2017-10-17: Little Miss Demon Sunshine
- Log: Little Miss Demon Sunshine
- Cast: Riesenlied, Josephine Lovelace
- Where: Aveh Desert
- Date: 17th October 2017
- Summary: Riesenlied reveals a Fossil for Josephine to use in their bait. A new nickname is borne.
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
A couple of days after the Ebony Wings' meet with the Gunsmoke company Hartwell, Riesenlied sends a missive to Josephine to meet her out in a seemingly secluded place not far from Wayside's winding mountain trail -- and to come with something to carry cargo with. It probably doesn't take much to piece two and two together for what she could be giving her -- the Fossil they're talking about at the scene of the meeting.
The place Riesenlied marked has the same winged symbol grafted subtly into the side of the cliff, and has something resembling a stone dolmen as a marker. It's peaceful and tranquil here.
The winged Metal Demon is waiting when Josephine gets there, eyes closed and her hands together as she concentrates in what almost seems like prayer -- she's in her traditional Ellurian garb.
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.
To be honest, it was a bit of a surprise. Josie had been fairly sure the answer was 'no', all considering. Both the nature of what a Fossil was and Riesenlied's apparent preferences, added together.
She's come on horseback, the surprisingly placid -- and most importantly far from gunshy -- spotted horse her best and fastest choice of transportation across the wastes of west Ignas. Unless she wants to join a caravan, that is, and she feels in this case discretion (and speed, a rarity in caravans from her experience) is the better part of valor. Or at least, something like that.
Leaving the horse behind in the lee of a stone, in the shade, the archaeologist briefly shades her eyes against the glare upon stepping out once more into the sunlight scattering down between the rocks. This is the place alright.
As she sets up the pathway, a small shape takes flight from the horse's head, winging off behind Josephine as she approaches the meeting place.
Footsteps come to a stop about a five or so feet behind Riesenlied. "...Hey. So this is the place, huh?"
A fluttering of wings follows. Somewhere high above, Penelope finds a perch.
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Riesenlied pauses, before smiling quietly and meekly as she rises to turn to meet Josephine. She gives Penelope a bit of a look as she waves towards it, perhaps still finding it a bit adorable. ... she will be the end of Riesenlied, one day, unless her cuccos take offense and start a holy crusade between birds that historians will be scratching their heads at one day.
"Yes..." Riesenlied nods gently, and laces her hands together. "It isn't much, but it is relatively well hidden. Here, I've done my best to lay my ancestors to rest."
A pause.
"I've prepared a suitable piece for you." She sighs. "Fossil collectors tend to find intact skulls particularly prizeworthy. No doubt as trophies to hang on their walls..."
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.
Penelope stares down from on high. Unblinking, as birds are wont to do.
Here, Josie had already made a guess as to what Riesenlied was going to be offering, but hearing the Metal Demon out and say it -- particularly in those words -- prompts her to lift a snowy eyebrow.
Maybe there's a difference between hearing someone say something was 'of your ancestors', or your people -- and meaning it quite and grimly literally -- and actually processing that fact. Riesenlied, Josie notes, acts just about the same as most people would if they were asked to loan someone their grandfather's skull, fresh from the burial grounds.
And Josie's thoughts run along the lines of something along the trainline of: 'oh, huh, you weren't thinking of them as people, were you'.
In the seconds following, the archaeologist's own expression grows grim, hardens.
The smile she cracks is particularly mirthless. "Yeah, they do. Fossil skulls aren't common, so..." She gestures. Shrugs.
Silence treads out.
"...Listen, kiddo..." And again, she frowns. "Damn, I really do need to think of something better to call you." She looks Riesenlied over, studying her, her hair... Hair, huh. Her dark eyes light up. "Oh, I know. How about... Sunshine. Okay, Sunshine, let me cut you a deal here. And let me get this straight -- this is just because you're playing ball with me."
Right.
"This one's just a loan from you. Got it? It's coming back to you." Josie stops, as if considering this for a moment. "...At some point. I can't make promises about when or how, right?"
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
"... Riese will do, won't it?" Riesenlied asks with a polite smile on her face, even if it's slightly tinged with sadness. "And-- I've been trying to just call you Josie. ... it's hard to break the habit for me, too."
She looks towards the dolmen for a moment, and closes her eyes -- there's that shimmer of photons again, which seems to just wisp off her body, her wings, like errant parts of herself are slipping off.
The dolmen begins to shimmer, and the illusion is revealed for what it is -- as she procures a particularly large Dragon skull from a chamber that lifts up gently.
A pause, then she says, "S-sunshine? Hmm..." Her eyes widen, though. "Josie... I--" she swallows. "I do appreciate that. ... but... don't-- risk yourself unnecessarily over it... okay?"
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.
"Habits are habits, I suppose..." Josie sighs with a shrug, before cracking open one eye to peer at the horned woman. "But 'kiddo' doesn't suit you anymore than 'Josephine' suits me. So, let's see... Riese? Riese, huh..." She tries that nickname on for size, frowning thoughtfully.
And then Riesenlied starts glowing.
The archaeologist straightens, shoulders rolling back a touch. "...And here I thought you guys couldn't do magic?" she voices, regarding the display -- and the appearance of the /large/ Fossil skull with a low whistle.
Fengalon's teeth, she might actually have trouble keeping that one well-hidden before the time is right. But that will /definitely/ get someone's attention. With any luck, the target they're seeking.
As if it's nothing -- honest -- Josie waves a hand dismissively. "Hey now, no promises. But I'll try and get it back if it's possible. Which, you know, we might." She grins again, and though it's less mirthless, it's not exactly a nice grin either. "If they're the ones we're after, wellll... let's just say I'm not inclined to be merciful anyway."
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
"It's... not magic," Riesenlied answers in admittance a moment later, looking visibly exhausted from drawing the Fossil out of the earth it sleeps within. "At least, if you mean magic as Symbology, or Crests, or the Guardians..." She looks at her palm for a moment. "Though this appears to only have started happening to me after I met the Guardians, in truth. I still don't know what's happening to me."
She shakes her head at that, before saying, "... many people require the bones of our ancestors for so many reasons. I'd be happy if I could just condemn them, but..."
A pause, as she places her hand over the surface of the skull. "It's a fact that it's a deeply rooted part of daily life now, isn't it?" A longer pause. "... I'm scared, to be honest. It makes me feel... like a relic, in many ways."
She looks to Josie. "But at the very least, I want to stop those that are abusing it."
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.
That earns a lifted eyebrow and a curious tilt of the head. "You don't know what you're doing either? Huh... It looked like magic but..." She falls silent for a moment, furrowing her brow as if concentrating. "...Not anything I'm familiar with, though," she says at last, shaking her head. She's pretty... sure about that, at least.
It's not Symbology.
"You haven't been exposed to anything strange lately, have you? ...Heh heh, of course you have, if you've been around in ruins. Well, you're the best judge of you, so... I'm not going to tell you to 'be careful' or anything." She plants a hand on her hip, looking Riesenlied up and down nonetheless.
"Hmmm."
Josie exhales a breath. "That's almost pragmatic of you, Sunshine. Or do you like 'Riese' better? ...But the thing is, you're essentially right. Most of the things people use run on Fossils. Hell..." She reaches up, patting the hilt of her ARM briefly. Her lips twist into a lopsided smile. "I'd want to kill someone who used the bones of my family as a weapon, you know? But even knowing /that/ kind of feeling... Heh, I can't give it up either."
Her shoulders rise and fall in a loose shrug. "Some things, you just shouldn't dwell on too much. Like my auntie used to say, 'you'll hurt yourself thinking', right?"
She folds her arms across her chest.
"Well. Regardless of the 'why', we're in this together now. And I'll at least do you a favor and try and get this one back." Her lips curl in a smile again. "Strange bedfellows..."
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
"... my mother--" Riesenlied pauses, "Cetiri and Kalve have told me it was something to do with my becoming... unstable." She furrows her brow in turn, as she expresses, "And it does feel like that sometimes. I've become more sensitive to my surroundings, but... at a cost." Like wandering into Ruins in a daze and having to get pulled out of the fire after running into trouble.
She drapes her arms to their opposing elbows. "What did you mean by 'either', though...?" She looks up to the skies as she puts a finger to her cheek in thought. "Honestly, it's only become more intense after..." A pause. "After Noeline and my meeting with the Guardian at the temple."
On the topic of Fossils, though...
"It's... there's a lot of innocent people who don't know better," she murmurs, "And a lot of people who'd be a lot worse off without it. ... it'd be-- ignorant of me to just look away from how it's benefited people. It just hurts... to know, I guess... like when that man from Hartwell spoke of our ancestors being the foundation of their industry."
She shivers. "... but you're right. I'd just hurt myself thinking too much... though Noeline is quick to tease that that's what makes me, me."
She does smile faintly to bow her head. "Thank you, Josie. I do trust you. Let me know if I can help you in any other way."
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.
Josie mulls over this for a moment, to all appearances, even going as far as to screw up her brow in concentration. "Unstable, huh... You sure did seem out of it back in the warehouse ruins. And you look more, eh... ragged," she settles on at last, "than you did at Eldrin." Her eyes narrow. "It's not Malevolence, is it? ...No, I think I'd probably notice if it were... or she would." She tosses a glance up at Penelope.
Who continues to stare, judgementally.
"...Either?" Josie blinks. Then, pulling back a bit as if taken aback, finally shakes her head. "Aw, damn... I slipped up." She sighs. "Look, it's not my place to talk about other people. Just, let's say you're not the only one running around with powers they don't understand. Though I don't think this is the same thing she's got..."
Unless it's different for Metal Demons, somehow.
"After meeting the Guardians, huh? Do you think they did something to you? I guess you guys are their traditional enemy, huh?" Quite casually put for a Guardianist, but some people are just very laid back about their gods. Maybe it's for the best that Josie didn't meet /her/ god. It probably wouldn't have helped.
As for fossils, though...
Josie turns her hands, palms upwards, to the heavens. "It's not like I've got the moral high ground here, you know. I'm a hypocrite. /And/ I've sold Dragon Fossils before." She again flashes that somewhat cheerless grin, her gaze gliding off towards the horizon. "For most people, they're just bones they found. For other people, maybe they know and they don't care, or they've made their peace with it. The past's the past, and all." She drops her hands at length and sighs. "Rough stuff, I guess, especially when you're hearing it from other folks. Honestly..."
This smile here is a little more honest, in fact. "You don't look a day over eighteen, you know? And you're just like a kid, overthinking things too. Oh well. I guess the wastes need a few more dreamers. Just don't let them swallow you up, Sunshine."
Josie pauses. "Even if you're old enough that you were probably around before my granny's granny. I guess age really isn't about years~"
Particularly when Riesenlied goes on to say that she /trusts/ Josie. "...Case in point." Once again, she shrugs expansively. "Oh well, I guess /I'm/ a sucker, too. Let's see what we turn up, huh?"
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
"No... though I know I can sense Malevolence for certain now," Riesenlied continues to express, glancing towards Penelope as well. Despite her staring, she seems to just radiate nothing but cheer and light adoration for the little pigeon, perhaps due to some internal switch in her deciding that she loves animals. How does that even work?? "But those that are in the know have told me as such -- Metal Demons can't really be infected with Malevolence... and the vast majority of our kind can't even perceive Seraphim."
It was a sobering thought at first, invisible enemies -- but one she hasn't had to worry about, both on befriending Seraphim and being able to see it.
"... well--" A pause. She furrows her brow, and posits, "... are you talking about Miss Lily, maybe?" A wave of her hand. "... you don't have to answer that if you don't want to..."
She tilts her head. "I don't think the Guardians did anything deliberate, but I did come into direct contact with one of them, in their place of power. It's probable that it just... did something to rattle me, given that our existences seem to unfortunately be at such extreme odds..."
She sighs gently. Well, there's no particular benefit in keeping on dwelling about it. "... thank you. And maybe other people have called me childish too, sometimes, but... I do love Filgaia, and want to do my best for it," as she keeps her smile soft and present as she nods. "Yes, let's both do our best."
She holds her hand out for Josie's -- not her misshapen dragon arm, full of scales and metal, but... her human one, which just has her detached sleeve on.
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.
At least there's one thing for sure that Riesenlied can tell about the (definitely innocuous-looking) pigeon: Penelope doesn't have a splotch of Malevolence.
Then again, if there's anything absolutely in tune with their inner self, it's probably Penelope. ...But what is that inner self? It's probably better not to know.
"...Interesting," Josie comments in the meanwhile, craning her head to the right. "And you can, huh? That gives you an edge. ...I'd probably not mention that to any Seraphim you meet, though. Keep 'em guessing."
The 'them' in this case she doesn't clarify. It could mean her kin -- the Metal Demons -- or the Seraphim, depending on how one views that statement.
Atypically, when Riesenlied names a certain name, a split-second surprised look flashes in Josie's eyes. ...Does Riesenlied know? "...I'd rather not," Josie says at last, looking away, even though that's probably telling in and of itself. Ugh, she'll have to remember to watch it around this girl, she's sharp.
Probably goes with the territory of centuries, anyway.
So when the subject rolls around to Riese's condition, Josie goes with it. "Maybe it's something like that. You ever play with magnets? They point north, but you can't stick the north end to the north end. The only way you'll stick magnets together is north to south. ...Maybe it's something like that with you and the Guardians."
Which is an oddly sanguine, probably vaguely heretical, and certainly strange way of phrasing the situation, but...
"Well, you know. It's not so bad to be a little bit of a kid sometime, you know?" Josie offers with a cheerful grin. "Just as long as you're an adult when it counts, too. There's times to dream and times to act." And she winks.
Then reaches out to take Riesenlied's hand. Left to left, as it happens. Which suits Josie just fine.