Second Prayer: A Proper Greeting and Mysterious Arrivals[Video/Action]

[faithfulflame]

Backdated to March 16th

[Early on the morning of her fifth day in Luceti, Rei Hino leaves the house she shares with the other Senshi to go about her business for the day when she is surprised to find two very familiar faces perched in a tree not far from the house. Excitedly, Rei calls out happily to a pair of large, black crows]

Phobos?! Deimos?! Is that you?!

[The birds CAW loudly and wing down, happily skipping around on the ground at her feet. These birds had been her friends and companions for many years, and...without them it just wouldn't be as comfortable for her in this odd land. Plans now forgotten, Rei spends the morning playing with Phobos and Deimos, walking all around the village in her Miko robe with the two birds flapping around with her. Anyone unfamiliar with Rei catching the spectacle might be incredibly taken aback by just how familiar the corvids seem with the strange girl, actually allowing her to gently touch them, quorking happily]


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[Later that afternoon, a Video feed will start up over the journal system.

Rei is sitting on a bench outside, fiddling with the journal for a moment before setting it down and standing up to address the camera properly. Her speech is very formal, and unlike her last broadcast, she sounds much more calm and collected, despite the pair of crows that peer into the camera a few times during the broadcast]

Good Afternoon everyone. I would like to take a moment to properly introduce myself when I'm not screaming and worrying about everything. My name is Rei Hino, and I am from Tokyo, Japan. I would like to apologize for my outburst the other day, and especially to anyone that I may have yelled at or been rude to.

I would also like to extend my heartfelt thanks to everyone that helped me when I arrived. I promise that I won't ever forget it. Additionally, I want to thank everyone who helped take care of my friends Mizuno Ami-san, and Tsukino Usagi-san in the time before I arrived. They are very, very dear to me and I am glad that they seem to have found the inhabitants of this village to be welcoming and kind. They have told me many good things about many of you, so I look forward to meeting you.

And...I gather from other broadcasts its customary to ask a question. So, my question is this: What are the spirits of this land like? Are they kind and helpful, or are they capricious and mean? Also, I would like to know more about the spirits of your homelands. Studying such things is one of my fondest hobbies, so I am very curious.

Thank you for your time.

Comments

[action]

[fierybluebird]

Whoa... Nice crows.

[Whistles quietly and pulls out some birdseed to hand their keeper. Since it'd be rude to just start feeding someone else's pet. Feel free to wonder WHY he keeps birdseed on him though.]

Natives of this world or friends from home? [Yes, he said friends, not pets.]

[action]

[faithfulflame]

Oh! Um...thank you sir. I...guess you like birds too?

[She accepts the food and holds out her hand, the two birds pecking away at it, tickling. This isn't weird, no, she'll ask later, right now she's just happy to have her friends with her...]

Friends from home. My wonderful friends, Phobos and Deimos. And I'm Rei.

[action]

[fierybluebird]

Marco. Nice to meet you Rei, Phobos, Deimos. [Offers a handshake to Rei and nods to all three respectively.]

And aye, I have a fondness for birds, eh.

[action]

[faithfulflame]

[Rei smiles and offers her own hand, before politely bowing. The two big, black birds quork in acknowledgement as well]

Its nice to meet you Mr. Marco. So...you like birds? Do you have many friends that are birds?

[action]

[fierybluebird]

Yeah, a few. And my adopted little sister is one.

How'd you meet these two?

[action]

[faithfulflame]

You...adopted a bird?

[Whoa...a real bird brain...]

I met them at home. They used to live in my Grandfather's backyard at the temple. I...just sort of walked outside and there they were. I knew their names, and they came when I called.

[action]

[fierybluebird]

[Secretive grin.] If you get a chance to meet Kazooie, you'll understand.

Yeah? How did you know their names?

[action]

[faithfulflame]

Kazooie? You're sister? Is she here?

[She reciprocates with a mysterious smile of her own]

Well, I just sort of knew. I'm not sure how. I just said their names, and...that was that.

[action]

[fierybluebird]

Right. I met her here.

Interesting. Does that sort of thing happen often where you're from?

[action]

[faithfulflame]

Not that I'm aware of. People at home...well, sometimes they are a little afraid of me because I'm so different. And at home, crows aren't really well liked.

[Doesn't change a thing]

[action]

[fierybluebird]

[Whistles quietly to one and reaches out a finger to gently stroke under a beak.]

I can't understand why. You seem friendly enough. [Though he comes from a world of insane people... so there's that. By New World standards Rei comes off as ridiculously "normal."]

[action]

[faithfulflame]

[THAT is something that draws a blink from Rei. She's NEVER been called friendly by a stranger before]

I think people with crows for friends, and who work as priests, and do fortune telling and stuff...well...they aren't really normal back home.

[action]

[fierybluebird]

What's normal then?

Mah, in any case, you'll find that's probably different here. There are plenty of stranger people. Like I said, I adopted a bird for my sister. Plenty of strange things.

[action]

[faithfulflame]

So it seems. I've already met some pretty interesting people. And nobody's really batted an eyelash at anything except my friends. Though...I think people are still sometimes scared of crows.

[action]

[fierybluebird]

[A shrug.] The only birds that creep me out are Southbirds. But that's because they're kind of jerks. And control insects to attack. [Slight shiver.]

[action]

[faithfulflame]

...Southbirds are jerks? And...huh?

[You lost her. She's seen some WEIRD stuff, but birds that control insects?]

[action]

[fierybluebird]

Something from my world, sorry. I don't think there are any here, so don't worry about it.

[action]

[faithfulflame]

Alright. Sounds...strange.

What's your world like, with weird insect-controlling birds?

[action]

[fierybluebird]

[Amused grin that she even has to ask after a comment like that, before switching to deadpan.]

Oh, completely normal. [Lying so much. Even Marco knows it's weird.] Boring even.

[action]

[faithfulflame]

You know, lying to people you just met isn't very nice.

[Hands on her hip, she'll look up at Marco and glare. There is some serious intensity there for a 15 year old]

[action]

[fierybluebird]

[Laughs softly.]

Aye, aye. You caught me.

My world has a lot of species of birds. But it's mostly ocean, so they're either types of seabirds, or ones that can at least travel those large distances over the ocean between all the islands. Some are bigger than humans, some are con-artists, some are well, like I said, there's Southbirds. They probably only became jerks after pirates kept kidnapping them to use like compasses -- because southbirds are only comfortable facing south, and the islands on the Grand Line generate their own magnetic fields so compasses don't work.

It's... a big topic; my entire world, eh.

[action]

[faithfulflame]

[Weird sounding birds. She's glad the only ones SHE had to deal with are crows]

Pirates? Do you live in the Caribbean? Or...is there just a lot of water where you and the Southbirds live?

[action]

[fierybluebird]

[Shakes his head.] My whole world is mostly ocean. Just islands otherwise. It's divided into four blues by the Red Line which is the closest thing we have to a continent, it's a bunch of islands squished together that circle the world, and the Grand Line which is a strip of ocean bordered by Calm Belts that runs perpendicular to the Red Line.

The Southbirds are only found in the Grand Line, and that's the same ocean I'm from.

[action]

[faithfulflame]

Geez. I'm from an island myself. But I don't think its anything like the islands from where you're from.

Do people mostly live on the Red Line then?

[action]

[fierybluebird]

From what I've heard from people from other worlds, I very much doubt it.

No, most people live on other islands scattered all over the world. Very few people live in the New World because it's so dangerous, and just about the only way to travel is by ship, so unless you really want a quiet existence on one island forever, sailing is pretty much a requirement.