EVENTS:

Rosa feels a collective shrug from the echoes.

We do not know. Recognising him as a leader and possible mate just feels... Natural.



Eigla tries to recall her memories of Klimt. He’s always been eager, but often naive and unpredictable. In the fragments she’d dreamt of before, she had tried to end him, more than once. Still, he seemed to somehow trust and rely on her. She remembers... Vague feelings of jealousy, whenever he talked with Rosa - She was Eigla’s sword, not his.

Other than that... Well, he was a Boy. Youthful, strong, and most of all rare. Something about his demeanour made him seem like a natural leader, and a reliable companion - At least, until one got to know him better. She could understand why so many had fallen for him before, but did not share such attraction. In fact - The thought of loving someone other than Rosa made her sick to her stomach.

As to Rosa - The gungirl was the one who decided to spare him, but was it out of affection? They seemed friendly enough, but was there something more? Eigla scans her mind, searching for gestures, implications, anything that might suggest a romantic relationship, but finds nothing.



Meanwhile, Kelly keeps her voice level, slowly ticking boxes on a spreadsheet in her hands.

Kelly: ”Hm. And, I deny your request. Her knowledge has proven useful before, and I suspect it will in the future. I will not let you drag her into danger.

Hmmmm. Hm? You do care, about her, don’t you? Turn that into motivation. Do not fail me, and you may return to see her once again.”

EVENTS:


Kelly regards Klimt with her usual mix of mild annoyance and apathy, then turns her attentions back to her spreadsheet. The boy, meanwhile, turns to face the rest of the party, when a sudden,
intrusive thought appears in his inner monologue.


Curie left with Molly? That sounds risky. Do you know if she's okay?


Malia smiles internally. Poor Klimt, leaving his mind always so unguarded. Accessing it amounts to walking through an open door.



Meanwhile, Rosa and Eigla walk across the windmill fields. There are a few sentries and scout vehicles still lingering amid the creaking pillars, but for the most part they are alone. The everpresent mist makes it hard to see the path ahead, but a great rumbling can be heard in the distance, like the rhythmic footsteps of an army atop the sodden sands.

Eventually, the fog parts, and the abyssal migration reveals itself. It is as Sally had said - Hundreds, perhaps thousands of mud kings, violently unrooting one another then dragging themselves haphazardly along the flood plain, followed by uncountable legions of mudmen. To Eigla, it seems like complete chaos, with little purpose or direction, but Rosa recognizes a sort of... Rhythm, to it, like the long forgotten steps of a dance not meant for bipeds, to a siren's song no human ears could comprehend.


The sea beckons.


There are a few kings within walking distance. Some are already uprooted, surrounded by their shambling court, while a few remain in their pits, seemingly awaiting their turn to rise. Which should Rosa try to contact?

EVENTS:

Leaving Eigla a safe distance behind, Rosa walks towards the nearest mud king, as the semi-deflated creature drags itself along the wet sand. Focusing her thoughts, she attempts to convey her message in the wordless language of her abyssal dreams. The infrasound transmits badly through the air, and her overgrown throat feels raspy as it is forced to breathe something other than muddy water.

For a moment, it feels as if she was not heard, but soon the creature turns itself to face her, staring blankly at her armored form through the empty orbits of the hundred skulls embedded in its gelatinous abdomen. A reply begins to echo back, but it's a tentative, questioning sound.

"Who? You... Are you One? You sing the song, but wear the hard shell of the land. Who?"

A few nearby kings join the chorus, their voices growing muffled and less coherent with the distance. Rosa feels the Echoes collectively hold their breaths in anxiety.



__________________________


Klimt connects the dots and recognises the intrusion as Malia's work. He's not sure how she's managing to access his mind, but the feeling is the same as when she soothed his fears during the Valkyrie fight. He thinks back a reply, and it is seemingly acknowledged. Not a bad way to communicate in secret!


He hears a loud "hmph" coming from behind his back. Sally is sitting upon an ammo crate, regarding the party with a scowl.


Sally: "So, ye let 'em go by their lonesome inta the maws o' danger, eh? Bunch o' spineless scallops, ye all. I shoulda stuck with the white whale and the shorty with the dumb-lookin' sword. T'least they ain't cowards."