Fire Opal: Scene 1

D Major Chiaramente

I'm on a transport, surrounded by fluff. Fluff! I'm wearing what has to be the foofoo-est ensemble I've ever seen. I'm sitting in a cloud of gossamer fabric. I swear there has to be a hundred layers of petals stuck at my waist here! If I even think of moving I'm going to drown in fabric. And streamers! I have streamers of ribbon everywhere! Streamers of ribbon hanging off my shoulders to make fake sleeves, streamers of ribbons in my hair, everywhere! And my hair! My hair is pulled back so tight my cheeks have lifted! I'm wearing skin-tight pants under all this fluff and more ribbons around my ankles! I'm not an individual, I'm a candy confection! I feel utterly stupid. I wasn't even allowed to have sensible luggage! I have all these bags around me that look like lotus pods. I'm going to hurl.
I went running to my room to wash up and grab my Kyr - and then I'd be packed, I mean other than some clothes for today, what else did I need? But NO! There was Itxata, flying around my room like an insect, buzzing and packing and buzzing and packing. She took over my life! There were all these pod-things spread out around my room, and she was rolling and folding and stuffing clothing, bathing items, and everything else she could get her hands on into those pods. She pushes me off into the washroom despite all of my protests, and then leaves me with FOO FOO! The good news is that if I ever get attacked and need an appropriate ensemble, I'm covered!
I know she means well, it's just that I'm not a normal Flower. I looked down at my foofoo "bud" purse. At least I had the vial of living metal with me. That took some work to put it in this purse without Itxata seeing.
I don't even know exactly where I'm going. I'm in a personal transport, and it's preprogrammed. I thought I would be going to Xeven, but I should have seen the oceans by now, and I would have had to switch transports. There is something kind of soothing, in a strange way, of traveling through cities in a transport, watching the individual lights turn into one long streamer of light. It was raining.
I could hear the hum of the transport quiet, and the trees looked more like trees instead of blurs. Where was I? The transport door opened.
Standing in front of me was a striking male with pale red-orange-ish skin, crimson hair and bright yellow eyes, wearing a black and gold silk embroidered suit.
"Flower Water Lotus? I'm Intris. Welcome to Iaonin."

Iaonin? Capitol of Fire race? I'm on the other side of the continent?!
"I have a band for you, and the service units will be along shortly to move your things." He held his hand out. Was that to help me get out of the transport? Uhhh ok. I took his hand and I swear he essentially flung me out of the car.
"You uh, are lighter than you appeared in the transport."
No, really? You mean you couldn't tell I wasn't a heifer because of the cloud of fluff surrounding me?
"Here is your authority band. You may use this at any terminal in the city for purchases, food, or identification purposes." He flicked open the metallic strip and it coiled around my wrist. I noticed a small shimmer in my field of vision. Oh! I had forgotten I was still connected. Dune must have sent me some information.
"-for which you are properly dressed. Please follow me."
Wait. What did he just say? Crap! I have no idea what he just said. Where are we going? Hellfire! What about all my stuff in the transport?
I had to walk faster than normal to keep up with Intris. He needed to meet Itxata, she walks nearly as fast as he does! I received very strange looks from other individuals in the city. Most of them were of Fire descent, so I stuck out quite a bit from the reds, oranges, and yellows that made up most of their coloring. Well, I stuck out except for my weird fiery hair. Mine had more of a bronzy-metallic hint than their pure colors though, so I guess it still looked weird to them. Intris took my arm and led me into a building with extravagant decorations - his touch was very light, like he was afraid to break me. Everything was decorated in black, red, gold, and this odd milky-green. I did see traces of dark blue and sometimes yellow or white. I was used to black, blue, white, gold, brown, and a milky-yellow color, so all this red looked disorienting. The imagery was quite different as well.
I was going to a meal? We entered a banquet hall, and there were actually guests already seated. There was no sign of Tryst. Why was I in Iaonin without any knowledge of what I'm doing here? Intris seated me next to the seat at the head of the table, where he knelt. I knelt on the cushion provided. It's a sick thing when you want to be wearing your funeral wear, but in this case, my back could have used the support. I noticed that other Flowers had thicker, layered midsections than my foofoo ensemble.
I made a note to myself, never research the food you're eating as you're eating it. I was curious what the meal was, so I had pulled up the mesh-x interface and connected to the Fire mesh-x controller. Ugh. Now I was sick. Another thing I had noticed. Heat. Iaonin was HOT.
"Are you enjoying the meal Flower?"
"Oh yes, I am very much sir. I simply cannot eat very much." I hoped he would buy the whole, 'I'm just a fluffy Flower' bit. Something about the look in his eyes told me he hadn't. His eyes. They were bright yellow, but they had this odd dark reddish-tint every so often. My collarbone itched like crazy. I still felt like a candy confection, and the ribbons were driving me crazy.
Uhhhh. I was having issues holding a single thought in my head long enough to understand it. Hellfire! I needed another injection of living metal... it was wearing off already. GAH! I could feel some twitching on the side of my brain... it was, uncomfortable. The wash room! They would have to let me go to the wash room, right? I needed that injection now.
"Oh, pardon me, but the heat here is much higher than I am used to, will you please excuse me for a moment?" Was that ok? Did I just run those sentences together? What was I having here, a meltdown?
"Of course Flower."
I bowed quickly and scuttled off to the wash room. I loaded the syringe from the vial in my hand bag and tied off my thigh. I just couldn't do it in my arm, I would pass out. The injection shot through me like a cold jolt. I dropped the syringe. Oh krietsit it hurt. I was on my knees in the wash room holding my head. I thought I would scream. And then the light filled my brain again. Uhhhh. There has to be a better way to take this stuff than just whenever I get low. Injections were so crude.
When I returned back to the banquet hall, the table had been cleared and I could hear the guests in an adjoining room.
"Ah Flower Water Lotus, you've returned in time to bid farewell to our guests."
I bowed and thanked every guest as they left. I received an urgent communication from Dune as I was bowing. I grepped for a quick summary. Living metal delivery method. Compound effects. I wanted to stop and read this but I couldn't. GAH! I needed a way to sneak away and be free. The heat was overwhelming.
"Now that the formalities are over, would you like to change into cooler clothing Flower?"
"Oh, yes. That would be nice." GAH. Formality! I have to watch my formality.
"Perhaps the Flower wishes to rest instead? You did have a very long trip."
Yes! "That is very generous of you. I do not know where I am staying though, could someone direct me?"
"Of course, let me take you there myself. Your belongings should be waiting for you." He had an odd cadence to his voice - that made my spine ultra sensitive. It felt like I was shocked when he touched me.
He led me up the wide red and black walk ways. They made a pleasant hum as they wound us around the central open core of the building.
"Your room, Flower." He gestured toward the only set of doors on the floor. "Use your band to get in." He took my hand and put it against the panel. The doors opened. Again, it felt like my spine had become a lightning rod.
Ah. Good. I had a secured door.
"See you at Third Dawn."
"Yes. Oh, where?" I followed him slightly back down the corridor.
"In the main entrance hall." The doors slid shut.
"Ok."
He went back down the walk ways as I went toward my doors. He had a funny look on his face before he turned around. I put my hand up against the panel to the side of the doors. The doors unlatched and swung open. Sure enough, all my foo foo pod luggage bags were already in here. GAH! I'd give anything to just get out for a bit.
I sat down on the matted floor and opened one of the pods.
WHAT THE HELLFIRE HAD SHE PACKED?!
I pulled out a pewter-colored skin tight full body suit, made out of some material I'd never felt before. It was smooth and liquidy. Undergarments made of the same material, and a weird style of shoes.
A lumentext? She packed a lumentext into this weird bag? And rope?
I opened the lumentext. It was from Itxata all right.
"Slacker! I suppose you freaked out when I put you in the foo foo dress, eh? Well, to make up for it, I packed you this body suit and shoes. Oh and some rope, in case you wanted to get away without anyone knowing it. If you *really* wanted to do something about all the foo foo nonsense that you're always railing against... I have a suggestion for you."
I stared at the text. There was a little arrow waiting for my input. What the hell.
"Since you're in Iaonin, why don't you go to Mai Garden and maybe steal the living metal hybridizer? Anyway, it was just a thought. Take care."
Steal the hybridizer? What would I do with it? Wouldn't I get caught? I fingered the liquidy material... Well.
After I put on the body suit and was wrapping my hair up into the matching scarf, I got the shakes. Another injection? I needed another injection? Holy Hellfire! I knelt down and pulled up my sleeve. There was no way I was taking off this body suit now. My head slammed to the ground as I pushed the plunger and I felt myself pounding on the floor. My head was going to explode. Oh krietsit my head was going to explode. Then pure light flooded everything. Intense white light filled my mouth, eyes, ears, and nose. All I could feel was white light. Ohhhhh yeah. I'd better take this with me. I pulled the syringe out of my arm and put it back with the vial. I'd better take my Kyr too. I noticed that the weird shoes had pockets in the thick sole. I popped in the vial and syringe in one, and my Kyr in the other. Interesting. I could probably fit a bunch more stuff in there too. Oh they flip close. To keep the stuff from falling out, I guess. Ok, I like that. How efficient! I grabbed the rope and went over to the windows. The were easy enough to open, you just touched the silver panel on the side. Oh hey! This place still had a fire escape from the window! I packed the rope over my shoulder and climbed out the window.
I stood on the fire escape. Even though it was very dark, it was still hot. My suit was fairly cool though. I stifled the urge to yell out. Freedom! I climbed down the old railings, quietly. What would I do tonight?