2020-11-26: The Rain Can Come Later, As Much As It Likes

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<Pose Tracker> Eleanor Klein has posed.

Eleanor recommended arriving in the morning, to maximize daylight and thus the likelihood of being in place at the right time. If she were more certain about that time she'd have said so, but unfortunately with all the trees it's hard to judge where the sun is sitting in what she remembers. So it is that from the airship, she and Avril have come to Macalania.

There has been some amount of walking around, a few wrong turns, and a couple of Fiend encounters, but after a small journey...

"Ah!" Eleanor says, looking out over the lake they've uncovered, stepping quick paces to a middle of the clearing and turning towards a particular angle--"Yes! Yes, this is it," the sorceress says, and smiles Avril's way. It is morning, at this time; the clearing is largely free of danger. The lake is, indeed, mirror-bright, and a notable landmark; it wouldn't be strange for someone to approach it just for a break.

...Which Eleanor appears to be getting ready for, starting to sit down by the lake's edge with a view out towards the forest and the lake both. "Now, we wait. The weather at least seems right, and the lakebed's level is the same, so I'm relatively certain it should be soon, since there's some rain coming later..."

Predictions are not an exact science, for Eleanor. Not always. 

<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.

    The lake is like a mirror in this weather. Still and clear, it reflects the sky above it perfectly.

    Standing before it, her gaze at that point where sky and water meet, Avril cannot help but be struck by the sense that...

    ...she has seen this before. Has she? Was there a lake like this she had visited once. Or, is her sense of it being something she has seen before merely a version of Eleanor's own power: is she seeing what is to come but merely feeling that it has already happened?

    If so, that would be a very strange gift of foresight to possess.

    "There will be... rain?" Avril voices, breaking her silence at last. Her eyes turn up to the heavens above.

    "I see... there will be rain. Then, we will meet again before the rain comes."

    She clasps and unclasps her hands before her. She's been waiting for this moment, and yet--

    Not trepidation, not fear. Not even reluctance.

    Just something... other. Something in counterpoint to everything else she feels. How very odd... 

<Pose Tracker> Rebecca Streisand has posed.


It rarely snowed around Capo Bronco. That's not unique to it. Many parts of Filgaia never do. Arctica was perhaps her first real exposure to so much of it, and you just can't enjoy something like this while the shadow of destruction hovers over you.

Arguably, she's having trouble enjoying this sight too. Oh it's pretty certainly...

... but it's always been hard for her to enjoy things by herself.

Rebecca was up bright and early on the opposite end of the lake, where it twists around some trees to do her morning routine and to get the blood flowing. Something she finds especially important in the cold. Even dressed more warmly as she is, with fur lined and insulated clothing. "It's real pretty alright..."

The girl admits, as she rights herself from her upside down position and shakes snow out of her hair. She'd been staring at the rays of dawn for so long from her inverted exercise and how they reflect off the surface that she can't help it. There's two things about this place that causes her to feel especially lonely though, despite its beauty.

Looking into her reflection on the edge of the lake, she raises a finger to waggle it and lets her reflection admonish herself. "Stop thinking about it. She's alright." As she imagines the mirror reflection. "She is more than capable of taking care of herself."

Changing her pose, she speaks for herself, "Guh... tell me something I don't know... but knowing that doesn't make it any easier!" And scuffs her foot on the edge. The toe of her foot slips forward a touch, and Rebecca retracts it swiftly while balancing on her back one.

"Huh." She steps both feet onto it, and lets the momentum carry her forward a pace. Before she stares back down at mirror Rebecca, "What a masterful revelation Miss Streisand - ice is slippery!" A beat, "Although... now that I think about it..."

-=-=-

It's perhaps unusual how the vision comes true. Rebecca certainly appears on a mirror bright lake at this time of the day, and in this weather. But it's not her approaching the shore to take a break. It's her gliding across the surface, in just her boots, not skates. It's a difficult proposition to do that for anyone, and she's certainly not some ice skater.

But she's still doing it with a certain grace and fluidity of movement all the same. Each step propels her at a new diagonal of direction. Until she's right... smack dab... in the center. Just sliding across to what feels like the most central point.

Directly across from the pair. They might see her.

She does not see them.

It's only when she's at that central point, that she stops that forward momentum, and for the moment... is still. Taking a break for the moment, just to enjoy the view.

<Pose Tracker> Eleanor Klein has posed.

Eleanor, not privy to Avril's internal sense and wonder, loks back to her as she speaks up, and then nods once. "Yes! Hopefully long before, or we're going to end up rather uncomfortable! I suppose I should've brought a tent or something just in case..."

She did bring three umbrellas with her belongings, at least.

It is a surprise to Eleanor exactly how it comes true. She remembered Rebecca being graceful, but this is altogether a lovelier sight, something she hadn't seen in the vision but that naturally flows from it. "Ah," she says, but does so quietly, smiling as she gestures towards Rebecca. "There she is," Eleanor says, without calling to interrupt Rebecca because she is a meddling meddler who wants to make sure Rebecca sees ths particular dance. And even when it's over...

"That does suggest the ice is sturdy enough to walk on," she allows. 

<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.

    "Or, perhaps, another pair of gloves?" Avril suggests, raising a hand to her mouth as if to stifle a laugh. "And a scarf."

    But, if nothing else--

    She has faith in this. In Eleanor's vision. In her own sense that this is right, that she's supposed to be here. And even if it fails, well, she should look no further than Dean's own motto. Eventually, they'll all meet again.

    It may be a surprise to Eleanor that a tear rolls down Avril's cheek, then. Blinking, Avril wipes it away, her own expression one of confusion.

    "Why did I...?"

    And then there is movement, in the distance: a blur visible through Avril's fingers. She blinks again, this time her confusion wrung from a different source, then gasps.

    'There she is', Eleanor says.

    Rebecca dances atop the ice as if it were merely a normal stage for her.

    Without hesitation, Avril walks out onto the ice herself. "Rebecca...?"

    Before breaking into a run.

    Of course she doesn't slip.

    It's just that the reason why involves magic rather than honed grace and reflex. 

<Pose Tracker> Rebecca Streisand has posed.


Rebecca is far enough out that she doesn't immediately hear them and their conversation. She's taking a breather. "That was actually kinda..." Fun? Nice?

Perhaps it's no surprise at all that she enjoys places like this when she allows herself to. She never finishes her statement there Just standing there, stretching her arms behind her head, watching her breath fog. Though eventually a shape catches her out of her peripheral vision. And she looks to the side, hand on her ARM expecting a fiend.

It is not a fiend.

The girl blinks her eyes twice, as if utterly dumbfounded. A hallucination? A trick of light off the frozen water... every explanation feels more likely than the real thing. But it only takes her a second or two to exhaust all options other than one...

"...Avril? Avril!"

And Rebecca turns... and there's a push of her feet on the ice to try and propel her in the right direction. Again, and again...

In an attempt to meet her half-way.

Unfortunately, in her enthusiasm, she's moving a bit too fast - perhaps. It's a far cry from her usual practical self. She's not even trying to control herself. Until the last moment, when she seems to realize her error and tries to turn herself sideways to abruptly brake.

That doesn't really work so well in boots. She lacks any option other than perhaps - going in another direction to try and avoid her - and that's unacceptable.

So at the last second, she simply makes a short hop Avril's way.

It's a gambit that part relies on Avril's strength - which she knows well, and also relies on her sure footing, but whether the two tumble down to the ice and are forced to recover or she's simply caught like an ice skater, her arms are around her in a giant hug all the same. "It is you!" She says, as if not believing it until THIS moment. "It's... really you..."

The smile on her face is a contrast for the welling up of glittering pools in her eyes. She promised when she got her ARM she'd never cry again... but in this moment she can't help it, as if both joy and relief have removed all of that inhibition at least for the second.

"... you're right here."

<Pose Tracker> Eleanor Klein has posed.

Eleanor laughs back good-naturedly at the suggestion. She has a quiet confidence, despite the uncertainty she gives--she is accustomed to seeing things that are true, relies on it. But one thing is true that she didn't expect to see.

A tear, there... Eleanor doesn't know why, either. Except maybe that it's like that, for them.

When Avril breaks into a run, Eleanor pushes herself up from the snowy ground, starting to walk over more slowly and carefully. Not just because she wants to give them a moment, but because she has neither special ice magic nor a particular acrobatic talent--though ice in particular she has a lot of experience walking on, considering her time in Sielje. So she walks, and walks...

She smiles at the two as they meet up again, and comes to a stop, turning to look a bit away to give them a moment of privacy for their reunion.

Here is where she saw what she did; this was the reunion. And now, she knows why it was so short a vision...

"...Ah...." It's very sweet to have seen even a little, though. It tells Eleanor she made the right decision, revealing that particular secret to Avril. In fact it would be easy to ignore her presence for a little longer, unless Rebecca happens to look over Avril's shoulder where Eleanor stands a bit away. "Don't let me interrupt," she says after a little while though. "I can give you some time; the ship won't be back for a while yet, but I have some reading I could go catch up on..." 

<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.

    It most certainly is not a Fiend.

    If it weren't for Eleanor's vision -- or her own feelings on the matter -- perhaps Avril might have also taken Rebecca's form for a mirage. But she knows she's real. She must be real.

    She doesn't stop at all, even when she realizes in her own way that Rebecca is sliding towards her without any of the control she should have on the ice.
    Rebecca doesn't turn aside, and so neither does she. To turn away from one another after so long, at the last minute, would be--

    And perhaps in her own way, again, she realizes what Rebecca has in mind. Her eyes widen but a touch and she stretches out her arms wide.

    Momentum sees her swing the other woman about in a circle, a maneuver that would have earned her a nod from even a champion skater. She doesn't slip or fall -- of course it is cheating to use magic, but at times like this a little cheating is permitted.

    Avril holds on tight and doesn't let go, even after she's set Rebecca safely upon the ice. She leans forward, holding Rebecca in as warm an embrace as she dares.

    "Yes. It's me," she murmurs, before finally moving to pull back, to put that inch of space back between them. "I knew... that I would see you again."

    Which then is of course when Eleanor remarks that she can give them both some space if needed.

    "Oh?" Avril voices, here all genuine bewilderment as she turns towards the young elf. "So soon? Is what you are reading that important?"

    Come what may, some things just don't change. 

<Pose Tracker> Rebecca Streisand has posed.


It's a graceful few seconds as she's caught by Avril and gently set down and while the experience would ordinarily be wonderful for her - it's hardly what she's focused upon. Rebecca finds herself clinging to her during that time as if to convince herself that this is in fact real and she's not currently not taking a nap and having a really vivid dream.

"Well sure..." Rebecca agrees, because everything she knows about Avril told her it was true ever since she heard the wedding rescue went wrong. "...but... you know... sometimes knowing something doesn't make the time until it happens any less frightening."

Sometimes it makes it even more frightening. She thinks.

"You can tell yourself it's true a million times and... still be at your wit's end."

And then she hears the '...Ah....' and her head turns a bit. To look at Eleanor. And Rebecca's lips make an o. And she immediately flusters, turning a few shades pinker...

"Y-You're not interrupting anything!" Rebecca says hastily, as she takes back one of her arms to rubs her eyes. "Where did you come from Eleanor!? I mean sure I knew you were in this neck of the woods but... you just happened to be right here, right now?!"

Avril says something to Eleanor and Rebecca blinks twice, then actually lets out this snort, and a small laugh, "Now I know it's really you."

She can't imagine any illusion, or fever dream of Avril saying something like that. Her own mind just isn't wired to make up. of the things that Avril would say, just to know that she would say them.

<Pose Tracker> Eleanor Klein has posed.

Eleanor covers her mouth with a hand, laughing faintly mostly at Rebecca's hasty rection, but trying nt to make it too obvious. Sh can't help it though--and it's at least as funny that Avril is as genuine as she is there. "No, no," Eleanor says, "It can wait. Particularly considering the impending rain..."

Which isn't immediate, hopefully. Eleanor's pretty sure it isn't. But she can be surprised, still. As for Rebecca's hasty questions get a smile rom her once she's over that set of moments, though.

"Avril has been looking for you," Eleanor explains, which sounds entirely unrelated to why she'd be right here, right now. "I... had a feeling," that's good enough, "That you'd be here soon enough. I'm very happy to have helped."

She doesn't comment on the things they say to each other; that's not her place. Besides, she understands the feeling very well.

"Though ah, where I came from is the shre, where I'm going to try to return without falling over, if you don't mind coming this way." Wobble. 

<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.

    Considering the dreams Avril has had recently--

    But such things can wait for another time. Right now she knows this is real, she knows where and when she is. And sometimes even that knowledge is enough.

    "...I know," she says, and because she won't let Rebecca be the only one here to say such things: "I was afraid, too, even if I did trust that we would meet again."

    She reaches out to take both of Rebecca's hands in her own and smiles at her. "I completely agree. It was very difficult. ...Now, it is over."

    She won't keep Rebecca's hands in hers -- certainly not when Eleanor speaks up and reminds -- or perhaps in Rebecca's case, points out -- that they're not exactly alone here.

    "...Oh, yes, it will rain soon, now that we have found you...?" she trails off, looking at Eleanor as if to confirm this. "I am not certain if you have both met -- ah, I see that you have. She was able to help me locate you."

    She shares a meaningful look with Eleanor -- her secret remains her own to speak.

    "...Oh, yes. We may not wish to stand about here. The ice may be stable, but..."

    Perhaps it is not a great idea to have their reunion in the middle of a frozen lake, all told. 

<Pose Tracker> Rebecca Streisand has posed.


It is a difficult thing for her typically to share her feelings like that - putting herself out there, being vulnerable, so she appreciates it when Avril does the same. It's hard to say whether she recognizes it was done only for her sake or not... but she still appreciates it.

"Thank goodness." She sounds a touch breathless when she says that, as if relief overwhelmed her, "It all feels real definitive, when you say it."

Rebecca feels very strongly that Avril says only things that she means. And saying something like that, feels like a promise of sorts. Thus, she has no doubt that it's true with her.

It is true though that with Eleanor being here that she doesn't keep her hand in Avril's... as if she were reluctant to show it.

"You - sent her here?" Rebecca doesn't take long to connect the dots, "Oh gosh - thank you so much Eleanor!"

She looks like she might just hug her too, save that Eleanor is wobbling from uncertain footing and suddenly Rebecca doesn't do that. Instead just putting a hand on her shoulder to steady her. "We're friends." Rebecca explains to Avril, though feeling like that deserves more explanation she continues, "We're kind of like each other's... confidante's on..."

...

...

...

"...certain... matters..." Rebecca mumbles vaguely. As if suddenly realizing that it's not something she wants out there.

Hastily changing the subject, she starts trying to lead Eleanor back to the shore, figuring she'll need the most help, but she's looking Avril's way with a puzzled expression, "What's... this about rain?" Rebecca raises a palm, then looks up at the sky to check for clouds. She usually feels like she has a good sense for these changes with the weather. Before she then allows a grin to split her lips, "Doesn't... feel like a day for rain."

<Pose Tracker> Eleanor Klein has posed.

Eleanor thinks she sees a bit of what Rebecca does, there--she's certainly glad now to be on better terms with Avril than once before. And it is nice, to have been able to help. But...

She spots the reluctance on Rebecca's part, and makes a note not to tease too much while Avril is here. ...While she's here, that is.

She smiles at Rebecca at the thanks, and appreciates the thought of a hug, but in this moment is better served by that steadying hand. She chimes in to help Rebecca explain, "Rebececa's lovely to talk to, isn't she? I don't know many people better." She could specify, but that's not her secret to tell, either. What is her secret though, is...

"Ah, yes," the young elf answers Avril, as they start to move towards shore. Eleanor relies on Rebecca for this to go a little faster than she'd gone on the way out here. "I saw rain here today, I think. It wasn't as specific though, so I'm not sure exactly when, just that it looks like today, from here."

She looks towards Rebecca as they walk, and indeed--there aren't a lot of clouds out at the moment. "Yes, though, it's going to rain. A fox's wedding sort of day. --Ah, that is..."

"Did I tell you about my visions?" she asks. "Or, I know I will, but have I yet? It's hard to keep track sometimes..." Pause. "The point is I'm sure of it."

She smiles back at Avril; it is her secret to share, but she's willing to share it with Rebecca. Or already did. Whichever is true. The shore, at least, is not too far away, and the ground s welcoming. 

<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.

    There is a long pause. Certain matters?

    "Oh, I see," Avril replies, seemingly (seemingly??) guilelessly. "How fortunate that I asked her for her assistance, then." She smiles, perhaps the picture of innocence.

    Avril may have... insight into some of these 'certain matters'.

    She takes Rebecca's hand. She walks as if it weren't ice at all -- perhaps instead some stone pathway? -- beneath her feet. Her brow furrows and then, it'll be thus for Rebecca and Eleanor as well, assuming none of them try anything particularly daring. It's still ice, it's just... a little less slick.

    "Yes. It will rain soon, I am certain. There is something about the clouds... I feel I have seen it before."

    That, and as Eleanor says--

    It's a day for a fox's wedding. "A fox's wedding day... is it truly?"

    Oh no is she taking that seriously? But at least she's not asking where the bride and groom are.

    There is a smile in turn for Eleanor -- a bright, grateful smile. "I can feel it, as well."

    In fact by the time they've stepped onto the shore, the first droplets are starting to fall.

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