001 ✝ first step [action]

[manmade_angel]

[Going to sleep in her bed and then waking up on a bench was disorienting, but not as disorienting as the place she woke up in.

Nill had grown used to, perhaps even comfortable in, the dirty, crowded, and dangerous city she lived in. Granted, she lived in one of the more quiet places left in the town God forgot, but it was nothing like what she had awoken to find. Clean-looking buildings without bullet holes in them. Glass that wasn't broken or taped over. Streets without cars or garbage piling up in the gutters. Streets that seemed home to people who were smiling, or at least didn't look like they were doomed to live each day exactly as the last one.

But perhaps the most unnerving part of it was the inhabitants. All of them, walking around and going about their business--but they had wings. Well, some of them were hiding them under their clothes, but having done the same herself sometimes she knew what to look for. The sign was that slight crease in the center of the back, where the bone wasn't jointed so as to allow the wings to lie completely flat against a human back.

Why, though? Why was everyone suddenly just like her? Had they all been born as she had? And if so, why could some of them talk and laugh? Why were everyone's wings a different color? And why did some people cover their wings while others didn't?

Nill looks back at her own wings (still white), then out at the square. Her jaw clenches and she feels tears welling up as she looks for something familiar that would tell her where she was. But everything is just perfect enough to scare her, or far too familiar to be a comfort.]

Comments

[risingspirit.livejournal.com]

[Coby is quick to notice the girl in the New Feather clothing while on his way to the barracks. He stops, blinking, then changes direction to meet her. The poor thing looks so lost.]

Hey! Did you just get here? It seems to be about that time again.

[manmade-angel.livejournal.com]

[Nill catches sight of the pink-haired man and watches with some apprehension as he approaches her. She's feeling incredibly vulnerable in this strange, unfamiliar place with no Bishop and no Haine and no church. Anyone could just come and grab her like this.]

[Though the question is definitely not something she's expecting. 'Just get here'? Well, she just woke up... She just woke up here, so perhaps that was what he meant?]

[She nods and looks back at the bench. How did she get here? She went to bed in a bed, not on this bench...]

[risingspirit.livejournal.com]

I bet you're confused. Most people are.

Do you have your book?

[manmade-angel.livejournal.com]

[Book? ...Book?]

[She looks around then spots a journal under the bench she woke up on. Curious, she picks it up and holds it up. This book?]

[risingspirit.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that's it! We all get one of those. You can talk to other people with it.

[manmade-angel.livejournal.com]

[...Talk to other people with it? Wow...! She opens the journal and looks at the pages as though they're going to start singing to her.]

[risingspirit.livejournal.com]

[S-so cute.]

It can record sound and pictures and even writing if you want. [As though writing isn't generally the main function of a journal...]

Might take you a little while to figure it all out, but you shouldn't go anywhere without it!

[manmade-angel.livejournal.com]

[Well, sound won't be very useful t her, but pictures and writing! Exciting! She nods enthusiastically; she won't be going anywhere without her journal. Not after the nice pink-haired man told her not to!]

[Nill smiles and nods her thanks, then reaches for his hand--she's never been the type to write what she means, and this is always how she tells people her name.]

[risingspirit.livejournal.com]

Hm? Oh! [He holds out his hand to her, expecting a handshake or something along those lines.]

[manmade-angel.livejournal.com]

[She turns it over and writes out her name in his hand: N-I-L-L. Once she's done, she smiles up at him. Did he get that?]

[risingspirit.livejournal.com]

[What's she... Oh, is she writing something? Coby pays close attention. Four letters...]

What's that... Z-I-L-L? No, no... that was an N, right? N-I-L-L. Nill? I don't... Is that your name?

[manmade-angel.livejournal.com]

[You got it! She nods twice before letting his hand go, suddenly becoming a little shy. It's been a long time since she told someone her name without someone doing it for her.]

[risingspirit.livejournal.com]

That's a cute name! Mine's Coby. That's... ah...

[He holds out his hand in order for her to give him hers again.]

[manmade-angel.livejournal.com]

[Her shoulders twitch a little in silent, shy laughter--nice to meet you, Coby. When he holds out his hand again, she tilts her head in confusion. But she puts her palm onto his--is that right...?]

[risingspirit.livejournal.com]

[Carefully, he writes the letters of his own name one at a time. C-O-B-Y.]

There! Coby!

[manmade-angel.livejournal.com]

[Oh! She laughs silently again--well, at least she knows how to spell it now! Though maybe he thinks she can't hear and can't speak if he's spelling things in her hand?]

[Nill cups a hand around her ear and nods--I can hear you--then puts her hand on her throat and shakes her head--I can't speak though.]

[risingspirit.livejournal.com]

[He thinks maybe this is some other part of the greeting and is almost ready to imitate her before he realizes what she's trying to get across.]

Oh, you really can't speak? That's okay. I'm sure I can talk enough for both of us.

[manmade-angel.livejournal.com]

[She shakes her head--no she can't speak, but it isn't anything she's upset about or ashamed of. It's just... how she is. Like how Coby had pink hair, Nill didn't have any vocal chords. The idea that Coby could talk enough for both of them, though, makes her shake a little in laughter again. She hadn't met someone who could talk enough for two people before.]

[Nill picks up the journal again from the bench and moves to stand next to Coby. She opens it up and looks at him, head tilted. Maybe Coby has time to teach her how to use this...?]

[risingspirit.livejournal.com]

You want me to tell you about this? I guess you can read, so you shouldn't have too much trouble. There's a page in here somewhere that tells you all about Luceti. It's very helpful.

[He holds up the book's front page, showing her the features.] See here? This can record whatever you want, and the little people down here... [He points to some of the images of the residents.] ...are other people in town. You can get a hold of them through here!

[manmade-angel.livejournal.com]

[Wooooow! Pictures of people! How does the journal know? It must be a magic journal, like from the fairy tales. She looks through a few of the images--for Haine. She doesn't see him.]

[But there are plenty of other things! The recording might not be too helpful, but if she can write to other people, that's good enough. She looks through a few more pictures and points to Coby's, grinning.]

[risingspirit.livejournal.com]

That's right! There I am!

[He waves a little at his own image, grinning just as brightly.]

[manmade-angel.livejournal.com]

[Hee, Coby's really funny. Waving at his own picture... Nill shakes a little, a hand over her mouth. She isn't laughing at Coby! He's just being silly at the moment.]

[She writes in the entry area: 'Do I write things here?' Looks like it... Though there are so many buttons...]

[risingspirit.livejournal.com]

Yeah! You learn fast! [He smiles as if he's a proud teacher.]

See? I bet you'll have a super easy time with this.

[manmade-angel.livejournal.com]

[Lock... Voice Post... Well, not much need for voice posting, that should keep things simple. And it looked like there were lenses in it too. This is, by far, the most complex piece of technology Nill has encountered. Right after is trains.]

[But she's proud, since Coby seems to think she's catching on quick. She grins and spreads her wings a little.]

[risingspirit.livejournal.com]

[Coby laughs.]

Is there anything else I can help you with?