OPEN ★ ARRIVAL LOG

[futurologists]

ARRIVALS ( OCT 2 ) The dragons are taken from you, sent off to a safe haven. You're back in Oska for less than a day when you hear the announcement and head to the rendezvous point. You blink, step through the portal, there's a loud crack, and... You're thrown into darkness. You taste copper and, for a moment, your ears won't stop ringing. All common side-effects of portal travel. The entire crew arrives just beyond the city gates, so you might also be feeling a little bit claustrophobic. It takes a second for the eyes to adjust, but one can make out buildings and the cobblestone beneath their feet. To the right is the Trade District, where all the vendors are gathered to sell their wares. Up ahead is the City Square, where the rest of the citizens out and about seem to be gathered. To the left of the square is the Commoners' District, and to the right of it is the Nobles' District, the two main residential areas. Further travel west will come to the outskirts, a makeshift residential area, this one densely populated with goblins. Many of the people are holding candles or lanterns. You might want to try getting your hands on one of those. If you have not already done so, your enchanted jewelry will manifest words in front of your very eyes — or sounds in your ear, if you're illiterate — asking you to identify yourself. A quick look around shows that you seem to be the only one able to see it. All you have to do is think or say how you wish to be identified. After that, you're immediately given a message. Those who participated in the dragon mission at Anwick will first receive this: We appreciate your help at Anwick. The wyrmlings will live to grow up and bring about the world's natural end. Thank you. -- ALASTAIR Afterwards, the crew will be given an abridged version of this, then told to familiarize themselves with the city and natives, report all information gathered back to ALASTAIR, and wait for further instruction. At the end of the night, wherever they may be, everyone will receive a letter with the royal seal thanking them for their efforts to end the goblins' defiance and inviting them to the Festival of Illumination on the 4th. FESTIVAL OF ILLUMINATION ( OCT 4 ) Candles are sitting on windowsills throughout the entire city, but the main event is in the city square. In the fountain float lit lotuses, and people all around are holding lanterns, waiting to light them. There's a minstrel playing songs, and several of the vendors have pulled their carts up to the square in the hopes of making a sale. Many sweets are for sale, including baked apples, gingerbread, cherry tarts, pudding, and more. There's also some drinks for sale. Some children are playing games in the corner, and others are dancing to the music or writing wishes on slips of paper to be sent into the sky with their lanterns. Everyone seems merry for once, but you'd better be careful. This is an ideal place for a pickpocket. About an hour and a half into the festival, the lanterns are sent into the sky. They're sent flying, the sky becoming filled with bright lights, until... A strong gust of wind sends all the lights out. At least, you think it was a gust of wind. What else could have done that? On closer inspection, however, you'll see that even the candles sitting on windowsills inside have gone out. For a minute or so, there's only darkness and chaos. Suddenly, the flames begin to burn again, revealing a message in the cobblestone in the center of the square. It almost looks as if it's been burned into the ground: IT IS COMING, followed by a symbol of a creature with a lion's head, goat's body, and serpent's tail. [MOD NOTE: This is a catch-all log for the first few days. For the sake of organization, all arrival threads should be posted under the subheader ARRIVALS and all festival threads should be posted under FESTIVAL. Threads that don't fall under either of those categories can be top-levels. Also, please remember to add your character's tag to the post! Thank you, and have fun!]

Comments

Sieglinde Sullivan | Kuroshitsuji | OPEN

[grunehexe]

A ⚝ BRAND NEW WORLD

[In the space of several days, Sieglinde has seen more of two worlds than she had ever of her own. Now, with the taste of copper in her mouth, she reels at their arrival to another, curiosity sparking into life and distracting her from her surroundings as her vision narrowed to the immediate space in front of her face, to the text registering her "user id", to "sieglindesullivan", to "The wyrmlings will live to grow up and bring about the world's natural end. Thank you."

Without noticing, Sieglinde found herself on the ground, mind whirling at miles a minute. They had done what they were asked because they were told it was the way to go home, and people had questioned but what came of it- a natural end? And now they were in a new world, in the dark.

Torn between the pull of pure desire to learn and the implications behind the message, Sieglinde cupped the new brooch beside her potion bottle on the chatelaine around her waist, examining it from every angle- Apparently oblivious to the fact that it was crowded, that she is practically underfoot, and that people are beginning to move on.

Do you trip over her skirts or just her? Concerned for the young girl not making any indication she was planning to get up and go?]

B ⚝ OFF TO THE APOTHECARY

[Once they've passed a day in the city, as their purpose begins to coalesce, Sieglinde is forced to think of what she needed to do next. Without Wolfram, without anyone she knows at all- no Sebastian, no Ciel, no sight of the servants she'd become acquainted with...

She was well aware of her own limitations- of how short the distance she could cover on her own was, her tiny feet still throbbing painfully from how much she'd forced herself to walk on Anwick. Well aware that without her herbs, her potions, her tools, her ability to be of use, to do anything, was almost crippled.

Which is why she's found herself a perch on a low city wall, the abandoned lantern she's beat back in to proper shape and patched up glowing softly in her lap, arms wrapped around it as she waits for someone who looks... strong?]

Pardon me-

[Is she talking to you?]

B.

[counterattacked]

[A whole day of this and still, it's enormously surreal. Not just the foreignness of the city, the people, (the goblins), or the situation. But the fact that it's been a solid day and more and still, there is no sunrise. Like being underground, only the air is still fresh and the sky is still wide. It knocks his circadian rhythms for a loop. Hell, it knocks his head for one, too.

He's still too restless to keep still in one place. Which is just as well, because they've been given leave (and direction) to get the lay of the land. Acclimate themselves to the situation and to their new comrades. And if there's anything Eren is interested in, right now, it's getting to the bottom of this. So it's only a matter of time before he paces past the small girl on the wall. She's impossible to miss, with the lantern in her lap casting light out in a halo, but he seems content to brush past her until—]

What?

[—she calls out to him. So he doesn't. Not the most polite of acknowledgments, but he's stopped and he's listening, at least. (Does he look strong? Not enormously, he's not a big guy or anything. But he's sturdy enough for a teenager. And, lucky for her, stronger than he looks.)]

[grunehexe]

[Oh, he- answered. Of course he did- not days ago she would have taken it all in stride, but after her recent revelations... the (over)confidence of the once proud Green Witch had taken quite a hit.

As it was, she gulped to shallow her momentary choke, leaning forward slightly.]

Are you going towards the market area?

[This land did not look so very foreign to her eyes- besides... the goblins, of course. But it meant that surely the plantlife was not so different either, and therefore she ought to be able to find medicines.

For patients, and her own self both.]

[counterattacked]

[He's rude, but not that rude, Sieglinde. He doesn't answer immediately, regarding her hesitation with a canted head and a subtle frown instead. All things considered, he can't blame her for being nervous or wrong-footed about all this. All of them are, none of them were asked or prepared to be here. And her getup doesn't exactly scream "soldier."]

Why? You lost?

[Which is neither a "yes" or a "no." To tell the truth, he wasn't actually planning on it, but it's not like he's got many other places to be. He might change his mind.]

[grunehexe]

[Was she lost? Weren't they all lost?

Though she had at least tried to make sure she called out to someone who seemed capable, Sieglinde's eyes are too inexperienced, too sheltered to know truly what a soldier even looks like in the real world. In books, of course, but.

Her own attire at least was clear- heavy skirts, embroidered bodice, tiny (unnaturally so, really) heels, hennin headdress. Not someone exactly accustomed to labor or hardship.]

I am not... I wondered if I might accompany someone there.

[A neat way to phrase what she truly needed, but.]

I wish to visit an apothecary.

[counterattacked]

[Getting a little existential, there. Not inaccurate, though. His eyes narrow at her answer, brows drawn together.]

You're sick?

[It's not a soft sort of concern, because he's not very good at that. But the sharp edge on it means he's hackling on her behalf already. Bad enough that ALASTAIR decided to drag people into all this against their will. Worse that they've gone and abducted civilians into the crew in the process. People too inexperienced or too young or too weak or ill to hold their own if things went south. The crew's a mixed bag from what he's seen, and it isn't getting much better. It's a shitty way to do business all around.]

[grunehexe]

No, no, I am not plagued by any illness-

[Quick to assure, as small village life had accustomed her to the damages and paranoia that came of suspected plagues and conditions.]

I am-

[There was a pause, but not from a lie so much as she suddenly did not know what to call herself. For so long she had been the Green Witch... But magic wasn't real and her healings were not spells or magic, but science. What did that make her? A doctor? A scientist?]

A healer. I wish to replenish my supplies before anything untoward occurs.

[counterattacked]

[Ah, is that all? He seems to accept that answer pretty easy—she's clearly younger than him, but that's not actually all that uncommon. He'd enlisted three years back, but if he hadn't, that would be about the time he'd be picking up a trade. If anything, it's stranger to hear from someone who's dressed decidedly like someone with wealth. But hell, it's not a bad idea.

He looks past her toward the trade districts. And finally, the million dollar question—]

What're you waiting for? It's not all that far.

[grunehexe]

[Another good question she didn't have the answer for- though this time, not the lack of actually knowing herself. The answer was clear to her, and had been her whole life, even if the way she viewed it had recently changed. The ritually broken and bound feet had once been a source of pride for her, proof that she carried on her ancestors sacred pact, that she was the inheritor of the title Green Witch and all that entailed.

Now, she knew them for what they were- simply a way to make sure she couldn't run away, a method of hobbling dressed up in magic ritual.

Her expression fell slightly, not at all skilled at keeping a poker face, struggling to come up with the way to say it. All the villagers had simply known her condition, her serving women had held a her hands even as her manservant had taken her feet in hand and snapped the bones. - was it really her first time to put it into words like this?]

I'm afraid I cannot walk well unaided.

[Finally, lamely, admitted.]

[counterattacked]

[Ritually bound and broken feet, a deliberate and measured pain designed to make her—what? Weaker, smaller, slower? Keep her restrained or contained or powerless? He'd be angry on her behalf if he knew. But he doesn't. And still, despite his expression knitting tighter in some measure of slow confusion, he glances back over at the Trade District before fixing her with a close look. (Can't or won't? Given her apparent motive, he wants to doubt it's the latter.) He looks up and down the length of her, her fine out of place skirts and all, before fixing on her face.]

Then come on.

[Blunt, and unabashed, before she has a chance to get sheepish about this—]

You stopped me for help, right?

[Then lets go.]

[grunehexe]

[There was a moment when she wasn't sure he would accept or not.

When he looked her over, she looked back, expression as guarded as a sheltered child's could be- which was admittedly not so much, perhaps, but that never stopped her from trying. Would he refuse? It wasn't as if she could fault him- he did not know her, nor she him, and perhaps it would not be so bad simply to need wait for someone who would accept...

But a sigh of relief escaped her nonetheless when he did.]

You have my thanks.

[Saying "thank you" was apparently a big part of manners. She'd learned that recently. With a visible wince, she gingerly slid from her position perched on the low wall, putting her weight back on feet not designed to support even her own slight body for longer than a short time- and it felt like she'd been on her feet for days between this mission and the previous one.

Once she carefully picked out her balance, tiny, delicately crafted shoes now visible, one hand still on the wall, she looked up at his arms, then face.]

- are you quite strong?

[Because by "unaided", she meant "carried".]

[counterattacked]

[As she hops down onto her feet, any lingering skepticism over the legitimacy of her claims is pretty neatly overwritten by the wince on her face, the alarmingly painful and painstaking way she does something as simple as standing. (The not-quite-right proportion of her feet, which is a realization that'll come a little later.) Definitely can't, then. He takes a reflexive step forward at first, when she seems unsteady. But he doesn't reach out right away, giving her the chance to find her own balance. She does.]

I'm a soldier.

[As if that should be answer enough. He's not a huge guy, but he can toss a brick shithouse like Reiner around and carry Mikasa off a battlefield at a run—and she weighs more than he does. A short walk with a little girl like Seiglinde shouldn't be too bad. He doesn't really mind helping her be proactive about it. She might need to be a little more direct about what he needs to do to do that, though.]

What d'you need?

[Far be it from him to assume the least of her. If she wants a shoulder to lean on or more than that, it doesn't really change his answer. But even from the brief encounter, he can get a sense for her pride in the guarded looks and the drawn out requests. (It reminds him, distantly, of Armin, who struggled with strength but never accepted more help than he needed.)]

[grunehexe]

[Sieglinde has only had one experience with soldiers in her relatively short life- and those had been her own villagers showing their true colors. Trying to chase her down, prevent her from leaving the Witch Forest with the truth. Trying to kill her instead. But though the word itself was nothing positive to her... He wasn't one of those soldiers. She had no choice but to simply gamble on his nature, but.

That would be the case with everyone from here on, unable to trust until she knew them for herself, with her own eyes, no one here to vouch for a soul. So he was a soldier. So he must be at least slightly strong.

Unused to putting her needs in to words, (unused to having to, her servants and those around her dedicated to doing all she couldn't by herself to make sure she needn't be reminded of her weakness or made to feel helpless), Sieglinde hesitated, swallowing a lump of distaste at her own weakness.]

... I am usually carried. It is. Easier.

[Still shied away from saying that she needed it, or even wanted it. She struggled to stand up straighter, lock her knees to prevent her legs from trembling, ignore the flare of ache.]

- if that is not possible, your elbow will do. I can walk.

B

[bristles]

[ This isn't the first time he's been addressed on the streets (strange, he's so used to people pretending he doesn't exist), but it is the first time he's addressed by someone so small. His eyes widen slightly, and he looks at her, uncertain. ]

Yes?

[grunehexe]

[Though her first impression was that this person seemed a bit rugged looking, that was nothing to stop Sieglinde from calling out- after all, Wolfram had quite a temper, and looked rather burly with his size. But she still blanks for a moment when he actually replies, gathering herself.]

Are you heading towards the markets by chance?

[bristles]

[ he doesn't know what to expect, so while he waits for Sieglinde to continue, the tip of his tail quivers nervously even while he stands perfectly still. He blinks. ]

Yes.

[ Sorry, Sieg, he's not much of a talker. ]

[grunehexe]

[Sieglinde had definitely expected more than one word in reply- it threw her for a loop and she just kept staring, waiting for the rest... That didn't come. Oh.]

I was wondering if you might accompany me there.

[A rather roundabout way of asking what she really needed, but.]

i'm so sorry, i swear he'll stop one-word replying soon

[bristles]

Oh.

[ He stays silent for a long, long moment, assessing the possible danger in taking the girl's request. He's also momentarily dumbfounded because, well... it's been a long time since he's seen a female, much less a young female, and EVEN less, a human young female.

Finally, he breaks the silence, but with no less confusion than before-- ]

Why?

Haha no it's okay it's funny to me

[grunehexe]

[Ironic as it was, while she was being looked at as a surprisingly rare female... She was sizing him up in an equal manner as a man. Growing up, there had only been her manservant in a village entirely made of women... And in the past few days she had met several other men... But she could still count them on her fingers. Even though she had been told that they weren't as some of her books had described them... They were a rare species to her yet.

Also he appeared to have. Strange Ears.

The question of "why" though requires explanation, and her brow furrows slightly.]

I would like to be carried there. If you are able.

[The cause, unnaturally tiny heels that peeked out beneath the heavy hem of her gown.]

[bristles]

[ The tips of said strange ears perk forward at her answer. He still doesn't know why she wants to go to the market, but he supposes it's a harmless request.

He's never interacted with a child before. Not since female cats in his world became scarce, and with them, so did offspring. This is strange. She hasn't given him reason to doubt her intentions, and it's not like he has a packed schedule right now. ]

I am able.

[ He nods slowly. His tail sways lightly from side to side with nervousness, but he does move forward and easily scoop her into his arms. ]

Are you comfortable enough?

[grunehexe]

[Part of her thinks that she cannot afford to be this trusting- perhaps all of the people in the group she has arrived with were in the same situation she was, trapped and told this service was the only way to earn their way home... But that didn't mean they were all good people. And how could she tell if they were or not, when the people she had loved and trusted the most had turned out to be using her, her life a constructed lie for a specific purpose- one they were willing to kill her for once she'd completed.

What good was she at telling who was a good person and who wasn't?

She can only hope- so she's initially very stiff in his arms, slightly afraid even though she's the one who asked to be carried, shifting until she's comfortable enough and then giving a nod.]

Yes, thank you-

[Even for an eleven year old she's light, small for her age and without any muscle at all, really, never walking or running or playing as a child ought. She casts a look around nervously before speaking again.]

I would like to go to the apothecary to see what herbs this place uses for healing...

[bristles]

You're welcome.

[ He speaks lightly, sounding a lot calmer than he actually is. He isn't entirely sure if the apothecary is in the particular direction he begins to walk in, but there are at least a few shops full of herbs and spices in that part of the district. If there was such a business, it would surely be there.

He gives her a strange look, however, carefully scanning her for any visible injuries. Is that why she needed carrying? He definitely hasn't made any connection between her shoes and the need to be carried somewhere. ]

Are you hurt? [ Or maybe a friend is. ]

[grunehexe]

[Not a few days previously she simply would have answered the question plainly- that one of the reasons she needed herbs was to make medicine for her feet. Without her ladies or Wolfram here she would need to wash and tend the bound appendages herself, peel the bandages away and soak new ones in the scented cleanse before rewrapping. But that had been when she had thought those feet a sign of her ancestry, a rite of passage to keep the contract with the werewolves in the woods.

But now she knows they're simply a made up excuse to break her and keep her from being able to run away and discover the lies built up around her... And they bring her only shame.]

I am a healer... If I am to be of use here, I must have something with which to work.

[So she danced around the question, even though, like a child caught stealing cookies, her expression was far from convincing. Though the reason she gave was equally true... Just. Not the entire reason.]

sorry for the delay!

[bristles]

[ He moves quickly through the small crowd, sticking to the sides of the street and even side streets when he can. He’s not a big fan of people gathering.

Asato grows quiet for a moment, looking down at the girl’s expression and finding himself not quite sure what to make of it. She doesn’t seem convinced by her own words, and he finds himself doubting them, too.

But he isn’t particularly great at reading people. Making the wrong judgement has bitten him in the ass before, and there’s still so much he doesn’t understand about humans. Even though he suspects something is amiss, he figures she must have good reason for not being entirely truthful. He nods in understanding, even if he doesn’t understand at all. ]

You want to help the people here… ?

Np!!!

[grunehexe]

[Though he skirts around them, Sieglinde's gaze follows the people they pass, silently overwhelmed still by the number of people, the variety of ages and genders. Raised in a village made up of only women with the exception of her manservant, all she knew were young adults besides the crone... Yet here there were children and the elderly, men and women both.

But she's also staring at her new companion's ears, and craning to look down at his rear, following the swish of tail. Definitely not human... Mostly human?]

... Or the ALISTAIR group. If someone is hurt, it is my duty to alleviate their pain if I am able.

[At least, that had been her duty. The Green Witch's duty. Yet it was all she had any longer, was it not?]