raisetheearth | 039 ♦ mostly open

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039 ♦ mostly open

[A | action: open ocean off America's west coast | closed: Lily, Jasmine, Rakka, Marina, doppels to taste | 7/25, morning (NZST)]

She'd thought it would be like any other day. When she'd seen the story about the cruise ship burning for no apparent reason in the middle of the ocean, she'd figured they could go and help, and she could go home and sleep with another successful rescue mission under her belt. So she'd assembled her team, transformed, given everyone their wings, and they'd opened a portal into what sounded right. Really, the smoke was easy enough a marker. And there was even another ship already there.

In her best official tone, Winter clicks a button on a headset she'd put on before they left, connected to a radio attached... somewhere. She's trying not to think about how belt clips work with her costume. "Attention, vessel near the accident site," she starts into the headset. "My name is Winter Tsukuyomi, alias Cure Diamond; my team and I are here to assist in whatever capacity we're able. I expect that will be via flying victims off the wreck, since we have wings. I'll stay on this frequency; designate me-"

She's cut off as something dark blue and fast jets past her, taking time to stick out a tongue on the way. "Less blabbing, more work, honey. Daylight's wasting!" The voice - her voice - comes over the earpiece. Summer's flight continues as she reaches the cruise ship, before she disappears from sight into a doorway. Winter is silent for a long moment as she watches the girl disappear, her hand falling to her side, before she starts to squawk. "How dare she!? Come on, let's go!" All thought of introducing herself to the other ship present falls to the wayside, as she jets off in a streak of blue, and possibly cursing.

((Mostly just a set piece for the slime to be discovered, and for shenanigans. Jump in and do whatever~))

[B | network: video | open | 7/25, late morning (NZST)]
[At the conclusion of the mission, Winter returns to Shepherd's Haven, thoroughly annoyed, but also concerned. She absently slams the door shut as she pops her laptop open and kicks the network on. She looks a little disheveled, but not particularly worse for wear, if hastily dressed in a T-shirt and a pair of jeans. Although... there's a worried look in her eyes.]

What's going on? There's... something's happened. This... weird green stuff... it's almost sticky. And it changes. [She holds up a pink plushie, kind of like Raquel, except with a heart motif, and looking mildly like a bunny.] This shouldn't exist. Not in this world, not without a certain person that isn't here. I-

[She looks lost for a moment, staring into the plushie's eyes, torn. After a second, she looks back up at the camera, a helpless expression on her face.] I don't know what to do. This hasn't happened before.

[C | action: Gateway City | open | 7/24, early evening (local)]

At some point, Winter decides that getting out of the house and doing a little walking might be a good thing. That brings her to take the teleporter - which is, itself, a surprisingly novel experience; when one can teleport at will, using a device with restrictions feels different - to Gateway City, and just walk around the city a little bit. She's changed out of the things she'd thrown on this morning, into a dark top, a light jacket over it, and her usual long skirt. As she roams, she keeps looking back at the odd pink plushie - Cheryl, her mind supplies; Raquel wouldn't like being called hey, plushie all the time - and wondering why it's here. If her being here means Mana is here somewhere. And that's enough to throw her seriously out of whack. Enough to probably run into someone or something, with a brief and stammered apology, before she ends up in much the same state a few minutes later.

Eventually, she ends up sitting on a high ledge, looking up at the night sky. The stars are hard to make out from here, but... it's still kind of comforting. Even when everything else changes, there are certain things that stay the same... and she has to cling to that fact to keep herself steady as the waters of life get rough.

This is about the time Cheryl returns to slime once more, and Winter lets out a loud shriek in shock. Oops.

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The roof Winter's found is a bit lower of one, but still not exactly ground-level. So when she catches the flicker of motion above her in the corner of her eye, she looks up from where she's trying to make heads or tails of the newly-disassembled slime.

And her heart stops for a second. Because another dress like that shouldn't exist. She knows what the half-dozen that are hers, for lack of a better term, looks like, and this doesn't quite match any of those patterns. So - who is that?

She has to know. Something in her heart won't let her just ignore it, and she stands up onto the roof herself. "Raquel... we're going after her." With her hand held in front of her, Raquel obligingly pops into Commune form, and one bright blue flash that lights up the night (and one clear shout of, "Precure Love Link!") later, Cure Diamond is in hot pursuit of the mysterious, unknown frills.

From all the way up here, it's easy to miss one light from down below. Just as easy as it is to miss one more shout from among dozens. Cure Twinkle's attention isn't focused downward right now anyway, rather her eyes are on the lights hanging in the sky up above. Whatever's obscured by the city lights or the clouds is clear as day in her minds eye as she takes each leap as if trying to take her place among them.

It was just such a rush. The power, the speed, the way she practically floated through the air weightlessly. Who could blame her for losing herself a little bit?

By the time Cure Diamond makes it up, she's got a bit of headstart. On the bright side, she's not exactly difficult to spot as a powerful leap carries her up and over the rooftops, accompanied by an echoing WHOOP of excitement.

For someone that can't have been doing it long - Winter is certain she would have heard of another girl in the fray by now - she's fast. It's taking some actual effort to keep pace, but as she bounces from ledge to precarious ledge, she starts to make some headway on the curious young woman. That she's a Precure is looking more and more likely, given the almost painfully bright yellow and purple costume.

And then she springs into the air, and Winter remembers something she's lost from all this. Something that had made a difference, when she first started.

How much fun all this could be.

Staying low and vaulting forward with a huge push, Winter touches down lightly on the building she's pretty sure her mystery Cure is going to land on. Raising her voice with a playful lilt, she calls, "Are we still playing tag?"

That latest jump carries her high up and far through the air, giving her a long moment to look down at the city far below as she drifts over it light as air. She laughs as she reaches the height of her jump and begins descending, angling herself to land, guided by some unknown yet completely natural instinct.

Her feet touch down without her balance wavering in the slightest and she starts to turn to look back at the course she just took when she finally becomes aware of somebody else on the rooftop. She turns, blinking a little as she takes in the sight of the other girl. It takes a second, but recognition quickly dawns and she recovers from that initial surprise, turning toward Diamond with a grin.

"Still playing? Nobody even told me we started." Her voice carries a playful note of her own, as she shrugs a shoulder, placing a hand on her hip. "But if you think you can keep up, I'd be happy to take you on."

Winter knows how that goes; the instinctive control that makes moving, fighting, surviving so much easier. She never did figure out if that was Diamond's power or something of Rikka's, but she doesn't much care at this point. This power is hers, now, and she's become comfortable with it, like a second skin. She doesn't worry about where all the frills are going, whether she'll stick her landing, if she's going to break something on the way down. Everything will be okay. Diamond is... her cocoon. No worries. No hesitation.

The second heel click is a sound that, somehow, soothes any remaining tension. It's a sound she's associated with being a Precure, with safety. With Lily, to some minor degree, but that's mostly a side effect of Lily being the second young woman to stand at her side. With this girl, it's just an assurance that things are fine, that she's nobody to be scared of.

"I don't back down from a challenge," she replies boldly. If they weren't out of sight of the people far below from up here, it'd probably look like something out of a movie. "Can you handle me?"

She knows she's got a little bit of a reputation. First, and definitely most visible of the Precure. Survived a fatal wound for any normal girl with nothing more than a scar and ~~major~~ mild mental trauma. Kicked non-trivial amounts of ass against Wise Snake, Refined Shell, and then the alien invasion. Now, she just has to back it all up. In... what will likely be full-contact tag with another magical girl. It doesn't make sense, but that's probably okay.

Oh, she knows full well who she's talking to here. Like, the rest of the world she had sat glued to the screen when the reports had started coming in about that giant snake attacking the city. She had gotten her first glimpse of Winter Adamas and Cure Diamond at the same time as the rest of the world. Of course, at the time she wouldn't have imagined that she'd one day be joining those ranks. In a way, that is. The fighting's over now, so this meeting? This is a chance to have some fun... and see just how she stacks up to the ones who had come before her.

The other thing she knows well is how this scene must look. In her mind's eye she can almost see how it would be framed, right down to the light breeze ruffling her skirt and her long hair. It's enough to set her dramatic spirit on fire and she flicks a hand through her hair. Just to play things up a little.

"I'm pretty sure that's my line. How about this? If you can keep up with me," she pauses a moment for dramatic effect, then continues with a wink, "I'll tell you my name."

Without further ado, she's off like a bullet. Using all that magically-endowed speed to rush to the edge of the rooftop and take to the air again.

The faceoff is enough to get Winter's blood pumping, and she feels a certain tension settle over her. Not one of danger, but... one of facing an equal, someone you're not sure you can actually beat, with everything you've got. She's prepared for some kind of crazy condition, but... between the wink and the proposed prize, she's caught off guard again. Winter could be playful when she wanted to be, but this girl's something else entirely. So when she's off and running, Winter balks for a second. "Hey-! Get back here!"

It puts her a precious second behind, but she has to know. And even without that, it's... something akin to the thrill of the hunt. Pushing off with all the force of a rocket, Diamond jets after her, a hand pushing her up onto an air conditioning unit she launches from. As the breeze rushes past her, everything seems to fall into place, and even some of the competitive streak falls away. She's here to enjoy some downtime with someone she's dearly hoping she can call a friend. Even after this short time, she's sure that's what she'll be.

There's a definite thrill behind it. Twinkle knows her own power, both from that brief scuffle with those creatures from a year ago but more from nights like this. Nights spent among the stars and the city lights, high above the city. Just basking in the freedom of it. What she doesn't know is Diamond's power, or the others really. She's never had the chance to really test herself so for somebody who thrives off of meeting and overcoming challenges, the opportunity to do just that is too good to pass up.

Oh, she's going to tell who she is anyway. She just wanted to give a little incentive to kick things off.

She looks back over her shoulder in midair, in time to see Diamond take to the skies after her and grins. Twisting in midair, she turns to face her as she starts to arc downwards. It's a risky, cocky stunt maybe, but she's had practice and with her instincts to guide her she reaches back, landing on her hands on the next rooftop. Pushing off, she springs through the air and flips back around to her feet before making her next jump.

So far, not a bad first impression. If she says so herself.

None of Diamond's abilities are well-suited to movement, and using her attacks on or near friends is a big no-no in her book, so she's going to have to do this the old-fashioned way. She's already mapping out lines in her mind: places she can bounce to change her direction and velocity, points with the best range of travel, good lookout spots. It's not a fight, but it's still something to take seriously.

But when the mystery girl turns and starts to fall head-first, Winter is vaguely concerned - she's pretty confident, if she's trusting her instincts, but it's still a risky thing. Hitting one's head isn't any less of an issue for a magical girl than for a normal person, if slightly less painful. Part of her adjusts her mental map for a fastest route to the projected landing spot, but she ends up not needing it. The clean maneuver raises Winter's opinion a couple points, not that she needed a lot of help with that.

As she passes the lip of a high roof, Diamond reaches out a hand, grabbing it and swinging down toward the wall a bit, getting her feet against it before charging with a mighty push in her general direction. She is not in the mood to lose.

You can't get ahead if you don't take risks! That would be her simple response to Diamond's concern toward her dive. That's just a fact of life, work... and apparently rooftop races between magical girls.

Wow, she's good though! Apparently there's something to be said for experience! She glances back as Diamond's push keeps her right on her heels. She flashes another grin before jumping again with all her might and zooming off into the air.

... But risks are a fickle thing and experience and simply mapping out a landing point are pretty important things to have. Much more important than letting oneself get wrapped up in a race. It's a second too late before the wide-eyed realization hits her that her current flight path doesn't... actually... include a roof to land on.

... Oh, crap!

There's a time and place for risks, and this isn't it. She'll push herself, but she knows better than to just go all-out... especially when there's always a chance for something crazy to happen. So she's making a strong effort, but she's keeping just that tiny bit in reserve.

Which she's going to apparently need now, since the poor girl has just pushed off a building into open space that looks a lot like a concrete slab from here. Forcing herself forward, as she passes the lip of one last building, she grabs the edge and pulls herself forward, launching with enough force that junk on the roof flies along in her wake as she vaults on, reaching out for a hand. But once she gets close, her speed levels out, and she ends up with a much cleaner solution, as the girl falls right into her arms. That'll simplify keeping her safe, at least... now she just has to land somehow.

As much as that cocky grin worried her before, she's just happy it'll end okay. And somehow, she still feels the urge to happily chirp, "Gotcha." Even while she's falling, that's something to be happy about, right?

Well, this sure is a fine mess she's gotten herself in. She isn't sure exactly what kind of a fall she can absorb like this and this really isn't the way she wants to find out!

She's in the process of working out a plan that doesn't... involve screaming her head off and uselessly pinwheeling her arms, when a sudden flash of movement catches her attention. The next thing she knows, she's being caught right out of the air and blinking in a moment of open surprise at Diamond.

How did she go that fast? Twinkle had been pretty sure she'd been giving it her all and she just caught up in a flash. A part of her knows she shouldn't be surprised at Diamond's power but... was there really that much of a difference between them?

It doesn't last though before she recovers, at least having the grace to look a little sheepish instead of cocky.

"Eheh, I guess so." And... now what? That ground is coming up awful fast and unless Diamond's got something-- wait! "Hey, I've got an idea! Unless you can fly or you've got something better, follow my lead!"

Diamond does notice the surprise on her new friend's face, and she giggles just a little. "I know a few tricks about being a Precure, by now, you know." This poor girl probably hasn't had that much of an opportunity to practice, though it's clear she's tried, and she's got a good grasp of how to handle herself. She'll explain herself a little better when they're not plummeting at a rather high speed.

"Admittedly," she continues, "I could probably handle a fall from this far. It wouldn't be pretty, and I don't know how well I could protect you at the same time, but we'd survive. If you have a better idea, though, I'm all ears."

Of course she would. The snake thing was more than two years ago now and who knows how much longer Diamond's really been around before that. Not to mention, in her one year since getting her powers Twinkle hasn't amassed nearly the amount of experience with them as Diamond has.

She'll have to fix that.

But for now, there's other problems to deal with. Shifting out of Diamond's hold, she separates from her but still keeps a hold on her arm to point downwards.

"We're falling between two buildings, right? That's two landing spots!" She turns back to Diamond, that grin flashing across her face again. "We just have to give each other a push!"

She gets the idea, right?

Diamond's a bit concerned when the girl snakes out of her grip, though she gets the feeling there's some kind of plan involved. That feeling grows substantially when that grin shows up on her face. At the proposal of their plan, she can't help but look down at the quickly-approaching buildings under them. Could that really work...?

No. It has to work. It will work. As much as the tactician in her questions it, she's Cure Diamond. Everything will be all right.

"Okay. Then... let's do it! On three, push!" This has to work...! "One, two-!"

She's got a hell of a lot of faith in someone she just met, huh?

Well, it's either the crazy idea works, or they think up a less crazy and more effective one in five seconds, or they splat. Or... bounce, or whatever a survivable splat looks like.

And, anyway, if anybody could make it work, she could! Of course, everything was gonna be just fine!

"One, two--" she matches Diamond's countdown, curls her legs to plant her feet against the other Cures, takes one more look to measure her jump. Oh, this had better work! "Three!"

And she pushes off against Diamond. Not at her strongest, but enough to change her path to one leading to a safe, if... slightly ungraceful and tumbly, landing on one of the rooftops.

She can feel everything coming together. It'll all work out. This other girl will execute everything perfectly, and they'll both survive, and they can laugh about it later. "Three!" Matching her timing, Diamond pushes with... not quite all her might, so as not to make them both overshoot their targets, but a fair amount of it. For her own part, she feels herself coasting backwards, and she whirls in midair so she's facing the direction she's going. That'll put her on a short-ish office building several stories up, and she translates her motion into a neat somersault as she touches down, coming up no worse for wear. Somehow, things went okay.

Now, she turns around and watches the other mystery Cure, hoping beyond home she'll stick her own landing.

It isn't exactly a perfect landing. Twinkle's feet hit the rooftop and her instincts carry her forward into a roll, transferring her motion and lessening the impact. Coming up, she skids a few more feet on the rooftop gravel before a hand snaps out and snags an air conditioner unit to break her fall.

She takes a second to catch her breath and take in what just happened over those few, quick seconds. That was really close. It was really dangerous. It was... it was...

... it was really, really cool!

"Haha!" She spins around, pumping one fist into the air before calling out and waving toward the opposite building. "That was so awesome! We did it!"

The simple joy she can see from here is refreshing, and also a relief; she'd made it okay. Holding up a finger, then realizing the gesture probably can't be seen from here, she shouts, "Hold on one second!" Holding out her hands, there's a small flash, and the Heartcatch Mirage's familiar weight settles in them; with some brief fiddling, a huge heart filled with pearlescent, swirling light opens in midair in front of her, and another shows up a few feet in front of Kirara. Taking a small bound into the portal, Cure Diamond pops out the other side, dropping neatly on the other Cure's side.

A thought dismisses both hearts and the Mirage, and Diamond smiles warmly. "We sure did... I thought we were going to be in trouble for a minute! But everything turned out okay in the end." Really, she didn't need the heart attack she was so sure was coming. She'd met a new Cure, and now they'd just been on a course to snap both their necks.

"For not having powers for very long, you're really comfortable with them. I'm surprised." Oh, Winter, you can't leave things well enough alone for five minutes, can you?

It's worth some celebration at least. Oh, sure, they had almost fallen face first onto the street and probably broken something, but the bottom line is that they hadn't. No sense having a heart attack over a worst case scenario that didn't happen!

"What?" She calls back over the distance at Diamond's shout, only to jump a second later when a shimmering heart-shaped portal of light springs into existence right beside her. And again when Diamond steps through, leaving her staring again. "Whoah...."

She has a magical portal thingy? Is she going to get a magical portal thingy?

But! Just as before, Kirara's wonder doesn't last very long. Especially not when there's a compliment to absorb, and she shrugs a shoulder, settling back into her "persona" and matching Diamond's warm smile with her own.

"I guess you could call me a natural." She can't suppress a small laugh at that, still riding that adrenaline rush from the fall. "You're pretty amazing too, but I guess that's to be expected from the famous Cure Diamond, right?"

"Sorry, did I surprise you?" Not all her powers are well-documented, which is probably for the better in and of itself. But it means she surprises people sometimes, even when she doesn't mean to. Of course, when she does to, it's a great tool in her arsenal. "Moonlight and I have some interesting tricks in our playbook. Some of them aren't exactly the best-publicized." Still, it's not a damper on her mood. Surviving things that are highly likely to hurt a lot does good things to her thoughts on a day.

"You've proven that, to be sure," she goes on. "I picked it up quickly, but then, I had a lot of stressful situations, where I either adapted or ended. It's been quieter, this last year, so that clearly wasn't it." At the compliment, a hand goes to the back of her head with a nervous giggle. "It's taken a lot of work, and some hard lessons, to get this far. I wouldn't say I'm that special. I'm famous, yes, but I still have a long way to go."

Letting out a breath, her tone evens out, and she holds out a hand to her new would-be partner. "It helps a lot to have more hands, though. If you're willing, I mean. If not... it's always good to have more friends."

That one definitely isn't. Or at least, not enough for it to be public knowledge. It does explain a lot though, particularly how these girls seem to be able to get anywhere they're needed at a moment's notice. Man, a power like that sure would come in handy.

... She'd be able to hit so many more auditions if she could just instantly teleport from place to place like that.

She blinks at Diamond's offer, looking down at her outstretched hand. She's... inviting her to join? To join the group that fought to save the world, that still fights to protect people everywhere. She's offering her the chance to... to be a hero.

"Oh, actually, I'm not looking to join up or anything!" She steps back a little, raising her hands. "I just came out here to blow off some steam!"

Oh, this is going to be great, she's going to have a new person on the team, and a new friend, and it's going to be awesome, and-

She steps back, and Winter feels like everything is crashing to a halt in her mind, as her heart falls somewhere past her stomach while she tries to make it click. She... isn't going to be part of the All Stars. Well, that's her option, as Winter had said. Still, nobody's ever turned her down before for this. They're magical girls, it makes sense to team up. Safety in numbers and all. And whether she likes it or not, she built up a reputation, with Wise Snake and Refined Shell and the aliens. She'd thought she would be able to use that, at least, to help shake things loose when the need arose.

Being rejected like this is reminding her she still has a long way to go, and it takes her a second to visibly shake herself out of the funk she can feel coming on. This girl is more than her powers, more than another cute, shiny body for the team. She needs to respect that. "Okay. I... I can respect that," she starts after a moment, a little shaky but better than she'd expected. "Let me start again."

She closes her eyes, and where Cure Diamond was standing a moment ago, a different girl appears with a bright blue flash. She's still smiling, though it looks a little forced at the moment; Winter's still trying to process things. "You probably know this already, but I'm Winter Tsukuyomi, alias Cure Diamond when I need to punch something. And you promised me your name." Tiny bits of the sass from earlier are creeping back into her tone; she'll get over the shock, it's just taking a bit.

Well, that... probably could have gone a little bit better. She can practically see the wind being taken right out of Diamond's sails at her refusal. It actually gets her feeling a little guilty for a second but it can't be helped.

She's got her own life to think about, after all! It isn't that she doesn't think they do good things. They saved the world, they help people where they can, and maybe it would have been different if she'd gotten these powers earlier but the threat's already passed. That isn't her fault. Right.

She tilts her head a little bit when Diamond vanishes and Winter appears. She's seen Winter before, on TV, but this is the first time seeing the girl in person. She's pretty cute, a little plain, but cute.

"I did, didn't I?" She taps her chin thoughtfully for a second and then grins. "Well, I guess for now you can call me the Princess of the Shining Stars..."

It's the phrase that popped into her head the first time she transformed, and it seems to fit. Just for the sake of a little flare, she flicks a hand through her extra-long hair and winks.

"... Cure Twinkle."

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