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 Posted: Thu Aug 11, 2011 7:32 pm
The message she sent him was simple, to the point. Something she didn't do very often. But every other message she typed out seemed stupid or childish. After a few failed tries, she finally picked out words that made sense and didn't sound awful. As Grus hit the -Send- button, she could imagine Chaonis' phone lighting up, perhaps playing a tune like her phone did whenever Kallichore or Polaris decided to send her a message or two. When he decided to open the message, he'd find one sentence.
Ever been to space?
Now she waited in the park, which wasn't too far from her home. She had a moment of panic when she realized that her room was the usual spot from which she went to space, and she couldn't bring him there! But she also didn't want to get them lost on her planet...
The park was close enough that they could find the ruins. She hoped. Her back was to a tree, her hands clasped in front of her newly adorned skirt. Her mind wandered, and Grus wondered about what Chaonis would say if he showed up at all. This was her first outing to her planet since turning Super, and she wondered if it would change anything. Maybe she could remember more...
But her mind flitted away from her planet to her slightly nervous self. This was also the first time she was taking anyone to her planet. She was sure it was possible, the notion reaffirmed by a Guardian Cat...
Sailor Grus sighed to try and release the butterflies in her stomach, hoping the trip didn't go awry. And hoping he actually showed up.
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Posted: Fri Aug 12, 2011 10:51 am
Eternal Chaonis had cooled down a bit since his initial anger and rage about his father being put in the hospital, but he didn't let up on his search for someone to blame for it. He went out hunting every night for Negas or youma, anything that might look like it could have been the thing to cause Tony's injuries.
Though, Chaonis was also not picky. If he ran into any Negas or any youma, he'd treat them all the same, regardless if they were the culprit or just tying their shoes.
He heard his cellphone and looked at it, looking at the message it displayed. When did this plan expire, and when could he upgrade to a 4G phone?
He grinned, replying back with be right there. It didn't answer her question, but he took it as rhetorical. He had been to space twice, once with Rosalind and once with Asclepius. He had not, however, been to his own planet yet. No explanation on why would be offered by him.
He dropped down from a roof and leisurely wandered into the park, spotting the Super senshi and arching an eyebrow. He grinned at her.
"Have you learned how to punch yet, or have you kicked your way to an upgrade?" He asked as he approached, by way of a greeting, pausing near her and folding his arms over his chest. he looked like he approved, at least, grinning at her with a devious look on his face.
"Planning a Space picnic, huh? Needed some muscle to keep you safe?"
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Posted: Fri Aug 12, 2011 11:14 am
Her phone beeped, and she flipped it open, reading the message with a smile. So he was going to show after all. The sender quickly followed the message, arriving in his usual haughty manner.
Grus offered him a smile back, pushing herself off of the tree. "It was a little of both." She said, gesturing to her new fuku. "I'd like to think I got an upgrade for more than a cool new outfit."
As for the space picnic, she didn't need to pack anything at all. "My planet is covered in fruit and stuff." She said, "So don't worry about going hungry." She paused, then said a little quieter "Actually, I've been to my planet a couple times by myself, but I get these little bits of visions, and they throw me off. I almost fell off one of the houses last time." She shuttered as she relived waking up, halfway over the platform that circled the houses.
"Plus" Grus added on a brighter note "I've never been to space with anyone tagging along before! Now that I know a little about my planet, why not show others?"
She stepped closer to Chaonis, pulling out her phone again. They had to get going, or it was going to be way too humid when they got there.
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Posted: Sun Aug 14, 2011 11:49 am
Chaonis nodded his head.
He hadn't been to a planet that had plant life on it, or at least none that he had really seen. On one he had been in a palace, surrounded by expensive and ornate, but ruined and almost sad, decorations and reminders of its former glory. The other had been a hospital, full of corpses.
He wasn't about to guess what was waiting on his own planet. It was either super awesome, or ridiculously terrifying. He couldn't do anything middle of the road, of course, and he did imagine that his planet was the same way.
That didn't make him feel any more inclined to go, however.
"Well, I'm game to tag along. The whole space travel thing makes this job pretty awesome, don't you think? And if you fall off anything I'll only catch you once. So don't waste it." He grinned at her, moving closer so he could tag along. They had to be quite and calm, or so he had been told, and he didn't want them to end up in the middle of a star.
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Posted: Sun Aug 14, 2011 9:46 pm
She nodded, saying "I'm not sure how close we have to be for this to work, but I guess if you aren't close enough you just won't come huh?" She smiled, a hint of nervousness crossing her face before she said "Let's go!" She pressed the button.
The now familiar feeling of travelling through face sucked her in, and she felt dizzy for a moment before feeling solid earth beneath her uneven boots. Grus opened her eyes, and took the change in surroundings in with a smile. She was home, in a manner of speaking.
Since they had left relatively early into the night, it was earlier morning on Grus. The sun was behind them, though they wouldn't be able to see much of it through the thick leaves above. There was a dripping sound, and briefly she wondered if it had recently rained or if it were morning dew. The branched with full leaves hung down to a yard or two above their heads in some places, and many had tendrils of vines that wrapped around and hanging downward. There was a fine mist clinging to the tree trunks in wispy clouds around them, giving everything a soft feeling, and blurring the trees farther away into simply darker masses among the white fog that the sun shone through. The mist swirled around them where they landed, set into spiraling masses on the senshis' arrival. It wasn't too humid this early in the day, in fact Grus shivered when the mist settled onto her skin, giving her goosebumps. But none of this touched Grus' mind for more than a moment, as beautiful as it was. Her sight focused on one thing, and she was so entranced, that she forgot to breathe. She didn't speak a word, though she tried to. This wasn't the same Grus she landed on the time before. Her planet had changed.
The underbrush was covered in large, fern-like plants. Every other time she had been here, they bore no flowers, no fruit, which she thought strange when everywhere else was alive with colors and things to eat. They were hip height to her, and each plant as 3 or 4 feet across. Quite ordinary actually, and she had barely given them a second thought after finding the other plants more exciting.
But they weren't green anymore.
Each plant had turned a deep shade of red. Some leaves weren't complete in their transformation; streaks of green extended into the plant's base, and occasionally a whole leaves was still emerald in color. But the vast majority were red, and when the sun hit them, it was like the entire underbrush was on fire. At the center of each plant was a cluster of stems that shot upward a few inches from the base, and atop those stems were some of the prettiest flowers Grus had ever seen. They were a handspan across, with oval petals that overlapped slightly. And they were white. They seemed to sparkle in the forest light, and even the flowers in the shade twinkled like tiny stars atop a flaming comet below.
Grus' eyes shone when she finally moved to bend down and look at the flowers. Their edges were deeply serrated, and though she longed to touch it, they looked glass fragile. They kindof looked like..
"Feathers."
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Posted: Wed Aug 17, 2011 7:38 pm
Chaonis nodded, scooting just a bit closer to her just in case he was one step too far back or something, and soon enough he felt that pull of space, and that increasingly familiar lurch of his stomach. It felt like his brain and his stomach were trying to switch places, at least as far as he was concerned as a passenger.
It wasn't immediately evident if they had succeeded or not.
He looked around once they had settled and his senses sorted themselves out. Up was up again, and down was in its proper place beneath his feet. He blinked in surprise, though he quickly tried to hide it with a blank expression. This was the first planet he had been to that actually had plant life on it.
Or maybe the others had. They had simply been inside both times, so what did he really know could have been on those whole planets?
The plants were foreign to him, of course, and he didn't immediately think there was anything too strange about the colors. This was, after all, an alien planet so his suspension of disbelief was a galaxy long at least. He would believe and accept anything he saw simply he had no basis for comparison and no reason to question a damn thing.
He glanced at Grus beside him, though, and arched an eyebrow at her own expression.
Moving his foot off a flower he had accidentally stepped on, he stooped after she did to take a look at it. It wasn't doing very well, of course, as a large young man had quite rudely just been standing on it with his full weight. This was probably why Chaonis wasn't allowed to have nice things. His eyes shifted to one he hadn't ruined.
"Huh. Well, that makes sense, what with your feathers, right?" He looked at her, apparently not a horticulturist by trade.
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Posted: Thu Aug 18, 2011 12:01 pm
She stood up, staring out into the red sea, and said "It's not normally like this. That last time I was here these plants were all green and these flowers" She said, pointing at a cluster "Weren't here." Was it just their blooming season? She took a careful step, dividing her gaze between the flowers below and the branches above. She didn't want to crush the flowers anymore than necessary, but she also wanted to make sure they found the ruins..
Grus glanced back at Chaonis, and with a backward nod said "The ruins are this way." She walked through the plants, toward a group of larger trunked trees. Ones she knew would hold treehouses above.
After a few minutes walking she stopped, staring upward at the large round platforms in the branches. One branch had a rope tied around it, left from her last excursion for future use. She smiled back at Chaonis, and said "You get to go first. I'm wearing a skirt."
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Posted: Fri Aug 19, 2011 11:07 am
Chaonis nodded his head, looking around. Looked like spring had sprung, in a sense, if she hadn't seen it looking so colorful before. He looked around with mild interest, which he downplayed to none whatsoever as best he could.
Stupid space. It was different every time he went to someone elses planet, and he had no real idea, even in his own mind, why he hadn't been to his own. he could come up with a thousand excuses, for himself or for anyone who would ask, but in the end, he was just not going.
Something was holding him back.
He plodded after her with all the grace of an elephant walking on eggshells. Which is to say, none at all.
"Ruins, always good," he said, hurrying to walk beside her so he didn't get lost on her planet. He looked up when she stopped, after taking a couple steps forward since he hadn't noticed at first. His eyebrows lifted with interest as he saw the platforms above. At her words he canted his head to the side and grinned at her cheekily.
"No upskirt shots for the Senshi of Danger, huh?" he asked, moving to the rope and testing it with a tug. He moved to climb, pulling himself up. "You just want to look at my butt."
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Posted: Sat Aug 20, 2011 8:45 pm
Grus winked at him, her face coloring a fair shade of red as she inwardly berated herself for being so brash.
"My planet, my rules." she said, watching him grab the rope. "And I say no upskirt looks for you, even if you were kind enough to teach me how to fight." When he started to climb, she watched him a moment, making sure the rope held fast before saying. "Be careful when you reach the top. Some of the platforms have holes in the floor." She blushed again when she found herself doing just what he said she was going to do, even it was just for a moment.
When he reached the top, she scampered up the rope, hauling herself into the platform with mild difficulty. she stood, dusting her fuku off. this was a platform with mostly complete walls, though the windows were long gone. there was a beaten up table inside, and a broken chair next to ir. her footprints from before were still visible in the dirt.
"so this is where my people used to live" she said, gesturing to the beat up room with a little bit of what sounded like sadness as well as awe.
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Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2011 12:49 pm
"Holes, gotcha," Chaonis said, hauling himself up. He probably wouldn't have warned her about it, if it had been his planet. A bit of fun, letting someone fall through the floor. It's not like the fall would kill them, right?
Probably. Well, if it had been high up in this made up scenario where he didn't tell them about it, he wouldn't have let them die. That made it okay to imagine it, then.
He looked down at her once he was settled, standing on the platform and doing his best not to fall down any holes. He didn't offer her any help getting up. It was her planet, as she pointed out, and she had been here before. If she couldn't climb up onto a platform they were going to be in real trouble.
He finally took a moment to look around.
"I guess so. Must have been nicer back then, I imagine." He chuckled, shaking his head. He didn't have much to say, though he note the footprints. "You explored all around here?"
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Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2011 2:17 pm
"I assume is was awesome way back when." She said, staring out into the forest. "The problem is I don't know what happened." She sighed, leaning on the windowsill in front of her. It creaked threateningly, but held her slight weight pushing against it. She pointed out into the forest, saying "See there? That's another treehouse. And another. There are whole towns worth of trees. And I think they used rope bridges to go from house to house. But some of the platforms are so rotten that I can't get to them."
Grus pushed herself from the sill, twisting around with her hands behind her back. She held a bit of mischief in her eyes as a thought struck her. "You know" She started, looking at Chaonis with a smile. "There is a second story to this house I think."
Her gaze wandered upward, where the spreading branches were in full leaf. Sometimes she imagined she could see boards up there, but the branches were too high up for her to reach, and the ones she could couldn't support her weight.
"Are you good at climbing trees?"
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Posted: Tue Aug 23, 2011 1:53 pm
Chaonis nodded his head, looking around again. There was nothing new for him to look at, of course, since they hadn't moved yet. That was a bit boring. Even in space, Chaonis needed constant stimulation, or he grew irritable and tightly wound. He hated boredom, almost above all else, save responsibility and being embarrassed.
"Second story? Another excuse to look at my butt," he shrugged his shoulders and tilted his head to the side, giving her an accusing, knowing glance. There was mischief in his eyes, however, and he grinned at her broadly before he moved to follow her gaze.
Looked like the way up had broken, but he could climb a damn tree.
"Just watch," he said confident, in classic playground manner. Dared to eat that bug? He'd do it with a sand and leaf garnish. He moved to the tree and jumped at it, clinging to the wood and hauling himself up to try and get passed the part that had broken and to the boards that might still be above. He slid a couple of times, but managed to get a handhold and then he was scrabbling up the trunk like a drunk or fat squirrel: not too gracefully.
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Posted: Tue Aug 23, 2011 4:18 pm
Chaonis took the challenge with relish, and Grus grinned as he clambered up the tree. Her assumption had been right; he was tall enough to reach the branches she couldn't. Once he disappeared from sight, she waited until the rustlings and movement stopped before calling out "Is there anything up there?"
She tried glancing between the branches, but she had to shut her eyes and look away as dirt, leaves and bark rained down on her from above. She considered yelling at him to take it easy. She didn't live her anymore, but part of her had grown fond of being in the trees and she even felt a slight protectiveness over them. But she held her tongue, waiting for him to report what he saw.
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Posted: Fri Aug 26, 2011 12:52 pm
"Yeah!" He called back, but apparently that was all he was going to share.
The rustling continued for a short while, and then it grew silent. He had either moved off and abandoned her, or vanished for some other reason. Either way, the trees were still and he wasn't speaking to her. Whatever he was doing, it was for him to know and for her to sit and guess about.
At least until his head popped out of the branches suddenly and he peered at her.
"You coming up or what?"
The senshi of danger pushed out a branch he had 'found' so she could use it to climb up. Found because he didn't want to admit that he had defaced some of the trees in her home planet for it. It did look like it had freshly fallen, of course, which came him away a little bit. Still, could she really complain about him getting her something to climb up on?
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Posted: Sun Aug 28, 2011 12:29 pm
He went silent, and Grus waited almost impatiently for him to say something, or fall out of the tree, anything really. She figured he was playing a prank on her, or planned to jump down and attack her when a branch appeared above her head.
"Yeah yeah, I'm comin." She grabbed ahold of the branch, testing it's strength. It was fairly large, and with Chaonis holding the other end, it had to be safer than trying to find a way up herself.
Until she actually tried to pull herself up. She was halfway up the tree before she realized something was wrong. Her grip wasn't good, and she felt panic and pain as her gloveless hands slid from the branch and she shouted, feeling her heart drop faster than the rest of her body. She hit the platform below somewhere close to the edge, and she gasped as the wind was knocked from her lungs. Grus started to rise, then the rotten boards gave way. Down again she went, letting out a loud yell as the branches whooshed by her. A rain of bright leaves heralded her arrival to terra firma, and with a resounding thud, she landed among the red ferns, feathery white petals flying everywhere.
The world felt like it was fringed in white. Things were blurry. The pain in her arm was annoying. She lay there for what seemed like forever, letting her aching lungs get wind back. From above, there was a hint of laughter. She was about to shout for them to shut up when she realized that the laughter was familiar, in a weird sense. Like she had heard it before, but not recently....
"Falling's not going to get you picked!" A young voice called from above, slightly jeering. Her eyes opened and she fancied she saw a young girl's hands push herself up from the ground, where the red ferns pillowed her fall. She looked up, hair falling in front of her sweaty face, and saw on the platform high above a young boy, staring down with a foolish grin. She gasped, and the world lost it's fuzzy white edges.
Instead, the pain in her arm was real. So was the pain in her back, butt, and head. She lay on her back in the increasing warmth of the rising sun. A few of the feathery petals were still floating lazily above her and more, along with various other forms of vegetation were settled all over her body. She gazed above her at he platform, the one so similar to what she had seen just now in her vision.
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