open ☾ an arrival

[noch]

WHO: Merrin and YOU
WHERE: All over Temba
WHAT: One (1) very confused space witch makes her debut
WHEN: Right now?
WARNINGS: None yet, but will update if anything comes up!

A. YOU'VE GOTTA BE KITTEN ME

Despite the fact that Merrin is absolutely the type to hold grudges, she's somehow made peace with Voroka and the other mothkittens in spite of the terrible crime against her—at least judging by the fact that she's currently sitting cross-legged in the grass near the library while the kittens nap, lounge, and play in the sunshine around her.

A few bolder ones have already approached her, and she extends her hand towards one of them to let it curiously sniff her fingers. She's learned her lesson from last time, however, and she keeps her talisman, a palm-sized, halfmoon-shaped white rock, gripped tightly in her other hand to prevent another theft. That's the last thing she needs, now or ever.

"Hello, Voroka," she says to the mothkitten, though her voice doesn't sound welcoming so much as stern, like a disappointed parent. "Did you think I would not recognize you?"

B. LIFE'S A BEACH

It takes her a little while to find the path to the beach, but she eventually stumbles across it and—well, her home planet, Dathomir, is essentially a dry, harsh wasteland, and the largest body of water that exists there is a swamp, maybe a pond.

So nothing really prepares her for the sight of the ocean stretching out in front of her. It appears almost infinite to her, and she stands there on the beach for a long time, staring out across the water in wonder, her lips slightly parted. Her gaze keeps darting to the waves lapping against the shore as if she's... contemplating something.

(In fact, she's contemplating putting her feet in the water, though she doesn't know how safe it is, if at all. A lifetime on Dathomir has made her wary of everything, even if it looks harmless.)

C. SURPRISE! AT THE DISCO

After a few days of exploring, Merrin has finally started to get the lay of this place, and so she feels comfortable enough using her magick to teleport around—at least in the town center, where she's most familiarized, whether there are other people around or not.

The only thing that heralds her imminent arrival is a thick green fog that she materializes into, and then she's suddenly there, looking completely unperturbed, like she just stepped off a lift instead of blinking into existence halfway across the city.

D. WILDCARD

Of course, Merrin is still exploring. She can also be found in the hangar, inspecting all of the ships, including exploring her own assigned ship, the First Breath, at the inn, contemplating her food options and wishing she could eat Greez's steak, in the hotel, staking out an empty room (or not?) to claim, or pretty much anywhere else, seriously. Jedi and anyone who can sense Jedi will also be able to sense her—she feels pretty similar, actually, but definitively more... dark. Or sinister.

Or feel free to use any of her TDM prompts, if those speak to you more.

Comments

[hooliganstatus]

"So it's like air. Breathe it in, breathe it out, someone else breathes it in. Interesting."

She's pleased with the explanation - for now, at least - and nods a little. "If you don't ask questions, the world is just boring. Don't you think?"

[noch]

She inclines her head a little, conceding the point. She would probably amend it to the universe, since that's what she's currently familiarizing herself with, but— "Yes, I would agree."

Pausing, she shifts her weight, her head tipping slightly to the side. "Your name—what is it?"

[hooliganstatus]

"Aeon Flux," she says without hesitation, her gesture mirroring Merrin's. "And yours?"

[noch]

"I am Merrin," she replies easily enough, reaching up to pull her hood down—first from her chin, and then over her hair. It definitely signals that she's starting to relax a little.

"You have been here long?" Here being... this place. Temba.

cw: slight mention of bdsm I guess?

[hooliganstatus]

The disappearance of the hood earns a bright smile from Aeon: it reminds her a little of Sithandra and the way her former partner used to keep her own head covered. For the Monicans, it had been for safety, so no one could grab their hair and use it against them in a fight. Aeon had never bothered – if someone grabbed her hair, she just took a little pleasure in the moment and then kicked their ass for not asking first.

“A pretty name for someone just as pretty,” she said. “But no, I haven’t been here very long at all. Have you touched the little round device by the fountain, the one everyone here calls a datapoint?”

[noch]

Merrin blinks at the compliment, caught slightly off balance. Both because it's been a long time since anyone's tried to compliment her, but also because, on Dathomir, Nightsisters aren't valued for their beauty nearly as much as their strength and power. She wouldn't have expected it.

"Yes," she replies, shifting her weight a little from one foot to the other. "I felt... compelled." And her tone makes it clear that she's not exactly happy about that.

[hooliganstatus]

She doesn't blame her for being unsettled. She's had nanotech in her mind before, but it was always willingly.

"There are a lot of better ways to get people to help you. The fact that these people are in trouble is the only reason I'm not upset." She pauses. "Back home, I fight against people that try to control thought."

[noch]

Unsettled is the right word. Merrin has never had her body or mind controlled before—at least not before this—and the one experience had been enough for her. She doesn't like having her will taken from her—and she has a considerable will.

"Back home," she echoes, her eyebrows knitting. "Where would that be?"

[hooliganstatus]

"A city, the only one left in my world." She looks around the ruins and realizes she sees a lot of similarities to the ruined sectors along the Monican border wall. "It's walled, because the plants outside kill everything they touch ... but it's split into two sections: Monica, where people still have individuality and access to the truth ... and Bregna, where the government has unified everything and revised history so that it makes them look better than they are."

[noch]

They're not any names she recognizes, but what else was she expecting? She knows so little of the galaxy beyond her home planet and nothing about anything that lies beyond even that.

"And which do you live in?" she asks curiously.

[hooliganstatus]

"Monica," Aeon replies with a tiny smile that silently added, did you really think I'd live anywhere else, putting it the way I did?

"Where are you from?"

[noch]

Of course. That earns a small, fleeting smile in return, just a quick quirk of her lips.

"I am from Dathomir. It is not so..." she trails off, trying to decide which adjective she wants to use here, and then continues wryly, "exciting as your home. Though the wildlife is also very hostile." Very hostile. It's like the entire planet is trying to kill you.

[hooliganstatus]

"Hm. And this magic you have keeps you safe from it?"

It's an educated guess, but not a very difficult one. Aeon's enjoying this exchange they're having, the sharing of details about their homes: she's always been curious, and that curiosity extends to everything, not just their current surroundings.