2020-10-21: Song of the Forest

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  • Log: Song of the Forest
  • Cast: Yulie Athreide, Riesenlied, Noeline, Lily Keil, Azoth
  • Where: Macalania Forest
  • Date: 21st October 2020
  • Summary: Several Drifters take a break in crystalline Macalania Forest and run into each other...


<Pose Tracker> Yulie Ahtreide has posed.

Though fighting had begun to overtake some parts of the Macalania Woods, they still remain a beautiful place. Yulie doesn't plan to stray too far from the ships - right now, they're probably the safest places to be. But, she couldn't possibly ignore the opportunity to take in the scenery - so unlike anything she's seen back home.

Yulie picks her way carefully through the crystalline woods. Eventually, she finds a small clearing. Light peaks in from above, and a crystal root snakes through it from one of the nearby trees. Its at the perfect height to be a makeshift bench, and she's been walking for a little while, and so Yulie carefully sits herself down.

It was quieter out here than it was back on the ships. She appreciates that - she could use a little quiet. And so, singing to herself in soft tones that nonetheless carry, Yulie begins to rummage through her coat for the pouch she had packed for the day out.

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

Riesenlied has had an extremely stressful moment not very long ago -- a moment in which she saw something very shocking that Yevon had done to one of the most important people in her life, Lombardia, and... not only that, the designs they had to the Hyadeans.

It dropped her, however briefly, into a very dark headspace. Noeline and other people helped lift her up out of it, but...

The damage is clear -- and she's sullen as the creak of her wheelchair letting out a little 'snap' as it rolls along thin shards of crystals underwheel are heard.

It is beautiful, though, she can't deny that at all.

"I should... be enjoying this more," she whispers to her partner. She blinks, however, when she spots a familiar figure and waves gently.

"Oh, Miss Yulie?"

<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.

Noeline had been there alongside Riesenlied when they encountered the enormity of the Yevon leadership's cruelty; it had certainly left her brimming with anger as well, though she suspects that her fixation on Riesenlied might have helped her set that anger aside in favour of looking after her partner. She's the one that encouraged the trip to Macalania, figuring that a quiet and peaceful forest might be a better place to be.

She's doing her best to keep the both of them in good spirits, quietly chuckling in a soft voice, not wanting to break the quiet air. "... it's fine to only enjoy it a little. No-one is going to get upset if you call it only slightly pretty," she teases gently, but there's a warmth alongside it as she taps Riesenlied's shoulder. "Try not to make yourself worry more."

She blinks as she catches the first strain of song on the air, and there's some very core part of her personality that makes her close her mouth and listen instead of saying anything more. She's almost tense for a moment - and maybe there is the lasting effect of what she witnessed under Bevelle - but Riese's recognition of the singer is enough to relax her shoulders, and turn the wheelchair in that direction.

<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.

Lily was not there at the exit of the tunnels into Macalania Woods, and neither was she at one of the other exits. She's had other things she's been doing, largely working support on these missions, like her work with the distraction at the gates. There are reasons for this... But those aren't particularly apparent at the moment.

It /is/ beautiful out here. But Lily was here, in fact. She was up in the tree, higher in its branches, momentarily hidden from view as she sat above. If there is a sense of magic in the air, it is perhaps because she is occupied with it... though it is small amounts.

Lily opens her eyes when she feels Riesenlied's presence approaching, where she had at first missed Yulie, and lets go the small field she'd been projecting. Instead, sh turns, and looks down to th clearing, spotting the others there.

"Oh," says her voice from the trees, and Lily points. A spiral of ice becomes a way down, her bare arms aglow with strange pattrns that resemble little more than circuitry, in blue. This fades after she hits the ground and lets the effect fade, and her jacket is over her shoulder.

"...Sorry to drop in," she says, and it might be a joke.

<Pose Tracker> Azoth has posed.

Macalania was a fascinating place to Azoth. So new and different, yet so familiar. But if he had ever known forests as vibrant as this, he would never have seen them at this small scale, with the details of the texture of the trees and their leaves, nor every little stone and spec of soil.

It is stones he's most interested right now, having collected a couple that fit whatever mathematical parameters it is that catch Azoth's interest. But a sound carries through the forest -- a song -- and Azoth plays a quiet, beeping repeat to himself before he pursues it.

At first, he peeks past a tree like some kind of SPY, but this time, it's less about that, and more about his own uncertainties until he sees a face he recognizes. More than one -- the kind girl from the ruins, and members of Lombardia's family.

Azoth announces himself with a quiet clapping of his hands in applause and a soft smile. "Ah, that's a lovely song."

Lily drops in, and Azoth's composure is lost with a flinch and a seemingly reflexive, "Oh hello!" that has a tone of friendly greeting mismatched to his startled posture.

<Pose Tracker> Yulie Ahtreide has posed.

Yulie starts a bit as she hears someone calling out to her, but then relaxes when she sees who it is.

"Oh... hello, Miss Riesenlied. I didn't expect to see you out here." Yulie says, offering her a small smile. She had heard a little about what happened, though she doesn't have the whole story. Noeline, however, Yulie doesn't recognize.

"I'm not sure we've met... I'm Yulie - Yulie Ahtreide." She introduces herself. Yulie was among those who were taken onboard the Fereshte while fleeing Home, so she might be recognizable, at least.

It's at this point that Azoth appears, and Lily drops in. It's a pretty impressive bit of Sorcery, all told. Yulie's about to compliment her on this, when Azoth's comment makes her realise something.

"...I didn't know I had an audience..." She admits sheepishly, a faint pink tinge to her cheeks. Still, she offers a smile to them, too. "It's good to see you Miss Lily, Mister Azoth."

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

"I understand, yet..." Riesenlied whines very softly towards Noeline, reaching for her hand and finding comfort in it. The suggestion to head out to Macalania certainly has helped, because a beautiful crystalline forest helps soothe the mood no matter how dark and sour it has become.

But there are more people here -- one she senses before she sees, because of that sorcerous field. "Sha... Lily!" she sounds just a bit confused for a moment, but clearly has regained more of her thoughts. She scans a little of Lily's expressions to see if she might prefer one over the other, still unsure herself.

Riesenlied warmly nods to Yulie, clearly buoyed to meet people and finding comfort in them, gesturing. "This is Noeline, my second in running the Fereshte and Wayside operations and... my partner as well."

There's a bit of redness as she looks to the Hyadean, pausing so she can introduce herself more if she would like. She does add, though, "It was a nice song..."

A young blonde man appears, one she... searches her memories for-- but this time, she knows it to be true. Yulie brings a name up, Azoth. "Excuse me, but you were... there, too, when we were rescuing Lombardia in the depths of that basin, were you not?"

She bows her head for a moment, her horns wiggling softly. ... why do horns wiggle?

"If it would not be too forward... thank you, for your assistance, from the bottom of my heart."

<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.

Noeline is generally poised enough to not give away her surprise, though her hold on the handlebars of Riesenlied's wheelchair tighten for a moment. Then she registers who it is that just dropped in, and her face falls flat for a disbelieving moment before she lets out a sigh. "... honestly," she grumbles, though fondly. "This is why people worry, you know."

"Ah-- of course. My apologies for interrupting you," she adds towards Yulie, though she can't help but slide her eyes back to Lily because at least she was being quiet, harrumph. She lets it go with a chuckle, and bows her head in greeting along with Riesenlied's introduction. "It's a pleasure. I hope things haven't been too rough on Spira, or at least that you've been able to find anyone you might be looking for. Feel free to come find us if you need to complain about your room," she adds - but there's a glint of amusement in her eyes as she makes the offer.

She holds onto Riesenlied's hand for a quiet moment, nearly closing her eyes as she shares her presence in a manner that obviously doesn't need words - then reopens them to blink across at Azoth. Much like with Lily, she seems to hesitate out of sheer wariness, studying the man in silence before she nods. "We really cannot thank anyone who was there enough," she admits, her voice a little weary with relief and the emotional exhaustion of it all.

<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.

Azoth's mismatch in flinching and startling while speaking in a friendy tone gets Lily's attention faster than just about anything else might. She looks at him fr a moment, curious, before she puts up her hands in a conciliatory gesture. "Sorry to spook you."

A nod to Yulie, too. "If it helps, I was mostly focusing on my meditation." But Noeline's comment gets an amused look out of Lily. "Well, I do have to keep people on their toes."

She smiles very faintly at Riesenlied. She does seem confused for a moment, but--"Yes," she answers. "...Either's fine," she says, unhelpfully. "There is something nice about a name Father never had a claim on. But I've been 'Lily' for a long time, too."

She looks over the othrs, and nods after a moment. "That was a good thing to do," she says. "And dangerous from what I hear of it. Even those of us who aren't Hyadean owed Lombardia at least that, though."

<Pose Tracker> Azoth has posed.

Azoth peers, briefly, at Lily's shoulders, as if the light might come back. His own eyes are a little brighter for it -- the color isn't a bad match for the forest. He smiles at her. "It's my fault. I keep forgetting to look up."

He steadies himself again to smile at Yulie more nervously. "Sorry. I didn't mean to eavesdrop. Your voice carries well. But it's nice to see you again."

To Rieselied and Noelle, Azoth's is suddenly unguarded, staring at them both for their gratitude. Odjn may have given him some before, but that was in the heat of battle. There is a second or two he doesn't know how to react. "I --" probably don't deserve their thanks, by his calculations. But he likes that little pulse of positive feedback for having protected, and having been able to protect without any of the foreign code forcing him through different calculations, or demanding he use the data for ulterior motives. At least not /yet/. He frowns a little. "...I'm sorry that it happened at all. I hope your family is doing okay."

For as angry as Azoth had been for what he witnessed, it must be a shadow of their own.

<Pose Tracker> Yulie Ahtreide has posed.

It does indeed help a little, knowing that Lily was just meditating. Riesenlied introduces Noeline then and Yulie looks her way, offering her a smile and a polite nod. It'd be a curtsy, but she's sitting down at the moment.

"Oh! It's nice to meet you." She says, then shakes her head as Noeline apologises for the interruption, and Azoth apologizes for eavesdropping. "It's okay, really... And, thank you."

She pauses for a moment, then as Noeline comments on her stay in Spira.

"It's... taken some adjusting." She admits. "It's still a little dizzying sometimes, thinking I'm a whole world away from everything... But, thank you - I'll remember that."

She looks toward Riesenlied again, then, as she compliments the song. Yulie smiles, a bit more brightly than before.

"Thank you... It's an important song to me." She replies. A song from a music box... and an uncommon one, at that - originating in what was once Celesti.

Talk turns to the events at Bevelle, then. Yulie wasn't there for that - but from what she heard, it was a terrifying experience.

"...I hope everyone's alright, too..." She adds, adding to Azoth's own wishes.

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

Noeline reminds Riesenlied well of their usual hospitality, and she nods as well to Yulie as she says, "It can be a busy ship, the Fereshte... I know myself as someone more quiet that it can be overwhelming at times. I think everyone has been trying to be better at giving people space."

There's a soft smile to Lily as well, when she says that either is fine -- but it's also nice to be called by a name her Father never gave her. "Sharon, then," she decides. "That reason resonates with me well enough."

She privately thinks to herself how Riesenlied is the one name her Father gave her, but... her relationship to Siegfried is more complicated than Lily's is to Col. Dietrich Keil.

There is a glance towards Azoth in turn, and her smile dampens a little with sorrow as she spots his slight frown.

"We were all separated when the Fereshte had to stay behind in Spira for months, but now we are all together again... and with Lombardia, atop that. It is unfortunate that it happened, but... all the more important we stop them and rescue those who have been imprisoned, I suppose."

Yulie speaks of how it's an important song, and she nods in turn. "It has been a while, but I do sing and play an instrument from time to time. I know how it is."

<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.

"And people always used to say _I_ had a talent for showing up out of the blue," Noeline continues to grumble at Lily, but it's comfortable, like old paths they keep treading over because that's how their friendship goes. Her eyes do take in the sight of Lily's circuitry - she's always shown a quiet interest in how it spreads - but more than anything she just looks satisfied to see the other woman safe.

"We haven't exactly had the time to sit down properly with Lombardia and chat," Noeline admits towards Azoth, having to hold back the amused thought of Lombardia asking 'family?' and a tiny Riese going 'uwawawawawa' in response. "But you're right. I could scarcely believe it at first. It was only thanks to Riese sensing her distress that we were there at all. If it weren't for the other Drifters present..." she trails off, and you can see the moment she forcibly snaps that line of thought shut.

"Ah..." the Crimson Noble adds, as she realizes this is Yulie's first trip to Spira. That thought kind of pulls her up short, and she's suddenly hit with the fact that she might have gotten a little too used to the idea of teleporting between planets. "... it... used to be a lot more pleasant here," she offers in a case of extreme diplomacy. "Before tensions boiled over."

Sensing her thoughts going south again, she reaches for Riesenlied's last comment, and breaks into a sunny sort of grin. "Ah, yes. If you ever want an audience, I'm sure that Riese and the orphans would provide. Actually, if you've sang anywhere at all on the ship, you've probably already had one peeking around the doorway. Word gets around."

<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.

"Hmmm, maybe I should drop in like this more often then," Lily answers Noeline, amused. It's likewise comfortable--it's just how it goes.

But, "Oh, the markings?" Lily wonders of Azoth's peering. She opens a hand, palm-up, and conjures a ball of flame. The circuit-patterns light up again, this time a blazing orange-red, all the way down to her fingers, up to the base of her neck. She lets it linger for a few seconds before she dismisses it again. "Just something that happens when I do magic. You probably aren't interested in the technical details."

The fireball--and the lights--wink out. She looks to Riesenlied, then. "Sharon, then. Works for me."

Her relationship with the Colonel is... certainly different from Riesenlied's with Siegfried.

"It was that," Lily says of pleasant and Spira. "Still had a dark side, to be sure, but that was better than active war."

An important song...

"All right, then." She cnsiders, next. "...Well, assuming the worst won't prepare us for what comes next," she points out. Then, a beat, "But that's true about the orphans, isn't it? They do talk..."

<Pose Tracker> Azoth has posed.

An important song. Azoth had recorded the notes, and played them back to himself to be sure before approaching. But now he knows this isn't something to toy with, no matter his curiosity about the musical arts. This is something that belongs to Yulie.

"You're new to here too?" Azoth asks Yulie with rising excitement. "It's fascinating, isn't it? Ah -- lonely, maybe. Sorry. I have a rock from Filgaia, if it might help."

There is no recognition in that innocent smile of his that this is a strange offer.

He beams at Rieselied and Noeline. "I'm glad you could find each other." Even if they haven't had the chance to talk yet, at least there will be one. But he frowns, again. "...Are there more missing?"

Lily -- Sharon's circuits are back, and Azoth's eyes are aglow as he stares. Is she -- ?? His gaze flits to the fire instead, then to the change in color of her markings. If she's willing to show off, maybe it's not too personal, then? He lowers his voice, a whisper, but not so quiet everyone can't hear it anyway. "It looks like the lines on... machinery." His eyes are back on Lily's, shy, but hopeful.

<Pose Tracker> Yulie Ahtreide has posed.

Yulie nods as Riesenlied speaks of the Fereshte.

"I appreciate that. It's not that I don't like having people around, but..." She trails off a little, but it's probably easy enough to understand. Like Riesenlied said - it can be overwhelming at times.

She listens as words pass between Lily and Riesenlied, and she frowns sympathetically as the latter remarks on being separated last time they were in Spira.

"I'm sorry you went through that..." She apologises.

Azoth, meanwhile, seems excited that she's new here too. Fascinating... Yulie hesitates a bit. She does blink with a bit of confusion, as he offers her a rock, though.

"It's okay. It's... just a lot to take in all at once. And a lot to learn." She replies. As for his offer... she shakes her head. "...No, it's okay, but... thank you. For the offer..."

Noeline points out, then, that Spira used to be a lot more pleasant.

"I would've liked to see it..." Yulie admits, even if it's true that it still had a dark side as Lily says. Now... it feels like war was breaking out at every turn, and she'd already heard about the looming fear of a sea monster coming in to destroy everything they've built up.

But, Riesenlied says she sings and plays instruments, and Yulie smiles at the thought.

"You do? If you decide to do it again I'd like to hear it, I think." She says... and then Noeline turns it around on her, saying that Riese and the orphans would provide if she ever wanted an audience.

Orphans talk, huh...?

"They do." Yulie agrees. She knows that from experience - and not just on the Fereshte. It's true, too, that she probably has had little eyes watching her as she sang before.

"I-I don't know if I'm good enough for an /audience/, but..." She replies. "...It might be nice..."

...And nostalgic, in a way that's bittersweet.

She glances between Azoth and Lily briefly, then, as the latter comments on how Lily's lines look a lot like the lines on machinery.

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

"You certainly did that to me," Riesenlied muses to Noeline, a little more warm and jovial about it. Her eyes flit towards the circuitry, but she seems to be very used to it by now, as if she has a certain kind of connection of her own to it.

Channelers, and such.

Noeline mentions it used to be more pleasant in Spira. Riesenlied frowns as she admits, "I want to say our sudden presence disrupted things, but... things seemed poised to boil over, between the Al Bhed and Yevon. Operation Mi'ihen was one always waiting in the wings."

She looks up at Lily, at that, as she nods. "It almost feels as if they were only looking for excuses to start one, at times..."

She purses her lips, muttering, "Three months. It took them three months to exploit us for war. That kind of thinking does not come overnight--"

There is a sudden look of realisation, and she shakes her head, breathing a bit erratically. "... I am sorry."

Riesenlied looks to Azoth once more when he asks if others are missing. "Ah, not amongst our family, just... those that went to the wedding and were captured -- I can only hope others escaped all right."

The way he comments on how the circuits are like those on machinery. Perhaps the young man had an interest in gadgets? He reminds her of Shalune, a little.

But Yulie speaks of how she would enjoy, and then she looks more encouraged when she admits she doesn't know if she's good enough for an audience.

"Perhaps I can play while you sing, if that would be comforting? The children do not judge, they would love to hear it..." "

<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.

"No, no, I'm saying that's the entire problem," Noeline complains, but she quiets as she watches Lily demonstrate for Azoth's sake. She's seen the way the spidery lines light up before, and there's probably some kind of vague comparison she could draw to her use of sorcery, even if the two types come in very different flavours. It seems to underscore the idea of it coming from 'within'... but she supposes that's not really the case for her, given the Medium she holds.

"As Riese says... those on the Fereshte are all accounted for, at least, and Lombardia as well," she reports to Azoth with a pleasant smile, before her eyebrows raise. "But you might not be aware that we are only one of the Hyadean factions. The green-haired man, Zed, he helps look after several others. Some have simply chosen to travel on their own. ... well, I suppose I'm stretching the definition of 'family' a little at that point," she chuckles to herself.

"It was pristine beaches, warm sun, and friendly people. It still is here and there, out on the islands, I'm sure," Noeline notes to Yulie with a light sigh, though she has to admit she hasn't really looked into how the Althenan-held towns are doing now.

Her hand comes to rest lightly on Riesenlied's shoulder, just as the other Hyadean apologises. "... it's alright," she mutters a little privately, then does her best to encourage her partner with a warm smile. There is a sad edge to it, because she really doesn't have any way to disagree with those statements. The sheer breadth of hypocrisy they've seen since arriving back on Spira has more or less taken her breath away at times, and she's still trying to process some of her anger when not doing her best to push it to one side.

<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.

Sharon spots the glowing eyes, and is curious herself about that--with just a glance back to noeline for a moment at her complaint, in amusement, before she focuses on Azoth. Indeed, when he lowers his voice, she doesn't shrink away or frown in disapproval; it's not too personal a topic. She nods, in fact. "They are--at least, they're machines of some sort. I've had them all my life, though I don't... know that much about them," she admits.

There probably /are/ comparisons that could be made--just don't get Lily started on them if there's anything pressing for time...

She doesn't really think of herself as an orphan, just at war with her parents. ...Maybe she doesn't think often about the specific meaning of the conflict as much as about the conflict itself. But she's familiar with enough of them. War is like that... and so is knowing these two Hyadeans specifically. 'Family' expands too...

"I suspect they were," Lily admits bluntly to Riesenlied on the war. "For all that Spira didn't have it for a thousand years they say, Yevon sure took to it. I thought for a moment in Bikanel that I was back in Aveh."

She has little to say about the playing, of course. She just looks to Riesenlied and her expression is, she hopes, reassuring.

But then she looks back to Azoth.

<Pose Tracker> Azoth has posed.

"I'd like to hear it again," Azoth admits as he glances toward Yulie. "For what it's worth." But there's a sadness to her as she says it. Is it a lack of confidence, or something that reaches deeper than that? He only knows she's on the run, escaping something. But what might have been left behind...?

To Rieselied, Azoth perks up again. He raises his hand like a school child. "I was captured!"

Don't sound proud of yourself, Azoth!

He tilts his head to one side. "I have accounted for some others I was aware of being held captive. They sentenced all with a trial. I... wasn't much use." He looks to the ground with that, then shakes his head. "But if I managed to escape it, it's difficult to imagine the others hadn't."

Drifters are a hardy lot. Don't give up, indeed...

To Noeline, he smiles more softly. "Family's family, however you want to define it."

Sharon speaks of her circuits, and Azoth's eyes light up a little further. He's not without uncertainty. Machines that have been with her, but a machine is not something she defines herself as... unless, like him, there's still reason to carefully deflect. "I see," he says, smiling. "I hope you get along."

That might also be a strange thing to say.

Azoth taps his toes against the ground in a fidget, arms behind his back. "But, um, I don't mind technical. If you want to talk later." Maybe there's more kinship there. Maybe he likes learning things. (Maybe he can glean something Solaris doesn't know.)

<Pose Tracker> Yulie Ahtreide has posed.

Yulie pauses for a moment. They /are/ machines, according to Lily. She hesitates for a moment.

"Um... are they...n-" She starts, catching herself quickly. "...No, nevermind..."

...It doesn't seem like she stopped herself out of being unsure about the answer - or what she thinks it is, at least.


She doesn't speak again until the topic of the conversation turns to war - and how it's been boiling up all this time.

"...It's awful. I don't... understand it." Yulie admits, shaking her head. Well... she can sympathise with the fear of being exploited for war. Once upon a time, that could have been her fate, too. "It's alright..."

Noeline provides a bit of a bright spot by describing a bit of what Spira once was - and is, in some places - and Riesenlied offers to play while she sings. That, along with Azoth saying that he'd like to hear her sing again, is a nice confidence booster.

"...Alright. That might be fun. I'd... I'd like that, I think." She says with a nod. A part of her may actually be looking forward to that day...

Music was a great comfort to her, after all - it always had been. And if she could share that with others...