(Pulling mine and CuteCat's RP over)

"Skypalace, Skypalace..."

Bier mumbled to himself as he searched for some sort of sign, his yellow helmet fins twitching up and down with every turn. Standing behind him was his sister, who quietly slurped through a straw on her energy can as she watched her brother run around. He could easily have checked their position using the scanner in that fancy visor he had built into his helmet, but she didn't remind him of it as she knew he was quite iffy about when to follow advice, and telling him would just delay his decision by another few minutes.

Finally, the older zetraloid gave up and returned to his sister. "There's no way to tell if this is the right city." he whined. "If only we had some way to check a scanner or something..." He held one arm crossed as the other tapped at the side of his head with the other one. After several seconds, he snapped his fingers as the obvious relevation dawned on him. "Of course! I have scanners in my visor, I can use that!"

Bitz just nodded as her brother tapped almost rhythmically at the white square adorning the right side of his head. A green visor descended over his eyes, and almost from habit the girl lowered her goggles down over her own eyes. Bier took several more moments to figure out what had been obvious.

"Yep, it's Skypalace!"

The girl tried not to laugh, and mostly managed because she would choke on her drink otherwise. Bier opened one of his plastic bags, and took out a large puzzle-piece - she noted that it was green and blue before he swallowed the small thing whole. Without another word, her brother nearly ran into the city, and she let go of her straw as she ran to keep up. As he ran, Bier took a piece of paper from the bag he had opened, and opened it to read. "The address to that place is..."

Bitz stopped. "Bier! Watch where you go!" she cried out, causing Bier to slam to a halt. He slid a few steps before stopping completely, his toes spread out to dig into the asphalt and force a stop. Confused, he looked up from his paper.

"Why?"

(Alrighty I'll see what I can do here, please note I am incredibly shy starting off .,. and soooo yeaaah dun expect a lot .,. I'm doing good to even convince myself to post XP and i'm totally not sure what to post...aye my shyness >_<)


Curious of the abnormally outspoken creatures he had taken notice of amidst the painstaking activity of picking at his teeth with a jagged piece of wood, a spotted zetraloid clambered out from his prior location to investigate.

No hostility intended he bounded out into the open as if there were no danger in the world--nor anyone being half terrified by a stupid zetraloid who didn't seem to know any socially acceptable behavior.

Domino by name, he somehow usually managed to keep a low profile as far as being known by anyone within the city, yet still his armor made him stick out in a crowd, being spotted like a domino--unintentionally a trouble maker, but friendly enough.

(Well, even a small reply is a reply~)

As he looked around, Bier quickly noticed the spotted zetraloid approaching the two. It would be hard not to, with such a black-and-white pattern. Oblivious to the fact that he had almost run into the road, he instead walked up to meet this new character.

"Hey there!" he called, holding his hand out to shake the spotted zetraloid's. Bitz walked up next to him, but didn't speak and instead settled for sipping a bit of her drink.

To be honest, he didn't quite know what else to say, until he remembered the paper clipping in his hand. After carefully folding it to show only the address, he held it out to the zetraloid. "Do you know where this is?"

---- (Change of person represented by lines) -----

YEah plus I haven't gotten to long reply in forever .,. ......my other friends get bored,,,very very easily...and don't usually care...XD)

Domino stared at the them for a few moments before sighing--evidently the only reason he ever wanted to shake anyone's hand was to steal something, which this time, nothing they had interested him.

So instead he looked to the paper being held out while he chewed on the sliver of wood he held between his teeth, "A 'course I know where it is!" He worded it in such a way that made it sound as if they didn't believe him they were crazy, although he hadn't exactly even looked at the paper yet, "I know where everything is!"

***

"Oh, thank goodness." Bier smiled as he pulled his empty hand back. Bitz quietly wondered where his bag of puzzle pieces had vanished to, before she noticed it lying on the ground. With a sigh, she let go of her energy can with one hand in order to pick the bag up, and handed it back to Bier. The older sibling took his snack-bag back and plopped a blue puzzle piece into his mouth, merely as a reflex it seemed as he didn't really seem to acknowledge what he was doing.

"I thought we were lost for sure." he explained, then paused to bite the puzzle piece in two and swallow it. Bitz decided not to mention that they had been in the city for a grand total of two minutes. Suspicious of this newcomer's exaggerated kindness, though, she decided to keep an extra eye on the spotted zetraloid as Bier just blabbed on. "I'm so glad there's an upstanding citizen to help us out! So, where is it? You'll show us the way, correct? Pleaaaaase?"

***

Domino didn't seem to find this puzzle piece eating habit strange in the least.

"Suuuuuure." His crooked grin showed off his otherwise jagged looking teeth.

He spun around and pointed in the closest random direction he had ended up in. "It is, this a-way."

Without waiting to see if they agreed he bounded off in the mentioned direction was was right along a busy side walk. That didn't appear to bother him in the least though as he dodged around the rather displeased crowds of humans and zetraloids alike.
***

"This-a-way!" Bier called as he followed Domino, bouncing along with him. Although he was far from as skilled at dodging around the crowds, he made up for it by being quick and light on his feet, so rather than be pushed to the ground or pushing anyone else he felt more like being hit with a pillow. A pillow stuffed with metal and a bit of wood, but nevertheless quite a soft blow.

Bitz, however, lacked the speed of her brother. She tried to follow the two, but it didn't take long before she lost them both. "Bier! Bier! STOP!" she cried out, but her voice was drowned out by the noisy crowds. She tried to push her way through, and eventually - after a bit of crawling and skittering between people's legs - got out of the crowd where she had been. However, her two followers were already out of sight. She sighed in a somewhat desperate tone, biting her lip as she tried to avoid screaming her thoughts. Oh Bier... You dumbhead! Don't leave me behind every time we get a guide!!

She did, however, follow the urge to angrily stomp her foot like a child.
***

Oblivious to if he was being followed still or not Domino charged on. He was pretty fast--but very clumsy, tripping over his own feet occasionally. He stopped at a crosswalk and scratched at his chin as he looked up at the gigantic signs--he had no clue exactly which way he was trying to go but the color of the signs was going to determine that for him. He didn't stop until he reached somewhat of a dead end, looking both ways he headed over to the mounds of scrapmetal--some kind of junkyard it seemed. Totally lost, Domino held his head up confidently, "Here ya go."

Apparently he either couldn't count, or had horrible eye sight because he didn't seem to notice he only had half the duo he was originally escorting through town.

****
As the crowds grew thinner, Bier begun to have less trouble keeping up with his new friend. Although he might have been able to move past Domino and run ahead, he remembered what happened last time he did such a thing and decided not to try. When his guide stopped, he had a bit more trouble and often slid past the spotted zetraloid by a foot or so, his toes leaving cuts in the ground. One time he toppled over and hit a signpost. Other than that, he kept up perfectly with Domino, until they finally came to a halt.

The shapeshifter looked at his paper clipping for a moment or two, comparing it to the scene in front of him. Well, the names didn't quite match, but who was he to question a native? He was sure that there was some perfectly reasonable reason for the name, description, and overall mood to be totally different.

"Thank you!" he chimed, rolling the paper clipping up instead of folding it. "Who are you, by the way? I'm Bier, and this is -"

He cut himself off as he looked around. Where WAS Bitz? He stared emptily for a few seconds, trying to remember when last he saw her. Come to think of it, she hadn't spoken to him or been seen by him until right about they started to move... His helmet fins, previously at their peak, lowered slowly as he realized his mistake.

"... Oh dear."

****

Domino tilted his head to one side obviously confused by the mood change. Any introduction he had intended to make for himself was long lost in his whirling mind of questions--hardly any of which related to the current situation.

"Did'ja drop somethin??" His one unparalyzed helmet fin drooped down, "Forget what ya came for??" He surveyed the situation for awhile longer, trying to recall the difference from when they had started--there was one now he realized. Something. He just couldn't quite place it. At last, it dawned on him.

"Didn't you have a friend with you before??"

***

"Yyyyyyes." Bier said worriedly. "Yes, I did. Bitz, my sis. She must've gotten sidetracked somewhere... Oh, I'm gonna be yelled at."

After a quick facepalm to set his priorities straight, he spun around until he faced Domino once more. "Help me find her again!"

He almost proposed paying the spotted zetraloid for his services, but he realized that he only had his bag of puzzles once he opened his mouth. As Domino probably didn't eat puzzles - as evident by the tasty-looking pick he somehow managed not to swallow - it was probably not a good payment, and he closed his mouth without proposing anything.

Meanwhile, Bitz sat down beside the crowds, chewing on the straw to her can of energy angrily as she contemplated how to find her brother. Bier was going to get SO yelled at.

***

Well he was right then =D XDD about getting yelled at XDD)

"Calm down." Domino yawned as he once more switched the little sliver of wood the other side of his mouth, "This place is perfectly safe--well, mostly an'way. Long as your sis dun find a couple o moody zetras I know she'll be fiiiine."

Now granted this city was actually known for quite a bit of trouble and general criminal activity , not that Domino ever watched the news to begin with.

"But dun worry, I'll help ya look for her--we'll just go back the way we came an' we're bound to run into her." That said he began heading the way he had come, while glancing up at the sides of buildings--whether he thought she would be hanging off the sides of the buildings or just not paying attention wasn't fully clear. Either way it wasn't the ground he was looking at--or near it.
**

"Oh, I'm sure she won't run into any moody zetras." Bier said, sighing in relief and putting a hand onto his chest. His helmet fins rose again. "She's really shy, so she'll stay away from strangers!"

As he wandered alongside his new friend, Bier looked around on the ground. He glanced to Domino, noting that he looked... everywhere EXCEPT the ground. One helmet fin lowered, he gave the zetraloid a puzzled (pun intended) look. "She does look kinda like a bird, but she can't fly. What's your name, again?"

***

"Domino." He answered before tripping over the top of a fire hydrant and landing quite hard on his chin, legs still dangling over the top. "Ow." He shook his head and lifted himself back up, not phased in the least before setting off in his search again, no longer staring up at building tops but at the ground level where the non flyers roamed. "It's a darn good thing y'er sis ain't the adventuring type. Dang we might never find her at that rate."

***

As Domino fell, Bier held out his hand to help him up, but his move seemed to go ignored and he pulled the limb back. "Why?" he asked as they begun to move again. "Is this city really that big?"

Bitz just sat where she sat, patiently waiting for her brother and thinking through what she was going to yell at him. Thanks to her brightly colored armor, she was quite easy to see despite sitting in the shade, and since she was laying out the twelve-piece puzzle she had kept in her scarf, she looked more like a child than anything else. ... Well, not that she wasn't one. She just wasn't quite as naive as one.

"Some say it is." Domino shook his head again, which this time, unruffled his bandanna that had bunched up under his chin. "I dun think it is. Nah, not really. Lot's 'o places ta go though. Quite a few gangs..." His helmet fin twitched as he trailed off. They were nearing where they had begun once more and finally set his mind to looking for her again.
**

"Hey, that scarf of yours is gonna fall off." Bier noted. Bitz saw her brother before he saw her - she quickly gathered up her puzzle and tied it in the scarf around her neck, then dashed out at the older sibling. She tackled him to the ground, and grabbed onto his helmet fins while he was disoriented.

"You JERK!" she cried out. "You owe me another drink! You left me behind again!!"

"Ow ow ow ow ow let go, I didn't mean to!"

"You never mean to! Learn some responsibility already!"

"Okay okay okay, I'll do that honestly..." Bier whined. Bitz groaned, letting go of him as she went back to the alley to pick up her now near-empty energy can. Bier sat up, rubbing his helmet fins. "How many cans do I owe you now?... Six, seven?"

"Eight." Bitz sourly replied as she started to go back. Repeating the redundant, she added: "Jerk."

**

Domino seemed simply amused by the argument chuckling to himself over it--evidently he didn't see that this could have been dangerous or scary for anyone.

"Dang girl, you should go fer nine!" Domino added his own opinion as he continued with his laughter of amusement, "Bet'cha could get it!"



***

"Oh, I'm sure it'll be up to nine before the day is over!" Bitz mused, chuckling lightly. Seeing Domino crack up made her quite a bit less angry, to Bier's relief.

"Not if I buy you a new one first!"

"Oh, and when'll that be?"

"Right about whenever I get money!"

Bitz just chuckled, finishing her drink. "Like all the other times, huh?"

"Yeah, pretty much." Bier said with a shrug. It generally translated to stealing, but saying THAT in public was something they had learned not to do. Instead, Bitz looked to Domino. "And you are-?"

"He's Domino."

"Okay, then. Nice to meet ya, Domino." the girl said with a nod and a smile. "Let's go?"

***

No longer laughing, Domino nodded his head enthusiastically to Bitz and then turned back to go the way he had come from...only he had slightly forgotten all the turns he had initially made.

"I'll go slower this time." He announced, which was more or less because he was trying to get himself on the right path again, "That way we dun lose anyone this time."

Finally he found the way he had come and set off at a brisk walk. Once headed in the right direction he spent the majority of his time sniffing the air and looking around rather than what was in front of him.

"Be right back." He informed them as he darted out across the street. A few cars screeched but that hadn't seemed to have phased the spotted zetraloid who had safely reached the other side. He disappeared around a turn for a few moments before reappearing now munching contently on corn dog.


**

"Sounds good to me." Bitz agreed, following Domino. As they were told to wait, she did. ... But Bier wasn't nearly as co-operative. Either that, or selectively deaf, as he continued to follow their guide. The cars slowed him down, but didn't stop him. Once Domino returned, he'd find the boy standing on the wrong side of the road, and Bitz in the process of trying to run across.

"Where'd you go?" Bier asked, oblivious to what he had just done, and just glancing to Bitz to ensure she'd made it across safely. His body was stiff, ready to run over and snatch her up in case one of the cars got too close.

***

Domino did seem a bit surprised to find them not where he had left them but was perfectly fine with this fact.

"Corn dogs." Domino announced, holding out his 'prize' so to speak, he seemed to think it was some kind of treasure as he took a bite out of it. "Can't be runnin' around all day on an empty stomach ya know, you're bound to get.....to get......" He shrugged, "Meh, enough with that." Taking another bite he pointed with the corn dog in the direction he intended to go, "Onward to the destination!"


**

"Right! Let's go, just a sec!" Bier called out, punching straight up into the air with one of his fists. He turned to his sister, and nimbly ran over to grab her wrist. As she had gotten most of the way already, and most people actually stopped when seeing a child panicking in the middle of the road, the small trip went without any incidents and Bier grinned to Domino as they returned. "Okay, done!"

"Where are your puzzles?" Bitz asked quietly after noting Domino's new snack. Even though it was empty, she held onto her can tightly, and she smirked as Bier checked his non-existant pockets.

"Aah, no... I lost it again..." the older sibling whined, ears down. Bitz pulled her hand free, and brought the puzzle bag out of her can. He was quite happy to regain it, and celebrated by eating a handful of pieces at once. Bitz, though, kept her eyes on Domino.

"You left to get that?" she asked, somewhat quietly. "I'm out... if you smell one of these drinks, can you tell me so I can get one?" As she said this, she held up the empty energy can. Bier, already beginning to head toward their destination, glanced back to see if they were coming along.

**
"I've never sniffed for drinks before." Domino commented,"But I'll tell ya if I smell anything." He obviously found no reason to lead anymore though as he hung back, walking as slow as he pleased and watching the traffic go by. "Why are you two headed to that place anyway??" He asked as he started hopping over the lines where a chunk of cement ended and a new one began.

***

"Why?" Bitz asked, surprised. "That's... secret!"

Not knowing how else to respond, she ran over to Bier and took his arm. Bier's helmet fins twitched as he looked to Domino. After pondering for a moment or two, he took the paper clipping out of the bag of puzzles he'd kept it in, and began to read it.

"It says here, it's an ad. There's a big meeting for our kind, a really awesome guy that's gonna take care of us and all that stuff!" he explained. Then he looked a bit closer at Domino, and tilted his head to the side. "What are you, anyway? Any special race?"

***

Domino listened as they had told him to varying degrees of what they intended to do, trying to make the best sense out of it that he could. Although he looked totally uninterested, he was most likely more interested in it than he was letting on to.

"I'm an Acrobat." But as if to prove him wrong, at that vary moment he tripped over his own foot and stumbled forward, barely managing to catch his balance before falling, "'Cept...I'm not too good at the whole balance'in thing." With a yawn he added, "No special offers to house my kind floatin' 'round here."
***

"Oh, then I can't tell you more..." Bier sighed. He'd been looking forward to telling Domino all about the awesome plans that were written in the ad, but to do so to a non-shapeshifter might prove disastrous. The fact that said plans had been written in a public newspaper (a free one at that) apparently didn't cause any suspicion, though. Bier shook his head to cheer himself up. "Well, just take us back to that scrapyard place and we'll handle it from there!"

"Scrapyard?" Bitz whispered. "Isn't that a weird place to have a meeting?"

"The leader's ways are weird indeed."

"Are you sure it's the right place?"

"Of course! You trust the natives, don't you?"

Bitz glanced to Domino. Well, he did seem harmless enough. "I guess so."

***

Domino looked fairly disappointed that he didn't get to know all the secret details but shrugged it off. He pointed once more at the scrapyard and quite proudly reconfirmed that this was indeed the location that had been specified in the ad. He scratched at one of his helmet fins before pulling a clump of dirt free that had been wedged between a split in the fin and flicked it away, shaking his head as if expecting more to go with it.

"Well...I guess that's all you need then, huh?" He proceeded to take the last bite of the corn dog and then snap the stick in half and start chewing on it like he had his last little custom toothpick.


***

"Yup, that'll be all!" Bier confirmed with a grin. "Thank you, you've been an awesome guide! We'll come to you again the next time we need help!"

With these words, he set off into the scrapyard. Bitz, unwilling to be left behind yet unwilling to really go, grabbed onto his arm tighter and looked around as she was dragged along. It was a frightening place... Although Bier was, as usual, too thick-headed to notice such a thing.

***

Domino waved farewell to them but didn't bother leaving--he had a strange suspicion they may come back through after exploring their 'awesome' ad location. In the meantime he looked around the border for any shiny sharp objects to add to the collection he had strapped to his leg.

The more they explored, the more convinced Bitz became that this was the wrong place and that they needed to get out. It felt like a trap of some sort. But no matter how much she whined, Bier wouldn't turn back, and she was forced to just follow him along. She had a distinct hunch that if they found nothing, they'd end up spending the night in such a creepy place, and thus she did her best to search as well.

The only problem was, she didn't know what to search for.
**

What looked to be a helmet stuck in a pile of slime was nearby—nothing too amazingly abnormal looking considering what the place looked like in general. Although why exactly there would be a mound of slime was left to the imagination. That is until it took on a more defined form—another zetraloid perhaps, with a slimy green body and green helmet.

It either hadn’t noticed Bitz and Bier or was uninterested in them—either way it was turned the opposite direction, stretching and yawning as if something had woken it from a peaceful nap.

**

Bitz saw the slime - not as it simply lay there, but as it rose. They were not close to the thing, so Bier didn't see it - Bitz hugged onto his arm, unable to suppress a shudder and a whisper of 'EWWW...'. What was that thing? Was it a zetraloid or a monster? A shapeshifter able to alter the very foundation of his body? Some kind of accident from the waste treatment plant? An alien? Or was she just hallucinating because of the lack of energy drinks? (True, she did suffer from withdrawal, but the hallucinations usually didn't come until after a few days. She was just supposed to have a headache right now.)

"What is it?" Bier asked, looking down at his sister. Bitz looked up at him, opening her mouth to respond before she recalled his personality. With the soft, naive smile he was giving her, he was bound to run off and talk to the weird mound of humanoid slime as soon as she pointed out his existance. Instead, she settled for a lame excuse.

"I... stepped on a rat."

"Eww."

"My words exactly."

As they kept walking, Bitz watched the slime-like being, tightly hugged onto her brother. She kept all her attention on him, to be safe in case he noticed them - after all, such a being had to be alone.

Right?

**

Slime as the zetraloid was quite efficiently named seemed quite too absorbed in stretching to take notice of their conversation. Why a ball of slime needed to stretch? Who knew but this one seemed to think he did. After a few moments he swiveled around--half of him did anyway to which he made some kind gurgly grumble and twisted the other half of himself around too. His head tilted to one side as if he couldn't quite make out if Bitz and Bier were part of the landscape or not, and then at an ever slow rate of speed he began following after them at a distance--not very discretely considering he kept making sploshy noises every time he slammed his slimy feet down.

***

Bitz tried to ignore the disgusting and horrifying creature that followed them, but soon found that she couldn't. Stopping, she tugged at her brother's arm. "Bier..."

Bier looked down to her. "What is it?"

"Someone's following us. Someone creepy."

"Maybe he's our leader?"

"I really don't think he is!" Bitz whined. "He's scary and slimy and I think he's a monster!"

"I get it..." Bier nodded, just petting his sister as he pulled himself free. After eating some more puzzle pieces, he gave his bag to Bitz and pushed her aside lightly. "See that big broken metal container? Hide there. I'll check up on that guy."

Bitz didn't give a verbal response, and just nodded. She ran over to the container her brother had indicated, sitting down within its protective walls. Three out of four wasn't all that bad, really. Once certain that she had hidden, Bier approached the slimy zetraloid, one arm raised to show himself as harmless.
**

Slime stood there line a crumbling statue for a few moments as if the change in direction Bier had taken puzzled his ability to find the proper response and then he raised one arm like wise...although the goopy slime on it tended to drip off, collect on his helmet fin and then drop off into the slime all around him and proceed to recirculate out like helmet fins again.


**

"Hello! Who are you?" Bier called out as he came close, lowering his arm. He stayed on guard, quietly hoping that this creature would not be able to remember where Bitz had gone. It had seen her, that much was obvious. As he came close, just outside an arm's length, Bier stopped.

***

Slime seemed skeptical of Bier, but only in mannerism as his eyes were not in view--if he had any beneath his visor that was.

"Who are you?" He asked in return before resting on one knee and placing his hands once more in the slime surrounding him.

The slimy zetraloid obviously felt it more fitting that the person who had come into his home territory introduce himself first.

Occassionally he would glance around Bier as if trying to see where his 'friend' was.

**

"My name is Bier." Bier answered calmly. He tried to ignore the way that the slime-covered zetraloid looked around, although one of his helmet fins twitched each time he did it. Under his breath, he added: "What are you...?"

**

The rather enthusiastic zetraloid bounced to his feet once more, swinging his slimy arms to point at himself, "I'm Slime!" Seeming to find this funny he laughed over it and then went back to kneeling as he had before and then he was on his own mission apparently, making his way passed Bier--walking on his hands and feet for who knew what reason, as he seemed to be able to stand fine. Rather rude way to greet someone yes, but Bier apparently didn't interest him as much. "Where's your friend??" He asked--at least he wasn't moving very fast in any real direction.
**

Bier was, admittedly, caught off guard by the way the slimy zetraloid spun - Slime. It'd have been hard to find a more fitting name. As the zetraloid started moving past him, though, he suspected the worst and followed, making sure that he was in between this creature and his sister's hiding place.

"What friend?" he asked, in a suspicious tone. "I'm alone."
**

Slime seemed merely bothered by the fact he considered Bier was 'in his way.'

"Not alone." Slime answered, swiveling the top half of his body as he lifted himself off the ground to check both ways--once again trying to look beyond Bier, "Two. Two of you. Mmhmm. I saw two."

**

"It's not any of your concern where she is!" Bier said quickly, before what Slime had just done sunk in. After a few moments of speechlessness, he shook his head quickly, giving the slimy zetraloid a look of confused horror. "What are you?!"

**

"Hmm..." Slime only seemed to take what Bier had said in stride so to speak. He shrunk himself down into what looked like a puddle of slime then reformed again and jumped to his feet once more--if he always acted in such a way he probably got a thorough work out every day. "What do I look like?? I'm a zetraloid of course!"


**

"W-What kind of zetraloid acts in such a way?" Bier asked. The slimy creature's display was getting more and more unnerving - soon, he'd vaporize and fall from the sky as rain or something! He shook his head, though, trying to move his helmet fins out of their 'horrified and freaked out' position.

"Either way, there's nothing to see that way! Where are you going?" he asked as he backed toward his sister's hiding place.

"My kind!" Slime chimed happily as he still pushed on, "I want to see your friend!" It was hard to tell if he was just being excited and oblivious to the fact Bier didn't want him to see her or if he was actually demanding it. "Worry worry worry." He added as he moved along, "What can a ball of slime do to hurt you anyway, hmm?"

Granted he had plenty of ways to hurt people, none of which he evidently felt like mentioning.
**

W-Well, you can't see her!" Bier cried out, growing increasingly angry with the way this slime-being was ignoring him. He blocked his path, trying to grab onto his arm and fully expecting his fingers to just go through. "I don't know what you can or can't do, so I won't let you near!"

**

Seemingly growing a bit impatient he took a few steps back. His slimy body was impossible to really grab ahold of. You could sort of grab it for a moment but it would shoot through pretty soon after--and that was if you were quick enough to manage grabbing a handful.

"I just wanted to say hi!" He snapped, not at all sounding like he just wanted to say hi, "What's with you?? This is MY home. You guys came barging in here and now you say I can't say hi to your friend?" Slime stood on his feet once more.

**
"Y-You don't sound like it..." mumbled Bier as he moved back a bit more. The slimy being did have a point, though. "I just don't want anything to happen to her, you know. We've been travelling for a long time, looking for someone."

He was going to stop there, but as he finished speaking, he realized that Slime HAD seen them, and had followed them... "Have you seen them, maybe? Someone other than me and sis?"
**

Slime's attitude seemed to level out as he listened to Bier and cast a glance around as if looking for someone now.

"I see things all the time." He announced, "You'd have to be more specific than that ya know."

**

"Well, they..." Bier trailed off. He waved a bit with his hand as though it'd help him remember, but soon gave up. "Actually, we don't know what he or she looks like. But you can't get a lot of visitors here, so have you seen another zetraloid come by here? If you help us out, I'll let you meet sis!"
**

Slime looked skeptical for a few moments then nodded his head. "Sure, sure. I can show you another zetraloid who lives here!" he took a few steps to the left then stopped, "Of course you'll have to follow though."


**

"That's fine with me." Bier answered, smiling softly. At last he was making progress! Without thinking too hard about his decision, he followed Slime.
**

Slime lead the way through a trail of garbage until they reached what looked like a doorway--jammed between an overhang of scapmetal.

"One thing." He announced as he stood straight as if to make an important point. "Once we're inside, you can't go any further unless you can prove to be a..." He leaned closer and whispered, "Shapeshifter."

**

"Shapeshifter?" Bier blinked a few times, before grinning widely. He nodded at once. "That's easy! Do I just have to shapeshift, or...? I am one after all. So this is the right place!"

***

"Yes, yes of course. Once we're inside, that way if there's anyone hidden out there they won't know you truly are one." And with that he stepped inside, grimacing at the slimy footprints he was leaving behind. "They most certainly won't be happy with this, no no." He was commenting to himself rather than Brier about the slime though.

"Alright Shapeshifter. Let's see you shapeshift!"

***

Bier followed his new friend, and nodded at the request. After a glance toward the door to make sure it was still open and nobody was watching through it, he tried to think of someone to change shape to. He had a hard time thinking of someone, though, and soon closed his eyes as he settled for his real form. The shapeshifting process went fairly quick and painless, and soon he looked quite different from his old shape. For starters, he was a dark and dull green. It seemed less agile too, with the sleek look being replaced by more clunky and protective armor. It was probably hollow in places due to this, but it LOOKED more protective atleast.

**

Slime nodded his head quite enthusiastically. "Yep, yep, Shapeshifter for sure." And with that he headed down what was quite apparently a tunnel leading to an underground set up--one much nicer than the scrap yard it was underneath. "It's kind of like digging for treasure!" Slime announced before tripping over a step and sliding down the remainder of the stairway like a liquid soap being tossed out in buckets. Once at the bottom he lifted his head up as if this had surprised him before scrambling back to his feet. At the bottom was a single door.

**

As they headed down, Bier didn't know whether to raise his guard or lower it. Was this guy his ally or his enemy? He tried to figure it all out, but was cut off by the strange sound of a liquid slinky heading down a metal staircase. He stopped, looking down after Slime. He frowned. That looks like a long fall.

He tried to move down the stairs as smoothly as he could, but the steps were slippery and treacherous because of his guide. His feet weren't helping a lot either - compared to the sleek feet of his usual shape, they felt big and clumsy. Although he clung to the railing and wall as tightly as he could, soon he lost his footing and cried out as he tumbled down the staircase just like Slime. He stopped head-first on the floor, lying there with his arms spread out for some time as he tried to recover a bit. After rolling over, he got up and shook his head.

"Been too long since I used this..." he mumbled to himself, but nevertheless looked to Slime to see what he would do.

**

"Watch out." Slime chuckled as he moved about, "That staircase can be a reaaaal doozy, hmm?" He set about trying to open the door with little success as his hands couldn't grip it. Whining in frustration he pounded on it which did nothing except splatter his hand momentarily.

"Open the doooooor!" He whined pathetically as he shrunk down to stand on his hands and feet. The door clicked open--it wasn't a heavy door or anything--as the head of a zetraloid peeked out from the inside. He gave the two a suspicious look before opening the door and retreating from sight.

"Uh... I could help you out with that, you know." Bier said as he watched Slime struggle with the door. The way his guide sat and whined distinctly reminded him of a dog, and as he realized this he couldn't hide a big grin.

He begun to greet the face that appeared as the door opened, but in an instant it had retreated again. Frowning lightly, he entered the room and looked around. "Hello?"

**

Slime followed in behind him, seeming a bit more hesitant as he had come down here--and typically wasn't welcomed to be a part of the room. Despite being down underground it was still fairly warmed--like an underground home actually. The room itself was empty though and even slime seemed confused by it.

"There's normally others here...." He told Bier as he looked about and poked at a small candle beside an old chair which promptly sizzled into a smoking tip from the goop dropping on top of it, "Oops."

The room was still lit by a light though--its wiring trailed around the top of the room and through a small hole--obviously leading out to some source of power.

**

"And someone WAS here just a second ago." Bier said, crossing his arms. It didn't add up, and he was beginning to get quite antsy due to it. Still, he resisted the urge to back out and instead begun to look for any other people in the room. He did note how unsure Slime seemed, but tried to ignore it... Until he realized that it was another thing that just didn't make sense.

"Why are you so worried?"

**

Slime turned to face Bier, "Well they normally don't like me being in here because..." Suddenly looking self conscious and in a total different mood he added, "I'm slimy..."

And indeed he had left a trail of slime from the door to where he had walked currently.

There were a couple doors by the way, (Which I forgot to mention so rudely) and one of them opened as a rather big zetraloid had to duck through the door made for more average sized people and come in. He cast a glance at Bier and Slime and nearly went by without saying a thing until Slime had stopped him.

"He's a Shapeshifter!" Slime announced, "Right Bier, yep yep?"

**

"Yeah, that's not very surprising..." Bier mumbled, rubbing the back of his head a little as he noted the slime trail. Then the door opened, however, and his attention went straight onto the newcomer. He grinned somewhat at Slime's gleeful announcement.

"That's right!" he answered cheerfully. Looking this new guy over, he noticed that this one definately looked like a leader. "You're the leader who sent the ad, right? I'm Bier!

**

Preside as the zetraloid was named looked totally lost for a moment before stumbling over words for a brief time.

"I, er..ad......yeah....oh right the ad." Almost seeming surprised he added, "Yeah you're at the right place, kid. We don't usually have many takers--skeptic freaks."

meanwhile Slime waved back and forth contently.


**

"Heheh, I thought I was!" Bier chuckled. "We - I thought I was lost, but Slime showed me the way... So we're the only ones here?"

As he asked this last thing, his ears drooped somewhat. Quietly, he pondered whether to tell them about Bitz now or once he had fetched her - whenever that may be.

**

Preside looked around to see if he were missing someone but saw nothing and shrugged, assuming he meant Slime instead. "Yep just you...if you'd like to stay we'd be happy to show you around."

Slime nodded in agreement before attempting to tug at Bier's arm--something he was technically incapable of, "You said you'd introduce me to your friend once I showed you!"


**

Bier nodded to Preside's suggestion, but was unable to answer verbally before Slime cut him off.

"Right now?" he asked, in a bit of a whisper. "Why now? It won't take that long to look everything through, right? We can go talk to her later..."

"Uhhhh..........." Slime didn't really seem to have a reason.

"Something wrong?" Preside leaned back and crossed his arms while waiting.

"Nope! No, nothing's wrong at all!" Bier nearly shouted, turning to Preside in a quick move - a little too quick for his neck, which announced its annoyance with a crick.

Rubbing his neck, Bier whined softly. "Owww..." He glanced back to Slime, somewhat awkwardly as it hurt to move his head, and whispered to him again. "I'll introduce you later, okay? Once we're done here?"

"But...." Slime frowned and shrugged as he headed towards the way they had come--not even saying goodbye, "I'll find your friend by myself! You can look around!"

Preside smirked at the overall happenings thus far as he watched to see what Bier would think about Slime running off without him.

"What?" Bier's ears sunk as the shapeshifter tried to turn and follow Slime. "Hey! You can't do that!" he cried out. "You'll scare her!"

"I don't scare people." Slime insisted, waving his arm as if Bier was crazy and pushing the door which was not fully shut, open. In an instant a zetraloid who had evidently been standing on the other side burst through it and flung himself across the room, mouth wide open revealing rows and rows of sharp teeth. It didn't have any visible eyes and its feet were both different--one looking more like a boot of some sort while the other looked more like a claw.

"Yes you do - I mean you will, she was really scared when she saw-"

Bier didn't finish the sentence, cutting himself off with a horrified cry and dashing backward as a zetraloid literally flew into the room. His feet, still clumsy and too big for his weight, tripped and he fell hard onto his back.

"W-What, what is that?!" he yelped as he tried to scramble to his feet, leaning against the wall behind him. One was a slime beast, and this one looked more like a feral monster from a movie than an actual zetraloid! It was a bit weird that the horrifyingly tall zetraloid wearing a strange mask over his face was the most normal one of the group, come to think of it, and Bier found himself starting to have second thoughts about this group. Well, the moments he was able to think between bursts of panicked horror.

Slime stared absently at the fact Bier was so horrified by what he considered normal and did nothing to help him in the least. The zetraloid whom had just entered the room soonest of all, lunged forward at Bier only to let out a shrill cry and fall short, flat on his face. Preside had the zetraloid's thick tail in hand and had apparently stopped it short.

"Sorry about that." Preside apologized as he pulled the zetraloid back towards himself. Surprisingly it made no complaint about the fact it was getting pulled by its tail.

"W-What is that?" Bier repeated, breathlessly, as he stumblingly got to his feet. "Your pet?"

He kept his eyes on the animal, and did his best to keep his distance as well. Soon he was near the opposite end of the room, which felt like just about enough. He calmed down somewhat, but kept his eyes on the animal anyway until he remembered about Slime. He quickly glanced to the door, but suspected that the slimy zetraloid had already left. Oh, no.

Slime had indeed left the room, evidently seeing no further reason to wait. His slimy footprints were left all along his chosen path.

"Oh, it's just Leech." Preside informed, sounding way too calm about the introduction. "Sometimes he doesn't have the best of manners...."

Leech has jumped back to his feet and still looked pretty much ready to lunge at Bier again but Preside rather suddenly snatched him off the ground leaving his limbs to whirl around for something to cling to as he was picked up so suddenly.

"No eating guests." He told the strange zetraloid creature, "Understand? NO EATING GUESTS."

He was holding the creature by its head, bringing it very close to his own head. Leech's tail flicked back and forth as if it annoyed him that he couldn't not eat Bier but otherwise he just dangled there.

"Sometimes?" Bier asked with a wince. He glanced to the door once more - well, there were stairs leading up. Surely, Slime couldn't have gotten far. He swallowed, then spoke in a somewhat lowered voice (not noticing this). "Look, um, I have to go follow Slime. I'll come back soon, okay?"

Expecting some follow-up questions, he tried to think of a way to reason him following the zetraloid... It turned out to be a bit difficult, however. Sometimes he really wished he had a better imagination.

Preside gave him a pretty skeptical expression that showed he indeed was wondering what was up as he let go of Leech.

"Why would you need to follow him? He'll be back I'm sure..."

Before he'd even had a moment's time to think it through any more Leech had already tried lunging at him again, to which Preside once more had to grab the squirmy creature.

"I just told you NOT to do that!" He exclaimed before pulling him back and then kicking him. Leech shook his head and whined about this--most likely because he was a Shapeshifter Hunter and seen every reason to attack the Shapeshifter.

"W-Well yes but-"

Bier flinched as Leech again tried to lunge at him. He couldn't think of an answer, but for just a few moments Preside was busy kicking his dog - quickly, the shapeshifter tried to dash out of the room and follow Slime up the stairs. He didn't do all that well, slipping and slamming into the stairwell chin-first a few times, but he tried to disregard these minor and painful setbacks.

Preside didn't bother chasing after Bier and instead seemed content to scold Leech about all the trouble he was causing to which Leech seemed totally baffled by.

Fortunately for Bier Slime wasn't extra quick getting up the stairs either. His slimy body seemed to do going down a whole lot better than going up. But he had managed to get back out in the open and was looking around for where he thought they had left Bier's 'friend.'

As he reached Slime, Bier stopped to take a breather and rub his sore chin.

"I told you not to run off..." he halfly whined. "She scares easily, you'll scare her to death if you come alone."

He had promised Slime, however, and he had the distinct feeling that nothing he could say would keep the zetraloid from trying to find his sister. He might as well take him to her, if only so he wouldn't alert the rest of his group. "Come on, she's this way." he mumbled as he headed back toward his sister's hiding place.

Slime seemed oblivious to the majority of everything he was being told--only that he wanted to see Bier's 'friend.' Which he had definitely made obvious. Why he was so interested in the other was anyone's guess but he was most certainly adamant about it.

Slime followed after Bier, smiling contently as if everything had gone his way from the beginning.

Soon, the two reached back to the container where Bitz still sat and waited. She cheered up visibly as she saw Bier, but the look of happiness turned to one of worry once she noticed his different shape - and then to fear as she saw Slime with him. She hugged the bag of puzzles to her body and slid back a bit.

"No no no Bitz, it's fine, he's with us." Bier quickly reassured her, or tried to. "I found the shapeshifter leader guys it's fine, don't worry. He's one of them."

Bitz didn't seem very convinced - but, atleast, she tried to give it a chance and Bier sighed in relief.

Slime watched Bitz for awhile as if she were some kind of zoo attraction then nodded his head. "Yep, this is your friend I saw!"

That being said he smunched himself down into what looked like a puddle of slime again. He popped back up near instantly, "A tour! Preside was going to take everyone on a tour! I came to find you! He insisted on coming to." He pointed to Bier as if this were a horrible thing.

Bitz, very unnerved by the way Slime acted to her (and the way he acted in general), just grasped onto her brother's arm and hid behind him. Bier tried to reassure her, but to no avail. Soon enough, he gave up and just nodded to Slime.

"Yeah, he was. Let's go back to that place, shall we?" Without waiting for an answer, he begun to go back to the base once more, with Bitz coming along - taking the outmost care to remain on the side of her brother that Slime was the furthest away from.