Specter looks up in awe at the sky. The ice continues to innocently drift to the ground. They look back at the black robes man. “So… you’re telling me that the people who live here have to haul ass out of here if they don’t want to get buried under death ice?” They look back at the girl. “See what I told you? You can’t live here.” They bring their arms up and gesture to the sky. “Also, why the hell is their a sheet of sky ice just floating above the city?? Wanna answer that one Chief Metalface?” They put their hands on the hips and look at the man sharply.
"It was a gift from Takira," Jaye said softly. "But the people rejected it."
Specter crosses their arms and looks up to the sky. “Well if a gift constantly made me cold and was slowly killing me, I’d want the receipt too.” They lean their gaze to the girl. “Who’s Takira?”
She looked up at him curiously. "You really are from another world, aren't you? Takira's the Gold-Heart of water."
Sky circled around the city, searching for the last bit of goods before it was evacuated. Her eyes gazed up at the ice above her and grimaced. It was a reminder of how her precious time was quickly disintegrating. The icy air nipped at her nose and her breath blatantly stood out in front of her.
"Oh Takira, what have we done," murmured Sky as she made her final rounds. She was trying her best to stay out of sight, ordinarily, she would have used the roofs for her travel, but they were too slick with glassy water. She slung her backpack around her shoulders, coughing quietly. To be frank, Sky was terrified. What if someone recognizes me? She wouldn't be surprised, many times people have put out wanted signs for her and her thieving.
She was about to wind the corner when she caught sight of a group of people. "Damn it," Sky thought. She had come so close to leaving without any issues or meeting anyone who could potentially be suspicious of her. Although, the assemblage looked quite peculiar against the deserted landscape.
Jaye noted the girl, but other than that, showed no sign she had seen her.
Almost tuning the conversation out, Locux noticed the girl and out of instinct pulled the revolver once again and pointed it at her. His eyes became red once more as he kept thinking that anyone still inside the city was hostile. "If you don't come out I'll begin shooting" The ornate revolver shined with the reflected light of the snow. Locux began slowly walking towards the girl, he still occasionally looked at the other pair with a threatening glare.
Sky rolled her eyes and crossed her arms in front of her.
Just her luck…
Technically, they hadn't seen her steal anything, so she's in the clear. Right? She slowly crept out of the shadows and looked at the man. She didn't recognize him, but one could never be too careful. "Look dude, I'm just trying to be on my way. No need for the whole shooting thing," Sky smirked and once again surveyed the others a little farther in front of her.
"There won't be any shooting unless it is necesary" Locux replied coldly as he slowly downed the gun. "We do need to leave though, we don´t want to come across looters, raiders or thieves" He kept the revolver at his hand as he fiddled with the trigger anxiously. He turned and looked back at the two strangers at his back to make sure they hadn't run away
Specter clears their throat awkwardly at the word "thieves." Mostly because it's quite literally their job. They keep a mental note to not say any personal information to the man. They look at the newcomer with suspicion, and then at the girl they met beforehand. How come these dorks want to stay in the city where it's freezing to the point of inhospitality? They take a deep breath, letting the cold air bite their throat and lungs, and breathe out slowly. "Okay! So I think we got off on the wrong foot. Mostly because you-" They give a sharp look to the tall man in black. "-keep whipping out that gun like it's a toy. I get it. Thieves, rogues, vandals, vagrants, blah, blah, but you could kill someone with that thing, Bucket Face. So chill out, aight? Anyhow, my name is Specter." They give a slight, polite bow to each individual. Their eyes dim and brighten slightly with random hues of green. "What's all your names and can someone give me a run down of this place because I have no idea what a Gold-Heart is, so an explanation would be great."
Locux simply faced palmed his metallic mask. A big sigh came soon after, annoying memories from his comrades came into his memory. "Calm down Locux, he's just another Dra. Vey well Specter, but be aware that I know more about this killing machine than you seem to know about yourself" Locux finally placed his weapon on it's respective holster as he bowed down to Spectre and the other two strangers "My name is Locux, protector of the innocents. My only goal here is to save as many people as possible. If your intentions are benevolent, I'm at your service" Locux stood up and waited for the others to present themselves
So, obviously, she couldn't trust the group. And she's exactly the type of person that they're trying to get away from. Wonderful!
Sky sneered at the man and walked to join the other two. "Right! The name's Sky. But, hold on- you're telling me that you don't know what a Gold-Heart is? You know who Takira is, correct?" Sky squinted her eyes in confusion. "That's blasphemy!"
Sky pulled her coat tighter around her torso, trying to savor the warmth it was giving her. Who didn't know about the Gold-Heart? You would have to be living under a rock if that's the case.
"Another what?" Specter cocks their head to the left in shock at the word. "What the heck's a 'Draw?'" They then put their face in their hands and groan at the sound of "protector of innocents" and "to save as many people as possible." How many goody two shoe nerds do they have to encounter in their lifetime? They already have two back home!
Specter side eyes the girl named Sky and frowns at her deeply. "Kid, I have no idea what's going on here. There's a sheet of death ice above a city, there's a thing that put it there, and that thing is apparently a "Gold-Heart? I have no idea what any of this is about! I'm not exactly local my guy! You guys have the… thing on your face, I don't." They point to everyone's noses. Although their face is obstructed by a mask, the structure suggests that their nose does not protrude like a humans does. "I just showed up cause, well, I think something important is happening and I have to be here for it, aight? Call it intuition or whatever, just don't fill me with lead." They turn back to the black robed man and look up into his metal face. "So yeah, what's a Dra and who are you?"
"A Gold-Heart is one of the 16 rulers of the Second Age," Jaye said calmly. "Takira and Tahua are the Gold-Hearts of water."
(Basically they're gods/goddesses)
(side-note, just checking in on @Does-Knight-Shives-exist… we're getting a little far into this and was just seeing if you're still a part of this! Of course, you're still welcome but just wanted to give you a heads up that we've began.)
Ben, (appeared?) walked around the corner to… chaos, that's all it was. Simply… CHAOS! "Woah! what's going on here…. random strangers?" He asked looking around a bit. He had no clue who these people were or what they were talking about. But he was bored so what was a dude who wished to own an ice cream shop to do? "How are you all? I'm Ben," He introduced.
Jaye eyed him suspiciously. He looked vaguely familiar, but then, the city of Elžni's population was so small that, at some time or another, you saw every single person who lived there. She kept her lips sealed shut.
Specter spun around in surprise and looks at the new person. "Oh! Uh, hey man. My name's Specter and I suggest you haul ass outta here cause apparently there's a floating sheet of ice above the city that some dumb "God-Heart" people put there. I don't know." They look back down at the girl. "I seriously don't know your name, could you at least tell me that? Your little history lesson doesn't shed a lot of light on the situation.
"I don't tell my name to those who are too rude to know how to use it properly." Her gaze was wintry.
Ben looked at specter oddly, "There is a floating… sheet…. of ice?…. Isn't that like the same thing as hail? or sleet? and God Heart… Interesting." Ben nodded suspiciously
"Gold-Heart," Jaye said sharply. "Good Rae, are any of you from Eskera?"
Sky raised her eyebrow at the newcomer. Now, suddenly there are all of these mystery people who don't know a thing about the city?
"Yes, some people are actually from Eskera! It's people like you who are the reason a sheet of frozen ice is ready to fall down on us at any waking moment! And I don't know about you guys, but I'm freezing my ass off out here." Sky yelled in exasperation.
For the many years, she had resided in Eskra, the cold was not something she was fond of.
"So, unless you lot want to rot out in the cold, I recommend we find a place to stay in before it turns to nightfall."
"I know a place, but I doubt these… ah… heathens are invited." Jaye surveyed them coolly before turning and walking away down the street.
"Ah, thank the Gods! I guess we shall be on our way, then." Sky scrunched her nose at the rest of the group and swiftly turned around to follow the girl.
Specter cringes hard at how dismissive this girl is. They'd rather not get involved with someone so sour, but retorts at her nonetheless, calling to her as she walks away. "Hey, genius. I wasn't born with the knowledge of this place automatically in my head. Maybe if you could expound a bit more instead of just 'there's 16 Gold-Hearts' and 'the sheet of ice is a gift form one of them' and 'it's cold as hell,' maybe I wouldn't be such a dumbass about all this!" They scowl at her and turn away. If she's not going to be cooperative, fine. They don't need some jerk to stand stupidly and act like she has some intellectual high ground. Screw it. They face Ben. "Calm on, let's get out of here. It's better if we don't become frozen where we stand." They look up at the dark man who had stood silently for some time. "And what about you, Metal Head? You comin' along?"
