towerofanimus | ❁ [ first kickoff ]

Entry tags:

❁ [ first kickoff ]

Characters: Haruna and you!
Setting: Mid-afternoon, fourth floor. Before the dinner is served.
Format: Whichever you fancy.
Summary: Haruna arrives in the Tower, in this weird dress no less. After wondering around the first six floors, she decides to take a break in the lounge.
Warnings: Scared 13 thirteen year old girl. But that's nothing new.

She couldn't help but sigh at the situation she was in.

It was still hazy, but she knew she fainted before coming here. There were those two players, one with white wings on his back and one in black tights. The latter had grabbed her wrist and said something about being chosen. Then ... nothing. She tried and tried to remember, but it was no use. This odd dress she was in was probably his handy work as well.

Then there was this place. The collar and the letter and floor numbers just swarmed around her head. The letter told her clearly that her world was destroyed, but she can't - she can't just accept that! She didn't want to. If it had, then what about the team and her senpais? Her school? Her home? Her foster family? ... Her brother? After reading the letter, she was so desperate to find them all safe and sound that she didn't even check what she had on and rushed out of her room.

But despite all that, she couldn't find them.

"Aaaah! I hate this!"

Her frustrated shout echoed in the large space, followed by rather loud stomach growl.

... And why she is hungry now of all times? She sighed yet again.

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Anger, frustration, despair? Yep, that sounded kind of familiar coming from anyone around here. The stomach growl was pretty easy to pick up on too.

"Hungry?" Ven asked, walking up next to her and offering a somber smile. "It might help with whatever problem you're having."

Haruna jumped slightly. Her expression was hopeful for a minute then it vanished as quickly as it appeared. Disappointed as she was that it wasn't anybody she knew, she gave the kind boy a smile.

"Maybe. But this place is so huge, I haven't had the chance to find the cafeteria." She was too busy trying to find her brother after all.

"Heheh, don't worry. This place is pretty confusing when you first get here."

He held out his hand out to her, both as a greeting and to offer her support or lead her if she needed it. "I can show you where the cafeteria is, if you want. It's not too far from here."

Haruna hesitated before reaching out. It was a bit scary to trust a total stranger in a foreign place, but the boy didn't radiate any bad intentions. If anything, she should give him the benefit of doubt.

Taking his hand, she stood up from her seat and smiled gratefully at him.

"That would be a big help. Umm, thank you. I'm Otonashi Haruna by the way." Oh but would Otonashi be difficult to pronounce for a foreigner? "But you can just call me Haruna."

"Don't worry about it! There's new people around here all the time that can use a helping hand. Gotta look out for each other, right?" He grinned and nodded, taking her hand and slowly leading her towards the stairs.

"My name's Ventus-- but you can call me Ven. Nice to meet you!"

His cheerfulness was something contagious and soon she was smiling genuinely as well. He was someone easy to befriend, that's for sure.

"Yes. I wouldn't know what to do with myself if I was completely here alone." She followed him diligently, so that he wouldn't have to slow down too much. "It's nice to meet you too Ven."

Thankfully Ven was very very aware of the fact that his normal pace was too fast for normal people, so he had learn to walk at a pretty even pace.

"Heh, when I woke up I didn't know anybody at first. But it's not so bad." Well it'd be worse if you were anti-social, probably.

"--Oh, I guess I should warn you now. The food's...not that great." Understatement! "And you have to have oatmeal before you eat anything else, but it doesn't taste bad if you can tolerate mushy, bland goop."

The news wasn't exactly pleasant, but on the other hand, she wasn't exactly expecting gourmet cuisine. She sighed. "Well, I think I will manage as long as they don't force us to eat frog legs or something." She involuntarily shuddered at the thought. Alive ones were bad enough!

"I wonder ... do they let us cook here Ven? I might not look it, but I am pretty handy around the kitchen." Eating well made riceballs had to be better than eating goo, right?

"Frog legs?" It was a bit hard to see since he was in front of her, but Ven made grossly exaggerated grimace and stuck out his tongue at the thought. Considering he was friends with mice and ducks, that thought was just eugh. "Gross...!"

But right, better food took priority than gross food! "You can go in the kitchen to cook stuff, but I don't know how many ingredients there are..." He trailed off in thought a bit. "Maybe we can get ingredients though! There's plenty of ways to grow stuff here, and you can even forage some stuff if you try!"

Haruna had never grown or foraged her own food before, but the thought was appealing. At least more appealing than food she would rather not eat.

"That's great news!" She smiled. "Looking for ingredients will be little tough, but it'll be better than nothing." There was a forest on the lower floor after all. Maybe she can look for berries or vegetables.

She paused here momentarily.

"... This is such an amazing place. I would have loved to explore it under normal circumstances." If they weren't some kind of captives.

When she paused, Ven stopped and released her hand, letting her look around if she wanted and glancing around himself.

"This floor isn't actually too bad, admittedly." He said with an even smile. For all the hell that this place had put him through, there were some pretty good points. And those good points were pretty good.

"Did you not live anywhere near the Forest?"

"Ah. No. I live on the second floor. But I did see the Forest on the sixth floor. It was ... pretty."

Despite everything, she smiled back sheepishly.

"Why? Is there something special about the Forest here?"

"Well, all the forests here are kind of...weird. I never lived by one personally, but I visited one a few times. The one inside is way more dangerous than the other one if you don't sty close to the staircase. The animals are...kind of messed up," He says with an awkward face. Understatement! "And they'll attack you if you get too close."

Animals protecting their own turf wasn't so strange. Didn't wolves and bears often attack humans in the mountains? Perhaps the animals themselves were the strange part, more so than the behavior. He did mention that they are 'messed up.' She was scared to hear the details, but in the end, curiosity won.

"I guess taking a stroll in there is out of the question." She said with a half-hearted smile. "But messed up? Are they some sort of monsters?"

He nodded in response to her question, and in spite of her smile his face looked a bit unsettled.

"They look unnatural. Like monstrous versions of normal animals you could see anywhere. It seems like they'll attack you just because you're there, not because you're doing anything harmful to them."

Haruna nodded, her smile faltering as she did so. "I will be careful." She had little physical prowess and even smaller fighting experience though, and she wondered how she will protect herself if she is ambushed.

"Say." She started cautiously as they started walking towards the cafeteria again. "Is there any way to learn self-defense here?"

Ven walked besides her this time, and at first the question just got a curious look. "I don't think there's any kind of organized self-defense classes, if that's what you mean." Though damn, that'd be pretty useful.

"There's a lot of people here with powers that I'm sure would be willing to teach anyone that asked, though. I know I have a friend that's offered magic lessons before."

Learning magic sounded pretty cool, never mind that she never displayed any sign of magical abilities before. She glanced at him, her arms crossed thoughtfully over her chest.

"Learning magic sounds very useful. I don't know if I'll be good at it, but I want to give it a shot anyway. What's your friend's name Ventus? Maybe I can ask them for a lesson later."

She didn't want to give up here. Not until she discovers what happened to her brother.

"Aqua. Blue hair, usually wears long white sleeves. She has a weapon that looks like a giant, metal key. She's really nice! I'm sure she'd be willing to help you out." Said with a smile and a nod. He was kind of glad she wanted to-- a lot of people came into this place not being able to defend themselves, and he didn't want them to get in any trouble.

"And if you need any help, let me know. I'm pretty good at some spells myself."

"A giant key? That's an interesting choice for a weapon." She imagined a blue-haired girl around her age waving a giant sword-like key around. Not the most chivalrous image out there, is it. But hey, if she's nice and willing to help, Haruna didn't see a problem with an unusual weapon.

What came next made her brows jump up. "Eh? Ventus too?" Sure, he looked like he could hold his own, but she thought it would be from some kind of sports or martial arts.

Even though the Keyblade was totally normal where he came from, Ven had learned by now that a giant Key was weird. So he couldn't resist a bit of a laugh.

"Weird, I know. It's called a Keyblade, but it's pretty common in my world. I can wield one too. I'm not as good at magic as Aqua, so my Keyblade helps me out."

She amazement didn't leave her face. Suddenly, everyone in the Tower sounded so incredible! It made her wonder why she was brought here though - she didn't have any special powers. She was perfectly normal. At least to her knowledge.

"Wow. I am little envious!" She said scratching her head. "Information gathering and soccer are only things I am good at."

"Don't worry, a lot of my good friends here don't have any previous training or anything," said with a reassuring smile. It was true though, and there was certainly a time where he had no idea what he was doing. Hell, Terra and Aqua were still way better at this than he was.

"And I've never played soccer myself. Only heard about it. If you need any help while you're here though, don't be afraid to let me know, OK? It can get pretty dangerous."

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❁ [ first kickoff ]

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