[color=f49ac2][center][h3]Smudge Pixelby[/h3][/center][/color]

A step back was taken. A bolt was loaded and it was reluctantly but quickly put back where it came from. Smudge squirmed, trying to angle her body away from Mergoux without moving her feet. [color=f49ac2]"Mmy name is Sm-m[/color][i]huc[/i][color=f49ac2] Smudge P-Pixelby,"[/color] she sobbed, rivulets of pink fluid running down onto her shirt. Her voice went in and out of audibility under a layer of fizz. 

[color=f49ac2]"This book is a- journal from Qi Tiān- to Pale Harbour,"[/color] she repeated dumbly. [color=f49ac2]"It's got- all these details... It's the [i]only copy,[/i]"[/color] said Smudge, her snow fading as if picking up a signal, replacing itself little by little with folds of grey matter and veins. [color=f49ac2]"He's c-can't even [i]read[/i] it anymore,"[/color] she whispered, as if that made all the difference.

The rest was just crying and swaying.