008 → It's only different seasons

[wrigurun]

Characters: Wriggle Nightbug, Open
Setting: Floor 35 (summer), Lift (winter)
Format: Action tags, tags will follow original taggers style
Summary: The summer was fun, winter was not
Warnings: Potential character death

Floor 35
[Maybe it was the mist, or maybe it was the winter, or maybe it was the knowledge that no matter what the tower would probably get the better of her weighing down on her shoulders. Whatever the reason, once thing that was certain is that Wriggle had been miserable for a long time, much longer than usual for her and her normally curious and aggressive disposition had been significantly subdued for the past month.

The rain didn't mean much to her, she had nothing that wouldn't be fine after being dried out. The heat she'd been able to stave off by staying in the shadier areas of the tower and moving as little as possible. However as the humidity started to rise she felt a sort of nostalgia, a longing for the carefree days of Gensokyo. She could have easily become more depressed at the thought but she was tired of sulking. Even though this place could be a nightmare at times there was nothing stopping her from experiencing the same joys she did at home.

The fact that she'd almost forgotten it meant that she had to work even harder to preserve that memory.

As dusk starts to fall Wriggle wanders down to the lake with a large jar of fireflies collected from the forty-first floor. She can't control them here and she can't fly but right now there's no place she'd rather be and she's sure they'd enjoy it more too. She unscrews the lid and releases them into the floor. Even if she can't control them they seem to float around her as she skips and dances and sings in a slightly off key, basking in the memories of summers past]

Pandora, Pandora, Pandora's box was cat coloured ♪
Pandora, Pandora, Pandora's box, was it black or white? ♫

Lift
[After the summer autumn had actually been fun but everything took a sudden nosedive the moment winter rolled around. She'd had a hard enough time getting by during the tower's actual winter but this was on a whole other level. Wriggle had stolen all the sheets that werne't in use from her dorm room and cocooned herself up in them but even that wasn't enough to keep the harsh chill out. There was nowhere to keep safe and Wriggle didn't know if she should stay in the dorms or try and find somewhere else.

Eventually she manages to get off the bed but struggles to keep herself afloat, even her legs feel too frozen to move. She wills herself forward and into the lift, hoping it might take her to warmer weather. Who thought moving around could be so exhausting? Wriggle bundles herself into the corner and closes her eyes just to rest a little while, content with riding the lift to wherever until she's ready to move again.

Although if someone doesn't wake her and help her get warm soon she'll surely perish]

Comments

[wrigurun]

Hehe, well...

[She rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly. Even if she denied it at the time, and she very almost did get her killed, it was true. Wriggle had been something of a help back then no matter what was being yelled at her]

Well it's not worth thinking about now, we all made it out safe. You should celebrate with me!

[gradosfinest]

[Now her smile widens a bit, actually managing to relax for the first time in... a while really. As dangerous as the Tower could be and as unpleasant as the heat was, this was kind of nice really. Sitting on the edge of this lake, staring up at the fireflies around her... moments like this were all too rare.]

Yeah, we did! And that sounds nice too... [For just a second her head tilts slightly to the side, blinking in curiosity.] I've never seen fireflies on this floor before, come to think of it. Did they follow you?

[wrigurun]

[Wriggel nodded and smiled, happy to be talking about something more in her element]

Yup! That's right! I bought them from the floor with all the insects because I thought they might like it. Fireflies normally live around lakes and marshes in humid areas.

For some reason they don't listen to me here, I can't fly either but as long as I stay away from the lake it's okay.

[gradosfinest]

[Now that was an interesting little realization. Once Wriggle said that Amelia paused for a second. Yeah she felt a little weaker than usual but she'd just been figuring that was the heat wearing her down. If Wriggle couldn't fly, then did that mean...? Now rather curious about this she went ahead and removed one of her gauntlets, sliding what appeared to be a fairly simple ring off of her finger before frowning.

No difference at all. Not that an energy ring granted someone a ton of strength, but she could usually feel the difference.]

Well that's weird! I don't have any actual powers but this ring is supposed to make me a bit stronger... [Ring on! Ring off! Ring on! Ring off! And then she finally just puts it back on and leaves it on, no sense risking losing it.] I remember hearing some floors can nullify powers, so apparently this one does. Wonder why though?

[wrigurun]

[Wriggle watched curiously as Amelia fiddled with the ring on her finger. A ring that would make her stronger, huh? She wouldn't be surprised if a similar thing existed back home]

I dunno why, it just does. It's really annoying though, I don't remember which ones stop me from using my powers so sometimes I just drop out of the sky.

[gradosfinest]

[She frowns at that, considering that for a moment. While not reliant on powers to fight this is still information that could make a difference, becoming too reliant on Garm's power is something she's going to have to try to avoid. This floor seems pretty innocent aside from powers not working, but what of others?]

I hope you haven't gotten hurt because of that! That is annoying though, and a problem... I'm gonna try to make a note of which floors do that! Or maybe someone somewhere has a list? That'd be easier than trying to memorize them all. [Because seriously this place is huge.]

[wrigurun]

I dunno about a list... the things in the wall might have one but I can't read very well...

It would be good to know! But this place changes so much it's hard to tell. You'd probably have to walk from the top all the way down to the bottom.

... Maybe that'd be fun one day. We could pack a lunch and everything!

[gradosfinest]

That's an idea! Although we'd have to be careful, some of these floors are awfully dangerous. But it'd be better than sitting around staring at the walls all day...

[Alright, so maybe she was contemplating this idea even if it didn't seem like the safest thing in the world. It'd be safer to explore them with a partner rather than alone, and more knowledge of the floors and their quirks wouldn't hurt.

And besides, if they're going to be trapped in this place they might as well learn how to best take advantage of it right? And knowing more about them in the event of an emergency would be nice too.]

[wrigurun]

Don't worry, I can take care of it!

...Probably.

[She can barely remember a little after she first arrived and she was so cocky she thought she could do anything. A lot has happened since then]

[gradosfinest]

Alright, I'll trust you! As long as we stick together we should be ok, anyways. Although I think we should wait until the tower's working normally, it's dangerous enough when the weather isn't going crazy.

[Between the two of them they should be well enough equipped to handle the typical monsters around the tower, as long as they don't stay out past night. Or at least that's her logic.]

[wrigurun]

Hmm, I guess.

But I wouldn't mind it if it stayed like this for a while. Even if it's a bit hotter it reminds me of home. The summers there used to get really humid sometimes.