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 Posted: Thu Jun 17, 2021 6:03 pm
Quote: The Destiny City Reservoir is open year round but without fail always gets the most attention in the summer. It's a nice escape from the big city; it’s a five minute drive outside of the Eastern side of town and features clear water and sandy beaches--although, the sand here is notorious for squeaking when you step on it. It’s a hot spot for all fun summer activities, but recently something strange has been happening under the water. Sometimes, people feel like something is grabbing their ankle, even if they are just wading in the shallow end. In the deeper parts of the water, it gets a little more intense: something has been said to grab onto ankles and pull. People have been warned about dangerous pranks, but so far no one has been caught. In the shallow end, anyone unfortunate enough to be targeted may feel themselves being knocked off their feet and tugged into the water; anyone in deep water may feel a firm grip on their ankle, tugging them lower and lower. Somehow, anyone it targets is freed--either by wriggling and fighting, or because someone intervenes and pulls the would-be victim up. No one has drowned in the lake. Yet. It's impossible to see who, or what, is doing this, but it usually gives up after one failed attempt. Usually.
It was quite late, and the reservoir seemed like the perfect out of the way place to do a little practicing. The squeaking sand had rather disconcerted her again...but you know. It was nice that some things stayed the same in this Hell City...even if it was absurdly squeaky sand.
Sapphirine waded into the water and relaxed at the feeling of it against her fuku. It was rather a lot like the wetsuit that it mimicked, and the cooling water felt divine against it. She moved deeper into the reservoir and sighed, her hair floating around her, making the already inky surface look even darker, but that was to be expected.
The strange brush against her ankle...now...that wasn’t expected and Sapphirine jerked her leg away at the first moment, growing still and trying to listen to see if there were...any…animals that might be in the water...but…
There really shouldn’t be.
After another moment of silence, she leaned backwards and began to float, relaxing as she drifted deeper. Sure...this wasn’t swimming but...it felt so nice.
At least...it felt nice until there was another brush against her ankle, only this time it didn’t end with a brush, something was tugging hard on it. Letting out a startled yelp, Sapphirine struggled to get her bearings, frantically splashing on the surface of the water and giving a loud yell for help.
...Not that anyone was around.
...Talk about a test to see what a strong swimmer she was. <******** class="quote">Strickenized
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Posted: Fri Jun 18, 2021 4:46 am
Pavo — Psilomelane — she hadn't decided which suited her better — couldn't remember if she had ever swum. She couldn't remember if she knew how. She couldn't remember much of anything, which was a side-effect, as they had patiently explained to her, of her rescue. The White Moon court enacted a last price on her for leaving their fold, and that was her memory.
Most days, Haspira could live with that. Pavo could live with that. She didn't need to remember anything in particular to learn her duties, or to buy groceries, or get settled in some housing that wasn't particularly hers. They hadn't pressured her to get a job just yet, though she pored over webpages and personality quizzes and career recommendations in her free time regardless. She could decide who she would be, and she could start becoming a person. People had jobs they loved, to start, and while Haspira wasn't looking for love, she was looking for usefulness. She should pay the Negaverse back somehow.
She had studied and searched and narrowed down that list of careers to five, each just as useful as the last to her new organization, but she ran into a roadblock she hadn't predicted: she didn't know enough about herself to decide between them. She could be a nurse, but what if her bedside manner was terrible? She could be a social worker, but what if she found people too contemptible to work with? Between these insurmountable questions, and her rapidly deteriorating ability to comprehend complex sentences, Haspira had called time for a break.
Enter Pavo. Or Psilomelane.
Where she stood now, near the edge of the reservoir, she felt but one familiar signature. It was explained to her that this was how corrupted senshi felt, this was how she felt, and she thought it reason enough to go say hello. She hadn't firmed up her draining skill well enough to have much success with these swimmers. Maybe if this coworker — Pavomelane started.
She wasn't sure what she saw, but she wondered if it could be true -- looked like a sea creature bobbed out in the distance, swimming graceful, but it was shaped like a human. She blinked again. No, that wasn't an orca's head. She wasn't sure how she knew what an orca was, or when she'd seen one in her old life such that she recognized one in her new one, but she felt certain. Maybe she was a corrupted senshi of orcas. Maybe she could help Pavo, or Psilomelane, or whoever she was gain her bearings in this sprawling organization.
Or in life.That great and wonderful life outside of the Negaverse that she had, and didn't yet know how to put to use. It was worth the effort, she decided, to go say hello. But once she'd decided, as she started to approach, coworker dipped below the surface. It didn't look intentional.
Coworker was drowning. The newly-minted corrupt dashed into the shallow, then dove into the deeper waters and paddled out to the girl as quick as she could, heedless of if she could swim, frantic to keep her up above the water level. Pavo reached for whatever she could find — an arm, a shoulder, even her hair — as long as it meant the girl could breathe.
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Posted: Mon Jun 28, 2021 11:27 am
When Sapphirine felt the tug on her hair fear swamped her. She couldn’t fight being pulled under from both ends! She began to flail all the harder, when suddenly the weight that was pulling her ankle down seemed to just...vanish.
Gasping, she looked around to see just what had her hair and spotted another face in the water. Another face who had long hair and the same kind of aura that she did. “Oh!” Her words were breathy and she began to swim towards the shore. “Thank...thank you. Something had me...and you...you had me too. God. I thought I was going to die.” Which was terribly embarrassing. She should be stronger than this. A better swimmer. A better...well.
Everything.
Her hand reached out the moment her feet could touch the bottom of the reservoir again and she tried to free her hair. “Maybe...not the hair next time though? I know we have a lot of it but…” But. In a panicked emergency situation...she did understand...and honestly...she might have done the same.
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Posted: Tue Jun 29, 2021 6:47 am
The girl came back up, and Psilomelane was glad for it, though that gladness evaporated into embarrassment when the corrupt girl (rightfully) asked her not to grab for hair again.
"Sorry, sorry," she held her hands up so the girl would know she didn't mean it, and no longer had hold of her hair. Together they'd formed quite the black pool of hair on their own, and she was left wondering if they'd get tangled up together. "I should've thought that through.
"But, do you know what that w—" Psilomelane was sucked underwater before she finished her sentence, resulting in a garbled noise bubbling to the surface. Her great lengths of hair twisted to and fro as she thrashed underwater.
Something had her ankle. Something she couldn't see, so she reached for it, but her hair swamped across her face and around her throat and through her hands and she couldn't make out anything.
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Posted: Tue Jun 29, 2021 10:01 pm
Sapphirine gave a little laugh, now that the fright and panic was gone...obviously the other corrupt hadn’t meant it. “No, no thank you seriously. I have no idea--s**t.”
When the other girl was pulled under the water Sapphirine drew in a deep breath and kicked herself back under, grabbing onto the outstretched arm and pulling the the other corrupt through the water, determined not to talk or stop swimming until they were both out of this trash compactor monster hell.
Her grip was strong enough to bruise, she was sure but...like Hell she would let a fellow corrupt drown, especially when she had just been saved from the same fate
When she reached the shore, Sapphirine sighed heavily and dropped onto the sand, rolling onto her back. “Oh my god...I hate how heavy I always feel when I leave the water...this is stupid...are you okay? I have no idea what the hell was in that water but...we’re both out now. So...thank you for saving me. I didn’t expect to return the favor so soon! Are you good? If you’re not, don’t hold back. I...can’t do much but. Still. Don’t hold back.”
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Posted: Thu Jul 01, 2021 3:39 am
Her grip hurt, but Psilomelane wasn't complaining about it anytime soon. She'd rather have a bruised arm than drown, so she kicked and she paddled and she tried to keep up with her. Her hair kept tangling around her legs and arms, and trying to pour into her mouth as she kept her head above water. She could tell she wasn't used to swimming in it.
They made it to shore, and she felt so heavy that Psilomelane didn't try to stand up afterward — she just army crawled her way out of the water's touch, then laid flat on her stomach with her arms folded under her head. She didn't want to think about how long it would take for their hair to dry.
She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I'm going to guess it was some kid in scuba gear trying to prank people." She wasn't ready for any powered alternatives yet, or deep sea creepies. It was going to be a kid in the water. That was it.
"I'm okay now. Thanks for your help." She probably would've found and killed that kid if this corrupt hadn't taken a more sensible approach and helped her leave.
"I'm Psilomelane. Um… Any idea how long it'll take for us to dry out?" They looked like a pair of beached giant's brooms out there and it would probably attract attention.
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Posted: Sat Jul 03, 2021 4:39 pm
Sapphirine let out another long breath, simply reveling in the fact that they weren’t dead. They weren’t being pulled under the water and they weren’t...well. Dead.
It was a seriously wonderful thing to celebrate, if you thought about it.
“It might have been a kid in scuba gear...though...that’s a big waste of scuba gear and there weren’t any air bubbles...it might have been waterweeds. I’m going to pretend it was waterweeds and not come back here at night, that sounds like a very sound and secure plan...as for drying out…”
Glancing around, Sapphirine gave a soft hum and let her powered form drop, leaving Kalina in her place. “If you want, you can come back to my place, get a shower and get dried off and I can even supply food...maybe ice cream to sweeten this terrible ordeal we’ve both dealt with. When I’m not fancy and powered, I’m Kalina. I hope we could be friends or something...if you’re into that.”
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Posted: Wed Jul 07, 2021 3:15 am
"Waterweeds." Psilomelane gave a thumbs up from where she lay face-down in the sand.
Then her new acquaintance's signature evaporated like spilled water on a hot day, and she unburied her face far enough to glance up where her companion should've been. She found someone who looked much the same, but with a different outfit and much more manageable hair. She still looked wet, but at least she could get up without her hair pulling her back down.
If the corrupt senshi dropped her power, then… Psilomelane pushed herself up enough to see that no one else was looking in their direction now, and followed suit. She felt her burden drop away, replaced with her dry clothes clinging to her wet body. Much better, she decided. Much more manageable.
She pulled herself up until she was sitting on folded legs, feeling better already.
"I'm…" Frowning, she dug around in her thrift store plastic jade purse, the tassels jingling about while she searched. She brought out a plastic wallet, opened it, looked inside. "Haspira." That only took way longer than should've been necessary. "I'm new to this. Very. New. To this." She explained, hoping Kalina would understand.
"So I'll take all the friends I can get, thank you. And ice cream sounds wonderful." Her smile was a relieved one, and she held out her free hand toward the girl.
First friend in the Negaverse, maybe.
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Posted: Wed Jul 07, 2021 4:07 pm
Kalina watched as the other corrupt powered down as well and as she had to look at her ID before giving her name and blinked slowly. “Oh uh...no worries! You’ve...got me for a friend now and that’s all I think you need. I hope you like cats!” She took the proffered hand and grinned. “It’s wonderful to meet you, Hispira. I’ll help you all I can...I know full well it sucks to be doing this without any friends to help you out.”
Hence why she had left for so long...but.
“Now neither of us are alone so...here we go. Ice cream and debriefing at my place...also known as ice cream and a slumber party with my cats!”
The perfect ending to a terrible tangle of waterweeds.
Yup. Water weeds.
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