It had been nearly a week, five days since Dominic had come to Sundered Weyr. After finding out that there was a beach here, the zombie had come here with his familiars to come and relax even though none of them seemed to be too fond of the idea of playing in the water, but that was fine. He couldn't exactly go into the water either, considering it was salt water and if that managed to seep into his wounds it would burn like no tomorrow. Dominic winced at the thought, and Sugar Cookie snuggled into him. You don't have to go in the water if you don't want to, the little bug murmured to their bonded, and the zombie smiled slightly. "I know," he answered. "I didn't plan to." One of the twins pressed into his hand, demanding some pets, and he gently stroked the little bat's head.
He had met so many people, and while he had yet to acquaint himself with any more creatures as of yet, he had the feeling that he would the longer he stayed here. He'd learned that he wasn't the only one from his world to have arrived here, which was both a shock and a relief because it might mean that Zinnia would find her way here as well. He wondered what creature she would bond to...probably something like a hellhound, given her fiery personality when it came to dealing with jerks. He chuckled softly to himself.
Nec was out and about after a couple of days just relaxing at the in. But two days were enough for him to become restless, especially since he'd gotten into the habid of wandering the area, dropping by both orcs and the small village up north, just to say hello.
Today, however, Nec decided to visit the beach for the first time, and walking down the beach he spotted someone further down. Someone he knew?
It's the friendly zombie Sealgair helpfully supplied before trotting ahead down the beach to a bluff with shadows. Direct sun wasn't her thing after all and she stayed there as Nec walked up to Dominic. "Out waiting for the IF to turn you purple?"
"Not quite," Dominic answered with a soft laugh, his body relaxed as he turned to look at Necthan. "Didn't peg you for the water-viewing type, Necthan. What brought you here?" He would have thought that his acquaintance would be staying at the inn, if he was remembering their earlier conversation right. It didn't look like his canine friend Sealgair was enjoying the sun all that much either.
Kimasa flickered in greeting. They liked Nec as well, since he had helped bring their bonded a little further out of his shell, and the eldest child fluttered over to perch atop his horn. "I've never heard of the IF. Care to enlighten me?" the zombie inquired, tilting his head. There was still a lot he didn't know about this world, but that wasn't going to stop him from learning everything that he could.
"Haven't been here before, actually. Figured it was time. Plus I got a bit bored. The Shamrock is great for relaxing, but two days is enough. Like I said before, I like to wander." He sat down with his back agai st a rock a couple of feet away from Dominic before givi g him a surprised look.
"Seriously? You haven't heard of the IF yet?" He gave a slightly reprimanding look at Dominic's Bondeds. "Forget to mention something?" The smirk, however, would tell them he was just joking before turning to the zombie.
"Nobody knows, it's a thing that just makes weird things happen. IF is short for Illogical Field. And it lives up to its name. Teleported me way up into the mountains my... Third day here I think? It's turned the sky purple, the world black and white instead of colors... That's just the top of my head, it's- oh! It turned a river into chocolate syrup once and dropped me in it." He chuckled with a smile and stretched out his legs. "Mostly innocent things, I do t think I've heard of people getting hurt by it.".
To their credit, Kimasa and Sugar Cookie looked a bit sheepish at being called out, but with them mostly helping Dominic get settled in and helping him take care of his home, there hadn't been much time to really explain how the world worked. "You can't be angry with them. I've had more to worry about than the IF," the zombie said gently, stroking the top of one of the adult bats' heads.
He listened quietly as Necthan began telling him about the Illogical Field, and he had to agree that it did live up to its name. Whomever heard of something being capable of not just teleporting people to random places, but changing the color of the world much less sucking out all of the color entirely? The zombie was honestly grateful that nothing had happened to him yet, he didn't know how he would react to it and he came from a world that was filled with magical beings, which was saying something.
What he didn't understand was why there wasn't some way to get rid of the Illogical Field if it caused such trouble to the inhabitants. "Why not figure out a way to prevent it from affecting people?" he asked.
"Do t worry, I'm not. Just teasing which, by the way, you should probably get used to. I think I was just lucky it was explained to me on my first day here." Giving a real smile, no teasing this time, Nec hoped it would reassure Dominic and the Kirava.
To the question Nec shrugged. "You gotta know what it is before you can stop it. And nobody does. You can't see it, you can't feel it, you can't smell or hear it. Makes it hard to fight it."
"No remain of magic, either?" Dominic asked, frowning slightly. Even the slightest trace of magic left behind could be used to craft some protective amulets to render magic useless, but if the Illogical Field was truly going to be this difficult to deal with, then it was no wonder it had become a permanent fixture in everyone's lives whether they liked it or not. He sighed and shook his head. "If people have really been hurt, I would have thought that there would be a way of dealing with it." He glanced up at Necthan before shrugging. He would just have to do his best to avoid its influence.
"Not that I know of, but if you wanna know more you should talk with Raf. Or Raferties. He's the one who explained it to me in the first place, but I think everyone just learns to deal with it."
"I'm not even going to try that," Dominic answered with a chuckle. "Raf a friend, then?" He figured as much, since Necthan had it explained to him by whomever this Raferties person was. Little did he know that there were angels present in this world, and that they were very different from the ones he was accustomed to.
"Family. Just no blood relation. He's the one who helped me put when I got here, the IF, or whatever it is that brings people here, had dumped me in the forest." He grinned at the memory, not minding telling Dominic about things.
"Raf's a guardian angel. I mean literally. Wings and all. His brother is an Archangel, Keldos. He's fun to spar with. Lots of different people here, you better get used to it."
"Family, huh?" Dominic was quiet for a moment. He had his parents before he died, and he was sure they mourned him still but he didn't want to go back to them the way he was. His mother would be horrified. Best to let them think that he had passed on peacefully and was in a better place.
Angel. That word alone made him tense up, his blunt nails digging into his palms. There were angels here. "Don't let them know I'm here." His voice was tight. If they were anything like the ones from his world...
"In my opinion at least." Catching Dominic's expression at the mention of family he sobered a little. "Did you have any alive before-wait, were you turned or made or...?" He was pretty sure zombies weren't born at least.
"Dude, if there's one on this planet you shouldn't fear, it's Raf. Seriously. And if you plan on shopping in the village chances are you'll eventually run into him."
Dominic smiled sadly. "I had a mother and a father. They have already done their mourning for me, and I would not want to reawaken their pain were I to come back to them." He closed his eyes. "I died, but the creature that murdered me hadn't had enough. Now I'm what I am, with a reminder of that day that I try keeping covered." He gave a half shrug. "I've never met an angel that didn't treat me like dirt. You'll have to forgive me if I don't really want to go through what I did back where I came from."
"Understandable." Nec nodded, he could understand not wanting to go ripping up in things. If they had already mourned... (had will mourned?) it was probably better to leave them to it.
"So you were turned, but... zombies and other magical people go to school?" At the assumption of all angels treating him like the ones he'd knows, Nec bristled a bit. "None of the angels I've met would do that." Okay so maybe his tone was slightly sharper than intended... oops.
"Not really for education, more to keep out of the way of humanity," Dominic said with a shrug. "We have learning to do, but I think it could be more to keep up the front...then again, it could be they don't want people forgetting where they came from or not getting to learn what they couldn't due to their nature." He couldn't help flinching a little at the sharper tone, and he looked away. "Well, they tended to have a holier-than-thou attitude where I came from. Whether you were demon or zombie, an encounter with an angel would not go well for you. They were the crown jewel, after all, and good at manipulating the faculty."