Left in the Aftermath

Bleak and dreary, those were the words the came to Seresana's young mind as she looked to the overcast sky. The clouds had rolled in quickly the day following the festival, yet rain remained elusive and left the sky a drab and featureless dark grey. "It'd been raining that day, the day I first met her," Seresana thought to herself as she walked through the streets of the quiet town. Like the encroaching storm, the town seemed to almost be in a state of limbo. The attack at the festival, the loss of life, the nightmarish memories plagued and drained upon the town's spirit till it's activity mirrored that of the storm. Bleak and dreary. Even the usually present smile upon Seresana's cheerful face was diluted with a palpable melancholic demeanor as the tormenting memories refused to leave her mind.

Still, she had a goal to reach, and one she'd get to hopefully before the storm finally decided to let down it's torrent upon the town and with Seresana's hope, at least start washing away this looming sorrow. As sad as she was about the loss, there was another that she feared would be even more distraught. It'd been some time ago, but Seresana had been told that Yusuri lived with another of her friends, and while Seresana wasn't sure how close their relationship was, Seresana was fearful of the worst. That was why she ventured out on this heavy day, why she wandered through the thinly populated streets, and why she finally ended her journey at a certain door.

It was there she hesitated, hand hovering just inches away from the door as her gaze fell to the floor, catching the sight of the flooring and her clothes. Today she was in all black, even her cloth ties to keep the slightly loose fabric tight against her were black, and she sported a large satchel packed with a few particular items. "You can do this, she... She shouldn't be alone right now, that's what mom said," Seresana thought to steel herself for what felt like one of the hardest decisions of her life. With the slightly pained grin on her face, and a sad attempt to make her face look more cheerful, Seresana knocked on the door. "Syl- *tst*," her first attempt at calling out she nearly choked on her words and had to force back the tears again. One deep breath later and she finished the statement. "Sylvan hey, it's Seresana. Are you home?"

Word Count: 417

The is wrenched open. Sylvan is looking out. Her hair is a mess, more so than usual. The room visible beyond her in in a state of disrepair. She has a wild, frenzied, panicked look on her face. "Sena! There you are! I was so worried, after ,after, thing, yes! People died! You're alive! Good." Her words tumble out, mouth struggling valiantly to keep up with the flow of though. "Need help! Can't find Yusuri! I looked -where, but- not there!" Sena would find herself dragged inside. the sight before her was disconcerting. Every storage container and possibly hiding place was ajar, as if Sylvan was trying to find either invaders or Yusuri in any conceivable part of the house. Maps that Seresana would recall ranked very high in Sylvan's priorities were on the ground, cast aside to look behind them at possible signs of tampering on the walls.
"I can't find her anywhere! I tried walking around where I saw her last, but she must be too far for my mind to reach! I don't understand, there is no reason for her to have left the village!"
Given what Sena knew of Sylvan, and how she thought, it was much more likely that the tall girl was trying to avoid the realization with her bit of her willpower, than her having not realized the truth.
{224 Words}

"Sylvan," Seresana said as she stood in the spot she was dragged to. She barely seemed to glance at the wrecked state of the room, her eyes instead resting almost exclusively on the disheveled Sylvan. "Sylvan, calm down, please," Seresana added this time with a plead. "I uh, I brought a cake for us to eat. Can we make some tea to go with it?" She said with a hopefully reassuring tone and a gesture to the satchel she still carried. "You need to calm down though either way Sylvan. This isn't good for you," Seresana restated as she gestured to the rest of the room and it's disheveled state, showing that she had actually taken a look at it, but just didn't make it noticeable.

Word Count: 127
Total: 544

Sylvan whips her head around, actually glaring at Sena. "NO! How can you think about tea and cake when Yusuri is missing?!" She says, practically snarling. An errant gesture of her arm knocks over a bowl onto the floor, causing it to shatter. She practically leaps away from it like a startled cat, though her expression is still more one of anger. "I'll be just fine when I know where Yusuri is!" she freezes, before slowly turning to look at Sena, her face cold and calculating. "You... You know something, don't you?" her voice has gone soft, with a faint, accusatory hint to it. "That's why you're here. Seresana, what has happened." Use of Sena's full name, something Sylvan hadn't done since they first met.
{126 Words}

Seresana didn't meet Sylvan's eyes, her face had lowered to the floor with a wince as soon as Sylvan's started talking. Her expression full of sorrow and defeat as she listened to Sylvan talk, but the tailing words finally caught her attention and sunk into her mind. Seresana questioned this to herself while Sylvan went on talking and subsequently confirmed her suspicion, that Sylvan wasn't actually aware of what'd happened. This realization came with the first change in her saddened expression from the moment she'd arrived, and even then it was just near tear stricken shock. "Yo- you don't know...," Seresana stated the question as fact rather than asking as her eyes glazed over with fresh tears. "Sylvan... sniff, Yusu... Yusuri isn't lost. sniff She, she's... she's gone," Seresana barely whimpered out through the tears that were now starting to trail down her face. She was only just managing to keep the full crying at bay, but that bulwark was failing fast.

Word Count: 162
Total: 706

Sylvan seems to calm, her face going completely blank as her arms fall to her sides. "I see. So she's dead then?" Utterly calm. Not a hint of emotion in it. Sylvan herself seems.... not broken, just empty. She steps back and flops down on the couch. When next she speaks, her voice is flat and stiff. "We may now have tea and cake, if you wish. Thank you for telling me. I will require assistance in repairing the house after my leave of rationality." She sighs slowly, and leans back. Tears begin to fall. I assume a funeral will be hosted?"
{102 Words}

Seresana cringes as the word dead leaves Sylvan's lips, but she doesn't say anything as she struggles to keep her own cries from escaping and mentally yells at herself for being so upset when she was supposed to be the one helping Sylvan. As Sylvan continues talking, Seresana takes a few deep breaths and forces herself to calm back down as well. "Ye- yes, she'll be put to rest with the other people who... di- died, that night," Seresana replied to the last question as she walked over to the couch as well and sat her satchel down on the ground next to it just out of sight by the piece of furniture. Seresana then sat down on the couch next to Sylvan, concern coloring her features as she looked towards her friend's tear stricken blank face. She reached out her arms to try and hug the taller shinobi, trying to offer comfort not just for herself but for Sylvan as well.

Word Count: 163
Total: 869

Sylvan nods. A thought occurs to her. Her face had gone blank, but ... it ought not to be, from what she understood. Her friend had died. She wasn't .... uncaring, but nor was she entirely sure what she was feeling. She was crying, and it hurt, but what did that mean? She hadn't had this level of tragedy occur, and the result had left her at something of a loss. Her body sobs, clutching Seres- Sena, like any normal person would after the entity with which they had shared thoughts for years was suddenly gone. In her mind, she was confused, letting her body's pain mask her inattention Hopefully nothing would happen while she was introspecting.
She was searching for something, panning for gold in the stream of consciousness. But the gold she sought was not what would make a person rich, oh no. She sought remorse, sadness, anger, denial.... Anything that would indicate she had truly felt the loss in her center of logic, rather than the emotional reaction of her body. She found nothing, but she had to keep looking. After all, if there was anyone she would ever feel the acute loss of, it was Yusuri. Sharing a mind with someone on a daily basis, feeling all the nightmares that plagued her..... Surely there was some feeling of remorse?
{222 Words}

Oblivious to the rather intense internal debate, Seresana simply continued to tightly hug the visibly crying girl, struggling to keep her own tears at bay. She showed no signs of moving, there wasn't any need to for the moment as far as she knew for Sylvan was crying and Seresana wanted to be here for her friend, just as Rosie had been for her back at the festival when she'd found... "Oh, Sylvan," Seresana said as she released herself from the tight embrace and leaned away from Sylvan. "I uh..." she stammered while standing up and moving over to the couch end where the bag had been placed. She bent over for a moment then and began to dig into it, momentarily obscured by the piece of furniture. When she appeared again, she was clutching some black cloth that was long enough that a large portion of it was hidden by the couch at first, but even then it might have still looked familiar to one who'd seen it so often.

"I think she would have wanted you to have it," Seresana finally managed to say as she lifted the all too familiar black coat up to where it could be fully seen and wasn't on the ground, meaning that her arms actually went over her head to where she couldn't actually see Sylvan's immediate reaction though she could still hear and she strained her ears for any change.

Word Count: 240
Total: 1109

Sylvan looks over as she leans away, shaking herself out of the introspection. Sena was leaning away from her, odd considering how much she apparently needed comfort. It made little sense to Sylvan, but at the moment nothing did. Yusuri was did, she could feel no remorse that was not entertained with her physical form, and Sena had brought cake. Her mind, for once, could not keep up. Wait. Sena was pulling something out of the bag, and.... oh.
The tears come a bit faster now, as a a chocked sob can be heard from Sylvan. She takes the coat from Sena, hugging it close to her. It helps muffle the sobbing.
{111 Words}

Seresana offers no resistance to Sylvan taking the coat from her, letting the long black garment be taken with ease. She in fact follows after it and the person who took it, sitting herself back down onto the couch next to Sylvan. Her arms reach up and over until they manage to wrap around her and pull the sobbing Sylvan close with a quite possibly surprising amount of strength. She doesn't say anything while doing this, partially because she can't think of what to say but also because she wasn't sure she could say anything without crying as well. So instead Seresana just continues to hold onto Sylvan with that tender embrace, the hand on Sylvan's upper back slowly beginning to trace small and soothing circles on Sylvan's back with Seresana's palm. Seresana did her best to keep from shuddering, shaking, and sniffling, but couldn't stop every sad noise from escaping her tiny frame as she continued to sit and offer Sylvan all the comfort she could. In a way it was similar to how she had been comforted, and with how it worked for her, Seresana could only hope it'd help Sylvan too.

Word Count: 195
Total: 1304