If ever there was a time to be getting an extreme workout, in cold weather like this was probably best. Ordinarily, Evan would probably be sweating out of every pore in his body; he'd been running for the past ten minutes straight and it was weighing heavily on him. His lungs were burning and each breath felt like nails raking across his lungs. The corners of his vision were tainted black and he was losing the ability to properly coordinate his movements.
He'd run for long enough and he knew that he was going to go down.
He didn't even know where he was anymore; this wasn't his corner of town by any means, and even if he wasn't being pursued by the ugliest bird thing he'd ever seen he never would have come down here.
Evan had thought he'd made some progress in losing the thing—until he turned to look behind him and smashed right into someone's trashcan.
He let out a yelp and wound up sprawled on the ground—thankfully not in the trash. But it was a stupid mistake, and one he knew he was going to pay for when he heard the monster—youma, whatever—make that awful squawking noise. He heard the rustle of feathers and scrambled up.
…But he knew he couldn’t run. His only chance to make it was to hide or fight, and he could barely even see, much less think about fighting.
So he darted down the alleyway with the last bit of his energy and collapsed behind a rusty industrial dumpster.
Lucyal
Posted: Sat Dec 19, 2015 5:12 pm
There was a loud and echoing metallic thud as someone landed on top of said rusty industrial dumpster.
"Oh, wowie!" Sedna cried, staring at the bird like youma. "I haven't run into a flying one before!" She had no idea there was a civilian around (which showed she liked to talk to herself)---she had just heard the monstrous squawk from the roof tops above, and then the clatter of a trash can in an alley way. She figured it might have meant trouble, and she was right!" The senshi grinned, shifting on the dumpster as she prepared to battle it.
"Sedna's Sinking!" She clapped her hands together and held them out towards the youma, her magic gathering into a small fleet of ships which sailed through the air and enveloped the youma. It faltered in it's flight, disoriented by the spell, and it was then she took her shot. Sedna reached to the wall and yanked a steel pipe from it, her preferred weapon of choice when taking out youma---and lunged at the creature, swinging at it like a deranged pinata.
Kyuseisha no Hikari
Sailor Scout Attack: Sedna’s Sinking Sedna claps her hands together and then holds them out, releasing an aura, that takes the form a small feet of ships half her height, around herself that spans 7 feet. An ominous feeling of sinking envelopes those in range and lasts for 30 seconds. Can be used three times.
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Posted: Sat Dec 19, 2015 10:57 pm
Evan was barely granted the luxury of knowing someone was handling the youma problem he'd gotten himself into; there was so much noise that even he had a sinking feeling, magic or not.
The youma put up a good fight, but it was no match for the senshi. Disoriented and beaten, it didn’t take long for it to erupt into a cloud of dust. It managed to let out one final, awful wail, but in the end it was only dust in the wind.
The civilian Sedna had unwittingly rescued was too jostled to even move—at first. He stayed as still as he could, not wanting to risk the wrath of some worse creature.
Realistically he knew that if this person had fought one of the monsters, they were likely not allied with them, but he really didn't want to be wrong. He was perfectly content to sit, frozen, staring at the filthy alley wall across from him until she left. Or, maybe for the rest of forever since he wasn't sure his legs could carry him.
…Or his stomach could decide that it was going to throw a tantrum because of all that exercise and expel itself onto the ground next to him.
Dr. Pepper was a disgusting thing to vomit up, and Evan had ingested copious amounts in the past few hours. It was a pathetic sound and he ought to be happy he didn't vomit on himself, but absolutely nothing about this situation warranted happiness.
He had no doubt that his hiding days were over; now he just hoped he was going to get to go home in one piece.
Lucyal
Posted: Sun Dec 20, 2015 9:15 pm
Yeah! Another job well done! Sedna brushed off her coat as best as she could after the youma exploded in a cloud of dust, and then didn't care anymore since magical space dry cleaning. She hopped back up onto the dumpster with ease and another thud and tried putting the steel pipe back into place. Well...erm. It was the best she could do...
Sedna looked off, maybe acting like she was trying to pass as off as innocent even though there was no one to catch her---
Oh.
The senshi blinked and her eyes went a bit wide as she heard the undeniable sound of retching. She had froze, briefly, and it seemed to surprise her that there had indeed been someone here! Well, that made more sense---that youma had been particularly excited before she showed up. Sedna walked along the top of the dumpster, along the edge against the wall, and peered down behind it. Her nose wrinkled at the sight of a little puddle, before her expression smoothed at the sight of a young man. "Ah---" She knelt, peering down at Evan from between her knees and her hat bumping against the brick of the nearby building. She smiled down at him.
"Hey there! Are you alright, guy? Yanno---aside from the whole tossing your cookies thing---though I guess I wouldn't even say cookies---but yeah---was that thing after you?" Seemed like a safe assumption, but she wanted to make sure!
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Posted: Sun Dec 20, 2015 11:48 pm
Though he wasn't vomiting anymore, he seemed reluctant to answer. He raised one sleeve and shamefully wiped his mouth clean as best he could. As if to distract himself he began to fumble through his bag as he let his mind settle. "I think it was chasing me," he confessed after a few seconds; his voice was hoarse and he seemed on edge with her so close and not knowing who she was.
He pulled out a pack of Tic Tacs, dropped two into his hand and then hesitated, looking up at her. Popping the two in his mouth he offered, "You want any?"
He made sure to offer with the clean arm, just in case. And then, on top of that, he felt the need to clarify, "I'm not sick. I just ate before I was on my way home and that thing has been chasing me for like ten minutes."
'Just ate' looked like soup and a lot of water, but he was pale and clammy and obviously shaken from this whole ordeal.
"…Thanks for getting that thing, by the way. I don't know how you guys do it." He was still breathless and fairly soft-spoken. "I'm really considering just not going outside ever again."
Lucyal
Posted: Tue Dec 22, 2015 9:00 pm
The longer Sedna stared at him, there was this budding sense of accomplishment in her chest. She had saved a civilian! Well...she had saved someone whose shoes she'd once been in. She'd been able to help someone out...
Her chest felt tight with happiness.
"Huh?" The senshi blinked, taken out of her thoughts by the question and stared. "Oh---no, thank you though!" She waved a hand lightly, and gave him a sheepish grin. "Hey, sorry you had to go through that, guy---that's rough---and no problem at all! It's what I do!" Sedna shifted back to a stand, and hopped off the side of the dumpster. She moved around to the gap between the steel and the wall, and grabbed onto one corner of the dumpster. She then gave it an effortless pull, prying it away from the wall with ease. It have a small metallic screen before she stopped.
"I know the feeling---well, knew---I knew the feeling once." Sedna slipped into the larger gap she had made, carefully stepping around the---uh---'puddle', and approached Evan, holding out a hand to him. "You shouldn't let it stop you though, as nearly impossible as I imagine that could be!" She gave him a wide smile. "I'm Sedna! Senshi of Ships!"
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Posted: Sun Dec 27, 2015 9:00 am
Evan looked at the hand reluctantly, as though he were afraid of what her intentions were. He clutched the tiny box of breath mints and then, after a second, just tucked them away. With visible hesitation, he took her hand. "…Nice to meet you. I'm Evan."
Just Evan.
Plain old, nothing special, youma chow Evan.
"It's not just the youma, though," he added, feeling obligated to explain. "It's everything. It's everyone. I can't go one week without something happening. And it wasn't always like this. I mean, I've never had good luck. It's sort of followed me around for years, now. And all my bad luck started because I can't be trusted to walk home by myself. Because I always run into some sort of monster, no matter how hard I try to be safe. You—you know?" He was talking quickly, nearly fumbling over his words.
"I carry all that stuff with me, you know. Pepper spray, cell phone with all those GPS tracking devices, flashlight—I used to have a Taser but I don't even know where that is now. And—" he reached into his bag with his free hand to hastily pull out a very large knife. "I started carrying this around after the first youma, but before that it was just a pocket knife. I try to be safe, so I don't understand why I always have to get rescued. And—and if it's not me," he sounded hopeful, like it wasn't his fault he always got tangled up in trouble, "Then it's just not worth it to go out. If it's this whole world—well, screw it, I don't want to live my life wondering if I'll make it home alive or if some youma's gonna mess me up."
He was still holding the knife, but seemed to realize it's sheer size might not have been particularly friendly so he stuffed it back into his bag promptly.
Lucyal
Posted: Thu Dec 31, 2015 9:33 pm
Sedna just beamed at him until he took her hand, and she gripped his warmly and firmly as she gave it a hearty shake. "It's nice to meet you, Evan!" She chirped.
The senshi let go of him, and then was treated to his tale of woe. She made a whole bunch of faces as she nodded, showing she was following along, in addition to grimacing or being sympathetic. Some of those feels she knew all too well...though admittedly Evan was being a lot more safe than she ever was. She never carried around mace and a Taser...just her grin and some fledgling kick boxing moves. As he pulled out a large knife though, Sedna's black eyes went comically wide and she held up her hands like she was about to be robbed.
Woah.
There was obvious relief as he put the knife away, and Sedna let out a breath before she laughed a bit. "It's not you---" She assured him. "Just---the wrong place at the wrong time, a lot, yeah? It's not the whole world either it's just here---" She paused as she gestured to the alley they were in. "Oh---I don't mean this alley---I mean Destiny City!" She rested her hands on her hips. "Hey, don't be like that! You'll let all the bad stuff win if you let them shut you in---" Just as quickly as she had put her hands on her hips, they were thrown up into the air now in exclamation. "There's plenty you can do as a non-magical person to still live a good life here!" She assured him.
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Posted: Mon Jan 04, 2016 1:20 am
Evan gave her an exasperated look when she insisted it wasn't him; at this point in his life it was hard to believe that it could have just been (unfortunately) coincidences that kept following him around.
"But it's not just Destiny City," he protested weakly. "It's everywhere. I run into stupid things even outside of this place." He didn't seem to be as swayed by her words as he would have liked, and instead just deflated a bit more.
His adrenaline hadn't worn down yet, but he could feel his limbs getting heavier; he could feel the sleepiness trudging closer.
"…I think you're a lot more optimistic about this because you haven't seen the dark side of it. No offense. I'm not trying to be offensive. Maybe you're just stronger than me. I just…I'm not like you. That's probably why I'm not like you—why I'm never going to be some superhero going out to rescue people. I'm not brave. I tried, but it's not worth it. I can't keep doing this. It's not safe, anywhere." His voice trembled, but he was trying to control it. "…If I could change things, I would—believe me, I've tried. I don't want to be like this. No one would. I hate it."
Now, he was just slumping against the wall.
"…I'm sorry," he added after a second of thought, as though he were used to apologizing. It slipped form his mouth naturally. "You don't have to stick around and listen to this. Thank you for saving me. It's more than I could have asked for."
Lucyal
Posted: Sun Jan 24, 2016 8:00 pm
Sedna grimaced. Evan wasn't the first person to talk to her like that---like she didn't know the other side. "Hey, guy, hey---" She waved her hands at him. "Trust me, I have, okay? I was kidnapped by the guys in black and held hostage at a creepy abandoned carnival and pretty much told I'll either join or die---and dying was looking like a very viable option---on top of getting attacked by those nasty youma critters on more fingers than I have---trust me, I know." She smiled at him.
"And you never know! Maybe one day you'll wake up, and you'll be magical too, so that you can fight on equal ground---but until that day, you can still live your life! I'm sure of it! I mean---I have a friend who's been living here for thirty years and he's doing great!" Sedna pumped both of her fists, but then moved to hover worriedly over him.
"Hey, guy---" She reached out to place a firm but gentle hand on one of his elbows. "That's what I do! You don't have to thank me for it---and I'll take you home, okay?" She thumped her chest with her free hand. "Don't you worry about it!"
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Posted: Wed Jan 27, 2016 9:55 pm
Evan didn't flinch away when she placed a hand on his elbow. It was reassuring, but it reminded him that he was still sitting down here and it was all gross and…ugh.
He was quiet for a second, and then muttered a weak, "Evan."
He didn't say anything else for a few seconds and then shook his head and tried to clarify. "My name is 'Evan'. You don't have to keep calling me 'guy'. If you…" He shrugged. "…If you wanna head towards my place, it's like ten minutes from here, max. I wouldn't…be opposed to the company, but I don't wanna bother you. You kinda already did me a major favor by taking care of that thing."
He was repeating her words in his head and chanced a hesitant look in her direction. It wasn't just about waking up powered one day, or the hope that maybe this would get easier.
"…You got kidnapped before?" he asked hesitantly. "…They didn't, like, hurt you, did they? How'd you get out?"
Lucyal
Posted: Fri Jan 29, 2016 5:10 am
"Huh?" She paused, taking a few moments to get caught up with that he was saying. "Oh---" She grinned a bit sheepishly at him. "Habit! My bad! I just say that a lot---" Sedna then nodded her head enthusiastically. "Yeah! No---I mean, you're not a bother at all! It's my duty to see you home safely!" She beamed at him, and kept her hand on his elbow as she helped to see him home, settling into an easy pace.
"Yeah." She nodded her head not quite as enthusiastically this time, but still firm as she smiled a bit. "Well---just sore and bruises---me, and others, were tied up with rope and missing for a few days---and nothing more aside from that." Then of course the 'almost dying by someone else's hand' bit, but she had already told him that. "I got out because---magical people, like me right now, had found us and rescued us!"
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Posted: Mon Feb 01, 2016 7:52 pm
Evan watched her and swallowed before he nodded. He seemed embarrassed to have her hand on his arm—or that he even seemed to be using her for a bit of support as he carefully began to head towards his house. Once, he might have been nervous about these people knowing where he lived.
Now, he'd had to change how he thought about them. Mostly because they were always saving him.
But no one seemed like a robber just waiting to get inside the house and take all his stuff because he was so weak, so…until then, so far so good.
"That’s scary," he said somewhat distantly. He seemed to be thinking about something else, but he also seemed exhausted. "I'm glad they came to find you. Magical people, I mean. I'm happy they didn't hurt you so bad. I got, uhm. Well, no, never mind. That's not important." He sighed. "This town is just messed up. Who raises their kids to do things like that, you know? I don't get it. I really want to thank you for what you did. Like, really. I don't have cash or anything or I'd give you my wallet. Do you—do you get hungry, while you're out? I work at a restaurant. Well, it's a bar, but," he shrugged. "I get to cook a lot. I usually work nights. So, uhm. I can give you the name and if you ever get hungry you can drop by and I'll whip you up something."
Lucyal
Posted: Mon May 02, 2016 5:04 am
"Yeah." She agreed simply. "It was. It still is."
Sedna nodded her head a bit, and smiled at him. "Thanks! I am too---eh?" She paused, tilting her head at him, and was about to inquire, but waited to let him finish his other thoughts. "I---dunno, honestly." At this new thought though, she had to wonder, too, if a lot of people in the Negaverse were there because they didn't have the greatest lives...and she had to wonder how many were in there simply because they could be. Yikes. "Oh---" Sedna waved her free hand at him. "No payment necessary, really---" She paused then though, her eyes going wide. Evan had just spoken the Holy Grail.
Food.
"R-really?" She asked, voice filled with so much hope and excitement.
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Posted: Wed May 11, 2016 11:35 pm
For a split second, Evan wondered if he had made a mistake by offering her food. He stared for a second, swallowed, and then nodded. "Y-yeah, uhm. Here…"
He reached into his pocket and fished around for a scrap of paper. Instead, he found something better. A pack of half-used matches with the bar's name, address, and telephone on it.
"Oh," he said, and then shrugged, handing it over to her. "Well, here, have some matches, too. But if you head over there, you can go down an alleyway off to the side. There's a door back there, by the dumpster? It's connected to the kitchen. So if you get hungry while you're out, you know, saving the world? Just come knock on the door and I'll make you something. I mean—especially if you're hanging out, taking care of the youma in the area. Because, I mean, I'd love to, uh. Make it home alive and not have to deal with them."
He was still shaken from the whole thing, and even if it wasn't his first time being chased by a youma, he didn't think it was ever going to be something he got used to.
