orb | ghb 18

[shinkenyellow]

[The video feed starts with a lovely view of... something. Blurs? Accompanied by an exclamation, "ah!", and a loud noise upon contact with what can only be assumed as the floor. You are picked up and rubbed and a few seconds later, have an actual view of somebody's face. It's a young girl, grimacing. She takes a few steps back, turns, and bows deeply before you.]

I'm Hanaori Kotoha. Um...

I'm not sure...

[Maybe it would've been a good idea to think about what she was going to say before she actually started this thing up. She laughs nervously.]

I asked questions, but... Sorry for not preparing!

[Probably not the right ones. She had asked the man about the Gedoushuu, about her friends, about where she was, but she hadn't asked any of the practical questions like where she was going to stay or how to get there.

She bows her head quickly in another apologetic gesture. Maybe she could still go back and find that man? Ask him where she would go now and how to get there? Perhaps she would receive replies from people via this orb contraption. She tried to think of it as a phone.]

I'm a knight, so I look forward to working with you all.

I'll try my best!

[She clasps her hands together and to her chest and nods in determination.]

Comments

[dash_dynamic]

[So there's this guy on the other end of the orb...and he has never seen this person before in his life. But he can tell her heart's in the right place.]

Ah, it's okay, I don't think anyone can ever really prepare for their first time using that thing.

[She's taking it better than he did. There was a lot of confused yelling that day...]

[70ftandcounting]

Oh! Hello! I'm Rapunzel, it's nice to meet you!

[shinkenyellow]

[That voice? Kotoha was sure she had heard it somewhere before, but surely that couldn't be possible? She squinted at the orb and her mouth dropped in realisation.]

Ah! Gunpei-san?!

[She held the orb in both hands when she addressed him this time, bringing it to closer to her face.]

This isn't the Gaiark either?

[shinkenyellow]

Rapunzel? Ah, your hair is so long!

[She touches the ends of her own hair for comparison and spends a few seconds wondering how that's possible.]

[70ftandcounting]

O-oh, um -- yes! It is.

[ tucking it away now ]

Are you new? Here, I mean. Did you just arrive?

[shinkenyellow]

It's beautiful!

[She smiles widely, still enamoured with this long blonde hair, before nodding.]

Yes I am, but I didn't really ask the man the right questions so I'm not really sure what to do now...

[She trails off, looking around.]

[70ftandcounting]

[ Rapunzel puzzles over that for a moment. The term she’d used – ‘knight’ – didn’t ring too many bells but it seemed like a very important title. ]

Well, what did you ask him? I didn’t ask him many of the right questions. I learned…what little I know from other people here!

[shinkenyellow]

About the Gedoushuu from home, my sister and my friends. Everyone will be worrying!

[For the first time, she allows herself to look saddened by her present circumstances, before remembering that she could still be seen by others with these orbs.]

Um, sorry but do you know where I can find the other people? There are some here but...

[The people she was currently seeing didn't really look very welcoming. They were just looking at her indifferently as they walked by and went about their business - she didn't really feel too enthused by the prospect of asking them for help.]

[70ftandcounting]

The – what?

[ Rapunzel looks puzzled, then panicky. ]

Oh! Don’t be sad, it’s really not so bad here, I promise! The people are friendly enough, you’ll see! [ you’re a knight? Watch out for them random marriage proposals ]

And – there’s more of us here. Sometimes, I don’t think they pay attention to their orbs. It’s alright, you’ll see!

[shinkenyellow]

[Of course nobody here would know about the Gedoushuu. As if she hadn't been chastising herself enough since she got here!]

Ah, they're the monsters from home. I'm a Samurai Sentai Shinkenger and we're always fighting them. The man said I was a knight because of that.

[She was the youngest Shinkenger and while they needed her to complete their team, they could probably manage a lot better without her than they could without anybody else like Genta or Ryuunosuke, and she didn't even want to think about how their situation would be if Takeru was in her place. She snaps back to reality upon hearing Rapunzel's panicked tone and shakes her head with a smile.]

No, I'm glad it's me here instead of any of my friends. Are you here alone too?

[70ftandcounting]

Oh! Well, that absolutely makes sense then.

[ she nods, as if that just explains it all. The terms – kind of make her eyes glaze over a little bit, the words are so incredibly foreign that her mind cannot hope to process – but she tries, because she loves to learn and loves to hear about places that are not her home. ]

Alone? Well – kind of. Flynn isn’t here- [ because he is ‘Flynn’ and not ‘Eugene’ and if she went around telling people his real name and he appeared that would be a breach of trust wouldn’t it ] - but Pascal is!

[ as if on cue, the little chameleon appears atop her head and squeaks indignantly at the orb. ]

Pascal, meet my new friend…umm…what – what’s your name again?

[shinkenyellow]

[At least something was making sense around here and that was enough to lift her spirits a little. And consider her spirits well and truly soaring both upon seeing Pascal and being called a friend, and so soon! Maybe it wasn't so bad here after all!]

Ah! So cute~!

[She almost found herself outstretching her hand to touch it but of course. She shrunk back. These orbs would take some time to get used to. She just had to hope that her smile and words conveyed her message properly, it all felt so strange. She bows again.]

My name is Kotoha! Nice to meet you.

[dash_dynamic]

Yeah, but...how do you know who I am?

[So. Confused. So very confused.

...wait a second, he's got a likely explanation, and he grins when he thinks of it.]

Are you a fan of the Go-Ongers?

[Gunpei, no, don't flatter yourself...]

[shinkenyellow]

F-fan?

[She giggles at him because he's funny. I mean he's obviously joking right? She doesn't quite understand.]

No Gunpei-san! It's me, Kotoha! Shinken Yellow!

[dash_dynamic]

[At least the not understanding is mutual, because Gunpei has no idea what's going on here either. He is so confused.]

Uh...have we met before?

[shinkenyellow]

Um. You don't remember...

[Ah. To go from so pleased to so downtrodden was harsh, and she let it show. The man she had spoken to never said anything to her about any memory loss in this place! Had she forgotten anything important?]

You came to our world once. You and the Go-Ongers. We all fought together.

[She didn't get the impression that was he was joking, and so her words were statements rather than questions. Her first day wasn't going so swimmingly. She smiled at him.]

It was fun.

[dash_dynamic]

[Gunpei continues to look weirded out and starts awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck.]

I...don't remember anything like that...

[He's starting to get freaked out--this isn't making any sense!]

Sorry.

[shinkenyellow]

Ah...

[The pause was longer than she wanted, but maybe she could try and be friends with him anyway? He was the person that would understand her world the most here, she guessed. But she hadn't made the best first impression, really. Confusing and maybe worrying him about his memory loss. She bowed her head.]

Never mind! I'm sorry for inconveniencing you!

[dash_dynamic]

[Well, now he feels bad because he really feels like he should know her if she knows him, and WHY does she know him if he doesn't know her

No! No, it's not an inconvenience, really! I'm just a little confused!

[He's thinking he's a detective cop, and he should really be able to figure this out. Why can't he figure it out?]

[shinkenyellow]

Ah, sorry! Um, would you like me to tell you more?

[dash_dynamic]

[There is enthusiastic nodding on Gunpei's part.]

Yeah, that might help us get to the bottom of things here. Just like any investigation.

[shinkenyellow]

[She looked up at the sky for a few seconds as if to gather her thoughts and jog her own memory, before she nodded with determination.]

Well, we were fighting the Gaiark at first. We weren't sure what was going on because they weren't the Gedoushuu, they're the monsters we fight. Then Sousuke-kun appeared and fought them off, but he and Tono-sama got into an argument. Then, ah, Bachiido came and we fought him too, but the other retainers and I ended up being transported into different worlds because we were protecting Tono-sama and Sousuke-kun.

Chiaki and I were transported to the same world that you were in. You...

[Her cheeks reddened slightly as she squirmed a little in front of the orb.]

It was samurai world and we got arrested with you because you... Ah, but we managed to break out together before the Engines saved us and we defeated Buchiido and the Gedoushuu. We all did the clap of victory together!

[dash_dynamic]

Hey! I wouldn't have gotten arrested! I'm a policeman!

[Great, he's freaking out over that more than anything else for the same reasons he freaked out when he got arrested back there, give him a moment...

...and he's managed to compose himself kinda-sorta again. Maybe. Focus, Gunpei, focus.]

You keep saying that--Gedoushuu. What are they? Are they like the Gaiark?

[golden_moon]

This is all rather shocking to the system, Miss...Katahoa?

[The face in the orb seems kindly enough, but doesn't seem to be giving the conversation her full attention.]

Was there anything in particular you didn't quite get a proper answer to? Or that you forgot to ask? It's a bit much to take in, but I've a couple minutes, I think.

[She offers a smile, and little nod, now.]

I'm Selene, by the way.

[shinkenyellow]

[Kotoha remains silent while he basically tells her that she's lying. She knows she was right - they didn't all just imagine the Go-Ongers and the Gaiark, that would be impossible right? She thought so. However, she didn't fancy insisting upon it if it would trouble him further.]

Yes. The Gedoushuu are monsters from the Sanzu River. They're always causing havoc and trying to get the water in the river to rise enough to spill into the human world so they can invade properly. They can't come to the human world for long amounts of time. Their leader is Doukoku, but I've never seen him myself.

I hope they're all okay...