Alexis' Thread (xivvix)

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Re: Alexis' Thread (xivvix)

The place was surprisingly sensible looking, for being housed within a pocket of hewed stone. While banners ran the length of the short corridor that separated the main passageway from the bulk of the cavern, they gave way to low, flat-roofed buildings that had been carefully stacked two-high. The greenery here was sparse, but it existed and was lovingly trimmed and trained into elegant shapes at the crossroads of cobblestone paths. The place looked like a small village had tried to climb into the cavern, and had actually done a fairly good job of it.

At the center of the cavern was a building one story higher, taking up a full block of its own. Flags hung from its corners and over the tall entryway, limp without wind to lift them. Alexis looked completely ordinary, here, given that all of the people that she could see were human -- the cavern must belong to them!

 

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Re: Alexis' Thread (xivvix)

Alexis was surprised to see how nice the area looked, almost like the village she had grown up. She even noticed a crude bench set up near the entrance, which she took the opportunity to sit on, taking care to fold the skirt under her backside and keep her legs clamped together. While she waited for Nieomu, Alexis opened up the bag and grabbed some of the food Falia had given her. She was so hungry she needed a quick snack.

 

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Re: Alexis' Thread (xivvix)

Munching away gave her time to scan the cavern-built village a little further. One thing that was different was that there were no children playing in the streets, and the daemons that one could usually spot in human settings, performing necessary tasks like hauling carts and riders and packs, were missing. So were carts in general, for that matter -- there wasn't quite enough space here to afford such things, nor did the system work the same.

For the most part, people ignored her as they entered the cavern and left again, but Alexis could see a pair of people in the same blue and gold clothing as were used in the flags on that tall building walking along towards her... they didn't necessarily look all that friendly.

 

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Re: Alexis' Thread (xivvix)

As much as Alexis disliked Falia for putting the woman in her current predicament, the suggestion of finding a friendly looking place that she might be allowed to sleep in sounded like a good one. A cavern run by humans was certainly a good sign in her book, and she wasn't going to let a few unfriendly faces deter her from even inquiring about the place. She finished up her snack, closed and slung her bag, then stood and waited for the blue and gold clad people to approach her.

 

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Re: Alexis' Thread (xivvix)

They stopped just short of the woman, one with his arms crossed over his chest, the other with her hands on her hips. "Can we help you, miss?" the man asked.

"You're not a resident," the woman added, a little more forthright than her counterpart.

 

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Re: Alexis' Thread (xivvix)

Alexis looked at the man and woman for a second before speaking. If they wore the same colors as the banners that lined the tall building, they must be officials of some sort. How they acted might tell her a lot about this place. "You're right, I'm not a resident," she said, just a little sarcastically. No need to tell them she was brand spanking new. "I was wondering what kind of place this particular cavern is. Looks... nice."

 

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Re: Alexis' Thread (xivvix)

The pair didn't relax their guard, but they didn't seem to react out of hand to her sarcastic tone. They seemed a touch more level-headed than that.

"You're in the Trefoil Cavern," the woman told Alexis, "the only human-owned and operated cavern in this ill-sodden place, thanks to our patrons."

"Newcomers and outsiders must report to the main hall," the man continued, eying the dark-haired young woman with a slight touch of contempt -- fair was fair in return for her sarcasm. "Trefoil is very serious about defending its autonomy."

 

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Re: Alexis' Thread (xivvix)

"Trefoil Cavern, huh?" Alexis said, taking note of the man's contemptuous gaze. "Well, I'm just waiting here to meet someone," she said, testily. "Then maybe later I'll come back and take a look at the main hall. Oh, as long as that doesn't threaten Trefoil's autonomy." Alexis knew ticking off the first residents she met wasn't such a great idea, but something about the man just annoyed her. Although she was interested in investigating the "only human-owned and operated cavern" more, she did offer to eat with Nieomu, and Alexis wasn't the kind to just forget people like that.

 

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Re: Alexis' Thread (xivvix)

The two blue and gold officers cast looks to one another, as if wordlessly deciding whether or not they ought to let Alexis be. Apparently the man won out, for his partner glanced back at the dark haired young woman and said, "you'll get a closer look at the main hall now, if you'll come with us. This way," she and the man had flanked the short-skirted human, and were urging her down the road that led towards the biggest building without yet laying hands on her!

 

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Re: Alexis' Thread (xivvix)

Alexis looked back and forth at the two officers on either side of her. She turned to the man and crossed her arms in front of her chest. "No, I'm going to stay here and wait for my friend to come back, and then I'll leave," she said, still annoyed. She didn't expect them to lay hands on her at all, and wasn't afraid of staring them down.

 

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Re: Alexis' Thread (xivvix)

"Miss, we don't allow idlers here," the man told her, beginning to grow cross. "If you want to wait for your friend, it's going to have to be out in the passageway." He looked like he'd rather she put up more of a fight, and his partner didn't seem to be of a mind to stop him.

 

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Re: Alexis' Thread (xivvix)

If he wanted her to fight, Alexis was happy to oblige him! "I was just sitting here minding my business until you came up and started pestering me," she said, walking up to him and pointing a finger into his chest. "I'm not going anywhere, and that's that!"

 

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Re: Alexis' Thread (xivvix)

"Alright, that's enough," the woman officer told Alexis firmly but not unkindly. "You're going down to the main hall, young lady, and your friend will know one way or another to pick you up there, if he's been around here long at all."

The man, however, didn't much like Alexis' attitude. Grabbing her finger-pointing hand by the wrist, whirling her around, he brought her arm up behind her back in a hold that wasn't (yet) painful. "Minding your business and waiting for a friend, right," he sneered, walking her down the narrow road. "Waiting for who, then? Got a name?"

 

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Re: Alexis' Thread (xivvix)

Alexis yelped as the man grabbed her arm. Not painful, but surprising to her, to say the least. "G-get off me!" She yelled as she struggled. "Let me go!" she continued, not even hearing his question. While she wasn't intentionally hitting him, she was flailing about in an effort to get free.

 

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Re: Alexis' Thread (xivvix)

Given that the man wasn't trying to hurt her, as Alexis struggled, she managed to get the drop on him, slipping out of his grasp. "Hold still," he demanded, making another grab for her! The woman, watching all of this with a somewhat more rational expression, kept an eye on Alexis, though she made no move to intercept her.

 

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Re: Alexis' Thread (xivvix)

Alexis took a few steps away from them, turning just in time to see her lunging for him. Too late, she can't avoid his grab, her wrist caught once again. Facing the man now though, she uses her other hand to try to push him away. "Damnit, let me go!"

 

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Re: Alexis' Thread (xivvix)

"Not bloody likely," the officer told her, grabbing her other hand and bodily hauling her along the road, his partner behind him, shaking her head in mild exasperation even if she remained alert for attempts for Alexis to escape.

Now that she was being hauled bodily, it was much harder to escape, the young woman would find. The officers brought her down the relatively short road, and in through the open doors of the large building. Alexis got the brief impression that this room was some kind of antechamber, and caught sight of a pair of stairwells, one of which the guards were dragging her towards! "Cool your heals in the keep," the man was suggesting angrily, "less you want someone to pinch that rude tongue out of your mouth!"

 

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Re: Alexis' Thread (xivvix)

With her chances of escape dwindling with each step they took further into the hall, Alexis switched tactics. She stopped fighting as much, simply allowing herself to be brought wherever the man was leading her, but looked back at him and said, "Look, this isn't necessary. I'll leave, alright?" Her voice was no longer angry but nervous, and she trembled in his grasp. Crap, what did I get myself into now? she thought.

 

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Re: Alexis' Thread (xivvix)

Not quite relaxing his grip on her as they began to ascend the stairs, the man snorted. "Right, and your 'friend'?" Whatever she'd got herself into, it wasn't likely to be pretty!

 

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Re: Alexis' Thread (xivvix)

"My friend? Nieomu is his name, Nieomu," she said, fidgeting a bit. She wondered if Nieomu had any kind of influence in this cavern. It was run by humans, but he was a dragon, right? Dragons always told humans what to do.