Avagant

Shade notices the Observer's hat slide towards him, looking a little rumpled. The mannequin was momentarily delayed by the freezing of the water, before its body jittered and glitched right out of the ice. It began to slowly meander away from the action, every so often jolting forward in a flash of color. Something large grabbed at the plants covering the Observer. It glowed with a red hue and looked like large hands. Unmistakably, the arms were made of data.

Shade looked down at the hat, he grimaced slightly before looking up where it slid in from. Life's expression changed from frustration and anger to one of fear as he saw the hands of glowing data appear. Life quickly pulled his arms in and balled his hands into fists as the plants surrounding the Observer began growing faster and more spiky plants on the outside of the shield in an attempt to ward off the hands. Seeing the mannequin wander away Tide watched it go for a moment before looking back at the shield Life had made. Tide swung his hands around and the shield of ice melted away and moved in-between the plant shield and the hands. Tide quickly shot his hands upward and the water splashed upward, freezing instantly as it rose up, creating spikes as the water refroze into a new wall. This sudden motion made Shade let go of Tide for a moment, and in that moment, the aura around Tide vanished as he became clearer to see before Shade grabbed him again and pulled him back and the aura reappeared. The three of them took a couple steps forward at once, being careful not to move too far away from Shade's reach.

The hands continued to fight but they did illuminate a little. With this little bit of illumination, the group saw what became of the Observer. The arms were coming from the Observer, trying to be set free. The hat had slid off his head because the giant metal hands of Deltrax slammed shut around it, now on a new body. The already corrupted and sharp fingers now acted like giant jaws. The robe, doing its part, had flipped inside out and draped itself over the Observer like a wretched and spiny cloak.

Life's arms slowly dropped as he looked on and the plant shield faltered "N-no...I couldn't..." Shade's grip around Life tightened "There's nothing you could do..." Shade closed his eyes and muttered something in his native language. "And I was just starting to like that guy..." Tide said, his voice sounded a bit annoyed and his hand balled into a fist "The Hollow...should be on it's way out by now..." Life muttered to himself. He closed his eyes and whispered a prayer "Aurora...please...guide him..."

The melded and corrupted Observer breaks free from the plants, but takes deep, heaving breaths, holding its new head in one massive data-hand. It hunches over and pays no attention to the group, using its other to prop itself up. The mannequin too, stops in its place, but does not remain motionless. Instead, the mannequin begins glitching through a bookshelf back and forth, causing books to be thrown everywhere. It seems like both entities are trying to gain some semblance of a grasp of sapience, in their own weird way. A few books land at Shade's feet.

Shade briefly looks down at the books, glancing over the titles before tugging Life and Tide back slightly. They both look over at Shade who looks between the two of them and gesturing backwards with his head and begins walking slowly back towards the veil, pulling both Tide and Life with him. Life tries to maintain balance after being tugged but begins walking with Shade, Tide however did not walk with them and struggled to keep his footing. Looking at Shade, he begins shaking his head before turning his attention back to "The Observer" and plants his feet on the ground, being sure not to step on one of the books lying on the ground at their feet. "I have faith in him. I'm not leaving yet." Tide says adjusting his stance, to which Shade mumbles in frustration and Life looks between Sade and Tide with concern. A gentle snowy frost drifts down from Tide's hands leaving small flecks of snow under him, as the frost slowly creeps up his arm. He stares down the new entity and rolls his neck in anticipation, his face looking quite serious now.

The Observer lowered its hand and slowly began to turn its massive head towards Tide. The mannequin on the other hand, began to rifle through the books, tossing a few around, before moving on to the beakers and lab equipment, making a bit of a mess as it glitched around, interacting with everything. Shade ended up getting his by a book, though it hurt no less than being flicked. Curiously enough, Shade was struck by what appears to be a study journal.

Meanwhile, the Hollow had rushed out of Frank's House.

The Hollow waited patiently on the other side of the veil, unmoving and quietly staring at it, hoping to see someone step through...but nobody came. It waited a while longer before it stood up, closed its eyes tight, and it began counting the seconds..."...8...9...10..." before opening its eyes again...and again...still no one...The Hollow stood unmoving for a second longer before it began backing up. The Hollow turned around and began running towards the front door of the house. Any furniture placed inconveniently in its path as it ran was swiftly knocked aside as it charged in a full sprint toward and out the door. As it came outside stopped running for only a moment as it looked up and around, trying to find...anybody that was around.

The only person around, if it even was a person, was the entity beneath the tree. It was silently and slowly, swaying its head back and forth, looking down at the ground around it.

Unsure of what to do next, The Hollow did not hesitate, it ran up to the entity stopping just in front of it as it looked up at it. "Help! Need to get back to town!" it gestured towards the direction the group members had come into Transyl from when they passed through earlier "Get back quick! Avagant confusing..." it's expression seemed to change a little as it spoke. Instead of the standard blank stare it usually had, there appeared to be a hint of fear or perhaps sadness that could be seen both in its face and its movements as it appeared to be shaking slightly...

The entity tilted its head once before reaching out before it towards the gates of Transyl. The fog seemed to lift and the gates opened. Then, it reached down and nudged the Hollow forward, its touch was hardly noticeable.

The Hollow looked from the gate back to the entity, the shaking stopped "...Thank you." it said with a slow nod. It turned and started running towards the entrance of Transyl, briefly glancing back at the entity before it passed through the gates.

The Hollow appears on the side walk of a busy street, not far from the wax maker's stand. The quaint homes stacked around do not block out a clear view of the steeple for the cathedral not far away.

The Hollow looks around briefly before locking its eyes on the cathedral's steeple. It began swiftly running through the town towards the cathedral, nimbly ducking and weaving under and around the people who were out and about.

Kyuubi followed Tanalitu out of the doors, Daybreak was seen already outside lying down on the ground against the wall next to the doorframe and appeared to be sleeping...Kyuubi looked down at Daybreak, confused. Syrix tilted his head as he too looked down at Daybreak "didn't he come in with us when we went in?" he asked turning to look at Desire. Desire, who had just come out from the Cathedral stopped "hm?" she looked over at Daybreak, "that's odd...I thought..." she stepped over to Daybreak and knelt down to his level. She put a hand on his shoulder and looked at his face, "Daybreak? You alright sweetie?" she shook him a little. Something about Daybreak was...off, but it was hard to pinpoint what it was exactly, and he didn't seem particularly responsive, but he did make a strange sound when Desire shook him a little. Sky exited the building as he was looking through his book, studying the sketches he had taken, but stopped when he realized no one else was moving, "Oh. Uh...whats going on?" he asked, looking around at everyone breifly.

Tanalitu turns towards the harbor, ears perking up, nose taking deep sniffs. "Low tide already?" A light, salty breeze sways Tanalitu's fur. He turns towards away, but his ears instinctively rotate and bend to continue listening to the harbor. "It's early." He turns back.

Sky closes his book and looks out towards the harbor as well, closing his eyes and standing very still "the air might be different here but...it is rather refreshing..." he says as he put his book away "theres a strange...peaceful whimsy to it...something...hard to describe..." he took a deep breath in "do you feel it?" Sky asked as he turned to Tanalitu. Desire shook Daybreak a little more and he made a moaning sound as he lifted his head up, "nnggh...hmm?" he rubbed his eyes and opened them as he looked up at Desire. Desire flinched and for a brief moment she let go of Daybreak, blinking a few times before placing her hand back on his shoulder, "h-hey...you alright bud?" she said glancing back at the others. Daybreak sat himself upright looking around "yeah...I suppose I am..." he yawned revealing his long and sharp fangs as he stretched. Daybreak began pushing himself up to his feet and Desire stood up as well, Kyuubi glanced over at Tanalitu and Sky before looking back at Daybreak who was looking around, his face slowly becoming more and more confused he mumbled something quietly as he looked out at the landscape. "...where?..."

Tanalitu takes a hesitant step towards the harbor. "The wind feels stagnant." The receptors on Tanalitu's nose quiver. "The tide is turning. It shouldn't have been low to begin with." He takes another few slow steps before setting down his back, which breaks the cobblestone street quite suddenly and rumbles a few nearby stones. Tanalitu opens his mouth and lets his tongue flap in the wind while stretching out his arms. A membrane unfurls under his arms and his wings poof out, yet Tanalitu does not take off. While in a stance that would suggest he is enjoying the wind, he appears to be more concerned that anything else.

Sky looks concerned "you think something is wrong?" Sky looks at the pack in and takes a half step away from it "you look...worried." he said looking back up at Tanalitu. Desire looks over at Sky and Tanalitu and Kyuubi steps over to Daybreak "you sorta just...fell asleep without warning. Are you sure you're okay?" He crossed his arms, and Daybreak looked up at him "I guess I was just exhausted after what happened with the Morningstar." he shrugged while looking over at Tanalitu. Daybreak scratched the side of his head "...I...guees i just needed a good nap is all..."

Tanalitu does not respond for a moment, simply allowing the sea breeze to play its part. When the moment expires, Tanalitu lowers his arms and his wings disappear. Still keeping his mouth open and without turning, he puts his bag back on. For just a second longer, Tanalitu allows the wind to blow into his mouth, then he closes his mouth and swallows. Tanalitu's response is hardly more than a whisper. "...Putrefactive."

Sky looked on with more concern "putr...what?" he looked back out to the ocean. Sky shivers briefly and rubs the back of his neck. Daybreak perks up a little and looks around "what...what is..." Desire grabs Daybreak's shoulder again "you sure you took a long enough nap?" she said sarcastically but with a sympathetic smile "shh. Stop talking..." Daybreak put a hand up between him and Desire hand stood very still. Desire was caught off guard but remained silent, looking over at Kyuubi and Syrix who looked back in equal confusion. "Somethings...not right..." Daybreak looked out at the water in the distance before looking over at Tanalitu and then looking off behind him out at the town. It looked as if he was looking for something?

Tanalitu starts to walk towards the harbor, each step relatively cautious. His ears and nose focused while he once again opened his mouth and let his tongue hang down, catching the breeze in his mouth. He drags his heels across the ground, maintaining both feet being grounded while he walks.

"Kyuubi look." Syrix whispered, to which Kyuubi looked down at Syrix. He gestured with his tail over at Tanalitu and looked back over at Daybreak, and Kyuubi looked between the two of them. Kyuubi patted Desire's shoulder and whispered "stay with him." Before he stepped over to Tanalitu and matched Tanalitu's pace "something is...'not right' here? What's wrong?" He asked, leaning down and inspecting Tanalitu.

"The wind feels wrong, the harbor smells stagnant, the air tastes spoiled, and the ground is silent." Tanalitu pauses and turns to Kyuubi. "I can find out why when I get there. Its not a far walk."

Kyuubi looks out to the harbor and back at Tanalitu "if it concerns you this much then we should investigate. You'd know somethings wrong around here better than we would." He gestured to himself and Syrix. Sky grimaced as he closed his eyes to feel the wind again "I guess I'm just not as accustomed to the air here...but now that he mentions it..." he opened his eyes again, still looking rather perturbed. Kyuubi glanced back at Sky and wondered, he closed his eyes and activated his senses and took a deep breath in to see if he could detect anything.

With his now heightened senses, Sky can understand. The air smells faintly of seaweed and decay, but gets stronger closer to the harbor. How Tanalitu isn't sick is quite astonishing because any normal person would feel queasy. Something is indeed amiss and very wrong.