Completed [Nettle District] Sigrun the Errand Girl

[Sigrun Dominic]

50th of Spring, 513 AV The Nettle District "Goodness, Atta, you've been having me up to here with orders!" the young blonde placed her palm along the top of her neck, mimmicking a man's head being hung on a noose as she packed up another set of pots and bouquets into her cart. The old woman laughed boisterously as she collected the payment of two other customers; a pair of men who were courting sisters. "I did say I would bully you, my dear, and it's the middle of the season!" Atta turned around and placed her hands on her hips, "It is also Spring, have you any idea when flowers bloom the best?" "When they are under your care, Atta," the girl replied with a wink. "Save those sort of words for a man who will respond with the same sentiment," the old woman mused. Sigrun smiled, but rolled her eyes and shook her head, "never." She took another two bouquets of flowers and made for the street. "I wager my entire business that you're wrong!" Atta called out, grinning as she approached another customer. "I expect to be in charge this entire operation first thing tomorrow morning, then!" Sigrun replied, laughing. As she walked down the street, cart of flowers in tow, a soft smile played on her face. It was unlike her to allow such a thing to linger on her face, but that was the effect of Atta, who reminded her so much of her mother. She glanced down at the copy of the order list and then made her way down the street until she reached the first on the list; a small business in need of brightening up. "Morning," she exchanged pleasantries with the owner of the place, and carefully handed him a tall, thin vase covered in a festive arrangement. "Thank you, it's..." he responded, as he gave Sigrun the payment, "for a party." "You enjoy yourself now," she nodded, exiting. She then delivered a few bouquets to another store, but apparently they were for the owner's daughters. "Uhm, for..." Sigrun trailed off as she struggled to read Atta's handwriting on the paper. "It's here! They're here!" came the high-pitched shout of a teenaged girl. Her sisters, who were all donned in such gawdy dresses, came tumbling over to her cart and plucking out the bouquets like wild flowers. They all squealed and jumped up and down. "Hey," Sigrun snapped. The four girls froze. "It's these," she glowered at the flowers in her hands, "not those, put them down." "They don't come with messages, if you were hoping for any," she added, gazing down at them snootily as she sauntered off. She hadn't finished even half of the list and already she was feeling quite exhausted. Sigrun rested the side of her body on a wall and stared up ahead, her eyes scanning the street and the multitudes of people, wondering to herself if flower delivery was going to be the rest of her life. Sighing, she picked herself up and dragged the cart down the street once more. Her next destination was another store.

[Fubuki Kouri]

Fubuki Kouri It was morning in the busy Syliras city when Kouri, the little ghost girl, found herself wandering through the city, her gaze was empty as she kept floating, not bothering to care whether she will collide into people or not as her unmaterialized state could not touch corporeal beings and objects. What's with me today?... sigh... I feel... sad...Her mind was strangely filled with melancholy as she saw a little girl being lovingly hugged by her mother a couple of chimes ago, the little girl gave her mother a bouquet of roses and her mother was visibly happy and touched and hugged her daughter in return. ........... kuh.... how dare she... knowing I was watching... I bet she did that on purpose... Kouri started to feel angry and made up a number of illogical reasons to justify her own feelings, it has always been like that, even to the poor rabbit she harmed 45 days ago at the Bronze Woods. Damn her... damn it... Dam-!! Kouri's hair started to float upwards as her Soulmist swirled rapidly around herself, then she noticed the fearful and condemning stares she got from the people around her. Petch this... Kouri quickly blinked away from the location as to not cause any commotion. After a few moments, Kouri found herself sitting in an empty back alley, gazing at the street in front of her, she started to sob and cry, tears in the color of crimson trickled down her pale white face. Mama... Papa... Kouri hugged her knees as she tried to be strong, she needed to be if she want to achieve vengeance. Her master, Cyrus and The Black Leopard Kelvic, Vaspira had promised her that they will help her to kill the tiger who slaughtered herself and her family. She knew all about it and yet, on this day, she cannot shook her longing for her parents anymore. Her mind started to become disoriented as she stared vacantly to the street. A few chimes later, she noticed a... woman towing a cart filled with flowers. Mama? Kouri's currently not-quite-right state of mind started to trick itself into thinking that the blonde woman was her mother. She didn't quite get her other physical traits, but in her twisted mind, it was enough indication that the cart-towing woman was indeed, her mother. Kouri stood up and started to float out of the alley, spotting the woman not far from her, she silently followed her, not caring in the slightest as she phased through people and objects.

[Sigrun Dominic]

"Can I get a bouquet for you, miss?" "Oh don't bother, I've been made an honest woman." "Certainly you can be dishonest when no one else is around?" "Oh, I'll lie. In bed, that is, but alone." Sigrun passed the whistling crowd of boys as she wheeled the cart down the street, smirking at them briefly. She had a lighter load now, with only five more deliveries to make before stopping by a pottery stall for Atta's supply of ceramics. She stopped by another shop and entered through the open door. Thanking Atta silently, as the day's orders were all for one district this time. "Excuse me." A man bump his head as he rose from underneath the shop counter. "Ah, yes, thank you." He walked over to Sigrun and took two bouquets from her hands, a large silly grin adorning his wrinkled face. "They're for my wife and daughter." Sigrun stared at the flowers and hummed, a wave of emotions passing through her body briefly. "I see," she responded, as she accepted the man's pay, "I hope they enjoy them." She turned around and made for the exit, only to pause as the man threw her a question. "Did you help arrange these? Thank you..." Sigrun turned towards the man and gave him a small smile. "I did, and you're very welcome." She walked down the road and over to the shop two blocks down. It was a much larger and busier one, with a stout lady herding all the customers around random tables filled with items. "An arrangement for..." Sigrun called out as she looked at the order list. "Me." The stout lady, whose face was heavily caked with make-up, approached the girl and helped herself to the crates. She knew exactly which arrangement was hers; it was the one with much too many poppies. "Alright, well, you seem to know what you're doing," she raised her eyebrows, "and I'm sure you also know the price." The lady frowned and gave Sigrun a onceover, her brows furrowing as she reached the girl's eyes. She met the young blonde's amused expression with a huff, tossing the coins over to her. Skillfully, the young girl caught them, almost missing one as it fell through the spaces between her fingers. Sigrun placed the coins in a fat pouch tied up next to her own money bag, its string marked to avoid confusion. "It kills these people to keep their head out of the clouds," she commented softly. Another brief look at her list and Sigrun was back down the streets eyeing the stalls for her next customer. Somehow, something didn't feel right. The young girl rounded her shoulders and looked around, but nothing seemed to be out of place. A strange, tickling sensation burned lines along her back, a feeling that was reminiscent of being watched, or followed. She turned to examine her cart of flowers and found that nothing had been stolen, damaged, or messed with. Pursing her lips and scanning the crowds of people one more time, she sighed and continued down the district. Once she'd reach the next shop, she found herself having to knock at its doorstep. "Odd," she thought, as the shop door was locked. After a few more unanswered knocks, she decided to give up. She turned around and looked up at the sky to inspect the placement of the sun; it was still quite early. Sighing, she glanced down at her cart and chewed the side of her lip. "What now, hm?"

[Fubuki Kouri]

Fubuki Kouri Kouri kept following the woman. She examined her in greater detail though only with her back facing Kouri, she could only discerned that the woman 1.6 meters (5'3 feet) tall, and had wavy blonde hair reaching to her back. Mama... Kouri's mind was now focused on reuniting herself with her 'mother'. As the woman walked through the city and was teased by some boys, Kouri immediately snapped and gazed at the boys with murderous intent. How dare they disturb my mother?! however, the woman was her top priority right now so she reminded herself to take care of those boys later, though Kouri will most likely forget about those insignificant runts in a few bells. Everytime the woman stopped and gave flower bouquets to various people, her ethereal eyes turned to snake-like slits in jealousy and envy. Why?... Why won't she give them to me...? Oh... perhaps she didn't notice me yet... ahaha, yes, it has been so long... She kept following the woman in silence, waiting for the right time to... call her. After a few moments, Kouri saw the woman stopped herself in front of a store. Now is the right time... mama~ Kouri slowly vanished into thin air and in an instant later, she appeared beside the woman's cart. "Mama..." Kouri beamed a sad smile to the woman as she picked up a rose from the cart with her Soulmist and offered it to the woman. "Mama... I gave you a flower... now can you hug me? It has been so long... where have you been all this time? Did the tiger hurt you? Don't worry... I promise I'll kill it someday..." Kouri just rant on with her questions as she waited for the woman to accept her flower.

[Sigrun Dominic]

It was undoubtedly beautiful day, one that Sigrun could not bring herself to dislike, despite the small setback of having one unavailable customer. Licking her lips, she decided that now was the perfect opportunity to take a breather from deliveries. The young blonde kept her cart close, leaving it just in front of her as she leaned against the shop door and stared into the busy street. She blew out a puff of air and smiled, wondering to herself if there would be any more orders by the time she got back. They wer almost out of pots, however, so she assumed there may be a few rejected requests here and there, or certain limitations to them. "Atta will charm them into buying a few bouquets anyway," she thought, furrowing her brows and briefly shielded her eyes from the sun as it peeked out from parted clouds. "I wonder why they keep needing pots?" she thought, as she turned towards the left of the street and watched a couple of young girls examining the wares of a humble jeweller, "don't people just need the flowers?" Shrugging to herself, she assumed they'd rather have Atta take care of even the pot's shape and color. "You can't have too many pots, I suppose," she snickered. Atta did once say that some of the pots were usually returned a little later on in the season in order for their flowers to be replaced, sometimes with the same arrangements, or different ones. Sigrun recalled having done something similar to what the old woman described just a couple of hours ago. "So that's why that woman asked for the exact same arrangement as before," she muttered under her breath, smiling softly as she turned to her right to view the rest of the Nettle district. Stunning. The amount of people did not seem daunting or disheartening, for some reason, instead it looked quite beautiful to see so many faces and colors mixing together. Something moved. A flower. It happened so quickly from the young girl's peripheral vision that she first thought it was just her mind playing tricks on her. There was no small gust of wind that could've done it. Sigrun jerked her head down to eye her cart, only to see a floating rose. Suddenly, the rest of the area surrounding the flower materialized into a translucent girl. It was a girl, a translucent one. It was like nothing she had ever witnessed before in her entire life. "PETCHING SHYKES!" The young blonde yelped and quickly jerked backwards, her head and elbows banging onto the wooden door behind her as she kicked her feet over the stoney ground, practically willing herself to melt into the shop's front. The crowds of people were too busy and noisy to be fazed by her outburst. It was then did she notice that the thing could speak. "Mama..." Sigrun's jaw was slackened, her brows furrowed deeply as her wide eyes stared right through the young girl, but not quite. She couldn't find it in her to fully comprehend the situation. The blonde let out indecipherable mumbles as she struggled to calm herself down. "Mama?" The apparition brought the rose closer to her. Sigrun pressed herself tighter against the doorframe and winced. "Oh petching shykes," she swore repeatedly. She wanted to close her eyes and hope that the little girl would simply vanish out of thin air, the way she did so when she'd appeared, but she feared that it would do something else, like touch her. "Mama... I gave you a flower... Now can you hug me?" Sigrun blinked hard at the girl, but she was neither fading nor becoming clearer. She gained a bit of composure when she noticed that it wasn't trying to attack her. "It has been so long... where have you been all this time? Did the tiger hurt you? Don't worry... I promise I'll kill it someday..." "Tiger? Kill it?" Sigrun snapped, "sweetheart, I don't condone the murder of animals, innocent or not." The young blonde looked left and right frantically, hoping for someone to take notice of her and save her from the situation. Nobody noticed. "I-I, I am not your mother," she pointed a shaky finger at the girl, "to be frank, I've never been pregnant. Now go away!" Quickly, the young blonde darted over to the side and in one swift motion, grabbed her cart and sprinted down the street.

[Fubuki Kouri]

Kouri just stood there in bewilderment as her 'mother' freaked out at her presence, she said some curses, took the tiger's side; the very same tiger who killed her, and the most heart-wrenching sentence of all; denying that she was Kouri's mother and told her to go away. Kouri was frozen in shock for a few seconds as the woman ran away. She quickly shook her head, threw down the rose she was holding, and gritted her teeth. Her eyes flared up in anger and she quickly floated to follow her 'mother'. As she can just phased through people and objects, Kouri easily caught up with the woman. While floating beside the running blonde, Kouri showered her with questions "Why?... Don't you recognize me?... Oh... I see... it's because my hair is white and eyes are red now, isn't it? ...But still... even you changed..." Kouri's expression twisted into one that was filled with anger, confusion, and sadness. "You... even you changed... you used to have black hair and blue eyes like me... you always said that I'm like your mirror... so why now... why don't you recognize me?!" Kouri's anger grew and grew, the rage now consuming the other two emotions. "And now you... took the... monster's side... h-how could you?! I-it killed us!!! It killed Papa! You! And me! And I became this... this... LISTEN TO ME!!" Kouri used her soulmist tendrils to grab the woman's right leg, trying to trip her. She didn't stop her rain of questions as she did so. "like this... I became like this!! and.. and... how could say that you're not my mama?!! HOW COULD YOU?!! AAAAAAAAAAAARGH!!! KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!" Kouri screamed like a banshee, her shrill ethereal voice drew the attention of the people around them.

[Sigrun Dominic]

"Shykes, shykeshykeshykesshykes..." Sigrun's horrified expression turned towards the side as she caught sight of the apparition following her, floating easily beside her sprinting form. "Why?... Don't you recognize me?... Oh... I see... it's because my hair is white and eyes are red now, isn't it? ...But still... even you changed..." "Go away, go away go away," she muttered, blinking her eyes tightly and rapidly, in the hopes that it would make the girl disappear. Her legs gave in multiple times, unused to moving at such a quickened pace, and she stumbled here and there in an attempt to lose the girl. She bumped into various people who merely turned around and shouted at her to watch it. "I'm going to get myself arrested!" she thought frantically, as she rushed into an empty alley and turned to glance at her cart of flowers, "and petching fired!" "You... even you changed... you used to have black hair and blue eyes like me... you always said that I'm like your mirror... so why now... why don't you recognize me?!" "I don't know what you're talking about!" she hissed, "I've been blonde my whole life and trust me, I don't want that to change." "I don't want that to change," she growled, shaking her head vigorously, glaring down at the apparition. "LISTEN TO ME!!" Sigrun ignored the growing soreness in her thighs and kept on running as quickly as she could, muting the screeches of the apparition until she found herself faceplanted on the ground. The young blonde groaned, immediately defending her cart of flowers as she dragged it to the side. She stared at her knee and found that it was bleeding. "Petch," she said with gritted teeth, her eyes examining the scrape carefully. She held her knee close and glared up at the apparition before examining the alley exits for anyone who'd taken interest in their little scene, but only a few people stared and left. One or two people stood there and watched with curiosity, but Sigrun eyed them and shook her head. "You'd better not get involved in this," she warned them with her pained expression, "it's better to have one casualty than a multitude of them." They walked away. Sigrun turned over to the translucent girl and glared daggers at her. "What do you want from me?!" she hissed in Fratava, "are you a monster? One of those monsters mother had always talked about, are you here to kill me?" She'd hoped the foreign language would surprise the strange thing and perhaps make her leave, or at the very least confuse her and allow Sigrun to leave. "I am not your mother," Sigrun added softly, panting as she gripped her injured knee. "I am nobody's mother."

[Fubuki Kouri]

Fubuki Kouri Kouri had her now, her mother was right in front of her eyes, she was so close... Kouri's expression returned to that of a sorrowful little girl as she calmed down. "Mama... ehehe~ Oh yeah... the flower..." Kouri picked up another rose from the cart and was about to repeat her offer when her 'mother' spoke in something strange, something in a language she didn't understand, though she could understand her last sentence spoken in Common tongue. Huh??? Where did mama learn that? Kouri stared at the woman she thought to be her mother in questioning eyes... Mama... never ever spoke that... whatever that language is... w-what if? N-NO! She is my mother! She has to be!! I will make sure!! Kouri moved closer to the woman's face and spoke in Vani "Mama? What language were you speaking? You only taught me our native Vani and the Common tongue... " Kouri's eyes narrowed in a suspicious gaze as she continued, this time in Common. "Y-you can understand me, right? You're my mother, riiiight?!!"

[Sigrun Dominic]

"Wh-wha... What are you... What..." Sigrun spattered out broken sentences as she stared up at the translucent girl, "I'm sorry I... I don't understand, I..." The girl was speaking in a different language that she seemed to expect Sigrun to be able to comprehend. "Y-you can understand me, right? You're my mother, riiiight?!!" The young girl balled her hands into fists as rage began to replace her fear. Her brows furrowed and her eyes flashed as heat rose to her cheeks. Suddenly, all the pain and soreness that covered certain portions of her body seemingly faded away. "I don't quite understand..." she murmured, her voice shook, "why you can't understand me?!" "I said," she growled, "I am NOT your MOTHER!" "Did you hear me?!" "I AM NOT YOUR MOTHER!" she spat out venomously. The noises around them became muted, as if her admonishment had silenced the entire district, but it was only the emotions that circulated them that created such an illusion. Sigrun panted heavily, the weight of her words and frustrations crashing down on her chest as she glared up at the apparition.

[Fubuki Kouri]

Fubuki Kouri "I AM NOT YOUR MOTHER!" "NOT YOUR MOTHER!" "NOT YOUR MOTHER!" "NOT YOUR MOTHER!...." The woman's scream shot through Kouri like an extremely sharp dagger piercing her chest. "A...ah... Y-you..." Kouri's ethereal eyes had lost its light and her gaze was now completely empty as she stuttered in disbelief "y-you... a-are n-n-not... m-ma...mama?" The rose she was holding fell slowly to the ground, its crimson petals stained as it touched the ground. ".....no..." Kouri dropped down to the ground with her knees at her side "N-no... *sob* no..." She was visibly trying to hold back her tears in futility. "Uh... *sob* WAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!" Kouri screamed at the top of her ethereal lungs and with it shattered the dam blocking her tears of blood. Her pale white face now staining with two red lines heading down from her eyes to her cheeks. The few bystanders who watched them began whispering in confusion, fear, and worry; mainly about the blonde woman's safety. "Uwaaaaaah! N-no! J-just when I finally... when I finally found you!! N-now... *sob* " The small ray of hope she had when she thought she could finally be reunited with her mother was covered in the darkest shadow as realization started to pierce through Kouri's mind. The scene, with the injured and confused blonde woman, the wailing ethereal little girl, and the single red rose dying on the ground made the perfect image of a tragedy literature. Kouri kept crying for a good five chimes before she finally started to quiet down, with vacant eyes, she slowly stood up and spoke to the woman. "I'm sorry... I mistook you for someone else... aha..ahahaha..." She let out a hollow giggle as she slowly turned around, her back now facing the woman "...mama is dead, so is papa... how silly of me..... Aha... AAAAAA-" Kouri wanted to scream as loud as she can to vent up her frustation but she quickly stopped herself. She looked down to the ground, a single bloody tear flowed from her right eye "I'm sorry... I'll pay for the flowers... and... for a doctor... I promise... I promise... so please don't hate me... I'll go get my money... they are in the woods..." Kouri's voice was a haunting whisper as she beg for forgiveness and tried to fix the situation.