Catching Up With You (Satevis)

[Arcane]

Day 91, Spring of 512 AV Late Morning Residential Wing, University of Zeltiva It was a fine, breezy morning. Most students were already in the various classrooms and laboratories of the fine University, absorbing knowledge and practising their crafts. The fortunate ones who did not happen to have classes scheduled for the day were also out either studying or de-stressing. The lazy ones simply continued sleeping in their rooms. A lone child walked by the corridors of the Residential Wing with a sombre air. He looked fatigued and unwell, for eyebags were present under his eyes, and his skin was a sickly and pallid. Despite that, his voice was one that tried to inject enthusiasm into his voice, and he walked the corridors asking for anyone to help him find his cat. "Mister Dorkles wandered into the scary, abandoned house! Can someone please help me?" With that, he implored the students coming out of their rooms, sometimes knocking once or twice on closed doors and moving on when there was no reaction.

[Satevis]

It was the last day of term, and Satevis was enjoying the unique pleasure of being almost completely done. His own studies were finished for the term. He had written his last exam yesterday, in the late afternoon. Yvera was out doing...whatever it was Yvera did during the day, and tonight was the last night that he would have to sleep on the floor, since she was officially moving out. Well...moving across the hall, but at least he had his bed back. The only gray cloud over today was the stack of exam papers currently on his desk. The astronomy finals had been last night, and they needed to be graded as soon as possible. He had no idea who had decided that teaching assistants needed to do all of the grading, but the task had been left to him. Thankfully, because all of his other tasks had finished, he had an abundance of time. He was on his fifth exam paper when he heard the knock at the door. Satevis frowned, setting down his quill and getting to his feet. He thought perhaps that Yvera had forgotten something and needed to be let back into the room. But the voice that came from outside was not Yvera's voice, and the person on the other end was not the young Vantha girl he had grown used to seeing. It was, however, a child. Satevis frowned as he looked down at the boy. He looked sickly for a child his age, with dark circles under his eyes and pallid skin. There was a slightly desperate air to him as well, and Satevis wondered how long he had been wandering up and down the hallways asking for help. "...What do you need help with?" he asked.

[Arcane]

The child gasped with a little hopeful smile when the door opened, and when he heard the man's reply he was positively beaming. Satevis can now see that the child was clothed in thin and light fabric. He wore long pants and long sleeved clothing, which was usually for Spring, though the cool weather and relatively low humidity made it possible. "My cat, Mister Dorkles... he ran into the scary abandoned house and now he's not coming out!" Staring plaintively at the student, the child continued, "The house is dark... and scary... Can you help me get Mister Dorkles?" It was clear it was not a request. The child stood stubbornly at the door, desperate to grasp at this hope that showed itself. Finally, someone actually cared about his issues, instead of the other selfish students who minded their own business and openly ignored him. Finally, someone bothered to respond to him, and he sure as hell was not going to let this chance slip away. "Will you... help me?" The child added, the hope and optimism in his voice painfully evident to anyone with an ounce of observation skills.

[Satevis]

Satevis frowned as he considered the situation. Reasonably, it wouldn't take him too long to head down to the city, help the boy find his lost cat, and then return to his dorm room and continue his work. He didn't have much else to do anyway. It was the last day of the season, Tock's foot was healed, and Yvera could fend for herself until he returned. Professor Cyril had also never given him a deadline for those papers, and he knew that it would take him at most another hour and a half to finish grading. So, he had time. But the thought of going all the way down to the city to help find a cat was just a little excessive. He thought briefly about referring the boy to someone else, someone closer to the abandoned building, but the thought didn't last long. It had probably taken a lot of effort for the boy to come all the way to the University. Satevis doubted he would have ended up here if someone else could have helped him. Besides, the hope and optimism in the child's voice was the last straw. He knew that if he ignored this child now, it would nag at his conscience all day. He gave a resigned sigh, but nodded once at the boy. "Let me go get my keys," he said, ducking back into his room and grabbing the set of keys off of his desk. His eyes drifted briefly towards the scimitar underneath his bed. Carter had advised him once to start wearing it around town, so that he would get used to the feeling of having it at his side, but he doubted he would need it. They were just going into town for a little bit. It wasn't like he intended to get into a fight. He put the keys in his pocket, leaving the room and locking the door behind him. "Lead the way," he said to the child.

[Arcane]

The child blinked innocently when Satevis agreed, beaming widely again. Waiting happily, he sang, "My parents said that I must introduce myself or it will be rude! My name is Vorn Qwahera. What's yours?" When the Benshira was ready, the child would then tug on the man's clothes, leading him out of the University. His gait was surprisingly smooth as he walked, and it seemed that he was a particularly hardy child for the stamina in his movement. However, there was a little stumble in his stride, possibly due to the malnutrition and fatigue evident in his appearance. He brought the man through the winding alleys in the city, moving to the darker and less-travelled areas of Zeltiva, where merchants do not bother going, where trades do not flourish, and where the poorer portion of the population struggled to make do everyday. "What do you study in the University? My dad says that I must study hard so that I can enter the University too!" Vorn remarked as he turned yet another corner.

[Satevis]

"I am called Satevis, son of Leth," he replied when the boy, Vorn, asked for his name. He never referred to Satevis as his name, because it wasn't. As far as he was concerned, Satevis was an alias, a false name he had adopted to allow for ease of communication. His name, his real name, would always be the name that Leth had given him. But it was purely a matter of semantics, and he didn't mind when anyone else referred to it as his name. He allowed Vorn to lead him into the city. The child moved with a smooth gait, but he stumbled slightly as he walked, a sign that he wasn't well. The Ethaefal frowned. Famine had been officially lifted from Zeltiva on the 69th, but food was still short in the city. Although the richer families and the University seemed to be mostly back on track, a lot of the poorer families hadn't truly recovered from the blow the famine had dealt them. He wondered if that was what had happened with Vorn. His theory was further supported by the place the boy was taking him to. It was an area of the city that was often hidden from public view--the dark side of Zeltiva, where the poor of the city struggled every day, famine or no famine. He frowned slightly, immediately wary. Satevis was not the type to judge based on class, but he was suddenly painfully aware of the coins in his pocket, and he recognized that a person's circumstances could drive them to do things that their nature wouldn't normally do. He kept those thoughts from Vorn, though, turning towards the boy as he asked his question. "I study magic," he replied. "Glyphing, mostly, although I plan to do more once the next term starts. I also worked as a teaching assistant for astronomy this term." He gave the boy a small smile. Satevis was always one to encourage another person to further their studies. "What would you like to study, Vorn?" he asked.

[Arcane]

"Magic! My dad said that wizards can do a lot of useful things for the community, and they earn lots and lots and lots of money too!" Vorn trilled with delight upon hearing the ethaefal's reply. They soon arrived at an even darker and shabbier corner after emerging from a particularly dank alley, and Satevis would soon find himself discomfited by the place. Perhaps it was the lack of sunlight that reached this area, or the general silence as a result of the lack of people and even, animals or vermin that such areas tended to attract. Up ahead stood a dilapidated house. They were already at the edge of the city, and at the back of the house were all forests and mountains. Large trees towered menacingly over the shabby building, and the run-down state of the mansion threatened to collapse at any moment. The windows seemed to be like bullying eyes glaring at Satevis and the door was like its mouth, ready to swallow any intruders. "Mister Dorkles went in there and never came out. I'm too scared to go in," Vorn shivered and quickly stood behind Satevis, clutching the back of his shirt.

[Satevis]

The moment they emerged from the alley, Satevis registered something as being wrong. He had always thought that his observational skills were a little bit better than most, but even then, it took him a moment to understand what disturbed him about this corner of the slums. It wasn't the general disrepair of the place. Certainly, it seemed worse than the other areas they had just passed through, but that alone did not seem to be what was bothering him. It was only when Vorn began to lead him towards the house that he realized what was wrong. It was quiet. Quiet and empty. There were always people in the slums. No matter where you went in Mizahar, with perhaps the exception of Riverfall, the slums were always the most populated areas of the city. They could be quiet, sure, but they were never empty. Even when there were no people in sight, there were always animals or vermin of some sort. This place had none of those things. Only a house. And looking at the house, Satevis understood what had scared Vorn so much. He had a bad feeling about this. Now Satevis was starting to wish that he had brought his scimitar. But there was no helping it now. He turned around to face Vorn, looking down at him. "Alright," he said. "Stay here. I'll be right back." He left Vorn behind, taking a deep breath and entering the house.

[Arcane]

The child began to speak, but Satevis already told him to stay while he headed towards the house. As the ethaefal opened the door and his form swallowed by the sinister building, Vorn raised a hand towards him mumbling, "But-", but the man had already entered the abandoned house. From the outside, it was evident that the house was big, yet upon entering Satevis would find that the interior was rather small compared to the size boasted by the exterior. He would find himself in some sort of corridor, or walkway, where there were a window or two to look out from - if he cared to peek - but no doors on the side. A table stood there, neglected, while a few chairs lay scattered throughout. Visualization : It was all a pretty sad picture of a building abandoned by its owners, though from the general state of disrepair it was hard to tell just how long no one had lived in it. It would be accurate to just say that it was 'very very long'. Interestingly, besides the windows at the front and side, and the door behind him, this portion of the building was a dead end, and it was strange how a house that big held only a single room this small.

ActionsHave fun here. Ever played those 'Escape/Puzzle' flash or iOS/android games?

[Satevis]

OOCI'm having flashbacks to 9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors, lol. The house was...odd. From the inside, there wasn't anything particularly creepy about it, besides the fact that it was an old house on the outskirts of the city. It appeared to be mostly dilapidated, and looked as if it had been empty for quite some time, but beyond that, there didn't seem to be anything particularly sinister about it. But it was small. The house was much smaller and narrower than it should have been from the outside. One wall had windows, so that was the outer wall of the building, but the other wall was completely bare. No doors, no openings of any sort. Satevis frowned. A wise man would have left the building alone. But his curiosity was getting the better of him. He walked up to the bare wall, knocking on it to check for hollow or weak areas, and examining it to look for cracks. This house held a secret. And in that moment, he was extremely interested to find out what that secret was.