bats in the belfry, rotten on the vine

[fayzedandconfused]

WHO: Brianna and YOU
WHERE: Heropa
WHEN: Feb 7-8
WHAT: A new imPort confronts her extremely weird afterlife
WARNINGS: Potentially talk of violence and death



Downtown Heropa - aka she needs an Adult

[ Brianna steps out of the car, frowning in confusion at the bustling downtown. This is not what she expected. Well… she's not sure what she'd been expecting, really, for her afterlife. A great big Nothing, probably, or the whole pitchforks and fire deal. Not this whole "welcome, hero" deal, that's for sure. ]

Hey— [ she says as the car accelerates and merges back into traffic without another word from the driver. She could catch up with the guy, easily, but what's the point? He's obviously not gonna tell her anything useful.

So she stands on the sidewalk for a minute, a small girl in tattered clothes splashed liberally with dried blood, clutching the folder she'd been given during her "briefing" and completely unsure what to do now, much less where to go. For the past year and a half, she'd only seen two options for herself, in the end—go home to her mom and stepdad, or end up dead. And now? Now she's stuck in this weird limbo. No parents, but no Nothing, either.

The thought of her mom is a sharp pain, and for a moment she almost loses control. It's too much, for a second. Dying, not seeing her mom's face again, never getting to hug her or smell her perfume one last time. Dying when she was so close to living. ]

Shut up. [ She almost hisses it to herself, a curse. Do not cry about that. Don't. Don't be a stupid baby. You're the Breeze, you can handle this.

You can handle anything. ]

A park in Heropa - aka truancy hurts everyone

[ It's Monday, a school day, so guess who's not in school?

Brianna, newly clothed in non-bloody, non-falling-apart digs, is sitting on a park bench, freebie hamburger and fries in hand (and eating so fast that a passerby might worry she'll choke). She's just finishing up the burger, wiping the grease from her face with the back of one hand, when a native police officer happens to pass by and notice her conspicuous truancy. ]

"Hey, kid. Shouldn't you be in—"

[ The guy only gets that far into his lecture before Brianna is up and off the bench, sprinting away. She moves so quickly, a blur in a hoodie and jeans, that she ends up spilling her fries all over the sidewalk and spends a quick extra second recollecting them off the concrete. She shoves them back into the cardboard container, clearly still planning on eating them later, and then takes off again, much too quickly for the police officer to follow.

Unfortunately, she happens to be so focused on avoiding him that she completely misses the person walking toward her from the opposite direction and has to execute a quick spin to avoid smashing into them at 100 miles per hour. ]

Hey! Watch it, will you?!

wildcard!

[ Any other scenario you'd like to play out! ]

Comments

Downtown

[subourbon]

[Alison - weighed down with a large box of samples from a meet-and-greet with a local bakery - almost drops the entire load when she spots the young, blood-spattered girl.]

Oh my Lord-- what happened? Are you okay? Do you need to go to the hospital?

[fayzedandconfused]

[ Brianna looks over at the sound of Alison's voice—adult voice, that's new—and at first can't process the questions she's being asked. What happened? Way too much to explain. Is she okay? Uh. Does she need to go to the hospital? ]

... No. No hospital necessary.

[subourbon]

[Alison hurries over and looks perplexed, not sure where to deposit her box of goodies to make sure this young girl isn't hurt.]

Are you sure? That looks like a lot of blood...

[fayzedandconfused]

I got here like this.

[ Her eyes lock onto the box, though she can't see what's inside it. Food, maybe. Food would be excellent. Last time she ate was... jeez, hours ago, and she ended up running all those calories off before she—well. ]

[subourbon]

[Oh, of course. A new "import". Maybe Alison will get good at spotting them in the future, but for now she's more concerned about getting this poor girl somewhere safe to be tended to.]

... I see, so you're new here. What's your name? I'm Alison. Alison Hendrix.

[fayzedandconfused]

The Breeze.

[ She doesn't even think about how weird it might sound to someone who's never heard of her before. ]

[subourbon]

[Alison doesn't even blink. She's heard her share of strange names, even moreso since coming here.]

Well, Brreeze, I'm sure this is all very confusing for you. Do you know where you're supposed to be staying?

[fayzedandconfused]

Uh... [ She opens the folder she was given, looking for an address. ] Heropa 004?

[subourbon]

I don't think that's too far from here, but my place is closer...

[She shifts her grip on the box for a second, her worry about this girl causing her to completely forget that she has powers to make it lighter.]

Are you hungry?

[fayzedandconfused]

[ Brianna originally had no intention of going anywhere with this lady, or any adult, but at the mention of food her eyes go back to the box and she swallows. ]

I'm starving.

[ Which doesn't look far off, honestly. Besides the dried blood and ripped clothes, she looks dirty and only a few days off from starvation. ]

[subourbon]

[Alison takes all of that in, and the instinct to look out for this girl the way she'd want someone to look out for her own kids takes over.]

I bet you are. Come on, I have some left over shepherd's pie at the house, and you can help me with some of these pastry samples afterwards.

[fayzedandconfused]

Oh, man, seriously? 'Cause I haven't eaten in like... I don't know, hours.

[subourbon]

Well, let's fix that.

[She turns to head towards Heropa 031, looking over her shoulder to make sure Breeze is following.]

Downtown Heropa

[biteouttagrimes]

[ Rick is just leaving the mall, still wearing his mall cop uniform -- although he does have the hat tucked under his arm when he comes across Brianna. It's the bloody clothing that catches his attention more than anything else. But after a moment, he can see that she's crying -- she may pull it together pretty quick, but there's no denying what he saw.

Rather than call her out on it, though, Rick walks forward -- noting the folder, which confirms his suspicion. She's a fellow imPort. Damn. They keep getting younger and younger. ]

You need some help findin' where you're s'posed to go?

[fayzedandconfused]

[ Another adult. They're everywhere around here. Brianna takes a quick step back as he approaches, uncertain, and then shrugs. ]

No... maybe? I don't know. [ Understatement. She doesn't know where to start with this, and finding her new address is the least of her priorities right now. ]

[biteouttagrimes]

[ Rick tends to have the opposite problem -- meeting mostly kids. But the unknowing answer earns her a playfully skeptical glance. ]

No. Maybe. You don't know. That's a whole wide array of feelings.

[ He says it with a teasing smile. ]

Can't help but notice the folder. I'm an imPort, too. Have been for a while now. An' I live here in Heropa. Know the place pretty well. Could help you find what you're lookin' for -- if you can decide whether you need help or not.

[fayzedandconfused]

[ Brianna sighs and wipes a filthy arm across her face. ] The folder says I'm supposed to live at 004.

[ She hesitates before saying anything else, but the guy doesn't seem like he's about to arrest her or anything, so after a couple seconds she asks, ] Is this supposed to be heaven or something?

[biteouttagrimes]

[ Is this supposed to be heaven? That gives Rick a pause and puts things into a greater perspective. ]

If this was heaven, I'd say they failed to tell us the truth in church. Made it sound like a way better deal than it is.

[ He nods to the right and starts walking, pausing to make sure she's following. ]

This place. It can be an afterlife for some. For others, we're still very much alive. This place just...is. There ain't no explainin' it. It's its own world with its own war. Ain't exactly peaceful, but you'll find that you'll have some nice moments here. Meet some good people, even if you're tryin' not to.

[fayzedandconfused]

[ When Rick says "we're still very much alive," she notices his choice of words. ] So you're not dead. But some people are. [ Like zombies, although she certainly doesn't feel like devouring anyone's brain right now and hopefully not ever.

A war, too? Not that she's afraid to fight if she has to, but can't a girl catch a break? Brianna's going to have to find out more about it sooner rather than later, but for once she's hesitant to ask. This is all too much to take in at once, especially after what happened. ]

[biteouttagrimes]

[ He nods after her words. ]

A few are, yeah. Seen 'em talkin' about it over the network. One guy was startin' up a group for dead people to like...I don't know. Do stuff. Things. Fun things, I guess. Forget about bein' dead for a while.

[fayzedandconfused]

[ She curls her lip at that, showing exactly what she thinks of a group for dead people to do "fun things." Like that's not the most pathetic idea ever. She'd rather be alone than forced to join a club like that. ]

I'm not interested in any group.

[biteouttagrimes]

Don't blame you. I wouldn't be either. Doesn't really seem like the kinda thing you should go out an' celebrate.

[ His attention remains focused on the pavement ahead of them, but he can't help the pangs of sympathy he has. She's only a child. And she died. She's far too young to have suffered such a fate. ]

[fayzedandconfused]

Yeah. Like going bowling with a bunch of other dead people's supposed to make you feel better about dying.

[ Brianna taps at her belt, wishing she had her machete to hold onto, maybe do some tricks with, just to get rid of some of this nervous energy. ]

[biteouttagrimes]

To some, it might? Guess the whole theory is that they won't be thinkin' of dyin'. But if it were me, I don't think I'd want to try forgettin' it, you know? Think it'd be important to know. Important to shape who you are.

[ He glances down at her with a furrowed brow. ]

Mind me askin' how you died? You don't gotta answer if you don't wanna talk about it.

[fayzedandconfused]

I— [ She can still feel Gaia's hand over her heart, see those cold blue eyes staring her down. ] I got shot.

[ It's not exactly true, but it's the closest thing she can come up on short notice. She'll tell him the truth, maybe, but not today. ]