ONE. may have interesting subject lines eventually

[blessingone]

[Accidental Action]

[Anyone around the outskirts of Luceti's village today might notice a girl wandering around, avoiding high traffic areas. There are three reasons that they might notice her.

1. Her expression is guarded, but she can't keep out some hints of being very afraid.

2. Half the time she is walking shoulders hunched inward, with nervous steps while she keeps looking out for people seeing her--that is, a walk that is trying so hard to be unnoticed that everyone notices. The other half of the time, she's trying to sneak between trees and behind buildings with such stealth as to be even more obvious than the walk--Solid Snake, she is not.

3. ...She looks a little ridiculous. The outer layer is a dress something like this, only hiked up to not trip her up as she's about five inches shorter than the intended wearer. But she's also wearing a coat over it and a second dress underneath due to the cold, and it's fairly obvious she is since the collars are designed differently. Speaking of that, it's hanging rather loosely on her there, since it was made for someone who is anime!racked. She's kept decent by the fact that she's still wearing the New Feather dress underneath those, which covers up the rest of her to her neck. Also, unlike in the icon, her hair is tucked up inside of an unusual hat. She's probably even in bad footwear for the weather, but it's impossible to tell since the dresses are trailing in the snow. EDIT: ...Also, she probably has hidden her wings under some scarf.

She's trying to not attract attention, but this is not obvious.

...Oh yeah, forgot. She has her journal with her, but she hasn't opened it and she's holding it so that her name is hidden by her body.]

[ooc: Also, because I imagine that any of them would be inclined to get her out of this somewhat odd get-up and she's not likely to trust anyone else, any Ferines threads probably take place after any others.

...This entry is getting the crap editted out of it tonight, but THANK YOU SO MUCH PERSON WHO GAVE ME PAID TIME. I was going to buy some when I had gotten more icons, but I am very grateful to get it as a gift. ♥♥ ...Even if I'm using about two icons so far this post.]

Comments

[action]

[prayingone]

No, I... you're right. I'm sorry. Things... things aren't okay. ... it's easy to forget that, here.

[Shirley quietly takes her own seat, eyes daring from Fenimore's face to her hands, which she's folded nervously in her lap.]

... I'll try and answer your questions, now.

[action]

[blessingone]

[She really can't see how it could be easy to forget, but she feels a bit bad for her outburst already.

She turns towards where Shirley is sitting and taps a finger on the table, slowly, as she tries to sort through what she wants to ask first. Besides, well, "what the heck is going on?" Unfortunately, the question she settles on is not one that's easy to answer.]

...How long was I out for? Or did I bump my head and forget?

[action]

[prayingone]

[Shirley bites the inside of her lip, at first not sure how to answer Fenimore's question. Because she ... wasn't knocked out. She kind of... died!]

It's... hard to say. Time is very strange, here.

[action]

[blessingone]

[Not quite yet! But give her a few seconds when she gets back home. In the meantime....]

Strange...?

[action]

[prayingone]

Um, well... while we stay in Luceti, time doesn't go on back home. And... people can be brought to Luceti from different times.

[awkward pause] ... Luceti is the name of the place where we've been brought.

[action]

[blessingone]

...

...Are you sure you're feeling all right? No fever, or...?

[action]

[prayingone]

I'm... not sick, Fenimore. You can feel my forehead, if you like...

[action]

[blessingone]

[After a moment of hesitation, she leans across the table to do so. For a moment, she almost thinks that Shirley is a little warm, but then she realizes that it's just that her hands haven't warmed up completely yet, although they mustly have.

She settles back with a puzzled frown.] ...That doesn't make any sense.

[action]

[prayingone]

[Shirley sits and waits patiently while Fenimore determines that she is, in fact, not sick.]

I don't really understand it myself... as far as I can tell, um. Luceti is almost... a place outside of time? [... sort of like the Cradle of Time, but she doesn't need to bring that up. ... and that's not even considering that letter she got for the last experiment. Why so confusing, Luceti. :(]

[action]

[blessingone]

Outside of.... Time isn't like a box. You can't....

Are you sure you didn't hit your head?

[action]

[prayingone]

I'm sure...

I think it helps that Luceti, um... isn't really a part of our world.

[action]

[blessingone]

...That can't be right. Even if they could travel between worlds, there's no way they could travel that quickly. [You may be able to tell that Fenimore has not grasped this "outside of time" thing.]

[action]

[prayingone]

It shouldn't be, but... it is.

[action]

[blessingone]

[It takes Fenimore a moment to respond. She's running out of ideas why Shirley might think like this without it being true, and it's hurting her brain to try to see how it could be true.]

...But if that were true, why did they never use it before? They were at war with...Crusand, right? They could have taken Vaclav out of the picture and at least done some good. [Because she's still assuming that this is the work of the Gadorian knights.]

[action]

[prayingone]

Do you mean the Gadorian Knights?... [Shirley shakes her head, sadly. Oh, if only it were that simple...] They aren't the ones responsible for this...

[action]

[blessingone]

It wasn't? ...You mean, someone else came in? Just how many people are after you?

[action]

[prayingone]

[Shirley blushes, and looks a little embarssed.]

Um. I-I don't think it happened because... because I'm the Merines. People from Melfes aren't the only ones who have been brought to Luceti. In fact... there are only -- ... [... wait, listing who's here might not be such a good idea.] Um. A ... few of us here.

[action]

[blessingone]

[Probably is a good idea that you don't. Mentioning Stella being alive will probably return Fenimore's belief to square one.]

You mean...some of those people out there are from different worlds? [And by worlds she's completely thinking in terms of planets, because she can almost wrap her head around life on other planets.] ...So those people who looked like Ferines but didn't know what they were...they came from another world?

[action]

[prayingone]

[Shirley nods.] Yes. In other worlds, there are no such things as Ferines, or Orerines... blonde is just another color of hair. It doesn't mean anything.

[action]

[blessingone]

...Huh. So they weren't even Orerines....

Then, who is responsible, if it's not the...whatever you called them. ["Gadorian" is too long a word to remember.]

[action]

[prayingone]

[Here, Shirley frowns. She's not sure of the answer to that anymore.]

I'm sorry... I'm not certain about that anymore. The Malnosso are the ones who keep us in the barrier, but... I don't know if they're the ones who brought us here.

[Shirley turns, and reaches for her journal, opening it to the page that she left bookmarked.] This is the Guide... one of the village residents, Professor Sage, wrote it to help New Feathers settle into Luceti. She's been here for a very long time... and she's very well-thought of.

[action]

[blessingone]

[She will probably later question how no one knows how they got here, but for the moment, it slips into her mind easier since she concentrates on the named group who sound like the kinds of things they are doing are at least within reason.]

I didn't see any sort of wall around the village...but I couldn't really see far past the trees. So they keep people in a whole village...?

A guide...? So this has been going on for a long time, then. New Feathers?

[action]

[prayingone]

The barrier is very far out... it takes a few days to reach just the closest point, now. [Not that Shirley has seen it herself, since she never leaves the village.]

Oh, um. A "New Feather" is a new arrival to Luceti. I think the name comes from the fact that they have just gotten their wings. [Shirley hands the journal to Fenimore, so she can take a look at the Guide.] I know there's a lot there... but it's very useful.

[And, conveniently enough, it looks like the kettle on the stove is whistling now.] Do you mind if I get that?...

[action] 1/2

[blessingone]

[She takes the journal and looks at the Guide. ...Yeah, that definitely is a lot. She looks back up again when Shirley asks.] Go ahead.

[action]

[blessingone]

[However, whenever Shirley next looks back at Fenimore, she's not going to have progressed very far. She's looking down at where she's set the journal on the table and listlessly reading the Guide, but she keeps zoning out. She keeps returning to the word "experiments."

Although she had at first suspected they were here to be experimented on, she had been starting to hope she was wrong with the way Shirley seemed to be relatively comfortable here. She's trying not to show how upset she is, but some of it is showing through in her expression and in the way she's grabbing fistfuls of her dress tightly. She's still mostly under control at the moment, though.]