4th Course - Salt [Video]

[starofpleiades]

[In the late evening, the video suddenly turns on as there's a loud thump and a splatter, like something wet just hit the ground next to the vine. At the first, the picture is dark and its hard to make out the shape there. A trembling silhouette, hunched over as it rises unsteadily off the ground - the form seems small and thin, but draped in lengthy darkness - hair? - but also the limbs seems somehow... too long. Claws?

What little light there is reflects off the eyes of the cats coming to greet the new arrival, but as they draw closer, they hiss and their hair stands on end before they turn and run. The figure in the dark collapses back onto the ground again, curling up, shrinking in on itself.

For a moment, all is still. Then there's a soft, muffled noise as that huddled figure trembles. Sobbing. The vine finally sheds some light on the situation, illuminating the curled, dripping wet form of Kazumi, curled up in a glen on the grassy floor, clutching herself and sobbing quietly. It's a few moments before she opens her eyes, looking around, noticing the vine for the first time. She looks helpless, lost, but her first question isn't "Where am I?"]

Who am I? What am I?

Comments

[starofpleiades]

Mm... I guess so... [It doesn't really fill that gaping hole she's feeling right now though]

[fionna_time]

Hey, come on. We can still hang like we used to! What do you wanna do, like, that's really fun?

[starofpleiades]

I... don't know... [SORRY, STILL TOO DOWN TO THINK OF FUN THINGS RIGHT NOW, CALL BACK LATER]

[fionna_time]

K.

How about we just lay here and relax then.

[starofpleiades]

Mn... okay. [Hope you don't mind her clinging when you do... besides being lonely, she's kind of cold and wet still]

[fionna_time]

[Its Fionna so...no.]

I'm glad you're back. Things can get kinda cruddy around here. Good to have dudes around.

[starofpleiades]

Mm. It... can't be worse than home. [Which just makes her feel sad and lonely all over again and she starts tearing up]

[fionna_time]

We'll get there when we get there. Besides, here at least, you don't have to worry about your identity. We knew you as Kazumi, and that's how its gonna stay!

[starofpleiades]

I... I hope so. [She closes her eyes and the tears squeezed out feel hot on her cheek but that at least... is better than the cold and emptiness that permeates the rest of her]

[fionna_time]

[Fionna hugged her tightly. There was a hole in her chest, that pain when a friend of hers were harboring more than they needed to. It sucked, not being able to help more].

[starofpleiades]

[It's hard but at least having Fionna close was something solid she could cling to. She just wanted to hold on and never let go, and forget all the pain and confusion and worry she'd experienced in the past few hours]

[fionna_time]

[If she had been smaller, Fionna likely would have picked her up in her arms and cradled her to her home. For now though, they didn't need words, just quiet understanding. Fionna did feel empathy, despite uneasiness at the idea of Kazumi killing people, but she would find out about that later.

The Kazumi she knew would never do something like that on a whim.]