Sometime After Tailscassie_of_troyMay 21 2010, 15:40:39 UTC
Cassandra was walking back from her special archery spot. When she stopped to readjust the balance of the quiver over her shoulder, she spotted him. Barney or Billy? Both were listed among the missing, according to Ianto's list, so either one would be a bit surprising. She had yet to determine if the surprise was pleasant or not.
After a few moments of observation, she decided it couldn't possibly be Barney. The gait was all wrong, not to mention the fact that he wasn't soliciting sexual favors from any of the passing demon girls, and there was a population of them present. Billy. Unless, of course, there was now a third one of them running around. In Rowan, that seemed every bit as likely as anything else.
She watched again, resting her knuckles against her lips. Try as she may, she could not pick out a separate, new identity. It had to be Billy. Still, something just felt wrong. Cassandra opened up her senses. There it was. The aura was completely different. Still sparkling like a worldwalker, but the color was wrong. "My, my, my," she mused aloud. "What's happened to you?"
As Billy continued on his mini adventure he couldn't help but feel as if he was being watched. He'd noticed from time to time that he was. He only assumed it was because whomever was staring had known the previous Billy. Not that he looked like something they could eat. He hoped.
Finally he nearly passed a voice, stopped right in the middle of his step, and turned around to face the woman. Was she talking to him? A quick glance said yes.
"I'm sorry...do I know you?" He tried to sound a little less confused than he truly was. Being Billy, that was a hard feat.
Cassandra raised an eyebrow. Well, he had engaged her, time to go in. She walked over to him, holding the strap of her quiver with both hands. Today was one of her more presentable days, really. Since it was her day off from the tavern, she had taken the time and trouble to both wash and actually comb her hair. It was still a wild mane of mahogany curls, but at least they were curls rather than tangles.
Given his confusion, she figured her opening bid should probably be her initial question. "Billy or Barney?" she asked. "I assume it's Billy. You don't have the proper gait to be Barney and honestly, if I thought you were Barney, we wouldn't be having this conversation now. Where have you been?"
He watched the woman come closer, her figure more visible. And making him more nervous than he wanted. She looked like one of those warriors from a medieval story but then again, there were few things here that didn't. Still. She had a bow.
Barney? There was another person like him? He would definitely have to research this alternate universe theory. He wondered how many people actually looked like him, but that would be for another time. It appeared as though she knew the 'other' Billy. To this he nodded slowly, "I am Billy but not that Billy."
Yeah. That totally made sense. With a sigh, he folded his arms. "I mean, not the Billy that I think you know. We're still the same person, I guess? But from different time frames." He hoped any of that made sense. He was still trying to figure it out himself.
She frowned thoughtfully, trying to make sense of that statement. "The tree drew you in a second time?" was the best guess she could come up with. That made a bit of sense, actually. And posed some interesting questions about the nature of magik in Rowan. She wondered, for example, what would happen if another version of her, perhaps from a different time of her life, were brought here. Would that second Cassandra also be a shaman? Not necessarily, apparently.
"Cassandra," she told him, by way of introduction. "It's nice to meet you...again?"
"Mmmm no, this is my first time getting drawn in by the tree." He scratched the side of his head as he mused on it more. "I'm guessing there's either a parallel universe to the one I came from, another time frame from my universe, or another universe altogether..." Billy realized he was babbling and cleared his throat.
"I guess you can say that 'other' Billy and I are the same person, but at different points in our life." He thought that would make more sense but after it came out of his mouth he found that he'd confused himself. Fighting back a sigh he nodded as politely as he could to her. "You too?"
Cassandra nodded once. "Yes. Although as far as I can tell, there has only been one of me here so far." One too many, according to some individuals, but there was hardly a point in dwelling upon that particular fact. "If I understand it all correctly, I come from a world marginally the same as yours, but from a rather different time. I must admit, it's been rather hard to sort out, and I've been here nearly a year."
She tried to remember everything she had learned from Penny and the other Billy. "If I recall correctly, you and Penny come from a place called Los Angeles in a country that I've never even heard of, some three thousand years after my little point in history." She paused. "And you enjoy singing."
He listened closely as she spoke. So she had known the other him. Billy began to nod at what she was relaying back to him, before blushing in light embarrasment about the singing part. "Yeah, I..I sing sometimes. It's just a, er way to pass the time sometimes."
Trying to recoop he straightened. "But yes, we are from from Los Angeles. I also like to build things. Mechanics, science, that kind of thing."
Honestly, Cassandra didn't know enough about mechanics or science to give any sort of decent reply. As far as she was concerned, building things generally meant building ships or walls or the occasional wooden horse. She gave a vague nod. Then she transitioned. "Your aura is different from the last Billy," she told him thoughtfully. "He was a wizard. I don't know if he was a good one or not, it's hard to tell what a good wizard really looks like. Probably the same as a bad wizard."
She paused. "Has anyone bothered explaining the way magik works here in Rowan?" she asked. "I don't know how long you've actually been here."
Cassandra supposed that Penny had other things in mind as far as Billy was concerned. Conversation probably took a backseat. No matter. "There are essentially eight kinds of magiks in Rowan." For purposes of the conversation, she would skip over the whole druid business. It was still a process understanding it herself. And a small part of her did actually miss Mikney, for all of his blunder. "Mages, shamen, wizards, witches, sorcerers, enchanters, magicians, and necromancers." She ticked them off on her fingers, shuddering at the thought of necromancers. It was just...well...unappetizing.
"Each sort as a different set of abilities at their command. For example, enchanters are manipulative bastards who can get into your head and read your minds, manipulate your thoughts, sense your emotions." Cassandra had little tolerance for that sort of business. She had watched it happen many times, during her spiritual walks. "Most, though not all, of the worldwalkers have developed one of these sets of power since coming through the Gate," she told him.
As she named each kind of magik, counting off of her fingers, Billy's eyes seemed to widen in surprise. His brows raised incredulously. This sort of magik was different than anything he'd ever heard about before, and he'd hardly done research. He was a man of facts and science after all.
Billy was sure he wouldn't have any tolerance for that sort of thing either. But he nodded to acknowledge that he was paying attention. "Did you develop any uh, magik?"
She gave him a bit of an amused smirk. Did he think she was talking about auras for sport? Still, best not to chastise him for simply not knowing these things yet. "Yes," she replied with a slight nod. "I am a shaman. Which means I can read people's auras, communicate with the gods," she made a sour face, "and astral project myself."
Cassandra paused for a moment, trying to remember what she was miss. Oh yes. "And," she continued, "I can do this." She held up her hand, palm to the sky. Opening up her senses slightly, she called out to the nearest bird, hoping it wasn't that Cherry girl in disguise. Clearly, it wasn't because after a moment's concentration, the bird twittered and fluttered out of the tree, landing on the heel of her palm. Truth to tell, the sensation of the bird's feet on her skin was a bit unpleasant.
"Not the most useful kind of magik," she admitted. But, lest she be taken for a fool, she added in a darker tone, "Although it does allow me to essentially know anything I want about a person's private business."
Billy watched with amazement as the Cassandra held her hand to the sky and a random bird fly to her palm. That was pretty impressive. It was very impressive actually. But his slight adoration turned to an awkward feeling at her dark tone.
"Uh..Seems as though privacy isn't exactly a factor here." Awkward. Scary. Yeah.
"No," she admitted. "There's precious little privacy to be had, even in the journals." On the whole, this particular point scarcely bothered Cassandra. Having grown up in a harem, where privacy was a luxury rather than a right, she could acclimate to living in close quarters. She had observed, however, that it was harder on others, particularly the ones with Billy's sort of accent.
"Anyway," she continued, her tone lightening up, "I hear tell that there are books about magik in the worldwalker embassy, if you wish to study the subject further."
Upon hearing about the embassy Billy perked up. "Tails told me about that place and gave me directions. I'm definitely going to have to stop there sometime."
After some more thought he finally added. "Are there books on other things there?"
After a few moments of observation, she decided it couldn't possibly be Barney. The gait was all wrong, not to mention the fact that he wasn't soliciting sexual favors from any of the passing demon girls, and there was a population of them present. Billy. Unless, of course, there was now a third one of them running around. In Rowan, that seemed every bit as likely as anything else.
She watched again, resting her knuckles against her lips. Try as she may, she could not pick out a separate, new identity. It had to be Billy. Still, something just felt wrong. Cassandra opened up her senses. There it was. The aura was completely different. Still sparkling like a worldwalker, but the color was wrong. "My, my, my," she mused aloud. "What's happened to you?"
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Finally he nearly passed a voice, stopped right in the middle of his step, and turned around to face the woman. Was she talking to him? A quick glance said yes.
"I'm sorry...do I know you?" He tried to sound a little less confused than he truly was. Being Billy, that was a hard feat.
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Given his confusion, she figured her opening bid should probably be her initial question. "Billy or Barney?" she asked. "I assume it's Billy. You don't have the proper gait to be Barney and honestly, if I thought you were Barney, we wouldn't be having this conversation now. Where have you been?"
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Barney? There was another person like him? He would definitely have to research this alternate universe theory. He wondered how many people actually looked like him, but that would be for another time. It appeared as though she knew the 'other' Billy. To this he nodded slowly, "I am Billy but not that Billy."
Yeah. That totally made sense. With a sigh, he folded his arms. "I mean, not the Billy that I think you know. We're still the same person, I guess? But from different time frames." He hoped any of that made sense. He was still trying to figure it out himself.
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"Cassandra," she told him, by way of introduction. "It's nice to meet you...again?"
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"I guess you can say that 'other' Billy and I are the same person, but at different points in our life." He thought that would make more sense but after it came out of his mouth he found that he'd confused himself. Fighting back a sigh he nodded as politely as he could to her. "You too?"
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She tried to remember everything she had learned from Penny and the other Billy. "If I recall correctly, you and Penny come from a place called Los Angeles in a country that I've never even heard of, some three thousand years after my little point in history." She paused. "And you enjoy singing."
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Trying to recoop he straightened. "But yes, we are from from Los Angeles. I also like to build things. Mechanics, science, that kind of thing."
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She paused. "Has anyone bothered explaining the way magik works here in Rowan?" she asked. "I don't know how long you've actually been here."
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"No, actually. Penny told me a few things about everything but never went into detail."
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"Each sort as a different set of abilities at their command. For example, enchanters are manipulative bastards who can get into your head and read your minds, manipulate your thoughts, sense your emotions." Cassandra had little tolerance for that sort of business. She had watched it happen many times, during her spiritual walks. "Most, though not all, of the worldwalkers have developed one of these sets of power since coming through the Gate," she told him.
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Billy was sure he wouldn't have any tolerance for that sort of thing either. But he nodded to acknowledge that he was paying attention. "Did you develop any uh, magik?"
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Cassandra paused for a moment, trying to remember what she was miss. Oh yes. "And," she continued, "I can do this." She held up her hand, palm to the sky. Opening up her senses slightly, she called out to the nearest bird, hoping it wasn't that Cherry girl in disguise. Clearly, it wasn't because after a moment's concentration, the bird twittered and fluttered out of the tree, landing on the heel of her palm. Truth to tell, the sensation of the bird's feet on her skin was a bit unpleasant.
"Not the most useful kind of magik," she admitted. But, lest she be taken for a fool, she added in a darker tone, "Although it does allow me to essentially know anything I want about a person's private business."
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"Uh..Seems as though privacy isn't exactly a factor here." Awkward. Scary. Yeah.
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"Anyway," she continued, her tone lightening up, "I hear tell that there are books about magik in the worldwalker embassy, if you wish to study the subject further."
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After some more thought he finally added. "Are there books on other things there?"
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