The Fireflies (6) : In the warm summer nights, little glowing lights begin to bob and dart through the city. Fireflies are mating, so this isn't uncommon in itself; in the past few days you've probably seen hundreds of fireflies. What makes these lights so unique is that they seem to change color; you might see a blue one, a green one, a red one. They flicker randomly, and something just seems off with them. If you come into contact with one, you will find yourself with a strange electric jolt. They cannot be caught, and will flicker away if you pursue too aggressively. This isn’t the first time they’ve appeared in Destiny City, but no one’s been able to tell where they came from or where they’re going. No matter how quickly you chase them, they always seem to disappear before you can find any answers.
Yahui had slowly found his way into human life in Destiny City over the past few months. He would still get immobilizingly nervous around vehicles, gas stations, heavy machinery, and power lines, sometimes to the point of almost passing out, but hadn't smashed anything with a rock since the first time he had done it, and just gave them a superstitiously wide breadth instead. That meant he spent most of his time avoiding the city entirely, but that didn't mean he wasn't out and about intermingling with society. He had actually made quite a few friends.
The first step had been finding work at a tree nursery he could reach by bicycle, where he was pretty well-liked. His polite and agreeable personality worked out in his favor, so soon he was often out hanging out with work friends.
The second step, perhaps unfortunately, had been Pokemon GO.
Rob had gotten him a Pokemon-themed hoodie amidst the things he had picked up for him while clothes shopping, which led to Yahui asking what it was. This led to him asking to see the game for himself, which led to him playing it for six hours, which led to it being a new hobby that now consumed most of his free time. Fortunately, that didn't mean he was slacking on chores -- in fact, he always made sure they were done before heading outside with his phone again.
Instead, he was neglecting something perhaps a bit more important: Sailor Taiyi hadn't appeared in months. Not since the day he and Puck had met. And it didn't seem like there were any plans for him to come out today either, if Yahui's heading out the door straight after washing the dishes was any indication.
tatterpixie
Posted: Wed Jun 29, 2022 2:02 pm
A hand descended on the little man's shoulder before he could get a foot out the door. A hand attached to an arm with a leafy wrist bracer. "Nah, mate, not today. Not until later. We got business to see to first."
Rob had regretted telling Yahui about Pokemon, regretted buying him the Pokemon hoodie at the thrift store. He had no idea it was going to become something of an addiction for his new alien housemate. But it had, and he was concerned. Sure, it kept Yahui occupied and happy, and the numerous chores the little man had taken up around the house were getting done, he had friends of his own and wasn't getting into any trouble. Rob couldn't have asked for a better housemate.
But Yahui was also Sailor Taiyi, and he hadn't transformed into his powered form since the day Rob first brought him home. This was a definite problem, at least for Eternal Sailor Puck.
"We," Puck stated, a determined look on his face, "need to go patrolling. I've heard tell of weird s**t going on in the big park downtown, an' you and me's gonna check it out. It's Star Festival too, so maybe once we're done we can get some star charms and snacks and watch some fireworks." He rolled his eyes. "And you can play Pokemon Go then, yeah? Sound good? 'Cause we're doing it regardless of what you wanna do. Get in here and power up."
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Posted: Wed Jun 29, 2022 2:34 pm
A noise escaped Yahui's lips, one that could be best described as a whine. While the temptation of Star Festival treats was alluring, he would much prefer to follow it without having to retrieve his henshin pen.
"That sounds like it could be serious," he said nervously, before his expression jittered into a desperation-tinged smile. "Wouldn't it be better to investigate with one of your more powerful friends? Then I can heal you later if you get injured."
This was a perfectly reasonable plan. Surely Sailor Puck would see that, compliment him on his smart thinking and let him stay home.
tatterpixie
Posted: Wed Jun 29, 2022 3:11 pm
"Strange glowing bugs and fairies in the woods don't sound serious to me," Puck scowled, "but we gotta check 'em out anyway. And I'd rather have you along, so you can heal me on the spot if anything happens, yeah?"
He eased Yahui back inside and closed the door. "This shouldn't take long – just a quick look-see around the park, deal with anything NOT DANGEROUS that comes up, then power down and enjoy the festival. It'll be fun."
This was a perfectly reasonable plan. Surely Sailor Taiyi would see that, stop whingeing about not playing Pokemon Go, and cooperate.
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Posted: Wed Jun 29, 2022 4:53 pm
The alien was not convinced that anything fun could happen while he was powered up, but he gave in and fished out his henshin pen anyway. He looked at it like it was a bite of canned vegetables he was being coerced into eating. Cool-gray sparkles gracefully adorned him in his senshi garments, which he wore with a dismayed expression. The uniform fit him perfectly, and was cool and comfortable, and he couldn't wait to take it back off.
"Lead the way," he said. There was an eagerness in his voice -- that of someone eager to get this over with. A sense of dread prickled through all the knotty bits that adorned his arms and face. He should have been able to trust Puck when he said it was a simple mission and nothing was likely to go wrong, but,
he had heard that before.
The sound of the door opening back up to the outside made him grit his teeth.
tatterpixie
Posted: Thu Jun 30, 2022 11:36 am
Leaving out the back door through the garden, Puck bounded onto the nearest rooftop and headed out for the downtown park, Taiyi in tow. He didn't physically drag the little Senshi with him, but he did look over his shoulder frequently to make sure he was still there. Puck refused to completely take away Taiyi's physical autonomy, but he didn't want him running off either.
Before too long, just as evening fell, they made their destination. Puck led them into the woods, away from the few revelers that were still out and about exploring the festival. "Now, we start looking around for anything weird and NOT DANGEROUS. I need you to keep your eyes open and your mitts off your Senshi phone, right? No Pokemon til we've checked everything out."
With that, the Eternal headed deeper into the woods of the park, leaving Taiyi to his own devices and trusting (hah) that the little alien wouldn't get into too much trouble.
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Posted: Fri Jul 08, 2022 4:59 pm
Sailor Taiyi was obedient but begrudging, listlessly lagging a bit behind Sailor Puck's lead and openly wondering, "I don't understand. If it's not dangerous, do you really need me along to heal you?" in a tone that, once again, sounded quite close to a whine. Whenever a light flashed or a shadow appeared, however, the junior senshi would panic and sprint close up to the back of Puck's heels, then start lagging again after calming down.
Still, he listened to the Eternal senshi's words, and understood the task as a recon mission. He had been on several of those. So, he nodded nervously and assured, "Don't worry. I don't have the phone with the game on it!" with an awkward thumbs up, and slowly looked around for a moment before beginning to explore the area.
tatterpixie
Posted: Sat Jul 09, 2022 4:20 pm
"Good," Puck nodded in return. "You look around this area, I'm going to head a bit deeper into the woods."
The Eternal watched Sailor Taiyi for a moment before ducking away into the trees. He knew Taiyi was unhappy about this, but it was the only way he could think of to get the little alien Senshi to do his job. Besides, he was getting way too into this Pokemon Go thing, even though he did his chores around the house – he didn't do anything else.
But that was a problem for another time. Right now the problem was seeing what was going on in the park. Puck looked around as he slowly walked through the trees; there didn't seem to be anything out of place, just the usual summertime fireflies…
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Posted: Sat Jul 16, 2022 10:52 am
Sailor Taiyi watched the Eternal senshi disappear into the woods, and spent a couple of moments staring at the now-empty path he had taken. Now he was alone, powered up, and conspicuously alien in a public place.
Anxiety struck immediately. What if the 'Negaverse' found him and decided he didn't belong on Earth after all? What if a regular human found him, for that matter? What if he got lost here and Puck couldn't find him? So many things that could go wrong crowded his thoughts that he was overwhelmed by them, and he ended up sitting on the ground with his arms wrapped around his knees for a while, so afraid of the possibilities he couldn't even shiver.
Nothing happened, though. The woods just kept being the woods, full of the calming sounds of nighttime wildlife. He wondered how similar it was to the natural melodies that would play on Taiyi before he was born.
Eventually the junior senshi settled into a less frantic mood, calm and appreciative but sad. He wandered through his assigned patch of the area, slowly and dreamily, letting his hand gently settle on the trunk of a tree now and again. Even in the dark, there was something new to notice with every step, and the path he took eventually led to a small clearing full of tiny colorful lights that moved through the air like embers.
tatterpixie
Posted: Sat Jul 16, 2022 1:59 pm
Puck didn't notice how odd the fireflies were at first; he was too intent on looking for other things. After a while, though, it became evident that there was nothing out here more threatening than the tiny glowing insects, which certainly seemed harmless. It was then that he noticed that some of them were oddly colored for fireflies – glowing red and green and blue and purple, winking in and out the way normal fireflies did. "What the hell…" he murmured, reaching out to try to get one of the curious little bugs to land on him.
He poked one, and it reacted with a jolt of electricity that made his arm hurt to the shoulder.
"Ow!" he yelped, quickly pulling his hand back and cradling his arm. "Little ******** had to alert Taiyi about the weird fireflies before he got zapped. That would not be a fun thing to deal with… The Eternal made his way back to where he thought he'd left the alien Senshi, only to find he'd gone off on his own. Which was good, it meant he was doing his job and exploring, but it also meant that Puck would have to find him. "Taiyi?" he called softly, not wanting to draw unwanted attention. "Where are you?"
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Posted: Tue Dec 13, 2022 5:08 am
"Ow!"
That answered Puck's question. His watery tenor was easy to make out against all the sounds of the summer evening. He was nearby.
"Ow!" he said, again.
He kept getting occasional zaps from fireflies as he waded through a thick swarm of them, but he didn't mind. Small pains were easy to carry, especially when it came with such a vibrant reward. He was surrounded by color! His arms stuck out sideways and he twirled around in a dance of delight.
"The Earth has such amazing insects," he laughed. "I've never seen so many. Ow!"
Another sting struck him. Now his skin was starting to break out in deep sage-colored, irritated blotches.
