[1st orb]

[70ftandcounting]

[ It...took Rapunzel some time to figure out how to work the orb; her hands were trembling so much that she'd dropped it several times before she'd even managed to get a good look at it.

When her message comes through, her voice is shaky and her eyes are narrowed in frustration and a bit of fear. What a way to start her birthday… ]

I--I need to know where I really am, what's going on. Please. It's...it's really important that I go home right away. [ A deep breath. ]

F-Flynn? Are you here?

...

Oh my gosh, Mother really is going to kill me...

Comments

[shiromadoushi]

I don't think most people are what people here say they were before they came here. They just like everyone to fit a part of a story, so they make one when you arrive.

[70ftandcounting]

That's...so strange.

[ kind of...neat, though. ]

[shiromadoushi]

A lot of things about this place are. Really, it's almost like being in a storybook, or a world that's trying really hard to be one!

[70ftandcounting]

You know, I haven't read many storybooks. Mostly...instruction manuels...

[shiromadoushi]

Eh? [[he pauses to blink at her]] Instruction manuals...?

[[That's just... weird.]]

[70ftandcounting]

Mhm!

....And biology books. And...cookbooks.

[shiromadoushi]

But no stories....?

[[There's an expression that's a mix between pity and something that resembles horror. For someone who's fondest childhood memories involved his mother and fantasy books, someone now ever having had such books was just... tragic.]]

[70ftandcounting]

Not really, no.

[ she fidgets. ]

I had, um. Books on the stars? Those were my favorites. I even charted them!

[shiromadoushi]

[[Well that at least was better! He nods with a warm smile]] So you still had something that had wonder in it, ne?

[70ftandcounting]

Oh, yes! I learned ballet, too! And other things...

Just -- no stories like that.

[shiromadoushi]

Well, I haven't really found any good storybooks here... [[or really, any good books here...]] But if you'd like, I know plenty of stories I can tell you!

[70ftandcounting]

Oh, that would be wonderful!

[ SCOOCHING CLOSER, and resting her chin in her hands. ]

Tell me everything.

[shiromadoushi]

[[And for the next... however long she's willing to listen, Bakura will tell her stories ranging from The Hobbit to Shinto legend to embellished tales from the City.]]