(LOG NOTICE: This scene is backdated. Its events actually take place on or around Dec 9, 2015)
A sunny afternoon in Waldia's Capitol, several days after Salvation Day and the restoration of the barrier. Despite the mixed air of mourning the passing of the Queen and the elation of the Barrier's successful restoration life goes on both in the castle and the town. Cobblers make shoes, bakers make bread. Some guards stand their posts, others help townsfolk with small issues they might have. The land and it's government remains and functions, and in the Kingdom of Waldia life continues as it always had, as if in defiance of the Demons who would have reduced all to ashes and ruin.
Upon on the castle wall is a lone figure in green and white, her lavender hair rustling gently in the chilly wind. Though the long sleeves of her dress would keep her comfortable a white shawl has been draped about her shoulders and arms, dancing lightly in step with her windblown hair. Her eyes are turned downward and gaze into the courtyard without truly seeing, her mind in another place, on another subject.
Even so Valeria Barun stands straight and tall as she was taught to do, dignified even in her reverie.
Rune paces through the central yard today, walking along one of the stone paths that guide people through the grass and around a stone fountain with gold framing and stone benches beside it. Trees border these paths, helping establish a good mix of form and function; it's pretty, but people are guided by the aesthetics to where they should be going.
She's not sure whether Valeria has noticed her yet, but Rune's eyes are turning every which way to seek the newest knight. A tiny, intruiged noise follows upon spotting Valeria, then Rune jogs over to a tower entrance and makes her way upstairs, then on to the wall.
"They said you were somewhere up here," Rune comments as she heads over to join Valeria. "Wanted to talk to you for a sec, if it's okay." Her tone is calm. Introspective, but only slightly rattled; far less anxiety and barely-contained fear than there was in the previous week.
Movement alone isn't enough to catch Valeria's eye. When the movement is accompanied by pink coloration up top and white, black, and yellow below it's more cause for her to take notice. As Runealy walks through the courtyard the Guardian Knight's eyes focus in on her. Recognition shows on her face, followed by- by what, exactly?
Her lips purse ever so slightly. Her eyebrows come together a miniscule amount. It's a look of thoughtfulness, mostly, because the thoughts the sight of the princess produce are neither good nor bad.
No, that's wrong. It's more correct to say that they're both good and bad, in equal measure. Her eyes track the Princess' movement to the tower and lose track of her from there. A few moments later she hears footsteps. It isn't hard to imagine who it might be, and so Valeria turns towards Runealy and greets her with her usual smile.
A polite curtsy is given, not just because it is her way but because she is speaking to the Guardian Princess in what is ostensibly a public space. "My mind and ears are yours as always should you wish them, Rune," she offers. This time it isn't because Rune is the Guardian Princess- it's because she really does always have time for her cousin.
She takes a step closer while reaching a hand up to brush a stray lock of hair back behind her ear, shawl once more catching the wind. "What would you like to speak about?"
Rune returns the gesture, then finishes stepping up to Valeria. "About the thing you care so much for. 'The future.' You're part of why we have one at all, but now we have to figure out what that's going to look like. We're going back to Earth in a few days. Some of it I already know about, but you never got a chance to see it. Some of our future..."
She paces along in a semi-circle to get around Valeria, ending beside her and facing down to the courtyard. "...will be fighting. Fighting people and monsters who just want to invade and conquer, and are really good at it. We'll have to stop them on Earth so they never get here, and so they don't ruin Earth. That'd be pretty sick, to hurt them, then take their help, then just... let them get overrun by Witches and empires and everything else. But,"
She holds up a hand, trying to stall this line of thought to bring up another topic instead. "More importantly, I don't know what the future looks like for us /outside/ of that. And that's what I really wanted to talk to you about. To see what you hope for, what you want to do in Tokyo. To make sure you've got something you're looking forward to, and that you'll be okay with being on Earth for a while. Months at a time, maybe more."
Valeria listens to Rune speak, following her with her head and eyes as she moves, only to turn half around as the Princess places herself in a position beside her to look down into the courtyard. She nods in silent acknowledgement at the mention of fighting. She is ready to note that she will be ready for that when the time comes, but before she can the topic is quickly changed to another aspect of the future.
This draws a smile from her. "You needn't worry about homesickness on my part- at least not yet. Earth... I find it a fascinating place. Their way of living is so different from our own, and yet everywhere you turned you found people willing to forgive and render assistance in the same manner Waldians are taught to do."
She turns her eyes back down to the courtyard as well, "I love my home, but I'm excited to return. I want to learn about their music and their plays. I want to taste their foods. They have over one hundred Kingdoms in the place they call Earth, Rune." She looks over to her cousin with slightly widened eyes. "Isn't that incredible? I never thought I would want to travel any farther than Lormia, but now that I've seen Tokyo..."
She looks off in the direction of the Barrier Forest. "Earth is as far from 'here' as I know is possible to go, and yet it's so near."
"Well, I do worry about it. It's going to be really different, and you only got to see it for about a week or so?" Rune doesn't go any further on this point though, as Vale seems to have answers in mind already.
Ones that Rune listens to, with a bit of a smile forming. She has no idea 'what city' Valeria is talking about (or that it's more than 'a city'), but right now this unfamiliarity fails to register as important to Rune. Hopes for Tokyo instead hold her interest.
"It all sounds impossible when you put it like that, huh? But we'll be back there in just a few days, and it sounds like you've got plans. So when we get there, I was hoping you could help me find all of that. The music and food, and theater and all sorts of other things." Her head turns to follow Valeria's gaze. "Would you?"
"I will. I was intending on asking you to join me in some of my endeavors to learn more about their world. If you're asking for my help? I couldn't possibly turn you down." Valeria turns head towards Runealy, "Culture is so much more enjoyable when it's appreciation can be shared among friends." Which reminds her of something.
She laughs softly and shakes her head lightly, "I do feel badly for Hinote. It might be some time before he can get better acquainted with Waldia in person. When I saw him in the town he seemed to have not quite gotten his bearings yet, but was enjoying himself." She laughs again, this time a little harder, "He was carrying a fish around in his pack, bought fresh from the harbor. I'll have to ask him how it turned out- he was going to cook it himself."
Valeria relaxes her stance a little, gaze drifting across the castle itself. For a moment her eyes turn towards Runealy's room. "And while I'm helping you with all the Earth culture and customs, I intend to help you with our own as well." A little vague, but she continues. "Last time you went to Earth unprepared and in a terrific rush." A short pause and she adds, "A necessary one. But a rush nonetheless. This time I intend to help do this right. To bring a piece of Waldian culture with us, so that we can always have that connection. So that we can look someplace other than our minds and say 'I'm home.'"
"Great!" Rune keeps her gaze on Valeria, even as her friend looks to the tower housing the princess' room with its red carpets and paintings and a little balcony. Some of those things might not be visible from here due to a door in the way, but they're largely unchanged from how they have been on previous visits in any event. "We'll go 'appreciate' a bunch of it, then," she's speaking less formally now, perhaps amused by talk of Hinote and fish purchases.
Yet it's talk of bringing connections along that really holds Rune's curiosity, one eye raised. "What do you mean by that? What could you bring along that would do that?"
"That's something I'll be looking forward to, Rune." Valeria replies with a pleased, upbeat tone. "There is so much to learn, I can hardly wait. How many 'timeless classics' exist on that world? I hope some day I can find out."
The young lady turns to face Runealy directly as she asks her questions. They're good ones, but she has good answers. "Culture," she replies first, which is perhaps less arcane by virtue of their current discussion. "Furniture, artwork, tapestries, rugs. Bedspreads, sheets, and comforters if you think you'd sleep easier on them than once we'd find in Tokyo."
Her eyes quickly glance down to the trees along the courtyard paths, "I would have preferred some of our flowers and plants, but I've learned that would be unwise for several reasons." She looks back towards Runealy and smiles widely. "My harp- I'm bringing it along with me this time. I know a few of our favorites already and I can learn others so long as I bring the sheet music."
"Classics?" Rune repeats that, head tilted down to think on this. "Yeah... I guess their world would have existed for about as long as ours has, right? So of course they have 'classics' just like we do. ...That's pretty neat to realize."
Then she considers all these other things Valeria is planning. "Wait, that's a lot of things to carry! I don't think we can... wait... ohh... /oh!/" Realization dawns on Rune's face.
"Let me see if I get this straight. You'd probably want some people to help us bring it there, push it through the portal before it can close, and we make a few trips to bring it all back a bit at a time to wherever we end up staying? Harp and all?"
Valeria nods lightly in response, "The things you can find on a cell phone are truly incredible. It's as if you can speak to a historian whenever you wish." Of all the things she misses most about Earth since she's been back phone connectivity is probably the one she misses most.
Runealy starts to protest but then quickly realizes a way, possibly multiple ways, to make Valeria's intentions happen. "Yes, exactly. And I know we have the resources to do it. If it were merely for pleasure it might not be worth it, but I believe a feeling of comfort and well-being from what will be our home for months at a time, maybe more," a nod as she quotes her friend back to herself, "is a necessary thing. Perhaps I am overlooking an easier way to achieve that feeling, but I believe this to be the best way."
She makes a wide gesture with her arm, holding it out and then motioning to the town, and then the castle. "Just think of all this- we can bring a piece of it to Tokyo. And when people from Tokyo come to see us? They can experience that little piece of Waldia for themselves, small though it may be." After another moment she laughs, "By the by, I intend to bring my lap harp, not a concert harp. That may be a little over ambitious, even for me."
"What historians have you been calling?" Rune fails to understand what Vale is probably getting at, that Earth's modern systems might have more ways to present information to people than just books, so she took the remark literally. "I'm sure we have the 'resources.' People will help us pack and get it down there. They might not bring it through with us, but if they push it through we can get it to the apartment on our own time. But... you know, you've got it."
She rephrases that. "You're right. I like it! Bring both harps if you want, we'll figure out how to deal with it when we get there!" Vale's laugh seems to have made Rune more enthusiastic. "When I wanted to ask you about this, I didn't realize you were going to have enough answers for the both of us. That's pretty good! 'When people come to see us', though... did you already have someone in mind?"
"Not calling," Valeria responds. That part is easy, knowing what a web browser isn't. But what -is- it, exactly? That's harder. "It's more like... mailing? But faster." Not quite right, but she doesn't have a better explanation off the top of her head.
Google isn't at her fingertips, right now.
"Push, slide, cart. I'm sure we'll find a way." She laughs more when Runealy tells her to bring both, "You know what? I think I'll do just that, Cousin. But let us save the large one for last of all- it would be a shame to block the pathway and impede more works by way of audacity."
She sobers a little when she's asked about visitors, and nods. "Those that welcomed us into their homes- would it not be nice to invite them into ours as well, once one is established?" It's true that they've already brought several of them to their -real- home, here in Waldia, and to the castle where Runealy lives. She also considers briefly before adding, "I know little of courtly affairs, but in the case that a formal reception is necessary or appropriate, we might even manage to accomplish that in proper style."
"Or at least close enough for what we can do off-world," Rune is quick to agree on this talk of 'proper receptions.' "Sounds like we're on to something. Want to get on it? We'll figure out what we need to bring, start gathering it, and have everything ready to go?" It's not just enthusiasm here, though there is that. It's also pragmatic. The portal seems to be unusually stable right now, but Runealy silently suspects that's only due to the sheer amount of energy unleashed on Salvation Day and that it might soon return to its fluctuating state of being usually closed and only briefly open from time to time.
Valeria considers the question put to her. Truly considering it and not taking it to be an order. Even so it's not long before she's nodding. "Actually? I would. I think it would do me good to put my mind to a task, and now that you've gotten me thinking about it again it's fresh in my mind." She takes a few steps back from the wall and courtyard below. "The sooner we begin the better. You would know better than I what we'd need for a reception, so why don't we begin there? If you can tell me what to look for I can track it down." As she speaks Valeria feels rather like one of her older siblings, with a mind suddenly caught up in lists of things to acquire and do. She was always more the socialite than the merchant, she thinks, but this will be a good chance to see how much Barun operational sense is inherited rather than trained.