Elysia sat down as her head swirled and spun with the combating emotions. She was entirely overwhelmed right now. Taking deep breaths as Rowan had suggested was helping. The others around her seemed to be handling the situation at least a little better than she was. The conversation about 'Ken' wonder if there may be even more of them experiencing these sensations.
When offered water by Val she gratefully took it. She signed Thank You. Not even thinking about the fact they likely didn't understand. She was to dazed to even think any of this through. Elysia wanted to drain the entire bottle but forced herself to drink it slowly. As they all talked about having weird dreams she wondered why she wasn't experiencing any. She became worried when Caleb suggested charging into their shared professor's office. If he knew anything then wouldn't that mean he did it on purpose? She was to worried to approach their teacher about this. Wondering if there was anything they could figure out on their own she opened her textbook and searched for the page that they were on which triggered the teacher going through said demonstration. Maybe there'd be a clue there.
This was nice. Elysia felt good. The strange pull she felt from being around the others, combined with the odd feeling of happiness, and just being able to draw around these new people without feeling like a weirdo combined into a small cocktail of genuine happiness. Sure, it took the odd sensation from Kyle's words to get her there but she now felt genuinely happy. She wouldn't be able to explain it if she tried. She occasionally looked up at each person trying to memorize the details and contours of their faces, but for once she didn't feel strange for studying someone so intently. She had partially stopped paying attention to the words spoken around her until she noticed that some of her classmates were looking at her sketches. Wait, which ones were they talking about. A look of confusion shown on her face until she saw the picture they were referencing.
Immediately, Elysia's eyes shot wide open. No, no no no no! How could she be so stupid? Why did she just set that one out on the table? The worst thing was that Caleb asked her about her knowing if he was a boxer. She had no idea what to answer, nor any idea what he was talking about. She wasn't good at lying. Elysia couldn't just tell them that they were drawn in her sleep. They'd think she was crazy, right? But then the words that came from Kyle seemed to throw everything out the window. Quickly, as if the flood gate was destroyed, panic and anxiety filled Elysia. Mixing with the strange happiness that she was still feeling the young adult froze in her seat gripping tightly around her pencil and sketchpad. Her knuckles began turning white. 'What is going on?' she thought. This wasn't an anxiety attack. She knew what those felt like and this was a whole different ball game.
Elysia slowly raised her head to look at the others as they began to either freakout or sound crazy describing these weird things happening to or around them. Even crazier was the fact that some were showcasing these 'abilities'. Her head began to feel dizzy as she felt like an actual panic attack was nearing her psyche. Was she actually going nuts? Had the years of anxiety and the recent lack of sleep finally torn her mind apart? She didn't know what the answer was she just knew that if she continued to fight her own mind she'd eventually snap. Then her gaze fell back onto the drawing from a week ago. Her mind began analyzing it along with the people around her.
She looked at Rowan and the spider. They had nearly identical hairstyles. Next, her eyes fell on Caleb. He had claimed something about being a boxer. She thought of how he had to feel the pain to heal Valeria, and how one glove was in shambles while the other looked brand new. Valeria said she had grown extra arms? Four to be exact. In the picture were six dumbbells and it wasn't hard to tell that Val worked out. The only ones that didn't make sense to this crazy logic were the light obscured dog tags, the toy car, and the rat with a screwdriver. She couldn't pair Kyle or Kalama to any of those images, but what was weirder was they were missing a person. Then it felt to her like something clicked in her mind. When she had gone to the park where the image of the rat was she saw a guy hanging out there which had scared her away. Was he the rat? She quickly searched through her stack of sketches pulling out the most recent one. Looking closely she examined it along with the one she believed maybe detailing the scene around her right now.
She jolted out of her seat and laid the two sketches in the center of the table. She felt like she was going nuts but after a moment she grabbed her phone and rapidly typed her message. "Was another with you before me? I don't remember drawing those. They appear after sleep. Look at the seats in picture compared to where we sit." After her phone finished her gaze fell upon the empty seat about where the rat would've been. She soon felt sick to her stomach for some reason. All the craziness was starting to settle in and felt right but something still felt wrong.
o Samara, long for Sam, is a charismatic sweet-talker. She's kind, friendly and will always give you a smile. She can be a little cheeky and sassy but that's just playful banter, right? Wait, her brother isn't dying of an illness he caught while on Airi Island? And her parents haven't recently been killed by roving bandits? Wait, where did my wallet go? Huh, Sam is running away towards the city gates.
Yes, Samara is a con, a cheat, and a thief. If she needs something she'd prefer to spend someone else's money. Bonus points if the shmuck has a few naughty vices. She doesn't merely steal for herself, though. She herself was an orphan for as long as she knew. In the big city, the only person who'd look after a parentless child is a fellow orphan. As she grew up she saw the older kids as true heroes. Not those annoying, haughty knights in shiny armor with fancy words who looked down their noses at people like her. The real heroes were those who got their hands dirty. Didn't care what the masses thought about them and they got their reward from those other than the ones they helped.
Once she was old enough she sought to be like them. So, she tends to look out for the little guy and those who also care for them. Like Kavius who she owes her life to. She looks up to him because for all she knew he had no reason to help. She was already a traveler like him so why not travel with him. Since he tended to get into fights much more often than she ever did, Sam decided to put her skills to task and learn how to fight as well. From a distance. Can't rough up her visage more than it already has been.
o Samara was born in a place that she would never know. To people, she would never meet. At a time she'd never remember. Her earliest memory was being carried by an older orphan to a hideout that the various street rats of the big city had been squatting in. She grew up being looked after by kids and teens who either lived the exact same story as she or very similar. For her early days, life was a blur and it all melded together. She ate, slept, and was occasionally taught by the older kids various things she may need to know to survive.
One day, a famous knight was said to be coming into town after slaying a powerful monster. She along with a few of the younger kids went to see this unusual sight. The man had cheers heaped upon him and his equipment gleamed as bright as the sun. There was not a speck of dirt upon any part of his being. She and the other kids wanted to get a closer look so they slowly worked their way towards the front. One of the kids happened to notice how little the crowd was paying attention to their coin-purses. He along with some others began taking the unsuspecting people's money. However, as Sam got to the front of the crowd someone in the crowd noticed what was happening and a panic occurred. Unfortunately for Sam, She and some of the kids got knocked over right into the path of the knight. Even worse one of the kids had been one of the few stealing money and she dropped it all so that it was impossible for any conclusion other than these street rats had been stealing to be made. Sam looked up from her prone position just to see the 'wonderful' knight looking down his nose at the unfortunate children with contempt.
Unsure of what was happening and having an angry crowd surrounding them the children bolted in different directions. Samara ran and ran until she neared her vagabond home. When she got there the situation was very clear. Some of the other kids must have incidentally led others back there as Samara had to watch the teenagers and a few of the older kids be taken off like thugs. The next few years were like limbo for Sam. She drifted from abandoned places to hidden away hovel searching for a source of food everywhere she went. She learned many skills she wouldn't have had otherwise the primary one being how to lie. To trick. To influence. To con people out of their own belongings willingly. It became easy. Like second nature. She got better as she aged. She was eventually doing pretty well for herself by her mid teen's. She had grown to distrust the people who had it easy or looked down on people who had an unfortunate circumstance rule their life. She wanted to be a true hero. Someone who helped those who had nothing to lose by taking from those who had everything to give. Bonus points if they are not a good person.
Unfortunately, the young con artist got a little cocky. Her actions started catching up to her and eventually, she got run out of the city. There would be no opportunity for her to sneak back into the city as her face was soon well known to the guards as to be arrested on sight. Samara had to run. She would take this unfortunate situation and help the less fortunate in other locations. That wasn't as easy as she expected it to be. There were so many in the big city that she could con one person but the person who lived right down the street would never know. However, in much smaller towns where word spread quicker than the common cold she'd only be able to get some money from those people before being chased away.
Throughout her travels she eventually found herself becoming a stowaway to Airi Island. Less laws meant she'd be able to get away with thieving much easier right? Yes and no. She didn't have as many people who'd hunt her down for stealing from some shmuck but those that did were similar to her in that they weren't exactly against committing crimes. This fact soon caught her in a bind as one day she found herself near starvation due to very low funds. So, she got desperate and spent a day doing tricks to get money out of people. Near the end of the day she saw a group of men who'd been by her 'game' a few hours earlier along with a new man. None of them looked pleased. Let's just say they knew she was cheating and were not about to let her get away with it. Sam tried to placate them but realizing they weren't going to back down she bolted in hopes of escaping their ire.
She ended up finding herself running into a dead-end with the men right behind her. It was not the kind of place she could get out of on her own. Trying to talk them down she soon found that they had no intention to let her walk away. Skipping to a minute later during a beating a man happened upon the alleyway and quickly dealt with the men who had stayed behind to beat the girl. He easily sent them home with their tails between their legs. Unfortunately, all the money she had gathered along with what little she already had beforehand had already been taken by the boss of the small crew. Despite the swollen left eye and blackened right eye, she could tell the man was holding his hand out to help her up. She warily took the hand but when he offered to get her a meal she backed away. What was she up to? She thought. But the growl in her stomach forced her to follow anyway. During the course of the meal which had been grander than any she had ever had before, she realized that he likely wasn't a bad person. Not like the thugs or her. He was just an idiot who threw himself into a fight to save someone he didn't know. Reminded her of the older teens from when she was young. He'd be such an easy mark. If she wouldn't have felt guilty doing it she may have tried to get some extra money out of him. But she realized that if she really wanted to be a hero that following him might help her accomplish this goal. She also wanted to repay him somehow. So, despite not offering she chose to follow him, for now at least. It seemed to not be that big a deal to him but she would repay him for saving her.
o Samara, long for Sam, is a charismatic sweet-talker. She's kind, friendly and will always give you a smile. She can be a little cheeky and sassy but that's just playful banter, right? Wait, her brother isn't dying of an illness he caught while on Airi Island? And her parents haven't recently been killed by roving bandits? Wait, where did my wallet go? Huh, Sam is running away towards the city gates.
Yes, Samara is a con, a cheat, and a thief. If she needs something she'd prefer to spend someone else's money. Bonus points if the shmuck has a few naughty vices. She doesn't merely steal for herself, though. She herself was an orphan for as long as she knew. In the big city, the only person who'd look after a parentless child is a fellow orphan. As she grew up she saw the older kids as true heroes. Not those annoying, haughty knights in shiny armor with fancy words who looked down their noses at people like her. The real heroes were those who got their hands dirty. Didn't care what the masses thought about them and they got their reward from those other than the ones they helped.
Once she was old enough she sought to be like them. So, she tends to look out for the little guy and those who also care for them. Like Kavius who she owes her life to. She looks up to him because for all she knew he had no reason to help. She was already a traveler like him so why not travel with him. Since he tended to get into fights much more often than she ever did, Sam decided to put her skills to task and learn how to fight as well. From a distance. Can't rough up her visage more than it already has been.
o Samara was born in a place that she would never know. To people, she would never meet. At a time she'd never remember. Her earliest memory was being carried by an older orphan to a hideout that the various street rats of the big city had been squatting in. She grew up being looked after by kids and teens who either lived the exact same story as she or very similar. For her early days, life was a blur and it all melded together. She ate, slept, and was occasionally taught by the older kids various things she may need to know to survive.
One day, a famous knight was said to be coming into town after slaying a powerful monster. She along with a few of the younger kids went to see this unusual sight. The man had cheers heaped upon him and his equipment gleamed as bright as the sun. There was not a speck of dirt upon any part of his being. She and the other kids wanted to get a closer look so they slowly worked their way towards the front. One of the kids happened to notice how little the crowd was paying attention to their coin-purses. He along with some others began taking the unsuspecting people's money. However, as Sam got to the front of the crowd someone in the crowd noticed what was happening and a panic occurred. Unfortunately for Sam, She and some of the kids got knocked over right into the path of the knight. Even worse one of the kids had been one of the few stealing money and she dropped it all so that it was impossible for any conclusion other than these street rats had been stealing to be made. Sam looked up from her prone position just to see the 'wonderful' knight looking down his nose at the unfortunate children with contempt.
Unsure of what was happening and having an angry crowd surrounding them the children bolted in different directions. Samara ran and ran until she neared her vagabond home. When she got there the situation was very clear. Some of the other kids must have incidentally led others back there as Samara had to watch the teenagers and a few of the older kids be taken off like thugs. The next few years were like limbo for Sam. She drifted from abandoned places to hidden away hovel searching for a source of food everywhere she went. She learned many skills she wouldn't have had otherwise the primary one being how to lie. To trick. To influence. To con people out of their own belongings willingly. It became easy. Like second nature. She got better as she aged. She was eventually doing pretty well for herself by her mid teen's. She had grown to distrust the people who had it easy or looked down on people who had an unfortunate circumstance rule their life. She wanted to be a true hero. Someone who helped those who had nothing to lose by taking from those who had everything to give. Bonus points if they are not a good person.
Unfortunately, the young con artist got a little cocky. Her actions started catching up to her and eventually, she got run out of the city. There would be no opportunity for her to sneak back into the city as her face was soon well known to the guards as to be arrested on sight. Samara had to run. She would take this unfortunate situation and help the less fortunate in other locations. That wasn't as easy as she expected it to be. There were so many in the big city that she could con one person but the person who lived right down the street would never know. However, in much smaller towns where word spread quicker than the common cold she'd only be able to get some money from those people before being chased away.
Throughout her travels she eventually found herself becoming a stowaway to Airi Island. Less laws meant she'd be able to get away with thieving much easier right? Yes and no. She didn't have as many people who'd hunt her down for stealing from some shmuck but those that did were similar to her in that they weren't exactly against committing crimes. This fact soon caught her in a bind as one day she found herself near starvation due to very low funds. So, she got desperate and spent a day doing tricks to get money out of people. Near the end of the day she saw a group of men who'd been by her 'game' a few hours earlier along with a new man. None of them looked pleased. Let's just say they knew she was cheating and were not about to let her get away with it. Sam tried to placate them but realizing they weren't going to back down she bolted in hopes of escaping their ire.
She ended up finding herself running into a dead-end with the men right behind her. It was not the kind of place she could get out of on her own. Trying to talk them down she soon found that they had no intention to let her walk away. Skipping to a minute later during a beating a man happened upon the alleyway and quickly dealt with the men who had stayed behind to beat the girl. He easily sent them home with their tails between their legs. Unfortunately, all the money she had gathered along with what little she already had beforehand had already been taken by the boss of the small crew. Despite the swollen left eye and blackened right eye, she could tell the man was holding his hand out to help her up. She warily took the hand but when he offered to get her a meal she backed away. What was she up to? She thought. But the growl in her stomach forced her to follow anyway. During the course of the meal which had been grander than any she had ever had before, she realized that he likely wasn't a bad person. Not like the thugs or her. He was just an idiot who threw himself into a fight to save someone he didn't know. Reminded her of the older teens from when she was young. He'd be such an easy mark. If she wouldn't have felt guilty doing it she may have tried to get some extra money out of him. But she realized that if she really wanted to be a hero that following him might help her accomplish this goal. She also wanted to repay him somehow. So, despite not offering she chose to follow him, for now at least. It seemed to not be that big a deal to him but she would repay him for saving her.
Well, so far so good. They didn't instantly reject her. They were quite welcoming which helped ease her worries. She quickly sat down and wrote her contact information on the paper placed in front of her. She listened to the others as she worked to log the names and numbers into her own phone which didn't take her that long. She nervously smiled looking at the others but the smile had a slight visible shift when Kyle spoke directly to her. She felt different, a little dizzy. It was like her anxiety was being sucked out of her and left behind was just the feeling of being happy. She blinked her eyes trying to clear her head. She was confused though. The class was indeed a short one but she missed the whole class today.
She did find it odd that a lot of them were having trouble getting rest as well. She once again yawned thinking about sleep. A slight blush tinted her face as she shook her head about why she missed class. When asked about drinks Elysia reached for her coffee to check how much was left. Quickly her fingers tapped, "No thank you. My drink's still nearly full." After that she quietly sat there. The other guy next to her had made note sharing so quick. What were they supposed to do now? Just talk. About what though? Elysia couldn't really think of anything to say or do to add to the conversation. Then her mind started to wander. The conversation of being tired made her think about the drawings again. She began thinking about the one that caused her to come here. It was a Friday and there were a bunch of books on the table, but none of those other weird objects from it were here. The only thing of note was that the dreadlocks on the spider plushie were similar to the older guy.
She looked at each of the others as they spoke and got the urge to draw. Normally she'd be too nervous to draw this close to others but she felt happy rather than anxious. So, she pulled out her sketch supplies which included the picture that had led her here, and began drawing the scene around her.
Elysia sat in the corner of the coffee shop, eyelids slowly drooping as she felt sleep trying to pull her back in. Before she felt herself give in to the drowsiness she shook her head. She covered her mouth as a deep, silent yawn escaped her. Even the coffee she had beside her wasn't helping that much. She looked at the textbook laying open in front of her. The bland text wasn't making anything any easier. The young woman began mentally berating herself for falling asleep rather than going to class. She already had stopped enjoying the class after the demonstration by their teacher so keeping up with the class was already hard enough. She looked at her phone and started thinking that today may not be the right day either.
She closed the book and started packing her things when she heard the door open and saw a bunch of familiar faces walk in. She looked at them trying to remember where she knew them from when one of them mentioned class and another mentioned notes. Her sleep-deprived mind took longer than normal to remember that she shared classes with these people. Then she realized they were all in the class she had just slept through. What a stroke of luck. Had this been what her drawing was guiding her to? But wait, it was because of the drawings that she fell asleep and missed class. This was so confusing. She shook her head trying to center her attention. She didn't have time to deal with the dumb pictures. She needed to try and get some help with this class.
Elysia stuck everything except her textbook, notebook, phone, and coffee in her bag then cautiously started walking towards the crowd. As she got closer it felt oddly comforting. Like she was being drawn in towards a big warm hug. Before she reached them she quickly typed a message on her phone. Once she stepped up she waved trying to draw the attention of one of them. Once she got it she hit the play button on her app, "Hi. My name is Elysia. I share a class with all of you. I accidentally missed class. Do any of you have notes you could share?"
Under Construction for Necessary Retcon Warning Read This Post at Your Own Confusion
The alarm blared on the beside table almost begging for the person in bed to turn it off. Elysia groggily rolled over slamming the top of the clock. Looking at the time Ely groaned. After lunch, she had come home to rest before her next class but not for this long. Those stupid drawings. She still hasn't been able to get a full night's rest since they started. She got up from her bed to see two drawings laid on her desk one slightly crumpled. The first one she remembered drawing about a week ago. It showed her standing in Poor Yorick's and in front of her there was a table full of textbooks and some completely random objects. There were six dumbbells stacked on each other, a Hot Wheels with fire print on the side, a set of boxing gloves one being extremely worn down with the other looking brand new, a plush spider with dreadlocks, and a rat holding a Phillips head with a black grip. The drawing had one of those turning blocks that indicated dates on the counter but everything other than the day of the week was obscured. She had gone there last Friday but nothing stuck out to her that matched the drawing.
What was really weird though was that the rat was identical to the one in the new drawing. In the top right was a street sign that she didn't recognize but a simple check of the phone would help with that. The center of the drawing showed her sitting on a park bench and beside her was that rat from the first picture. She looked back to the first wondering if it was more important than she had originally thought. She looked at the second to see if anything indicated when to be there. She saw nothing of the sort and got a little annoyed. Did that mean now? What were these drawings? It was so confusing. Grumbling to herself she gathered her things and left.
Checking her phone she saw that the road wasn't too far away. She decided to go check it out. Her hope was that if she kept following these pictures she'd eventually figure out what was going on with her. It took a couple of minutes to get to the road. Finding the park bench was a little harder. She eventually saw a bench that seemed in the right position and the surrounding scenery was similar. The only thing different was that a guy was laughing on the ground by the swings. That was definitely odd. Ely didn’t see anyone else around. There also wasn't a rat on the bench. Looking towards the guy Elysia's stomach started to churn and her hand began shaking. This park looked like no one had been here in a long time. Who was this guy? He seemed alone. Momentary doubt of going to the bench entered her mind, but the drawings hadn't lead her into bad situations so far. So, ignoring her gut instincts Ely, head down, walked over to the bench and sat down in the exact position designated from the picture. Avoiding looking at the guy she decided to pull out a sketchpad and began drawing the rat which had appeared in her past two drawings. Hopefully, this would help her be able to recognize it whenever it appeared.
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