Sights Unseen (IC)

(Iris wasn't anywhere near there, but I guess we can say she was a short distance away and showed up)

Iris had been speaking with Rotor and Axel a short distance away, and it was a miracle when she had managed to overhear the conversation. Even though she could hear something in the tone of the Domovaya that notioned that she was being ridiculed, she ignored it. She could not control what she was, but who she was was a different matter. "Ammit, Egyptain monster." She said, "Once She devoured your heart, you encountered the 'second death'. She was not a Deity, but embodied all the fears of Egypt. She was chained and imprisoned by a powerful Seer, but as Creatures and Seers are at a kind of war, the negative energy made Her strong. She broke free."

Axel looked between Rotor and Iris for a minute and smirked.

"Looks like wikipedia was wrong." he said, making Rotor's engines suddenly create a loud sound as if he was about to take off. Although he couldn't feed them fuel, he could still do certain other things to express his annoyance. "Easy there, it was just a joke." Axel said, raising his hands in defense.

"Alright, I'll go and join this faction of yours and help you stop Ammit. As long as I get to set others on fire if they threaten me." Rotor said, bearing his silver teeth. Axel absentmindedly fondled his gun in it's holster. He didn't doubt he would need it to end a fight before it started, but he feared having to use it on what was supposed to be an ally if self defense.

Iris nodded, "Very well, then. You have consent to defend yourself." She turned to the Domovaya, "Shall we go to the entrance? You need an answer to a riddle to get in. Once you solve it, you don't have to repeat yourself, they'll let you in every time. However, the Sphinx's riddles can be very difficult. Afterwards, I'll give you all keys, and you can use them to unlock the doors to your rooms. They're enchanted, so the room will appear according to your likes and dislikes, and so on. It won't create an entire house, although some Creatures-" She looked at Rotor, "-Will discover that they have their own private pastures and cattle, or sheep, depending on which they prefer."

She finished saying this, and shifted into human form. Her eyes retained their amber, reptilian quality, and her hair was pure white. It was a quite intriguing combination for most people. "Well, then, let's get going." She started to head towards the mouth of the cave, where the Sphinx and Manticore stood.

"Lets." Rotor said, and walked after Iris, as he was already in human form.

"Oi! Wait for me!" Axel said, running up and after his friend. "I wonder what kind of riddle they have... I'm no good at them."

"Your right, but we have the internet on our side. I can find just about anything if I have connection." Rotor said, grinning. Suddenly, his eyes went wide and he scratched the back of his head.

"Let me guess..."

"Our connection just went dead"

"Knew it."

Iris laughed a little as they neared the entrance, "Well, why wouldn't the connection go dead? Technology as far as the Internet and radio can be dangerous when you're in a base full of Creatures and Seers in hiding. Besides, because we're in a dead zone, people can't track Rotor using technology. Regardless of what you do online, there's always some sort of data fingerprint you leave. No Internet, no fingerprint."

When they got close enough, the Manticore and the Sphinx stretched out their massive wings, blocking the entrance. They were a lot larger than normal lions, and might have been as large as those statues you saw at Chinese monasteries. They were, in a word, the perfect guards. "Halt! Who goes there!?" The Manticore growled. "Iris, A Master of the Legion, and three new arrivals." Iris said. She turned to the Sphinx, "State your riddle, Sphinx." She said. The Sphinx blinked once, before she began to speak, "What walks on four legs in the morning, on two at noon, and three in the evening?" She asked. Iris nodded, "The Answer is Man, because he crawls on four legs as an infant, walks on two when an adult, and moves with the assistance of a cane when He is old." The Sphinx nodded, "Proceed." With this, the Sphinx and Manticore pulled back their wings to rest on their backs, no longer barring the entrance.

Iris once more entered the first stretch of the cave, which looked like a normal one to fool anyone who looked into the mouth but did not go exploring into thinking it was unpopulated. She then reached the Main Hall, with it's high ceilings, intricate frescoes, and gemstones. Creatures, Yetis, Dwarfs, and Seers milled about the room, not even giving a second glance to the new arrivals, although a few yetis and dwarfs, the two kinds of Creatures that had built the beautiful place within the mountain, dipped their heads respectfully towards Iris.

Iris led the group down the halls, and turned around, handing Axel, Rotor, and the Domovaya keys. "Just pick a door that doesn't have a nameplate on it, and unlock it. The door will open into a room that suits your needs. Before you ask, there isn't a separation of boys and girls in dorms. This is a base, and a hidden city built by Yetis and Dwarfs. Separating the boys and girls wasn't taken into account."

Tony walked into the main hall, tired from his day of magic shows. He had a few weeks off now, though, which he would use to relax and help the Seers out. He thought of going to see if there were any new recruits, but her was too exhausted to. Instead, he found his room, admired the neon nameplate that said "Tony the Great" on it, and opened the door with his own magic key.

The room's interior was about twenty by twenty; a perfect square, no doubt. The inside of it was completely indescribable; it looked like the backstage of a magic show miked with a casino mixed with a bar mixed with a bedroom. In the upper left corner of the room was a magical automated minibar with a black marble countertop that mixed all sorts of drinks (alcoholic and non) and potions. In the upper right corner of the room was a casino table with stacks and stacks of cards under it. The table was also enchanted and could deal cards and make up to four automated players. It knew how to play everything from war to blackjack. The left wall contained Tony's master bed, which was surrounded by velvet curtains like a stage and had a night stand covered in all kinds of magic tricks The right wall had an oven, a refrigerator that never ran out of food, a microwave, cabinets, a door to a pantry that also never ran out of food, a black marble countertop with a sink for preparing food, and a door to the bathroom. the opposite wall to the door was primarily taken up by a massive window, outside of which you could see Las Vegas (it's obviously not in Vegas, it's a magically created image of what Vegas looks like at that exact time), which was surrounded by more red velvet curtains. In the right corner of the room closest to the door was a computer and a mobile hotspot that gave Tony internet, as well as an iHome for his iPhone 5. In the center of the room was a large dining table with four plus velvet chairs. A button under the table could magically transform it into a roulette table, a card table, a foosball table, or a pool table. Tony called it Table the Great. Finally, from the ceiling hung a round golden cage which was Perri's.

He let the talking bird fly up to go to sleep and climbed into bed, magically changing into his pajamas. He clicked a button and a 72" flatscreen TV popped out of the wall to the right of the bed. He turned on ESPN, which was showing the World Series of Poker, which he watched for a few hours. Growing tired, he click another button on the remote and the TV went into the wall and was replaced by a large oak bookshelf. Tony put the remote down and fell asleep.

"The Sphynx..."

Kamina Barabashkavna meditated on this new information. An ancient Egyptian goddess of fear, free to roam the lands as she pleased. Surely, if such a creature were allowed to continue with her own devices, only disaster could ensue? Would it not be the duty of every man and beast to work against this monster's agenda?

Nevertheless, being a domovaya, she had her qualms about entering the domain of another. "Who... is the Master of your House?" she inquired, dipping her head to a now-human Iris as a gesture of respect, and attempting to hide her blend of fear and admiration for the being - would Kamina Barabashkavna have the courage to lead such a campaign herself, and deal with the constant and natural racism that would stick to a part-demon like brambles?

"I call top bunk!" Axel yelled, and raced to the closest empty room.

"You idiot! Wait up for me! It's going to be your own room anyway!" Rotor said, running after his friend.


Despite being adults, both Axel and Rotor loved to act like kids. They were young at heart, despite being over the legal drinking age.


Axel stuck his key into one of the empty rooms, and it was immediately transformed.

The roof became domed, and clear, with some metal in between each piece of glass, showing that it was reinforced. The front of the room held a large queen sized bed, which had a perfect view of the incredible mountain range. The floor itself was made of beautiful dark wood. In the back was the restroom, which had a bamboo door, and blurred out glass. Behind the TV, there was a large flatscreen(If thats okay) with an XBOX360 and PS3 hooked up to it. Both at the top of a shelf that held hundreds of videogames, each one relatively current, however, online play was disabled.

Rotor, as he walked through the halls, heard Axel's yell of joy, and chuckled. He hoped his likes were similar. He held the key up to his face with his robotic hand, and choose the door right next to Axel's, and unlocked it. As soon as he walked in, the room became squared, and a line of blackish glass wrapped around the outsides of the room. Several part of the floor sunk down right around the entrance, which became water. Clear glass formed above the liquid, as to keep anyone from getting wet. Circular chairs became apparent, along with several bookshelf's which held several books. The white floors seemed to glow, making lights above obsolete, and therefor, nonexistent. Rotor's jaw dropped. This room was perfect for him in every way.

Iris turned to the Domovaya, "The Master of Our House? We have none, or maybe we have multiple. I cannot be sure. There are a lot of spirits that reside here, like brownies, banshees, shades, and several others. Some of them are very friendly, while others..." She shrugged, "...Not so much. I guess you could say the oldest resident house spirit, a brownie we call Sammy Shay, could be the Master, but the different rooms the Creatures and Seers live in are like separate homes. The base is like a city, or something. It's pretty confusing, if you ask me." Iris really didn't quite understand what the base could be considered as. "However, the Yetis and Dwarfs could probably answer that better than me, they built this place."

"Yetis, dwarves, brownies and spirits and shades... Goodness me, you've attracted quite the following, haven't you...?

Kamina Barabashkavna scratched her crooked chin, attempting to make sense of this new information. If the headquarters was indeed a city, she would be safe in her own House; if not, if the Seers and their organization were lying to gain her allegiance, then she would be effectively imprisoned.

But what did such a fate matter to one who had so recently lost the House of their own? Kamina Barabashkavna made up her mind. "I will go," she crooned thoughtfully, as if speaking to one so far away that they could not hear her words.

Iris nodded, "Great, come on, then. Let's find you a room." She took the Domovaya to the main hall and handed her a key. "The doors are magical. Just insert the key into the lock of any door that doesn't already belong to someone, and when you unlock it, the room that's behind it will be suited perfectly to your needs." She frowned, "Just keep in mind, that this leads me to another important matter. Sometimes Creatures and Seers here like to visit each other. If you ever want to visit someone, you should probably be careful, because some of the rooms are dangerous, due to the needs or nature of who lives there. Shades and Demons are good examples. Some of them have rooms so dark you can't see what's right in front of you. That doesn't even cover that some of them have pentagrams or other creepy stuff that drains your power. I mean, I'm part demon, but I expect guests all the time. Who in the right mind keeps that sort of stuff in their room while expecting guests, I will never know. I guess other demons and shades." She shrugged, "Anyway, just go look for a door. That's really all you need to know. I'm going to head back to my own room, let me or one of the dwarfs or yetis know if you need anything." With this, Iris walked down the hall, past Aella's room, and entered the door with the name 'Iris' engraved on its bronze nameplate. The flat door frame around it, designed like a canvas, was made solely so that they could be decorated by who lived there. Iris' doorframe was painted with four different images, two on each side. One was blue, and showed a figure with a white beard skiing down a snowy slope, using his bare feet. Below that was a yellow picture, of a woman in a robe, wearing magical symbols and wielding a staff. On the other side of the door, was a red image, showing a pure red dragon, lacking the same curve of horns or white markings Iris possessed. The fourth image was black, with a bluish-black demonic figure crouching in the corner. It had a skull-like face, and its wings and horns were similar to Iris'. Clearly, the four images were the creatures that Iris was descended from. The blue was Barbegazi, the yellow a Seer, the red was a Dragon, and the black was a Demon.

"Oh, I'm perfectly suited, thank you... I won't be calling on anyone else. My gratitude for your generosity!"

After observing Iris' departure, Kamina Barabashkavna began to study the key with a subdued trickle of curiosity. It was a small, plain thing, appearing to be cast of bronze yet surprisingly light in the hand. She tilted it up to the light - sparkles seemed to dance upon its smooth surface, as the setting sun plays light upon the distant waves of a vast ocean.

Humbled by the presence of magic the likes of which Kamina Barabashkavna had never before contacted, the domovaya quietly inserted the key into the lock of a nearby door, which immediately - to her surprise and delight - began to smell heartily of pine logs and warmth.

Pushing open the door, Kamina Barabashkavna crossed the threshold with some measure of reluctance to find herself in an abode curiously reminiscent of her previous home. Bookshelves lined the walls and a thick crimson rug of dyed yak-fur blessed the rough surface of the large oaken boards which composed the floor. In one corner, a fire bubbled gently in a mud-bricked alcove, with a cast iron stove flanking it. Several comfortable-looking chairs were arranged about the room, and a small table with what looked to be a set of Chess inhabited a near corner.

The crackling of the fire comforted Kamina Barabashkavna, and she shut the door - settling into a chair and breathing deep into herself the musky aroma.

She was the Master of this House.

"This is so awesome!" Axel said, running out of his room, turning, and running to Rotors, only to run straight into the door. Rotor came out a few second earlier, his eyebrows scrunched up with a questionate look as he had heard the slam on his door. He looked down to see Axel, who was rubbing his head.

...


...


"You're an idiot."


"Idiots don't go to college."


"Touche"


Rotor offered his robotic hand to Axel, who took the mechanical appendage and used it to lift himself back to his feet, with Rotor's help, of course.

"Amazing, this place." Rotor said, looking around the tunnels with awe.

"Quite, I didn't expect this." Axel replied, smiling at his taller friend.

"I heard there was a cafeteria thing on the bottom floor. I'm getting hungry. Wanna come along?" Rotor said, turning in a random direction.

"Why not. This will be our home after all, if we stay. The exploration will be good for us."

"No, it's be bad for us."

"Shut up."

Kyle and Honeycomb came out of their rooms when they heard the hollering of two guys who must have been cheering over their new rooms. Ky was still pretty surprised how his room had turned out, but after exploring it, had decided that what Saul had said about his preferences being correct. He decided that he had gotten off on the wrong foot with Iris, and that Honeycomb owed the mixed-breed an apology for all the insults. He found himself wandering down the hall, past two doors, one inscribed 'Rotor' and the other 'Axel', then two more, one labeled 'Aden' and the other 'Aella'. He paused for a moment, staring at the name of the Thunderbird he had pursued for three years, before finally coming to another door, with the name 'Iris' on it.

He paused, before knocking, "Excuse me? Iris, are you there?" He asked. He heard shuffling, before the door unlocked and Iris opened it, "Yes?" She asked. "May we come in?" That was when he noticed something different about her appearance. Her skin had been pale to begin with, but now it had a strange, greyish tinge to it, and dark purple smudges were under her eyes, as though she hadn't gotten enough sleep. "Yes, come in." She said. If she was tired, she didn't say anything, as she opened the door to let him in. He stepped inside, looking around the room.

Iris' room was incredibly large, definitely defying any laws of physics that would have tried to explain how it had fit in the mountain to begin with. However, Kyle instantly knew that the main reason it was so big, was because of the fact that Iris probably would have wanted to be able to fit in her room, even in dragon form. It also felt somewhat hazardous, but he quickly discovered an explanation for that as well. He found himself standing on a huge stone bridge, crafted out of dark basalt columns, which were hexagonal in shape, but did not descend down into the cavern below, that jutted out of a huge wall, where the door was inserted. However, he could not appreciate their unique shape, because over the basalt columns, smoothing out any rigid bumps, were shiny bricks carved from snowflake obsidian. The only places where the basalt columns were left alone was the wall where the door was, where it appeared to be entirely made of the material. The bridge had no railing, and led to the center of the cavern, a long distance away, where it connected to a huge platform of black granite that rose out from the pit below, and was capped with a solid layer of snowflake obsidian. The center of the platform was scooped out into a hollow, and around it was a pattern inlaid with a variety of precious metals, namely platinum, some gold, and minute amounts of silver. Kyle recalled that some dragons had an affinity for precious metals and treasure, and he was positive that Iris was one of them. The actual hollow was lined with a few blankets of varying color, along with a green pillow. Kyle saw one blanket that appeared to be sewn out of baby clothes, and was incredibly worn. He looked away, when he realized that it probably hadn't been in the room when it had been unlocked, and that the stitches were hand-made.

When he looked away, he saw that the cavern was deep, and that at the bottom, a channel of hot magma boiled below the platforms. Above him, the high ceiling was coated with ice and frost, which he realized, was causing strange fluctuations in the room's temperature, as the ice and magma seemed to battle for control over the temperature. Strangely, the ice wasn't melting. In the center of the ceiling, above the nest in the platform, was a dome made of crystal, that had frost around the edges of it. The sky was bright blue, with fluffy clouds in it. A few flowering vines, like climbing shell, trailed onto the glass, but did not go so far so as to conceal the view. All the light in the cavern seemed to come from sunbeams that entered through the window. The glow of the magma below was too far away, and Kyle realized he could not hear it, either. Instead, despite changing temperature, he could hear the sound of a cool wind that seemed to blow about it, making a strange, hollow sound. On the opposite side of the cavern, a large alcove was scored into the wall, with various rocky outcroppings concealing the massive passage. However, that could not hide the inviting, glowing light that came from around the bend. Overall, it seemed as though the cavern defied nature, and the nature of it was as confusing as the nature of the mixed-breed that lived there.

Iris saw him peering at the door, "That leads to my private hunting grounds." She said, calmly, despite the fact that her home was being observed, and that she looked somewhat beaten. "It's kind of nice, but you need wings to reach them. They're the land around that window up there," She nodded at the dome in the ceiling, "It doesn't rain, but the plants never really die, and it's more like a tropical paradise, out there. No wonder the prey is so good." Ky couldn't help staring a little at the comment, considering the fact that he was a Seer with a Companion that ate only ants, and the fact that he didn't hunt and eat kills like an animal. He then saw a bit of a glint in her eyes that had nothing to deal with strange, shifting shapes caused by demon blood. Honeycomb gave a warning hiss, and he went pale. Iris didn't look terrible because she hadn't gotten enough sleep. She hadn't fed in a while, apparently.

She shook her head and looked back at him, "So, why did you want to see me?" She asked. Ky didn't know what to say. No doubt, being around a hungry creature that was part demon and part dragon was dangerous. What if he was mistaken for prey? "Er...I wanted to apologize for how Honeycomb and I acted earlier..." He said, stuttering a bit. Iris frowned, her amber eyes glowing, "I can smell your fear and anxiety, you know. If anything, the fight or flight response just makes hunger worse." Ky froze. How had she known what he was thinking? Was it that obvious? "I heard your Companion say something, and yes, I admit it, I haven't exactly fed in awhile. If it makes you that nervous, we can talk about your apology later." Ky now felt disoriented. Iris just sighed, opening the door and showing him out, "Later, and you need to go get something yourself, before you pass out from low blood sugar. Since the elves took on the lunch room, they can pretty much prepare anything you need, and you'll probably never taste food that good. It's on the second floor. Go get yourself a piece of fruit or something. You're shaking." With this, she shut the door.


Iris, of course, was relieved when she had closed the door and locked it behind Ky. It was true, he had needed some sugar to keep from passing out, but that wasn't all. She sighed shakily and slid down to the floor, putting her face in her hands momentarily. She had almost attacked him. She had been starving to begin with, and when he realized how bad it was, his adrenaline had almost set her off. She was famished. She couldn't wait any longer. She had to hunt something now. She shifted into dragon form and dashed into the corridor, entering her hunting grounds, just as she lost any self-control she had. She locked onto a heard of goats, and took down three without any hesitation. She fed, desperate to sate her hunger before she wasted away. Survival was a powerful urge, and it made intelligent creatures become animals.

Axel and Rotor walked in the random direction that Rotor had decided to go off in.


And walked.


And walked.


And walked.


They walked until they realized they were lost.


"Admit it. We're lost," Axel said, stopping and leaning against the cave wall. "Well excuse me. It's not like google maps has exactly documented this place. There isn't even internet." Rotor replied, stopping and turning to his friend, and leaning against the opposite wall. "Really? You were using google maps? From the way you were leading us, it seemed like you were using Apple maps," Axel countered, flatly. "This is why I'm the pilot." Axel continued. "Alright, alright! Geez, cant blame a guy for trying!" Rotor said, lifting his arms up in a sign of defeat.


"Half breed and robot, and I thought I'd seen it all." a Satyr said, walking by them and scoffing.


"Oi! I cant help my heritage! What do you get out of putting me down for something I cant change?" Axel said, getting out of his lean on the wall.

"Nothing, I just like to tell the truth."

"Requested permission use of deadly force." Rotor said, a robotic voice beginning to once again take hold.

"Permission denied." Axel said quickly, "I dont want to get blood on my clothes.


The Satyr sneered at them and continued on it's way.

"I was afraid I would've turned to stone for a second! You looked as ugly as Medusa!" Axel shouted out at the goat man's retreating form.

"Want to follow him? He looked fat." Rotor said, the robotic voice gone.

"Are you suggesting he'll lead us to the cafeteria?"

"Yes."

Axel stifled a laugh as began following the Satyr's path, Rotor close behind. The Satyr lead them back to the corridor where their rooms were, they watched, just as a boy with a reptile on his shoulders go into a room and stay in there.

"Yo, dude," Rotor said, tapping Axel on the shoulder.

"What?"

"Check this out."

Rotor then placed his hands on the wall, and kicked out, getting a firm grip on the other side. Now he was sideways, holding himself in the air with the walls. He began to climb up, and directly over Axel, and then kicked a door. Axel looked at Rotor, shocked, and then read then nameplate above the door. It was labeled "Aella". Rotor the climbed up to the ceiling, holding himself over Axel where no one would think to look unless they knew he was there. Axel mouthed curse words at Rotor, who snickered, and tried to copy his motions. He made it three feet up, then lost his footing, falling back tot he ground. He cursed under his breath.


At least he could throw Rotor under the bus.

There was a loud screech! when someone kicked Aella's door, followed by the sound and smell of electric sparks. The door opened, and Aella glared at the stranger through the eyes of her mask. To anyone, a girl wearing a bird mask and a feathered cloak was strange, and possibly intimidating, when you couldn't see their entire face. "What's your problem!? I was trying to sleep!" She cried. She stepped out of her room and shut the door, tipping her mask up like a beak and shifting into bird form. She fixed her piercing eyes on the intruder, sparks coursing across her feathers, "Now, can you please explain why you did that? Because if you don't, you're going to learn the hard way what happens when you pick fights with a Thunderbird."

Great, it had to be a thunderbird.

Just, wonderful.


"Uh, sorry about that." he said, getting back up from his prone position.

Rotor was struggling to not burst out laughing up on the ceiling, and in the midst of holding it in, he somehow managed to keep himself up.

"The reason is simple." Axel said, looking around the cave floor, and finding a small rock on the ground. "If you want to know the reason, watch." He said.

Rotor's eyes bulged. Axel could throw pretty hard, and this rock was bigger than a golfball. He begged Axel not to do it with his eyes, only to receive an evil smirk back as Axel looked up towards him. He braced for impact.

Axel curled his arm back, and launched it foreword, sending the rock flying at Rotor, nailing the dragon in the stomach, and making the dragon fall back to the ground on his stomach.

Rotor let out a painful grown, "What the heck man!" He said, clenching his stomach.


Axel gestured to the man on the ground. "There is your reason, Miss Aella."

"I'm going to light you on fire when I can be a dragon again! You just wait!"

The Thunderbird could only stare at the dragon-turned human on the ground. He wasn't exactly like a normal dragon. He was part machine, like a cyborg of sorts, even though in human form he only had a robotic arm. He was also much more tame than most dragons, more in control of his instincts. Something about it disgusted her, but she knew that a certain part-dragon down the hall would probably overhear it if she said anything. Iris wouldn't take kindly to insults to a fellow part-dragon. "Look, I don't know why you woke me up, but I'm not quite sure I'd understand what's going on here."

She then looked up, and saw Ky, the Seer that had been chasing her for three years, and that wretched Amphisbaena wrapped around his neck. Her eyes narrowed, and she gave a low screech, "What are you doing here?" The Seer wouldn't understand, but his traitor Companion, who had helped him hunt her, would. The Amphisbaena hissed in return, telling Kyle through some special bond that Companions had, that he was in danger. Aella just then noticed something strange. Ky was a lot paler than he should have been, he looked ill, and he was shaking slightly, although that probably had nothing to deal with her threat. She forced down the strange, alien wave of concern. "Haven't you already ruined three years of my life hunting me?" She demanded. The Amphisbaena translated. "I-I-I was t-t-trying to a-apologize to I-I-Iris!" He was stuttering. "S-S-She almost a-a-attacked me!" He wasn't very clear. The Amphisbaena took it upon herself. "She hadn't fed recently. She almost mistook us for prey, but she didn't. She tried not to, and she made us leave before she could do anything."

Now Axel was not only in an awkward position, but both he and Rotor were caught in the middle of a seer and thunderbird. Apparently the seer had been hunting the thunderbird for three years.

"I'm picking up some intense vibes of anger here." Axel said, looking between the thunderbird and the man with the creature on his shoulders. Not a second after that, Rotor punched him in the chest sending the smaller man(Axel) against the wall.

"Do not, I repeat, do NOT. Go hippy on me." Rotor said, making a pokerface, which soon cracked into laughter. Axel rubbed his chest, Rotor could punch.

"Anyway, you two know each other?" Axel said, pointing at Aella and the newcomer with both hands. "What's with the hunting thing?"


"Yeah! Where's the cafeteria!" Rotor said, raising his voice.



...



"Get your priorities straight, winged lizard."

"Hey! This winged lizard happens to a winged lizard you saved, and ride."


"Anyway, why don't you two come down with us? We can talk a bit about the problems, who knows, we might even fix them, it'll be like the 'Breakfast Club'!" Axel reasoned, trying to cool the tension in the room.

"Because three years of your life taken away is forgiven just like that."

"Not helping!"

Honeycomb hissed at the dragon and his companion, "We were just going to apologize for getting off on the wrong foot! How were we supposed to know that Iris had such a weak grip on her instincts? We can't be blamed if she was almost driven mad with hunger! She scared my Companion half to death!" Ky looked at the Amphisbaena coiled around his neck nervously, as though he was now worried that she would be the one that undid him. Meanwhile, Aella continued to glare, sparks now coming off her feathers.

When she was about to attack, the squeak of door hinges caught her attention, as the door across from hers, labeled 'Aden' opened. A person around her age stepped out, blinking, as though bewildered at what was going on. He was wearing a grey flannel sweater, and blue jeans. His short, messy hair stood up in every direction, and his eyes were a bright shade of gold. So this was the phoenix that Aella lived next to, who apparently carried the 'Arrows of War', whatever those were. "Uh....hi..." He said, breaking into a sweat. "Uh...I'm Aden, and...uh..." He seemed to be trying to figure out what to say. "...Uh...you must be Aella...nice to meet you..."

Aella was completely distracted by the phoenix's nervous behavior. "...Sorry..." She shifted back into human form, suddenly embarrassed that she had almost caused her neighbor to walk into a fight. "I guess I did overreact a bit, didn't I?" She mused. Aden glanced between all the different faces, before seeing Ky's. "Man! You're pale! Are you feeling well?!" He asked, concerned. Honeycomb hissed and repeated herself, sounding annoyed, "Dude, even if she almost lost control, she wasn't lying just to get you out of there. Forget whatever was happening right now! You're going to go eat something! You look like you're going to pass out!" He looked between everyone else, "...better yet, I haven't seen any of you before. You guys know where anything in the base is yet?"

"Name's Axel, first day." Axel said, stepping foreword. "And my name's Rotor, I'm a dragon. My rider and I have been looking to the cafeteria, and we met these two."

"You left out the part where you kicked Aella's door as a prank on me and made her transform in a way to threaten me."

"Thant's not important."

"Sure."

Rotor sighed at his friend, before looking back to the new man. "These two," he said, motioning to Honeycomb and Kyle. "Have apparently been stalking Aella," he said, motioning to the thundergirl. "For the past three years." He said, placing his hands back down at his sides. "We were just inviting them to help find the cafeteria with us, and maybe sit down and talk over lunch."

Axel stuffed his hand sin his pockets, the thunderbird had tensed before turning back to a human girl, as if she was about to attack. He thanked his lucky stars that the new person had come. He fiddled with the pocket knife inside. He knew it would do little to the thundergirl, but it may provide time to put distance between himself and her, enough that perhaps Rotor could take care of the rest. He then realized how outmatched he really was. He doubted he could take on any of the beings in this room, besides, maybe the seers. They were partially human, and his Glock could take them, but the creatures? No way.


"Does anyone want to come along with us?" Rotor said, oblivious to his rider's internal conflict.

Aden shrugged, "Sure, it's down the hall, I just hope you don't mind the crowd. The lunch room is like a patchwork of different environments. You've got the predators that eat...well...you don't want to know, in one section, the herbivores in another, the shades probably scared a few poor mice silly in their dark corner so they could feed on fear. It's kind of random who's eating when you walk in. Regardless, the Elves took over the kitchen, and they can cook just about anything." The phoenix kept glancing in Ky's direction. He had stopped shaking, somewhat, but was still not a very appealing color. Iris must have scared him pretty bad. Only a hungry part-demon could scare someone so badly that their blood sugar escalated, and then fell rapidly when it was over to the point that it caused physical illness. Or maybe he was hypoglycemic, or both.

"Come on, follow me, I'll show you there. I've been here since the Legion first started."

Having for the moment grown weary of her indulgence in the many, diverse, and simply captivating volumes of lore that sat on the shelves of her room like fat bees, Kamina Barabashkavna found herself drifting into a content slumber, all things considered.

She dreamt not of House, but of Home, and those three who inhabited - had inhabited it. They stood in the throes of a chill wind, wrapped - all three - in a threadbare blanket, watching from cobbled roads as the embers of their former House settled into peaceful quietus.

Kamina Barabashkavna woke with a start. She needed something to occupy her mind, for there was simply no considering the three Home-tenants, as nothing could be done about them. The domovaya had a new life now, and her past simply had to accept this.

She creaked open the door to her room with nervous sluggishness and began to search for a cafeteria, where she might find a bite to eat: perhaps some cheese and bread, or a glass of milk.

(I'm just going to say Aden already led everyone to the lunch room)

The instant Aden arrived with a bunch of new Creatures and Seers, Zared's hackles rose. He wasn't even sitting anywhere near the entrance to the lunch room, but he could still see them plainly. He wasn't a werewolf, or any creature known for its sense of smell, but he could smell strange, unfamiliar scents invading his nostrils, that had nothing to deal with the wide array of foods the elves prepared daily. He wasn't in any way a kind of dog, but he could easily be described as territorial, like a wolf. He wasn't fond of strangers.

He clutched the edge of his table, on the far side of the room, and suppressed the growl that inevitably rose up from deep in his throat. He wasn't very intimidating in size, considering his rather unimpressive height of five feet three inches. However, his attire, a black leather jacket, along with the fact that he had reptilian yellow eyes, and sharp teeth, made him look as though he were part demon. He wasn't related to a demon in any way, despite his appearance. He was just an incredibly ferocious dragon that didn't like strange people that weren't in his immediate horde. Considering that he knew Aden since he had first arrived at the Legion, a long time ago, Aden was already in the small circle of friends that made up Zared's Horde, along with Iris, Saul, and a few other dragons that weren't very large or intimidating. There were a lot of run-of-the-mill Green Westerns running around, and they were all about the size of cows. How humans made them all out to be so large, he didn't know. Not all dragons grew to be very large.

Zared was one of the unique dragons that grew larger than the average Green, although in comparison to Iris, he looked small. Really, though, Zared's size rivaled an Elephant's in dragon form. Even though his wingspan was only three times his body length, he could fly faster than Iris. Smaller dragons that were more aerodynamic just naturally flew faster, and with a gigantic wingspan, that was even more so. Zared was like a combination of the dragon version of a Peregrine Falcon and a Needletail Swift. He could fly over 350 miles per hour horizontally, and could break the sound barrier if he entered a stoop dive. He was probably the fastest dragon alive, naturally. And his flames, an acetyline/oxygen fueled flame, was the hottest known fire to man.

Regardless of his abilities, however, Zared was only a Beta Dragon. He wasn't like Iris, who was an Alpha. He couldn't switch between fire and ice like her, even though his flames were hotter than hers, and he was faster. He still wouldn't want to fight her in close quarters, and if she managed to ice his wings, he would have crashed out of the sky. Still, though, in dragon terms, he was pretty close to her rank in the Horde, a second-in command. Naturally, when he caught the scent of another dragon, he felt threatened. Being a Beta was a pretty big deal when so many dragons were in close quarters.

Never before had Kamina Barabashkavna seen so many magical beings together in one place.

In fact, never before had Kamina Barabashkavna seen any other magical beings at all, aside from the occasional Dvorovoi that she would have to shoo off from the backyard, or the neighbor's kindly Kikimora who used to regale the Domovaya with stories of ancient battles and heroes of the homeland during her youth.

But here were dragons, demons, creatures of land and air and sea and other, stranger areas of Space, many beings Kamina Barabashkavna could not even begin to describe... It was as if she had suddenly and inexplicably walked into a city council meeting as a mere child and been expected to contribute to the discussions.

Meekly resigning to an uninhabited corner table, Kamina Barabashkavna hung her head low and hoped no one would attempt to bother her. Nevertheless, she could not stop herself from casting the occasional wide-eyed gaze across the diverse inhabitants of the cafeteria.