runs to Truong and gives him a hug.

Daina

Daina startles a little and smiles as she recognises several faces thanks to one face. Grinning she listens to the bawdy song and lends own voice for a moment or two, even as her eyes scan the room and her other senses try to take in the 'view'. She scratches behind one of her ears and hops up onto one table to reach up and try to tug down one of the chairs afixed to the ceiling, wondering how strongly adheared it might be. If possible she'd swing from the furniture for a moment just .. because. "Truong it's good to see you! All of youse" she sings out with a faint teasing tune. Grinning broadly and hopefully her.. relaxed posture and tone will help keep everyone chill.

Slavina

On the way, Slavina keeps up a pleasant chat with Vievka. When they see the crowd she lets out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding.

Slavina starts to move foreward, hesitates, looks back at Janin as if asking for permission, and then promptly throws that idea away as she drops his hand and runs into the crowd. "Kadir! Hao! Sha-" She doesn't finish the last name before she's reached the kids. Slavina slides to a stop on her knees, wraps her arms around all three children, and swoops them up into a spin. She slips into Liudzi language as she buries her face in Hao's stomach. "Ah, you're okay, you're okay.... thank all the gods that ever were and all their ancestors too!"

Fate

Stu stares at the group. It's big. Bigger than ever.

Their arrival, heralded as it is by Aaren's singing, draws quite a bit of attention. Soheila looks to them, sharp. Her singing wavers to a halt.

Truong draws up short, startled, but quickly gets over himself long enough to wrap Aaren in an embrace in return. "Damn, girl. You got tall." He looks her over briefly, then looks past her. "Vievka, you brought us Stu?" He lets out a laugh, which carries with it a sharp edge of lingering fear. Then looks back to Aaren, says, "Wow. Look at you. And Daina, too—can I get a hug? Who's this fellow with you? Is that Kelly? It's so good to see you all."

A great deal more attention is drawn at Daina's happy exclamation. As Daina tugs at the chair, it comes away just as easily as if she were lifting it off the ground—that is to say, there is the expected weight, as if it were right-side up, but when released it returns to its place on the ceiling—or toppled, depending on how high she lifted it. It makes a loud clatter, too.

Meanwhile, the game of Red-Light Green-Light breaks down as Kadir lets it linger on a Green Light to rush over to Slavina, the thread following. Hao giggles and kicks as Slavina all but raspberries her belly.

"Me next! Me next!" cries Sharif.

"Truong, is that Lady Baker's champion!?" asks one of the crowd.

Vievka opens her mouth, stops herself, then looks to Stu. He says, "Ev—" But his throat catches and his voice ends up squeaking out. He clears it with no small amount of bashfulness. "Everyone, we're gonna get you out safe, okay? I need you to stay where you are so I can make the necessary arrangements to take you back to Bakersfield." It's clear he's practiced this speech.

A clamor begins to arise and they begin to crowd around him.

"Champion, what the fuck is going on!?" cries another crowd member.

Stu spreads his hands. "I'll be happy to answer your questions once we're all out safe, but in the meantime the fewer questions you ask me the quicker you'll get back home, okay?"

There's another clamor, this time accompanied by equal amounts of hushes and shushes. Stu offers his "excuse mes."

"Truong. Soheila." He jerks his head to indicate to them that they should follow him to a corner of the room. "And... ah... my... um... helpers too."

Aaren

Aaren obidently follows, although she does automatically calm the crowd.
"Kelly, this is Troung." Aaren sings, smiling. (It's a little unceccesary, but oh well.)

Daina

Daina blinks at the.. Gravity of the situation. snirk and then smiles and hops down to go give hugs where wanted of course! “Wish we had found you in a better place!” Daina smiles though and looks at the others. “No worries we’ll have you back home in a .. in two shakes of a goats tail!” she perks up “you guys want to start that song up again I want to learn it!” trying to give them something else to focus on while they figure out how to get everyone home. She moves to the others and her smile lessens a little but not vanishing by any means.

Slavina

Slavina bursts out in (only slightly hysterical) laughter along with the kids. "Ah! Sharif next? But where did he go?" She lets him slide over her shoulder to hang upside down over her back so she 'can't see' him. They tousel a bit while Stu calms down the crowd. Then - panting from all the spinning and tumbling and throwing of children - she follows Stu into the corner with Sharif over one shoulder, Kadir sitting on the other, and Hao hanging off her front.

Fate

Without further ado, Kelly pats Janin's hand to gently indicate that he should let go, and then unabashedly gives Truong a big hug which is heartily returned.

But pleasantries aren't the highest priority.

With two people singing and a handful of giggling children, the meeting begins. As Kadir passes, on one of Slavina's shoulders, Vievka reaches up to him. He passes her the thread and she offers him a cheerful, "Thanks!" before proceeding towards the meeting.

"Alright. Here's what I need: a headcount —"

"Thirty-five here with us now," offers Soheila. "But we have forty-two on staff currently and one-hundred fifty-three guests. Not counting present company."

There's a brief, stunned pause. But then Stu's shoulders drop. "Okay. Now —" He pauses and looks at Vievka, who's standing there as if she belongs. "You really shou —" He cuts himself off, thinking. "How much thread or rope or whatever y'all got?" Stu asks of the entire group.

"Oh, I can always just make more," offers Vievka. She demonstrates, spinning a handspan's length of thread from seemingly nothing.

Stu blinks for several moments, staring, then whirls back to the group. "Okay. So. We can do this in teams. One team to bring the folks here out the way we came." He looks to Aaren. "You mentioned something about there being people scattered around. Do you think you'd be able to locate them?"

Aaren

Aaren nods. "Yup! Unless the walls start moving." Aaren explains that right now she can hear more then half of the people who are unnacounted for. She narrows her eyes. "Also, you know about the big weird think walking around, right?"

Fate

Stu's brows lift. "I do now."

Truong's eyes widen. "Is it... is it dangerous? Dietrich's still —"

Soheila puts a hand on Truong's. He takes it.

Stu considers this development. "Is it near anyone?"

Daina

The thread trick immediately piqued her interest. She scootched over and sort of tried to mimic the gesture, willing it to make a thread. Hey it -might- work! Probably not though. She smiles to Vivi. “That is really cool” she compliments before being more business minded. She glances to Aaren as she confirms being able to find so many people. Feeling a little.. Useless as her own talents had not enabled her to do such a thing. -Still- there was no doubt some way for her to help she was sure. Her brow furrows a little as she looks around them and worries at her lower lip. She tries this time to find the .. ‘thing’ that Aaren was on about. Was it ‘Warm’ did it lack ‘Warmth’? She purses her lips and tries very hard to get a sense of it.

Search and ummm animal? since it's people warmth? or maybe magic as it's a magical place?

Fate

I was thinking more Per + Notice or Per + Search. Animal + Search would be more Daina making her senses resemble an animal's for the purpose of searching; and Magic + Search would be specifically attempting to manipulate Between to find people.

Daina

ah ok

perc search is stronger but perc notice is probably more correct for looking for something different or unexpected?

Fate

Correct! :)

Daina

ug 3 so I guess nada right?

Fate

(To Daina) You can find it. Easily. It's got... weird glimmers of warmth, here and there, that fade in and out like dying embers. It's a strange, trippy interplay of warmth and not-warmth.

Slavina

Slavina sets Kadir down with a whuff, and urges Hao and Sharif to let go too. "Stu, there's something I'd like to try, if you don't mind. It'll only take a few minutes. It's a ritual to find patterns in the spirit-energy of a place. It might help us find where the other missing people are. Or other useful information."

Fate

Vievka perks a little at Daina's compliment, smiling, and says, "Thanks." She pauses a bit, then adds, "I like your dancing."

Stu does a bit of a double-take. "I... was actually just about to ask." He clears his throat. "Great. Yes." Then he looks over to the others who have yet to speak. "Any of you got any special finding people powers or something?"

Kelly shakes his head; Janin's uneasy silence answers for him.

Vievka rubs the side of her neck. "I'm sorry. Nikukas is good at finding people, though!"

Stu nods. "I need you to stay here anyway." Then he pauses. "Nikukas?"

"My brother," Vievka says.

"He's helping Dietrich find Emi, and the people who were with her," explains Truong.

"Okay. When he gets back, tell him to stay put." Stu rubs a hand over his mouth, briefly considering. "And you?" he asks of Daina.

Daina

Daina’s brow smooths a moment as she ‘finds’ the thing and then she looks confused and a bit troubled. She says almost like an aside. “It’s like... a log that’s had the fire faded... embers sparking here and there but then going out.. Only for another warm spot to glow and fade.. Most.. unusual but then again we are in between so perhaps not so much for here.. perhaps.. the thing ate the warmth here and that's why everything is... so ... not itself?" she suggests before answering Stu. "I can try and find their warmth.. but I got a bit confused last time. I'm more than willing to try again.. or maybe work with Aaren?" a moments pause as thinks. "maybe add some warmth to your searching song to help it get through any obsticals?" she suggests though uncertainly.