(Untitled)

[babyviper]

Since she'd stopped living in her old self's house, it had fallen into disrepair again

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[neededproof]

Ryan had only been coming over to see if O-Ren was around, partly just to say hello, mostly out of boredom. He hadn't been counting on any actual excitement, though. Dashing over as he saw her fall, he was fast enough to catch O-Ren, mostly by getting knocked to the ground himself.

"That," he said slowly, "could have gone better."

[babyviper]

"You tried," observed O-Ren, already tucking the picture away into the bag with the petals. "Arigato." She pulled herself up off the ground, offering him a hand. "Are you okay?"

[neededproof]

"Fine," Ryan said, nodding as he took O-Ren's hand, pushing himself to his feet. "Thanks. Are you okay?" She was the one who'd done most of the falling, after all.

[babyviper]

"It's not the worst fall I've ever taken," O-Ren said, and brushed herself clean. "Besides, you made a good landing mat." Her hands might have been a little shaky, but it had nothing to do with the fall.

[shareofdevils]

"Oh my God, are you okay?!" Marissa had been passing by, hadn't even seen anyone in the tree until a body had gone toppling out of it, a flash of flailing limbs and dark hair. Not until she'd rushed over and knelt down beside the girl did Marissa realize it was O-Ren, and she hesitated, her throat suddenly desert dry and rough. She swallowed twice, but there wasn't much spit.

"Are you-" she began, and cleared her throat. "Are you hurt?"

[babyviper]

O-Ren sat up, wincing, automatically checking herself over for damage. She was sore, and there was a big scrape on her knee, but otherwise she quickly decided she was fine.

Several feet away, the bag of petals had spilled everywhere, the picture not too far from the mess.

"I'm fine," she said softly, suddenly shy. What did you say to the girl you kidnapped because you thought she was your mom?

[shareofdevils]

There wasn't much to be done about the petals as they were already being lost to the breeze, but Marissa moved to retrieve the dropped bag and photograph, which she afforded a brief glance at before handing over. "Can I help you to the clinic? That's a pretty big scratch," she said, pointing to O-Ren's knee.

[babyviper]

"I wouldn't want to have you go out of your way," O-Ren said, trying not to trip over the many syllables of being polite. It was difficult in both her languages. "I mean--"

She gestured, a bit helplessly.

[weary_head]

Dean wasn't far away, having come out to see what was keeping O-Ren away from her new hut for so long, and was close enough to run and catch her before she hit the ground.

"There's a joke to be made here," he said, "'bout pretty girls falling from trees, but I don't think I'm gonna make it."

[babyviper]

The fall had surprised her, but being caught was even more surprising, and the picture fell from her slightly clammy grasp to the ground. "I slipped," she said. "I wasn't paying attention."

[weary_head]

"Well that's not like you," said Dean, holding her for a moment longer. "Usually you know whether I've scrubbed behind my ears or not from three yards away. What's up?"

[babyviper]

"The island gave me something, I think," O-Ren said, once her feet touched the ground, and she picked up the picture. She studied it with serious, appraising eyes before finally handing it to him. "Something that belongs to me."

[loaded_wolf]

Angua got there too late, and knelt down by O-Ren, eyes widened. "O-Ren Ishii, what in the worlds were you doing?" she asked, partly scolding, partly scared.

Gavin circled O-Ren, sniffing her before letting out a soft, questioning bark.

[babyviper]

"I wanted to take a clipping from the sakura tree," O-Ren said, poking at the scrape on her knee. She wrinkled her nose as it began to bleed. What a terrible way to get an injury. "I slipped. Wasn't paying attention."

[loaded_wolf]

"Oh..." If Angua seemed surprised, she didn't comment on it. "You seem alright. Would you like me to get a branch for you?"

[babyviper]

"I'll take it as a sign I shouldn't be up there," O-Ren answered. "The picture, though...." She eased herself up, mostly because crawling over to it would mean dragging her knee through the dirt.

[kaleidoscopeyed]

Movement in the tree catches her eye and Karolina is amused to see the girl up there, gathering blossoms. Amused that is, until the girl begins to fall and she's up on her feet, running for her, but she's too far away to catch her. She doesn't even think about what she knows about the girl before she's fussing over her. "Are you okay sweetie?" Karolina asks as she kneels beside her, face all concern. "Are you hurt?"

[babyviper]

O-Ren blinked up at her, surprised. "I'm fine." It wasn't strictly true, as there was a scrape on her knee now oozing blood. "I'll be fine," she corrected herself. "It wasn't a long way down."

[kaleidoscopeyed]

"Thank god," she says. O-Ren's right of course, it hadn't been a long way down, but Karolina's grateful that she didn't fall badly all the same. She'd had a friend who's broken her arm falling off a bicycle.

"Do you need help up?" Karolina asks, wanting to tell her she should stay there for a minute or two.

[babyviper]

"I don't know yet," O-Ren said, beginning a slow, methodical check of all her limbs. She'd taken harder falls before, of course, and even from higher up, but caution is never a bad idea, as she's been reminded. "I don't think it's that bad."