Bab walked forward - even though she didn't know who it was, she could probably wrestle any Trivbe or human long enough to figure out who it was. She didn't have a light on her, but she could see a little. "Another girl - a human?" she wondered out loud.
"Twi'li loka," Wren cursed softly. Well, she was already spotted, she'd better use this to her advantage.
She shifted her features to some similar to Bab, but still a tad different.
"Hiya, cuz," she said with a smirk, as she stepped into the light.
Bab frowned. She opened her mouth - "Hi-" and then stopped. She shifted back on one foot, then shot forward and hit the fake Trivbe in the chest.
"Who are you?" she asked.
Wren didn't move an inch when Bab hit her. She rolled her eyes then gave Bab a sweet smile.
"Why, I'm your cousin!" she said with mock surprise, then acted hurt, "Don't you recognize me?"
"Never seen you before in my life!" Bab said. "I don't have any secret cousins!" she growled, inching forward. She was one of the strongest Trivbe - why wasn't this fake Trivbe moving?
She shrugged. This plan was too last minute to work out. She shifted back to her true form and raised her hands in mock surrender.
"You caught me," she said with a grin, "Now what?"
"AAAH!" Bab squealed, smacking the girl by instinct. "Another not-human!" she said, and before she smacked the girl again a question rose in her head.
"You… you're not following the other non-humans that came here a while ago, are you?" she asked. Right after this, goosebumps ran up her spine as she realized that if this girl was an enemy of Harry and his troop, she had just given the girl a way to find them.
Wren rolled her eyes at Bab's attempts to attack her. then she grinned, seeing realization dawn on the other girl's face. She stepped closer.
"You guessed it!" she winked, then put a finger to her lips, "Let's keep this between us, shall we?"
Bab thought for a second, looking away from the waiting non-human girl. A second later, she was halfway to the weapons room, and in five seconds she opened the door, closed it, sealed it with an authorized handprint, and stood a while outside, her enormous ax waiting to strike.
Wren rolled her eyes.
'fool,' she thought, 'as if a door could stop a shifter.'
she shifted into Bab and put her and on the stone next to the door, unlocking it easily. As soon as the door opened, she shifted into a pixie and flew over bab's waiting ax.
"Now, is it possible for us to talk like civilized magical beings?" she asked, with a grin, "Plus, our friends are waiting for us.'
"AHHHH!" Bab screamed. "YOU ARE SO IRRITATING!!!" she yelled, but before she could reach the shifting non-human, she tripped over herself and faceplanted on the rock, and her ax made a violent noise as it hit the ground.
"Ow…" Bab said, raising her face. She looked up at the pixie.
"Fine, then," Bab said, kneeling on the ground. "Prove to me you're their friend."
Shifting back into her grey-skinned form, Wren looked at the angry Trivbe and sighed.
"I don't know most of them, but the female with brown hair and green eyes is- was- my best friend," she explained, then her eyes darkened, "But when the War was over, I couldn't find her, no matter how hard I tried. Until now. I don't know how to prove any of this to you, but please trust me and do not tell them I'm here."
Bab swallowed. "Was?" she asked. "That means something happened, huh?" she asked, tilting her head at the grey-skinned non-human.
"Yeah, no, sorry. Explain right now without hesitating and I'll decide." Bab said. She pulled the ax to a place where she could sit on the handle, and she looked at the shifter, expectant for a story.
(@Skylark)
(sorry!)
"You are aware that they are waiting for you, right?" Wren said wryly, "You've already taken a while. Plus, I don't need to tell you anything. My past is my business, all you need to know is Krystal was my friend, and I mean you no harm unless you harm me."
She turned to the door and shifted into a pixie again. She tilted her head in question.
"I don't know-" Bab started, but as a piercing rumble shook the ground she stopped and turned to the left.
"Hey, what's that?" Bab asked.
A purple monster walked out of one of the caves. An ogre. Not a Ogre-type elf like Trivbes were, but a real one. Bab had never seen them before, but she'd heard stories of the Trivbe's very distant relative.
"That-that's not you, is it?" Bab asked the pixie floating near the door. "How-how could that get here otherwise?"
Wren shook her head, then shifted into a rock nymph.
"Get out to the others, they're waiting for you," she said, turning to face the ogre and getting into a fighting stance, "I'll deal with this." then she launched herself at the ogre.
The Ogre snarled at the newly formed rock nymph as Bab sprinted away, her heart drumming in her chest, running double digits in miles per hour.
She knew that Wren still shouldn't be trusted. There was no evidence. But she couldn't bring herself to run away from the shortest way to the exit - because of a deep but slight hopeless feeling she had felt every time Wren changed her shape and form to fit the situation as perfectly as she could.
She could see the odds. Bab was willing to swing her ax as many times as it took- but would it really help?
So Bab ran, taking the fastest twists and turns and climbs towards the meadow where she had suffered so much last time, her ax forgotten in her clenched fist until she had to squirm through the opening.
She had one last thought as she popped up from the trapdoor, breathless. Would Krystal even agree to help Wren?
Krystal was pacing in the meadow where Bab had left them.
"Where is she?" Krystal wondered aloud, "Henry, where's the armory in there? Should she be taking this long?"
Bab popped out the trapdoor, a word in her mouth.
"Krystal, do we trust some shifter called Wren?" she asked Krystal after locating her waiting in the meadow.
"Did you just say Wren?" Krystal asked, eyes widening, not sure if she had heard right, "How do you know who she is?"
"AH no reason!" Bab said quickly. "But I want to know. Is that someone we trust to help you?" she asked, making sure not to take any looks back and betray herself. She smiled - a thin, encouraging smile that she didn't even believe in. She needed a yes or no answer - and fast.
"Yes or no?" she asked.
Krystal knew Bab was hiding something, but she was also very panicked.
Krystal sighed deeply.
"Yes, I would trust Wren Grey with my life."
Bab's shoulders dropped and she turned her head to the sky with a long sigh of relief.
She wondered if she should go back and help Wren, or whether she should take the others and set off.
"Urgh. Fine. She's battling an ogre in the hallway opposite this one." Bab explained. "She came here insisting for you, Krystal, but she says you're not friends anymore so I had to hear it from you. She seems all-powerful, honestly, but she would probably like help."
Bab twirled her ax around in her hands. "Do you want to help her before we head out?" she asked.
Of course Wren had been following them. Making sure they went where she intended.
Then got into trouble, as per usual.
"Twi'li loka," Krystal grumbled, then said louder, "Yes, let's help her."