NIL, SOL, and FRIEND

Exclamation. (Hello!)

Its words aren't heard by Umbra's ears, but rather in her head. Its voice is childish- if it were coming from a Robloxian, I'd estimate the speaker to be...five or six years old, maybe?

NIL, @starcycle-trio

Umbra jumps slightly in surprise. Not at the strange serpentine creature floating up to her, Shadows have taken weirder shapes before to entertain her, but at the fact that it spoke to her in her head. That was new but honestly, she didn't mind it much. Besides it was kinda cute.

"Hi there! I don't think I've seen something like you before." She says with a small smile, her tail giving a small flick.

Exclamation. Exclamation. Query. (Hello! Name is NIL! Yours is what?)

NIL's own tail flicks back and forth behind it, seemingly attempting to mimic her movements...although, honestly, the speed of its movements make it it look more like its wagging than anything.

That question is answered pretty quickly as NIL’s forehead bumps into Umbra’s, almost like a dog nosing at somebody they like…yeah, it seems pretty solid to me 👍

Query. (Have you tried yet ice cream? Taste, very good!)

Exclamation. Exclamation. (Got chocolate! Is favorite!)

Their head twists around, followed by the rest of their body, as their tail lifts up to point at two similarly strange creatures- one a bit smaller than them, colored bright yellow, and the other noticeably larger and colored purple. The former one is splashing around in the water, while the latter is buried in the sand.

Umbra would have gotten chocolate ice cream but she had to watch how much she ate the stuff lest she accidentally poisoned herself. She did not want a repeat of when she was ten, thank you very much. One emergency hospital trip was enough for her.

She then looks at where NIL's tail is pointing. She did not expect more that were like NIL, if a bit different as well. Though she smiles and chuckles easily enough. Shadow really did train her tolerance for the unusual and Eldritch very well.

They nod excitedly before Umbra can answer, rushing over to SOL and FRIEND and dragging them back over to the Seer.

Exclamation. Exclamation. (Friends, meets Umbra! Umbra, meets friends!)

FRIEND pauses their sandy activities to 'look up' at the individual that they had been brought over to - being larger than the other two meant they were probably being pulled across the sand..

[Hello!]

SOL is soaking wet, flailing around blindly as NIL carries her over. They look over at Umbra, eyes wide.

Hello!!!! Hi!!!

SOL runs up to Umbra, running around her in circles. Their glow is a bit brighter than usual, it'd probably be best not to look directly at them right now..

Query. (What is 'sun screen'?)

FRIEND just shakes their head, they know attempting to tell SOL to stay away from something is a futile task.

Crabs?

SOL asks, tilting their head. They quickly push the question aside. Thankfully they seem to calm down, eventually skittering back over to FRIEND.

I came from a sun so I think I’ll be fine! Okay!

[Nyx?]

FRIEND finally said something, much to the detriment of any attempts to make sand castles in the direct area.

…Who’s Nyx? A friend? A pal? A buddy?

SOL asks, tilting their head as if the world would make more sense at an angle. Seeing as they've already screwed up, FRIEND continues to talk.

[We dont have skin! We formed in space - NIL came out of a black hole and I formed in a bunch of space dust.. I think it was called a nebula]

"I'm no doctor so I can't explain cancer very well but it is really bad. It can kill if it goes untreated."

She shakes out her tail and arms before she sits down on the sand. The crouching was starting to hurt her legs and knees so it was best to just take a seat while she's here.

Query. Query. Query. (What is 'Shadow'? Is creature? Person?)

NIL looks down at their own shadow, confused.

FRIEND? Is FRIEND okay? Is FRIEND sick? What's wrong?

"A Shadow is a type of Eldridge that can't interact with the world's they like to watch. I'm very familiar with them because very few, that aren't Eldridge entities like you three, can see them, let alone be able to hear them." Umbra isn't sure if she should mention that she's also the only one that actually can hear them. Maybe if she's asked then she'll tell them.

NIL tilts their head to the other side, their psuedo-eyes flicking around the area. They don't see any other eldritch, but Umbra does smell a bit like one... FRIEND looked up- they've figured that expression is friendly though, so they just bob their head. The loafing is just their attempt to make themselves smaller...they're uncertain as to how successful that actually is, though.

Like ‘p-r-e-y’ maybe? They don’t want to be found?

SOL suggests to NIL, a bit less worried now that FRIEND is loafing. They climb onto FRIEND's back, using the larger eldritch as a stepping stool to get a little closer to Umbra's eye level.

"It's less that they don't want to be found and more that Robloxians back home aren't built to notice them without doing something drastic to themselves."

She then hums in thought. Umbra didn't actually know how Shadows would interact with other Eldridge. They tolerated other Shadows until they got close to their Favorite. Shadows were possessive entities after all.

...What do you mean?

Query. (What is 'drastic'?)

NIL looks to FRIEND, as if the latter would know any more about this than they do.

[Hurt? Change?]

They dont know, truly, but they're trying to use context clues from conversations they've watched and definitions they know.

Umbra claps her hands together to signal a change to the topic to something a little lighter. Like introducing Nyx to her three new Eldridge friends! Hopefully it will not be aggressive to the three but Umbra didn't really know.

Exclamation. Exclamation. (Yes! Friend of friend, so friend!)

FRIEND is a little nervous, but they know how to get the other two to safety in case something bad does happen, so they agree...if tentatively.

Friend! Friend! Friend! Friend!

One moment there is nothing behind Umbra, then if one blinks then there is a pure black figure with wolf ears and tail as well as white dot eyes that glow against it's form. For a few minutes it looks normal. It's form spikes and ripples at the sight of the three young Eldridge entities. Umbra however seems largely unbothered by the entity behind her.

"Seer... What is this about?" It hisses before quieting itself when Umbra tilts her head back to look at it.

"These are my new friends! SOL, FRIEND, and NIL, this is Nyx. Apologies for it's grumpiness." She says with a smile as she looks back at the three.

Exclamation. Exclamation. (Hello! Nice to meet!)

SOL wobbles a little as FRIEND moves to stand, though they quickly rebalance themselves.

Hello! Hii!!! Hello!!! You’re very tall-

They cut themselves off.

"For such a grumpy Shadow, Nyx is very considerate." Umbra says with a giggle as Nyx's hand phases through her head.

Statement/Query. Statement. Query. (Like us, different? Never seen before. Why?)

I see! I understand!

SOL chitters. They don’t really seem to understand what 'grumpy' means, though it’s of little concern to them. They hop off of FRIEND's back, and skitter up to Nyx.

Why do you look like that then?

Umbra meanwhile looks at FRIEND, concerned by its silence. "FRIEND, are you okay? You haven't really said much since Nyx arrived. Other than jump, which is kind of impressive since you look like a very squishy blob of goo." She says gently with one ear focused on SOL, NIL, and Nyx conversing.

It turns to SOL, tilting its head for a moment. Shadows don't ask each other why they take the forms they do. They just know who is who without question. Besides appearing similar to the residents of the world's they watched has proven to lessen losing those that have gained full Sight.

I like the way I look too! Very bright! But I wanna get bigger soon.. larger like FRIEND!

Exclamation. Exclamation.(Understand! Away from others, safe!)

[There's. nothing there?? No mass??]

The poor blob sounds so confused...

Hm?

"I do. Please do not be alarmed." It says as it stands straighter.

Nyx pulls at the darkness, bringing it to itself. It takes a moment as it starts creating a temporary core for itself out of the darkness it controls. To it, the sensation of the darkness taking form inside itself was uncomfortable. Now it understands why the second oldest Shadow of Umbra's world had said as much.

"Is this better, FRIEND?"

FRIEND still looks startled, but they have a direction to actually look now.

[I only see in mass or density... if something doesn't have those it might as well not be there. Sure I could hear them but. No physical trace.]

NIL chitters in surprise, their psuedo-eyes locking onto Nyx’s newly-formed core.

Query. Query. Query. (Made not-solid, solid? How? Can tell, teach?)

Seems that NIL, at least, doesn't care all too much- they're much more interested in learning about their new friend than they are in expanding their capabilities at the moment :D FRIEND settles back down into a loaf shape now that they're not trying to figure out where the speaking is coming from, and just tilts their little head.

[not everything is learnable, sometimes you just figure it out without meaning to.]

Exclamation. (Like gas! :D)

[made a weird panel. i took it.]

Exclamation. Exclamation. (Tells us things! And asks others!)

They ask weird stuff! Strange things!

"From my understanding the Void is where Shadows are technically born from. I don't really know much else about the Void." Umbra chimes in, now resting her head in her hands.

Seems anons aren't the only ones who ask a lot of questions...

[usually means something or someone is liked a lot]

SOL jumps up and down.

They stare for a moment, before 'speaking' again.

Statement/Query. Query. (Death...is when broken? Broken, cannot fix?)

[Nil, you're going to overwhelm them.]

FRIEND looks around. the actual things (read: people) moving around the beach has been thinning for a while now, and the oldest of the trio already doesn't like being able to be seen by people right now.

[I think most of the people are leaving, that means more of a chance for us to be noticed as people clear out the colorful containers.]

The Sun is leaving! Setting! It's tired- I think! I believe!

SOL adds, beginning to inch away now. As much as they won't admit it, they're getting quite tired too.

Being caught would be a bad bad thing, can't stay long.

SOL hops into FRIEND's basket, followed by NIL.

Very very nice to meet you!