(no subject)

[starfelled]

[ It's been a few days since the first arrivals trickled in to this iteration of the monastery, and there's been some improvement to the area, at least.

Which is fortunate, really, because the clouds have finally decided to open up and let out a torrential downpour.

The grass out in the courtyard almost immediately becomes saturated with water, squishing beneath people's feet as they step through it. Drainage in the monastery is a real problem in some parts, particularly near the marketplace area. Slowly, as time passes, pools begin to form, though some of the remaining debris serves as a decent buffer between the water and whatever crates merchants may have left behind. It may be a good idea to salvage some of that, though it's not likely to be ruined thanks to said debris. In general, it's likely a rude awakening for any new arrivals.

Of course, some would say that rainy days are the best when it comes to fishing; some would even say they're right, given how the fish seem to be out in droves at the lake. If one didn't mind potentially getting soaked, they could bring in a real haul during this rainstorm. The dining hall is not nearly as well stocked as it had been in its heyday, so this could potentially be beneficial for the community.

For some, it's likely best to stay inside and find shelter from the rain. Thankfully, most of the monastery roofing seems to be intact, save for a few sizeable holes in the cathedral. Still, that doesn't mean there isn't a leak here and there, so watch your step, particularly in the dining hall and the second floor of the dormitories as well. It might not be a bad idea to put a few buckets out to catch all that water . . . ]


[[ MORE HOUSEKEEPING, hey what's up guys:

• please PM this journal if there are more setting changes you'd like to be noted! i.e. if your character did some sprucing up in the greenhouse, just let me know and I will update the setting page accordingly.
• as noted on the "mod" plurk, I'll try putting up open posts roughly once a week going forward. it'll depend on how things are going, no big. ]]

Comments

[persecutetioncomplex]

Black Eagles Classroom

AaaaAAAAaah! No—nonono, stay put! Come on, don't do this to meee...

[Over the past few days, thanks to a friendly nudge from Dimitri of all people, Bernadetta has been working on sewing the tattered remains of various fabrics and furniture stuffings into serviceably cozy quilts. She had finished a few and moved them out of her nice, safe room to breath in the sun, but quickly had to drag them out of the rain, once the downpour started.

Her room hadn't been big enough . to hang them up to dry, however, and so she had . been forced from her trusty old sanctum by pure necessity. As much as she was still hesitant to think too much about the Black Eagles themselves, their old classroom was one of the more spacious and intact rooms left.

So, that leaves her here, with a jury-rigged laundry line sagging under the weight of three wet quilts as she frantically tries to keep the thin rope from falling down from its hastily tied fastenings entirely.

Off behind her on a mostly-intact table are the beginnings of a fourth quilt and the supplies for more, safely and dryly tucked away, if you want to snoop.]


Dining Hall

[Bernadetta is only briefly inside the Dining Hall, as it so happens. Each time, it's to grab one of the empty, abandoned casks littering the kitchens. The tops have all been splintered from weaponry or stained from usage as crude plates, but that's fine. There are still some brushes left fro scrubbing pots, so once the rain has put a few inches of water into each vessel, Bernadetta half-crawls inside and scrubs them clean. Once's that's done (a few times, because they are filthy) she dumps them out, rights them, and leaves them to collect more water and goes to salvage the next one. They'll need it, if the days keep stretching on like this...]

...oh. Oh no. Bernie, you idiot...!

[This is how you find her: drenched to the bone and looking upon one of her first barrels in dawning horror, unable to drag it back inside all on her own now that it's almost full.

And there are easily ten more barrels in various stages of being filled.]

Dining Hall

[axepectations]

[ Hilda sits at a table with a small stack of towels next to her, watching idly as Bernadetta runs back and forth between the kitchens and the outside. Every time Bernadetta heads back in to grab one, Hilda's hand drifts towards a towel, a concerned frown beginning to form. ]

What in the world . . .

[ Finally, her curiosity gets the better of her, and Hilda stands, heading over to the doorway to peer out after her. ]

Bernadetta? Hey, um. What are you doing?

[ How many barrels are there out here, anyway? Ten, at least? Geez . . . ]

[persecutetioncomplex]

[She lets out a short scream and nearly topples straight into the water barrel before whirling around.]

I-I-I'm not doing anything! I'm—

[She gestures helplessly.]

I... can't do anything. They're... they're too heavy, now.

[axepectations]

[ She tilts her head to the side, nodding with understanding after a moment. ]

. . . huh, I see. [ a beat. ] That's pretty smart. I wonder . . .

[ Hilda turns on her heels, looking back around in the dining hall, eyes scanning the area briefly to no avail. She sighs, turning back towards her as she reaches up to carefully tie her own hair back a bit more. ]

How heavy are they?

[ If it's too heavy for the both of them to push it over, she could probably find a small cart or dolly of some kind to help them out near the marketplace or the stables. Probably. ]

[persecutetioncomplex]

...i-it is? I mean—y-yeah!

[Validation...

She instinctively distrusts it, but it's nice all the same!]

Pretty heavy. I can lever it up a few inches, so I was thinking of seeing if I could... maybe push in some of the thicker bottles I couldn't clean like this. Like a cart, maybe? But... well, it seemed like more than just one person could handle...

Black Eagles Classroom

[cynicfelixity]

[It's the last thing Felix expected to see when he visited the classroom, but there it is, in its colorful, mismatched glory.

Still, more than that, it's the scream that catches his attention in the first place, perhaps the most familiar thing he's heard since his arrival.]

It isn't going to.

[Felix says, grabbing hold of the makeshift line opposite Bernadetta in an effort to keep it steady for the moment.]

If you can hold on for a while, I'll redo the knots. Though I think we'll be better off finding sturdier rope to use if you want these to hang for a while.

I'm so sorry...

[persecutetioncomplex]

[The noise Bernadetta makes when he first speaks up would be glass-shattering, if every muscle in her body including her jaw hadn't tensed harder than a bow pulled to its breaking point. As it stands, that strangled whimper of alarm is as much warning as he gets before she whips her head around, dead white and clinging to her fixture like a life-line.]

W-where... where did you come from?!

[Probably the wide-open doorway, but Bernadetta isn't in a state where logic is easily accessible right now.]

poor bernie

[cynicfelixity]

[And here he thought, Bernadetta couldn't surprise him any further.

But she does, and Felix would have covered his ears if he weren't busy holding down his end of the rope.]

From the front door, where else?

[He says, some exasperation in his tone.]

Look, do you need me to help or not?

[persecutetioncomplex]

....................................................................yes please...

[Almost in penance for the earlier over reaction, her voice is now barely audible.]

This was... the longest rope I could find.

Dining Hall

[crimsonflower]

Bernadetta, what in the world are you doing?

[She's being doing her best not to venture outside because all her clothes (except her cape) are essential to her. She needs to hide every bit of skin that is riddled with scars not befitting of a lady after all. So when she calls out to Bernie it's through a window of the hall that had been broken long ago.]

You'll catch cold like that.

[persecutetioncomplex]

[It’s like magic.

She hears that voice and suddenly the chill seeping into her bones is unbearable heat. She lifts her heavy head and sees Edelgard and suddenly the crash of rain on stone is the crackle and hiss of a roaring inferno.

Is she shaking, or are the foundations exploding again?

Her knees give out, and her grip slips from the barrel, and she stares, wide-eyed and white-faced.]

Edel... gard...

[crimsonflower]

Bernadetta!

[Has the cold weather and her soaked frame already caught up with her? How long was she working like that? Edelgard dismisses her worries about her own discomfort for now to join the other young woman outside. When she reaches Berndetta she'll swiftly take off her cape and hold it above the girl to shield her from any more rainfall.

If Edelgard has anything left to her title as Emperor in this place it is to take care of her Black Eagles and serve their best interests. After all if there's no way to achieve her goal here then she might as well fall back on what she was raised to be and the responsibilities that come with it.]

[persecutetioncomplex]

[She's shaking like a leaf.

Everything Linhardt says crashes against the last thing Bernadetta saw on that damned, open field, has been crashing and rolling around inside her for days and days, like a beast clawing at a sturdy door. She has done absolutely everything she could think of too keep busy, to ignore the memories and doubts and... the pain.

Edelgard runs to her instead of turning away, though, and the door splinters.

The tears burst to the surface, hot and helpless as she gasps for breath.]

You left. You left. I—

[The words choke her.]

I'm sorry...! I'm s-sorry, I wasn't... I wasn't good enough, and they—and they were going to take it and I—

[The words she wanted to scream, even as her vision dimmed and her breath slipped away and the flames became all that she could see.]

I t-tried. I tried. I-I'm sorry. Please... don't leave me...! I don't want to burn!

Dining Hall

[goody_basket]

Whoah, Bernadetta, was it you who put all these out here..?

[Possibly one of the most frightening presences in the entire school to poor Bernie has managed to practically sneak up on the tiny soaked thing from behind. At least he's smiling..?]

I thought the same thing, too! First thing we gotta worry about is securing supplies - and food and drink are the most important! You're way smarter than I am, though, I didn't even think to put out something to collect all this water, though! Haha, I guess a shutin would come up with a lot of good ideas for surviving a situation like this, huh..?

[His tone is genuinely admiring, not accusatory. In Raphael's understanding of the world, being a shut-in isn't an insult, it's just another thing people can be.]

[persecutetioncomplex]

Eep!

[She startles and nearly slips on the wet stone, but catches herself with a deathgrip on the barrel.]

I—I—

[Breathe, Bernie. Breathe. You got this! He's complimenting you!]

I m-mean... we're all kind of shut-ins, now, r-right?

[goody_basket]

...Are we? I mean, I found my old room but I've been looking for everyone else since, really...

[Considering it's Raph, he sounds genuine as possible. Surprisingly, he also seems genuine in not making any kind of movement since spotting poor Bernie, causing him to freeze in an awkward sort of half-crouch several yards away so as to not disturb her by movement or voice...]

I guess I kinda' get it...

[persecutetioncomplex]

Well, none of us can really get out, because of some magic barrier, and some of our memories don't even line up.

[Bernadetta has very little frame of reference for Raphael, but he has always struck her as particularly candid. The notable caution is definitely a tick in his favor, too.]

black eagles classroom

[extremegoth]

Hm.

[ He hears the familiar panic of a familiar voice. Hubert smiles, despite himself; it's a hauntingly creepy smile because he has few others. (One day, he may learn how to smile in a way that doesn't come off like he's scheming something, but today is not that day.) ]

So, it is you.

[ His greeting is curt as he walks forward. He doesn't at all seem bothered by the rain, or even bothered by how wet his clothes now is. His hair has flattened down on his head, but he only lifts his hand to brush his wet hair out of his face so that he can get a better view of what they're working with. ]

Do you have another laundry line we can put up? I fear this one won't be able to hold all three at once.

[persecutetioncomplex]

...!

[She was warned that Hubert was here, but that never has and never will be enough preparation to brace her for his sudden, ominous entrances.

(Such as when he walks in through the entirely open doors, like a totally normal human being.)

As he likely expects, by this point in their lives, Bernadetta gives him her customary greeting to anyone she doesn't watch actively walk up to her: a short, panicked scream before she whirls around. It's nothing short of a miracle she doesn't yank the line down entirely with . that maneuver, but it stays more or less taut and she presses her free hand to her chest, sagging back against the wall in relief.]

O-Oh... oh, it's just you, Hubert. Um, what?

[Give her a second to parse his question, now that the kneejerk panic has passed.]

Oh! Um, no, this is all I was able to find so far. Felix recommended I look around near the dock when the weather eases up, though.

[extremegoth]

[ Ah, Bernadetta.

Hubert is not too startled or troubled by her sudden scream. Others might be, but he's accidentally frightened her often enough.

The two of them are very lucky that the line did not end up being pulled down. He did breath in sharp as she turned and stared at the blankets and lines like he believed the whole lot would come to be a mess on the floor.

He huffs out his own sigh of relief. ]

Felix did? I suppose that he can be helpful sometimes.

[ It is odd to speak almost well of one's enemies, but it is equally odd to be trapped within Garreg Mach with no means to escape and everyone being from completely different times and places. ]

Hmmm. I can go to check out by the docks and return with what I find. After all, we don't know how long this storm will last. It may go on for years.

[persecutetioncomplex]

Years?

[Don't try to frighten her with pessimism, Hubert, you're too good and she's to easy of a target.]

I really hope not... more than a week and everything in the greenhouse will just... rot away. My room would get flooded! We'd run out of firewood and freeze to death!

Classroom

[cethflayn]

Hm...now where did those sheets go...

[Flayn is on the hunt for fabrics no one is using. Why? Well, she needs to fashion a rain ensemble out of something, for you cannot dodge the raindrops when out in the open on the pier that juts into the pond, can you? And her bright idea requires her to drape herself in as many layers as her body can stand, as a way to create a barrier between herself and the rain. What's led her to the old classroom is beyond her, but to see it in use...]

Bernadetta? Are you in need of assistance?

[She won't take Bernie's work - clearly her fellow classmate is engaged in something with it - but while she's here, she ought to help.]

[persecutetioncomplex]

—!?

[She fumbles with . the . rope, but the line doesn't collapse. She heaves a soft sigh of relief, before turning around.]

O-Oh, hello, Flayn. Um.... yes, if you're not busy. I was airing out the quilts I finished, and... well, then the rain started.

[cethflayn]

I have some time.

[With that, she's quick to come over, looking over the quilts and the rope and...]

Oh my, you made these all by yourself?

[Flayn, maybe. Ask what she specifically needs you to do?]

[persecutetioncomplex]

Dimitri found what, uh, what could be salvaged and had the original idea.

[Don't worry, she used the sheets that weren't soiled.]

But, other than that... yeah. I've always enjoyed needlework.