I tried to refrain, but I just had to start posting! I'll be working on my other things too, but this has become my Big Thing.

Disclaimer: I do not own Virals or WTNV. Wish I did, though. Maybe for Christmas... :)

The night-time wind blows across the sand wastes of the Nevada desert, but there is no-one to notice it. No-one, that is, bar the young girl huddled in the patched-up tent. She crawls from her fabric shell and resists the urge to look up at the night sky - mostly void, partially stars, she remembers with a soft smile. It is not her phrase, not her memory, but it reminds her of what she's fighting for.

She isn't afraid of the void nor the stars. She fears almost nothing anymore, save the mysterious sunless planet that appears from time to time, a harbinger of doom. She wonders if it will appear now.

She removes her gun from its holster and shoots upwards. Once. Twice. Thrice. Listens carefully. She does not hear any impact, so risks a quick glance upwards. Her bullets travel farther here than they would in the 'real' world. Nothing. If there's anything at all out there, be it humanoid, animal, non-corporeal entity, sentient vegetable or enormous darkened world hanging just above our own, she has likely scared it off. For now, anyway.

She breathes a sigh of relief, violet eyes changing to a rich buttery yellow, and the haze of light surrounding her body shifts to match before both return to purple. She is always on edge, cannot afford to be caught off-guard.

IIt's a good thing there is no-one around to witness her. Her survival depends on her enemy not finding her, and the darkness has afforded her no camoflage since her accident.

She brushes thick dark hair off her unwashed face (it's been a while since she was able to bathe), wishing just for a moment she was normal again, before pushing the thought from her mind. You are not normal, Han, she reminds herself sternly, you are a Night Valean now, and God forbid you should want to be anything else.

Incoming text.

Hey! I'm in Vegas! You still live in Nevada? Big place, but how far away is Night Vale? Meet up?

She almost ignores it, but the sender was, once upon a time, one of her closest friends. They haven't spoken in years, but she's so very alone in her tent in the sand wastes, and so very hungry. She ate all her rations earlier in the week and hasn't had chance to stock up again.

And, although she hates to admit it, she needs allies.

She types out a reply before she can change her mind.

Bring food and help.