Post 'Rebirth In Flames' (Locked from Lenore)

[rekindletheflame]

[1]

[Following the aftermath of Kazan's resurrection, a somewhat familiar white haired girl has been kidnapped returned to Sakihama. She doesn't look particularly happy to be back though. Rather, she seems to be treating this as a bit of a chore. Her attempts to escape or run away earlier were thwarted thanks to the constant escorts that were with her. With how she's tapping her finger against her arms she definitely seems eager to get away.

Now that she was here though it is finally your chance to ask her what happened...or confront her about...other...things.]



[2]

[With her escape attempts completely ruined Astara has somehow managed to convince you to escort her around the city in search of the mysterious Kijin that she encountered earlier. Unfortunately thanks to Astara's amazing Kijin navigational skills the whole day was wasted and now she is sitting on a bench in a quiet park, staring out into space.]

...maybe I should have taken her seriously.

She isn't a normal Kijin...

Comments

2

[herodrawing]

There, there.

[A friendly pat. Izuru is on Kijin-guarding duty today.]

[rekindletheflame]

[And Astara looks up at the bunny, the look on her face clearly showing that she was not enjoying this.]

...why did you even agree to come with me? I figured you out of all people wouldn't want to...

[herodrawing]

I can't really sortie in Red Five just yet, so...

Actually, I was hoping you'd tell me what happened too.

[rekindletheflame]

I'm sure the others told you, didn't they? I don't think they'd lie to you about what happened.

[herodrawing]

I know. But... there were no other options. Someone had to do it.

[Izuru doesn't sound happy to admit it though.]

But I heard something else from others too. You used Invicta's power, right? What happened?

Please tell me.

[majestic_keiki]

So...How have things been with you and the other Kijin on Earth since last we met?

[rekindletheflame]

...are you sure that's the first thing you want to ask me?

[majestic_keiki]

We haven't seen each other for ages and I'm not some kind of interrogator.

[rekindletheflame]

...I'm sorry...I just didn't think you'd want to make small conversation...I didn't even think that I'd be welcomed here.

[majestic_keiki]

I know why you did what you did back then...You saved us all from having to do it ourselves or hesitating for too long and having to do it all over.

1

[spearpunch]

Ah... hey there...

[Oh hey Astara. Here's one of the other people who'd been there when you shot Seta.]

It's been a really long time...

[rekindletheflame]

[And this was exactly why she didn't want to come back here.]

...yeah...it has.

[This was just way too awkward.]

[spearpunch]

[Time to maybe lighten the mood, Hibiki style!]

It's still really good to see you though! You saved a bunch of people out there after all!

[Maybe she just took so long getting back because she got lost. Kijin were bad at that, right?]

[rekindletheflame]

To be perfectly honest I wasn't planning on coming back...I didn't think anyone here would have wanted me back.

[spearpunch]

But that's not true!

[Hibiki being Hibiki, she grabs at Astara's hands, holding them tight.]

You... you're still a good person! You wouldn't have come back when we needed you if you weren't!

And with Seta...

[Her voice trails off, her reassuring smile fading before she squeezes even tighter.]

The Kijin Emperor put us in a bad spot... but Seta would've understood if any of us had done what you did.

[And if Seta would've understood, then Hibiki was going to respect that, even if it still hurt in the end.]

1)

[mistaken_for_monster]

[Volya was... not exactly the most pleased of people really. He's had a while to get over it but the stuff that happened poked him pretty hard in a sore spot and he is still a kid despite how much he's been through. He isn't sure what to say to Astara though aside from giving her an unhappy look.]



[Interitus on the other hand was still hanging onto Astara tightly. She looked partly annoyed, partly sad and partly petulant given how her cheeks were puffed up in not-happy.]

"No run away."

[rekindletheflame]

[Astara stands uncomfortably in the hands of the plant girl. Volya's constant unhappy stare at her wasn't helping either. She returns the look but it doesn't seem like she was in any hurry to explain everything. Especially those familiar handguns holstered on her belt.]

[mistaken_for_monster]

...So... you've got the Kijin Emperor's powers... you've got Seta's guns. There's copies of Seta's craft and the firebird out there came back and you knew about it....

I just... what's going on. What's happening? I thought what happened just meant everything bad with the Kijin would stop.

[rekindletheflame]

...just because we killed the Tyrant doesn't mean that Kijin who detest humans will stop existing. A lot of them are still hiding here. They got here when the realms were merged temporarily...I've been dealing with them by myself, so that all of you didn't have to get involved with all of this again...

I...don't know why those copies appeared or why that girl showed up to steal Kazan for me. All I knew when I came here was that Kazan was close to reviving...and I only learned that he could do that recently.

[That still doesn't explain the guns or more importantly the abilities she shared with Invicta.]

[mistaken_for_monster]

[Volya sighs and just facepalms miserably.]

Yeah... yeah I guess I should've known better. That's just great.

...What about the powers... and her guns? Why are you even using them?

1

[cloningblues]

Are you okay now, Astara? I've seen when that other Kijin ran you through with a sword.

[rekindletheflame]

...I'm fine, I've been through worse...something like that now is just sort of like stubbing a toe.

[cloningblues]

Kijin toughness in action, huh...

[Asagi gets quiet for a moment. This is awkward.]

So. About things that happened in the meantime.

[rekindletheflame]

I've...just been keeping myself busy.

[Really, really awkward.]

[cloningblues]

...

Did you talk to Izuru yet?