Completed Above and Below

[Kuvarakh]

OOC - continues from here.

35th Day of Summer, 514

Kuvarakh waited for Phobius to arrive. He did not always have a task for him, but he should be arriving soon. He had been about as prompt as could be expected, considering his lack of experience with Ionu's mischief in the random shuffling pf the town's street plan. Kuvarakh corrected himself. It was not just the layout of the buildings, it was the color of the sky, the texture of the materials, the very gravity of the environment that could not be taken for granted. For all Kuvarakh knew, Phobius may have awoken this morning in a tree, growing upside down into a lake.

But the messenger arrived before too long, apologetic for his delay. Kuvarakh waved off his apologies. He remembered how it had been when HE'D first arrived. Were it not for the fact that he'd changed bodies four...no, five times since then, he'd still have the bruises from bumping and falling into things that were not there when he'd last looked.

He'd gotten used to running from the ever-extending reaches of lava pits. Ionu seemed to have designated Kuvarakh to be his target of magma chases. Kuvarakh didn't really mind. Ionu never made the flows advance faster than he could run, and they never intruded on shop business. The Trickster God had mercy on those with a sense of humor. The downside of this being that he picked on them more often.

In any event, Kuvarakh had a pair of sketches out, with a paragraph or two of descriptive test. One each defining the look and approximate location to find "Mr. Ekans" and "Miss Ranayel Silverleaf". He supposed he could call her by something less formal once he got to know her better, but for now this message ought to fall upon propriety. He handed the two contracts to Phobius and, with a wave of clearance to proceed, went back to his own work.

[Phobius]

Phobius hadn't woken up in a tree this morning.

Due to some nighttime tremors as the inn shifted itself, however, the boy had woken up on the floor, furled in on himself directly across from where his bed was after having slept through the building's rotation. It'd been quite some time since he arrived in the city, but the inn's weird "habits" still had the tendency to startle him. What was worse was that the building seemed to move whenever it liked, so much so that the staff hadn't even bothered to warn Phobius about it when he'd checked in. By now he was, more or less, used to them, but this morning was still a morning where he woke up disoriented and a little bit sore.

Phobius then went tearing apart his room for his clothes, dragging his bryda out from under his bed along with his boots and tunic. The hooded katinu was in a heap on the floor, where he'd discarded it the night before. It was undoubtedly warm outside, but the boy took it with him, anyway, slipping it on as he ran outside and down the street. Kuvarakh was met with waves of apologies once he managed to reach the Alchae, but the man in question seemed to not care much for them, focused instead on Phobius' new job at hand. The boy watched intently as he withdrew some pieces of paper, each with what looked like sketches of people on them. Only two, with little descriptions beneath each person.

Good...now I know what they look like. I'll remember their faces.

It was a promise to himself, really. The boy had quite the photographic memory, and was much easier to "train" when the teachings being fed to him were visual, in some way. He'd also vowed (and reminded Kuvarakh time and time again) that he'd carry out his courier duties properly and promptly.

Phobius nodded as the man turned and retired to his shop, waiting a second or two before turning and starting down the nearest sidewalk, the contracts folded up neatly and tucked into his waistband. He decided that he'd go looking for the "Miss Ranayel Silverleaf" first, mainly because her name immediately caught his interest. That, and the fact that she'd been described as having red hair, which made him think of his home in Wind Reach. Was she an Inarta, too? Phobius hadn't met many during his time in the city, and the few that he'd passed by or spotted at a restaurant always seemed to be too busy to talk to.

The next few chimes were literally spent jogging through the city streets. After having gone in at least three consecutive circles, along with being convinced that he was walking backwards, at one point, Phobius came across a refreshingly colorful building that stood out from the rest. It was like spotting an albino falcon amongst a group of its kin.

Taking a moment to breath and ease the aching that had settled into his chest from so much physical exertion, the boy approached the door and rapped on it a few times with his knuckles.

"Important delivery!" Phobius announced, raising his voice a little to will some of the softness out of it. "For a Miss Ranayel Silverleaf. Are you home, Miss?"

"Speech" | Thoughts

[Ranayel Silverleaf]

Miss Ranayel Silverleaf herself was currently wondering how in the world she'd gotten so unlucky. Looking up at her from the floor was a pile of glass shards that had once been a vase-and a vase she was quite fond of, because it had been hanging around her home for ages. Quite literally, too, since after a nasty incident with a floorboard and some string, it was stuck. Or, at least, it had been stuck.

Now it was on the floor.

In a pile.

Of broken glass.

With a sigh, Rana consigned herself to a present that involved cleaning up glass and quite possibly cutting her hand open.

At the exact same moment she collected a few pieces of glass, a loud knock accompanied by a louder voice emanated from the general region of her front door. This scared Rana, and she instinctively clenched her fists-then let out a loud noise of her own in the form of a loud curse in Nari that meant something a lot like 'I'm a birdbrain'. She loosened her hand immediately after, and the glass that had been in her hand crashed to the ground (again) with a tinkling noise.

Rana brought her right hand up to her eyes and looked closely at her palm. Thankfully there didn't seem to be any bits of glass stuck in her hand-it wasn't cut deep, but it was bleeding quite a bit. Sighing, the redheaded woman clenched her hand back in a fist and ensured that her scarf covered the whole of her right arm. Though she'd seen others around the city with oddly colored limbs before, she preferred to keep her Isurian heritage to herself.

After she'd made sure her scarf covered the skin of her right arm, Rana stepped to her front door and swung it open, a polite smile on her face to greet the guest.

"Miss Ranayel Silverleaf? That would be me, but please-call me Rana. My mother's the only person alive who still calls me Ranayel!"

She answered the door with a smile to a man who looked like he had at least some Inarta blood in him-the same fiery red hair she herself possessed. Though she didn't mention anything about her blood to the young-looking man, seemingly barely grown, she appreciated seeing a familiar head of hair. "You said you had a delivery for me?"

Thoughts. - "Common." - "Nari." - "Isurian."

[Phobius]

Miss "Rana" had a warm smile on her face when she opened the door. Smiling back at her, Phobius was quick to dig around underneath his cloak and pull out the contract once he'd found it, unfolding it so that the woman could clearly see what was written on the paper. "It's a contract. From Kuvarakh. He...didn't really tell me whether or not you were supposed to keep it, but I guess you could just sign it and I'll bring it back to him..."

The boy's words had begun to fade towards the end of his speech, drifting much like his eyes currently were; the amber gaze fell upon the woman's right arm, which was wrapped up tight with what looked like a scarf. Phobius blinked at it, confused and interested all at once. Was the woman's arm cold? Maybe...maybe she was hurt? Earlier on, he'd been staring at the colorful scarf that was around her neck, quietly mulling over whether or not to compliment her on it. Then his eyes had wandered, and now he was helplessly staring at her arm, all the while still holding the contract out to her.

The possibility of it being a personal matter hadn't crossed the boy's mind. He shifted his attention back to the woman, a questioning look upon his young face. "Excuse me, Miss, but is your arm okay...?"

"Speech" | Thoughts

[Ranayel Silverleaf]

Rana decided right then to test this messenger from Kuvarakh to see if he indeed shared blood with her. She made the switch from speaking Common to speaking Nari then-it didn't matter if he replied in Nari or Common, but if he replied at all to the things she said then Rana would have her answer. If not, well, it didn't really matter, but it would be nice to meet someone with Inarta blood.

"Actually, if you don't mind, could I come with you? I'd like to speak with Kuvarakh myself."

As she spoke, she noticed his eyes drifting towards her arm. Ranayel resisted the urge to hide it behind her back, instead waiting for him to comment on it, which he did. She was touched by his concern.

"Oh, it's just a habit I picked up from my mother," replied the half-Isur woman, reverting to Common. It wasn't entirely a lie, either-her mother wore scarves around her arms just as she did now. The scarf hid the colored skin both women possessed, though her mother's was much more pronounced than Rana's was.

Thoughts. - "Common." - "Nari." - "Isurian."

[Phobius]

Phobius blinked at the woman in surprise. He'd assumed that she was at least part Inarta, what with her blazing-red hair and all, but the sudden string of words in his home-language caught him off guard. It only lasted for a moment, though; soon enough, the ever-present smile wormed its way back onto the boy's face.

"You can come if you want, but I can't head back to the Alchemy shop just yet," He replied. "Not until I deliver another one of these things to Mister Ekans. Kuvarakh told me to, and I swore to him that I would."

At the mention of swearing, Phobius made a little criss-cross motion over his chest, right over the spot where his heart was. If there was one thing the boy was serious about, it was promises. He never dared to make one that he couldn't keep, and always kept the ones he made. At Rana's next words, Phobius nodded, showing that he understood. Wearing scarves on your arms...? What a creative idea! He pawed at the woolen one around his neck, quietly wondering if it would look nice on his own arm. Then he seemed to snap himself out of his thoughts.

"Welp, I guess we ought to be going." Phobius said, taking a step towards her before stopping himself and sending an awkward glance over to her door. Manners demanded that he hold the door open for a lady, but Miss Rana was doing a fine job of that on her own. Embarrassed, Phobius stepped to the side, instead, and waited for her to walk out.

The boy then held a hand out to her. "I'm Phobius, by the way. It's nice to meet you, ma'am."

Inwardly, he scolded himself for, once again, forgetting about introductions. Phobius hoped that the woman didn't think of him as impolite, now. Or worse: stupid.

"Speech" | "Nari" | Thoughts

[Ranayel Silverleaf]

Beaming at the young Inartan boy in front of her as he replied in Nari, Rana stepped outside her house and let the door close behind her. She knew now that he shared blood with her, and it was nice to meet someone with the same ancestry she had.

When she was outside and her brown eyes had adjusted to the light of Alvadas, she took a closer look at the messenger Kuvarakh had sent to her own home. He was about half a foot taller than her, maybe with an inch or two of difference, so she had to look up to make eye contact with him. Though he seemed to be familiar with the outdoors-he wore a somewhat worn-looking coat Ranayel remembered from her father's stories of Wind Reach as a katinu-he was pale in the extreme. This seemed a bit odd to Rana, though she made no mention of his pale complexion to him.

When he extended his hand and introduced himself, the Silverleaf woman made a note of his name. She thought nothing of the fact that it had taken him so long to introduce himself-sometimes, people just forgot the basics. This was something Ranayel herself could relate to. Phobius sounds like phobia, which means fear, and Phobius looks like he has a phobia of the sun. Should be easy enough to remember. Rana took his hand and shook it firmly, smiling at him as she did so. "And I'm Rana Silverleaf, but you knew that already. It's a pleasure to meet you, Phobius!"

She would let him lead the way to the house of this Mister Ekans, and unless she was directly spoken to when they reached his house, wouldn't butt in. Her thoughts went back to her original conversation with Kuvarakh the Nuit-he'd mentioned a Mr. Ekans who possessed a very unique set of skills. This was most likely the very same man.

Thoughts. - "Common." - "Nari." - "Isurian."

[Phobius]

Phobius waited until Rana had come out of the house. He continued to beam as she heartily shook his hand, re-introducing herself to him even though it wasn't needed; the boy had already memorized her name, and had a feeling that he'd remember it for a while. He had quite the good memory. And besides, he had decided right then and there that she liked Miss Rana. She was friendly, and they spoke a common language that made him think about his home back in the cold-fringed mountains of Wind Reach.

As they walked away from the house, Phobius began to conjure up the descriptions that Kuvarakh had given him about Mister Ekans. Apparently the man lived in an inn, much like he did; a place called The Wolf's Cave. Phobius had heard about the place before during his own wanderings about the inn he stayed in. It was a place made to mimic caves, and it tended to house the more wild of Alvadas' populace. It was also run by a family of wolf-people. Kelvics, they were called? The boy wasn't so sure, but he'd always been fascinated with the idea of the place and had wanted to visit it for some time, now. Today seemed to be that chance that he was putting off.

And so it was that Phobius and his new friend made their way through the city's ever-changing streets, though the boy was feeling a bit more confident than he had a bell ago. Now, with Rana having been found without much trouble, Phobius was sure that tracking Mister Ekans down wouldn't be a hassle. He walked with the intent of a hound that knew where it was going. The journey was a short and relatively quiet one; Phobius wasn't sure what to speak to the woman about, nor was he sure just how much he was allowed to ask or talk to her about. If Kuvarakh had given him contracts to deliver, then it was most likely that the business Miss Rana and Mister Ekans were involved in was a secluded one. He didn't want to pry into their business.

Chimes passed. Phobius saw the clay-textured inn walls just around a bend, a few yards from a pastry shop. He hurried in, momentarily forgetting about Miss Rana before he slowed and waited for her to reach the entrance as he stood beside it. Then he stepped through and was immediately greeted by a comforting warmth emanating from the massive fire pit in the center of the cavernous room. Looking around, Phobius hesitated before his amber eyes fell upon a pretty woman standing a short distance away. She smiled and waved at him, and he trotted over to her, asking about Mister Ekans' room and if she knew where it was. It was within a few ticks that he left; "Micah" had given him a room location, but the hard stares that he seemed to be getting from a nice-looking man nearby made him nervous. Stares like those meant that it was time to go.

Phobius walked up to the door he'd been directed to, rapping his knuckles on it with a bit less fervent energy than the one he'd seemed to be imbued with earlier, at Miss Rana's residence. "Mister Ekans! Mister Ekans! I've got a delivery for yooooou!"

"Speech-Common" | "Nari" | Thoughts

[Yisanareysin]

Rey had been happily curled up in his pile of pillows and furs for the last day or so. Well, it was really one pillow and one fur blanket, but whatever. It was warm and comfortable, and his room was close enough to the common area that, with his dhani hearing, he could easily make out everything that was hapening. Korin was stomping around again, no doubt glaring at every male to so much as glance at Micah, while Micah seemed to be talking to someone looking for a Mr Ekans. Sleepy and comfortable as he was, it wasn't until there was a knock on the door that Rey remembered that he had been using Ekans as a fake name. He froze for a moment, then faked a loud yawn."Jusst a moment." He called out, trying to sound groggy and just woken and human. He began to shift. Hair sprouted, while hood and fangs receded. Black scales melted into smooth skin, and organs shifted within him. Tossing the blanket back onto the bed, he turned to slither to the chest in the corner of the room, then fell as his tail began to shrink. He swore softly in snake, awkwardly shuffling over to the chest. His tail had split into legs, and there were only a few internal organs to rearrange now. Opening the chest, he pulled out his pants, and pulled them on. His organs were mostly in the right place now, but his face was still shifting. He counted the ticks as his features rearranged, and... there. 30 ticks from when he had started shifting. He quickly mussed up his hair, and opened the door. "Sorry about that. Turns out keeping your clothes in a locked chest doesn't help when you're in a rush." He stifled another yawn, this one genuine. "And please stop calling me that." Before him stood two humans, both with red hair and pale skin, though the man's looked like he could use a week in Ekytol. Both wore odd dress, the woman with the scarf around her arm, and the man with his.. well, everything. Although he was the one wearing only pants, so he supposed he had no right to judge. His eyes flickered between the two humans. Kuvarakh had warned him to look out for a "brightly red headed messenger". Well, they both fit that description well enough, though, given that it was the man who had spoken, it was probably him. Still, best not to make assumptions. "I'm Reysin Ekans. Just Rey will do. What delivery is this?"

[Phobius]

Standing outside the door, Phobius shifted a little in his spot as he waited for a response. The boy wasn't entirely numb to temperature; over-dressing was something he'd become used to, as extra layers of clothing tended to make him feel much safer, but the temperature throughout the cavernous tunnels of the inn were warm. Warm enough to make the fur-lined katinu that was draped over his body cause him some discomfort. He fidgeted a little and, after a few ticks, begrudgingly loosened the scarf around his neck.

A reply came a moment later from the other side of the door, and Phobius imagined that Mister Ekans was a very tired man. Had he woken him up? He'd tried not to knock on the door so loud, but...deliveries were deliveries. He could just apologize when the man came to the door. The boy patiently waited as rustling noises and the like sounded from inside the room. Then Mister Ekans, or who he assumed to be Mister Ekans, opened up. Phobius stood and blinked at him, quiet for a short while. The man had a soft face and long hair. Really long hair...he kind of looked like a girl. But Kuvarakh had called him a mister, and Phobius would sooner go jumping off of a cliff than speaking his thoughts aloud.

The man instructed him not to call him by that name, then, but "Rey" instead. Phobius' curious countenance morphed back into a warm one with a smile at this. Another "R" name...wouldn't it have been funny if his own name had started with an "R", too?

"And I'm Phobius," The boy announced, remembering to introduce himself firstly, for a change. "And this is Miss Rana. Kuvarakh sent me to give you this contract...I think he wants you to sign it now so I can give it back to him." With introductions out of the way, Phobius reached beneath his katinu and pulled out the rolled-up legal document, opening it and holding it out for Rey to see.

"I'm sorry if I woke you up."

"Speech-Common" | "Nari" | Thoughts