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Post by ParamountKeymaster on Mar 28, 2015 20:43:31 GMT -5
Night had fallen hard on Dimensional Island. The sky was a silky blanket of soft shades of black and blue, with only the tiny, shimmering stars to cast light upon the land below. The woods were still, disturbed only by the gentle breeze that stirred the needles of the trees. The canopy was bathed in a cold, blue light, while the trees cast a seemingly infinite shadow on the ground. The air was crisp and cool, refreshed by the soothing scents of pine and fir. The calm of the night was punctuated by a chorus of crickets and cicadas. Here, in this little patch of evergreen, away from the overwhelming sights and sounds of the city, it seemed as though not a soul was around.
For once, even if it was just a small part of the island, all was completely at peace.
And then, predictably, something ruined the scene.
It all happened so quickly. A blinding flash, a thunderous crack... Suddenly, the trees bent back under the force of the powerful shockwave, leaving a barren patch and a crater where the explosion had occurred. The phenomenon lasted only five seconds, then the night was quiet again.
A lone figure sat up in the crater, a silhouette against the dim sky, panting and frantically looking around.
"Jeffery?! Dr. Grant?!"
No one else was there. The only sounds that responded to his calls were his own echoes. Confused, scared and close to panicking, the young man leapt from the hole he had inadvertently created and disappeared into the foliage.
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"Swift, what's this all about?" Evan half-groaned, half-yawned. It was going on midnight, and quite frankly, adventurous as he was, Evan was ready to call it a night. And he almost certainly would have had his girlfriend not dragged him off into yet another investigation. "Do we have to take into account every weird thing that happens on this island?"
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Post by Pink Moon Wolf on Mar 28, 2015 20:52:28 GMT -5
"No, not every weird thing," Swift retorted, her hand tightly gripping Evan's wrist as she raced into the woods. "Weird things happen every day here. We're not gonna catch every single one of them. But I'm telling you, I heard an explosion around here. Not only that, but... I felt a presence... if only briefly. It felt familiar. Almost like home..."
The thought had made her space out for a moment, though she eventually shook it off and continued running as fast as she could. Or, at least, as fast as she could without having to worry about yanking her human boyfriend's arm off.
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Post by ParamountKeymaster on Mar 28, 2015 21:01:24 GMT -5
Despite being very obviously tired, Evan kept up with Swift fairly well, just barely tripping over himself now and then. He couldn't deny that Swift's energy and enthusiasm were part of the reason he loved her so much, but at that given moment, he was hardly in the mood for surprises. He could think of little more than his desire for a hot shower and a solid eight hours of sleep, but he knew better than to try to rain on Swift's parade. If she wanted to drag him off into yet another misadventure, so be it. He'd go along with it as long as he had to, be she would owe him, and he would let her know that soon enough.
"Home, huh?" Evan probably would've been more curious if here were more awake. "What, like a portal to our world was opened or something?"
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Post by Pink Moon Wolf on Mar 28, 2015 21:09:33 GMT -5
"I don't know! That's what I wanna find out! This way!"
Swift gracefully navigated through the dark forest, utterly oblivious to Evan's disinterest. Unable to contain her anxiousness, she eventually let go of Evan so she could more easily scout ahead, dashing between the trees like an excited rabbit. After a few twists and turns, she stopped just long enough to let Evan catch up and observe her surroundings with all her senses. She listened to the harmonies of the night, scanned the shadows with perfect night vision, breathed in the potpourri of scents that filled the forest air...
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Post by ParamountKeymaster on Mar 28, 2015 21:13:52 GMT -5
"Swift...!" Exhaustion on top of his human physiology left Evan at a disadvantage when it came to following Swift when she was moving at top speed. His sprint probably looked ridiculous, not that anyone else was around to see it, and by the time he caught up to Swift, he was panting like a dog. "Seriously... Is this... really that big a deal...?"
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Post by Pink Moon Wolf on Mar 28, 2015 21:16:42 GMT -5
"Shh!" Swift placed a hand on Evan's chest and once again put her focus on the various ambient surroundings.
"There's someone out there, alright," she muttered semi-ominously. "I hear him. I smell him." As if to double-check this, she took another short whiff. "He smells human."
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Post by ParamountKeymaster on Mar 28, 2015 21:22:41 GMT -5
Swift's announcement seemed to at least partially catch Evan's attention. "Human...? Hmm..." He tried to think what the best course of action would be.
"Well... Since we came this far, I guess we oughta find him. If he did just arrive here from our- or, uh... at least his home world, he's probably scared and confused, to say the least. Whoever it is, I wouldn't want to leave anyone to fend for themselves out here, especially at night."
Little did Evan realize that this newcomer could hear every word he was saying.
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Post by Pink Moon Wolf on Mar 28, 2015 22:09:20 GMT -5
"Glad we're in agreement. Let's go."
This time, Swift moved at a brisk, albeit much slower, walk. She could tell where this person was, but given what she knew about the situation, the last thing she wanted was to startle him. They'd find him easily enough. What happened after that, only time could tell.
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Post by ParamountKeymaster on Mar 29, 2015 9:33:33 GMT -5
Evan sucked in one last gulp of air before following Swift, still sluggish but at least able to keep up with her walk. He cautiously looked around, taking in whatever details he could, which amounted to very little considering he didn't have the night vision Swift had. The woods were little more than an inky blur of black, blue and green. Still, Evan wasn't afraid. He trusted Swift to guide him through this endeavor. She said this person was human, so until he was proven otherwise, Evan chose to believe there was no threat ahead of them. Or maybe he was just so tired that he was merely apathetic. It didn't seem like him, but sleep deprivation could take its toll on anyone.
As the duo scavenged the forest floor, a lone figure clung to a tree, high enough off the ground to go unnoticed but low enough to stay untouched by moonlight. He watched as Evan and Swift approached from below. Having heard their conversation, he took comfort in the fact that these people were here to help him, or at least they claimed to be. He was also at least partially aware that there was something... inhuman about one of them, a fact proven when they came close enough for him to see them through the trees and he caught sight of Swift's wolf ears.
He wasn't afraid. He was curious and logically still slightly confused, but the sight of his apparent rescuers didn't scare him.
Here's to hoping they'd feel the same way...
Ever on his guard, he jumped down from his tree and landed a few yards behind Evan and Swift.
"...!" Evan flinched slightly, alerted by the noise, and whipped around to face the newcomer.
"Oh. Sorry. Didn't mean to startle ya."
The young man stood amongst the shadows of the trees, a silhouette against the blue-black background. Any details were impossible for Evan's eyes to make out in the darkness. He simply saw a black figure nonchalantly brushing the pine needles off his shirt. His casual tone at least got Evan to calm down after his abrupt entrance. "Oh, it's no problem."
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Post by Pink Moon Wolf on Mar 29, 2015 14:02:03 GMT -5
"He's here."
No sooner had Swift uttered that before the young man jumped down from behind. She turned to face him, staying on defense while keeping a calm outer visage, again to avoid looking intimidating before she and Evan knew how he would react to them. Fortunately, his response was non-threatening and calm. Surprisingly calm, in fact. If he could see Swift, he seemed to be at ease with her wolf-like characteristics.
However, even though Evan couldn't see him in the darkness, Swift could. She could see very clearly that this young man looked even less human than she did. But despite his appearance, his scent was undeniably human, and she couldn't sense anything interfering with her senses to make her believe otherwise. Needless to say, she was baffled. Maybe even a bit concerned.
Swift curiously tilted her head, throwing the guy an odd look. "...S'alright. It's just... forgive me, but I could've sworn you were human."
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Post by ParamountKeymaster on Mar 29, 2015 21:31:11 GMT -5
"Ah... Well... I am." The young man shrugged and stepped out into the open. "Some might disagree, but I was born human; don't see why I wouldn't stay human."
When he fully revealed himself, his appearance almost completely negated his previous statement. In terms of proportion, expression and attire, he did look human, but that was where any similarities started and ended. His entire body was covered with a rough hide of blue scales. His hair looked black at first, but where the light hit it, it shone a dark shade of blue. His eyes glowed bright yellow, pupils slanted like a snake. Though his thumbs were in his pockets, his exposed fingers were clearly tipped with long, hooked claws. When he spoke, he revealed a mouthful of sharp canine teeth. Constantly swaying behind him was a pointed blue tail, flexible-looking and nearly as long as he was tall.
Despite his odd exterior, the smile he gave Evan and Swift was calm and welcoming. He seemed not at all surprised by the odd couple, nor did he look worried about how they would respond to him.
On the flipside, Evan was quite shocked by the sight of the demonic-looking man. Not too shocked, considering he had crossed paths with stranger creatures before, but the natural response to weird things like this tended to be alarm and scrutiny. By all means, Evan was wide awake now.
His relaxed demeanor never faltering, the blue-scaled young man continued, "Don't suppose either of you guys could tell me where I am?"
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Post by Pink Moon Wolf on Mar 30, 2015 10:00:43 GMT -5
Having already soaked in his physical attributes, Swift's confusion was more related to his insistence that he was human. He might've smelled human, but she was having a hard time believing him based on his appearance alone.
But he wasn't hurting anybody, and he didn't seem to have any intention to. He seemed nice enough. So Swift decided that the least she could do was not question him and show him the same politeness he was showing them.
"Ah... Yeah, uh, this is Dimensional Island. It's a small patch of land at the center of the void that separates all dimensions. Something must've opened a rift between this world and yours and dumped you here."
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Post by ParamountKeymaster on Mar 30, 2015 13:09:09 GMT -5
"I see... Actually, that makes a lot of sense." The man chuckled a bit. "I'm sure Jeffery would be glad to know I got that machine of his to work. ...If I can figure out how to get back, anyway."
He swayed a bit, pondering to himself, before looking up at the duo again. "Oh, sorry. Name's Paul."
"Evan." After giving Paul a curt nod, Evan said, "There is a travel station back in the city that'll take you to any dimension you want. Don't know if it's up and running right now, what with it being the middle of the night."
"Right, right..." Paul smiled at Swift. "So since you asked me, I hope you don't mind if I ask... Are you half wolf anthro, by any chance?"
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Post by Pink Moon Wolf on Mar 30, 2015 21:08:36 GMT -5
"Wolf hanyo, actually," Swift politely corrected. "Half human, half yokai. Folks call me Swift."
She looked around the woods for a moment, a curious glint in her eyes, then she turned back to Paul and smiled. "Well, like Evan said, we don't know how long it'll take to get ya home. In the meantime, you need a place to crash?"
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Post by ParamountKeymaster on Mar 30, 2015 22:18:25 GMT -5
"You'd do that for me?" Paul questioned gratefully. "Well... Gee, thanks! I'd appreciate that."
Evan, on the other hand, wasn't as quick to jump to conclusions. It had nothing to do with Paul's appearance or generally odd nature; after all, he came from a town infamous for taking oddballs in off the streets. His only concern was that it was late and he knew next to nothing about this guy. With Ace, it had been different; Kendall trusting her gave Evan plenty of reason to trust her. And while he didn't doubt Paul's optimistic demeanor, he couldn't help but feel like maybe it was too soon to be taking in a complete stranger.
But... it was either that or leaving him to wander unfamiliar territory in the middle of the night with God knows how many stranger creatures out there.
"Yeah. We've got a spare room or two in our apartment," Evan awkwardly added. "And you seem cool."
"You think so?" Paul chuckled. "You guys don't seem so bad yourselves."
All of a sudden, Paul bounded up to the two, forming a more tightly-knitted group. His smile was nothing short of pleasant and genuine. "But first things first. I'm in a brand new world meeting brand new people, none of which I really know anything about. I think we'd all be a little more comfortable if we fixed that."
Evan blinked a few times. Heck, it was like Paul had read his mind.
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