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Post by C'Leena Thomas on Apr 20, 2023 11:04:09 GMT -5
C'Leena marches across the grass with a purpose in mind. Since arriving, she's been keeping track of time using her homes calendar system, and today is an important day. A day that meant a lot to her country, people and most importantly, herself. She went to a metal worker earlier in the week to have medals made that she could pin to her coat. Since they werent medals she earnt herself, they were pinned on the right side, instead of the left. They were the medals of soldiers in her family hundreds of years ago at this stage. That didn't mean she lost her respect for them, however. The ANZACs were an icon of Australian history. Heroes that sacrificed themselves for the security of their country, and C'Leena was proud that she was part of the future they helped forge. Bugle in hand, she stops in the clearing. She wasn't in any uniform, as that could be seen as disrespectful, but still wore the medals. She was in strange clothing for the time period. She had a black shirt under a large pea coat, with a pair of jeans and work boots. She had a rapier on her left hip, sheathed and tied with a peace knot. C'Leena took a deep breath and delved into her memory and pulled out a poem. "With proud thanksgiving, a mother for her children, England mourns for her dead across the sea. Flesh of her flesh they were, spirit of her spirit, Fallen in the cause of the free. Solemn the drums thrill: Death august and royal Sings sorrow up into immortal spheres. There is music in the midst of desolation And a glory that shines upon our tears. They went with songs to the battle, they were young, Straight of limb, true of eye, steady and aglow. They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted, They fell with their faces to the foe. They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old; Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning We will remember them. They mingle not with their laughing comrades again; They sit no more at familiar tables at home; They have no lot in our labour of the day-time; They sleep beyond England's foam. But where our desires are and our hopes profound, Felt as a well-spring that is hidden from sight, To the innermost heart of their own land they are known As the stars are known to the Night; As the stars that shall be bright when we are dust, Moving in marches upon the heavenly plain, As the stars that are starry in the time of our darkness, To the end, to the end, they remain.Lest We Forget."Once she finishes, she raises the bugle and begins playing.Each note is extended as much as they needed to be. Each note is hit perfectly and on time. Playing the bugle is a bronze skinned woman, about 6' in height and looks to be about mid 20's. Her eyes are a solid crystalline aquamarine, lacking pupils, irises or sclera. Surrounding her eyes appear to be rather nasty looking burn scars. They seem old, but unlikely to heal further than they have. She finishes her piece and remains still and silent for about a minute before whispering to herself."Lest we forget. Wish you were here, Rose." She moves back about 100 feet where a large rock is resting, and she sits atop it, looking at the view before her. By the time she sits down, the sun is beginning to rise over the horizon, having just completed her own Dawn Ceremony in another world by herself. She sits and simply watches the sun rise.
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Post by Nephele on Apr 20, 2023 11:39:57 GMT -5
It should be embarrassing how easily Nephele gets distracted from the path.
She had been walking a long time, a consistent breeze following her and wisping through her cloud-like hair. Nephele had been offered a map by a cartographer earlier that week, but forewent it in favor of "getting lost in the world organically". She would never admit regretting it though, only managing to skirt by with her life after slipping through the Marsh Flats with her life.
Still, despite this experience, Nephele completely stopped in her tireless trek when she heard a voice on the wind. It brought with it a sort of nostalgic greeting, and the closer she got to the sound the more curious she got. Nephele walked closer, and her face lit up when she recognized a rhyme. A poem! She realized with belated joy. She had always been a sucker for music in all its forms; a rhyme was a rhyme, and a rhyme was a song in sheep's clothing.
The woman caught the silhouette of a stranger up ahead, and smiled dreamily at the otherwise noisy bugle blaring into the wind. She stopped about twenty feet away to listen with her head dipped, like a curious cat trying to sniff out something they thought moved. Less like a cat though, Nephele wasn't trying to go for stealth, rather trying to let the woman have her space. Such a curious accent, Nephele didn't know if she'd heard it before. Her own accent was not of the Crescent Isles where she was raised, holding a thicker Grecian cadence. Still, she sounded awfully foreign. How curious.
Nephele barely caught the tail end of the woman's sentiment, hearing something like the word "rose" on her breath before she walked away. The nymph watched her for a moment more before finally following her. Her soft slipper shoes sank in the soft grass, and she wanted nothing more than to run in it barefoot while the sun rose. Nephele walked so she could see the side profile of the stranger.
"I liked your song." Her voice sounded like the breeze itself, gentle and quiet. Despite this Nephele's accent was strong, even after spending a decade and a half of her life in Charon.
Nephele is a blue-skinned woman with what looks like galaxies for eyes, standing at around 5'10. She wears a cream colored bodice with a red sash fastened around the hips, and large, baggy pants with the hips cut out. Her hair circled her head like a halo and when she tilted her head even a margin her hair would wisp and billow like a storm cloud, though nowhere near as temperate.
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Post by C'Leena Thomas on Apr 20, 2023 12:09:06 GMT -5
C'Leenas head snapped to the unexpected voice. She picked this spot for its solitude, but apparently that was not the case. She looked the woman up and down, wondering how she was so quiet.
"Oh! Uhm, thank you. It's not my song, it's a culture thing from where I'm from. Called 'The Last Post'. Today was when my country would celebrate ANZAC Day, but seeing as I'm not home, I decided to do it here," C'Leena looks off into the rising sun again, not squinting in the slightest as she looks directly at the sun.
Now that Nephele is far closer, she would notice the burns look far more severe than before. What seemed bad now looks irreparable, even with magic. The scarring having developed a sort of webbed look surrounding her eyes and covering her eyelids.
Oh, right. I'm Dr. C'Leena Thomas, sorry for not introducing myself. Who might you be and how long have you been listening?" she asks with a smile on her face. Despite the smile, she seems saddened. Morose might be a better word. She extends a hand to Nephele, the medals lightly jingling on her coat as she does so.
The sunrise shines on C'Leena in an ethereal way. Her eyes faintly glow in the light. Her smile, despite seeming sad, seems truly a part of her; as if she wouldn't be the same person without it. She truly seems out of this world, not only with her clothing but her accent too.
C'Leena keeps her hand extended, her featureless aquamarine eyes taking in as much information as possible.
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Post by Nephele on Apr 20, 2023 12:40:18 GMT -5
Nephele smiled in greeting, practicing C'Leena's name on her tongue.
"See-lee-nuh. C'Leena." The woman then grabs hold of C'Leena's hand, shaking it carefully. Her hand is ice cold, as if she had been bathed in a frozen river before arriving. "Such a fun name. I am Nephele, not nearly as fun." It's said in a matter-of-fact way rather than self-deprecating, and she continues.
"I believe I've been here almost the whole time." Nephele stated, still staring at C'Leena curiously. At this point she's scanning her scars, wondering what caused them. In a morbid way, the nymph found them pretty. She had always loved scars, though she hated them on herself. They looked like a mosaic on C'Leena's skin, in Nephele's eyes. "I'm sorry if I disrupted your peace. Your voice carries a weight I found compelling, so I found it rude to not listen. I wish I had such a story to tell."
Nephele pauses, watching what looks like a dragonfly zip by for a distracted moment.
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Post by C'Leena Thomas on Apr 20, 2023 13:05:45 GMT -5
C'Leenas smile turns less sad. C'Leenas own hand feels cold, and oddly metallic despite looking like normal skin and flesh.
"I dunno, Nephele is a pretty name, dal. Please, if you're not in a rush to go anywhere, please sit. I'd be happy to have the company if you're willing to provide it." C'Leena says. She notices Nephele's gaze shift from her eyes to the scarring surrounding them, and slightly shifts in her seat at the attention, dropping the smile a bit. She quickly steels herself, however and returns the smile back.
"As for the poem, it also isn't my story. It's about a military called the ANZACs who had went to Gallipoli to take control of it from the Turkish. Despite the fact that it was a failed campaign that lasted a few years, it's highly respected among Australians and other countries involved. It's speaking of the ANZACs that never returned home," She pauses for a second, gathering her thoughts. "Theres another poem that I know. The one that I was speaking earlier was called 'For The Fallen' and another is 'In Flanders Fields'." She pauses again, bringing the poem back to the forefront of her mind.
"In Flanders Fields the poppies blow Between the crosses, row on row, That mark our place; and in the sky The larks, still bravely singing, fly Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, Loved, and were loved, and now we lie In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe To you from failing hands we throw The torch, be yours to hold it high If ye break faith with us who die We shall not sleep, though poppies grow In Flanders fields."
"Poppies are seen as the flower for the ANZACs, as during World War One, they were among the first plants to grow on the Western Front, which gave a soldier the idea for 'In Flanders Fields'." C'Leena reaches into her coat and pulls out a poppy of her own, looking down at it and twirling it between her fingers before offering it over to Nephele.
"Turns out they grow here, too. You wouldn't believe how happy I was to find this out. Theres a Poppy field about a kilometer that way," She points toward the southeast. "I probably should have conducted the Dawn Ceremony there, huh? Shit, sorry, I'm rambling, aren't I? What're you doing out here this early, anyway?"
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Post by Nephele on Apr 20, 2023 13:41:10 GMT -5
Nephele takes the invite to sit after remembering where she was, opting to sit in the grass rather than on the rock. She ran her fingers through the soft, sweet smelling grass and sighed as she listened to C'Leena's tale of Gallipoli. She had typically avoided conversation of war, finding it a foolish application of the mortal mind. Fighting and killing wasn't her style, even if she considered herself and apt fighter. Her nose wrinkled at the idea of countless lives thrown away for something that could be solved where she's from with a bottle of wine and dance.
At some point Nephele kicked off her shoes, listening to C'Leena's next poem while her toes wriggled in the grass. She swayed as C'Leena rehearsed the poem, and Nephele smiled wistfully like she were listening to a song around a campfire. Her ability to find a song was evident as she listened, feeling the weight of the words rest on her shoulders now that she knew the background. Nephele wondered how heavy of an influence the war had on her, if that was where she got the scars from. Realizing that made her smile fade.
After she was done, Nephele gently took the flower from C'Leena, hesitant. She had always had a special place for gifts in her heart, but considering her nature Nephele felt odd receiving them. Usually people would avoid her altogether, much less give things to her; usually faefolk were revered when it came to gifts out of fear that they would steal their first born or something. Still, she ignored the thought and twirled the flower in her fingers, caressing the petals like she was afraid her nails would pierce them.
"Do not apologize for simply being. I'm happy you've shared what you have with me." Nephele said easily, still staring at the poppy with a dreamy gaze. "I've been walking all night. I have a sort of wanderlust, I get it from my mother. I have nowhere specific to go so I just walk until I collapse. I have about three hours or so left in me before my body makes me sleep."
Nephele perches the red flower behind her goatlike ear, contrasting sharply with her white hair. Finally, she looks up at C'Leena, tilting her head. "You say there are more in a field nearby? Should we get you another? I'd feel awful if I took this part of you and didn't repay your favor."
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Post by C'Leena Thomas on Apr 20, 2023 14:14:58 GMT -5
C'Leenas smile moves away from the sadness it held, happy to have a proper conversation partner, even if C'Leena was still trying to puzzle out what Nephele was. It felt wrong to straight up ask, so she simply didn't.
However, C'Leenas smile turned into a concerned frown upon hearing of the womans schedule - or lack thereof. "Dal, wandering until you pass out isn't exactly healthy. As a doctor, I have to insist that you get yourself a proper schedule. I may not be the right kind of doctor to tell you how to do that effectively, but I'm a doctor, nonetheless. You might find yourself far more rested if you sleep at consistent times instead of whenever you collapse."
C'Leena shakes her head. "Sorry, it's difficult putting the doctor part of me away sometimes. But, if you'd like to take a walk with me, we can go. And, you know that gifts are things given with no expectation of being reimbursed, right? You don't owe a favor or anything like that. Plus, it looks good on you."
C'Leena stands and takes her coat off, folds it and flips it onto a shoulder. She stretches, mainly out of habit than needing to stretch muscle. Her shirt rises slightly when she lifts her arms up to stretch, and the small portion of her back and side that is visible for the few moments as she does so reveal the same burn scarring that seems to fill the womans back - at least as far as you can tell.
She sighs and turns toward Nephele and offers her a hand to stand. "Take a walk with me?" C'Leena asks, her smile returning quickly. "You seem to quite enjoy poetry. What I've shared is, what? Bit over 300 years old now? Old stuff. Sadly, I'm no poet. I'm more of a musical sort of gal, like my sister, Rose," she rambles again. There is a fondness in her voice when she mentions Rose, the same name you heard earlier. Mixed with the fondness is a hint of sadness that C'Leena is working overtime to suppress.
You get the feeling that C'Leena has quite a few stories stashed away, and not only about her burns. She stands, towering over Nephele with a hand extended once more to help her up.
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Post by Nephele on Apr 20, 2023 15:01:13 GMT -5
Nephele can't help her giggle at C'Leena's concern. She honestly couldn't help her wanderlust, and it affected her like a very specific instinct. She did find it amusing that C'Leena showed any concern at all, for she ran on strictly adrenaline and willpower alone. So far it hadn't steered her wrong...so far.
Nephele unconsciously adjusted the flower by her ear, taking C'Leena's hand and standing. Nephele would admit that she did stare longer than necessary at C'Leena's movements after removing her coat, but she only did an appreciative onceover at the new valleys of exposed skin. She'd noticed her discomfort earlier, and decided to try and find a distraction. Nephele weighed almost nothing as she was helped up, grabbing her socks and stuffing them in her shoes and carrying them. She didn't feel like wearing shoes again, finding them constricting in the moment. It did bring her solace that what C'Leena described happened so long ago, but it did make her want to ask a million more now. She wouldn't though, afraid that she'd scare her off.
"I would love to." Nephele acquiesced, kind of dragging her feet to feel the ground better. Curiously though, she stepped around stray bugs as they walked, often cutting her eyes to the ground and then back up.
"I heard you mention Rose earlier," Nephele recounted. She stretches forward. "I will admit that I thought you were speaking of the flower. Seems like you have an interesting connection with flowers, even just by name."
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Post by C'Leena Thomas on Apr 20, 2023 23:22:30 GMT -5
They begin walking, the sun now mostly risen above the horizon. C'Leena smiles wider at the chance to talk about her sister, and does so immediately.
She chuckles at being told of the interesting connection she has with flowers. "Yeah. I guess you could say that. Nah, but Rose is.. Was, my sister. She was the sweetest thing, but lived up to her name perfectly. She could be a right prickly bastard sometimes," She laughs, a tinkling sound that seems almost uncharacteristic of her look.
"She passed a few years ago, before I got the, erm.. The burns and prosthetics. Anyway, she was scarily good at playing the Violin. Once she began learning, she practically shoved me at a piano tutor and demanded I learn something, too. So I did. Never regretted that." C'Leena takes a deep breath that somehow speaks a thousand words. A level of love an adoration, but also sadness and loss.
"Anyway, uh. Hm, how do I go about this?" She asks herself, furrowing her brow. "Alright, you have full permission to smack me upside the head if this is crossing some sort of line, but I've been having a hard time identifying what you are," She looks at Nephele tries again, for the umpteenth time to figure it out with no luck. The closest thing she could think of is like, a Fey or something, but that doesn't feel right.
"Although, your eyes are Incredibly beautiful. And here I was thinking that Aquamarine was a good color for me," She laughs again, the tinkling sound returning. She continues walking toward the poppy fields. They still have some distance to go yet.
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Post by Nephele on Apr 20, 2023 23:54:06 GMT -5
Listening to C'Leena elaborate about her sister both saddened and soothed Nephele. The adoration was something she knew well, as she used it whenever she spoke about her mother. It made her smile dim just a bit from its brightness as she remembered the sweet, bell-like giggle that her mother would emit after Nephele made her laugh. Wow, she missed her so much more than she remembered.
She was pleasantly surprised that C'Leena was so kind to her so easily without wanting anything in return. Nephele shoved the thought away, trying to stifle the negative thoughts and fiddling with her nails dazedly.
Nephele does pause, however, when C'Leena indirectly asks what she is, and her eyes widen. A deep blue raises to her cheeks at the compliment, and her mind blanks for a moment after she realizes that C'Leena couldn't actually tell what she was. Not that she had to know the specifics, but she could at least tell she had fey ancestry, right?
"O-Oh!" Nephele says after a moment of stunned silence. Her voice audibly cracked, high-pitched at the genuine inquiry. How curious, how different this was! Nephele's dreamy demeanor was visibly shaken, but she smiled through it. "Thank you for the compliment. I'm faeborne. More specifically, my mother was a water nymph from the Land of Wonder, though my father was something else." Nephele stared at C'Leena, happy but quickly catching herself. She looked straight ahead almost treading upon a beetle. Her consciousness yelled at her to compliment her back, so she forced herself to look back at C'Leena's face.
"I-I, um, oh dear." The woman shook her head, her hair whipping to and fro as her cheeks refused to cool down. It had been a long time since Nephele had been flustered, evidently by her frustration. "So sorry. What I meant to say was I find your eyes quite pretty as well. Aquamarine...it contrasts well with your hair. They also suit your demeanor, an otherworldly grace that I can only envy."
Now that she was looking, she couldn't look away suddenly. Such a curious color, for one who appeared mostly human. Suddenly Nephele wished she had eyes like that.
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Post by C'Leena Thomas on Apr 21, 2023 0:32:03 GMT -5
To say she was surprised would be an understatement. She is Fey! C'Leena doesn't know much about fey, only really having vague ideas on what they look like. Having said that, Nephele acting flustered is frankly adorable. There really wasn't any other way to put it.
"Feyborne. Thats pretty cool! Truthfully I don't actually know much about the Fey. Or anything, really, outside of what some stories say that you guys look like. The Land of Wonder sounds interesting, too." C'Leena feels like there is a story behind her father, but she decides not to ask.
Nephele's compliment finally clicks with her, and she chuckles again. "Otherworldly Grace, huh?" She asks, looking at Nephele. "Alright, I'll play ball. What exactly screams 'Otherworldly' to you? I could just be some lass from the other side of the country with a strange accent," she kids, still walking and looking at Nephele as she speaks.
"I mean, you're not wrong, but still, I'm curious. And thank you for the compliment, darling, that's very sweet of you."
As she speaks, she stops, all without looking where shes going. She gestures out in the direction of where they were headed. "We're here, by the way." Out in the field, instead of the constant grasslands, is a large field with hundreds of thousands of the very same red flowers that C'Leena gifted. The blood red petals lightly swaying in the wind, giving a light ripple through the fields.
C'Leena looks entranced by the fields. She never participated in the wars, nor knew anybody who did personally. It doesn't mean she doesn't pay her respects. Suddenly, however, her right arms skin sputters out and fades, revealing a limb of steel and wood. C'Leena looks startled and raises her arm up close to her eyes and looks it over.
"Why did that happen? Oh, wait, I got it. Uhm, I apologize in advance." She says before she takes a knee and grips her upper bicep. Her eyes flash a brighter aquamarine and C'Leena removes her arm from her shoulder and rests it atop a knee. She whips out a cloth and quickly wipes down the connection point, both on the arm and on her shoulder.
The inside of the arm looks entirely made of steel - at least the connector does, and the same can be said for her shoulder joint. You realise now that the reason that her burn scars around her shoulders just stop is because her arms aren't even real.
She quickly finishes up and reconnects the limb. The skin returns, flowing from her shoulder down to her fingertips as it returns to looking perfectly normal. She rolls her shoulder and smiles.
"There we go. Again, sorry about that. Wait, did I explain the prosthetics to you or did my arm just turn into steel for no reason to you? Uhm.." C'Leena looks incredibly apologetic and rubs the back of her neck. "Sorry," She winces, regretting just yanking off her arm with no explanation.
That might be a bit difficult to explain..
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Post by Nephele on Apr 21, 2023 1:02:27 GMT -5
Nephele twirled her fingers through her hair at C'Leena's question, catching onto the teasing tone and looking down at her feet again. To be honest, she found people of all backgrounds beautiful and strange and altogether unique. Still though, the otherwise human outward appearance of C'Leena's body was eluding her. Did humans have such eyes? Perhaps if they're cataracts, but the woman seemed to see her just fine.
She audibly gasped at the sight of C'Leena's mechanical arm, pausing in her response to gaze in awe. She hadn't met too many people with prosthetics made of metal, so this confused her for a second too long. It made sense though, C'Leena's hands were really cold. She was starting to grow really interested in this mysterious woman, finding her unintentionally charming and utterly fascinating. Nephele almost forgets they were in a flower field in the first place.
Nephele blinks, snapping herself out of it despite her fingers twitching to touch the junction where shoulder meets arm. She reminded herself to answer the question, and she did, staring into the mass of red flowers as a distraction from more eye contact. "Ah, well for starters, you don't move like the others I met. Everyone holds stories in their stride, and those who sang did so with whimsy or deep sorrow. It was never something so...in between. Like you had lived a heavy life and still mourn it, even while you're so young. You also don't exactly feel like you're from this soil, if that makes sense?"
Nephele was struggling to articulate, furrowing her brow and crouching to the ground. She gently plucked a stag beetle from where it crawled on the ground, holding it in her calloused and scratch ridden palm. Nephele gently ran a finger down its spine, where it settled for a few seconds before flying away. She then stood back up, watching the flowers bend in the breeze with a fond gaze.
"I think what I mean is that I've lived around people for a while, but you're the first person I've met like you, in a sense. Others tend to seek me out for favors or avoid me altogether. You didn't." Nephele shrugs, clasping her hands together behind her. "It's...refreshing."
Sensing herself grow too philosophical, Nephele added matter-of-factly: "Or perhaps I simply find you pretty. I don't believe I've made up my mind yet."
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Post by C'Leena Thomas on Apr 21, 2023 1:45:08 GMT -5
C'Leena is stunned. She's known this woman for, maybe an hour and she's already managed to wrap up a large part of her life in that time. Truthfully, she hasn't been actively avoiding talking about her past, but she doesn't think she's been overly open about it either.
She remains silent for a while, processing everything that is said to her. She's truly been sent off balance by Nephele. After a few minutes, she speaks up.
"There hasn't been a reason for me to want anything from you, nor has there been any reason for me to avoid you. You've been nothing but kind since you approached. You've essentially wrapped my life up in a nutshell. There has been so much in so little time thrown at me, I've been left dealing and reeling from three different events in less than five years."
"Although, I'm sure you don't want to hear me complain about the past. What happened, happened. There isn't any changing it. However, I can clear the air and answer your questions or relieve your curiosities. I can tell you have plenty of both," C'Leena smiles, making eye contact.
To C'Leena, there have been three types of people: Those who don't care, those who have too much curiosity and those who go about it wrong. Nephele has managed to become a 4th type of person, which has thrown C'Leena even more off kilter.
"I've been told I'm something called 'Unbound'. A being not of this world who was summoned here. I wasn't the intended target, according to the fucker that did it. So, instead of returning me, he just sent me on my way. So I've been mostly wandering. I've been frequenting Thunderhoof Village, but for the most part, I've been living a pretty nomadic lifestyle since getting here a few weeks ago."
C'Leena looks uncomfortable, but determined. Despite having almost no features, her eyes appear steeled. C'Leena does want to talk about pretty much anything, but doing so seems extremely difficult.
"Back home, I was a prosthetist. I guess I still am, I just need to figure out sigaldry and inscriptions to do it. It's ironic, honestly. A Prosthetist with more prosthetics than flesh. Hell, even my heart isn't real. I don't even know whats going on with that thing at this point. I still hear it whirring away, though. That's always good news." She stops, and in the silence you can just barely make out a rhythmic hum. It's extremely easy to overlook, but the silence of the landscape and C'Leena pointing it out makes it noticeable, if only barely.
C'Leena feels strangely trusting of Nephele. Theres just something about her that feels familiar but she can't quite pin it down.
"Anyway, you look like you have more questions than you know what to do with. So please, feel free to ask." C'Leena finds herself standing closer beside Nephele than she realized, but doesn't move away. C'Leena hooks her thumbs on her belt and stands facing the poppies. Her posture is one that displays confidence, but her face betrays that feeling. She looks forcefully neutral in her expression, as if she's having a difficult time schooling her expression. Looking at her, the pair are positioned in such a way that C'Leena is blocking out the sun for Nephele.
It's moments like these that C'Leena both hates and is thankful that she can no longer produce tears.
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Post by Nephele on Apr 21, 2023 2:18:26 GMT -5
The expression that Nephele has on her face is mostly neutral, her brows pulled together in concentration as she listened to C'Leena share her woes. She almost felt bad for rambling, surprised that she managed to stumble her way through this interaction. C'Leena was certainly the kindest person she'd ever met, and when she heard the word "unbound" it made her tilt her head a fraction. Nephele had never heard the term before, to no one's real surprise, but she couldn't help but feel like it both perfectly described and completely put her off. How could someone toy with a life like that and then just...toss it out into the elements? A wave of something foreign, something deeply protective, washed over her with the next gentle breeze. Like a salve though, C'Leena's body blocked most of the gust.
Nephele smiled to herself as she listened to the heart whir away in C'Leena's chest, her ear twitching at the sound and nearly dropping the poppy from its perch. It was strange, but somehow soothing to listen to, like listening to the chirp of crickets in the forest as one settles down for sleep.
At the mention of questions, Nephele hesitates. Yes, she had a thousand-and-one things to ask, but the insecurity still held true. The worry that she'd say something to turn C'Leena away was still there, so she held her silence for longer than was deemed comfortable.
"You say you're from another realm, yes? Do you remember anything about it?" Nephele deems it a safe first question, but she quickly adds on: "I ask because you clearly remember your family and occupation. If you're uncomfortable, you may ignore me."
As she says this, Nephele takes a step closer to the poppy field, leaving her shoes on the ground as she does. She gives C'Leena a look over her shoulder, a mix of "I'm listening" and "join me" in her dark eyes. If C'Leena were any closer, she would see brighter, twinkling stars in their depths, excited by the prospect of a new...friend? Maybe friend was too generous, how long did it take for people to become friends anyway? She tried her best to mask her existential crisis, but was actively failing in the way she failed, again, to keep eye contact.
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Tradesfolk
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Renown
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Past events can never be changed. Instead, change the future.
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Post by C'Leena Thomas on Apr 21, 2023 2:51:20 GMT -5
C'Leena begins walking again with Nephele, noticing her apparent difficulty maintaining eye contact. Despite the tone, she smiles.
"I remember everything of my home. It was a place without magic, but the technology was so much more advanced in ways that almost looked like magic. We developed ways to talk to people on opposite sides of the world. We figured out ways to essentially throw ourselves into the space beyond the sky. Humanity in my world has populated worlds outside of Earth."
She pauses, looking into Nepheles eyes once again. "We've unlocked the very rules of reality. The rules of what makes everything function, and why things happen, and we've found ways to break those rules, all without magic. We've explored places that don't even have air to breathe. We've discovered entire galaxies, nebulas and other natural beauties that likely nobody here has seen in their full potential. At night, when humanity sees the stars in the sky, we only see possibility. We see challenge and we go for it.
"I'm sure you're aware, but your eyes have a strong resemblance to those stars. I know I said this before, but they truly are beautiful." She says. C'Leena acknowledges Nepheles either discomfort or internal turmoil, but doesn't pry.
"My job back home was to make and connect fake limbs like mine to those who lost their biological ones. There was truthfully, only one thing I loved more than my job, and that was my sister. My job let me help people. The loss of limbs, especially if you lose multiple, can be incredibly traumatic for people, especially if they lost them in rather nasty ways." C'Leena explains. She seems oblivious to the fact that she's explaining herself as well as those she cared for.
"I've been told by some patients that I often take on a motherly vibe when I'm doing my job. And later, when I got all this," She raises her hand and shakes it lightly, "that I also became a role model for my patients. My own injuries were, uhm.. Severe is an understatement. Me living was a miracle, even in the surgeons eyes. But the fact that I did, that I lost all of this but survived, gave my patients their own will to persevere, and there's nothing I love seeing more."
She pauses, still following but setting a slow, meandering pace through the fields. "I hope you don't mind, but can you tell me more about your own family? It feels wrong to only talk about me, here." She laughs lightly, her smile having widened as she spoke about her work.
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