a whole new world

[sneak_thief]

She's running for her life.

She'd been minding her own businesses when out of nowhere, some stupid fucking guard recognised her and yelled out an alarm. She hadn't even been doing anything illegal. Well, not at that exact moment. About an hour ago she'd swiped some old ladies jewels (she'd had plenty, she wouldn't miss it), but she'd got away clean, so there was no reason for them to raising the alarm.

The bells ring in her ears as she runs, dodging a merchant and rolling under his wares. She hears a crash and yelling behind her, probably the guards not dodging and quickly gets out of line of sight.

Her breath comes in hard and she can hardly contain her excitement. Blood pumping and heart beating fast, this is what she lives for.

But really, what had she been caught doing this time? Had someone ratted her out for some past heist and they were only now passing around her likeness?

The bells continue to ring. It was a lot of trouble for some common street rat, it's not like she'd actually killed anyone.

Calming she starts walking down an alley, people around her looking past her and to all the trouble, but she kept calm. She needs a place to hide for a while, it was too risky to go back to her normal spot, everyone knew where that was.

At random, she turns to the next door she comes across and opens it.

Comments

[weaverofdreams]

Someone else is also running for her life.

Etsuki bursts through the door to Milliways and throws back the hood of her cloak, revealing her soot-covered face. She looks around. She giggles and collapses against the bar. She waves at the bar's other occupant, then giggles some more.

[sneak_thief]

Aliyah is surprised and jumps away from the door, and watches as the person, girl, giggles their way towards the bar and sits.

Okay, so not a guard on her trail. Just a regular customer coming for a drink. Okay.

But the way they had burst into the room, had the alarm bells spooked her too?

Hmm.

The stranger giggles and waves at her. Well. She's gonna take that as an invitation.

Aliyah walks over to her and sits, smiling at her.

"You've got something," she mentions towards her own nose, "right there." And everyone else on her face, for that matter.

"Been running around with dragons?"

[weaverofdreams]

"No dragons where I'm from," she says. "Just gunpowder. Lots of gunpowder." She giggles again. "You been here before?"

[sneak_thief]

"First time! It's a wonder I haven't though, thought I'd been in all the bars in Agrabah."

[weaverofdreams]

"You might want to sit down for this next bit, love, because this ain't exactly a normal bar," says the soot-covered girl.

[sneak_thief]

Aliyah sits. "Oooh. Do tell."

[weaverofdreams]

"It's actually a magic traveling bar. It hops around to all sorts of different planets and waits for chances to steal doors and scoop up interesting people. Don't believe me? Check the window. Whatever Agrabah is, I'll betcha it doesn't look like that. People call it," she spreads out her arms dramatically, "Milliways."

[sneak_thief]

Aliyah stands and walks over to the window. It's definitely not Agrahbah.

"That's... wow, yeah, whatever that is, it's so not Agrahbah. Much more explode-y, less sand."

She pauses and grins. "Which is kind of a huge improvement, really."

She turns and goes back to the bar. "Magic is weird. Where are you from, my sooty faced friend?"

[weaverofdreams]

"I'm from Bristwell, which is a city in a country called Esclav, which is a country on a planet a planet some of us call 'Daruum'. Anyway, it's an awfully shitty place to live, which is why I had to blow some of it up. And that's why there's," she points to her face, "this. What's an Agrabah? Any useful magic there?"

[sneak_thief]

"I've never had to explain Agrahbah before! It's a biiig city, lots of sand, at it's centre is a really big palace, The Sultan's Palace, where the aforementioned Sultan and his mysterious Princess live. They rule the realm. You can see the palace from anywhere in the city, which is kind of creepy, it looming over you like that, day and night. But, eh, some people like it. I've never actually been outside of the city. We're in the middle of a large desert, so I can't really tell you more about the rest of the realm. It has dragons though! Tons of magic. I can't make any myself, only sorcerers can. They can explode things too! And once I saw one change her face, which would be very handy to me, personally."

Aliyah stops and blushes. "And, uh, Aliyah. That's my name."

[weaverofdreams]

Soot-faced girl grins and extends a hand. "Etsuki," she says. "And it is very nice to meet you." She winks. "Think I could get one of these sorcerers to come back to Bristwell with me?"

[sneak_thief]

She looks at her outstretched hand for a moment and quickly bows, stumbling a bit. She kisses her hand and stands up straight, awkward and blushing.

"Uh, maybe? I'd have to ask around, but not right now, I was kind of running for my life before I came in here. Lots of guards and shouting and 'seize her!' being thrown about and I probably shouldn't show my face for a while."

[weaverofdreams]

"Running from your life, hmm? That's exactly what I was just doing. Why're they after you over in Agrabah?" She smirks. "And, not that I minded, love, but the kissing wasn't what I had in mind there. Neither was the bowing. In Bristwell, when we meet new people, we do this thing." She shakes Aliyah's hand. "Want me to kiss yours? For fairness's sake?"

[sneak_thief]

Aliyah blushes more, laughs and shakes her head. "Nah, I'm not royalty or anyone important, would be silly."

"Could be anything really. I've done a lot of naughty things." She digs deep in her pockets and takes out a very expensive looking amulet. "Maybe someone's missing their magic amulet?"

She looks smug and grins a wide grin, showing off.

[weaverofdreams]

Oh, look, Etsuki's giggling again! What a surprise!

"Oh, yes," she says. "That's brilliant. What d'you think it does? Also, just so you know, I'm about as far away from royalty as you can get."

[sneak_thief]

"I have no idea! It was just so pretty and magic and I had to have it. I could probably find out though, there's this sorcerer I know, grumpy and not very good at the magic, but he's always interested in anything I "find". I think it's a bit out of his price range, but he'll surely tell me what it does, he owes me. And maybe he can point us towards a suitable blowing-things-up person!"

[weaverofdreams]

"I should mention, this place has a few more rules. Once you're in here, time stops in your world unless you decide to stay in here for a while. Which you should probably do, what with the whole running-for-your-life thing. Also, if I leave and close the door, it disappears. And I can't be stuck in your world. I have a best friend and a revolution to take care of."

[sneak_thief]

"How long is a while?"

[weaverofdreams]

"Not sure. I think it works if you decide to wait in here a few days. There's rooms, you could get a tab or work as a janitor if you wanted to sleep for a while."

[sneak_thief]

She sighs, "Lying low is one of my least favourite things to do. Hm. Do you think I could sell the amulet in exchange for a room and board?"

She pauses for a moment and looks over at Etsuki with big eyes. "Are you going to leave?"

[weaverofdreams]

"Right now? No. But I'll have to, at some point. You really gonna sell the amulet without knowing what it does?"

[sneak_thief]

Aliyah smiles and is visibly pleased. "It's magic! It does magic things."

[weaverofdreams]

Etsuki smirks. She is pleased that Aliyah is pleased!

"You sure, love? What if it gives you the power to rule the universe, or generate unlimited money , or give you a smile so pretty it'd make the stars fall to earth--wait, forget that last one, you've already got that--and you sell it without even knowing?"

[sneak_thief]

She blushes. "I've never heard of a amulet doing those things before, but..."

The amulet slips quite nicely around her neck. "I don't feel like the ruler of the universe. That's surely a thing you would know, right? Annnnd," she digs around in her pockets and pulls out a some sand, pocket fluff and air, "no unlimited money either, rats."

She looks down at the trinket and frowns. "Feels like a dud magical amulet. Do I seem any different to you?"

[weaverofdreams]

"Blazes. S'pose you can hock it, then, if you feel like it. You know, I don't know if the bar buys stuff like that. Guess we'll find out."

[sneak_thief]

Aliyah stops and makes a face. "Wait... I'm feeling something. It's really weird! And pretty unnatural, I haven't felt it before. Sorta like a... there's a weight on the back of my head, except it's not- physical."

She turns and there! While they were talking another person had slipped in through the door and is now sitting at the other side of the bar, watching them. Aliyah stares at the person, who quickly looks away and gets out of their seat, heading towards the stairs. She watches them go before turning back to Etsuki.

"I think he was looking at me- us. The weight is gone now though. That was weird."

[weaverofdreams]

"Maybe it tells you when people are looking at you? I s'pose that's useful for us running-for-our-lives types."

[sneak_thief]

"So useful! Did you want it?"

[weaverofdreams]

"Are you offering? Because I'll take any new magic I can get."

[sneak_thief]

"This is me offering, yes. I can always steal something else, if I need to. The whole running-for-my-life thing doesn't bother me that much, I'm pretty sure I can find another hidey-hole to hide in before anyone catches me. Plus, even if they do catch me, I'm very adept at getting away. It's a talent of mine."

[weaverofdreams]

"That's something we have in common," Etsuki says, grinning conspiratorially. "I like you. Who're you running from, anyway?"

[sneak_thief]

She hands over the amulet. "I like you too! You're really nice and pretty and exciting. They are best qualities in anyone, ever." Heart eyes.

"The Royal Guards, I have no idea what they want me for, I haven't done anything for ages... that I've been caught doing, anyway. I was thinking maybe someone told them about something I'd done? Yeah, I don't know. I can't think of anyone that would do that, I don't have any enemies or anything like that."

[weaverofdreams]

"Stop, love, you're making me blush," she says. "You're not short on charm and good looks yourself. Not to mention you have this incredibly attractive habit of pissing off royalty. Speaking of which..." she winces. "Royal Guards. If they're anything like the Patrollers, having them on your tail for no reason ain't fun. If we were in Bristwell, I'd ask if you wanted to hide out at my place for a few days, until it all blew over."

[sneak_thief]

She smiles wide. "Knowing them, they probably won't drop it until they get what they want. Which is annoying, but the Sultan isn't so bad, and I haven't stolen from anyone important, not him or the vizier, so I doubt they'll kill me."

[weaverofdreams]

"He ain't killing anybody," Etsuki says, suddenly furious. "If the Sultan has death penalties he doesn't sound 'not so bad' to me. What's a Sultan, anyway?"

[sneak_thief]

"The Sultan is the ruler of Agrahbah, like his father before him. When he dies his daughters husband will become the Sultan, though she hasn't married and keeps turning away any suitors, which is funny."

[weaverofdreams]

Etsuki does not look amused.

"Oh, brilliant, another monarch, how about we just decide whether someone's qualified to rule an entire country based on who they're related to, that always works out so well. How much power does he have?"

[sneak_thief]

"He's supposed to be the be all and end all, but really... probably not much. It's pretty common knowledge that the Grand Vizier runs things. Rumour has it that he's going to marry the Princess and make it officially official." Aliyah pauses and shudders. "You don't mess with him, and I haven't, so I should be alright. The worst they could do is... cut off my hand."

[weaverofdreams]

Etsuki winces.

"Anyone cuts anything off you, let me know, and I'll make them regret it," she says. She produces a knife from somewhere on her body and starts playing with it casually. "Anyway, we haven't messed with him yet, good. That's fine for me, and that's fine for you, but what about everybody else?"

[sneak_thief]

"What about everybody else?"

[weaverofdreams]

"What if one of them bothers the Vizier and gets their hand cut off?" she says. "Everyone in your city's got to worry about accidentally crossing the wrong person and getting maimed. Seems to me the only way to solve that problem is to get rid of the Grand Vizier."

[sneak_thief]

"Get rid of? I mean, yeah, he's scary. But to kill him? I don't know..."

[weaverofdreams]

"I didn't say I was going to kill him," says Etsuki. "I don't kill people for fun, you know. If there's another way to make it so that he no longer has the power to cut off random peoples' hands, I'll do that instead. And even if I did end up having to kill him, I'd have to fix my world before coming to yours. I don't even know how bad your world is. We have random maiming over in my world, too, plus a heap of other horrible things."

[sneak_thief]

"What sort of other things?"

[weaverofdreams]

"Where do I start," Etsuki says. "The current queen and the previous queen are fanatical Mayburyists-Maybury was this terrifying violet supremacist-and as a result the Esclavish government is slowly trying to take over the entire world while making life miserable for anyone like me who lives there in the meantime. There's this law that's about to pass called the Scouring Act that stops anyone whose family’s from a country that ain't allied with the Empire to own property unless they pay a certain sum of money or pass a literacy test to get a license. And by “property”, they mean “any nonessential items”, so, you know, everything except food and clothing. Anyway, no one can pay the money, because most people don’t hire non-allies and the ones that do are crooks. No one can pass the literacy test, because public education is a joke at best and a nightmare at worst, and even if it weren’t the tests are prob’ly rigged anyway.

Even without the Scouring Act, lots of people don’t have many job options other than slavery, the army, or prostitution, but some people get by on shitty factory jobs and whatever they could do on the side. Only, you know, it’s hard to make a profit selling blankets when you can get arrested for owning a loom and it costs an arm and a leg to rent one. Thousands of people are gonna end up homeless, which makes it that much easier for them to get drafted or attacked or picked up by the Violet Patrollers, who are awful in so many ways I don’t think I have time to list them all. And things get even worse if you’re queer or crazy-or both, like me. I’ve read some of Maybury, and my friend’s read more and summarized it for me, so I know it’s not gonna get any better. It’s only a matter of time before they pass a law that forces non-Allies into slavery, and only a matter of time after that before they start killing us off. Even worse, information about magic is locked up so tight that even I can barely get at it, so even when we try to fight back they have the upper hand. This needs to stop. "

At some point during her speech, she’s gotten off her stool and stood up, and she has been punctuating her points with some very expressive hand gestures. Now she lets out a breath and sits back down.

[sneak_thief]

"That's... awful." She doesn't understand most of it, but she does understand that people are hurting and will be hurt. Hurting is bad. "I want to help you," she leans closer, "there has to be something in Agrahbah that can help you. I'll find a bunch of sorcerers and I'll bring them here and make them do what you want."

She doesn't know exactly how she's going to do that, but she will. She has too.