2017-11-04: But Not Too Salty
- Log: But Not Too Salty
- Cast: Riesenlied, Amelia Rose
- Where: Wayside
- Date: 4th November 2017
- Summary: Amelia visits Wayside and meets the orphans, the most powerful secret weapon the village has...!
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Wayside!
The town's seen some growth since the last time Amelia was there; there seems to just be a little bit more in the way of bustle and hustle, several more buildings that are in a slightly more complete state than before. The Orphanage stands tall at the top of the hill at a 10 o' clock position, with a bolted-on sign that reads 'WAYSIDE ORPHANAGE' in cute letters.
"Bang bang bang!"
A chestnut-haired girl is running across near the town entrance as she holds fingerguns up, laughing as she chases after several other children. "You won't escape me, Calamitest Janey, evildoers!"
"W-wait, I thought I was the hero this time!" pouts the other kid.
A pause. "I'm the Calamitest, so I can say you're a villain even though you're a hero!!"
"That's not faaair!"
Nearby this extremely nuanced play of good and evil is... Riesenlied, who's seated on a bench overlooking the children as she seats another black-haired child with little winglets behind her.
<Pose Tracker> Amelia Rose has posed.
~Earlier, Vallhalla~
Even the most devout of Althenians that Amelia is knows that a bar is where you go for information. But perhaps, as she sips her tea, it's not the information she was expecting.
"...An orphanage?" Frown. This...this has to be some kind of trick.
~Now~
Silver and Amelia come up the hill. They pause at the top of the hill. Almost immediately? Silver is barking! Then, he's rushing forward! "Silver!?" There's a dustcloud. A dustcloud of Amelia being dragged about by the big dog comically towards the Orphanage! What attack is this!?
Right up to Riesenlied and the little bewinglet'd child! There's going to be doggie kisses and barks!
Amelia, for her part, is currently a slightly ruffled lump of Priestess.
"...By Althena, where did that train come from?" Pardon her, Miss Evil Metal Demon, her dignity's a bit busted right now.
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
V4L-H4LLA is staffed by the eponymous Val, a Tainted lady whose most defining characteristic is that her torso is a fridge, and that her eyes are a pair of binoculars.
Her best line (in her opinion), is:
"You wanna see my six-pack, lady?"
She then opens her fridge hinge and hands you a beer.
... this might be a bit confusing for Amelia.
Riesenlied gasps just for a moment, before the little child goes, "W-waaau, doggie!" Riesenlied smiles gently as she holds her still, so she can pat Silver on the head and giggle.
"Miss Amelia, hello again... Mikaia, please say hi."
"Hello, Miss Amelia...!" Mikaia burbles, the adorablest five year old beastgirl orphan anyone's ever heard.
<Pose Tracker> Amelia Rose has posed.
Amelia, quickly, decides that indeed this town is /weird/. Metal demons are not just heathens, but utterly /weird/! Althena help her.
Standing up, she dusts herself off and leans on her cane imperiously. At least as much as the short elf can, anyway.
"Miss Riesenlied. May you come to Althena's light." Silver, for his part, leeeans into the pets. And then barks at the other two children! Eye roll, and she unclips the dog's lead.
"Go play, Silver. Be gentle."
The great Silver Monster soon runs off, ready to interject Dog into their play! Amelia, however, smiles more kindly to the voice of the little one.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, little one. Althena's blessings upon you." The grumpy, short tempered priestess is honestly smiling to the little child.
Her voice is a little probing. "Are you in good health? You're being taken care of well, here?" Still smiling. Ries might get the sense the priestess is glaring at her despite firmly hving her attention on the little beastgirl.
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
You probably need to have a heaping dose of humour to cope with the fact that your torso is a fridge. At least, that's how Val rationalises it.
"It's been a while, yes... I'm glad to see that-- ah, you're better," she decides, even if Amelia's looking a little ruffled.
Mikaia is basically going 'aaaa' and pet pet pets Silver and seems terribly happy to have a dog around her, even if she's a bit shy. Then Silver goes off, awww...
"U-uwoaah?! Here comes-- the Great Silver Wolf, Fenrir!" "Fenrir's gonna scold you if she hears that, Janey..."r "Its breath can freeze your bones in a single blast!" "Don't just make up superpowers for it!"
Mikaia smiles just a bit as she expresses mirthfully:
"Uh huh! I really love Riesemama!!"
A villager falls over with a nosebleed the next town over, gasping to confused onlookers: "It's too cute..."
<Pose Tracker> Amelia Rose has posed.
The kids playing hit Amelia right in the heart. So innocent. So /cute/! And then there's the happiest little ball of beastgirl in the world.
'Riesemama'.
One hand to her chest. Hurk! Amelia Rose, horrible zealot and salty doctor, is blushing and nosebleeding. The pure innocent cute drops her to a knee.
She whispers a pray to Althena for strength. Reach. A /headpat/ for Mikaia! Ahhhh. The inner Amelia is squeeing inside. "Y...you as well. Ahem. I see the town has been thriving. When I was told that there was an orphanage...well, I was worried. You've been feeding them well? What have you been teaching them? Heathen trash, I'm sure. I'm inspecting this place while I'm here. Nnn. I'll be a day or two before I leave. That should give enough time to tutor them in math and proper worship." Pointed questions this time and...is she trying to take over like a proper faithful? Sounds like it.
The great wolf Fenrir uses his icey breath! And by icey breath, hops in the air and kiss-tackle! Waaaag, run!
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Mikaia's cheeks are brimming flush with happiness as Amelia headpats her. "Miss Amelia's a nice person too...! I know it, I just know it!" she beams, just able to speak on the basis of trust and faith and none other.
"I've been learning, um, baking recipes..." Mikaia reports, not understanding what the word 'heathen' means. "I'm going to learn recipes so I can be an, an, al-kee-meest... when I grow up! And I'll make medicines for mama!"
"Mikaia's very precocious and loves reading..." Riesenlied smiles, softly. "Oh, mathematics...? I'd wanted to do that, but I haven't assembled the materials..."
"U-uwaaagg!" Janey guffaws as Silver tackles her. "Oh no, my bones are frozen and my ARM is out of reach! Is this the end of Calamitest Janey?!" "Y-yeah, you're on your own, Janey! Run away!" "You cowaaaards-- pweh, pweh, heeey, cut it out, boy! That tickles!"
<Pose Tracker> Amelia Rose has posed.
Amelia is glad for her blindfold, because tears are actually forming in them. Those winglets get a little pet. Gulp. It takes all of her self control to not break down at that. She feels warmer than she has for some time.
"You're a good girl, Mikaia. Althena loves good little girls. I'm sure you'll grow up smart and pious."
A brief, if suspicious nod from Amelia to Riesenlied. "Luckily I have a few texts. I've been trying to get some of my fellow Guard members to learn a few things." A shake of the head. Sigh.
Pause. Amelia finds a seat at the bench. "You want to be a healer? I'm a healer, Mikaia. If you pay attention to your math lesson, then I'll show you a few healing poltices and stomach pain medicines." Offers the healer to the little girl. Is she...sounding excited about sharing her knowledge with the young girl?
"Though I'm surprised. Are you ill, Miss Riesenlied?"
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Mikaia lets out a little 'eek!' as she jolts just a bit. "T-they're tingly... Miss Amelia..." she bashfully says. "S-she does? I'm really glad! I've heard of Althena from Riesemama, she's a Goddess who lives really far away, right?"
Aww, Riese has taught her a little about Althena!
"Wow, will you teach me too, Miss Amelia? I'll learn, I'll study hard!" Mikaia sounds incredibly excited.
"Ah? I'm..." Riesenlied pauses, before she quietly clears her throat. "In a manner of speaking, yes... I've been-- feeling weaker and weaker for a time now."
"Mama's been doing physical therapy to cope with it, she's doing really well...!"
"I'm glad you think so, Mikaia..." Riese pats her on the head. She looks to Amelia. "Strange things are happening to me right now... things I can't understand, that I'm still exploring."
<Pose Tracker> Amelia Rose has posed.
"You're very smart, too. Yes, the Holy Goddess lives in the city of Pentagulia, where she leads her people to prosperity. Maybe one day you can meet her and receive her Blessing."
Amelia is smiling /so much/ as Mikaia agrees. "Good. A healer must be willing and eager to learn. You never have enough knowledge when it comes to saving others."
A shiver runs down Amelia's spine. She tilts her head, and her 'look' is questioning to the Metal Demon. "I assume that's not normal for your species?"
Her tone is more serious. Opportunity. She considers, but follows up quickly.
"I can examine you." She lets the offer float. Anything to get more intel on the woman. A Metal Demon, a powerful one, weakened and vulnerable? It just might be useful to the Guard.
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
"... well, we who are assembled here are already not 'normal' for our kin." Riesenlied realises she has not described those of Wayside to Amelia, necessarily...
"The Hyadeans that you meet here -- we are called the 'Tainted', by our brethren. The name comes from the time of my birth... at the time of a critical shortage, when the very means used to produce us were -- lacking. We came out... infirm, weak; we have none of our brethren's strength or resilience."
A pause.
"That we have come a long way here, to carve out a living on our own... it represents a significant achievement compared to what we used to have. A slum, a ghetto... the 'Gutter', they called it, where our kind were disposed of."
It really is not that much different than a human disenfranchised minority, is it?
"In more recent years, it has become... fashionable to discard those that have been injured or wounded in combat -- those that had 'failed' in their eyes -- as 'Tainted'. We take care of those that have been scarred as well..."
She smiles softly as she wraps her arms gently around Mikaia.
"To teach them that there is more to life than battle."
She looks towards Amelia with a slightly wider smile. "In my case, I have been experiencing anomalies... my body has been growing weaker still, but my mind... the strange empathic powers I have appears to be growing stronger in turn."
<Pose Tracker> Amelia Rose has posed.
Amelia listens to the story, and she can't help but remember her own village. The poverty, the degeneracy, and of course, a little girl and her Father's debts. Not for the first time in her life, she can feel the knife scrape across her mind as if it was a day ago.
"...Digusting. And yet you still fight for them? Simply throwing you away for perceived weakness? For being harmed in the line of duty? You Demons. I can't understand you at all."
Her mind is quickly made up. Perhaps, just perhaps, some of these Demons can be saved. "The Goddess Althena forgives those who truly repent. I hope to bring you before Her, and that she'll find you worthy. And unlike your leaders? Well, they took in a broken young girl and made her into a competent healer and warrior. Weakness can be overcome."
A shake of the head, and she whistles. Silver reluctantly disengages from the others. "I'm staying in the Orphanage. Lessons are at noon. Church in the morning, and I'll be appraising you after dinner." And off the elf goes, ready to put some real Faith into these heathens. Especially the tiny, adorable ones!