The Calm Before The Storm (Open to whoever wants to join)

Static.

That was what was on the radio now, but the lanky elegant girl that rested on the grass didn’t seem to mind it. Her sky blue eyes would look up at the sky for a moment before a smirk appeared upon her lips and she sat up. Grabbing the radio she had borrowed from her sibling, she slipped the antique carefully back into her bag before moving to get to her feet. Balancing easily on the heels she wore, the young woman would begin to walk back towards the school in a casual fashion. As she did this, she would take note that many of the students were out and about chatting animatedly about what had occurred.

Some students thought it was a prank, others were simply in denial, and others terrified. As Sky walked through this chaotic air, she felt herself become quite cheerful. Finally, this boring world was becoming interesting. While it was true she couldn’t get to the other side that didn’t mean she couldn’t examine the strange tears suddenly appearing or for that matter find those that had been mentioned. Wasn't there a few names of students already going here mentioned and wasn’t even one them a teacher? Oho. What would happen if she casually approached one of the named ones and asked what they knew? Would they give her answers or would they try to play it dumb? She supposed the only way to find out was to approach one of the named.

Moving through the courtyard and up to the steps that led to the interior of the school, Sky would enter the hallways packed with students and teachers trying to keep order. She would pass the clubs and make her way pass the open classrooms. She’d drift upstairs and towards the more quieter portion of the school before opening up one of the empty classrooms and oho!

Sky paused in the door way as she tilted her head at the sight she saw. It appeared she had just struck gold unintentionally. A tear was right in the middle of this room. Intrigued, Snow drifted further in the room and pulled up a chair. She got as close the rip as she could, the chair grinding slightly in the sand that was there and yet did not really touch her. Placing her bag down next to the chair, Sky dug out her notebook and a pen.

Flipping to an empty page she began to draw the rip she saw. As she drew she’d write in Chinese here thoughts off to the side as she thought how to approach this situation. On one hand she could be straightforward and go straight for the named ones...or she could plan a bit unleash hell upon this reality. Hmph. Now wouldn't that be something? Watching the world turn to perfection?

Thinking Sky would continue to draw and plot..

The white haired boy walked through the school with a light sigh, wincing at every stare he received from his peers. He didn't know what he expected, to be honest, he was surprised he wasn't bombarded with questions and the like. He had recently moved into the school's dorms, an odd change for the boy as he was now away from his mother more than often. He decided to do so though as it saved his mother money on train fairs as well as bills at home.

The boy didn't care right now though as he continued through the halls, heading to the more empty parts of the school where he could avoid the odd stares. He continued walking with little care of his surroundings until he came across an open door. He peeked into the room with a rift, blinking as he remembered the familiar place. The alternate school was where he awakened to his Persona, a dessert place void of seemingly all life aside from shadows.

It took the boy a while to notice the familiar figure of Sky, appearing to be sketching the dessert plain. The boy approached her from behind before going to take his familiar book out. He pulled up a seat a little to the side of Sky and began sketching the scene, sighing lightly as the memories of his awakening flooded in.

"... What are your thoughts about this place, Sky?" he asked quietly, his attention more so on his writing and thoughts at the moment.

She continued to write and ponder things for a while longer before pausing to pull out her phone. Flipping it open,Sky would go through her list of contacts pausing on one simply called “Bit”. Clicking the contact, she would create a text message and send it to her high tech friend making sure to include that the amount of money given would increase depending on how well of a stir the other could cause on the web with the information she provided. She would send the message and a few seconds later receive a message that said she had a deal and that the message would be passed on to Bit, letting her know automatically she was dealing with one of the brothers rather than the girl she was trying to make contact with. From the calmness of the writing she assumed it was the logical of the three and knew without a doubt that if anyone could pass a message on it was that one. With that mission out of the way, she would close her phone and place it in her pocket before looking back at the strange hole in front of her.

She would stand and circle the thing with book in one hand and pen held between her red lips. She’d do a series of tests to see just how much she could interact with the thing, but in the end found herself disappointed. While she indeed could feel something, whatever was needed to fully pass over the other side was missing from her. Her hand would easily slip through the rift, only feeling warmth from the spot it was in. Going back to her seat, she would begin to write some more notes becoming absorbed once more in her thoughts.

However, as absorbed as she was in the work, she would still sense the presence of the other enter the room. Hear the other’s approach from behind before moving a chair and settling. The ruffle of paper and the scratch of a writing untensil. Then a sigh and a familiar voice.

Sky took it all in easily, but did nothing to acknowledge the other until asked a question. Shading in one of the bones she could see, the she spoke.

“The school is a lovely chaotic mess and the nice little window gives view to an interesting world I would love to visit, but I guess I do not have the pass needed to enter that place that seems so full of treasure and fun,” Sky said as she continued to sketch.

“And you. What do you think?” she asked her voice remaining soft and friendly as small smirk remained upon her lips.

Nilo looked up and watched Sky's observations, returning to his writing after doing so. He wrote of the dessert's sand, the heat radiating lightly from it, he even thought he could feel a light breeze. Of course, he could enter the portal at will. The rift in the room was as much of a door to him as the door into the room. It was still sureal to him... He had only gone into the other world once, and then the tower within the Broadcast tower. The other worlds where strange to say the least.

He looked up at Sky at her explanation of the events at hand. It wasn't an expected one to say the least, but one he didn't mind either. The world had truly gone into chaos, it seemed, and the artist must know so. Her unique description only allowed the boy to better see through her perspective. He sighed as he continued his description of the rift, listening to Sky's questions without missing a word.

"... I find it... Terrifying... Think about it, this rift, it has the power to take people to another world... The power needed for such a thing to happen is insane, don't you think?" he asked in an intellectual voice, a thoughtful air about him. "Its an amazing phenomenon that completely boggles the mind, no?" he said, smiling with a nod at his writing before starting again.

Sky would put the finishing touches on the bones she was drawing looking from her drawing to the actual bones she could see through the window the strange tear in reality caused. Hmph. Near perfect in replication of the original with lead and paper. After taking in her work, she would pause as she listened to the boy answer her question regarding his view on this phenomena.

Oh what was this? He was telling her it was terrifying? Letting her know exactly what the thing could do before asking if the power required to cross over would be insane or not? Heh. Children and how trusting they could be these days. Without saying much, Nilo had just given Sky a bunch of information to chew on. Still being the snake that she was, Sky would hardly come out of the act of just simply a curious observer of strangeness.

“Terrifying? I think not. I think the idea of going somewhere new is quite exciting. I think I would be willing to pay the asking price just to see what was truly on the other side of this tear. Is it a true desert or is the desert a mirage and beauty rests on the other side? And what sort of things inhabit such a world? I think the answers to those questions would make good subject matter for the muse to go wild on paper. Imagine what sort of beauties and perfections could be gained from such an experience. The knowledge each line would hold,” Sky said as she continued to observe the tear for a bit before turning in her chair to face Nilo.

“Fascinating. That is what this gem is. The only reason it boggles the mind so is because it is begging to be examined closer,” Sky said with a smirk and then becoming serious she tilted her head at Nilo.

“Unless you know something about these things that I do not. Am I wrong to be so drawn and eager to examine such a find up close?”

The words were innocent enough, her eyes holding no malice as she looked at Nilo with her most innocent yet curious stare. Nothing would ever show the true nature of such a question. Never show the fangs that waited to sink into whatever Nilo might or might not provide the strange artist.

Nilo listened to Sky's words with a twinge of concern. He didn't quite know what the strange artist was trying to do, but he knew something was off about her. He sighed though, brushing his hair out of his eyes before continuing to write a moment more. He thought out his response carefully, not wishing to insult the strange artist.

"... You could say I'm simply worried for the well being of people... This world... Look at it... It's barren, lifeless..." he said as he pointed his pencil at the sand. "This world may hold secrets, yes... But is the risk of finding them out worth it?" he asked curiously, writing in his book again.

"A world that is a dessert... Why is it a dessert? Was there a war that made it that way? Did it always exist this way? What is it like to be in there?" he asked, looking into the rift. "... A place shrouded in mystery looses its luster once its mysteries are all unraveled... Isn't it best to keep it an enigma?" he asked, looking over to Sky.

Sky remained turned in her chair watching the other with a light smirk as he spoke. Heh. Clever boy. He knew when not to open his mouth to dig himself into a further hole. Impressive for a male, but Sky could get what she wanted other ways too, but that was a game for another time, wasn’t it?

“That world,” Sky said as her eyes drifted over to the rip and the desert beyond. “Is more full of life than this reality in my opinion. The people of this world have forgotten what it means to live and thus have become boring drones that blend in with the greys of this already grey canvas. Color,” Sky looked back at Nilo. “I seek color, kid. I search high and low collecting as many as I can, but this grey world has no more colors to find. I search out new colors and had almost given up hope of finding color ever again, but here it is in a unique form,” Sky said as her eyes narrowed with delight.

“I think any risk or price is worth paying to feel alive rather than dead. Why else do humans try so hard to survive if it not to live to their full potential and let nothing stop them from such perfection?” Sky asked as she watched the other with intelligent and dangerous blue eyes.

When the subject came to the desert and whether leaving it as an enigma was wise or not, Sky  would place her pencil between her teeth as she looked up at the ceiling thinking.

“Welp,” she began speaking around the pencil. “You can’t answer those questions until you go and look. Even if you managed to find all the mysteries, the luster of such a find will only diminish if its worth was truly nothing to begin with,” she said and then pausing for a moment, she turned to her bag as she slipped her book to the side of the chair and dropped her pencil next to it. She dug in her bag until she found a rather odd looking coin. Holding the small rusted thing in her pale hand, she turned back to Nilo.

“Take this for example. I found this thing at the edge of a river one day while taking a stroll in the forest. It was buried and caked in mud, letting me know many had over looked it. Buried it as they pressed on in their drone like life; however, I discovered it when the sun revealed the true color of this thing to me,” she flipped it over revealing its back side to be pure gold.

“Gold. 100% gold. I could easily cash it in for some good bucks, but I am a bit selfish with my finds. I like to sit back and appreciate the worth of it as it sits before behind glass or something stronger. Beauty and perfection hidden under the muck. Without the truth, I would not go hunting for its backstory and without hunting for its backstory I could never grow to truly evaluate this gems worth. So you see, the luster doesn’t end with answers. It increases as new perception of the object is gained and its true nature revealed. I am sure this desert and the pass to get there is the same way.”

The boy stayed silent as he listened to the artist's words. She made sense, that was fact. He looked at the coin a moment before writing something in his book, his neat penmanship curving a bit as he effortlessly changed to cursive. He began by writing the word 'Dessert', then 'Coin', then 'Questions', then finally 'Sky'.

"... What you say does make sense, but can you truly say humanity is dull? That we are all grey?" he asked curiously, writing the words 'Grey' and 'Humanity' down in his book. "Aptly put, saying that all humanity is grey, then you yourself are dull and boring. Further more, what point is there in simply leaving such a dull world? Wouldn't it be better to paint the world a different color? Your coin, I believe it symbolizes more than what you speak of." he stated, pausing for a moment before continuing.

"What if humanity was the mud and the gold? We are all covered in the grey of the world, but all it takes is one person of gold to bring the gold out of us. You found the coin, and showed the world its luster. What if that coin was a person? Don't you think he or she would shine just as much? A world is only as dull as you perceive it, and as an artist, I think you see the world in more than one light, no?" he asked politely, circling the words 'Coin', 'Humanity', and 'Sky'.

The girl spoke and the boy took notes, jotting down and circling certain words that had been said. While Sky was curious as to what the boy was going to do with all those notes, her attention was quickly drawn from the book in the boy’s hand to the boy’s pale face as he spoke. He had asked a question before pausing to write and then speaking again. Sky listened to what was said her head tilting to the left first and then the right much like her brother's did when he was trying to process something or consider an idea.

“Hmmm…” Sky would begin as she shifted in her chair so she was sitting backwards in it. It was a not a lady-like move, but the girl from the streets didn’t care as she folded her arms across the top of the chair and leaned her head forward a bit.

“Paint the world of grey a different color? And find the gold in the muck?” Sky mumbled as she looked up at the ceiling rubbing her chin in thought.

“I can see your perspective, yes; however, I have tried painting it different colors before, but none seem to stick on the canvas. As for people being gold, well there are certainly some that do shine like yourself and one other I know. But much like the color, the luster you have does not pierce the world of grey. It is almost as if one needs something much more potent than the current paints we have. Searching else where except here is the most logical choice. Why not run off to distant places to try to find the solutions to problems that are seemingly never fixed on the home front? Where would you suggest looking for these items that can defeat the grey and dull? Where do you suggest I look to find the real me that is not so dull and grey? The real you?” Sky asked as she looked the boy over calmly quite fascinated by this trade of words.

The boy stayed silent, allowing the girl to speak. He didn't directly expect her to agree with him, after all, most people tended to stay one sided in an argument, yet, Sky knew how to discuss things logically. He smiled lightly at that, flipping to a page in his book before speaking. He, however, took careful notice of her last few words. She knew things, that much could be deduced, but opening up to her might not be the best idea at this exact point in time.

"Your main argument is valid, to say the least. Yes, people rarely wish to change themselves, finding themselves either perfect or so imperfect, they can't change." he said, tracing the hidden words within his book. "However, could such a world as this hold what you seek? It could be absolutely worthless to go there, a waste of time. It's a high risk and reward situation, but is it one worth taking? Think about it, our world has been barely discovered; we're still finding new animals every day and exploring deeper parts of the ocean. Could you not find what you seek still in this world?" he asked politely.

The woman listened to what the boy had to say as she tilted her head lightly one way and then other, processing it all. This one was smart and well spoken, she would give him that, but now he had said something that only made her want to know more about what the child knew in regards to the rifts and the other worlds. Unlike the normal children, Nilo was not afraid of the rifts and didn’t question them. He seemed to accept them and was able to talk about them freely enough...so that probably meant knew something he wasn’t telling. Interesting.

Blue eyes would watch the other trace words in his book before looking back at his face as she considered what had been said.

“It is because of the very ideas you speak of that I myself seek new heights,” the girl said calmly as she leaned her head on her arms. She was quiet for a moment as she formulated her next set of thoughts.

“It is true, this world has many things that are undiscovered and perhaps going on a journey through this world could help me find the colors and self I seek. Maybe if things had turned out differently, this is the path I would’ve gone down; however, the rifts appeared and showed me another layer, a deeper layer than this one we exist in. One where answers even more profound than the ones found here can be sought. It is true…I may be wrong and the journey to get to the other side futile; however, I will never know if I don’t attempt the journey. Even if I am wrong, there is no waste. There is still much to be learn by just going. That is why, I want to go no matter how crazy it sounds,” Sky said with a light nod before tilting her head at the other.

“Is there a reason I should not try?” she asked watching the other with curious eyes.

The boy truly couldn't argue with Sky's arguments. They where valid on multiple accounts, and simply put, if he didn't know better, he'd have to agree wholeheartedly with her. The discovering of a new world with endless possibilities could prove to the best way to acquire a fresh perspective on the world. He kept this hidden though, listening to Sky's question. The boy raised a brow, laughing lightly.

"Honestly, Sky... What if I did know something about this world of mysteries? With the way you speak, you'd jump right through that rift right now and begin an epic quest if you could. And, honestly, outside of any possible dangers hidden within this world, there wouldn't be much of a reason to not go there." he said with a smile before continuing onward. "What do you think this world is like, Sky? As we already stated, it is a barren world... And I've already stated a few hypothesis on what I believe to have happened there... So what say you, Sky? Have you crafted any stories for this world yet?" he asked curiously, ready to write down her response.

Sky had asked her question wondering just how much the boy would avoid her question. How much work she would have to perform to get what she wanted. She suppose she expected some resistance; however, when the boy laughed lightly and responded to her question, she found herself mildly shocked and then pleased at what she heard.

How elegant. He was indeed one fun to trade words with. She liked how the other teased her with half-truths that allowed her to come to her own conclusions about the boy, but at the same time not having enough solid substance to say the conclusions made were correct or not. However, instead of showing this pleasure fully the girl closed her eyes for a moment as a smirk crossed her face.

“If you knew something, I’d be all ears for it. Who knows, the information might prepare me better for the journey that I am determined to fulfill,” Sky paused as she opened her eyes and narrowed them with pleasure. “I am not sure how epic the adventure would be, but worth the trip? I think it would be well worth the effort, especially if there is really nothing to convince me of hard work otherwise,” Sky said with a chuckle before becoming serious as the boy asked his own questions.

For a moment, Sky was silent as she looked back at the rift thoughtfully before taking a breath in and sighing lightly.

“Well, there are many stories that come to mind looking at that world. On one hand, it is simply an unexplored desert waiting to be documented, but on the other it might’ve been something quite grand at one point. Maybe even green. The strange bones I can see suggest that there was perhaps life there at one point or perhaps unnamed creatures hidden in the golden sands. I can see great wars destroying a once rich world. I think there are many things buried under the sea that is now there, but as I stated before,” Sky turned back to the other. “I cannot know the truth unless I can get over there,” she said with a smile at the other that hid many things she was thinking at this moment.

The boy smiled and nodded towards Sky, writing down her words with ease. He twirled the pencil in his hands for a moment before the school bell rang, signaling the beginning of the school's day. He sighed and smiled toward Sky, standing up before bowing lightly to the peculiar girl.

"Well, Sky. I do believe it's time to begin our day at school." he said with a polite smile, looking over to the door. "Would you mind if I walked with you to your classroom?" he asked curiously, stepping out the door to wait for her. If she would accept his offer, he'd walk with Sky to her class before heading to his own. If she declined, a friendly smile and nod of his head would come forth from the boy before he left to his class.

[Exit]

Sky watched the boy write as she became more and more suspicious about the other. He had made some comments that caught her interest and his constant writing while maybe a habit was a bit odd to the Collector. No one wrote down everything they heard unless they were a scholar of the school of observations…and this child while perhaps studious was not of that strange school.

Sky had thought to play this strange game of words with the boy longer, but alas Fate decided to shift the board in another fashion. You see, the school bell rang and effectively halted the game. Glaring up at the speaker where the sound came from moodily, Sky shook her head as she shifted in her seat and began collecting her things.

“Unfortunately so,” Sky said as she got to her feet and slung her bag over her shoulder. She would pause after turning to Nilo and tilt her head at the request. This was the first time anyone had dared to ask her such a simple thing. Impressive.

“If you don’t mind being seen with the “scary gal” on campus, then I have no problem walking with you,” she said with an impressed smirk as she followed the other out into the hall. In the hall, the tall pale girl would walk with ease alongside of Nilo ignoring the strange looks that were given. She was quite proud of the company and could easily hold her head high with pride to show off anyone brave enough to walk along side of her without lust in their heart. This is how real gents should act. Too bad there were so few in the world these days.

When she reached her classroom, she would turn to Nilo and for the first time in ages she would give a low respectful bow to the other. It was her own way of showing her appreciation for the chat and the walk, and also showing she had a bit of respect for the boy.

In any case, once the ordeal was over, she would turn and go into the class and get ready for whatever boring lesson was set up for the day.

This thread has ended.