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[10552trees]

A small, brightly colored whirlwind bursts in the door, following an uneven trajectory toward the far side of the bar, and, unusually for a whirlwind, shouting: "You can't catch me!"

Then it stops, suddenly enough to be a traffic hazard.

"This is a storage room," says Ikki, wrinkling her face. "Why is it bigger all of a sudden? Who moved the windows? What's that?"

"Who are you?"

Comments

[lifeisacatch]

"'What are you?' might be a better question, but the others are much more likely to be answered, all told."

An older woman in remarkably good shape smiles from her position in a rocking chair near the fire.

Her leather armor creaks with every movement.

"And perhaps slow down the asking, next time. An old woman's ears can only keep up with so much."

Good thing there are no old women here.

[10552trees]

Ikki gives her a critical look, but respect for the woman's old age...

Lasts...

A few seconds...

"You're spiky. Why is your hair all pointy? Do you have to hold it up with waterbending? I think some people do that with their hair to hold it up."

[lifeisacatch]

"Hah! Why waste magic when reality -- and a bit of judiciously-applied bear or deer or goose grease -- works well enough! Though I suppose there is the smell . . . "

Even those at death's door sometimes like to complain about every little thing.

"Pity, that. It makes even a full stomach growl a little."

[10552trees]

"Magic isn't real." Ikki is unimpressed with this stranger's grasp on reality. "How come you have spikes on your face? It looks like armor. But if you were wearing it for armor and somebody attacked you it would only protect the very top of your forehead." She tilts hers. "And part of your cheeks. I don't think that would help. Why are you in the storage room?"

[lifeisacatch]

"Why, I sit here waiting for little children to enter so that I may eat them."

Of course this is blatantly false. Flemeth does not eat children.

She just takes them away to her cabin in the swamp and raises them as her children!

Eating is for the men she might consider taking to her bed.

Anyway.

"Though by those lights it is you who are trespassing here. As are we all, really. Funny how that works."

[10552trees]

"That's creeeeepy," says Ikki. "I don't think you REALLY eat children. If you liked eating people wouldn't you eat bigger people? I'm not trespassing!" She gives a little hop of indignation. "This island is my home. Your clothes are weird too! How old are you?"

[3nanashi]

. . .

"It's not a storage room," Trowa provides, helpfully.

Or, you know. Deadpan.

Hello, small energetic tornado-child.

[10552trees]

Ikki frowns at him.

"Yes it is. You don't even live here. I would recognize you, even if your hair is in front of your face. Why don't you pull it back? You look funny."

She lifts one foot to nimbly scratch her ankle.

"How come you aren't smiling? Are you sad?"

[3nanashi]

"I'm not sad."

He's not! He's actually in a pretty decent mood.

Trowa's just the cautionary example of 'if you hold that expression too long, your face will stick that way.'

"You've come to Milliways. It's another world from where you were."

Which is apparently yet another world where people have weird hair. Trowa doesn't bother to acknowledge that question.

"My name's Trowa," he adds, since she did ask before.

[10552trees]

Ikki scrutinizes him. "Are you from the Water Tribe? My gran-gran is from the Southern Water Tribe. Her name is Katara and she's really good at waterbending! Can you waterbend?" Maybe he waterbends his hair. "Is that why you're not sad? Did something happen to your face?"

"My name is Ikki," she says, dropping her foot back to the floor. "I live here." Trowa's helpful explanation: heard, ignored. "Are you visiting the Air Temple?"

[3nanashi]

"I'm from L3."

Loosely speaking.

It's as good as anywhere else, though.

"But I travel a lot. What's the Air Temple like?"

Might as well turn a question back on her and see what happens.

He's guessing: a lot of rapid-fire topic-switching.

[10552trees]

At times!

"I don't know what L3 is," Ikki says doubtfully. "Is it in the Earth Kingdom? Welcome to the island! Did you already meet my dad? Did you come to see us airbend? Air Temple Island is wonderful! It's pretty and there's lots of trees and a girl's side where Meelo can't come and Oogi lives here and Jinora and I know the whole island because we like exploring. This is a storage room so I don't know why you'd be in here, but..."

She frowns. "It's weird right now, so maybe that's why you came in here."

[pirate_jack]

Over on one side of the room, there's a very tall, very green plant -- just the kind of thing that a man what wants to be out of the general meanderings of the room might choose to settle near.

Not that Jack's hiding. He's merely being prudent, savvy?

Be that as it may, when the noisy whirlwind bursts in, Jack sits bolt upright and peers curiously between the leaves.

[10552trees]

Ikki's attention is like a series of tubes: it can point in many directions at once, but every one of them has its own kind of tunnel vision.

So while she wonders furiously what happened to the previously dependable storage room, and why that wolfsheep looks so WEIRD, she focuses at the sudden motion, head cocked.

Then, with all the practiced stealthiness of an older sister, she takes a few noiseless steps toward it.

[pirate_jack]

Not good!

The leaves rustle as Jack lets them fall closed again, and begins to get to his feet so as to sneak away.

[10552trees]

A sudden gust of air parts the leaves, and where once was the safety of foliage, a child's face blinks accusingly at him.

"Why are you hiding in plants? That's weird."

[pirate_jack]

He jerks back with a yelp and shoots her a wild-eyed look.

"I'm not hiding! Who's hiding?"

[10552trees]

"You are, silly. Why do you have so many things in your hair?" Said all in one breath, as though his hair removes all doubt that he's hiding. "Are you scared of someone?"

[nepetaleijon]

"Are those suppurrsed to look like horns?"

Nepeta is delighted. Maybe this is a human who's heard of trolls!

[10552trees]

Ikki, on the other hand, is suspicious.

"You're a funny color," she points out. "Is that your hair? It really looks like horns. I like wearing my hair this way. It looks like sky bison horns! Sometimes we put ribbons on Oogi's horns but then my dad looks really tired. He does that a lot. What's wrong with your skin?"

[nepetaleijon]

She laughs. "No, silly, these are my real horns! And my skin isn't a funny color, it's the same color as all trolls. Humans are funny colors. What's a sky bison?"

[10552trees]

Ikki's eyes widen.

"You don't know what a sky bison is? They're huuuge," and she spins for emphasis, arms flung out, "and furry and they have six legs but they don't really need the extra ones 'cause they airbend. They were the first airbenders! That's why we're good friends with them. How can you really have horns? What's a troll?"

[nepetaleijon]

"I can really have horns beclawse trolls have horns and I am one! We're hatched with them. They come in all diffurent shapes. I've nefur seen any shaped like yours, though. They're kind of purretty."

[boston_bruiser]

Without missing a beat:

"I'm a demon sent here to eat your soul."

If he is, he's the most apathetic soul-eating demon ever - he hasn't even taken his eyes off the newspaper in front of his face, nor has he taken his feet off the table in front of him.

Shameful demon work ethic, really.

[nosuchpromise]

Further down the bar, there's a strange noise.

A noise that sounds suspiciously like a groan of exasperation, followed by someone hitting their head against the bar top.




Dang it, this place was supposed to be her secret!