Anna
Abstral studied the Knight's reaction to his words and as he sensed her demeanor towards him soften, he eased.

He listened to her words very carefully. So those that this Knight spoke of were important to this Floor, huh?

``("Interest in me? I hope not of the "You are an outsider and I want to murder you variety.")``, Abstral thought to himself.

As the Knight lowered her own blade and spoke of a meeting with this "Ochre", Abstral did as she asked, unsummoning his swords, he had other ways to fight in case it was necessary anyway.

``Very well. I look forward to meeting this "Ochre". Take me to him, if you'd please. "``, He replied simply as he waited to follow her.
Kathryn
Strangely enough, the suspenseful draw of the bow in the echo of the night and its subsequent cannon-like projectiles crashing into the snow ceased entirely — Whether it be to the bandit's skill, his luck, or an ulterior motive beyond the bandit's current understanding was unclear. Nevertheless, Kuouo would continue to practice cauton as he blitzed through the snowfield.

The thief's haste would come in handy, bringing him into clear view of the respite, confirming its existence opposed to a dark mirage in the turbulant winds of the blizzard. Upon making his approach towards the entry way, it was immediately apparent that Abstral had already made contact with someone who resided within the tower — A knight, donning pale gray and white armor as opposed to the brass golden alloy the bandit had grown familiar with. He stopped midway, staying cloaked in the darkness as he eavesdropped midway through their conversation.

*``"Ochre is the keeper of this respite.``*
*``"And Tvoktei is the sovereign of this Floor. He is elsewhere."``*

He'd continue to harken on their conversation, already ascertaining the knight's disdain for Tvotkei — or at least, whoever he commanded. It was unclear who this Ochre was, but the state of being an outsider unallied with the sovereign was enough to gain entry. However, given the sniping assault from earlier and the Vektet's general mistrust of outsiders, the bandit stood on the digits of his paws, seeing as the threat from earlier has yet to cease. This erring on the side of caution will eventually subside, but for now, he'd seek an alternative route into the tower for further eavesdropping. The best case scenario was that the tower residents would stay true to their oaths of non-violence within the respite. Worst case being is that its yet another ambush on Abstral waiting to ignite with his weapon sheathed. 

Either way, it'd lead to *Information* That'd lead the bandit forth throughout his embarkment of the second floor.
Randy
The pearl-clad knight withdrew her sword, smoothly sliding its silver length into the sheathe at its side. A slight nod was given toward the stranger who openly disarmed himself, acknowledging his simple and straightforward response, one with a refreshing amount of compliance in its tone. How many times had she had to turn the damned obnoxious dogs of Tvoktei in the past few solar marks, alone? Ever since that *News* Reached this floor, it seemed that there was an unending stream of drama that found its place at the doorstep of the respite. She, as its guardian, had to turn away each and every last one of those dogs. Some conflicts escalated to outright battles, whereas others were disarmed after an annoyingly-long verbal debate. While she wasn't exactly enthusiastic about meeting people from other Floors, she knew Ochre would be pleased, and so she could expect an ease in her duty.

A brief pause followed Abstral's demanifestation of his blades and the knight sheathing her own silver sword, as she briefly stared into the distant blizzard breeze, as though she had caught eye of something peculiar in the distance. She couldn't quite confirm the suspicion, but it felt as though the two were being overseen by watchful eyes hidden within the flurries of snow... Peculiar. But not something that she would need to attend to immediately, at least.

*`"Hm."`*
_ _

Dismissing the thought, the knight turned slowly, her eyes still peering briefly over her left shoulder, before she finally pushed open the door of the respite. Allowing the outsider room to enter, the atmosphere would shift, as the winter air turned to lukewarm, the interior heat of the respite pouring from its midst and into the surrounding air. It smelled strangely of... Mothballs, or like an old library, and why its scent was so would be no mystery once one had actually entered.

*`"Good luck."`*

The knight gently motioned with their open left hand for Abstral to enter, and left him with that slight, foreboding message. She would not enter herself — at least not right now — but would allow Abstral an audience with whoever rested within the tower-like respite.
John
**Inside the Respite**
Indeed, it smelled of an old library, like a mix of mothballs, dust, aged ink, and old parchments, each blending into a slightly nostalgic scent that was as slightly familiar as it was slightly irritating to the nose. The scent was accompanied by an interior design of a likewise archaic nature — it was mostly wood, with only few parts of the floor being made of stone, with large archs as a major motif in the architecture. Bookshelves lined either side of the walls to the immediate left and right of the entryway, and those bookshelves only grew and scattered in an arrangement that first seemed absolutely *Cluttered,* Yet a further examination would reveal that they were, indeed, quite well-organized, albeit *Inconveniently* Organized. Books, books, books, and more books, from floor to ceiling, and some even in shelves that were attached *To* The ceiling... The only thing that held the respite's interior from possessing the status of 'library' was its relatively small interior, and the presence of some basic living-quarters farther back, opposite Abstral, and several paces forwards.
Janie
```cpp
"𝙸 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝙸 𝚖𝚊𝚍𝚎 𝚒𝚝 𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚌𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚛," A voice spoke from further within the respite, with a subtly masculine, yet quite youthful tone. There was pride, erudition, clarity, and dignity within the voice of the speaker, whose voice roused with some subtle impatience. 

"𝑰 𝒂𝒎 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈." He snapped, quite clearly dismissive of the one who entered, without even having taken the time to see his face nor to confirm hisreason for being here.

"𝙸 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚜𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚕𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚗𝚘 𝚕𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚙𝚞𝚐𝚗𝚊𝚌𝚒𝚘𝚞𝚜 𝚝𝚘𝚘𝚕 𝚃𝚟𝚘𝚔𝚝𝚎𝚒 𝚒𝚗𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚟𝚎𝚗𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚑𝚒𝚖𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏 𝚍𝚎𝚜𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚞𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚙𝚎𝚍 𝚙𝚊𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚙𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚕𝚜. 𝙽𝚘 𝚕𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚝𝚘 𝚍𝚒𝚜𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚎 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚏𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚒𝚕𝚎 𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚕𝚎 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚞𝚙𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚖𝚘𝚗, 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚎𝚎𝚝 𝚖𝚎, 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎. 𝙽𝚘 𝚕𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝, 𝚘𝚛 𝙸 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚍."

"𝙰𝚗𝚍 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚗, 𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚍𝚛𝚊𝚐 𝚖𝚎."```

So spoke the youthful figure of a pale, white-haired boy, with silver eyes to match. Stood at no taller than 163cm, he was most unimposing in sheer stature alone, and yet the inherent expression of nobility that permeated his very soul granted a weightiness to his very presence, as though one stood in the audience of a monarch's hall.
_ _

That monarch's hall, however, was no more than a library, and its throne the chair of a desk, one which the princely individual, unmistakable as any other but Ochre, studied. Without so much as lifting his eyes from the book which he read, he spoke and scorned Abstral, only briefly peeking to affirm two features which mattered — the color of his hair, and the color of his eyes.

Abstral blended into the Second Floor more than any other, and it was likely due to the former of those two features.

```cpp
"𝙸'𝚟𝚎 𝚗𝚘 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚒𝚗 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚘𝚋𝚜𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚒𝚗𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚍𝚘𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝙵𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚛𝚜. 𝚂𝚞𝚌𝚑 𝚋𝚛𝚞𝚜𝚚𝚞𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚢𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚖𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚞𝚗𝚏𝚒𝚝 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚊 𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙼𝚘𝚘𝚗. 𝙷𝚘𝚠 𝚍𝚒𝚜𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚖 𝙸 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚜𝚞𝚌𝚑 𝚊 𝚍𝚞𝚕𝚕 𝚖𝚊𝚗 𝚊𝚜 𝚃𝚟𝚘𝚔𝚝𝚎𝚒 𝚝𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚗𝚎..."```

He gave a quiet *`hmph.`* Of contempt, lifting his gaze from the book with half-rolled eyes as he spoke. Ochre expressed with a slight shrug and a subtle smile, as if almost cocky in his statement, like one who had achieved something over another. 

```cpp
"𝙾𝚑, 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚐𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚖𝚎. 𝙸'𝚖 𝚌𝚎𝚛𝚝𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚜𝚞𝚙𝚙𝚘𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚖𝚎𝚎𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚏 𝚘𝚋𝚜𝚎𝚚𝚞𝚒𝚎𝚜 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚊 𝚏𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚗 𝚘𝚕𝚍 𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚖𝚢 𝚒𝚜 𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚞𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚊 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚐𝚒𝚌 𝚖𝚎𝚎𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝚑𝚖𝚖? 𝙰𝚕𝚕 𝚑𝚎 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚐𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙷𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚖 𝚒𝚜 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚗𝚘 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚗. 𝙷𝚊𝚑. 𝙷𝚘𝚠 𝚒𝚗𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚍𝚒𝚋𝚕𝚢 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚌."```

Sarcasm was laced into his voice, and he furrowed his brow toward the visitor, rattling off his list of dismissals and accusations before he even gave him a chance to explain himself.
John
**Outside the Respite**
Randy
*`"You there."`*

—With Abstral gone, there was only one person left within the general proximity of the respite who could feasibly hear her voice. She called out, clear as the sound of a silver bell in the night, as her sword slowly peeked from within its sheathe at her right. With eyes of care and caution, she scanned through the flurries of snow, searching for the one whom she had detected earlier.

***`"...Step forward."`***

Kuouo's presence was known, but his exact position was not. The knight did not just request, but demanded, at-the-ready for the potential spy or assassin to step forth. Were hostilities to ensue, she was certain — *She would have them meet their end.*
Kathryn
Considering the only thing hiding the bandit was the cloak of night, he half-expected to be seen - And he was half-right, the knight calling out his presense but still seeking his location. Doing a bit of scanning of his own, there was nothing to hide by in sight and Angel forbid the knight doesn't inspect a suspicious snow poff in the middle of the field if Kuo so chooses to shove snow over himself. No, the guardian of the respite was already on alert, hand on the hilt of her blade, ready to cut down anyone she declared a hostile threat to the tower. However, Kuo did not harbor any hostile intent towards the knight, figuring more than likely that they were on the same side if this 'Tvotkei' is really the shitstain he's heard about. It'd be a waste of time, energy, and possibly a life compared to the real threat he needed to save energy for — The bowman, stationed high on the wall above. As the probability of his initial option of infiltration waned, so did his discretion as he peacefully ignited a fireball within the palm of his left paw, his right waving off a two-fingered salute as he finally entered her general proximity.

```fix
"Yo, sorry fer skulkin' around. Hope ya don't mind, after all, havin' giant arrows shot at us from whoever-the-fuck ain't the most welcomin' invitation I'm sure ya can understand... The name's Kuouo Aiche Dee, mighta heard of me, mighta not - Fact is, y'sounded like ya hate the hell of this Tvotkei guy, but I ain't know the slightest bit about 'im. Y'wanna fill me in?"```

He approached, a laid-back, casual tone in his voice as he stared directly into the tower-guardian's faceplates. He asked, despite already knowing a tinge bit of information about their common advesary, blessed to the bandit by the All-Knowing himself. The only reason he had asked was to segue away from the knight's doubts about the thief not being aligned with the floor's sovereign and also gain entryway into the tower, where he could learn more information going forward.

```fix
"Oh, and that guy inside is someone who I came in with... Abstral was 'is name I think."```

He added, furthering his reputation so far as an outsider — But the knight could probably tell already.
Randy
The knight's eyes stared carefully from beyond her silver armor as she witnessed a flame rouse within the dead cold of the blizzardy night. Sword released fully from her sheathe, she prepared herself for a possible conflict to follow the manifestation of the arcane light, eyes set solemnly upon the emerging form of the bandit in the dark.

...

*`Fluffy?`*

She raised a brow imperceptibly from beyond her helm's visor, her hand awkwardly shifting about the handle of her silver straightsword as he approached. There was confusion, at first, when he appeared before her eyes, but even moreso than confusion, *Curiosity.* Cold and as straight-to-the-point as the knight was, there were still things that caught her eye. Kuouo's furred form — the likes of which a secluded knight of the Second Floor would never prior have had the experience of laying eyes upon — came to be an object of interest to the pearl-clad knight, despite her still-persistent caution. Her readiness for battle and general hostility toward the outsider abated in slight, replaced in part with the aspect of curiosity.

Because of this curiosity, she near lost focus entirely as he began to explain himself. *She had never seen such a fluffy creature speak.*


...


*`"Not particularly."`*

...The knight instinctively and almost immediately spoke that reply in response to Kuouo's request — *"Y'wanna fill me in?"*
No, not particularly. She didn't really care to fill him in.*Kuouo Aiche Dee* Or whoever he may be, the knight really didn't care to hold such conversation at her own expense.
_ _

*`"I didn't know that the Hall of Audience was open again."`*
*`"I guess he'd want to see you too, then. That Ochre."`*

The knight tapped the sword against her right shoulderguard twice, slowly, and stared with a slightly perplexed glare toward the furry bandit opposite herself. Shifting her stance slightly, she breathed a silent and short *`"Hm."`*

While it perhaps was not immediately obvious, it seemed that the knight had misunderstood not only Abstral, but Kuouo, too. Kuouo had arrived from the `Ascent to the Second Floor` which bridged the First Floor to the Second Floor, and yet the knight was under the impression that Kuouo had come from the *Hall of Audience,* A location whose existence he had never even heard of, prior. Oddly, she took most of what he said at face value, and assumed the most basic of circumstances regarding both Kuouo and Abstral's status as outsiders to the Second Floor — since she cared not to think otherwise, she assumed both of them to have arrived from a Floor other than the Second, entirely disregarding the outlandish idea that they could have come from outside of the Ark. *Especially* Considering the fact that he "Spoke their language"... Or, well, the R.A.S.W.L.T did that for him, but the knight did not know of such a device's existence.

The knight lightly tapped the sword for a third time against her shoulderplate, before coming to a quick-and-easy decision, sheathing the blade smoothly back into its holster at her right hip. She, while still facing Kuouo, placed her now empty left hand against the form of the wooden door, slowly shifting it open. An invitation, of sorts — but not one she would finish until she had given him a clear warning.

*`"...Put away that flame."`*
*`"Fire isn't good for books."`*
*`"Ochre will definitely kill you if you scorch any of his library."`*