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Steel Sky (Adelle/Mind Flayer)


The grass was not particularly special, feeling as most softer vegetation did to the touch. The tree was equally unspecial, but it was probably something to feel the fairly thin bark of a living leaf tree for the first time. Just to make it a bit more interesting, a leaf tumbled down from below, landing on Adelle's head as she felt the tree up. Maybe the tree was not approving of her wanton touching, or maybe it was just the thing that leaves do fall off trees sooner or later. Rose too was visibly interested in what she was seeing, but did not get all touchy with the material.

There was no real clear road to take, but there seemed to be some obviously traveled trails going around the place. Whether they were human or animal trails was not clear, but they were there to make traversing the forest on a bike possible for at least a little while. Some distance in, the trees started to get bigger and more densely packed together, which would necessitate some real slow driving unless one wanted to hit a tree or get bumped by the roots or smaller plant life. The silence from before never turned into anything else, so the sound of the motorcycle and the tiny sounds of leaves moving in the weak wind being the only things the girls heard in the next half an hour or so.

They eventually did stumble across a small stream going through the forest, which was a fairly good source of water if one wanted it to be that. It was not too deep, probably up to Adelle's knees in their current position. There was also a small cave entrance on a rock formation nearby, the things inside keeping quiet if there even were any of them.

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Adelle smiled softly as she felt the grass and trees, the rough feeling of the bark completely alien to her. She giggled softly too when the leaf drifted and fluttered down onto her head, and reached up to pluck it off her head to let it drift to the ground before moving on with Rose. After finding the trees were getting more dense, and she soon just turned the engine off next to the stream they found. "Let's set up the hut here I say. Don't want to get my bike stuck in here or anything after all. And we'll have some fresh water to freshen up in and stuff later," Adelle replied with a smile as she got the portable cottage out and set it down on a nice leveled spot next to the stream before stepping back quickly and waiting for it to do its job and sprout up.

After that she'd lock her bike down and put the key up in her backpack for the time being, and set their things down inside the cottage. Once she'd gotten their things all inside the cottage, Adelle would step back out and stretch before looking around to see if she could spot any of the flowers nearby that Rizzet needed nearby while stepping down to the stream and splashing some fresh cool water in her face. "Well, which way you think we might find those flowers hon? Probably deeper in the forest if I had to guess. But we could take a look around this area first just in case. And I wouldn't mind checking out that cave too," Adelle asked Rose after splashing the water in her face.
 
There was spot near the cave that had enough space in a random clearing, so setting up the house was possible. Putting the cube down and activating it was easy enough, and the thing gave the two enough time to clear out of the way before it expanded, turning into a neat little cottage within seconds once the growth started. Inside, it was really homely. One wall had a hearth, already lit and providing warmth to the house, the small kitchen being next to that with basic items needed to make food hanging on the wall over the actual work area and actual basic food supplies like spices and flour in a small cupboard on the side. On the opposite corner was a two-person bed set up with a more rustic style as the blankets were made from tanned animal furs, maybe from deer or moose by the looks of it. There was also a relatively small round table with three chairs around it to complete the setup, some free space remaining near the door for bags and whatever else one might use floor space for.

There were indeed some flowers to be seen in the area near them, but they were not the ones the pair were looking for, instead being white and yellow flowers called "daisies". "I'd imagine the deeper forest to... be a place for more flowers. But the cave might not... just be a cave, there might be something there."
 
Adelle's jaw dropped as she watched the cube thing grow into a full fledged little cottage, having doubted it would actually work to be perfectly honest. After getting their things put away inside, Adelle would move around outside and look for the flowers, but the only ones she could find weren't them. "Hmm... well I mean it's too late in the afternoon now to really try and head back home anyway. So no problem with a little exploration I think. I mean how often is it even possible to see greenery like this after all. I say let's check out the cave. But if you think it might not be overly safe, then we can avoid it for now and just head deeper into the forest. I'm okay with either really. Though... we should probably try and find the flowers quickly," Adelle replied softly as she looked around some more for the flowers,
 
Even with the additional looking around, the pair did not really find what they were looking for, only more daisies for the most part, but there were some small-flowered ones around too, purple things that were most likely the "fireweed" plant. A single "water lily" flower could also be spotted drifting down their shallow stream, probably coming from farther up the stream and a bigger body of water that was hidden somewhere an unknown distance away from them.

"The house is good but... maybe it's better if we do check that cave out. Who knows... what could be down there and... when it might come up from there to bother us. It'd be... nice if that did not happen at night since... sleep is good."
 
"Hmm... doesn't seem to be any of them around here unfortunately from the looks of it. Guess we will have to go further afield to find them. And yeah there could be something down there that could come out at night. So come on, let's check it out while we've got the chance, and daylight on our side," Adelle replied with a nod of agreement as she led the way in with her assault rifle, shining her flashlight around to scout the place out some so she and Rose could spot anything that may be inside, and also keeping an eye near the floor to see if the flowers were down there.
 
The cave went in a little bit, taking a slight dip downwards as soon as they moved in, but it was mostly straight path going on. After about two minutes of progress down the dark cave path, the light in Adelle's hands hit upon a manmade object. It was a gate type obstacle that was made from a wood frame that mostly covered the path onward, only a slight parts on the top and sides being open as it was not perfectly built with rounded parts to cover the entire path. But it was not there to completely block them off as there was a basic door build into the thing, and it did not appear to be locked or not even even closed as they saw the slight gap between the door and the frame.
 
As the two crept their way down the cavern path, Adelle's eyes went a bit wide when they came to the gate of sorts built inside, and she couldn't help but feel more than a bit surprised as she stared at the thing. "What the... hell? Someone's been here, clearly," Adelle muttered to Rose, easing her way through the gate slowly with her gun raised, shining the flashlight around deeper down the path, curious who could be here like this and whatnot.
 
The area beyond the barricade was more wide-open than the corridor, and appeared to have been inhabited once upon a time, if in fairly spartan conditions. The main area right after the door was only barely furnished with a small table and two chairs, a food processing area with some probably ancient remains of vegetables still on it and some small animal bones in a box on the floor. There was also an old bed frame there, but it had no mattress, just some old canvas sheets that made up the bottom and nothing else really. Everything was covered in a thick layer of dust, signifying the age all of these things had spent untouched and unmoving in this relatively dry cave.

But it did not appear to be completely dry. There was another opening to a second cave area on the opposite side of their current location at the door, a natural extension to the first one. The sound of running water could be heard from that side of this strange cave home, and more importantly a faint glow of light was also visible from behind the corner in that second area.
 
"W-Whoa... there's bones in here. A-Animal bones from the looks of it," Adelle muttered softly as she and Rose walked onward, looking a bit unsure about the entire cave, "H-Hey Rose... I think someone's back there," she whispered when spotting the light from around the corner after hearing the water flowing, starting towards the lighted area and wondering if they'd spot anyone in there.
 
The cave too was deathly silent, and the girl's own footsteps were the only sound to accompany the constant splish-splosh of the running water that was coming from the other room. The quiet persisted too as they went to see the other room, no surprise rape monsters jumping them from above or whatever as they cleared the perimeter.

The second room was smaller than the first, an underground stream taking the other half of the area while the other was just plain cave. Behind the corner from their entry, they could spot the source of the light, which was a faintly glowing crystal on the floor. Next to the crystal tho, was a more interesting thing to spot. On a small, slightly elevated spot near the wall was a person, an oddly dressed one to be sure. They were wearing extra-baggy pants of fairly rich purple randomly decorated with symbols of likely Japanese or Chinese origin. Their boots and shirt were more common, being simple brown leather and a white button shirt with partially cut or worn-out sleeves respectively. The clothing did not really tell much as to their gender, the slim upper body figure and the fact that they were just sitting there with their legs pulled close and forehead resting against their knees was not helping much either. But there was something to take a hint from, namely the extra-long, massive bush of hair that went all the way down to the floor and gathered in a pile. It was somewhat split into sections from each other as small bunches were gathered with ribbons near the tips, forming what could be described as multiple ponytails. And the ponytails all started from a single, larger ribbon of the same coloration that was on the top of her(?) hair. The dust was present on this person too, an equally thick layer having piled up on them as there was in the other room, yet there were no signs of death. No decay or whatever, but the dust was pretty indicative that they had not moved in a long, long time. And them being there did not seem to cause any reaction in this stranger, their actually open eyes firmly fixed to the ground underneath.
 
Adelle was just as deathly silent as the cave around her, and as she and Rose kept going towards the other room, the busty huntress saw the crystal on the floor just before spotting the person with the huge mess of hair. "W-Who... are you? I'm Adelle," Adelle asked the person as she stepped into the room, still cautious after spotting the person, but lowering her gun to present a more gentle demeanor hopefully as she stepped towards the person and knelt in front of them, but far enough back so that they couldn't just lash out at her hopefully.

Then she noticed the thick layer of dust on the person and gulped as she glanced back to Rose, wondering if she had any input here before Adelle reached out to gently touch the tussle of hair strewn all over the place.
 
The words seemed to have little reaction in this one, and for a moment it was understandable to consider that they might be dead and somehow perfectly preserved in their odd chosen pose of death. Rose seemed to have nothing to say about it, keeping to herself but nonetheless observing from just behind Adelle. She was probably ready to pounce if the situation called for it.

The touching however, did do something to the situation. As she felt the hair, Adelle got a little spook as the person suddenly coughed repeatedly, stirring up a cloud of dust with the sudden movement. It took a tense moment more, but then they actually talked, and the voice at least was a feminine one. "...so... I guess... we did not go extinct... if you are here... what do you... want..." she would say, the words getting followed by another storm of dry coughing that stirred more dust. Yet, they did not move more than turning their head towards the two visitors, a set of reddish-brown eyes looking up at them from their resting spot at her knees.
 
Adelle gulped softly as the person didn't flinch at her words, and when she reached out to gently touch the person's hair, a woman's she thought if the more lithe body was any indication, Adelle gasped when her thoughts of it being a woman rang true as she spoke to Adelle. "W-Whoa there... take it easy. Here... drink this, it's water," Adelle said gently to the girl, pulling up her water canteen and offering the girl a drink for her likely incredibly dry throat. "H-How are you still alive? There's no signs of any... w-well, means of preservation," she asked while the girl drank, with Adelle letting her drink all in the canteen if she desired, since she likely needed it.
 
The girl would look at the bottle for a moment, but did not seem to mind it as she broke up from her position, lifting her head and upper body straight while letting the legs extend as well. It was an incredibly slow process though, and the expression shifts on her face told that it was not an entirely painless one either, the long time spent in the same pose now starting to catch up on their body. But once the bottle was there to go, oh did it get chugged in a hurry. Doing all the water in one go, the girl kinda off-handedly threw the bottle a little distance away, though she did mumble an apology as she realized that she had thrown another's possessions around like it was her own. "How am I still alive... well there is a long story to my equally long life..." she would not really explain it much, reaching to her right, where the two had not been looking and lifting a fairly unremarkable yet still old-looking shovel that she then propped up on her shoulder. "I guess I was wrong in my assumption... that I'd get out from here and give the human race it's symbolic burial when I did... We are still apparently here by the looks of it."
 
"It's alright hon. Just... take it easy okay. There's no rush really," Adelle told the girl gently as she grabbed her canteen and strapped it back to her belt where it'd been before, where she sat down next to the girl to listen as the girl spoke.

Adelle was polite, and didn't interrupt the girl as she sat there, though when she finished speaking, Adelle nodded gently and smiled. "Aye we humans are still alive. Quite a few of us in fact actually. I'd imagine that comes as a bit of a shock to you though. I'm Adelle by the way, and this is my good friend Rose. I won't lie though... humanity's had some rough times. But we did survive. The world's changed, and not for the better. But... this forest that this cave is in, is a sign of hope though, hope that our homeworld may be beautiful once again someday," Adelle told the girl softly, looking like she truly believed what she'd said very much.
 
"I remember... when I heard the sound of the bombs back then... I thought that would be the end for us... for you... and I'd still be here to go on like I used to... and for a good while I thought it was the case since there was no human sounds to be heard outside... for such a long time." she would comment on the brief explanation about the state of the world in it's current time. She would proceed to shift her feet and start to get up with the aid of the shovel to lean on, again doing it all in a rather slow timeframe as the pains probably kept on breaking any spirited attempts of hers.

But eventually she was up, and did not really look that impressive at all. This girl was comparable to Rachaela or Mariela in size, probably just barely breaking the five foot mark in height. The pants she wore were fairly boyish in their baggy volume, the shirt and the lithe figure did not make it much different, but all the ribbons and the knee-length white hair told another story. These things were fairly dusty still, but that could probably be fixed sooner than later. "My given name is Hotaru, of the Fujiwara clan. Or at least I used to be, I'm not sure if they even exist anymore as an entity of some import. That would make my full name Fujiwara No Hotaru, if the old style were to be used." she would introduce herself, her apparent Japanese origin coming forward at that time. She would once more shoulder her shovel after it had finished it's job as a support, and would simply stick her other hand in a pants pocket afterwards.
 
"I see... well... I can't say that I've heard of the Fujiwara clan, but if anyone would know, or be able to know, it'd probably be one of my friends back in the city we came from. Either way though Hotaru, it's a pleasure to meet you," Adelle replied softly after the girl had finished her stories, offering a hand to shake Hotaru's. "We're actually here on a job funnily enough. We're looking for this flower for an old wizard named Rizzet. He called it a... Lycoris flower, a red one, They're apparently pretty rare from what he told us. You know of any Lycoris flower around these parts? He also wanted us to see if the forests had begun to regrow too. And if you'd like, you can stay in our cottage just outside of here. There's room enough for all three of us I think," she went on to say after a few moments, knowing that Hotaru likely needed something to eat pretty badly, and more than willing to offer her something because of how kind she was, likely too much for her own good according to some, but she was who she was, and she always felt that good things happened to good people.
 
"If you were Japanese, I'd question your level of common knowledge... but we are not, so I can't fault you for that." the girl would look at Adelle with a slightly questioning look. Instead of going for a handshake, she would simply bow with her upper body like the Japanese usually did in their dealings. The mention of the flower caused another funny look from her, and she would actually explain the reason for this. "Well now... if that is not a somewhat ominous sign. In the Japanese beliefs of old, the red lycoris or the red spider lily is something of a sign for death. The portrayals of the mythological Sanzu no Kawa, or the River of Death as you westerners call it in your belief systems, in the old books and paintings usually have the banks of the river lined with these flowers. So I am not entirely sure what to make of this."

Despite the information strike, Hotaru was not one to know about the flowers being around, and made this known as the now trio went off to leave the rather gloomy cave behind. Adelle's hunch about their new friend likely needing to eat was proven correct as they reached the surface, a spectacular growl coming from the girl's stomach as she doubled over, probably from getting a particularly harsh hunger pang. "Owwww... this is what I get for not eating in a while... I guess... not that I'll die but.... this old body still needs to be fed to maintain function..."
 
"Well I'm not Japanese. I do know a girl that is though... or maybe she's Chinese... I'm not entirely sure honestly which she is," Adelle replied before acknowledging the bow with one of her own. "And I see... I didn't know that. All I know is mister Rizzet asked us to get him some of those for magical purposes, and he assured me that they wouldn't be for deathly purposes too, that he doesn't have any desire to kill anyone. And... that old body? Hon you don't look old in the slightest. Not to me anyway," she added with a smile as she gently slipped an arm around the Japanese girl to give her some support as they left the cave, where led her out to the cottage with Rose, where she'd proceed to cook up something quickly for them all to eat, making enough for Hotaru to get filled up nicely while she and Rose got settled in for a potential several day foray here.
 
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