Mokley

Lantern

@drewccapp haha I'm glad you like it! :D

@c3p-0h I read your post at work and very nearly burst out laughing. XD thanks for that!

Lantern

The bark of the tree was stiff and brittle, but with a bit of prying Anise would snap off a piece of the white dead tree. It had lived once, and had grown naturally in this size and shape. But underneath was the plated ticking metal of enclosed machinery. If she pressed her hand against the cool metal, she could feel it ticking.

Peck perched on a higher branch, watching her with growing interest. As it became clearer that Anise was not about to control his mind or throw him off the tree, his shoulders relaxed and he leaned a little closer to see what she would do. Eventually he offered her the handle of a small dagger, and he picked up his own knife and used it to chip away at the bark.

"Th' last Lady of Light was swallowed by the Lord of Shadow," he explained conversationally as he worked. "After the Dragon was sealed, Shadow and Light went head-to-head in a colossal battle. Shadow had the Lady of the Pond, the Lord of the Gust and the Lady of the Stone on his side. Light only had the Lord of the Flame and the Lord of the Storm to fight for her and the Lord of the Wood went missing, and they lost. The Lord of Shadow swallowed her whole, and with that power he named himself king and enslaved the dead."

Another piece of bark fell through Anise's efforts, and a bright white light shone through a thin fissure in the metal. It glimmered and pulsed in tune with the blue Lantern; Anise had visions of flight, of long leather wings and wind in her face.

---

The little girl screeched pathetically, and as soon as Artemis had let her go she darted into the bushes with both hands holding her mask against her face.

The boy puffed his cheeks and swung back and forth on his knees. He glanced nervously at the iron rose in her hand.

"So, yer not a pirate, cuz you can work the mask," he deduced aloud, his voice accusing. "And yer not a kith, cuz you can touch iron. And yer not normal cuz you can hold the Lantern. So we were just discussing what the heck you are, Lady, because yer not nobody human."

"Tree spirit!" the little girl squeaked from the bushes.

The boy squinched his nose under the mask. "I dunno, she ain't no tree spirit. Aren't tree spirits glowy?"

"Kitsune!"

"Could be." The boy swung by his knees for a bit, arms folded. He grinned. "Hey Kitsune," he addressed Artemis. "You wanna help us steal a gryphon?"

"I wanna fly!" the mouse-girl squealed, emerging from the bushes with a big grin.

Unquiet

@Light anything I can do to help? Need ideas or have a question? I could give you a list of potential actions. :D

Moonfiend

Makes sense to me. :)

Moonfiend

Looks like you guys have it sorted, but I'll chime in for anyone else with the same question! I think most characters have come to the logical conclusion that the stones are important to the people who lost them and are probably needed to turn them back to normal, if that's possible at all. I've been referencing them ooc as soul stones, but the characters have no way of knowing for sure that's what they are. However, again, the character could come to that assumption through logic, especially given the nature of magic and enchantment that they all grew up with. Someone with little experience with enchantment might actually be faster with that conclusion, since they might not be aware that a soul has never been known to take a physical form.

That's a long-winded way of repeating what's already been stated, haha.

Unquiet

Just checking in! How's everybody? :D

Mirror, Fox, Key

Checking in! :3 How's everybody?

Moonfiend

@Dud :D

Vincent can hear it, and anyone else who didn't leave the infirmary, including any characters who didn't get a post in this round. Moth and Kat can probably hear it faintly, as they're not too far down the staircase yet. Everyone else should be completely oblivious to what's happening in the infirmary.

Moonfiend

"Wait, I'm not going to hurt you." Flor began to dodge and deflect flying food. "Stop. My name is Flor and we're just trying to escape."

Liam stared at the child for a few seconds before approaching the child again. "Hey buddy how are you doing. Forgive my friend’s sudden landing. It was not his intention to scare you, but believe me we are friendly and we mean you no harm." He said giving the child a warm smile. "My name is Liam and you’ve already met Florence, may I have your name?" He squatted down next to the kid and continued smiling.

Maria was off, out the door and down the stairs. "Hi guys! I heard someone screaming from all the way upstairs. What's going on?"

"Oh no. Oh no oh no oh no they're here. The Grit are here. The damn Grit are inside the damn wall and, and..." Moth paused and shuddered and gathered his thoughts. He peeked out over the railing. He would've sworn he saw a flying apple. Moth hugged himself and slowly followed the others downstairs.

Picking up the bag of implants (stashing some scalpels, the jar of microbots and syringe in her rucksack), Kat headed down the stairs to see what everyone else was making a fuss about.

Vincent decided to wait and watch to see what happened next from the point of view of the door.

The rabbit-eared kid lowered the sheet just enough to stare wide-eyed at Liam. He breathed quickly, his breath huffing against the sheet, furry ears twitching, and he glanced up at Flor and then back at Liam's warm smiling face -- then back at Flor.

The boy's eyebrows furrowed. His blue eyes grew even wider as he stared at Flor.

What follows took place within the span of ten seconds.

Maria's voice in the stairwell surprised the child; he sprang out of the sheet like a spooked cat, leapfrogged over Liam's shoulders, launched himself at Flor, slammed into Flor full-force, and bounced nimbly away.

The child perched on the stair railing, breathing in short gasps, and unfolded his thin hand; in his palm lay the pink glowing stone he had stolen from Flor's pocket.

In this brief moment of pause, it became clear that a peculiar image had been drawn on the boy's bare chest in black marker. A rune.

Immediately, the boy pressed the glowing stone against his chest. The rune on his skin flashed, and the stone disappeared inside him -- as if the rune had caused the stone to be absorbed into the boy's body.

The boy's eyes began to glow a bright, wild yellow as the power of the soul stone coursed through him -- he glanced between Flor and Liam with acute, feral fear.

He launched off of the railing and sped up the stairs toward Maria. The rabbit-eared child grabbed her crinkling oversized coat and swung around behind her, using her as a shield between himself and Flor and Liam, and he screeched.

The piercing, high-pitched noise echoed painfully up the hollow stairwell.

Just outside the wall, a swarm of Grit howled in response.

---

Upstairs, inside the infirmary, it was eerily quiet save for the echoes that drifted up the stairwell.

The robot was in the process of cleaning up after Kat's surgery when it suddenly stopped, lights flickering. Its speaker buzzed and crackled.

< Hello? >

A familiar feminine voice spoke through the robot's speaker and echoed in the surgery room. It was the same voice that greeted the city every morning on the center city screen.

< The line is open to every point of contact currently unlocked to level thirteen clearance. It should be safe. Please answer. . . . Please be alive. >

Moonfiend

@MsChimeric Ok awesome! I'll wait for you! (no pressure) xD

Edit: Normally I wouldn't auto-steal the stone from Flor, but there are certain things about runes and the stones that you guys need to know. :) Exposition go!