The Roguish Type

[cageunemptied]

It had all happened so quickly. She had finally, finally, gotten away from the gilded cage that had been her home for as long as she could remember. And Booker, while a bit on the enigmatic side (not to mention more than a little sour in the face), had promised to take her to Paris, which she'd been dreaming about her whole life. It had all been too wonderful to be true.

And so it was. Booker had killed a man - killed! - and Elizabeth had been so horrified by it that she'd fled from him. "Get away from me!" she had cried as he pursued her, and when she'd found herself at a dead end, something had happened.

She'd found a Tear, and without thinking, had opened it and run through - but what she had found on the other side hadn't been anything like what she had spent nearly her entire life looking at. It was beautiful, just as Columbia was - but it was more vibrant, more... innocent, somehow.

The young woman looked about herself in wonder and awe, completely oblivious to anything but the beauty around her.

Comments

[youstillneedme]

See, that's exactly the problem. We'd have to get people togeher and actually think about it and it's just not really worth that kind of trouble.

[While they walk the walls have been growing up around them - the first of the tunnels into the underground of the city isn't far from where they currently are.]

[cageunemptied]

Does that mean you haven't thought of it, or that you'd rather not?

[She looks around at the walls, occasionally running ahead to examine something of interest.]

[youstillneedme]

Eh, a little of one; a little of the other. I'm pretty sure no one actually in charge has thought about either, if that's what you were wondering.

[A moment or three further and they're well and truly into the tunnels. The paths they're walking on are raised enough to be above the water level, but it's clear enough that this is very much a part of the infrastructure of the city.]

I can't actually get you to the heart of the city. But this is a lot of how it works. The water's coming from the falls but those are out a ways.

[cageunemptied]

That's amazing!

[Instantly, she lights up, running ahead of him to explore the area. She whirls around, half-dancing with joy as she takes it all in.]

This is wonderful, Braig. I've never seen anything like this before.

[youstillneedme]

Pretty sure it's one of a kind.

[Not that he's been to very many worlds, but still, he's pretty sure that not everywhere would have the sorts of things necessary to make this kind of infrastructure actually feasible.

Maybe he'll have to ask about it someday.]

[cageunemptied]

I can see why.

[She laughs, turning to look at him, as cheerful as if she had never seen her former companion kill.]

Tell me, Braig - what do you do when you're not welcoming wayward travelers such as myself?

[youstillneedme]

Who, little old me?

[The question is mostly rhetorical. Or at least, he doesn't exactly allow her enough time to fit in an answer before he's moving right along.]

I'm part of the guards. Keeping everything here safe, that's me.

[cageunemptied]

[She gives him a skeptical, albeit amused, look at his false modesty.]

The guards, hm?

[He doesn't look like a guard, but looks can be deceiving.]

[youstillneedme]

Yep. Up at the castle most of the time, but we cover the streets themselves, too.

[To be fair, he does a lot more of the latter than the former, but he is/i> still a castle guard at the end of the day.]

[cageunemptied]

You live in a castle? That sounds wonderful. Do you like it there?

[Well, he doesn't look like a guard, not much, but she's trying not to judge him by appearance.]

[youstillneedme]

[He doesn't, it's true. But looks can be deceiving, and he's a pretty good shot with those arrowguns of his. Not that those are particularly visible just at the moment, but that's simply par for the course, for him.]

Don't tell me you think I'd actually stay there if I didn't like it?

[cageunemptied]

A lot of people stay in a lot of places they don't like, not least because they may not have a choice.

[Her tower had never given her much of one, at least.]

[youstillneedme]

Yeaaaaah, okay. But see, that's the thing. There's a choice, here.

[cageunemptied]

[A troubling thought hits her, and her face falls - she has nowhere to stay, not unless she wants to go back to her tower.

And she is never going back.]

What kind of choice?

[youstillneedme]

[There's a blink at that, from Braig. For that he knows, objectively, that not all choices are good, that there are things that sometimes people dread, he hasn't had a lot of personal experience with that sort of thing.]

Easyyy there. It's not that kind of choice. Just that we don't have to live in the castle if we want. People aren't gonna make you live somewhere.

[cageunemptied]

[She manages a small, half-sincere laugh at that, but she can't help but be worried; it's not as if she can pull a house out of one of her Tears.]

Well, then, where should I go? I don't really know anyone here, and I've never really been anywhere except my tower.

[youstillneedme]

Eh, it's up to you?

[There's a shrug to go with his words, although he can at least admit she has a point about not knowing anyone.]

There's probably room in the castle, but you'd have to ask the guy in charge, there.

[cageunemptied]

[At that, Elizabeth blinks up at Braig in surprise, a bright smile overcoming her face.]

Do you really think so?

[youstillneedme]

Yeah. It's a pretty big castle, and right now it's mostly just us there.

[That and Ansem the Wise is pretty friendly, and Braig is willing to bet there's room enough for someone washed up from another world besides.]

[cageunemptied]

"Us?"

[He'd mentioned others, of course, but Elizabeth is nothing if not curious.]

[youstillneedme]

Yeah. Me 'n the other guards, mostly, plus a couple others who sort of come in and out now and again.

[cageunemptied]

Oh?

[A moment, and she smiles at him, bright and hopeful.]

Might I be able to meet them?

[youstillneedme]

Sure thing. I was gonna have to head back anyway, and no one's saying I can't bring someone back with me.

[cageunemptied]

Thank you!

[She almost can't believe it. She's out, and she has a chance to start anew.

She has no intentions of letting it slip past her.]

[youstillneedme]

Hey, no problem.

[He's no stranger to wanting to get more out of life than one has previously been offered, and the worst that came is that Ansem doesn't think he has room enough for a wayward stray.

(Which Braig honestly doubts, to be honest.)]

You wanna head back that way or keep up with the tour?