"The Eirímach?" Gavin gave her a confused look. "I don't think 'The Uprising' is a very inconspicuous name for a business."

Aoife rolled her eyes. "We don't call it that in public, you amdain. Now come on! There's someone I want you to meet."

"All right," he replied, excitedly matching her pace as she led him to the bookstore. While he wasn't exactly a fan of meeting new people, he couldn't deny the allure of the endless amount of novels waiting for him inside the building.

"Why are you so thrilled?" Eldrazi piped up, noticing the flicker of emotion before the spark died off entirely. "You can't even read in the first place."

Well, how am I ever supposed to learn without trying? he mentally argued back as a bell rang out above his head. At the sound of it, a quite freckled man with curly brown hair and glasses glanced up, giving them a small smile.

"Ah, hello. Whatever can I do fo— Aoife?" His brown eyes popped open in shock, the book in his hand plummeting to the floor with a thud. "How are— How did—"

He shook his head, giving up on the sentence. Instead he hopped his spry body over the counter, running forward to fling his arms around the girl in a hug Gavin made sure to stay far away from.

"I'm so glad you're back." It came as a whisper.

"You say that like I was supposed to be gone forever. You know no prison can keep hold of me." A large smile broke across her face, making Gavin feel a very sudden need to clear his throat, loudly.

They pulled away from each other, turning to him. Aoife casually waved in his direction. "Oh yeah, and he might've helped me out of it. His name is Gavin."

"I see." The man sidestepped her, making his way around piles of paperbacks and boxes left strewn along the floor until he was staring Gavin down from his own height, just below Aoife's. Not that his look was menacing– more curious than anything– but Gavin trembled a bit under his gaze all the same. "And is he...?"

"Yep!" Aoife nodded along, looking thrilled. "He's going to be joining us, so lock the doors and call the others because he's going to turn this whole operation around!"

"He is?" A dubious look crossed the man's face before he quickly discarded it, as if he didn't want Gavin to be offended.

"Of course! He took out guards like he was born to be an assassin, and I bet this isn't the first time he's slithered his way out of the Cearte's clutches."

"I can imagine." The man gave him another look, adjusting his brown doublet awkwardly. "I apologise if this comes across as– say– personal, but if you don't mind me asking... are you the Undying Serpent?"

Oh. That was what the look was for, Gavin realised. Well, if they weren't going to kill him, then he couldn't see any point in lying about it. "That is what the Cearte call me, yes."

"Really? By Uldyŋ this is exciting!" The man's face lit up again, and suddenly Gavin was tugged into a second embrace, a tight one that threatened to wrench every ounce of air from his lungs. "You're practically a legend here!"

"W-why?" he tried to choke out. Why would a random, older Human, most likely set to die from the Dust in a few years, look up to him?

The man pulled back, holding him out at arm's length. "Because, you're the living Dávoln, the one who's managed to escape them time and time again. The amount of attacks you made against the government, fighting for what was right..."

A boisterous burst of laughter rang out in the back of Gavin's mind at that. "Fightin' for what's right? Wow, do these people 'ave us wrong. Just a bunch o' selfless martyrs, aren't we Gav?"

Gavin ignored him. The truth of the matter here was that the truth didn't matter. If rumours wanted to work in their favour for once in their life, he'd let it happen. So he nodded.

"Really? I didn't know he was infamous. I just happened to find an old poster." She shrugged. "Anyways, aren't you forgetting something?"

The man blinked at her before perking up with a laugh. He turned back to Gavin. "Ah, right. I apologise for not introducing myself sooner. It's simply that I saw you two, and could hardly believe my eyes, and what with actually meeting the Undying Serpent and all..."

Aoife shot him a look, her hand running impatient circles in front of her. He gulped. "R-right. That aside, I'm Róhain–" His tongue rolled easily along the Durnish name. "–and if you'll excuse me, I'm going to grab the rest of our small group. Before Aoife threatens to burst me into flames."

She only chuckled behind him, making her way over to the door to slide a heavy metal bar across it. "I'm glad we're clear on that much!"

With that, Gavin noticed Aoife was moving back to the door, fiddling with locks and latches. It seemed secretive, to him, and as a sense of awkward uselessness spread through him, he quickly glanced about the room, trying to find something to busy himself with. His eyes eventually landed on the yellow, sun-bleached curtains, and as Róhain headed through a door Gavin assumed led upstairs, he began to tug them over the exposed windows. It dampened the warm, sunny mood of the shop a bit, but if this truly was a group of rebels bent on taking the Cearte down, he supposed it was most likely a necessary precaution.

"Aoife!"

The stairwell door was flung open with a bang, making Gavin jolt, whipping around to face the noise. In it stood a Demon, his red, sleeveless shirt rising and falling with each heavy pant. Amber, cat-like eyes scanned the room wildly, searching for just one person. "Aoife!" he repeated, pulling a hand through the white stripes in his short, ginger hair in disbelief.

"Me!" She ran up to him, leaping into the built arms he held out. He wrapped them around her, lifting her with ease as they spun around the library floor. They stayed like that for a moment, his hands scooped beneath her legs and back, staring into each other's eyes.

Gavin watched as her face almost seemed to melt, becoming softer, yet somehow more mature. "Miss me?"

"Every single day."

Then the Demon's face bent down, his lips connecting to hers.

Gavin's eyes immediately landed on a piece of dust on the floor that happened to become extremely interesting to him now. It was very grey, for a speck of dust. Occasionally, a draft allowed it to drift along the hardwood aimlessly until it was reunited with its long lost family in the corners of the book-strewn room. He was happy for it.

Finally, the two drew apart as Aoife pulled back, and then her hands were reaching to tug the scruffy hairs running along the man's chin. "Ew, what's all this?"

"What, you don't like it? I thought it matched my new style." He pouted slightly.

"No. It's all poky and gross." Her fingernails managed to snag a piece, and she yanked her hand back, making him cry out a bit and clutch at his face. "Get rid of it before I do."

Then she took another look at him, smirking as her eyes landed on his short, stuck up hair, the muscles along his broad chest, and a place a bit further down along his back that once again made Gavin notice how much the bookstore could use a broom. "I like the rest of what I see though."

"All right turtledoves! That's enough of that."

Gavin's eyes shot wide as two pitch-black hands with sharp, shadowy fingers pushed the lovers away from each other. With them no longer blocking the middle of the door, Gavin could see a teen, perhaps only a year older than himself, shaking a head of lopsided, raspberry red hair.

"Sheesh. I know it's been a while and all, but save it for later." He fixed the only eye not covered by a patch at Aoife, a jagged, toothy grin stretching into the dark, swirling patterns that ran down his face. "Still, we're happy to have you back."

Even as Aoife threw her arms around him– albeit it far less tight than the first one– Gavin could only stare at the boy's features: at each living, black marking leaving dark wisps to curl and evaporate into the air, as though only half of him was there.

Is he... a Shar Drak'na? But that didn't seem right. They were a race of shadows, stuck to dark places, barely alive, and– as far as Gavin had ever heard– they were supposed to come with black, spined tails. Yet, despite the boy clearly missing the latter, Gavin couldn't think of what else he could be as Róhain reentered the room. A girl with long, white hair tipped in brown trailed behind him, flinging herself onto the only plush seat in the room.

"I think that makes everyone," Róhain announced, easing himself onto the top of his desk in lue of a seat. Adjusting his spectacles, he glanced at each and every one of them, from the girl in the chair, the eyepatched boy taking a seat on the floor, Aoife and her partner leaning against a bookshelf, and finally, Gavin continuing to stand in the centre of it all. Róhain closed his eyes with a smile. "That being said, I have wonderful news for the Eirímach. Firstly, as you can all see, Aoife is back—"

"With all of my limbs!" She cut in, shooting a wink to the white-haired girl. "Sorry to disappoint, Lynette."

The girl only rolled ice blue eyes in response, worming further into the seat's crimson fabric.

Róhain gave a short cough, and they turned back to him. "– And we have a new guest with us, who, if he so wishes, might be working with us from now on. Gavin?"

Gavin jolted at the sound of his name, his ears burning as he stiffened into a board. He could feel everyone watching him, waiting for something, but he didn't know what. Magik? He couldn't do that. Did Róhain want him to shift? Right here? Right now? The redness only continued to spread into his face. "Y-yes?"

"... care to introduce yourself? All of yourself?"

His lips stretched into a thin line. "Oh."

More awkwardness spread through him, tightening his chest and shrinking his body. As he opened his mouth, his hand was already reaching up to talk behind the white edge of his tunic's long sleeve lifted into his mouth. He chewed on the linen, words mumbled. "W-well as you know, I'm a Dávoln. My Demon's name is Eldrazi..."

Immediately, he could hear shouts echoing through their mind. "-who says hi. The Cearte discovered me when I was ten, I managed to evade them for a year, and then was caught and held for the last four."

"Four years in prison?" The man with his arm around Aoife let out a low whistle. "That's not an easy life. Still, didn't you incite the entire War? How did you manage to do that at the age of ten?"

"It was a very busy year."

"It was a very busy year—" Gavin reiterated absentmindedly before realising how bad that was. "Wait no!" His sleeve fell out of his mouth as his panic soared, but the man only laughed.

"Relax." He chuckled, shaking his head. "We're not the Cearte, and it's not your fault people grabbed their weapons because one child was born outside the three races. That's why we're all here: to stop this stupid fight and get ourselves the rights and lives we deserve."

"Exactly, which is what brings us to our next set of introductions." Róhain nodded, putting a hand over his chest. "As you may have heard, my name is Róhain Cearbhaille. I'm the leader of Eirímach, given that I brought most of these lovely people together, not to mention operating out of my home, and..." He paused, reaching up to brush his curls back behind ears growing ever so slightly more pointed the more Gavin watched. Two beige horns slowly pushed out of his head, curling back until the rounded edges settled close to his eyes, now yellow with a squarish pupil. A small, knot-like mark on his wrist glowed a bright lemon colour until he tugged his white sleeve over it. "I'm a goat Dávoln, and have lived in hiding for many years."

"Yeah, Róhain is the best!" the redheaded teen chimed in, hopping up into a standing position from his squat on the floor. "He even saved me from the Cearte as a kid. You couldn't ask for a better man to be in charge. Name's Talus by the way." He thrust a black-stained claw towards Gavin to shake, which he warily stared at.

"I'm sorry," Gavin finally managed to get out as the silence stretched uncomfortably long. "It's just... What are you, exactly?" Shar Drak'na were known for their poisonous forms, and with no clear answer one way or another, he drew back. After all, what stopped it from being a trap, just like anything else?

"Ah my bad. Maybe I should've started with that."

With a flick of a pointed finger, Talus flipped the eyepatch off his face. Beneath it lay a socket filled with a complete, soulless black, no white save for an unnaturally pale iris that almost seemed to glow. It looked so different from his other: a bright, simple blue. "You see, when a Shar Drak'na and a Human with a really, really weird taste in men love each other, you get me." He spread his arms, dropping into a bow as he flashed rows of fangs into a grin. "So don't worry. I'm a bit marked up, but if I was poisonous, the delivery would've been a bit difficult, don't you think?"

"... I suppose so." Gavin moved to take his hand, scrambling for a moment to remember to reach with his right. The shadowy marks on Talus' otherwise pale skin felt cool to the touch, like stone, but there was no stinging sensation like he'd heard from the legends. So he returned the boy's grin with a small smile of his own. "It's nice to meet you."

"Same to you! That being said..." He flicked the eyepatch back down, looking over at the girl in the chair. "You're up Lynette."

The girl sat up in her chair, adjusting the ribbon around her neck, and Gavin noticed the small, almost stunted pair of brown wings on her back. Blue eyes focused on him, giving him a bland once-over. Then she raised her hands, the feathers on her winged ears twitching to stick up at certain angles to match with the fast movements of her fingers.

Gavin bit at his lip, staring. He hardly knew Human Silenttounge. Eunsi? That was an entire other matter. Eldrazi?

"Sorry." A mental wave brushed against his conscience like a shrug. "I studied a lot o' Tercian and their culture over the years, but I never learned their Silenttongue. You're on your own."

Talus however, nodded at her before turning to Gavin. "She said her name is Lynette, she's two-souled, and she'd love to say hi, but the Cearte kinda—" He swiped a sharp finger across his throat, forming a slicing motion.

"Oh. I see. I'm sorry, that's..." The hair on Gavin's arms skin bristled as he stood there, unable to look away from her wings. A Dávoln, this one with an Eunsi soul instead of a Demon. They weren't the same colour, but they were similar. Far too similar. The prickling feeling travelled from his hands to his chest, making him shrink back. "I'm sorry."

"Are you thinkin' about 'er?" Eldrazi asked, his voice losing its constant mockery for once.

A deep breath escaped him. Yes. I just... don't want to go back.

Because really, what did it matter if this group- the Eirímach- was entirely made up of outcasts. Of people like him? Betrayal wasn't subjective. He knew that now. It was a lesson learned in seconds and punished for years. Aoife, Róhain, Talus... They could all be the same, ready to turn the second they heard how much buinn he was worth captured alive. Just because he was here didn't mean anything was different. It was the same as always. Eldrazi was the only person he could trust, more than even himself.

Talus stepped in front of Lynette, blocking her from view as he placed a claw on his chest. "She also says I am the most handsome man to ever exist on the face of Esternia and a more talented Shar Drak'na has never been known."

Instantly, she was up, standing slightly over Talus, an annoyed frown on her face as she continued to form gesture after meticulous gesture. Gavin did manage to understand one though: a single, middle finger displayed to end of her sentence as well as any period. Then she brushed down the blue of her skirts, giving Gavin a soft, yet twinkling smile. Like she welcomed him. It faded as soon as her gaze landed on Aoife behind him, but he'd still seen it all the same.

"Right..." Aoife drawled, ignoring Lynette's glare. "So anyways, the most important one out of the entire Eirímach is Selatan here." She pointed at the man next to her, scratching at the back of his neck. "He's a Tiger Demon, and worked as a guard in Ulnter for a while. It's how we met."

Gavin nodded, waiting for the rest of the information, but it never came. So he stared at the man with striped hair expectantly. "–And?"

Selatan flung his hands out in front of him, a miffed look on his face. "What do you mean, 'and?' Am I not good enough for you?"

"W-what? No!" Gavin's shirt sleeve was back to being chewed, his eyes darting to the candles running along the ceiling. "I just meant everyone here seems... Special!"

He brightened with the word, pointing along from each member of the Eirímach to the next. "You have a goat Dávoln, a half Shar Drak'na, and a Dávoln with an Eunsi soul. You're a Tiger Demon... and what? What makes you special?"

A snort tore out of Talus' nose. "Oh he's special all right. Special in the head!"

Ducking back, Gavin barely had time to sidestep as a book was flung past him, smacking Talus right in the face. A short cry echoed out before the black patterns along his skin reared up, his entire form becoming a wispy shadow that melded in between the flickering patches of light along the floor. The only indication that he was even there was a single ring of a white, laying flush with the shadow like an eye that narrowed at Aoife, still standing with her arm stretched out.

"Hey!" he called out, though his voice had shifted to something far lighter, whispered in a way that made it much harder for Gavin to hear. "What was that for?"

"For being a little soih, is what!"

"Everyone, please." Róhain sighed, dragging a hand down his face before reaching to scoop Aoife's weapon of choice up off the floor. "If I have nothing to sell, no one eats for the month. Can we please take our frustrations out on each other in a more personal sense next time? People's spines heal. Books' do not."

"Fine." Aoife rolled her eyes, returning to leaning against the bookshelf.

Selatan reached to wrap his arm around her waist again, eventually turning back to Gavin. "Insults aside, that's all there is to me. I might not have as much of a strange past as the rest of us here, but when Róhain says he'll take anyone, he means it. Besides-" He shrugged. "It's not as though Aoife here is any special race either."

She jolted at that, staring at the floor as Gavin shot her a look. It had faded for a moment: the panic, the nervousness, that same, lonely feeling of never knowing who, and when, to trust, but it all came rushing back as she dug the toe of her boot into the wood.

"Really?" Gavin asked, tipping his head and drawing the slightest bit closer to her. She looked more embarrassed at being caught than afraid, but even so, Gavin's eyes darted about, taking note of the room. They'd sealed the door before, most exits barricaded and curtains drawn, which wasn't comforting if her answer wasn't to his liking. A single door leading upstairs caught his attention, but he didn't know if there was a solid escape route there, either.

That left him only one option, which was to prepare to fight.

His bow slid off his back easily, fingers brushing against the feathered tips of the arrows he kept at his hip. "She told me she was a Halfbreed, assumedly an Eunsi-Demon mix."

"Did she now?" Selatan fixed a pair of slit, amber eyes on her, lifting a single brow. "Well, that's news to me, because as much as we've looked into it, all our sources say the same thing:

"Aoife's Human."