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Post by Emirate Xaaron on May 31, 2010 21:49:55 GMT -5
Day 16, semi-private for now
Tiny is not so tiny anymore.
She's as big as Emirate Xaaron now. He finds it a little puzzling, still, this idea of complex organisms growing like crystals. The leash he carries must look more like a suggestion than a command, and he carries it loosely. Emirate Xaaron also finds it a bit puzzling why Tiny does obey him. Yes, he knows that Tiny thinks he's her 'mother', whatever that is, but it's just... odd.
The mechadragon mantles her wings, now and then, hissing at rats as Emirate Xaaron takes her for a stroll through the park. She doesn't seem very interested in touching the rats, though, probably because Emirate Xaaron feeds her batteries painted with Decepticon symbols, and organic creatures wouldn't make a good snack for a robot dragon. Tiny's just scaring the rats away from him, he supposes. Without thinking, he pauses and reaches up to pet Tiny on the muzzle, absently, and he remarks to his companion, "We should be due to meet our third any time now."
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Post by Rodimus Prime on May 31, 2010 22:35:26 GMT -5
"Good," Rodimus Prime as he walks alongside Emirate Xaaron and... Tiny. He reaches up to scratch the not-so-Tiny dragon and says, "You know, as protective as she seems to have gotten of you, she might work as an escort in a pinch."
He glances at Emirate Xaaron. "You guys ran into a full grown version, right? Do we... well, will we have room for her?"
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Shanodin
Major
The Chamberlain, Her Chivalrous Immensity, Lady Botanica. The Unyielding Vanquisher of Weed Killer
This is NOT her field of dreams
Posts: 700
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Post by Shanodin on Jun 1, 2010 11:20:56 GMT -5
Xaaron and Rodimus should come in view of Botanica as soon as they round a particularly wild- and oddly lush compared to the area- stand of low growing magnolia trees. Actually, if the two pay attention, they'll probably notice that the all the vegetation within a small radius of Botanica seems to be suddenly thriving. The plantformer is seated on a concrete bench that is large enough for her companions to sit if they wish. Some of her lower vines are just dipped beneath the soil.
She hasn't yet felt up to sliding beneath the soil of this broken planet. The idea of doing so makes her shudder, turns her stomach. She isn't even actively Encouraging the plants around her. They have simply been so starved for so long of anything close to proper nourishment and care that they respond automatically to her presence.
She's lost in thought, though the approach of the Emirate andthe Prime makes her turn toward them.
"Good cycle, Xaaron, Rodimus," she says, smiling. Then the smile turns a bit wry, "or as good as a cycle gets in this place."
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Post by Emirate Xaaron on Jun 1, 2010 13:19:05 GMT -5
Emirate Xaaron looks over Tiny thoughtfully and replies, "Perhaps so. I generally prefer working with people who understand the meaning of, hrm, meaning. No offence, Tiny." He laughs. "We'll have room for her. The adult was big enough to snatch me up and carry me, so I'd reckon perhaps a bit smaller than Sky Lynx."
They have room for Sky Lynx, too, should His Arrogance choose to show up.
Emirate Xaaron looks over Botanica's... oasis of greener green, for lack of a better way of putting it and something of a smile quirks at his sewn lips. Life. He may not understand its ways, but it is life, and that's something. Emirate Xaaron tips his head and greets, "Hello, Botanica. Glad you could make it. Now, I believe we all have something to discuss?"
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Post by Rodimus Prime on Jun 1, 2010 14:49:29 GMT -5
Rodimus does settle down on the bench next to Botanica and automatically settles back in it. Even for the scale of this place, he's a little on the large side, and so he stretches his left leg out in front of him while his right is bent, the knee a little higher than it would be on a 'proper' sized bench.
He nods and Emirate Xaaron's words, and his expression is grim. "Yeah. This place. Its... well, we, we all three of us seem sensitive to this world's... sickness, is really the only way I can describe it." He sounds a bit worried over this, but, while he usually hides it well, he's been faintly distressed over both the world's condition and his own inability to help it since he got here.
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Shanodin
Major
The Chamberlain, Her Chivalrous Immensity, Lady Botanica. The Unyielding Vanquisher of Weed Killer
This is NOT her field of dreams
Posts: 700
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Post by Shanodin on Jun 1, 2010 16:18:51 GMT -5
Botanica reaches out to scritch Tiny behind the ears. "Goodness, she has grown so!" she says fondly, "I haven't checked in on her recently."
"Broken is more apt, from my point of view, though sick is also applicable. There's something...missing, something vital to this world's existence," she muses, eyes gazing off in the distance for a moment before she looks down at her hands.
"I think it is dying."
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Post by Emirate Xaaron on Jun 1, 2010 17:05:00 GMT -5
Tiny chirrups happily at all the attention she's getting! Scritchies from all! She bobs her head to Botanica. Plants are certainly not on Tiny's menu, so Tiny doesn't really know what to make of Botanica, but scritchies!
"Oh good," Emirate Xaaron observes dryly, "She's figured out you aren't edible."
Emirate Xaaron sits down on the other side of Botanica, laying the leash across his lap. Tiny takes a rest from walking and curls up beside the bench. She seems quite fascinated enough to just watch her own tail flick lazily. If only Emirate Xaaron's life was so simple! But no, he knows he truly wouldn't enjoy it. One is measured by one's enemies, and challenges keep him sharp.
His mouth makes something of an 'o' as Rodimus Prime includes him in the people sick because of the planet. His face screwing a bit, he rubs the back of his helmet with his free hand and admits, "That would explain the constant low-grade nausea. I though it was just the gravity or the light or something in the air, honestly."
He looks rather pensive, staring off into the park, straight ahead. "I actually wanted to talk about that Church of the Holy Devourer, but that can wait. I don't know how much we can do for this planet, and I don't know how much we can afford to do for it," they're not at all the same thing, "but this is apparently a universe with Unicron run rampant. A dying planet isn't shocking, but it might hold some clues."
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Post by Rodimus Prime on Jun 1, 2010 22:27:03 GMT -5
"Well, it might be connected," Rodimus suggests, rubbing the back of his head. "Though I couldn't say how. But... the world is rotting from the inside, from... from whatever it's missing. And there's a lot of Unicron worship, open worship of a god whose goal is to destroy the universe. That's pretty, well, rotten." He rubs his chin and leans his back against the bench.
"It might be just a symptom, but... I don't think it is."
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Shanodin
Major
The Chamberlain, Her Chivalrous Immensity, Lady Botanica. The Unyielding Vanquisher of Weed Killer
This is NOT her field of dreams
Posts: 700
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Post by Shanodin on Jun 2, 2010 10:56:35 GMT -5
"I'd gladly trade you my symptoms for your low-grade nausea, Emirate, if I could, but you'd like them even less" Botanica says, tone just slightly teasing for a moment before it sobers, "Constant screams of pain and calls for aid in one's mind are not pleasant things."
"Though I'm not surprised you're sensitive to it given, well, the state of your deceased self upon arrival."
Chosen One, God Avatar, and Soul Tender, all sick from a planet out of balance- sounds like another installment in the Star Wars franchise, really.
She chews on her lower lip a bit, "Hrm. There are...certain species of conifers whose seeds will only be released when the tree itself burns, insects who will only emerge during drought conditions...," a vine slips a bit deeper into the soil, and she starts, "Sorry, just thinking aloud."
"The high concentration of negative energies caused by the heavy Unicron worship is not helping. So much violence and death, so much...perversion of life. No, it isn't a symptom. I think it's one of the main causes."
She looks up at Xaaron, "I haven't had a chance to speak to you after the incident at that church, but I read your report. If I may ask...how did it affect you? Merely getting too close to one makes my skin crawl."
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Post by Emirate Xaaron on Jun 2, 2010 15:53:18 GMT -5
Emirate Xaaron quirks an optical ridge at Botanica saying she'd trade his symptoms for hers, and he replies, not entirely joking, "If I knew how to do it, you'd have a deal."
Ah yes. His manifest doom. He's still not entirely sure what to make of that.
Calmly, he explains, "Oh, being slammed on the altar just made me so sick that I wanted to do an emergency tank shunt in public and disrupted my balance to the point that I had trouble sitting up." He looks from Botanica to Rodimus Prime. "I wanted to warn you two not to touch any such altars, just in case. What really sent me reeling is, I think, at that church, at least, they know enough of dark rites to give the souls to Unicron." Emirate Xaaron pinches the bridge of his nose. "Distressing. I'm not really sure they know what they're doing. They're like factory fresh playing with guided thermonuclear warheads."
Despite the subject matter of his words, he could be discussing a minor dent in his foot, for how ruffled he does (not) sound.
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Post by Rodimus Prime on Jun 2, 2010 19:59:04 GMT -5
Rodimus smirks and rubs his forehead. He would quip that he'd happily trade either of them, but... he wouldn't. He would never wish this on some one he cares for - not necessarily the Pz-Zazz illness, but the whole package.
Instead, he says, "I've been trying to stay away from the churches as much as possible, but I'll take special care of the alters." He shakes his head. "I won't promise I won't go near them at all. You guys know how it goes - the moment I swear something like that, circumstances will conspire to force me into it. No thanks. But I will stay on the alert."
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Shanodin
Major
The Chamberlain, Her Chivalrous Immensity, Lady Botanica. The Unyielding Vanquisher of Weed Killer
This is NOT her field of dreams
Posts: 700
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Post by Shanodin on Jun 3, 2010 2:00:52 GMT -5
Botanica's brow furrows as Xaaron mentions sacrificing souls as if it an everyday occurrence. Maybe it is, in his reality.
That thought does not make her any happier.
"I'm avoiding them myself, and the more obvious members of the religion. Death cults don't tend to like glaring reminders of vibrant life," she says, then sighs, "Truthfully, I'm avoiding quite a lot down here at the moment. There are few enough places that don't make me ill, simply due to the pollution levels. I'm adjusting, but it's taking longer than expected. Probably due to the other...issues. If I could just figure out what is missing, exactly...."
"It's excellent advice in any event and invaluable information, Emirate. Thank you."
She looks from Prime to Emirate, "I assume we three are the only ones so sensitive? No one else has come to me complaining of headaches, upset stomach, or odd voices at least."
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Post by Emirate Xaaron on Jun 3, 2010 10:27:46 GMT -5
Rodimus Prime is genre aware. Emirate Xaaron approves.
Then he snaps his fingers, remembering the bedtime stories he ended up telling Rodimus Prime. (What next, Impactor and the Wrecker Babies? Half of Decepticon High Command dead before naptime and energon goodies for all?) Emirate Xaaron exclaims, "The Bird! I should explain, Botanica. Nightbeat, Siren, and Hosehead visited Pz-Zazz in my reality, looking for the Matrix - it's a long story, and it involves video games. Our records indicated that Pz-Zazz was quite the nice place, but that wasn't what Nightbeat's team found - they found a rotten world of corruption. Maybe not this bad. You'd have to ask Nightbeat, and he's doubtless busy standing under a flickering street lamp, monologuing right now."
Emirate Xaaron grimaces and shakes his head. "The natives were squabbling over a statue of a bird. Said it could stop ageing, grant eternal youth," the petty concerns of organic creatures, "and raise the dead. Even our dead." He looks wistful, just for a moment. "But Nightbeat's team helped return it to its altar in the mountains, from which only certain individuals could remove it. As soon as it was returned to its place, Pz-Zazz seemed to... recover, somewhat."
He rocks forward, leaning over the park bench, elbows on his knees and hands tucked under his chin. Emirate Xaaron looks to Botanica and then over to Rodimus Prime, "So you think that perhaps...?"
Then, he straightens back up and shrugs. "Maybe Prowl? I'm not really sure. As you pointed out, there is a lot of pollution. He seems to enjoy nature."
Yeah, Emirate Xaaron saw Prowl literally go climb a tree.
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Post by Rodimus Prime on Jun 3, 2010 16:57:59 GMT -5
Oh, yeah, the bed time story. Rodimus looks at Botanica. "I assume you've spotted some of the bird imagery they have around here... don't suppose you've heard anything about an actual bird statue?"
"The thing is, if this bird statue exists, if it is missing... well, like you said, they were making a big deal about the fight over it in your reality. Here... a few spray paint markings on some buildings now and again, and that's it." He chews the inside of his lip, then suggests, "Maybe it went missing longer ago? Left this place longer to rot, vanished early enough that it's just popular legends?"
He absently twists his outstretched leg back and forth as he thinks over the question of who might sense it. "Might not just be the three of us. Not everyone we have is completely open with the rest of us yet. Some just might not mention it."
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Shanodin
Major
The Chamberlain, Her Chivalrous Immensity, Lady Botanica. The Unyielding Vanquisher of Weed Killer
This is NOT her field of dreams
Posts: 700
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Post by Shanodin on Jun 5, 2010 21:20:33 GMT -5
Botanica listens carefully to both Rodimus and Xaaron, expression serious. When Xaaron mentions Prowl, however, she smiles.
"Yes, Prowl does enjoy nature. He helps me in the biosphere, on occasion, and seems to enjoy exploring the wilder areas. It would not surprise me if his own meditative practices make him more in tune with the balance- or lack thereof- in an area."
She continues, tone musing. "I've seen some of the bird imagery, but have heard next to nothing of it otherwise. But remember, this is only my second trip planetside." She props an elbow on her lap and her chin in one hand.
Her expression gets a little distant, and her vines slip a bit deeper into the soil. "I don't know if it's as simple as that. If there was such a thing missing it would feel as if there was a...hole, for lack of a better term. It feels, instead, like something was meant to grow that never did, or that it can't."
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