Uncanny Tales of Linburn

Linburn Streets

“My... face?” Ewan repeated, before freezing, jerking his hand up to it and feeling around. Once his fingers brushed the flap of skin, he let out a sharp gasp, beginning to shudder violently in panic, a rattle emanating from his very form.

If he heard it this time, he didn't address it, as already a feeling of sickening dread had welled up within him. He scrambled over to a nearby trashcan, rifling through it for something, anything reflective.

He brought out a shard of what once was a mirror, and he sunk down against the trashcan, looking into his own face through the cracked glass with a deceptively blank expression. He reached up to touch the seam, another shiver reverberating through his body as he clutched the mirror to his chest momentarily, squeezing his eyes shut.

After composing himself, he pulled the mirror back again, and took what he now knew in his heart to be an entirely useless deep breath in preparation, before tentatively pinching the flap of skin.

He pulled it.

As it peeled away like a sticky silicone layer, he so wished that he could vomit to get rid of the disgusting feeling brought on by such an unnatural and sickening sight. Nonetheless, he persevered, his false breathing picking up into hyperventilation as he desperately pulled the last stubborn section of the façade off.

It snapped into a limp heap in his hand, but he refused to look at it, numbly placing it in his lap. Instead, he was drawn to the sight of his true face.

Two green orbs stared back at him, twitching back and forth mechanically within their sockets as they took in their form.

“I-I...” he choked.

Flywheels span viciously as gears clicked rapidly through their motions. A large, green, iridescent crystal took up most of his forehead, and was practically the only thing not moving in the entire mechanism.

“I-I'm... I'm not real...” he whispered harshly, delicately stroking the outer framework of his mechanical face with a trembling hand. Nearly everything within it looked alive with movement, and the single stationary gemstone was emitting a haze of heat, but he couldn't feel its warmth, nor the coolness of the metal beneath his fingertips.

Tick.

Tock.

Even Ewan could hear it, now that it wasn't muffled under a layer of skin. He had lived with the sound his whole life, and it wasn't until it had altered drastically that he had finally become aware of it.

The impact hitting him full force, he let out a strangled sob, the broken mirror falling out of his grip as he clutched his face in his hands, curling up into a tight ball on the ground as he left the false silicone covering that disguised the mechanisms behind in a forgotten heap on the floor. He was sobbing violently, and it was heart wrenching for him that he didn't have any tears to shed.

And throughout it all was that soft tick-tock of clockwork, occasionally weakening, but never dying out.

edited 5th Jun '18 7:04:10 PM by Enirboreh

Gaunt's Books

Damien was already up to the sixth book by the time Tim walked over, not that he was keeping track or anything. Putting it back (it was probably some mediocre romance novel anyway), he turned to get a good look at Tim, partly to size him up, partly to... well, get a good look at him, he supposed.

Yup, that was a mobile corpse, all right. There was no notable undead scent, and his gait was normal; couldn't rely on his lack of speed if need be. He seemed rather peaceful, and had a restrained amount of Rot compared to expectations; above average for (the normal parts of) the city, however, putting him squarely on Leliel's watchlist. Great, now there was an entire separate time slot to plan around when the next target came up.

Damien was right about to answer his quarry's question when the door opened, his attention switching in step with Tim's to the... wow, was that a Rot reading of over 120%? It took Damien all of his willpower to not immediately throw a shelf at the interloper, and instead force a 'polite' smile, his gears almost grinding in protest. Leliel made a note to itself to have its vision checked later as Damien 'realised' he was gawping and, nodding to Tim, politely resigned himself to taking his turn as he accidentally skipped four books in his search.

Sisyphean Tasks and Talismans

Did Dana just say Kyrio? As in Kyrio Streiss? The Mage Union’s infamous former executioner? Nope, nope, NOPE. Sammy was not getting involved with that. She simply quietly continued toward the front door... and another customer.

She gave him a once-over. It was a boy around her age, not bad looking, with a completely lost expression on his face. Normally she’d just direct him to Dana and move on, but she was... preoccupied, and Sammy didn’t think he would want any of that any more than she did.

Uggh, she was going to have to help this guy, wasn’t she? He clearly didn’t know what he was looking for. She swore, Dana needed to get some actual employees, and the cat didn’t count. Whatever, she supposed this wasn’t the worst thing in the world.

“WELCOME! Do you know what you’re looking for, or do you seek simply to peruse our wares!?”

edited 5th Jun '18 8:36:02 PM by PossiblyQuiteInsane

Sisyphean Tasks and Talismans.

Josh flinched a little from the voice greeting him to the store as he turned to whoever was speaking...and found himself facing a girl? She definitely looked feminine, although considering she looked like she was made out...jelly? Goo? Either way, with his face going a slight shade of red, he politely averted his gaze, trying not to appear rude.

"I-I, um, w-well...maybe a good luck c-charm might be a start, if t-that's not too much to ask, Miss."

Alleyway - Zima

"Kid..." Zima started, but was interrupted by the breakdown that ensued.

She froze, eyes wide at the sad display before her. It was a minute before she took her first hesitant steps and quietly crouched near Ewan.

"Kid..?" Zima whispered gently. The ticking and sobbing were still going, so she added, a touch more emphatically, "Ewan?"

Owen and Matthew:

"So, those shitty rumors are already out, huh?" Owen said, gritting his teeth. How the fuck did they spread it that fast? As always, those vermin... "You should know, Matty, that it's nothing more than baseless rumors", Owen assured Matthew.

Of course, Owen Logan himself knew that what he spewed were nothing more than lies, created to keep his saintly status to Matthew. Owen himself recalled that sensation with distinct clearness. Logan could feel strength in every part of his body, and he even grew in size. That felt so good... Before I died, anyways.

Every time he thought about his steroid use, Owen justified to himself as such: "I mean... it's me. I can do whatever I need to do. Others? Now that is unforgivable.'' Clearly, this man has a very sound logic.

"Now... I want to visit our dear old coach and make sure... if he's alright. So, do you know where that p... friend of ours could be now?"

Gaunt's Books:

"Good morning", Chris greeted the man with a smile. "I would like to ask if there are any books related to rituals? Something like... instructions on how to break them or mitigate its effects. And..."

He felt it. The presence of a being that could kill him here and now. "And some... new releases from Brandon Michaelson". Christ struggled to say, as the pain in his heart grew. The beast seemed to be forcing Christopher to leave the place. He promptly ignored him. Chris observed the place to find the source of the presence, and noticed the man who had orange glowing eyes.

That man... seems to be the one.

Matthew and Owen

"Y-Yeah...I know you wouldn't do any drugs, bro! And that other stuff...it's not you." Matthew for his part did still keep the saintly image in mind Owen wanted to project, and if anything hoped that he could bring everything back to the way it was. When he and his bro could prepare for the big game, hang out, and get food after practice and stuff.

When Owen asked about the Coach, Matt seemed to think about that a bit.

Coach Bramden was a rather elusive figure outside of school. He heard he lived up in some rich district - from the rumors, he married a woman of the Roman Family... "I hear he lives with his wife, this uh Roman Family woman up in one of the richer districts...not much else."

Matthew had no idea indeed what Owen's plans really were.

But as it looked like Owen needed to go, and tend to this, Matt went up to him and gave Owen a side hug, as they used to do, "...W-Will you be in touch, bro? You're not gonna be gone again, are you?"

edited 6th Jun '18 2:21:09 AM by NickTheSwing

Alleyway - Logan

With Ewan starting to realise their robotic body, Logan was willing to drop the subject and let the poor android go on with his life, follow him with his perception filter on to make sure the boy safely got home without them knowing he was trailing him. Of course, Zima threw this out of the window.

The beastkin put his hand on the poor boys hair and brushed it lightly. "I'm sorry things had to go this direction. I know what it feels like to not be human as well, I used to be one but now, I look like this. If there's one thing I can take away from it, humanity isn't just about your body. You might not be a human physically, but you got the mind and soul of a human. Don't let what's happening right now let you forget this!"

edited 6th Jun '18 2:51:19 AM by JustaUsername

Linburn Streets

Ewan's sobbing began to lessen into jolting hiccuping, and he uncurled slightly, resting his back up against the trashcan again. He looked down at his hands with a hollow gaze, still wishing that all of this was just a nightmare.

It had certainly felt like it. Especially when he began peeling off his own face, that sounded exactly like the sickening weirdness that could happen in dreams. But he knew it was real now.

And he severely, severely wished he didn't.

“I... I don't know what to do...” he finally spoke up again in a distant tone, which shifted into a panicked one once he realised something. “They... they lied to me. Mom and Dad, why did they... why did they lie to me?!” he screamed, slamming his fist into the metal of the bin he was resting against. It caved in, and his hand got wedged as a result.

He didn't feel it, but he flinched at the noise, noticeably calming himself down in a forceful fashion before jerking his hand free from the mangled metal. The skin was now torn in a few patches, revealing wires, more gears, and servos underneath the surface.

He slumped his head back. “I... I'm sorry... I'm sorry I... I dragged you into this.”

He paused, before flicking his gaze over to the silicon mask still laying in a heap on the floor. He raised his hand towards it, palm facing outwards, and it shot towards him in a distortion of the air similar to that of a heat haze, a small spark of electricity crackling harmlessly from his hand to the façade.

“...Well that explains that, then,” he muttered humourlessly, before slowly stretching the mask open and pulling it over his face again. When it made contact with the crystalline substance on his forehead, it seemed to shrivel up like shrink wrap, moulding to his features almost perfectly, barring the slight flap still on the edge of his hairline.

His hands slumped back down, but he didn't make any move to get back up again. He just sat there in silence, the ticking now faint and nigh impossible to hear again. But now he knew it was there, he couldn't unhear it.

“You... you really think I'm... still a person? Even though I-I'm... I'm not real?” he whispered.

Alleyway - Logan

Logan continues to pet Ewan's hair. "You're real and you're a person. You don't need to blame yourself what happened, you didn't choose to be a robot."

Offering his handpaw to lift the sitting android, Logan said "Now if you want, I can take you back home. You won't see me but I'll be there, like a guardian angel."

Gaunt's Books

Sure, he looked unusual. That wasn't any reason for this guy to be so obvious about staring at Tim. Seriously, why did Mr. Gaunt's store attract all the weird people? And this strange customer also seemed to have an odd amount of interest in the young man that walked in.

That wasn't to say there wasn't something off about Chris, though. "Odd topic to look into," the corpse noted plainly. "We should have something on that, but if you're trying to do something yourself you might be better off finding a professional. There's a shelf on magic theory, tucked away in the back." It could just be some personal research, but the customer seemed a bit too uncomfortable for that. Fancy Tim knew better than to mess around with magic when you could get another person to do it for you.

Well, at least there was a more normal request added in. Just finding a new release from an author. "Right over there," he answered, pointing a pale finger towards a shelf. "Feeling alright? You seem uncomfortable." It didn't escape the corpse's notice that Chris had taken a look at his other customer.

Hopefully nothing bad would happen. Tim glanced at the unassuming door in the back of the shop that lead to Mr. Gaunt's office. He knew his boss wasn't in today, but that didn't make him feel any less sure that old businessman wouldn't stroll right out of there at the first sign of conflict.

edited 6th Jun '18 6:59:47 AM by pillowmantis

Alleyway - Zima

With a slight grimace, Zima watched Ewan manage to stick his fake skin to his face again. At least it solved one potential problem.

Or, almost. Without thought, she put her fingers on the remaining flap and gently pressed it against his forehead, hoping it'll stick that way. Just in case, she used her other hand to move some of his hair into hiding the remaining seam.

Zima quietly sighed to herself. She desperately wished she could tell him about her sister, how Leta hated her nature; how she was half-certain she was only half a soul; how she—if given the chance—would likely trade her true form for a normal life...

But no. No, that would raise some questions, and she could already feel Leta judging her just for everything that had happened in the last ten minutes. She'd need a different approach.

"Kid, we live in a magical time, and I mean that very literally," Zima eventually said, flashing a quick, reassuring smile. "We have an entire branch of magic just on animating our own robots—and trust me, you seem a lot smarter than those wood and metal zombies. Far as I'm concerned, if you feel real? You are."

Linburn Streets

Ewan had begun to raise his head again under the pair's reassurances, only to embarrassedly avert his gaze as Zima made an effort in disguising the slightly damaged mask of his face. He clenched and unclenched his fists, clearly trying to hold something in, before giving up and lunging for the pair in a bear hug, clutching to them both in the utmost gratitude.

The rigidity of his joints made it a little uncomfortable and awkward, but it was truly genuine.

“Th-thank you...” he quietly said to them both. “Thank you so much...”

After a few more moments he released them, slightly staggering himself before regaining his balance and looking up at them with his impassive gaze for a few minutes. It wasn't until he spoke up again that it became clear why he was staring.

“...I should go back. And tell Mom and Dad. Maybe... maybe they can help me find a way to smile. Then I can thank you properly.”

One could even imagine a broad, tearful grin on his face after that, despite his constantly neutral expression. Turning, he went to pick up his bag in that stiff fashion of his, before returning to them, head tilting slightly with a distant clockwork tick as he pondered what to do.

“Do... erm... do you wanna come with? If you're not too busy, I mean, I don't mind if you are...” he asked them hesitantly.

Linburn was not exactly how Jane remembered it. It seemed a little...smaller, almost. Or Jane had just gotten bigger. That was what she was afraid of, of coming back to the only home she had ever known only to find it unrecognizable. She didn’t know what to do if that came to pass; for the last three years her plan had been ‘get back to Linburn,’ and nothing after that. She had assumed it would come to her.

She had been walking for most of the day, and with no real destination, she might as well sit down for a moment. She sat down on the curb and pulled a pipe and lighter out of her coat pocket. It was a filthy habit, but a comforting one. It gave her hands something to do: put the tobacco in the pipe, light it, hold it.

Every time her lips touched the pipe, she got glimpses of the memories of the owner before her. A married man, somewhere in his sixties. His wife liked to sit next to him and do needlepoint as he smoked. She was lithe and dark and beautiful, and when she looked up from her sewing to look at her husband with eyes full of love and devotion, Jane could pretend she was the one being looked at, that this was her memory, her wife, her home.

She was snapped out of her thoughts by approaching footsteps.

Alleyway - Zima

"Nah, might be best if we both come," Zima replied, rubbing a chilled hand on the arm that got more crushed in the sudden hug.

"You've had a rough time, no use leaving you so soon," she continued, then winked.

Hopefully Leta would understand. Or, at least, wouldn't freak out too much.

At the circular front desk in the central lobby, Leta was doing her best to stay calm and not do more than have a hand at her mouth while reading the WNDS homepage.

Bombing at Mage Union outpost

18 car pileup on 6th street

Homeless man arrested for climbing statue, screaming 'the crow'

Mass casualties at Linburn docks

She dropped her black diamond mDroid on the desk—shutting off the magical project that came from the rectangular mineral—before leaning forward to try crushing her shaky hands into her face.

This was fine. All fine. Definitely fine.

"Your sister again?" asked Anselma, the Bermudan shadow mage intern working the desk that summer.

"No," Leta groaned, muffled by her hands. She wished Barty's illness hadn't left her with such a thumb-twiddling job. Fuck, she almost wished it wasn't a near-dead season like summer term—at least then, she'd be busy enough to take her mind off of...

Well. Everything.

edited 7th Jun '18 12:06:54 AM by BlackRevolver

Alleyway - Logan

The wolf wasn't sure if he should tag along. If he travelled with his perception filter on, might spook the parents that he suddenly came out of nowhere. If he travelled without it, it might be safe since he's travelling with group but he might spook the public and annoy some of his beastkin neighbours.

"You sure I should come along" Logan asked, "I mean, you were scared first time you saw me. Your parents might freak out at me..."

edited 6th Jun '18 4:40:43 PM by JustaUsername

Linburn Streets

If Ewan had any blood in his system, he would have blushed at the wink, instead clearing his throat embarrassedly and quickly turning his attention to Logan's dilemma to cover it up.

“Well... if you figured this out so quickly, they must have known for a while as well, if they didn't know all along. So... I think they'll be used to weird stuff,” Ewan said in reply to the beastkin, before stiffly shrugging. “I'm not sure. If you're not comfortable with it though, I don't mind, okay? You helped me a lot anyway,” he added kindly, wishing for the nth time in those few minutes that he could smile to reinforce it.

That was his newfound priority. As soon as he told his parents that he knew, he wanted to get proper expressions. It was the one thing he truly was lacking. Even if they were only basic or primitive, as long as they got the point across, he'd take anything over just this frozen, consistently neutral face.

Alleyway - Logan

The beastkin slowly nodded to Ewan. "I guess I can come, just give me an introduction first. Well, the lady should probably introduce me since, I don't want them to think you're malfunctioning more than you actually are."

"Anyways, I'm going to put my perception filter back on since we're going to take off. So you won't be seeing me till we get to your house Ewan, okay?" And just like that, Logan disappeared from the android's senses.

edited 6th Jun '18 7:35:50 PM by JustaUsername

Sisyphean Tasks and Talismans

Wow. Sammy knew she was quite the beauty to behold, but still, this guy’s reaction seemed a bit excessive. It was like he had never seen a girl before!

“You okay there? Sure I can’t get you anything for that shyness?”

Hmm... good luck charms, good luck charms, where did Dana keep the good luck charms... it was over there in the corner, wasn’t it? She was pretty sure at least, and if she was wrong, there was always the “I don’t actually work here” excuse.

With that in mind, Sammy attempted to drag the customer by the hand in the direction of what she thought were the good luck charms.

Alleyway - Zima

"...'Lady'?" Zima said to herself, eyes squinted in confusion. She looked between Logan and Ewan when—

"Oh right! I'm Zima, forgot to mention!" she suddenly exclaimed to them with a smile, putting a hand on her chest. "So! That's out of the way, we ready?"

Sisyphean Tasks and Talismans

"I-I-I'm not shy...I just w-wasn't expecting a cut- E-Er, um..." Josh fidgeted, getting even more flustered and barely stopping himself from saying any more as his face went a brighter shade of crimson and nervously adjusted his headphones.

"J-Just what exactly ar-" Of course, that was the most he managed to say before getting dragged along by Sammy through the store, giving a slight squeak of surprise getting even more anxious. She was cute, sure, but what if she was poisonous or acidic...? He could simply scan the slime girl and find out for sure, but she'd probably get the wrong idea if he kept staring at her and simply let himself get dragged along, hoping his hand didn't get melted off.

Matthew and Owen - To the Downtown

“Of course. I’ll be very in touch with you”, said Owen before leaving Matthew and headed to the place he now called home. Located in the slums of the city, Owen arrived at the place that was the hideout of people called “Cursebringers”. He found them to be strange lot, worshipping a sort of deity by the name Zarnathios, but he grew fond of them, since they treated him with great reverence. Owen was not aware of the reasons for this respect. But did he have to know? To this question, Owen would answer: ‘’Who cares? Nothing’s wrong as long as they respect me.’’

Returning to his family was out of options, since, unike Matthew, they wouldn’t be so gullible about the whole resurrection situation. Besides… what did they ever gave me but pain? Ignoring these thoughts, Owen remembered the knife that the girl by the name Josephine gave him.

“Use it to get your revenge. Struck by this knife, they will suffer million hells and more”. She spoke these words with such enthusiasm that it made Owen feel his spine shivered, despite the impossibility of it. Logan picked up the knife on the table in front of him and observed it. The distinguishing feature was the ornament that seemed to be black.. No, more empty than black. It did not look like it belonged to any human culture. Still, Owen was impressed by the weapon he was bestowed, believing that its beauty fit him.

Owen headed to the direction of Roman family residence with the knife hidden in his pocket.

Gaunt’s Books:

“Thank you. And I am very much fine”, Chris assured Tim, letting off a smile that seemed almost genuine, and, keeping the locations of books in mind, headed towards the strange man. He must hold the answers to this.

Christopher stopped his feet, as he thought about the consequences of this action. The growl in his ear grew louder as he drew closer to that man. The beast felt death, and so did Chris. Hawke would be lying if he said that he was unafraid of death. Still, if it meant saving others, he would gladly sacrifice his life.

Christ approached Leliel in disguise and greeted him with a smile: "Good morning. May I talk to you about something?"

edited 6th Jun '18 10:35:51 PM by kaalban

Sisyphean Tasks & Talismans, Linburn

Dana politely shook her head, "I'm afraid I don't really follow high school games - or high schoolers for that matter," Her smirk grew subtly as she noted another customer enter, "Probably for the best." The latest customer seemed a little younger than Sisyphus herself, and completely lost. It was perhaps fortunate he stumbled into her store rather than a less scrupulous witch - he practically had 'tragic-curse-fodder' writ large across his forehead. Unfortunately it looked like Sammy was going to pounce on him first, if only to get away from Kyrio, "Our wares?" She called to the pair with a chuckle, but remained with Streiss for the moment. At some point since they had begun conversing Orpheus had disappeared, but neither could say exactly when or how.

The young witch snorted at the news of Antonius' apparent move on Linburn, "Truthfully, I'd be more concerned if there were no news of some impending attack from ancient, bored forces." She stated flatly, pacing down an isle and running her finger along the rows of fading labels, "What is shocking is your coming to me for any kind of charm that doesn't turn your son into a frog... You're not trying to, right?" Dana cast a quizzical look to the older sorcerer, "Otherwise I can give you the address for a great pet store - only mildly cursed." She snatched a tiny pendant from the top of a shelf, turning back to Kyrio and holding it up to the dim light. The pedant was constructed of spherical, tightly woven silver wire - when Sisyphus held the charm out for him to inspect it seemed to pulse with a faint inner light.

"Fortunately this charm functions on more reliable things than my magic." Dana tossed the charm to Kyrio, "It should repel anything inured to the dark or afflicted by the Rot, but-" The sound of Orpheus tumbling after a moth on top of a shelf interrupted her explanation, "Well, the more powerful the dark or rotten creature the most resistant it shall be. Should glow when they are near as well..." The witch nodded and rubbed her chin, noting Sammy and the young man heading towards the 'luck' section, "I already paid the Mage Union's tithe for the month so how about I give you that charm for a modest favour?"

Gaunt's Books

Damien looked up from the cover of A History of Distraction Tactics: How To Fool Anyone, Anywhere as Chris approached. Merely a boy, and already this corrupted; this was either a gross error on the boy's part, or a very dangerous individual. Either way, a nuisance. Nevertheless, a nuisance willing to approach him while also being an active target for information gathering, so it was worth at least giving him the benefit of the doubt.

Being asked if you could be asked something was, in Leliel's books, almost an insult (after all, what if you say no? Then how would the original question be viewed?), but opportunities to not have to follow people for days straight rarely came up like this, and besides, he could always be trying to redeem himself. In lieu of answering, Damien just looked at Christopher expectantly, awkwardly trying to plan what to do with the rest of his free time and occasionally glancing at Tim to gauge his reaction (after all, he still had a job to do) as he waited.

edited 7th Jun '18 3:57:27 AM by Mistfader

Linburn Streets

“Okay!” Ewan chirped happily to Logan, momentarily fascinated by the way he just completely vanished from his perception before shifting his focus back to the dragonness.

Suddenly the air felt a lot more stifling than when he could actually see the beastkin as well.

“Z-Zima? That's... that's a nice name,” he muttered in reply, swallowing before shyly turning back to the entrance of the alleyway, clutching his groceries a little too tightly in his grip.

“Um... yeah, it's this way... uh... f-follow me!” he called back to them suddenly, before quickly walking ahead out of the alley, still embarrassed from his comment to Zima.

He had no idea what had possessed him to make such an observation. It wasn't even that drastic, it was fact. Why had he felt a need to speak up about something so obvious?

The Fletcher Residence

Ewan rapped on the door with his knuckle mechanically, taking one step back and shifting slightly uncomfortably, glancing towards Zima and hopefully where Logan was.

Hopefully not on the roof. That'd be embarrassing.

A silhouette appeared behind the frosted glass of the door, and he tensed up as someone fiddled with the lock for a moment before opening it, freezing at the sight of them.

It was a woman apparently in her late thirties, with long brown hair and a slightly exhausted looking face, who wearily glanced over to the dragonness before shifting her focus to Ewan.

“Ewan? Who's this?”

His hand twitched, tempted to simply show her the seam hidden under his hair and get it over with, but he was conflicted. He looked over at Zima questioningly, unsure of what he should do.

Back in the Alleyway

The trashcan that Ewan had sat against quivered, the lid lifting up a crack as a large, slitted yellow eye peered out unblinkingly.

A pink forked tongue flicked out, before the rest of the serpent followed, its deep purple scales reflecting in the light as it slithered down to the floor behind the bin, hidden from sight of the opening of the alley. It craned its neck up, tasting the air in case anyone was approaching, before opening its maw wide, jaw unhooking as a pale, bony hand erupted out of the snake's throat.

It fumbled around blindly, the serpent bracing itself, before rearing back and regurgitating the rest of the arm out, along with the person it was attached to. He was somewhat inhuman in appearance, and had a thin layer of slime costing him from his unorthodox method of travel. He lay in a crumpled heap for a few moments, slitted eyes rolling around uselessly, before he finally got up.

Instead of using his hands as leverage as a normal person would, he somehow slithered up onto his feet in what should have been a biologically impossible fashion, absently brushing himself down before flicking one of his eyes over to the snake that had so gracefully provided him an anchor point. He gestured to it, and it immediately slunk over back to the trashcan, slipping back underneath its lid.

The humanoid snake paused for a moment, checking once again in case anyone had seen him, before planting a foot on the wall of the alleyway, beginning to walk up the side of the building as easily as if he were walking down the sidewalk. Several smaller, pitch black snakes crept out from behind his shoulders and out of his sleeves, all flickering their tongues out in a simultaneous fashion.

Once he had neared the edge of the building, he stopped, twisting around and facing directly down, his snakes craning their necks expectantly. The serpent hiding within the alley would provide an excellent bait, and if anything went wrong, he could simply drop down.

Said serpent now peeked out of its position in the trashcan again, studying those passing by with a predatory gaze before evidently picking a target, quietly calling out to them in a lulling, soft voice.

“Over here.”