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Post by thea on Jan 17, 2010 18:48:18 GMT -5
Fiona had not expected the capital city to be quite like this. When she had pictured the city, sure, she had assumed that it would be large and full of people who weren’t like what she was use to and because of that she would be scared for a while, but it would be okay. It would be okay because she was going to school with Cards that were smart like her and curious about things, all sorts of things, and she was going to learn. That was what she was most excited about, really; Fiona came from a family in Kahmden that, while not completely in favor of the idea of their only daughter leaving the Forest to receive a higher education, the Esterberry in her heritage allowed her a little wiggle room. Sometimes she felt like this was the wrong thing to do, that she was meant to stay in the Forest and to do otherwise went completely against what she was and what she had been taught. In the end, however, her desire to expand her knowledge of all things medicinal drove her out, far away from her comfort zone. It turned out that this move was nothing but a huge mistake. The Cards here were too loud, too crass, and all too willing to put their greedy needs before the greater good. There was too much individualism here, when for a civilization to survive the exact opposite mentality had to be employed. At least, deep down that was what Fiona believed to be true, and she lived her life to fulfill this ideology as best she could. She really didn’t want to be here any longer though… these past few days had been stressful enough. She hated staying at the dormitory, there were too many parties and she couldn’t stand it watching her peers skipping class or badmouthing the professors. She respected the opportunity to attend the prestigious science academy too much to deal with that selfishness. Leaving, however, wasn’t that much better – in fact, it was even worse most of the time. She became claustrophobic around all the tall buildings and couldn’t stand walking past the shops and businesses and observing all that gross materialism. The Guinea Hen really only felt at ease at one place: the small park by the campus. Even though there were always too many people walking through, at least sometimes she could get some peace and quiet there, under the trees that reminded her of her home. Like usual, she was there now, books sprawled out around her in all directions; this was really the only place she could get any work done.
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Post by Greenie on Jan 17, 2010 19:04:48 GMT -5
Vessatha distinctly remembered the time in her life when she had despised, hated, even loathed everything having to do with the Capital. The people, the buildings, the litter, the smell.. everything. It had been so strange, so disturbing to her naive mind (not that she would have admitted to being naive then) that cards could live in such a manner, and even that such cards existed; wing mutations, leg mutations, realms mixed with realms mixed with breeds! Now, with two different mixed-realm and -breed litters behind her and a few decades of working for the Court, a trip to the City was.. relaxing, of all things. The hustle and bustle reminded her that more than just her small corner of the world existed - something that was easy for her to forget, secluded into Spades as she usually was. It reminded her of the people she served and was ultimately trying to care for, and, well, sometimes she just needed to take a dive off of her pedestal and associate with someone other than Donnie. The ferret had a meeting with the Diamonds ambassador later in the afternoon, but she had several hours until that was to take place; she decided to take a stroll down memory lane in the meantime, and stir up some memories she didn't often take time to think about. She stopped at the park she'd met Quinn at - oh, strange, strange Quinn - and decided to take a walk through it, smiling to herself at the antics she'd undergone that night. The damn otter had messed up her entire life, but she was quite grateful for it now. Vessatha stopped at a bench and sat down, happily admiring the nature around her while her thoughts kept her company.
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Post by thea on Jan 17, 2010 19:28:04 GMT -5
A yell off in the distance made her flinch; she had been deeply immersed in reading a chapter about infectious diseases in adolescents, but the noise was so loud and intrusive it had jarred her from her thoughts on the text. The voice probably belonged to some mutation. Those, out of nearly everything that she had seen and heard so far in the Capital, bothered her the most; she could readily accept mixed realms and begrudgingly ignore the strangeness of mixed breeds, but her parents had always been very strict in teaching her that those who had abnormal wings or extra limbs should be avoided at all cost. It didn’t matter. Yes, there were freaks here and in her classrooms, but it wasn’t as if she really had to interact with them if she didn’t want to.
Focus. She had an exam next week and even though she felt comfortable around the material, it couldn’t hurt to study even more. This was her first test, after all, and it wouldn’t do to do badly. Just as she was getting back in the rhythm of studying, the sound of someone approaching put her on edge. With her luck, it would probably be a gang of teenagers, and most of them would probably have three eyes.
Instinctively she glanced up as the other got closer and felt relief wash over her. It wasn’t just that the Card in front of her was completely and adequately normal, but she was a Kahmden too! Her expression immediately lightened somewhat, became less guarded, although she was still hesitant in calling this a victory. The Kahmden Ferret was a King of Spades, and had probably been around Court and city life too long for her own good. No use getting one’s hopes up for nothing. Fiona sighed.
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Post by Greenie on Jan 17, 2010 20:19:27 GMT -5
It wasn't long before Vessatha spied the Kahmden bird immersed in her studies not far from her, but she decided to stay and observe the girl for a while before making an approach. There were so few of her kind outside of the Forest... The hen could be someone who'd been "out" as long as she had, or brand new and still afraid of everything, afraid of breaking tradition, and more importantly, afraid of those that did break tradition.
It had taken so, so many years to come to terms with it herself. Her children had helped, but not completely; to this day she still struggled with what was acceptable to herself. Having children with Pale had nearly made her revert back to her old self, the self that was afraid of the new and the strange.. but that was for a different day's thoughts.
After a while, the bird looked up and noticed her. Vessatha gave her an encouraging smile, though she didn't move from the bench. "Hello, over there. I don't mean to disturb you." She called out in a friendly tone.
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Post by thea on Jan 23, 2010 9:15:02 GMT -5
Fiona hadn’t tried to make friends yet, and she wasn’t planning to anytime soon. How could she, when here in the city up was down and down was up? Call her conservative, or maybe even prim, but life in the Forest had made her used to a certain way of life, and since she didn’t feel any inclination to compromise her opinions, it was looking to be a very lonely few months. Despite the love she had for her studies, the Hen was already keeping track of the days before break, when she would be able to return home. She just couldn’t help it.
She noticed the Ferret watching her, but made a point of not making eye contact, even though truthfully she very much wanted to. She would never admit or show it to anyone, even her own family, but she was getting lonelier by the hour. Fiona wished – she wished that she wasn’t… It didn’t matter. She was who she was.
She was someone who responded when spoke to, especially when the Card speaking to her was also from Kahmden. It was common courtesy. She raised her head and smiled in her usual, slightly aloof fashion. “Hello. Don’t worry, I was planning on stopping soon anyway; you’re not disturbing me at all.”
OOC: I'm so sorry for the delay! Midterms and a giant project are next week, so I'm a bit busy. ^^;
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Post by Greenie on Jan 30, 2010 22:38:54 GMT -5
((No problem! College is eating me, so I'm going to be slow too. <33))
Vessatha kept watching the hen, amused with herself at how she just knew the girl was straight out of the Forest. The solitary studying, the location, the concentration... they all spoke of someone who wanted nothing more to be somewhere else, which was characteristic of a newly "broken" Forester.
She smiled encouragingly when the girl spoke, and smothered a chuckle at the "I'm being friendly but please leave me alone" manner. No doubt her family had told her all about those horrible Kahmdens that left the Forest and how they had betrayed themselves and their culture and had become polluted members of society... and all that garbage. The poor girl was probably afraid to talk to anyone. "Are you new to the City?" Vessie asked inquiringly, though she was fairly sure of the answer. "Most of the students don't come quite so far out here to study."
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Post by thea on Feb 2, 2010 21:19:16 GMT -5
It was true. Fiona had heard more than she cared to about those from Kahmden who, after too much time spent in the capital or even worse, the Courts, compromised their values and became victims of their own vanity, ambition, and greed. The Hen desperately worried that the same wouldn’t be said of her when she returned home on break; she was comfortable knowing that she was made of tough, unassuming stuff. It would be difficult for her ever to be driven by personal means – the mere idea was frightening and more than a little disturbing.
What about this one, then? Obviously she had lived outside the Forest for a long time, and probably had a lot of responsibilities in the Court of Spades. However, even though most of Fiona knew that talking to her would only lead to bad things, a tiny irresponsible voice told her to stay put. After all, she hadn’t run into another Forester since she came to the City, and nothing about the tone of the Ferret’s voice or what she was actually saying made her seem horribly unpleasant.
So she nodded and closed her book – it wasn’t like she was going to get any more studying done anyway. “I arrived a week and a half ago,” she explained. The Ferret’s next remark brought a nervous expression and smile to her face. Was she drawing attention to herself? She’d have to remedy that. “The dorms are very loud. I get more work done here,” Fiona stated matter-of-factly.
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Post by Greenie on Feb 9, 2010 23:18:04 GMT -5
Vessatha let the girl work through her thoughts on her own; Suits knew when she left the Forest, she fought desperately to not believe anything anyone said contrary to her own beliefs, and she hadn't left the Forest on the best of terms. The Hen was clearly a student, which meant she probably intended to return, and wasn't looking to change her values like Vessie tentatively had.
She tried to send the "I'm not a creeper, or a morally corrupt person" vibes, but the idea made her grin in a rather creepy way, so she quickly dampened down the thoughts and just tried to be pleasant. "How do you like it so far? There's not many Cards from Kahmden out in this direction, that's for sure." The ferret hazarded a guess that the girl would be lucky to meet two or three other Foresters, at most, in her entire career at her school. Maybe a half-realm or two. To the second comment she just blinked and raised her eyebrows, but didn't verbally respond; the half-smile on her face spoke volumes of "trust me, I know."
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