[Covered in sand and utterly windswept, with her hair out of its habitual ponytail and tumbling around her face, Chihiro glowers tiredly into the Vine. It might be a bit hard to see that she's glowering, though, because her bangs are just about covering her eyes. Clenched tightly in both hands is a brown paper bag.

Just over her shoulder, a wolf might be seen loping off into the distance, its job done.]

...that was the Queen, right? Before everything...changed again?

[Her hands clench, to the point that the sound of crinkling paper might be audible over the Vine.]

Well, it didn't work for me. I'm still remembering someone else! Someone named Sen. She worked in a bathhouse, and she knew this boy, named Haku!

.It's not as bad as when I thought I was Zinc. But I just want to be...myself, again. [She sighs sadly, staring down at the bag for a few seconds, before looking back up with an air of hopefulness.]

...I got some sand. I thought I'd make myself some new clothes. Does anyone have any advice? Or...maybe I can make you something, too. Everyone else is okay, right? Are you all...you again, at least?

...that was horrible. I hope the Queen never makes us go through that again. Making someone forget their name...that's the worst thing in the world.

[It's not been long since the Queen got involved in the confusion involving the leaves, bringing things back into the normal peace. Even not being involved with that confusion, Homura had to postpone something she had hoped to do earlier. But now, things hopefully settled, she turns to the Vine after coaxing it to hide this message from her girlfriend.

The girl appears with a little bit of a smile, though little hints of nervousness lurk here and there. Public speaking isn't exactly her forte even if she's a bit braver than she used to be.]

Um... I hope everyone is back to normal now. I'm not sure exactly what was going on but...in any case, I have a little request for everyone, if it is not trouble.

Madoka's birthday is coming up in a week, so I was hoping to plan a party for her.

But, um... [She looks a little uncomfortable for a moment, nervous about how she might be seen for what she's about to say, but she pushes it out anyway.] I have never really thrown a party for someone before... so I was wondering if anyone could help me out a bit...

Miki-san, especially, if you have any ideas...I hope we can make something unforgettable for her.

[Madoka's birthday last year had been just a private thing, Homura not knowing what to do. But just a few months later Madoka had gone through such a trouble to throw a surprise party for Homura, it's hard not to want to see Madoka enjoy the same kind of thing. Still, even being a different Madoka, it's her 15th birthday again. Maybe in a way it's like another chance to throw even a better one this time...]

If anyone can help, please let me know... I look forward to working with you. [She gives a bit of a bow.]

No, no, no...

[A voice of distress and confusion, the Queen forms onto the mirror in a strange manner, the light housed within the vine struggling to show her image. The picture flares, too bright, then too dark again. The sound of leaves shaking and of wind howling rises.]

This isn't right. Oh darlings, I don't know where it's gone...

[A hand extends towards the vine, fingers tense and palm open. Only when the Queen has taken her creation back in to her hand does the image begin to calm, lights lowering, the hissing of the wind quieting, though it does not vanish in entirety.

As the image clears, however, you will see her: down on her knees, picking through a great assortment of leaves: from red to green to gold.]

This one belongs to... and this one... and this one... No, no, no.

[She looks up suddenly, red hair flung back, her eyes deep and mournful.]

You'll help me, won't you? We'll sort it out.


[[ooc; The Queen, the Incarnae, and the local animals will be out and about doing everything possible to help you all back into your correct bodies. Please take this opportunity to experience a few more memories before you find your way back home! This post is open for all of you, if you would like an NPC, just drop us a line.]]

[The Vine turns on to a very distressed-looking Yuyuko, her robes disheveled, her fingers threaded through her hair, her hands trembling violently.]

Youmu, where did you go? Did you leave? Youmu, help me...

I...have lost something? I think I have. I don't...know what it is. My memories? Did I...lose them? I can't remember what it was...what it was like, when...

[She stops speaking abruptly, and stares at a something off in space.]

I wasn't always a ghost...was I?

((ooc: Chihiro has been swapped with Zinc. Feel free to meet her just about anywhere, either writing in the dirt or just generally wandering around and catching leaves.))

[Chihiro's already witnessed first hand that people are not themselves. Quite literally not themselves - they're in someone else's body, with someone else's name. It's a terrifying thought, having someone else's name. It chills something in her, right down to the bone.

So the little girl had felt no shortage of relief when a couple of days had gone past without her getting caught up in the gust of wind. And, when on her way to the Library, a torrent of leaves had suddenly come swirling out of the sky and caught her up for a few seconds, she'd actually screamed. When the swirling torrent had vanished, she'd felt...different.]



W-What...what's happening to me?!

[Her hands fly to her face, and Chihiro stares down in horror at what she's suddenly become. She's taller...older...but she doesn't have the words to know that she's also a dead thing. Just that she's cold, all over, and each gasped, panicked breath is an effort that it wasn't before.]

...w-who am I?!

[It's all so much to take in. And just an instant after she realizes her new name - Zinc - she realizes that she can't remember her old one.

At that point, Chihiro just sits down on the path and starts to sob.

Later on, you might come across a message, scrawled in the dirt by a stick. At first, starting from about the point where Chihiro had changed, the message reads:

"My name is Zinc. I have to be nice to people."

Further and further from that point, however, the message begins to change. The writing grows more unsteady. The wording, a a bit more desperate, and needy, and pleading. And, on occasion, "Zinc" is misspelled as "Sen".

You might even find Zinc, stick in hand, scratching her message into the dirt. By then, she'll have passed through the waters of horror into complete and total numbness.

Occasionally, as she wanders around lost, the girl reaches up to catch a falling leaf. She shivers as the new memory fragment settles into her mind...but, none of them feel right, and all she does is stick the leaf in her pocket and wander aimlessly onward, occasionally pausing at some place or other to take shelter, but never staying for more than a few minutes unless she meets someone. She can't even remember what she'd been doing, where she'd been going...or who she might ask for help.]

[She shouldn't be so disoriented by the leaves, but her head feels muddled the moment they clear from her vision. She can't find the path she was on moments before, no matter how hard she looks. And something feels wrong, though she can't figure out what it is...]

[It's something she should notice immediately, but she feels confused and unbalanced. It's only when she tries to make her way back to her home—where was that, again?—that she realizes just what has changed. Or, at least, part of what has changed. Maybe the most important part.]

...It hurts a lot. It isn't supposed to hurt like this...

[She's seated in the grass when she appears on the Vine, trying to give her sore and aching limbs a rest.]

It's...not right. [Her hand curls against the Vine beside the mirror, like that'll help anything.] My body isn't right. Is that how it is for anyone else?


[ ooc: Nue is in Kariya's body! I'm pretty much too lazy to add icons in the comments, so you'll just have to make do with imagining Kariya's face making Nue's expressions. ]

[It was a windy fall day, the leaves blowing in the wind. It reminded Reimu of Gensokyo during this season. So Reimu was enjoying herself as she did her daily sweepings. Sure Chihiro does some, but Reimu enjoys sweeping the shrine. It makes her feel more at home, and it's almost like a ritual for her now to honor her shrine.

Reimu first started to feel something was up when an unusual memory appeared in her head. It happened when she was thinking of Gensokyo. Suddenly, a memory of her outside of Gensokyo came into her minds eye. She see's herself working miracles in a modern day city. Reimu just shakes her head, thinking that she was just imagining something she heard. Then the wind blew, and her hair got in her face.

Her long green hair.

Reimu froze, staring at the hair. She looked down, and saw she was not wearing her outfit. She was wearing Sanae's outfit. She also noticed a much larger chest has replaced her own.]



I've... turned into Sanae?

[Kariya is a little more willing to show her face on the mirror now, but her hood is pulled up, and she turns so the right side of her face is facing the mirror, the slack, ravaged left side only slightly visible.

She's sitting outside, near the Pagoda, with a red Chow Chow sitting beside her. The dog tries to climb onto her lap, but Kariya gently holds her back, smiling.]

Hello, Hiro. Down, girl. It's all right, we can play later. [The dog is much stronger than she is, and she exhausts rather easily, but she does like playing.]

I'm Kariya, and this is my friend Hiro. She's a good dog. [The Chow Chow pants happily, standing by. She seems to have assigned herself Kariya-helping duty.]

I already know some of you here, but not all of you. I've been living at the Pagoda. I think that's what it's called. [She gestures toward the building in the background.] So if you need me, this is where I am. I like it here. It's quiet.

[She pauses for a moment or two to breathe deeply.]

I don't want to bother anyone, but... It's hard for me to walk sometimes. Is there something that could carry me around? The ground here isn't even, and I'm not sure how well the wheelchairs I know would work. I don't have any soil, and I don't know how to make something new. I don't mind if it's magic or technology. If you could help me, I'd be thankful.

[the Vine has wound its way inside the Clock Tower, and the mirror shows the station interior, mostly empty except for a few things. There are new benches lining some of the walls, and a golden tram car sitting at the platform, silent.]

[there is also a small figure in a blue sweatshirt nearby, checking to make sure the Vine isn't caught on the tracks. She looks up, waving at the mirror.]

That's better. Um, if anyone remembers Reeve, she helped me get the train to work. But it needs tracks now. So I figured, I'd ask about places that are important to get to. Like the library, or people's houses or something...ah, if anyone wants to help make them, that would be great, too...!


[if anyone comes by, they might notice that the tracks outside have been extended a bit, though they're cobbled together from the debris left behind by the battle with the pirates. Have you ever seen cross-ties made out of bones? Now you have.]

[Shinobu is a bored vampire this night, though she looks serene as she admires the stars twinkling admits the night sky she, in truth she had grown tired of such a view centuries ago. Being as old as she was meaning many things most saw as beautiful and wonderful had for her long ago lost their luster. Such was the burden of immortally.  Though, when in doubt, it was best to turn to others as a source of amusement, and so that is just what she did.]

A simple question for you all. Say you were given the chance to live forever. Would you take it?

[ There's a topless woman on the mirror today, fair Garden. The Vamp is out in excellent form today, her red hair drawn up into playful little buns so that the long strands won't obscure any of what she's got going on today. With bright red grease paint, she's drawn heart shapes around her pale nipples.

And of course, she is beaming. ]

It's my favorite holiday today, ladies. Time to get some sun on those shakers. [ There's some fondling going on here. ] Truest beauty in nature, am I right? Come on, come on, come on. We're all girls here, don't be shy.

[ Cue wink, and then she's grinning, heading off into the Garden to do a bit of 'proselytizing.' ]


[[ooc; Go Topless Day is a protestation of gender inequality, and the unnecessary oppression of titty coverage will be the Vamp's talking point today. Please feel free to threadjack one another, I'll have the Vamp around as much as I can. You are more than welcome to simply handwave and assume she got hold of your character and stole their shirt/attempted to, if you'd like to do your own thing.]]

[ It's the afternoon when Subaru appears on the vine. She is seated on the edge of an open door facing outside the background obviously a traditional Japanese style building that long-term residents will recognize. The young woman is wearing a plain t-shirt and shorts, though she looks like she's been rolling around in the dirt. Her gaze is far away, like she didn't notice the mirror creeping up on her. Truth is, she just forgot about it in the brief few moments it took to coax it into unfurling for her. ]

...ah! Hi there. [ A smile. ] It's Subaru. I've been sort of keeping to myself lately since the incident with the sky pirates so I wanted to apologize to everyone, and see how you're all doing. [ It feels to her like she knows most of the Gardens by now, or has at least casually spoken with them all once or twice. That's almost as good as becoming her friend, in most cases. ]

I wanted to report on what I've been busy with! The roof of the inn is completely restored, now, so no more weird leaks or sudden noise from the wind. I'm also almost done building the swimming pool out back, but I'm still working on a pump and filter so that it won't end up looking like a murky pond after a few weeks, eheh...

[ Then her eyes are downcast, which does not go with her otherwise enthusiastic expression. ] I also... wanted to make a note that all the other rooms here are free, now, except my own. [ She pauses, looking over her shoulder into the building. ] I've been meaning to say something about it, but Vivio has been gone for some time. [ There is a sad smile there for that, but it's hard to tell with her turned away like that. ] I'm sure she's back at home, now, with her two mamas. ... I can't say I know what Suruga Kanbaru has gone home to, but I think it's the same for her. Her room was empty this morning except for the same kind of flower petals I swept away when Vivio disappeared.

[ After another pause, she turns back to the mirror, smiling a little easier even if it is a strain on her. ] So please, feel free to come visit at any time. You won't be a bother to me at all, and you can use any of the facilities here at your convenience. The onsen, the training mats in the corner rooms, the futons... even the kitchen and the ice cream maker! [ A wave. ] I think I'm going to go enjoy a cold treat right now, so I'll see you all later!


((ooc: Action available for anyone who wants to stop in at the inn! Whether it's while she's in the kitchen, out back working, or relaxing in the baths. o/))

Who: Chihiro Ogino and YOU!
When: August 22nd
Where: The Garden Library, Kuja's Library, and the shrine
What: Chihiro goes looking for something to read, and thinks on what she finds
Rating: PG-13 for romance talk? Other than that, probably nothing.

The Library
( Read more... )

Kuja's Library
( Read more... )

 

Gensokyo Shrine
[All in all, after having become acquainted with the literature apparently commonplace in the gardens, it's a distracted and slightly brooding Chihiro that goes about the business of tending to the shrine. Sweeping and polishing and sweeping some more, and finally rounding it off with a bit of praying at the shrine.]

[action]

[Kariya Matou is a woman on a mission. Sort of. She's interested in finding out all she can about the Gardens, in exploring as much as she can. It's slow going. She's hampered by her poor health and often has to sit down and rest when she's tired or out of breath. She lies down in the grass or leans back against a tree, the veins in her face pulsing.

The worms have been quieter, but they're still active, and they still hurt. She was only supposed to live a few more weeks, at best, but her progression toward death seems to have been halted, or at least slowed, and she's heard that she can't really die here. She's gotten better at meditating and working her way through the pain, and some days are better than others. So she keeps going. She sleeps in a structure if she happens to wind up near one, but she doesn't mind sleeping under the stars. She thinks of playing outside, in the park. It's like that. If she listens, she imagines she can hear the creaking of swings, the laughter of children. Sometimes the birds come to pull at her hair and sing, or the rabbits nibble on the sleeves of her hoodie. She doesn't mind.

She doesn't exactly know what she's looking for as she wanders, but she's looking for something. Answers, maybe. When she meets someone along her way (and she might show up anywhere), she doesn't hesitate to nod and smile crookedly, only the right side of her mouth rising.]

[vine; video]

[Kariya addresses the Vine quietly, but not nervously. It's simply hard for her to marshal her thoughts at times.]

I was wondering if--it's possible to speak to the Queen. Or anyone who knows her, anyone who has some power here, who's from this place. Or even someone who knows a lot about it. I'd like to... [She trails off for a moment, then smiles hopefully.] Ask some questions.

Thank you. I'd appreciate it very much.

Oh! [She almost forgot.] And can anyone tell me if there was ever anyone here named Aoi-- [A pause.] Tohsaka, or Sakura, or Rin?

Vine ||

[ Madoka is situated somewhere in the gardens, having just spent her afternoon tending to her own flowers and searching for others to help her garden. She usually keeps oddly busy, still in a happy daze after being plucked from her unhappy timeline, that this thought hadn't occurred to her before... She's been here for months and there are still so many people she doesn't know very well, if at all.  When it crosses her mind that she's been a bit neglectful, she's quick to tap a Vine. ]

Hello, everyone! Sorry, I hope it's not too early to use the vine? I didn't wake anyone up, did I? [ Her smile is a bit soft, dampened by thoughtfulness and a tinge of worry. ]

This is probably really sudden and kind of weird and random, but I've been thinking lately that I don't know everyone's names! I don't even know what kinds of foods everyone likes or what hobbies they have... I think it would be neat to see what we have in common and talk about things like that, or maybe try new things we never thought we'd try, you know? [ She giggles lightly, perhaps losing confidence in these random thoughts. ]

So... I'll start? I like gardening and crafts! And eating! And I guess I can play the recorder too, if that counts. Oh, and my name is Madoka Kaname! um... what about everyone else? I mean, um well, disregard this if you're too busy but I really am curious!  I really would like to become better friends with everyone...

[The Itsuki appearing on the Vine now looks much more sure of herself than she did a week ago, which is a plus; however, she still looks a bit... confused? After a moment, she seems to realize the mirror is recording her.]

So... I know I've been here for a little while now, but I'm still not a hundred percent sure what's going on. I get the whole thing with the Gardens, and us being here, and the rules, and all that. It's beautiful here, to be sure, and everything's provided for as needed. But it seems... off. Maybe part of that is just that I haven't really taken much time to meet people; I admit that my first instinct when I wake up in an unfamiliar land is not to befriend the locals, which is something I'd be happy to fix if anyone is willing to spare some time. I'm fairly certain my friends from my own home - Tsubomi, Erika, and Yuri - aren't here. Making proper friends was never my strong suit back home, so... [The girl shrugs.]

And all that stuff before, with the pirate ship in the sky, and the hostages... I think I came in directly in the middle of something, and I never really asked what was going on with all that. Is anyone willing to explain? That seemed pretty major, but I didn't want to try and help without knowing the score, and it never really seemed like a good time to stop someone and ask about the growing battle in the airspace above me.

[Itsuki pauses for a moment before she frowns a bit.] Sorry that I'm going on so long, but... I guess I'm just anxious. I feel like something's going to happen, and I don't know what it is. I don't mind adapting, I just don't know what I'm adapting to yet, and that unnerves me. I'm going to walk around, see if I come across anyone. Maybe that'll help me figure out what I'm doing here, too.

[She spends a moment looking at the mirror in puzzlement before she makes a quick gesture, and the video ends. And sure enough, just after that, Itsuki can be found roaming the Gardens, looking around as if to take in all the buildings and locales. She looks a bit on edge, but otherwise open. Feel free to interrupt her exploration, though; it's a safe assumption she won't mind.]