Leda Danan (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
anarchist_queen) wrote2018-06-06 10:02 pm
anarchist_queen) wrote2018-06-06 10:02 pm
Kids, don't experiment with Chaos
Long ago, in a time I've nearly forgotten, I had a fondness for adventure stories. And in many of those stories, the villain has a “what have I done” moment. I can feel my mind slowly shred as Azathoth awakens right in front of me. I scream as pure entropy swarms out of my every pore. It destroys the attacks of my enemies, but it is kept at bay by the musical shield erected by their support minions.
The Dark Elf laughs in harmony with my horror.
They say that your life flashes before your eyes when you die. But as I scramble to keep hold of reality I instead get flashes of other people's lives. My mind slips around these others, unable to gain purchase. There's that degenerate version of me who's still trying to make up for her decadent lifestyle as a “rock star”, that ridiculous frontierswoman who fancies herself a sheriff.
And then there's her. She thinks she is safe on that space borne vessel, but Azathoth is there. Connecting us all.
She retrieved her knife from the weapons locker and studied the target range. It looked pretty cool, like those cop movies they showed at the Rialto from time to time.
Stepping up to the line at the proper target, she drew back her hand, and let the blade fly. It struck dead center of the target.
"Still got it."
Triela glanced over. She did not seem impressed. "And now you're unarmed." Someone was extra prickly today.
Leda pointed to the target. "And yet my enemy is dead. And it's not that hard to get it back."
"And if he's not alone?" Triela asked, eyebrow twitching upward.
“Oh well then I'm in trouble."
And then...
Jon may not be dancing around the pole (because no one needed to see that) but he was definitely having fun watching the girls.
Leda winked at him as she passed by. "Don't just do something, stand there."
He laughed and nodded. "Gladly. Because I don't want to be arrested for rhythm abuse."
Leda laughed, and reached for his hand. "At least twirl me. Just once. Pleeeeease?"
Jon took her hand and grinned. "Don't blame me if we end up tripping and falling."
"That'll be half the fun." she grinned.
And then...
Leda stroked Karlas hair, and kissed her forehead.
Karla kissed her back. "Then you don't mind I have no idea what to do? That--this stuff doesn't come naturally to me?"
"Not at all. Even though it's not my first time, it's still new to me too."
"I'm glad," Karla said with a relieved smile.
"This is the first time I've bought stuff for someone I was with for instance. I've stolen stuff, but I'm still fuzzy on the whole romantic gifts thing."
“I'd try to be horrified by your thieving ways, but all the wine I've brought was stolen from my uncle," Karla said, dimpling. "But thank you for buying these things for me." She leaned over to brush her lips across Leda's cheek.
Leda reached out to cup Karla's jaw, and kiss her chin, and then her nose, juuuust letting her lips brush across hers. "You're welcome."
Karla flushed a bit, then leaned in and kissed Leda back. "Does stealing kisses count?" she murmured against the elf's lips.
And then...
Eleanor came along shortly, carrying a flashlight once again. "You haven't been waiting too long, I hope?"
"Not too long. But I think I should have met you at the school instead of coming down on my own."
"Why's that?"
"There's a song I've heard that popped into my head the minute I got down here. The Slitheree Dee. Ever hear of it?"
She shook her head. "No, can't say that I have."
"It goes," Leda was much more brave now that the girl with the fire lizard for a pet was here. "Oh the Slitheree Dee, it crawled out of the sea. It got all the others but it won't get me. No you won't get me you stupid old Slitheree Dee. You may catch all the others but you won't catch-" and she broke off with a sound of eating.
"I tried not to think about it but that turned out to be counter productive."
"That's quite a little rhyme. Surely, something like that doesn't really exist, does it?"
"Nah, it's just a silly little song for kids. But, the ocean's just as strange to me as the woods, and at night, it kinda crept into my mind."
"Outside of the trip over from England, I don't have much experience with the ocean either, I'll admit. There's also the whole fire versus water aspect. Not that I'm afraid of water," she added quickly, "but it did become a bit unsettling out there surrounded by nothing but ocean."
"I'm going to try not to picture that if you don't mind." Leda said with a wry smile. She offered her arm to Eleanor. "Shall we?"
"I think we shall," she smirked back, taking the offered arm.
And then...
Leda managed to get to her knife, and ran one of the things through with it before another leaped off the shower rod and sank it's teeth into her wrist. "Fuck!" Now one of the monsters had her knife.
Momoko was on her way to the fifth floor common room, hoping for a better cereal selection, when she heard what sounded like screaming. And not a good kind of screaming. She hesitated when the noise died, frowning at the door to the room the sounds seemed to be coming from.
Even if she was laughed at, she decided, she needed to be sure. So Momoko knocked at the door rather loudly, "Hello? Is something going on in there?!"
Several tiny demonic voices answered Momoko with "No!"
Okay, those voices just made her worry more! She was totally convinced there was something wrong in there. She couldn't remember whose room it was, but she was fairly sure if she explained, they would forgive her rudeness if she was wrong.
"Sorry, but I'm coming in!" She tried the handle of the door, hoping it was unlocked and wondering if she'd be in trouble for breaking it down if it wasn't. "I'm really sorry to intrude!"
It was unlocked. Leda was currently doing a one handed crab walk away from the green nasty with her knife. She managed to keep away from it as it slashed at her, but the others were getting tired of waiting.
Momoko pushed open the door and looked around, finally spotting the injured Leda. "Ah! Leda! What's..."
And then she saw the gremlins. "Hey, no! Drop that!" She reached out and grabbed something close (a book? Okay.) and rushed over to hit the knife wielding one on the head. Hard. Really, really hard. It flew back into the wall, causing the remaining creatures to giggle at it's misfortune. It was a totally creepy giggle.
"What is going on here?!" Momoko reached for Leda's arm to drag her closer.
Leda winced and groaned as she pushed along with her legs. Any direction away from the monsters was good with her.
"Dunno, Flo. One of these things was under my bed. Got it, but the rest were waiting in the bath room."
And now looking in their direction.
"I really, really hate my foster parents right now."
"Whoa! These are from your parents? Did you flunk a class or something?"
One of the monsters took initiative and, with a tinny battle cry, launched forward and landed on Momoko's arm. She shrieked as it chomped down hard on her arm. She tried to pull it off, finally resorting to beating its head as another brave one headed for her ankles.
"OW! GET OFF! Leda, we have to get you out of here! OFF! LET GO! and to the clinic! You don't look so good!"
"My parents didn't send them," Leda started, snatching up the charging creature by the ankles and bashing the one chewing on her friends arm with it. "Least I don't think so. But they took away my magic!"
She threw her weapon out the window. "Let's get out of here!" Her shoulders hadn't stopped bleeding, and her wrist was looking pretty nasty too.
And then...
Florida watched the energetic girl, becoming infected by the good vibes in spite of her distrustful nature.
Very good vibes!
Momoko spotted the girl and waved, then skipped her way over, and bending close. "Hi! I don't know you, do I? I like your hair, we should be friends! There's pizza and I'm sure you can have some if you ask 'plitely and there's a movie, too! Want to play?"
Florida was completely caught off guard by the barrage of talk, and the attention. She had very little experience with children her own age. Fortunately most of those questions could be answered with a smile and a nod.
"What's the matter? Can't you talk?" Momoko smiled at the girl and reached for her hand. "That's okay. My name's Momoko! You can sit with me and we can eat some pizza and I will tell everyone you're my friend and they won't care!"
Florida shook her head in answer to the talking question. She looked in surprise at the hand holding hers, before curling her fingers around Momoko's as well.
And then...
As Leda tried to sit up, cursing, Crystaviel magically sent her sliding backwards through the sand to the water's edge. With preternatural speed, she dashed to her side, and grabbing her shoulders, she shoved the girl under the surface of the water.
For a moment, Leda floated in blind panic. She automatically tried to scream, allowing water to fill her mouth and flood into her lungs.
“I'm told it's not so bad if you don't fight it!” Crystaviel advised, shoving harder.
Leda's feet kicked wildly and her vision began to fade. Then her flailing fingers found a piece of driftwood, and she swung it into Crystaviel's head, once, twice, three times.
Crystaviel fell back, and Leda flung herself weakly from the waves, coughing and retching. Her ribs stung her half drowned lungs with every labored breath, and her broken arm throbbed. Blood trickled into her eyes. She had only once chance.
Crystaviel's head swam, pain almost making her lose consciousness. She had to finish this quickly. She muttered a spell even as she heaved herself to her feet. Her sword appeared in her hand. Too late she heard the end of the same spell from Leda.
The future queen of Faerie rolled onto her back, wiping blood from her eyes with her broken arm.
The gun went off once, twice, three times.
Crystaviel felt each impact like a kick from a Mule. She stared down at the three holes in her chest, then looked at Leda in shock and horror.
And then...
The deck may appear deserted, but alert students might notice a small girl peering over the edge from the bushes along the side. She had figured out that she was not in Bordertown at all. Which did nothing for her peace of mind, though sleeping in the stables last night hadn't been too bad. Now her stomach was growling once again. But she wasn't quite brave enough yet to venture into the town below to scrounge for food.
Alert? Ino could totally do alert.
"Are you hiding?" Ino called to the little girl, offering a smile as she bounced up on the deck with her hot chocolate and muffin. "You ain't doin' a perfect job, you know."
No she wasn't was she. Maybe she'd get better with practice. She instinctively ducked down when she was spotted, but realized that was pretty silly. The damage had been done.
Besides that hot chocolate smelled pretty good. So she peeked up again, still only the top of her head visible over the edge of the deck.
"Come on up," Ino invited, sitting down and looking harmless.
Ino was pretty good at looking harmless, really, especially when she was trying.
Florida did so, cautiously. This place was very strange to her, but so far those she'd met hadn't threatened her, and this girl did look pretty harmless.
Besides the safety of the bushes was just a quick dash away. She looked at Ino through the Dandelion puff of her hair curiously.
"You wanna sit?" Ino asked, studying the girl and keeping a smile on her face. "You can sit anywhere 'round here--s'what the deck is for. No one'll chase you off of it. I'm Ino."
Even if it was, possibly, a student who knew her this girl was looking at her like she didn't and so--introductions.
Not taking her eyes off of Ino, Florida came a bit closer, and squatted down. It was a semi-relaxed pose, she could easily leap up and flee if necessary.
The kids at Castle Pup had called her Florida, so she pointed to the big green "FLORIDA" printed on the oversized orange t-shirt that was her only garment.
Yeah. With that sort of response, Ino wasn't going to be making any sudden moves.
"Florida, huh?" Ino nodded slowly. "Can you talk, honey? Do you know why you're here?" Where were her guardians and what the hell were they doing dressing her so shoddily?
The answer to both questions was no, so Florida shook her head. She appreciated the no sudden moves, and it made her comfortable enough that she drew her knees up to her chin. Her stomach growled again, reminding her that she'd have to go looking for food soon.
Ino frowned slightly and she glanced at her muffin before leaning over and slowly setting it, in the little paper bag they'd given her with it, over where Florida could reach it if she wanted. She could always get another muffin.
"It's food," Ino said, tilting her head at it. "If you want it."
Florida stared at the muffin as if it were a strange, but wondrous thing. Then she scampered over and attempted to fit the entire thing in her mouth. When that failed she resorted to taking a bite, then chewing it before swallowing.
She gave Ino her thanks in the form of a smile, and rubbing her hand on her belly to show how good it was.
And then...
Florida had finally ventured out into town, and after scrounging some still edible food from various trash bins, had followed the unfamiliar sound of waves down here to the shore. She stared almost as if hypnotized, in awe of the expanse of water. She gave an impressed sigh.
It was perfect day for a swim and a picnic! Momoko made her way cheerily to the beach with her beach bag and picnic basket. She was carefully avoiding the spots she and Azula had been training in, just in case (her sifu was waaaaay too sneaky) and spotted a small figure sitting alone and not really looking like they'd been intending to be at the beach.
"Hi! Are you okay?" She gave a shout as she walked closer.
Florida started, and whirled around, watching Momoko approach cautiously. But she didn't run away, so...progress.
It was a little girl! Hmmm. Momoko stopped for a second when she saw she'd scared her.
"Ah! Are you lost?" Momoko smiled broadly and slowly began moving closer again. "You look familiar. Are you from town? Can I join you?" She hefted her basket as she walked. It was totally stuffed and there were even a few cakes visible that she hadn't been able to squeeze in all the way. "We can have a picnic and maybe then I can take you home!"
Well, the food in the basket did smell better than what she had cradled in the folds of her shirt. She held her ground, then inched closer to get a better look in the basket.
That was... weird. The girl... Why couldn't Momoko place her? ... seemed afraid still. Momoko totally wasn't used to someone being afraid of her.
"See? Lots of good food!" She lifted the lid of the basket to show the girl she really did have food. The basket held lots of food and drinks and candy and cakes and, well, this was Momoko. She'd packed for an army, even though she'd planned a day on her own! Luckily, all of it was store-bought. "So can I join you? You look like you picked a perfect spot, you know. You must be a totally awesome master picnicker!"
Florida looked at the incredible assortment in the basket, then at the comparatively simple and less appetizing items she herself was carrying. Then she gave Momoko a look that rather clearly said; 'Clearly I'm not.' Though still cautious, her uncertainty about this girl was fading fast.
A breeze picked up, ruffling the wild dandelion puff of her hair, revealing the tip of one of her pointed ears.
Oh oh oh! EARS! Pointy ears! And fluffy hair! And not talking?
"Ah! Now I remember you! You're Leda! We played together before!" Momoko didn't know why the weirdness hadn't turned her into a little girl this time. But that was fine. "You remember? We watched tv together!"
Florida clearly did not remember. She looked at Momoko blankly. She'd never seen this girl before in her life, and why would she mistake her for the weird girl who lived in Castle Pup who Florida had never seen sober? This place confused the hell out of her. At least the crazy girl was nice? And had food.
"You don't remember me? Ah! of course! I'm grown! I look totally different!" She grinned happily. "My name is Momoko, okay? We're friends! You can hang out with me, it's totally fine!" This was totally awesome; Leda was so cute!
"Here!" She pulled a blanket from her beach bag and handed it to Leda. "Set this out so we don't have to sit on the sand while we eat, okay? I don't have a swimsuit for you, but if you want to swim you can totally wear my cover-up afterwards!"
Well when someone was looking at you with an expression like that on their faces it was hard not to warm up to them. She doubted she'd be swimming though. She didn't know how. She was tempted to get her feet wet later maybe. She did her best to spread the blanket out, but it was kind of big. She scampered from one corner to the next till it was mostly unfolded.
Finally...
Honestly, Karla had spent some time debating whether or not to show up after getting Leda's message. Not because of Leda herself, no; it was just after saying goodbye to Dinah, Karla wasn't sure she would be able to handle another goodbye.
But, in the end, she'd gone. There wasn't really a choice, was there? It wasn't about how much Karla could bear, it was about seeing a friend off to be brave and do her duty. Karla couldn't leave Leda to go off without even a goodbye.
Especially not when that same choice was brewing for her.
"Kiss kiss," she said, sounding tired. "You didn't think you'd get to leave without saying goodbye, did you?"
"Nah not really. I'm totally not sneaky enough for that." Leda replied, also sounding tired. "Though when I said I hoped I'd get to see you again, this isn't what I meant." Not being able to come up with the right words just now, she resorted to a joke.
“If it had been, we'd be having words right now," Karla admitted, just going with the banter. "This is hardly my top ten best reunion moments."
"Yeah, goodbyes generally aren't the best kind of reunion." Leda agreed. Then, throwing decorum to the wind, she flung her arms around Karla in a fierce hug.
Karla didn't even hesitate, clutching at Leda and squeezing. Maybe if she didn't let go, Leda would have to stay?
"I should smack you," she mumbled into Leda's hair. "For making it sound like I'd need a book to remember you or your people."
Well she sure wasn't bringing Karla with her. Tempting as that was.
"What you don't like reading?" she teased. She couldn't resist. All this was way heavier than she was used to dealing with. "There's pictures too." Reluctantly, she let go. "I know you'll remember us." she said seriously. "The book is for...well you know."
"Oh. Well if there are pictures..." Karla said, letting her arms fall back to her sides. "I know. I'll make sure it stays here, where people can look through it and remember. So no matter what happens, your people won't be forgotten. You can thank me for that later, once this is fixed. Okay?"
"I will thank you with words and unhealthy delicious foods. And maybe even one of those cards that plays music when you open them." Leda assured her. "Cause when I get back, after this is fixed there's going to be a party. I may be out of my jurisdiction here but I doubt many people will object to such a decree."
And if she didn't get going, she was going to lose her nerve. "Goodbye Karla. No, not goodbye. See you later."
"I'll back your party plan," Karla promised. "Two Queens at once, who could say no to that?"
Her lower lip trembled as Leda said goodbye, but she refused to let the tears fall. She would show her friend off with a stiff chin, if she couldn't quite muster up a smile. Leda deserved that much. "See you soon," she corrected, voice thick. "I'm so very pr-proud of you. Of who you've become. Not just as a Queen. As a person."
I cling with all my fading clarity. It's not enough to save myself, but maybe it's enough to take her with me.
The Dark Elf laughs in harmony with my horror.
They say that your life flashes before your eyes when you die. But as I scramble to keep hold of reality I instead get flashes of other people's lives. My mind slips around these others, unable to gain purchase. There's that degenerate version of me who's still trying to make up for her decadent lifestyle as a “rock star”, that ridiculous frontierswoman who fancies herself a sheriff.
And then there's her. She thinks she is safe on that space borne vessel, but Azathoth is there. Connecting us all.
She retrieved her knife from the weapons locker and studied the target range. It looked pretty cool, like those cop movies they showed at the Rialto from time to time.
Stepping up to the line at the proper target, she drew back her hand, and let the blade fly. It struck dead center of the target.
"Still got it."
Triela glanced over. She did not seem impressed. "And now you're unarmed." Someone was extra prickly today.
Leda pointed to the target. "And yet my enemy is dead. And it's not that hard to get it back."
"And if he's not alone?" Triela asked, eyebrow twitching upward.
“Oh well then I'm in trouble."
And then...
Jon may not be dancing around the pole (because no one needed to see that) but he was definitely having fun watching the girls.
Leda winked at him as she passed by. "Don't just do something, stand there."
He laughed and nodded. "Gladly. Because I don't want to be arrested for rhythm abuse."
Leda laughed, and reached for his hand. "At least twirl me. Just once. Pleeeeease?"
Jon took her hand and grinned. "Don't blame me if we end up tripping and falling."
"That'll be half the fun." she grinned.
And then...
Leda stroked Karlas hair, and kissed her forehead.
Karla kissed her back. "Then you don't mind I have no idea what to do? That--this stuff doesn't come naturally to me?"
"Not at all. Even though it's not my first time, it's still new to me too."
"I'm glad," Karla said with a relieved smile.
"This is the first time I've bought stuff for someone I was with for instance. I've stolen stuff, but I'm still fuzzy on the whole romantic gifts thing."
“I'd try to be horrified by your thieving ways, but all the wine I've brought was stolen from my uncle," Karla said, dimpling. "But thank you for buying these things for me." She leaned over to brush her lips across Leda's cheek.
Leda reached out to cup Karla's jaw, and kiss her chin, and then her nose, juuuust letting her lips brush across hers. "You're welcome."
Karla flushed a bit, then leaned in and kissed Leda back. "Does stealing kisses count?" she murmured against the elf's lips.
And then...
Eleanor came along shortly, carrying a flashlight once again. "You haven't been waiting too long, I hope?"
"Not too long. But I think I should have met you at the school instead of coming down on my own."
"Why's that?"
"There's a song I've heard that popped into my head the minute I got down here. The Slitheree Dee. Ever hear of it?"
She shook her head. "No, can't say that I have."
"It goes," Leda was much more brave now that the girl with the fire lizard for a pet was here. "Oh the Slitheree Dee, it crawled out of the sea. It got all the others but it won't get me. No you won't get me you stupid old Slitheree Dee. You may catch all the others but you won't catch-" and she broke off with a sound of eating.
"I tried not to think about it but that turned out to be counter productive."
"That's quite a little rhyme. Surely, something like that doesn't really exist, does it?"
"Nah, it's just a silly little song for kids. But, the ocean's just as strange to me as the woods, and at night, it kinda crept into my mind."
"Outside of the trip over from England, I don't have much experience with the ocean either, I'll admit. There's also the whole fire versus water aspect. Not that I'm afraid of water," she added quickly, "but it did become a bit unsettling out there surrounded by nothing but ocean."
"I'm going to try not to picture that if you don't mind." Leda said with a wry smile. She offered her arm to Eleanor. "Shall we?"
"I think we shall," she smirked back, taking the offered arm.
And then...
Leda managed to get to her knife, and ran one of the things through with it before another leaped off the shower rod and sank it's teeth into her wrist. "Fuck!" Now one of the monsters had her knife.
Momoko was on her way to the fifth floor common room, hoping for a better cereal selection, when she heard what sounded like screaming. And not a good kind of screaming. She hesitated when the noise died, frowning at the door to the room the sounds seemed to be coming from.
Even if she was laughed at, she decided, she needed to be sure. So Momoko knocked at the door rather loudly, "Hello? Is something going on in there?!"
Several tiny demonic voices answered Momoko with "No!"
Okay, those voices just made her worry more! She was totally convinced there was something wrong in there. She couldn't remember whose room it was, but she was fairly sure if she explained, they would forgive her rudeness if she was wrong.
"Sorry, but I'm coming in!" She tried the handle of the door, hoping it was unlocked and wondering if she'd be in trouble for breaking it down if it wasn't. "I'm really sorry to intrude!"
It was unlocked. Leda was currently doing a one handed crab walk away from the green nasty with her knife. She managed to keep away from it as it slashed at her, but the others were getting tired of waiting.
Momoko pushed open the door and looked around, finally spotting the injured Leda. "Ah! Leda! What's..."
And then she saw the gremlins. "Hey, no! Drop that!" She reached out and grabbed something close (a book? Okay.) and rushed over to hit the knife wielding one on the head. Hard. Really, really hard. It flew back into the wall, causing the remaining creatures to giggle at it's misfortune. It was a totally creepy giggle.
"What is going on here?!" Momoko reached for Leda's arm to drag her closer.
Leda winced and groaned as she pushed along with her legs. Any direction away from the monsters was good with her.
"Dunno, Flo. One of these things was under my bed. Got it, but the rest were waiting in the bath room."
And now looking in their direction.
"I really, really hate my foster parents right now."
"Whoa! These are from your parents? Did you flunk a class or something?"
One of the monsters took initiative and, with a tinny battle cry, launched forward and landed on Momoko's arm. She shrieked as it chomped down hard on her arm. She tried to pull it off, finally resorting to beating its head as another brave one headed for her ankles.
"OW! GET OFF! Leda, we have to get you out of here! OFF! LET GO! and to the clinic! You don't look so good!"
"My parents didn't send them," Leda started, snatching up the charging creature by the ankles and bashing the one chewing on her friends arm with it. "Least I don't think so. But they took away my magic!"
She threw her weapon out the window. "Let's get out of here!" Her shoulders hadn't stopped bleeding, and her wrist was looking pretty nasty too.
And then...
Florida watched the energetic girl, becoming infected by the good vibes in spite of her distrustful nature.
Very good vibes!
Momoko spotted the girl and waved, then skipped her way over, and bending close. "Hi! I don't know you, do I? I like your hair, we should be friends! There's pizza and I'm sure you can have some if you ask 'plitely and there's a movie, too! Want to play?"
Florida was completely caught off guard by the barrage of talk, and the attention. She had very little experience with children her own age. Fortunately most of those questions could be answered with a smile and a nod.
"What's the matter? Can't you talk?" Momoko smiled at the girl and reached for her hand. "That's okay. My name's Momoko! You can sit with me and we can eat some pizza and I will tell everyone you're my friend and they won't care!"
Florida shook her head in answer to the talking question. She looked in surprise at the hand holding hers, before curling her fingers around Momoko's as well.
And then...
As Leda tried to sit up, cursing, Crystaviel magically sent her sliding backwards through the sand to the water's edge. With preternatural speed, she dashed to her side, and grabbing her shoulders, she shoved the girl under the surface of the water.
For a moment, Leda floated in blind panic. She automatically tried to scream, allowing water to fill her mouth and flood into her lungs.
“I'm told it's not so bad if you don't fight it!” Crystaviel advised, shoving harder.
Leda's feet kicked wildly and her vision began to fade. Then her flailing fingers found a piece of driftwood, and she swung it into Crystaviel's head, once, twice, three times.
Crystaviel fell back, and Leda flung herself weakly from the waves, coughing and retching. Her ribs stung her half drowned lungs with every labored breath, and her broken arm throbbed. Blood trickled into her eyes. She had only once chance.
Crystaviel's head swam, pain almost making her lose consciousness. She had to finish this quickly. She muttered a spell even as she heaved herself to her feet. Her sword appeared in her hand. Too late she heard the end of the same spell from Leda.
The future queen of Faerie rolled onto her back, wiping blood from her eyes with her broken arm.
The gun went off once, twice, three times.
Crystaviel felt each impact like a kick from a Mule. She stared down at the three holes in her chest, then looked at Leda in shock and horror.
And then...
The deck may appear deserted, but alert students might notice a small girl peering over the edge from the bushes along the side. She had figured out that she was not in Bordertown at all. Which did nothing for her peace of mind, though sleeping in the stables last night hadn't been too bad. Now her stomach was growling once again. But she wasn't quite brave enough yet to venture into the town below to scrounge for food.
Alert? Ino could totally do alert.
"Are you hiding?" Ino called to the little girl, offering a smile as she bounced up on the deck with her hot chocolate and muffin. "You ain't doin' a perfect job, you know."
No she wasn't was she. Maybe she'd get better with practice. She instinctively ducked down when she was spotted, but realized that was pretty silly. The damage had been done.
Besides that hot chocolate smelled pretty good. So she peeked up again, still only the top of her head visible over the edge of the deck.
"Come on up," Ino invited, sitting down and looking harmless.
Ino was pretty good at looking harmless, really, especially when she was trying.
Florida did so, cautiously. This place was very strange to her, but so far those she'd met hadn't threatened her, and this girl did look pretty harmless.
Besides the safety of the bushes was just a quick dash away. She looked at Ino through the Dandelion puff of her hair curiously.
"You wanna sit?" Ino asked, studying the girl and keeping a smile on her face. "You can sit anywhere 'round here--s'what the deck is for. No one'll chase you off of it. I'm Ino."
Even if it was, possibly, a student who knew her this girl was looking at her like she didn't and so--introductions.
Not taking her eyes off of Ino, Florida came a bit closer, and squatted down. It was a semi-relaxed pose, she could easily leap up and flee if necessary.
The kids at Castle Pup had called her Florida, so she pointed to the big green "FLORIDA" printed on the oversized orange t-shirt that was her only garment.
Yeah. With that sort of response, Ino wasn't going to be making any sudden moves.
"Florida, huh?" Ino nodded slowly. "Can you talk, honey? Do you know why you're here?" Where were her guardians and what the hell were they doing dressing her so shoddily?
The answer to both questions was no, so Florida shook her head. She appreciated the no sudden moves, and it made her comfortable enough that she drew her knees up to her chin. Her stomach growled again, reminding her that she'd have to go looking for food soon.
Ino frowned slightly and she glanced at her muffin before leaning over and slowly setting it, in the little paper bag they'd given her with it, over where Florida could reach it if she wanted. She could always get another muffin.
"It's food," Ino said, tilting her head at it. "If you want it."
Florida stared at the muffin as if it were a strange, but wondrous thing. Then she scampered over and attempted to fit the entire thing in her mouth. When that failed she resorted to taking a bite, then chewing it before swallowing.
She gave Ino her thanks in the form of a smile, and rubbing her hand on her belly to show how good it was.
And then...
Florida had finally ventured out into town, and after scrounging some still edible food from various trash bins, had followed the unfamiliar sound of waves down here to the shore. She stared almost as if hypnotized, in awe of the expanse of water. She gave an impressed sigh.
It was perfect day for a swim and a picnic! Momoko made her way cheerily to the beach with her beach bag and picnic basket. She was carefully avoiding the spots she and Azula had been training in, just in case (her sifu was waaaaay too sneaky) and spotted a small figure sitting alone and not really looking like they'd been intending to be at the beach.
"Hi! Are you okay?" She gave a shout as she walked closer.
Florida started, and whirled around, watching Momoko approach cautiously. But she didn't run away, so...progress.
It was a little girl! Hmmm. Momoko stopped for a second when she saw she'd scared her.
"Ah! Are you lost?" Momoko smiled broadly and slowly began moving closer again. "You look familiar. Are you from town? Can I join you?" She hefted her basket as she walked. It was totally stuffed and there were even a few cakes visible that she hadn't been able to squeeze in all the way. "We can have a picnic and maybe then I can take you home!"
Well, the food in the basket did smell better than what she had cradled in the folds of her shirt. She held her ground, then inched closer to get a better look in the basket.
That was... weird. The girl... Why couldn't Momoko place her? ... seemed afraid still. Momoko totally wasn't used to someone being afraid of her.
"See? Lots of good food!" She lifted the lid of the basket to show the girl she really did have food. The basket held lots of food and drinks and candy and cakes and, well, this was Momoko. She'd packed for an army, even though she'd planned a day on her own! Luckily, all of it was store-bought. "So can I join you? You look like you picked a perfect spot, you know. You must be a totally awesome master picnicker!"
Florida looked at the incredible assortment in the basket, then at the comparatively simple and less appetizing items she herself was carrying. Then she gave Momoko a look that rather clearly said; 'Clearly I'm not.' Though still cautious, her uncertainty about this girl was fading fast.
A breeze picked up, ruffling the wild dandelion puff of her hair, revealing the tip of one of her pointed ears.
Oh oh oh! EARS! Pointy ears! And fluffy hair! And not talking?
"Ah! Now I remember you! You're Leda! We played together before!" Momoko didn't know why the weirdness hadn't turned her into a little girl this time. But that was fine. "You remember? We watched tv together!"
Florida clearly did not remember. She looked at Momoko blankly. She'd never seen this girl before in her life, and why would she mistake her for the weird girl who lived in Castle Pup who Florida had never seen sober? This place confused the hell out of her. At least the crazy girl was nice? And had food.
"You don't remember me? Ah! of course! I'm grown! I look totally different!" She grinned happily. "My name is Momoko, okay? We're friends! You can hang out with me, it's totally fine!" This was totally awesome; Leda was so cute!
"Here!" She pulled a blanket from her beach bag and handed it to Leda. "Set this out so we don't have to sit on the sand while we eat, okay? I don't have a swimsuit for you, but if you want to swim you can totally wear my cover-up afterwards!"
Well when someone was looking at you with an expression like that on their faces it was hard not to warm up to them. She doubted she'd be swimming though. She didn't know how. She was tempted to get her feet wet later maybe. She did her best to spread the blanket out, but it was kind of big. She scampered from one corner to the next till it was mostly unfolded.
Finally...
Honestly, Karla had spent some time debating whether or not to show up after getting Leda's message. Not because of Leda herself, no; it was just after saying goodbye to Dinah, Karla wasn't sure she would be able to handle another goodbye.
But, in the end, she'd gone. There wasn't really a choice, was there? It wasn't about how much Karla could bear, it was about seeing a friend off to be brave and do her duty. Karla couldn't leave Leda to go off without even a goodbye.
Especially not when that same choice was brewing for her.
"Kiss kiss," she said, sounding tired. "You didn't think you'd get to leave without saying goodbye, did you?"
"Nah not really. I'm totally not sneaky enough for that." Leda replied, also sounding tired. "Though when I said I hoped I'd get to see you again, this isn't what I meant." Not being able to come up with the right words just now, she resorted to a joke.
“If it had been, we'd be having words right now," Karla admitted, just going with the banter. "This is hardly my top ten best reunion moments."
"Yeah, goodbyes generally aren't the best kind of reunion." Leda agreed. Then, throwing decorum to the wind, she flung her arms around Karla in a fierce hug.
Karla didn't even hesitate, clutching at Leda and squeezing. Maybe if she didn't let go, Leda would have to stay?
"I should smack you," she mumbled into Leda's hair. "For making it sound like I'd need a book to remember you or your people."
Well she sure wasn't bringing Karla with her. Tempting as that was.
"What you don't like reading?" she teased. She couldn't resist. All this was way heavier than she was used to dealing with. "There's pictures too." Reluctantly, she let go. "I know you'll remember us." she said seriously. "The book is for...well you know."
"Oh. Well if there are pictures..." Karla said, letting her arms fall back to her sides. "I know. I'll make sure it stays here, where people can look through it and remember. So no matter what happens, your people won't be forgotten. You can thank me for that later, once this is fixed. Okay?"
"I will thank you with words and unhealthy delicious foods. And maybe even one of those cards that plays music when you open them." Leda assured her. "Cause when I get back, after this is fixed there's going to be a party. I may be out of my jurisdiction here but I doubt many people will object to such a decree."
And if she didn't get going, she was going to lose her nerve. "Goodbye Karla. No, not goodbye. See you later."
"I'll back your party plan," Karla promised. "Two Queens at once, who could say no to that?"
Her lower lip trembled as Leda said goodbye, but she refused to let the tears fall. She would show her friend off with a stiff chin, if she couldn't quite muster up a smile. Leda deserved that much. "See you soon," she corrected, voice thick. "I'm so very pr-proud of you. Of who you've become. Not just as a Queen. As a person."
I cling with all my fading clarity. It's not enough to save myself, but maybe it's enough to take her with me.