[hider=rushed intro thing that doesn't really matter] Knocking.  [i]"You can't hide forever,"[/i] laughed a chaotic and hollow voice. It was ominous. Its' echoes bounced off the walls, deep and rumbling like an earthquake below, yet still filled with desire. A hunger, rather-- one that sounded insatiable until it would find its' target. The hunter wanted to make their prey afraid. Fear allowed for a sense of control, especially in situations where the one being feared isn't in control.  The voice's target was a light-blue haired girl judging by the way she shook. Her active fighting stance, knife in hand, gave the impression of her having been in the situation more than enough times to know what to expect, yet her footing was unstable. A trait almost unheard of from Aeira Ketsueiki. She was attempting to make it look like she had control of the events transpiring, to distract herself from her inevitable fate. A large boom came from the direction as the voice earlier, yet it was too far away to truly tell what it was. Another one. They kept coming in an eerie rhythm, getting closer and closer to the pitch-black room the girl was in. She identified the sound as a door being kicked open. With each door, the grip on her knife became looser. Whatever hope she had of survival became looser as well, disappating when the bladed weapon fell from her hand.  [i]"There."[/i]   She girl gave a shiver that turned into all-out trembling when she heard the sound of footsteps. Whoever that voice was, they began running. The footsteps got louder and louder until they stopped outside of the door. Any noise from then on went unheard by the girl, everything being drowned out by the sound of her own heartbeat. She managed to make out that same voice asking her a question, although she was unable to truly make out words. The only thing she heard was the tone.  Knocking.  The rabid assault on the door in front of her snapped the target out of her trance. Under any normal circumstances, her adrenaline would triumph over her fear. It's what made her seem fearless in many situations. What gave her the fierce reputation that she had as a 'vigilante.' These weren't normal circumstances. For the first time since days that the bluenette would prefer to be long forgotten, she had shown...fear? Shock?  Sanity.  The door slammed open. It should have brought in light and a silhouette, but to the girl's surprise, the only thing she would see was the newspapers sprawled across her desk and a window.  [color=#99b433]"Again?"[/color] Asked a calm, motherly voice. Still unsure of what was real and what wasn't, Aeira quickly whipped around in her seat. Her crazed, fearful eyes met those of softness. Realizing what had happened to her and also realizing that she had embarrassed herself, she cleared her throat and turned away.  [color=ff2400][i]"I have no idea what you're talking about."[/i][/color] Her voice shook. She silently cursed it for revealing her lie. Again, she heard footsteps, but these were different. One could hear the anger, the extremity, and the aggression in the footsteps of her (dreamt up) predator. These felt softer, as if they were approaching with understanding and caring rather than a desire for destruction. Her wings tingled and made Aeira anticipate danger. This anxiety was soon calmed by a touch that only one person had mastered.  [color=#99b433]"Was it the same one as before?"[/color] The other asked, Aeira's fears of it being that... thing chasing her going away. She found solace in the fact that Rui was here for her. Not that it was something out of the ordinary, but for some reason it came as a surprise. The young woman felt unworthy of her guardian's kindness. That never stopped her from fully embracing the reality that she needed it.  [color=ff2400][i]"Perhaps...,"[/i][/color] the wing-massage ceased, coercing the mutant to fully admit the truth, [color=ff2400][i]"...yes. Except it was worse. This time."[/i][/color]  [color=#99b433]"How so?"[/color] Rui asked, starting the massage again. It made Aeira feel at ease. She sighed with displeasure.  [color=ff2400][i]"I thought I had it,"[/i][/color] Aeira's fists clenched. [color=ff2400][i]"I was ready this time. But when he got there, I-,"[/i][/color] a pointer finger to the lips stopped her.  [color=#99b433]"You were scared, right?"[/color] The older woman asked, prompting a small 'mhm' from her junior. [color=#99b433]"It's okay, I understand,"[/color] Aeira wanted to express her doubts, but she let Rui continue, [color=#99b433]"but I also think something needs to change. You haven't been anywhere except the apartment for two months."[/color] This much was, unfortunately, true. About the same amount of time as this dream had been occurring. The same premise every time she went to sleep. The room would be dark, but the layout was so familiar to her that she had no trouble moving around. Someone would be searching for her. Any sound she made instantly alerted that person to her position, and they would kick down the room she was hiding in. Their voice, their figure, the way they spoke, it all brought back bitter memories of before she moved to America. The emotions that she had stifled before were coming back to haunt her. [color=#99b433]"As new as the concept of being scared might be to you, you can't just let it control you so much. It's like you've lost all the drive you once had, and I just know that going outside just a little bit will make you feel normal again. And I care about you, so if you feel okay, I feel okay. That, and I can only pay off the rent by myself for so long. Which is why,"[/color] Rui pulled out a wallet from her back pocket, [color=#99b433]"you're going to the festival."[/color] Aeira's wings perked up a small bit in excitement. [color=ff2400][i]"Oh, o-"[/i][/color] [color=#99b433]"By yourself."[/color] [center][color=ff2400][i]"What?"[/i][/color][/center] Words were unable to and will [b][i]never [/i][/b]be able to describe just how annoyed and angered Aeira was. The Scarlet Devil, feared by [s]not a lot of people, really[/s] many, known by [s]again, not a lot of people. Most don't even believe she exists[/s] [b]all[/b], was forced into going to such a low quality, undesirable, deplorable, foolish, animalistic, uncouth, [b]crude[/b]- [color=#99b433]"Nico Devina will be there."[/color] [/hider] [center][img]https://i.imgur.com/tINsNsk.png[/img] [h1][color=ff2400]Aeira Ketsueki[/color][/h1][sub][color=ff2400]Festival Grounds Interacting With: [@Moyai][/color][/sub][/center] [hr] Maybe the festival isn't so bad after all. Immediately after having the door shut (and locked) on her, Aeira felt a deep desire to move. For as long as it took her to reach the festival grounds, Aeira ran, jumped, and flipped on just about everything she could find. This resulted in the annoyance of several passers-by, and possibly the dismantling of a booth or two, but she didn't care. The booths were outside of the festival grounds anyways, it's not like many people were planning to go there. She did care about the large crowd that formed around the festival. She jumped up on top of a nearby streetlight to act as a vantage point. If she didn't want to wait (which she didn't), then it would make sense for her to try to get through the crowd faster. Then, she began to plan. She saw that quite a few of the people in the crowds had larger heads. Simple enough, she thought. Her use of the poor goomba-headed fools as stepping stones were to their dismay, but again, she did it without a care in the world. Being able to move felt so nice. To others, it would be a bit strange that her mood had shifted so easily, but that was just commonplace for Aeira and her childish nature. Noticing that she was causing a tiny bit of an uproar in the crowd, she started moving faster. Looking down, she could've [i]sworn [/i]one of them tried to grab her foot and take her down. It didn't matter now-- she was too quick for people to do anything unless they were already expecting it. Favorably for her, nobody bothered to say 'Look out!' or anything, letting her get the upper-hand on everyone else in line. As she neared the festival grounds, she kicked off of her last victim's head and performed a corkscrew, giving the angry festival-goers a smug grin. A few of them pointing at her with angry faces made her eyes widen. Running time, she supposed. Aeira ran through the festival grounds with urgency, while still being able to dodge the occasional tomatoes and rocks the big-heads were throwing at her with grace. It was to the point where she started putting it in the back of her mind, rather opting to look at her surroundings. There wasn't much to see, at least for her. She recognized that one plant lady, Rui talked about her a lot. Probably because the plant was the one to sell her alcohol. Thinking about it further, that did seem like quite the mutation. Aeira assumed that the plant was able to grow other plants, meaning she could grow her own food. Why was she living in the city, then? She could just go anywhere she wanted without necessarily needing society, right? Interesting. She kept her desire to talk to that lady more in mind, but then remembered she had [i]an angry mob chasing her[/i]. The small flash-mob was full of [i]iiidiots[/i] though, so she was easily able to fake them out by making a quick turn over to the food tables. Watching them run straight ahead like a scene out of a bad children's cartoon made her laugh. She doubted they'd even think to come back for her. Standing up from her stealth-like kneeling position, she dusted herself off and looked to her side to see a girl by herself. With food. A lot of food. Was this girl really going to eat it all by herself? Ooh, her outfit looked really pretty as well! Where did she get those clothes from? Where was she from? How large must her appetite be to order all that food for herself? So many questions! So, so interesting. Aeira had to talk to her! [color=ff2400][i]"Hi! Are you waiting for anyone?"[/i][/color] She asked.