temet nosce

Andras' head jerks back as his body reacted to the sharp pain in his wing. It tears easily, like knives through fabric, and black smoke fills Jack's mouth the deeper he bites.

"Hah, so high and mighty now that you've think you've got the upper hand. Tell me, was it fun being banished from Heaven? Do you honestly think they'll let a mongrel like you back in?" Summoning his sword, he jams it upward towards Jack's ribs.

Jack's attack paused for a moment and his eyes widened. Every muscle in his body was tight and it made him tremble with anger. His veins burned under his skin and his tail rattled wildly behind him. And then suddenly he tore into his enemy with a new intensity as he entered blind anger and his mind went blank.

All he could see were the past memories of his mistakes and how he had to pay for it. The change into a demon and how the word fallen truly described him. While he tore at his body he didn't even notice the sword until it was pierced cleanly through his chest. It only made him pause for a moment to yelp sharply before he attacked again as blood seeped down, pouring onto Andras. He grabbed his throat and ripped his head around wildly.

Andras released one last, loud laugh before Jack's jaws snapped around his head, and his body fell limp. Black smoke consumed him and dark energy crackled through his flesh, breaking it apart and destroying it in large fragments. Even as Jack's attack continued, what had been Andras' bridge to the mortal plane fell apart, causing his body to disintegrate entirely over the course of several seconds. The space around Jack shudders for a moment, the smoke dissipating into the air, and Andras is gone.

Nina shudders to life, her eyes blinking drowsily open. Her wing is folded, broken, underneath her, so she quickly breaks it down into fire and reforms it, good as new. Still, her body aches as she struggles to get back on her feet, and her wings beat a couple times as she rises back up, feathers ruffled and some bent.

Jack stood over where Andras's body once was, panting heavily and staring the dirt. His body still shook with the tightness of his muscles. Memories flashed through his head. When Nina moved and stood up his head snapped back toward her direction, a crazed look in his eyes. He didn't see Nina anymore, all he could see was something that bleeds.
He growled as he hunched his shoulders and started to walk toward her.

Nina takes flight immediately. She hates being confined to the ground, and she doesn't know if the threat is gone yet, so she does the only thing she can think of. The feel of wind whistling over her feathers soothes her somewhat, but her fight or flight instinct is still far into full on panic. She spins around, gaining altitude and feeling the warmth of the sun spark fires along her form, mending her strained muscles and straightening her feathers out. In a matter of seconds, she's fully regenerated.

However, her mind is fuzzy, and she can't put her thoughts in rational order. There was a threat and she was scared, but what else was there? She had been entirely blinded by her terror and barely remembers a thing.

So, she calls out. A long, medium-pitched note that sings through the air. "Jack? Jack?"

As Nina takes off Jack quickly followed, springing upward and flapping his white wings hard to gain speed. It was just a moment before he reached her that he heard her voice ring through his head. It was calming and familiar. He met her height, about 50 feet in front of her, eyes starring, almost in confusion. Hate and anger emanated off of him. But so did hurt and confusion. Bright red blood oozed from his chest wound but the adrenalin kept him from noticing. Drool seeped from his maw as he tried to regain himself.

Nina's wings flapped hard as she was startled by the Jack's massive form approaching her. She felt massive amounts of hatred emanating from his heart, nearly choking her. The darkness was heavy and dense and she felt sick even taking the feeling in. But, underneath all that was something very familiar, and very bright.

"Jack!" She cried, her song rising in volume. She had never tried truly singing before, but her memories instructed her to use it to combat feelings of darkness. She sees a vision of her parent, singing songs across an entire village to lull them to sleep, night after night, and feels reassured.

"Jack, I'm sorry I freaked out." Her words intertwine into her music, and she corkscrews upwards into the air. "I was just scared, but I understand now."

Jack's legs go limp as she sings to him and he follows her up, but not as quickly or aggressively. His massive wings grew tired as the blood loss started to get to him. And as she continued to sing to him he relaxed and calmed down. The memories left his mind and he stopped following, looking up at her. She was in the direction of the sunlight and it beamed around her beautiful form... She looked like an angel. As he came back to reality pain stabbed his chest and he realized he couldn't breath very well. His wings started to fail him and he started to lose altitude faster and faster.

"Jack? Jack!" Nina cries as his body relaxes in mid-air and he starts to free fall. She sees his wound, but realizes she can do nothing to help. Except maybe keep him from plummeting to his death.

"Jack! You need to fly! Use your wings to stop your fall!"

She sings. She sings strength, of the freedom of flight. The pounding of wings at each side and gliding weightlessly through the air, riding the current. She sings to Jack as loudly and with as much force as she can muster, and flames spark to life around her.

Jack faded in and out of consciousnesses as he felt toward the ground. He could hear her voice, even when he drifted out, he could hear her. He felt a sudden surge of strength well up inside of him and will his wings to move again. Slowly they flapped, not fast but hard. Not soon enough to make his landing completely easy but breaking his fall enough to not kill him or cause him great harm. He still hit the ground with a loud thump and went completely limp, laying on his side.

Nina fluttered to a landing beside Jack, hopping over to his prone form and nudging at his cheek with her head.

"You'll be okay," she says softly. "You're just scared and tired. I can't do much, but I-- I..." she trails off, feathers fluffing up indignantly. "I'm going to try."

Her song continues where it left off, but she twists her own memories into magic, and laces it into her voice. She sings about sitting with her loved ones, all together, gathered in front of a crackling fire during a long winter night. She sings about their laughter when she had first journeyed into the town. She sings about the long flights during warm, summer evenings below the stars, and always going back to the lodge when darkness fell. She sings about her family. She sings about home.

Jack whined quietly at his friend, trying to speak but he couldn't muster the strength. With her song he drifted off into a healing sleep. Partly from his own abilities and partly from her help he would live, though be wounded for a while. She managed to completely calm his mind and make him dream of his past life before the fall. When everything was wonderful and warm. She made him dream of good thoughts. She made him dream of home and returning to it.

The day soon turned to dusk and then to night and Jack remained asleep, though his wound visibly stopped bleeding and he seemed to breath easier. Through the night he relaxed for the first time in ages into his dreams. And when morning came around he blinked his eyes open, adjusting to the light before groaning lightly and sitting up. Jacks wolfy tongue laced his lips as eh remembered the taste of Andras's fake body. He knew he would be back sooner or later. But at least for now he knew he could take him on. He was obviously not at full power while using the shadow body.
His wings were drooped to ear side of him so he picked them up and gently folded them over his back before looking around for Nina, hoping she was okay.

Nina had wiggled underneath one of Jack's massive wings during the night, pressing herself to his side and tucking her beak under a wing to sleep. She doesn't appear to wake when he moves, but her feathers fluff up a little in response to the sudden change in temperature, and she makes a small whistling sound in protest.

Then, after several seconds, her eyes slowly open, and she cranes her head up and around at their surroundings, then at Jack. She is in no hurry to move, however, and simply ruffles her wings a little and yawns. The previous feeling of darkness has completely faded, and in its place is a comforting warmth that feels similar to her family. She still doesn't remember quite what happened before, but her fears are entirely gone now.

Jack was a little shocked to see her so close to him but at the same time completely happy for it. He smiled a little bit at her, the best he could any way.
"Good morning..." He mumbled tiredly, his voice a bit hoarse but sounding calm and sweet like usual. He glanced at his side where the wound was still fresh but looked as though it had been a few weeks since it was inflicted.
"Sorry about all of this..." He didn't bother to get up yet, not sure if he could.

Nina flaps her wings, swinging her weight over to the side a little. She looks recovered from her ordeal, not a feather out of place. The feathers atop her head straighten out for a moment, but then press back down.

"Well... I don't really know what happened, to be honest. I sort of blanked out." She cocks her head at Jack. "But I think we need to get to the next town, or something. We can't just sit out on the outskirts like this... I'm good to fly, at any rate." She stretches her wings out as if to demonstrate.

"Then I will have to explain everything to you... It's only fair since you are in danger with me.." Jack trailed off, not wanting to admit he couldn't protect her. He slowly started to stand up, taking his time so he didn't fall back down. He felt better then he expected to but wasn't feeling great. He shook his fur out from the past events and sighed lightly.
"I think I can fly for a while," He stretched his own wings out at his sides as far as they could go. He nodded to himself to try and make himself feel better about his flying ability right then.

A few hundred yards away just off from the road, a dark shape slowly circled the spot where the bus had come to rest after the previous night's incident. The shape was similar to that of a panther, though with 6 legs, a long tail more similar to that of a rat, and with two long tendrils growing from it's back and ending in clawed pads. The creatures fur was a deep purple that shined a toxic green when the light caught it. It had spent most of the night here after seeing the smoke rising the day before. With scraps of metal torn away and the bus having slammed into a tree once the driver had abandoned his task, the machine had certainly seen much better days.

Not anymore though! Now that he'd had some time to work on it, there shouldn't be any issue getting it back up and running. With the adjustments to the engine, it might even still be able to keep its schedule. You could hardly tell where the metal had been torn off. He'd have to find some more paint though, the dark grey faded to a metallic iron around where something had torn through. Well, he'd just stay along for the ride until they reached the destination and there would surely be plenty of material there. When were they going to be leaving anyways? This was the third time he'd checked over the the bus and everything was right. There was still plenty of diesel and and all the fuel lines were connected... the starter seemed perfectly set up and the battery just had to be reconnected. So why hadn't it started?

He padded along and hopped lightly up into the containment center. From there it was a short walk to the control station at the front of the bus. The driver was there and the key was in the ignition, but nothing. Feeling a bit frustrated, he reached a tendril out and lifted the driver's hand up to rest on the key before letting it go. The arm slumped back against the seat. Again, he moved it to the key, and again it fell back to his side. This time, he moved the hand up and squeezed the fingers around the key before turning. The engine roared to life and his eyes widened, a feeling of excitement rushing through him. As he continued to hold the key there though, a terrible grating sound ran through the engine and the excitement vanished as he pulled the pad away from the hand. The engine was still quietly humming and the grating had stopped.

Expectantly, he looked up at the driver, waiting.

Nina is raring to go, her wings lifting her off the ground entirely and giving her the momentum to push her skyward, but then she pauses. The distant sounds of an engine roaring catches her attention, and she realizes it's coming from the broken bus in the distance... which is lacking a driver, or any sign of life (that she could sense). A feeling of dread washes over her, and she lands back on the ground.

"What... what is that?" Nina asks quietly, her head craning back. "It shouldn't be starting on its own..."

Jack looked back toward the bus and panic flushed over him again. Was Andras back already? His grey wolfy ears laid back and he started at a walk toward the bus that he had thought was broken beyond being able to run. He sniffed the air and didn't smell anything beyond metal, gas, the driver and his own blood.
"I'm going to check it out," the demon mentioned to Nina as he walked toward the running bus.

Still nothing. Was a part faulty? Everything was in place, and he'd made sure to reconnect all the parts on the driver as well, but it still wasn't working. Using the tendrils once more he felt across the driver, shifting him around, looking for anything he'd missed. This was becoming tiresome. He'd have to find something else to replace the part with then. Moving out of the bus, he pulled the body along behind him before propping it up against a nearby stone.

With a graceful leap, the creature move up onto the top of the bus and scanned the surrounding area, looking for somewhere that he could find a replacement. He paced back and forth for a moment debating on following the road back into town when something caught his eye. A ways off the path were two winged shapes coming closer. They did not appear to be a correct match to what he required, but perhaps he could make some adjustments. He sat then, waiting for them to arrive.

Nina's heart skips a beat as she sees a figure leap on top of the bus while they cautiously close the distance. She senses no life-- no heart to detect and no vibrant colors of soul. Afraid she's suddenly gone blind, she quickly looks over to Jack and relief washes over her as the brightness in his core continues to glow, as it had mere moments ago. So it's just whatever is moving, then.

"I don't like this," she tells Jack, "I can't see anything. There's nothing, no heart or anything."

Jack glanced back at Nina, "well it doesn't seem to be hostile.." He kept moving even after she expressed her fears. He had to know what it was and why it was here. There seemed to be no other life around.
Finally they made it up to the bus, stopping far enough away that they were not too close to the bus and could easily see the new comer. Jack opened his wings to look a bit bigger.
"Who are you?" He asked in a sharp and demanding tone. "What are you doing here?"

The creature stood and hopped down from the bus, landing a few dozen feet from them as it slowly padded closer. In a soft tone that flowed with a gentle rhythm and was reminiscent of song, he responded. "The damage has been corrected and we should be ready to continue on shortly. Well, mostly corrected. It appears the driver was faulty." He looked over to where the man lay against the rock. Some blood was dried in his jacket around where the blade had come through, but the cloth had been stitched back together and there was little sign of the wound besides some light scarring. "No matter, if one of you would come with me I can begin making the adjustments so we can continue to the destination. We're running late after all."

With that, he turned back towards the bus and used one of the thorned pads to beckon them to follow.

Nina bristled, her wings flapping and feathers standing on end. Her clawed feet stamped into the roadway uncomfortably.

"How is-- what--?!" She cried out, screeching slightly. "You don't have a heart! How are you even possible? What are you?!" Somehow, she felt angry, almost offended, that she couldn't get a read on the creature. The one skill that always served her well and always made sure she was safe in public, something so certain and steadfast, and she couldn't use it on whatever monstrosity was in front of her. Nothing in her memories could have prepared her for this.

Jack stood where he was and didn't follow the new creature. He took in what Nina said about it not having a heart. That sure was strange... The only thing he knew that could move with out being alive is a robot, but this thing didn't look like a robot. But then again he didn't know much about robots.
"Uh... We aren't going back to the city..." He said in confusion.

Well this was frustrating. He turned back towards them and sat down on his hind legs, his tail flicking back and forth across the ground, sending chips of stone and dust tumbling away. "You were on the bus previously. Wouldn't you then be travelling to the next destination? Unless the parameters have changed. In that case, please let me know what the new requirements are. I'll make the necessary adjustments and we can be underway." His demeanor visibly changed as he spoke, the frustration ceasing as he reached the new conclusion.

As he awaited a response, he watched the two of them, analyzing their forms and shapes. He had not yet come across any like either of them, it would be interesting to learn more of them and what benefits this design provided.

Nina takes a leap backwards, fluffing up fully to the point of being nearly a ball of feathers. Her longer, head feathers are standing straight up, the ones on her cheeks flared out. She is instinctively attempting to be intimidating, but due to her stature and form, she manages to look even less threatening when she tries.

"We... we were heading out of the city towards Hrani. The fire capitol, to the southeast?" Her projected voice is delicate, still careful and on edge. Her physical voice has changed from long whistles to low, short chirps. "But we were attacked and... you got the bus working again, somehow? I don't know if any of us can even drive..." She avoids looking at the dead driver.

Jack made a thoughtful face for a moment. "Well... I can drive. It might be easier for me then flying because I am injured.." He thought aloud. He thought it was cute how upset Nina was, but hoped she would be okay with driving instead of flying.
"At least until the bus runs out of gas..."

The creatures eyes brightened and he hopped up from his position, taking one last look at the wolf-like form before him. "Wonderful, now if you'll excuse me I have some preparations to make." He turned back and moved towards the bus. The control station would need to be nearly completely scrapped to fit his size, but that shouldn't be much trouble.

As he began to work, his tendrils stripping away the bolts and welding that held the seat in place, he continued to speak. "The tanks had been punctured, but I've recovered as much as I was able to and made improvements to the engine. I am unsure of the distance to our destination, but we should be able to travel for quite some time."

Nina made a drawn out noise of protest, looking over at Jack.

"Are we really going to trust this thing?" She asks quietly. "We don't know what it is or what it wants! And I can't tell if it's got hostile intentions or not..."

She watched the creature begin to scrap parts of the bus, both confused and mildly interested in its work. Whatever it was doing, it knew what to do and had a plan, which was more than she could say for herself... maybe she would have to go out on a limb for this one, just this once.

"But I suppose..." she trails off, thinking back to her blurry memory of the fight. Jack would be able to handle himself if the creature turned violent, she thought. And if her hunch was correct about what it was, she shouldn't have many problems with it, either. "If you trust it, I will too."

"I don't trust it, but I am confident I can take it," Jack agreed with Nina as he watched the thing begin to work on the bus again. What was it doing? The bus was already running..
He let out a long and deep sigh to prepare himself and started to change back into his human form. It was obvious at this point that his human form was not an illusion by magic, but just a whole separate form for his body to take. Bones snapped as they shifted and down. His grunted and groaned in pain, unable to keep himself standing. Jack fell over and by the time he hit the ground his body was in the shape of a human again, his grew fur shrinking into his skin, with his wings still out behind him. He had managed to catch himself on his hands and knees when he fell. He cried out in pain as the wings shrunk back into his bare back, seeming to fold down several times to fit. When it finally seemed to be over he was almost completely naked other then some torn up shorts on him. He heaved to catch his breath, sweat dripping down off of his face and chest. On his rib cage was the wound that Andras had given him, still very fresh and painful. His body shook from the lingering pain and he closed his eyes tightly, cursing under his breath.
Thankfully they were right next to where he changed the first time and his clothes were on the ground there.

Hearing the commotion behind him, the creature stopped it's task and looked back, watching the change with curiosity. The process seemed inefficient, but the end result would certainly fit the control station. "Splended. I must commend you, this form you've taken seems like it was built for this task. It does not seem like any other adjustments will be needed then. "

He replaced the pieces he had removed then and checked everything over once more. Looking back at the phoenix, his melodic voice played once more. "Will any other alterations be needed to fit this vehicle to your form?"

Avoiding watching Jack change, Nina's feathers press themselves back down. She hates watching him have to go through that pain simply to appear human again, but she knows there's little she can do to ease it.

"I--, no..." she answers the creature simply, fire swirling around her and revealing her human form. "I can go like this."

---

Hours pass without incident as the bus plows through the terrain, growing rougher and rougher, with little issue. The bumpy ride makes Nina uncomfortable, but she does little to complain besides making faces whenever they strike a particular harsh part of the road. Vehicles of different varieties pass now and then, and Nina recognizes their exterior as being mostly the Fire territory's craft. Their vehicles tend to be lower to the ground than others, with rusty or mud-like colors and mainly fueled by fire engines, which are one of the prime examples of a hybrid technological/magic construct. So long as there's oxygen in the air to burn, the vehicle remains in motion. Nina finds it fascinating, and wonders if they got some of their inspiration for their technology from the physiology of her kind.

They increase in number the closer and closer the group encroaches on the territory. Eventually there's a solid line of cars leaving, traffic coming to a near standstill. The only vehicle going towards the city is the single bus.

There's some sort of toll booth ahead, with two fire elemental workers standing outside, ushering drivers out of the city. Their movement is fluid as they pass through several cars and buses, meeting at one point and swirling into one, much larger being. Nina notices its attention catching on the approaching bus, and the elemental's face twists in bewilderment.

"Um, guys..." Nina pipes up, pressing her face against the window.

After shape shifting back into his human form and taking a moment to catch his breath Jack found his clothes and pulled them back on. Though they were a bit blood stained he didn't mind too much. Better then being practically naked. He carefully climbed onto the bus and sat in the drivers seat, holding his ribs in pain as he went. It hurt but it wasn't an end of the world pain, and he knew he would heal. Though he still wasn't sure how he had already healed so fast. He didn't remember Nina's song from the night before.

---

Jack was pretty happy that most of the drive was pretty uneventful. But he slowed the bus down to a slow pace as they came closer to the elemental city and saw what looked to be everyone leaving. He grew more and more confused as they drew closer and he didn't respond to Nine. He slowed to a stop at the toll booth, hoping he would get some answers and not be asked why they were driving a bus.

During the trip, the catlike creature explained to the others his nature and the workshop he had come from: He had been created as a small device used to complete rudimentary tasks while his creator continued his work. At the time, the device had not been given a name as it was viewed as little more than an oven or a toilet might be. He served his purpose and that was all. While his master was working, there were always tasks to do and he had plenty to occupy his time with. One day though, there was a knock on the door and the creator left with three others. It wasn't unusual for him to leave on short trips, but this time he did not come back. The days turned into weeks and soon enough, every project within the workshop was in pristine condition. There was nothing left to do. It wouldn't do. Without a directive, he had no purpose. He thought back on what the master would do during these times. There was so much work he would put into the projects. Even those that were already finished, he would go back to and modify, sometimes putting several together into a new creation.

This occupied his time for another several months and dust never settled on the workshop lost in the mountains. The elemental smelter became his heart, the scrying crystals were his eyes, the quicksilver gave him flesh, and the music voice became his voice. By the end, the little scrap collector had built every other project into himself and he found himself all alone in the workshop. Again, there was nothing left to do. Only then did he dare to abandon the little workshop and travel down the mountain. Along his way, the construct encountered a pack of beasts that inspired his form and discovered from them that those outside the workshop expected names from all they met. As he did not have one of his own, he took on that of his home, the mountain Erebus.

---

As the bus came to a stop, Erebus padded up from the back where he had been tinkering with the vehicle's signal system. "Those are rather intriguing, I see no form to hold them, curious." He propped himself up onto one of the seats with his front two rows of legs to gaze out at the mountains. "If it plans to look over the status of our vehicle there should be no issues."

As the bus approaches the booth, the elemental once again splits apart into two beings. One takes care of the vehicles all passing outward from the city, and the remaining one moves over towards the group. It vaguely resembles the shape of a man as it takes steps forward, but its face is obscured by roaring flames and only a bit of hollowed out eye sockets and an open mouth can be seen. Nevertheless, its expression is one of confusion and slight frustration.

"Excuse me?" It asks, looking into the window of the bus. Its voice is airy, hoarse. "Didn't you get the memo? City's under total evacuation protocol since last night. I wouldn't recommend anyone coming in at this point, not with the dragons making a mess of the place."

"Dragons?" Nina echoes quietly. She had only ever heard of the beings, but was equally frightened and awed by the stories she heard of them-- about their fantastic cities which dwarfed even the main three, and about their sheer advancement in magic that they refused to give anyone part to. They were truly intimidating creatures, but she had no idea why they would bother to leave home for the mountains.

Jack made a thoughtful face and glanced between the elemental and the city in front of them.
"Well, we didn't know... And we came all of this way and have no where else to go..." He trailed off a bit, glancing back at the only other two on the bus.
"If it's not against the law or anything we would still like to go in," he was polite to the elemental. "Maybe if we get inside and there are still some people who want to leave they can use this bus. I don't mind. And I'm sure it would help you all out." He wasn't too afraid of the dragons. The city didn't seem to be under attack and he wasn't about to turn around and go back. Plus maybe Andras wouldn't follow, or wouldn't think they would go in.

Erebus listened to the elemental before looking back out at the city. "What would have prompted this action from the dragons? I'd be very interested to find what they deemed worthy of causing such an incident for." He nodded to himself then, his eyes shining brightly. "I will travel into the city. As for this bus, I'm sure it will suit the evacuees' needs so long as the fuel repository is refilled. It should have no load bearing issues and was scheduled to return anyways, so this will be ideal."

He moved up beside Jack then and looked over at the elemental. "If there are no other pressing matters that need to be considered I believe we should be on our way as we are still behind on schedule. It appears your expertise may be required elsewhere." He looked over at the line of vehicles leaving the city. In their panic, a family of harpies had rear ended a naga much to her anger.

The elemental lifted its hands in a defensive position, as if to ease Jack to quiet.

"Hey, it's just my job to get people out of the city, if they choose to go. You wouldn't be the only ones who chose to be in there and risk it with the dragons; it's just standard procedure for us to evacuate at the telltale sign of danger." He pauses fora moment, thinking, "You know, to prevent potential riots and the like. We got plenty of old farts who are too stubborn to leave to keep you company there. Just watch yourself, 'cause I ain't liable for any damages."

The other half of the elemental was shouting into the window of a vehicle. Nina pressed her ear against the window and heard something about "not getting in such a damn hurry" but besides that its voice was too great of a hiss to hear properly from inside the bus.

"But hey," the current elemental shrugged, "it's your bus. Up to you what you do with it." With that, it turned around and left to join its twin.

Nina made an intense face, her eyes flaring yellow for a moment.

"I was supposed to go here. This was gonna be it," she starts, her voice a little strained. "It can't just all be gone like that. It can't be... we have to at least go look! The dragons have never attacked anyone before! We still have a chance." She hopped out of her seat and raced forward, to the front where Jack and Erebus sat. "Let's go!"

---

Besides the trail of land and air vehicles leaving various external stations of Hrani, nothing appears to be out of the ordinary. The main paths into the city are still open, and the bus has little trouble taking one in (but not before getting bizarre looks from passersby). The city itself is built atop a steep mountain side, the walls of the rock carved to provide a level surface on which the infrastructure is laid. Though it's much smaller than the main three cities, it is crowded by buildings of various sorts-- most being made out of varying types of stone and brick. The streets are in a circular pattern, with the central road looping through the entire city, and smaller roads branching off from it. They appear relatively easy to navigate, especially since no one else is also entering the city.

Nina once again gets close to the window, and her heart stammers when she sees two massive, snake-like beings spiral through the air overhead, both appearing to be heading to the same destination to the bus' right. In that same direction appear to be the community areas, where Nina spots signs in various languages for shops and bars.

"Maybe we should find a hotel or something," Jack mused aloud as he drove the long bus through the mostly empty city. By now Erebus had explained what he was so Jack was inclined to trust him. Robots of this sort weren't usually bad. He was also fairly confident that he would destroy him if need be.
Jack noticed a sign that said hotel near a bar and started off in that direction. He didn't see anyone he could give the bus to to let them use, so he just parked it for now.

Erebus looked over at Jack quizzically. "What need is there for a hotel, only 22 hours have passed. I believe that discovery is more important at this time." As the bus ground to a stop, Erebus quickly hopped down the steps from the bus and began padding down the street past the hotel and a curiosity shop. They were far enough into the town that there was little in the way of foot traffic remaining since most of the population had already left. One of Erebus' tendrils slid absentmindedly along the edge of the buildings as he passed by, analyzing the stones that they were build from.

After he had reached the edge of the curiosity shop, Erebus paused and looked back towards the other two expectantly.

Nina looked around herself in interest, taking in the sights, as sad as they were for the time being. The people were scarce, if there were any, and the ones that were present appeared to be in a state of panic. This isn't what she had been hoping for at all.

"I... I don't know. Normally I would have taken the bus routes and used a map at the station or something..." She glances down the road way, past Erebus, and spots several varieties of shops. If anything, the area they were at now was meant to draw tourists, given the sheer amount of bizarre signs of advertisement Nina could see sitting atop roofs as well as on street corners. It would make sense, considering their proximity to the city's entrance.

"I think we should keep heading down that way," Nina says, pointing down the street. "Since we're barely inside the city, there's bound to be a hotel here somewhere." She makes a pointed glance at Erebus. "And we should stop because we're exhausted. We don't run like you do."

Overhead, a dragon passes by. This one is smaller than the ones Nina saw before, and is covered in glittering, purple scales of a light hue. It corkscrews as it flies by, at one point looking down at three for the briefest of moments and meeting Nina's curious gaze. But just like that, it's gone and far off into another district. The dragon seemed... surprised.

Jack glanced around casually and did notice the purple dragon over head. He quarked a brow lightly because he had never seen a dragon before. But he was sure they were going to run into a few. And that made him slightly uneasy.
Jack glanced back down at Nina and gave her a soft, toothy smile to try and make her feel a little more at ease.
He lead the way down the road toward the hotel, glancing around as he went. The streets were so bare. But he saw a couple of figures inside the bar as they passed. Must have been the people who didn't see the need to leave.

As they turned to the door of the hotel he began to worry that it wouldn't be open. And was happy when the door opened followed by a small jingle. The hotel has warm colors and a sweet smell, over all it looked really nice. But it seemed empty...

Erebus' gaze followed the dragon across the sky, almost longingly. After a long moment he looked back to his companions. "Very well, rest it is then. We wouldn't you running optimally." He wasn't quite sure what they should be looking for so he hesitantly padded along behind Jack.

Entering the hotel he met the eyes of the woman standing behind the counter. She seemed eager, watching them expectantly. Erebus plodded on past Jack at that point, enjoying the unique lighting in the building. A chandelier hung with colored glass dangling, casting reds and oranges and yellows all across the foyer where the light hit them. He paused then, watching the glass as it spun slowly in the air. "That's quite beautiful. What does it do?" He asked, moving closer to the counter, though his eyes remained transfixed above.

Nina's eyes sparkle when she sees the chandelier. It reminds her of a fancier, bigger version of the main lamp that dangled from the ceiling in her home. It's beautiful, but intimidating in a way she can't quite understand.

"It's a light, but... like a decoration too." She explains simply, spinning around slowly to take in the hotel lobby more fully.


From the counter, the attendant is startled by the appearance of the three, dropping her magazine onto the surface of the table she had been leaning on. She perks up, squaring her shoulders and clearing her throat. Only her upper body is showing, and from there Nina can see the woman's arms are lined in small scales, her fingernails black and slightly sharpened. When she looks at the attendant's face, she sees scales dappling her cheeks and slits for pupils in green eyes staring expectantly back at her.

"O-oh! Welcome! Welcome to the Sol Hotel, can I help you in any way? Need a room? I've got plenty, and for discounted prices, considering-- oh, well, you know... you've seen what's going on outside."

Jack watched the two be in awe over the decoration and couldn't help but chuckle lightly to himself. It was nice to see such innosence left in the world.
When the woman cleared her throat he turned back to face her, giving a friendly smile.
"Ah yes, we would like a room..." Jack paused, glancing back at Nina and Erebus, "well.. the biggest room you have..." He didn't feel terribly comfortable with Nina having her own room, since who knows what could happen. And he knew now that she had lot of power stored in that little body but didn't know how to always use it.

Erebus remained transfixed by the chandelier as Jack spoke with the innkeep. It was strange to him how much of this world seemed to have no real purposed besides decoration. The light would have been easy to create without going to such an extent.

He padded over the counter then and hopped up, putting his front paws on the counter's edge. "These dragons that I've seen above the town... might you know what brought them here?" He asked. He was still eager to get back out into the streets even though his companions could use the rest.

The hotel attendent looked at Jack, eyes gleaming with excitement, opening her mouth to speak before Erebus caught her attention. The hope from her face positively drained out, and she cleared her throat awkwardly.

"Well, um... let's just say, at least from what I've heard, there was a... political mishap. But it's none of my concern! I'm left alone as long as I do my job and don't run the streets protesting like everyone else who was arrested-- or worse--" she cut herself off, her lips pursing hard.

"But anyway, that's besides the point! You want the biggest room we have? Well, we have a penthouse deluxe suite, or if that's a little too fancy for your taste, we offer deals on smaller apartment suites. They're like the name suggests. If you'd like I can book you right away, just need some information and a deposit."

Nina made her way back over to Jack, looking up at him expectantly. She certainly didn't have any money, besides some loose cash for the bus, and the idea of trying to pay for the biggest hotel room possible made her a little queasy. Money was hard to come by as it was...