[PRP] Well, that's new (Jay/Zhi) FIN

[Syusaki]

It was nice to get away from the reserve. While the lair was extremely sandy and was clearly a Famine lair, it was a better home than the plain land Halloween had given the Clans. It was a pitiful plot of land, with houses made from scavenged items. It was a shade of the Clans’ former glory. While the trees and nearby forest were a comforting presence for Jay, the Halloween residents were not. Perhaps that was why the warrior found herself spending more and more time within the coliseum. Hands at her side, the bluejay walked through the sandy passages. Her scarf and feathers trailed behind Jay.

The passages were dull for the most part. It was just sand walls, but they wound all over the lair and she wanted to reacquaint herself with its layout. However, she happened to pass by a mirror. The splash of color quickly caught the bird’s attention and she decided to backtrack. However, the horsewoman in the reflection was not quite her. It had her face and clothes, but the expression was slightly off. A few accessories were not quite there or were added on. She looked around for a familiar face and reached out to grab a passing Zhi’s hand before reaching for the mirror herself. “ZhiZhi, look!”

1='past' setting, 2=fairly accurate timeline, 6=JAY IS FREAKING POWERFUL

SETTING: Set in the past, but 1999 has already come and gone. The hunters survived and are now stronger than before. Jay and Zhi are babbu horsemen.  

[Kaiyumi]

There was really no reason for Zhi to be out here--not unless "I'm bored" really counted as a valid excuse. He swung his arms--and his sleeves--idly as he kicked his way through the sand, glancing this way and that in an attempt to find something of interest. While the horseman was really quite fond of exploring new or different places, there simply didn't seem to be anything of interest out here! Or at least, not to him--perhaps this place would feel like a touch of home to a famine horseman, but to someone who came from the conquest clans...

Shutting his eyes, he was just in the middle of heaving a heavy sigh when he suddenly felt fingers curling around his own. Eyes popping open, the man turned to cast a surprised glance to the side. "Oh, Jayjay! I--...what have you got there?"

Curious, he propped his chin up on top of her head and stared down at the mirror. Despite being a rather scatter-brained individual, even Zhi was able to notice that something wasn't quite normal with the mirror...or rather, their reflections. "...What is this?!" (•̪┌┐•̪)

Syusaki

 

[Syusaki]

“No clue,” she admitted as she curiously stared at herself in the mirror. The bluejay could spot more differences between her current self and the reflection. For one thing, she was smaller than her already-tiny 5’2” frame. Actually, it appeared a lot like her younger self. “I don’t know, but let’s find out!” The curious bird reached out for the mirror and her eyes widened when she felt something tugging at her hand. “Hey wait—“

She fell to the ground and rolled around, her arms covering her head. “Ouchies…” Pouting, Jay continued to roll as she called out, “ZhiZhi~ Are you there?” Once the pain from the initial impact subsided, the horseman slowly stood back up and wiped the dust off of her clothes.

These clothes were different. She still had her bandages and scarf, but now she donned her old dress and flip flops. Jay cocked her head. “ZhiZhi?” She turned around and froze.

It was the War isle. Mouth agape, she stepped forward and stared at the familiar jungle. When she raised her head, she was met with a myriad of tree houses nestled in the thick branches. Jay blinked back the tears welling in the corners of her eyes. This was a dream. Was this trance?

Kaiyumi

 

[Kaiyumi]

It was...strange, to say the least. While Zhi was a hundred percent confident that the person looking back at him in the mirror was himself, there were some distinct differences. He was a little shorter, skinnier, and just...younger looking overall (plus with less eye makeup). He pulled his gaze away from the image of himself only when Jay spoke up, only to realize that his friend was getting pulled in by the mirror.

...Wait a minute, what?

Zhi didn't hesitate--the moment he realized that the war horsewoman was disappearing into the object, he shoved his own hand into the mirror, letting himself get pulled into...well, god knows what.

The first, and only thing, that Zhi was aware of immediately after jumping through the mirror was pain from the impact of slamming into the ground. With a groan, he rolled over on his back, his eyes squeezed shut as he waited for the ache in his body to fade somewhat. Upon hearing his nickname, however, he slowly peeled one eye open and turned to look in the direction of the voice.

"Jayjay? ...Where are we? What happened?"

Syusaki

 

[Syusaki]

She didn’t answer at first. The shock running through her head was stubborn. Wide eyes stared at the familiar trees and plants and animals lurking around her, but words refused to come out of Jay’s mouth like they usually did. “Um…” The bluejay began rather eloquently while she continued to slowly turn in stupefied circles. “Um…home.” She sounded unsure of herself, but her eyes couldn’t be lying to her. “It’s home. The War isle.”

Eventually, the war horseman walked toward Zhi to offer him a hand. There was a thin veil of glaze over her eyes, as if her mind was in another place. It felt too surreal. A part of her screamed for an exit while the other yearned to break down and cry because she was home.

“Jay!”

Muscles stiffened when someone called out her name. Her voice turned unusually steely when she answered, “Mother.”

“What’s wrong with my little bluejay? Is she grumpy? Maybe lost to Senga in a fight today, hm?” The light voice replied with amusement. Jay kept her back toward the other woman, the blue of her solid-colored wings matching Jay’s exactly.

Kaiyumi

 

[Kaiyumi]

With a groan, the horseman pushed himself up into a sitting position, wincing as he reached back and rubbed at his aching shoulder. As he heard no reply from Jay, Zhi opened his mouth to ask once again in case she had hadn't heard him, only to catch a quiet--and very uncertain sounding--answer: home.

...home?

He stiffened when Jay elaborated. The...the War isle? But--no, that had been destroyed, hadn't it? All the isles had, including his own home on the Conquest isle. Eyes popping open, Zhi whipped his head left and right as he took in their new--and yet very familiar--surroundings. What was going on? Could it be that--

He cut off his thoughts when his friend moved towards him and offered him a hand. Taking it and pulling himself up to his feet, he cast her a silent look of concern before turning back to examine their surroundings with wonder. Although he was not a War horseman, he was still really quite familiar with how the isle had looked, and this was...flawless, really. Everything looked so familiar, so real, so alive.

...But could it be a trap?

The conquest horseman flinched when someone suddenly called out Jay's name, and he instinctively bristled as he turned to face the figure. Who--...a...a horsewoman? And--wait, did Jay just call her mother? His shoulders relaxed--but only ever so slightly--as he hovered over his friend's shoulder in a slightly wary manner. He would not stop her if she wanted to approach the figure, but he would go with her, just in case.

Syusaki

 

[Syusaki]

When she felt Zhi’s hand slide into hers, Jay took the moment to examine him head-to-toe. Similar to her youthful reflection, Zhi appeared younger as well. He was not so tall, but Jay was even shorter than her current self. His face was rounder too—like hers. It still took the Jay a couple more moments to begin to settle herself in their situation. They were home, but it was not home because they both knew home no longer existed.

Her body was stiff and her tone grumpy when she answered, “Did not.” Even her wings were bristled and surrounded her like a cover, the feathers fluffed up. The other horsewoman appeared unfazed as she continued to laugh softly while walking toward the pair. “That means you did.” Jay’s mother paused as her gaze flickered toward Zhi. “Oh? You’re not from here,” she stated matter-of-factly as she took in his notable lack of wings. “You’re from the conquest isle, aren’t you?”

“He is,” admitted Jay, shoulders relaxing a bit once she began to adapt. “He got lost and I was thinking of showing him around.” After a moment of thought, she managed to twist her lips into a smile. “His name is ZhiZhi.”

“Is that so?” Jay’s mother smiled warmly and placed a hand on Zhi’s shoulder. “Did you get separated from your parents? We should go find them soon so they won’t worry.”

An awkward Jay glanced at Zhi and waited for his response.

Kaiyumi

 

[Kaiyumi]

Zhi had yet to notice his own physical changes--or Jay's, really--as his gaze was fully fixated the horsewoman that his friend had called mother. While Zhi tended to come off as rather airheaded and stupid, he wasn't quite as unintelligent as he first seemed. At least, the horsemen knew better then to jump into this situation and accept it with open arms--anyone would be wary, after all.

His grip on Jay's hand was firm as he glanced between his friend and her mother, trying to figure out what exactly was going on. Was this some kind of trap set up by those Hunters perhaps? Or...?

He snapped out of it when he suddenly heard his nickname, only to realize that the two women had been talking about him. For a moment, the look he cast the older women was full of wariness, but then his usual stupid expression popped onto his face.

(☉‿☉)

"Ahahaha, no, no, that's okay! I can find them myself!" Lifting a hand, he flapped his sleeve casually...and that's when he finally realized something was wrong.

Why was he so short--aw, crap.

Syusaki

 

[Syusaki]

It was too hard for Jay to keep the solemn expression gracing her features when she watched Zhi’s twist into his usual stupid smile. The corners of her lips twitched until she began to grin at both her supposed mother and the conquest horseman. The blue jay gripped Zhi’s hand even tighter before she looked at the older woman. “Mother, I’m going to show ZhiZhi around the island. If anyone asks for me just say I’ll be back later.”

She began to tug the young soldier away from the other war horsewoman. Once her ears picked up the quiet footsteps of her mother leaving, Jay picked up the pace and rushed for the safety of the thick, humid jungle. “ZhiZhi, do you know what happened?” She furrowed her brows and lightly smacked her forehead with her free hand, which was bandage-free and bare. “I was looking at a mirror and then I don’t know.” Her bottom lip jutted out. “We should go…back.” She almost said home, but wasn’t she already there?

Kaiyumi

 

[Kaiyumi]

Ah, were they excusing themselves now? Good idea. The horseman snapped a hand up to salute the older horsewoman, only to flinch when the motion caused his sleeve to whip into his face. "Ow! But uh, it was nice to meet you! Byebye!"

Another stupid grin and wave, and then he allowed himself to be led away. The dumb expression remained on his face until he deemed it safe, and once it became clear that the other horsewoman had left, Zhi rushed with Jay into the cover of the jungle. Once they were safely out of sight among all the greenery, the conquest horseman frowned.

"I don't know, JayJay. I saw you being pulled into the mirror, so I decided to follow, and..." He trailed off, knitting his brows together in thought. Yes, he wanted to return back too--as lovely and undoubtedly nostalgic this place was, it...it was just an illusion, right? They had to get back.

...Even if a part of him did want to see the conquest isles one more time.

"Er, well, we got here from the mirror. Maybe we have to use it to get back out?" A pause, and then, "...Did the mirror come with us?"

Syusaki

 

[Syusaki]

The older horsewoman chuckled quietly as Zhi smacked himself in the face with his sleeves. She folded her arms over her chest. “Be careful, you hear?” she called out to the pair as she gave them a final wave before turning around and walking away.

Sea-green eyes lit up with alarm. “I was pulled into the mirror?!” she squeaked. Her shoulders tensed and she looked down, a hand on her chin while she attempted to think back to moments prior. Her eyes idly darted left and right before she let out a quiet, “Ah, you’re right.” The bluejay nodded her head in agreement. “You’re right, but…” Thin lips curled into a frown as she spun around to get another look of the island. “There’re currently no funky-looking mirrors for us to try out.” Her frown deepened. “Does that mean we’re going to stay here forever?” Her face tinged with panic, she hopped up to Zhi, grabbed his shoulders, and shook him furiously. “We can’t stay here.”

It was difficult to discern if it was just panic or panic mixed with fear. Her lower lip jutted out. “It’s too…painful.” Her hands slid toward Zhi’s sleeves and tugged him forward. “We have to find the mirror. It has to be here somewhere. Where do you think it is?”

Kaiyumi

Finally afdk;las orz

 

[Kaiyumi]

Zhi simply nodded. How that mirror had managed to pull them in was beyond him, but the main question right now was whether it could do that again to bring them back.

And of course, there was the question of the mirror's current whereabouts.

While this place was extremely reminiscent of what they had lost, there was no point to dwell on a distant memory--as painful as it may be to leave it again--and it was clear that Jay acknowledged this. The Conquest Horseman tried to set a comforting hand on her shoulder, his gaze flickering between the horsewomen and the ground. "Calm down, okay? I'm sure the mirror uh, appeared in this world with us." They just had to find it first.

There was a moment of pause, and then he lowered his voice to a slightly softer tone, casting a quick gaze behind him in the direction of where Jay's mother had been. "I don't know...where this is, but I want to get out of here too." Preferably before they ended up running into any others who they had once known. After spending weeks upon weeks of trying to move on, all that it would take it unwound their work was a since second.

He didn't want to risk it.

Syusaki

A MONTH LATER, POST-META...

 

[Syusaki]

“Possibly. I hope so. It better have,” she angrily twittered as Jay continued to tug Zhi around the isle. “If you were a mirror, where would you want to be?” She stopped briefly as the conquest horseman spoke in a lower face. “Wherever this place is,” she started in a soft tone, “made a very good imitation of the War isle.” Perhaps the other horseman heard her click her tongue disapprovingly as she treaded forward again.

She looked up toward the trees. Nostalgia permeated every aspect of her expression as she took in the sight of the tree houses nestled in the canopy. “Do you think the mirror would be up there?” she wondered aloud as she looked at Zhi. She took in his shorter height—he was a bit closer to her stature now—and then to the side of him as she blatantly took in the sight of his lack-of-wings. “…that would be a problem if so.” Unlike the time the Halloween students had visited the isles, War did not have ladders for Zhi to ascend.

Jay puffed out her cheeks when she imagined her child-sized self attempting to haul Zhi up to the trees. “How good of a climber are you?”

Kaiyumi

WE GOT THIS, KAI. WE GOT THIS!

 

[Kaiyumi]

Zhi opened his mouth to answer her question about the mirror with "in a bathroom", only to realize that that wasn't quite what she meant. Clamping his mouth shut, he obediently trotted after her as she tugged him along, glancing this way and that as he took in their surroundings. How could anyone--or anything--have made a replica of the War isles? Especially one that was extremely close, if Jay's unhappiness was anything to go off of.

His gaze swept upwards as the horsewomen pointed out the trees, and he frowned, lifting a hand to rub at his chin. "Maybe? I mean, if we just fell in, then I'm sure the mirror could have landed anywh--a problem?"

Zhi blinked down at her, staring at her puffed-cheek look with a rather blank expression. W...what did he do? Why was she looking at him like that? At the question of his climbing ability, he shook his head slowly. "I, uh...not very good? I mean, I can try to fling my sleeve over one of the branches and use it as a...a self-pulley if I have to, but..."

Syusaki

YEAAAH, LET'S PLOW ON AHEAD! OUO

 

[Syusaki]

“If the mirror fell too, then there’s a pretty good chance that it landed in one of the branches,” Jay reasoned as she stroked her chin. Her tanned face paled slightly as she wondered silently, what if the mirror had broken in the fall? Then they would never be able to return ‘home.’

“Yes, a problem.” She studied Zhi’s face. Her brows furrowed and her lips parted slightly into an expression mixed with skepticism and not impressed plz. “Zhizhi, the branches don’t start until you get much high up in the trees,” she answered as she pointed toward the trees. These were not tiny pine trees, after all. They were tall. She sighed loudly before walking over to Zhi and opened up her arms. “Okay! I’ll fly you up to the nearest branch! But you have to hold on tight.”

T-This would totally work. Definitely.

Kaiyumi

Lame tag is lame /weeps