ribbonbon | [Action/Video] 012 (Backdated to 06/08)

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[Action/Video] 012 (Backdated to 06/08)

[A girl lies sleeping in the forest, bits of twigs and leaves stuck in her hair as she occasionally rolls over or turns. Dressed in the usual New Feather sundress, it would be easy to mistake her for a new arrival. However Pilouette has finally come back from the draft currently unaware that she had ever been out of action.

Whether someone wakes her up or she does so on her own, Pilouette is soon making her way back to the village. Though her regular walks in the forest are making it a little easier, she's still trying to get her head around just what happened. The last thing she remembers was being in Zompania. She was bandaging up Mac's wounds and they were plotting their next course of action. Then...Then the cultists found them and...

And then what? To say it's troubling would be an understatement.]

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[Later on, when Pilouette is back to her apartment and more put together she realizes that she's missing a few things. Her bag of medical supplies and her first aid kit. The bag can be replaced. Given the conditions, she imagines anything that was in it was taken and used anyway. However, the first aid kit is special. Her best friend in this place had made it just for her. Aside from the features it had, that alone made it unique and precious to her. It's not just a tool. It's a precious keepsake.]

I-It's Pilouette. I'm back. I guess I've been gone for a while. Uh, sorry if anyone worried. Hey, so, like, when we were in... [She pauses briefly. It's almost as if the name hurts to say.] ...When we were in Zompania, I had a first aid kit with me. It's, um, really important so if any picked it up or if anyone has seen it, I'd really like to know.

[As she waits for responses, Pilouette is really starting to put it all together. She died, didn't she? She must have. After all, it was weeks after the last thing she remembered happening and it's not like the Malnosso would have kidnapped her off of a battlefield. She's not sure they could, even if they wanted to. She died in Zompania. Again. There's no other explanation.

There are still a lot of questions, though. She's not even sure exactly how she died which is a bit troubling. Then there's the question of her penalty. She has one. She has to. She just...doesn't know what it is. Something feels off, but she can't quite pin down what it is.. She supposes that she should be glad she was able to be brought back at all, penalty or no, but not knowing is the worst part.]

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[She's quiet for a moment, then blinks hard and nods. She's sure she should just be glad to be alive. After all, there were so many in Zompania that weren't so lucky. ]

Yeah... [Even if she just got back, she figures she shouldn't make Mia just stand around like this. She looks around her sparsely furnished apartment and fidgets, a bit anxious. Since she woke up earlier in the day, she can't shake her feelings of nervousness.] U-Um, d-do you want to sit? I have an extra chair around here somewhere...!

[An extra chair. Mia looks around, wondering to herself if Pilouette lives with so little because it is what she's used to...or for other reasons.]

Really I just...want to be sure you're okay. [She tilts her head a little, with a gentle smile.] I think you might be willing to tell me that you are, whether or not it is entirely true, because you'd rather not have anyone worry about you.

[She had scuttled halfway to her bedroom to grab that extra chair and opened her mouth to say "I'm okay!" but she closes her mouth again, forgetting about the chair for just a moment. She reaches up and, out of habit, gently tugs on her ponytail, casting her gaze off to the side. It seems that Mia knows Pilouette all too well.]

Well...I mean, I'm not not okay, but...[She pauses briefly while she figures out how to explain it.] I mean, I guess I kind of feel sort of mixed up or...or something. It's like, kind of complicated.

It must be. [Apart from the bomb detonating, Mia has never experienced death, not in so personal a way.]

May I ask you something else? [Mia's caught up, at a slower pace.] What do you most want to do, right now?

[That might include 'be left alone' and that will be okay if it is what Pilouette wants, of course.]

[Pilouette just stares at Mia for a minute. She hadn't expected that question. She tilts her head a bit to the side. What does she want to do? She thinks quietly for a few moments...but as hard as she tries, she just draws a blank.]

I...I don't know. I don't know if I really want to do anything. [It's a strange feeling. Usually, there's always something she wants to do, but nothing seems like it's something she particularly feels like doing. Then again, she's never died before and it's produced a lot of odd feelings. She thinks about it for a few more moments.]

...Maybe can we talk for a little bit?

Of course we can. I'll wait for you in the living room?

[Which she will indeed do, as long as Pilouette makes no move to stop her. If she takes too long, though, Mia will also come help her with the chair. Wondering what she wants to talk about is enough to keep her mind occupied for the short wait. If Mia had her way she'd hold onto her until she was sure Pilouette was solid and real and alive once more.]

O-Okay!

[She quickly skitters into her bedroom to grab her extra chair and half carries half drags it into the living room, setting it next to a small white table and another chair, both of which sit almost in the center of the living room. She looks to Mia, waiting for her to sit, still a little fidgety.]

[Smiling softly, Mia sits and folds her hands on top of the table. Pilouette is nervous, or giving off nervous energy at least, so Mia tries to be extra calm in response. She doesn't say anything else until Pilouette is seated.]

What would you like to talk about?

[Mia remembers finding her sick and sobbing, thinking to herself that Pilouette shouldn't go through that, none of them should but especially someone so blessed with a hopeful look at life.]

[Pilouette sits...but soon realizes she isn't quite sure what to talk about. Actually, it's more accurate to say that she knows what she wants to talk about but isn't sure where to start. She takes a moment to think before starting, speaking quietly.]

There's, um...there's kind of a lot. I guess. It just feels kind of weird sitting here after I-...after everything.

We have time. [For a lot, for anything. For diving right in if Pilouette chooses - but Mia thinks she won't. It isn't her nature.]

Was this the first time you have been to a draft?

[Pilouette shakes her head.]

No. I was on the one before this one, too. I was like, totally scared that time, but...but this one was totally different.

[On Terrace at least, she was told what to do and when and was able to stay in a safe area.]

It's like I shouldn't even be calling the Terrace draft scary after this.

You can call anything scary that frightens you. [No matter what it is, or what tries to beat it out for king of terror mountain.] I was afraid, too.

Really? You were?

[It's not as if she thinks that Mia is never afraid of anything. That would be silly. However, when she was with Mia that time, she seemed as calm and cool headed as ever.]

Yes, I was. If I am very honest with myself, I still am, a little bit. [Or she would be sleeping the night through and not having these moments of...blurriness.] It is...difficult to remind myself that it's all right to be scared for a while. That it really was so horrible.

[Knowing that Mia is still a little scared makes her feel a little better, if only because she's still frightened, too. She bites her lip as she clasps her hands together on the table.]

Yeah...It was the most horrible thing I've ever seen. Like, I keep thinking about all those people. Since they...[She pauses briefly, as if the word is stuck in her throat. Her voice shakes a little.]...died like that, what happens back where they came from? They can't ever go back, can they?

[Until then, she had never doubted for a second in the entire time she's been in this world that she would return home some day. Realizing that there's a chance, however small it may be, that she might not has shaken her. She wonders how many other people have met the same fate. Did they just disappear in their worlds, without a trace? Did they just stop existing? It's disturbing.]

According to what we know and believe so far, no. They can't. [To Mia's knowledge, it has not happened to a Luceti resident, though, let alone happening in a way that permits them to ask about it afterward. Either way, Pilouette should hear the truth, though she uses her gentlest tone to deliver it.] It would be the same if they died in their own worlds...but it feels so much worse.

[Mia's chest tightens painfully at the memory of their screams.]

I don't know what happens to the worlds they belong to, but I like to hope for the best.

Y-Yeah. Me, too.

[She thinks on what Mia said, recalling what it felt like the first time, when they were all wiped out. Drowning, burning...she wonders if the victims of Zompania felt the same thing as they died, knowing they would never go back home. Memories of being outside those walls as the screams rose above them for all to hear are still fresh, no less horrifying now than they were before. Her expression darkens a little, as something else comes to mind.]

How did that even happen? I mean, the cultists got in here once before didn't they? I wonder if...if that could have been us.

[More than anything, Mia wants to deny that it was possible. She has thought about this herself in the wee hours of some mornings and can't reason how to shut it down, yet.]

It wasn't us. [This, at least, she can insist on - as an expert in dwelling in past mistakes herself.] You will only hurt yourself with fear and worry if you keep thinking about possibilities that did not happen.

[Despite Mia's words, she still can't get the thought out of her head. Sure, the barrier had been fiddled with since then, but what's to stop them from finding a way around it again? Still, she nods. She knows Mia is right, even if stopping herself from worrying is more difficult than she would hope.]

I...I guess know that I'm back and I actually have time to sit and think about all this stuff, it's just...hard to stop.

I understand. [And she does, she really does. She just doesn't like to see a dear friend hurting.] Do you want to keep talking about it?

I...

[She stops short and just shakes her head. Part of her wants to keep talking about it, but her mind jumps around from thought to thought, each new line of thinking resulting in more fear, more worry. Having just been brought back to life, she's not keen on being more worried than she was before.]

I...I think maybe I just need to think about other stuff for a little while.

Okay. [It's better to have these things in the air, but Mia doesn't want to press too hard. Forcing Pilouette through horrors like that again seems too cruel.] How about this, then: what would you like to learn, next? Or is there something you think you could improve?

[She knows from some experience that Pilouette always thinks she can improve.]

[Pilouette thinks for a moment. What does she want to learn next? There's a lot she probably needs to learn. She's gotten quite a bit better at first aid since the draft on Terrace and she's studied a lot, but she knows now that there are many worse injuries than what she can handle.]

...How different are first aid and battlefield medicine? Right now I can only take care of minor injuries, but...I think I need to know how to take care of more serious stuff.

You already understand the difference, if there is one at all: the variety and severity of injuries you see in a fight. In a- in a war. Usually there is a lot of other activity around you on the battlefield as well, so you have extra limits and demands upon your time.

[Mia rests her chin on her folded hands, looking at Pilouette across from her, feeling almost sad. This isn't what she wanted for her life, is it? And maybe she would never be truly comfortable doing it, because of that, but she fought hard for it all the same.]

May I ask a favor of you?

[Battlefield medicine sounds...pretty much like what she expected. More dangerous...but she could probably help more people. She wants to keep learning more and getting better. ...She has to.

When Mia asks for a favor, Pilouette's posture straightens a little as a puzzled expression crosses her face, wondering what Mia could possibly need from her. However, Mia has come to be both a respected teacher and a dear friend to her; at this point, a favor is probably the very least Pilouette can do in return for what Mia's done for her. She nods.]

Y-Yeah, of course! I'll do whatever you need!

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