trans_9 | I'll take it step by step, so I never miss a thing...

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I'll take it step by step, so I never miss a thing...

Vanyel was unaccustomed to sitting still for long - and unaccustomed to feeling so alone in his own head. The solution to both, he had decided, was simply to not sit still long enough for either feeling to sink in.

Puzzling out the communication device he'd been given kept him busy for a little while. It was unlike anything he was familiar with from his own world, but not incredibly difficult to grasp, once he'd figured out the basic workings of it. After that, though, he found himself at a bit of a loss, and ended up sitting at a table in the mess hall for some time, staring blankly at the screen of his omnicom, before he managed finally to drag himself out of his thoughts with a shake of his head and a sigh.

I've gotten too used to Yfandes kicking me when I start to brood, he thought with a faint smile. It's a lot harder to avoid when I have to drag myself out of it... And he knew very well that left to his own devices, he tended to relapse to a sulky teenager all too easily. Not a state of affairs even he was particularly fond of. Right. I could do worse than to learn how to find my way around this labyrinth. If nothing else, I should be able to navigate by the ley-lines here...

So anyone wandering the ship that day might have run into a Herald as he explored, tracing a path through the ship seemingly random but blazingly obvious to anyone with the Mage Gift. That "running into" was... probably not literal, though from time to time Vanyel was considerably more focused on his magical surroundings than the physical - staring into thin air, from a non-mage's perspective - so a collision might not have been entirely out of the question.

[[OOC: Feel free to run into Vanyel in the mess hall, or anywhere in the ship he might reasonably be - he'll probably end up somewhere in the City, eventually, but he's going to be wandering for a while before then.]]

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Of all the nodes on the ship not actively engaged in the ship's very flesh, Haku's river represented the physical anchor for two of the largest. The path the water ran was not random, nor was it guided by more and incidental slope- the city was essentially flat, at any rate. The river was shaped by the ley-line that connected its two ends, like beads on a thread, and that connection made for a powerful magical flow to mimic the physical flow of water. Could anything that connected the heart of Escherville and the Plant Temple's root vitality consist of anything else?

Vanyel would not be the first to notice this.

He might be the first to notice it by stumbling directly into the muddy shallows, but Haku had been watching the man wander towards his river for several minutes now, and could be certain he wouldn't drown, if nothing else. Of course, a twelve year old boy standing on the water's surface might jar anyone out of the seeming daze Vanyel's in, all on its own.

"What are you doing?"

Vanyel stopped at the very edge of the water, blinking in surprise as he refocused his attention on the physical world - and then, more specifically, on the boy who had spoken a moment before. It was very hard not to focus on him, anyway, after he realized the boy was standing on the river rather than in it. That wasn't something anyone could easily ignore.

"I was... exploring," he said, faltering for a moment; he wasn't sure he wanted to explain how he was following the flow of magical energies through the ship. "I thought it might be helpful to be able to find my way around the ship. And... what are you doing?"

His gaze flickered down to the boy's feet, then back up to his face. Vanyel happened to think that was the better question here - for all of the magic here, for all that walking on water seemed, on its face, an act of magic, no one seemed to be using it for anything. It was all too reminiscent of Highjorune, in point of fact, and that wasn't a similarity he found particularly comforting.

"Watching you," he replied, acidly. Mages had not done much to endear themselves towards him, lately, and it brought an edge of the possessive into his voice, "This is the Kohaku River, and it belongs to me."

The power was in use, of course, just not in a way most humans who were not also aware of the way the world was knit together would recognize. Blood must flow, of course, or it's only barely alive at all. The waters bleed, but not forever.

That response gave Vanyel pause - not so much the words themselves as the tone. What did he expect Vanyel to do with the river, anyway? He edged a couple steps backwards, away from the water's edge, on the off chance that would make him more comfortable.

"I wasn't planning on trying to take it from you, or harm it in any way, if that's your concern. It's just that there's a... well, a river made of magic, rather than water, and I followed it here."

Haku inclined his head at that, watching Vanyel all the sharper for his instant deference. Was he just coddling Haku because of what he looked like, of because of what he was. It didn't occur to him that walking on water should be strange; he did it without effort, or thought.

"You're a mage," that much was obvious, now that he looked. But then, Mei-Xing had been more obvious about it, "What's your name?"

"Yes, I am." Vanyel's lips quirked into a vague smile at that - it was almost a relief for someone to learn that and not look at him as if he could solve all their problems. Yes, he could have done without the suspicion, but...

"My name's Vanyel. I'm... new here." Which was, perhaps, not the cleverest thing he could have said, but not knowing what prejudice the boy had against him, he'd rather err on the side of not saying anything to further offend him.

"I'm called Haku," he replied and gave a bow that was polite more out of habit than sentiment. He wasn't far from the shore, certainly, but now he walked more comfortably into speaking range, off the water itself and into what passed for dry land.

He looked at the herald a while longer, frowning, then seemed to come to a decision.

"I am the spirit of the Kohaku River. A Kami," He said it solemnly, as if pronouncing a very formal court title, though his voice was low and no longer so unfriendly, "I'm searching for someone as well."

Kami was not a term Vanyel was familiar with, but elemental spirits he could understand. He wasn't so familiar with such things taking a human shape, but he saw no reason to argue with him, spirit or no.

"A pleasure to meet you," he said, solemn and respectful but not deferential.

He had to wonder, briefly, if this river had always been here, or if whoever controlled this ship had taken the spirit - river and all - like it had the rest of them. That thought gave him a little uneasy shiver, like he got every time he really considered just how much power must be at work here. Before, he'd have said that only the gods possessed that kind of power...

Shaking off that thought, Vanyel asked carefully, "Who're you searching for?" As well? "I can't say I'll be any help, but..."

"A girl," he replied, as if there had been no hesitation on Vanyel's part, "Her name is Chihiro."

Vanyel smiled a little at that, almost sadly - or apologetic, perhaps. "It's not a name I recognize, but I haven't been here long. Was she someone you knew... before?"

There had been a lot of damage done to Stacy, both by her original crew and the pirates who had taken it afterward. The leylines probably reflected some of this. But it also meant that even little used corridors weren't always devoid of people. Or hazards.

Jono had stepped away from an open grate in the floor, looking through the tools and muttering lowly to himself, which was why he didn't hear anybody else until the other man was passing right behind him. Whoa, hold up, mate, he said, standing and snagging the new guy's arm to pull him aside. Y' need t' watch where yer goin'.

Vanyel, luckily, had been out of combat zones long enough - here on the ship, if not during his supposed "vacation" just before he found himself here - that he wasn't quite on a hair-trigger anymore, but he did tense at the unexpected contact, half-anticipating an attack and preparing to retaliate.

The unexpected mindspeech, though... That startled him enough that he relaxed a little, unthinking. His shields were set up to allow incoming mindspeech, of course, but that didn't mean he had been expecting it here, so far from any other Heralds, and he blinked at the man in surprise for a moment before shaking himself a little and taking note of the rest of his physical surroundings.

Unobservant and on edge, he thought wryly. Excellent combination.

"Sorry. I'm usually... much better about that." When he wasn't distracted by puzzling out unfamiliar ley-lines in an unfamiliar place, anyway.

The X-Men were in and out of war zones all the time, so Jono knew that reaction. He didn't stay touching the other young man longer than necessary, but then, Jono wasn't that big on touch to begin with.

The reaction to his telepathy was the far more interesting one, anyway.

He waved a hand at the apology. 'S alroight. We're all new 'ere once. Jus' lucky I spotted ya 'fore you went an' broke summat.

Vanyel smiled, now that the initial surprise of thoughtspeech had faded - in Valdemar, Mindspeech was unusual outside of the Heralds, but they were hardly the only ones with the Gift, and it seems to make sense that in a group of people chosen for their special abilities, there would be others Gifted as well.

"Is the concern that I'll break myself, or the ship?" he asked, glancing to the open grate. Though he was less focused on his Mage-Sight at the moment, it was still active, and he eyed the ley-line that led through this corridor for a moment longer. "Although from what I can see, she ship is fairly resilient."

It's a living thing big enough to fit all of Haven comfortably inside it; of course it's fairly resilient. If there's something that could damage this ship permanently, Vanyel certainly doesn't want to meet it.

Jono snorted, running his fingers back through his hair. Ain't so sure you'd be able t' do much more t' the ship, but you wouldn' fancy a broken ankle fer missin' a step, neither.

The ship was resilient. The people inside her, however, much less so. Gotta admit. Yer one of the first ones what ain't jumped at me talkin' in yer head.

Vader was in some ways spoiled by his brief time as a dictator- he was more than used to people scurrying out of his way as he walked past. Even aboard Stacy no one was too inclined to make conversation with him; which was how he ended up involuntarily playing a game of chicken with the Herald- and losing.

"Watch where you are going!" he snarled.

Vanyel stumbled backwards a couple steps, at first startled, and then sliding into annoyance as the armored man snapped at him. Yes, he could have been paying more attention to his physical surroundings, but he wasn't the only one - and bullies always did get Vanyel's hackles up.

"I'm terribly sorry, sir," he answered, with a wry smile and more than a hint of sarcasm. "I suppose it would have been beneath your dignity to do the same?"

"Indeed," Vader replied, curtly. "I am letting you off easily-- consider this a warning. Next time I may not be as merciful."

Vader missed the heady days of being able to strangle people who showed this much insolence; it seemed there was no one on the ship that understood his power.

Vanyel stared at the man for a moment, wondering if he should be laughing or bristling just now. He settled, after a moment, for arching his eyebrows and asking in clipped tones, "And what happens next time, pray tell?"

Without a word, Vader unclipped his lightsaber from his belt and ignited it. He was in no mood for crafty language and wordplay.

The vampire was wandering through the halls, lost in thought herself. Though magic in her world worked somewhat differently, she was no doubt a- at least partly magical creature, her race having been created by the use of Dragon Magic to bond the soul to the body so that the body's destruction meant the soul's destruction, and the soul's survival meant the body's survival.

Though Dragons were extinct before she was conceived their magic still flowed in her veins, even if her access to that power was impossible.

She thought little of this though as she wandered, not knowing that she was likely to be rather glaringly magical. She was too busy trying to devise a way that she could turn the ship's constitution against itself in her favour.

She was also concidering how to best use Greed to help her, since Ling seemed like he might be a problem. If only there was a way she could get rid of Ling without killing Greed.

Vanyel might not have noticed the magic in the woman under ordinary circumstances, different as it was to what he was used to looking for, but with his Mage-Sight already in use...

Even then, he almost missed it - he took a few steps past her, then frowned, pivoted on one heel to swing back towards her, and then just looked at her, so intently that he might have been looking through her. In a way, he was, studying the shift and flow of magical energies in her body, some kind of power like nothing he'd ever seen before.

She wasn't actually using that power, as far as he could tell, but that almost added to the unnerving factor, as far as Vanyel was concerned. In his experience, the only living things that weren't mages that held that kind of power inside them were Companions, various elementals, and... well, anything created by or significantly altered by magic, and most of those fairly unpleasant. I wonder if she knows...

It was the sound of that unexpected 180 turn that interrupted her thoughts, so off the normal cadence of things. That, and she could practically feel his eyes on her.

She stopped and turned so sharply so that her cloak fluttered about her causing the crest on the back to catch the light. Why was he looking at her so peculiarly? She was completely unaware of the way she was appearing to him, though she was aware that she was from a race created by dragons.

Kano sneered in her ear, He knows something. You have been sloppy. Something has been revealed. Though she had become used to hiding her reactions to the voice she knew only she could hear, it did not mean that his voice was not successful in sewing seeds of doubt in her mind.

She straightened herself and clasped her hands behind her back, subconsciously turning up her face ever so slightly. "Excuse me?" Kano's suggestion did not help her view of him.

Vanyel blinked a little as she spoke, letting his Mage-Sight fade into a secondary sort of awareness, rather than his primary focus.

"I'm sorry," he said quickly, with a slightly sheepish smile - if nothing else, the way he was looking at her was probably unnerving, and if he'd been thinking... well, he at least would have made an effort to be a little less obvious about studying her. But smiling like that, he looked even younger than usual, if you discounted the silver in his hair, and more or less harmless. "I didn't mean to stare, I just... don't generally see that much magic pooled in someone who's not a mage."

He paused a moment, considering that. It was a kind of magic unfamiliar to him, so maybe he simply couldn't see the way she was using it - unlikely, but possible. "You're... not, are you?"

She raised a brow at his words. He had been studying the magic in her?

"No, I am not," she says simply. She had magic pooled inside of her? Well, she knew vampires of old had been able to use Dragon Magic. "No vampire has been able to use magic since the passing of the Great Dragons." What else could it be that this man was seeing in her? Unless somehow he could tell the origins of her race...

"So, you can see magic little one?"

Well, at least it seemed that Kano was utterly wrong. Hopefully that would keep him quiet for a time.

Vanyel chuckled a little, and nodded. Being called 'little one' didn't particularly faze him, although the woman didn't look anywhere near old enough for that form of address - he of all people should know not to trust appearances as any reliable indicator of age, and with that much magic running through her veins... well, it might very well have a similar effect to the way living in their Vales slowed the Tayledras' aging.

"I can, when I'm looking. I was actually after something else, but you caught my eye." His smile twisted a little, somewhere between amused and apologetic, and he inclined his head to one side. "I apologize if it seems like... prying, or anything."

It certainly seemed like a useful skill, to be able to see magic. If it was completely accidental, well, she could not blame him for his interest. Besides, she was interested to know that she had magic pooled inside her.

"Not at all. In fact, I find it rather curious. Tell me, what of the people you have seen with this much magic in them who are not mages?"

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I'll take it step by step, so I never miss a thing...

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and now, for the whine tasting

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