The Lantern Festival (7) : Scientists have been hard at work trying to understand the strange, glowing qualities of the luminescent caterpillars found in the caves by the reservoir. The caterpillars still shrivel up if they are taken out of the caves but their glowing secretions have been processed into an organic paste that can withstand the outside world. The city is selling paper lanterns infused with various seeds. The glow paste is full of minerals to support healthy plant growth without risking damage to the environment; all lantern purchases come with a small packet of activating power that will heat the paste up enough to mimic the effects of a candle without the concerns of flammability. When the glow paste loses its heat, the lantern will return to the Earth and upon the first rain (or any contact with water) the paper will dissolve and the seeds may begin to grow. All proceeds from the lanterns are put right back into the community to support local conservation and environmental protection efforts.
Illyria's tail twitched. Her keen eyes took in the crowds milling around even as she rode on Orah's shoulder. The night was getting on but the pair had come on a specific mission to the grounds where the festival was in full swing. A few years ago she and Orah had gone to the Wishing Tree in order to help fulfil the wish they'd pulled down. That had been a blessing for the subject of the wish and Illyria was always keen to try and fulfil more. Tonight though they passed the tree with the multitude of paper slips affixed to it. Maybe there would be time to examine the tree when they returned; or Illyria could try and fulfil a wish on her own at some other time.
Feeling relaxed enough to purr gently Illyria's voice was whisper soft as she brought her face closer to Orah's right ear, "It's strange, everything seems so peaceful tonight ... but just a few months ago humanity came so close to being ended, courtesy of the battle with Hallow. It really puts things into a strange perspective."
For once Illyria was silent after making that remark. Her bonded partner probably didn't need to be reminded of the battle, nor all the others that she'd been in before. Her purr faltered before starting again as she butted her head gently into the junction where head and shoulder met as a form of silent apology. Illyria didn't want to ruin the mood of the evening and their purpose out here tonight. She and Orah had planned this outing earlier in the week. The table that was selling the lanterns was their destination in what would be part one of their little plan.
Whimsical Blue
Posted: Tue Jul 08, 2025 11:30 am
Ida reached up to put a sympathetic hand on Illyria's side, both steadying her and stroking the soft fur. There had been so many Earth-ending battles against so many other threats... nothing quite as Lovecraftian as the Hallow had been, but Ida was no stranger to looking out of the city with awe that it was still there. Unchanged, moving along as though nothing had happened, or almost happened.
"I know, it's a weird feeling." She responded, her voice just as low. Ida might, weirdly, be used to the incongruous feeling, but she wasn't sure if she'd ever truly be used to seeing the city unmoved, and Illyria certainly had no reason to be.
"All we can do is keep moving forward. If we ever stop trying, I think that's when we'll truly be in trouble."
She had certainly seen where that road led... the darkness of her mind that had come with that chaos infestation, and how close she had been to abandoning everything. But Illyria had been there, and Kerberos, and Painite, of all people...
"Like what we're doing now." Ida said as she passed through the gathered people toward the table selling lanterns. She tried to keep the transaction as short and quick as possible, ignoring how the seller gawked at how she was dressed and the cat on her shoulder. She had cash, that's all that should really matter. Lanterns in hand, she made for the outskirts of the crowd and headed deeper into the park to find somewhere quiet and private for the pair of them.
"Ready?" She gave Illyria a moment to settle herself again before she took out her senshi phone and teleported both of them to the familiar warmth and sunshine of Ida, right in the middle of the garden outside of her tower.
Illyria mulled over Ida's words as her partner made her way towards the table to purchase the lanterns that they needed. The owner of the table's open gawking at Ida's clothing and worse, the plain stare down that she was getting had the Mauvian's fur bristling. Her tail whipped back and forth for a few seconds before she took a deep breath to calm down. What did it matter if she and Ida appeared to be a different sort of customer than the seller was used to? They should have been grateful for the transaction and left it at that.
Illyria's mind drifted back to Ida's words from minutes before and she heaved a sigh. The thought of everyone simply giving up and not fighting would have been a real tragedy. How many times would the world possibly have ended if chaos simply were allowed a free reign or if no one thought to work together for the common good? Shaking her head the feline muttered to herself before looking up at the darkness of the park around them before she allowed her tail to still and her emotions to reset. At Ida's query of if she were ready, the answer she gave was a soft mewing of assent. Illyria was always ready to visit Ida's home in space.
As the vista of Destiny City faded from view to be replaced by the sunshine of Ida's asteroid, Illyria visibly relaxed. It was always so freeing to be surrounded by the atmosphere of a world that was thriving under the devotion of a senshi who understood what it meant to be an active caretaker. Stretching a little on Ida's shoulder Illyria's frame rippled with the motion before she actively pushed off of her perch in order to change to her humanoid form. Bare feet dug into the dirt of the garden and Illyria spun around slowly, as if to take everything in. It seemed as if her strand of lights were still hanging up and in good condition which was a good sign. The Mauvian was pleased to see them.
"The lights haven't caused any issues, have they," she queried of Ida. She had hoped that they wouldn't have been problematic. Considering it was mostly kept to the garden she was crossing her fingers that her decision to spruce up the place hadn't been too rash. She had just wanted to do something nice as a surprise.
Illyria raised her left hand to idly trail a finger along the strand closest to her before moving closer to her bonded partner. Her eyes lit on the lanterns taking in the patterned designs. The sunshine had her tilting her face upwards as she drew in a deep breath, "I know we have a duty back in the city, but it often feels like it's a crime to leave this place once we're here."
Whimsical Blue
Posted: Fri Jul 18, 2025 1:00 pm
Grinning, Ida shook her head and reached out as Illyria did to touch one of the lights and send the bulb swinging.
“No! They’re lovely! You can put up anything you want. Or make changes to things. I feel like this place is sort of yours now too, so you have a right to make your mark on it.” Reaching out impulsively, she wrapped one arm around the cat-turned-girl and gave her a side hug. “I trust that you won’t take apart anything actually important, so go ahead and do whatever you like. There is enough space for both of us.”
Looking out over the garden, Ida nodded slowly and let her breath out in a soft sigh.
“This place really is wonderful. I did stay here for a while one summer… I had a lot of emotions I was dealing with, over the war and things. I only came back to DC when I ran out of supplies, and only long enough to restock them. It helped a lot to be here alone in the silence with just myself, doing things to fix the place up and build out the garden. If you ever feel like you need that, you’re welcome to it. We have a good amount of supplies stored up and the garden is doing well. You could take a break for a while. Call it a sabbatical.”
She’d miss the small cat terribly, of course. She could see her any time she visited Ida, but it wasn’t the same as having her at home every night. Lifting the lanterns, Ida gestured back at the tower.
Gently Illyria relaxed into Ida's hug. The absolute trust that Ida had in her to allow her to remain on Ida for any length of time, like a vacation, warmed Illyria up inside. Given the relaxing, pastoral feel of the asteroid Illyria wouldn't turn down the offer but then the worry crept in. Her eyes brightened with appreciation at that moment only to then briefly dim. If there ever came a time that she would need to recharge though, this would be the place. Even as Ida continued to talk Illyria could feel her fingers twitch at the prospect of playing inventor on some of the broken down pieces of technology that lay strewn about. What sort of marvels could be discovered if a Mauvian worked up here for a long stretch of time? Ida had once told her about her world's history in being a place where people were sent to recover from their ailments. She had seen the inoperable beds on the second floor of Ida's tree tower before.
The ideas on how to possibly get them working ran through her mind before she turned her gaze to the foliage above them. The question of where to release the lanterns came up and Illyria scrunched her nose before voicing her decision, "I think the top of the tower. If we released them here then there'd be the chance they don't go very far, especially if the trees catch and hold them."
Moving to follow after the Orchid Senshi did Illyria tamp down on the worry she was feeling, lest Ida pick up on it through their bond. It was such a silly little thing that she was worried about but Illyria couldn't help it. She cleared her throat as she followed after her partner, "If I were to be up here for an extended period of time, you would be safe without me?"
The lingering thought of how she'd failed one senshi still rankled in the back of her mind. It was true that Ida was perhaps stronger than most of the other senshi that she had interacted with ... but that one large rooftop battle still haunted Illyria. She hadn't been bonded with Ida yet, but the outcome could have gone a lot worse than what had actually happened.
