You know honestly I can't say I expected this

[poll_the_stars]

Inavet hisses a creative curseword, and slams the door shut, and reaches for her magic. The door to the building she's hiding in becomes to all appearances an ordinary wall. It'll take her pursuers time to find it - none of their arcanists are any good at crystal craft, from what she can tell. It won't buy her enough time, but it'll buy her some, and every second counts.

She starts trying to patch herself up while she looks for an escape route they're not covering. Blood craft's not her best, but she's gotten a lot of practice at it, lately. Enough to stop herself from bleeding out from the wound in her side (because of course it's deep) and keep herself from collapsing from exhaustion. Too slow - one of these days it'll kill her.

But not yet, she thinks, as she spots a window to an alley. Out go her magic senses - no one's alive and breathing in that alley but a cat rummaging through the garbage.

She dumps an illusion over the alley, to appear exactly as it was before she entered it. She can't get the cat right in a rush, but she doesn't need this to hold out for very long. Just long enough to get away. Song disguises the sound of the window opening and her scrambling out of it. She's conscientious enough to close it behind her. Easier than another illusion. Maybe they won't notice the blood.

Which way? Mm. One that way, two to her left, three are - oh look they found the door, she needs to hurry. She takes a right, and runs.

And comes face to face with - a snake? With a mirror for a head? What, how in the -

It's very fast. She was not expecting it. She didn't even sense it, like it appeared from nowhere, she raises her knife but she's not fast enough -

And then there is darkness.

Darkness and pain.

She'd scream, but the air's sucked out of her lungs in a whoosh. She snaps her mouth shut and flails, lashing out with something, anything - but she feels nothing around her. Nothing at all. Not even air. It's like a pressure, on all of her, but instead of pressing in it's pulling out -

Is this how she's going to die? Some Ministry snake monster thing?

Not. Likely.

She isn't the best at blood craft, but she knows enough to keep herself alive. She knows enough to snap her eyes shut and cover her nose and mouth and push magic at herself so her body doesn't shut down. It's hard - there's so much to monitor, she has no air... But she can keep herself alive. If she doesn't move and she focuses near entirely on self preservation. For - for a little while, anyway. Not forever.

Time crunch, then. Well. She was always good at those.

Her lesser crafts won't do her any good here. No way to make sound with song, no air to ignite in fire with heat, no time for aura anything, nothing to move and change with breath. Forget stone and metal, even when she's not in a crisis she's awful with both, not to mention there's nothing around for either.

But she is good at crystal, and crystal deals in light.

If she's not the brightest fucking beacon the world has ever seen, it won't be for lack of trying.

Maybe someone will find her. Or maybe she'll blind the bastards who put her here. Either way, it won't hurt to try.

Comments

[poll_the_stars]

"Mm. People to talk about you when you're not there. General - personality showing. What would you do with it?"

[warpfairy]

"I don't know what I'd get, so I don't want to get attached to any plans. Unfortunately, I spend almost all of my time alone. The only person who knows me particularly well is my mother, which might not be a very objective source for you."

[poll_the_stars]

"Not really," she agrees. "Mm. Why - all of your time alone? And with magic - what sort of thing would you try to do?"

[warpfairy]

"I described the job I do. It involves usually being very far away from anyone, in uninhabited systems, seeing what's there. It would really depend on the kind of job. I'd want to know how it worked. I don't immediately know what I'd do with illusion cats. But something with energy, for example, could help power all kinds of things people need."

[poll_the_stars]

Inavet nods. "Fair enough. We'll see."

[warpfairy]

"In a couple of days we'll dock at a station. It's mostly Ferengi-run and I can't recommend it as a long-term place to stay because you don't have any money, but if you don't want to stay on my ship with me - which you are welcome to do - you could get a shuttle to Federation space."

[poll_the_stars]

"I am willing to stick around until yes or no for magic," she says. "Seems - mean. 'Thanks for saving, want magic? Too bad, no convincing me, bye!'"

[warpfairy]

Isabella giggles.

[poll_the_stars]

"I try to be fair."

[warpfairy]

"Thank you."

[poll_the_stars]

"Yep!"

She smiles at Isabella, and then goes back to flying cats. She'll get bored of this eventually and practice something else, but right now this is fine.

[warpfairy]

Eventually they dock at the station, where Isabella transacts with short large-eared lumpy-headed bald men in stupid clothes who leer at her. They do not stay long, just enough to refuel and buy some (less stupid) clothes for Inavet. ("Not too many here, they overcharge and we can get some things for outright free on a Federation station.")

[poll_the_stars]

Inavet is pretty okay with not spending much time here. Someone calls her a Vulcan, she doesn't correct them, and then they can leave to... not be on this station of overpriced items, leering men, and gaudy clothing. She's just fine with that.

[warpfairy]

"You won't look like a Vulcan to a Vulcan or anyone familiar with them. But there are fewer Vulcans around than there used to be."

[poll_the_stars]

"I wasn't planning to claim to be a Vulcan," she agrees. "I just didn't want to get into a 'no actually I am another species with differently pointed ears see they don't curve forward they go back isn't that novel.'" She peers at Isabella. "... Do you want to talk about why there are fewer Vulcans, or should I skip it?"

[warpfairy]

"The planet was destroyed. When I was a child, and on Earth."

[poll_the_stars]

"Oh," says Inavet. "I'm sorry."

[warpfairy]

"There are Vulcans left. But many fewer. My father is gone. I don't recommend bringing it up with other Vulcans, or part-Vulcans. Although the species prides itself on emotional regulation, it would still be impolite."

[poll_the_stars]

Nod, nod. "Yeah. I'm sorry."

[warpfairy]

"It's all right. You didn't know." Pause. "Magic can't put planets back, can it?"

[poll_the_stars]

"Nnnot through any way I know. Bringing back the dead's similarly likely-impossible. I am unwilling to actually declare it completely impossible, but we've had a very long time to work on the problem."

[warpfairy]

"Pity."

[poll_the_stars]

"Yeah. But we can do longevity, which is something."

[warpfairy]

"To what extent?"

[poll_the_stars]

"... My lifespan's measured in the thousands. I'm actually over a thousand already, and I'm considered rather young. I'm not fantastic at blood craft, but I've been getting a lot of practice with it lately. I know I could likely give a human an extra century or two, maybe. If I worked at it."