#ryagan

I saw @skulkin-synergetics do this, so I thought “WHY NOT?!” Here's my characters described with emojis!

T.K: 😜🛠💣

Dorty: 😕💎⚔️

Trytamer:😄🐊🏹

Ryagan: 😡🔫🔐

Sajessia: 😊🌟🛡

Jukkerbaut: 🔩🔌🗡

Dyeeaka: 😏🔫💊

Ryagan held a single asuran data crystal between his pointer finger and his thumb, rotating it ever so slightly as he gazed at it. He looked down at Sajessia, who was shuddering a little, but that was normal at the moment while she was still crippled by the arrow wound. Dorty sat next to her, also eyeing the data crystal she had got, before turning to her.

"So, let me get this straight." He said. "You're saying that from the stuff you got on this crystal here, you found out the source of your powers is some Celestial Essence within you?"

Sajessia nodded and shuddered a little more, clearly bothered a little by this. "I can't tell if I'm an asura anymore or something else because of this, I just can't." She sobbed a little, suddenly assuming her celestial form and hugging her legs. Curled up like that, all she looked like was a bundle of space and stardust, which just needed a little love.

Dorty sighed and scooted over to wrap an arm around her starry form, "Hey, listen, what you are is who you want to be. You wanna be an asura? Say your an asura then, nobody will know the difference. Say you're some kinda star child, and people will also understand, gotcha?" He started scratching her behind the ears to cheer her up a little.

Ryagan stuffed the data crystal in his pockets and retreated to his office, shutting the door behind him before heading over to the bookshelf. It was pretty known by now that walls and bookshelves alike both were key places for hiding things, and Ryagan knew this was just another case. He moved the classic human children's books out of the way to reveal a safe, which he put the code in to open it, revealing some of the things he wanted to keep out of the wrong hands. He promptly placed the crystal into the safe, shutting it and moving the books back before retiring to the relaxation of his chair.

Sajessia just relaxed, lying in Dorty's lap. Lots of things were stressing her out, and this was one of the few ways she could just forget all of that and rest easy. "I hope nothing else happens, we've already had enough troubles lately." She sighed in an voice that echoed around the room.

"If I'm right, it's probably gonna get worse, then better, then... I dunno what will happen after that." Dorty hugged her lightly as he said this.

"Nnmmmhh... I just want everything to be better now. I don't want to sit around while we and other people are in danger."

Dorty was about to reply saying they would stop whoever threatened anyone when the front door was kicked off its hinges, flying across the room. As far as anybody knew, only two people were capable of such a kick, Trytamer and T.K. Seeing as Trytamer was on the couch when the door was sent flying, which hit him in the stomach and bounced off to the wall behind him, while he yelped at the sudden gut-pain he had, there was only one answer for who it was.

Sure enough, it was T.K. Rocket boots on let him kick down doors better than anybody his age. He stormed into the center of the house where everybody could see him, standing there for a few moments before striking a pose and shouting "I WAS RIGHT, MOITS!!!"

Ryagan quickly stepped in after he heard the door go flying, fists balled up as he romped over to him. "...okay T.K that's it what the heck is this all about!?"

"Ayez right, duh!" He laughed, then shuffled over to where Dorty and Sajessia sat, turning to them. "Ye think ayez cray-cray about da relations, but turns out ayez right! Ha!"

"I-s-sorry, what??" Dorty stuttered, unable to get what T.K was hinting at.

"Daawwwhhhh... Ye be wondering what ayez mean, well!" He pulled out an asuran holopad he had grabbed and transferred some data onto, shoving it into Dorty's face. "Read it and see! EET NUTS!!!"

Dorty was reluctant at first to grab it, since T.K was the person who also liked giving out false information. However, his eyes got glued to the little screen when he read the name of his mother on it, quickly grabbing it and started reading the whole thing.

"Nononononoooo, just read this part!" He swiped a finger to scroll down the list, down to a few things on his mother.

Dorty quickly eyed the "CHILDREN" list and his jaw dropped. He smacked himself a few times to make sure he was reading it right, then he blurted out "DYEEAKA IS MY SISTER!?!?" He dropped the holopad in disbelief, unable to register it, but as thoughts raced through his head, it suddenly made more sense than he realized at first. Meanwhile, everybody except T.K looked at him in shock and disbelief. Sajessia picked up the device and read it herself, passing it to Ryagan, who then tossed it to Trytamer, still in pain on the couch.

Dorty was basically stuttering at this point, "I... Wha... How... When did... Uhh..."

"Well," Ryagan finally spoke up from his own surprise, "this was unexpected. After years of thinking you're an only child, we're suddenly informed you have a sister who's part of the Inquest who live just on the other side of the canyon. Huh." He paced around for a bit before turning and asking, "How do ya propose we go about telling her this? I'm sure she wouldn't want her krewe knowing."

"I... Uhm..." Dorty sighed, giving in to the truth, before straightening himself up, "You're right about that. I'll wait for her to come around here again, then tell her myself, with the thingy here to back it up."

"Uh, hello?" Trytamer said during his fit of cramps, "Are we gonna let her live here, since she's related?"

It was at this moment where everybody except Trytamer all shouted "NO!!!" at the same time.

"Eh, alright, I'm not in the mood for more housework, anyway. Making rooms is hard!"

"Okay, it's settled then." Ryagan exclaimed, "We'll find her and tell her."

"Question!" T.K said, raising his hand.

"Guh, yes T.K what's your question?"

"Where da 'yeeaka at?"

"You think I know where she's at?"

"Nup! She go poof a while ago!"

Dorty leapt up from his seat upon hearing this, grabbing his sword off of the mantle and heading for the open doorway. "She better not be dead like those other people are who went missing, she might be Inquest, but if she's family then gosh dang it I'm not letting anything poke her."

"Search mode? Search mooooode!" T.K yelled, grabbing his hammer and other weaponry as he and the others bolted for the door.

"Wait!" Sajessia groaned, limping towards the couch, "What about me? I can't keep up with you guys."

"Hey Drakus, do that thing, would ya?" Dorty beckoned.

Drakus darted out from behind the couch and knocked the girl up into the air, landing on his back a moment later. He panted excitedly as he waddled after his best friend, with his little white friend on his back. Leaving her home alone wasn't a good idea with the murderer still about, taking her along with protection this time was the better choice. They made it to the northern outskirts of the town before parting ways to cover more ground, while Drakus and Sajessia followed Trytamer as night began to fall over the desolate landscape.

- - -

Dyeeaka had taken refuge in the smallest cave she could possibly find, thankfully close to the oasis so she could get food. Her fear of being found lead her to changing her internal clock, spending the day resting and the night to do her new routines. Getting fresh water was perhaps the easiest part, as all she needed was the clay jug she had to fill up with water via the lake. Getting food was another priority, but with enough effort she had constructed a fishing rod out of some of the materials, and sat out under the palm tree in an attempt to catch something to eat.

Different fish were more active at different times she learned, and thankfully for her the bigger fish were more active at night. All she required was two of them and that would suffice. She threw her line out into the water and laid back against the tree. After some time passed, she was happily greeted by a bite on her hook, which she reeled in to obtain one of the two fish she would consume. Throwing her line back out, she waited for the next one to bite.

She still couldn't shake the fact that she had a brother, one who was a known killer, mercenary, and all around deadly swordsman. Why had her parents never told her? What else were they hiding? She drifted off in thought, not even bothering with the most recent bite, her bobber breaking off as her hook sank below the water.

Suddenly, a thought occurred to her, was she perhaps the older sibling, the big sister? If so, she could probably boss him around, get him to take care of annoying problems she had and what not. She quickly pushed this rather dumb thought aside, as she knew he was tougher than she was imagining him as. Instead, she looked at him being the younger brother as a boon. Maybe she could teach him some actually useful stuff so he wouldn't be as dumb. Then she remembered that her parents had gone missing so many years ago. Perhaps he was born rather soon before it happened, and they didn't have time to inform her of his existence. If this was the case, and she began perking her ears in realization of this, then he would know where they were. Perhaps she would go tomorrow to the town she had been avoiding, tell him everything, and then ask. If she died knowing what had happened to her... their parents, she'd die a happy asura.

For now though she was still a fish short, so grabbing another bobber and bait, she grabbed her fishing rod and started to reel in the hook, or at least she tried to, for it had snagged on something under the water. A spare hook was something she didn't have, and she needed more of. Careful not to break the only hook she had, she carefully struggled to reel in her hook, it was stuck on something! She took a few steps forward to gain leverage in her reeling as she continued to get her hook back. Finally, she had got the hook and whatever it was stuck on out of the water and dropped the fishing rod for a quick breath.

That breath wasn't even nearly a second long before she shrieked in terror and fell backwards on her previous catch. Attached to the hook of the fishing rod was the bloated corpse of her charr salesman who had sold her krewe their supplies. A thick gash was inflicted on his face, and holes were what appeared to be drilled in his torso. Dyeeaka almost lost her lunch as this sight, but she had to investigate farther. Hoping he wouldn't turn into an undead charr suddenly and attack her, she shot him in the head for good measures before examining what was on him.

A rusted blade, followed by some gears, a few bolts, and some gold (which she took, it wasn't like he was going to use it) was all she could find at first on him. Then she forced herself to look twice at the drill holes on his chest, and she realized what it was. The killer had taken the time to effectively carve out the Inquest logo on the poor charr, which at this point she puked from upon realizing. Only the Inquest or someone else crazy could possibly do something to disgusting, but who?

She suddenly stiffened up, there was only one person who could have done it. It wasn't someone she knew, not personally at least, and they were new to the Inquest.

-and they were the one who took her place in her krewe.

Dyeeaka's rage at this point and determination for her friends safety took over her as she case everything aside, grabbing her gun and the fish she caught. She stormed off back south, primal instinct took over as she gnawed on the raw fish to tell herself she -was- tough, she could do this, she could show this actual serial killer who the slap-happy Inquest she was, was.

- - -

Kiajjar paced around his office, glaring at all of his krewes equipment they had made over the years. On the right wall was a series of golems that had been build to serve here, one of them a cleaning golem that allowed quick cleaning times, the other, smaller golem being the infamously so-called Boot-Golem, made by Dyeeaka. Its mere purpose was to kick out unwanted guests in the lab, which he found very amusing. Likewise, he was afraid it was about time he used it to rid himself of a new problem, should it not fix itself.

Walking over to it and speaking into the receiver, the golem flashed to life, taking stand and following him to the center of the room. He stood in front of his desk, facing the door, waiting for his newest krewe member to show up. He casually poured himself a drink of water and slowly sipped it as he stood there patiently.

Finally, the doors opened and Xakat walked in, still as pale and blister-filled as before. He started to walk forward until Kiajjar told him to halt with a simple hand motion, in that case he stopped to hear what his krewe leader had to say.

"Xakat," he began, circling around the recruit, "I must admit, you've helped us with a lot of things around the lab, and you have also effectively made the area around the place tumbleweed free, which does honestly make me rather impressed. I have, however, received a few complaints about your... questionable actions."

Xakat didn't even blink when he heard this, he had nothing to fear. "So then, what does my krewe say about me?" He said in his slightly robotic voice.

"A few things really," Kiajjar went as he moved to actually pet the Boot-Golem, "firstly, you seem to be a person who strikes fear into people, and a few of the people here cannot work in your presence. Secondly, people have said they've seen some... rather disturbing things regarding you, such as "Your flesh is literally falling off from below your shirt!" and "Sticking a birds head on a stick and placing it on the floor." and a few others. As good as you are productive, I'm afraid you need to step up your support for the others, and not be such a, hmm, distraction."

Xakat didn't even move while he heard that, was he even alive? He took a step closer towards him and the golem, "Anything else?"

"Yes, see this golem? This is my former krewemates golem, nefarious for its ability to rid us of unwanted guests in the most comedic fashion possible. Should you not start fixing up yourself, I'm afraid I might just have to sic it on you, and by that I mean it will kick you out of the front door."

Xakat snorted, staring at the little thing, "Completely harmless, this pile of rubbish is." He twitched a little when he said this, and when he did he very briefly glowed a faint green around certain parts of his body.

Kiajjar took no notice of the quick glow, proceeding to his final statement, "Also, one of the krewemates suspect foul play in you getting in here, in the krewe I mean. They have made claims saying you have been killing some people in the town to the west, including those who supply us with materials. A rather absurd claim, but for all we know it could be possible."

Xakat's breath began to grow ragged, his eyes also began to glow a little, "If there is one person who deserves to die, it's that draconic asura, Dorty."

"Ah, really now? If I remember correctly, we've made a simple treaty with his sylvari friend stating they wouldn't attack us if we didn't attack the town or them, so as long as the lab can be threatened by him, I would like to keep on his good side and not have us killed."

"He must die."

"He should die indeed, but we lack the firepower and skills to do so. In fact, it is quite nicer knowing he won't attack us so long as-"

"He must die."

"Uhm, yes, I already said that he should die, but not by our hands."

"He." Xakat suddenly began to glow immensely green, as he suddenly began to grow, before parts of his limbs suddenly broke away to reveal clocks or parts underneath, which extended outward around the room. "Must." His chest split open to reveal more clockwork parts underneath, which waved about in a horrifying fashion. "Die," Finally his neck extended and two blades stuck out of his skull, his eyes a deathly green. He was a makeshift Twisted Nightmare, probably inspired by Scarlet Briars work, only more horrifying than her actual designs. "-and this little krewe will not get in my way."

"I- is this a threat!?" Kiajjar stumbled backwards in surprise, trapped by his desk. "Golem, kick him out!"

The golem revved up and shot a spring-mounted norn boot out of its chassis at Xakat, but it did nothing against the monstrosity. His hand suddenly became a drill, and he shot it at the golem, shredding it to bits before returning to him. He looked down at his krewe "leader" and grasped him by the throat. He gasped for air, now begging for help, sure that the rest of the krewe would hear, which they did.

"You are nothing before me." With that, Xakat briefly stabbed Kiajjar with the drill, hearing him scream before throwing him into the corner of the room, where an unstable golem was. As soon as he smashed into it, it exploded, blowing the roof off of the part of the lab. Kiajjar sat all the way through it before turning his head behind to look at the horrified krewe, grasping their weapons.

"Who would like to join your leader next?"

- - -

'Yeeakaaaa! 'Yeeaka 'yeeaka 'yeeakaaaa!" T.K kept shouting in a vain attempt to find the Inquest girl. They had been searching for hours now, and so far nothing from any of them.

"T.K, shut up would ya?" Ryagan said, they had all regrouped on the plateau in the center of the canyon, hoping from here they could somehow spot her.

"I... do not know what to do now." Trytamer said in a quiet voice for once. "We have searched everywhere, the oasis, the ruins, that one place even where for some reason a lot of tumbleweeds gather in staggering numbers. She is in none of those places.

"We have to keep looking." Dorty paced around the group, worried look on his face. "I'm not gonna find out she's my sister and then find out she's dead, alright!? We will find her, and if she's in danger, kick dangers butt!"

They all stood in silence for a few minutes. T.K kept fiddling with his fingers a little, and Sajessia kept looking straight up at the night sky, the only time she felt at peace. Trytamer took the moment to rub Drakus' belly a little, "There there little buddy, everything's gonna be okay."

"Wish I could say the same about her, Dyeeaka I mean. If she's in trouble, we need to find her, and soon.

Sajessia wasn't paying attention to the conversation, but quickly became fixated on the Inquest lab in the distance, a green glow coming from it. She looked at it for a little bit, not knowing what it could be, before suddenly she jumped a little, wide eyed in surprise as if someone just entered her mind and told her something. "Uhm, guys!?"

Everybody looked her way, and then at the lab she pointed at. Moments later, there was an explosion. The roof of the room it came from flying into the sky, landing in the oasis. Surprised looks were exchanged before Dorty shouted "C'mon!" as they all began running to the lab. Sajessia struggled to hold onto Drakus as he bounded after the gang, but Trytamer grabbed her and stuffed her into his open pouch, big enough to hold her.

Tumbleweeds, devourers, wurms, and other native creatures were all that stood between the rushing group. Dodging a few of them and hacking through the rest, they soon made their way up the path to the lab. It was moments before another explosion occurred, on top of the lab this time. Debris fell down over everyone as they hurried themselves for the door. Unexpectedly, quickly trying to open the locked door was Dyeeaka, an all urgency panic mode she was in as she punched in the code again and again, but to no avail.

"Okay, move aside, I got this." Dorty pulled his startled sister aside and readied himself to smack the door down.

"Wh-huh!?" Dyeeaka looked in shock even more at the group who had suddenly joined her. "What are you all doing here!?"

"Helping, duh!" Dorty gave the door a firm punch, which quickly crystallized the door from where he hit. With a snap of his fingers, the door shattered and opened the way inside for the group.

"Why. Why are you helping me?" Dyeeaka was actually begging to know. "I'm just a stupid Inquest!"

Dorty hesitated before he walked in, setting a hand on her shoulder. "You might be a stupid Inquest, but you're not a bad one. What's going on in there anyway?"

"I dunno! I was kicked out and replaced by some -jerk-! I bet you he's the one behind this!"

They quickly rushed inside to behold the damage done. Weapons, equipment, and other bits and gadgets were all that was scattered around the main room. One of Dyeeaka's former krewemates sat dead with their own sword stuck through their chest. The rest of the room was empty, but soon another screech ricocheted through the lab, and was quickly silenced.

They rushed to the bottom of the stairs before they witnessed Xakat, or whatever he was, darting across the top into Dyeeaka's room. There was another yell for help but as soon as they reached the top of the stairs the caller had already been culled. Dyeeaka leapt into her room and stared at Xakat, who stalked her closet and cabinets, looking for one more victim. She soon realized that would be Korrapt is she didn't act now.

"HEY COG-FACE!" She yelled, throwing a gear at Xakat, who was inches away from finding her friend.

Xakat slowly turned to face her, standing up straight and lumbering toward her, clicking and hissing at the same time.

"You picked the wrong krewe to join, Xakat."

Xakat lunged at her, but she dodged toward the door where the group was. As soon as Xakat looked her way, he stopped and stared at them.

"Looking for me?" Said Dorty. He leaned on his sword in a rather lazy fashion, all the more to make the thing angry. "I'm sure you just want me to die, is that it?"

Xakat shot his drill hand at the group, but they scattered around him and truly began the fight. Trytamer shot arrow after arrow at him, lodging a few between the limbs. Ryagan kept shooting the legs as well, in an attempt to cripple the thing for an easy kill. T.K was perhaps the most annoying for Xakat, as he kept dodging his attacks, and when he did manage to land a hit, T.K would "reward" him with a couple jolts to the everything. Dorty focused more on protecting his friends from the incoming projectiles, slashing them up before they reached them. Dyeeaka resorted to pulling out the experimental flamethrower she had been secretly working on when she wasn't doing anything else, and unleashed a fiery torment of hellfire upon the thing.

In Xakat's current state, he lost track of who was Dorty and who was Dyeeaka. Finally he pointed his drill hand at Dyeeaka, thinking she was Dorty, and lunged at her. Falling backwards as the drill smashed into the floor inches from her she crawled backward as  it advanced upon her, reeling back for a killing blow. As he thrust his appendage forward though, Dorty was faster and sliced the drill hand clean off, the drill bit landing a few feet away as the limb stopped about a foot from her upon realization, leaking out some gas. It got in her and she began gasping and chocking from it, crawling away as quickly as she could. Another second of exposure would have killed her.

Seeing his sister in distress drove Dorty into throwing all caution to the wind, going full offensive against the thing now. He slashed at the feet to make him tumble forward into Trytamer, who grabbed him and pushed forward to make him fall the other way while Sajessia yelped in fear. T.K had quickly placed a nice explosive under its footing, and when it exploded it blew Xakat off his feet, tumbling backward into the wall. Once that had happened, Dorty lunged onto its chest and began ferociously slashing at it, bolts and sparks flying everywhere before he was thrown off, blasting it with a wave of crystals as he landed.

Xakat was tired now, he wanted this asura dead, and he was going to kill him no matter what. A flamethrower appeared on his other hand, and positioning it with the dismembered limb, made a massive arc of fire targeted at them. Everybody but T.K saw it coming, and while they dodged out of the way, T.K took the full blast of melting heat. Xakat laughed a mechanical way as he torched the kid, keeping the flamethrower on him until it ran out of fuel. He moved to see the handiwork he had now done.

It was of a rather mind blowing surprise that when the smoke cleared, T.K just stood there unharmed, his clothes covered in ash. He shook himself a little to shake the soot off of him, before bursting into a fit of laughter. “AYEEEZ T.K!!! AAYYYEEEEEEEZ DA SMART!!! AYEEEEEZ DA BEST!!!”

Xakat just stood there, staring at him, before he was suddenly electrocuted by a blast of Drakus' breath. Drakus breathed some more electricity in a dazzling display of carnage upon him, while Trytamer moved in with his greatsword, hacking at the arms. Ryagan shot at the head and neck a few times as well to keep it stunned. Xakat wasn't going down like this, he lunged at Trytamer and slashed at him, cutting him a little and cutting the bangs clean off of Sajessia's head. Trytamer bounded back, ignoring the pain before he was pinned down by Xakat.

Xakat threw Trytamer across the room as he smashed into Korrapt's hiding place, while Sajessia flew out of his pocket and hit the window. She fell down to the floor and moaned, sparking with magic suddenly, whilst Trytamer got up again and, with a mighty heave, threw the whole greatsword at the monstrosity. It pierced and lodged in his chest, but Xakat ignored the fact it was there and leapt upon Trytamer again, this time readying the flamethrower. Trytamer grabbed it right before it blasted flames out of it, and the two struggled for dominance over the weapon.

What happened next was all a blur. As Trytamer pushed Xakat off him, who turned in an attempt to torch Trytamer, a sparkling beam of light pierced through the room, shooting through Xakat's skull, and through the roof to the sky above. Xakat wavered there for a few moments, mechanical head completely decapitated from the rest of the body, and then he fell over onto the floor. The rest of his mechanical form twitched for a few seconds, and then stood still, dead.

Everybody looked at where the beam came from, over by the window. Sajessia grasped her wrist as the glow of her palm quickly faded and her breath returned to normal. She slouched downward and laid there for a bit while everybody else took the moment to catch their breath.

"Is... Is everybody okay?" Dorty asked, rushing over to his sister. "Dyeeaka?"

Dyeeaka had propped herself up on the wall, coughing and still gasping for air, but very much alive. "That... gas... It burnt me... my throat is-" she coughed and wheezed a few times before throwing up over the ledge of the broken window.

"Gosh, I..." Dorty just watched his sister in agony, not knowing what to do for her. He grabbed her and hugged her from behind, trying to make her feel better. "I'm sorry this happened. At least we killed that idiot before he got you."

"...bookah, at least... we got him before... he got -him-" she pointed over to where Trytamer sat, next to him Korrapt peeked out from the broken cabinet at the group, gaping quietly, afraid to come out, yet they had saved him, and Dyeeaka risked her life too rescuing him.

T.K waltz over to the corpse of Xakat, picking off a few chunks of metal that were lodged, including one with a suspicious symbol on it, which he stuffed away in his pockets. "Shuxa." He said, giving the corpse a firm kick to the leg.

Before T.K realized it, the dead Xakat sparked again, and everybody turned to face it. It began to twitch horribly around, and light started beaming out from the chest. At this point, T.K was freaking out in realization, "EETS GONNA GO BOOM!!!"

Everybody started panicking, grabbing their belongings quickly, but the way out was sealed up, with no way out. Sajessia, surprisingly, got up and limped over to where Dyeeaka and Dorty stood.

"Guys, listen." She spoke, but she sounded different, a slightly deeper voice with an echo that bounced around the room. She suddenly waved her hand around, and a rift split open in the center of the room. "Get in there, now!" She teleported over to the rift, taking a leap of faith inside.

Everybody else wanted to live, and so with T.K and Ryagan swiftly hopping in, and Trytamer punting Korrapt inside, as he and Drakus jumped, Dorty bride-carried his sister and leapt inside. The rift closed, and after a few more seconds, Xakat exploded. The entire lab was consumed by a green inferno as the whole sky was lit up by the destruction, an armageddon that could be seen all the way from Divinities Reach, and reached upward to the heavens.

- - -

Ryagan looked around in the place they ended up in. Pink, purple, white, and yellow energies lit up the black abyss they all floated in. He watched the others try in vain to move around, but were stuck floating aimlessly in one spot. Scattered around were a few books, a brownie, a broken golem, and a blanket, all floating around the same way they were. Sajessia floated around, somehow the only one who could control where she went here, as she checked her friends to make sure they were okay.

"Sej, would you mind telling us where we are?" Ryagan calmly said.

Sajessia flew back to the center of where they were, "It's my pocket rift. I've figured out how to get people inside it, so, I figured this was the safest place to be." She reached out with her magic and grabbed everybody else with it, pulling everybody closer together and not so far apart. Her loose hair waved about with no gravity affecting it.

"Alright, so how do we get out then?"

"Same way we got in, but we should wait. The explosion might still be going on, so we should stay here for a bit. I'm sorry guys, really. If I didn't do this we'd all be dead."

Dorty beckoned for her to come over to him, so she did. He took her by the hand and hugged her lightly. "You pretty much just saved us. Don't feel sorry, I don't care how long we stay here, so long as we're fine in the long run."

Sajessia kept herself in the hug, wrapping her arms and her leg around him as she spoke in a weak, soft voice that everybody could hear, "...thank you..."

Dyeeaka's coughing broke the silence, moaning in pain. Korrapt reached out and pulled himself closer to her. She opened her mouth for him to see burn marks and a blister at the back of her throat, likely a cause of the exposure to the gas. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a modified filtration device, offering it to her. "Take it, I was saving it for emergencies, but you need it more than I do now."

Dyeeaka carefully took hold of the thing, looking at it before putting it on her face over her mouth. She took a few, deep breaths that made a wheezing sound through the filter, but she breathed normally again. "Thanks Korrapt, I owe you one."

Korrapt smiled and gave her head a rub, "You already did, remember?"

Dyeeaka chucked, turning to Dorty, a sad expression showing up on her face. She looked between them both for a few moments, before sighing and letting go of both of them. "Guys, there's something I need to say to both of you."

"Whatever it is, I'm all ears." Korrapt said, wiggling his.

"I can probably guess, but I don't want to spoil it." Dorty laughed a little, getting a glare from Korrapt.

"Listen, all of you." Dyeeaka got every bodies attention before she continued. "I only found out this recently, and it's thanks to my friend Korrapt here, and I am just as shocked as all of you are about to be." She turned to Dorty, taking a deep breath before saying "Dorty, I'm your sister, you're my brother. We have the same parents."

"-what!?" Korrapt gasped, cupping his mouth in surprise, looking between the two, before exclaiming, "Huh, I guess you two do look alike..."

"We already knew, sis. I'd say just as recently as you found out too." Dorty sighed. "I'm still a little surprised myself, but hey, blame our parents for bringing us both into this world."

"Wait, you found out too? How??"

"T.K went to Rata Sum, found some files on our mom. How about you?"

"Dads journal, he left it behind in his home."

"Huh, I was wondering why he left it there."

"Hey, speaking of, I really need to ask something." She reached out and grabbed his arm, careful not to touch his hands. "Where are mom and dad? You're the one who last saw them, weren't you?"

Dorty perked his ears up in surprise, then they dropped down as he sighed. He turned the other way without responding. Everybody else grew quiet, not like they weren't already.

"Dorty, where are mom and dad?" She repeated.

He sighed and spoke quietly, "After we got kicked out of Rata Sum, we went west into the heart of the jungle. We didn't get far before..." He stopped, tear floating off from his eyes. "...before Mordremoth killed them."

Dyeeaka's eyes widened in shock. Dorty being her brother was surprising enough, but her parents death? She sniffled, then broke out in tears and hugged her brother, who returned with wrapping an arm around her in support. "Now what are we going to do???"

"I lived in the jungle for years, then left, made some good friends, then returned and killed Mordremoth, met Sej, and settled down here. I'd say we're good ourselves, but I think the better question is what are you and your friend gonna do now?"

Dyeeaka and Korrapt exchanged looks before she turned and said "I'm going to leave the Inquest. They'll assume we're dead, so they won't bother looking for us. You with me buddy?"

Korrapt was still in shock himself, but upon hearing those words he nodded, "A new chance at life is just what we need."

Dyeeaka smiled under her filter, letting go of her brother before pulling Korrapt over to her, touching foreheads because a kiss to the cheek wouldn't work.

Everybody sat in silence for the next few minutes before T.K finally blurted out, "Soooo... when we leave?"

"I think it's been long enough, let me check." Sajessia did the same hand motion she did before, and the rift opened again. There was no green glow or anything destructive out on the other side, so she grabbed the others with her magic again and pulled them back through with her. "It's safe, let's go."

- - -

Sajessia was first to leave her pocket rift, and pulled everybody else out with her before closing it back up. The area around them, the entire lab and the part of the canyon it resided in, was now a smoking hole in the ground. Even though the heat of the explosion was gone, bits and pieces of the lab still came tumbling out from the sky. T.K ran about trying to see what he could uncover or keep as a trophy amongst the wreckage. Everybody else stood around, finally getting the chance to breath fresh air.

"Oi!" T.K shouted from over a broken wall. He had found the drill hand that had been used by Xakat, the tip blown off. "Can we keep it?"

"No T.K, we're not keeping it." Ryagan shouted back to him. "Do you have any idea how much blood has been spilled using that thing?"

"Nup! Ayez don't care, ayes keeping it! Besides, eet beroken anyway."

Dyeeaka kept leaning on Dorty's shoulder for a bit before she stepped away over to the cliffside, just to appreciate the view. The lab might have been gone, but that didn't ruin the rest of the scenery, merely her slightly more comfortable vantage point.

"So," Dorty stepped over to her to also admire the landscape, "watcha gonna do now?"

"I dunno, join a new krewe? Found a new one? Just do whatever the heck I want? Whatever it is I do, I have one thing for certain that will be done." Dyeeaka turned over to T.K, who was running around with the drill hand, "Hey T.K, that's it right? You got any orange paint?"

"Uhhhhh... Back at the house, yeh!"

"Gimmi it so I can get the red off me. I like red, but red and black is Inquest colors. Orange will have to do. I'm leaving."

"Leaving, huh?" Ryagan stepped forward, baring those eyes of his back down on her.p, before smiling. "I guess we could cover for you and your friend here, said you all got wiped out in the explosion, wadaya say?"

"That would be most appreciated. Oh, by the way, if you find a way to get these burns and blisters out of my mouth without permanent damage, let me know okay?"

"Eh, we probably won't, since research isn't our thing sis." Dorty chucked, "I'll be sure to write though, or contact you somehow, or... ah what the heck I'll pop up on your doorstep that good enough?"

"Nononooo, no need. I'll be much more fine without you being around, just write to me okay? If the Inquest find out we're related we're gonna be in a tumbleweed."

"Eehhhhh, I see what you did there!" He gave her a light punch to the side, she returned with a slap to his face. "Okay, no side jabs then? Ah alright."

"Well, I guess we should get going. To town first though, I gotta change this outfit to something slightly less Inquesty."

"Heh, well then, let's get outta here guys. I gotta get some rest, I mean really." He let out a deep yawn and stretched a little.

"Ya think? We're all probably tired. You mind if me and Korrapt crash at your place for the night?"

"Not at all. Just stay out of Sej's room, she's still a little paranoid and likes to be left alone."

Ryagan motioned for everybody to leave. Trytamer gave Drakus a good, firm belly rub before they followed, and T.K tried revving up the drill, which surprisingly was still working, just not as functional. The path and road was clear of any tumbleweeds after the explosion, so getting to town would be unhindered. Everybody else walked down the trail, but Dorty stopped and looked behind to see Sajessia sitting there quietly.

"Sej, c'mon, we're getting out of here, you're tired, right?"

Sajessia just nodded and slowly got up. A soft peachy aura glowed around her as she stumbled over to him. He chucked and picked her up, carrying her along to catch up to the others. She felt warm, more than normally, and her wings also glowed this peachy color.

"Sej, you alright?"

She opened her eyes to look up at Dorty. Some little lights resembling stars flickered in her pupils. "I feel funny, in a nice way I mean."

"Heh, if you're gonna fall asleep might as well do it now, I'll tuck you in when we get back."

Comfortable enough, she closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around him, falling asleep. A little trail of stardust was left behind as they walked, and quickly dissipated. As she slept, she heard someone talk, but it wasn't any of the people she was with, it was a voice in her head. It calmed her, her breathing slowed, smiling a little. It spoke one more time before going silent:

"Your time will come. Be patient, child."

Days had past since the first encounter, and both groups stayed on their toes in case of an attack. Dorty's group had quickly taken Dyeeaka running in fear as a hopeful sign that they were to not be messed with by this specific group, and so they rubbed it in by making jokes about baddies running from them just by looking at them. The Inquest group however buffed up their defenses and now sent only Dyeeaka to get supplies, assuming she had the knowledge on how to survive another encounter. She refused, but was threatened to be kicked out and had no other choice. Now she took daily trips to the town, keeping to the corners in an attempt to stay hidden, from Dorty's group at least.

All the while this was going on, the effects of Mordremoths death began to become apparent. Ley energy was out of control at this point, popping up anywhere almost and attracting an all manner of creatures, especially hungry dragon minions. Anomalies began to form from the excess magic as well, leading to some damage to the environment. The biggest issue however was the effects of the overloading magic on the people, as some quickly learned of. Some people had been supercharged by it and took advantage of the sudden buff they had. Others, like Dorty and Sajessia, had issues arise. With magic overloading in them it was hard to get things done without venting magic in one way or another, becoming a hassle to put up with.

Dorty had kept brushing crystals that newly formed on him off, leaving quite the mess of dragon crystals everywhere. Ley energy was causing his draconic instincts to take hold, and the urges to just feast on some magic continued to rise, but he persisted and endured. T.K was running all around the place, not affected at all almost by the increase, trying to get something out of the absurd quantities of magic. Trytamer and Ryagan were also affected, but the most they got out it was more fighting power.

Sajessia had it the worst out of them. Unlike Dorty, she wasn't quite as able to vent magic so easily, so she was regularly overloading with it. Going up to her room and looking inside to see stardust everywhere wasn't unusual now, and her moans of discomfort were also something that we're hard to get rid of, as well as the sparks of magic that leapt from her torso, making her jump, twitch, or jerk in some way. She was wearing a null-collar around her chest, instead of her neck as it was intended, to ease the insane levels of magic within her. Rather than shut down her magic completely like it was meant for, all it did for her was keep her from yelling in discomfort and possibly pain as her magic would overload again and again. So long as she wore it, everything was for the most part okay.

A possible solution to the recent magic overloads was being researched by the Priory, but nothing was developed yet, so the group hung tight and kept together. Keeping themselves alright was one thing, but another thing had the town in an uproar: the White Mantle conspiracy. With the supposed return of the White Mantle, people were preparing for the worst, making preparations for a possible attack, since west of the region was the Forsaken Thicket, which was what turned out to be the home of a large White Mantle fortification. Therefore, if they pushed east to the town, the town would at least be somewhat prepared.

Dorty had packed up the jewelry he was selling at his market stall, and now headed towards The Heated Palm, the bar in the town. His throat parched, he needed a drink from a place that didn't serve just water. On a windy day one would expect people to stay indoors due to the sand, but thankfully enough the sand here wasn't picked up so easily, at most gaining a foot in hight, so crowds still persisted. He weaved through the groups of people, eyes set on the sandstone bar a few buildings down. As he made a dash for it, he punched to the side with his hand to deflect a tumbleweed back in the direction it came from, catching a few unlucky chickens in it before returning to its usual course, now with a chicken payload. Dorty finally made it to the bar, pushing the double doors open and taking cover behind the wall to catch his breath.

Nobody batted an eye his way, as most people came in already tuckered out from the effort it took to simply get inside. The bar itself was cozy enough to relax in, but at the same time held enough space to fit at least a tenth of the towns population. Apart from the bar counter itself, the place had circular tables with chairs, a dart board, a cellar where most of the drinks that weren't water were kept, and a second floor with a view down, doubling as another place to enjoy drinks. There was even a designated spot in the bar for people who lost their lunch, placed in the corner and designed to vent the stench outside away from most noses. At the moment there was not many people inside, a few humans, a sylvari, a charr, and of course the bartender who earned the nickname "Mc. Chuckles" due to his bar jokes and making people crack up. A certain asura was already seated at the bar, enjoying a drink...

Dorty quickly realized it was the same asura who had been trying to avoid him the last few days. Despite what she was probably assuming, he noticed her presence every time, so at this point he wasn't bothered. It was actually rather funny seeing her try her best to stay out of his gaze. Enough was enough though, he had the chance to find out about the local Inquest here and he wasn't going to ignore it. He stepped up to the bar and took a seat next to her, too busy drinking to notice him. He silently asked Chuckles for some water, who brought it over as quietly as Dorty was right now, then decided to make things more interesting, saying "Well, I recon I better enjoy a drink myself, you two get along now, kay?"

That got Dyeeaka's attention, a confused look on her face before looking to her left at Dorty, who shrugged. Watching her yelp and nearly fall off the stool got a snicker out of him, but he quickly shook his head and took a drink himself.

"Wh-what are -you- doing here!?" She stammered, leaning back as far as she could go without falling.

"Well, you aren't as sneaky as you think you are, yaknow?" He said calmly.

"Why haven't you come for me yet then?? I'm probably tastier than I look!"

"Okay, now I know you're afraid of me, but cannibalism is not something I do, that's just too far right there for my stuff."

"Wha-... You -are- going to try and kill me in my sleep, right?"

"Please, I have two conditions for that to happen, okay?"

"Oh, and what would those be!?"

"Simpler than you think. If you mess with me too much, if you get what I mean, or if you hurt my friends, then I will come for you. In all honesty I haven't seen you make an attempt on anybody here, plus everybody kinda... knows you as nice so..."

Dyeeaka at this point was dumbfounded. She was Inquest, naturally someone like her would be a common target for any bounty hunter or vigilante, and here was the guy who everyone was afraid of for obvious reasons, talking to her like she was any other person in the bar. "Why are you..." She started to say, before cutting herself off with another drink, "-being so nice to me? You want something from me, is that it!?"

"Well, now that you mention it," he slid his glass aside and turned to face her, one arm on the counter, crystallized hand completely visible, "I am curious what you guys do here. We only moved here recently, and taking into account the past encounters we've had, well, you guys might want to think twice before attacking us, but seriously, what does your krewe do?"

Dyeeaka shook her head, not answering for a few minutes. The awkward silence combined with him sipping his drink finally got to her, and she confessed. "We mostly work on defense systems for the Inquest bases, but so far, SOMEONE," she leaned in towards him with an aggressive look, which he only chucked at, "has kept destroying the bases where our shipments have gone."

"Choose better then, or maybe choose nicer folk to send them to." He turned to face the front of the room where the entrance lay, checking outside for the crowd. "By the way, I didn't catch your name, but hey, I'm pretty certain you know mine by now, am I right?"

"Ehm, yes actually." She leaned back again away from him, enjoying the rest of her drink, "I am Dyeeaka, chemist and engineer, -and- the master of slapping."

Dorty spat his drink out laughing, turning to her in surprise, "The master of slapping? Oh, this has got to be good!"

"Oh, you wanna go? You wanna go, huh!?" She lost control of herself and threw a few hard slaps at his face, landing all of them, before reeling back and realizing what she just did.

Dorty rubbed the spots she hit him, which actually stung quite a bit, then laughed a little. "Okay, as impressive as that is, I don't think it's a very good weapon."

"...I'm dead now, aren't I?" She started curling up on the top of the stool, a scared look on her face as her eyes got watery and her ears drooped.

"Nooooope, you got a while, and you probably won't die from me unless you ask for it, one way or another." He finished off his water, paying before hopping off the stool. "I gotta get going, and you should probably leave soon too."

"Why, so you can ambush me on my way back to the lab?"

"Nope, back home, because happy hour."

"...wha-?" Her ears perked.

"Happy hour." He repeated, "The whole town likes to come here at this time, so chances are you die by something else or by getting squished in the crowds, your choice!" He calmly walked out of the bar and into the alleyway across the street, before jumping onto the building and began his short trek back home.

Dyeeaka just sat there, unable to register what just happened. To see if he was really talking sense, she payed for her drink and walked outside and stood out in the open. Sure enough, a large portion of the residents close by had already flooded the bar, and she sighed with relief that she was not in there.

Said relief did not last long, as suddenly a tumbleweed came bounding down from the street ahead of her, landing on her perfectly enough for her to get stuck in it as she was helplessly shook around as it went where wherever tumbleweeds go. Kicking and cursing, she was carried out of the town in the most embarrassing fashion possible back to the lab.

- - -

The krewe was enjoying their lunch when she got back, rolling in through the door caught in a tumbleweed. After some careful cutting of her prison, she was finally released and joined her krewe for mealtime, while Korrapt finished and took the tumbleweed up to his quarters for investigation. Much converse was going on concerning future projects and such, as well as rumor that a new member would join them soon enough. Where they would stay, nobody knew, unless a bed was shared or an entirely new room was made for them. Kiajjar wasn't talking about it, but he was being more observant of everyone lately, especially project-wise.

Lunch was quickly over and everybody once again went their separate ways. Dyeeaka, rather than return to her dorm, went to Korrapt's quarters to catch up with him on things. Mostly, however, she wanted to see what he got out of the tumbleweed that had grabbed her. As soon as she entered she could already see him with the remains of it scattered over his desk, as he examined each individual piece of it.

"So, what have you learned about my "captor"?" She said before giggling.

"Well, I found out it's mostly dead, and tumbles around to spread seeds so that more may grow." He explained.

"What about them running into us? They aren't carnivorous?"

"As far as I'm concerned, any asura or object that gets caught in one of these was merely at the wrong place at the wrong time."

"Hmph, so avoid open areas, got it." She laughed, tumbleweeds were so simple and yet so strange to them. "I got myself dragged around today as well, not by our little friend here I mean. I mean I got caught up in a conversation with... You know... Him."

Korrapt looked up in surprise, but smiled knowing she was okay, "What did he say?"

"He said as long as we don't mess with anybody in the town that he will not attack us. I can't guarantee that, but-"

"Oh," his ears drooped a little, "I hope he doesn't think it was us."

"Say what now? What happened, Kor?? What did we do!?"

"It wasn't us but..." He sighed and looked off toward the town in the distance, "apparently shortly after you left, his friend dragged herself back from Brisbane..."

"What did SHE do? She's a little asura with pigtails and looks nice. She wouldn't do anything."

"I'm not saying that. I dunno what happened but... there was definitely a scene. The sylvari scooped her up and took her back home, something definitely happened, and I hope we don't get the blame."

"Oh boy..." She said weakly, that fear she had from before suddenly returning to her. "In all honesty, I just want to leave..."

"Where would you go? We don't have anywhere to go, so we would be homeless if we left. I don't like it here either, but at least it's something."

"I don't care, anywhere is better than here, and not dying is better than dying because -someone- stuck the blame on us!" She quickly calmed herself down, looking back at the mysterious device Korrapt had been working on out of her sight, shaking her head.

"Your birthday is in a few days." He said.

"I realize that. I just hope I live long enough to reach it, and even better, live long enough to finish translating you know what."

He nodded and blew the bits of tumbleweed off the desk, clearing it and plunking some paperwork on it. "I hope whatever's going down out here, that we get through."

"Neuuuhgh... I hope so too." She leaned in and patted him on the head, playfully pinching his ears before turning and leaving.

As she returned to her dorm, she didn't notice her krewe leader standing outside Korrapt's quarters. Had she payed more attention, she would have seen the clipboard and pencil, and had she been aware of what he was doing, she would have not said as much to her friend, not like it would matter soon...

- - -

"Trytamer, easy on the bandages," Ryagan spoke in a calm but serious tone, "Sej, I know it hurts can you just-"

"Nnmmhhhh!!!" She moaned in pain.

Sajessia was returning from another trip to Divinities Reach when a member of the Inquest had jumped her and attempted to kidnap her. Barely escaping and somehow hurting her attacker, she now lay out on a mat while Trytamer tended to the arrow wound she had in her leg, one that was only made worse by having the arrow ripped back out by her attacker. Kicking and squirming around was all she could do, apart from the obvious moaning, about the state of pain she was in not just from the arrow, but from the overload of magic inside her, making it even worse as she couldn't remain calm. Dorty, T.K and Ryagan just watched as Trytamer patched up what he could of her.

"Alright, this is the best I can do here." He spoke, rising to examine his handy work. A rather messy but trusty batch of bandages wrapped entirely around her leg below the knee was the best he could do with her.

Sajessia slowly stopped squirming around and looked at where her leg was wrapped up, then after a few moments, burst out crying. Even her magic reacted from her sobbing, as it was overloaded by the ley energy overcharge.

"Sej, I'm sorry this happen to you, but trust me when I say we -will- get to the bottom of this." Ryagan said abruptly.

Dorty had no words to say or even describe what was going on right now. All we was doing was washing dirty clothes when Ryagan came running up the hill with her bleeding. Now here he was standing over her while she wept in pain. Going into an emotional fit himself he fell down to his knees and gently hugged her, not caring about magic overloading at all at this point. "Sej..." He spoke softly, "I dunno who did this to you... but I guarantee they'll be sleeping with one eye open for the rest of their life."

"Can ayez go where no go before-o, and find da 'quist who did it?" T.K said in a more absurd dialect then what he normally spoke in.

"No, not now. Later, maybe." He carefully stuffed his arms under his friend, mindful of the sharp bits of his hands. Sajessia wiggled over until they were completely under her, then he lifted her up and carried her. "C'mon Sej, you need some rest..." He said softly and in a sad manner.

Sajessia didn't oblige, her room was where she wanted to be, where she wanted to stay, to hide, to forget this horrible event. Still sparking with her magic, she wrapped her arms around him as he carried her up the stairs to her room, mindful of the door that needed to be opened, and stepped inside her room. Thanks to some genius asuras invention, a one-way skylight was installed so she could enjoy the sky even inside her room.

Dorty walked over to her bed, and ever so gently set her down, then propped her leg up with a pillow. He tried pulling the covers over her, but she wouldn't let go of him, so he stood in this awkward position with him kneeling on the floor with her arms wrapped around him.

"Sej, I know you need help, but can you please..."

"Nuuuhhh!" She pouted, grasping him tighter. Her teary eyes looked up at him, "...s-stay with me... please..?"

Dorty wasn't sure what to say. As much as he wanted to rip her attacker limb from limb, Sej's comfort meant more for him right now. He sighed and climbed into her bed, getting her into a better hug. Despite her sparking with magic every few seconds and twitching from each one, he was unaffected by it.

"...It's gonna be okay.... You'll be okay..." He moved his hand to brush it against her wings, trying to make her feel better, but avoid tickling her. "...Everything's gonna be alright.... You just watch..."

Sajessia lay still, or as still as she could be with pain and magic overloading her senses. A wing rub was something she liked getting, and tried her best to enjoy it while she could in her current situation. There was quite few people who cared for her, not safety wise, but actually making her feel better in times when she felt broken, hurt, or just sad in general. She wanted to thank him for staying with her, and leaned in to land a kiss on his nose, but then her magic sparked again, she flinched, and the kiss went from his nose to his lips on accident.

Both of them reeled back in surprise, staring at each other for a few seconds, startled by what just happened. She kept shaking her head at him, thinking he was getting the wrong idea, "...I... didn't mean... to...." She was crying already from the pain and discomfort, now she was tearing up even more thinking she messed up big time.

"Hey hey, wait, don't cry..." He urged her, but was already sobbing even more. He sighed, pulling her closer and hugging her just slightly tighter. He moved his hand from her wings to her head, tilting it up before giving her the kiss on the nose that was intended for him. She went wide eyed suddenly, staring at him, her breathing slowed, and she mostly stopped crying now. The only thing left now that was denying her of comfort was her magic overloading. She pulled herself all the way up to him and hugged him as tightly as she could. He sighed and wrapped his arm around her while using the other to gently stroke through her hair.

It came to surprise then when she suddenly moved her own hand to the back of her head, and then tugging out the hair bands that held her pigtails up. He watched her natural hair fall down to her shoulders, and moved his hand to get that part of her hair too while she resumed hugging him back.

"...thank you... for everything..." She whispered.

"It's alright, just... stay here for a while. Rest up and eat something."

Ryagan knocked on the door to her room, and Dorty turned his head towards it, "Yeah?"

"Good news Dorty, Sej, we've got proper treatment on hand, and with that I'd say we'll have her better in a week."

"A... week..?" Sajessia asked softly. She even smiled ever so slightly, but Dorty didn't see it.

"That's good, see? You'll be alright in no time. Well, not literally but, you know." He chuckled.

Sajessia laughed a little before another spark jolted through her, making her jump in surprise.

"Yeah, uhm..." He reached out and put his hand on the side of her head, "We might need to get you venting some magic sooner or later, I don't like seeing you in this state."

She nodded, then loosened the hug, and closed her eyes, trying her best to sleep. Dorty held her gently enough and placed her head under his chin, the he closed his eyes too, sharing the nap they were having. They slept until dinner, then when night fell and the time for bed had arrived, he gave her one last hug and nose-kiss before they parted for sleep.

- - -

Dyeeaka had decided to take a casual trip to the town the next day, since it was a day off for everybody. She planned the simple trip for a few things, to get a few drinks, to browse the market, and of course to find out why her charr friend had stopped selling the precious scraps of metal that her krewe needed. It was noon, the worst time to be outside because tumbleweeds were for some reason even more common at this time than others. She kept to the sidelines to avoid the crowds and the tumbleweeds bouncing between them and on top of them.

She made it to the bar where she proceeded to play a few games of darts and grab a few drinks. She was also introduced to a game that involved putting money on the line, which she gave a try and found as a fun little thing to get into, but not too much as if she were to keep losing she would blow her savings to shreds. She enjoyed a few more drinks before she started her way to the door, but before she got there it busted open and a figure walked inside. All heads turned to them as they took a few steps in, eyes on the bar, but then they looked down at her, and she realized it was the sylvari who lived with Dorty.

"Hey Ryagan," Chuckles spoke to him from across the bar, "while you're gonna do whatever you're gonna do, how about I prepare a drink for ya?"

"Just some water please, my throat's parched." He replied, but then looked down at Dyeeaka again, kneeling until he was about a head above her. She trembled wondering what all this was about. “What exactly were you doing yesterday?" He asked.

Dyeeaka realized what he was asking her, then replied, "I was in this bar conversing with your draconic friend before I left, got caught in a tumbleweed, and rolled all the way back to my krewe lab." She said as confidently as she could.

Ryagan then leaned in a little, eyes locked on hers, she was starting to get a little nervous about what was going to happen now, before he stood back up and whisked himself to the bar, "Alright, go on ahead and do what you were doing, and that's leaving I assume?"

Dyeeaka didn't hesitate, she darted through the doors and back outside. In a minute she was at the marketplace again, looking over some of the things there was to buy. Some of the things included were a few cows, a seraph flag, lucky centaur shoes, and even the "Do-It-Yourself Bleachers Bluff kit". After some more weaving through the crowds, she finally reached the stall where the charr should have been. All that metal was just lying there for someone to take, but it was so much nobody would try to take it without breaking their back.

She looked around for any sign of him, and then looked over at the stall next to his, the one she saw the other day, and realized who was the owner of it. Dorty was selling gemstones and jewelry to people for money, and T.K, at least she thought it was his name, was suggesting which ones to buy for what occasion. Most of the customers were girls, give or take a few guys there, and ironically enough no skritt were in sight trying to take them. Looking over between the charts stall and Dorty's, she decided to go see what he had for sale, and more importantly ask about the charr.

"-and this one goes awesomely with fancy dance stuffs!" T.K was telling one human while holding up a shimmering earring, easily reflecting the light.

Dyeeaka stepped between the two conversing and stepped up to the stand. Dorty's head snapped around in surprise at her presence, but he quickly resumed some of his handiwork making more things to sell. She watched him easily carve the jewelry into existence, but noticed he had a sad look on his face. Whatever had happened yesterday had got him down in the dumps, as some would say. Regardless, his jewel crafting skills were unhindered by this and he continued to make stuff for the selling.

"So," she finally spoke up, "what happened yesterday after I left?"

"I don't wanna talk about it..." He said softly.

"Well, it must be bad, if you aren't as happy as you used to be."

He sighed and finished another piece of jewelry before talking to her, "Some -jerk- decided it was a good idea to ambush Sej on her way home, and stuck a stupid arrow in her leg, darn Inquest..."

Dyeeaka's ears perked up, then drooped. Nobody in her krewe had experience with a bow, and even if they did, bows required big, bulky arrows to carry around. Guns however required little bullets that could inflict just as much damage and quicker. "Well, I'm sorry that happened, is she okay?"

"She'll be fine in a week, but we need to be more careful now, and I don't mean just us."

"Whoever be da shootah is gonna sleep with one eye open fer the rest of their little life! Ha!" T.K blurted out.

"You do realize who you are, right?" She said to Dorty, "You could easily just find who did this and-"

"I -do- realize who I am, but I'm not psychic okay? Have you ever been a powerful person with a lot of responsibilities and what-not to deal with? Exactly, you haven't, try thinking about it."

Dyeeaka was about to reply, but then she did try thinking what it was like to be him. He had powers that nobody else had, and he could probably murder all of Rata Sum if he wanted, but yet there was always some people who got away from him, who he let get away from him. Then he also had those friends to look after, and this "Sej" too, who now was suffering from an arrow wound. He didn't mind being in danger himself, it was his friends he was worried about, not him. Realizing that hit her into realizing maybe Korrapt was right about him being a nice guy, if given the chance.

While she was pondering this, T.K's eyes darted between her and Dorty, brows raising and lowering, then raising again, then he narrowed them. Clearly he was thinking something up, and after a few moments of both of them looking his way, he finally said "Ya two looki alike."

"Say wha-?" Dorty said in surprise, now his ears were perked up.

"Wh- we do not!" She said.

"Yeh, ya do!" T.K said, leaning in and pushing Dyeeaka closer to the stall, "Looki each other! Looki!"

They did, and both quickly became aware he had a point. Both had a brownish-orange hair, grey skin, and orange eyes. A careful enough eye could even see they had the same skin markings.

Dyeeaka turned to the kid and shook her head at him, "Are you suggesting we're related!?"

T.K narrowed his eyes even more, leaning in ever slowly more, before straightening up so fast he wobbled around like a spring, "YEH!"

Both of them started laughing, related? There was no way she could be related to this crazy dumb asura, and there was no way he was related to an Inquest agent. Dyeeaka quickly snapped out of her laughing spree and asked, "Aside from this, do you know what has become of the charr who sets up right next to you?"

Dorty shook his head, "I dunno, he was here a few days ago, then poof!"

"Ayez think he dead." Said T.K, "Very, very dead."

Both looked at him in surprise, "-and what makes you say that?" Dyeeaka said.

"I dunno!" He laughed.

"Well, I'm going to leave before -you- start to try and see in vain if we are related." She gave him a slap to the knee before walking off away from the stall. Dorty and T.K exchanged looks and T.K started doing his infamous brow-wiggling in the usual "You know It's gonna happen." fashion.

"T.K, I know she's Inquest but we're not kidnapping her."

"Aye dun't need to!" He said, and after giving away a free doughnut he got and didn't eat, he bounded off towards the exit to the town, turning for Brisbane Wildlands.

Dorty just dropped his head on the stall and left it there for a few moments, before resuming selling his stock. After everything was sold out, he retired to his home and comforted Sajessia before having dinner. Whatever was about to go down out here was going to affect everyone.

- - -

"I call upon you all for this simple meeting, may I say."

Kiajjar's voice boomed through the conference room, everybody was waiting to see what their krewe leader had in store for them, what sort of project was their next thing, or if they were finally going to do something about the towns residents. He paced around on the front while everybody sat at the main table, at their respected seats with their names on them. After a few minutes, he spoke up again, "I am glad to announce, as you all have theorized and rumored, that we do indeed have a new krewe member."

Everybody clapped, waiting for them to come out, Kiajjar paced around a little more before continuing, "He will allow us to greatly improve our golemancy, and our security nevertheless! Xakat, you may come out now."

The clapping quickly faded once the new asura walked out, he looked very pale, with some blisters on his skin and in general a very creepy person. When he spoke up, his voice sounded like a mix between an old asura and a golem, despite his appearence. "Thank you -all- for the welcoming of me. I simply cannot wait to improve what this humble krewe has, but first," He looked straight forward across the table at the krewe members who sat there, "I am afraid that your krewe leader has to let one of you go, to, ah, make room for me. Too much to add a room, you know?"

That got everybody nervous and sweating, a few already began clutching their weapons in the case that "let go" meant "kill". Kiajjar stepped forward and clarified things up.

"I do mean we will simply kick one of you out of the krewe, not forcefully, we will give you time, but we will not be killing you." He began walking on the right side of the table, looking over people before stopping, "Therefore I have decided that the least effective person would be to go, and that would be," he turned to his right, "you."

Every bodies ears perked up in surprise, a few laughed, but Dyeeaka firmly stood up, fuming, "WHAT!? Why me!?"

"I'm afraid you haven't been able to get our supplies lately, and your projects are all very overdue, so I must ask that you pack your belongings and get lost."

Dyeeaka's rage turned to sadness as she began pouting, making her way to the exit, some people lowering their heads, they were gonna miss her.

"I will give you forty-eight hours to leave, after that we will kick you out forcefully via the boot golem you came up with, very amusing that one."

Dyeeaka didn't care how she was leaving, but deep down there was a little happiness in her that she was finally getting out, but who the heck was this Xakat? Putting someone in her place without consulting her was suspicious, how would he know to trust this new person? She was still red with anger as she closed the door to her dorm, locking it up and plopping into the hammock she was so accustomed to by now, picking up the unfinished journal of her father's. She lay there, for how long staring upward she didn't know, then after what felt like hours, a knock on her door snapped her out of this trance, and she went to answer it.

"Who the heck is it?" She asked firmly.

"Korrapt, c'mon girl, it's twelve already!" He muffled through the closed door.

"Why are you here and not sleeping?" She asked, confused.

"Come with me, something I gotta show ya." He replied.

Dyeeaka just punched the lock on the door, opening it and following Korrapt to his quarters, still clutching the journal. They headed over to the machine under the sheet Korrapt had been secretly working on, which he promptly revealed. It looked like a printing press, but with a more obvious asuran influence to it.

"May I see your journal?" He asked.

"What? No, this is my dads, I'm not letting it out of my sight."

"Trust me on this, this is something you will thank me so much for."

Dyeeaka sighed and handed the journal to him, which he placed in a squared-out area on the device. He then typed in a few commands on the holographic console, and the machine suddenly went to work. It flipped through the pages at a lightning speed before turning to the last page she had got to, then began stamping through the pages at a slightly slower rate. "Wh-what are you doing!?" She was worried that it was going to be ruined beyond translating for her, but he shook his head and smiled as it finished and retracted.

Grabbing the journal, Korrapt offered it back to her, "Happy Birthday." he said calmly, a big grin on his face.

Dyeeaka was confused at first, but realizing this machine was meant for her this day made her feel a little better. She flipped to the page she last translated and nearly dropped the book when she saw that the machine had translated the rest of the thing for her into asuran script, which she could easily read. She nearly teared up, and threw herself at her friend in a hug.

"BEST, BIRTHDAY, GIFT, EVER." She sobbed, tightening the hug.

"Go enjoy it then, I gotta get some shut-eye." He said as he wiggled out of the hug over to his bed.

"Thank you, Korrapt." She spoke, "I dunno if we'll run into each other again, but you helped me solve one of my life mysteries, don't forget that."

Watching Korrapt smile as he dozed off made her smile as well. She turned for the exit and returned to her dorm, soon to be Xakat's. Still holding the journal she held it to her chest and pulled herself up on her hammock with her blankets as she too went to sleep.

Morning came and Dyeeaka was already packed up with the essentials. She planned to crash at the town for the duration, but decided to go north and explore there. Giving her former krewe one last wave, and Korrapt one last hug, and that one annoying tumbleweed one more punch into the door, she set off towards the oasis that supplied them with fresh water for drinking. She passed by a few caves, some local Skritt who were attracted by her gun, and the drake pit before finally reaching the cool breeze of the oasis.

She settled down under the tree that was closest to the water, unpacking some of her belongings before choosing down on some food she packed. After this little brunch she nabbed the translated journal out from her pack and stuffed her nose into it, eager to read it more than anything else. She blazed through the pages as she searched for answers, skimming over the unimportant details and taking in the juicy chunks of information.

"...so far we have been lucky with keeping a job for us. So few jobs are comfortable with us, but they are good enough and provide decent income. Dockworkers are easy to be as all we have to do is load and unload crates. Sure, it's something a golem could do so much easier, but we don't glitch out like they do, nothing we or our son can't handle, it's interesting how..."

Wait, did she read that right? She read the last sentence again, and again, and again, and a few more times just for it to sink in. A son? She had a younger brother? Who was he, and where? Then again, she was sent away with another asura at a younger age, so perhaps he was born shortly after. She flipped back a couple pages and read from there.

"...finally came around after the doctor busted in. Dear was holding our new son in her arms. He had her markings and my eyes, just like our daughter. We didn't know what to call him at first, but after some debate on asura and human names, we decided to try a mix of the two cultures, so in the end we called him Dorty. Nice name I have to admit, can't think of..."

"WHAAAAAAAT!?!?" Dyeeaka nearly screamed, dropping the book in surprise. She shook her head and smacked herself in the face a few times before reading again. This couldn't be the truth, could it!? She eventually couldn't handle the shock anymore and quickly stuffed the book back into her bag, the urge to throw it into the pond almost too much.

She ran off further into the desert, mumbling something to herself and sobbing all the way. This had to stay away from everyone, if anybody found out, she would be more than toast. She had to get away, had to stay away from that town, since that was where he was. She didn't want him finding out, least have a clue what would happen if he did. Finding the closest abandoned cave she ducked into it, refusing to leave and go back to the town again.

- - -

Rata Sum was a bustling cube of inventions, breakthroughs, and of course asura. Golems and peacemakers patrolled the streets for any troublemakers as citizens bustled through it. A person with an orange hat stood out though, as he casually and energetically hopped over the civilians. T.K juked his way to the central platform just under the council level and looked around for his target, taking a moment to just admire the Super Adventure Box that gave him so many memories of watching people fall to their doom several times and get mad about it while he cracked up. He turned southward, and made his way towards the blue side of the cube, which represented one of the collages, probably Dynamics.

Now that the area was more open he weaved freely though the open spaces, dodging golems and making it to the back, where a large database lay waiting to be used. The asura guarding it looked at him suspiciously, and moved to stand in his way.

"Halt," he said, "what does a human like yourself want with some data, especially a kid?"

T.K completely ignored him at first, leaning over him and typing some stuff into the console he was guarding.

"He-HEY!" The asura was angry he wasn't being told anything.

"Ayez looking up someone! A 'quist, kayz?" He stared down at the little guard before resuming his search.

"A... quip?" He scratched his head, then got beyond confused by such a simple answer, for his old ears had a hard time hearing.

"Lez see heres, ayes put da E, the A, the K, and another A, and BA- wai, was it two E's?" T.K smacked the keyboard a few more times before hitting the big "search" button. Lights flickered and after a moment a profile was pulled up showing Dyeeaka's information.

"Ha! Here we goes!" He scanned over the writing on her, she was a chemist, Inquest, nicer than most of her krewe, won many a slapping-fest? T.K had to get in touch with this one, nobody outwitted him in a friendly game of slap-fighting, no one! He scrolled down the page, until he reached the family section, clicking the name of her mom. He looked over her information before scrolling down, and then he saw exactly what he was looking for.

CHILDREN: DYEEAKA: AGE 8 DORTY: AGE 2

A new home, an Inquest lab, and a crazy shock are all that happens when the team moves in at the town north of Brisbane Wildlands, as one researcher in particular works at uncovering her family secrets.

The forest was a beautiful, calm place at night. With the fireflies and deer, as well as the occasional oakheart lumbering around, it all came together with the night atmosphere to create a beautiful landscape of trees and wildlife. The only thing that could ruin the moment was. . .

So a few things have been happening lately. T.K tried putting ley energy into a cannon, that didn’t end well. The only things I can find that stuff useful for is gliding on and eating.

Case you don't know, Ley Energy tastes like mint. It’s good.

This is my first attempt at an actual story involving my characters and my first NPC. Please let me know what you think and if I should keep this up!