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The Fireflies (6) : In the warm summer nights, little glowing lights begin to bob and dart through the city. Fireflies are mating, so this isn't uncommon in itself; in the past few days you've probably seen hundreds of fireflies. What makes these lights so unique is that they seem to change color; you might see a blue one, a green one, a red one. They flicker randomly, and something just seems off with them. If you come into contact with one, you will find yourself with a strange electric jolt. They cannot be caught, and will flicker away if you pursue too aggressively. This isn't the first time they've appeared in Destiny City, but no one's been able to tell where they came from or where they're going. No matter how quickly you chase them, they always seem to disappear before you can find any answers.

With the weather warm and things finally calming down, Chang'e wandered out into the night to see parts of this summer festival. Festivals and the like had been common enough on his homeworld, especially with the coming of the peak trade season and harvest. After passing some booths and receiving a small charm of some sort that was meant to celebrate the occasion, he noticed something flickering out of the corner of his eye.

At first, he wasn't sure exactly what it was, perhaps some sort of string light or decoration that he was coming to learn were popular when it came to photoshoots and other social media things. But then he saw more of them and how the flickering and glowing was less artificial and more natural in pace. Separating from the crowd and dipping through some of the decorated trees, he started to follow the glowing lights even as they kept moving further and further from him.

With less people around, he didn't worry as much about being a senshi. His outfit tended to blend in with some of the eastern asian fashion trends which made him all the more likely to remain like this instead of hiding in the glamor Brioche had made for him.

The only problem was that as he wandered further from the safety of the festival and crowd, he started to feel a prickling and horrid feeling drawing closer.

Something was drawing nearer, and it had Chang'E freezing for a moment as he listened to try to tell what it might be. It didn't sound like a human, far too many steps, but he couldn't see anything at first between all the flickering lights of the fireflies.

Among the flickering, he thought for a moment he had seen something different in the flickering, something rolled over him and had him freezing even stiffer. This feeling of elation, of giddiness, wasn't his own, and he turned ever so slowly to try and get a look.

The abrupt appearance of both the thing with too many legs and another person had him standing up straight and backing away from where it felt like they were. With them appearing as they did on top of the oppressive feeling he got, it reminded him of that lovely dragon, but without all the loveliness, and infinitely more caution prickled over him.

They were far too close, and he could only make out the smallest signs of them as he took slow and careful steps back. It wouldn't do well for him to worry Brioche by getting hurt, and he'd had good luck aside from other youma, so perhaps because there was someone with the youma, maybe his luck might hold out if he were careful.

"I simply got lost. I have no intention to fight if you let me be." Speaking calmly but maybe a bit quickly, he kept focused ahead on where they might be, even as he ever so slowly tried to put distance between them.

That chilling tidbit had him pausing in his retreat, not wanting them to change their mind about this situation he found himself in. His experiences with these agents and members of chaos had been limited, but he knew that caution was needed.

Something was spoken between the man and the creature, just too low for him to hear, but thankfully, it led to one of those feelings of chaos to vanish. Before he got to ask which had gone, he heard the response and looked in that direction once more.

Straining his eyes in the dark, he knew his options were limited when it came to running. Without an ally, his magic would do little to help if things fell to violence, something which he wanted to avoid if he could, for many reasons.

Every so slightly, he shifted his weight toward his back foot, not yet moving but preparing to at least try to run for it if given the chance. It wouldn't take much to get back towards the crowd, and he doubted that they would want to cause that much of a commotion by pursuing him through it.

They didn't sound like they could be bartered with, like the pink-haired one with that large hole in their chest. Where curiosity in him had outweighed whatever goals her side had. This was a stiffer individual, and without knowing their goals, aside from a fight, it would be hard to find something to offer so they could come to an agreement, and he could get away from this unharmed.

They were moving closer, of course they were, but nothing was sudden enough yet to make him want to risk bolting. Moving only enough to keep an eye on them, his snake-like pupils narrowed as he listened to yet another show of power. A boast like any number of high-standing merchants or traders, but not one he wanted to debate or pressure in order to call out a bluff. It wouldn't be a poor deal if things went bad here, as they said it would end with him dead.

They were very close now, not enough for either to touch each other, but he knew that distance wasn't a factor for chaos so far. At least for some that he had seen.

What humans are capable of? The reminder had him stilling more, remembering how things had gone terribly on this planet in the past. Fingers twitched as he reached to thumb over a few small gaps where scars broke through the scales on his right hip. They never had fully grown back even after a few sheds and what he now knew had been over a thousand years.

Snapping his attention back to them, he didn't like this situation at all. History seemed to be repeating itself even now, even when he'd found success blending in with Brioche's help.

"Humans have always fallen to violence when faced with the unknown... I had hoped that maybe that might have changed after so many generations." There was that tiredness there, even though he knew it might not be taken well by this enemy.

"I can offer things of old, maybe something your ally might like, if you let me leave? Certainly, there must be something I can offer to excuse myself from here. " It wouldn't mean much for him to part with any of the trinkets that he had gathered while wandering, even if the jade and gems of old were valuable here. But the way he was being examined wasn't new either, just another thing that hadn't occurred in a long time either. It was always hard to tell with humans, they were so varied both in appearance and personality. It was something he liked in essence, but in practice for negotiations, it was difficult because things were never as clear-cut.

That sudden movement, that grip on his wrist, had Chang'E biting down on the urge to bolt even more. Even through the fabric of his gloves and theirs, there was no chance to break that grip, and he didn't even try as they seemed to be looking over him.

In turn he got to get a clearer look over them and the odd uniform they wore, there was something ordered about it, strict and stiff that he didn't quite like that gave him more reason to be cautious. This must be one of those agents the woman had mentioned... something similar to his lovely ascended dragon, but without all the loveliness.

That response threw him into his own confused glance, it sounded so much of the old of the folk tales and rumors that passed through Asia, and then potentially the other countries that must have been around that he hadn't gotten the chance to interact with back then. It almost had him bringing up that point, but then they supplied what he was about to say. At least there was some advancement away from the path that led those quick to jump into an attack from fear of those superstitions and folk tales.

"Only that it is very human to fall back on violence when frightened." Offering in response, though quietly, as he looked down at where they still held him. The insinuation about his appearance always soured his mood. In the past, it had always been something more focused on for beauty and elegance, not for threat, that really had been something that seemed to come from warm-blooded planets.

Just his name? It wasn't as if that could be used to track him to where he was staying with Brioche and that kind old woman at least. "Chang'E from a planet of merchants and dancers." Supplying just a bit extra just to add to the reasoning why he simply had no want to fight or to get into any sort of trouble. Conversing was something he did like to do, and under different circumstances, perhaps he could talk more with this man, but the chances were slim that things would go well with the way they seemed to think about things from what he could tell so far.