Fandom Into the fire (1x1 MzHyde/Gallifrog)

[MzHyde]

Kay smirked when Elliott told them how it all went down to get Fia out of bed and out The House so willingly. She could just imagine what her reaction would have been looking at the texts and photo through bleery eyes. "it doesn't surprise me that's for sure. I can easily imagine her face when she got those messages" she replied chuckling. Hearing that they made jokes about Matteo cutting his boyfriend Chris out of the photo to get that perfect selfie shot was just as amusing to her. "that poor kid is gonna be the butt of so many jokes for a very long time I think" she added, eating her breakfast gladly, feeling so thankful for having some food. "so apart from having Jay in the middle of the glaring contest, how's your morning been?" she asked Elliott.

Fia was also drinking the last few mouthfuls of coffee from her own travel mug, having been very thankful for Matteo saying she could borrow one to have the drink on the walk. She continued to watch on and when Matteo got more comfortable, she knew they were perfectly safe to do so. "good point. I guess Artemis really did make Sykes back down with our feud after all..." she said, saying the last bit more under her breath to herself than to Matteo. Though she still had a part of her always on alert incase a fight was to break out for whatever reason. Not because she didn't trust Rinaa, but because she didn't trust Sykes.

 

[_gallifrog_]

John smirked as Elliott told the story, it sounded hilarious and from what he knew of Matteo, exactly like the kind of thing he'd do. His smirk grew at the 'cutting the boyfriend out of the photo' comment. It was just the kind of thing he could imagine being delivered in a snarky but caring way. "They both are, let's be honest here, the friends already have both of them covered for years worth of teasing." "And then you add the siblings to the whole thing." Elliott gestured with his eyes over towards Alex and Chris who were bickering over something, poking each other back an forth in the shoulders and ribs. The two brothers evidently took after different parents, but they were recognisable as siblings. Alex had brown-black hair, cut relatively short, and a more square jawed face, along with a lump on his nose suggesting that it had been broken at some point, where as Chris' hair was jet black and cut in a long fringe that fell in his eyes, emphasising the more angular shape of his face. The brothers did share the same build however and were nearly the same height.

Elliott then turned to answer Kay's question. "Pretty good so far, managed to do a bit of sketching this morning, you should see the sunrises here. They are amazing. And since the harbour is full of boats it gives all kind of interesting colours, shapes and textures to play around with. And the main jetty acts as a great focal point." His tone was filled with a passion for art that John knew well. It was something that never failed to intrigue him, so much so that both Elliott and John ad taken to carrying pencil and paper with them in case the artistic mood ever struck Elliott. "I took some photos as references." He added, reaching into his pocket for his phone, which he'd made sure Kane modified to put the best possible camera in it. The photos showed the main harbour from various different viewpoints, the sky above it streaked with rich oranges, yellows and pink tones. The reflection in the water was particularly eye catching. There was even a couple of attempts at just the light reflections in the waves, but they didn't look as good as those that showed the full harbour.

Matteo didn't hear the words Fia muttered under her breath, but the wolf did. All in all it took about fifteen minutes to strip the carcass down to mostly bones and pieces of raw meat that couldn't be chewed or clawed off. Due to the way the dogs and Sykes ate, the carcass ended up being pushed around a fair bit. There was no real etiquette for what to do with a carcass on the island, the bones would soon be picked clean by the birds. The more intelligent ones would drop said bones from a height onto patches of rocks in order to smash them open to get access to the nutrient rich marrow. With the meal finished Sykes stretched herself out, rolling her shoulders as she stood back up again. She took a few steps away from the carcass and as she walked she seamlessly shifted back into a human form, the fur retreating, the limbs re-proportioning themselves at the same time as the tail shrank and vanished. The shifting process shouldn't have taken more than ten seconds and due to some strange quirk, Rinaa's clothes had managed to survive the transition to wolf and back again, though she'd dressed in old clothes (a well worn sports jersey and old shorts that had frayed significantly over the years) specifically for that purpose. The bandage around her wrist was now gone, revealing the new tattoo, a string of words that encircled her wrist three times, written in an old Isogrii text."Yes, I know you're there. Yes, this was planned. Yes she consented to this. And yes, I like the dogs, they're good conversation." The voice that came out of Rinaa's mouth was not Rinaa's, it was deeper, more growly and more gravely than Rinaa's usual voice. The comments were directed right in the direction of Matteo and Fia.

 

[MzHyde]

Kay glanced over at Chris and Alex when Elliott's eyes glanced over to them and saw how they were bickering with no malice whatsoever. Smirking at she saw, she soon looked back at Elliott as he spoke about how his morning had gone and how he managed to get more sketching done, which instantly interested Kay. She watched as he took out his phone and showed her the photos of the sunrises on it and she could really see what Elliott was on about. "you're not kidding. These are something else. I can see why you were inspired. I can think of a few mediums to recreate these shots" it wasn't a lie either. Looking through them she could easily picture using oil paints or oil based chalks to get the depth of those colours, but she could also see them done beautifully in watercolour, or even a mixture of all mediums.

Fia watched on as it all happened and then for Sykes to morph back into Rinaa. It was hypnotic to watch the transformation almost, amazed that she could transform and keep her clothing in one piece. The black ink of the tattoo didn't go fully amiss on Fia either, just like Matteo's very impressive hickey didn't go amiss earlier. When she spoke however, she recognised that the voice wasn't Rinaa's but was in fact the voice of Sykes. It was also very clear she was talking to Fia and Matteo. She sighed and stepped out from hiding, not seeing the point in hiding anymore. "good to know its all amicable" she commented back at Sykes/Rinaa. Now she was out of the clearing she could see the tattoo more clearly and see it was all Isogrii writings, recognising the lettering as being a phrase that repeated three times over. She still kept a slight distance from her just for he rown safety and caution.

 

[_gallifrog_]

John also took a look, raising an eyebrow at just how good they were. While photography wasn't Elliott's chosen medium, he did have an eye for framing, contrast, shadows and getting the most out of a beautiful scene with a camera. Some photos Elliott took could be considered art in their own right. He often worked from a set of reference photos or his own memories. "Impressive" was all john said as he handed back the hone, but Elliott knew by now how to read into what John was actually saying to find what he really meant. At Kay's words he nodded "You're welcome to use these for reference if you want, I don't really work in mediums outside of pencils, inks, charcoals and the occasional dabble in oil pastel, so I'd be interested to see what it would look like in other mediums." He genuinely meant that, he'd seen very little of Kay's art, and all of what he'd seen was in the mediums he himself used, so the idea of seeing how they'd both interpret the same prompt excited him. "Still say you need to start includin' photography in that list." John told him, which Elliott just shrugged t.

"Anyway, I'd recommend trying to catch it the sunrise tomorrow anyway, since it's the last day we got. You really won't get another chance for a couple of years. And I'm not the only one whose been up in time for it. The harbour is basically insomniacs anonymous these days." He flicked through the photos to find the ones he'd taken a few days ago, before passing the phone back over. There was a set in sequence of Jay taking a run up and then leaping into the water, doing a cannonball. That set was the only one where the person was aware they were being photographed, the others were completely unaware. Unsurprisingly Rinaa featured in quite a few of them due to both her problems sleeping and the fact that she needed only four hours. Most of the pictures showed her almost entirely as a silhouette with a guitar, playing guitar on top of one of the other boats. Moya featured in a few of those performance photos, but there were also two solos of her, wings outstretched, sunlight filtering through them. "Rinaa was taking her own photos that time, I just happened to also have a good angle." He explained.

Matteo couldn't help but be jarred slightly by somebody else's voice coming from Artemis' mouth. Sykes had clearly anticipated all the questions that were racing around his mind, which was why the next statement came out of his mouth was a surprised half gasp of "you can talk?". The amber eyes rolled and Sykes fixed him with a 'really? That's the best you can do?' look, crossing her arms, obscuring the tattoo on Rinaa's body's left wrist. "Course I can talk, just need to be in a humanoid form for you to actually understand me, and as for the dogs, canine language is more basic and quite instinctive... if you have a canine mindset of course." She shrugged slightly at Fia's words before saying bluntly. "We, by which I mean Artemis and me, are both gonna die soon, might as well stop being assholes about it and do something more constructive."

 

[MzHyde]

Kay knew also that John meant a lot more than he was actually saying. There were just certain people in life who said so much more with what they didn't say, rather than what they said. John was one of those people. She smiled and nodded at Elliott's reply, feeling quite glad that he would share the photos with her to see what she could do with them in comparison to what he could do. "thanks, I'm intrigued to see how they'd work with watercolour and oil pastels as a mix I have to admit" she said to him as he found more photos and showed them. The ones of Moya really stood out to her, but that was most probably because of her relatability with the wings. "looking at these I think John is right, you've got more of an eye for photography than you think" she commented to him, thinking how much Sam would love to compare photos with him as she always loved using all kinds of photography equipment from old vintage Polaroids to modern SLR cameras.

Fia could help herself when she smirked and stifled back the chuckle that escaped her lips by covering her mouth with her hand, at Matteo's question about Sykes talking. It wasn't the least surprising to Fia because she was used to being around these kinds of beings back home. Being naturally part of the downworld in some stances, she knew there was so much more out there than anyone ever knew. She then looked at Sykes/Rinaa when Sykes turned her attention to her and replied, acknowledging the fact that they had well and truly been ass holes toward her and in some ways, everyone in their group. "again... Glad to hear it. And glad to know you've acknowledged you've been assholes" she commented, the last bit not intending to come out but now it had, she didn't take it back. "and that came out why more harsh than I intended" she added, trying to show she didn't mean any malice in the comment.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Elliott shrugged again and then gave his usual reason as to why he'd never consider photography among one of the art mediums he had talent in. It was something John, Chas and Trish had all tried (and failed) to persuade him of at some point or another. "Maybe, maybe not, but I couldn't take photos like that if I actually tried to. All of these are just spontaneous stuff, and everybody can get a good photo as a spur of the moment things." "Maybe so, but how many can get photos that look like that every time?" Elliott went to open his mouth to give some kind of answer to that, but John cut him off, raising his voice to get the attention of everybody else on the porch. "Anybody here know anything about photography?" He asked, easily getting everybody's attention, while Elliott sighed and covreed his face with one hand. "Or at the very least can tell a good photo from a bad'un. We need to try and persuade this stubborn arse that he has skills." A good few nodded, saying that they did a bit themselves. "I dabble" Quincenti shrugged. "Bitch please," Jay rolled her eyes dramatically "you've got stuff published, under a pseudonym of course."

Now that Sykes was in full control of Rinaa's body she was able to properly react to things as opposed to having to force her way into control of the body (which resulted in a physical reaction, a surge of hormones and a sharp remark). Rinaa had been right in thinking that Sykes was suffering from pent up energy and a lack of being able to truly be her wolfish self. Sykes was far more calm now, but the remark by Fia still felt like bait in her mind. She was tempted to take it, even after the clarification by Fia, but decided against it, honouring the terms of the agreement and instead pressed one of her claws into the flesh of her arm. "Yeah well, we're basically stuck here, so it's high time I accepted it and she get over this homesickness that's plaguing her. I still don't know why she gave it all up to be here, with you lot. She had a good thing going with that crew she was running." Sykes sighed. "People are weird like that I guess." As she was speaking the dogs had been sniffing around her, trying to reconcile the wolf they'd seen minute earlier with the woman in front of them. Rinaa had the same scent as Sykes, only more muted, which helped.

 

[MzHyde]

Kay had to smirk and roll her eyes ever so slightly when Elliott said these were spontaneous shots and not him trying, which to her just showed he had even more talent. He had a natural eye for a well framed shot and the fact he couldn't see that, made her realise just why John must have got a little uptight over it and always insisting Elliott did have talent. When John rose his voice to make everyone hear him she had to chuckle at what he said. Elliott's reaction just made it all the more amusing to her. "you know he won't give up until he's proven right" she told Elliott, gesturing at John. "and he's got a point. The fact you get this level of shots ever single time shows a natural talent for it. Not a case of it being a sheer fluke" she commented again before Quincenti said she dabbled, making her look over, even more so when Jay called her out for her published works.

Fia could tell that Sykes was being a lot more calm than before when it was Rinaa mostly in control but she could see that Sykes was desperate to take what she said as bait and have a pop at her. Which was why she was trying to show her that it came out all wrong and she meant deep down that it was just nice to hear an admittance of the shit attitude that she was the recipient of. "yeah well...sometimes family means more and fills that deep hole inside emotionally more than friends can." she said, keeping it vague because of Matteo being around, but actually saying 'well the need to see her father before she died was more important than anything else, and that is understandable' whilst not actually saying it. She truly did understand why Fia would give up something so good in her life to meet Elliott. She knew if the roles were reversed and it was her in Rinaa's shoes, she'd have done exactly the same thing.

 

[_gallifrog_]

"Believe me, I know all too well how tenacious he gets on stuff like this." Elliott sighed, knowing full well that john wouldn't simply let it drop, now that he'd gotten everybody else on the porch involved he knew John wouldn't stop until everybody was backing him up. What he wasn't expecting was for Jay to call the other assassin out on being a photographer. The smirk on Jay's face was one of immense smugness, which only grew when she saw Alex's raised eyebrow and look of shock and Elliott knew that a big part of declaring this was to get one over the other assassin. Evidently this was new information to Alex too. "You're published?" Alex asked, as all attention turned to the redhead, who glared at Jay. "Thanks for that Jaminaz, really needed it." She gave a sarcastic thumbs up. "My pleasure." Jay smirked, thrilled to finally have one-upped her long time rival and enemy.

"Yes, I was published, but it was years ago anyway and under a fake name, so as you already know looking me up online will turn up nothing." The assassin shrugged, only for Jay, once again to add her own input and correction. "Unless of course you know what you're looking for". The redhead resisted showing any signs of just how infuriating she was finding Jay. "Well they can't all be you now can they?" She replied, her tone cutting, before turning the conversation back to what they were supposed to be talking about. "In other words, a fair few of us know a bit about photography, so give us a look then?" John passed over the phone and quickly enough a small crowd gathered around it in order to take a look, the reactions being overwhelmingly positive.

Sykes shrugged again, she could see Fia's point, she'd even argued with Rinaa over that exact point and in some level she agreed with it. She couldn't deny that Elliott was worth meeting and worth knowing, even if in doing that all Rinaa was reminded of was how things could and should have been different for her. The issue Sykes had was that coming back in time had also put Rinaa through a different level of emotional conflict and turmoil from this timeline's family than she'd experienced from her own family, and there were times when the nineteen year old just couldn't cope with it. "I'm not denying you have a point, but despite all this shit she's been through, family is something she is going to die for. Her friends deserve better than never seeing her body and never getting closure, one day isn't enough to say everything that needs to be said."

 

[MzHyde]

Kay nodded with a slight smile, acty feeling quite sorry for Elliott in this moment, even if she did find John's antics amusing as well. She watched on as the smug grin appeared on Jay's face, knowing she had finally got one up on Quincenti. She listened to what the redheaded woman said, before managing to get back to the topic at hand. She sipped her drink as she watched as the group gather round Elliott's phone and all had positive things to react with at his photos. She smiled at the whole scene in front of her, knowing that now John would have gotten one up on Elliott. "I think the point has now been made" she remarked to Elliott.

Fia saw how Sykes shrugged at her point before finally replying and making it clear that Fia did have a valid point. Which made Fia feel quite good about herself that she made the wolf admit she had a valid point. "of course they do but I believe that artemis knows what she is doing. She wouldn't take the option lightly, we both know she's a methodical thinking, and she has the family trait of being incredibly stubborn so nothing any of us will say will change her mind." she pointed out. She still didn't fully trust the wolf and as much as she haged to agree Sykes had a point, she also knew it was a pointless endeavour for Sykes to constantly argue the other points with Rinaa.

 

[_gallifrog_]

At first Elliott felt he was going to die of embarrassment, convinced that John and Kay were just biased towards him and that everybody else would be actually able to see the truth, that his photos weren't worth much. So it came as a pleasant surprise that everybody was reacting positively to his photos. Usually with art there would always be one person who didn't like it or understand it. The fact that most of these people had no real connection to him, no reason to say something nice in order to preserve his feelings, finally made him realise that John was right. Both the assassins were giving positive feedback, and he knew in a strange way that he could trust their judgement. Jay would say if she thought it was shit and he had a feeling that Quincenti wouldn't be above using Elliott's shit photos as a way to get back at jay. But she wasn't doing that. "Yeah, it has been right, looks like John was right on this." John smirked gleefully, then cupped a hand around his ear. "What was that? I didn't quite hear it the first time?" "You may have a point, that's all I'm saying." Elliott sighed,

What the wolf really wanted to give was some sharp remark about 'how would you know what her friends want? You've never even met them.' . But just like the last time she didn't, the tattoo around her wrist serving as a reminder that arguing such points couldn't end well. But the next part about Rinaa's stubbornness was something she could talk about, with subtle references to things Fia didn't know about her host body, along with things she couldn't possibly know. "Either way there's nothing you, or any of them can do to stop her." The words came out sounding far more like a threat than she meant them to. "She's got the family stubbornness alright, but she's gotten far more than that, she is far more than you can ever understand and I don't mean in her incredible luck in the genetic lottery for inheriting every single negative mental trait that the family has. She's far more of a person than any of you can ever know and she will do what she's been created for all those years ago." The last part was delivered in English and before Fia had a chance to say anything in response the wolf turned away, shifted and within a few strides had almost completely vanished into the bush. Matteo was in a state of shock over the whole thing, not so much what she was saying but the way in which Rinaa's body had been used to host a completely different person all this time, and only now was he seeing the full extent of it.

 

[MzHyde]

Kay has a feeling Elliott was always thinking they were being biased, mostly because most artistic types always thought along those lines when it came to friends and family and their opinion son your work. So when the overall feedback was positive, she did feel a strange sense of smugness at Elliott now realising they were right on his talent. She laughed when Elliott openly said John was right and John took the opportunity to try and make him say it again. It was so nice to see John smiling so happily over something even if she knew he wouldn't let Elliott live this discovery down for a very long time. "see, we're not always biased for the sake of it" she remarked.

Fia could tell that Sykes was desperate to verbally rip her a new one when it came to her comments, even though in Fia's mind she was just trying to stand up for Rinaa and was convinced what she said was standing up for her, whilst being truthful. Hearing Sykes practically threaten her didn't come as much of a shock, even if it create a pang of annoyance inside her. This time she was refusing to fall for the bait that Sykes was clearly ( in her mind) laying out for her. When Sykes said the next bit in English so only Fia could understand it, she found herself gritting her teeth together, desperately trying to not fall for the bait and lash out. She let Sykes transform back and leave them all to it instead, but her fist was clenched tightly. She glanced over at Matteo and saw he was full of shock at what Sykes was capable of with Rinaa. "she's such a bitch..." she remarked under her breath.

 

[_gallifrog_]

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Elliott conceded, gesturing for his phone back. "Point proven everybody, you can get back to your lives now." He called out, to which there was some light laughter and calls of 'but this was the most exciting thing that's happened all morning!'. "I don't talk shit all the time, there is actually wisdom up here." John tapped the side of his head, to which Elliott rolled his eyes, thinking of all the awful, dangerous and downright stupid stuff that had streamed from his adoptive father's mind. "I won't ever hear the end of this." "Nope, you won't, best to get used to it." John smirked, only for his words to be echoed by a familiar voice behind him. "Get used to what? What's John done now?" Chas asked, leaning over the railings of the porch, looking slightly scruffier than he usually did, ink stains speckled across both hands.

Matteo just watched as the wolf turned tail then shook his head slightly, trying to understand a he'd just seen. He'd spent a decent bit of time around Rinaa on the island and he knew how she stood, walked, talked along with the various little tics and idiosyncrasies that popped up as she spoke, the gestures she made. Rinaa, like Cliff could be a very expressive person and spoke with her body (though Rinaa wasn't aware of that fact). Sykes on the other hand used he body in a completely different way, everything that he thought of as a given with Rinaa's form had simply been erased by Sykes. The wolf was blunt, rude, abrasive and stood with an air of menace, her amber eyes quite clearly saying 'don't fuck with me, you'll end up on the losing side'. "I couldn't understand half of what she said, she switched languages once you got into it. But yes, a bitch, personality wise and physically. I can't imagine having somebody like that in my head all day every day. The roommates from hell you can never get rid of."

 

[MzHyde]

Kay smirked more at Elliott conceding to the fact he's lost this whole debate about his photography skills. She chuckled at John's comment about not always talking shit, and she did have to admit he was right, he had his moments. She knew wholeheartedly that Elliott will never ever live this down or be allowed to forget that on this topic, John was right and in extension, she was too. When they heard Chas' voice come from behind them, she turned round seeing the state of him and how dishellved he looked compared to his normal look. She noticed the ink stains on his hands also and rose an eyebrow, "we were wondering what happened to you. You alright?" she asked, concern clear in her tone for the man.

Fia looked at Matteo when he replied to her mutterings, knowing that the change of language was a dilberate action on Sykes' part. She also felt slightly glad that Matteo from the snippets he did understand, agreed that Sykes was a bitch and it wasn't just her with her issues with the wolf. "she switched to my native tongue, and let's just say it was so she could make some personal digs without being outwardly personal. Spouting the usual accusations of me not knowing what Artemis is possibly going through blah blah blah" she explained, deciding to go down that route rather than anything else. It so wasn't exactly a lie and fit with Matteo said. "but yeah, Artemis has it rough with that one in her head all the time" she added with a sigh. The unspoken part of that opinion was 'and I'm pretty sure Sykes is purposely baiting me without breaking the isogrii bond to try and have an excuse to make me feel the way Rinaa does, just because she is that spiteful'.

 

[_gallifrog_]

John and Elliott both turned in surprise at the sound of the cabbie's voice, taking in his rumpled appearance. Chas' clothes were usually on the worn side, but he always dressed with care and as a result was almost always the most presentable out of the core three. Had it just been his clothes being rumpled John could have put down his disappearance to oversleeping, but the ink stains told a different story. Chas was right handed, so why there were stains on both hands was mystifying. "Mate, where have you been? We thought something bad had happened when you weren't here." "You didn't miss much, just John finally getting me to see that I have more photography talent than I think, roping in all these guys on the porch to back him up. I'll tell you the full story later" Elliott told him, waving off and further questions about that particular topic, and bringing things back to more important matters. "Something's clearly up with you, so spill." The cabbie sighed slightly, having known that an interrogation was to be expected. "I'm fine now, but apparently I now sleepwalk and draw weird shit in my sleep. I've been in The House library trying to make sense of it all."

Matteo pulled a face at Fia's explanation of what had gone on between them. The tension in the air was obvious even if he didn't understand what was being said. The wolf side had serious issues and was showing no intentions of going about trying to fix them in the right way. "The wolf seems to be getting bitchier the more I understand of it. I can't imagine what it's like to have had to put up with that wolf's shit for how long?.... two and a half years or something like that? No way to get away from it. I think I'd have gone crazy." Matteo sighed, his genuine pity for Rinaa's situation could be easily heard in his voice. Rinaa was a fun person to hand around, a bit different to his friends and a good bit darker as well, though that was mainly due to the way in which Rinaa's outlook on life, death and gallows humour had so drastically changed her outlook on life. But overall he found she was fun to hang out with and with the right push was perfectly happy to show off just what she could do. He shook his head sadly and sighed again "and this is gonna sound really weird and morbid, but I just realised that that wolf's voice is gonna be the last thing Artemis hears when she dies."

 

[MzHyde]

Kay let Elliott explain what Chas had missed before he waved it off to bring the conversation back to where Chas has been as they were all concerned about his whereabouts. Seeing Chas sigh, she knew he was outnumbered when it came to this and he had no choice but to spill where he's been and what has happened to warrant the ink stains on both hands. She rose an eyebrow at Chas' explanation, "I thought sleep walking was my thing. What have you been drawing in your sleep? And with both hands" she asked out of curiosity.

Fia saw the face Matteo pulled and she felt his face showed what was happening in her head with her thoughts. She nodded at his understanding of it all and how long Rinaa had been having this going on, having understood that being the case herself. "me neither, even though she always says she doesn't want it, I do feel sorry for Artemis. She's handling it all so much better than any of us could that's for sure" she said, meaning herself, Matteo (from what she knew of him) and her family. With the realisation hitting Matteo about Sykes' voice being the last voice Rinaa would hear. "mhm... Its a sad thought indeed" she replied.

 

[_gallifrog_]

One of their group sleepwalking was never a good sign, it usually meant there was something else at play in the sleepwalkers mind or that somebody else was hijacking their body for some kind of nefarious means. They had never really found out what exactly was the catalyst for Kay going walkabout while on fire in the spaceship, but it couldn't have been anything good. To hear it had been Chas, there was one theory that jumped into both John and Elliott's heads- the phoenix lore book. They already knew it could affect his dreams, with his subconscious mind being able to break through the barriers. Sleepwalking was more than likely an extension of that effect. "Let me guess, is it related to the book?" John asked at the same time as Elliott asked. "Does this have anything to do with the book?" The two looked each other then back to Chas, who nodded. "Well it seems sleepwalking is my thing as well now." He said in response to Kay's first part. "As well as drawing with both hands, which isn't something I can do normally, I'm not ambidextrous like Artemis. So that's a surprise. Yes, I do believe it's related to the book, it's the only thing that makes sense, I'm not a psychic like Zed" that comment was aimed at John who nodded, remembering her talent all too well. "and as you all said yesterday, I'm the most human, so we can rule out some weird latent powers. As for what I drew? Death, destruction, a swordsperson, what I think could be Sykes and Artemis, some weird symbols, a kind of hidden temple place, an amphitheatre and what looks like one of those totems you ended tryin' to find a while back John."

Matteo reached down to scratch the Koso's ears, the dogs having returned to him and Fia after Sykes left. He could see why Rinaa wouldn't want people to feel sorry for her. He'd heard Cliff complain many times about how so many terminally ill patients were treated like glass and pitied, instead of being allowed to find and do the things that would make them happiest in their final days. "Yeah, I can't help but feel sorry for her too. Dying and the fallout of that is bad enough, knowing that you'll never be able to live an adult life, to grow old and see and do things that right now seem like unreachable dreams and having to somehow accept that is awful and soul crushing. But having to go through that with a bitchy wolf who takes issue with almost everything and wants to fight the world? I can't even begin to imagine. And there's the fact that the wolf will get reincarnated in another Astras body, while Artemis will never get the chance to do that. Whatever faults she may have as a person, whatever grudges are there, the fact remains that she'll die and we'll all just have to live with it our whole lives and make peace with it."

 

[MzHyde]

Kay's sleepwalking and the lack of a catalyst for it was always a worry for her, especially as it started up years after it stopped. However, Chas sleepwalking felt even more of a worry as it just wasn't normal for him in the slightest. She couldn't help but think 'all deities help our group if both myself and Chas end up sleepwalking on the same night'. She couldn't help but smirk ever so slightly when John and Elliott all but asked the same thing at the same time with slightly different wording. She nodded at Chas when he started replying to her before continuing to all of them. She recalled Zed's name being mentioned before and her ability, but never went into who she was because she could tell it was a sore subject for John. Listening to the weird lost of things that Chas was saying he drew, some of them just felt strange, some of them ringing a bell from that time they all did that mental trip with Jay and her inks and cards. "some of those seem familiar to what we know already, but a temple place? Amphitheatre? Symbols? Those are seemingly new" she replied asking.

Fia saw the dogs return to them and she couldn't help but squat down and give Meyer a scratch on the top of her head and behind her ears, fi ding it helped to release that pent up agitation she felt earlier to make her clench a fist. She nodded in agreement with what Matteo was saying, she did honestly get why people wouldn't want pity but it was only a natural feeling to have when someone you know declared they're terminally ill or similar. "agreed completely. I just really hope Sykes doesn't break the isogrii bond between her and Artemis that's been made" she commented with a sigh, giving Meyer a half hug in the process.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Chas becoming ambidextrous during his sleepwalking state wasn't too surprising to Elliott and John, the unconscious mind was surprisingly powerful and contained all kinds of information that would normally be inaccessible. It was this principle that allowed Elliott to translate between various languages he knew whilst MindWalking and for John it was the main reason he went into trances while using higher forms of magic. Pictures of death was hardly surprising, nor were the images of warriors and destruction. The mention of a totem piqued John's interest immediately, they were extremely powerful magical objects. Back when he was with the Legends John had succeeded in helping them get their hands on all six (though he still thought given them to Sara Lance's band of misfits was a truly awful idea). But the idea of there being another one out there? Now that was worth investigating.

Elliott and John reacted at once with questions, Chas unable to discern one from the other. He pulled out a set of pages from his back pocket and passed them over to John. "This'll explain better." The sketches were intricate and detailed, about as far away as possible from Chas' normal drawing style, which hadn't advanced far from stick people. There was the amphitheatre, the ruined city (which had elements recognisable as London), a temple style altar as well as an exterior view of what John could only presume was the same temple, a close up of a thick metallic box and the totem inside, a side view of a figure wielding a sword (the figure was female, but the face was mostly obscured by a mask), a sketch of a body lying curled on it's side, impaled by a sword through the heart with blood seeping onto the ground (the figure appeared to be male, but the face was obscured by the person's hair), another cityscape but this one in the process of being obliterated by what looked like a shock wave, a drawing of what Fia and Matteo could now identify as Sykes the wolf alongside Rinaa, and a pyre of burning bodies. Many of the drawings were also accompanied by runic writing, which Chas' translation rune was unable to translate. Elliott's eye widened at the amphitheatre. "I know where that is." He said quietly, finger pointing at the drawing.

Matteo nodded as they began making their way along the river (in the opposite direction to the one Sykes had gone). The encounter had been unnerving for him, he'd never experienced anything like that before, even with his experience with acting and amateur dramatics. Even when actors immersed themselves totally in a character, there was always something that would give away it was an act, but with Sykes there was nothing. This wolf was a completely different person to Rinaa in so many ways. "I hope so too, I know next to nothing about the Isogrii, but I do know that any bond made is treated with the highest degree of respect and enforced to the letter. I guess it's just a case of trusting that Artemis can stop her before she goes too far or having the dogs around when she does. She does like them after all, which about the only positive thing about her, besides the fact she's aesthetically beautiful in wolf form. I did wonder why they were called 'star wolves', but her coat solves that mystery."

Spoiler: some of the drawings

The ruined city


Temple


Totem

 

[MzHyde]

Kay saw how the mention of a totem piqued John's interest, as well as noting how both John and Elliott asked questions at the same time. With the pages being pulled out of Chas' back pocket, she couldn't resist looking over John's shoulder to see the drawings for herself, noticing just how intricate they were. She remembered how Chas said he couldn't draw at all unless it was stick figures so to see such details in these ones surprised her and interested her greatly. She hoped the figuring wielding the sword was not the same one they knew about when it came to Elliott's death, but she also knew their lives were fucked up enough to have it be linked easily enough. When Elliott however went wife eyed at the sight of the amphitheatre and said he knew it, she looked at him curiously. "where is it?" she asked him.

Standing up again, Fia walked with Matteo and the dogs away from Sykes, which she was very thankful for. One proper encounter with her was enough for Fia that was for certain. She could also tell that meeting such a wolf like Sykes had Matteo slight shaken and baffled over the whole thing, which made her think of a saying her dad always told her - "if you're not questioning things you're not listening" John would always tell her, and at the time it seemed strange but after a while she understood what he meant. She listened to what Matteo said and nodded, "yeah, it really does prove why they're called that. Just a shame her attitude isn't as beautiful as her appearance" she smirked, but the smirk was somber.

 

[_gallifrog_]

John raised an eyebrow in surprise when Elliott actually recognised one of the photos, if he had to put money on him recognising something, it wouldn't have been the amphitheatre. "You do? What is it then?" "Yeah, I do know it, it's on Attil and I've been there before as a kid actually, on one of those educational school trips." He pulled a face as he said that, clearly this was a trip he hadn't enjoyed. "It's not an amphitheatre, it's actually the courtroom of the Attilian Supreme Global Court, which just so happens to be in the city I grew up in, pretty sure I pointed it out to you that day we did the walk down memory lane John." "Yeeeeah, I do remember that building. Really massive, like you can't miss it, seems to take up a whole city block, super pompous with statues and architecture, a mix of both traditional buildings and this massive stonking modern extension?" He asked, knowing that when he was in town with Kay, she had made a comment on it."That's the one. It's the highest court there is on Attil and the inside is breathtaking just in terms of sheer size. Also, that symbol there on the page? The one with the vertical line going through it?" He pointed at the symbol, which now that John looked at it, he actually recognised."It's the old, traditional Attili symbol for justice. Just glancing at these pages it seems some of the symbols are traditional Attili, a language that isn't used anymore, it's morphed into the modern language, hence why the rune wouldn't translate it."

Matteo smirked at the comment, but the smirk, like Fia's was a hollow expression with little actual emotion behind it. "Yeah, it's a pity on that front, kinda wish I'd taken a photo, I've never seen any animal quite like that before. Obviously it goes without saying, I've never seen anything like that before. I don't think there's ever been a case like this before, usually if bitten the person will either die or be fully transformed within a few days to a week and a half. The wolf side never has control over the body until the transformation is complete. But Artemis is a special case as you know all too well." He ran a hand through his hair before admitting "I took a look at the files Cliff has on her, as well as the theories my sister has. She'd be beyond furious if she knew, but I had to know. I wish I didn't now, they're grim reading to say the least. The fact that she's lasted years longer than anybody else is the only reason why Sykes can actually take control it seems."

 

[MzHyde]

Kay listened with great interest at what Elliott was explaining, whilst reminding John that it was a building he pointed out to him, when they had their alone time and walk down memory lane, as they put it. Hearing the description of it by John, she seemed to recall making a comment on such a building when she went into the main city with him, however she stayed quiet so he could continue to explain. As for the symbol, she suddenly remembered that herself and John had seen it before on that graffiti piece that they both had to stop and look at. "we" we gestured at herself and John, "saw that symbol on an art piece on a wall in town when we stopped for some food" she told Elliott and Chas.

Fia could tell that Matteo was feeling similar to herself, so she let him talk to let it all out and comprehend what he had just witnessed. When he started going into detail about Rinaa's condition, she rose an eyebrow wondering how he knew so much, only to have it explained without her even asking as he said that he read Cliff's files without her knowing. "I won't say a word. And yeah.. From what we all know it is very grim reading and knowledge. That's kind of all our theory really as to how that-" pointing her thumb to behind them, "could even happen." she finished, not really knowing what else she could possibly say about the situation.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Ar John's description of the building Chas nodded, knowing exactly where they were talking about. The building had caught his eye because it was so pompous and over the top. Learning that it was the highest court on the planet justified doing that bold architectural mash-up, when something was that important you had to go all out. While Kay described the symbol John dug in his pockets for the phone, "hold on, I think I've got a photo" flicking through the gallery, before letting out a triumphant exclamation "hah! Got it!" He turned the phone around, so Elliott and Chas could see the photo of the graffiti- the minimalist face with the justice symbol sprayed on one side of his face in red paint, the vertical line of the symbol cutting through the same eye as Elliott's scar. "Huh, interesting, I've never seen that before." Elliott took the phone to examine it closer, the relationship between the position of the symbol and his scar not going amiss on him. A few seconds later Chas turned around his own phone to show a photo of a wall of various graffiti tags and right in the middle was an almost identical copy of the art on John's phone. "Snap." He put the two phones side by side. "Saw it at the shuttle complex on Attil, forgot I'd even taken a photo of it to be honest."

Matteo did feel guilty about the whole situation, and not just because he'd broken into Cliff's laptop again (invading her privacy and breaking her trust by reading files he had no business reading) but because unlike the other times, this was somebody he actually knew and even after such a short time considered a friend. He'd found out things he really wished he hadn't and it was hard to look Rinaa in the eye after doing it. Some things couldn't be unseen especially when they were written in black and white clinical language. A medical report didn't beat around the bush. "Thanks, I feel really bad for doing it, but at the time I really had to know. Seeing it all down there in stark medical terms makes it worse somehow, it doesn't hold back. Cliff's got quite a few theories of her own and a surprising amount of bio-data. It seems Artemis has been collecting bio-data on herself almost since day one and was still doing it up until a couple of days before the wedding, using the university facilities to run the tests. However at peace she may seem with being so advanced, I'd bet money it's all a facade."

 

[MzHyde]

Kay had a feeling that John took a photo, so when he pulled out his phone and found photo, she was glad that she didn't imagine him taking said picture. She watched and observed Elliott as he looked at the piece, almost scrutinising it, seeing how the placement of the symbol to his scar wasnt going amiss on him. When Chas pulled out his phone and showed he had taken a photo of the same image but elsewhere, she raised an eyebrow finding that this piece was definitely not a coincidence whilst feeling it was purposely done in solidarity with Elliott. "no way is any of this a coincidence. The same piece in two different spots? No doubt its elsewhere on Attil as well." she commented.

Fia continued to let him vent and speak his thoughts out as he clearly needed to. She nodded as she listened, "I knew she was running bio data to a certain extent, she had said she had done all kinds of tests and such before, but I didn't know it was right up until just recently. I totally agree it's no doubt a facade. I've noticed the times she mentally backed away from everyone and how she's so different when Moya isn't around. I know how bad she's had it mentally before so there's no way she's as calm as she let's people see." she replied to him, giving him a vague background without disclosing anything that wasn't her place to say. She also didn't want to bring Matteo down any more than he clearly was about Rinaa. "all we can do is let her deal with this the way she wants to, and support her decisions even if the rest of us hate them. It's not our place to tell her or suggest how she should be dealing with this" she added.

 

[_gallifrog_]

John's jaw very nearly dropped at the photo on Chas' phone. There was no denying that it was the same piece, not necessarily by the same artist. One was just a piece of interesting art, two wasn't a coincidence, there was certainly something more going on. "Bloody Hells, this is bigger than we thought." The cabbie nodded "It can't be a coincidence, it must be a message of some kind." "Agreed, I haven't had the opportunity to properly explore Attil, the whole being in prison thing really prevents me from doing the whole tourist thing, but if there's two then there's definitely more." With all of them in agreement John picked up his and Chas' phone. "I've got an idea for how we might find out more, it's a longshot though." "That's more than I've got." "Go on...." Chas prompted him, and for the second time that day John turned to the others on the porch. "Kinda random, but have any o' ya seen this before?" He held out the two photos for scrutiny.

Moya was the first to nod. "I have, they've been popping up around various places on Attil for about..... the last month maybe?" "Before I came back or after?" Moya considered the question "Before, a couple of days before, I'm not completely sure, but i think the date correlates to when you were formally handed over on Earth." "Now that you say that, I'm pretty sure one has popped up around the back of the base hospital and the medical test labs." Cliff added a few second later. "Any idea who is doin' it? Or even who is behind it?" John asked, to which they and Cal shook their heads. "Pretty sure I've seen it too" Chris told them when the phone made it's way over to him."But not physically" he added when everyone turned his way"pretty sure I saw it online, on the a couple of the forums for street artists. Don't hold me on this, I'm not sure, but I think I heard that there's a movement behind it."

Fia was right in thinking that Matteo needed to air his thoughts and vent. There was nobody he could really talk about it with, Cliff and his other siblings were out of the question, as were his school friends. Talking to Moya about the fact he'd been snooping in her terminally ill girlfriend's medical files was a recipe for disaster, talking to Rinaa herself about it was an even worse idea. "Well there's years of it, seems she's been using her the lab she works at to run the tests at first, being helped by the doctors there. I'd say that once she gets back to Attil she'll go right back to getting data with Cliff and Deke." While it didn't say it in the files, Matteo suspected Rinaa would be getting data up until the day she died so it could be used and studied by future scientists so that somebody else wouldn't have to go through what she did in the dark. "Having Moya around seems to be greatly helping her mental health in general, Artemis has made no secret of that being the case, she really does adore that girl. It was one of the first things she told us, not to make any suicide, depression or psychosis jokes around her as she's suffered from those things throughout her life." AT the least part he nodded. "Yeah, I know that, and I hope that she knows I'm doing that."

 

[MzHyde]

Kay nodded in agreement at the rest of them and their opinions, seeing as they all agreed it was far more than a street artist putting their signature piece around. She listened to all three of them talk before John got an idea, long shot or not, it was all they had right now. She looked around at everyone as some people started to take a look at the two phones to see the art piece and discuss if they've seen it anywhere else. She made a real point to listen intently and scrutinise what was being said incase she picked dup on anything mentioned. This was mostly incase she felt a question needed to be asked or clarification in general. Hearing that it started to pop around Attil only a couple of days before Elliott made it back was highly interesting to Kay, and only solidifying her theory that this was indeed a silent movement of solidarity. Then came what Alex said which really made her ears metaphorically pick up. "interesting... A theory I had was that this was a silent but obvious movement of solidarity to Ell. It seems that theory is having a lot more weight to it." she remarked back after everyone had said their bit.

Fia was willing to let Matteo to talk all he needed to, he had listened to her enough times in this short time of knowing him, so she was more than willing to listen to him back. She nodded in understanding as he continued to talk to her, finding that she too was learning just that bit more about Rinaa's state and actions herself. Hearing that Rinaa had openly told them about how bad she's had it mentally and what not to joke about around her, she nodded actually thankful for hearing that as it meant she didn't have to tip toe around that information for fear of saying something she possibly shouldn't have done. "yeah... Which I don't blame her for telling people, it's also quite admirable that she felt strong enough to say it out loud to people. But I'd like to hope she knows that we all will stand by her actions, no matter how long we've known her. Whether it's been for a long time or short. We do care about her wellbeing" she added. "and I know I'm only here until tomorrow but if you wanna vent to me in that time I'm all ears" she told him with a soft smile.