1: Waking up

[fiesta_de_los_muertos]

Characters: Aradia Megido and you
Setting: Early morning on the dormitory levels
Format: Starting with brackets but will match to anything
Summary: Aradia wakes up and would like to know where she is.
Warnings: None for now


[Waking up petrified is one of the scariest things she's ever experienced, the complete lack of control putting her on edge. She systematically tries to move her limbs without success. Just before she starts panicking completely she regains control over her body and he muscles spasm under the strain of her efforts.

She falls to the ground, unfamiliar with the dimensions of a bed. She groans as her head hits the floor, groping around for the bed so she can pull herself to her feet again. She manages to get her hands around the footrest after a few times and straightens herself. So far so good. Good thing no one else was in the room.

She takes a look around, four beds in the room, all the same as hers. There's a trunk at the foot of each bed but her intention is drawn to whatever is lying on top of it.

Two letters explaining her how her world is destroyed and where she is now and neither of them satisfactory.

She moves to the door and opens it carefully, peeking outside. The light catches her off guard but the clouds filter it enough to make it bearable.]

Hello?

Comments

[true_noir]

[She chuckled.]

Even if what they said about our worlds in the letter is a lie, I have nowhere to return to. Only oblivion awaits me, so I think I relish the refreshing side of appreciating what I have in front of me.

And yes. I am human. From a world where such creatures were only in books, and not real. Seeing them is always something of an... experience.

[It also made her nervous, as she didn't know if she should trust them or not, and if they were dangerous. This one seemed harmless enough, but so had Parsee when they'd first met.]

[fiesta_de_los_muertos]

I've seen my world end a lot of times, I kind of find it hard to believe it's truly gone now. But you really have nowhere to go back to? That's a bit sad.

Always? Have you met other ones like me?

[The idea that her friends might be here fills her with hope. Maybe it's not all that bad here.]

[true_noir]

There is no hell, no heaven. I have died and seen what lies beyond... in the sense that there was nothing and I ceased to be. This [She tapped the wall with a finger] is my afterlife. Whether my world exists... it matters and it does not to me.

But as for others... not Trolls. Youkai and Oni mostly. Spirits and monsters of another sort. Perhaps there are more of your kind? I do not know.

[fiesta_de_los_muertos]

If it is it isn't that bad. This place seems okay so far! It isn't nearly as lonely as all the other times I've died.

So there are species besides trolls and humans here? I can't wait to meet them!!

[true_noir]

[She looked at the halls quietly for a moment, not quite turning her back on the young troll. The girl's lips were drawn in a thin line and she made a non-committal sound.]

This place... does not feel as kind as you might think. I feel at home here, more than the last. You may change your tune soon. But yes, I am sure there are a few roaming about. Just be careful. We are not all safe.

[fiesta_de_los_muertos]

Well, the world I come from wasn't exactly kind either. It can't be much worse than that one. But being careful never hurt anyone. Especially since we don't know exactly what this place is and who we can trust.

[Something occurs to her...]

Speaking of which, I haven't introduced myself yet. I am Aradia.

[true_noir]

mmm, does this mean that you trust me now... already, or merely trust me with your name?

[She grinned over at Aradia, a curious look in her eyes as she glanced in the troll's direction. It was a gauging, piercing look that graced her face, one that seemed to be trying to get a feel for the other girl's intentions.]

Chloe.

[fiesta_de_los_muertos]

You seem nice enough to me! And giving you my name is pretty harmless.

[She replied to Chloe's grin with a broad smile. She really doesn't have any hidden intentions, but that might be a little hard to communicate to Chloe.]

It's nice to meet you, Chloe.

[true_noir]

[She was doing a good job of conveying her intent. Chloe, however, was a dangerous and suspicious creature herself, so her smiles tended to be ironic smirks more than anything.]

It is... interesting to hear someone say that of me, but it is not the first time. I wonder what makes people say that sometimes.

It has been entertaining so far, certainly... Something new to experience.

[fiesta_de_los_muertos]

I think it's because you're not outright mean or hostile, it's a nice change if you ask me!

[Trolls aren't exactly known for their calm demeanor, humans are much better at that.]

[true_noir]

I do not kill without orders, or a reason to defend myself... as a rule. And why be hostile, when there are so many more amusing ways to go about the whole process?

[She chuckled and leaned back hands behind her head. She really didn't mind being open about these sorts of things. It made life simpler, and besides... this place couldn't possibly have a police force to it like the last place she'd been on.]

[fiesta_de_los_muertos]

I think that's a good rule to follow.

[Better than killing for ones own entertainment at least.]

What process would that be?

[true_noir]

[Now, now. She found killing quite amusing under the right circumstances. However, it was usually wise not to openly say that.]

Oh, meeting new people, coming into a strange new place like this. Being too hostile does not usually get you what you want.

[fiesta_de_los_muertos]

And what is it that you want?

[true_noir]

[Now there was a question. Chloe wasn't entirely sure right at the moment. She had Kirika at her finger-tips, but it wasn't 'her' Kirika, which was its own struggle in and of itself. She had an ongoing life, a lease on something that was already gone. The craving for something to toy with was there, but she didn't trust the situation yet. Too much was hard to tell just yet.

She leaned towards Aradia and grinned in a way that some found a touch disturbing at times. In the back of her mind, she idly wondered how one told how old these creatures were.]

Perhaps I have not decided yet. I might just be getting a feel for what my options are, teasing and testing the waters. Perhaps I am just seeing what, or who, interests me the most.

[fiesta_de_los_muertos]

[Aradia didn't find the grin all that disturbing. Humans have such blunt, tiny fangs. And no one could ever compare to Terezi's grin anyway.]

Hostility wouldn't be the best way to go then, no. And, have you found anything, or anyone, interesting so far?

[true_noir]

[No, Chloe wasn't quite so skilled at turning her lips into a fanged, vicious maw like Terezi could when she wanted to play. It was almost all in the eyes as she looked over the smaller creature curiously.]

A few. An old plaything I believe someone else is trying to claim... something I won't be allowing. But there are others I confess to a little bit of curiosity about.

You, for example, are something I have not seen before. I confess that I might be a little interested in what makes a troll tick.

[fiesta_de_los_muertos]

Someone from your world?

[Aradia couldn't really say why she was so interested in Chloe's world, humans all come from the same planet so it shouldn't be that much different. Still, it's nice to know some more about the people she meets.]

Me? Really? I don't think I'm all that interesting, but if you've never met a troll before I guess it would be different. And I think that depends on the troll.

[true_noir]

The one to whom I owe a fork. [that bemused tone never departed even as she implied she was thinking of literally sticking a fork in Kirika.]

Perhaps it is the novelty of seeing one of your kind for the first time. It will wear off in time, but you never know what might interest someone about another. But, as you said... it can depend from person to person, or troll to troll.

So, I suppose the question of the moment for me is what makes you tick.

[fiesta_de_los_muertos]

The one that killed you then. I'm not sure I would go seeking out my murderer. [Actually she would, it wasn't his fault anyway.]

It's kind of surprising I'm the first one you met, there seem to be a lot of us around. Even a couple from alternate timelines!

I guess I don't know what makes me tick either, I haven't had much reason to be angry since I came back to life.

[true_noir]

Well... I was... am in love with her still, even if she is not entirely the same person. It is ... well, all things in these worlds are complicated.

I should, however, meet more of these kin of yours. But, if what you say is true, perhaps death was as revelatory for you as it was for me, if in different ways.

[fiesta_de_los_muertos]

They often are. [Aradia knows all about getting killed by people you care about.]

It was the first time I died. The other times not so much but I'm not sure they count.

[true_noir]

[Her eyebrows perked up and she leaned in a bit more, that curiosity taking on a renewed intensity at the mention of Aradia dying more than once. That was something she was less used to, and as death obsessed as she could be...]

The first time... I would imagine there is something of a story to that. Normally, wouldn't dying be a rather ... final experience?

[fiesta_de_los_muertos]

I've found it's not most of the time. After I died I was still around, and eventually I even got my body back. [She motions to herself, in case Chloe had somehow missed that she wasn't a ghost.]

The other times I died... well, those were in different timelines and different iterations of me so I'm not sure they even count to being me. But I remember them.

[true_noir]

...

You come from a very strange and unusual world, to experience death in that way. I had thought it was something unique to these strange worlds we find ourselves trapped in.

[She chuckled and sighed, running her fingers through her hair.]

I do believe that, with an attitude like that, a physical threat would be almost useless on you, wouldn't it?