Kanade March Catchall

[composalvation]

Who: Kanade Yoisaki and Various
When: All through the month
Where: Various locations
What: Settling into life in Rosavelle, taking up a few quests. Some general wandering now that she can't do much as a shut-in
Warnings: N/A but will edit if needed

Comments

Late (night) Introductions

[composalvation]

[For the first few days of her stay, Kanade hasn't really left the castle grounds. There was the party, which she'd gone to mostly because Ena and Mizuki went, but that was it, really. She met some people in passing when she was too nervous that she had to go out and take a look around to make sure that she wasn't dreaming, but other than that... she'd kept herself to her room in the Lily barracks. And honestly, a part of her wanted to keep it that way. She agreed to this, she wanted to help... but the reality of all of this hit her pretty hard, and she's still trying to recover.

But recover she has. Or recover she will. She tries to make it easy on herself, leaving her room at her usual hours to just sort of. Wander the halls of the barracks, and eventually wander into the castle itself.

... Well. That's to say. It's deep into the hours of the night, past a point where most normal people would be fast asleep, that one might spot a strange, ghostly-looking figure lurking about with no clear goal in mind...]

[nightwild]

[She's not the only nocturnal member, of course. Yayoi's sleep schedule is a mystery, and she tends to be more active at night. So when she sees Kanade lurking...

... well, what Kanade likely sees first is glowing eyes. Like seeing a cat's at night, the light reflects, making it look like a monster... before Yayoi steps into a moonbeam through a window, showing who she is.]

Oh, you live here now too?

[composalvation]

[For a second, Kanade locks up in feer, the perfect image of a deer in the headlights. She hasn't really thought about the idea of this world - or, at the very least, the castle grounds - being dangerous, so she's not immediately terrified that she's about to be attacked by a monster, but. Glowing eyes. That's still startling!

She chokes out a surprised squeaking sound, but when Yayoi steps further into the light, she relaxes, letting out a wheeze.]

I-I...

[Right. Question.]

Mmm, yeah. Sorry, should I avoid certain places so I don't disturb anyone...?

[nightwild]

Huh? Nah, I think it's fine.

[huh, is this girl kind of high-strung? What's scary here? She looks way more like a ghost than Yayoi does!]

Just keep it down during the night, I guess? I tend to come and go at all hours, and no one's complained yet.

[roundofavalon]

[ As an Avalon le Fae with working Fae Eyes, Artoria is not one to be fooled by the idea of a late night apparition. As a Heroic Spirit, no less, she's not one to be shaken by the presence of such a thing, and it is if anything her duty to deal with that sort of thing.

Which means that, Artoria Caster... has absolutely no excuse for this. ]

AAH!! GHOST!!

[ Sorry about the big ornate staff suddenly being fumbled around with before being pointed at Kanade proper. ]

[composalvation]

[Tragically, this isn't the first time this has happened to Kanade. After spooking Ena in that supposedly haunted tunnel Mizuki had dragged them all out to, you'd think Kanade would have learned her lesson! But no, she still thinks nothing of wandering out alone in the dark-

And doesn't realize just how much she must look like a ghost herself, with her long hair mostly covering her face. So when Artoria screams and points her staff at her, Kanade also lets out a panicked yelp, spinning around like she's expecting something to be looming behind her.]

W-Where?!

[roundofavalon]

W-Where?! What do you mean where...

[ ... ]

...Ah.

[ Wait. Not a ghost. Maybe a banshee? No, not that either. Just a normal girl... ]

...Oops.

[kriskross]

[ she's in good company! she's definitely not the only night owl here. there's another ghost stalking these halls.

another figure with their hair covering their face, but not their wicked grin, as they silently shamble onward with a hunched, uneven gait. and in their hand they clutch the kitchen knife, glistening slick with some fluid sticking to the blade. and they're looking right at you, kanade. ]

[composalvation]

[In many ways, Kanade is surprisingly perceptive. From peoples' motives to their feelings, to general unique aspects of their appearance or voice, Kanade is good at noticing things. So she does notice movement out of the corner of her eye, turns...

And sees the glint of the kitchen knife. She doesn't even parse that there's something on it, just that there's someone approaching with a weapon and her heart is just about jumping out of her throat-]

--!!!

[She lets out a strangled shriek, turns, and tries to run. Tries being the main word here, because as soon as she spins on her heel, one foot gets caught in her too-long hair, and the poor girl immediately topples to the ground with an oof.]

1/2

[kriskross]

[ oh, they've been spotted. the terror on her face, blurred by the darkness, the way she shouts and stumbles --

it makes them kind of nostalgic. it's been a while since anybody was that surprised by their nocturnal ramblings. it reminds them of noelle, which brings fond, if complicated feelings to mind.

the shuffle closer, wheezing a laugh under their breath, looming over them. the light glinting off their knife reveals it to be covered in something red; the same red stuff is all over their mouth and cheeks. ]

Out... past... curfew? Not a good... idea...

[ they raise the knife high... ]

2/2

[kriskross]

[ they shout, sudden and loud: ]

Boo!

[ -- and let the knife drop to the floor with clatter, as they fall back against the wall, convulsing with that same wheezing laughter. ]

Pfft, gotcha.

Magical Melodies

[composalvation]

[Not very surprisingly, Kanade finds herself drawn to the greenhouse. It's not really because of the Everbloom, or the flowers they're all tied to... but there's a comforting feeling that resonates more deeply inside of her than the strange, soft hum of magic surrounding them. It's like what she felt when she went to the park with Mizuki so long ago; the feeling of a memory still so soft, still untainted by the curse wrapping its vines around her heart. It's comfortable here, and once Kanade got past her nervousness over being in an area restricted to almost everyone else but them, she started spending much of her time there. Just wandering through the flowers, taking in the atmosphere... it was nice. It made that dark cloud of fog in her head clear just a little.

It also gave her a little inspiration. This she's not sure she should be doing, but she'll be quick to stop if the guards speak up.

One afternoon, Kanade sits cross-legged near a patch of soft white carnations, the guitar that Haruhi had bought for her in her hands. Her eyes are closed, head tilted ever so slightly - almost like she's listening to the hum of the Everbloom around them. She sits in silence for a while... and then she begins to play. Not a song Ena or Mizuki might be familiar with, or any song that might have been heard out among the town. It's a slow, gentle melody, almost hesitant, like she's hearing the melody somewhere deeper in the Everbloom's hum, rather than reciting something from memory.]

[goldship]

[ Kanade happens to be playing just as Golshi is wrapping up some post-workout business in the greenhouse. Gathering fallen Everbloom petals into her satchel. Why?


So anyway, ears perked and tail wagging Gold Ship makes her way to the source of the melody and finds herself someone new and musically inclined! LUCKY~ ]

Well, well, well. What do ya know? Looks like Calcal invited another musician to the party.

[ You have been noticed by The Horse, Kanade. ]

[composalvation]

[Look Kanade's not gonna judge her for collecting flower petals. That's just normal?? Her mom did that all the time when she was little to press the petals or let them dry in bowls to make their scents linger longer! Perfectly normal, not susupicious activity there.

... Honestly, Kanade's more curious over that nickname than anything Gold Ship may or may not have been doing. She pauses in her idle playing, looking somewhat bewildered.]

... Calcal?

[She can't... mean the one who brought them all here, could she...?]

kinda wingin their interaction, this can be a placeholder if you wanted to continue thread!

[uncommonsense]

[ multiple things stood out about rosavelle in the season that haruhi's been present. a lot about romance (that she's pushing aside as long as she can) and a lot about music. ever since she'd heard ena sing (angrily) and of how the umamusume performed, she'd had the idea of committing more to music in her head since. for once, it was something she wasn't growing increasingly bored of-- maybe it was contagious. if someone's trying to make music happen in a world like this, the more the better! hence, haruhi helping kanade buy a guitar when they first met. she seemed so fixated on it, and you can't be good at it if you don't give it a try.

of course, this was before she knew that she was a musician. even better.

heading to the greenhouse though, haruhi hadn't really been thinking about it for once. she was more there to check on a little patch of flowers she'd started getting drawn to, started caring about a little more as the days went on. nothing seemed out of place, everything felt like it was still growing, with the bright forget-me-not in the center still striking as always.

as she's preparing to head back, she hears the soft sound of guitar strings mixed with the hum of the everbloom. when haruhi investigates and sees who it is, she can't help the grin on her face. she's really starting to acclimate, if not to the world itself then at least to the music in the air. she's not planning on interrupting or making a noise, instead sitting nearby, letting kanade play out the tune.

the meramancy applause can come after that. ]

we can always tweak things later if needed!!

[composalvation]

[There's always a change in Kanade, when she plays like this. Not playing to record a demo or a final track, not playing with the intent to compose. Just... letting the music flow through her. Letting herself exist. There's a feeling of lightness in her chest that she's rarely felt these past few years - it was only when she and Mafuyu had sat together and played her song, their song, the song she wrote not to save, but to make Mafuyu smile.

It's... peace. Letting herself just be has her hands seem to move on their own, playing a melody settling gently on the listener's heart.

And she's so at peace that she doesn't immediately realize she has an audience. It's only when her eyes drift open in a lull in the notes that she sees Haruhi's grinning face, and while in most situations she might look like a frightened rabbit about to bolt, now she only seems mildly surprised. Like she's coming out of a trance.]

Oh...! S-Suzumiya-san, right...? [She's not going to forget the person who gave her such an important gift!] Sorry, was I disturbing you?

[hjadningavig]

[ Dainsleif doesn't anticipate hearing the sound of music (though it can happen), particularly when it so happens to fill the air on one of his own wanderings.

He is also not inclined to disturb a performance immediately; not quite yet. But, after some time, he will speak up. ]

...I don't believe I have heard this tune before, in this land. Do you happen to be a new arrival?

[composalvation]

[The melody had not quite petered out by the time Dainsleif speaks up, but it does seem to be mostly done, seeming to just echo the familiar hum of the Everbloom above them. Kanade lets it hang there for a moment, almost like she's coming down from a trance, then turns to him, a light smile on her face.]

Mmm, I am. But it's not a tune from back home, either. It was just... something I was making up just now.

[liedol]

[ The greenhouse isn't one of Ai's usual haunts but she comes by now and then when her homesickness is itching at her a little more strongly than usual. There's a sweet little pink-and-blue bloom in the flowerbed she knows is hers and she has a pretty good idea exactly what part of her heart might have sprouted it. It's nowhere close to a replacement for the real thing of course but somehow, spending a few minutes tending to it soothes that ache enough to be tolerable.

She's on her way back from her visit today when the strains of a tentative little melody find their way to her across the greenhouse. It's not a song she recognizes but it's soft and warm and she finds herself gravitating towards it.

The girl playing the guitar isn't someone she recognizes either - she makes for a pretty picture among all these flowers, though. Loathe to interrupt, Ai simply settles herself nearby and waits for the performance to be done before she speaks up. It'd be rude, otherwise. ]

[composalvation]

[In the rare times when Kanade can let everything else fall away, when she can let herself be completely surrounded by music... it does funny things to her senses. Sometimes, it's like all the world falls away, that even her sight fades and all she can process is the melody sinking into her very soul. Other times, it's like she's hyper aware of it all; the feeling of string or key against her fingertips, the echoing of notes in her ears or the soft vibration of the guitar against her chest.

(the warmth of that familiar presence beside her, arms just barely brushing as they fall into complete sync as they played)

Or the feeling of eyes on her. Not the sharp stab of judgement she feels so often, like everyone can see her for the cursed child that she is. But rather... warmth, again. A different kind of warmth than the one she's been desperately holding onto lately, but warmth all the same.

So she knows someone is watching her, even with her eyes closed, and that sparks her ever-present curiosity. What part of her - their - music draws others in? What does it make them feel? She's not going to dump all that on a total stranger, but when the melody comes to an end and Kanade finally opens her eyes, there is one question she can ask.]

Ah... did you like it?

Coo-rier Service

[composalvation]

[... Okay, so maybe this was a bad idea.

Kanade always thought birds were easy to care for. You just hold out your hand with a bunch of seed in it and it should be fine, right? Well. In theory, yes. She had offered to help with the care for the doves, and it seemed like it wouldn't be too labor-intensive. Starting off with feeding them sounded good, but...]

H... Help...?

[But, since some of the newer birds aren't as well trained as the older ones, they aren't exactly patient. When she'd held her hand out, only one had landed to eat at first. That wasn't so bad! But then another landed on her hand, and another. There was no more room, so several landed on her shoulders, one on her head, until poor Kanade has been more or less covered in birds.

... Her arm hurts from holding it out for so long. But she's standing stock still, frozen like a statue, too terrified to move.]


I-I don't want to scare them away...

[steel_over_blood]

Ha ha ha! If I haven't frightened them yet, I don't think you could if you tried!

[ Bulat's tall, broad-shouldered form is also a splendid perch. Doves climb over each other, cooing and shoving their letters in his face. He's trying to unhook the message from one tiny bird leg while its friends are unhelpful and get in the way. ]

[composalvation]

[Wow yeah this guy's voice even seems to rattle in Kanade's chest. Everything about him just seems to scream Loud, but none of the birds are scattering...

... Honestly, it makes Kanade laugh a little, seeing just how many of the birds are swarming him with letters and general attention.]

You're like a bird magnet...

[Unfortunately, she can't do much with several birds perching on her arms, but she does try and lift them so that she might tempt some of the ones crowding Bulat over to give him a bit more breathing room.]

They all seem to really like you. Have you done anything like this before?

[soaringspear]

Pfft...

[ Oh. Oh no. This is kind of hilarious? How do you end up in a situation like this? She wishes she could take a picture, but... that'd probably be a bit rude to a girl she hasn't met yet, wouldn't it? ]

Okay, okay, hold on a sec'...

[ Kanade goes to grab some seed of her own, and once she's got plenty in her hands, she strides on over and holds them out to the birds currently nesting on this poor girl. ]

C'mere, lil fellas...

[ Fortunately for (the smaller) Kanade, (the bigger) Kanade seems to have enough mother-bird vibes that, after a moment of contemplation, a decent chunk of the birds start to migrate to (the bigger) Kanade with the offer of fresh seed. Her fluffier, wilder hair seems to make for a better nest, too... ]

[composalvation]

[Kanade's gotten used to how much people laugh at how kind of pathetic she is, honestly. She knows it's not mean-spirited, so it doesn't really bother her. Even so, she still looks a little sheepish as the (bigger) Kanade laughs, helpfully standing as still as she can while the other coaxes some of the birds off of her.]

Thanks... I don't mind them, really, but I wasn't expecting so many to show up all at once...