Stasis (Natsume thread with others)

[Midnight Sun]

Natsume lays on her bed, staring at some random spot on the ceiling. She contemplates the words passed down from her grandfather.

"Natsume, love is important, but it is also a warrior's greatest weakness. It will bring you to folly like none other."

"Love can be a weakness?" she repeats. Love was certainly capable of making one do strange things. "Love is important, but it can be a weakness if used improperly..."

"When the heart is weak, the will and body must be strong. Control breeds control, and weakness brings weakness."

"I allowed my resolve to weaken, and thus it led to my confusion," she says as she sits up. "I can't let that happen again."

"One should not abandon an ill friend."

'I shouldn't have left. I allowed my own selfish concerns to overcome the need of a friend," she sighs. She had already told Usagi she would return tomorrow, and she had no way of contacting her all the way on the moon. She would just have to live with the consequence, hopefully nothing would happen between now and then. "Hm...wait a minute...."

The teleporter at Mugen Gakuen, perhaps she could use that to return. She had followed Artemis closely, it wouldn't be a problem to retrace her steps...hopefully.

"Hm...should I?" she contemplates. "Well, I certainly have nothing to lose by trying."

No more indecision, should had to be resolute in her decisions from now on.

"I will not wait. She'll need everyone as she long she remains under Celcia's spell," she says as she stands. "Theres no telling what could happen between now and tomorrow, and if anything does, I want to be there."

Though this time, she intended to tell grandfather where she was going.

[Anastasia]

So resolved, it's merely a matter of finding the Grandfather in question. He is enjoying a cup of tea before the bath, sitting in the living room and taking in the quiet view of outside.

"Natsume," he asks in a murmur, as you approach.

[Midnight Sun]

"Grandfather, I'm going to be leaving the house for a while," she says, kneeling down. "The friend I told you about, the one who is stricken, I left her side in order to seek your advice. Now, I must return to her."

"I can't say how long I'll be gone..." she continues. "I wanted to at least let you know where I disappeared to this time around."

[Anastasia]

A nod to your words. "Go, then," is the reply. "I only hope you do not fall into the traps that have snared so many warriors before, Natsume." Finishing his tea and putting aside the cup, "Let Kurumi know as well - she worried about you this morning."

[Midnight Sun]

"Thank you, grandfather," she says before standing up. She quickly goes to the dojo to fetch a bokuto to take with her before going to find her younger sister...

[Anastasia]

Kurumi is in her room, you find - napping. She half looks up as you peek in, sleeply. "'sume-chan..." she says groggily. "Whazzit?"

[Midnight Sun]

"Kurumi," Natsume says as she enters the room. "I'm going to be going out for a while. I...can't say when I'll be back, but it should be soon, I hope."

[Anastasia]

"Going out again," she manages, sitting up in her bed and rubbing her eyes, before looking up to you. "Where are you going?"

[Midnight Sun]

"The friend I told you who is ill, I...kind of left her behind to come back here, so I'm going back to be by her side," Natsume explains. "If anything happens, I want to be there."

[Anastasia]

Blinking away her fatigue and swinging around to get out of bed, "Oh. I hope she's better soon, Natsume. Get going," she adds with a smile.

[Midnight Sun]

"Alright, I'll be going then. I'll give her your regards," Natsume says as she leaves her sister's room. It was getting alot easier for her to...distort the facts to her family. That did not give her a good feeling. 'One of these days I'm going to have to tell them the truth.'

She rushes out the door and makes a beeline for Mugen Gakuen. She finds herself standing at the front gate before too long, now there was the issue of remembering exactly HOW to get to the teleportation unit....

[Anastasia]

The sun sets early this time of year, and it's doing so as you arrive. The doors and gate are closed, only the huge ediface of the sixty story building looming over you. Chilly, too, with no one about that you notice.

[Midnight Sun]

The gates were high, but not impassable. She backs up a ways to get a running start. The leap sends her clear over the barricade, but she lands with a bit of a stumble. That never was her strong point...

"We went through the front entrance doors, I think," she says to herself as she approaches them, and finding them locked. "Damnit...I should've known...what now?"

She looks around to her left and right, trying to spy some sort of alternative.

[Anastasia]

As you look around, there is a shimmer out of the corner of your eye. "Natsume," Cyprine asks, her twin at her back. "We felt you approaching while down here...are you looking for something?"

[Midnight Sun]

"Ah, Cyprine, Tellu," Natsume says, hoping she got their names right. "Yes...I was trying to find a way back to the Moon. I was hoping to use the teleporter, but it seems I'm stuck outside."