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ERIKA'S GARDEN - EARLY AFTERNOON - SHORTLY AFTER XOCHI'S FLIGHT
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Xochicoatl lands in the midst of the garden, anger and tears boiling just under her well-composed surface. She is royalty! She is better than this! Still, she can't help but cry, feeling hurt and afraid that no one will tell her the truth! And so... she flew. Tired and upset, she landed here, the garden where Erika talked to her about flowers, not really knowing why, only that it seemed a safe spot to land.
Narrator: There is a rustling sound from the big tree almost right above Xochicoatl's landing point. "Oh! Hey there! Be down in just a minute!" The sound of one particular honky clonky okapi making her way down from the tree is not a subtle one.
Xochicoatl glances up towards the voice, wings rustling behind her, "Ahh... it... it's okay. I am... here... Fine. I am just fine."
Erika comes into view, climbing down with surprisingly practiced ease, knowing exactly where to put her hooves in this particular tree. "If you pardon my amateur herbalist opinion, you do not sound fine. Oomf!" She drops down, tumbling slightly on the landing but giving the coatl a smile regardless.
Xochicoatl wipes at the tears upon her face, trying to regain her regal composure and give the okapi a smile. "Erika... ah, um, hello. It is alright. I just... came here... for a moment."
Erika shrugs: "Feel free to spend several moments if you need to. I don't mind." She gathers herself, picking up a couple of stray branches from her hair: "It's a good place to rest in, I always say."
Xochicoatl nods slowly, taking a few moments to sniffle. "It is... a good place, I mean. I feel... safe here. I know I have only been here once before but... it is a strong feeling."
Erika shrugs: "I don't really think you've only been here once. Or... hmm. At least, in some way..."
Xochicoatl tilts her head, "No...? Only the once that I can remember, when you showed me the flowers from Orela, yes?"
Erika hums, then nods slowly: "...yeah, that must have been it, I did show you... and then again, you...?" She blinks a couple of times: "Wait, that makes no sense. But I'm pretty sure I've taught you flowers several times." She shrugs: "Eh, it'll come to me in a minute."
Xochicoatl frowns at Erika, "I... do not know. There are things I cannot remember. I don't know how I came here, or how I truly escaped. Erika, is something wrong with me? Why will no one tell me the truth?"
Erika tilts her head as she wracks her brain before coming to a conclusion: "Well, I did have one theory... but before I say what I think the case is, I will hug you." She does so, hugging the coatl youth tightly.
Xochicoatl mrphs, then hugs back, letting herself cry some more as she hugs the okapi.
Erika holds Xochicoatl for as long as needed: "It's a crazy one, but we can take our time."
Xochicoatl holds the Okapi a little longer, then releases her, still crying. "I just... I just want honesty, Erika. I know Captain Louma probably means well, and maybe that 'Nesseth' she brought to speak to me does as well. But I know something is wrong, but no one will tell me what."
Erika pauses at this, then nods: "They're... dancing around the topic? I guess they would." She lets go of the hug and sits down on the porch steps, motioning Xochicoatl to join her. She takes a breath: "Okay so this sounds a bit crazy, but I think there's another... you, older you - one that is my friend as well - out there, except trapped."
Xochicoatl follows after Erika, curling her tail up around her to sit upon it. She sighs, "Another... me? Like a sister? An older sister?" She shuffles awkwardly, "You think Louma has captured her somehow?"
Erika shakes her head: "Err, probably not. See, before you came to town - right before, actually - the older, well, you... she was planning for this ritual. To I think do away with regrets of a life lost being a captive, something like that. My guess is something went wrong."
Xochicoatl glances down at the dirt of the garden, thinking. "And so I was magicked here, somehow. I know nothing about this... I remember my life, my captivity, then I just 'appeared' here. The more I think on it, the less it makes sense."
Erika shrugs: "I was a feral okapi - again - just a short while ago. Sense isn't something I deal with a lot lately." She sighs: "So anyway... Nesseth whom I guess you met, then had a vivid dream, meeting this other Xochi. It... it wasn't pretty from what he told me. She needs help."
Xochicoatl straightens slightly. "...How can I help her?"
Erika hums, then shrugs: "On that we're... short on the details. Something to do with dreams, not really my forte but... maybe some kind of revelsal of that ritual?"
Xochicoatl glances down again, "I have not had a dream since I arrived. I do not know what I could do, but I... I wish to help her, if I can. I was imprisoned for all my life. Everyone deserves freedom."
Erika hums, nodding: "Yeah... it sucks. I don't know what's going on, but I want to help my friends... that means, both you and her. Even if you might be the same person in a way?" The okapi shakes her head: "It's confusing."
Xochicoatl forces a laugh, "Very confusing, if your theory is correct."
Erika gives a soft smile, lifting her hand to the coatl's shoulder: "It's... hard to say what the right way is, from here. I've never done such a ritual, but I think with us together, we can try? Of course things can go wrong, but..." She hums, blinking as a thought occurs to her: "Xochi - the older Xochi, that is - must have had some notes in her house."
Xochicoatl tilts her head, "She had her own home? It is worth exploring, yes..." She gathers herself upright and gives a genuine smile. "I shall help, however I can, Erika."
Erika straightens up and smiles: "It's definitely worth searching! That's why I got that feeling with you, since... she has her own garden that I helped create."
Xochicoatl touches a hand over her chest, "Hmm. I... I have always wanted a garden of my own."
Erika smiles: "You know, that makes a lot of sense. She said the same." She tilts her head, looking Xochicoatl over: "You do look like... an awful lot like her, except younger. Brighter colours. I'm not sure what's going on, but we'll find out, yeah?"
Xochicoatl nods, but a flash of worry crosses her face, "...should... I go back to Louma?"
Erika hums: "Why did you leave? You came here pretty upset."
Xochicoatl sighs, "Because of... all of this. I do not know what is happening, or if what you are saying is real. But I do know you are telling me the truth of what you believe. Louma... lied to me. I do not know why. She lied, and Nesseth was there... another lizard, after being held prisoner by lizards my whole life... I... I am afraid."
Erika gives Xochicoatl a soft hug: "Well, I think you can stay with me tonight if you want to. I promise no lying Guard Captains will come here to bother you." She makes a mental note to give certain Guard pair a word or two later. "We can figure out the next step in the morning, and just calm down today, yeah?"
Xochicoatl smiles, nodding. "Thank you, Erika. That would be... good. I am sure they will be worried, but... I needed time away. I still need time."
Erika smiles warmly: "I think anyone would need time after all... that."
Xochicoatl returns Erika's hug. Her wings shake a bit, still tired from her frantic, if short, flight, but far moreso she is just emotionally exhausted, and still trying to process what is and is not real about these stories.
Erika hugs tightly: "I have some bread and stew left from earlier, if you're hungry. We can try to parse this later."
Xochicoatl sniffles again, threatening to cry, but manages to hold it in and nod, "Those... would both be good, y-yes. Thank you."
Erika gets up and leads the young coatl inside her house, doing her best to try and keep the her calm while a myriad of thoughts about this all roil in the okapi's own head.