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 Posted: Fri Jun 16, 2023 11:54 pm
Quote: Predatory Puddles (11) : Summer rains aren’t uncommon, so finding puddles dotting your path isn’t in itself particularly surprising or abnormal. However, as you walk past them, you feel the sensation of being watched, like eyes are on you. If you look into the puddles, you don’t see your reflection--nor the reflection of anything familiar to you. Instead, you see strange, decayed buildings, and odd, rotting plants. Something is watching you through the puddles, but before you can investigate, between one blink and the next, it’s all gone. When you look back, the puddles are oddly non-reflective, and then in the next blink, they’re all gone. The feeling of being watched doesn’t fade, though. Lepus generally wasn't really a person who was all too terribly phased by the strange happenings that occurred around Destiny City, especially not the ones that happened around the changing of the seasons... as long as they didn't hurt people, of course. Or as long as they didn't hurt people too much? She was supposed to be a defender of justice and all that, but she also enjoyed a good challenge here and there, every now and then. There was always something new and exciting to investigate, some new cryptid to beat up sometimes maybe, too. As long as it was just relatively harmless pranks, it was all good... clean... fun... right? Right! (Of course... Lepus was also a bit of an oddity, so her idea of 'fun' differed from others', most likely.) It had rained recently, so the various puddles dotted along the streets that were her path tonight weren't anything unusual at first, and Lepus may have even considered doing the childish action of puddle jumping, even, if she had been wearing rainboots. As she continued to walk past the puddles, however, she began to have the nagging feeling that someone or something was watching her, which bothered the teen greatly, as games like this were only fun when she had some level of control over them. It was unfair- she was supposed to be the trickster rabbit here! Other things trying to trick her when she wasn't expecting it was cheating! "Who's there?" she called out, not quite fathoming just yet that perhaps whatever was watching her was in the puddles.
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Posted: Sat Jun 17, 2023 7:01 am
Something in the puddles might have been watching Lepus, it was true. But someone was also watching Lepus through a pair of binoculars she had bought for a nature hike that she had canceled. Turned out that they were far more useful for getting a good look at senshi outfits for cataloguing before she was spotted.
Or, in this instance, felt. Psilomelane drew a slow breath in, then let it out. Then she dismissed her binoculars back to subspace and stood from her spot on the rooftop.
She had been hidden by a parapet, where she laid on one of her torn-off skirts to protect herself from the dingy ground. This building had large holes at the bottom of the parapet to prevent rooftop flooding, and they proved perfect for spying. She was surprised that this one sensed her, though; she didn't think she was close enough for her aura to be picked up.
But down she came anyway, with raised hands when she could spare them. Psilomelane wasn't in SpecOps; it would be stupid of her to try to attack an Eternal, especially since she lacked damaging magic.
"My name is Pavo," she explained, though as she approached, she was starting to feel like the Eternal Senshi wasn't the only one being watched.
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Posted: Sat Jun 17, 2023 1:41 pm
Lepus, in all her infinite wisdom… or lack thereof, did not immediately jump to attack Pavo, though she did stare dumbly at the corrupt for half a second before snapping back to reality. Blessedly, she didn’t immediately move to attack, despite her tendency to punch first, maybe ask questions later, perhaps because there was still that part of her leftover from her early chibi senshi days, where she managed to befriend a few folks on the ‘other side’. Still, though, it was clear that the cogwheels in her head were struggling to process this turn of events. “Uhh, I’m Lepus?” the teen finally spoke, though she couldn’t stop herself from sounding confused, “Was that you that was watching me? ‘Cuz uh. I felt like something was watching me, and then you showed up, but I didn’t know you were here, and it still feels like I’m being watched.” Normally, this would be the part where she did one of her stupid poses, probably also made some dramatic speech about how she was so certain that she caught Pavo in the act, and that this was some sort of trap, because, well. Certainly if she was still being watched, that meant there were others nearby, yes? Only thing was, she didn’t sense anyone else, and even Pavo’s appearance caught her by surprise. Strickenized bless her she’s trying her best but the shared braincell is with someone else today
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Posted: Sun Jun 18, 2023 6:55 pm
She was certain she'd never met Lepus before, but being that Lepus was Eternal, Psilomelane was thrown off-kilter by the girl's shock. She didn't think it would be possible to surprise an Eternal, but today was the day to prove that thought wrong.
"I feel it too," she admitted carefully. "It doesn't feel natural."
Lepus was open enough to talk to her and even give her name, so Psilomelane spared the moment to look about herself. It was true, she couldn't see or feel anyone of a powered persuasion in the area. Most of the rooftops were ones that spared few hiding spots but for the one that she had commandeered — the rest were either gabled or flat with no manner of retaining wall. If there were any maintenance men up on the roofs that day, watching them, they were far too well-hidden for her taste.
She glanced toward the streets, but no one was looking up — like usual, most of Destiny City was staring down at their phones or chatting with the people beside them. What caught her eye, however, was that the leftover rain puddles near her did not reflect the shining sun.
That was bizarre, but maybe she was just at the wrong angle for it.
"I don't think there's anyone else around. I have heard from other senshi that more magical phenomena tend to happen during festivals like these; I think we should trust our instincts and leave the area."nyamomask it's okay, pavo is trying to take all the braincells and be boring and logical /sigh
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Posted: Thu Jun 22, 2023 6:46 pm
"Hmm, yes, a lot of suspicious stuff happens during these specific times of the year," Lepus mused, nodding in agreement. Maybe she shouldn't have been agreeing with a corrupt so readily, but Pavo wasn't exactly wrong, though? Like those other senshi had told her, this was one of those festivals where things like that happened, and Lepus was no stranger to it happening to herself, even though they still tended to catch her off-guard sometimes. Pavo then suggested they should leave the area, and Lepus was... well, she didn't necessarily disagree with the idea, but she still couldn't shake the feeling of wrongness. Sure, they could leave, but where was Pavo's sense of adventure, to investigate? Or did the Negaverse just like. Not know how to live a little. "That does sound like the best course of action," the teen said, though her tone of voice suggested she didn't entirely agree. Strickenized lepus quite unfortunately agrees that pavo is being boring
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Posted: Fri Jun 23, 2023 5:16 am
Sure, she admitted that Psilomelane called the best course of action, but she wasn't moving. She stared at the other girl, feeling a little perplexed.
If there's danger afoot, and there's no reason for either of them to stick around in the area, then didn't it make the most sense to just leave? Psilomelane didn't need to be here, and likely, neither did Lepus. Sure, they could root around the area and look for whoever was watching them and beat them up, but when it was most likely a bunch of perverts? Psilomelane doubted that would teach anyone anything, and it certainly wouldn't rectify the feeling of being watched.
But there they were. Still in the same area. Not leaving.
"What… What else do you propose to do?" She asked at last, but she managed to keep her tone neutral. If Lepus had a different idea of what to do here, then maybe it would give Psilomelane some insight into how the White Moon thought.
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Posted: Sun Jun 25, 2023 1:11 am
" What else?" Lepus repeated incredulously, as if Pavo should have known what she was about to propose (because Lepus tended to be highly predictable when she wasn't making impulsive decisions in the thick of battle), "What do you mean, what else? We haven't figured out what's causing this whole, like, weird 'being watched' feeling, right? We should, like, investigate, and y'know, maybe see if we can't get to the bottom of this mystery?" 'Find it and beat it up' was exactly what Lepus was proposing to do, and if Pavo thought she might gain some insight into how the White Moon worked, she was looking at the wrong senshi for that. "'Cause like, if we stop it, it'll go away, and then we can make sure it doesn't happen for anyone else." Or go anywhere else? She was being very smart with this line of thinking. Very very smart.
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Posted: Thu Jul 13, 2023 6:50 pm
Psilomelane took a moment to mull over what Lepus was saying. Nodding, she spoke again. "I understand what you're saying. If you find the source and stop the source, then in theory, you won't encounter the same phenomenon again. But that assumes that stopping it won't cause it to occur again later, to someone else.
"It could be like stopping a teenager from jumping off a roof. If you consider their legs the source of their ability to jump off the roof, then breaking their legs will stop the activity, but only for a while. Once they recover, they might go back to doing the dame action."
She didn't like that she felt watched by the very same thing that they discussed, but there was little to do for it with the other senshi refusing to move. She shuddered under the feeling nonetheless.
"But, if you still consider it a worthwhile pursuit if the phenomenon is stopped temporarily, then I can help you find the source. We might start by looking for something that doesn't seem right, whether that's an aura or a sound or something else."
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