As Nikolai stirs, Shiva begins to move forward to embrace him but holds back when she notices Ling's hand rest on his arm. Backing up to lean on the wall, she looks on and waits for his answer to Ling's question.

Nikolai stares at Ling a moment, glances down at her hand, and takes hers in his, giving it a little squeeze. "I'm sorry... I, yes, I saw something. Something awful. A war on another planet or plane or universe... I don't know where exactly, but I'm starting to understand it more. We all need to bring this to light, all of us who has experienced this. My alternate me... I don't know if shared is the right word to use, but he shared his existence in this war with me. Showed me the awful things he has had to endure in his life and it was eye-opening to be sure. He is... frustratingly patient and calm. After enduring that I do not understand how he could be... an uncountable number of his people were rounded up into this camps and exterminated like vermin. Tortured. Experimented upon. It was..." he stops and shudders a bit. "Terrible." He sighs. "Who else has witnessed visions and what have you all seen? Now is the time to be open and honest, do not keep anything back." He glances over to Shiva with a nod, looking sheepish. It was a look they both knew well. 'Are we okay?'

"I saw some kind of alternate world as well, in a dream. It wasn't nearly as harrowing as your experience, Nik. Honestly it was kind of... pleasant. It was a city built on the slope of a mountain." Caio begins to pace in the room as he recounts his vision, like an anxious cat in a cage. "It was warm and lush, and there were sounds of music and partying coming from the streets and dwellings all around. There were these strange machines, similar to what dwarves might engineer, but there were no dwarves there only humans. And what appeared to be a vampire, who was my friend. Honestly it felt like a memory- someone else's memory. When I was in the bath earlier my reflection in the water changed. I was someone else, someone who looked like he fit in to that setting from the dream. But how could we have become... connected in some way to this strange plane? We were simply sitting in a tavern as we often do, it doesn't make sense."

Ling's eyes widen at Nikolai's tale and she seems even more confused by Caio's. Despite that, she doesn't miss the quick exchange of glances between Nik and Shiva, although she doesn't comment on it. Instead, she says: "I keep hearing a voice, an angry voice. Not all the time though, just sometimes, like when we were fighting... But she's nothing like me." Ling shakes her head, "I think it's some dark magic, I think someone cursed us, someone wants to confuse us with these hallucinations... Nik, what do we do?" She keeps holding on to his hand and looking at him like he holds all the answers.

The glance is exchanged as Shiva rolls her eyes with a smile. Finally coming forward, she sits on the bed and places a hand on Nik's shoulder. 

"I'm really glad that you're ok."  There is a pause as Shiva smiles softly at him, then she goes on "I haven't experienced much myself. The voice has spoken to me several times, but most of it has just been her saying that she 'understands' ".

 Several moments after explaining this, the voice is heard in Shiva's mind again "...because I do understand. I can see your life. Your suffering. And I'm sorry for it."

"Oh shit." Shiva's head swivels as she reflexively looks for a source to the voice, but there is none to be found.

Alaris pauses at the door, listening to the others share their visions and voices. When Shiva jumps, the paladin seizes the opportunity to step into the room.

"Nik, get dressed. Your nakedness has caused enough issues today," they grin as they toss him his clothing. "So, back to the Black Sheep? I have information from my temple, and a book. We need to palaver as a group."

"Right, yes, you should probably... get dressed. Or not. May be a bit cold." Ling grins, pushing up from the bed. "I guess we should get going. Are the staff unhappy with us already? I heard you yelling. And what would we need a book for?" She adds the second question with the sort of disdain she reserves for any objects that are neither valuable nor edible. 

Alaris shakes their head and frowns, "No, but they would have made off with Nik's gear if I hadn't stopped them. The book, I think, will be of interest to Nik, and central to our palaver."

Nikolai thanks Alaris as he takes his clothing and begins dressing in the open; they had already seen him naked, what was the point of modesty now? "No, it is more than someone trying to confuse us, Ling. It has something to do with this ring and the temporal displacement that Astrid sensed around us. We should return to the Black Sheep, as Alaris suggested. We all need to have some food and have a talk. This time I do mean we all speak openly and without reservation. Now is not the time for secrets. I do not mean to suggest we must all unload everything, but in regards to what has happened here with us and this visions or voices or whatever. And you know I do enjoy a good book, Alaris. Thank you." He winks at Alaris. Something about them always made Nikolai wonder if there was much more going on than what they allowed the others to see. "Come, before we cause any more disruptions here."

"Ok sure, sounds good. Back to the Black Sheep it is."  She gets up from the bed and makes towards the doorway

"I can just....talk to you like this?"

"....sometimes. I'm not quite sure how this works. But I'm not here all the time. I catch moments. I see much of your past mixing into your present."

"Ok. I'm not entirely sure what that means. But please warn me if you're going to flood my brain with some unfathomable cataclysm or something."

".....will do, smart ass."

Ling's brows furrow a bit at 'temporal displacement', but she nods along to the rest and together with everyone else, she heads downstairs where they are handed back their coats and weapons. The sun has already begun to set outside and the characteristic chill is creeping over the town. As they walk, huddled together, Ling pulls Shiva's arm to drop back a little. "Are you mad at me? Because you don't need to be, we'll still be sharing rooms, don't worry!" Ling grins at her friend, but her smile looks a little tense, betraying how scared she is of Shiva's response.

Pulling back a bit from the group, a sadness flashes in her eyes as she senses Ling's worry, "I'm not mad at you, honey. I was mad at Nik, but I believe that we understand one another now. Part of me is starting to see that this was inevitable. But you don't have to worry, we're good. I'm sorry if I scared you." Shiva pulls her into a hug and holds on to her for several seconds, before kissing the top of her head and letting go.

Ling snuggles into the hug, breathing in Shiva's familiar scent to ease some of her tension. Muffled by Shiva's coat, she says: "Okay." After Shiva let's go, she is back to her usual grin. "I'm inevitable? That's a really weird compliment, you know?" She starts walking beside Shiva again, then adds: "So... can I tell you about last night? Too soon? Too weird? How was your girl by the way?" 

The rise and fall of Ling's breathing brings Shiva a moment of peace and security. At the prospect of discussing Ling's evening, she makes a slight grimace, "Too soon, I think. I might need some time. But my girl was fantastic, totally my type. Gentle and caring, yet dominant and demanding. Her name was Sonya, by the way. Hopefully I'll get to see her again."

Ling rolls her eyes, but acquiesces. "At this rate, she'll have to get in line! So who was better, the vamp or her?" As Ling extracts all the juicy details from Shiva, the group slowly make their way back to the Black Sheep.

Shiva gasps with melodramatic shock at the notion of comparison "I could never say one was better. They are wine and chocolate, distinct and pleasurable in ways unique to each. Maybe we could have fun together, though Mistress seemed a little....territorial." She raises her wrist to look at the bracelet as she says this.

As the group tugs their clothes tight around them to ward off the oncoming cold, Alaris moves up next to Nikolai and says, "Hey Nik -- reach over here and feel how heavy my rucksack is right now." A grin belies the oddness of the request.

Nikolai is his usually taciturn quiet as they move through the city streets, he glances over at Alaris and their strange request, but does smile and reaches over to acquiesce the request. "What exactly am I feeling for?"

Quote from Lyrel >>

Nikolai is his usually taciturn quiet as they move through the city streets, he glances over at Alaris and their strange request, but does smile and reaches over to acquiesce the request. "What exactly am I feeling for?"

"Our next job, my friend. Our next job."

"And here I thought Ling was the only tease." Caio breaks his silence at Alaris' comment. "Must we still wait until we get to the Sheep to discuss this?"