TKF: EVENSTELL

(I at least want to alter her markings to be appropriate, even if her colors stay pale.)

(Oh, okay. Sounds good.)

(Okay, time to finally post... Feel free to start sending characters off to their housing. Essentially, a few apartment buildings have been set aside for the refugees, with each family unit getting one. Some are smaller with only two bedrooms, a living room, kitchen, and bathroom, but for bigger families there are ones with more bedrooms and two bathrooms instead of just one. All are simply furnished, nothing fancy, but pleasant. They had been new apartment buildings to be used normally, but the owner of the complex is being paid by the government to not rent them out, so the refugees can have them. Basic necessities have already been put in them, so they're real apartments, but also kinda like hotel rooms since they have furniture, bedding, and some basic grocery/food products already in them.)

---

Isaac visibly relaxed when Flare calmed, and the military officers lowered their weapons, also relaxed. Smiling a bit at his cousin, the raccoon nodded. "Of course... now that we're all out of that hellhole, we can get to know one another. I'll get in touch with you soon." He kept one hand on EJ's shoulder, leading the small cat out of the massive depot so he could take him to his own, private apartment. He'd be living apart from the other refugees, but to be honest, that was probably better for the little cat... he had been through so much.

Winnie held onto Flare's dress as the cat took the officer's hand, smiling a tiny bit when she saw the cat relax. "It's gonna be okay now, isn't it?"

The officer himself uttered a soft chuckle. "Of course... come with me, miss. We'll register the child with you and get you set up in some housing. The official paperwork will be handled by a social worker, who will visit your home soon. I just need you to sign a form over here." He led the cat and fox kit away from the crowds, to a small station with desks, which were piled with folders of blank and signed forms. Apparently, Flare wasn't the only one claiming custody of a child who wasn't hers -- Maude had to do the same for Dawn. A female officer at the desk slid a piece of paper over. "Just dip your thumb into the ink pad and leave a thumb print in the boxes -- both you and the little one. Then sign, and we'll leave her to you until a social worker can finalize things."

---

Adara sat in her car, which was really a sort of armored limousine... it looked intimidating, just like the sheep herself. She slipped out of her jacket so she would be more comfortable, since she had asked the driver to turn up the heat for the comfort of her guests, who were shivering in the depot... it seemed they were not accustomed to the cold, crisp weather in Evenstell. They would adapt, or wear good coats.

The sheep leaned back in her seat once her jacket was off and folded next to her, sighing. What have you gotten yourself into, Adara...? Taking in all of these refugees... facing this war of ideals... She closed her eyes for a moment. Aaliyah, guide me...

---

Meanwhile, the Derings were preparing to go to a hospital... Since Laura was still not fully recovered after being captive, and frankly neither was Paulette, they were to be checked into a hospital for at least 24 hours for tests and observation. While her little Laura was set on a stretcher to be brought out in an ambulance, Paulette held onto Celeste's hand and looked around for the Brodeurs, wanting to let them know before they left... they would be so worried if the Dering family wasn't at the government housing units later!

"A-Anna?" She waved one arm wildly when she saw Anna, Richard, and Rachel standing off to one side, while Roy apparently got a pat-down after the metal detector freaked out about his leg.

"O-oh, there you are..." The older bat woman scurried over to meet with the other mother, "What's wrong...? Where's Laura?" Anna looked around, then spotted the ambulance, and Laura's head poking out of a blanket over the stretcher, "...?"

Flare was glad that Issac wouldn't mind getting to know her. Before he used to be very snarky about it, but maybe he wanted to know a little bit more about her now that there wasn't a war going on. She flicked her torn ear to let her cousin know that she heard him as she kept walking. The orange cat wrapped her tail around Winnie to reassure her that everything would be just fine. "I don't mind if a social worker comes to visit so long as they tell me when their coming first. As for the form, just hand me it and a pen and I'll fill it out." Flare said.

---

"Yay, I can still stay with mama." Dawn softly cheered. Having a smile on her face the bear cub dipped her thumb in the ink and left her thumb print in the little box. "Is there a bathroom or a wet cloth that I may use to get the ink off?" she asked the officer woman.

(I will post more later on. ^w^')

(*flops on the Blueh* Hai. *flops on the Sil* Hai to you, too.)

Paulette gave Anna a thin smile, explaining, "They want us to go to the hospital, since Laura and I had been captive recently, and she at least isn't fully recovered... We'll be there for at least twenty-four hours. I didn't want you all to worry." She hugged Celeste close, petting her younger daughter's hair. "We'll get in contact as soon as we can..."

---

The officer handed Flare the paper, "Thumb print and sign."

Winnie dipped her thumb in some ink to leave her print on it. "There!" It stained her bright white fur, but the officer had a box of baby wipes to get it off, and offered her one.

---

Dawn, too, got a wet wipe to clean off her hand, as did Maude after she signed left her print on the paper. The cheetah smiled down at her two little children, then let out a shaky breath. "Okay... we're going to the new apartments now, okay? We're going to ride on a bus, but once we are there we can all eat and rest." The young mother certainly looked exhausted, especially since she kept carrying Jasper -- like she did now, picking him up and holding him tightly while keeping one hand free to hold onto Dawn. She didn't want to lose contact with her precious children.

"Thank you for letting us know..." At least it'll be for only a day... However, Roy was still being a bit clingy to his girlfriend, since they had only been recently reuinited after the Sect fell, "I'm not fully sure what'll happen now, but... We'll wait for your return before we do anything too drastic..."

Flare quickly read over the document before signing it and leaving her thumb print. The ink hurt her thumb a bit, but she quickly wiped off the ink and it was fine. Once that was done she handed the document back to the officer. "Now we're supposed to go on a bus right? Which direction is it?" she asked.

---

"Okay mama. Is it going to be a long bus ride to our new home?" Dawn asked and held on tightly to Maude's hand. She didn't want to lose her mother with all of these people around. "If it's going to be a longer ride you can take a nap. You look sleepy."

(...I just got dunked on by GameFAQ. 

Tina: ...Metroid Prime lost? 

Yeah... To Skyrim. 

Tina: ...Didn't it win against Half-Life 2?

That it did. And I will rub it into my friend's face for eternity.)

(Oh noes. I'm having cute ideas. Too many of them. Nuuuuuuu! *drowns in wave of rainbows*)

(I'M ALWAYS A SLUT FOR FLUFF. *flops* GIVE.)

(Chirpy, is it okay if I say Lance has a place of his own already in Evenstell? As in he's got like a house in the countryside where there's really not much of anything? Or is Evenstell not designed like that? o3o? )

(It wouldn't make much sense if he did... why not flee there instead of being part of the apocalypse? XD But it's not impossible.

Evenstell society is built in a manner that tries not to waste potential farmland, with cities and farms, pretty much. No awkward towns that just take up a lot of room but have almost nobody in them. XD Usually, if you venture out of the city, you'll find sprawling, hilly farmland filled with sheepies and crops. Then you'll find another city eventually. There isn't too much of an in-between, but because their cities aren't like modern cities -- they don't make them so big that they have skyscrapers and New York City traffic, being more of a traditional, aged-looking type -- city life is pleasant enough to not really feel like a crowded city.

I have this beautiful image for their cities... very old-fashioned, almost medieval in a sense. They use a lot of stone in their architecture, which they have a lot of access to considering their vast amount of untamed land and the mountains to the north, and none of the buildings are too huge. I also picture plenty of parks, fountains, greenhouses... and more walkways than roads, since they rely mostly on public transportation and walking. Similar to places in Europe, it's not that common for people to own private vehicles, and even if they do, they aren't used every day.

Suburbs aren't really a big thing there, but there are some at the edges of cities, where it fades from "large scale" to "small scale" and then to farmland. Lance would most likely have a house there, with a small piece of land but not that much, since farmland is generally passed down through families, and it's frowned upon to own a lot of land if you don't use it.

Pictures to help stir your imagination: Everything has a traditional, aged feel...

Real life pics of city streets:

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Anime/art style depicting what a small square might look like, with only walkways and no roads in this area. I imagine there are areas like that -- roads might only go around the perimeter of a city block, but you must park to then go down the street and access the inner buildings.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Art depicting a concept I might use, where in the more crowded areas they make use of rooftops. (Except with greenhouses, but the upper walkways are cool.)

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

A pretty old fashioned building that led me to think that their schools/courthouses/etc all look pretty darn similar. XD Because I can see this being a school, court house of some kind, library... a lot of buildings have that older, elegant style of architecture.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

I haven't cemented any ideas yet, but these are inspiration. I'll probably type up a really descriptive bit describing the city... and I have to name the city they're in, too... XD)

Paulette gave Anna another thin smile, nodding. "We'll get in touch the moment we can... though, if, um... Roy is so important that he is going with the leaders of the country, I'm sure he could request a visit if he needs it. Don't hesitate to hunt us down. None of us mind." She then tightened her grip on Celeste and turned to lead her deaf daughter after the stretcher carrying Laura, so the three could ride together on the way over to the hospital.

---

Adara was getting impatient, hoping Erik would hurry it up and get the Brodeurs... she wasn't the most patient woman. She sighed as she looked out the bulletproof window of the limousine, wondering what Nianne was up to... probably still handling the swarms of media employees wanting to get interviews and information. She was better at handling people like that... Adara often just glared at them until they shut up and left, unless she had personally arranged for them to conduct an interview or press release of some kind.

---

The officer pointed to a roped-off path. "Follow that crowd. You will find a seat on one of the buses and be taken to your housing. You will be required to stay there for the time being, but you should find it suitable."

Winnie grasped Flare's hand, nervous about going with the crowd of people onto a crowded bus... but she would get to be Flare's forever after this! She just had to be brave.

---

"I'm not sure, sweetie..." Maude replied, walking with the crowds to one of the buses. "We can all rest once we get to our new home. I'm sure there will be a nice bathroom there to take baths in, and some tasty food I can cook, and comfy beds..." She gave a tired smile, ears flattening. "And Mama can make a phone call... we might have some family who live here. Jasper's daddy was from Evenstell..."

Anna watched the two off, then turned back to her family; both Richard and Rachel were giving her somewhat solemn looks. However, before she could speak, Roy was shuffling towards them, accompanied by Erik. He looked somewhat haggard, and walked stiffly, thanks to the cold and his healing injuries from the battle with the Sect. Apparently the scuffle with his leg went okay...

"Where's Laura?" Roy asked, his hands stuffed into his pockets as he tried not to shiver. He didn't like the looks on his family's faces...

"She's... Been admitted to a hospital with Paulette for 24 hours... Just to check her over." Anna spoke deliberately to her son, not wanting to tell him, but didn't want to lie to him, either.

Roy's face twisted slightly at the news, and he sucked in cold air through his teeth abruptly; he then swallowed, his voice only wavering slightly, "Let's... zhust go."

Erik then spoke, feeling kind of out of place, "I'm to see you off to meet Her Excellence Adara now. You'll be travelling to the palace with her. It's this way."

The forest cat then lead the family to Adara's vehicle, where the ruler was currently waiting for them.

"Finally," Adara murmured to herself when she saw the fluffy cat heading towards the car. She leaned back, trying not to appear too intimidating for once... the bats looked twitchy, which they had a right to be.

The driver, wearing a dark grey uniform, gave a small bow before opening the doors for the Brodeurs, so they could slide right in. "Milady Adara, your guests are here."

"Thank you," Adara murmured, then gestured to the seats. "Please, make yourselves comfortable..." The seats were large enough for two or three people to sit side-by-side, with two sets of seats facing one another so the passengers could talk. One of the Brodeurs would be sitting beside the large sheep, and it seemed she had a preference, as she looked at Roy and patted the spot beside her. "I have been most eager to meet you, young Brodeur..."

Chirpingsong wrote:

(It wouldn't make much sense if he did... why not flee there instead of being part of the apocalypse? XD But it's not impossible.

Evenstell society is built in a manner that tries not to waste potential farmland, with cities and farms, pretty much. No awkward towns that just take up a lot of room but have almost nobody in them. XD Usually, if you venture out of the city, you'll find sprawling, hilly farmland filled with sheepies and crops. Then you'll find another city eventually. There isn't too much of an in-between, but because their cities aren't like modern cities -- they don't make them so big that they have skyscrapers and New York City traffic, being more of a traditional, aged-looking type -- city life is pleasant enough to not really feel like a crowded city.

I have this beautiful image for their cities... very old-fashioned, almost medieval in a sense. They use a lot of stone in their architecture, which they have a lot of access to considering their vast amount of untamed land and the mountains to the north, and none of the buildings are too huge. I also picture plenty of parks, fountains, greenhouses... and more walkways than roads, since they rely mostly on public transportation and walking. Similar to places in Europe, it's not that common for people to own private vehicles, and even if they do, they aren't used every day.

Suburbs aren't really a big thing there, but there are some at the edges of cities, where it fades from "large scale" to "small scale" and then to farmland. Lance would most likely have a house there, with a small piece of land but not that much, since farmland is generally passed down through families, and it's frowned upon to own a lot of land if you don't use it.

Pictures to help stir your imagination: Everything has a traditional, aged feel...

Real life pics of city streets:

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Anime/art style depicting what a small square might look like, with only walkways and no roads in this area. I imagine there are areas like that -- roads might only go around the perimeter of a city block, but you must park to then go down the street and access the inner buildings.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Art depicting a concept I might use, where in the more crowded areas they make use of rooftops. (Except with greenhouses, but the upper walkways are cool.)

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

A pretty old fashioned building that led me to think that their schools/courthouses/etc all look pretty darn similar. XD Because I can see this being a school, court house of some kind, library... a lot of buildings have that older, elegant style of architecture.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

I haven't cemented any ideas yet, but these are inspiration. I'll probably type up a really descriptive bit describing the city... and I have to name the city they're in, too... XD)

(Okay. I actually like that idea more. I might have it to where Lance eventually gets his own place in the farm lands, but that'll be later on seeing as how Evenstell seems very secluded despite their size. Like they don't seem to interact with the rest of the world very much so it's not very likely Lance's company has any connections here. Quite literally the only thing Lance's company has any use for right now is a source of income to him that at the moment he can't access! *sins myself for not thinking of this beforehand* XD

Lance: So...despite being stupid wealthy...I'm broke right now ^^"

Yeah. XD

I'll try to post something soon, I might have Umbra be brought to trail or something. I'm not too sure yet.)

Chirpingsong wrote:

"Finally," Adara murmured to herself when she saw the fluffy cat heading towards the car. She leaned back, trying not to appear too intimidating for once... the bats looked twitchy, which they had a right to be.

The driver, wearing a dark grey uniform, gave a small bow before opening the doors for the Brodeurs, so they could slide right in. "Milady Adara, your guests are here."

"Thank you," Adara murmured, then gestured to the seats. "Please, make yourselves comfortable..." The seats were large enough for two or three people to sit side-by-side, with two sets of seats facing one another so the passengers could talk. One of the Brodeurs would be sitting beside the large sheep, and it seemed she had a preference, as she looked at Roy and patted the spot beside her. "I have been most eager to meet you, young Brodeur..."

"U-um... Zank you." The bat glanced at his family as they slid in, with Erik in tow. His hands were balled into fists in his lap, but at least it was warm in the car. He glanced at the sheep, hesitantly asking, "So... You're... Adara?"

"Yes, I am," Adara replied, her voice soft and oddly deep for a woman's. The driver shut the car door once the Brodeurs and Erik were seated, then got into the front to start driving. "I, along with my wife Nianne, are the Matriarchs, or Exalts, of this country. The political and religious leaders, to put it into simple terms." She rested her hands neatly in her lap, smiling faintly. "And you, young one, are the brave rebel I heard so much about, are you not? The one who kept these refugees safe until my country could provide them with sanctuary?"

She tilted her chin only slightly, almost not moving at all. "I have much to ask you, but all in good time... I am bringing you to my home, where you and your family will be provided with quarters. I would like to keep you close, for your sake, and all others'."

Roy swallowed again, still rigid in the shoulders. His hands were still balled into fists; he felt anxious and a little jumpy without Laura and the other Derings... "O-of course, I undairstand..."

Adara watched him, easily seeing how tense he was. "Peace, child... All will be well. If there is anything on your mind, simply say it, or make a request if there is something you need. We are here to help, not imprison or control you."

(I'm assuming you forgot a "not" in there somewhere... )

Roy licked his lips, letting out a breath; Adara seemed nice enough, but he was still a little wary about her... Mostly because he was apparently under high security, and that he had no say in the matter (even though that would probably be for the best), "...M-my girlfriend, Laura Dering..." He broke off, then managed, "S-she left to go to a 'ospital... I-I couldn't see 'er off..." I'm worried, and I seriously miss her...

(Crap, I did. XD *goes to fix quick*)

(Yeah... ouo")

"Mm-hmm..." Adara mused as she took in this fact, then glanced around at the other bats in the vehicle. "Once we get your family settled, I can have a driver bring you to the hospital, if you wish. You need only ask." She frowned. "Had I known, I would have had her brought to the palace's private infirmary. I'm afraid only the names of blood relatives are in our records."