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Knit one, purl two… Prudence could practically knit in her sleep. Which was a good thing, because she had a lot on her mind. The box sitting in her closet at home containing the gun Ed had given her a few days ago occupied most of her thoughts. But some of the things he'd said, especially about this militia thing, worried at her as well. She still wasn't sure about the "aliens" the news kept going on about -- they were supposedly all over the place, yet she hadn't seen one yet. She hadn't seen any of the monsters overrunning Destiny City either. Was the news making all this up? Or maybe she was just oblivious, with her headphones on all the time and her head in her books.

Regardless, the idea of a civilian militia concerned her somewhat. People taking their personal protection in their own hands was all well and good in theory, but a bunch of overzealous, paranoid nuts running around shooting anything that looked strange… well, she feared that was what it could devolve to. Innocent people could get hurt or even killed. But innocent people were already dying, according to the news, at the hands of these monsters and "aliens"... And probably, as Ed had surmised, at the hands of those waging war against the "aliens" as well.

It was only when North End Park's lights came on that Prudence realized it was getting too dark to knit any longer. She'd made some progress on the sock she was working on, though, so that was something. Pausing the book she'd been half-listening to and stuffing her headphones and knitting back into her backpack, she rose from her seat on the leaf litter beneath her favorite tree and headed through the park to where she'd left her motorcycle.

As she approached the end of the park, she noticed someone sitting on the bench who hadn't been there when she'd arrived, a young woman -- and the only reason she payed any attention to her was the woman's long white gown and the confection of hair the color of spun snow piled on her head. Not typical streetwear by any stretch of the imagination. Prudence couldn't help but stare. Was she one of the "aliens"? Except this woman looked less like an "alien" and more like something straight out of the urban-fantasy books she loved. Like a faery queen or something.

Cautiously Prudence approached the woman, her curiosity getting the better of her. "Excuse me," she started hesitantly, almost apologetically. "Um, I'm sure this is going to sound rude and, y'know, kinda stupid I guess, but... what are you?"

"I kinda lost track of time," Prudence shrugged. "I get in the zone and all of a sudden…" She shrugged again with a little lopsided, sheepish smile. "I'm knitting in the dark."

What the woman had said struck her. Knight? She didn't look like any knight Prudence had ever read about. Where was the armor, the weapon? They never spoke about knights in the news, either, so at least there was that. She supposed the woman was harmless enough, if still curious (and very pretty in her outfit, now that she was closer to her). "Pleased to meet you, Huhvah- Hvergelmir," she said slowly, stumbling over the name as she held out her hand. "I'm Pru. Um…" She shrugged and tried not to stare. "I guess I never expected to see anyone like you out here in the park. What are you doing here? If you don't mind my asking," she amended quickly.

Prudence's eyes widened as the distaff and spindle magically materialized out of nowhere -- and just as quickly brightened as she recognized what was on the spindle. "Ooooh! Such pretty yarn! I've always wanted to learn how to spin." She examined the thread with her fingertips. "I bet it weaves up really nice. I bet it'd knit up nice too." What she wouldn't give to get her hands on a hank of that soft, silken white stuff.

She listened as Hvergelmir gave her response to her question, then nodded. "Some of what they say on the news makes it sound like a war, even though they don't really explain what the war is about. Just hints about humanity being at stake and stuff. I figure they're exaggerating -- they always do on the news." The knight's words did make her think, though. Maybe they weren't exaggerating. "I've never seen any monsters myself," she shrugged, "but I guess that doesn't mean anything." She laughed softly, thinking about the gun in her closet. "My friends keep telling me it's not safe out at night. Maybe I should start paying attention."

Cocking her head, she smiled at Hvergelmir. "Peace, huh? You think these Negaverse guys will listen?" She did notice that Hvergelmir said nothing about space aliens, and she didn't bring them up herself.

Prudence's expression sobered. She really hadn't thought of it that way -- but then, it seemed there was a lot of things she really hadn't thought about. Like the fact that monsters were real, and some of them apparently wore human semblances. Killing people? She had no idea that was going on. Were the supposed "aliens" killing people too?

She didn't ask about them, though. It was bad enough she'd upset the faery knight sitting in front of her. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean -- I hope I didn't offend you. It's just…" She sighed. "I don't know what to do. Like, I know there's this war going on, at least that's what the news says, and you say it too, so I guess it is, but which side is right? Who should I believe?" she asked, holding her arms out helplessly. "If humanity really is at stake, then I should do something, right?"

She thought about the gun again. Maybe Ed's militia were the ones who she should believe. After all, they were supposedly about protecting humanity.

"I don't want to be a small person," she said with a sigh and a shake of her head, letting her arms drop.

What the faery knight -- alien knight, Prudence corrected herself with a swallow, even though Hvergelmir had said they weren't aliens at all, they were all born here, on Earth -- what Hvergelmir was saying made a lot of sense. She'd been right to mistrust the uniformed so-called "saviors" and their pretense of protection. "Oh, god no, I have no intention of joining them," she shook her head vigorously. The Negaverse's idea of Chaos didn't sound anything like she'd read in those Michael Moorcock books, with the brooding albino Elric of Melnibone the living embodiment of Chaos. She knew some Discordians too, but their idea of Chaos was to stand up in a crowded movie theater and shout "Rutabaga!" Not the same thing at all.

Once more she thought about what Ed had hinted at. She knew now what she had to do. "Thank you, Hvergelmir. I guess I've been a little blind to what's been happening. It's hard, you know, to figure out what to really believe. I'm not a skeptic -- I mean, s**t, my favorite books are the ones where things like faeries and animal people really exist and live beside us in our cities, urban fantasy. Like, I thought you were a faery at first," she said with a small quirk of a smile. "But I don't believe the news, never have. Guess I should have been paying more attention."

She wasn't going to make that mistake again. Eyes and ears open, really consider what she's being told. And protect herself.

Prudence finally noticed the apparent distress the knight was in. "You okay?" She hesitantly reached out to touch her, but stopped herself, still a little shy around the young woman. She didn't want to pry about why Hvergelmir's situation was complicated -- her own life just became rather a bit more complicated, and that was enough to deal with. Still, she'd been terribly kind to a mere civilian like her. "Is there anything I can do to help?" she offered with sincerity.

Prudence shook her head. "Aaah, wouldn't want that to happen!" That must have been some hardcore oath if violating it would cause her death. She leaned closer to examine Hvergelmir's tattoo, glimmering even under the streetlights in the park. "Wow, I've never seen a tattoo like that. It's beautiful." And clearly magical in origin, as she couldn't imagine any tattoo shops she knew of having the capability of producing such delicate, glittery work. She fought back a stupid, gleeful grin. Despite the grimness of the things she'd learned, of the war and the Negaverse and the aliens who might not really be -- probably weren't aliens, she'd also discovered that magic was real, even if faeries weren't, and that made her impossibly happy.

Straightening, she allowed a small smile to slip through. "Um, well, I don't want to cause you any more problems," she shrugged. "I should be on my way anyway." She held out her hand. "I'm glad to have met you, Hvergelmir. Believe me, I'm not going to forget what you've told me. Thank you again for that."

With a wave, Prudence went on her way and soon found her motorcycle, parked on the street where she'd left it. Her mind was awhirl as she mounted the bike; her world had just been turned completely upside-down by the encounter with the cosmos knight, and that was going to require a bit of adjustment. She'd have to start paying more attention to her surroundings, for one, especially at night. As if to emphasize that thought, she glanced around over her shoulders, checking for any lurking monsters in the shadows. She'd best heed Hvergelmir's words and just get out of there. Go home and be safe, she'd been told. She would do just that.

And once she was home she would give Ed a call and set up a time to meet so she could learn how to shoot the gun he'd given her. She'd ask about the militia thing he'd hinted at, too. If she was going to remain safe, she'd have to learn to defend herself.

Giving a determined little nod, she started the motorcycle and roared off into the night.