Down into the Dark (Fable)

by **Yisanareysin** on September 6th, 2015, 5:59 pm

Oh, good. Looked like the man Rey was rescuing was not going to get them killed after all. Well, there was that problem dealt with. Now, time to sense what was underneath Hargris's cloak.

Inhaling deeply, Rey could smell Hargris's bizarrely potent scent, even from this distance. Holding that scent in his mind, Rey exhaled, feeling magic tingle through his body and flood his nose and mouth, before seeming to sink into his flesh, leaving him in a state of heightened sensation.

Darkness and decay. Not the curdled musk of rotting flesh, nor the caustic sting of rotten magic, but something smoother. Like the earth itself was decomposing. And behind it all, Rey thought he could feel a tickling in the back of his throat. As he focused more he felt the tickling shift into a buzz, beginning to flow up into his mouth. Alarmed, Rey withdrew his sense slightly, unwilling to burn himself out so soon.

There was another scent layered with that one, closer to what Rey could smell from Hargris, some sort of plant or flower or whatever, backed up by the familiar scent of blood. And underneath that.. the sea? Interesting. There was something vicious in his scent, something raw and bestial and dangerous. Rey shivered slightly, his scales tingling. Danger danger this one was a predator as well this one was angry this one was feral.

Once, back when Rey had been a youngling, his father had shown them a diseased Sky Dog in a cage, showing them what to avoid. The dog was behaving oddly, drooling and swaying, and when his father tapped the cage with his sword, it had gone wild, howling and snapping madly, throwing itself against the bars and trying to bite through the metal. Sensing Hargris now, he felt the same fascinated terror he had back then.

That was all he could glean from the cloaked figure, so Rey turned his sense onto the leather covered object. His sense was immediately overwhelmed with... well, everything. It was like sticking his snout into a bottle of perfume, or looking into the sun, and he dropped his sense immediately. Siku's scales, what was that? Mentally, Rey bumped "figure out what that thing is" higher up his priority list.

Still, that was probably all the information he was going to gather with his sense. He was definitely going to have to fight. Fantastic. Carefully keeping the woman between himself and Hargris, Rey began to shift back into his Dhani form, trying to keep the parts of his body that were morphing in the shadows.

As he transformed, he watched Hargris bring out and unwrap for the woman what appeared to be a child's skull. Sure. Fine. It really wasn't that much stranger than what Rey had already seen.

He could sense it, find out was it was.

Rey dismissed the thought. It was probably similar to the object it was being traded for, and all Rey would get for it would be a burned out sense. Oh but it was so tempting.

As the two hunched over the skull, Rey formulated his plan of attack. Get the woman first, she was between him and Hargris. A quick bite on the neck, with just a small dose of venom, and her throat would swell up, among other nasty things. Grab the object out of her hand, partly to distract them and mostly because Rey was curious about it. Did she have a weapon? He couldn't see from here, but when he was up close he'd be able to tell. Grab that if he could, and keep the human's choking body between him and Hargris. After that, he was going to have to rely on his shoddy combat training.

Alright, so the moment the woman straightened up, he would-

Or, when Wally decided to body slam Hargris. Wonderful. The tied up human versus the dangerous untied non human. That wasn't a terrible idea at all.

Alright, slight change of plans. Raising his body up, Rey closed the distance between himself and the woman, and struck, his fangs sinking into the join between her neck and shoulder, pumping in a medium dose of venom. Reaching out, he snatched the object from her grasp, as well as any weapon he could see on her.

"HARGRISSS!" He shouted, raising the object above his head. As he spoke, he coiled and tensed, prepared to strike or spit."You want this sshiny? Give me the human."

Snake Tongue | Common | Arumenic

by **Fable** on September 14th, 2015, 4:15 am

The leather slipped from the object as the cool metal found its way into Reysin's hands just ticks before his teeth sank into the soft flesh of the woman's neck. A surprised sputter escaped her lips, her body reflexively dropping to the floor with the introduction of the dhani's poison quickly severing the fragile link between consciousness and fitful oblivion. In the few ticks it took for her body to slump into a gasping heap, Reysin's inquisitive fingers wrapped around a leather bound pommel, drawing fourth a sizable dagger that had been strapped to the woman's waist. With knife and orb in hand, Reysin's challenge to the hooded Hargris, who had just begun to retaliate against Wally's effective distraction, drew what scattered attentions the creature could muster to a single point. He let out a snarl, deep clacking noises like a pair of pebbles tumbling down a dark, bottomless pit rolling in the undertones of his voice before he growled back with a hissing hatred in his tone. "Petch humans, give shiny to Hargris!"

His hand made a swipe at Reysin's ready form, his reach too short to be effective in any sense. With a frustrated howl, the cloak was cast off and a pair of leathery wings burst from beneath their bindings. The bright, near glowing eyes of the Zith flashed with vehement anger as his wings pulled him up into the air, teeth bared a hands twisted into claws. Wally, whether useful or not in the chimes previous, promptly fainted, falling limp beside the quiet, gurgling struggles of the woman who mirrored his prone figure. The skull that Hargris had held before had been discarded, rolling to rest against one of the ally's walls, though the limits of the sky seemed expansive enough that the Zith had little issue rising several meters into the air as he howled down at what had become his prey.

Moderation NotePlease feel free to write out the combat with Hargris. Assume he is competent in unarmed, acrobatics, and tactics.

by **Yisanareysin** on September 14th, 2015, 6:24 pm

Well, the good news was that Rey had managed to draw an angry Hargris's attention away from Wally. The bad news was that he'd drawn an angry Hargris's attention. The worst news was that Hargris apparently had wings.

Rey had only ever learned to fight opponents on the ground, not least because flying slaves were hard to capture. And even that he hadn't been particularly good at. So, everything was terrible. At least he didn't also have to fight the two humans. And he had a weapon. And he had something Hargris wanted. His ally was, apparently, unconscious, but even that was a sort of blessing. Alright so it was really just everything to do with Hargris that was terrible. That was good. Living was also good-was there a goddess or god of not dying if there was please let him not die here-

It was about this time that Rey realised he was panicking.

Calm down Rey calm down everything is going to be fi-OH SIKU HE'S ATTACKING

Rey ducked out of the way, nearly smacking his head on the ground as the Zith swooped down, claws outstretched. The creature was howling, as well as making this awful high pitched screeching noise almost out of his range of hearing. Almost.

Alright there was no time to panic right now. What to do what to do? How could he win this what did he have at his disposal? He had a knife, decently sized. That was good. He had a metal sphere, which Hargris wanted for some reason. What else?

...

Nothing was coming to mind. What did Hargris have? Wings, claws, teeth, a distractingly painful screech. That was lovely. Although Rey had teeth too. Alright, so he had his teeth, a knife, and a metal orb.

Those still didn't seem like good odds to him. No time to think about it now, Hargris was coming in again. His hood flaring, Rey jerked forwards, almost on instinct, aiming to sink his fangs into his opponent. The Zith was fast though, and veered out of the way with ease.

Correction, Rey also had his venom. That was good.

The Zith flew out of reach, hovering in the air. Stupid move, staying still. He was too far away now, but if he was just a bit closer, Rey would have a good shot at his face. Didn't this one know not to stay still while fighting... a spitter...

OH.

Of course he didn't. Hargris had only seen him strike, not spit. His kind were rare enough this far north, and spitters were fairly uncommon among Vipers. How would this one know Rey was one? This changed.. Well, not that much, but having the element of surprise most certainly could not hurt.

How to use it? That was obvious enough. He just needed the Zith to stay still while within spitting range. Simple, at least in theory. In practice, something of a problem. How to get the Zith closer? Hmmm. Perhaps... he could lure him in? His accurate spitting range was just under twice his striking range. If Rey could lull the Zith into a false sense of security, he might come closer.

Again, how? The question was answered for him when Hargris approached again, only to jerk back when Rey flared his hood. Maybe, if the Zith thought he had a good grasp on Rey's striking distance, he'd come closer? Bit of a flimsy plan, but it was worth a shot, he supposed. It wasn't like he could think of anything better.

Rey's desperate plotting was interrupted when Hargris swooped down, still howling. Rey struck, his teeth clamping down on air as the Zith rolled away in midair. Perfect. If they kept doing this a few times, hopefully he'd get closer and closer, until Rey could spit.

Unfortunately, Hargris apparently had no appreciation for Rey's tactical genius, because as soon as Rey began to withdraw, he went in for the kill, flinging himself at Rey's overextended midsection. Rey hissed in pain as claws punctured through his scales just under his ribs, and stabbed down at the Zith's head.

Apparently spotting the knife, Hargris pushed away from Rey, landing on the ground, before leaping back at him. Shoving the snake up against the wall, one clawed hand came up under Rey's chin, pushing his head up and back, while the other clawed at Rey's left arm, leaving bloody scrapes up and down his forearm.

On one hand, Rey had to admire the zith's foresight in keeping Rey from being able to strike. On the other hand, this really hurt. A lot. Unable to see properly, Rey swiped wildly with the knife, and felt it sink into flesh. Hargris let out a particularly loud shriek, loud enough to make Rey's ears ring, and jerked away.

Rey could see that he'd made a jagged gash in the Zith's leg, though Hargris looked more angry than anything else. Though slightly dazed, Rey had the presence of mind to realise how close they were.

Now.

Rearing up, Rey bared his fangs, and flexed the muscles on the roof of his mouth, spraying his venom in an arc at the Zith's eyes. Hargris jerked out of the way, but apparently not quite fast enough, judging by the ear piercing wail of pain. Quick to take advantage, Rey quickly slithered over. Pulling the Zith's hands down from his eyes, Rey coiled tightly around his body, trapping his arms to his side. Adjusting himself until his humanoid half was behind the Zith, Rey held his knife to the creature's throat. Rey had questions for him. But first, Rey had to see if he was in any state to be answering questions.

"Hargrisss, you hear me?" If the creature made any sort of affirmative noise, Rey would hold up the orb he'd somehow managed to hang on to throughout the whole battle, keeping it far enough away from Hargris that the Zith wouldn't be able to reach it even if his arms did slip out.
"What is thisss, and why you want thiss? If you jusst ssay is sshiney, I bite."

Snake Tongue | Common | Arumenic

by **Fable** on September 27th, 2015, 5:27 pm

Hargris stood still in Reysin's grip, his furred neck scraping against the dagger's edge with a rough, crackling his as his fur acted as shield to protect his flesh beneath. The sent of spice had largely been overpowered by that of rotted, fetid flesh, and while it was not disabling, the stench was pervasive. When he spoke, however, there was something different about his voice and mannerisms. The harshness had been replaced with concern, and the low clicking rumble traded for a more nasally tenor. The changes in nature were, however, only truly secondary to the words themselves:

"A-are you alright?"

Whatever his reply, the world around Reysin shifted only ticks after the illusion had broken. The dank walls rose up to meet him, the uneven cobbles sinking down below to inform him that he was not the captor but the captive, feet and hands bound, a dull pain just to the left of the center of his forehead - and a warm trickle to suggest there was more than a bruise -, and Wally's wide-eyed, dark haired face staring not but an inch away from Reysin's own, worry clear in his pale eyes eyes, just enough that Reysin might almost catch his own reflection in them.

The woman and the Zith - if that was what it truly had been - were nowhere in sight, and both the orb and the skull seemed to be missing from the scene. Wally was still bound in much the same fashion as his Dhani companion, and he stunk of urine and dirt, a fact that the slight pink tinge of his cheeks suggested he was wholly aware of. The alley was empty save for the two of them, the shadows that fell in the improper directions were familiar in their oddities, and the sanguine light of the red moon above them shone down as steadily as it had before. There was, however, a feeling of finality, one that was further illustrated by Wally's lack of fear that had been so crippling before. The man, seeing that Reysin had emerged from whatever strange revelry he had been cast into the moment he had leaped from the shadows, gave the Dhani and weak smile before there was a sickening pop as his shoulder slipped from its socket, allowing him to move his legs through the loop of his arms so that his hands were in front of him rather than behind.

With a grimace, and a tone that was far more capable than it had been before, the larger human jerked his arms again as he spoke, the shoulder shifting in a painful twitch before it was once more where it should have been. "I didn't think there'd be anyone else coming. I-" He winced as he gave his shoulders a tentative shrug. "I didn't mean for anyone to get hurt." There was a sense of childish honesty to the man's words, though what he meant exactly was unclear. "Are... are you alright?"

by **Yisanareysin** on September 27th, 2015, 9:23 pm

"A-are you alright?"

That... didn't sound right. Actually... nothing seemed right. The floor was.. and the walls.. and the face? There was a face in front of him. Who- was that Wally? Yeah, it was. Wait, what had just happened. He wasn't coiled around Hargris anymore. In fact, he didn't even have coils anymore. Shifting experimentally, Rey found his knees aching against the cool stone. So, he was in his human form. Also, he had no pants. Fantastic.

Looking around, still slightly dazed, Rey realised that there were only the two of them still left in the alley. What else? He was tied up, which was not fun. Wally was bound as well, which was really to be expected. There was a throbbing in his head, which he soon realised was either a cut or a lump or both. Was that it? It seemed like it.

What had happened? Had he been knocked out after he'd gotten wrapped up around Hargris? But the way the world had shifted.. it didn't feel like he'd been knocked unconscious. It felt more like waking from a dream. Or an illusion. Oh petch, was that it? Had it all been an illusion? Rey was too dazed to accurately tell if he still had the injuries he'd gotten in his maybe nonexistent fight with Hargris. When he was less dizzy, he'd take stock of his injuries, illusory or otherwise.

How, though, would it have been an illusion? Rey hadn't sensed anything like a gnosis on Hargris, though, admittedly, he hadn't been looking for one. What else could.. aw petch. At the time, not expending energy on sensing the human had seemed like a tactical decision. Now, though, he wondered if she might not have had a mark from Ionu? Or had it been even further back? Perhaps the illusion had started when Veryl approached him?

Wait, no. Wally still smelled like he'd pissed himself, and that had only happened after Rey had appeared on the other side of the alley. Unless he was misremembering? He wasn't sure anymore.

A sharp pop brought Rey back to reality, and reminded him that Wally was still here. And, apparently doing something with his arms that was really quite disgusting. Rey grimaced as the man spoke. He hadn't meant for anyone to get hurt? The human seemed to be taking quite a bit of responsibility here for someone who'd spent the whole time tied up. And... "Anyone elsse?" Rey asked, puzzled. Did he mean he hadn't thought Rey would be coming? Or had someone else come afterwards and knocked Rey out or illusioned him or whatever. Rey had no idea what was going on, and that bothered him even more than the fact that he was tied up and naked.
"Alright? Yess. No. Urgh. What- what happened? Everything. All. Exxplain. Ssstart from... ssstart. What wasss- ccircle? Metal circle? And Hargrisss? And how did thiss.. everything?"

Snake Tongue | Common | Arumenic

by **Fable** on November 16th, 2015, 3:52 am

As Reysin began his dazed interrogation, Wally rose to free him of the bonds that both knew the Dhani could remove in a single, easy shift had he the mind to. "That's... That's good to hear. I'm glad you're mostly unharmed." His fingers fumbled with the knots, and his breath came in frustrated huffs as he concentrated on both words and his attempts to undo the rope that bit into the other man's skin. "From the beginning?" Finally, the knot was undone and Wally stepped back some, giving Rayage a birth wide enough to implicate that he had dealt with a Dhani's keen sense of smell before, aware of his acrid stench. "Well- I-" He glanced towards the alley's end, a flicker on contemplation dancing across his features, but his intent to run was quickly passed over as his eyes returned to size up the quickly recovering man across from him. "Ok."

He slid back down to sit at an angle across from Reysin, eyes growing more weary as he ran a hand to press against the bruises on his neck with a wince. "I was supposed to meet Hargris for a trade, but... That woman showed up and..." He bit his lower lip and shook his head. "No... No I suppose I should just tell you. I'm not even sure if you're real or not, but..." He shrugged, the motion eliciting another wince as he was reminded of his little display of escapism only a chime before. "I was the contact. The woman, Minerva, I was supposed to deliver the orb to her to exchange with Hargris. Veryl..." He frowned, a slight blush to his cheeks, "Veryl said it was going to just be a quick and easy swap but..." He sighed, eyes drifting upward. "There wasn't something right about it, about any of it. My sister - she's a sweet thing, has nothing to do with this - she told me there was something wrong but I... I don't know. I felt important, like I was a part of something..." A weak smile graced his lips, "I suppose that bit was true."

Footsteps sounded in the distance, warped and garbled voices fading as Wally waited for them to pass before he continued, voice a bit lower than before. "I tried to stop them. Well-" His lips turned into a tired frown. "It was more of a questioning of their motives and... Then you showed up." Wally's eyes widened some, a fair light of awe in his eyes. "I swear, if you hadn't touched that orb, you might have actually stopped them." Before Reysin could ask any specific questions about the item in question, Wally shook his head again, "I don't know what it actually did, but the second you touched it, your eyes glazed over and they just tied you up and left. Though..." He titled his head in thought, tongue tapping at his lower teeth, "I'm not sure why they didn't just kill us."

by **Yisanareysin** on December 4th, 2015, 10:08 pm

The moment his arms were freed, Rey touched his head gingerly, feeling the injury. Carefully stretching, he took a moment to look himself over, testing to see where else he was hurt, if anywhere.

He listened quietly as Wally spoke, sorting this new information out in his mind. So Wally had been an accessory to this trade, until he had misstepped. Wally had had the orb, and had brought it to the woman, Minerva, to trade with Hargris. At Veryl's command? Odd.

When he heard that the hallucination had started when he touched the orb, Rey felt a sudden wave of relief. It took him a moment to realise why: that... teleportation had been real then, or as real as anything could be in Alvadas. He'd thought at the time that it was an illusion, but now that the immediate danger had passed, Rey was beginning to reconsider that conclusion. It had been nothing like any illusion that Rey had every seen before, after all, and while this was Alvadas.... Well. Rey could think on it more latter.

And Wally was right. Why hadn't they just killed him? And... "Human now. When did I sshift?"

Rey hissed, frustrated. He still had so many questions, and he was angry. He wanted to go after them, catch their scent and take his revenge. No, no, that was his ego talking. Gather information, figure out what the hai had been happening, and how he could find these petchers.

Standing, Rey walked around the alley, looking for the alleyway he had been coming from initially. If he found it, he would set off in that direction, looking for the pack he had left behind when the shadows had carried him away. Either ways, he spoke to wally as he walked.

"You bring ccircle... orb? to woman. Where did you get orb? Hargriss, Minerva, Veryl.... who are them. How did you find them, or they find you? What iss important, iss part of something? "

Under normal circumstances, Rey would have tried to employ a more nuanced from of interrogation than a barrage of questions. Under normal circumstances, Rey would not be beaten up and confused and furious.

Rey scowled, thinking back to what he'd overheard them saying. "You.. tried to hide? Iss what they was ssaying, yess? What were you quesstioning from them? Where... Tell where i can find them."

Snake Tongue | Common | Arumenic

by **Fable** on December 6th, 2015, 11:13 pm

Wally frowned at the question, brows crinkling as he thought. "I..." He shook his head, slightly wincing as he did so. "I'm not sure. It had to have been sometime after they took the orb and left." He sighed, clearly distraught at the whole situation. "You just... froze. I don't know why, but they just moved you around like a puppet... I-I can't remember because I..." He glanced down at his feet. "I sort of shut my eyes." At Reysin's frustrated hiss, Wally flinched back, shoulders rising in a reflexive, though ultimately impotent, reaction of self-defense.

As Reysin moved through the alley, Wally watched him for a few tics before deciding it was safer with the pale, naked young man than it was to be alone. So, shuffled footsteps followed behind as the dhani took off, words hissing through his angered frown. As before, Wally kept his distance, and his tone was kept low to keep any eavesdroppers that happened to be just around a corner or behind a door in the dark where they belonged. There were so many questions, however, the man found himself tripping over his own tongue as he tried to race to share what information he did know. After all, he'd never had anyone try to save him from anything before, and successful or not, the dhani had done more for him than most anyone else in his entire life. The- I mean, it was an orb. Yes. A-a sphere or, some people call it a ball- er..." He drew a deep breath before trying once more, stopping at a good distance from Reysin as they stopped.

The bag that had been left on the ground was hung on wooden hook that was attached the alley's wall. His clothes were folded in a neat stack; his boots polished and shined. They were all placed upon a smooth, simple looking table, as if the interior of a home had been cut and pasted into the alleyway, completely incongruous with the world around it. Not at all given pause by the odd display, Wally spoke again, this time a bit slower, trying his best to give the information that he had in the order it had been asked for. "The-The orb was something I... Picked up. From someone else." He paused, thinking better of his words. "By which I mean I stole it." Shrugging, he continued on, his voice still at the level of a conspirator but less wavering more comfortable. "I don't know who, so don't ask, but Veryl - he's... well, he was a friend of mine. Not now though, the petcher...- said he knew someone who would pay good money for something like that, so I went along with it. I don't know who Minerva actually is... Or Hargris, for that matter, but I've seen her before. I think.

By that point, Wally had grown rather comfortable, chattering away as he leaned against the wall, the stain on his trousers mostly forgotten in favor of his verbal reminiscence. "Veryl set up the meet, I just followed... And I don't know what was so important about it, I just know that Veryl said I couldn't take it out of the casing. I didn't even know it was made of gold before a bell ago when you showed up." He shook his head, chewing on his bottom lip before he continued. "There was just... Something wrong with them. I don't know, you probably noticed it too... I... Well, I tried to give them the slip but..." He shrugged. "Anyway, I didn't think everything would happen the way it did... I changed my mind, and they just..." Another pause. "I don't know for sure where they went, but if they're where I think they are, it's really better we don't go there."

For once, Wally didn't seem to be afraid when he said the last bit. His eyes were simply honest. "I'm... I'm not even quite sure how to get there, but it's not somewhere you want to be. Even if you think you do now."

by **Yisanareysin** on December 7th, 2015, 1:08 am

Listening to Wally's explaination, Rey made a mental note to never touch a magical object again, unless he knew exactly what it was and what it did. They'd just.. moved him? Siku preserve.

Turning the corner, Rey stopped, blinking in surprise. What... Well. Alright then. Why not. Perhaps Ionu felt sorry for him, after seeing him get so completely beaten by a petching human and a godsdamned zith of all the petching..

Rey gritted his teeth, and took in a deep breath, calming himself. This was not the time. He could be angry all he liked when he was safe again.

Dressing himself, Rey listened to Wally answer his question. A thief, huh. Rey made a mental note of that. Always good to know people from the darker side of the city, and even better if they felt indebted to him. And he'd been friends with Veryl... Speaking of which, where was that human?

Most of what Wally was saying deserved some serious though, but he had something to do first. "Wait moment." He hissed, lacing up his boots. Gods, had they been shined.

Crouching down, Rey touched the ground where he guessed he had been when the shadows had took him. Lady Akajia...

Well. I failed, my Lady, as you may have seen, despite your assistance, or so I assume. Difficult to tell in this city of illusions, but I choose to believe that it was you who aided me. I am endlessly thankful for your intervention, Lady, and this failure is my shame.

I suppose in my pursuit of the more intellectual of your domains, I have neglected the more physical one. It is a mistake I shall do my best to rectify. Still, this has not been a complete loss. There is something happening here, and I intend to find out what.

I am, as ever, your obedient servant, and in your debt, Lady Akajia.

Sighing, he stood, and turned. Wally sounded utterly serious when he said that Rey didn't want to follow them, and as furious as Rey was, he was well aware he could have died this night. He still needed more information to decide. Looking around the alley, Rey scanned the area, making sure he hadn't missed anything, before turning back to Wally.

"You sseen Minerva before? Where? What is ssshe? Sspy? Thief? Fencce? Did you sseen Veryl after I frozzze? He come back? Hargriss...." Rey had seen Hargris in the hallucination. But had Rey only seen him as a zith because he'd expected to? " Hargriss iss what? Zith? You ssee him?"
Actually, now that he thought about it... "Sssuposse you not know what that.. head... bone Hargriss has isss?"

Rey would wait for Wally to answer his questions before continuing.

"Tell me where I find them, and how you know. And why you ssay I not want to be there. Then we ssee what we do." He paused for a moment, considering. He technically had finished this job, and he had a reputation to uphold. "If choosse to go follow them, you sshould go to Back Up. Your ssisster worry about you. At the Sslanderer."

Snake Tongue | Common | Arumenic

by **Fable** on December 7th, 2015, 8:53 pm

Wally watched silently as Reysin knelt to the ground, his own lips pressed tightly together to stay questions and stories alike. When the prayer was finished, he let his shoulders relax some, always a bit tense around religiosity. "I... I don't know exactly. She's just so striking, and there's something familiar about her. Probably here, in the Underground. I-I couldn't be certain where exactly." Though not spoken with the world's greatest conviction, the clear light of his eyes suggested he wasn't lying, or at the very least wasn't intending to. "From what Veryl said, I think she's just a buyer. I don't... I'm not sure though. I'm sorry." He seemed a bit dejected, words far less confident than before. Still, he continued, offering what little more information he did have. "I haven't seen Veryl." Wally's breath slipped in a weary sigh as he shook his head. "I don't think he'll want to be seen for awhile. Same should really go for the two of us."

Frowning at the subject of Hargris, Wally's brow's knit in thought. "Well... He certainly smelled like one. I don't know for sure though. After you attacked, Hargis just left with Minerva after tying us up." The head, however, he did have an explanation for. "Well, again, not sure. Not absolutely, anyway, but there's been some rumors circulating lately. People have been talking about a... I don't know what to call it, an 'artifact', I guess. It's supposed to be some absurdly powerful little bauble. Only details that are certain is that it's a skull. No idea what it does, but... It definitely fit the description. And the creepiness." He shuddered, remembering just how close the little skull had been to him. "It's bad news, whatever it is."

Shaking his head at the final few questions, Wally crossed his arms. While his face was haggard and pressing the limits of exhaustion more emotional than anything else, there was a firm determination in his stare, even if it slightly wavered at Reysin's hissing frustration that had, admittedly, toned down after he'd dressed himself. "I... I'm not going to tell you. Not today. I know about it because of Veryl, and if he's anywhere, he's there." Drawing in a deep breath, Wally let it out, a heavy sigh that wasn't particularly directed at anything. "You don't want to be. Just... Just trust me. I know I'm not the most trustworthy, I get that. But... You did save me. Or try. And I appreciate that. I'm not going to tell you were you can go get yourself killed. At least, not until I know you can handle yourself around..." He trailed off, shaking his squaring up his shoulders. "We're both going back to the Slanderer or I'm not going at all."