[OPEN] Ilda's May Catch-All

[ilda]

Characters: Ilda and YOU (oh, your squids cats bibirus pets are welcome, too)
Date: all throughout May
Location: all over Aifaran
Situation: freaking out over her dying little sister, bibiru sitting, getting mugged by Ban Om priests and persuading them to go away, winning free merch!
Warnings: morbid thoughts, paranoia, some cursing and badmouthing, persuasion powers activating, maybe injured bibirus?



A - THE SPACE PARASITES ARE GETTING SOME EMOTIONAL ENERGY TO FEED ON - dawn of May 3 (open)

[ It's still dark out when Ilda comes running to the Turtle's Head, the last place that has made her feel at peace. But she's not here to watch the sun rise; she's clearly distressed, if her tangled hair and mismatched shoes are any indication. ]

Ingride.

[ The pain in her voice is so raw, you can almost see it. She's had a dream, a very bad dream, the kind of dream that haunts you even when you're wide awake and conscious and trying not to think of the things - people - you've left behind in your world.

She sinks to the ground, and a sob finally breaks through her. ]



B - BIBIRU SITTING... LITERALLY (open)

[ Ilda's found her new favorite spot in Aifaran: the bibiru lady's flat!

If it's not heaven, what else could it be? Bibirus everywhere, all yours to feed and groom and play with... well, okay, not really yours, but it feels like it anyway. All that while getting paid, too. What a job!

She lets herself be overrun by the cute little bunny birds, giggling. Oh oh, this warrants a selfie! ]



C - I HATE CHURCH PEOPLE (Faith 1, open)

I'm sorry, but that's all I have.

[ Great. She's thought giving the priests some money would make them go away, but apparently it doesn't work that way. They now want more, and it's beginning to piss her off. These priests are even worse than the ones in her world! She backs away from them, all while trying to keep her temper in check. She knows, based on experience, that it's not a good idea to piss off the church people. They hold hands and sing songs and talk about peace and mercy, but deep down they're nasty pieces of work.

But she soon finds herself surrounded - the priests suddenly too close, their voices too loud. She remembers her sister, her sick little sister who never deserved any of the things she's going through, and how nobody from the church, not even the queen, could help her---

Something within Ilda snaps. ]

Leave me alone!

[ The Ban Om priests freeze, apparently stunned by her outburst. Or something. Because then they blink, and just... turn around and walk away. ]



D - I DIDN'T UNCONSCIOUSLY SWEET-TALK INNOCENT PEOPLE INTO GIVING ME FREEBIES THIS TIME (Commerce 4, open)

[ Ilda never says no to free stuff (she's into business herself, after all) so when the store owner happily proclaims that she's their lucky one thousandth visitor, she accepts the honor - and the corresponding prize - all too happily. She even takes a bunch of selfies with the proprietor and the store people and the stuff they've given her, promising to post them to Xa Xa when she gets back to her room in the Dreaming Bridge.

It's a lot of stuff, though, and she's just one girl. It's even a little hard to see where she's going, with the huge pile of freebies in her arms. ]



E - WILDCARD (open)

[ Hit me up at notanybunny for a specific starter! :D ]

Comments

A!

[afoolsgold]

[Is it chance or fate that places the Fool here when Ilda comes stumbling into view? He is here to watch the sunrise, and to derive some solace from the presence of the great continent turtle who carries them through these turbulent waters--but Ilda's arrival disturbs that peace.

He is startled enough to whip his head back to look at her, but concern immediately overrides any aggravation he might feel. Unfolding himself quickly from the rock where he sits, the Fool crosses the sandy ground to kneel at the girl's side, gingerly reaching out a hand to touch her shoulder.]

Ilda..! Ilda, what is wrong?

\o/

[ilda]

[ She jerks at the touch, startled by the Fool's presence, feeling another wave of fear as she realizes that there was someone else lurking in the darkness. But then he speaks, and she recognizes his voice. It reins her in - back to the present, to the Turtle's Head, to some semblance of peace, even if only for a moment.

When she finally looks up, there is nothing but anguish on her face, and tears. ] My... my sister. She's...

[ They've talked about dreams before. And how they can mean different things to different people. But the dream she's had, is there really another way of looking at it? She doesn't want to say it, because saying it would make it real. She refuses it to be real. ]

There was blood, so much blood...

[ She stares down at her hands. They're shaking. ]

[afoolsgold]

[Whatever vision has grabbed her, its hold has not been weakened much by bringing her back to the present moment. The Fool can read the anguish on her face clearly, and it wounds him; it would wound him further to suspect that his own words had heightened her misery in any way.

For a moment he kneels beside her, helpless and quiet. What to say?]

Was it a memory? [asked gently.]

[ilda]

[ She keeps looking at her hands, but she answers him. ] N-no. It... it can’t be. She was alive the last time I saw her. Very sick, but alive, I swear she was still alive—

[ A muffled cry as she holds back another sob, still refusing to make the vision real. Her expression shifts to one of panic as she desperately searches for something to hold on to. ]

I... I was running. Running home. It was empty when I arrived, which is weird, because ever since Ingride got really sick, she’s never left alone. Mother and Father and Ivarr and I, we take turns watching her. But our house was empty and she was alone and she was dying when I lifted her up from the bed...

[ She tries to keep going, tries to say it all in one breath, before she loses her nerve or whatever it is that’s still holding her together. But the image of Ingride dying in her arms is too much, and she starts to shake with silent sobs. ]

C

[whattail]

Konoe didn't particularly like people either, but he felt like he probably had to deal with them at some point in this alien city. The curious looks at his ears and tail were making him uncomfortable, so he'd pulled up his cloak around him.

Unfortunately this put him right in the path of the priests who were bothering Ilda, who had forgotten about her and moved on to the cat. Konoe backed up, growling under his breath, but wasn't sure how to get them to go away.

[ilda]

Ilda just stood there, blinking much like the priests did several moments ago. She wasn't sure what happened exactly, only that she'd gotten fed up with their chattering and, well, shouted at them to go away.

She pursed her lips together. That technically wasn't disrespect, was it? She just told them to leave her alone. Maybe a little too forcefully, but...

They hadn't gone far, though. She heard a growl, and she turned to see the very same priests crowding around a kid, doing pretty much the same thing they were doing earlier. Okay, it was one thing to ask her for donations, since she at least had a job and some money - but a kid?

"Hey!" she yelled, running towards the priests and Konoe. "Leave him alone!"

[whattail]

Oh great, another person running up to him, even if she seemed to be trying to drive them away. Konoe stared, because she was female, and he still wasn't used to seeing so many around at once. (At least, he assumed she was. She looked a lot like his memories of female cats.)

The priests were becoming touchy in their demand of money, and his cloak was pulled on enough and slipped off his head to reveal his fluffy ears. They slicked back, Konoe's pupils getting large with discomfort. These weren't actually violent people so he'd feel bad about trying to fight them, but he wanted them to get away. Their eagerness was driving a stake into his heart.

He pulled the cloak up again around his ears, trying to back away from the demanding priests. "Get away from me! Leave me alone-I don't care about you!"

[ilda]

Ilda stopped before getting too close, though not because of the priests. She blinked repeatedly, trying to clear her vision, ascertaining that her eyes didn’t deceive her.

Are those really... ears?

But Konoe’s panicked cry got her moving again. “He said to leave him alone!” she shouted, practically shoving herself through their circle. Nevermind that the catboy’s I don’t care about you applied to her, too.

Perhaps the priests were still under her influence somewhat, or her powers activated again thanks to her emotional response, but they looked at her in surprise, as if only realizing that she was there. And then, with a nod, they slowly backed off.

“Ugh. Church people.” She turned to Konoe. “Are you okay?“

[whattail]

Somehow, the female person drove them off again, and now they were giving them both a wide berth. Konoe would be grateful for that, but he didn't want someone to fight his own battles for him. "I'm fine."

Perhaps more curt and aggressive than he warranted, but he was already in a bad mood. Konoe clutched the cloak to his head harder, giving shifty eyes to everyone around him.

[ilda]

Ilda stiffens, a little taken aback. Geez, everyone's in such a good mood, huh. She's even starting to get worked up herself. At the church people, at the strange kid with fluffy ears who apparently didn't appreciate her intervention.

But not worked up enough to just walk away. Besides, a part of her is curious about the ears.

"Come on, let's get out of here," she says to Konoe, although her expression softens a moment later. "Are you lost? Do you need help finding your parents?"

[whattail]

Konoe stared at her, his expression confused. He felt a bit of guilt after the stab of empathy in his chest, but now...she was asking for his parents? What did they have to do with anything?

"My parents have been dead for a long time. Why the hell are you asking about them?" It just slipped out, but it was always a sore point for him. His tail was starting to twitch around in discomfort under his cloak, peeking out from the back of it.

[ilda]

Ilda blinked, for a moment just as confused as Konoe was. Looks like he wasn't lost after all...

"Sorry. I just thought you were lost, and got separated from your parents," she said quietly, clearly deflating. She didn't have any experience with dead parents, but there was someone in her family who would end up in a similar state if Ilda couldn't find a way to save her. The thought of that distracted her from the harshness of Konoe's tone and his twitchy mood - up until she noticed his tail, anyway.

She blinked again.

Then, unable to hold back her curiosity any longer, she asked, "Um... are you a cat... person... thingy? Because..." She trailed off, unable to say what she'd been thinking about. She settled instead for gestures, acting out 'ears' and 'tail' as if they were playing charades.