001 Arrival Post

[scepterschild]

WHO: Wanda Maximoff
WHERE: Fountain & Around
WHEN: February 12th
OPEN TO: EVERYONE!
WARNINGS: Threatening people in the first post.
STATUS: CLOSED

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Fountain; Very Early Morning

Wanda pushed her way from the fountain, a noticeable frown tugging at her lips as she moved. She was soaked, it was freezing and she had no idea how she got here. Moving quickly, Wanda pulled the backpack from her shoulders and rummaged through its contents. She didn't know what she was expecting to find but she was grateful to see a set of dry clothes stashed inside. After making sure that there wasn't anyone watching, Wanda began to strip off the wet layers and pull on what she had found.

Her movements were quick as she pulled the pale gray scrubs over her head. Any sound or inclination of another person would cause her focus to shift. She'd quickly turn towards her new company, red mist snapping an icicle from nearby shooting it towards the stranger.

Wanda would stop her attack just before striking. She wanted answers.

Around; Mid-Day

Wanda took the time to explore the village; learning the few threads of information that were available as well as who else was around. Her powers felt different, distant, and her tests to use them confirmed that a large fraction of her strength had been taken from her. It was frustrating and it pulled at the strands of tension that gathered beneath her breastbone.

She didn't like feeling like a rat in a cage.

She meandered through the village and around it's outskirts, her eyes inspecting for details that might offer a clue that others have missed. Wanda was familiar with cold weather and snow; neither deterred her from having a look around however she didn't wander very far.

Near the Inn; Night Sky

As the afternoon drifted away from Wanda she began to noticed the intensity of the lights stretching across the sky. She's seen auroras in the past. They were streaks of light that curled like brilliant ocean waves against the dark contrast of night. She had hoped to see the stars but the auroras were shining like a second sun, efficiently hiding anything else from sight.

"Hmm?" Her tone was soft, her chin tilted up to stare at the sky. "How is it that people sleep."

Wanda knew she should sleep but her thoughts were heavy and distracting. The auroras gave her something to focus on and for the moment she wanted that distraction.

Comments

mid-day;

[windchasing]

Far takes on a different meaning when you can move the way Pietro can move — even here, even slowed to what feels to him like a snail's crawl, even careful as he is not to expose his mutation to others, he's made a habit of going farther from the village than most. How can they know the canyon walls are really changing, if no one checks them regularly? How will he find the source of the mutation nullification, if he is not out checking for areas of weakness every day?

The foraging is better farther afield as well. Not that there's much to be had in this weather, but Pietro's hunting skills aren't comparable to most; what he can do is identify edible winter plants, at least the ones common to Transia. For as much as he needs to eat at the inn, it's the least he can do. He's coming back with a small haul of roots and tubers, muddy wild onions and long dry cattails spilling out from his arms, when he turns the corner of a house too fast and nearly barrels into her.

"Watch where you are going–" he manages, even though it's him who's only narrowly avoided a collision.

mid-day;

[scepterschild]

Wanda hadn't seen him coming but she'd felt the familiar rush of wind and the warmth of a human body that followed. She'd spent enough time with her brother to know his gifts and react to them accordingly. It'd been over a year since she'd seen him last but it was just as Clint had said; this boy might have been Pietro but it wasn't her brother.

She swallowed hard and took a small step back, her dark green eyes cautiously eyeing the boy.

"You're Pietro." Clint had told her a bit about him. It was all just as he had said. He looked different, younger, his jaw was firmer and she didn't feel the connection she had with her brother. There was something, a soft familiarity but it wasn't more than a passing feeling.

[windchasing]

Pietro goes still, noticing the caution in her body language but unsure how to interpret it. Was she frightened of him, or— no, something else. Something more complicated in her eyes, and he's not very good with complicated, but there's something familiar about them, too. What could possibly be familiar, in a place like this? (Her accent, the way she says his name without butchering it— it's not quite right, but close enough to make his chest ache for something he can't identify.)

"How do you know my name?" he demands, uncertainty sharpening his edges. A lifetime of fighting back has left defensiveness his knee-jerk response, and today is no exception.

[scepterschild]

Wanda felt her heart twist when he voiced his question. Of course he didn't know her. She wondered if he felt the same feeling that she did about her Pietro; they were similar while also being completely different.

She had one advantage over him currently and it's that she knew who he was.

The words felt like ash in her mouth and she cleared her throat softly before speaking. "Clint mentioned you. I'm Wanda, from his universe." She didn't think she needed to clarify but it helped. Her brother was dead, this wasn't her brother and yet hope twisted in her chest and rose, reaching out towards Pietro.

Wanda didn't want to hope. Again and again her mind told her heart that it wasn't him.