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 Posted: Sun Dec 10, 2017 8:42 pm
The sun was finally starting to set, and Alphubel had gone out to see what it looked like. Sure, it was only about 4:40 PM when he had first gone out, but there were a few small things that he appreciated in life that he liked to watch. The sunset being one of them. How the clouds reacted, the colors that it created, his older brother had even thought about getting a couple of expensive pictures just for taking landscape photos, including cloud ones. Alphubel had to admit it was a good idea. It was so interesting to see how it looked, yet it went by so quickly, and it would never be the same way again, unless of course it was just a cloudy day.
He had gone to a more secluded part of the outskirts of the city, wanting to watch it. He had powered up to do so, because his powered outfit was much warmer than any winter jacket that he had found. And it helped him feel a bit more protected. What if a Negaverse agent managed to find him here? He would practically be helpless, even if he could reach out to someone for help. He was just too far away.
And so, for about half-an-hour he had spent time just looking at the sun, appreciating the moment. It was sad that the Negaverse wanted to get rid of moments such as these. To not be able to appreciate what nature could do. Though it wasn't just the Negaverse, people themselves were causing too much destruction to the planet. Alphubel often wondered why they would want to ruin such a nice thing? And his brother had been ranting about it more and more lately. But... Alphubel couldn't just let humanity fall because they weren't being so nice to the planet. After all, it's not like the Negaverse would help anything. So it was better to be on the side that actually cared about life, rather than the one that wanted total annihilation of all living things.
Now though, it was dark out and the stars and planets were still taking their time twinkling into the night sky. Another amazing sight Alphubel had always thought. And he could now reach one of those distant stars too. Which is why he wanted to visit other planets and wonders, to see what had been out there, even if he couldn't see what they had been at their prime.
He was so focused on the sky, his legs stretched out in the grass, lantern hooked to his outfit, that he didn't feel the aura of an enemy getting closer to him.
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Posted: Tue Dec 12, 2017 8:38 pm
It was very pretty out tonight, Laodica thought as she walked along. She knew she needed to stop taking walks away from school - they were starting to question how long she was gone for, especially after what had happened to her parents. She knew... but didn't really care. There was just too much on her mind, and focusing on finding out about this war was better than losing herself to... other things. And besides, it really was a nice night! Nice enough that she thought about finding somewhere nice to watch the sky instead of hunt relentlessly for answers to her questions. To just look up at the sky and think about how pretty it was, not about how many of the softly twinkling lights were tied to lost worlds and even more lost lives... Yeah. Yeah, that would be nice. There was a nice spot in this area, she knew, but something felt off about it. And when she drew close enough to see the spot she had considered going to, Laodica saw that not only was it already occupied, but the person occupying it was what had felt 'off' - there was someone from Order stretched out, apparently having had much the same idea she had. ... though from how comfortable he looked, it hadn't just been a passing whim for him; he'd clearly been here for a while. Well, there was only one thing to do, whether or not this ended well. "Uhm - excuse me? Would you mind if I watched the stars here, too?" Sure, they were on opposite sides, but stargazing didn't have anything to do with fighting!
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Posted: Wed Dec 13, 2017 6:38 pm
Alphubel jumped a bit at the voice he heard, sitting up a bit more straight. His eyes widened as he finally felt the aura of a corrupted senshi. He looked around, trying to see where it came from! But... it didn't seem to be closing in on him. It seemed more like it was just standing in one place. That's weird. Alphubel thought, though it was one of the few thoughts that was currently racing through his mind at the moment. Finally though, his eyes managed to catch sight of the senshi and she was... surprisingly really close to him! He almost squeaked a bit when he spotted her, but instead tried to calm down a bit. If she was wanting his starseed, then she would have taken it by surprise already, right?
But maybe she was just trying to lure him into a false sense of security by not attacking him while he was sitting there and asking if she could join too!
He felt like his head was spinning a bit, but instead of yelling out he took a deep breath. Yes, he had had bad encounters with those in the Negaverse. He had seen one kill a man in front of his very eyes. But... for some reason he just couldn't find it in himself to hate all of them. Very specific ones sure, and those that definitely seemed very committed to their cause. But he knew that not all of them could be bad. There had to be some who were forcibly corrupted in the Negaverse.
And besides, this girl didn't seem like she was planning to attack him... "Uh, sure." He said, nodding to a spot near him. He wasn't sure, but perhaps it was because she was interested in the stars too that he was willing to give her a chance, even if she was on the wrong side.
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Posted: Wed Dec 13, 2017 8:56 pm
"Thank you," Laodica said, and found a spot to sit nearby. She didn't move too close, just in case he wasn't serious and would try to fight her, but not so far away that it would obstruct the sky. The stars were so pretty, brightening into view one or two at a time, then more and more as the light disappeared. Had all of them once been tied to someone's home? To lives long-since lost and gone? It was a sad thought, and she'd come here to get away from sad thoughts. "I'm sorry if I scared you," she said again, breaking the silence thoughtfully. "I know now that we're... probably supposed to fight, or something, but I don't like fighting. There's better things to do than try to hurt each other." Especially for a war she'd never asked to get caught up in, anyway. "It's... it's pretty here. The stars are pretty, too. When I was really small, I used to think that somebody had climbed up to the top of the very tallest buildings and mountains and tossed glitter up at the sky, and that's what became stars." She didn't really know why she was talking, let alone about an idea that even she, with all of her tendency to mix reality with daydreams, knew was kind of silly. "...I'm Laodica. I'll try not to come by here too often, if this is your spot."
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Posted: Thu Dec 14, 2017 8:34 pm
Alphubel nodded at her. "You're welcome." He was pretty sure this wouldn't go too badly. However, his attention was once again taken by the stars appearing once again. It was both amazing, wondrous, and sort of freaky at the same time. Of course, the light coming from them had still been there during the daytime, it just couldn't be seen. It was also kind of freaky that there used to be so much life out there. Aliens existed! Traveling to other planets, stars, and other celestial objects had been possible! But... it was all gone now. Why Earth was the place for life to begin, or continue, he was still confused about, but perhaps they just hadn't all been wiped out.
He shook his head. Too many negative thoughts. He should be enjoying the scene and be glad that he could see it at all. Suddenly though, he heard the senshi talking. She did seem genuinely sorry. He would trust her, for now.
"It's... okay. I don't like fighting much either. I like to go out and study the stars and planets more, which I can do even more now that I'm a... squire. But it almost seems like it would be better to live in ignorance of all of this sometimes, you know?" He wasn't sure if he was asking her that or himself. "There's already so much fighting going on, but to have some hidden magical war deciding what will be done with the planet... it's not something I would have chosen to do if I was given the option." But he had been awakened when he and one of his classmates had been walking home. There was no way to avoid it or to at least say 'no'.
He smiled at her when she recounted her memories. "It is. I like to come out here a lot. But that's not a bad way to think of it. They do look so small after all, it's surprising when you learn that they're actually so gigantic." It was almost overwhelming when he learned it as a child. That Earth wasn't the only planet, that it was actually quite small, some of the planets in their solar system were even bigger than Earth, that those were even smaller compared to the sun... It had freaked him out for a bit, making him feel so small and insignificant. His older brother had reassured him that the universe was quite amazing and that he should try to study it more. Were they really so small, or was Earth really just that amazing?
It had helped Alphubel to feel better about himself and had encouraged his stargazing hobby and learning as much as he could about the universe. Though his brother had added if he wanted to feel more significant, he could do so by volunteering and helping other people, which is what Alphubel tried to do, especially now that he was a knight.
"I'm Alphubel. And... it's okay. If it's just you that comes around here I would be fine with it. But..." It's not that he wanted to say 'yes I mind' because he really didn't, but if she were ever to be followed... "I'd just watch out in case one of your, um, allies, decided to come along with." Then the spot would not longer be safe for him to stargaze, and he would have to find another place.
He tried to make her feel better. "Can you name anything out there? Which dot is which star or planet, constellations? I can name some if you want and point them out to you." Sometimes he had come out with his ipad and had started to learn how to recognize some constellations using the app on there.
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Posted: Thu Dec 14, 2017 11:47 pm
"Don't worry about anyone coming... um, 'with' me," Laodica said quietly, and shifted where she sat, leaning back and putting her weight on her hands so she could take in more of the ever-darkening sky. I only really talk to one person on my... side, I guess you'd say, enough to go anywhere with him and I'm... kind of mad at him right now." Which didn't really begin to describe the situation, but some things just didn't bear repeating, let alone to a stranger she had just met. "I promise, if someone tried to follow me or something, I'd lead them elsewhere. This place is too pretty to drag a war to." Most places were, actually, but she couldn't protect everywhere - and it didn't seem like anybody was going to stop fighting and make friends any time soon, either. Which was absolutely terrible, but she supposed that was how wars worked sometimes: you just kept fighting until there was nobody left who could fight any more. At his question, she relaxed a little more - there really wasn't going to be a fight here tonight, and wasn't that wonderful? - then frowned thoughtfully. "I... know a few, I think? Just simple ones, like the big dipper - and I know uhm... mister belt! Orion, too. And that Jupiter's been really bright this year! But... not much." Nobody had ever taught her, and after a while it had become more fun to just make up her own pictures in the stars, and her own stories for those pictures. She'd share those with Alphubel, except she wasn't sure he'd like things she just made up. Most people frowned when she did that kind of thing, and it certainly wasn't what was being asked of her now. "But - I'd like to learn, if you're willing to teach me!"
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Posted: Fri Dec 15, 2017 6:39 pm
Alphubel gave her a look. Not that he didn't believe her, but she seemed quite naive as to someone following her. Someone could easily follow her just to bother her, or if she had seen a target and they wanted to take that target. He knew that a couple of times he had sensed a fellow knight or a White Moon senshi and had followed their aura to see what was going on. He was sure that they would do the same with her. But... he just gave her a smile. "Well, just make sure to be careful then if you do feel someone following you." He wondered if she should apply that to White Moon faction too. After all, it wouldn't look good if someone saw a squire happily chatting with a corrupted senshi.
"I'll take you at your word though, thank you." And he believed her. He knew that the Negaverse attracted horrible people, but it's not as if the White Moon didn't have their own set of problem people, both knights and senshi.
"Well that's pretty good!" He said. "Not many people can identify those at a glance. But let me show you, you see that star over there?" He asked, point a bit to his right. "And then you go a bit at an angle and there are three more stars, and then around that 3rd star what looks like a square?" He let her take a moment to try and find it, and then to follow what he was saying. "That's the Big Dipper, which is part of the Ursa Major constellation. And then if you go above the star that make the rim of the Dipper, and go up a bit, you can see a 2nd set of stars that look like a smaller dipper. The end of the handle on the other one is actually where Polaris is." It was common knowledge if anyone looked it up on the internet, so he didn't feel like he was saying anything that could be used against him if the senshi decided to change her mind.
"There are a lot of other stars that belong to many other constellations all within just this area. If you want... we can meet here again, and this time I can bring my ipad. It would make it easier to see what stars are actually being used than just using the naked eye." Of course, that's what people in ancient times had used, or perhaps some rudimentary telescopes, but it was always interesting how they had associated a group of stars to become constellations. Some of them he would never even know what it was until he had looked it up or it had been told to him.
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Posted: Sat Dec 16, 2017 4:16 pm
There was something funny about the look Alphubel was giving her, but what Laodica couldn't quite put her finger on. And anyway she supposed it didn't matter, because he believed her enough to thank her - and still wasn't trying to fight. That was nice. Even nicer was that he seemed genuinely interested in talking about the stars with her, which she hadn't expected from someone she was supposed to... to... .... Not like, she guessed? But that was silly, because Laodica didn't dislike people easily; everyone had something good about them if you looked hard enough, after all! She stayed quiet while he pointed things out to her, and tried to pay attention, though there was a lot to remember. "That would be nice," she said after quietly considering his offer for a few moments. "At least once, so I can learn more about what's actually out there." About the names for the pretty lights that were so much more than they seemed - that had once been so much more than anyone ever knew. "But I don't think it should be much more than that, in case it would get someone in trouble." Her or him, it didn't matter. If this war was anything like the horror stories she knew, there would be people angry if they ever heard about this. And she could keep people from following her here all she wanted, but the more meetings in the same place the more likely someone would notice. "Uhm - maybe you could tell me the program you use for it when we do? That way I can learn more on my own, too!"
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Posted: Sat Dec 16, 2017 4:38 pm
Alphubel was glad that she agreed with him that meeting too much might be dangerous. It made him sad though. Sad that people he could talk to would be on the wrong side. Sometimes he wished he hadn't been awakened, and he could just meet people regularly. Though he would probably be scared out of his wits living in Destiny City then considering how weird things were around here. Attacking plants, giant bats and spiders, this stuff somehow wasn't reported elsewhere, so seeing it when he wasn't awakened was freaky enough. But to be kept in the dark forever, it would not have been easy to stay.
"It's called uh... Sky Guide. Though there are a few other applications that do the same thing. You just have to find one you like." He replied, looking at the sky again. He just... wanted to visit so many places. Even with his own wonder, which was an observatory, he still felt like he was trapped, though now it was between two places. But it was nice that he had some place to retreat to when he needed. He didn't even need to spend money to do it! Well, unless it was to bring food and other essentials. They didn't exactly have toothpaste there.
He sighed, sitting up. He was starting to feel frustrated. Not with Laodica, but just with the entire situation. "It's just... not fair." He muttered to himself.
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Posted: Sat Dec 16, 2017 6:42 pm
"What isn't fair?" Laodica found herself asking, looking at Alphabel with slightly wide eyes. A moment later, she grasped something of an idea and sighed. "Never mind; I think I get it. You're right, it isn't. ...a lot of things aren't." The war wasn't fair, she knew, and neither was the fact that the people getting caught up in fighting it seemed young enough that nobody would ask them to fight a regular war, or care that they might not want to fight at all. Things like this broke people, broke families, and there was nothing good that could come out of any of it. Though... this one thing was nice, at least; meeting someone willing to talk, to do something that didn't involve fighting or learning about fighting or anything to do with the war she hadn't really wanted caught up in to begin with. "But... I think," she said softly, looking up at the stars again and trying to trace patterns of her own in the small bright lights, "That all the awful, unfair things in the world makes the good things more important. Don't you?"
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Posted: Sun Dec 17, 2017 7:41 pm
Alphubel had to admit she made a good point. "You are right. It certainly has made me appreciate the good things more, or perhaps some of the small things that make me happy. Like clear, starry nights such as this one. Or just going out and spending the day with friends, not having to worry or stress about anything else." He had missed it. In California, since it didn't really get cold, he could go out all the time. It had been harder last year, since he hadn't been awakened for the first part of winter. But... it was so nice just to be able to forget about everything and focus on what was before him, which was a beautiful night sky right now. It had been other small things. Getting to relax once he had all of his studying and homework done. Petting Bluejeans for a bit as he read a book. Just... small things.
He sighed once again. "It's been really nice chatting with you, Laodica. I mean it." He said, flashing her a small smile. "But, we, or at least I, should probably be going. My brother is probably wondering where I am right now." He wouldn't be surprised at least. Tom had trusted California. But here? where they had weird attacks and so many random other things? It was too dangerous to be worrying his brother. Alphubel had wanted to tell Tom that he would be okay, that he could defend himself, but his brother would have a hard time believing that explanation, even with the self-defense classes that they both had been taking for a while.
Alphubel blushed a bit in embarrassment as he asked his next question. "Um, Laodica. I know we can't really exchange information and don't have a way to contact each other, but I wouldn't mind meeting here again." Honestly, why was he so embarrassed when he asked people things? Time to ask his bro how to be a bit more confident! "Or at least, I wouldn't mind if we met here again. I've tried to get some of my classmates to come but we've been pretty busy." He wasn't sure if she would say yes, and if she didn't, then that would be fine. All he knew was that he would be going home a bit happier that night. The war... it didn't have to be all bad.Redbud-Tree All right, last post from me and thanks so much for the rp!
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Posted: Tue Dec 19, 2017 4:26 pm
Oh ... he had family waiting for him? Laodica felt a slight burn of jealousy over that, but forced it down and away. After all, this had been such a nice meeting, she didn't want something dumb and petty to ruin an otherwise good memory. Besides, it was a good thing that Alphubel had someone waiting for him - she wouldn't wish the lack on anyone, let alone someone who had been so nice to her. So she smiled at him and got to her feet as well - there wasn't much point in sticking around, especially since she did still have a curfew to worry about. "I probably should too, actually," Laodica said, shoving masses of hair out of her face. "But it really was nice meeting you, and.. I wouldn't mind it if we met again, either." She wasn't sure they would, or could - and she definitely wasn't going to come back here too often, since she didn't want to put either herself or her new acquaintance in danger. But if and when she did make her way back to this spot again.. she hoped he'd be here. And maybe by then, she'd know a little more about the stars that looked so pretty from here! ... Real knowledge, at that, not pictures she made up herself of butterflies and roses and rainbow gateways into fields of sparkling crystals. "Goodbye, and - and be careful, okay? People get hurt in wars, and I really don't want that to happen to you; you've been so nice!" She didn't wait for a response, if there was one, instead choosing to turn and flee at a quick jog. Tonight had been nice, and it had given her more to think about - but something good to think about, for once. For that reason alone she felt her mood pick up, and even caught herself humming as she walked. Maybe things could be alright, after all? SSBrosB Juuuuust making my close at last, and thanks!
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