The Girl who Shattered Time

[Emily]

April 2nd | Open to all Rogues for Emily's introduction


Her whole world seemed to be spinning and lurching, it was a miracle Emily managed not to end up losing what little lunch she had. As soon as her feet had hit solid ground once more, she had taken off into the night, running. Where? Well she hadn't quite gotten that far yet. Emily figured she could sit down and figure out her next move when she was feeling less groggy and everything wasn't feeling as if the world was tilted at a 45 degree angle. However, she was quick to realise one important thing very quickly as she moved through the narrow streets meeting dead ends where she didn't remember there being and getting quickly turned around and lost.

She had missed her intended destination. Wherever she was, she was not in London like she was supposed to be.

The first thing she felt was frustration. The first time she'd managed to successfully get out of the Federation's custody and she couldn't even make it to the one place she had intended to go. Emily knew her escape would tire her out, maybe even cause her other adverse side-effects like the nausea that was gripping her gut, but she had at least thought she'd be able to make it back "home". 

Next the exhaustion hit. She'd managed to make her way out of the narrow streets and into the open courtyard of a large cathedral and so took the opportunity to inelegantly flop down on the stone stairs. She had experienced worse places to rest. Emily could feel her eyelids getting heavier as she stared up into the starless sky. Maybe she could just rest here. Just for a few minutes. She'd get to London when she felt like she could get up and move once more.

The last thing her mind noted before she felt herself drift away into the sweet oblivion of sleep was that this building seemed familiar. Her mind was far far away but for a brief moment she considered that she knew where she was. Sleep caught her before she could finish that thought.

[Rebecca]

The little dalmatian trotted down the cobble path around Notre Dame, claws clicking lightly in the quiet night air. While the beautiful architecture of the church made her feel very homesick, she tried to fight the feeling... DeVil Ville was gone, and she was the sole remainder of it's fleeting existence in this world. Now she was a Rogue, a Rogue who wanted to help. It was all she could do as her search for Lucky and his family slowly fizzled out, not being able to find many of them around France. As long as she was here, she decided, she would help in whatever way she could.

Rebecca then heard the clicking of shoes against the ground, and her little white ears perked up at the sound. Whoever it was, they were running fast... almost as if they were running away. She stood stock still and swiveled her ears around to follow the footsteps, which got slower and slower until they stopped on the steps of the cathedral. She sniffed at the air... a human, undoubtedly, but she couldn't identify what in the world any of the other scents on the human were. Now she was curious.

The dalmatian puppy slowly made her way to the steps, seeing a human woman lying there. She was a bit cautious, but the human did not seem a threat, especially since she was asleep. How curious! Rebecca gently sniffed and snuffled against the human's clothes, taking in the smells of her coat and boots... so many new scents she had not even the slightest idea where they would have come from. Lord, she hoped this wasn't some kind of ghost...

Rebecca gently nosed Emily with her wet brown nose and gave a tiny lick. "Are ye allright, lass?" she asked quietly, not wanting to alarm her. "Ye gave me a right scare, there. Are ye lost?"

[Quasimodo]

If there was one thing that hadn't changed since Frollo's "death", it was the nightly walks that Quasimodo would take throughout the Parisian streets. It was during the dark of the night, in the cool, crisp air, that he felt most at peace.

Of course now, the townsfolk happily greeted him, no longer fearful of him as the monster that he had been made out to be. They'd accepted him, and he was grateful for that. But everyone needed a little room for bit of peace and quiet, even for someone who'd been cooped up in Notre Dame for most of their lives.

The hunchback ambled along slowly, enjoying the light breeze that had picked up, until he heard something coming from the direction of Notre Dame. The sound was loud, but strangely enough, no lights came on within the vicinity of the cathedral.

Raising a brow, Quasimodo raced to the cathedral, to discover a strange, white-haired woman laying on the steps of Notre Dame, with a small spotted puppy at her side. It was a peculiar sight, but his first thought as a new Rogue medic was that this person was seriously hurt.

"Is she...okay?" Quasimodo asked the puppy, as he moved closer to Emily, gently grabbing her wrist to check for a pulse, like Sophia had taught him to do. There was a pulse, but it was slow and weak.

"I'm Quasimodo...o-one of the Rogue medics. Has she been here long?" Quasimodo asked, as he brought both hands back towards himself, wringing them together as he often did when he was nervous.

[Rebecca]

Rebecca heard the hunchback's approach, and gave an affirmative nod. "Aye, I remember seein' yer face around the Court O' Miracles, Quasimodo," she commented with a smile and a wag of a tail. "Pleasure tae meet ye." A fellow medic! At least she was in good company. Maybe this odd-looking human could help her. He held her wrist, checking for a pulse, and she gave Emily another light nuzzle. She could feel that the white-haired girl was indeed breathing, and her face was warm. She just looked to be exhausted.

"She's alive," Rebecca stated with another nod. "Hasn't been here too terribly long. She just seems tae be in a deep sleep... I saw her runnin' down the streets, and she just sort o' collapsed here. I reckon she's exhausted, the poor lass..."

She nosed at Emily's face again, but rousing her seemed to not be doing her any good. They couldn't just leave her there, not at night, when someone could ambush them. "We ought to move her, laddie; we cannae just leave her here. Maybe she jus' needs a place tae stay."

[Emily]

She must have been more tired than she had first thought...or perhaps she was dreaming a really weird and realistic dream. Either way Emily couldn't help the small laugh that bubbled up. A talking dog and possibly the ugliest human being she'd ever seen were looming over her field of view and honestly she couldn't help herself. She probably looked like some kind of lunatic. Usually she would have lashed out and tried to get away but this just felt so surreal that Emily stayed right where she was, lying on the stone steps.

"Yeah, I am alive." she said once her laughter had faded.

She pushed herself up so she was sitting rather than lying down but everything in her screamed to just lie back down and rest. Her limbs felt like jelly but at least everything didn't feel like it was tilted on its side any more. Progress was progress. Absentmindedly she reached out to give the small dalmatian puppy a pat on the head whilst she regarded the man in front of her.

"This is going to sound like a completely stupid question but, where am I and when am I? I'm...kinda lost and if you have somewhere cosy I could crash for a while, it'd be super appreciated."

Once she rested herself, then she could figure out her next move. No doubt her escape had been noticed and the Galatic Federation was probably out searching for her, if they hadn't already tracked her here. The sooner she was back on her feet and ready to go, the sooner Emily could lose them and finally have her freedom after what seemed like years in captivity. Finally she could go home.

[Rebecca]

Gradually, Emily opened up her eyes. Rebecca smiled and wagged her tail, but her smile faltered a bit in confusion when Emily began... laughing? She really must have been confused, the pup thought. She had only just now realized the sight of a talking puppy and a disfigured hunchback was likely a very strange sight. As the thought dawned upon her, thinking of how weirded out Emily must have been, she couldn't help but have a giggle as well.

"Well, thank yer lucky stars for that," she responded to the human girl, wagging her tail and shutting her eyes as the girl rubbed between her ears. "If we'd 'ave left ye here any longer, ye right well could've been ambushed."

She felt the girl was a bit wobbly, clearly weakened by the turn of events, and nuzzled her more with her little brown nose. "Steady on," she muttered. "Yer in Rogue territory, lass." She then realized Emily probably had no idea what she meant. "Specifically, yer in Paris. We can take ye back to our base o' operations if ye need a place to stay. King Clopin is a good man, most o' the time... I'm sure he wouldnae mind givin' a lost young lass a place tae stay for the night. Aye, Quasimodo?" She looked up at the hunchback with her bright blue eyes, tail wagging expectantly.

[Emily]

Rogue? That meant nothing to Emily personally. It seemed to be some type of group, maybe a gang of some kind? And ambushed? By who? Clearly there was something going on here that she didn't understand and perhaps she could find out later. Right now she was too tired to really question the dog's words too hard.

"That'd be great." she murmured, more to herself than to anyone else as her mind was on other things.

Now that the fog of exhaustion had somewhat lifted, she looked up at the large cathedral again and knew now where exactly she was. Paris. That meant this was Notre Dame. No wonder the building had seemed familiar from a million different pictures and films but her brain had been so focused on other things that it hadn't registered it. That also meant she hadn't missed her mark as drastically as she could have. Paris to London was not a long way off, at least not compared to the jump she had just made. When she was well-rested then the final leg of her journey would be easy. Hell, she probably didn't even need to use her abilities to get back home. She could probably hitch-hike her way back just as easily.

First things first though, rest. And maybe some food.

"I'm Emily, by the way." she said, figuring she may as well introduce herself to the two people who were being kind enough to help a complete stranger.

[Quasimodo]

The hunchback watched as the young woman began to stir, her eyes eventually opening to see him and Rebecca, and he watched as a giggle erupted out of her, and for a moment, he thought maybe whatever had happened to her might have caused her to lose her mind.

But then again, he and a talking puppy...well, that was an amusing sight for sure to most people. The girl asked them where they were, and he remained somewhat silent, as Rebecca confidently answered her questions.

They managed to get her up without much struggle, and began the short journey to the new Court of Miracles.

"I...I'm Quasimodo. It's a pleasure to meet you, Emily. You have a very lovely name." Quasimodo said, offering her a small smile.

"And Rebecca's right. King Clopin is a good man, I'm sure he'll understand us taking you in if you have nowhere else to stay. And while we're at it, we'll get you some food."

Only a few seconds after he'd said that, a familiar golden shape came bounding towards them, coming to a stop once he was within their sight.

"Virgil?" Quasimodo asked.

"Quasimodo! We need you for the medic--" Virgil barked, as he approached them, cutting what he was saying short when he saw Emily. He came to a complete stop, and sat down for a moment, head cocked to the side.

"Who's this?"

"Oh! Emily. We ah...we rescued her. Rebecca and I found her on the steps of Notre Dame, and she needs a place to stay." Quasimodo explained. The golden dog nodded his head slowly, his brown eyes looking the newcomer up and down.

"Well, if a place to stay is what you need, we definitely have room. Come on." Virgil said, turning on his paw to lead them back towards the Court.

[Emily]

Emily was content to let Quasimodo and Rebecca lead her to wherever they seemed to be based, the sooner she could have a proper lay down, the better in her mind. At least she could be assured that for now she was in somewhat friendly company and that these strangers were willing to help her without too many pointed questions as to where she’d come from and how she’d ended up there. No doubt that would come with time.

“Thanks.” She replied, genuinely grateful for how far they were willing to go for her.

Then another dog appeared in front of them, looking for Quasimodo apparently. Another talking dog? Just how many dogs around here could talk? That definitely would take some getting used to, Emily reckoned. After all, there was only so much strange a person could take and she was probably at her limit for one day at least. And she was an alien, so strange things were the norm for her!

“Earlier you mentioned Rogues…what are they?” Emily asked quietly to her two rescuers, she had to admit that she was curious “Is it like a street gang or something?”

[Rebecca]

Rebecca's little tail was wagging steadily, a big grin across her muzzle as she padded along behind Virgil, and nodded to Emily's thanks. "O' course, lass! It's a big city, Paris, and we cannae just leave ye out there tae fend for yerself, especially at night."

The little pup was happy that she was able to help, even if it was to a stranger. She knew that trusting a strange human who appeared from seemingly nowhere was probably not the smartest idea... but the pup was fairly sure that Emily had no bad intentions-- she seemed genuinely lost and disoriented. She was sure she'd figure out where the girl came from in time. Right now, she was determined to try and get this girl somewhere safe to stay, at least for the night.

Rebecca couldn't help but giggle a bit at Emily's question. "Ach, nae, my dear! We're King Clopin's army, protectin' France from our enemies!" She paused for a second, thinking. "I reckon ye likely haven't heard about the war about, have ye? Well, rest assured, yer in good hands."