The bar had nearly lapsed into a comfortable sort of lull, before a telltale creak at the door made all look up just in time to see Rush poke his head back in.

            “Hey, just wanted to ask, is the giant rainbow snake supposed to be there?”

            “Oh, yes! They’re traveling with me!” Wanderer’s words had the rest of the party turning to look with what could only be described as mild bemusement at the notion of a rainbow snake, nevermind a giant one. Then again, in a realm more exclusively dedicated to myths and gods, perhaps nothing was too outlandish…

            “Alright, just wanted to be sure. See you around!” Rush’s words were punctuated with another soft thump as the door slid closed again, taking the faint glow from the sky outside with him.

            “…Should I prepare something for them?” Pater’s voice was hardly louder than a church murmur, but given that no one else was talking it was easy enough to hear. At the very least, it seemed to stir some thought in the Wanderer as she paused before turning a sheepish smile to the bartender. 

            “You know, I didn’t think to ask…”

            “Well, no time like the present, right?” Teller’s words had the intended effect; Wanderer completely forgot about the initial, embarrassed reaction and immediately hopped into actually doing something to cover for what might’ve been considered a slight.

            “Fair! Hold on, let me ask…” This was said as Wanderer spun like a top on her stool, launching herself off and taking to the floor at a run. She was across the room and to the door before anyone could blink, bare feet crossing the threshold and leaving the warmth of the bar behind. As she left, Wanderer couldn’t help spinning a little, looking at the somewhat mismatched sight that the Bar left on the skyline. It was charmingly eclectic in that respect, what with the mead hall and night club both adjacent on either side. The club had that modern, boxy look, the mead hall more archaic, but the Bar had a timelessness to it that made it the perfect centerpiece to the odd trio. A sanctuary for anyone that might want it, though in this respect it tended to be more for those that knew where to find it.

            Maybe with the train that could be different, a thought that had Wanderer’s blindfolded head craning back to “see” the sky overhead. A sky with spiraled, multicolored light and stars, a multitude of galaxies all spanning the great expanse. The largest clusters of light were supposed to be cities, or was it worlds, entire ‘Verses…?

            A “soft” chuff that billowed the Wanderer’s wrap caught her attention, drawing it to the far end of the sort of parking lot/waiting venue that was technically part of the Bar. Given that many of the patrons were coming from all areas of the ‘Verses, a sort of gravel lot was needed for them to keep their vehicles. Or in this case, steeds.

            Well, perhaps that was the categorical name for the Serpent sitting carefully coiled in the corner, just within the bounds of the Bar and the protection it offered. Even though the long grass surrounding the whole lot looked infinitely more comfortable, no one aware of what the border meant was fool enough to stand out there. After all, a grassy plain could easily turn into a storm-tossed sea out here, mirroring the swirling, stellar chaos overhead but in a much more close and personal way…

            The Serpent gave another polite chuff, yanking the Wanderer’s attention back to the moment at hand. It was plenty large, easily enough to dwarf Orochi, but it remained exceedingly gentle as its glittering head lowered to consider the downright miniscule frame of the Wanderer as she walked up, feet trapsing over the tiny stones without a care in the world.

            “Hello! I, wait, I had it, hold on, I’ll remember in just a moment…”

            The Serpent, for its part, looked perfectly content to give her a few moments to puzzle things out, moving in a practiced way as it loosed a part of its tight coil, its tail which slid carefully onto the gravel. The Wanderer twirled again, blindfolded face seeming to consider the whirling cosmos overhead before toppling over to rest on said tail, reclining on it like it was the most comfortable hammock.

            “I love that we can actually see the ‘Verses from here. Every single light is a world, and they’re all so different! With different people, all with their own stories and experiences, it’s amazing to consider sometimes. It’s also weird, each one of those lights, an entire world! And they don’t even know there’s more than one, more often than not! They just think it’s them, if only they knew how many there are!”

            The Serpent’s own, porthole-like eyes considered the whirling galaxies above as the Wanderer spun through the line of thought. It was indeed a strange thing, how both big and small each light seemed when you remembered what they signified. An entire world, but there were so many. So many that a sun would be dwarfed, a moon would barely leave a luminescent imprint on the eye.

            But also, in a strange way, it made them seem…fragile. So many worlds, and with such an unforgiving, chaotic landscape beyond. If there were any sort of slip in the barriers keeping the chaos out of said worlds, well… it would be a catastrophe for them, or anyone that ended up on the outside, politely speaking. And, perhaps worse still, it was hard to defend from a threat or a problem that you had no prior knowledge of.

            The Wanderer had also fallen silent, staring quietly up at the swirling galaxies. Though a blindfolded face was a little hard to read in terms of emotion, the Serpent had traveled with the ageless being long enough to know the little ticks in body language. Perhaps one very relieving thing about the Wanderer was that, even when in a deeper mood, her mouth wasn’t too far behind.

            “Well, they did seem to take to the idea of a train, even if there was a bit more involved in the planning than I initially intended. It does look like it’s going to go off without a hitch though, which is good…” A quiet sigh, before she continued. “If anything, it’ll make things easier if we have another problem like with the kids. How do you think they’re doing, by the way?”

            For this, the Serpent had no definitive answer, not helped by the fact that they couldn’t really speak. At least, not in a verbal sense. They always had a way of understanding each other, the Wanderer and the Serpent, but in this there was no answer apart from them considering the multi-colored whirls overhead again.

            There really wasn’t a good answer, especially with how large the ‘Verses were. The Serpent certainly knew that the Wanderer was not thinking of a mere few individuals. Really, her thoughts were of the entire generation of gods that had had their lives upended by the War, and everything that came after. Rush’s generation, the effects rippling through the younger few that did exist out there. 

            Speaking of, the Serpent couldn’t help glancing over at the very clear signs of tire marks from said god’s departure. He’d come out, seen them, gone back in, came back out and gotten into his odd flying machine and zipped away. All things considered, the god of mechanics seemed to be doing rather well for himself, so if he was any indicator the rest of the gods, goddesses, personifications, and demiurges had to be doing alright…

            Granted, Rush had been one of the few to get off relatively light in the closing of the War, so perhaps his situation was an optimistic one…

            Still, it didn’t help the Wanderer, who had been quiet for a rather long time. Her fingers were playing with the edges of her wrap, gently toying with the thickly woven material and tracing the designs. The Serpent gave another polite chuff to get the Wanderer’s attention before pointing their head towards the tire treads, hoping to start the Wanderer’s thoughts on the more positive story of Rush. It was better to focus on the ones who were still here, after all, than the ones that were too far gone to save.

            It did seem to have the intended effect, the Wanderer immediately honing on the marks with something that hinted at a more sensitive type of vision, blindfolded head reclining fully into the coil supporting the rest of her body.

            “Yeah, I know. Just keep moving forward, right?”

            Exactly, the Serpent tried to indicate with a nod, though before they could do that, the Wanderer seemed to remember just why she’d come out here to begin with, abruptly sitting up with a new flurry of words.

            “Wait, ‘Verses, needs, are you hungry? I wanted to ask. I know we hurried to get here; you’re probably starving…”

            They hardly needed to think on it long, and though there was some hunger they didn’t feel the need to have much. Just a steer would do for now, which they were able to convey to the Wanderer with their usual, more nondescript form of communication.

            Their order taken sent the Wanderer back into the bar, the Serpent left to consider the sky again as even the far-away lights twinkled on their scales. Even with the multitude overhead it seemed so far away and making the Bar seem very removed from it all.

            Perhaps there was no one way to truly end the problems, the distance, or the strife of thousands of years and a tumultuous world, but the Wanderer might be right about the idea of the train. A direction at this point was better than doing nothing and letting the problem grow worse and worse. Not to mention…if a certain someone was still out there…

            That was a thought that the Serpent simply cut off with alacrity, though it was let go with a languidness as they turned their eyes from the sky to the softly swirling grass. Perhaps if they stared at the horizon long enough they could see the way it shifted, blurring together with the edges of the sky in a sort of lazy haze. A deceptively lazy haze, but at least there didn’t seem to be any storms on the way.

            Here there be dragons indeed…

            It was a little while later that someone, presumably one of the employees from somewhere in the Bar, bought out a sizeable steer on a wooden sled. There was a brief bit of surprise on the Serpent’s part but they did have to concede that while it had been a while, Pater still knew what was good.