Wrong Turn {Open}

[Yxiro]

As Yxiro turned into yet another seemingly abandoned street, he sighed and scratched Luka behind the ears. This was turning out to be a seriously bad day for business and, in fact, for his travels in general. He had taken a wrong turn off the last junction and wandered to the wrong town; leaving him in this empty street with no idea how to get back. So far he hadn't seen a single person roaming the streets to ask for directions but he had a persistent feeling that he was being watched. It was unnerving but he couldn't shake the feeling that something was following him. He shrugged the tension out of his shoulders and shifted his rat to sit in his High-Altitude Mask for a while, wanting to keep a close eye on his companion to ensure he didn't wander off; that would have been the last thing he'd need int his barren hole of a town.

Yxi frowned and found a broken bench to sit on while he found his bearings; he needed to get out of this town if he was going to find civilization before nightfall. He didn't want to spend a night here, no matter what happened. There was a presence here he didn't like. He took a drink from his bag and handed Luka a grape to keep him happy while he thought. He could always turn back and hope he came to the right path to lead him back to the junction. Then again, if he couldn't find the way he'd just get more lost. But if he stayed here then he'd be stuck for as long as his own patience would hold out before he went looking for the exit. He scratched his head and looked around, well if someone was following him then he might as well get their help. Then again, there was no guarantee they wouldn't mug him.

With another sigh, Yxiro stood and took the next street, seeing a figure at the end. It couldn't hurt to get help, right? Cupping his hands to his mouth to called to the person across the street and hoped they'd help him get out of here. It was his only choice.

"Hello? Excuse me...can you help? I'm a little lost."

[eemp]

The cool air was gentle on the pale enamel of his teeth, the work of the long day finished and the sun pulling down into Aurelius' second shift. Follow the lights, pull the stones from their collars and know that every last breath gurgled out onto cobblestones was a step closer to a perfect world.

Four stones circled in his palm, red blue yellow white and all slowly dimming, disconnected from their power source. The urges that gripped him were always disconcerting, but the sudden need to eat the stones was new, and somewhat frightening. He put them away in his backpack and straightened, his head held high and the impulse dissuaded. He was strong, and he was righteous. He was not a monster but the way he moved said otherwise, the sinuous twisting of his long lean form that began with a tilt of his head. His jaws snapped shut with a faint click and his face was human again, eyes invisible under the brim of his hat and his shoulders moving to align, his hips only following when he took a step forward and sniffed at the air. Engine grease. Rodent. Human.

His hands curled, fingers playing invisible scales across some phantasmagoric piano running past each side of him, and he exhaled, steam escaping. He wasn't even wearing gloves. His sleeves were rolled up to his elbows despite the cool weather and the long thin lines of his body weren't shaking, weren't goosebumped with the human frailty of noticing frost on windows and cold iron fingers. His arm was built of flowing lines and liquid metal, beautiful and functional at once and made moreso the latter with gorgeous little swirls and patterns chiseled gently into the artifice of muscle, the accurate swell of his thumb and the cool harsh tips of his unfeeling fingers. It wasn't a real arm, but it moved like one, and it twisted in exquisite harmony with the rest of his long lean form.

Aurelius was not a monster but the way he moved said otherwise. The curve of his lip was pale yellow in the dimming light and the shine of his teeth only momentary: the conscious parts of him caught on quickly, and replaced the terrible sheen of rows and rows of needles with a thin, straight line. It had been a long, productive day, and Aurelius was not afraid of one young human without a single whiff of magic curled about him.

He had no crusade against this one, with his steady useful scent and his tiny ridiculous pet. It would do him no harm to be kind, to be human, but his voice had ground along the edges of the day and when it arrived it was bleeding, hoarse and jagged limping past the high sharp fences of his teeth.

"Where are you going?" One cannot cease being lost until one has a goal in mind. Your path means nothing without a destination.

[Yxiro]

Relief flooded Yxiro as the stranger replied; even if he wasn't a friendly assistant, he needed to help. A night on these streets screamed 'muggings, death and missing persons'. Yxi walked closer, figuring that closer proxemics to his chance at freedom would make their conversation and his possible directions easier. He patted Luka absently and he wandered over and wondered why the person was in a town so barren as this anyway. He shook the thought from his mind and stopped at a respectable distance from the stranger, eager to meet his companion but his brother's teachings of etiquette ingrained in his behavior. He looked to the stranger and mentally did a double-take. He was a little surprised by the form of his company.

It wasn't as though Yxi was oblivious to the existence of other races, after all, his travels had led him to meet and to work for many varieties of people. However, this stranger was of a race he had never encountered before. He forced his mind to kick-start and smiled in a friendly manner. The last thing he needed now was to be offensive to this person, they were his only ticket home. Besides, as curious as he may be, he knew it was rude to stare and ask what race he was.

"Thank you, I was beginning to think I'd never find anyone. I'm Yxiro, this is Luka. I'm looking for the way back to the path that got me caught up in this place." he admitted, a little embarrassed by his navigational failure. "Usually I'm good at finding my way around."

((sorry it's short, dunno what else to write))

[eemp]

Aurelius had never learned to fear the darkness. The shadows were his friends, the stars were his compass and his parents and he were the boogiemen. He held no hesitation in regard to the dying of the light, even if his flesh went cool and his eyes shone bright, unnatural, in the budding twilight as he and this Yxiro closed the gap between each other.

He had never seen a Fel'asar before. That much was obvious. The small hitch of breath, the twitch of forcing smiles told Aurelius everything he needed to know. The smaller man had surely heard stories; everyone heard stories about those corrupted by the bomb, their twisted faces and their darkened hearts, but it would not seem that he had yet connected those sparse and ominous dots. Aurelius was impressed. Apparently this boy was foolhardy or stupid or just young and overeager and- - holy Architect Aurelius no you cannot eat him don't be stupid. It isn't even dark yet.

He caught himself staring, unblinking, and he looked away. His gaze was predatory and he knew it, his eyes sharp and hungry even nestled back among his curls. Luka. Yxiro. Oh. Introductions. Again with the manners. Aurelius, for all his moral compass, was still not a fan of formalities.

"The streets wind back on themselves." It is easy enough to get lost here. It was easy enough to speak without so many teeth bared, those words soft enough to afford him that ease, but his name- the sharp E's curled his lips back and showed him for a monster and as dignified as it was he sometimes loathed the sound of it. However, as his sentence fell to silence his voice gained strength, calm and steady and aristocratic in his careful enunciation. This boy was oblivious, and whether he loathed the sight of needle teeth or not he was not forced to stay and accept help from a monster. "I am Aurelius." He stated, and it was true. The tall and silent way he held himself was courtly, and the straight set of his shoulders was regal- were it not for the blood dried rusty-dark on the thick brown fabric of his pants he could have passed for royalty in thin disguise.

[Yxiro]

As Yxiro introduced himself, he noted the predatory glance in the eyes of his companion. He had been right then, today he'd get out of this place or die. Then fate had laid out that he should meet this threatening stranger. Still, need he die in this place, he was glad it was by the hand of this unfamiliar race, rather than some accident or fall. At least way it had meaning. Somewhere. He fought off the oppressive thought as Luka crawled back to his shoulder, distracting his thoughts and pulling him back to reality. It was a shame, but Kit had never once told his brother stories of different races and monsters. It was a shame because had he done so, Yxiro would have known that this was one of the Fel'asar, and he wouldn't have been so comfortable with the stranger.

As the stranger spoke, Yxiro caught sight of his needle-like teeth. He didn't need to be a scholar to work out that teeth like that spelled carnivore. Still, he despised judging people on appearance and first impressions and tried his best to ignore the nagging sense of dread that was settling over him. Luka had spotted the threat too for he hastily took cover in Yxiro's jacket pocket. Yxiro nodded as the figure mentioned the structure of the streets and looked back at the way he came for a moment before turning back to hear his companion's name. Aurelius. He offered a hand out to the man confidently, trying to shake his anxiety.

"Well met, Aurelius." he greeted jovially, though it was a little forced.

There was something forboding in the confident, regal manner in which Aurelius held himself; it added height and status to his form which already towered over Yxiro, being only 5'8 or so. It was only then that Yxiro noticed the dried blood staining Aurelius' clothing and he swallowed a whimper. He could not afford to antagonize this new race, he had no idea what it was capable of and above all else, he needed to get out of this town.

"So...how do I get back to the path?" he asked, not wanting to seem rude or afraid, though it was beginning to settle in his demeanour, but needing to get out of this town before night fell into blackness and he would no longer be able to see the road.

[eemp]

Aurelius Elyon, named for the angel that flattened the crops and made way for the rats of the plague. Lucky for this world he didn't take after that immortal path- he was doing God's work, after all. He would make way for the better things to come. He would balance the scales of the world and set right the wrongs of magic. He was set in his task, willing and able, and he was well on his way down the bloodied path to the Architect's favor.

Sometimes the clues really are as obvious as they seem. The hand that Yxiro shook was cold and hard and inhuman, faintly sticky to the touch. It would probably be best not to think about what's coating the iron, there. One would hazard to guess that it isn't magic.

"Indeed." Well met, you tiny foreign thing. Aurelius was pretty sure he'd never met a people- tribal or otherwise- that carried small animals on their persons. He found it to be a disgusting, if not offensive, habit. Animals had never liked him and he'd never liked animals unless he could eat (or was currently eating) them. Such was the way of the Fel'asar. Not that his palate was indiscriminate- a man of his upbringing was capable of his own sort of magic with only a dead rabbit and a few onions. However, this was not a trait often shared: most humans found the idea of camping with a Fel'asar that moved so quietly just a tiny bit unpleasant, and avoided him. Aurelius understood that, and had accepted it.

The streets were darkening, empty, but walking with another person was less suspicious than walking alone, and knights did not always agree with Aurelius on what was and was not God's work. "Come." The taller man moved, turning back the way he'd come, and assumed that Yxiro would follow. His steps were quiet, just as predatory as his gaze, and the steady way he moved was beautiful, if unnerving. He could have been a dancer, a ribbon in the wind, and here he was stalking down the evening streets of a town where he'd already spilled so much blood.

[Yxiro]

As Yxi shook hands with Aurelius, he noticed a slightly slick sensation against his skin. Trying not to think about it too much, he shook his new companion's hand firmly and drew his hand away, not daring to look at what now coated his skin but knowing it couldn't be anything nice. He wouldn't admit to being afraid of this stranger, and it would be inaccurate to say he was; it was more like a sense of dread and discomfort that hovered over him. There wasn't anything directly intimidating about the man before him, except of course his pointed teeth and unfamiliar form, but about him there was a sense of power and strength. There was a small part of Yxi that knew he would lose to an opponent such as this if it came to a fight. He had never been one to fight, nor had he been one to run. So, he stood his ground.

However, Luka was acting unusually around Aurelius. The rat was always so eager to meet new people and to explore their pockets for food. Now, the small rodent was quivering in Yxiro's jacket and when Yxi placed a hand in to comfort him, he curled up tightly into a small ball. He was uneasy around Aurelius and it was certainly apparent. Either way, this man was their only way out of this town and he wasn't going to let Luka's unease stop him finding civilization.

With one word, Aurelius moved away and Yxiro caught himself hesitating. If he followed, he was putting everything at risk for freedom, but if he didn't follow, he was trapped. Besides, this stranger hadn't done anything to threaten or upset Yxi's favour. He had no reason to feel anxious. He followed cautiously, his boots making an echoing tap amidst the walls of the ally in sharp contrast to Aurelius' silent movements. He adjusted his goggles on his forehead and caught up with his guide.

"So, do you live here or do you just happen to know the area well?" he asked, trying to start friendly conversation to ease his nerves.

At that moment, Luka leapt from Yxiro's pocket and darted to a nearby dustbin with a shrill cry. Yxiro stopped and looked over with a soft curse, kneeling to try and find where his companion vanished to. He frowned and moved closer to the bin before searching for his pet more thoroughly. This was completely against Luka's nature.

"Luka? Luka, where are you? Come on, pal, we don't have time for this!" he stated, a little annoyed by Luka's actions.

Finding Luka once more, he picked him up and placed him in the little box attached to his backpack to stop his escaping again. He didn't understand what had gotten into his rodent companion.Standing and dusting off his trousers, Yxiro secured the box and turned back to the man leading him away from this derelict town. He looked up to Aurelius with an apologetic look.

"Sorry, he's a little jumpy today."

[eemp]

It was easy enough to be a predator in a world full of rats. His heritage had blessed him, in a way- if it weren't for the twisted breaking bodies of his parents and the slow decay of his species he never would have begun this crusade. He might have been an engineer after all, or a scientist, or a musician, and never felt the need to saw his unhappy way through a resilient spinal cord with a hunting knife.

But idle wishing never got one anywhere, and Aurelius was walking. So, do you live here? earned a small shake of his head, and Aurelius turned to see why on earth the man- adolescent, really- was speaking again. Could he not hear the rats running in the sewers below? They knew something. Something was coming. Something was moving and Aurelius didn't know what it was, just that he'd probably have need to kill it. Which was.. pretty much how he approached every living thing, actually. No real change there. The Fel'asar was always on the lookout for something to drive his knife into. C'est la vie, after all.

He had just opened his mouth to speak when the rodent made it's escape, and his mouth faded back into a straight line. He watched it leap and scurry and hide, as rats do. To his credit, Aurelius managed not to say anything disparaging about the intelligence of keeping rodents crawling all over one's person when they have been into the garbage. The cage, he decided, was a good plan. Maybe 'Luka' was just Yxiro's word for 'snack for later.' Aurelius could understand that. Pets were beyond his realm of understanding.

He did not speak in response to the apology, merely staring down at Yxiro with his head tilted and his face expressionless, his eyes still so unblinking: a hunting owl. Those pleasant green eyes bored unyielding into Yxiro for a good three seconds before he turned, and he began walking again. He had no response to the antics of the small (horrible) animal this man insisted upon carrying with him, at least none that were appropriate, and if nothing else Aurelius was polite. Polite, at least, for a monster.

The Fel'asar was silent for a few very long moments, walking inaudibly along, before he spoke once more. "You are a mechanic, are you not?" Too young to be an engineer, at least a very good one. Mechanic seemed most likely.

[Yxiro]

Yxi was a little anxious around his companion. Sure, he was getting used to his form and movement, he was perfectly comfortable with his otherwise threatening attributes. The only thing that really unnerved him with the silence. It was like a void that promised his guide was thinking of something. He was so quite and reserved. Yxiro gazed back anxiously as Aurelius stared with fascinating green eyes, too afraid to break eye contact in case he accidental offended him or broke some unknown tradition. Yxiro had never learned much about different cultures and their set etiquette. He knew how to be polite and how to avoid confrontation but was no expert in the realm of societies. This guy was something new, he wasn't entirely sure how to act for worry that he'd do something to offend. Once Aurelius started walking away, he followed quickly in stride and was surprised when he spoke again.

"Yeah, but I'm also qualified as an Engineer. I mostly do mechanic work for money but I have the capability to carry out larger jobs and engineering; just a lack of experience." he admitted quietly, his voice echoing off the damp walls. "I've been traveling from town to town so I just accept any job I can get...how about you? What do you do for a living?"

Yxiro had been trained to be a mechanic at the tender age of eleven but had no formal schooling; his three brothers were mechanics and they had taught him. He was a talented mechanic and had entered for an engineering course at seventeen. He had passed but was shaky with experience seeming as mechanic work was far more common when it came to little jobs and cash-in-hand work. Kit had taught him well and he thanked his brother every day for the work he had managed to gain due to his teachings. Yxi absently touched his HA mask and smiled.

He was glad that Aurelius had spoken, it felt more like conversation, more like socializing, more like a mutual walk. Previously, Yxi had felt like he was being led, which he was, but this was more comfortable, less predatory. As a dizzy spell washed over him temporarily, he stopped and shook his head sharply. Tie to eat. Yxiro pulled an apple from his backpack and found another which he offered out to Aurelius.

"You want a snack?" he asked, hoping Aurelius liked apples.

[eemp]

There aren't many humans in the world that would call Yxi's anxiety unfounded. Fel'asar sympathizers would likely disagree, but nobody asked those two. The Fel'asar are always thinking of something, probably something to do with taking your valuables or your life. Always assume it is horrible, and that it is likely to do with your personal harm. Such is the mother's advice to her children when they are so fortunate as not to be corrupted. Yxiro held still under Aurelius' gaze for longer than most people, and while a part of him was impressed a larger part wondered how long he'd been carrying that rat, as it's tendencies had obviously begun to rub off.

An engineer! Aurelius raised his eyebrows, the edges of his lips turning down for a moment, apparently impressed and the expression terribly human. He nodded, casually, and wondered if he had something on his face. Dude was lookin' at him awful funny- he got all the way to wondering if he had something in his teeth before he realized what an enormous doofus he was. Aurelius: not the best at this whole evil thing.

But lord, you'd never know it from looking at him. He was rolling up his sleeves! Obviously he was planning to stuff his arm down Yxiro's throat and use him as a bludgeoning weapon to kill Luka next time it ran off. Fel'asar did that sort of thing, you know. Also, as a side note, rats are gross, and all this extraneous text has been put here to illustrate how very long the silences were between Yxiro's words and Aurelius' responses.

"It's good work." Engineering, that is. Maybe if you're good we can get you in with my old tutor. Get some legitimate work, instead of wandering around towns like some little hobo. "Have you considered working under a master?" That's the way to do it, you know. Learn from someone better than you. While Yxiro had stopped walking, Aurelius hadn't, merely slowing and stalking a slow arc around Yxiro like a circling vulture. When the apple was offered, however, Aurelius paused. His posture straightened, a little surprised. He was facing the opposite direction as Yxiro, now just a few feet away, and still watching, unblinking. Just far enough that he didn't have to step forward to reach the offered fruit.

Artificial fingers curled around the apple, the dying sun glinting red on the finely tooled lines that composed them. Aurelius' expression didn't really change: flat, empty but for the faint raise of his eyebrows. He would not show how strange or how pleasant it was to be offered an apple out of simple courtesy, just because it had never happened before. That would be immature, and that would be silly. "Thank you," he said, and his quiet tone stated plainly that he meant it.

[Yxiro]

Yxiro was pleased to see a wave of what seemed to be an impressed expression pass over Aurelius' features. Or at least he hoped that was the emotion behind the twitch, not an action deriving from resistance to an urge to eat him; that would be a little less comforting. Still, he was beginning to feel more settled around his guide and wasn't as anxious as he may have been. But as the silence stretched out around them, Yxiro couldn't help but feel a little uncomfortable once more. Perhaps Aurelius was just unused to speaking with people or was naturally quiet, but it was a little disconcerting. He started slightly when Aurelius spoke again but quickly settled his nerves and smiled.

His job was good for the money and it helped others, so he guessed it was good work. But as he mentioned a master, Yxiro got thinking about his work prospects. He was striving to find a permanent place amongst an airship crew but he guessed the reputation gained under a master would help him get there. Then again, he would be bound to his Master until he saw fit, meaning he could miss a fair few opportunities to find that permanent position. Then again, that all depended on whether he got out of this town.

As Aurelius began circling him, he doubted more and more that he would. He offered the apple hesitantly, hoping it was to his taste and desperately tried to ignore the predatory circling. As he stopped and took the fruit, Yxiro noted the softness of his tone and smiled a little. It seemed he had made more of a friend in Aurelius. He took a bite of his own apple and broke a piece off for Luka, pushing it between the bars for him.

"You're welcome." he chirped cheerily, "I owe you a lot so the offer of a snack was the least I could do."

[eemp]

Aurelius was not a master conversationalist. It was pretty rare that he spoke to anyone at length without killing them or killing someone else for them. He was pretty good, however, at judging people. Maybe that was not the most friendly term, but it was really what he did. He hunted people. He had to know if they were actually worth killing or not. It was his job- he had to know if they were good.

The Fel'asar sniffed at the apple, a few small twitches present about his nose and mouth. One shouldn't blame him for being suspicious- sometimes humans felt that the best defense was a good offense, and took to poisoning every Fel'asaris that had the misfortune of being in their vicinity- but at least the gesture was reasonably subtle. The teeth sinking into the apple, however, were unnerving at best: sharp and jagged and sliding through the flesh with little resistance met. Lord, what teeth. Surely he could snap bones and rend the flesh of hapless engineers with such monstrous things.

Yxiro never answered his question, and Aurelius was very aware of that. Ah. I see. You did not receive a proper education, then. You're a shame to the trade and a bane to every engineer that took the trouble of praying and paying and testing their way into tutelage- but maybe you're just... foreign. Maybe they did things a different way where this one was from. Aurelius couldn't possibly know, and aside from his quick mental detour into judgey-town he did not presume to (he is not among those to be judged, he will stand before the Architect and try to hold his own and that is his own business).

The apple was eaten to the bitter core and Aurelius considered the seeds as he walked. That hadn't taken long. He didn't mind the silence, really, but honestly the man was curious.

"I presume you arrived here for work, then?" Somehow I doubt anyone here is going to miss you.

[Yxiro]

He watched for a moment and ate his own apple as Aurelius hesitantly sniffed his proffered snack. It seemed strange that a person so intimidating and threatening in appearance would be worried about a fruit. Yxiro paused for a moment as Aurelius bit into the snack he had offered and was captivated by the sheer maliciousness of his teeth. Such fangs could do so much damage, yet Aurelius seemed like a perfectly amiable person. Then again, Yxi had been told of wolves in sheep clothing. Still, he had been raised to see the best in people and with teeth like those or no, Aurelius had been nothing but kind to him. Therefore, He had no reason to fear the man before him; or he did but he was too optimistic to really be frightened.

His mind wandered back to the possibility of a Master and it occurred to him that he wasn't sure what Aurelius did for work. He has told the unusual person that led him through the streets that he was an engineer and mechanic but he had not offered his own occupation in response. Yxiro toyed with the feathers at the bottom of his braid for a moment, securing the beads there as he thought. He looked to Aurelius as he continued to lead them and smiled a little.

"I was looking for work in a nearby town but wandered here by mistake. As for masters, I hope to join an airship crew as a permanent mechanic but I guess the reputation that comes with being an apprentice would be well placed." he explained casually. "What do you do for a living, Aurelius? I realized that I never asked."