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.
With one's eyes closed there was a good chance that one would miss the important details that spoke of oddities going on. Lysanna had her eyes closed for another reason. Even as she lay out on the grassy hillock that she had stumbled across did she roll over onto her back and force herself to stare up into the sky. The prison of the Calamitous Hallow was still visible. The creature had been defeated by all those that had come together to prevent the destruction of Earth but it still haunted the cadet, knowing that although defeated, the prison was still within striking range of the planet. What would happen if it broke free again? Those who had fought wouldn't have the same time to prepare if that happened.
Rolling back onto her side so that the view of the sky above was not visible Lysanna gave the woods around her a cursory glance before running her fingers through the grass. It had been a clearing, not unlike this one, that she had landed in two years back. Her arrival had been one of a few new faces amongst the Vanguard and while she was happy to be of assistance to her fellow teammates, there was a sense of divide among certain individuals. Yet they still came together in times of need. At least they still had camaraderie to fall back on in dire situations.
Moving to push herself off of the grass Lysanna froze. What was this? Pinpricks of light had begun to emerge from the depths of the eaves of the tree that ringed her clearing; lights that darted back and forth with no discernible pattern. Insects? Lysanna's hand brushed the sleeve of her uniform, activating the tech that all Vanguard members carried with them. A holographic screen materialized and the cadet studied the read out that was provided before pursing her lips in thought. Lampyridae, or fireflies, as they were more commonly known as. Her device beeped again and she rose to her feet before extending her arms as if to try to gently coax said insects to land on her outstretched palm. She'd not harm them but a closer examination was needed.
A secondary beep from the Comtech had Lysanna give the smallest indication of wariness. Someone powered, an Order signature, was beginning to appear on her GPS radar. Maybe it would be someone that she knew .. or maybe it would be someone new. Either way Lysanna's focus was still on trying to coax a firefly onto her outstretched palm.
xHonkzilla
Posted: Sun Jul 06, 2025 10:10 pm
Despite the humidity, the night’s softer warmth was a respite from the scalding heat of the day, a mercy for a senshi spending an evening on patrol. Even the rancid chicken monsters seemed to be giving her a break for the day and Tempesti was more than a little bit grateful for that fact, though she experienced the slightest twinge of anxiety about the possibility of jinxing herself in the chicken department. She sighed, stretched, and decided to focus on the fact that for now at least, there were no dire chickens threatening her life or nostrils. Still, she would take the oddities of the past week over the blind terror of that thing flailing around in the sky. And its friends in some horrible distant hungry abyss.
Right.
Stay in the moment. That’s what every one of the thousand things her sisters had sent her said. They were doing their best, no matter how much they disapproved of her situation. Odd as it was to say that they disapproved of cosmic circumstances. So she would stay in the moment in exchange for them doing their best.
No chickens, no snake monsters, no twilight space between life and death.
Her eyes slid closed as she took another deep breath.
Soft lights flickered around her when she opened her eyes and for several seconds she was transported back to Tempesti. The grotto of the Primordial Tower and the colorful lights that buzzed about its lake, unbeknownst to the young senshi, a curious lavender wisp danced about among the other lights. Glancing around, she registered another person enjoying the fireflies. One of those…not-senshi aliens? Maybe? Probably? That she’d seen from a distance during the fight against Harold. No one had told her much about them and she had no idea where they stood in terms of the conflict between Order and Chaos. Approaching the stranger cautiously she gave a small wave, “Erm, hello! These fireflies are lovely, aren’t they?” Hopefully the alien spoke English and if not, hopefully she recognized a friendly tone.
Lysanna's hand twitched at the sound of another individual addressing her. The result was that she inadvertently jerked her hand up in surprise. The insect that had been close to landing on her outstretched palm flew away but not before leaving a parting gift behind. The sensation of being shocked from a creature that wasn't supposed to have that ability had Lysanna staring at the remaining fireflies with an expression of disbelief. What the heck had that been? The affected area of her hand twitched as the pain signals finally reached her brain and she tried to hide the visible wince before she turned around to face the one that had brought on this particular unpleasantness.
It was harder than she anticipated to completely wipe away an expression of hurt as an indirect result of the senshi's greeting had generated, but Lysanna did try. The senshi was one that she did not recognize. It wasn't Cernunnos, Urania or Hugbell, but someone completely new. Her lips quirked upwards a little as she replayed back the comment that had been directed at her before she shook her head.
"I don't know. I think the beauty of these fireflies have been stripped away. Now they just seem dangerous. Normal fireflies don't have the ability to emit painful shocks, do they?"
Deciding to err on the side of caution Lysanna moved away from the grouping of insects even as a few began to bob and weave through the clearing, showering any potential witness to flashes of light that were definitely not spoken of in her tech database. "Are they always so colorful," she queried of this senshi as she moved to stand a little closer to her.
Honkzilla
Posted: Tue Jul 08, 2025 9:06 pm
The pained discomfort on the alien’s face evoked a sympathetic reaction in the senshi, who felt more than a little bit guilty for startling her, not to mention the fact that she seemed to have earned her some kind of a shock from the insect. Fireflies weren’t exactly something she thought of as having notable defense mechanisms but she could hardly call herself an expert on any insect. Maybe it was some kind of reaction to something in the stranger’s biology. Cautiously, she held a hand out. Maybe it wasn’t the best idea, but she had never had any great skill at restraining her curiosity. A soft hiss announced the brief contact between her skin and the firefly. OK, it was definitely not something about her being an alien.
The ones on her homeworld were definitely colorful, with all the shifting hues of the setting sun, but she hadn’t touched any so she had no idea if they were as aggressively sparky as this lot was. “I thought something about your biology might have triggered a reaction, but these aren’t regular fireflies. At least none that I’ve met before. I have no idea about the colors though. One sec, let me look it up.” She summoned her phone from her subspace and quickly keyed in her question. “It looks like most of them are yellow, green, or white but there are some that are blue and red. As far as I know there aren’t any of those around here though.”
"All the same, I don't know if I could look at these specific fireflies in the same light anymore," she paused before adding, "no pun intended."
Lysanna's discomfort from the shock had slowly begun to dissipate and now she was more curious about this senshi who had shown up. Given the fact that she was technically a latecomer to the initial Vanguard mission she wouldn't know where this senshi stood on their opinion on things. Heck, maybe she didn't even know who the Vanguard even were. Shrugging a little the cadet fingered the side of her sheathed blade before opting to express the uncertainty over this stranger in a less hostile manner.
"Are strange occurrences like this common here in the city? Fireflies that emit shocks or other weird reports that I've heard. I don't recall things like this happening last year."
Although there were those weird flowers that she and Naeria had tried to study, and the adventures with the kosopods. But that was all the strangeness that she had encountered.
Holding out her hand, Lysanna had learned about the custom of handshakes, she placed her other hand over where a human heart would be located before smiling, "I'm Lysanna by the way."
Honkzilla
Posted: Thu Jul 10, 2025 8:23 pm
Tempesti decided to leave unsaid the fact that she was also prone to zapping people, after all she had no intention of zapping this woman. “You could definitely say that these oddities are common. I went most of my life without encountering any of these things and then last October I ran into a youma and it’s just kind of been…happening ever since. Not just the Order and Chaos stuff, this is pretty tame by comparison. Though, I’ve never met one of your people. I saw a big group from a distance when we fought Har- the Calamitous Hollow but I didn’t talk to anyone.”
Alien etiquette was far beyond her so she could only hope that she didn’t misspeak, but her new acquaintance seemed to know at least about Earth’s, and she took her outstretched hand and shook it. “I’m Sailor Tempesti, nice to meet you.”
She had no idea how many of her species were present on Earth, or if Chaos had destroyed their homeworld like it had so many others. Neither question was of the “ask at first meeting” variety so she held her tongue despite her curiosity.
Lysanna took a note of what Tempesti had been saying before she made a sound of interest. If this senshi had been fighting the Hallow then it was for sure possible that she had seen members of her group there. Even Lysanna had been there and it was with the help of a senshi that she had been able to reconnect with the larger group after meeting halfway across the field with Vyn and Cypher.
Learning that these oddities were common Lysanna gave a small frown, "I had hoped that wasn't the case but I'm beginning to see the truth in your words. Last summer was the first one I experienced here in this city and I had multiple occasions in which unexplained things were happening," her gaze flicked to the fireflies that were still flitting about but she made sure that none were getting too close to any part of her body. Her gaze went back as Tempesti introduced herself and she nodded, memorizing the name. Now she had another senshi's name locked in her mind that she could write down later but so far this senshi was being completely sweet. "I was at that battle to protect the planet. It's strange being drawn into conflict to save this planet when we're still trying to save our own."
Honkzilla
Posted: Tue Jul 15, 2025 11:46 pm
Tempesti felt an odd twinge of guilt at delivering what was clearly a bit of unwelcome news. Obviously whatever vortex drew strangeness to Destiny City wasn’t anything of her making, but she still wished that she had something more reassuring to offer. Her feelings on the matter only intensified when Lysanna mentioned her people’s mission to save their own world. Whether it was Chaos or some other cosmic threat, she couldn’t fathom having to actively fight a war on two fronts like that. Two planets. Tempesti’s homeworld was waking from a long sleep but in the greater scheme of things was not in any immediate danger. Being trapped on a strange planet with a dominant species that was…intense, to say the least…that had to feel almost insurmountable. She wondered if it was possible to help them.
“I wish I had better news there,” the senshi smiled self-consciously as she spoke, “I can’t imagine how that must feel for you. All of your people, I mean.” She was well aware that she lacked the capacity to properly express the sympathy she felt, particularly in the face of her own inexperience. Questions about whether or not their world was habitable felt inappropriate for the moment, she didn’t want to turn this into an interrogation, after all. “I was mostly focused on trying not to die, but when we fought that…thing…I saw the shield your people built. It was incredible. Who knows how many lives it saved?” Her voice betrayed her admiration. She had no idea what their intentions were in terms of Earth itself, but with everything their work did she couldn’t deny a sense of gratitude.
"I wasn't even aware of the shield to be honest. I'd been separated at the beginning and was, at least in my opinion, way too close to the figure that blasted the Hallow with the chaotic energy at the beginning of the battle. After that I tagged along with another senshi who was able to help me navigate my way back to my group. I reckon that the shield saved a lot of lives though. I didn't get to see it in action up close and in person though."
Lysanna's gaze turned back to the fireflies before something caught her eye on the ground. In all the chaos of being zapped and then having this encounter did it seemingly get overlooked. Bending over the cadet picked up the keychain and hummed thoughtfully at it's appearance before she held it out to Tempesti, "is this an appropriate time to say finders, keepers? I know they hand these out to all that attend the festival going on, but if someone dropped it all the way out here, what is the likelihood that they'd return for it?"
Already Lysanna had assumed it was her newest keepsake item from Earth but it would be hard to let it go if she had to. The colors of the charm shimmered with an opalescent sheen that she found herself willing to hold onto.
Honkzilla
Posted: Fri Jul 18, 2025 3:43 pm
Tempesti scowled slightly at the mention of that woman. She still didn’t know her name, but that display had done more than enough to make clear the sort of person she was.
“I wasn’t near her, but she still blasted me.” Her lip curled slightly in uncharacteristic disdain before she smoothed her expression. “Even with the stakes as high as they were I think she wanted to hurt people. If she could channel that much power I’m sure she could have controlled herself.” She shook her head in an attempt to dismiss the anger she felt rising at the memory. “I’m glad you made it through all of that in one piece.” It would have been horribly unfair for the other woman’s people to be driven from their home only to face destruction on Earth.
The sight of the star charm brought a smile to the senshi’s face, it seemed a small thing for the alien to claim for her own and easily replaced by one of the charms in her own subspace once she was alone. “I think it’s a great time for that, I doubt anyone would make their way back here tonight anyway. There are plenty of people giving them out so it’s not like they couldn’t get another if they didn’t return.”
Lysanna listened to the words that Tempesti spoke as she continued to gently examine the charm she'd found. Her gaze went back to the fireflies that were still drifting throughout the clearing before she grimaced. If the price of simply coming into contact with one was a painful shock, then she'd forget the idea of trying to coax one into some sort of specimen container in order to study it. But it doesn't mean I won't forget about this incident either, she thought to herself.
"I'm glad that by that apparent rule that this charm is one I can now call my own. I find that I don't want to part with it."
Flicking her gaze back towards the sky Lysanna felt the smallest sense of apprehension for things that could still possibly come for Earth before she hissed softly, "I hope things settle down for the most part. I'm beginning to realize that even though I want to help everywhere, all at once, that it's just not feasible."
Lysanna's gaze moved back to Tempesti before she rolled her shoulders in order to release some tension. "I would like to ask a favor, if I could. Would there be a time, in the future, that I might be able to accompany you to your place in space? I've only known my synthetic world. We are trying to save it, but also the planet we once called home before. We could arrange to meet perhaps at a later time but I think all I would like to do is take some readings from a system that is new to me. Earth is not new to our group but maybe there are answers to be gleaned from places that are under guardianship of their active senshi."
Honkzilla
Posted: Tue Jul 22, 2025 6:39 pm
From her own limited experience Tempesti was fairly certain that Earth would not see any long-term cessation of…whatever weirdness happened to be threatening it on any given day. Between the Dark Star, the cancer that is Chaos, and run of the mill human activities it was a certainty that things would get worse before they got better. Despite having reached that discouraging conclusion, she found her own drive invigorated. Some sheer stubbornness within her refused to allow any outside threat to change the way she approached the world.
“I know exactly what you mean about wanting to help everybody. Doesn’t stop me from trying.
Lysanna’s request definitely caught Tempesti off-guard as did the revelation that her own planet was synthetic, to say nothing of the questions raised by the existence of their first homeworld. The implications of the other woman’s words sank heavily into her psyche, the sheer horror and desperation that must come with her people’s plight. If her own world could give any insight into helping make their position…less horrifying.
“Of course, I’d like to help if I can. It’s not fully…awake…yet, but life has been coming back ever since I started visiting.” She wondered where Lysanna’s planet’s senshi was, if they’d been reincarnated somewhere on that synthetic world. “But you’re welcome to study it. As long as we don’t do anything to disrupt the ecosystem there, since it’s still healing and all.”
Lysanna let her expression show the gratitude she was feeling to Tempesti, even as she tucked the charm away for safe keeping. The rules set out were logical ones and she nodded in understanding.
"I would completely honor the terms you have spoken of. I would just like the chance to examine things. I'd do my best to leave everything in situ. Scans only, no specimen taking."
Lysanna glanced around the area, now seemingly excited for this future off-world expedition. Her eyes shone with purpose as she nodded to the senshi before taking note that the fireflies were vanishing from the clearing. "I think I will follow the example of these fireflies and head home. But thank you for this Tempesti."
