tushanshu_logs | Cause all the Walls of Dreaming Were Torn Wide Open (Nov Catch All)

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Cause all the Walls of Dreaming Were Torn Wide Open (Nov Catch All)

Characters: Valdis and open
Date: Month of November 2015 (2016 in game)
Location: Various
Situation: Due to Asruld’s attack, Valdis has lost her memories, however, this might not be an entirely horrible thing.
Warnings/Rating: In Starters if needed

The highs of last month have vanished, quite literally in fact. She doesn’t know this place anymore, nor the people in it. It was frustrating, not remembering people that apparently knew her, not recognizing places that she had apparently been before. But she was determined to look on the bright side of things, at least she had a name. Didn’t she? Even that was confusing. But, she was here now, so she might as well make the best of it. New memories and new places could be fun, even if you couldn’t remember where you came from or who you were.

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Her eyelids fluttered before she opened her eyes. Her head hurt, which was odd considering she didn’t remember...anything. She sat up slowly, wincing as the movement caused new pain in her head and carefully looked around. The room was unfamiliar, it must belong to someone else, but she wasn’t entirely certain how she had gotten here. She sensed no danger and it felt oddly safe here, considering that she had no idea where ‘here’ even was.

She took a breath and pushed off the blankets, her hand rising to her head to push gently at her temple. There wasn’t any dizziness, which was a relief, and the pain in her head even seemed to be fading, also a good thing. Now, where was she?

She watched Anton leave, momentary anxiety causing her stomach to twist, but it quickly faded. This place wasn’t dangerous either, the tall man wouldn’t have left her there if it was, of that much she was certain. She smiled softly at the woman.

“This place is lovely, isn’t it?” she asked, trying to squash her nervousness, “It’s kind of exciting being in a new city and on another world. The last part is a bit hard to believe, but somehow I just know that things aren’t like this at home, so it must be true.” She giggled, “The turtle part though, now that I’m not sure I believe.”

She's sitting on the edge of a low roof, one of Anton's notebooks in her lap, sketching the skyline with practiced ease. Her dark hair braided and over one shoulder as she works. If the world had been black and white, then it would have looked exactly like her sketch as she shaded certain lines to show the shadows. Every once in awhile she taps the pencil to her lips and frowns as she looks out at the city before looking back down at the sketch and adding more details.

She had given her 'babysitter' the slip about an hour ago, deciding that she'd rather explore this fascinating city without someone hovering over her. Of course, that was before she'd gotten lost. But she wasn't incredibly concerned about not knowing her way back to the Hotel, certain that someone could tell her if she asked. So she wandered the strange sector, pausing beside one of the fire fountains, wondering how exactly the people here had managed to use fire in such a way. She watched the flames leap around, head tipped, eyes bright with delight, not really paying attention to her surroundings or the people moving around her.

Edited 2015-11-04 23:46 (UTC)

She stood on one of the bridges over a canal, leaning against the railing, staring down into the water, making faces at her own reflection and giggling. After a time she pushed away from the railing and headed toward one of the fountains. It wasn't warm out, but for some reason she didn't feel particularly cold. She sat on the edge of the fountain and trailed her fingers through the water absently. She was growing a bit bored, but the Hotel was more boring. At least here she could watch the local people go about their business. People watching could be entertaining, when it wasn't boring...

Today, she had decided to visit the Earth Sector, slipping away from the Hotel before anyone decided that she needed to be accompanied. She loved the natural feel of the place and wandered for some time before she got caught up in a game with some Kedan children. The game was similar to checkers, but it was different enough that it took a few rounds before she had the hang of it. Her 'teacher' was quite proud when she beat one of the others on her fourth try and his smile and laughter was contagious. Soon they were all laughing and she changed seats to watch a few of the others play.

Pepper had been out doing some recon for the turtle moving exercise in her armor, and when she returns to the Sky Sector, she spots a figure on one of the roofs. It's unusual to see people there, so she turns toward that particular building. When she gets close she can see it's Valdis, which is a little odd.

She stops at a hover in front of the other woman, uncloaked, and retracts the faceplate.

"Hey, Valdis. What're you doing up here?"

It was that name again, the one that felt wrong. She looks up, her confused expression suddenly shifting to one of surprise as she sees the girl in front of her, hovering in the air. Her eyes widened and the pencil fell from her hand and she shifted backwards, falling off the raised ledge and onto the flat rooftop. The notebook hit the ground next to her, the pages bending as it fell open to a different sketch.

She looked at the notebook, back up at the girl and then back to the notebook. "Oops."

She was beyond bored, sitting sideways in an armchair and flipping absently through Monster Hunting for Beginners. It was an odd book, and she wondered if any of the tips did anything other than get you killed, because there was no way that 'poking a troll in the nose' could do anything but make it mad. She sighed and turned to the next page, wishing that she could go out and actually do something other than sit here and read this stupid book. The problem was, she didn't actually know what to do even if she went out into the city. She made an irritated noise and turned another page.

"Whoa!" Pepper moves forward and lands on the roof next to Valdis, kneeling to help her up.

'Oops.' Oops? She doesn't know Valdis very well, but falling off a ledge and then saying 'oops' about it is a very un-Valdis-like thing to do. Maybe she's just having an off day.

"Are you okay?" she asks, picking up the fallen pencil and offering it to her. As she does, Pepper glances at the open notebook. "I didn't know you did art."

She let the girl help her up, feeling a little confused. The girl seemed to know her, so this must be another person she'd forgotten. She took the pencil and bent over to pick up the notebook, gently lifting it and blowing on the page because brushing it would smudge the pencil lines.

"I...didn't know either, I was just bored and needed to do something with my hands." She looked back at the girl, trying to smile, "I'm sorry, but I'm afraid I don't remember your name..."

"You... don't remember my name." Pepper's eyebrows start climbing into her hairline. That was a first. Everyone seemed to remember her, for good or for bad. "And you were bored. Did you get hit on the head at the dojo or something?"

She's confused, but she's trying not to freak out and assume the worst ~~she is definitely freaking out and assuming the worst~~.

"It's- I'm Pepper," she says finally, returning a nervous smile. The teen takes a moment to remove her helmet entirely, holding it under her arm, and revealing the shock of red hair underneath. "Do you remember your name, at least?"

"The Dojo?" she raised a brow, she hadn't heard anything about a Dojo, "No, I...seem to have forgotten quite a few things." She smiled sheepishly, "It's nice to meet you Pepper...again, I guess."

She was silent for a few moments, "People keep calling me Valdis, but that name sounds wrong, it isn't mine. I prefer Meira, if you don't mind..."

If Raine had any doubts about what the veracity of what had happened, those few moments alone would have assuaged them. She blinked at Valdis, trying to reconcile the images in her mind.

Had she ever heard Valdis giggle?

"The architecture of the Guild building is quite impressive," Raine agreed after a moment, returning the smile with a small one of her own. "It seemed a little grand for such utility at first, but I'm fond of it. As for the turtle, you should ask Anton to take you to the edge if you doubt it, or there are a number of people here who have the capability of flight. I'm sure some of them would be happy to take you above and show you Tu Vishan from the sky."

The woman seemed fine, physically. That wasn't surprising; Valdis's regeneration had always been impressive. "How are you feeling?" Raine asked after another moment or two.

She watched the woman, wondering exactly what was going on and why the woman seemed confused. People here had the capability of flight? They could prove to her that they really were on the back of a giant turtle? That sounded really fun and her eyes lit up.

"I'd like that," she replied, imagining people with wings. She looked back at Raine, the woman's question drawing her back to reality and her smile faded a bit.

"I feel fine?" she replied, her gaze shifting to the ground, "I mean, other than not knowing...I mean, remembering things that I should remember. I couldn't even remember my name, but Anton did, so that helped."

Pepper blinks silently at Val- Meira for a few seconds, unsure of what to do. Bizarre things happen in Keeliai, but she never anticipated something like this.

"I met you as Valdis. I guess now I'm just meeting you as Meira," she reasons, trying to remain outwardly calm. "You- Valdis works at the dojo, with my friends Gene and Bakura."

Pepper pauses, considering the woman before her. This is awkward. There does seem to be something fundamentally different about her, but the teen can't put her finger on it.

"I don't mean to sound rude or anything, but have you seen one of the healers yet? Just in case. Amnesia isn't usually something that just happens," she says kindly. "I just want to make sure you're okay."

Or as okay as Meira-Valdis can be in this state.

Meira stares at Pepper, trying to remember anything about a Bakura or a Gene, but she can't, and it's frustrating. She takes a breath, then another, and looks down at the notebook.

"Anton took me to see Raine, at the Healer's Guild," she says finally, "She couldn't find anything wrong, you know, other than me not remembering anything about my life." Then she smiles, "She has magic, it's quite fascinating..."

Still not making eye contact, she flips to another page in the book, another sketch, this one immediately recognizable as Anton looking over his shoulder, his eyes soft, a small smile on his face.

"Oh. Okay. Good." At least she's been checked out. Raine is fastidious and wouldn't likely miss it if something was awry. "She's not the only one. Lots of people can do magic here." Pepper returns the smile, more confident this time. "It's awesome."

She glances down at the notebook, this time actually examining it rather than sweeping over it momentarily. It's an accurate portrait of Anton, suggesting that Meira, whoever she is, has natural talent with art.

"That's a really nice sketch," Pepper offers. "Have you drawn anything from before Keeliai?" It's an indirect way of asking if Meira has any memories of her past, rather than just being an entirely blank slate.

"Thank you," she replies, perking up a bit, then she tips her head, taps the pencil to her lips again and then sticks it behind her ear so that she can flip through the book. It takes her a moment to find the one she is looking for. It's of a man in armor, holding a sword limply at his side. His shadow is dark and long and his expression is one of sorrowful resolve. Upon closer examination, there seems to be blood on his armor and on the blade.

She stares at it for a few breaths and then holds it out for Pepper to see.

Pepper leans over a little to get a better view of the sketch Valdis-Meira is holding out. It's also quite well-drawn, but the subject matter is a little darker, although not obviously so. It has a heroic quality to it, but...

The man is in armor. If this is what some version of her remembers, how old is she, really? Centuries at least, if the picture is anything to go by.

"Who is he?" she asks, genuinely curious. "Someone you know?"

Meira frowns, pulls the picture back and examines it as if a name might magically appear. Then she takes a breath and starts to shake her head.

"Yes," she pauses, closing her eyes, thinking. "I don't remember his name," she says, looking back up at the red head, "But I know that he's my brother."

She has a brother, that was nice to know and she smiles. "Do you have any siblings?"

Edited 2015-11-05 02:40 (UTC)

How am I going to tell Anton I lost Valdis?

To be fair, it was just possible that Erskine himself wasn't the best 'babysitter' to be found. Being a good friend of Valdis's, and caring for her general welfare, didn't make him any more likely to remember things from one minute to the next, or any less likely to get distracted by mundane things. It was how she'd managed to slip away from him in the first place. Nor did it do anything to lessen his anxiety out here in the city, amongst the kedan, now that he was having to search for her. It... might not hurt to throw in the towel on this one, metaphorically speaking.

After he found Valdis--Meira. After. He really didn't want to have to figure out how to explain this one to Anton.

Problem was, he wasn't quite sure just how long ago he'd lost her. Or she'd lost him. None of the people rushing past seemed familiar at all.

Meira took a breath and finally lifted her gaze from the fire-fountain to move across the people in the plaza. Her sight came to rest on the familiar man who was standing across the way, looking lost. Her eyes widened and she quickly moved away from the fountain, trying to hide among the crowd and not looking where she was going. If Erskine caught up to her now, he'd take her back to the Hotel and she was in no way ready to go back there, there were far too many things to see and do.

She ducked down an alley, looked up and immediately quit giggling. Three very large gang Kedan were right in front of her. "Uh," she said, trying to smile as if nothing was wrong, "Hi?"

Anton had gotten enough details from the people involved that he knew ... mostly ... what had happened. He very pointedly did not leave the Hotel to pursue further detail. Other people were taking care of the issue. He didn't need to get involved.

It didn't stop the gist from turning restlessly in his chest every time he passed by or through his room and checked to make sure Valdis was resting comfortable. It wasn't the first time they had been in this situation ... but it was the first time it hadn't been because of Valdis herself, that Anton could tell.

The wards couldn't actually tell him whether people were awake or asleep--it was unnecessary and something of a breach of privacy, anyway--but he happened to open the door soon after she'd sat up, and stood for a moment in the doorway before stepping in and closing it behind him. He asked gently, "How do you feel?"

"Pepper would likely be willing to take you," Raine said thoughtfully. "Or perhaps Skulduggery." It would be something to come back to, certainly, since what was at hand now was ensuring her health and seeing if anything could be done for her. But then Valdis was elaborating on the extent of her memory loss, and Raine cast her gaze briefly downward.

She did know something of that feeling. "It's difficult," Raine said, quiet. "Not remembering." A little expression of sympathy, but something. Then, because healing helped better than emotions, she moved on as well as she could, coming back to briskness. "Anton cares very much for you. He'll look out for you. Now. Are you conscious of any magical power? Either your own, or anything you can sense in the world around you?"

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Cause all the Walls of Dreaming Were Torn Wide Open (Nov Catch All)

Anton | Midnight Hotel, then around Keeliai | CW: None

Raine | The Healer’s Guild | CW: None

Open | Random roof in the Sky Sector | CW: None

Open | Fire Sector | CW: None

Open | Water Sector | CW: None

Open | Earth Sector | CW: None

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Skulduggery | Hotel to Turtle's Head | CW: None

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