(open) help out a newbie

[reloves]

🧙 WHO: Minako Aino and you!
⚔️️ WHAT: Minako is new to town, so it's time to explore.
🕒 WHEN: Mid-July
🗺️ WHERE: Camelot
⚠️ WARNINGS: Should be none, will edit if that changes!


(a. at the senshi (and friends!) house)

[ Minako's arrival hadn't exactly been.. pleasant. Somewhere between everything being so chaotic back home right before she showed up here instead, then suddenly being dropped into the water out of nowhere, and then getting covered in gross jelly stuff didn't exactly make it the most fun course of events.

But at least Makoto helped her over to the house, and now Minako has been able to bathe and get all that junk out of her hair, things are starting to look up a little more. Or at least, Minako thinks she looks presentable enough to be seen by others.

Which means she starts wandering the house, peeking her head into all the rooms so she can greet people with a: ]

Hi! [ You know, casual. Just showed up here. No biggie. ]

(b. on the streets of camelot)

[ If you just happen to be calmly walking along the city streets, your moment of relative peace and quiet gets interrupted really, really quickly.

Because you might suddenly feel something jumping on you. It happens so fast that you can't even see what it is, other than that there's a sudden pressure on your head, like something is clinging on for dear life up there. If you try to remove it - which is possible if you put some effort into it - you'll find it's a cat. A kind of.. odd-looking cat, since it's a little too big for your usual cat, but it's still definitely a cat.

Or even if you don't manage to remove it, there's suddenly a blonde girl outright charging at you, yelling out-- ]

Wait!

[ What do you do. Do you run. Do you stay. Do you ponder why your life suddenly turned out like this? ]

(c. outside a bakery)

[ After having managed to recover her familiar, Minako is making sure to tightly hold it to her chest, not wantin to start an entire chase scene all over again.

Which means things are a little bit calmer right now. Instead you might find the blonde girl standing outside a bakery, staring at the delicious goods inside, looking like she's about to drool right over them. ]

Ahh, it looks so good, right? [ She squeezes the cat-like creature a little. ] Maybe you were just hungry too.. Rough is the fate of those who don't have money.. [ Please, Minako. You literally have a house full of friends you're staying with. Cut down on the melodramatics.

Still, her stomach growls. Loudly. That chase must have taken some energy. Do you help out this poor blonde girl. ]

(d. on the streets of camelot, less chaos edition)

[ Or maybe you, very simply, just find the girl walking up to you on the middle of the streets. Do you know her? Probably not! And yet she talks to you so casually, as if you're not total strangers. Welcome to the power of an extreme extrovert. ]

Hey! Sooo.. if someone wanted to practice these new powers everyone's talking about, where do they do that? Won't you help a cute girl out?

[ Look at her batting those doe eyes at you! You're locked into this fate now. It's inescapable. ]

(ooc: as a note for those who have threaded with me on the tdm, i am more than willing to carry those over as in-game canon, so feel free to assume those interactions happened! c: )

Comments

[beautyrest]

Certainly nothing wrong with that, it is outside of anyone's control who does and doesn't arrive, after all.

But did they not explain anything, your friends?

[reloves]

Um...

[ ... ]

Well, they did explain some stuff.. [ But there just wasn't much time to explain a whole lot while Minako was still upset about that junk in her hair. And then she couldn't help but want to explore this place as soon as possible..

.. how does she say this without making either her friends sound bad or making herself sound dumb?! ]

B-But there's just so much to suddenly know about this place, you know? [ H-Haha... ]

[beautyrest]

Ah, this place can be easily overwhelming, that's quite true.

Well, I cannot speak to any expertise, but I will try to answer any questions you may have. I am sure whatever I cannot answer, someone else will be able to.

[reloves]

.. oh, thanks.

[ The other answering with that, rather than anything Minako was fearing, seems to catch her by surprise for a moment. Just enough to stare at the other blankly for said moment, but then she quickly smiles again. ]

That'd be really helpful, thank you! It's so nice of you to offer. [ Especially since Minako is still a stranger. ] Um, I mostly don't know much about this whole deal with the familiars.. I know that we all have different ones, but.. why do we have them?

[beautyrest]

[Aurora is full of surprises.]

Well, I do not know if you are familiar with magic back in your world, but here, everyone with a familiar is able to practice magic. We can do magic because of them. They saw something in us and wanted to form a connection with us. Each familiar has their own reasons for why they picked us.

Without them, I am not sure we would even be here.

[reloves]

[ That's.. a lot more story behind these familiars than Minako thought there'd be. It does feel a little like Artemis back home in that sense, huh? Though rather than picking her, it's more just that he found her reborn form again.

It makes Minako grow quiet for a moment, seriously thinking about this. ]

So they are the ones who chose us all the way from our different worlds?

[beautyrest]

They are, yes. They are more than typical animals you might be used to. [Not in Aurora's case since all animals where she's from are not "typical" but she lived in an enchanted forest, so.]

And we are connected to them, and vice versa.

[reloves]

.. right, because that guy isn't just a normal cat.

[ Because he's just a little too oddly-shaped to be a normal cat. Even Artemis looked more like a regular cat than this one - other than the crescent moon bald spot, anyway. ]

Does that count for your friend too? [ Minako is assuming it's Aurora's friend, anyway. The other seems particularly fond of animals. ]

[beautyrest]

Vivek? Yes, he's very much my friend, though he calls himself my guardian. Speaking of your feline companion, why do you think he is running from you?

[reloves]

[ She shakes her head. ]

I don't know.. He didn't tell me. [ As evidenced by the fact that Minako apparently just now found out he could even talk in the first place. ] I thought I'd just try to explore this place a little, see what's around here.. And then, without me saying or doing anything, he just jumped out of my arms and started running like that!

[ She shakes her head. ]

I really didn't do anything!

[beautyrest]

Worry not, I believe you. [She looked in the direction that Minako's familiar went, knowing Vivek was keeping a tab on him.]

But it does make one wonder what he's doing and why. Perhaps he is attempting to lead you somewhere?

[reloves]

...

[ Minako supposes that makes more sense than many other things she could think of.

She glances over at Aurora, looking a bit unsure. ]

Do you think we should see where those two have gone then..?

[beautyrest]

It cannot hurt. Shall we?

[She gestured in the direction the cat and Vivek went.]

My friends will show us the way they went. But we needn't rush, you have been running enough today.

[reloves]

Oh.. Thank you.

[ She starts walking together with the other, making sure to keep her eyes out while they're walking to spot them. It seems like they got quite a bit away though, since Minako can't see them right away..

So instead she glances over at the other while she walks. ]

You're.. um, very nice. You know, to suddenly do all this for me! [ Even though they only just ran into each other for the first time. ]

[beautyrest]

Not at all.

[She called out to a songbird who twirled around their heads before flying in the direction her owl and Minako's cat went, turning down an alley.]

And I am happy to help. Would you rather I not have?

[reloves]

[ Minako quickly shakes her head.

(Look, she's definitely noticing the way that Aurora seems to have asked a bird to help them out, but she's trying to ignore that right now, or they'll never get anywhere in a conversation.) ]

Oh, no, no, of course I'm glad you're helping me! [ That's not what she was trying to say! ] It's just that.. you know! Not everyone is so totally eager to help out a total stranger!

[beautyrest]

Well, I was taught not to speak to strangers, it's true. But I was also taught not to just abandon someone who needed help, and it seemed as though you needed help.

[reloves]

I think everyone gets told that at least once in their life.

[ The whole 'don't talk to strangers' thing, she means. ]

Though I threw that advice to the wind soon enough. I mean.. we're smart girls! Surely we can decide by ourselves whether someone seems like we can trust them or not, right? [ Minako nods. ] Just like you're doing right now!

[beautyrest]

I was frequently instructed to do it by my aunts.

But, they just meant well, even if they still treated me like a child. [And she was unaware she was essentially in the magical witness protection program.]

And I would like to hope that trust can extend into friendship with time, Minako.

[reloves]

[ .. By her aunts? For a moment Minako wonders if the other was actually raised by her aunts, but then again.. maybe she just had the kind of aunts who visit a lot and get all fussy. Minako knows some families have those.

So she instead focuses on the last thing the other says, which is something that makes her smile. Easily, and widely. ]

Oh, of course! What reason would there not be for us two to become friends, huh? [ Maybe it's a little overly friendly, but then again, 'shameless' is Minako's middle name. ] We're both cute, beautiful girls! Types like that need to band together against the cruelties of the world!

[beautyrest]

[Makoto will fill Minako in if she remembers to ask. And the mention of being cute and beautiful, Aurora giggled.]

Well, you are very kind... and correct. [She giggled again.] You are very lovely, Minako. And currently, we are banding together to figure out why your familiar is playing cat and mouse with well, the cat playing mouse.

[reloves]

Right.

[ There's only a slight moment, a slight pause, before she's already adding: ]

.. well, speak of the devil. [ Because it seems that they have found Minako's familiar! And Aurora's familiar, still watching over it. Currently Minako's familiar, the slightly odd cat, is sitting in the windowsill of a store that sells candy, staring inside. And - which they may notice when they get closer - drooling all over the store window. ]

[beautyrest]

Well, I think we have our answer. He did want to show you something. [She sang a tuneless melody to call out to her owl, who circled once in the air before moving to land on Aurora's shoulder.]

Ah, I think I better understand, now. [Aurora gestured to the sign near the front door: "No non-human creatures allowed inside store."]

[reloves]

Don't tell me.. [ Minako sighs as the pieces in her mind are starting to slowly click together.

The cat running away from her without any specific reason. The cat now sitting there, drooling all over the store window. ]

All this time, he just wanted candy?!

[beautyrest]

Only one to find out, hmm? Why don't you ask him what he'd like, Minako?

[She gave a gentle nudge to the small of Minako's back towards her cat.]