How come they never call free space?

[connatural]

WHO: Ashley Magnus
WHERE: Around the village
WHEN: Last half of October
OPEN TO: Anyone
WARNINGS: None applicable except the Observer is mean

---

What's the worse that could happen?

Unarmed. No back up in the form of the Sanctuary. Little tech. Ashley is not in the best of moods about this place, and a few weeks there isn't making it much better for her. Trying to avoid outright stealing from others, such as taking knives and such from the storerooms and not returning them, Ashley has been on a hunt to try and make things easier for her in ways she's familiar with. Sadly there is little in the place that really feels normal, except for the plethora of abnormals that can be found in the forests and waters.

It's while studying those, seeking to find ones that might have natural weapons she can utilize, that Ashley watches some birds picking open the purple seeds she's found throughout the woods. Waiting and watching to see that they don't keel over from it, she picks a moment when one is just opening a seed before darting forward and scaring the bird away. It hasn't killed them, so she's willing to take a chance. Maybe it's a chance she shouldn't take, but listening to that kind of inner logic is never priority with Ashley.

Which is why, moments later, she is rushing through the woods towards town, amazed at her speed, dashing around trees and delighting in the ability that she knew could do her well. Careful not to run into people, though when it looks as if she might, panic grips her, causing her to phase right through people and objects in her path the same as she phased out of the fountain when she arrived.

The aftermath

Sometimes that mental question of, What's the worst that can happen? is answered in a swift and harsh manner. Such as finding herself bent double, puking up what seems to be everything she's eaten for the last few years, and then curling up against the foundation of the Inn, not making it much further than that before her eyes close.

Even the next day she still feels disjointed and not completely okay, following advice she's heard from others and heading down for the springs to try and see if a soak will help with the dizziness and the lethargic state of her body.

Comments

[tosavecocoon]

Vanille tilts her head at Ashley, turning over her words. Her parents died when she was really young, so she has no memory of them. The closest thing she had to real family for a long time was Fang. The rest of the village, too, of course, but she and Fang had a special bond.

"She sounds like a great person," Vanille says softly, almost wistfully. "You must really care about her." It makes her miss Fang even more and of course the rest of their new family. Funny... When she was living on Gran Pulse, before her Focus and her part in the war, she would never have wanted to befriend anyone from Cocoon. Now she knows... they're just like the people on Gran Pulse. They've just lived different lives.

"Sometimes," she says, latching onto the other side of the topic, "but you're better off working with other people. It's a lot less dangerous that way, if you fight with people who have different strengths than you."

[connatural]

"She is," Ashley says softly, missing her as acutely in that moment as she has every day since she came to this place. "I hadn't ever thought about what life would be like without her there. It was just never an option."

She knew her mother would outlive her, but never in a way like being snatched to this place. Or worse, the future she's soon to find out about.

"Is that how it always is for you? Is it always about fighting?" She fears that though, and worries for her and what kind of life that might be for Vanille.

[tosavecocoon]

Kind of like how Vanille never thought about life without Fang until the escape from Euride happened. Then she had been forced to leave Fang behind and they didn't find each other for a long time. She'd been lucky to find other people to cling to, even while she was lying to them all.

"Not always," she says with a small head shake. "No more than here. You aren't fighting everything, just whatever you need to in order to survive." She turns the little seed around again, holding it up like Snow would do with Serah's crystal tear. "But it's okay. If this thing hasn't sprouted by now, it's not going to. Maybe I'll take it home and eat it later."

Oooor maybe she'll eat it now. She hasn't decided yet. Fang's not here to sway her one way or the other.

[connatural]

"I've been lucky in not having to fight for that," Ashley admits, though she supposes that one day the day might come that she will have to. Hers has been to protect others, one way or another. It's why something like this ability to run as she can right now would be amazing in trying to survive the things she's faced.

"I ate a large piece too. I'm wondering what would happen if you just ate a bit of it. Almost like grinding it and just a bit of it. Would also make it curious how much you could save one nut for as long as it might last."

[tosavecocoon]

Vanille knows so little about worlds other than Gran Pulse. She's experienced a little of Cocoon and gotten some backstory about it since waking up in the vestige near Bodhum. Still, her experience with everything else is still very small. Maybe one day she'll ask Ashley more about her life and home.

"Let's find out, then!" she chirps. "Let's go back to the Inn and I'll see what happens when I cut it!"