[Open] Woman Passes Out in the Lack of Sky

[matchbreaker]

WHO: Elda Marker and anyone else!
WHERE: Viea Village mostly! But the last prompt sees her trying to get to Towers.
WHEN: Early after the world turned white
WHAT: Elda Marker is a pseudo-vampire with an allergy to the sun. The white void counts as being sunny. It's not a good time.
WARNINGS: None really but it would be a huge help if people tagging in filled out this

I. In which Elda Marker falls victim to the sun
[ Elda Marker has been trying to keep getting up on time, but a combination of not wanting to deal with the sun in the morning, staying up later at night, and the fact that time feels a little lost in his dark bedroom that has no windows save for one with dark, thick curtains makes for time being surreal. Today is one of those days she got up late enough that he son has left for school before she got up. She groans at doing this again, and forces herself up to start the day, brushing out her hair, putting a hat in, eating a tasteless breakfast...

And eventually, she steps outside. It didn't look that bright out from the inside, but to be sure she has on her sunglasses and a wide-brim hat, a parasol in her purse because she knows the tree cover of her hill will be enough -

Until the world is white out there. Her eyes going wide under the shades, she turns back to her vanished house? She looks at her phone to see the message from Zee and also a message from Toushiro about the oddity of the world (he noticed?) but he didn't want to wake her because she seemed tired and- ... And it's the sun. There's no sky, but she can feel that there's something like the sun going on now. Groaning, the woman tries to put up her parasol, and makes to try to follow the directions on her phone to the brush-

She only lasts about an hour before she's down on the ground. The small older woman looks incredibly ill, her skin breaking out into hives and her mouth sort of lulled open. She made it to the bottom of the hill (not that you can tell in the white) and might well be in the middle of an invisible street in Viea Village. ... So. Yeah? Help her out? ]

II. In which Elda Marker tries to touch the sky

Hey, can you fly? Got anything else to fly?

[ She's asking almost random people on the street by the time she's recovered here. She still looks sick, but she had her brush by now. She's repaited a bus stop, and had curled up under the shadow of it, because it's the best she's got right now, her hat close to her head as if to try to make it better.

If anyone asks, she can explain her reasoning? But she also mutters, ]

Or a catapult...

III. In which Elda Marker tries to find her way to answers
[ She is going to talk with Zee Carlisle. She could just call him - and she still might?! But she has decided she's going to get to his stupid office and complain in person! ... Of course, to do this, she needs to make it to Towers. ... She needs to find and then create Towers, assuming he's even still there. So she's flicking her paint all over the place with one hand, pausing onyl sometimes to check her phone GPS while holding a - is that a circular dinner table? Yes, she is holding a circular dinner table (painted by herself, so pure black) over her head with one arm as a "umbrella" for herself.

She needs more than a parasol when there's no clouds or other sources of shadows.

... This might be attracting a lot of looks from NPCs, and a fair bit of fear?? And it might seem weird to you. ]

IV. Wildcard
[ Want to do something else with me? Hit me up with a PM or at bigdamnhero and we can work something out. ]

Comments

I!

[lostapprentice]

[There was sort of a prickle in the back of his mind that something wasn't quite right.

Aside from the obvious, of course. The entirety of the city (and who knows how far out?) having gone white, only painted in partly here and there from beginning efforts, was definitely "not quite right." He'd nearly crushed his phone in rage when it dared to beep at him with coordinates and a map in the face of something so absurd yet again.

He'd made a convincing argument not to come into work today, at least: do you see any cars around that need fixing? he'd said, and for once his boss had seemed to be aware of the situation and admitted he had a point—but just for today. It was unsettling and relieving all at once. He's tried not to think very hard about it, and has only partly failed so far.

Instead of work, he's walking around the city with brush in hand, following that odd sense and painting plain black streaks across invisible buildings as he goes along. It's not an urgent feeling, really, not the same as it had been when it first began to warn him of the dangers around him in October, but it nonetheless pulls at his consciousness in a way he's too curious to ignore. What else is he going to do, anyway?

That feeling goes forgotten when he spots a familiar figure collapsed in the middle of the white void, and he starts to step over to her, slowly at first but almost at a jog when he starts to get a better look at Elda and the poor state she's in.

Any possible cause doesn't come to mind immediately, but he nonetheless skids to his knees and leans over her, casting a bit more shade as he takes her shoulder to give it a brief shake.]

Hey!

[matchbreaker]

[ Unfortunately, she's out cold. Well, not cold. She's actually sweating a cold sweat and there's hives all over her body. Be it a real reaction to the "sunlight" of the white void or a placebo to the pseudo-sunlight of the void. Who knows which one it really was? Either way, she looks like she's very, very ill right now, and that illness has gotten the better of her. She's not at all ...

Well, she's not at all healthy right now. It's not good. ]

[lostapprentice]

Damn it.

[He spots the dropped parasol now that he's taken in the state of her, and it clicks immediately. If I get direct sunlight on me it'll make me sick.

Seriously? This mess counts as sunlight?

It's certainly bright enough for it, he grumbles internally. The parasol flies towards his outstretched hand a moment after, although he doesn't take it in his hand; instead, it floats over the two of them to shield her from the blank white canvas as much as is possible, and a gesture from his finger sends his paintbrush flying around in an attempt to find and paint anything that might work as shelter, whether it's a tree or the awning of a house or anything else.

But he knows that won't be a real solution, however. As unsure as he is of those off the app knowing what's going on, maybe they can still treat it. Even if... he may have to paint the hospital back up himself. Damn it.

When enough of a tree is painted black to at least serve as some shade, he picks her up in his arms and carries her to it for some additional shelter from the "sun," the parasol still hovering over them, and quickly gets to work finding the nearest clinic on his phone's GPS.]

Hang in there.

[Even if he doesn't expect her to hear him or wake up, he can at least hope he's doing some good for her.]

[matchbreaker]

[ Yeah she doesn't really wake up or hear him, but she does sure groan a little like she might've! So that's something? she'll be really appreciative later. Her mouth looks a little dry, honestly. ]

[lostapprentice]

[The vocalization is encouraging, at least, although he would have been hurrying either way. Anyone who happens to stop and stare at the bizarre scene—Ren carrying Elda with a hovering parasol over them and a dripping brush painting haphazard lines ahead—gets a sharp out of the way barked at them, which is plenty to disperse anyone who might have actually been in his path.

Ren does occasionally glance back down to her to make sure she isn't getting worse, and one of those glances gets him to notice the dryness around her lips.

...

...

Is he stupid enough to try that? Right now it's still at a solid maybe, with other options definitely coming first. Hopefully he can get to somewhere that can help her before he needs to try anything drastic, but he'll do what he has to.

Ren finds himself a little bit grateful about the fact that the city shrunk a few months ago; it means there's less area to cover before he reaches that clinic. He just finds himself annoyed that it's nearly summer and he doesn't have a coat to cover her with. If she can just hang in there for a few more minutes...]

[matchbreaker]

[ Hopefully someone painted that clinic into existence?! Or he is good enough to do that? Either way, she's clearly groaning a little more and gaining some awareness as she is kept in the shadows longer. But it...

Yeah. It doesn't feel good...

Now... ]

II

[sanephiroth]

[Well, that may be the oddest question he's received today so he turns to her curiously. He notes the paint brush though and comes to take a seat on the highlighted bench.]

No, but why would you need that?

[His paint brush is black and he's dressed rather oddly. Some kind of formal leather uniform that bares his chest save for two straps. There's also the silver hair and the cat-like green eyes.]

[matchbreaker]

[ . . . Okay no change in topic, actually- ]

What the devil're you wearing?

[sanephiroth]

[Way to hit a sore spot. He shrugs]

Presumably armor.

[matchbreaker]

But... why- oh. Is that what you stepped out the door with?

[ ??? Why was he stepping out the door in that . . . ]

[sanephiroth]

[It felt like a good idea at the time?]

This and a seven-foot long odachi.

[matchbreaker]

[ Wow. She sort of glances around his back as if expecting to see that there, thinking of Kenta's ridiculously long impractical sword. That said, she nods a little at that and sighs. ]

Well then, should we go find some clothing store and fit you for something new? We'll have to paint it, but it'd be black either way.

I

[imaginex]

... Marker-san?

[That's perhaps the only upside to this stark white environment they've found themselves in: it feels like you can see for miles in any direction. Sakura has tried to use this to her advantage, too, ever on the hunt for friends who can explain what exactly is happening (yes, she saw Zee's message, and even has her brush, but that's hardly an explanation)--

But finding Elda on the ground? Not quite what she had in mind this morning.]

Marker-san!

[Running is ill-advised, but oh, Sakura tries it -- and promptly runs into 50 different things on her way to the fallen woman]

[matchbreaker]

[ Sorry but she can't answer!! She's out cold!! Shit's awkward, really? But yeah, she's sure here, on the ground, looking... ill... ]

[imaginex]

[Wow maybe respond to Sakura when she's worried about you?? Unconsciousness is not an excuse.

But once she reaches Marker, a bit battered and scraped from all of those invisible hurdles, Sakura will shake the woman by the shoulders, trying to see if she's truly unconscious or just hurt somewhere and can't get up.]

Marker-san? Please wake up!

[matchbreaker]

[ I mean there's a light groan here... but not much more than that. Her eyes are sort of half-open, but she's got - well, she's not aware right now at all oops. ]

1/2

[imaginex]

[... Well this has escalated from concerning to outright fear. Elda seems to be breathing, thank god, but it's soon obvious that Sakura will have to lift or drag the woman to safety.

... Safety from what, she doesn't immediately know. What is going on...]

Okay. [She rakes a hand through her hair, shaking at the tips and hard enough to scratch up her scalp.] Okay, I'll... give me a second.

[First off, she'll take stock of what Elda has on her -- clothes, then any purses or the like. If they're invisible, too bad, Sakura's not gonna look for them, and after steeling herself, shoves her arms underneath Elda's armpits before lifting, with the woman's top half slouched against her.

Gonna drag her like a corpse across a white wasteland, yes Sakura is.

... And will keep dragging her until a sharp oof! of surprise when she runs into a building. And a building could mean a door? That leads to people?? Who can help her with this?? Which means Sakura cannot pull out her brush fast enough, and once she's repainted the door (or at least a knob), she starts banging on it with abandon]

H-hello? Please, I need help!

[No answer. She tries the knob.

Of course it's locked.]

[imaginex]

[Okay she does not have time for this. Screw it. Assuming Elda is still passed out, she'll miss the sight of Sakura tackle running into the white abyss, until the door finally opens.

She is so lucky it wasn't a bolt lock.

She will be sore and bruised by tomorrow, and perhaps in jail for breaking and entering. That does not stop her from dragging Elda's body into this random house.]

Just wait, Marker-san, I'm going to try and... find some water!

[matchbreaker]

[ You know, if she's lucky that she's probably breaking into Jaeger's house, given where they are and the neighborhood? He barely lives there anymore, but... yeah either way, this sure is a house you're breaking into? On the plus side, Elda is only generously 90 pounds. She's very light and small.

But...

Yeah, she's still not awake, just sort of groaning a bit as she tries to come back to. The break out on her skin is still awful though.

Did you paint in a ceiling yet? ]

For Reiji

[matchbreaker]

[ Welp.

... It's a lot harder to show someone around the city when the city is all white. But she did have some places in mind, and she... is wearing a black dress. ... She didn't have someone else to match paints with, okay. It looks okay on her, even if it's a little silly to have an all black ensemble. But she's here, and at the meeting place she proposed - which given the need for it to be more towards the city center now the sky has been mostly repainted, they are meeting just outside of the (again) mostly repainted Towers.

... Humming a bit, rocking on her heels. ]

[diamant]

[Here we are.

Reiji doesn't seem to mind the current state of the city, nor does he seem bothered by the dress she's wearing; he's likewise decked out in clothes that are...not precisely on the colorful end, but that's overall fine - his brush is purple, it'd clash horribly with his hair, still the same natural red he showed up in this city with.

...He's seen enough of what's passing for bangs in his peripheral vision in memories to know that's not going to last, but you know what, that's exciting. Maybe.

That said, his approach is easy, hands in his pockets.]

Miss Elda. It's good to see you.

[matchbreaker]

Likewise, though we could have wished for this whole situation not being complicated by ... this.

[ All this. this void. She gestures with her own brush as if to imply that.

His hair... ]

[diamant]

Ah, that's true... But I have been enjoying it, as much as I can - so I can't complain too much, either. There's something striking about it, it's refreshing.

[...Reiji, why.]

[matchbreaker]

Honestly, I'm just thankful someone's painted the sky a bit.

[ So.

I mean. ] But yeah? I could see that.

[diamant]

Oh, I think I'd be very annoyed if it couldn't be fixed at all. I'll admit that much. But it's solvable, so it makes me a little more charitable.