damned_institute | Day 27: Breakfast

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Day 27: Breakfast

Day came too soon.

Sora hadn't been able to find Rena, had instead been forced to crumple onto the grass of the recreational field and bleed all over himself, and hadn't even accomplished what he'd been sent out to do. What he'd been entrusted to do. He didn't know how he was going to be able to face Renji and the others, but he also knew he wasn't going to hide from them, either. That would just be low, after all, and he was ready to face up to the consequences.

He didn't try to make excuses for himself. Even though there had been a Special Counseling patient, they had managed to take her down by sheer numbers. The fact that he hadn't seen any sign of Rena was what had him the most worried. He hoped he could find her today.

The boy laid in his bed for a good while that morning before his nurse finally came in to collect him. She clucked over the bandages wrapped tightly around his chest and leg, and asked him if he was okay to walk.

Once Sora assured her he was fine (he didn't really want to use crutches, as that would just attract attention to himself, and he didn't need others worrying over him), they made their way to the cafeteria. Sora yawned and winced against the bright light of morning - it seemed even earlier than usual, and he realized why when they entered the cafeteria and found it empty.

The boy shuffled over to grab a chocolate chip pancake, a bowl of cereal, and a glass of milk (good for the bones, or so his mom had always told him) before settling at a table. He kept an eye on the door, hoping he would see Rena walking in soon.

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And of course the night would've proved uneventful. The irrational side of the young princess could easily blame her decidedly unstable companion, but inwardly she knew that the fault was also to placed squarely on her shoulders for dawdling in a manner so unbefitting one of her station. It was hard to refrain from upholding a sour expression in light of the past evenings failures, but there would be more days to come and more alliances to be made.

With her head held high and her shoulders thrust back, Ashe refused to let her failings reflect in her eyes. Lamenting failure was useless, especially when their simply wasn't time for such things.

As she helped herself to a light breakfast, plain pancakes with a bit of what they called 'cereal' on the side, the princess took a moment to scan the cafeteria, blue eyes instantly being drawn to a rather unique individual. There was something about his posture that seemed all wrong, and it didn't take a royal dignitary to presume that he had little to no experience with a proper meal. Ashe had seen now patients, and she still could be considered one herself. But this one... This was almost seemed to be new to his own skin.

Carefully, the princess approached, standing before the newcomer wearing a trained, neutral expression.

"Good morning to you," she said simply, though there was a hint of sarcasm carried in the tone. As if a morning in this strange place could be considered at all good. "Might I share this table with you?"

After the nurse had brought him his meal, Scar did nothing but stare at it. What lay on his plates were pancakes, but to him these were things he didn't knew and wondered what in the world these round excuses for 'food' were made of. But he should have more or less expected it. Considering everything was so strange to him, Scar couldn't help but think he wouldn't eat a zebra anytime soon.

He wasn't even going to start pondering the items next to his plate, however. Upon observing the other creatures, he learned they were apparently meant to help devouring the food. After failing to pick up the items (to his irritation), he proceeded to attempt eating these things with his...hands. It seemed strange calling them that way.

He had just started as another female approached. Bright green, feline eyes studied her for a second, figuring she meant the surface the plate was on with the word 'table'.

"Yes, of course." he finally answered, attempting to sound polite even despite his irritated mood. Perhaps she could tell him more about his situation, in which the other female creature had annoyingly failed.

Scolding his new source of information hardly sounded efficient.

Taking her seat and maintaining proper posture (perhaps the princess inside of her hoped he would follow suit and learn from her example) Ashe set to work carefully cutting her pancakes into small portions. Well, even if he did hail from a more primitive culture, he certainly spoke like a gentleman. How very curious.

"You'll forgive my assumption, but I should venture a guess that you are one of the new arrivals?" she asked, wanting to get all that out of the way. What little she knew, she would pass on to those in the same predicament as she.

"My name is..." Ashe's voice trailed off. Anyone whom she would even hide her identity from seemed to already be aware of her lineage. There would be no point in attempting to disguise herself any longer. "I am Princess Ashelia B'nargin Dalmasca, though it should go without saying that this is clearly not the country that I hail from." A hateful surge welled up in her chest as she thought of Rabanastre, one that had to be suppressed for the sake of dignity. "You may refer to me as Ashe, if it so pleases you. Might I ask your name in return, sir?"

Scar observed the female as she cut her food in small portions, as he could now see clearly what he was supposed to do with these items. It would seem the hassle with them was a habit for these creatures, though Scar couldn't help but find it strange. He sometimes used a bone as a toothpick, but otherwise he didn't use anything for meals but his mouth and claws. He gave the objects a glance before attempting to pick one up. But his 'hands' were not quite used to the motion, and dropped the item almost immediately.

However, it still left the fact the other person could use these items with ease. Either she had been 'here' quite some time in order to have plenty of practice, or she was simply in a different situation altogether. In any case, it didn't help to sooth Scar's discomfort in the situation. He somehow had the feeling he was making a fool out of himself, something he didn't quite like.

Leaving his so-called 'food' be for the moment, he returned his attention back to Ashe. "I have indeed just arrived here, wherever that might be." he answered. "You don't happen to know more of this...location, do you?"

"I am Scar." he added. "A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Ashe." Perhaps Scar didn't excel in table manners, but at least he could be polite when he wanted to.

Ashe almost allowed herself an amused smile at the strange man's inability to use his eating utensils effectively. But such a look might've seemed condescending, and she was not in a position to endanger her standing with potential allies. It was amusing that he seemed to inept with basic, human acts and still to regal and formal in speech.

"Scar, then," Ashe affirmed, taking a small, dainty bite of her pancakes. The food here could hardly compare to that of the royal court back home, but after some time in hiding, she'd learned to appreciate what was given to her. Truth be told, it was quite good, if a bit different.

"I am sad to say that I'm... still a bit new myself," the princess replied cautiously, sure not to wait until she'd finished chewing her food before speaking. "However, I have come upon some information that is quite startling. I must ask that you brace yourself, for it might seem rather hard to believe."

Scar didn't think anything else could be as startling as finding oneself in a new body of a species he could not even begin to identify (monkey seemed close, even though this body seemed hardly alike). But even despite the fact he had trouble believing he was in this situation in the first place, he was not going to jinx himself.

As he watched Ashe eat her breakfast with natural ease, he was beginning to think his situation wasn't quite common. But he would let her share what she knew before making judgment. The absence of a logical explanation for this entire matter irked Scar, and he found himself hoping this female could provide him with one.

"I see." he said. "Well, please carry on."

"I have experienced the sudden shift from day to night, so I can attest to that myself," Ashe began, not wanting to seem like a gossip spreading rumors that she'd simply heard from a madman down the hall. "I came to be here the eve before last and found myself in a darker version of this place. I was fortunate to find a group who informed me of the nature of this prison, hard as it might seem to believe." If he thought her mad, he would see for himself soon enough.

"During the day, the doctors and nurses are calm and seem somewhat genuine. We're walked through mundane activities, fed, and given counseling, for we are apparently quite insane, thus our imprisonment." Ashe had little doubt as to why she herself had come to be here. Vayne Solidor surely had to have had something to do with it, but she spoke not of her personal beliefs nor of her past. "When night comes, the doors unlock and we are free to roam this place. From what others have told me, there are beasts roaming about, monsters that are deformed and twisted. Others lay claim to weapons they've found by solving the riddles of a man who broadcasts his voice across the halls, but most have banded into groups set on escape." Ashe was quiet for a moment.

"I do not expect that you would believe me." The young princess seemed almost defensive as she spoke, ready to head him off at the pass. "But you shall see soon enough, I assure you. You'd best gather your wits about you; people from entirely different worlds have gathered here to play this sick game, even those with world-shaking power, I'm told."

Perhaps he did jinx himself.

To say that Scar would be surprised to hear this story would be quite the understatement. Given, he hadn't even gotten around to pondering the situation or nature of this apparent strange location (as he was occupied with his new body), but the way Ashe spoke it would seem they were caught playing some kind of game.

He assumed the female he had met upon his awakening would belong to the nurses. She indeed had mentioned he was supposed to be 'delusional', but Scar new quite well; he was most certainly not insane. But Ashe hardly seemed insane either, and even though matters could hardly be judged on first sight, it could be entirely possible that the prisoners were not selected from their supposed insanity. There had to be a different reason.

He wasn't quite sure what to think of the supposed nights around here. Monsters? It was safe to say Scar had never seen one before, and wasn't quite sure what he was supposed to imagine with the word 'monster'. He didn't get much further than 'something horrific of malicious nature'. In other words, something that wanted to feast on him. Oh goody... He preferred to be the hunter instead of hunted.

And a man 'broadcasting' riddles?

"So we are imprisoned here." he replied, more to himself than to the person sitting across him. "Do you know more its purpose? Or are we merely here for the sake of entertaining someone else?"

Considering his alarming discovery this morning, he wasn't going to doubt the female's story right away, even despite the fact it still failed his logic entirely. Regardless, everything seemed to be as she had told him thus far.

"What do you mean with different worlds?" Scar was hardly familiar with the concept.

"I know not the reason," Ashe replied bitterly, her eyes narrowing as she spoke. "It seems on the surface a sick game, but there is an instinct..." Her voice trailed off as she tried not sound like some mad, fortune teller. "...there is an instinct that there is much more to it. I regret that I have found little since my arrival."

The concept of different worlds and times was still a difficult one for the young princess to grasp herself, so it seemed and probably looked a bit awkward as she attempted to breech the subject.

"Your world is familiar, known as the only one to you? If so, you will find soon enough that such a belief is indeed incorrect." Ashe glanced around the room, noticing familiar faces she'd spoken with or seen about. "Different cultures, different lives... It all seems to fit in an odd way, does it now." She turned back to regard Scar. "Our own seem quite different by comparison, do they not? Would I be a woman you would see native to your society?"

"Not quite." Scar replied dryly. It happened to be a rather large understatement, but a minor detail not too relevant to this little discussion.

While Ashe had explained the concept of different worlds and the cultures along with it, the very discovery he had made earlier this morning had come to mind once again. As strange and alien as this story sounded to him, it was the only thing that made sense thus far.

It was obvious he was no longer anywhere near the Pride Lands, even a brainless hyena could figure that out. Along with these strange creatures and their even stranger habits, it was rather hard to deny her explanation.

But Scar hadn't worked so hard to achieve his goal - to become the rightful king - in order to be spirited away to this...Landels and changed into some odd creature he could not even begin to name. How dared the one in charge take what rightfully belonged to him?!

Ashe noticed that her dining companion seemed to have fallen into a quiet state after her brief affirmation of her assumption. The hard shell the princess so often bore cracked a little as she could only imagine what things had to be like for someone from such a different culture. Most that she'd met had seemed to fit in at least a little better, even her mad roommate.

"Forgive me. I have been quite bold," Ashe said, her voice a touch softer without remaining informal. It should hopefully convey that she understood the difficulty of it all without seeming too patronizing. "It is a lot to take in at once. I myself was subject to a rather brief, halting summary of things as they are the night before last."

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Day 27: Breakfast

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