(Untitled)
Characters: Tatiana and Matilda
Content: Matilda gets herself into a bit of trouble, and Tatiana is there to rescue her.
Setting: Slummier sections of Melior
Time: Afternoon
Warnings: Tatiana kicking some ass? Perhaps!
( as the dim detective's lead astray )
Content: Matilda gets herself into a bit of trouble, and Tatiana is there to rescue her.
Setting: Slummier sections of Melior
Time: Afternoon
Warnings: Tatiana kicking some ass? Perhaps!
( as the dim detective's lead astray )
This was like...
This was like Vohemar.
Perhaps even worse. Matilda had come from a very privileged family so she knew her home was infinitely better than this mess. What was this? She looked behind her to see the glamourous Melior and then looked ahead again. How could two so very different places exist within the same city?
Her feet began to move on their own and she moved deeper into the slums, unaware of how dirty her mary janes were becoming, and not caring very much. The further she traveled, the more shocked she became. There weren't many people out but the few she did were scurrying about in peasant clothing, their faces wane from the toil of everyday living. They were so caught up in their worlds of mere survival that they barely noticed a little, pale, frail framed girl walking through their streets; very obviously out of place.
Matilda had no idea such places like this existed in Ivona, and she couldn't help but feel a little sick. There had to be some sort of explanation behind this.
Before she could get farther, however, someone finally did take note of her and she suddenly felt a hand on her wrist that quickly yanked her sideways. Matilda was torn from her reverie and she looked up frantically at whoever had grabbed her so roughly. He was a tall boy, perhaps eighteen or seventeen years of age, not much really due to his thin structure but he was furious for some reason and it seemed to somehow make him more than he was. Matilda had never seen such rage and hatred directed towards her, not even her parents or the headmistress had come close and it froze her in place.
"Well look what just waltzed into our home, boys. Looks like another brat has come to get a good laugh and flaunt their wealth."
The other boys who had been leaning against the nearest building flicked their heads towards her, appearing every bit as irate as the one who was holding her. What was going on? Why were they so angry at her? Matilda looked down at her clothes. They were pretty simple, just a dress a little beyond her knees, stockings and shoes but they did look impeccable compared to what the men were wearing. Why would they begrudge her that, though? It wasn't as if she had somehow caused their conditions.
"I..I'm..I didn't.." she stuttered, not even sure what she was trying to say. The girl was just so confused over everything she had seen, everything that was happening, that before she could finish she suddenly found herself slammed into the wall.
"Oh the others feigned ignorance when we got them. Don't think we'll be fooled so easily again, or that you'll get off easy because you're a kid. After all, as far as we see most of you don't seem so outgrow your bratty behavior anyway."
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Danger like the teenaged hoodlums who had just accosted her. From her distance, Tatiana couldn't make out what they were saying, but if the hand on her wrist wasn't sufficient to guess their intention, the way they shoved her against the wall was certainly unambiguous.
Tatiana covered the ground between them quickly, striding forward purposefully until she was right behind them. She clapped a hand on the apparent ringleader's shoulder to get his attention and said, with as much steel in her voice as she could muster:
"Release her immediately."
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A familiar voice reached her ears instead, and she hesitantly opened up one eye. Her attacker was no longer looking at her, but over his shoulder. Matilda's eyes followed his line of view and she was surprised to see...Tatiana there. Where had she come from? Her body tensed, she knew Tatiana was a capable woman. She had to be if she was part of the Victoria II, after all, but she was still one person against three others if they decided not to let things go smoothly.
And from the looks of it, they wouldn't.
No, no. She isn't alone. Get yourself together.
He kept her to the wall with one hand a turned his body slightly towards Tatiana. His comrades came up to stand on either side of him.
"Seems like they're coming in groups now. Why don't you go back to your bright little side of Melior and feed on your pastries and wine." he sneered, though with a little less confidence than he had talked with Matilda. Tatiana after all wasn't a little girl, and even without her uniform she exuded the air of someone confident and trained.
[[ooc: feel free to mod them as well if you want :3]]
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"I am an officer of the Ivonian Navy," she said coldly, "and that girl is in my care. If you do not get out of our sight immediately, you are in very serious trouble."
Of course, it was mostly a bluff. Tatiana had some hand-to-hand training, and kept herself in good shape, but she was not at all confident in her ability to bring down three fairly large men at once. For that matter, Matilda wasn't even in her care, except that she was in the whole ship's care. But it certainly sounded impressive, which is what Tatiana cared about more.
Unfortunately, either the men were too stupid to be intimidated, or too intelligent to be taken in. The leader sneered at her, and gestured towards her with his head. "One of you grab her," he said. "Two stupid city girls for the price of--"
Tatiana cut him off violently. Her grip on his shoulder tightened, and her other hand came up around to grab the back of his head, and in the space of an instant she pushed him forward with both hands, slamming his face into the wall above Matilda.
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The other two just stared for a moment, appearing equally surprised. One recovered quicker than the other and growled at Tatiana, pulling out a knife. This brought Matilda back to her senses and she focused on the knife, easilly pulling it out of his hand and sending it flying away.
There was a moment of silence in which they stared at where the knife had flown, before looking at Tatiana again. They shared one more look and then decided perhaps it would be best to just go after all. They picked up their unconscious friend and hurried away.
Matilda looked after them before closing her eyes and sliding down the wall.
That had been so close...if Tatiana hadn't appeared who knew what would have happened.
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Then, suddenly, as quickly as the knife was there, it was gone, tumbling away somewhere further down the street. Tatiana blinked. Did it slip from his grip, or something? It seemed unlikely. Still, she wasn't going to complain about it; She took a step towards the man who had pulled the knife, and was extremely relieved when the two of them decided to cut and run instead of fight.
The man she'd struck was still out of it, but was stirring slightly. he wasn't really a threat anymore, though. Tatiana saw Matilda slide down to the ground and decided to check on her instead.
She knelt down to Matilda's level, and asked: "Are you alright? They didn't hurt you, did they?"
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Once she felt calm enough she opened her eyes to look at Tatiana. She still was wondering how she had found her, whether it had been chance or not, but she supposed in the end it still didn't matter. Matilda was beginning to realize she had just done something phenomenally stupid, and the pilot had risked regardless.
"I am." she assured quietly, with a little nod. She was a little roughened up and dirty, but there were no serious injuries of any kind.
"I..." she struggled to find some words, for what, she wasn't sure. Her mind still was trying to understand the situation before she gave up for now, "Thank you." she settled for instead.
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Tatiana extended a hand out to the smaller girl. "Here, let me help you up."
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Her eyes survey the area again; it was most definitely bad.
The fear and adrenaline was mostly out of her body now, so despite everything she was still able to smile. No one was too hurt, so there'd be a little point in agonizing over it.
"Regardless. That wouldn't have ended well." Part of her wanted to ask Tatiana about this place, and how it could possibly be in a city like Melior but she wasn't entirely sure if she was quite ready for that answer. Some of the things people had said about Ivona when she had proposed those questions earlier on the network were beginning to make a little more sense now.
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The man she'd slammed into the wall started groaning, ans slowly pushing himself up to his knees. Tatiana casually dug her heel into his back, pushing him back to the ground. "We should get out of here before some of his friends show up," she said. She lead Matilda back towards the bridge they had crossed to get here.
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"Looks like another brat has come to get a good laugh and flaunt their wealth." That was what that man had said, she remembered it quite well. Well Matilda wasn't badly off, she had never particularly lacked money, or rather someone who provided well enough for her. Certainly when she lived with her biological family she had hardly been treated what someone would be considered well, but she had been fed and clothed which was more than she could say for some people.
Nonetheless, she could deduct that by that they must mean the people of Melior. Did other kids really do that?
For once Matilda wanted to put off figuring something out. It would be easier to do it in the peace and quiet of her room, and she really wanted to get herself cleaned up first; however, she hadn't gotten what she came out to do to begin with, and she didn't want to let herself be so easily deterred, otherwise this might have been a purely bad experience. It wouldn't do to let this dominate her mind.
"Miss Wisla...I had come out in hopes of finding a good bookstore around here. Do you know of any?"
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"Unfortunately, no," she said. "I'm not very familiar with this city. We could go looking together," she suggested. She had time to kill, and in any case it wouldn't do to just let the child wander around unsupervised, and possibly get herself into further trouble.
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"Are you certain? I'm not interrupting you from anything, am I?" she questioned a little shyly. It was more out of courtesy, really, Matilda selfishly hoped that the older woman would stay despite whatever duties she might have been attending. It was still a little hard for her to be around some people of the Victoria. The last thing she wanted was to be annoying, and she knew most people wouldn't be all that interested in being around someone so much younger than them. It didn't help when you were one of the youngest people on board...but she couldn't help it.
Tatiana was one of the first people she had spoken with, besides Edgeworth. So perhaps there was some sort of attachment because of that.
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Matilda was certainly polite, for her age. Very well-spoken too. Probably had something to do with all the books she apparently read.
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Matilda folded her arms behind her as she walked alongside Tatiana. She had read a little bit about her---long nights after she had completed her studies left her with little to read, and so she had read some of the records the Academy had. She was beginning to piece many of the people she had read about to some of those she had met, Tatiana being one of them.
It felt strange, almost as if once historical, or even fictional characters were popping to life.
Strange in a good way, though.
"Miss Wisla...if I may ask? What made you wish to become a pilot?" she questioned to get conversation going.
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"I was good at it," she answered. "I did well in all my courses at the Academy, but I excelled in my introductory piloting classes. Since I had natural talent in that area, I decided to focus my studies towards it."
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