Kailynn's POV
She couldn't make sense of her surroundings yet, her body was waking slowly. Yet some senses were still working, like her hearing and sense of touch. A sharp pain stabbed her head every few minutes, and she could hear far off voices; like a TV on in another room, no sense of coherency. The rest of her senses were gradually returning, and she could finally make sense of some of the words, "Shoo! ... Bird!"
"... Think ... Alright?"
"I SAID, 'GO' BIRD!" A voice echoed in her head, painfully, yet somehow easing the sharp pain stabbing into her scalp.
She cringed as her barely working senses were overwhelmed, "Don't be an idiot Cinna! You scared the crap out of her!" another voice said. She gathered the strength to open her eyes and blurry colors swirled around her vision, like Vincent Van Goph's 'Starry Night'.
"At least I woke her up!" Cinna said defensively.
Her vision slowly returned to her; shaping the colors into recognizable figures. Five teenagers stood above her. Is this a dream...? She wondered slowly. "Hey, you alright?" a guy asked. Her eyes lingered on the patches of skin sewn across his body before drifting to his face. Flame red hair poked through a headband wrapped around most of his eyes but he pulled it up to examine her. His piercing green eyes shone brightly below a rigid scar on his brow the slanted cut nearly impeding his vision as he inspected her closely. Her breath hitched as he leaned in closer, a blush rising to her cheeks. A shiver ran through her as he swept a strand of hair out of her face and put his wrist to her temple, "You don't have a fever..." he murmured.
"Blank, you sure are slower than a three-legged heifer!" a girl sighed.
He turned to look at her, "What are you talking about, Ruby?"
Her eyes drifted to Ruby, her auburn her swept over one shoulder with her blue outfitted curled in waves around her looked almost angelic in a southern sort of way. She examined each one in turn; the blonde with the playboy smile and the monkey tail, the muscular brunette sporting full-body henna and fangs that protruded from his mandible, and then the last one. The portly member of the gang with; deep sunken in eyes, a huge red nose, and a grin that spread across his face. She jumped back with a screech, "CLOWN!"
There was an awkward moment of silence before deep side-splitting laughter, "HEY! That's not funny! That hurts ya'know!"
"I-I-I-I'm so sorry..." She stammered "I just-I-I can't stand clowns... And um, just seeing you when I first woke up... Ya'see you-with the red nose and all- I'm just going to shut up now..." Everyone else laughed harder.
The boy still looked hurt, and then suddenly smiled "Apology accepted! I'm Cinna!"
Her head spun as she saw how realistic everything was around her, it was unlike any dream she'd ever had before. But that's just itthough, it has to be a dream right? "Name's Blank." Blank introduced with the others following his lead.
"And we save the best for last!" Zidane said with a flourish, earning sighs and groans from his friends, "Zidane! Zidane Tribal. Nice ta meetcha!"
"Kailynn Lykos," She laughed. Her mind drifted to how excited her sisters would feel. She looked around worriedly when realization hit her, "Did two other girls show up here!?"
"Two other girls?" Zidane asked a smirk forming on his lips, "Are they beautiful?"
She rolled her eyes, "They're my sisters! We were together before I ended up here."
"We're you drinkin'?"
"Cinna!" Blank glared.
"Sorry..."
"No we weren't drinking, we were-" She thought for a moment what to say, before biting her cheek to check she wasn't dreaming.
"Can't you remember what happened?" Blank walked towards her with concern.
"... No..." She lied, "All I remember is I was with my sisters Tessa and Meadow."
Blank stepped closer, "You might have a mild concussion... May I...?" Her face reddened as she nodded, she turned and let him check her over when her eyes caught a smirk on Ruby's face, her face heated and she averted her gaze quickly.
Zidane smirked, "Well, we'll go searching around the ship. You look after her Blank."
He nodded prompting them to leave, "I wonder how you got on the ship?" he mused. "Was it in Lindblum or South Gate?"
"I-I dunno. So where am I exactly?" she shivered as his fingers trailed along her skin.
"The Prima Vista Theatre Ship." She closed her eyes enjoying the sensation before she felt a lingering feeling of disappointment as his hands left. She opened her eyes to find him smirking at her, "Or why you got on the ship?"
"Y-your guess is as good as mine."
"I wonder..."
She gasped as a cold gust of wind burst over the deck of the ship, she buried herself in her blouse as she looked over the railing and saw the sky washed in a mirade of colors. The ship beneath her feet groaned in displeasure as a wave of turbulence hit, giving her a weightless feeling as she felt her weight drop back to the deck. Blank must have noticed her unease as he led her into the cabin. She watched as Tantalus rushed about, preparing themselves for the show ahead. She felt his hand on the small of her back as he led her to a door; he pushed it open with a load creak revealing several bunk beds nailed to the wall, "You'll feel more comfortable in here."
"Thanks," as she took a seat on one of the beds as he leaned against the wall with a nod.
"This is your first time on an airship isn't it?"
"Yeah."
"Nervous?"
"A little."
"Don't be. She's well made, we've been performing in this ship for quite some time." She looked out the porthole to the clouds beyond and drifted into thought. "You okay?"
"Hmm...? Yeah. I was just wondering where my sisters were."
"... Can you think of any reason why you would be here? Where are you from?"
She shook her head, "I have no idea..."
He frowned, "Well, I'm sure the boss'll let you stay with us as long as you need."
Meadow's POV
Her head ached considerably, but she should be used to this by now, right? She could just barely smell the scent of pine and something else, something she really didn't like, ugh bleach...! She tried to open her eyes but they seemed to be plastered tight. Her mind tried to recover from the sleep and confusion. A part of her felt unsafe, like she needed to wake yet her stubborn eyes refused to listen. She could hear distant laughter that slowly crept nearer.
"Stow... Eh?"
"She ... here when ... Boarded."
"Where's the ... The crew?"
"Dunno boss."
"Well find out!" She managed to pry her eyes open but had to wait for them to adjust. "How did you get here?" Her vision returned and she squinted in confusion, An animatronic doll...? What is this? Six Night's at Wilma's? "I gotta say you pulled one over on us for a while, eh? When did you sneak aboard?"
"... Sneak aboard...?"
"When did you get on the ship? Were you tryin' ta fill your pockets, when one'a my boys caught ya? Is that it?"
"... I'm not here to steal..." she said weakly.
"Then why're you here?"
"I don't know..."
"Boss!" footsteps echoed from down the corridor, "Boss! We have an extra-!" he jumped when his boss glowered at him, "Passenger..."
"If you weren't here to steal, why do you have a partner?" the boss asked.
"I told you I don't know how I got here!" Meadow sat up and gave him her worst glare which made him cringe.
"That's what the other girl said too."
"So we got two stowaways that don't know how they boarded, eh? I smell something fishy."
"Hello!" He grinned as he helped her to her feet, "I'm Cinna!" she wobbled for a moment, grabbing his arm as her head settled.
"Meadow..."
The boss glared, "Why're ya beein' all friendly with a stowaway? You don't know what she's here for! Could'a already robbed you blind!" Cinna cowered, before his boss tore his gaze away and glared at Meadow, "A'right, no more lyin'! What're you doin' on our ship?"
"I told you I don't know," she glowered.
He growled before thrusting a hand out to her, "Baku, leader of Tantalus," she reluctantly shook his hand, "Now, if you're gonna be aboard this ship you're gonna be put to work! We have mouths to feed and I don't want no slackin'!"
She made a sour face before adjusting the strap squeezed across her chest to accommodate her bust. Her brows furrowed and she felt the strap around to realize she had a shoulder bag attached to her. Who's is this...?
Tessa's POV
She opened her eyes slowly, the soft breeze on her cheek an indicator that something was not right. She winced as the sun peeked through her cracked lids, she moved to shade them as she rolled over, feeling soft blades of grass move beneath her as she did so. She blinked and examined the grass, "What?" a stray little bug moved between her fingers before she lifted her hand and inspected her surroundings. "How did I-?" A figure stood before her eyeing the landscape, "H-hello?"
The person turned, still only a silhouette in the sun, "Are you alright?" an older girl she realized.
She swallowed hard and nodded, "Where am I?"
"I don't know," she admitted, "I woke up here just like you." The girl knelt beside her and pulled out a cloth from her bag before delicately pressing it to her cheek, "You're bleeding."
"Yeah..."
"Did you fall before you woke up here?"
She looked down, "Something like that..."
"I'm Lena. What's your name?"
"Tessa."
She narrowed her gaze, "How old are you?"
"Eleven. You?"
She pursed her lips, "Fourteen," she paused, "Well, I don't know how we got here but how about we stick together? Alright?" Tessa nodded. She got up before giving the younger girl a helping hand. "Well, we should start walking. We don't want to stay out here when it gets dark."
"Yeah," Tessa nodded before pointing to a hill, "It will be easier to see from there."
Lena smiled, "Good idea."
When Lena turned Tessa's eyes riveted to her backside, "You have a tail..."
"What?" she looked, "What!?" she tried to tug it off but it wasn't going anywhere. She felt the sandy fur in her hands before flicking it around with a sigh, "A-a-at least it's prehensile..."
"What does that mean?"
"I can move it however I want."
"Oh..." Tessa fidgeted, "Do I have any strange appendages?" she twirled around, "I feel a little different..."
Lena shook her head, "How so?"
Tessa looked down, "A bit closer to the ground I guess..."
"You might have gotten shorter," Lena smirked.
Tessa chuckled, "Maybe." The two began to trudge up the hill in the afternoon sun, Lena subconsciously using her tail for balance like it was second nature to her. "So, where are you from?" she asked.
"Los Angeles. You?"
Tessa struggled up the hill grabbing hold of several rocks to help pull her up, "Portland, Oregon."
Lena smiled, "Keep Portland weird, huh?"
"Something like that," she huffed.
"You're not used to hiking are you?" she looked back sympathetically.
"I love the outdoors but... I'm out of shape..." she tried to hide her plump figure ashamedly behind her arms.
"I see... I'm sorry," She paused, "Tell me when you need breaks okay?" She nodded and after about half a minute later Tessa forced herself to continue. In fifteen minutes they found themselves at the top of the hill, "I've never heard of a place like this..." Tessa looked up slowly to see a medieval kingdom before her, the whole place surrounded by a tall castle wall. In the center of the castle a giant sword stood erect, it glinted the afternoon sun in a brilliant array of colors across the lake and meadows as airships whizzed overhead. "It's amazing..!"
"Alexandria!" Tessa awed. She looked beneath her to see only a short meadow filled with flowers separating them from the bustling town.
"Alexa-what? Hey-hey wait!" Lena ran after her through the fields in time to see a herd of anthropomorphic creatures unload from a very posh-looking ship.
"Ladies and Lordships of Treno! This way!"
She lost the young girl in the crowd so followed the nobles, after making it to the front gates she saw Tessa being pushed over by a a hippo. The woman screeched, "Ugh! It touched me! I'll have to burn this set of clothes!"
"These urchins are unbearable! Will we have to deal with these all throughout Alexandria?" a duck woman chucked at her disdainfully.
"Such an ugly little runt! So short and round. It looks like a beetle!" she shivered.
Lena picked her up as the girl cried, "Don't listen to them. They're wrong, I think you look beautiful."
"Thank you," the girl sniffled.
"Are you alright?" a woman knelt beside them, her brown hair swept across her shoulders as she knelt. Her warm smile comforted her, she didn't even seem to care as her red and gold dress cascaded over the dirt. She helped her up with a gloved hand before stroking the girl's hair behind her ear, "I think you look beautiful," she smiled as she laced her hand with hers and pulled her through the entrance and into the city. She eyed Tessa's clothes with a frown, each bit of fabric showed it's age. "Come with me, and we'll get you some new clothes."
"N-no. It's okay."
"We're okay, really," Lena eyed her warily.
She nodded, "Neither of you will last very long out here without proper clothes," Her eyes turned ahead of them and her face lit up. A man came up and gave her a chaste kiss, before whispering to her and eyeing them mistrustfully.
She scowled just as another hippo lady gawked at her, "That disgusting creature has latched itself to your arm!" She whipped out her fan and brought it up over the girl's head making Tessa cower into Lena with a whimper.
She jumped as she heard a snap, "Leave her alone you old hag!" Lena's tail whipped back and forth and Tessa watched in horror as blood trickled down the girl's arm. The nobles around let out a collective gasp of horror, one even fainting, before Lena pulled Tessa away and into the crowd of misfit Alexandrians. "I hate people like them!" her tail twitched, "They just want to use people and make them into their little 'pets'!"
"You-you don't think she thought I was beautiful?"
"No, I know she did. Just not for the right reason!" She sighed as she slumped against the wall, "... I've met people like her before... I've been their toy... Their pet... It's not fun..." she hugged her knees before pulling Tessa into a hug. "I'll watch out for you... But... Only if you want me to..."
"Y-you will...?" she nodded and Tessa started to cry, "No one's ever looked out for me before..."
"Me neither..."
"I-I can look out for you-."
She shook her head, "No. You be a kid, okay? At least one of us needs a childhood."
"Okay," she sniffled.