Grekath : Part 3

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Tym kicked off his shoes and fell back on the bed of his rather lavish hotel room with a contented sigh. It had been a long day, and this room had really cost him too much, but he hardly cared. As a translator around this particular part of the galaxy, and a rather gifted one at that, his pay wasn't bad and he was never short of clients. Of course, that bit of pocket-sized technology he picked up last year didn't hurt any... but hey, it could be called a competitive advantage, on top of everything else. He closed his eyes halfway, marveling at some of the odd clients he'd been able to pick up since that time and the number of equally odd things that had happened to him; thus, it was with as much amusement as surprise that he watched what appeared to be a five-foot-tall biped badger dressed in the likes of medieval monks' clothing fall sideways through the full-length mirror mounted on the wall, pausing almost comically in midair before gravity overcame its forward momentum, sending the creature sprawling onto the carpeted floor.

"Never knew this place had a secret entrance... must remember it."

The creature quickly recovered and, upon confirming that it wasn't alone, scrambled to its knees with some manner of growl-hiss-grunt, thrusting what Tym took to be a walking stick that had met up with a closing door in his direction -- it was far too short, to him. His eyes widened a little as he sat up, reaching into his pocket and pushing a couple buttons.

"Whoa, mister... easy does it. Gimme a sec."

As Tym continued to fiddle with the device on his person, the creature stared at its 'stick' for a moment, getting to its feet. It thrust the stick again at Tym, glared at it for a moment, flung its arms wide, glared at it again... and finally dropped its arms to its sides in resignation as Tym was busy figuring things out.

"Ahhh, there we go..." ``Now. To what honor do I owe your gracing of my hotel room, good stripe-faced-fellow?`` He grinned, then blinked. The creature didn't move for several moments, its expression apparently not pleased -- it was hard for Tym to tell, with the rather foreign facial features and all. It eventually turned its head to look over at him, though, its eyes rather probing.

``... is this planet dead?`` Grekath honestly couldn't feel a thing from it.

Tym blinked again. Dead? Well... ``Not really, I don't think? Though you'll find a few people telling everyone how we've 'killed' it, one way or another.`` He hopped off the bed, his socked feet making little noise on the thick carpet. ``Why? You a nature-follower or something?`` He'd run across more than one among his clients.

Grekath said nothing for another several moments, instead finding one of the windows in the room and stepping slowly over to it. Hope that the expanse of rigid, stiff structures would give way to the grass and trees with which he was far more familiar soon gave way, and he heaved a sigh, wondering exactly what Qenacor was trying to prove by sending him here.

``My name is Grekath. My people are very much in touch with our land, its plants, its animals, its very being. Yet here...`` He reached out one last time with his incomplete spirit, but still nothing. He turned to face Tym again, who was patiently, if not amusedly, watching him. ``It is as if there is no life in the air at all.``

Tym shook his head. ``Well. My name's Thymeru Baines, you can call me Tym, and I'm a translator for the millions of people that go in and out of this city. So I can tell you, it's bustling with life, lots too much of it, again if you ask some people. Look, I don't know how you got here, but what say we just -- hey. Hey! Dude, I'm gonna have to pay for that!!`` ... for Grekath had suddenly turned from the window and strode back over to the mirror, drawing his paw across it as if he could step through it again. The screeching that accompanied the score-marks left by his paw on the glass almost made Tym cover his ears.

He took a couple steps in Grekath's direction, at least intending to move his paw. ``Look, I don't think -- OW!`` Jeez... he'd just stepped on soomething hard and pokey. Reaching down, he blinked once more as he picked up the amulet that lay on the floor, looking over its points and curves. How on Earth had he not noticed this just laying there...?

Grekath turned at Tym's shout, starting as he recognized what the human held. He walked quickly over, reaching out for it, and Tym, with slightly widened eyes, laid it in his paw. Grekath concentrated, closing his eyes and holding the amulet close... but if there had been any power within it on his home world, it was as lifeless as the rest of this place now. He let out a slow, quiet breath, taking the amulet and tying it around his neck, then glancing out that window again. He was stuck here, on this dead planet, among this sea of dead buildings, without a spot of green in sight.

Tym stayed quiet for a few minutes, letting Grekath think, or whatever he was doing; Tym looked between him and the window several times, but just couldn't figure out what had captured the badger's interest. ``Look... why don't we blow this joint for a while? 'least you can get some fresh air, if this isn't the kind of place you like.``

Grekath considered that for a moment, then turned back to face Tym. ``Your speech is odd... and I find that your voice grates in my ears. What manner of dialect do you have?``

Tym stared for a moment, then let out a quick laugh. ``Dialect, right... it's a translation device, for if I run across something I can't speak. I'm using it to talk to you, it's pretty handy. In fact, here... it might make you stand out a bit less.`` He pulled the device from his pocket, detached its clamp from behind his ear, and offered it to Grekath.

Curious, he reached a paw out to take the translator, not totally understanding what it was meant to do... but then a thought struck him. Standing out... right. He withdrew his paw, putting it on his staff again and hoping against hope, that action soon rewarded as his body wavered in Tym's mind, then morphed to that of a stocky human with full facial hair, rather chubby cheeks, and sandaled feet, the ankle-length robe about him remaining as it was. There... at least that much of his power had not abandoned him.

Tym took a step back, wondering just what sort of creature this was before him, but he soon grinned again, unable to stay weirded out for very long. "Sweet trick, sir... really sweet. Here." He handed the device to Grekath again, who now readily took it, figuring out the ear-piece and getting it set up with Tym's able assistance.

"There... is it working?" The gruff, slightly mechanical voice was sure to draw a few eyes, but it would work in a pinch. Tym grinned more.

"Perfect, man... C'mon, let's go find something to eat, I'm starving."

(On The Town...)