"Cry...."

The said brunet glanced over his shoulder and saw that his friends were looking at him with concern.

Cry sighed softly before pinching his arm.

'I can't be down like this forever!  I'll worry them too much!'

The brunet took another deep breath before turning to look at his friends.

"Don't worry about me guys!  I'll pull through, 'kay?"

Russ and the others didn't look too convinced; the glasses-wearing brunet grabbed Cry's injured arm gently.

Sup popped his head out of Russ's brown locks and landed on Cry's shoulder, healing the masked brunet.

Cry pat the creature's head in thanks before glancing around the area they were in.

They were on some sort of old building, surrounded by more.

Snake was keeping watch, as usual, as Scott bickered with Ken and Pewds.  Raven and Red were chatting quietly with each other.

Cry walked over to Snake as Russ joined Red and Raven's conversation.

"Yo, Snake."

The darker-haired brunet glanced over at his leader-like friend and grunted a greeting.

"Cry."

Cry looked at the abandoned-looking city below.

"Found anything?"

Snake flickered his eyes over to Cry before bringing them back to the buildings.

"...There's a great stench of death and sickness in the air.  There are hardly any life forms here."

Cry frowned beneath his mask and scrunched his nose up slightly.

'He wasn't kidding about the smell....' "Anyone nearby?"

Snake pointed at the ground below them.

"...They aren't...exactly human..."

Cry squinted his eyes slightly and blinked in shock.

There was a giant swarm of fat rats below them.

The brunet felt some goosebumps on his skin as he watched the small rodents gnaw on some sort of corpse.

'....I've only ever seen that many rats in one game....'

Snake felt the air of realization around Cry; he promoted an answer from the other.

"Which game?"

Cry continued to look at the swirling mass of rats below them, answering the taller.

"Dishonored."

~~

"So we're looking for some guy named Corvo?"

Cry shrugged.

"Meh.  Either we run into him or he runs into us.  Doesn't really matter."

Crash, bang, bang!

Cry glanced up to a building and saw something--or someone--suddenly apparated out of nowhere.

'Ah.  There he is.'

The masked 'fugitive', Corvo, had a crossbow out, shooting sleeping darts at his pursuers.

00(Corvo's POV)00

D***.  There's too many of them this time.  What should I--?

"Hey~What up dude~?"

I blinked in shock and my eyes met a white mask.

How the he** did he get here?  I didn't even hear him!

He could be an assassin!

I raised my sword in front of my face and aimed my crossbow at him as I studied the brunet.

...He wore...strange clothes...a new style perhaps?

No.  I musn't lose focu--

"Hey, hey!  Don't get all tense.  I come in peace."

.....I sensed no lies in his voice.

Is he on our side?

I saw the brunet stick his hand out as a greeting.

"Yo!  My name is Cry, and you are...?"

00(End of Corvo's POV)00

"Corvo Attano.  Are you a part of the resistance?"

Cry inclined his head slightly.

'Huh.  So Corvino doesn't know that the loyalists are planning to betray him...yet.' "Not exactly..."

Corvo tensed up again.

"Then do you work for Burrows?  The usurper?"

Cry waved his hand in the air.

"Naw.  I know that he's the real killer of the fair Lady, right?  And you're the good guy."

Corvo narrowed his eyes.

"Then which side are you on?"

Cry shrugged; he glanced down at his teammates, who were waiting for him.

"You're side."

Corvo blinked in confusion behind his mask.

"But you said you weren't on the loyalists' side...?"

"Exactly.  But I'm...on...your...side~!"

Corvo felt a few tick marks on his head, rubbing his palm against his metal mask.

'This kid's not making any sense at all...' "....How did you get up here?"

Cry whistled.

"Hm~you'll find out soon enough."

Corvo blinked in confusion before widening his eyes when he sensed bullets slicing through the air at them.

The masked ravenet was about to push Cry out of the way to keep him safe, but the 'fugitive' widened his eyes further when he saw the brunet's hand become a mass of wind.

'Has he met the Outsider too?'

Cry waved his hand in the air and the bullets were directed elsewhere.

The brunet grinned underneath his mask before grabbing Corvo's jacket.

"Let's go go!  Sam's waiting for you, right?"

Corvo blinked in confusion.

''Sam'?  As in Samuel?  How does he know him?'

But the ravenet was ripped away from his thoughts when he realized Cry pulled him off of the building.

Corvo was about to use Blink--one of the supernatural abilities of the Outsider--but Cry used his wind to slow down their fall.

Corvo took in the sight of the others that were there.

'They're all wearing strange clothes....'

Cry pushed the other gently.

"Let's go, go, go!  They're hot on our heels, ya' know!"

~~

"Corvo!  Thank goodne--huh?  Who are they?"

Samuel blinked in confusion when he saw the group behind Corvo.

The ravenet took his mask off and sighed.

"They are not with Burrows.  And they will not cause us any harm.  They are on...our side."

Cry waved excitedly over to the boatman.

"Yo, Sammy-boy!"

Samuel gave a bemused look to the brunet.

"How do you know my name...?"

Cry flinched ever so slightly.

"Uh.......you heard nothing from me!"

The brunet tugged his hood over his head, trying to 'hide'.

Samuel and Corvo sweatdropped.

The boatman sighed.

"Well.  I have enough room to fit all of you.  Hop on; we'll head back to HQ."

~~

Cry looked at the familiar building in front of him.

Samuel docked the boat and everyone departed.

Corvo led them into the building.

Cry saw the familiar bar that was inside, and the booths that lined the sides.

There was a man speaking to another at the corner of the bar; both of them were recognized easily by Cry.

The one in a soldier's uniform seemed to notice the new presence in the room.; he turned around as he waved his glass of wine in the air.

"Ah, Sir Corvo, you're back."

Corvo nodded his slightly as a greeting.

"Good evening, Sir Havelock, Sir Pendleton."

Farely raised an eyebrow to the group behind Corvo.

"Friends of yours, Sir Corvo?  Are they here to join us?"

"...Yes."

Farely or smiled and raised his glass.

"My, my.  There's quite a lot of them.  I can tell that they're all fighters with that look in their eyes."

Cry was lucky that he had his mask; he had his eyes narrowed at Farely and Treavor ever since the group stepped into the room.

Farely took a sip from his glass.

"There are extra beds in the room next to Corvo's.  Please, don't hesitate to ask for anything.  Welcome to the Loyalist Conspiracy."

~~
<<(A Dream)>>

Cry blinked his eyes in surprise at the sights that greeted him.

'So....I'm in the Void....'

The brunet had remembered heading to bed with his teammates--the girls and boys split into groups.  Cry fell asleep almost instantly when his body met the slightly lumpy mattress.

But now...here he was...in the Void.

Cry checked if he could still use his powers.

Lightning sparked and a breeze blew by.

His powers still worked.

Cry tapped his wrists and saw that his other powers still worked.

The brunet then glanced around the area, only seeing floating islands.

Cry tapped his Ori tattoo; a white glow surrounded him.

'I haven't really tried Ori's powers yet...' Cry grinned. 'Let's see how they work.'

Cry saw a floating platform a few meters away; the brunet frowned.

'Looks a bit far...' The brunet glanced at the seemingly endless drop below him. '...Yolo.'

Cry jumped and found that he was only about two thirds there.

'Oh sh**!'

Then a white glow appeared under Cry's foot; the brunet felt a flat surface and pushed off of it.

Cry was a bit unbalanced so he flopped onto his back on the next floating platform.

Cry sat up and rubbed his back, staring at his feet in wonder.

'...Double Jump?  So cool!'

The brunet tested to move out again and grinned; he continued to jump to each floating island, flipping a few times.

Cry stopped at one island and saw a wall towering over him.

The brunet glanced at his hands and let a white light surround them.

Cry placed both on the wall before surrounding his feet with the same light.

The brunet slowly peeled one of his hands from the wall and moved it further up.

He started to climb without finding any places to place his feet properly--one of Ori's skills: Wall Jump.

'Woah!  I feel like Spider-Man or something!'

Cry glanced downwards and saw that he was a few feet off of the ground.

The brunet then scaled the wall quickly, finding that he could simply use his legs without his hands.

Cry found a few lanterns floating around; the brunet thought back to Ori's other power: Bash.

The brunet jumped towards the lantern and activated Ori's powers; he paused in mid air right above the lantern.

Cry concentrated and looked towards the next island he wished to land on; he 'released' and he was shot over to the next island like a bullet emptied from a gun.

Not completely used to the speed, Cry stumbled a bit when he landed before straightening himself up; he grinned.

'Hopefully I can do this with any type of lantern.'

Cry then noted that he was at some sort of small building; he entered through the broken door.

He noted how everything seemed to have stopped in time; Cry walked further inside.

"Ah.  There you are."

Cry blinked in surprise and immediately put his fisted hands in front of his face to prepare for a fight.

The new voice chuckled.

"I do not wish to fight you.  Please, take a seat in the chair by the bar over there."

Cry slowly lowered his arms and swiveled his head around; he found the bar that the voice mentioned and sat down on one of the ripped cushioned seats.

A black mist appeared on the seat on Cry's right.

"I have been waiting for the moment to speak with you.  You and your friends....are of a different...dimension."

The black mist dispersed--although it still rolled off of the man's body--revealing a short-haired brunet with completely black eyes.

He was dressed in a brown suit and navy-blue slacks that were tucked into sleek, black boots.

The brunet man turned to look at Cry, a very faint smile on his lips.

"May I have your name?"

Cry raised a bemused eyebrow beneath his mask.

"I thought you would already know..."

"I find it more polite and amusing to have a proper human introduction."

Cry shrugged mentally.

"Well...my name is Cry."

"And I am the Outsider.  It is very nice to meet you."

The Outsider extended a hand out and Cry shook it in return.

The brunet man then crossed his arms, blinking his black eyes as he cocked his head slightly, studying Cry.

"....You and your friends intrigue me.  But you...more so."

Cry blinked in confusion.

"What do you mean?"

The Outsider uncrossed one of his arms and pointed at Cry's chest.

"I have seen...that your heart is holding something heavy.  It is killing you.  You are aware of it, yet you do not worry.  And you are doing all of this to protect those who are not even blood-related to you.  Why is that?"

Cry hummed.

"I don't know if you'll understand the feeling...but there's a sense of warmth when I'm with my friends."

The Outsider raised an eyebrow.

"'Friends'....that is what humans have called their close non-blood-related companions." The man crossed his arms once more and frowned. "Why do you humans make 'friends'...when they can always be the ones to betray you in the end?"

Cry blinked in surprise underneath his mask; he scratched the back of his head.

"Wow...that's a tough question..."

The gamer placed a hand under his chin.

"Hm...well..." Cry tapped his head. "Ah!  I know." 

The Outsider tilted his head and waited for Cry's answer.

The brunet smiled beneath his mask.

"In the world...you can't always just have your family with you.  Yeah, your family is usually the only people you'd expect to trust, but..." Cry placed his hands onto his lap. "They can't always be there for you."

The brunet looked up at the wooden ceiling above.

"In the world...you're actually all alone.  Even if you have people near you, you're alone.  When your family isn't there, then you're alone....that is why...you make friends."

The Outsider tilted his head.

"Then...what can...'friends' do for you...when your family isn't there?"

Cry hummed and smiled fondly underneath his mask.

"They stand by you, stand up for you, nag you, irritate you, play with you, make you laugh, smile.  The list can go on."

The Outsider blinked his eyes in surprise.

"So...'friends' are like your second family."

Cry grinned.

"Exactly, my friend."

The Outsider then blinked again in shock as Cry went over the words he just uttered.

The gamer became a bit flustered.

"Oh!  We-Well.  Do yo-you want to be my friend?  I mean--your a cool guy and all an--"

"I accept."

Cry blinked in surprise.

"Say what now?"

The Outsider had a rare smile on his face.

"I will take part...in your human 'friendship'."

The man raised a hand up and touched the back of Cry's right hand; the mark of the Outsider appeared.

The man sighed.

"Now, I shall send you back to the real world.  Take care Cry."

"Wait!"

The Outsider raised an eyebrow.

"What is it?"

"What's your real name?"

The Outsider blinked in surprise before chuckling softly.

"...Svart.  That is my name."

With that, Cry's dream disappeared.

~~

"WAAAAAAAAAAKE UUUUUUUUUUP!"

"Wha--!?  Oh.  It's just you Jund."

"Just me!?  I've been trying to wake you up for the past ten minutes!  And you just slept like a f*****g log!"

Cry sighed and fumbled for his mask; he glanced at the back of his right hand.

The mark of the Outsider was present.

'Things have gotten a lot more interesting...'