not all those who wander are lost

       “So YOU’RE the one I’ve heard about. Quite the subject of gossip in the EXPLORER locker room. That scratch you left on Explorer Clifton was a nasty one.” The girl doesn’t look like much. Short and slim, like she’d go down easy in a fight, but Rowan knows better than to ASSUME. She’s got past explorers mistakes to learn from too. 

              “I don’t like being GRABBED.” The scratch wasn’t a nice one but it was in self-defense. Explorer Clifton should feel grateful Natasha didn’t take the daggers out; which is something she is really considering now, given the fact they keep coming.

              Or maybe she keeps running into them. Either way, they are everywhere and they wish her harm.

     When she hears the shout, she’s about to turn and throw a punch when Natasha grabs her hand and pulls her through - - - pulls her through WHAT??? There was nothing there to be pulled through, just empty air. Except now instead of the city, she was in the middle of some kind of forest? This didn’t -

     This didn’t make sense?

     Unless?

     Ky took a step away from Natasha, her eyes widening. Surprise? Shock? Horror? Fear? Or was it a mixture of all four? She shook her head, and tried to speak, but words wouldn’t find themselves. “What - this - what?” Please don’t be what she thinks this is, is what she really wants to say.

              Natasha stays exactly where she is, observing the other carefully. The emotions on Ky’s face are NOTHING POSITIVE – but this is a typical reaction. A reaction Natasha is used to. She understands, really.

              “Hey,” she says, keeping her voice soft. Keeping herself still so she doesn’t startle her any further. “It’s okay. We’re safe.”

              She wouldn’t be safe if Natasha didn’t do it, they would get beaten up. She had to.

MANHANDLING SYMBOL STARTERS

           The slap isn’t painful but it startles her; and it’spurely on instinct that Natasha twists her wrist and SCRATCHES the attackinghand before moving her own back. Only then does her brain catch up.

           Oh. Oh.

THE MAGICIANS (SHOW) SENTENCE STARTERS

           It seems Natasha’s attempt to AVOID THE SUBJECT has beenentirely unsuccessful. Oh well.

           “Fine. Alright. I do know who your father is, Ky. I didn’t knowwho he was when I first met you but I do, now.” The cats share things with her;this is one of those things. Natasha hasn’t brought it up because it doesn’tmatter who Ky is related to. Aren’t they FRIENDS?

* ∘ ∙ — MISC SENTENCE STARTERS (PT 3)

           “My priorities, on the other hand, are VERY STRAIGHT.Cats are the most important; there’s nothing as important as cats. Then freedomto nap and free food. Then friends. Exactly in that order.” She’s joking there.She wouldn’t betray her friends for food.

MANHANDLING SYMBOL STARTERS

           Whatever the WEDs have done to her, she’s still dizzy.Dizzy and in pain and it would be a good thing the other has picked her up –she’s not sure if she’d be able to stand up on her own – if not for the factthe other is AN ENEMY.

           It’s not Reese. Well, she is a Reese but she’s not herReese. She smells like World Beta, like the explorers, like Adstrum.

           Natasha can even pick up the faint scent of Taskerhimself.

THE MAGICIANS (SHOW) SENTENCE STARTERS

           “Okay.”

           Her voice is quiet but GENUINE. Perhaps she doesn’t. Itwouldn’t be the first world she’s ended up in where things aren’t what theyseem; where Natasha is sure of something that’s simply not true.

           She doesn’t like this one. It’s – dark. Darker than whatshe’s used to. There’s tension on the street, fear in the air, and so she keepsHER CLAWS ready.

           “What’s THE RIGHT way to do it, then?”

some meme somewhere

           Natasha blinks, trying to chase the dizziness away. Sheis already halfway up. Up. Stay on her feet. Keep going. It wouldn’t be thefirst time she’s pushed through something like this in one of the more dangerousworlds.

           “I’m bleeding.” She can feel it, a wet trail startingfrom her temple and almost reaching her cheek now. The sunglasses are gone,too. “But I’ll be fine. Your scent – “

           Is her nose failing her?

      He’s not expecting the presence, but when he feels the girl, followed by the greeting, he turns and looks down at her with a smile. He has no idea who she is, but he can feel the force swirling around her, her emotions clear to see - or rather, feel - and he nods his head.

      Normally, coming across unknown force users doesn’t end well. But in this case, he can feel the force, telling him that she can be trusted. There’s some more to the message, but that’s the most important bit.

     “Yeah, I am. Who are you?”

              The man smiles at her and it makes Natasha’s smile grow. She doesn’t know him; she has heard stories about him, of course, he’s quite a famous man.

              The stories aren’t the reason why she is here.

         “Oh, I’m the greatest.” Aleyna shot Natasha a grin. “But as long as I am still better than everyone else here? I can be clueless about this..” she put on a puzzled face. “I don’t know why it broke. Everything seems to be in working order - have you considered sabotage? Oh there’s a trap for that? Hmmm. Maybe we should shelve this project until we figure out more of the malfunction.” Lying was a skill Aleyna had become quite adept at over the years.

        “I shouldn’t take long. Just. Let me know if anyone comes and hide.” She just needed to get in and out. It would be very very bad if they missed that ripple, but at the same time she couldn’t rush this.

       It was probably about six and a half minutes. Aleyna stopped - took her hands out of the machine. “That should do it. That ripple still there?”

              Natasha grins back at her but it’s uncertain. “Right. That’s – that’s true.” If Aleyna is the best and nobody is as good as her, she can pretend to be worse than she really is. It makes Natasha’s head hurt; if she didn’t know better, she’d believe her. It’s a good thing, though, especially if it fools Tasker and the people who wish them harm.

              Still. “I think I finally need to learn to LIE,” she mutters, mostly to herself. She wonders if, maybe, smell could help her pick lies up. She’ll have to pay attention, from now on.

              Right now, it’s not the time. “Alright.” She takes one of her daggers out, just in case. To be ready. But nobody interrupts them. At least there’s that.

       Around the corner? What’s around the corner? She’s filled with doubt, honestly. If they go around the corner, they could be just as easily get caught there, than here. But if Natasha has an idea, then it would probably be something better than ‘get caught out in the open’ so as uncertain as she felt? Just go with her plan.

      Getting beaten up here, or getting beaten up there would make no difference anyway.

     “Alright, lets get going then.” They’d need to be careful to avoid getting caught before to wherever Natasha was trying to get to, but Ky was sneaky, and so was Natasha. They should be alright.

      Maybe.

              She can understand the other’s doubt – and she’s preparing for a fight, really, because she doesn’t have the time to explain – but then Ky agrees.

              The relief is overwhelming. Claws marks tend to attract the WRONG kind of attention lately.

              She moves first, steps QUIET but quick. Sure. She’s letting her nose guide her, not even looking back if Ky follows – she can sense she does – and they manage to make it to the open space. Someone is shouting behind their back but Natasha grabs Ky’s hand and JUMPS.

              The scenario changes in a blink of an eye and they land on the grass. Where they were buildings, there are now trees – huge, tall trees. The smell is so much more pleasant, even if the open ripple still stinks. Birds are chirping in the distance.

     The transition from fallen to standing hurt less than the other way around, but that didn’t mean it didn’t hurt at all. But, Ky would admit that leaning on the girl, having something other than her beaten body to support her weight… It was a help. A large help.

      At least she had lots of time. Ky didn’t know how much she had. The goal was set clearly. Get to the clinic. Get fixed. Get home before morning, just in case her father would decide today would be the day he shows up. What time was it? She didn’t know. Late? “Thanks.” she muttered.

      “Like. Fight for money?” That’s not why she fights. It’s never why she fights. But she’s not about to reveal her life story to some stranger, while probably concussed. “Gambling, and shit like that.” Ky winced at the step, her whole body was screaming at her, stop doing this, Ky! It’s gonna kill you one day Ky! As always, she pushed that voice away.

       “Ky.” Not Kyrene, not the daughter of Zavier Tasker. No one could know about her hobby. No one, ever.

              Natasha is trying to be as gentle as possible but with how bad Ky’s injuries are, it is almost impossible to spare her the pain. Still, she tries. She tries her best. It wouldn’t do good to just leave her out in the street, not in this shape.

              “Oh.” She’s not unfamiliar with the concept. Really, it’s a common element among different worlds; gambling. The fight must have been brutal. “I’ve never had to fight for that reason.” She has fought for many different reasons, including cats and her friends, but never for money. “I’m sorry that you have to.”

              And, it looks, Ky hasn’t been very successful. Natasha chooses not to comment; there’s no point upsetting her further.

              She notices the wince but, sadly, stopping won’t do them good now. She urges her to take another, gentle.

       “The Force.” Kyle answers, smiling wide. “I can use it to sense a lot of things. Including multiverse travelers apparently.” Seeing as he’d only ever encountered one before, he didn’t know that was something he’d been able to pick up.

       Kyle nodded his head. The force wasn’t giving him any warning about this girl, but he still didn’t want to name Cisco. “Yeah, a good friend. You both have the feeling on you, but his is slightly different.” He looked around. Smelling? He knew some species has stronger senses than how humans relied on sight, so it wasn’t strange at all. “The galaxy is a pretty big place. It’s a pleasure, Natasha. What brings you by this corner of the multiverse?”

               “The force? What kind of force? Like in science?” She’s smiling too but the force? Dominika can ramble and ramble about different kind of force fields but Natasha doesn’t listen. Well. She tries. It’s just not something she’d be able to repeat. “But that’s cool! I can tell them by my nose. Well. Not them. But I can tell which world you are from.”

              Since Kyle has told how he’s doing his trick, it is ONLY FAIR she returns the favor.

              “That’s fascinating.” A feeling? It’s good to finally meet someone who doesn’t rely on their sight only. “I think it might be as big as the multiverse itself! Well. Maybe not as big. But close.” She has never actually tried to go to space in any of the worlds she has been to – but this one feels different, like there is something there.

              Something she can’t yet identify.

    Reese’s eyes narrow further, and yes, it was narrowing in suspicion and not drooping because she was tired. She was looking at Natasha with suspicion because - well - everything she was saying MADE SENSE. But - but.

    Reese looked at Trixie, and at the mention of her name, the ginger kitty lifted her head up and looked at Reese, almost as if to say ‘she’s right you know.’ before laying her head down and started purring. Loudly. 

    “Traitor.” Reese muttered, but she didn’t really mean it. Well, her cat did take Natasha’s side in this, but it was for Reese to join them in a nap. At least it wasn’t that bad.

     She pushed herself away from the desk, and held the stern expression on her face as she walked over to Natasha and Trixie on her couch, and she looked down at the two of them, hands on her hips. Only then did her expression crack to reveal a soft smile. “Alright. Make room. I’m coming on in.”

              Natasha only grins wider at the tired suspicious look on Reese’s face. And the muttered traitor – because yeah, Trixie is siding with her. Perhaps because Natasha is right, not because of some kind of trickery.

              The moment Reese stands up, she knows she has won but doesn’t say anything. Not yet. But her grin softens into a warmer smile as she rolls to the side, making enough room for Reese to fit comfortably with them.

SHIT I’VE SAID TO MY CAT; SENTENCE STARTERS

THE MAGICIANS (SHOW) SENTENCE STARTERS

           She doesn’t make it A HABIT to hide her feelings,especially not around friends. But right now, her walls are set HIGH and she’snot even looking at him. “Is it, Kyle? Some things cannot befixed.” Her voice is soft, calm, despite the turmoil going inside her.

           But no. There is no fixing a planet that was destroyed.Not fixing her family who is long dead.

           They might go after the one who ordered that destructionbut it won’t bring them back. The Force is nudging her, telling her it’s NOTTHE ANSWER, and she trusts in the Force.

              Natasha has no idea WHY the Force lead her here ( or rather, to him ) but it has never failed her before and so she doesn’t worry. Once she feels his presence, she lowers her shields down – keeps the one protecting her thoughts up but leaves her emotions out in the open.

              She has nothing to hide. She’s curious, slightly excited; no bad intentions in sight.