Eri Soluce
Gardenia
Plip, plip, plip, rain fell steadily from the sky to plummet to the earth and coat everything with a fine sheen of water. Eri was no exception to that fact. With a soft groan, her eyelids fluttered open and her pupils contracted to adjust with the dark surroundings and bright lights invading her sight. Her head was tilted to the side, and the rain itself ran off the rim of her fedora. Blinking a few more times, Eri let out a small hiss of breath at the pain throbbing in the back of her mind. Her eyes trailed down a bit to focus on the darkness that surrounded her.
She could recall the faintest traces of déjà vu, and had the sinking feeling that she had fallen, but the question was why she hadn’t been crushed because of it. The feeling in her left hand suddenly registered to her brain, and again she shifted her view to gaze upon that hand. Black smoke curled through her fingers and around her palm, and that was when she groggily was reminded of her ‘specialty’ with shadows. They had apparently jumped up and cushioned her fall- and they did a fairly good job of it, too.
Her body convulsed with another shiver, and she shifted her dripping arms to wrap around herself in a futile instinct to cover herself for warmth. Of course, it only made it worse, as part of her was dry, and the other wet, and mixing them didn’t exactly bode well.
As she moved, the shadows dissipated and she fell the last few inches to the ground with a thump and a complaining groan in response. Thunder rolled loudly overhead, but Eri paid little mind to it, suddenly aware of some object in the pocket of her dress pressing a little painfully into her side.
Blankly she slipped her hand into it and pulled out a small wooden box and immediately opened the lid. A soft tune clicked into action and rang softly through the area around her, and another dull throb of a different sort began in the back of her mind. However, just as suddenly as she had opened it, Eri flicked the lid shut, and her hand rose to her throat. Her fingers brushed up the skin until they stopped at a mark she somehow knew was there.
Information began to stir in her brain, but it was slow until she leaned forward and gazed into a small puddle of rain water that reflected her image. Once she saw the mark of the bishop, the knowledge hit her immediately and without pause. ’Chess.’ She stopped the information from flowing for a moment to wrap her head around that one, and she had to let out a laugh. “I don’t even know how to play chess.” She grinned laughingly to herself at the fact she'd been chosen anyway, and then the thunder rolled again.
Eri looked over herself for a moment, making sure that all was well with her form, and then opened the leather bag at her thigh to place the music box in- a perfect fit, it seemed. At least she knew why she was here, and of the knowledge pertaining to her new role. But for now, she could care less about this game of chess, and more about her current state.
Getting up from the ground, Eri wiped the dirt from her dress and stuffed her hands into her pockets, a mild grin written on her lips as she began walking in quest of a store. The rain continued to pool off of her beloved hat as she wandered, and winds kicked up occasionally. On one spurt of air, she lifted her hand to hold her fedora down onto her head for fear it would fly away. She couldn’t let that happen, she really liked this fedora- it was like a part of her.
Her eyes suddenly locked on one of the stores, and her form stopped at the door. She tried the knob with a content look, and found it to be naïvely unlocked. “Oops.” She muttered with a wry grin, speaking for the shopkeeper’s mistake as she walked into the room. Her eyes scanned the shelves quickly before picking out what she sought. Striding over to the object, she plucked it off its rack and slipped her arms through the long sleeves and fastened three or four of the top buttons into their holes to protect her chest. After having finished that, she realigned the collar to fit more securely around her neck, and then started towards the door once more.
If she had the key, she would have locked the shop for the person who owned it, but seeing as she was short of such an item, she just shrugged and stepped back into the rain, relishing the newfound warmth and protection the long trench coat offered. She figured that one little coat missing wouldn’t screw over the economy of Gardenia, so she had pretty much no remorse.
However, while she was dwelling on the covering, a strong gust of wind suddenly kicked up and knocked the fedora from her head to carry it away. A look of comical despair filled her facials as she reached out for her precious hat, as if that was going to help. “My… hat….” Her lips trembled as if she were going to cry, but she then grinned faintly, showing that she was being overly dramatic for a small laugh.
And then, without another second to waste, Eri sprang into action, quickly sprinting after the object. Her feet continuously landed in water puddles, sending large splatters of water flying in every direction. ’At least the rain isn’t falling against me.’ She mused for a small moment before rounding a corner.
Tensed, the girl came to a splashing halt, having lost sight of her hat. Her eyes flickered around quickly until she caught the matching movement. ’Why does the wind have to be so mad?’ She groaned in dismay at how fast paced the item moved, and then started up again in pursuit.
However, after passing a rise in the streets, she saw the hat teasingly pause before sliding away from her and becoming airborne once again. Eri was definitely gaining on it, and another round of thunder rumbled through the heavens.
The hat was buffeted further by the wind before suddenly smacking into the back of a man (Kael Skye). Being pushed by the wind, it remained there for a few seconds- enough time for Eri to close the distance to only a handful of feet- before the wind pushed it upwards, forcing it to tumble over a few times and then slip right above his head.
Putting on a last burst of speed, she finished off the distance, and, leaping up, she outstretched her hand, her fingers closing around the rim of the hat right as it was departing from the man’s head. “Gotch-“, the bishop didn’t get the chance to finish her statement as she suddenly realized she was on an immediate collision course with the guy inches in front of her.
The force of her momentum hitting the lesser speed of the hat-stopping man caused them both to go crashing to the ground. Eri’s left hand was situated a few inches from his face, propping her up slightly, while her right hand clutched the fedora a small ways off the ground. The shadows had once more pushed up around her left hand so she wouldn’t injure her wrist from the impact.
However much her form was raised was quickly eradicated as she collapsed fully from the strain of holding herself up so awkwardly; however, the distance was hardly far at all, but the guy probably would have still felt the shift of her weight pretty easily. A sheepish look scrawled across her lips as she gazed down at the guy she had landed on.
“Uh, hi.”