Day 47: Greenhouse (2nd Shift)

[himetsuru]

Why couldn't she get it out of her mind? It was a stupid white dress. So what if it was visual evidence that she was a princess? It should not be bothering her this much. It was a just a dress

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[cursed_exorcist]

Waking up late was nothing new to Kagura, but to miss breakfast was just sacrilegous. When it came to food, Kagura had animal instincts and an appetite to match. As the nurse guided her past the cafeteria, Kagura's mouth watered at the smell of leftovers. Unfortunately, it wasn't time for lunch, so that meant Kagura was going to be stuck in what felt like limbo for an hour. She had nothing against gardening, but she had needs, and they weren't being met. However, as soon as she entered the greenhouse, a shudder ran through her body. She's here... Kagura's sixth sense could not be ignored, not that the Kyuubi would ever allow it, especially when its splinter fragment from another dimension was so close by. The creature's gluttony and greed were unparalleled, and Kagura had to stay on her guard, lest she involuntarily carry out Yomi's prediction.

Kagura's drowsiness evaporated like the morning dew as she began looking around for Yomi. Seeing the other girl nearby wasn't as bad as she thought it would be, although, she still had the urge to reach out to Yomi. Kagura had resolved to be stronger after their little conversation yesterday, but putting it into practice was a whole different story. Give her a spiritual weapon and she'd chose to face all the world's evils over another disasterous encounter with Yomi any day of the week.

There was no way Yomi had missed Kagura's presence; their connection went both ways. Even so, Kagura tried to stay away from Yomi and focused on the task at hand - an empty pot. Apparently, the staff didn't trust them enough to give them real tools; instead Kagura was given a plastic trowel, like the one children played with in sandboxes. Since she had nothing better to do, Kagura decided to try gardening. Anything was better than dealing with Yomi while on an empty stomach. Who knows? Maybe Kagura would find the activity therapeutic like her nurse suggested? Probably not. Good thing there was another distraction close to her; it was someone she recognized.

"Hi Yuna," Kagura said, hoping she had gotten the brunette's name right. Kagura wasn't exactly bad with names, but she had only met the other girl yesterday.

[forcalmeternal]

Hmm, that seemed to be a nice little row...although she really had no idea where the bulbs actually were. Yuna was looking around to see if she could memorize the spot her little row was, so she could (hopefully!) check back sometime, when someone caught her eye.

"Kagura!" Yuna grinned. Working with the plants had been nice, but she was glad for the company. However, her expression turned quickly to concern. "...Are you okay?" Was she better from whatever had upset her yesterday? Was she okay from whatever she might have met at night?

...Night. Yuna had been trying to put that off, especially since people seemed to have developed some sort of way of dealing with it. But fiends-er, monsters?-always took their toll. "Nothing bad happened?"

[cursed_exorcist]

Was she really that transparent? If so, then Kagura wasn't doing a good enough job hiding her pain. She tried to distract herself by shoveling some dirt into the pot followed by some seeds. "Yeah, I'm fine."

When Yuna asked if anything bad happened, Kagura tried wracking her brain for why she would ask such a thing. "Oh, do you mean last night?" Her blue eyes made sure the nurses were gone before she continued. "No, nothing bad happened; in fact, last night was pretty good. I got together with some people I know, and we got our hands on some weapons. Well, stuff we can use as weapons."

Kagura was somewhat proud of this accomplishment. So far, she had felt naked without a weapon at hand, and while she still didn't have a proper blade, the makeshift weaponry she had gathered last night satisfied her. Or perhaps, it was working together with a group again that made Kagura happy? Hime and Sokka's presences were certainly welcome. "And the best part was that we didn't run into any trouble either." Not unless you count Sokka's bloody nose.

[forcalmeternal]

Ah, that was good. "I'm glad!" Yuna said, grinning again. Both that Kagura was fine and that nothing happened! Yuna wasn't one to let go of people so easily, and was a bit sorry that she couldn't think of a way to keep better track of everyone. But, it was like two years ago: everyone had their own things to do, and when to do them.

Mmm, but...it made her a bit sad that she couldn't seem to do anything this time. Yuna folded her fingers as she moved her gaze to the bulbs she'd just planted. ...But...that was okay. Sort of. She wasn't the summoner this time, but everyone was working for the common goal. Yuna could be the cog this time! She didn't mind that, as long as she was doing something.

"That's good news!" she replied. Yuna wasn't used to salvaging for weapons; she wondered how it worked. "Umm, about that...do...is there a way..." Yuna tilted her head. "Well, there's a fiend...that I'm worried about. Is it possible to get a team and well, hunt it? I-I don't want it hurting anyone else." Ouch, speaking of that fiend, Yuna's back and some places on her legs were really beginning to ache from that. She shifted to move her weight.

[cursed_exorcist]

"A fiend?" Kagura rolled the words over her tongue. She knew Yuna was from a different world, so the word's meaning might not be the same; however, in this place, there were only so many things Yuna could have been referring to. "Do you mean the monsters that roam the institute?"

Kagura had yet to encounter one of these beasts, and she was still apprehensive about going up against one of them when she lacked a proper weapon. The weapons she had gathered last night would provide her some defense against other people, but monsters were a different story. To go up against inhuman creatures, an exorcist needed to be properly armed. However, her heart went out to Yuna, the girl sounded so kind and caring, worrying about others.

"I suppose it's possible. I've heard that some of the other people are better armed, though I'm not completely sure how they do it. You could try asking on the bulletin board." Kagura would take the quest herself if she thought she could complete it, but without her spiritual powers or a proper weapon, she'd just be running to her death.

"Wait, what do you mean 'anyone else?' Yuna, did you get hurt?" Kagura asked, concern evident in her tone, as she approached within arm's distance of the other girl. She had seen the signs from Yuna's restrained movements and remembered having seen the similar expressions on other exorcists who put up brave fronts after returning from dangerous missions. The other girl had probably been wounded somewhere. The question was how bad.

[forcalmeternal]

"Um, yes, that," Yuna replied sheepishly. 'Fiend' was the term most familiar to her, and she had reservations about calling anything 'monsters' when fiends, in Spira, were simply the spirits of the dead.... Which meant she should stop saying it because it was confusing! She'd remember to do that next time.

"Bulletin board?" Yuna repeated. A notice board? Hmm, Yuna did remember seeing one of those in one of the bigger rooms somewhere, but had thought it was used by the people who lead them around. Warnings and instructions, and the like. Ah, she should go look for herself-

"Er?" Yuna blinked. "Um, no, not really, it's just a...scratch," Yuna trailed off as Kagura got closer. Actually, it was probably multiple scratches, but none of them serious enough to use a Cure or any of its variations on. She hadn't even remembered until now, when the flower-planting had made her use muscles she hadn't really been moving until now. "It's nothing!" Yuna waved away the concern. "...I am worried that it might have hurt someone else, though," she amended, an apologetic note in her voice.

[cursed_exorcist]

"Yeah, there's a bulletin board in the Sun Room. Patients sometimes use it to pass on information," Kagura said, keeping a wary eye on the other girl. She was still concerned about Yuna's wounds, but she also wanted to trust that the other girl knew what she was doing.

"We don't know how these things are being created, and the institute releases these monsters in the halls every night, so I don't know if hunting one of them down will really make that much of a difference. I think it's better to try and protect your friends and yourself by trying to avoid the monsters altogether if you can." No, the only way to end this was to cut the problem off at the source, and for now, that meant the Head Doctor. Kagura hadn't met the man, but she heard his voice everyday over the intercom. He was the one responsible for their plight, for Yomi's twisted state. His actions were unforgivable.

"I don't know what 'fiends' are, but none of us should assume the monsters here are anything like we're used to dealing with back home. Please don't do anything dangerous like hunting it down on your own, Yuna." Kagura's face mirrored her tone, pleading with the other girl not to do anything foolish. She could only hope Yuna saw the logic in her words.

[forcalmeternal]

"Sounds convenient," Yuna responded about the bulletin. There were a lot of people here, all (most?) against their wills, so Yuna saw the wisdom in passing notes. Like messengers, only in a static place.

The monsters...so they were like fiends, after all. Fiends didn't disappear because the instinct to cling to life never went away.... Except, this was being done...deliberately. "That sounds horrible," she said quietly. Similar to how she couldn't imagine how fiends could be manufactured, she couldn't imagine how monsters could be created. Every night....

"Ah..." Yuna looked back up. "I won't. Please, don't worry." She smiled, to banish the heavy feelings. "I'll do my best to avoid them." Really, this was like talking to a Guardian! "And...thank you." The feeling of being looked out for...it couldn't be replaced. "Be careful yourself, Kagura!" she added, a teasing note entering her voice.

"So," she said, being serious again, "if not running away from monsters, what goes on at night?" She couldn't think of anything they might be trying to do, except escape. And if they were still here, the really obvious routes were probably closed. Hmm....

[cursed_exorcist]

"I'll try," Kagura replied with a small laugh. It seemed like Yuna was a reasonable person, not reckless like Kagura. Yuna's next question caused her to take a moment and think.

"Well, you've probably noticed by now that we wake up in our beds as soon as the night ends, so escaping probably won't be possible until we defeat our captors. With that in mind, I've been exploring the institute, trying to gather information and weapons. Speaking of weapons, my group found some bats in the shed in the recreational field. You should check it out, unless you found something better. They're not exactly great weapons, even as makeshift clubs, but they're a heck of a lot better than going hand to hand with monsters," Kagura said in a serious tone. The idea of going barehanded against some unholy beast caused her to grimace.

"However, even if you don't run into any monsters, the institute can still be pretty dangerous. A few nights ago, my allies and I tried gathering information from the doctors' offices, but I think we got knocked out by some kind of trap. All I know is that I woke up with a headache." Kagura felt bad that she couldn't offer Yuna any better advice, but it also drove home the fact that Kagura had wasted her time the past few days because she had been caught in her drama with Yomi. She was going to have to fix that. Perhaps she should talk to Hime later and plan something for the nightshift?

[forcalmeternal]

That Kagura couldn't promise to stay out of danger was a testament to their situation, sadly. Yuna supposed she should be used to it, but she never could. Ah, but she was a cog now, not a... Always something I can do, she repeated to herself.

"Waking up as soon as..." Yuna repeated. So that was what happened? Yuna hadn't thought about it, but that made sense. It also answered the question of escape, much to Yuna's consternation.

"Thank you, for the information," she said. Bats...Yuna wasn't good at clubbing weapons, unfortunately. Hmm, maybe she could use it as a rod? Sort of? In any case, Kagura was right, it was better than nothing. ...Especially with things like traps around. Oh, dear. "People have been trapped...a long time, huh?" she commented, subdued.

[cursed_exorcist]

"No problem. I'm glad I could help you," Kagura said with a smile. Yuna seemed nice, and Kagura hoped she could become friends with her; however, the conversation quickly returned to a more sobering topic - their captivity.

"It seems that way," Kagura replied. "I don't know for sure how long this has been going on though. Today is only my fourth day here."