Dancing Lights, Flickering Shadows [Hyacintha/Irvine]

The Forest Biodome was quite a beautiful place during its climate controlled night. Hell...night was quite a lovely time in general. Shadow and moonlight cast everything in a different light to the beaming rays of day, a dimly lit wonderland of unparalleled beauty...for those who could appreciate it, anyway.
One of its finest features was the way it highlighted things that still yet sought to shine, an interplay of light and dark that accentuated the aesthetic of both. True, they were fine on their own...but one does not exist without the other, and their harmony truly came to light when they were in contrast with one another.
Light and Shadow. They were meant to be together.

In amongst the trees, little wisps sought to display the way the two interplayed, and more yet still. The spheres of multi-coloured light floated through the air, reds, whites, blues and green dancing through leaf and root, seeking to draw the wandering eye. All while a figure, wrapped in shadow until he was at one with it, watched the scene with a smile and an eager eye. In his position among the trees, invisible to the sight of others...this was where he was meant to be tonight.

The forest is not the place that Hyacintha would usually visit. But ever since she saw the forest for the very first time, she loved the place and she would like to return someday. Now, she's back in the forest and the forest never failed to disappoint her. It was even more beautiful at night. The fireflies glowing and flying around. Hyacintha would reach out her hand to the swarm of fireflies and one landed on her finger. "What are these creatures?" she asked herself. Hyacintha has never seen a creature that can glow, this little insects amazed her. Such creatures never existed in her home planet. Heck, there wasn't even any nature to start with.

The little firefly flew off her finger. The curious android followed the tiny bug to the darkness. She never took her eyes off from the bug to not lose track of him. Until, she tripped on a tree's root that sent her rolling on the ground then fell flat. The robot managed to recover quickly and was up on her feet by a second. Hyacintha looked around the area for the firefly she was following. But, it was suddenly gone. However, in the middle of the darkness, there was a light. It's not the firefly she was following. It is some kind of spherical light and it is not alone. They vary in color and the lights were dancing as if they want to draw her to them. Seeing no harmful threats about the lights, Hyacintha slowly walked to the wisps.

"Well..." Someone had stumbled onto this little gathering of the spirits. Taken an interest, even.
Far be it from him to miss such a perfect opportunity when it was right there.
With a little gesture from Irvine, the wisps started to float and whirl about Hyacintha, dancing through the air around her. They moved to form a tight, spinning circle of colour around her head, before dispersing, leaving one floating clear and alone right before Irvine's hiding place. A sphere in purple, glowing softly. "What brings you here?" The wisp bounces to the side, and Irvine moves along with it. "To the place where we play?" It bounces to the other side, and Irvine leans left to match. "Do you want to join our spectrum?" It dips down and forward into the middle, as Irvine bends forward so his face with right behind it in the shadow. "Do you want to play our game?"

Silently, a creature watched the display from nearby shrubbery. Piercing orange eyes swung back and forth, locked, fixated even on the glowing sphere as it bounced around the air. Whatever it was, would lick its lips.

Once the wisps started to move, Hyacintha's defensive instincts kicked in. She unsheathed her sword and positioned herself for combat but not taking offense until the wisps attacks. She can't risk killing an innocent just because she was trying to defend herself. As the wisps dispersed, the lone purple sphere caught her attention. It seemed to have speak, "What do you want?" she asked the wisp she thought who spoke. She would shift her eyes wherever the wisp went, not trying to be surprised by a sneak attack. Until... a mysterious voice invited her to play his "game". "Game? What game? After all, I can't play a game without knowing the rules, right?" she replied.

Someone was on edge. Have to be careful about that.
Staying shrouded in shadow, beyond means of sight by light and ordinary eyes, Irvine paces around Hyacintha, the purple wisp following his motions so as his voice seemed to come from it. "It really is quite simple. That much I'm sure you'll see! You merely need to find us! The red and blue and green! The floating lights of matching colour came forth, spinning in a vertical circle about the purple wisp as the slowly grew and shrunk. The rest of the wisps spun wildly in a pillar around her, a whirling kaleidoscope of colours that blurred by. "This three of us will hide out thus, a test of sight and mind! A challenge issued just by us..." He leans in a little. "Unless...you must decline?"

Whatever it was that was watching, would scurry through the bushes, following where the light went. It was quick, yet quiet. Despite its best efforts however, the rustling of foliage was noticeable. Even if it was quiet, perhaps just a bird or rabbit being spooked by the dancing light. Though the creature grew restless... It would lower itself, ready.

Hide and Seek? Hyacintha is not comfortable about this. Heck, if she found one of the orbs, it might be the opportunity for the person doing this to ambush the cyborg. and an another thing bothered her, a sound of plants shaking in the darkness. Is it the person causing this? After all, balls of light speaking? It's some kind of technology that Hyacintha doesn't know about. As an assassin, Hyacintha must be sensitive with sounds. Well, it looks like someone failed at sneaking. "What will happen if I decline?" she asked, slowly stepping backwards to where the sound was. "I think the game won't be necessary anymore if I already found you" Hyacintha dashed towards further to that rustling sound and pointed her sword in there. She's not sure what made the sound because it's dark but, she has to take risks. "Game over... Just reveal yourself, I don't have time for your silly games"

Come on, threatening the local wildlife now? Not half a spoilsport. Another gesture had the orbs spreading and drifting through the air as they had been, all save the floating purple light he'd been using as a mouthpiece, as he broke out into a laugh. "Oh really now, can't you be good? Unlike the twigs amongst the mud? Truly, you really are quite mean, to brandish arms at lives unseen." He paces slowly as the orb follows on. "Must you really threaten pain? Over what was just a simple game? So many creatures here live, but ne'er one so insensitive!"
He comes to a halt, to watch what plays out. "You'll find it hard, the Junction life...when you respond with violence and calling strife."

There was no sound, almost no reaction at all from within the bush as the sword was drawn towards it. There was an eerie silence that hung awkwardly in the air, it seemed as if the very forest stood still in that moment. But then... Hyacintha would feel something lightly push against her weapon, pushing it ever so slightly to one side to allow the creature who'd been hiding itself away to push past it and reveal itself. A relatively big bone in its mits that it had used to shove the sword away. Its face was covered by a thick skull that only left room for its piercing orange eyes to gaze through. Staring, clearly displeased, at the sword wielding woman.

"Woah!" Hyacintha stepped back a bit as the mysterious creature revealed itself. She was surprised that the local wildlife here could talk but then again, Junction is already a strange place. However, the voice is very different from the voice coming from the light. This can't be the perpetrator. After all, it looks like an ordinary animal but it can talk. "I apologize. But, there is an another person here that is playing tricks with me. I thought they were here in this foliage." The cyborg sighed. Damn, wrong move. Not only she just threatened an innocent animal, she also looked dumb. "What are you laughing at?" she asked the purple light. Does she really have to play this game? She doesn't have time for this childish non-sense.

It was a good thing he didn't have to step in, there. He'd just assumed some of the normal wildlife...not one of the residents. Still, it worked out. They backed off. And...they might not be so tough as they try to look if they're jumping at something far smaller than them walking out slowly.

Still...damn. Somebody had a stick up their ass. Well, no point continuing with this one then.
He wasn't showing his face...quite, yet, though.
"Well, I was finding it funny that you'd start pointing lengths of metal at random woodland creatures to get out of a game of hide and seek, but it's a lot less funny when it turns out it's one of the people that actually live here." He gave the cyborg a flat look, and the light dimmed to convey it. "You're definitely new here, aren't you? And rather insensitive at that. It's all fine when they're just pretty lights, but nooo, show they're actually sentient creatures and you pull a sword on them? You must be fun at parties, huh?"

Most of the wisps drift about the area again as they had been before Hyacintha showed up, but a few start to float curiously around her. Irvine just continues to speak in a flat tone. "Just because you're not used to it doesn't mean tricks are being played. Everyone's just here for some fun, and the rhyming is part of the custom that you so readily disrespected." That custom was admittedly 'Just go along with this, this might be fun', but it was a custom nonetheless for them. "Lighten up a little, lady."

The creature would continue to stare displeasingly at the newt. They would go straight to violence over just a petty trick? There hadn't even been any tricks, at least, as far as the eye could see go down. The bone club wielder had been listening to that light talk beforehand. It had only asked for a game.... What was wrong with a little... Fun?



It would nod as if in agreement to what the light continued to say. After, it would twitch its head to the right twice before nodding once more. "Yes. Games, fun. Should play." The creature would give a weak smirk as it said this, not that anyone would even be able to tell under the bone mask it wore.

"Fun? How can I have fun when I can't find my way home?!" Hyacintha said with a hint of anger. She has no time having fun as she wants to go home. However, they might be right. She needs to lighten up, this finding a way home has been stressing her out for too long. Hyacintha put her hand in her forehead, gathering her thoughts. "Fine, I guess you guys are right. Maybe I should lighten up as you say." She finally decided to play the game. "If you guys try to backstab me, I will cut-" Okay, that will get a little vulgar. "Ughh fine, I'll play your stupid game."

...did-
Did nobody-
Hell, he'd at least thought the woman knew the deal with this place. Why he didn't, he'd no idea, but that wasn't the important part.
"Souls unbound...you have no idea, do you?" The purple light flickered as the frustration held on his face, before steadying and dimming as he sighed. "You might have been told you're not going to get home. I'm guessing nobody told you why. So here's me filling you in - this city hops dimensions. And no, I'm not kidding. Wait long enough, you'll end up in some other reality. Believe me or not, but if this place has already left, you're not getting back without figuring out how to dimension hop at will."
He shrugs, and the light shakes slightly side to side. "Fact of life for everyone on here that's already left home. Have to learn to deal with it."

Irvine walks away a bit towards a nearby tree. Rather than walk right at it, he takes a path that curves out before coming back to meet the tree, the light following and tracing downward as it does. He leans against the tree, resting his back against it, and the light curves upward from his path away to rest a bit in front of his face again. "...would it make it less painful to play if I told you there was a reward at the end? Be nice if I could just tell you, but the others are eager for a game, and I can't really just let them down like that." He gives out another sigh. "I am breaking so many forms for this..."
He sweeps his hand before him, and evenly spaced along its path, the red, blue, and green wisps from before fly in and float. "Rules are simple enough. Hide and Seek. These guys go off and hide somewhere, and everyone else stays here. They can go anywhere they like, as long as they keep shining, and you can clearly see the rest of the group from where they are. Only fair. Game ends when you find them, when you give up..." He looks pointedly at Hyacintha. "Or when you stab someone. Simple enough."

"Just say the word, and we'll go."