Prompt 2 (Holiday Blues): One day, in the very early morning hours, a strange, bluish fog rolls in. It floats low to the ground and is incredibly dense and incredibly cold. Anyone who inhales even a single breath from this fog will be met with a sudden, harsh sensation of sadness. It’s the worst part of the holidays—the Holiday Blues. The fog slowly spreads through the town and is gone by mid afternoon, but the sensation of sadness, loneliness, and nostalgia may linger for longer than that. Scientists are explaining the bluish tint as just being a natural phenomenon, but in Destiny City, ‘natural’ isn’t really something anyone should expect. Today would have been a good day to stay inside.
After the fight on Hy-Brasil, Celadon didn't feel so sure of herself. It was a humbling experience that hadn't left the edges of her mind, though she no longer wore the reminders of it. She tried to keep it around only as a cautionary reminder of her limitations, not a scathing review of her failures or her uselessness on the battlefield.
She couldn't look at it that way. She knew how harmful that line of thinking could get.
Celadon kept on, nonetheless. She looked for youma sometimes, like Cybele had mentioned to her when they were on her planet. Sometimes she found them, and Celadon liked to study them for a while before she tried to dispatch them. She understood that they were like Negaverse attack dogs, but she wondered if there wasn't more to them than that. Every time she found one, though, they proved to be no different than a rabid animal that she had to put down — for its sake and for everyone else's.
That evening, she hadn't spotted any youma. Celadon wandered off her intended path, dipping down into one of the snow-covered parks that she liked visiting in the earlier months. It gave her a measure of relief to have her thoughts swept away by her awe of nature, and she could think of no other spectacle as unique and breathtaking as icicles hanging from snow-laden boughs, or the smothered silence that hung in the air after a heavy snowfall. She could hear snow crunching and compacting underfoot as she trudged along in her snowshoes, leaving a large path in her wake. She felt more comfortable here, like she could finally let her guard down.
But it was cold, and only seemed to get colder with each passing minute. Initially, the chill in the air hadn't bothered her at all. Now? It bit through her clothes, through the coat she wore over her uniform, and it sank into her skin violently fast. Celadon shivered, her teeth chattering. A fog settled around her, turning the once beautiful forest into something moody and foreboding. She breathed in a sharp gasp of algid air, and —
There it was again. That same haunting feeling she'd gotten up on Hy-Brasil. How it chased her down from so far away, she'd never understand.
orangeish sherbert
Posted: Fri Jan 05, 2024 5:33 pm
Mechelen was happy that her outfit brought her tights, and long sleeves, with fancy oversleeves now. The wind was harsh today, and honestly, she was about ready to throw in the towel and call this patrol a dud and just go home and get some warm cocoa…it was definitely a night for cocoa.
Pausing, Mechelen hesitated before turning to head home when she felt another aura nearby and after a moment of arguing with herself, she finally headed towards it, putting a smile on her face and working to make herself…warmer?
Happier.
…But.
Oh.
“...Celadon?” There was something…off. The air felt off. She felt off. “...It’s…uh. Really cold tonight, isn’t it?” She wrapped her arms over her chest and forced a smile. “...Or just…really off, maybe? Or maybe I’m just tired? Crazy?” Giving a slight shudder, Mechelen shrugged. “...It’s a good night for cocoa?”
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Orangeish Sherbert
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Posted: Fri Jan 05, 2024 5:44 pm
She should have felt gladdened when she spotted Mechelen in the gloom, but she hadn't felt anything. This alarmed her, peculiar as it was, for nothing had changed between her and Mechelen when they last met. They parted on good terms. Mechelen seemed motivated. Her positivity was infectious, too, so there was no reason for her to feel indifferent toward her presence.
Nor was there any reason to feel the way she did on Hy-Brasil. She wasn't being confronted with impossible odds or inconceivable tasks. She wasn't being asked to weather all that mental anguish.
"I'm not sure," she responded with a shake of her head as she approached the other knight. "But something seems wrong. I'm getting a bad feeling." She wanted to suggest that they leave, but was that the right call? They were supposed to put a stop to untoward magical phenomena, but was there reason for them to linger if no one else was around? Was it cowardice if they had no stakes for which to fight? Celadon didn't know, and her head spun with her own indecisiveness.
"I don't know what it is." She pressed a hand to her forehead. "Wherever you want to go, we'll go."
orangeish sherbert
Posted: Fri Jan 05, 2024 6:21 pm
“...How about my place? We can go back to my house and have cocoa and maybe watch some movies–you can sleep over if you want to, I wouldn’t mind and I’m sure my parents won’t either.” It was asking a lot but…something really felt off…and all that Mechelen wanted to do was get warm, get under a blanket, perhaps hug a Squishmallow and drink cocoa. Preferably with her friend.
“It’ll be better than freezing to death out here…and…dealing with…”
She let her arm swing free and gestured widely. “Whatever’s going on…because I feel…really gross? And I have no idea why.”
If it was just the weather…indoors would solve it. Hopefully, indoors would solve everything.
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Posted: Fri Jan 05, 2024 6:58 pm
"Yeah," she answered, sounding wooden to herself. "Yeah," she tried again. "Anything sounds good. Cocoa, movies, whatever you want." Even if her parents came home and wondered why some stranger was sleeping over at their house. She just needed to get away from here — away from this feeling.
She could only hope that this enduring hopelessness wouldn't follow her home like a pall. Celadon shuddered.
"Lead the way. Just, don't go too fast. I got hurt a while ago, but I don't want to push it too much." And she didn't think she'd be able to keep up anyway.
orangeish sherbert
Posted: Fri Jan 05, 2024 7:29 pm
“It’s not so far!” Mechelen hesitated and made sure to check for other auras before she let hers go, leaving Tilly behind. “How did you get hurt? What happened? Are you okay? Was it a fight?” Reaching out, she took hold of Celadon’s hand, beginning to walk slowly towards her house.
“If you need anything for pain or like, bandages or anything. I have things stashed in my room, just in case. It’s…you know. Good to be prepared.”
She was rambling, but talking so much seemed to be tricking her brain to push away the awful…something in the air. Powering down hadn’t fixed it…so hopefully…going inside would.
“We should be there in like…ten minutes. Max.”
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Posted: Fri Jan 12, 2024 10:53 am
She wanted to remain Celadon for a while longer. It was easier to weather the cold as Celadon, much like it had been easier to bear the pain as Celadon. But when Mechelen faded away, she know it was time to let Celadon go, too.
"Oh, it's mostly healed. I just take Tylenol once in a while for the ache it left behind." She couldn't exactly pull her leggings down to show her friend, though the thought did occur to her to do so.
"I got shot in the leg by a Negaverse agent. With an arrow? I would've thought they would use guns, but," she shrugged as they walked. "Then one of their senshi came along and tried to push the arrow in deeper. So it's just taking a while longer before the muscle is done healing, I guess." She tried not to pay overly much attention to medical for her own care; she just had to follow whatever instructions were left for her and things eventually got fixed.
"Don't worry too much about it. It's like having a pulled muscle, at this point." She wasn't sure how much comfort that would be. Really, she didn't mind the pain, it was just present. And sometimes it got worse if she overexerted her leg.
She was happy to hear the walk would be short, though she would be even happier when her leg finally went back to normal. But she was content to follow Tilly to her place, because it meant moving in a direction that might be away from all the ill in the air. And maybe, if they could find shelter from it, then they could finally be glad for each other's company.
orangeish sherbert
Posted: Wed Feb 14, 2024 7:39 pm
“They shot you in the leg? With an arrow? That…holy cow.” Tilly shuddered at the thought and fell back a step to link arms with Celadon, not wanting to move too fast. “They’re awful people, I think. Seriously awful. How can anyone think that it’s okay to do something like that to another person…like…I don’t know. Chaos erodes humanity or something.”
There was a measure of disgust and worry in her voice and she gave another shudder, though fell quiet, not sure of what else to say.
It was such a terrible thought and she hoped that her friend would end up okay and wouldn’t have like…a limp forever or something like that but…no,
No she would be fine, Tilly would make sure of it but…when they got back to her house, she would simply have to make sure her friend was comfortable and that there were snacks and a fun movie, and honestly? They deserved the chance to relax and just have a little fun!
