[Closed] In which everyone but Rapunzel has a tail.

[healingincantation]

Who: Rapunzel, Dust, Dewey, and Kuja
What: They're Lost!
Where: Anastara
When: July, some point after the bodyswap event.
Warning: None anticipated, will update if needed.


She hadn't been able to figure out what the event that day in Anastara was, but it was sure making traveling through difficult. She'd just wanted to pick up some new school supplies; replenish her stock after midterms, and had headed out with a few friends to do just that...

And now she just wished she'd bought a map, although she imagined she'd have needed a highly detailed one to navigate these narrow, winding alleys. She'd thought about unbraiding her hair to and using it to keep track of where they'd been, but she was hoping it wouldn't come to that.

But she did, at least, have to draw attention to problem at hand, so they could set to solving it. She turned to her nearest companion with a sheepish smile.

"I think we're lost, unless you know where we are?"

Comments

[mithrarin]

This was... embarrassing. Honestly, that seemed to be Dust's watchword of late -- he'd spent the entire month being nothing but embarrassed. And here, hoping that trying to do something normal with Rapunzel would let him get his groove back...

"No idea," he admitted, sheepish and weary all at once. "This doesn't look familiar at all."

[healingincantation]

Rapunzel nodded in response, looking around. "Well... I'm sure there's some way to figure out where we are - or at least keep track of where we've been."

She patted her school bag, but... Hmm. She needed the supplies she'd bought today for her classes, so a trail of quills was out, and she still wasn't desperate enough to undo her braid. "Oh, wait..." she murmured aloud, before pulling out one of the two inkwells she'd picked up, breaking the seal around the cork, and dipping her finger lightly into the ink itself. She then smudged a star onto a nearby wall of the alleyway.

"I'm not sure it stands out enough..."

[mithrarin]

Normally this was where Dust would just climb up a building somewhere and do his best to scout out a position from there. Or better yet, just head across the rooftops towards familiar territory. But... that question was one he'd already discussed with Rapunzel, after all.

"I might be the wrong person to say this, but did you learn any spells that might mark it?"

[healingincantation]

"Oh, of course!" Rapunzel smiled, feeling a bit foolish for not having thought of that, but more excited than anything else. She had a solution after all! "There's something we learned last month in Modification class... Let's see."


She pulled out her wand, and began tracing a diagram, the tip of the wood just barely avoiding the wall. "A over B plus C over D equals AD + BC over BD..."

As she finished, a far larger mark, glowing brightly, appeared on the wall.

[mithrarin]

"Wow." Not really possessed of a knack for Modification, Dust had to admire how quickly she'd picked up a fairly impressive trick like that. "Really nice."

[healingincantation]

She took a moment to inspect her own work, but it certainly seemed to be lasting...

"Thank you," she said, smiling over at Dust. "So, on we go?"

[mithrarin]

"To wherever that is," he said, smiling back. "This isn't the first time I ended up wandering, not entirely certain where I was going. But we'll find our way back to someplace familiar sooner or later."

[healingincantation]

"Yes, I'm sure we will." But as they headed off, Rapunzel found herself stuck, curious, on what he'd said. "When else were you wandering? Was that here in Anastara, or back in your home?"

[mithrarin]

"Both, really." Despite their current circumstances, he still felt a little sheepish about getting lost in the city. "But I was thinking of Falana. A lot of the time, I had a general idea of where something was, but I had to get to it, and most of the time that was a real adventure."

[healingincantation]

"Hmm... Sounds like the kind of adventure that could get a bit overwhelming," she said, though she wasn't sure she'd say that was a bad thing. Being here - overall - was an overwhelming adventure, but she was enjoying it.

[mithrarin]

"It was exactly my style. Since I was created to have it," Dust said with an amused smile. "To be honest, I feel a little off here because I'm not constantly either exploring or fighting or both."

[healingincantation]

"One second," Rapunzel requested as they turned another corner. She cast another spell to mark a wall, then turned to Dust. "Created to have it, huh? Then... I guess I can see why a different kind of lifestyle could feel off. But is it nice, at all? To do something new?"

[mithrarin]

"Honestly, it feels really weird. I'm trying, but I'm not entirely settled into it yet. Part of being the way I am, doing the things I'm supposed to, is really liking those things..."

[healingincantation]

Of course, while Rapunzel could do her best to sympathize with Dust, really understanding where he was coming from was far more difficult.

"I guess that makes sense...?"

She was, if nothing else, glad to hear him opening up a bit more about the whole "what he is" topic.

[mithrarin]

"Aren't you a little out of your element too?" Everybody was to some degree or another, right? And honestly, Dust wondered about Rapunzel's world quite a bit -- thanks to that incredible wealth of hair she had. Was that normal?

[healingincantation]

"Absolutely," she answered without a thought. "No, the part that I'm a little confused about is how you were made for something. I can't relate to that, I guess?"

[mithrarin]

"I'd be really, really surprised if you could." Boy, does Dust hope no one else has to be anything even close to the Sen-Mithrarin. To need to exist in order to stop an atrocity that could be opposed no other way... "It's hard to explain, since I don't have anything to directly compare it to."

[healingincantation]

Rapunzel frowned, concerned. "I see... Well, it's okay if you can't explain it. You don't need to, or anything." A pause as another mark went up, on another wall. "Besides, some things are private. I understand that."

[mithrarin]

"Oh, I'm not trying to hide it from you," he said quickly. "Just -- well, you know things like a family, a childhood, growing up? I don't have any of that stuff. I remember my souls going through that, but me, Dust? No. So it's very different from anyone else."

[healingincantation]

"No, I didn't mean- Oh... Oh, Dust."

She was going to set that "his souls" thing aside for later, but for now... She carefully reached out toward his arm, intending to rest her hand there.

"I'm sorry."

[mithrarin]

"Thanks, but I'm not saying I'm bad off." He smiled at her from beneath his hat, though he wasn't going to push her away by any means. "It's just really different. If I can think of how to explain it all better, I will."

[healingincantation]

She gave his arm a gentle squeeze, and nodded. "That sounds nice. If you do figure out a way to share it... I mean, I am curious."

[mithrarin]

"I'll keep it in mind." Though he wasn't entirely sure telling Rapunzel he'd lived for a few weeks only was the best way to keep her smiling. "It does mean some adjusting here. I'm envious sometimes of how well other people can adapt."

[healingincantation]

"I understand. Some people do seem to take to this sort of thing better than others," Rapunzel agreed, removing her hand and rubbing her own arm sheepishly. "I've already done it once, sort of, so I guess it's a little easier for me now."

[mithrarin]

"You had something like this happen to you?" On her own world, he figures, but nonetheless he wanted to hear the story.