Library Archive
The Halfway House Library is massive, and uses more space than it should logically have. Once entering, one finds themselves in a room with a vaulted ceiling, and books entirely lining the walls, to the point where one might mistake them for wall paper. There are large, dirty windows utilizing the full height the vaulted ceiling gives them, and a number of large, comfortable chairs. The shelves are oddly arranged, and it's entirely possible one could get lost in them- literally! It's also entirely possible that they rearrange themselves when no-one's looking. There is quite possibly an answer to any conceivable question in this room... one simply has to be able to FIND it.
||Continued from HH Her Way or the High Way||
Pushing the heavy door open, Jake marveled at the room as he looked up. "Wull I'll be..." he murmured, upon seeing the vaulted ceilings, and all the books. Piled in stacks or lining shelves. And the shelves! They were everywhere! Something about the room seemed off to Jake, but he couldn't quite place it. "Hello?" he called out, half hoping Nina, or even Arnold would appear from behind one of the shelves. The books swallowed his voice though, muffling it, making it feel dead and flat in the air. He glanced back to see if Soren was following him, and that he was ok. And maybe a little to make sure he wasn't going to attack him in the back.
Soren was following close behind, his own tome clutched tightly to his chest. As soon as he walked in, though, his grip loosened and he stared. He couldn't stop himself. Shoving his tome in the leather satchel at his hip, Soren walked forward, past Jake, and put a hand up to run against the nearest shelf of books. Realizing what he just did, Soren looked back at Jake with a straight face. "We have found the library at least," he said. It sounded in his voice that he was in awe. Soren felt as if his heart was trying to pound out of his chest, and his cheeks were turning red with his higher blood pressure.
Watching Soren turn colours, Jake assumed that despite his even tone and expression, the kid was excited. He was sure if he started to shift, he would hear the boy's heart going loud and strong. "Some library!" He responded, in admiration of the place.
The books on the shelf were ever so slightly dusty, and a complete mismatch of styles. Some seemed old, impressively bound and intimidating. Others were thin, modern looking paperbacks.
"This place seem- right to you?" Jake couldn't shake that feeling that something was off about the room. He felt very out of place here, being mostly illiterate.
Soren's eyes did a quick sweep of the place, cataloging everything he saw. And what he saw were books of every type, made of every material, and on every subject. And that included things that Soren had never encountered in his own world. But given where they were, that wasn't surprising. "This room takes up more space than this floor should give it. And the books are strange, given that there are priceless volumes from my home next to books made from cheap materials that do not belong." These facts only slightly dampened his excitement as he pulled a book off the shelf, opening it to a familiar page, a shuddering breath running through the small man.
Jake snapped his fingers. "You're right! There ain't no way this room could fit here, from what we saw out the window, and goin' down the steps. What kinda magic is this, then..." He looked around, with fresh awe, turning to soren after he heard the suddered breath. "What'd you find there?"
"This...book..
.this..." Soren snapped the book shut and shoved it back on the shelf. His face had paled a little and he looked a little shaken. "It's not important," he said quickly, looking through some more books to cover his reaction at seeing something like that. Any history of his realm he hadn't expected. It was disconcerting. Picking up another book at random, he opened the smooth pages and saw the full color pictures inside. Soren dropped the book to the ground, taking a quick step away from it. The image of a skyscraper was on the page, and Soren stared but refused to touch the thing again.
Jake bent over to pick up the dropped book, flipping through the pages. The words meant virtually nothing to him. If he sat down he could probably pick out some of the smaller ones, here and there, but by and large, it might as well have been written in Chinese, as far as he was concerned. The pictures, though- those he could understand. "What's wrong--?" He looked at the picture, flipping a few pages around, to see if there was something he had missed, maybe on another page. He had seen a book capable of turning humans into demons, before. But that had been bound in the skin of ancient monks. This... appeared to be bound with something much less extravagant.
"Those pictures," Soren said, backing away as if the book was going to spontaneously combust. He stared at Jake for a moment, but when he flipped through the pages with no visible damage, Soren took a step closer again. "I have only seen pictures like that of someone whose soul was forever trapped." His eyes were wide, and Soren looked very much like a frightened deer. He had a hand on the satchel holding his tome, watching Jake with uncertainty.
"You mean like how folks use t'think a camera could steal your soul?" Jake looked back at the book. "Folks get their pictures took all the time, where I'm from. Ain't harmed none of us yet." He smiled, trying to be reassuring. "Here, I can hold the book and turn the pages, if you want?" His conscience nagged at him. He really ought to be looking for Nina. But the more he saw of this place, the more he SMELLED of it, he was becoming more and more certain she wasn't anywhere near here.
"I don't know this work 'camera' you use, but I do know that powerful sages could trap souls forever in books. I have come across them in my studies." Soren shivered a little, not wanting to get any closer. Even being an Archsage, there were things he would never attempt. Magics that he would never touch. Such things didn't belong in the world. "You say this is normal in your realm?" Clearly they were from different worlds, then. Jake might be one of the beast tribes, but he didn't know anything of Soren's reality. Which probably meant... "I am not surmising that where ever we are, it's in a different realm of existence. We have been transported through dimensions. Although I am uncertain what realm this actually is, there must be a reason for us to be called here."
Jake closed the book, looking at it thoughtfully. "I've seen some might-powerful magics come out of books b'fore, but never one fulla trapped souls. Still. I s'pose stranger things do happen." He put the book back on the shelf. "I hope- if what you think is true- that that means folks back home are still safe, there." His brow creased with concern.
Soren took a deep breath and released it slowly. If his people back home weren't safe then someone here would have one angry little archsage on their hands. He looked over at Jake and shook his head. "I have no idea, but I am willing to say someone here knows."
Jake's eyes narrowed slightly. "Well then. We should find that person an' ask him to tell us what he knows." Jake's previous plan had been to find his way home. If they were in some alternate reality or something-- which he knew was possible, from the stories he'd heard from Arnold and Jarred-- then Soren's plan of finding some ONE was right on the money. He wasn't looking to fight with anyone, maybe they were here by accident. That didn't lessen his intense annoyance at having been pulled away from Nina though. "You think any of these books will help?" He looked around. They wouldn't help HIM, but Soren had acted like they'd found a room full of treasure when they first walked in.
Soren turned and looked around at the books. "Maybe. They seem to be in no logical order, so it might take..." He trailed off as he headed down one of the aisle ways. Soren turned a corner, one hand running over the books, but didn't want to get too far away from where Jake was. When he turned to go back, he found himself staring down a bookshelf where there had been a pathway. Turning to look to see if he had gotten turned around, he found himself facing another strange pathway. "Jake!" he called out, not wanting to be too loud.
Jake looked up from the shelf he had been inspecting. The smells on the books were mostly that of "Dust" but there was an undercurrent of such differences between them- almost like they had been taken from completely different homes just hours earlier. Only that was impossible, because they were all covered in dust, and had that 'I haven't been touched by anything in forever' look. "Yeah, So-" He stopped when he realized the kid was gone. "Soren! Where'd y'go!?" He felt a sudden surge of protectiveness rise in him.
Turning to take another path, Soren found himself at a dead end. "Jake!" he called louder this time, the panic evident in his voice. Turning around, he went down another path just to find himself back where he started, facing the same shelf that was blocking his way back. He let out a small sound, becoming frustrated and scared by this strange turn of events. Here he was, in a strange place, with a laguz, and now he was lost. He hadn't felt this panicky since he was a kid starving on the streets.
"Stay put, kid, I'm comin'!" he yelled, jogging quickly down the aisle he had last seen him go, sniffing the air to try and pin-point him. He was definately still HERE, that much was clear, at least. The aisle dead-ended with a shelf, squaring off the corridor. "Gimme a holler, what's goin' on?"
Soren stilled where he was, at an intersection between shelves. He heard Jake, but was panicking to the point of not being able to think straight, which was a bad thing. Soren rarely panicked like this, but he was also rarely without his best friend and protector. "Jake!" he called out again, feeling less brave facing the powers of the book shelves than he did facing an actual person.
"I'm comin'! I'm comin!" he yelled back. He was starting to pick up on Soren's panic, both from the sound of his voice, and the subtle changes in smell. Staring at the shelf blocking the corridor, Jake started pulling books off the shelves in groups, not taking any care for how or where they fell, just knocking them off as fast as he could. When it was clear he couldn't see THROUGH the shelve-- it had a wooden back, he did the next best thing. He climbed it. His long limbs helped him reach the top in only a few seconds, his eyes searching for any sign of Soren, sniffing. "Soren!"
Soren's head perked up again. Jake was just one shelf away. "Jake!" he yelled for a third time, putting a hand against the shelf, not certain if he should move to try to find a way around or wait for Jake. He didn't have the nerve to move, though, and was rooted to the spot, staring at the shelf barring his way.
Head swiveling to pinpoint the yell, Jake quickly leaped from the top of the shelve to the top of the next one other, his limbs lengthening slightly, his face starting to hollow out, ears pointing, and a only slightly noticeable increase to his "scruff" factor- his hair obtaining a scraggly look, and a reddish brown five o'clock shadow growing in. He wanted his claws to insure a safe landing, and the increased reactions that went with changing forms weren't anything to sneeze at. That was as far as he let the transformation go, though. There was no need-- yet-- for a full on wolf-man. "Soren!" He looked down, hoping to see the kid there.
Looking up as he heard the voice, Soren spotted a figure above him. It took a moment for even his keen eyes to really distinguish what he was seeing, and the Archsage backed away from the shelf, his boot stepping on the back of his sage robes and tripping him, sending him to the ground. Landing on his backside, Soren let out a little sound again, looking back up to the shelf. "J-jake?" he asked, his voice shaking.
Climbing quickly down the shelves, by the time his bare feet touched the library floor, Jake was fully human again. "Soren- It's ok! I found you." He held out his hands, palms down, crouching to be more on an eye level with him. "How'd you get all the way over here?" It wasn't so far from where Jake had been, actually, but given the arrangement of the stacks, it would take one a while to wander to this location.
"I turned a corner," Soren said, lifting an arm to point vaguely in the direction he had come from, his eyes never leaving Jake. "And the path disappeared." Although it sounded crazy, Soren knew what he had witnessed. His mind wouldn't let him forget. And speaking of witnessed, he lifted his eyes to Jake's. "What are you?" he asked in confusion. "I've never seen a laguz shift only partially." He didn't move to stand, still so completely panicked and uncertain.
Disappearing paths and relocating rooms concerned Jake, but he would deal with that just as soon as the kid had calmed down a bit more. He rested his hands on the floor, squatting in front of Soren. "Word most folks use t'describe me is 'werewolf.' Maybe I'm not a laguz after all?" He kept his voice calm. Soren seemed not ready to move on just yet.
"A...werewolf?" Soren asked, his eyebrows pulling together. If he wasn't laguz, then that made a totally different situation. But at the same time, Soren hadn't the slightest idea what a werewolf was. If he was dangerous or not remained a mystery, but maybe Soren could trust that he wasn't going to kill him for just being what he was. "What...you are not completely animal?"
Jake smiled, trying to put the kid at ease. "Nope. I think most folks'd say I'm half wolf, half man. Some of the time I look like this, and some of the time I look- like a wolfman. But like I told you, it don't matter what I look like, I'm still just 'Jake' on the inside. And if I don't wanna hurt you while I look like a man, I ain't gonna suddenly change my mind just cuz I changed my body. That's not the kinda guy I am." He shook his head, apologetically. "I'm sorry for spookin' you. When I couldn't find you, I changed a little- I can move better when I'm changed. But I didn't mean t'scare you or anything."
Soren's eyes fell to the floor and he blinked a few times. "I'm sorry," he said quietly. "I judged you falsely." His eyes flicked upwards again. "I'm half beorc and half laguz. My mother was a dragon tribe member. I wasn't treated kindly because of it. We are considered abominations, taboo, untouchables." He took a deep breath and let it out to calm his heart. "I thought you were a laguz and would treat me with the same..." He couldn't finish the sentence and just let it hang there.
The kid was half dragon? You'd think he'd be bigger! "Hey now. My kinda people are considered taboo, too. And the way you described laguz, it sounded a lot like werewolf t'me! I fig'red you just had a different word for it, that's all." His heart went out to the kid. His story sounded so similar to Jake's own, that it was hard to not draw parallels. "I'm technically a half-breed too. I got picked on when I was little cuz of it, too. You can't pay it no mind." His words were kind. He found himself wanting to help this kid out.
Even if he still didn't know the gender.
With this revelation, something in Soren's entire demeanor changed. If this was really a half breed, then maybe he had something in common with Jake after all. Something more than just being trapped in the same realm. "Can...can you get us out of here?" he asked uncertainly. Soren would push himself up, but Jake was really close and doing that would put him practically on top of the wolf.
Jake stood up, his long limbs unfolding, looking up towards the top of the shelves. "We could try climbin' out. Not sure if I'd trust trying to find our way out walkin'. Not if these shelves are moving around." He glanced back at Soren. He was so small, Jake bet that he could probably carry the kid on his back with no trouble at all, even in his human form. "You want t'piggy back out, maybe?"
Given that his trust wasn't yet fully there, Soren stood and watched Jake. "That would probably be best. I don't think I can manage to climb these shelves." He gathered himself and focused on the fact that Jake could be trusted. It was hard. But this was going to have to be his Ike while he was here, minus the things that happened back home. Jake would have to fill that spot, and the wolf was fully capable of it.
"Yeah. You keep hold'a that book of yours. We don't want it gettin' mixed in with the rest of these." Jake tested the shelves, grabbing on to the horizontal pieces and shoving a bit, to see how sturdy the unit was. "It shouldn't be too hard to get out, I don't think. But I've been wrong before."
Making sure everything on him was secured, Soren nodded. He wanted to trust that Jake would get them out of here. "You can...smell your way?" he asked, curious as to what all the wolf could actually do. It dawned on him that he hadn't told Jake what he could do, but then he had thought the book made everything obvious. When they got back to the door, he promised himself that he would let Jake know.
Crouching down again, Jake turned his back towards Soren so he could climb on his back. Turning his head, he spoke over his shoulder. "If I've got a sent trail to follow, sure. I can track. We could try following your trail outta here, but I think it'd just end up back at that dead end. But we can if you want."
Wiping his hands on the bottom of his robes, Soren approached Jake and tilted his head to try to figure out how best to do this. Finally he just wrapped his arms around Jake's neck and pulled his legs up so he could wrap them around the wolf's waist. It brought him right up to Jake, and Soren felt his heartbeat quicken again in nervous energy. "Up an over might be the best way then," he said quietly, his voice taking on a higher register in his nervous state.
Standing back up, Jake stood with his upper body pitching forward, so that Soren didn't have to fight entirely against gravity. The kid was, as expected, incredibly light. "That's what I think, too," He mused. "Hang on. I'm gonna try to do this without changing. I apologize in advance if I have to, though."
Testing the shelves one last time, Jake started to scale his way back up. He was slower than he was a few minutes ago, not wanting to jar Soren loose accidentally, and carefully mindful of his changed center of gravity. Still it did not take long to get back up to the top of the bookcase at all. "How y'holding up back there?"
Although he didn't say anything, Soren was incredibly afraid of heights. It wasn't a topic that came up often, though. When Jake actually started climbing, Soren tightened his grip and closed his eyes, ignoring that fear that struck whenever he was a few feet above his standing height. These bookshelves weren't exactly short, either.
Jake stopped moving and Soren opened his eyes. Seeing where they were, his arms tightened further and he screwed his eyes shut. "Fine," came the squeaky response. His arms were going to hurt when he let go, but right now he was focused solely on not falling.
Jake cleared his throat. He considered making a joke about how he didn't need to breath, due to how tight Soren was wrapped around him, but he didn't really think now was the time. He could practically feel the kid's heartbeat through his back. "Alright. We're almost done." As he moved across the top of the shelf, using the high position to get his bareings, and head towards the door, he wondered if Soren was so nervous because of the piggy back ride from what he had thought to be a laguz up until a moment ago.
Reaching the end of the shelf line, and being able to see the straight away path at the bottom to the entry area of the Library, he decided to climb down, and let them walk the rest of the way, rather than jump across the aisle like he had done on the way to Soren. "Here we go. Goin' down. Hang on." Not that he could hang on any tighter.
The one and only time Ike had ever carried him, it had been at chest height and it had been because Soren was injured. This was neither and Soren's limbs started shaking as he kept his eyes closed, refusing to see where they were or what they were doing. He could only imagine in his mind that he was dangling over some straight drop he wouldn't be able to catch himself from. The he would at least have a few broken bones. He knew what happened when someone fell.
At Jake's words, Soren nodded against his back, hoping that he wasn't going to be required to talk. Between his trust issues and his fear of heights, talking would be a near impossibility until he was back on the ground and composed once more.
Having given the warning, Jake quickly moved to climb down the shelf. He was passingly glad he wasn't wearing his shoes. Even without his claws, it was still better, he figured, to be able to feel and grip with his own foot. Soon, he touched down once again. Once both feet were down, he immediately crouched again, so that Soren could get off. It's not that he was heavy. But clearly he had not found that experience pleasant. His heartbeat reminded Jake of a rabbit's, mid-chase. He shooed the thought away. Firstly, it wasn't nice to think of friends that way. Second, the kid was apparently half dragon. There was nothing 'rabbit' about a dragon. "There we go, kiddo. Safe and sound."
Although he was shaking, Soren's need for personal space meant that he was more than ready to let go. Sliding from Jake's back, he landed on the floor again, his legs shaking enough to send him straight to the ground. Soren landed on his knees, taking a few deep breaths to compose his thoughts in a less morbid direction. It was a sign of how much he was growing to trust Jake that he had let him carry him in the first place and now he wasn't watching what the wolf was doing in favor of keeping his eyes shut and regulating his biorhythms.
Jake squatted next to Soren, quietly letting the kid get his center back. Whatever it was about that little trip over the shelves, clearly, Soren hadn't enjoyed it at all. Assuming it was because of himself, and his possible laguz status, Jake didn't attempt to reach out or comfort the kid with a hand on the shoulder, or any other sort of touch. It occurred to him that he should probably be watching their escape route- if these shelves shifted around, it would be good to make sure their way out stayed open. But he wanted to make sure Soren was ok first.
Soren opened one eye to look at Jake before he other one opened as well, his face relaxing from his previously strained expression. "I really do not like heights," he said quietly as an explanation, hoping it was sufficient. He wasn't about to go into detail of why he didn't like heights, not while sitting here on the floor. Taking a moment to breath deeply, Soren pushed himself back up off the floor, swallowing against the bile that had risen. "We should go," he said, his eyes on Jake still.
Nodding, Jake didn't press for more information. Some people didn't like heights. Fair enough. It did strike him as slightly odd. After all, weren't dragons flyers? But then, if he had been shunned, then maybe he had never learned to fly. Or maybe dragons couldn't actually fly, and that was just part of the myths humans invented around them. Regardless, now was not the time to ask. "Yeah. Whatever's going on here, I reckon this is probably not the right place t'be." He glanced back towards their intended path, which was thankfully still open.
With a nod, Soren turned before his resolve could change and started back towards the door. He just wanted out of this horror of a library. Maybe once he knew where they were, he would come back and take the time to look through the books. Maybe he could learn the system for finding things. But now was not the time. He still needed to tell Jake about what he could do now that he knew what the wolf was capable of. They could always have a sit down later. But that was a ploy to just put it off and Soren recognized the procrastination technique before it could fully settle into an idea. Soren decided he would wait until a good opportunity to say something came up.
As they headed towards the door, Jake couldn't help but take a last look around him. "Where d'you s'pose all these books came from? You think they were-- brought here like us?" His nose crinkled, as he ran a hand over one book which seemed to be covered in some unpleasant, almost slimy leather, quickly taking his hand away.
"That would make sense," Soren said as he glanced at the books. His eyes came across a strange title, but one he understood, and he pulled the book off the shelf, stumbling forward at its weight and size. "Oof." He nearly fell over, but managed to pull the book up to his chest before it dropped on the floor. The title, 'History of the Worlds', seemed interesting to him. "Maybe we can find out."
Jake squatted over, hoisting the book up, giving it a sniff as he did. Glancing around, he carried it over to one of only a few tables, laying it back down. "Oof! What'd you find here, then?" He looked over the cover, squinting slightly. 'The'. He'd seen that one enough to have figured it out. 'of the.' Something of the something. "A- what'd'you call it? Card catalog?"
Soren followed him to the table, wrinkling his forehead a little. "Card catalog? I do not know what that is, but this is a history of the worlds. Or at least as many worlds as the author knew of." He looked over at Jake and pursed his lips. "You can't read." It was a statement, not meant to be insulting, but more trying to ascertain if his assessment was correct.
Eyebrows arching up, Jake couldn't really hide his surprise at that one. It usually took people a lot longer to figure that out. Of course, it also usually took people a lot longer to figure out that he was a werewolf. This kid was perceptive. Or possibly psychic. Jake felt a twinge of embarrassment, both on his handicap being called out, and the fact that this kid was figuring him out left, right, and center, while Jake had yet to even determine something as elemental as gender. "Ye-eah. I mean, I can, jus' a little. 'Nuff to get by, leastwise," He shrugged, like it didn't matter. "You seem like a big reader, though. Carryin' that book around and all."
"Reading isn't an important aspect of life where I am from," Soren said, opening the cover of the book as he quickly flipped through pages. He was looking for something specific, but judging from the size of the book, it might take awhile. "The book I am carrying is not exactly a reading book. It is a spell tome, carries all the spells I currently know." His fingers trailed down pages as he spoke, and he was turning them sections at a time, skipping over pages he knew wouldn't hold anything useful. "Do you know the name of your home? Maybe I can find it in this book."
"Spells?" Now that sounded interesting! "Er- Well. I was in New York City, when I went t'bed. But originally I'm from Arkansas. Uhh- America, I guess. Earth? I dunno how far out to go. Th' planet's called Earth though, I know that. What about you? Where're you calling home? Is it in that book?"
"Earth? I passed that." Soren flipped back a few pages, pulling full sections as he did. "I am from Tellius. More specifically, I am a son of the Daein and Goldoa royal families. I will find something that I can read to you to better explain my home later, if you wish." He stopped at a page, looking at the rough drawing of a globe. "Earth. Third planet from Sol, your primary star. Split into seven continents, you live on the American one. New York City..." He turned a few pages, eyes traveling quickly. "Oh. Your home is by far more heavily populated and more technologically advanced then my own."
Did he just say he was a prince? Because it kind of sounded like he just said he was a prince. How do you get to be a prince and an outcast all at once? Jake added it to his list of things to ask about. "Heavily populated ain't always a good thing." At least, not with how the entire city reeked of garbage. "We don't really got no magic spells, though. Not really. Wull, maybe a few, but everyone says it don't exist. Course, they say werewolves don't exist neither, so..."
"To have that many people in that small a space..." Soren looked up at Jake with narrowed eyes. "Everyone must live on top of one another. Your world seems to be much more complicated. Why do they say you don't exist when you are clearly in front of me?" Soren leaned up from the book he was hovering over, tilting his head at Jake a little. His curiosity wasn't letting up, and he wanted to know where he was, but more than that he wanted to know how they got there and where Jake was from.
"Humans say a lot of things don't exist when they really do," Jake stuck his thumbs through his belt loops, relaxing his weight back onto his heels. "We're supposed to be stories. Myths an' the like. Used t'-- t'scare kids into behavin', or things like that. Truth be told, I ain't ever even seen another werewolf, outside of my own kin. I know they're out there, but we blend in with humans so well. And when they DO find us they either cage us or kill us-- so really we're jus' fine lettin' them think we don't exist. Easier that way. Surely you got things like that in your world, too?"
"The chaos god Yune and Lehran's Medallion," Soren said quietly as he quickly read through the section regarding New York. Once he was done, Soren looked up again. The book was full of information, and he would read it in depth later. "They were supposed to be myth, but we learned the truth of them not too long ago. It created a war." He didn't want to think about that right now, though. Didn't want to think about Ike and how he was alone in a strange place when he promised to not leave his side. "So yes, we do have things like that. But once discovered, they are not hidden."
"War ain't never a good thing," Jake commented grimly. "I'm sorry to hear about it. Folks in my world, when they find things that shouldn't exist, they either destroy 'em, or try to figure out how to use 'em for their own personal gain. It's not pretty, but it's how things are. Usually. Not all the time. 'ceptions to every rule, right?"
"People are inherently selfish," Soren stated. "It comes with the territory of being free willed individuals. We use everything we can to further our own goals, rarely caring how they affect others." It was a lesson Soren knew all too well. His father proved that one tenfold. "In general, our worlds seem very similar. The only difference seems to stem in that my world has turned to inner powers while yours relies heavily on outer developments." He flipped back to where he had left off in his browsing.
"So, your world's all magic an' the like, an' mine's technology. Fair 'nuff. Feels like my kin would fit in a might more in your world." He shrugged, looking around. "Though that's neither here nor there. Neither of us are either of those places right now."
"Once I find out where we are, then we can worry about where we're not," Soren said, flipping more pages. He was nearing the back of the book, not finding much references of anything familiar. Mostly it was about worlds of magic, but not of mischief. This realm they were in seemed different. He paused and looked up at Jake. "Why do you think no one has come to stop us? If we were summoned, you would think someone would be here to greet us."
"This all's startin' t'make my head hurt," Jake muttered to himself, sitting down in one of the chairs the room had to offer, angled so he could keep Soren in view. "Maybe we're not doin' nothing wrong. Don't need to be stopped, like. Or maybe there's just no-body here, and this is all just some big mistake." he sighed. "Don't rightfully know which I prefer, truth be told."
"This could all be a test," Soren muttered, looking back down at the book he was leafing through. There were only two chapters left, and he had yet to find any reference of being able to bring people into a world or oddly dimensioned houses. "There are any number of scenarios that this could be. And none of them would prove completely innocent." That bothered him infinitely more than being here. The lack of reason.
Jake leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees, steepling his fingers in front of his nose. "Was never good at tests." He mused, unhappily.
Before he had a chance to pursue that line of thinking, however, he suddenly found himself on fire. No- not on fire. Surrounded by fire. A fire that gave off no heat. The flames reached so high and bright so fast, he couldn't see if Soren was under attack as well. "Soren!" He howled, covering his eyes to protect them from the sudden brightness, his werewolf form starting to show. It was at least a little more resilient than his human one.
||Continued in HH War Room||
Soren straightened as the flames surrounded him as well. He knew magical fire when he saw it, and he knew very well that this could be bad. Grabbing the book off the table, holding it to his chest, while he fumbled for his tome. A good gust of air could dispell this flame, but before he could do anything, he heard Jake's call. "Jake, just do not panic!" he called, trying not to let the worry show in his tone. But before he could finish his statement, the flame proved to be more than he could handle.
||Continued in HH War Room||
Stumble!