middaeg | [OPEN (mostly)] November catch-all!

[The Al Bhed are scavengers, first and foremost. There's always been a great deal of ancient machina out there for the taking, after all, and it's not like Yevonites wanted anything to do with it. Plus, given how socially disadvantaged the Al Bhed are as a whole, scavenging has always been the easiest and most effective way to survive.

As such, when Rikku gets words that rich people are literally throwing things away into the streets of the Outer City she is there within the hour. Once there, she quickly learns that many of the residents of the Outer City, while unhappy about the dumping, are approaching the situation in a similar manner. After all, beggars can't be choosers. Free stuff is free stuff.

Throughout the day, Rikku can be found pulling a large cart behind her (increasingly becoming full of various furniture and odd junk) or helping some of the local residents repairing something for personal use. The whole situation gives her a warm, comforting feeling. Everyone is coming together to gather objects and help each other out. It almost feels like Home.]

[In her comings and goings throughout the city, Rikku has noticed the vegetable animals wandering about. She hasn't given it too much thought, however--weird things are very common here, and honestly a cauliflower cat here or a mushroom dog there isn't even in the top five strange things she's encountered since the summer.

That is, until one ends up on her plate at a café in the shopping district. A small mouse made mostly of spinach pops up from her salad and makes a run for it, hiding under the patio table where Rikku had been, until now, enjoying her lunch.

Currently, she's crawled under the table trying to coax the creature (her new friend?) out.]

Here mousey, mousey, mousey. It's okay little guy, I won't hurt you. Sorry I almost ate you.

[Feel free to comment on her lack of café patio etiquette.]

Edited 2020-11-07 17:46 (UTC)

[Rikku has decided that it's time to seal the deal and bond with Leanne.

So far, Rikku's temporary(?) bond with Ferran has worked out all right--nothing overly invasive. It's not like he can read her mind or anything, which honestly was something she had worried about a bit after everyone telling her how careful she needed to be with her bonding. Also, while investigating what to do with him she learned that monsters don't have the same kind of stop-gap measures that witches do. Leanne needs a bondmate sooner rather than later, and that reality has Rikku more than a bit worried.

And, most importantly: Leanne has been a nice friend to have so far, and Rikku trusts that she'll be a good bondmate.

All of that considered, Rikku is now knocking on Leanne's door.]

Hey Leanne! Are you home? It's Rikku! I have something I need to talk to you about!!

[ All she can see is someone's back end crouched under a tablecloth, sticking out while the rest of her is hidden. And then she hears that voice calling for a... mouse? Wait, that can't be right. Can it? ]

Ahh... are you... alright?

Mousey..

[ Honestly he's just passing by. Vanitas actually is trying to track down these veggie animals. At the moment he has no idea that this mouse is one of them. ]

Pretty sure most people try to get away from mice.

[Inside her home, Leanne did feel the feral side of her taking over. Slowly. She still did not wish to harm anyone so before she felt herself losing her mind completely, she found a way to close and seal the windows. The door, not so much.

Hanging from a doorknob, she just has a sheet of paper with a large red X. She still didn't know how to write but hopefully that sign will be a good enough warning for those who wanted to enter her home.

The sound of knocking alerted her to the door and the naga moves to curl up in a more darker corner of the home. She will just wait for the intruder to come. Wait and ambush them.]

[A voice comes from under the tablecloth.]

Yeah, I'm fine! I found a mouse in my salad and I'm trying to make friends with him!

[Which, in a nice establishment like this one, should be the opposite of fine.]

How good are you with wrangling leafy greens?

[Rikku doesn't expect the voice behind her and startles, hitting her head on the table in the process.]

Ow!!

[Seeing its opening, the spinach mouse makes a break for it and starts scurrying across the patio. Rikku comes out from under the table--rubbing the back of her head--and calls out.]

Vanitas, don't let the little guy get away!

[After the lack of real response, Rikku takes a closer look at the door. There's a red X hanging there. That's ominous, and just makes Rikku worry that much further.]

Leanne? I'm coming in, okay?

[Carefully, she opens the door and peers inside. The lights are out--it's possible that Leanne isn't home. But something compels Rikku to look before jumping to that conclusion.]

Everything okay in here?

[This home... This building was her turf. It was warm in here. Nice and warm. But now, there was an intruder trying to come in.

She was hungry and needed to hunt but there were so many birds in the city. She couldn't go out and hunt that way.

For poor Rikku, she would see the cart that she made so hard on, knocked over with some feathers laying near it. In one of the darker corners of the room, she would hear the sound of hissing and the sound of something slithering into a coil.

Yup, there was a very good reason why there was that red x on the door.]

Huh?

[ Oh! It's one of those... Now that makes much more sense. ]

Got it.

[ Poor spinach mouse. Not going to know what's going to hit it as Vanitas pretty much teleports in front of it and scoops the thing up. ]

...

[ There is so much to unpack there that she doesn't even know where to start, honestly. ]

There was a mouse. In your salad.

[ She's very decisively making a mental note to never come here to eat, thanks. ]

Edited 2020-11-19 16:36 (UTC)

[Rikku draws her claw weapon in response to the sound. It's a well-practiced survival instinct, since animal noises often means fiends back home.

Moving slowly to avoid a sudden response from the might-as-well-be-fiend in the corner, Rikku inspects the room. Clearly something's happened, although she can't determine exactly what. Leanne's belongings, cart included, are still here, so it's possible/probable that her friend is somewhere in the house and possibly needs help.

It still doesn't occur to her that the hissing and movement is coming from the very person she's here to see.]

Leanne? Where are you?

[The mouse squeaks in surprise at the sudden change in its circumstances, but it doesn't have enough time (or intelligence) to try and get away after it's caught. It really doesn't know what hit it.

For her part, Rikku bounces over to Vanitas and gives him a grateful smile.]

Thanks for grabbing him for me. I didn't expect him to take off like that.

There seem to be a lot of these little veggie guys running around, huh?

Yup!

[Rikku chirps this response like it's an obvious, non-problematic situation. She's not really thinking about how the whole situation sounds--she's more focused on saving the weird veggie rodent.]

I think he's made of lettuce or spinach or that kale stuff? Are those kinds of animals common here? I've never seen one before...

[It was a stand off. She can't attack knowing that the prey that entered her den, knows where she is at. If only she was bigger then maybe she could strike at Rikku.

There was that call towards a name. A name that sounded familiar but yet not. Perhaps she can move to another corner to properly ambush the intruder. With a small hiss, the naga uncoils herself in order to try and move to another dark spot behind the teen.

Though a part of her tail catches what little sunlight goes through the window and Rikku will probably recognize the white scales with golden ones mixed in.]

Get a glass or something so it doesn't escape again.

[ He can feel it wiggling and squirming around in his hands. Come on Rikku, help a guy out. ]

They're everywhere, feels like.

He's made out of lettuce?

[ Yona blinks again, but this time she comes to see what the heck this other girl is talking about. ]

...No? I don't think I've ever seen anything of the sort? I wonder if one of the cooks in the kitchen had their magic get away from them or something?

[Oh.

Oh no.

Rikku knows that scale pattern.]

Leanne? Is that you? Are... are you okay?

[She clearly is not, but some part of Rikku still hopes that she's misreading the situation. Inwardly, she curses herself for not getting around to dragging Leanne to the Coven for bonding sooner.]

Oh, right!

[Rikku goes back to her table, dumps out what's left of her water, shakes the glass a few times to get most of the remaining droplets out, and goes back to Vanitas. She uses the glass to scoop the mouse out of his hands, then covers the top with her hand.

The mouse, for its part, squeaks in protest.]

They are! Do you know where they all came from? I haven't seen them before a couple of days ago...

[Drat! Her prey saw some of her tail!

Poor poor Rikku, she was not misreading the situation as suddenly that tail goes to lash out to try and hit her on the side in order to knock her off of her feet.]

[The mouse startles at the sound of Yona coming closer and takes off, scurrying out from under the tablecloth and running into some bushes nearby. Rikku tries to grab for it but isn't quite quick enough.]

Aw, man...

[Maybe next time.

She crawls out from under the table and stands, brushing herself off.]

It's possible. Do you think we should tell them about the mouse or just kind of... quietly leave?

[Well, that didn't go the way Rikku wanted.

The blow is successful in catching the Al Bhed girl unawares, and Rikku topples to the floor. She's able to lean into the fall and roll so that she's at least crouching instead of totally prone, but it still smarted.]

Leanne, no! I'm here to help!

[What does she do now?]

We're going to go get bonded and stuff, and you'll feel better! I promise!

[Excellent! She managed to get Rikku off of her feet.

As quickly she moves to try and wrap around the Al-Bhed, Leanne's wings flaring up as she comes into the light.

Her eyes no longer were emerald but instead golden with quite the feral look in them. The girl who was in this body, is no longer here at the moment. Better think fast little Rikku. Think your way out of this.]

[Not good!

Rikku manages to hop backward to avoid being ensnared for the moment. She also drops her claw in the interest of getting it out of her way--she doesn't want to hurt Leanne, after all. Feral or not, the naga is her friend. She just has to come up with a way to un-feral-ize her.

The best way Rikku can think of is to knock Leanne out, but that's going to require enough time to pull out the proper potion. Without someone to tank hits while she does so, that's going to be easier said than done. Leanne's quick.]

[Dangit! She needs to slow her prey down.

She pulls herself back and slowly rises herself to get ready for a strike. The naga does noticed that Rikku disarmed herself but that isn't going to stop the hunt.

She needed to hunt and kill something.

Her mouth opens and two very large fangs appear, dripping with venom. It was the only brief warning that Rikku was going to get before Leanne moves to try and bite and inject her with the venom.]

[This time, Rikku's not quite fast enough to avoid Leanne. Fangs sink into her arm, and she cries out in pain as she instinctively kicks the naga back to get her off. Once free, she scrambles behind Leanne's toppled cart and flings a small item from a pouch on her side.

As it hits the floor, vapor erupts and fills the room. It's a simple smoke bomb and it won't last long, but hopefully it'll disorient Leanne long enough for Rikku to tend to herself and prepare her next move.

First thing's first--she squeezes on her arm to force more bleeding in hopes that some of the venom comes out with the blood. It hurts, but she clenches her teeth to avoid making noise and alerting Leanne. An Al Bhed potion would be useful to actually neutralize the venom rather than expelling it and hoping for the best, but she hasn't yet been able replicate it here in Aefenglom. This will have to do.

Secondly: she knows she has a sleeping potion of some kind in her bag somewhere. With a bit of digging, she finds it and grabs it and a rag from the bag before discarding it altogether. She wraps the bottle in the cloth and holds it tightly in her fist. Now all she has to do is get close enough once the vapor clears, and hopefully she can sedate her friend and take her to the Coven.]

[Leanne hisses when Rikku kicks her, finally backing off due to the kicks as well as finally ejecting enough of her venom into the Al-Bhed.

The the strange canister appeared and the winged-naga was about to investigate it until a bunch of smoke suddenly appeared! She immediately rears back up and hisses at the smoke, slithering away towards her bedroom to get away from it. Rikku has successfully bought herself more time to plan out her next move.

For Leanne, it didn't matter that she retreated a little. She has struck Rikku and have successfully injected her venom into her. It won't kill her per say but it will give her prey a great deal of pain before paralyzing them. She will just wait until it starts taking affect, not knowing that Rikku has been doing measures.

Leanne will be waiting, watching and waiting in the doorway. She will wait for the next chance to strike and finally make her kill.]

[Bloodletting isn't the most effective means of first aid, so Rikku's mitigation certainly hasn't completely eliminated the fire in her veins spreading from the bite her left arm, the stiffness already settling in her elbow and wrist, or the general wooziness she's starting to feel from adrenaline and blood loss and venom. Still, she doesn't have a choice here--she has to restrain Leanne, as much for her friend's sake as for her own.

After a few deep breaths, Rikku charges in to attempt to tackle Leanne from behind--or, at the very least, to cling on by her neck.]

[Leanne's forked tongue was more active right now as she was trying to keep track of where Rikku is. Her venom.... her prey should be feeling the effects now.

With a small hiss to signal she was on the move again, she lowers herself to not be fully in the smoke.

What she didnt expect was for Rikki to somehow still be moving and moving fast enough to sneak around and tackle her from behind. Leanne growls and quickly rears up in an attempt to shake her off.

Do what you gotta do, Rikku!]

[Got her! Without hesitation, Rikku slams the bottle against her hip to break the glass and soak the cloth surrounding it with the sleeping potion inside. She cuts her hand in the process, but that's the least of her worries right now.

Before she can get thrown off, she covers Leanne's face with it.]

J-just breathe deeply... and this'll be over in a jiffy...

[With any luck, the potion's effectiveness won't be hindered by Leanne's feral state. Rikku doesn't think it will, but she's also not exactly clear-headed at the moment.]

Edited 2020-11-24 21:52 (UTC)

[Blood? There is blood! The scent of blood was sending her into almost a frenzied state.

But then there was a strange wet cloth, covered her face. She let out another growl and doubled her effort to get Rikku off of her.

The potion was starting to work and Rikku will start to notice Leanne's efforts to get her off was slowing down, getting weaker.]

[ At least with it being a plant, there's no real teeth or claw for it to really get at Vanitas. The thing is just squirmy. So he's very relieved to just drop the thing into the glass. ]

Yeah, I do. I can take you to the gardens that they came from. They'll even pay you for their safe return.

[As Leanne thrashes, Rikku feels her body collide with what is probably the wall. A sharp pain shoots through her left shoulder--not to be confused with the burning pain moving out of her left arm and across her chest--but she still clings with all her might. Leanne's slowing down. The potion is working.]

Thaaaaaat's it... take a nap, Leanne...

[Please go to sleep.]

[She can get paid for this find! Nice!]

You hear that, little guy? You're going to refund me the lunch you ruined.

[Since the mouse was most of her salad and all.]

Lead the way!

[The thrashing continues as Leanne goes to try and fight the effects of the potion. A fight that she was losing and losing hard.

She whips her tail around to try and sway Rikku off, her aim being completely off. After a few swatting attempts, Leanne finally falls forwad, succumbing to the sleep potion.

[Finally.

Rikku slides gracelessly off of Leanne's back, stumbling as her feet hit the floor. Moving is becoming difficult, especially as the adrenaline that was pushing her through fades and she finds herself more affected by her injuries and Leanne's venom than she thought.

She can't rest though. She has to get to the Coven with Leanne. There, she can get treatment for her injuries and a temporary bond potion for her and Leanne. Once her friend has her mind back, they can have a witch there actually bond them. And then everything will be okay.

Of course, it's a big ask. Rikku somehow manages to get herself and Leanne a few feet out of Leanne's front door before she realizes that getting there on her own isn't going to happen. Someone she doesn't recognize happens to be passing by, so she calls out in hopes of getting his attention.]

Hi... can you take my friend and I to the Coven... please...?

[Aaaaaaand Rikku collapses face forward, out cold.

Luckily, the stranger is the sort to assist rather than run away. He makes sure they're both taken to the Coven for care ASAP.]

I mean... it's still loose?

[ Drat, she hadn't meant to startle it more, but she finally sees what strange little creature Rikku had been stalking. ]

Perhaps it will be easier to catch now that it's under the bush? It can only run out one way if we come at it from each side.

[ for his part, g'raha has been wandering around with a small satchel of his own, pausing every now and then to inspect an item with clear curiosity or to help someone else load up a cart of their own.

it's not that he really... needs anything- not really- but after hearing about this tradition he simply couldn't resist coming to see. it was, after all, prudent to learn more about the world he was in, wasn't it? and what better way to do that than experience these traditions... of throwing old things on the street.

which, really, now that he thinks about it... just reminds him of another place full of wealthy people. thankfully he's able to avoid continuing that thought as he catches sight of someone struggling to drag what appears to be a broken wardrobe to their cart. ]

Allow me! [ he insists, hurrying over to help them lift it. they're able to move it a little more, but still clearly struggling... so g'raha pauses and looks around before calling out to rikku as she passes. ]

Excuse me- would you mind giving us a hand, for just a moment?

With the way that you were determined to catch the thing, I thought maybe you were hunting them down like a lot of us are.

[ Pretty funny to think that this isn't the case. Rikku had actually just been enjoying a meal and some random mouse shows up. ]

This way.

[ Time to head towards the gardens! ]

Oh, good point! Here, I'll go around the back and you stand in front.

[As indicated, Rikku moves behind the bush and hunches over ready to spook and/or catch the mouse.]

And then once we have it, we can talk to the owners of the place.

Ready?

Sure!

[Rikku is not one to resist a call for help, so when she's called out specifically she doesn't think twice about setting her own cart down and jogging over to the duo struggling with the wardrobe.

After assessing the situation, she nods to herself. It's not an dissimilar situation to hauling machina, after all.]

I'm small enough to get underneath and push upwards to give you two some leverage. Just don't let it crush me, okay?

[Without waiting for an answer, she scrambles underneath the wardrobe.]

Say when!

It's not every day that your salad comes to life and runs away from you. I wanted to get a closer look at the guy.

[If she had gotten the memo, she would have definitely joined the hunt! For now, however, she falls into step with Vanitas and occasionally coos at the mouse while it tries to figure out a way out of its glass prison.]

Stuff like this kind of just happens here, huh? You'd think I'd be done being surprised by it by now, but I guess not.

[ Good thing it's only a plant then, huh? Those little leafy teeth and root-like claws really aren't going to get that mouse anywhere. It probably doesn't even hurt Rikku does it? ]

I guess that would be something of a shock, sure.

[ lately, he has started to wonder about the worlds that people come from. What do they find normal? What do they think is strange? ]

Magic doesn't do that sort of thing where you come from?

[It doesn't hurt at all--Rikku finds it more endearing than anything else.]

No, not really. Back home, magic either heals and buffs or uses nature to destroy. Fire spells, water spells, stuff like that. I haven't ever heard of anyone transforming things or making little creatures like this.

[Well, there's the fayth. But that's not really everyday magic, so that's an exception.]

Is it common where you come from?

For the most part it's the same. Healing magic. Attack magic that's primarily elemental-based.

[ Vanitas shrugs. ]

But then you do have people that are adept in other magics. Like time and changing shape, yes. Different worlds have different types of magic and different laws regarding magic.

That's the part that's taking some getting used to for me. Knowing about other worlds isn't really a thing where I come from.

[Heck, Spira has a hard enough time with its own history and technology--if other worlds were involved, who knows how badly things would have gone sideways under Yevon.]

But I'm not complaining, really. It's been fun to learn about everything, you know?

In general people aren't supposed to. They are supposed to live their lives completely unaware of the existence of other worlds.

[ Those that have Keyblades are different. They do know about other worlds, not that they are supposed to share that information. ]

I suppose. Visiting them is better, I think.

[OPEN (mostly)] November catch-all!

CLEAN UP AND CLEAR OUT (OPEN)

VEGGIE TALES (OPEN)

CLOSED TO LEANNE

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