Day 50: Courtyard

[hasnomeaning]

Again, there were choices. After leaving the child and the animal, Rei had followed again. When prompted where she wanted to spend time, the pilot had no preference. If they wished her to do something, they would place it before her. If they left her with options, she would take the ones they did not want. So her response was minimal, and so the

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[laguz_decoy]

As he stepped out into, what had to have been, the most pleasant weather he'd experienced since he arrived at the Institute, Ranulf stepped out of the path of other patients exiting into the Courtyard and paused for a moment. Closing both eyes and inhaling deeply through his nostrils, he smiled contentedly. Being outside was something he'd needed and if he kept his eyes closed long enough it was almost as if he were back in the home-forests of Gallia. Almost.

Opening his eyes, he exhaled slowly through his mouth and smirked as he sneaked a side-look at the patrolling nurses and orderlies stationed around the Courtyard. Nurse Flo had tried to steer him toward the Sun Room. After being very uncooperative with her, she'd given up and escorted him to the Courtyard, warning him that he'd be lucky to see it ever again if he resumed his activity of fishing in the nearby pond. He'd responded with a look of "Who, me?" which only exasperated her more as she stomped back toward the building, muttering odd words like "salary" and "college".

Ranulf's eyes scanned the Courtyard looking for a familiar face, but found no one. Feeling the heat on the back of his neck, he longed to jump into the pond again but knew that may result in punishment. Instead, he spotted a large tree and jaunted toward it to escape the harsh sunlight. Once in the shade, he rested himself against the trunk and tilted his head upwards against it, closing his eyes. It wasn't long before he realized he wasn't alone.

Hearing shuffling on the other side of the tree he turned, one hand on the trunk to support himself and took a look at the source of the sound. The "shuffler" turned out to be a slender young woman, sitting on the opposite side of the tree, staring over the courtyard in a very familiar manner. What did it remind him of? Ranulf scrunched his eyes together and then they both burst open when it finally came to him! The straight shoulders, the alert glower... her mannerisms matched the wolf-laguz of the far deserts almost exactly! Could she be? He supposed he'd never know until he introduced himself...

Approaching her cautiously, Ranulf circled around the tree where she was standing and, wearing a friendly smile, started conversation.

"Excuse me miss, are you searching for someone? Can I help?"

[divinebrushwork]

A friendly voice interrupted her thoughts and Amaterasu was forced to divert her eyes away from the rest of the courtyard. There was a very peculiar young man standing beside her now and just by looking at him, she could tell he was different from the other individuals she had met at the institute.

His hair was an abnormal color, as were his eyes (it seemed as though he had heterochromia, for each iris was a different shade) and there was just something about him that didn't seem right. If she had still possessed her keen sense of smell, she would have known immediately. But for now, she'd just have to figure it out the mortal way.

In response to the man's question, Ammy gave a short nod, then raised her head to stare back out at the people milling about.

"L . . . l-looking for f-f-friends." she stammered, struggling to control the words flowing from her voice box. "Issun. Oki."

Of course, she had never seen this man during her lifetime in Nippon. What chance was there that he knew who her companions were? She bet that even Waka, who was known to many people as the leader of the Tao Troopers, wasn't known in this world.

[laguz_decoy]

Ranulf kept his smile intact and forcefully kept his his eyebrows from raising as the girl spoke to him. Her stammering reminded him a lot of Mordecai and the other laguz in Gallia attempting to learn the beorc language. There was no way this girl originated in a beorc body. If he hadn't been raised in such an environment, he doubt he would've come to this conclusion so quickly. Well... conclusion was hardly the word to use. It was only a theory.

When she was done speaking, he couldn't stop his face from falling a bit. He'd never heard of anyone named "Issun" or "Oki", though they seemed to have the same language origin as Tsubaki. Perhaps Tsubaki knew this girl's friends? He'd save this information for later, but first Ranulf had a few questions he was inquiring to know.

"Your friends? What do they look like?"

[divinebrushwork]

Ammy had a feeling that it was going to be a slim chance for this man to know her companions. She was certain that he was not from Nippon. His hair and eyes were even stranger than that of the Moon Tribe's or even the Celestials.
But it didn't hurt to describe them a little. Perhaps he had at least run into them here.

"Issun."
The goddess curled her thumb and finger to form exactly one inch's worth of space, indicating how small the wandering artist was.
"P . . . P-Poncle." she said, eyes narrowed in concentration. "T . . . tiny. Loud. L-likes m . . . melons."
As she spoke the last word, her hands moved to cup the lumps of flesh that now sat upon her chest. They were called melons, right? Surely this man knew that.

"Oki . . ."
She moved on to her next description, dropping her hands from her melons.
"O . . . Oina . . ." she stammered. "Wolf. C-carries sword c . . . called K-Ku-Kutone."