Chapter Text
He wasn’t sure when he’d switched places. He didn’t realize his feet were on solid ground, not when his every nerve was screaming at him for it to stop.
His hands gripped at flesh he swore was searing off, cries echoing off of the surrounding marble as he screamed for someone whose face he couldn’t remember. He didn’t feel when he hit the floor, or when hands pulled him up to his feet and wrapped him in something tight. The haze of pain and fear was hard to see through.
Voices barely made their way past it, even when the feeling that made his nails dig into his skin started to subside.
“…’re okay, just breathe. Easy, now…”
“… sick of these poor Scorch victims…”
“… shock. C’mon, someone go get…”
He trembled, or at least he thought he did, as the voices faded in and out. Someone set him down on a chair. Someone else sat next to him, consoling him with words that didn’t quite make it through. His breath was short and unsteady, like he wasn’t allowing himself to properly take in air.
His eyes darted, sharp lines and white light filling most of the space. It was quiet besides a low hum that rattled in his chest, and the murmur of several other voices not too far off.
“… I’m here, you’re alright.”
He caught a voice off to one side— coming from someone whose palm was on his shoulder.
He jerked back, shaking their hand off and snapping a response.
“Don’t touch me.”
He took a moment to realize that they weren’t the one causing the pain he’d been wracked with. Not that it was there anymore. When did it go away, exactly…?
His eyes still darted around, looking for something he couldn’t find.
The inphernal beside him noticed, then gave a little nod to someone behind him through some glass. A door opened, and an eagle came barreling out of it, scrambling for purchase against the smooth tile and quickly making a beeline for him, even if it was a flurry of feathers and claws.
His arms opened instantly, and the bird jumped up into them just as fast. He held it close with a sob, a hand softly ruffling the feathers along the back of its head as it craned its neck around his shoulder in the closest thing it could get to an embrace.
“…Sorry,” the inphernal spoke softly, “We didn’t want it to hurt you. It seemed really… adamant about trying to climb you.”
He glared at them, tears pricking his eyes.
“You don’t ever do that again, y’ hear?” He huffed, looking up to them, “She won’t hurt me none.”
The inphernal just nodded quietly, letting them have their time. It wasn’t until the two seemed to settle down somewhat from the nerves that they piped up again.
“I’m Pogo,” they started, “and you’re at one of the spawns in Lost Temple. I help inphernals like you get on their feet. Would you mind telling me your name?”
They looked at him innocently enough. He felt a little self conscious, now, dressed in little more than a blanket and a bird. It wasn’t the best look.
“… Noble,” he said, thinking for a moment, “Noble Redcliff Eagle.”
He paused momentarily, trying to figure out what else they’d want from him.
“N’ Goldie,” they nodded towards their gear, to which the eagle in question chittered softly, looking him over to make sure he was alright.
Pogo nodded with a smile.
“Nice to meet you, Noble,” they said, giving a short bow of their head, “and Goldie.”
Goldie nearly looked like she wanted to preen them at the thought of being acknowledged, but Noble held her back to keep her from falling off of his lap.
“I’ll get some paperwork set up for you, then, while you get dressed. We have some spare clothes in the back that’ll fit. Could you come with me? I’ll show you where they are.”
He gave them a hesitant look as they stood and extended a hand towards him. Despite them being a stranger, he didn’t have much of a choice.
He wrapped the covering around his shoulders a bit tighter, and Goldie hopped down to the floor as he carefully pushed himself to his feet.
They followed Pogo for a short while, just past the main circular room that housed the spawn, until they came upon a hallway that had a few adjacent doors. They walked through one, revealing a small dressing room of sorts. Pogo peered around the corner, gesturing to a little stall with a curtain, empty save for a mirror and a few hooks up on the wall.
Noble peered into the stall and locked eyes with himself in the mirror, though it felt… wrong. An ear flicked in annoyance, and he could see when it did so. He didn’t think he used to have those. He couldn’t be sure.
“Just sit there a moment,” Pogo said, “I’ll give you some undergarments, but I’ve gotta grab someone to take care of your clothes while I sort a few things out.”
Noble spooked a little at the voice, but nodded in response. Pogo wandered off to a cabinet on the other side of the room, opening it and eyeing some of the contents within before grabbing the best estimate they could make to Noble’s size.
Pogo came back, a couple of garments in hand, and offered them to Noble, to which he accepted.
“See if these fit. I’m gonna bring Cape over to get you fitted, so just tell him if you need a size up or down, okay?”
“… okay,” Noble replied, offering a meek little smile. Pogo seemed appeased, giving their own (albeit more confident) smile in return before walking down the hall.
Noble peeked his head back into the little fitting area before stepping into it, and Goldie toddled along behind him, claws clicking against the tiles in a few awkward strides. The place seemed well worn, though relatively clean, with little specks of what looked to be sand in the corners along the wall where a broom couldn’t quite reach. Luckily, there was also a little wooden bench of sorts on one side that he could sit on if need be.
He turned to close the curtain, effectively isolating himself.
He heard Goldie’s nails tap against the floor, and he peered down to see that she’d made it her job to keep a lookout from underneath the curtain. Hopefully he wouldn’t get surprised, he guessed.
He put the clothes on the bench briefly so he could hang up the blanket that was around his shoulders on one of the hooks. Turning back to the bench, he caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror. His expression soured. They found it fit to busy themself with putting the clothes on rather than lingering on it too long.
A simple set of briefs and a colored tank top were what he was left with— something that wasn’t quite flattering, but at least they fit. He frowned at the way the fabric draped along his front, looking in the mirror and pressing it flat to see if it made a difference.
Goldie chittered, catching his attention before a voice did.
“Noble? You in here?”
Noble called back, “… yeah?”
He heard footsteps, then a little chuckle as the voice likely saw Goldie. She quickly scampered back under the curtain to Noble, poking her head out from behind a leg just in case there was trouble.
“My name’s Cape, I’m a seamstress by trade,” they explained, “I can help you get proper stuff to wear, but I’ve got to take a couple measurements first. Do you mind if I come in? Are you decent?”
“Uh…” Noble looked down at himself. It was better than before, at least, but he couldn’t help but cross his arms over himself slightly as if to protect himself.
“Sure. You can come in.”
“Alright.”
A hand gingerly pulled back the curtain, revealing the face of a rather lithe-looking inphernal clad in a vest and collared shirt, along with a measuring tape that hung loosely around their shoulders.
“Stand still for me, please. This shouldn’t take too long.”
They drew the measuring tape from their shoulders, pulling it taut between their palms before busying themself with holding it against Noble. They measured his hips, legs, arms, chest… far more than Noble thought necessary, but he guessed they were the expert. He stayed quiet as Cape pulled a notebook and pencil from their pocket, scribbling some measurements down before replacing them and returning to their tape.
“We’ve got a decent enough stock of clothing, but it’s pretty standard. Button-downs, jeans, vests, and the like,” they waved a hand, “But is there anything you’re looking for? Style? Color?”
Noble’s gaze stayed pinned on the mirror, watching how Cape measured him with practiced ease. Goldie seemed just as intent on keeping an eye on him, tilting her head every so often to see how he’d stretch the measuring tape between his arms.
“Um… can you do something about this…?” Noble pressed his chest flat, trying to get an outline closer to what he envisioned, “I don’t like it.”
“Oh!” Cape said, getting back to his feet and writing down a couple more measurements before adding, “Sure. I’ll see what we have that might fit you. I’ll be right back.”
“Okay. Thanks.”
Noble was left to sit in silence with his gear. He didn’t quite know what to make of it. He felt like he was forgetting something, but… he couldn’t be sure. Faces, names, locations… all of it felt blurry, just out of reach like he’d woken up from a dream and the memory was fading fast. He knew he missed someone. He felt something hollow in his chest, almost cold, trying to remember it.
Gentle knocking on the side of the stall startled him out of the thought, announcing Cape’s presence. The inphernal pushed the curtain aside, showing they had a bundle of clothes in hand.
“Here,” they held the clothes forward, offering them to the newspawn, “It’s not much, but it should work until you get where you’re going.”
“Oh. Thank you.”
Noble reached forward, holding his arms out for Cape to drop the clothes into them.
“And shoes,” they held up a somewhat worn pair of boots to show Noble before placing them on the ground, “I’ve got to take care of a couple of other things, but I think Pogo should be back in a bit to help you out.”
A voice called from far off down the hall, and Cape pulled their head from the stall to shout a short response.
“Sorry, it’s been a little hectic today. Someone’ll be with you soon. Just let them know if you have any issues, yeah?”
Noble nodded, and Cape gave the side of the stall a couple taps with their hand, offering a small smile before trotting off down the hall to attend to whoever it was that needed them.
Noble looked down at the clothes. They consisted of a button-down, vest, and jeans, as well as some garment he assumed he could put on underneath it to help flatten his chest somewhat. It wasn’t all that fancy, by any means, but it’d get the job done.
He dressed quickly as Goldie puttered idly around the room, checking out a few stalls and nudging the curtains with her beak. She only stopped when she heard a yelp from an inphernal inside one, after which she quickly skittered back to safety.
All of the clothing seemed to fit well enough. He slipped the shoes on and turned around to look at himself in the mirror. They observed their form for a few moments, turning side to side to get a better look while brushing the creases in their shirt flat. The only thing that might need fixing would be a hole for his tail, though it wasn’t really big enough to warrant much of a change, anyhow. He hummed. It’d have to do for now.
Noble slid the curtain back, turning to look towards the hallway and subsequently smacking his horn against the side of the stall. He let out a sound, holding his head, even if it hurt his ego more than it did his body.
He rubbed at his horn, softly shooing at the bird that was at his feet with his other hand, who was seemingly adamant on weaving between his legs when he wanted to walk.
“C’mon, git.”
She gave a gruff little noise in response, walking as she pleased (though she did ultimately find it safer to trail along behind him rather than in front).
Pogo’s head appeared in the doorway, seemingly searching for the source of the loud noise they’d heard, but realized it was just Noble. They gave him an amused sort of look, but spoke cordially nonetheless as they addressed him.
“So… it turns out you have a faction who’s got dibs on you,” they gave him an odd smile, “Consider yourself lucky.”
They jabbed a thumb over their shoulder towards the hall.
“They sent someone as soon as they could, which… just so happens to be now, it seems. They’re outside if you’d like to meet them.”
Noble’s brow furrowed in thought, but he gave an idle nod to them in response. He supposed it was good that someone wanted him. Did everyone get that chance…? Maybe he’d have to learn more about this place sometime if they allowed him to.
“Come on.”
Noble followed their beckoning, careful to make sure Goldie wasn’t in the way where he stepped.
They walked through the corridors, taking measured turns until Pogo pushed open a door, flooding the place with blinding sunlight. Noble had to hold a hand up to shield his eyes, and they were met with a gust of dry desert air.
Pogo led him outside to meet whoever it was that was meant to pick him up. He saw a couple of inphernals talking— one he vaguely remembered passing by earlier— alongside one he didn’t recognize, who was dressed to the nines in western garb and holding the reins to a terrifyingly large bird that loomed behind them.
He saw them glance at him and give the other inphernal a little comment with a mild look of disappointment on their face. Maybe it was confusion, but he couldn’t quite tell.
Walking up to them, though, he was greeted by the vulture-bearing inphernal.
“Noble Redcliff Eagle, is it?”
He nodded nervously.
“We’ve been waitin’ for you.”