oo36 [ voice // action ]

[poppetry]

[ There is a girl in the woods west of the village. She's unconscious, and wearing a New Feather dress, so it'd be easy to mistake her as part of the crop of new kids.

However, she is anything but new to this place (and new to showing up wearing things other than what she ought to be wearing gosh darnit), and when she comes to, she will sigh,

Comments

voice

[risingwinds]

Xion!

[Man, he hadn't heard from her since the draft. Poor kid was wondering what happened.]

You okay?

voice

[poppetry]

Ven! It's good to hear your voice... I'm fine! ... a little wet, but fine. [ a quiet laugh. ] The Malnosso took me again. But really, what else is new?

voice

[risingwinds]

Man, it sounds like you can't catch a break.

[Maybe the Malnosso like using her as a test subject. Hm.]

They didn't do anything too bad, right?

voice

[poppetry]

It's not so bad. [ she's more worried about him than she is about herself. ] And I'm fine! I don't remember much, this time... I just feel really tired.

Are you okay, Ven?

voice

[risingwinds]

Well, once you get back to the village, you could always take a nice, long nap.

[...Heh. He figured she'd ask.]

Well, kinda. Nothing's happened since the draft...

voice

[poppetry]

[ another laugh. ] That sounds like a good idea.

[ ... ] Since the-- Ven, did something happen to you while we were out there?

voice//filtered from Vanitas (30%)

[risingwinds]

I... hold on a sec.

[And he'll toss up that lousy filter of his.]

Yeah. Something really bad almost happened.

voice//filtered from Vanitas (100%)

[poppetry]

[ yeah, you gotta be kidding. give her a moment to lock that completely. she doesn't trust Vanitas one bit not to attempt to hack anything related to Ven. ]

What did he do?

voice//filtered from Vanitas (100%)

[risingwinds]

He took me to the other side of the battlefield, and we ended up fighting.

Then, he almost forged the χ-blade with me. I'm lucky I made it out of there.

voice//filtered from Vanitas (100%)

[poppetry]

[ her first reaction is anger. searing, white hot anger. but all that comes of it is a sharp, cut off noise of rage. she shuts her eyes, taking a moment to master her emotions ... and when she opens them again, and looks at Ven's face, all the anger goes out of her in a rush. ]

That snake... I knew he'd try something. I'm so sorry I wasn't there to help...

voice//filtered from Vanitas (100%)

[risingwinds]

It's okay. You don't have to apologize, Xion.

I should've expected it, but it was so busy out there that he caught me off guard.

voice//filtered from Vanitas (100%)

[poppetry]

I'm just glad you're okay. Still... he's going to try again, isn't he? [ not a lot of doubt here. she believes the worst of Vanitas at all times, so it'd make sense if he tried to take Ven on again. ]

voice//filtered from Vanitas (100%)

[risingwinds]

He'll probably keep trying until he gets the χ-blade. He's really stubborn, and even if I keep running, he'll be right behind me.

voice//filtered from Vanitas (100%)

[poppetry]

... whatever happens, Ven, we'll be here to support you. Okay? I don't know how to help, but ... I'll still do whatever I can.

voice//filtered from Vanitas (100%)

[risingwinds]

Thanks, Xion. Just having somebody to talk to really helps.

[... ... ...]

I should probably warn everyone before it's too late.

voice//filtered from Vanitas (100%)

[poppetry]

Ven...

[ it just sounds so familiar. in the most awful way. ]

... you should. They'll want to know... even if they can't help.