???: "Huh."
That was it.
No question.
No alarm.
Just-
Huh.
She turned her back on him and started walking away like what she did was normal everyday behavior.
Locke just stood there.
Locke: "…Wait—what? That's it?"
She gave a lazy wave over her shoulder while resting her scythe on both of her shoulders.
Locke: "You're not gonna ask—explain anything? Or question why there's a child out here? At night. Alone. In the middle of this?"
???: "Nope."
Locke: She summoned that weapon out of nowhere. And it's glowing. I wonder if she could teach me. Looks like she has a badge on her coat. What if she's part of some force? What if she's just a crazy freak? It can't hurt to ask for help. I mean what else do I have to lose.
Locke picked up his pace.
Locke: "Seriously? What if I told you I have no where to go and I need help."
???: "I mean… If you're alive, you already figured out the hard part. The rest isn't my problem."
Locke: "I almost died!"
???: "Almost."
She kept walking, Coat swaying behind her like the conversation already ended.
Locke had a confused and frustrated look on his face. Like he couldn't believe this woman.
Locke: "So you're just gonna keep walking away?"
???: "Yup."
Her voice was calm, almost cheerful. She wore a small smile on her face.
Locke kept a few paces behind. He told himself it was strategic; easier to keep her in sight without being a burden, but truthfully, he didn't want to walk next to her. Something about her confidence made him feel smaller. And the scythe. Especially the scythe.
She suddenly glanced over her shoulder, catching him staring at it.
???: "You're staring."
Locke: "It's glowing."
???: "Yup."
And that was it. She faced forward again.
Locke's thoughts were already spiraling.
Locke: Yup? Is that all she has? That thing could be made with the plasma from the sun or something and she just 'yups' me? No explanation? No curiosity about me? She clearly saw me almost get killed but apparently that's just an average tuesday for her. What is she, some kind of weird white creature slayer? Wandering weirdo?
They walked in silence for a bit. Well, she walked in silence. Locke's mind was everything but silent.
When she finally spoke, it was so casual it caught him of guard.
???: "I've seen a bunch of kids like you out here."
Locke: "And what happened with them?"
She shrugged
???: "How should I know? I don't really care."
Locke stopped dead.
Locke: Did she really just—? Yeah. She did. No hesitation. Maybe she's genuinely heartless. Maybe she's just numb after seeing too much.
Locke clenched his fists tightly.
Locke: "Do you know anything about the quiet hand?"
???: "…Uh… Nope."
Locke: "You're a horrible liar."
???: "Nobody really knows anything about them."
She glanced back, like she was about to say something else. Then her brow furrowed slightly.
???: "Your flow is pissing me off."
Locke: "My what?"
???: "Connection to the veil."
Locke: "What's that supposed to mean?"
???: "Means you're weird."
Locke: "Weird how?"
???: "I dunno."
Locke: "…"
Infuriating. Absolutely infuriating.
Locke kept following her. His shoes crunching in the dirt. She didn't speed up or slow down, just kept that same steady, lazy pace.
Locke: The veil? Does it have anything to do with the weird tricks I saw? Like her weapon? She probably won't explain. She's clearly the kind of person who would watch you drown and then tell you your form was sloppy.
They walked through trees, bushes, and mud until Locke couldn't recognize where they were anymore. He still followed her since he had nothing better to do.
Then Locke's stomach betrayed him with a long growl.
Without looking back, she reached into her coat, pulled out a small, paper-wrapped bun, and tossed it over her shoulder. He almost dropped it before catching it awkwardly.
Locke: "…Thanks?"
???: "Mhm."
He unwrapped it. It was still warm. Sweet, too, like something from an actual bakery, not the dusty scraps he was used to. He took a bite before realizing he was staring at her back again.
???: "That's basically adoption, by the way."
Locke nearly choked.
Locke: "What??"
???: "Fed you once, you're basically mine now."
Locke: "I don't think that's how it works—and what do you mean adoption? You sure didn't seem to care about me earlier."
???: "Well, you're not a voidborn, or connected to the veil strongly. It's like you're just meant to piss me off since every time your flow fluctuates I can feel it. But you're like a walking mystery box, I wonder what you're signature could be."
Locke: "I'm not even gonna pretend I can understand what you're talking about."
???: "What's your name."
Locke: "Wow, asking for my name when you never bothered to give yours first."
???: "Sylvi, what's yours?."
Locke pouted.
Locke: "I'm not telling you."
Sylvi: "Why."
Locke: "Because you weren't giving me answers to my questions."
Sylvi: "Hmm. Then what if I answer one of your questions."
Locke: "Then, what's up with all this connection stuff. How did you spawn that weapon out of no where."
Sylvi: "The veil flows through everything. Your connection strength is what determines your overall signature ability scaling."
Locke: "Then what's your ability."
Smiling she turned around.
Sylvi: "Wouldn't you like to know."
Locke threw his hands up.
Locke: "That's literally the point of me asking!"
Sylvi smiled.
Sylvi: "And that's why i'm not telling you. You don't just hand over information about your veil signature over to anyone that easily. That's like giving them the master key to your spine."
Locke:"…What?"
Sylvi: "Exactly."
Sylvi's head shifted to the right and started heading another direction, as if she was just wandering around up until now.
She stepped over a gnarled tree root without missing a beat, scythe shifting slightly on her shoulders. Locke had to hop over it to keep up.
Locke: "You're the worst conversation partner i've ever met. Even Niko was better than you."
Sylvi: "Maybe you aren't trying hard enough."
Locke pinched the bridge of his nose.
Locke: "I'm starting to think you're deliberately trying to make me lose my mind—anyway, where are we going?"
Sylvi's head turned slightly, eyes narrowing.
She adjusted her grip on the scythe, letting it slide into her right hand. The green glow along its blade pulsed faintly, almost like it was breathing.
Locke: "Hey I know you randomly started heading another direction, now you're acting really weird, what's going on."
Sylvi: "…"
Locke: "If you weren't gonna say anything now why couldn't you have said it earlier when we were talking just fine."
Sylvi smiled.
Sylvi: "And ruin the surprise?"
A beam of light flashed down with ash clouds the direction Sylvi was facing.
Sylvi: "…"
With less than a millisecond delay, she took one step forward towards the light, and sliced the beam before anything had come out of it.
Locke was stunned. The gracefulness of the swift slice and the step was all timed to perfection.
Ash burst up where the beam landed. The beam disappeared leaving nothing behind.
Locke: What—Did she just kill another one of those weird ghost looking things? I couldn't even see it this time—but that strike. Does she have some speed ability? She reacted extremely fast… maybe she stopped time? No I wouldn't have been able to see the swing. But that swing, the timing, and the fact that she knew something was happening. Was it all instinct? Or was it something else entirely—
Sylvi: "Can you shut up. My heads gonna burst with all your thoughts. You read into situations too much."
Locke: "…Huh."
Sylvi: "I'm saying, if you freeze and think about everything, your gonna end up dead quickly. Unless you're me."
Locke: "Unless you're me? What do you mean?"
Sylvi: "I dunno."
She smiled while closing her eyes, her scythe disappeared.
Locke: "…"
Infuriating. Absolutely infuriating.