Crystalline Cave (Shadow, PM for Invite)

While she had no concept for time this cave had been her home for quite some hours now. Seren had explored every corner of it, but never dared to step out the entrance. Her curiosity did manage to get her to sit in front of it once and peer into the vast world beyond. Outside there was all sorts of green. Plants and trees, and she even spotted some birds flying around. It was all very alive and harmonious, it was beautiful. Why didn't she go outside? Well, for one she didn't know what that bright light would do to her and this cave was the only thing she could link to her home, the Fade. If she woke up here than maybe she could get back here as well. Her mind was filled with doubt about everything, even going back to the Fade even if she got the chance. For now she was thinking things over in the central chamber of the cave.

In the time she had already spent in this cave she had learned a lot about herself. She could shift through matter as if it wasn't even there, summon the familiar energies of the fade and link her own being to another. All this information had been pre-imprinted in her brain, as some sort of survivalist guide. The first two she practiced, phasing through several crystal formations and firing some bolts at the cave walls. She didn't understand the need for harming even these cave walls, nor did she know what to link up with, but the phase shifting proved to be fun and she could see the uses already. What if things out there were dangerous? She had to leave this place eventually.

This physical body, which she had taken a look at in a pond of water, still gave more questions then it answered. The cloth she wore didn't protect her from the cold very much, she wished she had more. It was warmer near the entrance, but in here her body shivered to keep itself warm. On top of that a grumbling sound escaped her body every now and then, with a feeling of emptiness accompanying it. Why did this happen to her specifically, couldn't they just take another? She let out a sigh unintentionally and pondered on about what to do.

A few minutes passed as Seren sat on the floor with her legs folded, motionless and with a rather bothered look on her face. What bothered her wasn't whether she was going take some action or not but more what exactly she was going to do. Try to return to the Fade through some unknown miraculous feat or simply step outside and see what this world had to offer. Initially she firmly decided on the first one, but as she thought about it more and concluded she didn't even know were to start the second option grew more attractive. Never did she have much trouble deciding when the thoughts of all the fade spirits were around her. They had answers for questions she didn't even know about, but now those were missing, severed by this hardly practical human body.

Just then a sound echoed through the cave, originating from the entrance. It instantly returned her from her thoughts and made her jump up from the ground. The shallow ceiling above her wasn't that friendly either, or so she now noticed, as she hit her head against it and a slight feeling of pain spread through her skull.

“Agghh...”

She let out a short cry in pain and reached for her head. Instinctively she entered her phased form, too late as the damage had already been done. While recovering from this strange feeling she quickly looked around, didn't notice anything different and moved over to the nearby opening that led to the entrance. With her body partially inside the wall she peeked around the corner and was blinded by the light glowing in from the outside just as she was the first time. There was definitely something there but she couldn't quite make out what. Still in phased form she quickly moved her head out of sight again and nervously began to fiddle with her hands. What to do now? Hide and wait for it to go away, or just confront it? These pointless debates were getting her nowhere...

(( Side note: Changed appearance picture in her application for a better reference and a superhero like outfit. It's a rushed edit but it should do. ))

The footsteps steadily closed in on her position. Seren stopped her fiddling as the sound got louder and eventually even held her breath in. She wasn't trying to hide anymore but without knowing what to expect it was hard to jump right out in the open. The figure passed her by, completely missing her hugging the wall, and she followed it with a nervous set of eyes. The similarities between the two of them eased her worries but she wasn't completely convinced yet. Slowly she let her still transparent body slide into the rocky surface in order to cut off the 'intruder's' path. Her movements through the stone were both fast and silent as sound had no place to go in solid matter. Within moments she stood before the girl, still submerged within the stone, gazing into her eyes for a moment before stepping onward. It had to happen now, she couldn't stay in this cave forever. Besides, she was starting to feel weaker and weaker and this cave had been a strain on her body since she woke up here.

Brianna still carefully made her way though the cave when she emerged from the wall in front of her. Her right hand came out first, fiercely emanating a blue glow and was aimed at the girl, followed by the rest of her body. She tried to maintain a serious face but the moment she was clear of the wall the fatigue hit her in full force. The phase-walk had drained a lot of her energy and she didn't have much left to begin with. Color came back to her body as she left her phased form and dropped to her knees, the energy in her hand flickering until it vanished. Another sigh left her mouth, simply because she didn't know what to do anymore. She had startled this girl and for what? Now she could barely make herself to look her in the eyes, instead dropping her gaze to the floor. Oh how stupid she felt right now.

While the first reaction she got was a shriek that echoed throughout the cave, the second was quite the opposite. It was obvious from her gesture that she didn't mean any harm, at least not after seeing her collapse to the floor. The girl gently spoke up, the words ringing in her ears, not finding the meaning behind them. The fatigue would come and go, tied in with the strength that was left in her body. Right now that moment of emptiness had passed and she was thinking clearly again. To make sense of it all she had one thing left to do, something she hoped wouldn't be held against her. As she was pulled up from the floor and was supported on her wobbly stance she reassured herself. She had enough left for this.

Without leaving any room for any kind of reaction she quickly laid her hand on the girl's face, making sure to place her thumb underneath the eye and the rest above. Eye contact lasted only a second before Seren closed hers. The preparation came as natural as the rest of the link. The two minds connected and one began to search for the vital information it needed. To a human it could only be described as an ocean breeze that gently carried you on its current. While certainly not unpleasant she didn't like the thought of forcing it on anybody, yet she was kind of forced to do so here. The concept of language, speaking and the most basic of human instincts filled her head and before long she knew what those words just now meant. As she opened her eyes and the link faded away the words I'm sorry rang through the air, seemingly without origin. They were repeated soon after, now clearly coming from Seren's throat.

“I..I'm sorry.” She meant it. Not once but twice did she do something that wasn't right. “I didn't know what else to do.”

The girl didn’t approve and rightly so. Still she continued to support her towards the exit of the cave. The sunlight gradually got closer until they were entirely engulfed by it. The world looked much better in all this light, with more life and color. Seren felt stupid for staying in that gloomy cave for so long now that she was here. It wasn’t as scary as she thought either, but that was probably because of her company, even if the silence was somewhat uncomfortable. While she couldn’t make up for her actions just yet, she could try to explain them at least.

“I’m new at all of this, please understand. I at least needed to be able to communicate with you and never meant you any harm. I made sure not to take anything else. Please, just say something so I know this works and I’m doing it right.”

She was actually quite sure she was doing it right but she didn’t like this tension between them one bit. This was her only link to this world right now and the only one who could give her some answers straight away. The fact that she could barely walk only made it worse.

Brianna assisted her in getting into the strange device parked a few meters away from the cave entrance. Did humans create these? How ingenious. It didn’t look like it but it was strangely comfortable and instantly made her forget about the cold hard floor she had woken up on. Thankfully the woman, Brianna as she was called, replied to her plea.

“My name?”

She tilted her head in curiosity. She knew about the concept of names but had only used designation up till now. Individuality only existed to a small degree and you were part of a group entity, nothing more. She was second of the tracer group, Si T’racen in human tongue, in charge of finding and repairing anomalies within the Fade along with her brethren. It was easy work but of great importance. Prolonged leaks into this world would create dimensional tearing. It had happened before, luckily interpreted by the inhabitants of this world as something supernatural, but not long enough to cause any severe damage.

“We never use names…” Her tone had a touch of sadness to it. With her newfound knowledge of this world she regretted not being herself more instead of living as a group entity and even a little jealous of what she had felt in the mind she just touched. While names were not needed due to the partially shared conscious, individuality was not forbidden nor was it looked down upon, it just felt unnecessary at the time.

“I am Si T’racen, literally meaning ‘Second amongst Tracers’ in your language. It is no name but it serves as my personal identification.”

Now that the group conscious was gone and she fully controlled her own thoughts it felt kind of harsh referring to herself with something resembling a single digit. At least Brianna had a name she could call her own, one that sounded beautiful to Seren. She wouldn’t easily forget it now either, with it being the first name she had ever heard.

Brianna frowned to herself. This girl really was mysterious. Strange powers, a seeming inability to speak a few minutes ago and now she was confessing that she didn't have a name? Not to mention the fact that the Titan still didn't know how she'd found her way here, or what was going on with her ghostly friends. Funnily enough, though, Brianna found herself more concerned with the melancholy tone of the girl rather than all of the questions she wanted answers to.

'Si T'racen?' Brianna stumbled over the pronunciation, struggling to mimic the flow of the words from the girl's tongue. 'That's... kind of a mouthful.'

And awfully impersonal, she added to herself as the girl translated the phrase.

We could call her Tracy.

No.

Sita?

I don't know...

What about Seren?

Brianna stopped for a moment. Seren. It did have a nice ring to it. And if they were going back to Titans Tower, she was going to have to introduce the girl somehow.

(I'm so sorry about the ridiculous reply time. School and laziness, among other things, not to mention Chrome crashing on me and making me lose my post twice. >_> So much rage. Anyway, are you okay with this post? Having Brianna name Seren seemed to carry on from your post nicely, but it's a pretty big thing for me to do with your character, so do tell me if you'd rather I changed my post.)

((Don’t worry about it, these things happen. My post isn't that substantial, so we're even I was hoping you would go with the name thing, so I’d rather thank you for it than make you change it.))

A soft chuckle left her lips as Brianna tried to pronounce her ‘name’. It instantly caused her cheeks to flush a little as she experienced another new feeling. Was it normal that they were this profound, or was it simply because she didn’t experience them until now? At least this one felt right and didn’t give her a sense that something was dragging her down.

“A mouthful? I suppose it is a bit hard to pronounce isn’t it?”

Another chuckle passed through her lips. She could probably share the knowledge of her language through a meld but that wouldn’t do much good right now. She was right though, it wasn’t a simple word in this alphabet. Brianna had mentioned basics, plural, so she probably had more questions. Things like what she was doing here, where she was from. Seren would be happy to grant her an answer to anything she would like to know. With their bumpy start it wouldn’t be good to keep things from her. Besides, she didn’t have anything to hide. But hopefully Brianna would take her somewhere she could rest soon though. She was clear as day but tired from the overwhelming amount of new information.