towerofanimus | This could be the start..

Entry tags:

This could be the start..

Characters: Tohko Amano and Mihli Aliapoh
Setting: February 17th, starting in floor twelve.
Format: Prose to start with.
Summary: Tired, Tohko runs into a Archraven, and, while fighting it in the air, an unexpected ally comes along and helps.
Warnings: None for now!

Tohko was exhausted, to be honest. She hadn't managed to get much sleep the previous night, and she had worked as hard as she usually did with the third floor library. Usually she wasn't this groggy, but..it happened sometimes to the best of people.

As she walked up the stairs to get to the second library the Tower had, she paused outside of the twelfth floor. Usually she hated seeing the projection inside, but, today, she thought it might wake her up. However, she failed to notice the Archraven hiding in plain sight in the room, and as soon as it drew near, it burst to life, flew up, and grabbed the back of Tohko's shirt by it's talons.

Quickly, she drew her dagger as it started to fly out, looking for a good place to drop her. "Let me go!" She stabbed it in the leg, but the creature didn't let go just yet.

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From the darkness of the room something briefly twinkles, and if Tohko were paying attention she may catch a brief glimpse of the object in question: a dagger - shot forth from the dark like a bullet, or perhaps more accurately, a bolt of lightning. The dagger impales the Archraven through its core, causing a distinct 'snap' that emanates from somewhere deep within the creature, the life in its formerly mighty wing beats dying down before it prematurely releases Tohko from its grasp, collapsing in a heap shortly thereafter. While the girl is no doubt recovering from her little fall she could hear the distinct sound of footsteps approaching from behind, followed by a familiar voice.

"Honestly, arrren't you just begging to get yourself killed wandering around here by yourrrself?"

Tohko forced herself to not cry out in pain when she fell and sat up. However, she didn't stand just yet..she was still recovering from both the pain and the surprise of the rescue. Thankfully, she was no longer groggy. She was wide-awake now.

"I didn't think I was..after all, I have my dagger, and I do train on a daily basis! Besides, it's not like I can expect someone to wander around with me all the time."

She then sighed.

"Thank you though! I really do appreciate it! You were the girl with the cat tail in the library, right? It's nice to see you again!"

"Couldn't tell from wherrre I was standing"

Casually, she places her foot on the corpse of the monster and gives her knife a little tug. It slides free pretty seamlessly before she swings it once to clear the blade of any excess residue the thing may have leaked on her weapon, which she stows away behind her shield. One wouldn't be able to tell she even carried an extra blade unless she brandished it.

Mihli looks away from Tohko to catch a glimpse of some nondescript planet withering away in the background, and she mirrors Tohko's sigh before stepping towards her and extending a hand.

"Mihli Aliapoh. I don't think I told you my name. Arrre you hurt at all?"

She's still got that same sour look in her eye, but her tone's noticeably gotten a bit brighter at least. It doesn't stop her from carrying herself as if she's got something better to do, but Tohko could probably just chalk that up to her being a cat to begin with.

"Ah, alright then."

Tohko stood as Mihli pulled out her knife and sheathed her own blade. She really had to get 'Peter' back someday. Just one dagger wasn't cutting it.

While Tohko had only given a handshake once before, she did know how to perform them. After all, she was a book girl. So she smiled and shook Mihli's hand.

"It's nice to meet you, Mihli. I'm Tohko Amano, the book girl. And, no, I'm not hurt, thanks to you. My shirt might be a bit torn, but I can fix that later."

Mihli blinks.

She'd extended her hand to help Tohko up, but hey, this works too! She's not really one for handshakes, so she just awkwardly stands there until Tohko's done shaking before abruptly pulling the girl to her feet and scanning the area for any other threats, though finding none she relaxes a bit and turns her gaze back to Tohko

"'Book Girl'? So you work the librraries by yourself?"

That would certainly explain Tohko's presence out here by herself. Mihli has the mind to inquire about the whole Valentine's Day fiasco, but she's still been silently fuming regarding that herself. The whole reason she stumbled upon Tohko was because she was in the process of finding something to murder to blow off some steam.

At that, Tohko couldn't help but chuckle as she let go of Mihli's hand and stood.

"I don't, actually. I'm a librarian, but that's not why I'm called the book girl. After all, I held that title back home as well."

She suppresses her embarrassment, placing her hands on her hips and glancing away from Tohko with a small huff. It was normal to shake hands back home, but more appropriate to salute or bow, especially in her line of work.

"So then why the title? You just like books that much or something?"

Mihli begins walking towards the exit of the room, stopping short of the stairs to wait for Tohko to take the lead. While she doesn't outright state it, her intentions seem to involve tagging around with Tohko for now, or perhaps they're just headed in the same direction.

Tohko followed Mihli as she walked toward the exit, and took the lead, walking up the stairs as she spoke. She still had to take care of the second library, but she didn't mind if Mihli tagged along.

"It's because, in my universe, I know more about and love books more than anyone else! After all, who else can tell you why Bulgakov burned his first draft of The Master and Margarita in despair, or how long it took Hemingway to write The Old Man And The Sea, or how weird the first draft of Peter Pan was!

There are even fewer people who can tell you that they've solved a murder-mystery using nothing but their wits, luck, and love of books! So, that's why I'm the book girl."

Mihli would never admit it, but being able to keep an eye on this girl would bring her some semblance of relief; after the other day she couldn't help but wonder if she'd see Tohko at the library when she happened to wander by next. Her gut instinct told her she could trust Tohko - maybe it was in how utterly carefree she acted despite the situation, but something about her smile reminded the Springserpent of that klutzy girl back home...

She chuckled a little, grinning to herself

"This job must be a blessing in disguise for you then. All these texts you've neverr heard of, formerly unobtainable knowledge at your fingertips. You must've jumped at the opporrrtunity to keep up with the books"

Cant look a gift chocobo in the mouth afterall. No matter how long you're trapped in this place, finding something to take your mind off the situation, no matter how small, must truly be a blessing. Perhaps it's just now that she realizes that fact.

She's still not going to give up on finding a way out of this mess though.

Tohko couldn't help but chuckle in return as she kept climbing the stairs.

"It is a pretty good job. I get to keep up with the books, help other people find materials, read when it's all over, and meet new people! It's a pretty good job, to be honest. I was lucky that I didn't get stuck with some of the other jobs that might be available."

[Mihli perks up a bit at that]

"I'm guessing the other jobs arrrround here aren't as safe?"

[She knew the answer before she even asked, honestly. Tohko could tell it in her voice.]

"There has to be some underrlying reason why we've all been brought here, and why it was even possible to do so in the first place. Suppose it'd be a little too convenient to say the other libraries have more information regarrrding our whereabouts?"

Tohko nodded at that question.

"I would assume so. After all, some jobs have you pull out dead bodies from a few floors, others have to patrol the area, and sometimes, you get the janitor job."

That last part was an attempt at humor, but how well it worked was up to Mihli. However, at the mention of the records, she sighed as she climbed up the stairs. They would be reaching the second library pretty soon.

"They claim that they've 'saved' us from our universes destruction, but I don't buy that. I think..Ruana wanted a few interesting people to play with and brought us here. However, due to her possible issues, things have gotten out of hand. That's just what I think though. However, you are right about the libraries. They don't have any information about this world. Riki claims that they lost all the records..but I'm not quite sure if I buy that or not."

Mihli stifles laughter with snickering, still gotta keep up those appearances you know.

"Hah! Of course. But what benefit do you even get frrom 'working' here? It's not like the tower uses currrrrency or anything, does it?"

That's something she's honestly not figured out yet. Meals were free and it's not like they weren't provided for in Animus. (~~no matter how untrustworthy the 'care'~~) She would've reasoned that perhaps the jobs were just to kill time or take people's minds off things, but obviously given the job descriptions, that wasn't the intent.

One thing was for certain at least; Tohko's hypothesis regarding their purpose in being here made the most sense she's heard all day, and the unreliability of the library was a given, but it never hurt to ask. Mihli shrugs, resting her arms behind her head and leaning back lazily as she trailed behind Tohko on the stairs.

"I agrrree. There's no way we could've been saved so conveniently just to have been dumped in this hellhole."

Despite her apathetic appearance, all this pointless death made her sick with anger. If she could help it, she'd at least find Tohko a way out of danger while getting to the bottom of things. That much she swore she could do.

Tohko heard that snickering and smiled at it.

"Oh, the Tower doesn't use any currency. I think it's just so that we feel 'at home' in this place. However..it can help us keep up our skills and build up our information, if we're using those skills correctly."

As Tohko stepped onto the reference library floor, she turned to face Mihli and nodded.

"Exactly. That wouldn't be much of a rescue. Besides, quite a few people here wouldn't be able to exist if their universes were destroyed, so it doesn't help their stories much."

While Tohko hadn't said anything about it, she wasn't one for needless death or violence either and would protect her friends, family, and anything else she considered precious in the Tower while trying to work things out.

If she weren't so stubborn she'd look into one of these 'jobs', but she's pretty content in just exploring the tower for now.

Mihli stopped short of the second library door upon reaching the destination, and while she'd like to follow Tohko in, she doesn't wanna give the girl the wrong impression - she's a Mithra, and on top of that, the Seaserpent General, not some timid puppy. She'd saved her already, there was no need to cling to her coattails.

"Looks like this is your stop."

She offers Tohko a genuine smile before taking a step back and turning halfway to the stairs.

"And, uh. Thanks. For the inforrrmation and all, I mean."

'Thank yous' were always pretty awkward for her, so she keeps it brief. This was the second time she hounded Tohko for information (and a chat) and she didn't wanna take the girl's time. It's how Mihli would've wanted it anyway.

As she begins the trot back down the stairs, the Springserpent calls back to Tohko

"Don't make me have to go and save you again, Book Girrl!"

Of course, that could be loosely translated to:

'Be careful out there.'

Tohko returned the smile and gave a small wave as Mihli started to walk down the stairs.

"Oh, you're welcome! I'm always happy to help out! And don't worry! I'll be careful! If you ever need my help with fighting off monsters, let me know, alright?! I don't carry the dagger just for show!"

Tohko smiled as she called back, but she was telling the truth. She hadn't been taking lessons from Saber for nothing, and if Mihli hadn't come along, she probably would have cut off the monsters leg before dealing with it.

But..she was happy that Mihli had helped.

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This could be the start..

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