Welcome to Gaia! ::

When Tempesti first saw the odd little wisp at the edge of her vision she thought it might be another of those strange fireflies she’d encountered when she met that Valencian woman, but the thing? Entity? Whatever it was seemed far more interested in her than any random bug might, lavender flitting around her face in a quick but decisive pattern that suggested curiosity, observation even. Any attempts to touch it met with a quick dart just out of her reach and she got the distinct impression that it was teasing her. Still, it didn’t feel malicious and she wasn’t one to mind unconventional company.

She couldn’t exactly say that she was patrolling exclusively for allies of Chaos at this point. While their energy signatures were her priority, she felt the need to put in the extra time to make sure that none of the…seasonal…oddities got too out of hand for people unable to defend themselves. Unfortunately for the senshi and her nostrils, she got the distinct impression that at least one of those oddities was prepared to present itself as a nest filled with large, strange eggs materialized within the shadows at the edge of the walkway. Sighing, she began scanning the darkness for the inevitable pair of red eyes that would come charging at her any moment.

A sound not entirely unlike a rake dragged across concrete circled the shadows around the senshi, almost patchily, as though heard through the intermittent static of a not quite too distant radio station before stopping entirely. Pinpricks of red materialized with the biting stench of sulfur as the rusty scraping shifted, joining in cacophonous harmony with the unholy clucking of the sort one might expect if an administrative error staffed Hell with chickens.

Lacking enough sense of theatricality to stage a proper buildup the fowl beast flew from its hiding place, airborne from its haunch-launched efforts and flapping toward Tempesti with more speed than she’d have expected from a bird so heavy. Talons caught her sleeve, throwing her off balance with an indignant hiss and for what felt like the thousandth time she wondered if every one of these birds she’d encountered were in fact a single animal. A cranky, vengeful animal.

The chicken beast let out a godawful braying shriek when the rock made contact with its back and for several moments Tempesti thought it might vanish as soon as it the ground. She couldn’t know whether it considered its option, but as it landed it whipped around to face the direction of the rock thrower, eyes locking on the newly arrived senshi with renewed fury.

Propelled by some mixture of indignation and rage it charged, what may well have been a battle cry escaping its gullet as it gained momentum. “Damn.” In frantic pursuit Tempesti dove forward, tackling the creature from behind and grappling the thrashing mass of wrath and feathers as best she could as the hollow, rancid eggs fractured beneath them. She was certain that another solid hit would drive the thing off.

Wrestling with the blindingly furious bird, Tempesti felt an immediate relief when the other senshi landed a solid kick on its gut. The sensation of falling and the skin-peeling odor that accompanied it, however, relieved her of any sense of calm that she might have developed aside as she choked and gagged on the smoke the creature’s exit left behind.

She’d never been that close to one of them, at least not when they did this. Sinuses burned, throat convulsed as she doubled over, just barely managing to keep the heaving dry. Once the excruciating nausea passed, she struggled back to her feet. “I really don’t like these things.” She managed to murmur, “Are you alright?” It didn’t look like the unfamiliar senshi was injured, but it never hurt to check.

“Ugh, I’ve never been that close to one of those when they poofed. I wouldn’t recommend it.” She straightened up, intensely grateful that her fuku was self-cleaning once it was in whatever mysterious void it went to when it wasn’t on her. “I’m not sure how much of an illusion they are, they can hit hard even if they don’t stick around long. At least the ones I’ve met don’t.” A few more deep breaths of mercifully unchickened air brought the color back to her cheeks.

“I’m Sailor Tempesti, by the way. Nice to meet you. I understand if you don’t want to shake hands since you’ve seen where mine just were.” She offered a slightly self-deprecating smile. Now that they were no longer fighting rogue poultry, she realized that the other senshi’s eyes emitted an unusual glow. Combined with his wording, it wasn’t difficult to draw the conclusion that Earth was not his first homeworld.

The man’s speech patterns were definitely unusual, some of the words slightly outmoded, but she didn’t lose sight of the fact that it was a marvel that newly arrived aliens could speak any English. Dumped on a strange planet (a populated one, anyway), she doubted that she would pick up on the language anywhere near as effectively. Tempesti nodded, quietly wondering if her harpies counted as illusions. It wasn’t as though they could stay around and hold a conversation on the matter. Despite the amount of time she spent with them, they existed inconveniently in the realm of “magical things that she couldn’t quite grasp.”

“I imagine you’ve had more experience there than I have.” She tried not to wear her inexperience on her sleeve, but some times were more difficult than others. “Are you new to Earth? You don’t have to answer that if you don’t want to.” While she found the bluntness of her question embarrassing, she couldn’t think of a delicate way to confirm her speculation and if he was a newcomer, it would be good to know if he needed any help adjusting. She knew that she would, in his situation.

Tempesti nodded, glad that the deep space senshi had companionship and a home. At least, she hoped that it felt enough like home to give him some comfort. “Abzu” was a vaguely familiar name, she suspected that she must have seen them in passing at Celadon’s meeting. “I think I’ve heard the name but I’ve never spoken to them. Has Earth treated you well? Aside from…horrible apocalyptic space monsters and all of that?” She offered a tired smile as she spoke.

From what she understood about deep space senshi, he’d already suffered through the loss of one world. Coming so close to the end of another must have felt like a particularly vicious blow. “You’ve obviously been at the senshi thing a lot longer than I have, but if I can help you with any of the Earth…stuff just let me know.”

Sailor Tempesti smiled sympathetically, “fine” was probably generous for a world other than his own, especially considering the reasons deep space senshi left their homeworlds. Earth’s biodiversity was probably overwhelming, hopefully in a good way. It was a plus that he was at least comfortable where he was living, even if he had difficulties connecting with new people.

“I’m not sure what sort of things you like doing, but if you want to meet people volunteer work is good, or I could help you set up a Meetup profile or something if you’d like. Oh, Meetup is a website with like…social groups and clubs about different interests. Like, if you like gardening you could join a gardening club or if you like board games there are groups for that.” She had no idea what technological knowledge Ibirapitá had, Earthbound or otherwise. If he was willing she would be more than happy to teach him what she could.