4th Spell - Forward dated to the 24th

[moontothetide]

Who: Tara Maclay and whoever she happens to come across
Where: The locations listed below
When: August 22nd
What: Tara returns from her unexpected banishment. Food comes first, and then reflection, and then anger and a new resolve.
Warnings: Depression, mental trauma, possible blood. Nothing too serious, and I'll warn if anything else comes up

Floor 38 (The Lounge)
Tara sits on one of the couches, her trunk settled on a coffee table placed in front of it. Various and sundry objects are laid out on what surface isn't taken up by it. A small stone in some color or another, a tattered blouse, a dogeared book...but Tara keeps searching.

When she's emptied out the trunk, she shuffles through what she's pulled out, first once and then again, and again, and again, searching with the slightly desperate, slightly manic quality of the people who don't believe they're actually going to find what they're looking for but can't quite bring themselves to give up hope.

Tears prick at the corners of her eyes, and at one point she has to pause, press a hand to her mouth, and bite back a sob.

Floor 13 (The Church)
A Prize Pod comes skittering into the room from the stairs, hopping down them two at a time before landing on the floor and starting off again at a trot.

Tara is very close behind, dropping right down from the floor above without bothering with the stairs. At least she hasn't lost control of her levitation in the interim. She lands and lunges with her knife in hand, but the Prize Pod executes a quick dodge that leaves Tara collapsed on the floor. She rights herself just in time to see the Prize Pod racing off, darting among the pews.

"Oh, no you don't."

One pew is tossed aside, and the Prize Pod staggers, but manages to shake off Tara's telekinesis and race on. Tara psychically grabs a cipher from the wall and gives it a swing.

Floor 12 (The Projection Room)
Tara seems to have gotten somewhat...stuck, in this room. As the many and endless worlds collapse and burn and die around her, she sits in the middle of the room, hands over her ears, eyes tight shut. Although the projections are completely silent, she's singing in a shaky, tremulous voice, as though trying to block out an unpleasant sound. "Understand w-we go hand in hand but w-we walk alone in f-fear..."

Every time she opens her eyes, it's onto a scene of destruction, and this only makes Tara close them tight again.

Floor 25 (The Meadow)
It worked for Buffy. Why can't it work for Tara?

So, she jogs, running her ungainly way around the length of the floor. She does situps. She even tries jumping jacks. Even when she's huffing and gasping for air, Tara tries to exercise. Even if its just some rather ineffectual punches at the air.

Anyone who gets close enough can easily see that she's been crying. A lot. Her eyes are still red rimmed, and her face is still tear-stained. But her jaw is set, and even if she's only doing it to avoid thinking, she remembers the feeling she'd first had training with Reno. It's a feeling she wants to recapture - the feeling of doing something right.

Whenever she pauses in her work, it's only to stand and look down at the flowers around her, the beautiful blooms that seem always so resilient. But only for a minute or so - then Tara swipes at her eyes almost angrily, and goes back to her solo training.

Comments

Floor 13

[chronomancer]

[Eridan watches the scene for a moment, frowning behind his sunglasses, before he clears out his throat.]

Eh, do you want a hand with that?

Re: Floor 13

[moontothetide]

[Still scowling after the Prize Pod, Tara shakes her head. But, after a swipe from the cathedral cipher fails to hit it again, she slowly nods.] Yeah...if you can...th-that'd be great...

[She sounds out of breath - Tara has clearly been chasing it for a bit.]

[chronomancer]

Sure.

[It's a simple matter of pulling out the rifle, taking a second to aim, and then blast the thing to smithereens. He makes it look easy, but that's practice for you.]

Is that okay?

[moontothetide]

[He makes it look so easy, which just leaves Tara feeling inadequate all over again.] Y-Yeah. Um, th-that's fine...thanks.

[She trudges over to where the Prize Pod had smashed and rummages about, trying to take care of the broken glass. Finally, she pulls out the soft toy that the restaurant had agreed to take in exchange for some decent food.

After a mental war with herself, she straightens up, and holds it out to Eridan to take.] Here. Um, y-you can have it.

[chronomancer]

Eh?

[He blinks behind the sunglasses, tilting his head to the side.]

But. You were trying to get it, right?

floor 38

[chainsawn]

[ Urotsuki is actually pretty nearby when it all happens - but she's just staring blankly at Tara, as if she doesn't really get what's going on. After tilting her head back and forth a few times she just speaks up. ]

... Tara?

Floor 38

[hardknoxlife]

[ Hoboy. Now here's something he can't bear to stand. So... have this blond boy coming over from behind her, his arms folded behind his back and the smallest smile on him.

And a handkerchief from his own pocket offered to her. ]

There now. Tears aren't pretty coming from a lady. Could tell me what's bothering you if you'd like.

Floor 25

[technologic]

[April was just heading up to the meadow to relax for a bit, but when she spots Tara jogging around she quickly freezes in place.]

... T-Tara?

Re: Floor 25

[moontothetide]

W-What? [Tara looks up. Then her eyes widen with surprise and recognition at the sight of April, and she stumbles her way to an ungainly stop.]

A-April? Y-You're okay?

[technologic]

[April hesitantly approaches her, taking note of how red her eyes are.] I... Y-yeah, I'm okay... What about you?

[moontothetide]

I'm okay. I-I mean...at least I wasn't here for, um, w-whatever it was happened.

[Bad thought. Concerning thought.] W-Were you? What did happen? I mean, I found some stuff, on the upper floors, f-from my trunk, but...not all of it, and everything's all messed up, and...I-I don't know.

I'm s-sorry I couldn't help. [Really, that's what it comes down to, and she looks miserable because of it.]

[technologic]

... Y-yeah, I was. A... this is gonna sound weird, but a flying sky whale crashed into the tower and then it exploded and there were monsters everywhere... It was just chaos, really...

[She sighs and rubs her forehead. She really has no find memories of when all that happened, that's for sure.]

And you don't have to apologize. You didn't leave on purpose, right?

[moontothetide]

N-No. I, I r-really didn't want to. [One minute here in the tower taking notes, the next in a barren wasteland.

Or what looked like a barren wasteland. She hadn't had to eat for several days at the least. That is suspicious, but Tara's too tired to wrestle with it right at this moment, and so had been attempting to let her subconscious do the work while she worked out a little of her helplessness.]

I mean...I-I don't know how much help I'd have been against a...giant f-flying space whale but, um, th-that still would have been better. At least I w-would have been here.

Floor 25 - Meadow

[evokingfool]

The open meadow was one of his favourite floors. It's open and have a lot of space, and he can easily lose himself in his thoughts here. If he wished to be alone, he would come here for a walk and then sit down.

Minato walked, listening to the music in his MP3 and feeling the beat against his ears. But he paused when he saw a familiar face.

"...Tara-san?"

Re: Floor 25 - Meadow

[moontothetide]

Tara is currently between ineffectual attempts at jogging, which is to say that she's standing in the grass, with her hands braced on her knees and breathing heavily. But she looks up at the sound of Minato's voice, eyes wide with surprise. Her gaze very deliberately ticks to his armband, and she relaxes just a bit.

"M-Minato. Um, h-hi. I can leave, if you want."

Re: Floor 25 - Meadow

[evokingfool]

He quietly and casually turned paused his MP3, allowing him to listen to Tara better. Minato noticed her gaze turning toward his armband, but made no comment on that. Instead of drawing attention to it, he just speaks.

"Leave? You don't have to, unless I'm troubling you."

Re: Floor 25 - Meadow

[moontothetide]

"Oh, no, n-not a bit." Actually, she makes a mental note to see if she can try to dig up a way of listening to music while she tries to train. It could help, and it certainly couldn't hurt. "I mean, um, I wouldn't normally do something like this here. It's just...it helps me clear my head, and I figured that'd help. W-With training."

Re: Floor 25 - Meadow

[evokingfool]

"Training... You don't mind if I watch?" He's a little curious. While Minato's not as...focused on then like Akihiko-senpai, he's a little interested to see how her training differs from his own.

Re: Floor 25 - Meadow

[moontothetide]

"W-Watch?"

Tara goes a bit red at the thought. "Um, I-I don't mind. It's just, um, th-there wouldn't be much to watch. I mean, I only just...learned, some of this stuff. From Reno. He had a class, and I was taking it, before I..." She flaps her hands a bit helplessly. "L-Left."

Re: Floor 25 - Meadow

[evokingfool]

"...Depending on what they are, I might help with training." He pause for a moment. "Only a bit, since I'm not a qualified instructor."

Floor 25 - Meadow

[repeatingsun]

[Tara almost certainly will come across a girl in a white dress surrounded by grass that is growing at an unnatural rate. She seems to be concentrating more on the plants than the people - concentrating on bringing them back.

When she sees Tara, she looks over at her - her face every bit as tear-stained as the other girl's. It hasn't occurred to her to wipe the tears away, though. She's never really had to deal with it before.

Still, Sola tries to be polite, because by what she knows of human standards, this girl isn't doing so well.] ...are you okay?

Re: Floor 25 - Meadow

[moontothetide]

[Tara pauses, her face reddening a bit out of embarrassment and shame that she's distracted this girl from whatever it was she was doing. She hasn't noticed the grass or the effect Sola has had on it yet, which in and of itself is a sign of Tara's somewhat fragile mental state. All the destruction is just too much.]

Y-Yeah. Yeah, I'm okay.

[But, when it comes to children and teenagers, Tara tends to pay very good attention.] W-What about you? Um, are you hurt?

[repeatingsun]

Are you sure? Humans tend to shed tears when upset, right? [There's a pause as she mulls it over.] Or...when cutting onions open. Were you cutting onions open before coming here?

[At Tara's question, Sola shakes her head.] No - I'm not hurt, but-- [With a twitchy, almost uncoordinated gesture, she flings her arm out to indicate the grass - the plants.] They were. The plants - it's horrible! How could those things do this?