:memory 04:
- she's running, wrapped up in a long coat that's too warm for indoors with a scarf looped snugly around her neck but still rushing down a hallway. The walls are battered and the paint has flaked from the ceiling, but everything is meticulously clean...
Pushing through a doorway, she looks around herself, caught up in worry. Three of the girls are here, the one from her memories - this is a memory, she registers faintly in another part of her mind, and pays attention - sitting here and there around the room, and they look up as she comes in, with matching looks of worry on their faces.
"Where's Rakka?" she hears herself say. "Is she back?"
One of the girls shakes her head, making her pale ponytail swing. "What happened to her?" she murmurs, unhappily.
"Hey," says another girl - Kurayami isn't sure how she knows this one is a girl, despite the boyish clothes and demeanor, but she does - sitting on a bed, "Do you think she's...?"
"This isn't like with Kuu!" Kurayami can feel a surge of fear running up her own spine as she interrupts. "Rakka hasn't..." She trails off, uneasy, unsure of herself.
"Weren't you with her last, ----?"
The voice is quiet and almost sleepy, calm in the face of their rising dismay - and Kurayami freezes, recognizing the sound of it, her wry and drowsy crow familiar, Siesta - and she looks over and sees the girl with the soft brown hair, leaning her chin in her hand at a table.
"I'm sorry," Kurayami says, hanging her head. "I should have stayed with her."
The boyish girl stands up, feathers bristling slightly, and gives her an irritated look. "Rakka's too old for a babysitter," she grumbles. "Hey, should we go looking for her? Or wait?"
"It's still not that late for her to be out," says the laid-back girl. Siesta? She smiles gently, and gets up from her chair. "But looking for her now is better than panicking when it gets dark. Even if it turns out to be needless worry."
"Alright, then!" the tomboy exclaims, grinning, and runs for the door. The blond girl follows her, but Siesta pauses as she passes Kurayami and looks back, props a hand on her hip and smiles wryly.
"You're not thinking she just ran away from home, are you?" she asks, with gentle amusement. There's a self-deprecating chuckle in Kurayami's voice as she answers:
"Rakka isn't as stupid as I am. But...it is kind of similar."
"You mean to when...?" Siesta starts to ask, but the smile vanishes from Kurayami's face as she speaks, and she winces and backs off, suddenly solemn. "I'm sorry."
"It's fine," Kurayami says, forcing a cheerful smile, and stirs herself into motion, walking briskly towards the door. "Let's go."
And the next thing she knows, they've hurried down a flight of stairs and through a crumbling courtyard - how big is this place? - and out into a whirling snowstorm, flakes nipping at the bare skin of her face as all four of them stumble along through rolling fields dotted with tall, whirling windmills, shining the lights of their electric torches this way and that as they call again and again in high worried voices over the whistle of the wind -
"Rakka? Rakka! Rakkaa-aa-aa!"
Pushing through a doorway, she looks around herself, caught up in worry. Three of the girls are here, the one from her memories - this is a memory, she registers faintly in another part of her mind, and pays attention - sitting here and there around the room, and they look up as she comes in, with matching looks of worry on their faces.
"Where's Rakka?" she hears herself say. "Is she back?"
One of the girls shakes her head, making her pale ponytail swing. "What happened to her?" she murmurs, unhappily.
"Hey," says another girl - Kurayami isn't sure how she knows this one is a girl, despite the boyish clothes and demeanor, but she does - sitting on a bed, "Do you think she's...?"
"This isn't like with Kuu!" Kurayami can feel a surge of fear running up her own spine as she interrupts. "Rakka hasn't..." She trails off, uneasy, unsure of herself.
"Weren't you with her last, ----?"
The voice is quiet and almost sleepy, calm in the face of their rising dismay - and Kurayami freezes, recognizing the sound of it, her wry and drowsy crow familiar, Siesta - and she looks over and sees the girl with the soft brown hair, leaning her chin in her hand at a table.
"I'm sorry," Kurayami says, hanging her head. "I should have stayed with her."
The boyish girl stands up, feathers bristling slightly, and gives her an irritated look. "Rakka's too old for a babysitter," she grumbles. "Hey, should we go looking for her? Or wait?"
"It's still not that late for her to be out," says the laid-back girl. Siesta? She smiles gently, and gets up from her chair. "But looking for her now is better than panicking when it gets dark. Even if it turns out to be needless worry."
"Alright, then!" the tomboy exclaims, grinning, and runs for the door. The blond girl follows her, but Siesta pauses as she passes Kurayami and looks back, props a hand on her hip and smiles wryly.
"You're not thinking she just ran away from home, are you?" she asks, with gentle amusement. There's a self-deprecating chuckle in Kurayami's voice as she answers:
"Rakka isn't as stupid as I am. But...it is kind of similar."
"You mean to when...?" Siesta starts to ask, but the smile vanishes from Kurayami's face as she speaks, and she winces and backs off, suddenly solemn. "I'm sorry."
"It's fine," Kurayami says, forcing a cheerful smile, and stirs herself into motion, walking briskly towards the door. "Let's go."
And the next thing she knows, they've hurried down a flight of stairs and through a crumbling courtyard - how big is this place? - and out into a whirling snowstorm, flakes nipping at the bare skin of her face as all four of them stumble along through rolling fields dotted with tall, whirling windmills, shining the lights of their electric torches this way and that as they call again and again in high worried voices over the whistle of the wind -
"Rakka? Rakka! Rakkaa-aa-aa!"