The New Boy in Town

It’s somewhere around 3 when Pippen stumbled out of the Sacramento Greyhound station, he wasn’t sure of the time, the watch on his wrist still set to Hong Kong’s timezone. I really need to stop traveling, for more than just because I’m running out of money. He thought idly to himself as he walked down the street toward more central areas. Out of the corner of his eye he notices the tell-tale shimmer of fae magic coming from a tattered sign. The Quicksilver Gate huh? Sounds promising, that’s also impressive trick with the sign, I should write Xing Lin back in Hong Kong once I work out how they did it.

One quick stop at a Starbucks to connect his iPad to Wi-Fi and figure out how to get there, Pip was walking through the signature gate and into the café on the ground floor. Ok I’m here now what, I always hate coming to cities with no formal procedure for this kinda thing. Ooo muffins. With that thought his mind was made up, he’d get a muffin and an iced latte and wait for the Lost to come to him.

There was a slightly awkward moment at the register where he couldn’t find his American money, the counter in front of him was a mess of Hong Kong Dollars, Chinese Yuan, Japanese Yen and a few Great British Pounds, adding up to maybe $30 U.S. total. But he finally found his last $20 in his pocket and paid for his muffin and coffee, before settling into a table by the window and logging on the Wi-Fi.
I really need to get that money exchanged, the £10 quid should be worth something decent at least, maybe the Yen too.

For someplace listed as the place for newly lost to check in there don’t appear to really be any fae around about here. Pippin thought as he was finishing his latte with a few loud slurps. He checked his e-mail, he had one form Xing Lin wanting to make sure he got stateside alright, one form his contact in the L.A. Freehold wanting to know the same, and a whole bunch of junk email.

He did a quick Google search to check how much money he had once he converted it to U.S. currency. Damn I really am out of money, I need to find something that pays soon or I’m going to be eating ramen noodles. He was pulled out of his worries by finally noticing the sign for the upstairs market. Hmmm maybe that’s where the lost operate. He packed up his belongings and threw out the trash before heading up stairs.

Deadwood stumbled out of an alley into 34th Street, staring around at the buildings and the few people walking along the sidewalks. Cars drove down the street, and he flinched back toward the building as they flew past. He didn't know how long he had been wandering the alleys of the city since practically falling out of his home, but this was the first time he encountered a space larger than an alley. Deadwood's mouth hung open as he took in the sights and sounds of the city for the first time in a decade.

"Is this Sacramento?!" he yelled to a nearby person, but they just hurried away from him. He caught a look at his reflection in a nearby window, and his expression of amazement fell as he realized that he still looked the part his Keeper had assigned to him all those years ago.

But no one is running or screaming. What the hell is going on here?

Out the corner of his eye, one of the buildings jumped out at him on a level with what the hobgoblins called the Hedge. The doorway was surrounded by a silver archway, and he saw someone head up the stairs that defied his expectations; a man whose skin seemed to glow slightly with a yellow shine, and whose hair was that of a naked flame.

Deadwood rushed to the building, almost glad for the comparative familiarity of someone who looked as strangely as he did.

Please delete

sorry i posted form the wrong account fixing it

Pippin almost felt rather then heard the man rushing toward him. He had heard a shout on the street asking if the speaker was in Sacramento of course, but he had chalked that up to a homeless person or other such vagrant. It turns out that was a mistake. Pippin quickly turned around only on the second step, seeing a man of birch rushing at him. Pip quickly rushed down the steps, meeting this new lost just inside the arch that gave the place its name. He stopped just short of touching the other man when he noticed the Headgespun jacket he was wearing No one wears Hedgespun just because, he seems a little wild around the edges, even for a lost. Shit, I think this man’s fresh. How did I end up being the welcoming committee, I don’t even live here. He sighed at his thoughts knowing he’d help however he could.

He gave what he thought was a friendly smile to the man and said, “Do you know where you are, friend? Do you remember who you are? My names Pippin, let’s go get a coffee and you can tell me what you know and remember.” He spoke with a clear British accent, London if you were one who could hear the difference. Pip gestured to the little café that he had just left and tried to lead The Birch-man to a table.

"They, uh, call me Deadwood," he began. He seemed hesitant to say any other name as the euphoria of finding someone who wasn't a hob went to war with his suspicion of anyone he might encounter. "Am I in Sacramento, California? I thought I would never get out." Deadwood thought for a moment as a realization sunk in. "What year is it? How long have I been gone?"

Shock set in, and he felt almost numb. What happened to Alice while I've been gone? Emotion began to creep in, stronger than he had felt in what must have been years by now. He stared at Pippin as the anxiety from trying to find his way home was replaced by the weight of realizing that he might not have a home to get back to.

Pip smiled sadly as he watched the realization sink in across Deadwoods Face. He pulled out a chair and set his hikers backpack on it. Then pulled out the other chair and gestured for Deadwood to sit. “Please sit I feel we could be in for a long conversation. To answer your first couple of questions; Yes you are in Sacramento California; it’s the month of June and the year 2014. As for how long you’ve been gone I can’t answer that.” He sighed a little and went into his bag and pulled out his wallet with what’s left of his cash. I’m really going to have to find a place to stay and cash if I’m going to be of any use to this guy. Well one problem at a time.

Pippin notices Deadwoods stare, he didn’t know exactly what the Wooden man was thinking but he could guess. Every one of them fresh form the Hedge had the same lingering worries. His heart went out to him it really did, but he was going to have to find out sooner or later, he just wish it wasn’t him that was going to break the news. “Mate, I know what you’re going though, I’ve been in your shoes. Please sit I’ll go grab us coffee, or tea if you like, I think I’m going to get tea they stock Twining’s. When I come back I’ll explain what I know and answer any questions you might have. So what will you have to drink?”

He smiled again warm and sad waiting for the reply.

Deadwood nodded, and in a daze replied, "God, I haven't had coffee in...ten years?" He shook his head a bit and tried to get his bearings, taking comfort in something as prosaic as ordering coffee. "Yeah, I'll have a coffee, black--I want to actually taste it."

He scratched his beard a bit as he thought to himself. "Before that, though, um, why isn't anyone freaking out at how we look? I mean, we're not exactly normal." His eyes widened a bit and he stared at Pippin again. "Did something happen in the past ten years? Are people like us considered, you know, normal?" Deadwood's face turned incredulous at the thought, but it was the first idea he grabbed onto to explain why people were just treating him as if he were homeless rather than a monster.

Pippin nods at the coffee order, he’d assumed that’s how the other man would take it. Pippen lets out a laugh like a crackling fire when Deadwood Suggests that that changelings are considered normal. He quickly regains his composure.

“Humans have always been good at not seeing things they didn’t want to. Besides that theirs a certain magic that happens when we reenter the mortal world. It causes our forms to resettle into looking more or less how we looked before we left.” He explained the best that he could, the nature of the mask and why it appeared wasn’t really a focus of his learning the magics of his new life. “To all of the humans, for want of a better term, we look like normal humans, you look a little rough around the edges but completely human I’d bet.”

He gave a wink as he turned and got inline for the coffee. The young lady at the counter flashed him a charming smile and seemed to give him a discount, not much but every penny helped right now. He ordered a large coffee, black, for his new companion and large Earl Grey for himself with just a splash of cream and two sugars. He got them for dine in, assuming they’d be here a while and the coffee that way at least got free refills the barista had informed him. He smiled and left her a tip of what she had discounted him. You should always pay it forward, that way the you get it back three-fold. Or so the old stories would have us think.

Pip carefully carried the drinks back to the table, moved his backpack and sat down.
“Ok, so you asked about the mask. There is one other thing you need to know right away then I’ll answer any and all questions you have to the best of my ability. Just please keep in mind we are in a public building. ” Pippin steeled himself to deliver some of the worst news any Lost hears. “When the Gentry took you, that is what we call them, the Gentry or Keepers never by any other name we might know for them. When they took you it’s not like some unsolved missing person case, they’re too clever for that, they left something in your place. We call them Fetches, artificial people made of cobwebs and shadows, which wear our faces. They lived our lives after we left. ”

Pippin readied himself for any manor of rage filled response form the wooden man with the copper badge on his coat.

Deadwood took a full gulp of his coffee, letting the harsh flavor sit on his tongue before swallowing it. It was the first time in years that he had something other than rainwater or Goblin Fruit, and he intended to enjoy it. He let the thoughts racing through his mind come to a screeching halt. "This is better than the Folgers shit I drank before," he admitted out-loud. It was difficult to keep his thoughts from vocalizing; it had been years since he's held conversation with anything other than a talking animal.

He set his coffee down on the table as he let his thoughts resume. Ten years? Damn... Suddenly, something clicked in his head, something he had been putting off thinking of for a long time.

"But...Karen and I were going to get married. We had a baby on the way." He could feel tears begin to well up, and he tried to mercilessly quash them. He settled for letting them run without acknowledging them. "I didn't even get to know whether it was a boy or a girl yet. I didn't even get to help pick a name. You mean that this Fetch married her and raised my kid?" Anger began to bubble up in his voice toward the end, but he kept his voice down for the sake of the public coffee shop.