Cat on the Loose!

Nothing.... She couldn't even remember her name.  Whoever she was was falling, but she didn't know where. It wasn't the normal type of falling either, there wasn't a feeling of wind rushing against her body. For all she knew, she could've been falling upwards. Blinded, there was nothing around her except primal shapes and figures that hurt her brain to focus on. She could've been falling for years, or seconds, time was unknown to her. Was this the afterlife? She barely remembered anything from before... Just that she was given a duty. What was that duty? She couldn't focus on it right now, just using her brain hurt here.

Suddenly, after second or milleniums she stopped. And now, she was being.

She was falling again, but now she knew why. The ground was below her, like she had jumped off a skyscraper. Had she blacked out on the Novian tower and was now falling to her death? No, it didn't look so. This place was different, and definitely not as technilogically advanced. There were no airplanes or skyscrapers, but from what she could tell as she fell miles per seconds was that she probably wouldn't survive the fall.

Suddenly, a white shell formed around her, like a see through egg. But what was it for? Bellaria never knew what it was. But wait, what was that name? Bell... Bella.... Bellaria...! Yes, that was her name! Bellaria! She suddenly remembered everything that had happened. Cygnus, the noval girl... The gods! Was this another dimension, or simply an illusion of the afterlife?

It didn't make sense, the falling part was pretty scary, but where were her powers? She didn't have much time to figure it out, considering she was hurdling towards he ground in an egg that probably wouldn't provide much protection.

She was a lot closer to the ground now, probably seconds from death. Now the area of her descent wasn't obscured by clouds or an atmosphere. There were dozens of fields, and what appeared to be skyscrapers! No, wait, they weren't skyscrapers. They were large green plants that stretched towards the sky. They reminded her of the Novian tale of jack and the beanstalk, so was this some fantasy world?

Bellaria.. She could get use to that name, although, she couldn't recall her previous one. It sounded whimsical, in its on sort of way.

Bellaria was prepared to die when she hit the ground, but she never. The egg had surprisingly absorbed the shock, and she was left lying in a smoking crater, Albeit slightly confused.

The day was sunny and the air was crisp; a perfect combination, although Allison adored all weather.  This morning she had been dragged out of bed by Lel Therine, her stern feline companion who refused to tolerate sleeping in late-- despite the fact that the red haired mage had not accepted any jobs that required her to be anywhere this early in the day.  The girl dragged herself out of bed nonetheless and did all of the unimportant things one accomplishes every day, among them her grooming and the consumption of a plate of scorched pancakes: breakfast.

In general Allison wasn’t one to laze around the house all day if it wasn’t required to be out; the young mage had an active personality, and the lack of necessity didn’t normally affect her decisions.  Today however, she had been resolute in her decision to remain in bed for an hour more than her typical time; a choice with a final answer already selected the night before.  But unfortunately, when it came to getting the energetic and easily distracted female to her various destinations on time, Lel Therine was key; and therefore, Allison never attempted to argue with her, despite what could result in a distinct lack of sleep-- although the overall effect on the level of energy she possessed would be nearly nonexistent.

Several minutes later, the red haired girl let the front door to her house fall closed as she stood on the doorstep, a hand raised to her forehead as Allison contemplated the next course of action.  Fortunately, it seemed that Lel had surreptitiously devised a plan so as not to waste time with the usual wandering about that Allison ended up doing during a great deal of her day.  The crimson and rose cat hooked a slip of paper with one foreclaw, ripping it down from... a nearby mission board.  And with that, the two set off on a lovely morning to find a cat the pair had actually retrieved only a little bit ago, as both could recall.

Feline and mage were ambling past a small cluster of winding thick green plants when a small figure dropped sharply and abruptly from the clouds high above, startling the two as they were swiftly forced to dive out of the path of the object.  When the dust cleared a few minutes later, the red haired girl immediately skipped up to what seemed to be another female-- aged around the same as Allison herself.  With a bright beaming smile and a cheerful gaze, the mage extended a hand to the light haired girl sprawled out on the road before her. “Hello!  Are you all right?  My name is Allison-- are you hurt anywhere?  What’s your name?” she greeted, stated, and inquired in a jumble of words.

A new arrival theme:

Bellaria was starting to come to her senses when the dust settled. A beautiful redheaded girl and her cat were approaching her. They didn't seem to have hostile intentions, maybe they just saw her falling and wanted to help. The girl held out her hand and said,

“Hello!  Are you all right?  My name is Allison-- are you hurt anywhere?  What’s your name?”

At least somebody wanted to help her, she'd be a great friend in wherever this was. Bellaria took her hand and stood up, wiping the dust off her short shorts. Smiling to reassure her wellbeing, bellaria said her words with a fake calmness to them, as there was a bunch of information coming at her.

"Yes, i'm fine, not even a scratch! What a lovely name, and um, I believe my name to be Bellaria, although i'm not quite sure."

Bellaria took a quick look around to her surroundings, she appeared to be in a rural farming village. She'd never been on an actual farm, as they were usually in the slums of Nova, but the thought of a brand new world was quite exciting and pretty scary.

"Do you know where you are? It's kind of a long story that I only know parts of."

Allison’s eyes fluttered in a barely imperceptible manner as she took in the information. The bright smile remaining on her face, the red haired mage stated cheerfully, “It’s wonderful to meet you, Bellaria! I’m glad you’re fine-- here, do you want me to heal you?” Stepping closer to the girl, Allison tilted her head to her right side, examining her for a second time. Her expression said that she was currently feeling happy enough, but Allison had a feeling that the other female was a lot more confused than she had let on. After conversing with so many people over the years, the red haired mage was able to see through many acts.

Deciding that she would heal the girl or fix her, both if it came to it, Allison continued to listen as she asked another question. “We’re nearby Beanstalk Village-- it’s a peaceful place, although not overly inhabited~ and of course, don’t worry about explaining if it’s too hard. It’s also perfectly fine, you don’t have to explain if you don’t want to besides. And a lot of people have secrets around here, although most have friends and comrades who support them.” That was the great thing about Fiore-- most people were welcoming and friendly, and joining a guild was a relatively easy process as long as you were willing to converse with strangers without judging them.

“Do you want to come with me for now? I’m not sure where you’ve come from, but right now I’m headed to Beanstalk Village-- are you a mage, by any chance? If so, you could tag along with me on this job that I’m currently on; of course, I’d share the reward!” The red haired mage beamed at the other girl.

Oh, so it turned out Bellaria was mear Beanstalk village, wherever that was. Apparently it was also quite peaceful, so at least she wouldn't have to worry about her safety now. Allison seemed quite nice, she never needed to hear Bellaria's explaination so the girl who fell from the sky was thankful, as she had no idea how to explain the current situation.

“Do you want to come with me for now? I’m not sure where you’ve come from, but right now I’m headed to Beanstalk Village-- are you a mage, by any chance? If so, you could tag along with me on this job that I’m currently on; of course, I’d share the reward!”

Bellaria was delighted! This girl was offering to take her on what she assumed was a quest, something she learned of while playing massive multiplayer online roleplaying games, but now she was living her fantasy! Of course she'd go along, even if there wasn't a reward that Allison was so generous to share. The Nova Girl stopped for a second, was she a mage? She was supposed to have magical powers with the strength of a god, but she could barely feel anything. Maybe the powers needed to war up like an old computer or something.

"Yea, I think i'm a mage, although, my powers are a little low now, but i'm sure they'll be back eventually. I'd love to come along, and you don't have to split the rewards, i'm just thankful to be alive."

What kind of quest would they be doing? Bellaria was not nearly strong enough to venture into any dungeons or vanquish a goblin or go slaying any dragons any time soon. Maybe it would be like one of those tutorials quests where you have to round up chickens or something.

Allison’s expression brightened upon seeing that the girl was quite pleased with her offer. The red haired mage hated to see anyone down or confused, and so she was celebrating internally right now that Bellaria was apparently feeling much better right now. The two females began to walk down the road, continuing in the direction which led to Beanstalk Village. Although she hadn’t yet officially accepted, Allison had witnessed her reaction and assumed that she would want to join the redhead. Only a few moments later after they had set off, however, Bellaria paused in her walking, most likely in reaction to the other questions the friendly red haired girl had asked.

Listening to the brunette’s words, which didn’t seem to be tinged with worry at all, Allison decided to reassure her anyways. “I feel like I was in something like your situation a long time ago. You see, I lost my memories... but if you work hard, even if your magic doesn’t come back completely, you can regain it again and it might be more powerful than before, in another way!” The red haired girl was happy that Bellaria seemed to be convinced that her powers would return, though-- it would make fitting in with people much easier if at least her magic was familiar, since it seemed that the girl wasn’t from around these parts.

And then she formally accepted Allison’s invitation, and the young mage beamed brightly. Bellaria had even said that she would alright with not splitting the reward, but the red haired mage wouldn’t have any of it. “Being alive is nice, but you can be alive and have the reward, too! You being thankful just for surviving the fall-- I mean, that was a rather large one after all-- shows your kind spirit and how much you deserve the reward. It sounds a little bit cheesy perhaps, but you’re taking the reward, even if I have to forcibly get you to take it~” The red haired mage beamed at the other girl. “Besides, it’s not an overly difficult job anyways, just one to start off a day of more dangerous missions. We’re catching a cat which seems to constantly escape from the woman who takes care of him. Lel Therine should help us.”

The girl leaned over and stroked the rose colored feline padding by her side, before she straightened back up again to address Bellaria. “Do you want to know more about where we are? We’re in the country of Fiore, in case you’re not from around here. Beanstalk Village isn’t widely known, so I’m not sure.” Even though she hadn’t recognized their current location, she could have been from another part of the country-- or even from across the border, since Fiore welcomed immigrants from other places.

Berallia began walking side by side with Allison as they walked along a rural path that was unlike anything she'd ever seen before. There was so much dirt, and gras and trees! The grass wasn't even that AstroTurf stuff that gave off headache-inducing fumes when it got warm, it even smelled nice too!

“I feel like I was in something like your situation a long time ago. You see, I lost my memories... but if you work hard, even if your magic doesn’t come back completely, you can regain it again and it might be more powerful than before, in another way!”

Was there a limit to how accepting Allison could get? She was absolutely everything Berallia strived for; kindness, compassion, empathy, she had it all! Maybe Allison was right, and Berallia's powers would slowly return if she worked hard enough. That seemed logical enough, but what was she supposed to do in order to retrieve her supposed powers?

“Being alive is nice, but you can be alive and have the reward, too! You being thankful just for surviving the fall-- I mean, that was a rather large one after all-- shows your kind spirit and how much you deserve the reward. It sounds a little bit cheesy perhaps, but you’re taking the reward, even if I have to forcibly get you to take it~”

Berallia was conflicted. Was hugging appropriate in this land's culture? She thought about going in for a bear hug but decided against it. She just smiled back awkwardly instead, hoping to not have offended her. Berallia really didn't want to seem ungrateful, but she didn't want to make things awkward either.

It did make her think however, was she really that nice? Bellaria never really did bad things or lie, her parents were quite confused by her non rebellious teenage behaviour. No, it was impossible, she didn't really deserve that reward even for surviving that fall. She should be thankful for surviving and being chosen as a Nova Girl when any other's would have killed for her position. Although, if it made Allison happy, she'd surely take some of the reward.

“Besides, it’s not an overly difficult job anyways, just one to start off a day of more dangerous missions. We’re catching a cat which seems to constantly escape from the woman who takes care of him. Lel Therine should help us.”

So instead of a quest, it was called a job. So did that mean she'd be getting XP and a little bar over her head or something that showed her HP and hopefully MP? That would've been awesome if it wasn't for the fact that she was lacking all of the above. Catching a cat sounded like an easy thing to do, provided that it didn't have three heads and spewed fire of course. Damn that cerberus boss that Bellaria was stuck on in Dungeon, Dungeons and more Dungeons©. Did they even have video games in this mystical land?

Her cat was really cute too, what breed was it? Bellaria never knew, maybe they had flying cats or something in really weird colors like blue or pink. Man, Bellaria really wanted a pink cat.

“Do you want to know more about where we are? We’re in the country of Fiore, in case you’re not from around here. Beanstalk Village isn’t widely known, so I’m not sure.”

Berallia stopped for a second, so this place was named Fiore, it seemed fitting. Maybe this girl was like a history expert or something, maybe she'd know something about Nova... But it was completely unlikely, she shouldn't expect so much from everybody.

"Could you possibly explain what fiorre is like? I'm not from around her, and to be honest, i'm kind of scared. I just want to go home even though thats not possible."

It was stupid, why would she try reaching out? She was useless, she was already afraid and acting like a coward.

Allison considered the girl in front of her.  She had asked a question about what Fiore was like... and the red haired mage had been all around the country, so she supposed that her knowledge of it was fairly decent.  Unfortunately, at the same time she had absolutely no idea where to start; and additionally, her geography skills and knowledge were nonexistent, so explaining where they were and how this worked could possibly be a challenge. “I’ve been to many places, but having someone else explain it would be better,” she finally replied, although with more than a bit of reluctance.  After all, the red haired girl didn’t want to simply leave the other mage in such a state of bewilderment about their surroundings... but then again, Allison had no desire to confuse her even more by giving wrong locations or names, which could possibly happen if she attempted to explain about Fiore.  However, having Bellaria be completely frightened by this country would be a terrible idea... it was really the opposite, since Fiore welcomed people from really anywhere. “Don’t be scared, and everything will end up okay.  Fiore is a great place!”  Allison beamed happily at the light brunette, hoping that what she had advised would at least prevent her from completely freaking out.

“We should probably start heading to the village by now, or else it’ll be nightfall by the time we finish this mission!” The red haired girl smiled at the other, reaching out to take her hand carefully.  Hopefully they would be good friends-- Allison wanted Bellaria to feel at home here in Fiore, no matter where she had originated.  Although the mage was aware that the foreigner simply wanted to return to where she had come from, the redhead decided that either way, being welcoming could only be good.  If she ended up leaving Fiore, then at least Bellaria wouldn’t be scared out of her mind the entire time, and might actually have fond memories of the place.  And who knew?  It might be possible for her to return home after all... magic could do wonderous things.  Smiling straight ahead, Allison skipped towards Beanstalk Village, not moving along too rapidly but still continuing at a swift enough pace so that the duo weren’t lagging behind schedule.  After all, Lel Therine had planned a mission for later today-- although the red haired mage was sure that she could postpone it if more time was required to make Bellaria feel comfortable here.  Allison herself wasn't particularly invested in missions any more than anything else-- but the girl put her full energy into everything really, and there was also the client and Lel Therine.  Either could be upset if Allison wasn't present to take the job on time, which was why the girl was slightly hurrying... but she knew that everything would work out in the end, even if she was a bit late.

It was okay if the girl never knew that much about Fiorre, it's not like Bellaria was mad. If she wanted that information badly, then she'd go to a library or something, but did they even have libraries in Fiorre? It was likely, seeing as magic was present, thus arcane texts or whatever and books being present were highly likely.

“We should probably start heading to the village by now, or else it’ll be nightfall by the time we finish this mission!”

Bellaria blushed and nodded, she didn't want the girl to be late for her mission and be deadweight. It was quite embarrassing actually, so when the redhead started skipping ahead, she trailed along behind her. Skipping was never really her thing so she just speed walked and began to work up a sweat. At least she had deoderant on, but did they even have that here? The thought was quite panicking, but if hey had magic then they'd probably have some sort of basic hygiene tools.

After a bit of tiring walking, Bellaria could see a few huts in the distance, maybe that was the village! Although on their way, her breathlessness after that little amount of speed walking reminded her of how out of shape she was, save for P.E classes from her Novisn Highschool.

The corners of the mage’s mouth lifted up into a cheerful smile. “We don’t really have to hurry as much as you’re trying to.  You’re a new mage, or at least you are now even if you weren’t in the past-- since your magic is gone at the moment.  So, just relax!  This isn’t a very difficult job anyways, so we can lag a little bit on the way there... walking in the sun like this can get a little bit tiring!”  Allison beamed at the brunette, still skipping along but at a little bit of a slower pace; however that was possible.  She had noticed that Bellaria seemed to be unused to the long walk, and the red haired girl had decided that it was probably just having to do with her home country.  Perhaps they preferred other methods of travel.  Shrugging to herself, Allison glanced around to realize that they by now, they had arrived at the gates of Beanstalk Village.  She held up the job description poster in response to a village member’s inquiry as to why they wanted to enter the small village; the two female mages were allowed through without any further delay.

“Anyways, her cat gets lost a lot of the time.  Lel Therine and I have been around here many times before in the past... it’s actually a job that I would say is more difficult than many others requiring magic!  You need to be swift but also kind of sneaky, since that feline won’t come out of its hiding place unless he thinks you’re gone.”  The redhead smiled at Bellaria, then took another look at her surroundings.  They would probably do best to either split up at this time, to search for the cat separately; or, they could search together in a more thorough manner.  Allison was under the impression that the other girl might not want to be left alone in this sort of place, so she tugged on Bellaria’s hand and smiled cheerfully. “Where do you think we should search first?  You can choose-- it’ll be good practice for when you have to make decisions during solo missions.”  Normally the red haired mage would have bounded off in some random direction simply because that was her nature, but not many others took that course of action.  It wasn’t the most efficient or intelligent way of doing things anyways.

The village appeared to be very paranoid, as Allison was required to show a poster as verification of some sort, maybe fiorre wasn't as safe as promised.. But that just meant she'd have more chances to help others! She wouldn't worry about it now, considering that she was on a job with her new-found friend.

“Anyways, her cat gets lost a lot of the time.  Lel Therine and I have been around here many times before in the past... it’s actually a job that I would say is more difficult than many others requiring magic!  You need to be swift but also kind of sneaky, since that feline won’t come out of its hiding place unless he thinks you’re gone.”

It sounded like fun, and Bellaria loved cats anyway so she looked forward to helping the poor little thing that was probably hungry and lost. Although she wasn't the best at sneaking around and being deceitfull, she'd find a way to attract the cat. Maybe she'd put milk out and they'd hide behind a bush or something, that sounded like a good idea in theory, although she had no idea if it was practical or not.

A patch of bushes nearby seemed like a good hiding spot, as back in Nova, cats loved hiding in the artificial shrubbery and under cars, although, they probably never had cars in Fiorre so shrubbery was a good choice.

"Hmm, maybe we should go look in those bushes over there, my aunt used to have a cat and it loved the plastic ones."

Bellaria pointed towards a patch of bushes by a large light grey rock that slighly shimmered under the strong sun. She ran over to the bush and awaited Allison's response, as the girl probably knew best about these job things.

Allison beamed in response to the brunette’s reply. “That sounds like a great idea! You even have a reason for it-- I guess most people do. That might sound like a funny thing to point out, but, well... I mean, a lot of the time I trust that I’ll end up where I need to be. So, let’s go check the bushes, since you’ve come up with an intelligent way of going about this mission!” Smiling, the red haired mage skipped towards the bushes, still considering what the other girl had said. The girl herself had never seen plastic bushes before; it must be some sort of thing that was popular in Bellaria’s home country. Once she was within about only a meter, Allison dove headfirst into the small cluster of bushes; and came up beaming quite widely, with leaves in her hair, but not possessing the missing feline.

Popping out of the bushes, the mage tilted her head, blinking at Bellaria thoughtfully. “Should we go search in other bushes? It sounds like a good plan! I’ve never thought of the mission this way before, and I’ve done it at least a couple times before. Lel probably goes about finding the cat in something like the same way you do, searching for spots that they like to hang around... she’s the only reason I usually succeed at this.” Laughing, Allison scanned the area for any other areas that seemed to be a place the ornery feline would like to hide from the mages. She eventually began to wander in the direction of a vegetable garden; cats might not have been a fan of carrots and lettuce, but perhaps the animal had decided to take a nap in the sun. The area the garden was located happened to be one of the sunniest spots here in Beanstalk Village.

“That sounds like a great idea! You even have a reason for it-- I guess most people do. That might sound like a funny thing to point out, but, well... I mean, a lot of the time I trust that I’ll end up where I need to be. So, let’s go check the bushes, since you’ve come up with an intelligent way of going about this mission!”

Bellaria blushed and looked down at her feet, she tried thanking her but the words wouldn't come out. Most of the time people ignored her suggestions as she was 'merely a child', but now, she felt like she was actually pulling her own weight. Maybe it was some sort of fiorrean spirit that was making her feel this way, maybe this place has more liberal ideas.

The light brunette couldn't help but smile when the redhead skipped forward and dove headfirst into the bush. It was that for she longed, that confidence and energy that always eluded her grasp. Whenever she tried reached out, she always made mistakes and a fool of herself, even though she was told mistakes were how you learn, what she learned was that she was a better background character. Maybe it was that cheeriness she desired, or maybe the self confidence, but it didn't matter what she desired, as she would always lack it.

“Should we go search in other bushes? It sounds like a good plan! I’ve never thought of the mission this way before, and I’ve done it at least a couple times before. Lel probably goes about finding the cat in something like the same way you do, searching for spots that they like to hang around... she’s the only reason I usually succeed at this.”

Bellaria nodded meekly and whispered a quiet thank you. She would have never guessed that her knowledge would be useful, maybe this was what it felt like to be useful. Thinking back once more to get that feeling again. She remembered how her cat would usually find a way out onto the 67th story high balcony and take a dangerous nap on the railing just to get a bit of sun. She understood the desire for warmth and how it could be comofrting but not why her stubborn old cat wouldn't just curl up by the heater was beyond her knowledge.

"Would you happen to know any sunny spots? My cat risked his life basically every day just to get a bit of sun, so if the naughty little thing isn't in a bush. It would probably be out in the sun!"

This was it, a feeling of adrenaline overtook her at the breathtaking chemical raced through her system. Was this how it felt to be confident? It wasn't that she never believed in herself, as she was told any wish was possible if one tried enough, but that she lacked the resolve to put herself in such a vulnerable social position.