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 Posted: Sat Apr 17, 2010 11:06 am
A car's horn blared just as Khalla went to step onto the street, shocking the petite blond from her thoughts. With slightly widened eyes, Khalla hurriedly stepped backwards from the curb where she had been attempting to cross. It was unlike her to be so wrapped up in her thoughts that she wasn't paying attention to the traffic, even one of the lazier streets in Destiny City. She tried to offer a wave to show her gratitude, but the car's owner zipped by and Khalla caught a look of irritation on the older woman's face.
"Sorry," she muttered to the air, then glanced back up to make certain the street was clear this time. Confident she wasn't about to become roadkill, Khalla quickly cross the span of asphalt to the other side, arriving without further incident. Sometimes she had to wonder if staying "green" and walking everywhere was really worth risking her life in Destiny City traffic every day. Not for the first time, she pondered over saving up for a bike.
With the last street crossed, Khalla only had a small walk to Gabbie's house up the sidewalk. That set her thoughts whirling again and out of her nervousness, she reached up to tug slightly on the trailing end of the scarf wrapped in her hair. She shouldn't have really been quite so nervous to talk to Gabbie, but there was more to this than a friend being too busy to hang out. Her life was utterly and completely complicated.
She paused before the walk to Gabbie's front door, unnecessarily taking a moment to straighten her shirt over her leggings. There was no delaying it anymore, though, and with a deep breath she crossed the stretch that separated her and said door, then brought up one hand to knock. All she could do then was wait.
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Posted: Sat Apr 17, 2010 11:16 am
The knock on the door woke Gabbie from the doze she'd fallen into while reading. Carefully marking her place, she set the book down and grabbed her crutches, using them to balance as she stood, then swinging her way for the door. A quick glance through the peephole in the door had the girl exclaiming happily and nearly tripping over herself to open the door and drag her friend inside.
"Khalla! I missed you! Where've you been?" she rambled happily as she hopped out of the way long enough for the pale blonde to come in before hopping back to shut the door. Then, standing in the entryway, she leaned on her crutches beaming at her friend.
As each stood studying the other, Gabbie felt a brief thankfulness that the worst of her injuries from that fight had healed and left no marks. She didn't think Khalla would have taken well to the bruises and cuts that had covered her for the week she'd been in the hospital.
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Posted: Sat Apr 17, 2010 11:23 am
On the one hand, Khalla was extremely relieved that she was met with such an upbeat attitude and that Gabbie appeared not to be too angry with her absence. On the other, however, a surge of guilt and panic swept over her at the sight of Gabbie wobbling around on crutches. Just what on earth had she missed?
"Gabbie what happened?" She tried to keep her voice from rising too noticeably, but even her hushed whisper came out with a squeaky panic. "Did something -" and she stopped herself, glancing worriedly to the left and right, as if she expected a guardian of some kind to come swooping in and hear her just as she spoke of their most carefully guarded secret. "Did something happen while I was gone?"
With a small sigh, she brought one hand up to her face, rubbing at her forehead and cheek as if she suddenly felt weary. She knew this was a possibility when she'd chosen to forgo her duties as a Senshi for a few weeks, but couldn't she have just been allowed to be selfish for a little while without this happening. "My parents were in town," she said quietly, unable to keep the guilt from her voice, "and I took a little time off so I could see them before they left again." Her nervous expression from before had faded to a deeply worried frown and her insides felt like they were doing backflips. "I wish I'd known.." and again, she found she couldn't finish the sentence, but perhaps not from worry of eavesdropping this time - maybe she just didn't want to hear it.
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Posted: Sat Apr 17, 2010 11:37 am
Hoooo! Gabbie grinned sheepishly and turned to hobble back into the living room and the couch. Khalla had just let herself in for a world of exposition.
"Don't worry about my Aunt overhearing anything. She's gone for the next three days on another lecture engagement. Feel free to raid the kitchen if you want a snack or drink. The neighbor that Auntie talked into checking on me at mealtimes isn't due back for a few hours, so we have time to talk."
Once back at the couch, Gabbie flumped down gratefully and slung her injured leg up and over the arm. Then, pouring herself a fresh glass of tea from the pitcher that said neighbor had left for her, Gabbie watched her friend with grave eyes.
"Don't apologize for seeing your family, Khalla," she scolded gently. "You don't get to see them very often, right? So don't worry about it. They spared you a lot of bad stuff."
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Posted: Sat Apr 17, 2010 11:48 am
Khalla watched Gabbie hobble her way back to the living room and turned to follow her slowly. The whole way she kept opening her mouth and closing it, stopping herself from offering some kind of help. In the end she probably just looked like a gaping fish.
"I don't need anything," she said softly, taking up a seat near Gabbie and folding her hands into her lap. Any appetite she had before she walked into Gabbie's house had quickly flown out the window at the site of her best friend in crutches. Knowing that she could have done something to help her, instead of wasting time with her parents, that was like a kick to the stomach.
"That's just it, Gabbie, I shouldn't have to be spared. This was selfish of me." She wrinkled her brows, forming a deep 'V' of frustration. The hands that she had folded together in her lap separated so that one could toy nervously with the end of her head scarf once again. "We're partners, Gabbie," she finally managed to find some sense of what she was trying to get across, instead of the half sensible whining, "I should be there for you when you need me."
She glanced at the leg that Gabbie had stretched out onto the couch, thinking about what it must have been like. Had she gone to the hospital? Who had been there to save her? Had anyone? Flashbacks of the night they met filled her head and she recalled Saiph, mothering and overprotective Saiph, carrying her to the hospital when she needed help. "There's more to life now than busy parents and a kid's selfish wish, I just wish it didn't take you getting hurt for me to see that."
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Posted: Sat Apr 17, 2010 11:59 am
"First," Gabbie began in a stern voice as she took a sip of tea, "it is not selfish to want to see your parents. Especially when you get to see them so infrequently. Second, you're here now, and that's what matters, so stop beating yourself up."
Clearly the green haired girl had been doing some thinking in her newfound spare time and had come to several conclusions about priorities. Or she simply wanted to stop her friend's guilt before it got too well dug in.
"Besides," she finally continued in a much softer, gentler voice, "I don't think you could have done anything to change what happened. The Tree would have still died. And as for this," she gestured to her leg, "the b***h would have killed you in front of me and laughed about it. You're still alive and that's what matters to me."
Clearly if Khalla wanted details and explanations, she was going to have to pry them out of her friend.
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Posted: Sat Apr 17, 2010 12:09 pm
Khalla opened her mouth as if she might argue with Gabbie, but quickly decided against it. Khalla still felt selfish but she knew that nothing was going to change what had already happened. She could only sigh and drop her eyes from Gabbie's, staring at her shoes and the floor beneath them.
"Yes, I'm here now," she echoed Gabbie quietly, not quite believing that she could do much of anything after the fact, but that's not what mattered now. She could be the best friend to Gabbie that she could manage.
"Tree?" her brows furrowed again, but this time in confusion, as she brought her eyes up to look at her friend. Then she shook her head, thinking better of it after she remembered Gabbie's last big shock in their double lives. "Actually, you don't need to talk about it if you don't want to."
With a small sigh she drew her legs up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them, trying to convince herself that she could get over this guilty feeling. "Is there anything you need help with, at least?" Khalla was good at helping, even if she was a failure as a Senshi.
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Posted: Sat Apr 17, 2010 12:15 pm
Gabbie's mobile face went shuttered and dark for a moment as she thought of the Tree. Of Iya and her siblings. And of the horrible, horrible things that had been done to them. Thought of Nealite and her taunts and mockery. Did she want to talk about it? In a sense, Khalla's absence would provide some much needed objectivity that she could get from Cordy or Oddy.
"I could use an ear and possibly a shoulder if you've the time. And the phone. I think I;m gonna call the neighbor and tell them I've got a friend over and we're just gonna order pizza or something for dinner. THat all right with you? It'll mean you're stuck doing any dishes."
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Posted: Sat Apr 17, 2010 12:29 pm
It was hard to hide that sudden change of demeanor, that sudden darkening of mood and complete one-eighty turn. Gabbie had done just enough to pull Khalla out of her unexpected rut, but Khalla would have to be blind not to realize that she needed to be supportive too. Whatever had happened to Gabbie probably had rooted itself deeply and right now wasn't the time for her to have a pity party over missing all of the action.
"I've always got the time," she said as she dropped her legs from the chair and pushed herself to stand. She was already scanning the living room for the phone, half of her attention on what Gabbie was saying. Once she finally found it, she grabbed it and brought it over to Gabbie, perching herself carefully on the couch arm next to her.
"Dishes are nothing compared to what you went through, I'm sure. I'm more than happy to help, you know that." She offered her the brightest smile she could manage, but even that seemed a little sad and down turned around the edges. "My parents left on a flight to South America this morning, so my day is completely free. I can stay as long as you need me to." And she meant it - that look in her eyes said that she felt guilty and was looking for a way to make up for it. More than that, though, Gabbie needed her. She'd already failed her once, she wouldn't do it again.
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Posted: Sat Apr 17, 2010 12:44 pm
Taking the phone, Gabbie reached out impulsively and coiled an arm around her friend, hugging her. Then, in a matter of moments, she made the phone call, got things sorted out for the night and promised she'd see her neighbor in the morning sometime. Once she'd hung up, she set the phone nearby so she could order food later and sighed, relaxing into the couch cushions.
"I do know, thank you, Khalla. Now, which explanation do you want first?"
Anyone else probably would have gone in chronological order, but Gabbie wasn't anyone else. Just as it wasn't in her nature to remain overly gloomy, it also wasn't in her nature to tell a story in any true coherent sense.
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Posted: Sat Apr 17, 2010 12:52 pm
Khalla accepted the hug from her friend, reaching out to wrap her own arm around Gabbie's shoulders as she made the phone call. She simply sat there in silence, not interrupting, until Gabbie was done with what she needed to do. Once she had finished and relaxed into the couch cushions, Khalla steadied herself for the conversation to come.
"Uhm," Khalla slid from the couch arm slowly, paused awkwardly where she was standing, then grabbed a throw pillow from one of the chairs. Then she sat down on the floor in front of the Gabbie and the couch, leaning her arms on the couch cushion while crushing the throw pillow against her chest. "Just start from the beginning I guess? I have no idea what happened, in the slightest." A small flicker of guilt before she glanced away to collect herself.
She tucked her legs against her sideways, leaning her weight into the couch, and sat like a child waiting for a story. Only, the expression on her face said she was ready for something much more morbid than a child's fairy tale.
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Posted: Sat Apr 17, 2010 1:03 pm
"The beginning, huh? Well, all right. First. Aliens exist. I am not shitting you. And they really do have green skin."
With that, she told Khalla about her fight with Ilie and Ishi and the strange Mazke. Laughingly told her about the idiot boy who'd gotten caught in the middle with all the comfortable distance that hindsight provided.
Reaching down for a little cup of salt water and cottonball near her pitcher of tea, she paused apologetically as she soaked the cotton in the water and pressed it against the side of her nose.
"Sorry about this. Gotta keep the piercing clean and salt water is what the guy told me worked. I'll get my ears later. God, though, that kid was such a twit, Khalla. Like someone out of a horror movie."
From there, her speech slowed as she tried to describe that night the Tree had called, wanting to describe everything as best she could. Told Khalla everything she could remember about that night, but the impaled alien boy to the Tree's demands to be redeemed. Everything down to Iya's tears and Aphrodite's attempt to attack and kill the tree.
"You know, I don't think either of us wants to deal with me snotting all over our shirts. Can you grab the kleenex for me?" Gabbie stopped and asked in a plaintive voice.
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Posted: Sat Apr 17, 2010 1:19 pm
Khalla's brows arched a little at the word 'aliens', a clearly skeptical look on her face. Then she remembered that she had a magical pen that turned her into a teenage super-hero at night.
"It's fine," she said, waving a hand dismissively as Gabbie dabbed at her new piercing. She just waited for her to finish, falling back into the role of the quiet, perfect audience. Civilians getting mixed up in Senshi affairs? She'd seen a few of them get brave, but this did seem like something no one should be fooling around with.
"Ahm, yes," she pushed herself up quickly and peered around the room before she located the box. She crossed over to grab it, then brought them back for Gabbie before tucking herself back down where she was sitting. "Here," she pulled a few out of the top and handed them over before setting the rest next to Gabbie where she seemed to be keeping the majority of the stuff she needed to reach easily.
"This is.." Khalla tried to find an appropriate term to describe everything. She'd really left Gabbie to fend for herself on this one. "It's a lot to take in." She finally settled on that, but she didn't think that did it any justice.
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Posted: Sat Apr 17, 2010 1:35 pm
Taking the tissue gratefully, Gabbie scrubbed it against her eyes before holding it in a crumpled ball in her lap.
"Thanks, babe. And believe me, I'm still trying to take it in. Been trying to figure out some way to mentally file it. And aliens are real. Maybe those six and the Tree were all that was left, but they were REAL."
She closed her eyes, pulling foggy details and elements to the fore of her mind before continuing.
"Khalla, I attacked another senshi to protect them. She hurled that weird chain thing and I attacked and deflected it. To protect a group of beings who'd come here and hurt people, but because they didn't know any better and just wanted to keep their Tree alive."
From there she told of how she'd promised the youngest of the six that they wouldn't let them die, that they'd find a way to heal the Tree. Started to cry softly as she relayed how the Tree had appealed to Princess Chronos, how there had been a gleam of hope. And began to shudder visibly when she had to tell Khalla about how the arrival of the Negaverse Captains, led by the frightening General-King Charonite had destroyed that hope.
"Khalla, the Tree killed itself to protect the senshi and that stupid boy. It drained itself of the energy that was keeping it alive to make a barrier that kept us alive. But it didn't even try to save its own children! Oh god, Khalla, those ******** slaughtered them! And they enjoyed it!"
In a toneless voice she detailed how each had died, warned Khalla that the purple-haired witch had a monster arm that ate people now. And then, as Gabbie came to Iya, she broke down again, driving her fist into the couch with remembered anger and grief.
"I couldnt' keep my promise. That ******** Tree wouldn't let me. And they just up and left when they were done. Didn't try to break through to get us. Just left us with the bodies and what was left of the Tree...." she paused, carefully considering her words before finally grating, "Khalla, I wanted to kill them. I would have torn them apart if I could have and danced in their guts, I wanted to hurt them so badly."
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Posted: Sat Apr 17, 2010 1:59 pm
Khalla listened, and she watched. She watched as the emotions poured out of Gabbie, felt the pain and the guilt, and in response she felt her own chest tightening. She knew without a doubt that her own presence here would have helped nothing, but deep down she wished that she could have been there at Saiph's side. She could feel the loss in her partner, but all she could do was stare on in pity.
"It's our nature to protect everyone," she whispered softly, "everyone that needs our help." That was her only response to Saiph's attacking another Senshi, mostly because she knew that if she had been in that situation, she too would have tried to save them. She didn't know them, but slaughtering others out of fear or hatred was a pattern repeated far too often in history.
Then the story changed from one of inner-faction struggles and hope to something.. horrific. Khalla moved from her position on the floor to sit lightly on the edge of the couch cushions before Gabbie. Close proximity was how she responded to pain and anguish, and Gabbie had enough to spare for three people.
"I wasn't there," she began softly, her bright eyes pained as she forced herself to look Gabbie in the eye, "but.. you were willing to attack your own kind to save others. The Tree didn't attack it's children, but it gave them up to save you." She reached out, carefully, and cupped her hand against Gabbie's cheek. "If it really was here before, with our Princess, maybe it learned this from her? We sacrifice our own kind for the sake of helping others."
It didn't make it all better, but from an outside view, Khalla saw the Tree imitating just what the Senshi had done. It hurt to lose someone you were trying to protect, Khalla knew that. If being a Senshi had taught her anything, it was that she couldn't always be a hero.
The news of the General-King and Tanzanite, however, struck a low blow in her. The hand on Gabbie's face faltered slightly and there was no mistaking the fear in her slightly widened eyes. Tanzanite had already been the stuff of nightmares, but this? Coupled with the fact that she had a ruthless, heartless boss. It was hard to tell what was making her look more frightened - the terrible story, or simply Tanzanite (and her upgrade) being in it.
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