(Untitled)

[allnaturalmagic]

Who: Terra and Raven
What: Esper!Terra crashes to the ground, only to be found by Raven.
When: The afternoon of the 31st.
Where: Near the lake.
Warnings: Esper!Terra is not actually a pink comet.

Comments

[deusexblastia]

Ahh, what a calm and relaxing day. There was nothing like lazing about near the lake, taking in the sights, and most importantly, not having anything to do. Really, if there was nothing to do and nobody telling him to do anything, anywhere was the best place to be.

And there was that pink comet. For a while, he wondered if it was something of the island's doing, like whoever saw it for long enough got to remember something. Hey, that wouldn't be a bad idea. Hadn't it been in the sky for a while? Maybe he could expect it to be a while before that comet disappeared.

He decided to run with that idea of watching the comet. What's the worst that could happen?

And as he was thinking that, the comet started to fall from the sky. Maybe this was a good idea to watch. Thankfully, it was on the other side of the lake. Prime comet-watching position and no danger to himself!

[allnaturalmagic]

She blacked out briefly as she fell, only coming to when she was dangerously close to the lake. With the last reserves of her energy, Terra used a burst of speed to propel herself toward land in the direction that she was facing.

She skipped on the lake's surface like a stone several times before finally gaining enough height to clear the water. She zipped over the rest of the lake, airborne once again - and flying straight at Raven.

[deusexblastia]

Raven was not too happy about this new development. Getting out of the way meant moving! That was effort! But... staying in the way was a bit too much in the way for dying. Even so, he showed surprising speed for such a lazy old man. He had gotten to his feet as she skipped over the stone, and as he realized that this comet was hurtling straight after him, he threw himself out of the way, hoping that it was enough to get him out of the way.

He had no idea what it was, but his weapon was drawn and his right hand was on his dagger. If it came down to it, he wasn't going down without a fight.

[allnaturalmagic]

Barely conscious enough to fly, let alone care about what was in her way, Terra continued on her path. She soared past Raven, barely missing him as he dove out of the way. Her path took her straight to a large tree which she tried to dodge at the last second; she was only successful in dampening the blow slightly by hitting it at an angle instead of dead on.

Still in her Esper form, Terra collapsed at the foot of the tree and lay there, unmoving.

[deusexblastia]

As she was there unmoving, it was enough to make him at least put Nebilim away. The dagger stayed in his hand, simply because if he was going to be taken by surprise, he didn't want to fumble for a weapon. As much as he tried to keep Schwann and Raven separate, parts of one kept bleeding into another. He mentally sighed at that revelation. It wasn't something he wanted to focus on.

He approached the comet, which now appeared to be a purple female... something. What she was, he hadn't a clue - human wasn't the first choice on his list. For now, he just deferred judgement. He put a hand on her shoulder and turned her over to get a good look at her face, which sparked revelation #2 - she was naked as the day she was born.

He couldn't lie to himself - even though she wasn't human, it was a close enough form, and even if it was completely wrong from what he was expecting, it was quite aesthetically pleasing. Were he a lesser man, he might have taken advantage of the situation. Contrary to popular opinion, he was not about to do anything

[allnaturalmagic]

The land was different then what she was used to seeing, and the very air seemed to sparkle with magical energy. All around her were strange beasts, and while some were vaguely human in nature, they were greatly outnumbered by the more outlandish beings. One humanoid in particular stood out, a large dark-skinned man with what seemed to be huge goat horns adorning his head. Despite his size and appearance, he had an air of kindness about him.

Still in her Esper form, Terra began to stir. Her eyelids fluttered, but didn't open.

The vision changed, and the same man was now with a human woman. Already small in stature, she looked even more petite next to him. She was smiling happily, however, and holding a wrapped bundle - a newborn baby.

"We've decided on a name." There was pride in the horned man's voice, and a tenderness that seemed out of place, coming from one so ferocious-looking. "Terra. We're calling her Terra."

"Oh, Maduin, that's lovely...!"The same pink light as before engulfed her, and moments later she was back to her

[deusexblastia]

He barely had time to react for the pink light and was already reaching for his weapon when he nearly dropped his dagger in shock. Terra? Naturally, his first response was a vehement denial of 'couldn't be!', but here she was, right before his very eyes.

This sparked one of his earlier memories at Memento Eden; Terra was asking about some kind of duality in her soul, offput by it. He hadn't known it at the time, but Schwann was surfacing at the time to console her during her time of worry. He recalled saying she wasn't a monster, and on some levels, he was struggling to stick to his former opinion.

Was she a monster? Was she human? Both? Neither? Such questions were a little beyond Raven at the moment, so he focused on what mattered. Here was Terra, right in front of him, and it looked like she needed help. Time to drop serious thoughts for a moment.

Raven came much more naturally than Schwann these days. "Hey, easy there kid. Ya hit that tree pretty hard. Don't think yer gonna wanna try movin' any time soon."

[allnaturalmagic]

Terra closed her eyes again, trying to stop the throbbing pain in her head. It all made sense to her, now. Her father had been an Esper. That was what Harry had seen - her Esper half. No wonder she had been born with magic, and had been treated like a test animal at Vector. They had all feared her, even while trying to take her power for their own. She let out a small whimper as she fought back tears.

Then... A voice? "Maduin...?" No, that couldn't be... doesn't sound anything like him, more like...

Her eyes flew open. Raven?! She attempted to sit up again, but only succeeded in rolling onto her side.

[deusexblastia]

Maduin? Now who could that be? He'd known more than enough that one cannot mistake the name Raven for Maduin in either direction. Someone she just remembered, maybe.

That wasn't too important, but at least she was turning to face him. She was barely coherent, it seemed. "Ya don't really have much intention of listenin' ta me, do ya. Really, ya need ta take it easy fer a bit."

[allnaturalmagic]

She stared at him blankly for a few seconds. Something seemed different, but she couldn't figure out what - until she remembered the feeling of something covering her. Raven wasn't wearing his jacket. Did he really...?

It was still covering her slightly. She pulled it in front of her and saw that it was, indeed, his jacket. Once again struggling to sit up, she looked at Raven with an unspoken question in her eyes. Why?

[deusexblastia]

"Nice, ain't it?" Of course Raven would shrug it off like it was nothing. It was nothing. "Had no idea how long you were gonna be out, so hey!" And yet with such a grin on his face and general uplifting behavior, you would never have guessed he could be serious for two seconds in his life.

[allnaturalmagic]

"Yes, it is, but..." Terra was completely confused. Hadn't Raven coldly brushed her off just a few weeks ago for prying into his very personal secrets? She had completely avoided him after that, not sure how to react to him at all. It had hurt more than she could have anticipated, and she was more nervous and uncomfortable around him now than ever.

And yet, here he was, smiling brightly at her like nothing at all had happened. He'd even covered her with his jacket, which was the last thing she ever would have expected, considering what she had seen on his chest.

"Raven, I..." She had no idea what to say.

[deusexblastia]

"If I say that ya need to lie back down and get some rest, are ya gonna listen about as much as last time?"

He knew she wanted to talk about it. She really didn't know when to just give up, did she? Clearly, the answer was to keep her offguard. Fortunately, she really did need to rest.

[allnaturalmagic]

She didn't want to rest, but her head had different ideas. With a sigh, she finally laid her head down again and closed her eyes, pulling Raven's jacket up around her shoulders.

It seemed they both had something to hide, now. Terra couldn't help wondering what she had looked like, flying around with no destination in mind... had anyone tried to stop her? She couldn't remember. It was all one big blur. All she could really remember was the way it felt to fly, and that she had been searching for something.

All at once, it made sense. Maduin, her father. She had been looking for him. What had happened to him? Was he still alive in her world, or had he been reduced to magicite as well...? A small shiver ran through her as she considered that possibility.

She had to get back to her magicite. If he was among them, she'd know - somehow. She was sure of it.

Without opening her eyes, she softly asked, "How long was I... not myself?" She couldn't say 'Esper', not yet.

[deusexblastia]

"Hey, ya did listen. Maybe there's hope we can pull ya through this."

His smile dropped when she asked her question. So she did know about that. He had been hoping against hope that maybe, somehow, mercifully, there'd be a moment of pity. Maybe she wouldn't have remembered that other half. Maybe she could've stayed away from it, blissfully ignorant to its place within her. That hope was just shattered against the tree.

He hadn't liked being truthful to Terra whenever she asked most of her questions, but this was a different scenario. This wasn't something that concerned just him anymore. "I noticed only yesterday. There's a chance it could've been longer."

[allnaturalmagic]

A small, weak smile touched her lips at that comment, but she didn't say anything. For some reason, it made her feel better. Perhaps it was that 'we' - she wasn't alone, and there was a definite comfort in that.

Raven's next words weren't nearly so comforting. "At least a day... no wonder I'm so exhausted." She opened her eyes and stared up at him. "What did I look like?"