A Snowed-In Cave

Nike

I shook my head. "Don't feel bad. It's not like it's your fault or anything."

Jullien

"I guess," I said, training my eyes towards the door, catching sight of Trent passing-by as I did. "Looks like they're heading out. Can you tell where the people you're concerned about are at?"

Nike

"No. I just know where they arrived, but they've probably be on the move since then. I'll only be able to know their new location if they use their powers again, but that won't be likely, because they know I'll know."

Trent

"You should be better at this," Dessi complained, wrapping her arms around herself. "Honestly, this shouldn't be that hard. Walk around the lodge while casting the spell. Why the hell aren't we walking yet?"

"Why couldn't you have stayed in your other form," I retorted, rubbing my hands together and attempting to focus on the spell at the same time. "You're annoying enough as a cat, you're intolerable as a person. I'm a bit older than I used to be, you know, I can't just make something happen like some young thing."

"That's obvious," Dessi said, glaring at me. "It's freezing. At least try to go faster."

Muttering under my breath, I managed to pull together enough magic and formed the words together in my mind. Instantly a light glow formed where I'd gathered the magic into my hands.

"Dessi," I snapped.

"I'm on it!" she replied immediately, accessing our connection. The second she did a glow began to form on her as well, only instead of just her hands she managed to cover most of her body.

Sometimes she could annoy the hell out of me. Why couldn't age effect her abilities as well? Who cared if she was a familiar or not...

We immediately carried out the other steps of the spell, making sure to attach it to the ground surrounding the entire lodge. Once we were sure it was right, we focused making it connect in the air. Over all, it took a bit longer than ten minutes, but we got it done.

"I'm going in!" Dessi declared the second we'd finished. "It's freezing!"

And as I'd completely expected, she went back to her cat form and darted into the building. I didn't follow right away and instead turned my eyes to the area around the lodge. Why would anyone in their right minds be out in this weather, no matter what their reasons, it just didn't make sense to me.

Nike

I looked up as the familiar whose name I'd forgotten ran back in.

"Oh, is it done?" I asked.

Jullien

I spotted Dessi about the same time that Nike did. She seemed to pause for a second, then just continued on her way.

"You can probably take that as a yes," I told her, slightly amused. "Dessi isn't that social, so that's about as much of a response as you can expect from her. If she's come in..."

Right when I was about to say that Trent should appear soon enough, I could hear the lodge door open and someone stopping off their boots as it closed.

"Then Trent should be in," I finished, then raised my voice. "Did you get it done?"

The older man appeared in the archway and nodded.

"Yeah, it took a bit longer than I thought it would, but it's done. Hope it helps."

Nike

"Thanks," I said with a smile. "I really appreciate it."

I wasn't sure if it would actually do anything to help, but it was still worth a try.

Jullien

Trent ducked his head when he was thanked, turning to face the direction of the stairs.

"Well, you're welcome," he muttered. "Just call me if there's any problems, it's my lodge after all, anyone who steps in is my responsibility."

Not giving a chance for any response to his words, Trent took off towards the stairs. I laughed, turning my eyes back to Nike.

"He's about as bad as his familiar sometimes," I commented. "And... I guess all we can do now is wait and see if it worked?"

Nike

"I guess so. I just hope that Sybek gets lost in the snow or something. That's who the enemy is, by the way. They're this cult called the Sybek."

Jullien

"Sybek," I echoed, trying the word out. "I haven't heard of them, although I guess that makes sense if you're from another world."

Nike

"Yeah. They travel through different worlds to spread their message, but there are so many worlds to go to that word spreads a little slowly. Which is good, because the Sybek are horrible and try to corrupt everyone they come into contact with."

Jullien

I hesitated before asking my next question. I couldn't help but continue, however, since this sort of thing fell into my field of interest. I'd always studied the different creatures in our world, and had plans on being an expert, this stuff just seemed to fit under that bill.

"Excuse me for asking, but what makes them horrible? If people are easily corrupted by them, there must be a reason that it happens, there must be something appealing about it, I'm just curious is all."

Nike

"They start out by teaching people to use powers," I explained. "They set up schools in their headquarters. The lessons are free, so it's not like anyone technically has anything to lose by going--not at the beginning, anyway. The Sybek make public displays of their own powers in populated areas to show that what they're doing isn't made up. It's in the schools where they slowly start to corrupt people. They do it subtly in the beginning; they don't want to scare anyone away. They also use typical cult tactics and stuff to try to brainwash people. Most Sybek don't even know what they're working for. The ones who do don't seem to think there's anything wrong with it."

Jullien

I frowned, thinking the idea over.

"What do you mean by brainwashing?" I asked. "What's their purpose in it all?"

Nike

"Their ultimate goal is to destroy universes. They think theirs is the only one that should exist. It sounds ridiculous, I know... That's why they don't tell people that at the start. And by brainwashed, I just mean that they get people to think this idea is a good one and that the Sybek as a whole are benevolent."

Jullien

I stared at her, shocked.
"That's... that really is ridiculous. So you're part of a group opposing them, then?"
Well, I'd been trying to figure out if I was siding with the good guys, as nice as she'd been so far I'd hoped I was right. I guess I just found out that I was.

Nike

I nodded. "I'm a scout for the International Interplanar Soulbonder Organization, or IISO for short. The job of the IISO used to be gathering information on all the planes, keeping archives of it, doing research to further science, and helping interplanar travelers. We still do that, but our main job now is to protect the different universes from the Sybek."

Jullien

It was a lot to take in, but it was useful to know.
"Sounds like there's a lot going on," I told her, thinking. "What's a scout do?"
I suppose at this point I was getting into questions that didn't apply to the situation at hand, but it wasn't like I could do anything about what was going on. From what I understood, all we could do was wait... so might as well learn something while we did.

Nike

"We do reconnaissance and other kinds of information-gathering," I said. "Our missions involve either gathering information on what the planes themselves are like, or finding out what the Sybek are doing."

Jullien

"That sounds pretty awesome," I said, grinning. "Honestly, I love learning about unfamiliar things, and while fighting is something I'd rather avoid, the information-gathering about other... planes sounds like fun."

Nike

"It is," I told him. "Unfortunately, that part sort of goes hand-in-hand with Sybek encounters a lot of the time. Even when we don't mean to have it happen and we're not even doing recon on them, sometimes they just show up and wreck the whole thing. My team leader was almost killed on our second mission. This one random Sybek apparently had some sort of vendetta against him, and he hadn't even known it."

Jullien

"That sounds horrible," I replied. "You said almost, he's fine then?"

Nike

"Yeah," I answered. "He was in the hospital for a few days, though. Had to get a lot of stitches. He's fine now, though he has some new scars, I'm sure."

Jullien

"Sounds like a rough life," I said. I then searched my mind for something else to ask, and failed. "Things aren't nearly as tough here."

Nike

"What's it like living here?" I asked.