paixaorpg | Here come the drums... (Active / Open)

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Here come the drums... (Active / Open)

Character(s): Starr (Alexandra Tyler); Open
Content: Starr's being driven slightly insane by the sound of The Master's drums.
Setting: Ummm, somewhere close enough to the Master that she can pick up on his Song when he's angry.
Time: Afternoon
Warnings: None

Starr had been wandering around part of the city, trying to find a place to get some 'real' clothes, and some food. She ignored all the people still staring at her...well, most of the women were staring at her outfit, the men were staring at her. She wished she still had her pom poms to throw at the men drooling over her...but they hadn't made the journey.

She was going into a store when it started...the music of the citizens faded out, which was a first indication that something was wrong. Then, she started hearing drums, and not a good drum line either.

1...2...3...4... and repeat. It didn't stop, no matter what she did. And it gave her a headache, almost instantly.

Pressing her back against the wall of the building she was standing outside of, she slid to the ground, knees to her chest. It had been a long time since something like this had happened...since she had started with the Diva's, to tell the truth. It was overwhelming, she couldn't hear anything but the beat of the drums.

1...2...3...4... and repeat.

She managed to grab her journal out of her pocket and get a post out...although she knew it wasn't coherent. She probably made no sense to whoever was listening...but she hoped she grabbed someone's attention. Someone with a stronger Music had to show up, or this Noise wasn't going to go away.

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Well, to be honest, Yuna hadn't been paying attention to the journals recently. She'd been busy trying to figure out what she needed to make a dance lesson... well, work! And that had taken a bit of scouting. Right now, she'd decided that walking around in her Songstress outfit might do a little good. Just because she hadn't done it in a while and she'd been thinking of Lenne and Tidus recently.

Yuna was pretty much used to the stares by now, especially when she happened to change into something skimpy. When she got back to Spira, she would have a nice long chat with Shinra about what was appropriate for a girl to wear around town. The Songstress sphere he couldn't help. That one reacted to Lenne's memories. But the others... Well they probably reacted to other people, but still. It was the principle of the matter.

With that in mind, Yuna stepped closer to a shop, intent on browsing around for things that might help. She'd gotten close to it when she noticed someone sitting down by the storefront looking rather as though something was desperately wrong. She knelt down close by and decided to do something about it.

"Excuse me? Is something wrong?"

It wasn't in Yuna's nature to leave someone hurt and alone.

Starr had her eyes closed and fore head resting against her knees at this point. She'd tracked down the source of the drums, a man who was in the town...an outsider like her. Something was wrong with him, if the drums didn't give it away, his reactions and statements did.

She wasn't paying attention when Yuna walked up, her body language defeated, looking like she wanted to break down and cry. Her journal now sat next to her, her being done using it for now.

She heard Yuna say something, but wasn't paying attention, instead focusing on the shifting of the music in her head...going from the 4 beats of the drums to something different...something upbeat, on the surface at least. She focused on that, trying to push out the other melody in her head.

Yuna frowned worriedly, reaching out to touch the other girl's arm. Whatever had happened, Yuna wasn't going to leave her alone until she was certain everything was going to be okay.

"It's okay," she murmured, reaching into her pocket and switching dresspheres. In a matter of seconds, she was in her White Mage robes. Where her hands had been uncovered, now they had gloves over them. "Can I take you somewhere? Do you have a place to stay nearby?"

She spoke softly and soothingly, sending off a Cura spell to compliment her words, trying to help the girl recover.

"No...I don't." Starr said, answering the two questions. Glancing down, she realized that yes, the outfit of the other woman had changed, and that it was something that normally wouldn't happen.

She also felt a cooling sensation go through her body, although she didn't know from where. Maybe it had something to do with the woman who had just showed up, but she didn't know. Something was amplifying her Music, and forcing the drums to go away, and that's what mattered.

She looked up at Yuna. "I'm guessing you can't hear them."

The Cura seemed to take effect, so Yuna swapped back to Songstress, hoping whatever the girl was sensing wouldn't prevent her from moving from this space. She looked her new companion over to be sure it was just a sensory thing and not physical.

Yuna shook her head at the question. "Hear what? Do you want to walk? I can take you to the place I'm staying. They've probably got an apartment open."

Ok, the clothes switching thing was getting confusing, but now...this woman reminded her of Lenne. This was more calming than anything, to see something at least slightly familiar.

"The drums. They're coming from someone in the city." They were fading, but they were still there. She was probably about to break every rule in the short, but concise, rulebook created for the Agency. She had a feeling that if this woman tried, she could Hear what Starr could hear.

"Here." She said, holding up her hands, "Listen." She would wait for Yuna's permission before pressing her fingers against the other woman's temples. It was the only way she could let her Hear just what was bothering her.

Normally, Yuna didn't swap dresspheres this much, especially around someone she didn't know, but in a situation like this it was appropriate. Besides, the Songstress sphere was just a little more familiar to her by now.

She frowned a little as the girl told her what was going on and with a little hesitation, she let the girl touch her temples. The second the hands touched her head, Yuna could feel more than hear the drums beating out that terrible pattern. It was like having hollow bones while someone beat her with a drum mallet. The expression on Yuna's face was a mix of pain, fear, and everything in between. Unable to manage hearing that longer than half a minute, she pulled back and nearly fell over completely.

"That's what you're hearing? No wonder it's making your head hurt. Would getting away from it help?"

"Right now. Normally, it's nice. The Music here is somewhat calm. But since that man got angry on the message board..." She trailed off, hoping that Yuna would get the hint. She would explain more later, after the drums went away. She pulled her hands back to her sides, standing up again, although leaning against the building still.

"Probably. That and one heck of a sleeping pill, if you have one of those. At least until he stops projecting his Music."

Yuna was pretty sure she knew which person the girl was talking about. Only one man had really gotten upset recently and he hadn't been very quiet about it. She stood when her new companion stood, reaching out to help as much as she could.

"I don't have that, but I might be able to cast Sleep on you later on, once you're somewhere you can rest." Yuna offered a reassuring smile. "Let's get away from here."

Whether or not she was helping the other girl walk, Yuna started in the direction of her apartment complex. At the very least, she could show Starr a safe place to sleep close by her own.

"So, do you hear music like that a lot?"

Starr stood up, kind of shaky, but she managed to stand and take some steps on her own. She was getting a horrible migraine, now that she had been hearing the drums for who knows how long pounding her skull. She'd lost track of the days since it had started. She followed the other woman slowly as they moved away from where she had been sitting.

"I hear it all the time." She said, talking about the music. "It's everywhere, but normally not as strong as this...not as physical, I guess." She tried to explain as best as she could.

"I can tell you more later, after we're off the street."

Yuna couldn't help the bounce in her step as they started walking away and she began to hum the melody line to "Real Emotion" softly. A long time had passed since she'd actually danced to it, but humming couldn't hurt, right? Maybe it would take the woman's mind off what she was hearing.

"All right. Oh, and I'm Yuna, by the way. I don't think I introduced myself."

She offered a warm smile to the woman, reassuring her as best she could.

"I'm..." She stopped for a moment, trying to remember the fake name she had given before, but she disguised it as wincing from her migraine. "Alexandra. It's nice to meet you. I wish it had been under better circumstances though."

Not that Yuna would know, but the humming did help. The Music in her head turned into something that sounded slightly like the song the woman had hummed, combined with what she had heard from Lenne...and Braska. It was like someone had taken all three and mixed them together.

It was actually nice to hear, instead of those drums.

Fortunately for her, Yuna was completely oblivious. "It's nice to meet you, Alexandra. It's all right. I've met some people under worse." That was met with a soft laugh.

The rest of the short walk was taken up by silence, though it was a comfortable one for Yuna. Once they'd finally reached her place, she opened the door and let Alexandra inside.

"It's not much, but it's nice to just have a place of your own. I'm sure we can find you another place soon, but I thought just sitting down and resting for a while would be better for now. Do you want anything to drink?"

Starr wandered into the apartment and plopped herself down on one of the chairs. Now that she was further away from the epicenter of the emotional explosion, putting it mildly, the drums had faded away. It was replaced by the music of the woman she was with.

Although she still had that migraine. But given time, that would go away as well.

"Um, water, if what this place has is drinkable?" She meant the city, not the apartment. She still didn't trust everything around her, but considering what had been going on, she really wasn't surprised at her mentality.

Yuna nodded and went to fill two cups with water and a little ice. Swirling the two together, she offered one to Starr and smiled gently. Taking a seat on the couch nearby, she took a sip of her drink.

"Are you feeling any better?"

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Here come the drums... (Active / Open)

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