[hr][center][h3][b][u][UnderCity - ShieldTown Region][/u][/b][/h3][/center]
[center][A Druidquest / XianaEvermore Collaboration][/center][hr]

Yue checked over her arm and groped her face where prickles of numbness had cropped up to make sure everything was still there. Besides a scrape, a few nicks, and some road rash, she’d probably have (another) neat looking bruise from her collision with the cliff face. All things considered, it could have been worse.

She wondered if she’d done something to prevent herself from becoming a red smear on the wall in that instant where she hadn’t been protected by the medallion’s barrier. Something to meditate on later… 

No doubt Archer was pulling his hair out, so rather than dwell on it, she brushed the dust off with a sigh and started back towards ShieldTown at a much more modest pace. After an uneventful run, she lazy-vaulted the North perimeter and slid down the interior wall. Alex’s place would be the obvious place to wait to be yelled at, and she knew it was vaguely located in the center of town.

Yue turned the medallion over and over in her hand as she walked, letting it sing in her ear while she mulled the events over in her head. If there had been one more foothold she probably would have had enough velocity to escape. Somehow she doubted the others would be amenable to her running loose without supervision around the perimeter of the crater and attempting to climb at all the plate gaps.

Didn’t mean she [i]wasn’t[/i] going to suggest it, being a simple solution that didn’t need to inconvenience the lives of the others she’d been imposing on for… [i]what felt like years now[/i]. It’d barely been a day, of course, but still. The thought that people were probably panicked over her disappearance weighed heavily on her. No doubt resources were being spent that didn’t need to be, and the Templar… well Sai, mainly, was probably turning the city upside down or concocting some ridiculous plan that involved far too many explosives.

Right. Focus on what we can control.

Yue blew out a sigh, coming out of her thoughts and pausing in an intersection. She squinted at all the buildings, turning in a slow circle and realizing she’d lost sight of the wall, and all these buildings kind of looked the same… to her at least.

[b][color=#CE2B95]"Fuck,"[/color][/b] she muttered. [b][color=#CE2B95]"I really [i]do[/i] need adult supervision."[/color][/b]

[b][color=#add8e6]”Looking for somethin’, Miss?”[/color][/b] 

A young boy no older than twelve popped up by Yue’s elbow, gazing up with the backs of his hands resting on his hips. There was something… odd about him she couldn’t quite place. He looked like a normal enough kid, tan skin, dusty black hair, but something about looking at him made her eyes… sting. Like staring into a campfire. He tilted his head slightly, waiting for a response, before continuing on his own. 

[b][color=#add8e6]”I can help out if you need directions,”[/color][/b] he commented, hopping out in front of her. [b][color=#add8e6]”I’m somethin’ of a guide, you see. People ‘round here call me Doll. You know the Rats? They’re good friends of mine.”[/color][/b]

[b][color=#CE2B95]"Doll? Rats?"[/color][/b] Was that some kind of gang? She squinted at the child for a long moment. [b][color=#CE2B95]"Um… Well…,"[/color][/b] she hesitated, not wanting to perpetuate the small-town stereotype that everyone knew everyone else. Since… surely that wasn’t the case, right?

[b][color=#CE2B95]"I’m meeting some friends? One of them is a huge…,"[/color][/b] she gestured vaguely, indicating someone extremely tall and wide. 

[b][color=#add8e6]”Oh, you’re looking for Aegis,”[/color][/b] Doll interrupted before Yue could finish. [b][color=#add8e6]”Yeah, I know where he’s at.”[/color][/b]

Because of course he does.

[b][color=#CE2B95]"O-oh,"[/color][/b] she stammered awkwardly. [b][color=#CE2B95]"Would you… be so kind?"[/color][/b]

Doll stared at her for a moment, as though considering her request. A few seconds stretched toward the full minute mark, his silence lasting long enough to make Yue start feeling antsy. She was about to reconsider when he suddenly spun on his heel and started marching off. [b][color=#add8e6]”Sure thing!”[/color][/b] he announced cheerfully. [b][color=#add8e6]”This way, Miss.”[/color][/b] Yue exhaled a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding.

Doll led Yue confidently off the main thoroughfare, guiding her into the narrow twisting alleys of Shieldtown’s heart. He whistled as they walked, some silly jingle which sounded so familiar but Yue couldn’t quite place. It somehow resembled every commercial soundbite released in the last twenty years at once, but she couldn’t pick out any single riff that was quite like any of them. He occasionally cast his glance back over his shoulder, double checking that she hadn’t fallen out of step, but otherwise seemed to leave the woman to her own thoughts.

This was the part where normal people made small talk. ‘From around here? Lead people through sketchy, dark alleyways often?’ Though all she could really muster was a concerned [b][color=#CE2B95]"Hmmmmm,"[/color][/b] as they vanished into the labyrinth of poorly planned between-spaces that all looked alike.

Clearly… we’re about to be murdered.

Yue chased the suspicious thought with a pang of guilt. The kid couldn’t have breached double digits yet, and she’d faced down far more intimidating adversaries than a mischievous kid in an unfamiliar town… right? [i]RIGHT??[/i] Even still, she watched him as though he would disappear the moment she took her eyes off him.

Doll glanced back at her, as though sensing her eyes on him. He turned back forward for a moment, then after a beat spun on his heel to face her fully, never breaking pace as he continued walking backward. He studied her face for a long while, never bothering to check he wasn’t going to run into anything, turning corners and ducking under obstacles like he had a frame-perfect memory of where they all would be.

[b][color=#add8e6]”You’re a lot prettier than I’d expect one of his friends to be,”[/color][/b] he remarked, finally breaking his silence. [b][color=#add8e6]”Are you really friends?”[/color][/b]

[b][color=#CE2B95]"Uh!"[/color][/b] The things kids say. The question made her flinch, and though she fought against the urge her eyes flicked up and to the right for an instant as her cheeks flushed. [b][color=#CE2B95]"Well…? I suppose I haven’t really met him in person,"[/color][/b] she admitted. How did you explain online games to a kid who lives in a literal hole?

Doll blinked in a manner which could’ve been pity. [b][color=#add8e6]”Are you sure you aren’t being cat-fished?”[/color][/b]

[b][color=#CE2B95]"Wh~!"[/color][/b]

[b][color=#455420]”Yeah, are you sure you aren’t being cat-fished?”[/color][/b]