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Tweak says, "go team firecrotch!"

Kibeth (ex_disreputa173) wrote in mirage_rpg,
@ 2009-01-03 21:16:00

Entry tags:

arrival, complete, day 27, illyana rasputin, kibeth

Who: Kibeth and Illyana
When: Day 27, early evening
What: Arrival
Rating: PG-13, just in case
Status: Complete

Death was hardly a realm with which Kibeth was unfamiliar, but it wasn't one she particularly enjoyed. The current of the river tugged at her legs, but she ignored it in favor of walking along the boundary between Life and Death. Not that there was much to even indicate she'd traveled in the featureless gray that was the area before the first gate. So, to amuse herself Kibeth tried on different shapes. The rules of form were looser here in Death than they had been and she was free to play around with the forms of other animals than the mutt-ish dog she had been.

The fish had been nearly disastrous, as the current caught her up and pulled her nearly over the first gate before she was able to regain control of her own motion. Any of the hooved mammals were chancy too. It was too easy to slip. On a whim, she tried on human shape. Liriel had seemed to like it, and humans were such interesting creatures. It took several tries to get everything right, and she had quite a bit of trouble walking at first. Still, it was kind of fun, and soon she was skipping through the calf-high waters.

Then her foot came down wrong and she slipped. She braced herself for impact with the cold water, already moving to push herself back up before the current could grab hold. But the impact never came. Between one blink and the next she was no longer in the cold, featureless land of Death, but somewhere equally cold, but much, much more interesting. Kibeth stood up and looked around. There was a large building right nearby, and some more buildings a little further off. And none of it looked like any part of the Old Kingdom she was familiar with.

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ex_darkchyld899
2009-01-05 07:51 pm UTC (link)

"Nice to meet you, Kibeth," Illyana said. She turned and headed back toward the main lodge, leading the older woman as they went. "I take it that it was warmer where you came from?" she asked, glancing at the woman's bare legs and feet again. It was as good a lead-in to "the talk" as any. "Because I can guarantee you, wherever you were a moment ago, it's a long way away. This planet we're on, it steals people and keeps us here. We can't figure out why, but it does, and it seems to have chosen you as a new guest."

Sure, Illyana, let's just freak out the nice lady. But, she was never one to beat around the bush. The bluntness sometimes got her in trouble at home. She ended up hurting people's feelings without realizing it. Life was hard, though, and she knew that better than even a lot of the X-Men. It wasn't fair to try and sugar-coat the situation. Better to be up front about what was happening.

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ex_disreputa173
2009-01-06 11:11 am UTC (link)

The planet stole people? That wasn't possible. Planets couldn't steal people. Surely it was just some powerful being doing so. Though the idea that she was on a different planet would explain why she couldn't reach the Charter. That Charter was only for Ancelstierr after all.

"It wasn't warmer per se" she said finally in response to the girl's initial statement. "I was just ah... wading in a river. So if I'm, we're guests of this place, does it provide warmth and such?"

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ex_darkchyld899
2009-01-06 11:26 am UTC (link)

That did explain the bare legs. But, why wade in a river if it was cold? Unless, like Illyana, she was used to a colder climate. Perhaps she didn't feel this place was cold, comparatively.

She nodded at Kibeth's question. "It sets us up in a room of our own, which we can change around if we feel like, and provides us with just about anything we could want, except for a way out. Clothes, food, entertainment, it's all here. There's even a party going on tonight." She could hear the party noise as they came up to the building, bleeding out of the ballroom and toward the lobby. She opened the door to the lobby and held it for Kibeth. "This is just a stop, so we can pick up your key, and then I'll help you find your room, if you'd like."

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ex_disreputa173
2009-01-06 07:00 pm UTC (link)

Rooms that could change around? Anything one could want? This place was getting more and more interesting all the time! She felt a grin break over her face and she practically skipped into the building.

"I'd like the help if you don't mind. I am new and all, and I'd probably spend all night wandering around on my own." Which granted, was part of what she wanted to do, but only after she'd found her room.

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ex_darkchyld899
2009-01-06 07:38 pm UTC (link)

Illyana had never seen anyone so happy to hear about the planet. It was...odd. But, who was she to judge? Perhaps the cold had got to the woman's brain, or perhaps she hadn't quite realized exactly how trapped they all were. Or, perhaps she was trying to make the best of it, put on a brave face, something like that. Regardless, Illyana nodded at her. "Sure. There's a list of the rules for this place over there," she pointed to the plaque on the wall near the lobby's desk, "and let me see if I can find your key."

Illyana turned to the wall of keys, remembering the last time she'd looked at it. Clark had found her room key for her. What had happened to the young man? Maybe he just wasn't one for parties. She shrugged and scanned the rows of keys, looking for the blinking light. There! She slipped behind the desk and pulled the key, turning it over to read the number on the back. "A 107," she said, looking back over at Kibeth. "That's on the other side from my, um, dorm, I'd guess you'd call it. I'm in building D."

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ex_disreputa173
2009-01-06 08:33 pm UTC (link)

Kibeth skimmed over the rules. Nothing too hard to follow, and she heartily approved of the no killing rule. Still, the contrary part of her nature wondered exactly how you could enforce such a rule and sort of wanted to find out. But she'd play nice, at least for now.

"Is it far from here?" she asked as Illyana told her the room number. She wanted to see exactly what this place would come up with for a room for her.

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ex_darkchyld899
2009-01-07 07:27 pm UTC (link)

Illyana shook her head. "Not too far. We've got to go back out into the snow again, though," she said, glancing down at Kibeth's bare legs. "It won't be for too long, though, and I'd bet money that the building will be nice and warm once we get there."

She passed Kibeth the key, then turned back to the door. "This way," she said, holding it open for her. Once she'd stepped back outside, Illyana led Kibeth as quickly as she could through the snow to the building labeled "A". She yanked the door open and held it, letting the other woman enter first. She had to be freezing, and Illyana, while not comfortable, was far more appropriately dressed for the snow.

"It should be right down...yup! Right here," Illyana said, stopping in front of room 107. "See? Not far at all."

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ex_disreputa173
2009-01-07 09:02 pm UTC (link)

Kibeth braced herself for the cold, and found it wasn't as bad as she feared the second time around. She trotted to keep up with Illyana while still looking all around. It didn't look that unusual. Just buildings and snow, like any area of Ancelstierr in the winter. She'd have to do a bit more prodding later. This place seemed fascinating.

Then Illyana stopped at a door, so Kibeth did as well. It was marked 107 just like the key, so she figured it was supposed to be hers. There was a small red leather bound book propped up against the door, so she picked it up. It was blank inside, and had no real distinguishing markings on it. She turned it over and over in her hands for a moment before looking back at Illyana. "Thank you!" she said brightly. "I'm sure you've got far more interesting things to do than to sheppard me around."

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ex_darkchyld899
2009-01-09 08:10 pm UTC (link)

Illyana regarded the little leather book curiously. "The planet must be giving presents to new arrivals now as well," she remarked. "I didn't get a journal when I got here." She shrugged. "Maybe it's trying to be nicer to new arrivals. Maybe it's realized that plopping them down in the middle of the elements isn't the nicest thing to do." A hint of bitterness laced her voice, as she remembered the howling winds and pounding rain of her arrival.

"You're welcome," Illyana said, smiling at Kibeth. She held her arms out gamely. "Not interesting, per se, but I think my bed wants to see me for a little bit." She regarded the woman carefully. "You're sure you'll be okay? I mean, I know it's a big change and all, being here when you weren't a few minutes ago. Feel free to come find me if you want to talk, or anything." She took a step backwards and resisted the urge to slip her hands behind her back. Without pockets, it was difficult to figure out where to put her hands and not look confrontational or childish.

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ex_disreputa173
2009-01-11 08:50 pm UTC (link)

"No, I'm okay" Kibeth said, perhaps a touch too quickly. She wasn't quite sure what her room would look like, and she wasn't sure she wanted a stranger to see it. Might raise a few more questions than she was willing to answer right now. "You get to bed, I'm pretty sure I can figure things out from here"

Kibeth waited until the other girl was safely out of the dorm before she turned the key in her lock and pushed the door open. She slipped inside before anyone might have a chance to glance in and shut and locked the door behind her.

As she looked around, she was happy to see her caution was unneeded. The room looked much like the general Clayr's rooms except with far more bookshelves. Every inch of wall space was taken up with bookshelves, except for one corner where a very nice writing desk and chair. It reminded her more than a little of the Head Librarian's desk. That made her smile a bit. This place might turn out to be quite nice after all.

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