Post by Bailey Oleander on Jul 21, 2018 18:37:14 GMT -8
Aurora was growing. Everywhere she looked, there were signs of it. The hundreds of people that now filled what was once a devastated village – something that felt like it had only been days ago. The merchants selling wares, the homes and academy, even the qi crystal wall that now glowed and shimmered with the light of the early morning sun. Not to mention the fact that her partner (ex partner? Companion? Leader? What was he now?) was now more than an Elder: he was officially a King.
It made her chest feel tight, like there were iron bands wrapped around it, or maybe that was just her stomach retaliating again. Ever since she’d woken up, the idea of food just made her want to throw up, and nothing settled the restless that grew inside of her. Ironic how they had recently finished construction for those who wanted to come into the city, and all she wanted right then was to get out. She slid into her shoes and left hut in near silence, inhaling deeply once she was outside and regretting it as food wafted through the air. Particularly spiced food.
After barely making it to the bathroom in time and cleaning up, Bailey made her way out of the village, greeting new faces with a polite smile and a nod or wave. There were plenty out now already, the faces she recognized now few and far between. The more people she ran into, the less enthusiastic her greeting felt, until she was biting back on the frustration that she couldn’t even take a simple walk in peace.
At least the world outside the walls was quiet and still, though she didn’t stray too far from it. It was safer with the patrols, but what she wanted was the sense of peace she used to be able to find in things. Like the field where she had Mathew had sparred, though she had gone far away from that particular area. Just...somewhere.
Maybe that was the problem. If she looked behind her, she could see progress, but what was she doing? Bailey had decided to free Loki and see what could be done to question or otherwise contain the chaos that she had inherited, and here she was, doing what felt like nothing. Even now, it felt like it would be so easy to go back to Cabal, find whatever version of Leon was trailing her, and ask for the collar so they could move forward. So she could be rid of it. But something still held her back.
"Leon. If Bailey is going to become one of my people then her well-being is my responsibility. Not yours."
The thought came in a moment of silence that pulled Bailey away from her thoughts enough to blink, no longer gazing out at the horizon. The fight had been...unpleasant, enough to make her chest hurt when she thought about it. Not to mention the little flutter that made her feel like a fool that went with it. How was she not failing him again, or anyone else in this city by just stalling? And if that was the case, why wasn’t she using the resources they already had?
“Idiot,” she mumbled. Sighing, Bailey rubbed at the uncovered part of her face with a hand, then activated her PT to look over the last scan she had done. There had been qi anomalies, and there were signs of energy coming from the exoskeleton that had grown over when something went wrong. She could hazard a guess or two at what caused it, but the point remained that that wasn’t what she expected with the regeneration - even if she did appreciate having her actual face back.
After looking over the results she’d gotten from her last scan, Bailey would scan herself again to see if there were any differences, focusing on the anomalies and the exoskeleton first.
It made her chest feel tight, like there were iron bands wrapped around it, or maybe that was just her stomach retaliating again. Ever since she’d woken up, the idea of food just made her want to throw up, and nothing settled the restless that grew inside of her. Ironic how they had recently finished construction for those who wanted to come into the city, and all she wanted right then was to get out. She slid into her shoes and left hut in near silence, inhaling deeply once she was outside and regretting it as food wafted through the air. Particularly spiced food.
After barely making it to the bathroom in time and cleaning up, Bailey made her way out of the village, greeting new faces with a polite smile and a nod or wave. There were plenty out now already, the faces she recognized now few and far between. The more people she ran into, the less enthusiastic her greeting felt, until she was biting back on the frustration that she couldn’t even take a simple walk in peace.
At least the world outside the walls was quiet and still, though she didn’t stray too far from it. It was safer with the patrols, but what she wanted was the sense of peace she used to be able to find in things. Like the field where she had Mathew had sparred, though she had gone far away from that particular area. Just...somewhere.
Maybe that was the problem. If she looked behind her, she could see progress, but what was she doing? Bailey had decided to free Loki and see what could be done to question or otherwise contain the chaos that she had inherited, and here she was, doing what felt like nothing. Even now, it felt like it would be so easy to go back to Cabal, find whatever version of Leon was trailing her, and ask for the collar so they could move forward. So she could be rid of it. But something still held her back.
"Leon. If Bailey is going to become one of my people then her well-being is my responsibility. Not yours."
The thought came in a moment of silence that pulled Bailey away from her thoughts enough to blink, no longer gazing out at the horizon. The fight had been...unpleasant, enough to make her chest hurt when she thought about it. Not to mention the little flutter that made her feel like a fool that went with it. How was she not failing him again, or anyone else in this city by just stalling? And if that was the case, why wasn’t she using the resources they already had?
“Idiot,” she mumbled. Sighing, Bailey rubbed at the uncovered part of her face with a hand, then activated her PT to look over the last scan she had done. There had been qi anomalies, and there were signs of energy coming from the exoskeleton that had grown over when something went wrong. She could hazard a guess or two at what caused it, but the point remained that that wasn’t what she expected with the regeneration - even if she did appreciate having her actual face back.
After looking over the results she’d gotten from her last scan, Bailey would scan herself again to see if there were any differences, focusing on the anomalies and the exoskeleton first.