shatterverse | (no subject)

Entry tags:

edwin dobson,
sky

(no subject)

One moment, Edwin is tearing through the steppes...

...and the next, he (and his horse) find themselves in very unfamiliar territory. Huxley pins his ears back and snorts at the sudden flash, rearing slightly, while Edwin fights to remain in the saddle as he looks around. "A storm?" he asks himself, looking up a sky that seems anything but stormy. He starts as his attention goes to the rest of the landscape-it certainly looks dry enough, but this...isn't Euloria.

His horse, meanwhile, recovers quite a bit more quickly and begins to move along at a quick trot, apparently not bothered by the fact that he's trotting on pavement rather dirt. Edwin just hangs on, still staring at his surroundings, particularly at the sign that he passes by as Huxley continues onwards-Snakewater, Montana - Pop. 21,500.

At least, that's what it says underneath the scratch marks covering the population number. Beside the former number, someone's painted 15.

Edwin is fairly certain that isn't a terribly good omen.

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FlashBANG.

"What the hell?" grumbles Sky, dusting herself off. It's a mostly useless gesture, as she doesn't have dust on her anywhere, but what can you do.

She hasn't spotted Edwin yet, so she's still hovering a few feet above the ground, looking as though she's about to drift away on the breeze.

Edwin keeps looking around in a nervous sort of way as Huxley trots onward, heading in no particular direction. Once Edwin notices a human figure not too far off, though, he takes the reins and urges the horse into a lope.

People! People are good, right? Even if the people are...floating. Above the ground.

Huh.

Edwin stops Huxley so he can stare, blinking a bit. He's not one to talk when it comes to strangeness, but still, a hovering woman is something new.

"Mm?"

Her eyes flick up to Edwin and she blinks, then smiles.

"Hey there. I'm Sky."

That plus the floating, in her world, usually means strangers can tell what she is right off the bat. So she settles to the ground and offers him a hand with practiced conficence. People look to the spirits for help. If he wants something from her, as long as it isn't answers, she's prepared to make it happen.

Edwin awkwardly shakes her hand, then dismounts so he's on eye level with her. Even if she can hover, staring down at her at horseback seems a little rude. "Edwin. Er, Edwin Dobson."

He blinks again as he peers at her, then asks, "What are you?" Perhaps not the best way to phrase it, but it seems like an excellent question to ask at the moment.

"Air spirit." She raises her eyebrows. "What, the floating didn't clue you in?"

"No?" he answers honestly, still looking like he isn't sure what to make of the thing.

Spirits aren't new, though. He's heard enough about them from the local herdsmen. "Did you cause that flash?"

"Nope."

And it confused the hell out of her.

"No idea on that score. And you really didn't recognize me? What rock have you been living under, kiddo?"

"No," he says again, then offers, "A tent, actually. In Euloria. I was part of an expedition, you see, and we've actually been quite successful-we've found more than a few skeletons, some of them largely complete-but I had just found part of some sort of therapod jaw and had been heading back to camp to tell everyone and get better tools, but then there was a flash of a light and I thought a storm had begun, but then I was here and I saw you floating, and quite honestly, I'm rather confused at the moment, miss."

He looks like he feels a little bit better after that mass of ramble.

"Yeah, join the party. I don't know what's up with the lightshow either, or why we're suddenly in--"

She waves a hand at their surroundings and looks distant for a moment.

"--Montana, I think. Somewhere in the States, anyways-- yeah, Montana."

A shake of her head, and Sky's face loses the faraway look.

"Man, this place is fucked up. I'd say someone's nicked us into another world, and it ain't a pretty one."

Because the United States of America did not look so post-apocalyptic this morning.

Edwin goes from looking like he feels a little better to looking rather alarmed again. "Another world? Is that even-" he gestures futilely for a few moments, looking as if he hopes his controlled flailing will help him with finding something intelligent to say.

It doesn't. "Is that even possible?"

Air spirits, he can believe. But ending up in a whole other world is an entirely new level of weird.

Snort.

"Does this look like the place you left? Seriously? Blah blah, Sherlock Holmes, only possible explanation-- whatever. Point is, here we are."

With a wry smile, "And since you don't seem to know what an air spirit is, I'm betting we're not even from the same place."

"Probably not," he admits, looking cowed. Hard to argue, really, when you're obviously not in your normal surroundings, and have no clue what go you there.

The second comment prompts a nod. "Most likely." But he still asks, sounding a bit hopeful, "..have you heard of Fremmenland? Or Euloria?" There's still that chance that she might know about something familiar.

"Nope. And you: the States, Canada, any of those?"

That might just be a look of sympathy on her face.

"Hard luck, man."

Because she's betting he hasn't and at least this world contains countries she knows, even if they're looking a little the worse for wear.

He shakes his head, frowning. "I'm afraid not. ...But I think I'd like to know why I'm here more than where I am. There has to be a good reason for this."

Logic still exists, right? Right?

"Sorry. Wish I could help."

But she's just an air spirit, not omniscient.

"Best I can do is point you in the direction of what's left of civilization."

Sky jerks a thumb in the vague direction of Kansas.

"I'm not sure I recognize the cities, but they're doing pretty well over that way."

Distances? Pff. She's an air spirit. They mean very little to her.

Edwin glances in the said direction, nodding a bit as he looks back to her. "That...that probably would be a good idea."

What does she mean, 'what's left'?

He looks around awkwardly for a moment, thinking he shouldn't just ride off-that seems...rude. "Would you like to come?" he asks after a moment.

Shrug.

"Sure, why not, I'll stay with you for a little while."

Her feet leave the ground and she floats over to hover by the horse. Somehow, it looks as though she's part of the air around her, and not just moving through it-- a bit of blurring at the edges, perhaps.

Which, all things considered, makes a lot of sense.

Edwin stares for a moment, then snaps out of it, getting back in the saddle and urging Huxley forward. The horse snorts and refuses to move for a moment, but finally relents and starts walking.

"Have you always been an air spirit?" Edwin asks after a short while, looking over to Sky and trying to not boggle. If she had wings, he could handle it better. But flying without wings strikes him as just plain bizarre.

"Of course. What else would I be? Human?"

She finds the idea laughable.

"No offense to you people, but you're so... small."

To anyone who regularly turns into a gust of wind, at least.

If she thinks he's small now, she should see in shifted. He's practically punting size then.

"Maybe?" he offers, sounding awkward again. "Spirits aren't my field. I've had them explained to me, but...bones and rock make so much more sense."

"Ah, so you do know us, after all. Or something like us. What do you know about spirits?"

Edwin scratches at the back of his head uncertainly. This is ground he plans to try and tread carefully-he's not eager to give any hints that he's a 'skin. (Even if it is pretty much the best thing ever, in his opinion.)

"Not much. Some of the Eulorian herdsmen have told me stories about them, and the Godsworn speak of demons, of course, but other than that..."

She laughs. "Demons. Oh, bullshit. My world had to deal with demon legends for a while, until people figured out that earth, fire, and shade spirits were really just a little touchy."

He nods as he listens, frowning a bit. "We have skinshifters-people who become animals. The Godsworn say that a demon takes them over and eats their soul."

Edwin sounds just a tad doubtful of this.

"And have you got any evidence your Godsworn are not talking out of their asses?" asks Sky cheerfully.