|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Tue Nov 12, 2013 7:05 pm
Zia was always disappointed to find out that other people had lives and things to do that did not solely revolve around her. But she had managed to peel away from trying to selfishly monopolize all of Chester's time to prowl around the carnival grounds with a weird, almost duty bound sense of thoroughness.
It was a nice walk that happened sometimes as a human, sometimes as a feline, and today it ended with her lazily swaying in the tent rigging like it was her personal hammock, one anklet studded barefoot hanging out as she shifted from dozing to reading to mostly just being a lazy a*****e who didn't care if she was in anyone's way.
Zia took wearing out welcomes as personal challenges.
It didn't change the fact that after a while, catnaps got kind of boring. Even if you looked like the most entitled cat lady in the world who could be assed to put on shoes or change out of yoga pants before deciding to just take a nap in someone's work area.
So when she spotted some familiar blue braids walk by, one eye snapped open fully and she flailed out of her nest.
Finally, someone to harass.
"Clown boy!"
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Nov 19, 2013 11:41 pm
Elijah had a towel around his neck as he made his way through one of the tents, rubbing the sweat off his face as he took his usually short cut towards the staff area. He hadn't even noticed the woman up above him, so it came as a surprise when she was suddenly flailing next to him and the young man started, orange eyes wide before a grin split his face.
"Ello, Kitty Kat!" He laughed as he looked her over, reaching to tweak one of her curls. Being called Clown Boy was only mildly insulting and he actually found it more amusing than anything. He could take as much as he could give. "You look like you've been napping in the ropes again. What, Chester kick you out of your spot on that sunny couch in his office?"
Whatever his boss might feel about having Zia hanging around the place, Eli rather enjoyed her presence. Where Chester was like an older brother he loved to annoy, Zia had become his older sister, at least in his mind. The circus was slowly but steadily becoming a family to him, a place of refuge and belonging... he'd do anything to keep it. And she often shook things up with Chester, who could get stuck in his mulish ways far too much.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Nov 20, 2013 4:27 pm
Zia grinned, but there was something dangerous behind it. She had yet to get her revenge for his earlier transgression on her pride and she was still biding her time for the opportunity to make him hurt. But in the most loving way possible, all things considered.
When it came down to things, the carnival was her refuge too, and Elijah was a piece of that puzzle. He was treasured. But she was still going to give him s**t.
"No, I graciously sacrificed the sunny spot. I should let him get some work done," She said with self important flourish. As much as she craved Chester's attention, she also occasionally got an inkling of paranoia that all that familiarity was going to breed contempt, so a little separation was a good thing, even if she remained on the carnival grounds.
But she still considered letting him go an act of charity in her part. But it was okay! Because Elijah was here to bother.
"What have you been doing? You look like you just ran a marathon," She commented as she put one hand one her hip and gestered to the towel with the other. "Training or working? You ever train on anything useful line knight stuff or is it always bending in half with you?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Nov 27, 2013 12:30 pm
The young man grinned widely and offered Zia a sweeping little bow.
"I stand corrected." As he straightened up, he tossed the towel over his shoulder and shrugged, reaching up to scratch his scalp between a couple of braids. "I don't know if you'd call it a marathon... I did some stretches this morning around six A.M. and then went for a jog around the carnival grounds. I just spent the last couple of hours doing the bigger stretches and some strengthening exercises... Its pretty much always bending in half with me."
His grin was cocky this time as he bent over backwards to land on his hands, his head up to peer between his knees. Feeling playful, he walked around her bent like that, though it took some concentration to remember to move his feet before his hands. After a circuit, he lifted his feet up until he was balancing on his hands only, lifting his legs above him and shifting his weight until he was balanced on one hand only. Unlike other times when he made it look so effortless, this time he trembled every so slightly as he tried to hold the pose. It wasn't all that obvious, but he was exhausted from his workout, his whole body aching from how far he had pushed it today. He'd never let that stop him, of course... stupid pride.
Dropping his feet, Elijah swung back up onto his feet and bent to snag his towel again, rubbing down the back of his neck.
"Is there some kind of reason you think I should be training for knight stuff?" The young man continued as he rolled the tension out of his shoulders. "Its not like I do it that much... and what I've got gets me by around here. I just keep the vermin out of the carnival, what more do I need?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Nov 28, 2013 9:29 am
Zia watched him move, head turning and tilting like an owl. "Don't break," She quipped, her eyes glancing to his limbs for the briefest moment and taking note of the tremble. For a small moment she looked concerned.
Until he just went and blew off knight training. Then her brow knitted and her expression was just over the top anger.
"Because you have a title and a destiny and a gift and if you're not using it you're wasting it," She nagged, raising up on her toes a little in all of her high horsing. "Not doing much isn't an excuse, you should be doing more with it. You know some people don't have anything. Some people have no useful powers or potential and you're being very inconsiderate. Have you even gone to Saturn to see your wonder yet?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Nov 28, 2013 1:18 pm
Elijah was more than a little taken aback when the shorter woman seemed to explode in anger, rebuking him on his lack of drive as a knight. After a few confused moments, a scrowl appeared on his normally happy face and the blue-haired man propped his fists on his hips as he leaned towards Zia.
"I never asked for a title, destiny or a gift! I would have been happy being a normal person, its not like I don't already have enough to deal with!" He said, feeling defensive. "Why should I be doing anything at all? What's in it for me? Why should I care that other people don't have this whatever it is? They can have mine, for all I care! All it does is get me attacked by monsters, why would anyone want that?"
It was uncalled for for her to get up in his face about this... he didn't even want to be a knight and it had brought him nothing but grief so far. Unlike some people, he cared far more about his own safety than that of anyone else. The only reason he powered up at all was to protect the carnival... to protect his life.
"I've... got a wonder?" He said finally, when he registered her last question, some of his frustration fading as his more normal personality asserted itself. Luxor was never all that forthcoming... they'd never discussed wonders before.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Nov 28, 2013 8:56 pm
"Yeah, well," Zia felt her face get hot. At first just because she was angry, but it eventually started to shift to embarrassment, and she sunk a little as she played with her stone pendent around her neck.
"Some people asked and came up empty so you could at least make do with what you were given. You have the ability to grow and be greater anyway. You should strive towards it."
She seemed to move from very angry to just sulky and pouty with rapid ease.
"Yes, it's what you're named after. It's a special sanctuary just for you. You should have either exposition ghosts or memories from a past life if you visit to help you learn your history, it's a whole shebang," She said, but the enthusiasm was gone.
"It's on Saturn but you should be able to port there..."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Jan 23, 2014 4:18 pm
Elijah frowned at her for only a moment before his expression cleared completely and seemed to have forgotten all about the short scuffle.
"Its on Saturn? That sounds... useless. That place is like... covered with toxic clouds. How could a sanctuary be there and what good does that do me here?" He was honestly confused and more than a little disbelieving. Scientists had explored the solar planets... they knew atmosphere and a lot of the time what the surface was like. Surely they would have noticed some sanctuary from space.
"Port there... How? And wouldn't that, like... kill me?" Not a joyful prospect, really. How useless... just another thing to add to the heap of useless things about being a knight. Really, he didn't know what the point was... okay sure, maybe you could protect things and stuff, but maybe he just didn't get it.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Jan 25, 2014 6:19 pm
Zia had a more difficult time brushing off the scuffle, but that was because space and homeworlds were something that cut kind of deep on a personal level for her. She didn't want to be on the side lines, and watch people shun gifts she had wanted herself. She was a foreigner to the very fabric of the universe and wanted people to appreciate their places. Because she was so very displaced.
So she kept on fiddling with her stone pendent and avoiding eye contact, and didn't even have the enthusiasm to explain wonders to him. His concerns warrented a small 'heh', though.
"You know Saturn knights always say that," She quipped flatly. But it was true, the only other knight who had questioned her by complaining Saturn's small unlivable problem had been Svartalfheim.
"You have to meditate on your pledge. You should know the words, and if you say them, it'll call you there."
She made a small bounce on her bare feet and looked up at him with a small, only slightly forced smile. "I think if you think really hard you'll find them, somewhere in the back of your head. Your pledge to your sanctuary."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Jan 28, 2014 9:58 pm
Eli frowned as he watched Zia for a moment before putting his hand out, his silver mask appearing in his hand. In a moment, his clothing had dissolved away and he was dressed instead in his knight uniform, complete with silver bells and the paint over his eyes. He could never explain why his outfit seemed to be a cross between a clown and a some kind of gothic gentleman... Luxor had never said why he wore that skirt of his, or ran around without a shirt. Maybe Zia was onto something with this, a path that might offer a few answers. Maybe those answers would make this life as a knight a little easier, who knows?
Now that he thought about it, the words were clear in his head. Ys realized he'd heard them as a whisper in the back of his mind ever since his first transformation... but he'd never paid much thought to them. It was hard to explain why they were suddenly just there, but he was sort of glad he didn't need to do some big introspective journey to find them. Zia made this a big enough deal without all of that.
"Well, lets see what we can find, huh?" The tall knight said as he snaked a hand out to grab the woman's wrist. If he was going anywhere, he was for sure not going to leave his only source of information behind.
"I pledge my life and loyalty to Saturn, and to Ys.
I humbly request your aid, so that in return I may give you mine."
The words flowed naturally, which was disturbing enough. What exactly was he pledging himself to? It was hard to say just how he was changing his future, but he felt it down to his bones as the world around them blurred and changed, becoming something... somewhere... else.
Suddenly they were no longer in the tent, they were on a rocky coastline, waves crashing against a stark rock face mere feet from where they stood. Thunder crashed over head and Ys startled, dropping Zia's wrist as he clutched his mask and stared around them.
It was like they had dropped into the beginning of a horror story... the barren rocks around them, the dark stormy sky over a restless sea... and when Ys turned, he nearly groaned out loud, because behind them was the topper to the whole thing. A sprawling, gothic mansion stood back from the cliff, its windows like yawning black holes.
"Bloody hell..." Ys breathed.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Feb 01, 2014 1:26 pm
Zia closed her eyes as they ported. She usually did this, and she wasn't sure why. Something about it just seemed to be polite! But when she tentatively opened one, and then both to find herself on some other landscape besides the circus, she raised both hands in the air in victory.
"I told you we weren't gonna die!" She announced in triumph.
Even though the change of scenery was not exactly comforting and actually kind of felt like they were starting some adventure that could very well lead to dying. The point was, the atmosphere hadn't been what killed them, and that was important, because it meant she was totally right.
"Whoa," The exact nature of the wonder finally set in and she looped one arm around Ys as she stepped closer to his taller figure.
"Why is Saturn always creepy?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Feb 01, 2014 3:26 pm
"Bloody hell if I know..." Ys murmured, feeling Zia clutching his arm and really not minding. "I've never been to Saturn before."
It didn't feel like a very... welcoming place. Wasn't this supposed to be -his- place, or something? So why didn't he feel like it?
"So, uh... what now? I'm not having any big, mind-blowing visions or anything. Should we look around or something?" The accent was thick in his voice, just underscoring how off put he was. Why couldn't he be a knight of hot-chicks-in-a-club or something fun like that? Why did he get saddled with creepy-start-of-a-horror-story?
A glance around only confirmed that the scenery consisted of the Mansion, some empty space that might have been a gravel driveway, and the cliff where the driveway abruptly took a dive over the edge. The only things other than those were the dark pine forest behind the manions, the sea below the cliff, and a towering stone figure by the cliff edge that held an open book and a tall glaive.
"Are wonders usually this small?" Ys said suddenly, wondering.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Feb 01, 2014 5:18 pm
"Yeah we should definitely look around," Zia said, even thought she didn't move from her spot. The last time she'd been to Saturn, the wonder had an execution grounds, so no thank you. Ys was going to have to go first.
She glanced around the clear confines of the wonder and shrugged a little. She wasn't sure how far the prison grounds of Svartaflheim extended and Alfheim clearly had some rolling landscape at it's disposal, even though the city walls were solidly set.
"I'm not sure, I've never really noticed," She eventually answered and shrugged. "It is one small piece of territory on a senshi planet, though, so, I mean... They can't all be massive! What do you think the statue at the cliff is for?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Apr 29, 2014 6:44 pm
"Right... look around."
Much like the woman on his arm, the Saturn knight made no move towards anything, at least not until Zia mentioned the statue. It did sort of seem out of place... and at least it was out in the open, so if something decided to rush them, they'd see it coming.
As the storm crashed over head again, making Ys twitch, he sidled towards the statue and drew Zia with him. As they approached, the statue's features grew clearer and it resolved into a young woman with a stern expression dressed in a senshi's fuku. The book she held seemed offered towards the viewer, or maybe the pose was more a demand to read the words carved into the surface... Ys swallowed as he leaned in, discovering to his surprise that it was not written in English.
Well, surprise surprise... It wasn't like they were on Earth where English existed.
"I don't suppose you can read this." He said, though it was more of a statement than a question. "What's it written in... Saturnese?" Weak joke, but this whole place could use some lightening up. Taking a step forward, Ys leaned to look over the cliff, wondering at the way the path ran right to the edge.
"I wonder who the senshi is... uh..." He blinked as he realized who it must be and the tall man turned to frown up at her. "Is... is that Sailor Saturn? Would make sense, huh? Maybe... Maybe we should go look at the house." Not that he wanted to... it really did look creepy.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat May 10, 2014 9:05 pm
At first the only response to Ys was the shutter sound of the camera app on Zia's smartphone, but it was quickly followed by a snappy retort.
"Silly pants. Why would I be able to read it? All my memories are from Zirconia's universe and there's no Saturn there."
But language characters, hell yes.
And even better, a statue of a senshi! Her working theory was that knights had served high ranking and royal senshi of the past, so any evidence of senshi on their wonders was just cake. She didn't have everything figured out yet, but Sailor Saturn was as good a guess as she was going to come up with herself. She only shrugged at his question and the wide eyed look of glee hinted she was a little more than distracted.
Either way the entire statue's form was subjected to the rapid sounds of burst shot.
"Yeah! I wonder if there's anything salvageable in there!" She agreed with an enthusiastic nod. Any sense of being put off by the creepiness seemed to have vanished, completely overridden by the excited prospect the might discover more neat things she could bring back to Aquarius.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
