Riverside 22: Better the demon you know?

[Ironsmith]

[Midnight in Moth Park] (En Route)

"Well... maybe?" Siana shrugs, setting her cane on the seat next to her. "I mean, this seems like one of those things that will make sense in hindsight. Like... I dunno, a surprise birthday party or something. Something we should have anticipated, but didn't." She runs a hand through her hair, catching it in locks as it sifts between her fingers. "But for the moment, yeah, pretty surprising."

It occurs to her at this point that the two of them are still strangers.

"Where are my manners? I'm Siana. Siana T-" She stops herself, quietly deciding not to use her family's name. After what she's gone through, it seemed like an insult to them now. "...Redmont." She corrects, extending her hand to the woman.

[Recaiden]

[Midnight in Moth Park] (En Route)

"Interesting way to consider it. Did the invitation seem to come to you personally? For mine, it was...not clear."
There are always a lot of things going on in this city, and they understand rather too few of them, even afterwards.

"Skye Drake-Nerei. Pleased...to meet you." She says, with a small pause as she takes Siana's hand in both of hers and gives it one shake. She's cool to the touch, perhaps not as much as Siana, but certainly an unusual amount.

[Gullara]

Skate Park

While Eliseo winces, Ana gasps. "Oh no!" She moves quicker and sooner than Eliseo does, reaching the changeling by the time she's started to get up. "Are you alright?" the kitsune asks, offering Atsede a hand up. She looks genuinely worried, although the confident response she gets alleviates most of it. Eliseo's comment earns him a giggle. "Yeah, that sounds like a fair trade."

[Skate Park]

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," Atsede tried to assure Ana- although admittedly through slightly gritted teeth. The changeling gingerly spread her wings, just a little, and winced in pain. "...Maybe just mostly fine. Ow. But I've had worse." She looked at Eliseo, expression still a bit sheepish. "You're probably right there, that wasn't exactly my most graceful landing." She sighed."Alright, deal."

[Skate Park]

"I guess those wings don't help so much when you're tumbling upside down." Eliseo observes, if a bit insensitively. "I'm gonna say you're probably down and out for today. Wanna go hang somewhere? There's a milkshake place nearby. My treat."

[Arkhosia]

Skate Park

Anastasia winces looking over what bruises and marks are visible on Atsede wings. She was fairly familiar with the trials and tribulations of having an extra appendage, and especially how much it sucked to get it hurt - but even then, getting four full wings banged up must suck way more than getting your tail pinched in a door. "Uh, yeah! I mean, worse case scenario, you can use one as an ice pack." Booooo Ana, booooo.

[Shadowcaller]

[The Toy Tinker]

"I can tell you right away that regular cellphones didn't work down there. MERC's communication worked fine... at first, but even they stopped working once you got further down. Perhaps some tools to map it out?" Jaahlyn turns to Sticks. "Or perhaps you already have maps of the place?"

Midnight in Moth Park

Instead of answering the two mistfolk smiles and enthusiastically gesture ahead. Seemingly giddy at the prospect of going wherever they're leading her.
It doesn't become clear what they're gesturing at until a couple of minutes later when they approach a peculiar tree that Ana has never seen before.
She knew that there recently had been a couple of "exotic" plants added to the park but this tree doesn't appear like it had been recently planted. It looks positively ancient and far larger than any other recent addition.

Yet there it stands on a small elevation in the park which makes the plaque next to it just barely visible above the fog.

Dracaena cinnabari

Ana just manages to make out the text before her two guides suddenly stop.
They gesture again, but not at the tree. Rather, they're gesturing at a hole at the foot of the tree. That's where they wanted her to go? She wouldn't be able to fit inside it unless she used her fox form and that seemed a bit bizarre.

[Ironsmith]

[Midnight in Moth Park] (En Route)

"Interesting way to consider it. Did the invitation seem to come to you personally? For mine, it was...not clear."
There are always a lot of things going on in this city, and they understand rather too few of them, even afterwards.

"Skye Drake-Nerei. Pleased...to meet you." She says, with a small pause as she takes Siana's hand in both of hers and gives it one shake. She's cool to the touch, perhaps not as much as Siana, but certainly an unusual amount.

[Midnight in Moth Park] (En Route)

"It was pretty clear for me. Ended up directly in my poc...ket..." Siana looks down at her hand, which didn't respond too well to the extra agitation. Her shedding problem has only gotten worse, and Skye will be treated to the oh-so-pleasant sensation of having small skin and muscle fibers come off into her hands. Although she may not realize it at first; with the consistency and amount, it'll just seem like Siana palmed her a few crumbs of beef jerky for some reason.

"...Are you, um... are you okay, miss?" Siana asks, noting the woman's unusual lack of body heat. "You seem a little, um... what's the polite way to put this..." She mulls it over for a second, then, "Everybody I know, including myself, with hands that cold, is also cursed. Do you, um... have anything like that, or...?"

[Recaiden]

[Midnight in Moth Park] (En Route)

Eh, so Siana's hands are dirty. Hardly a real problem. Though Skye will find a moment to dust off her hands.

"I am okay, yes." Skye says, in the tone of 'but not really entirely okay'.
"I am also cursed. But you know, the curse has made me strong, in many ways. Do not feel too much concern for me."
Though of course, her curse is not very much like Siana's, in the end.

The limo rolls to a stop, and in a moment the chauffeur will come and open their doors and offer Siana help getting out.
For a moment upon leaving the car, The General seems delighted to be out in the night air.
"And you did find a polite way to ask it, I think. Is that part of what the guests have in common?" she muses.

[Ironsmith]

[Midnight In Moth Park]

"Curses have a weird way of doing that, true." Siana agrees. Although, as she thinks about it, is it really fair to call what she has a curse? It was created primarily for her people's benefit, and the unpleasant stuff was all side effects. Calling it a curse might be akin to calling medicine that tastes bad but saves lives poison.

"...You know, now that you mention it, that would actually make a lot of sense." She adds, turning over her invitation in her hands. "Our host is offering us 'life requests', among other things. That could easily be a euphemism for... you know, breaking curses, if asked. Or maybe just a sort of all-encompassing deal that might include that." She hefts the stone in her hands as she ponders the implications. "...But then again, maybe not. I have siblings who'd want to be here, too, if that were the case. And my uncle, too. It can't be just a question of being cursed."

And though she'll keep it to herself, Siana's pretty sure all of those people would deserve to have the curse lifted more than she does. What makes her so special?

[Arkhosia]

Midnight in Moth Park

”…Okay, uh, alright then.” Anastasia takes the silence as a sign that these mysterious apparitions aren’t likely to give her any manner of direction or explanation here. It's difficult not to feel a little unnerved as they go, the silent stillness of the park sinking in as surely as the clinging mists and cool night air, and she can't help but worry about what dangers might lurk in the distance. If only she had brought her sword when... wait, how did she get out here?

Its only once they arrive at the tree that Anastasia's full focus returns to the world around her, the fox staring up to marvel at the venerable old dragon tree that stretches into the sky above them. Had this always been here in Moth Park? Surely she would have remembered it, right? She takes a moment to register that her two silent guides are gesturing for her. "...Uh, you want me to go in there?" A beat as she waits for the spirits to confirm, before hesitantly inspecting the hole. She briefly considers trying to crawl through before eventually resorting to her fox form to enter, shifting back once she's on the other side.