Run for your life

[saveyourpoison]

Yes, he had wanted to die. Yes, he had chosen not to heed his mother's warning to leave the woods before the Bacchante arrived. And yet, when he saw the wild, mad, raging women he did not fancy being torn by them simply for the sake of his sex. No. He ran. Ran for a life he had not valued before. A life he had wanted to end and not had the courage

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[picksthelosers]

She's traipsing. Really, that is the only way to properly describe what she's doing, traipsing back and forth, find stones and things, the better for skipping, the better for betting.

It's the music that at first causes her to make a face.

Greeks. Can't live with them, can't take them anywhere and well, let's be honest, there's only so much credit they can take.

Still, she sticks out her tongue for a moment, before slipping into aged language. "Greeks, bugger all."

[saveyourpoison]

"I wouldn't say all." The remark escaped him before he had thought of it, reminiscent of banter he had had before; it was making him smile too, forgetting his fear. Then he took a closer look at the woman there, wondering who he was facing.

[picksthelosers]

She taps her chin, laughing and shaking her head slightly.

"Oh, I do enjoy that sense of humour." Now, which one was he? Crickeys, this was always the hard part. Too many to muster with. She clicks her tongue against her teeth. Music. Hm. She'll get it eventually. "Let's see, who might you be? Oh, frell, I'll get it. Sometime. But anyways, tell me, Musician, are you concerned?"

[saveyourpoison]

"I am Orpheus," he said with some pride, his concern in the back of his mind just now, but he had to admit to it, after all. "I am concerned. I do not know where I am or how I happened to be here."

[picksthelosers]

A loose snap of the fingers, as it all comes back to her. Oh, she's getting slow at this, out of practice even.

"Ah, that's the ticket. I remember you were never much fun to play." She smiles absently and waves a hand. "Oh, this? Just an island. Tabula Rasa, which is Latin for the blank slate. Oh Rome, another city I was mediocre on."

[saveyourpoison]

"I was what?" That was a very strange thing to say and he wasn't at all certain if he should be insulted. And this talk of a city called Rome was not making sense and neither was the idea of a blank slate island.

[picksthelosers]

"To play. You know all of everyone is just a piece in my game."

It's flippant, she knows this, probably rude, probably just a bit daft, but that's how she goes.

"A second chance, that's this place. A whole bunch of new chances."

[saveyourpoison]

A piece in her game? This sounded like the words of a goddess, someone who would make the mortals do the oddest things. He seized on the second half of what she said because if she were indeed a goddess he wouldn't want to risk offending. "I suppose new chances are not a bad thing. I wish I could have a second chance at one specific thing, but that will not happen."

[picksthelosers]

"Ah well, that was something that I couldn't help. Sorry."

Too bad, she's not that sorry.

She fiddles with her coat, turning up the collar and tossing her head back. Ah well, people had to have things be explained to them, so she might as well get started.

"Any how, you're here now, and you cannot leave, but there's food and whatnot. Attire."

[saveyourpoison]

It was all very startling information and Orpheus wasn't sure if her mostly cheerful demeanor or the facts she stated were the most unsettling - in fact, it was likely the combination. But since he was very sure she was some goddess he had yet to identify he wasn't about to contradict her.
"The food and everything is fortunate when one cannot leave," he said quietly.

[picksthelosers]

A smirk passes over her features, and she fights back the urge to wink. Oh, that would just be too much.

"Of course it is. I wouldn't want to starve. And dead pieces make for a terribly boring game."

She cracks her knuckles and her rings glint, making her blink for the first time in an age.

"But, I suppose you have questions. Everyone always has questions."

[saveyourpoison]

Questions. Yes. Too many and too few all at once. She had told him a good deal already, he realized. Where he was, that there was no way out (still very unsettling) and the reassurance that he wouldn't starve to death.
"People here, where do they live? And who are they?" That seemed like good questions to ask. He hoped. He was still not entirely sure his mind worked as it should. Though it was neither the work of his father or his Aunt - he knew their work too well, or so he thought at least.

[picksthelosers]

Her face lit up, and she tapped her temple, as if remembering something that she'd misplaced. Never forget, that's what she did, merely misplace.

"Ah yes, there are people of all sorts here. Tremendous varieties, but they live up the way. I can show you, if you'd like."

[saveyourpoison]

"Please, I would like to see such a place," he said. Tremendous varieties - that was intriguing. "I shall probably need a place to rest as well since I have no choice in going back home." He couldn't stop repeating that fact, partly because he hoped she'd say it had been a jest. Or if not, he might get used to the thought by repeating it.