Chance Meeting [Aria]

[LEANNE MARTEL]

Picking up her things, Leanne took a moment to check everything and make sure that she was cleaned up before leaving the inn of the River Village. She tied her bag around her waist, making sure that the knots were tight this time. She didn't want to make the same mistake she had in Clocktower Boulevard.

Stepping out of the inn and walking passed several more Leeches, she left the River Village and entered the main part of the Ring Woods as the sound of the river began to fade away behind her. She'd come to the Leech-centric River Village yesterday to rest after taking her bag back from that thieving coyote Beast, with the help of a Hollow named Celsus. Now, though, she felt ready to get on her way again, and she still had plenty of energy from what she'd drained from that Beast. She absently wondered whether or not the Beast had survived, but decided not to concern herself with such thoughts. Everything seemed to have worked out for the better. But where should she go now? Perhaps towards Savette, she decided. She'd heard rumors that the VDF there was hiring for a paid mission. With nothing better to do, she figured it was worth checking out, at least.

The Leech girl silently made her way through the woods in the general direction of Savette. That probably meant that she'd have to go through Lace Swamp again, but oh well, hopefully there wouldn't be any hurry or distractions this time. She kept moving at a decent pace, walking passed the undergrowth of mushrooms and flowers that she paid little notice too.

[aria]

Aria has just finished her mission near the Ring Woods. She eliminated a small-scale virus threat without causing any collateral damage this time. It seemed like a big achievement for her and she was thrilled because of it. She had the rest of the day off so she figured that she should just go sightseeing. Working as an antivirus was really tiring and tense for her. She didn`t want to but she had to, since she was discovered to have very powerful aerial bombardment skills, but they usually aren`t that accurate and they have a potential for collateral damage. Every mission she had, at least one or two or even mroe civilians were injured. Of course she took the blame, but she felt bad about it.

Now it was her break time, a time where she can just be in peace and relax. Usually, she goes wherever she just takes herself, wandering around the area she`s in. This time, with her staff in her right hand and her book held in her left arm, she found herself going to the path towards the Savette. As she kept on walking, she looked up at the sky and thought about everything that has been happening so far regarding cyberspace and the viruses. The world has been becoming more and more frightening. Drifting into her own thoughts, she closed her eyes and suddenly bumped into something, falling on her back.

Opening her eyes, she realized that it wasn`t a something but a someone. It was a girl with pink hair and she apparently collided with her. She sat up and rubbed the back of her head. ``Oww... That kinda hurt...`` she said with a voice in slight pain. Quickly realizing that she might have disturbed her, she stood up and bowed apologetically. ``Ehehe, sorry miss... I guess I was a bit distracted.``

[LEANNE MARTEL]

Leanne's travels continued like that, with the girl paying little thought to anything except where she was going, until she suddenly felt something smack hard into her, almost knocking her over. She instinctively whipped out the small axe from her belt, the pulse of her chip - what would've been her heartbeat - pounding as she held the hatchet out in the direction the hit had come from before she even comprehended the source. She was still paranoid from having her bag stolen at the Boulevard. You couldn't afford to let your guard down, in this world. Not when everyone was desperate for both money and energy. Desperation could cloud any other emotion, even fear or morals in most people. She was no different herself, but that was one thing she'd learned during the time she'd spent as a wanderer.

She quickly realized that it was just another girl who'd bumped into her, though. She appeared to be a Beast, with three sets of black wings that resembled those of a crow or raven jutting from her back. The brown-haired, six-winged Beast rubbed the back of her head and apologized with a bow. She seemed harmless, the Leech decided, not picking up any immediate ill will or threat. Perhaps it'd only been an accident, this time. Leanne just groaned a bit. It's okay, I guess I wasn't especially watching where I was going, either."

[/color] She admitted. Her eyes had been set straight ahead, but they'd mostly been focused on the distance. Sometime she forgot to see what was right in front of her. "You just startled me a bit."[/color] She decided it was safe to put the weapon away for now, anyway, tucking the hatchet back into her belt.[/blockquote][/size]

[aria]

As she looked back up, the girl seemed to be hiding something behind her back. It wasn't enough to make her weary or suspicious, it just piqued her curiosity. However, she didn't want to be rude so she just smiled and tilted her head to one side, looking at her. "I was a bit surprised myself. Oh, how really really rude of me!" she shot her hand forward and offered her a handshake. "My name is Aria! Aria Martel's my full name, and I was on my way to the Savette." her voice sounded very enthusiastic, very energetic and lively.

It wasn't long before she realized that the other girl was going the same path as her too. Before she can reply, she immidiately blurted out another question at her. "So you're going the same way I was too! What were you going to do in Savette? Maybe I could use a bit of sightseeing there too." she said in a curious voice. If the girl was part of the virus defense, then she would have known about her or seen her in their base. However, she does zone out sometimes and not notice things. There's also the thought that maybe she just wanted to visit Savette for a particular reason other than the virus defense. She didn't know what exactly, so she just stood there and waited for her reply.

[LEANNE MARTEL]

Aria Martel? Leanne blinked, almost taken aback. ...Martel? She opened her mouth, about to speak, but the Beast girl kept talking, her voice bright and eager. So she was also headed towards Savette? She supposed that she wouldn't mind having a traveling companion for a short while, but before she could reply to that statement her mind went back towards her name.

"Wait! Martel...? That's..."

[/color] She blinked in surprised. "My name is Leanne Martel."[/color] They had the same last name. Leanne's came from the father she never knew. The bastard had disappeared while her mother had still been pregnant with her, so she'd never even seen his face. All she knew what that is name was Hodge Martel. Neither her nor her mother had never heard from him again. She studied the girl, more curiously now. She didn't know anyone else from her father's side, either, and Martel wasn't exactly a common last name. She'd never ran into anyone else with it before. "What's your father's name...?"[/color]The other girl didn't seem to bear much in the way of resemblance to her, but she couldn't keep herself from asking. The expression on Leanne's face shifted, though, as if even thinking about the concept of her father was unpleasant.

"Yeah, I heard rumors that the VDF is looking for fighters and bounty hunters for some large scale, paid mission. I was going to check into it."[/color] She eventually replied to the girl's second statement. "What brings you there?"[/color] She asked, wondering if it was the same reason. The girl didn't strike her off the bat as someone who was that sort of person, but you never knew about people, sometimes first impressions could be mistaken.
[/blockquote][/size]

[aria]

She was goign to continue talking until the girl in front of her told her to wait. She thought that maybe she has been talking too much for the other girl's tolerance. "A-Ahh, sorry sorry... I just-" she was cut off when the other girl mad eher own introduction. It turned out that she was a Martel too. She didn't remember any siblings so she was surprised herself. "Huh? Leanne Martel? Are we relatives?" she said with a very surprised voice.

She was partly happy for this. If she was indeed a relative, maybe she knew where her mother was. Gaining her composure, she was about to ask when Leanne asked her first about her father's name. She closed her eyes, deep in thought. "Umm... Dad's name... mama just told me that dad was on a business trip and won't be coming back for a while. There's this other dad though that keeps coming to my nightmares. He beats me up and calls me mean names... His name? Umm... Hodge, that's what he calls himself!" she replied, grinning.

It also turned out that Leanne was going to the force to maybe sign up for the next raid. She really didn't know much about it and all she was told was that she needed to be there and she was to fire all that she has at the viruses and not at the allies. She was also asked for the reason why she was going. To reply, she gave anothe introduction. "I'm Aria Martel, the Virus Defense Force's Heavy Aerial Bombardment Specialist!"

[LEANNE MARTEL]

"I have no idea."

[/color] Leanne answered to the girl's first question. "I never knew my father. He left my mother before I was born. I've never met any other Martel's."[/color] She explained simply. It wasn't something that she normally told strangers, whether they carried the same last name or not, but she saw no reason to hide the truth, either.

She kept walking as she talked, but came to an abrupt halt as the girl mentioned the name. The Leech's eyes fell on the flowers beneath her shoes, her eyes staring blankly down for a moment. "Hodge... Hodge Martel. Ma' said that was his name."[/color] She answered, feeling a stab of hurt that she tried not to let make it to her face. Her father had left them like nothing, never contacting them again, and Leanne knew how much her mother had hurt because of that. It was part of what had caused her to become a blasted Siren here. Had he really thrown them away in exchange for a new family somewhere else? A family that he apparently never even mentioned her and her mother's existence too?

It didn't matter. She told herself, despite the fact that her hands had started trembling slightly. She didn't care anyway. "Nightmares...huh?"[/color] She eventually commented, her voice quiet and dry. She had no idea what kind of man her father was, aside from what he'd done to them, but that didn't sound promising. Maybe she should be glad that she never knew him, she told herself.

"Oh, so you're one of them. The VDF."[/color] She smiled just slightly. She was neutral towards them. She agreed with what they did, but at the same time, the few others she'd met had possessed hotty, self-important attitudes that had left a bad taste in her mouth. Luckily this girl didn't seem to be like that.[/blockquote][/size]

[aria]

When Leanne finally said that Hodge Martel was her father's name as well, she finally got hope that there is a very high chance that they are related. It was her lifelong dream to be reunited with her mother and tears slightly began to well up in her eyes. She grabbed Leanne's hand with hers and stared right at her. "Leanne-nee, if you know where mama is... Please tell me! I've been looking all these years for her and I don't even care if I die right away afterwards, you just might be my only hope in seeing her!" she looked like someone who was acting to be cute and dramatic at the same time but she actually was sincere to that feeling.

She then brought her close and clung to her. "Leanne-nee, tell me, come on... Leanne-nee....." she kept saying while holding onto her. When she said something about the force and Aria being one of her, she let go of her and stood up straight, clearing her throat. "A-Ahem... Hehe, sorry I guess I was being a little too dramatic over there... Really really sorry, Leanne-nee." she said as she laughed in embarassment and scratched the back of her head. She saluted to her while grinning, replying to her last statement. "Yes, I usually am assigned to wipe out a whole base or a large cluster of bad guys to clean up the place or to give them a big surprise! Although people do make fun of me and tell me that I'm lying..." she crossed her arms again and changed the tone of her voice to a slightly mocking tone as if imitating a man's voice. "Little kid, you're delusional... little kid, how can you blow up something with that pesky size of yours... little kid, shouldn't you be in the nursery instead of dreaming like you're in the defense? Little kid this, little kid that, ugh I get tired of it!"

[LEANNE MARTEL]

The girl grabbed her hand, making Leanne tense up and blink in surprise as she turned to see water lingering underneath her eyes. She held her gaze for a moment, but eventually bit her lip, her eyes falling again. She wasn't the sort that normally cared about the feelings of others, but somehow she didn't want to break the hope in the girl's eyes. "I think your mother is different from mine. They were married for a while, but he left her right after she got pregnant with me - 17 years ago. Her name's Angi. She still uses the Martel last name, but her maiden name was Neroa. I know where she is, but she's a Siren now. I don't talk to her much anymore."

[/color] She didn't see how they could have the same mother, though. She guessed that this girl was slightly younger than her, which meant that she would've been born after her, but her mother hadn't seen her father for the 17 years after her conception.

The girl eventually let go, apologizing for being dramatic. Leanne kept her gaze down a moment longer. "It's okay. I'm sorry that I don't know."[/color] She shuffled her feet. She chuckled a bit at her next words, though. She was a bit surprised that she was a VDF soldier, herself, but she had no reason to believe that the girl was lying. "I don't think age has anything do with it. Skill and a will to help are what matters...so don't pay the people who say that too much notice."[/color] She kept walking again, still trying to get her own hands to stop shaking. The event had stirred up her own emotions, but she didn't want to let them get a hold of her. Emotions were useless, most of the time they only brought pain.[/blockquote][/size]

[aria]

She sighed and scratched her head as she chuckled at realizing that Leanne didn't know Aria's mother because apparently they had different ones. Aria was prepared for anything wrong to happen so she didn't react too badly because of it. "I knew it was a little too good to be true, it's fine if you don't know, it's not your fault..." she said in a slightly shaky tone. It was too bad that she didn't find any new information about her mother, but at least she met a possible relative. Judging from what she said, they might be half-sisters. It was a really good feeling inside her to know someone who she has probably not known to be family back then. "My mom's name was Elise, so I guess we're not directly sisters, aren't we?"

As they started walking again, Leanne told her that age had nothing to do with how well she does at work or her position. She nodded and put her hands on her hips, sighing. "Some people just don't know a good aerial bombardier when they see one... besides, I've just learned this one attack that leveled a whole bunch of viruses that we needed to capture... but I felt like I was so so tired that I also felt like I was gonna die after it. You know that feeling? It's kinda like your heart starts beating really fast and you have trouble breathing and every single muscle you have is sore..." she shuddered as she said it. "Ugh, thinking about it makes my muscles ache already..."

[LEANNE MARTEL]

The girl's voice seemed shaky, but she took the information almost surprisingly well. "I suppose not, but it's still neat to meet another Martel. I've never met anyone tied to my father before."

[/color] She answered, partially lost in thought. Her mother never had anymore children, so she knew that she had no full siblings, but now that she thought about it, she knew nothing about her father's life after he'd left. It never bothered her before, but now the thought suddenly made her feel naked, somehow.

She smiled a bit at the girls next words, though. "Yeah, just the other day I got into a big fight with a coyote Beast who stole my bag. I had some help from a Hollow, but boy was I wiped out afterwards!"[/color] She gave an ironic chuckle as she recalled the way she'd felt on her way to the River Village yesterday. "It's times like that that I wish we could still sleep here."[/color]

She walked quietly after that, but between the bits of easy-going conversion, she couldn't get thoughts of her father out of her mind, no matter how much she wanted them to just disappear like that had for almost 17 years. "Say, that man...Hodge. You said that he shows up in your nightmares. Was he really that awful?"[/color] She asked, unable to stop herself. She kept her gaze partway down as they walked.[/blockquote][/size]

[aria]

Aria cheerfully agreed and looked very interested in all the things that she said. There was apparently a bandit beast that stole her bag, but she got it back with the help of someone. That really would have left anyone exhausted, even her. Besides, she really didn't do that well in one on one combat. Her bright and cheerful face turned a bit serious, melancholic as Leanne asked her about how terrible Hodge actually was. It made her recall her nightmares. She walked along with her head down, her bangs covering her eyes and giving it a slightly dark effect.

There was a long pause for a moment until she let out a slight chuckle and replied. "Yeah... he was terrible. I don't know if it really happened in my past or if it just was my dream. In every single one of my nightmares at night, I find myself awake in my room while hearing his footsteps coming slowly, calling out my name and telling me that I did something wrong again... slowly, he's approaching my room... I just braced myself for the worst and keep asking myself 'Why not kill me? Why beat me up when you can just kill me?'... then slowly I hear the doorknob twist and the creaking of the door... then I see his face, his arm holding something, a leather belt. Time seems to slow way down as he brings his arm up in the air, grabs me in the wrist..." she stopped right there.

After saying that, she shook her head and her normal cheery expression returns. "Haha, what am I saying? It's just a silly nightmare, right?" she put her hands behind her head and looked up the sky. "Man, now I'm really all tensed up... I have so much questions but all I can do is ask it to myself, since no one else can answer me. It's fine, though, as long as I can keep smiling.."

[LEANNE MARTEL]

Leanne listened intently at Aria's words as she spoke, picturing the images in her head of the man she'd only seen in pictures coming up the stairs, his footsteps echoing loudly and a belt in his hand. She flinched, somehow feeling sad. Even though he'd left her and her mother, a part of her had wanted to believe, especially when she was younger, that her father could have still been a decent man. So many children looked up to their father, a man who held half their genes. But that was something she'd never had. Now that she was older, she wasn't afraid of the truth, but seeing her childhood hopes broken was somehow both nostalgic and melancholy at the same time. "Maybe I should be glad I never knew him...it sounds like you had it rough, if there's any truth to your nightmares..."

[/color] She mused, keeping her own eyes down as she spoke.

She secretly doubted that her dreams were just a 'silly nightmare' as the girl mentioned it, but she was supposed that was the easiest thing to believe. The thing that would allow you to keep smiling the easiest. So she nodded, trying to think that herself. "Heh...me too."[/color] She chuckled slightly at the Beast commented about being tense. "Smiling, huh?"[/color] She glanced up at the sky herself, seeing the white wisps of the clouds brushing against the blue of the horizon. "I guess that is the most important, thing. After all, your own enjoyment and satisfaction are what make life livable."[/color] That was what mattered in the end, she supposed, still watching the white and blue above her as she walked over shades of lilac, blue, maroon, and green.[/blockquote][/size]

[aria]

She sighed as she reflected on what she said. Everything in her nightmares was so vivid. It was so lifelike, it was like it was a part of her memory. However, when she starts having flashbacks and was about to see what might have really happened through some thing that reminds her of it, she feels some kind of shock in her brain that makes her panic, become uncontrollable and exhausted. After that, everything about nearly recalling that memory becomes a blank. It was she was a program designed to automatically reprogram after some kind of "bug". The "bug" in that case is the memory. Of course she did not know that it really happened after her memory gets partly erased.

Her deep thought was disturbed when Leanne started talking. She quickly shook her head in disagreement and looked at her, smiling. "I don't think so... I mean, he might treat you differently. You look like you're so responisble, Leanne-nee. It doesn't look like you mess up things a lot, unlike me. Hehe, I mean... I think I'm a real klutz when I don't know what I'm doing. I even caused some civilian and antivirus injuries when I go on missions. Can you believe it? I'm a klutz even in action!" she giggled after saying that. The thought of seeing herself mess up and apologize nervously in a mission was kinda embarassing, but it was how she was.

Aria nodded when she heard Leanne tell her that it was really important. She was happy that this vague relative of her who calls herself Leanne Martel had the same views as her and was really nice to her so far. It was as if when she was with her, nothing was going wrong for her even if she explains everything that usually freaks her out. However, she didn't know if she felt the same way. "Leanne-nee... Do you feel happy that you met me? I mean, I'm really really REALLY happy that we've met. You're the closest to family I have right now and it makes my heart feel really nice. If you didn't like it that we met, though... I mean... I never want to hurt your feelings so I guess... we can just pretend we didn't meet and didn't hear anything we've heard since... That's if you don't like me, though..."

[LEANNE MARTEL]

The girl shook her head at her comment, telling her that she thought that man...Hodge...would've behaved differently towards her. Her...Responsible? Leanne just shook her head in turn, a somewhat bittersweet smile on her face. "If he treated you badly over something like that, then he was never worth anything, anyway. No one is perfect, certainly not me. That's what family is. They should love you despite whatever imperfections you have."

[/color] She was feeling so sentimental today, not quite herself. But for once, with their girl she'd shared a last name with, perhaps it was okay to let her guard down a bit, let herself accept her feelings without fighting them. Even though she'd never admit such a thing later. Her melancholy but genuine smile grew just slightly wider.

The Leech was caught off guard the by the girl's next words, though. ...Happy that she met her? That wasn't something she heard to often. It felt...good, she decided. She considered fine alone. She'd been fine that way for a long time. But fine didn't necessarily mean good, she realized. She didn't like the idea of just anyone as company, not in world like this where even someone you thought was a friend could double-cross you if they got desperate enough, but this Beast girl was indeed the closest thing she had to family now. She almost never spoke to her mother anymore, she really couldn't, so she was glad to have someone else who could be considered a family member of sorts around. She hadn't realized how much she'd actually missed it. "I am happy that we met, too. Very happy."[/color] She passed her a smile, a warmer one than those that usually graced her face. "It's nice to have someone who could be considered family around again. Out of all the people in this world, I think it must be fate that we ran into each other like this."[/color] She gave a slight chuckle. "I mean, what were the odds? But I think we were lucky."[/color] Maybe life here wasn't always so bad. After such a chance meeting, she felt her outlook shift a little higher.[/blockquote][/size]