damned_institute | Day 35: Wicker Street

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Day 35: Wicker Street

[from here]

The sound of the dog lead Sheena to a building on the corner of the street. Seeing the name of it and the animals in the windows, she giggled, imagining how if Colette was here they'd never be able to get her to leave. The sweet angel would insist on staying until she held and played with every single puppy in the plac eand given them all names.

She'd only been gone a day and already Sheena was missing the simple things she'd come to accept traveling with her companions. She put her hand to the window, smiling softly (if a little lonely) at the puppy that noticed her and started wagging tis tail and licking the glass right where her hand was.

[Awaiting a chance to run into a sweet-toothed warlord!]

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Sheena had been so focused on the puppy on the other side of the window that she didn't notice the man approaching her, so when he spoke it startled her.

"Eeep!" She jumped a little and then fell back on her butt. Yeah, gereat ninja she was, not noticing the approach of some familiar... really good looking guy. Her eyes traveled up the man to his face before she realized exactly what their current positions gave him a really nice view of.

Turning bright red, Sheena clutched a hand to her gaping top and surged to her feet. "Umm... umm... Hi," she said, looking at the man's shoes as she tried to stop blushing.

Rainier blinked in surprise when the woman yelped and fell over, not having expected to get such a reaction from her when he'd been deliberately making himself obvious.

Before he could offer her a hand, she was on her feet and... blushing? Rainier stifled a small smile at the perfectly natural reaction. "I apologise, Lady. I didn't mean to startle you. You just seemed to be a little upset about something. I was concerned."

...did this guy's eye NOT drift to her chest or was she imagining things?

Sheena released the front of her shirt and smoothed it down as best as she could. Why did the nurses have to pick a button-down shirt that they had to have known was going to be way too tight. She was keeping a sharp eye on this man to see if he was going to suddenly... be male or something, but if he wasn't, she might just get to know him.

And what was with calling her lady like it was some kind of formal thing? With the orange juice stain on her pants there was no way she remotely looked like a noble.

"Oh... I was just a little homesick," she finally stammered out, her face returning to its normal color. "I have a good friend that really liked puppies so this little guy," she gestured to the small yellow pooch with its nose pressed to the window, "had me thinking about her."

"I'm Sheena, by the way."

Nope. Rainier's eyes were very definitely on her face and not her chest and would remain there.

He smiled reassuringly at her and then glanced towards the dogs when she gestured. "Ah, that I can definitely understand," he said. "I have a friend who very much loves animals at home too," he said with a touch of wry amusement. Jaenelle's animals tended to be on the rather more dangerous side than just a puppy however.

He offered her a polite bow. "Rainier. I'm honoured to meet you, Lady Sheena."

Whoa. He just... bowed to her. Like she was important or something.

A little of the color returned to her cheeks and she put a hand to her mouth before suddenly dropping it and sputtered, "It's just Sheena, okay? None of the Lady stuff, please? I'm not a noble or anything. Just a guardian from Mizuho."

It occurred to her at that moment that Rainier might be one of the townspeople. If that was the case, then they were probably going with the crazy-people notion everyone else did during the day. "Are you from the town here... or the ranch?"

Rainier's smile widened at her insistence on being called just by name. "Where I come from, every female is referred to as a Lady," he explained. "From the lowliest hearth witch to the greatest Queen." He ducked his head in agreement though. "But as you wish, Sheena."

The ranch? That was a curious way of putting it. He was certain that she was from the Institute as well though. "I'm from the hospital, if that's what you mean."

"Yeah... the hospital. It reminds me of the human ranches back home - horrible, evil places," Sheena added on for clarification.

"And thanks..." It just felt all weird to be called something so fancy. "You must come from a very polite place."

"Human ranches?" he asked, raising one eyebrow at her. "They sound terrible just from the name." They sounded like some of the worst stories that he'd heard about Terreille. Witches broken to keep them docile, rings of obedience to keep control of males, all that corruption because of Dorothea and Hekatah.

He shook his head, amusement clear. "Not so polite. We just have strict rules of protocol governing a lot of interactions," he explained.

"What happens if you don't follow them?"

They still sounded pretty polite to Sheena, but considering the tone Zelos has used a few times with titles, she could guess how one could choose to still use it all and be an ass while at it.

"That depends on what you don't follow and the situation. There's all kinds of subtleties and what might be acceptable in one court or among friends might be considered terrible offensive in another court." He'd had the privilege of serving in the Dark Court and that was much much more relaxed than most others. It had to be considering who served.

"That sounds... really complicated," Sheena replied. She'd probably offend so many people in Rainier's culture that they'd run her out of town.

"I'm kinda glad I don't have to worry about impressing people with stuff like that. Or trying to keep me from losing my head over it."

"It has its moments," Rainier replied wryly. "Formal meetings can be something of a chore I admit." And the rules governing sex could be ah... somewhat difficult at times.

"I wouldn't say that it's so much about impressing people as helping the Blood govern themselves and the landens," he explained.

Sheena looked confused. "The Blood? What's that?"

It sounded like more fo a group than a thing. The name made her think maybe the protocols were a good thing because some people called The Blood brought to mind thoughts of the Desians.

She hoped Rainier wasn't one of them if they were evil people.

"The Blood are those creatures who are able to use Craft, spells and the like, in my world. We're the caretakers of the realms and those who aren't Blood," he explained. It probably didn't make much sense to someone who came from a completely different civilisation. Who knew if she even had Craft in her world.

"What about yourself, Sheena?" he asked with a smile. "It's a little overwhelming to find out that there are worlds beyond those I've heard of. I'm curious."

"Ah."

So the Blood are like elves. Sheena tilted her head a little, peering at Rainier in an attempt to see if he had pointed ears. Nope... not pointed. He looked pretty human to her. And despite the odd name, she guessed the Blood weren't evil - well, not anymore evil than humans generally were.

"Oh, it's weird being in a place that's not either of my worlds, but I adapt pretty quickly to the differences in technology levels having alreayd done it before. I guess since I was one of the first in a long time to cross the dimensional stream from Tethe'alla - my home world - to its sister world, Sylvarant, it makes sense that there'd be other worlds accessed through other means."

She scratched the back of her head. "I just don't know how transport was done without the right kind of machinery and mana to fuel it." She probably should explain mana.

"Oh! Mana's where magic in my world comes from. Only those with elven blood can cast spells, though humans have discovered ways to channel their own mana into advanced techniques."

"That does make sense when you already know of things like that, I suppose," Rainier agreed. "We have three different Realms, but they aren't separate worlds as such and travel between them is quite possible, although less frequent than it used to be." Terreille had seemed until recently a world that had no bearing on his own life, something little more than a story.

"So your people have Craft too?" he said with keen interest. "And how do they channel mana if they have no aptitude for it?"

He offered Sheena his arm. "Shall we walk? It seems a shame to only see a small part of the town while we're given some limited freedom."

Sheena was starting to like this whole etiquette protocol thing Rainier did. She smiled and took her arm.

"I'm not really good at explaining it, but think of mana as more like the lifeforce of the world - the essence of life. So it's everywhere around us and we all contain it inside us since we're alive and all," Sheena attempted to explain as they walked.

"Somehow, the elves have the gift that allows them to take the mana all around and shape it into magic may it be for healing, protection, destruction or in the very rare case for summoning. Humans, on the other hand, can only manipulate the mana within themselves."

Sheena was hoping she was making sense. "So, through will and training, they can augment their own abilities as well as create things like shockwaves, explosions, protective shields and sometimes even kinda steal the lifeforce from an unfortunate opponent."

Rainier listened attentively to Sheena as she explained how Craft worked in her world. It seemed very different to how the Blood worked, but at the same time, there were similarities there. People being able to manipulate only their own level of power was something he understood well.

"It sounds like it could be a very useful skill to learn if it's so versatile," he commented as they headed a little further down the street, pausing outside what looked to be a toyshop for a moment. "Is it common for humans to learn this?" he asked curiously. Blood used Craft like breathing a lot of the time, especially if they were Darker Jewelled, to siphon off the power they could channel.

Sheena shrugged. "People tend to find one method that works for them and develop other techniques off of that, so they generally kinda stay within a general area of effect since it's usually a weapon the mana is chaneled through."

Was it common? That was a very good question. "It's common in Mizuho, my village, because our young train from a very early age but my village is small. As for the worlds in general? Hmm... I wouldn't say its common, but I also wouldn't cal it a rare ability. It's just, unless someone's a soldier or a mercenary, there's little reason to focus enough to develop them."

She chuckled. "Sometimes it's int eh middle of a fight, when you're trying really hard to do something that you suddenly discover a new way to channel your mana."

"I can understand specialising," he said. "Some Witches in my world choose to train to become Black Widows, people who can heal minds and work with dreams and illusions. It takes many years of training to follow that path." And some people specialised in different kinds of Craft, although most Blood just used it as a natural part of their everyday lives.

"Then you must be very good at it, if you've trained for so long," he said with a smile. "And being forced is often a good way to find new and creative uses for things," he said with wry amusement.

People who could use magic to effect dreams and create illusions sounded really creepy to Sheena and she shivered at the thought. She liked her dreams being her own, thank you very much. Rainier's compliment, though, brought another light blush to her cheeks.

"Thanks..." She cleared her throat and smiled. "I'm a guardian fighter, so I channel my mana through special cards aside from knowing the other ninja arts." She scratched her cheek nervously. "I also have a little elven blood in me, but I can't cast any magic like the elves can. That blood allows me to form pacts with certain elemental spirits, so... I'm a summoner."

There was something satisfying in seeing a lady blush with pleasure at a compliment, even if Rainier's interest was more in seeing her happy than anything else.

"Ninja?" he asked, not having heard the word before and curious about what it meant. It sounded like some kind of fighting art, but he couldn't be sure. ""It sounds like you have some very useful skills," he said genuinely and then frowned in thought. "What materials do you need for the cards? I know my use of Craft is limited here, as is that of the people from my world."

"Shadow warriors that focus on speed and stealth more than brute strength," Sheena clarified. "Hand to hand combat is the basis for all the ninja arts. And... I can't tell you much more than that. Village secrets and all."

"I was able to make some cards last night using the paper from the journal but they didn't work so well. If I could get my hands on some sturdier paper or, if I'm lucky, wood and something to carve the appropriate symbols with, I'd be better off." Especially since the cards she'd made last night had all the writing horribly smudged this morning, rendering them useless."

"You have friends here?"

He laughed softly at that, giving her an understanding look. "That's alright then. I won't push. It's just not a word I've heard before." It sounded like an interesting school of fighting though, rather different to the Eyrien style which he'd been taught by Lucivar.

He tapped his lips thoughtfully with a finger. "If I see anything that would work, I'll be sure to let you know," he said. "I'd hate to see you go unarmed because of lack of materials. And yes, there are people from my world here," he said with a wry smile. "Admittedly, one of them doesn't remember me and the other is possibly a little angry with me at the moment."

"That'd be awesome if you found something. Thanks!" Sheena hugged Rainier's arm excitedly, accidentally smooshing her chest into it which made her get all self-conscious and she looked away at the nearest shop. Toys and... candy. Pretty high-scale.

"At least they're something familiar," Sheena said about Rainier's friends. "There's three from my worlds here. One is a relatively new friend that I'm still not too comfortable, the other is an enemy that apparently my friend and I are allying with and the other is a philandering man-whore that knows me far better than anyone should that goes out of his way to piss me off and make me want to chase him all over the place just so I can knock that damn smirk off his face..."

Realizing her mouth was running on its own again and how passioante she'd gotten into bashing Zelos, Sheena laughed nervously and then changed the subject.

"Look - candy," she said, pointing to the shop.

Day 35: Wicker Street

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