There was a surge of dark power. Something terrible feeling and bad from the alley, and Norie's-- rather, 'Lacrima's' third victim gets drained for the night. It was spaced out, through the block this time- randomly, rather than leaving a line of unconcious people to follow like last time- this didn't stop the inherent darkness of the action, and someone would still know something bad was going on nearby.
She releases her hand from the body and stumbles backwards a bit as she falls backwards- coming to a rest on the ground. The weight of these acts always caught up to her when she was 'full'-- when she was 'full' she was coherent-- not clouded. It felt terrible and good all at once...
Good, because she was in control again. Bad because she was a horrible monster who had to attack people to feel this way.
"Nrg--how can I... already be through that energy I gathered on that ship..." she mutters softly to herself-- she rubbed a hand up and across her face.
"...can't keep doing this..."
"...need to find a better way..." she said as she held her face in her hands a bit to reget her bearings.
Coincidence strikes in the strangest of ways. See, it's somewhat late, and kind of a bad time for young girls to be wandering the city on their own. This is why Ariel is with Lucky! It means she's not on her own, and the fact that he's a dog can't be used as a technicality, due to his sheer and utterly massive size.
It's actually Lucky that registers the dark energies first, and goes BOLTING. While Ariel still has her hand on his leash.
"KYA!?"
This is why the mouth of the alley suddenly has two figures blocking it off. Though the girl looks dizzy and bewildered after getting dragged for nearly a full city block. But it's the dog's growl that wakes her back up from her stupor with a huff, "Lucky, what are you doing?" She asks before actually looking up.
At Lacrima.
At Lacrima's victim.
"... O-oh."
Even untransformed, there's probably no mistaking those golden eyes, and the massive bead of sweat that rolls down Ariel's pale brow.
"Ummm. Bad time?"
Lacrima hangs her head, she looks ashamed, regretful and not really like anyone who enjoyed just doing what obviously happened here. She sighs and let her mind run. That foxgirl mentioned another way of draining- but she couldn't do it. She tried.
She actually didn't have much control over her power. She knew why. She just didn't want to admit it to herself.
So when the girl with the big dog finds her--- she''s familiar---and things lock in her head.
She shoots to her feet quickly. "Nrg you-- this.. isn't what it seems.. ju--just walk away!" she insists. "I'm done...I'm not--hurting anyone else tonight-- let's not make a big deal out of this.." she says, stealing a phrase she'd heard from someone else.
There it is. There's that look again. The same expression Ariel had seen before back on that ship; when Lacrima had fired upon Tessen.
It's clearly a bad time.
But, in spite of the insistance to simply turn her back and leave, there's a moment of hesitation from the silver-haired girl. And the reason why is quickly revealed no sooner than in opening her mouth.
"... Actually I don't think I even understand what I'm seeing, or what it's supposed to look like." She admits honestly, brow knotting. Though she does frown a tad, when she glances to the unconscious person. "We could talk about it- um. I mean if you like, anyway." Offered after a beat of thought, "-I'm Ariel, by the way." Oh right, she should give her name, too. That's important.
Lacrima looks at Ariel and frowns a little harder. She looks at the man she just drained, and back up. "I have to drain energy, to survive, and remain myself." she says, flatly. She continues to frown.
"Lacrima." 'tears', in spanish.
"Oh. That's my name-- at le-least what you can call me." she says as she graters her teeth a little silently. She hates this name immensely. It shows.
"I hate it." she says flatly.
"I hate all this." she finally says as she looks back down to the ground.
"...that's a big dog." she finally relates.
Big doesn't even begin to cover it. From most cursory appearances, Lucky is an Irish Wolfhound; a breed that is, literally, equal in size to a small horse or a donkey. It's plaunly easy to see why Ariel just chooses to... Ride him around when things get hectic. But that's not quite the topic just yet!
The girl folds her hands behind her back, lips pursing thoughtfully as she gets the first solid answer to a question she's asked in a little while now.
"Oh..."
It's not a good answer though. To hear that Lacrima leads such an accursed existence actually makes her fidget slightly; though not for the reason that might be expected.
"I'm sorry." It's plain and simple, really. It's blatantly clear to her that the girl is saddled with something she doesn't enjoy in the least, even before she says how much she hates it. Ariel pauses. "Mn. I'd try to help if I knew how, but..." But she's got nothing, she leaves it unsaid as the topic shifts to... Well. How big, Lucky is.
"WURF."
He's not quite hostile, but eyeing Lacrima warily- clearly protective of his ward, who offers without so much as a second thought: "Do you want to pet him?"
Lacrima eyes the dog. "I think it's better if I didn't." she says warily herself. She likes having a hand- a hand that is not in fact- in the stomach of a giant dog. Part of her wonders if she could regrow an arm- part of her thinks it's silly to try. In the end she keeps such morbid thoughts to herself.
"...at least you're not sitting there pretending how easy it'd be to help me... and patronize me like some of the other people are." she admits honestly.
"That man on the hoverboard is like that. He thinks he can just fix me.... or make me stop feeding on people. It's kind of like asking you or anyone else not to eat or drink." she says softly.
She head tilts "The only one who... really gets me seems to be that man I was helping." she admits a little sadly. "..but he doesn't seem like he's up to much good..."
"Which I guess calls into question my own nature." she sighs.
"Mmm..." Ariel rubs at the back of her neck. "Well I'm not going to say something that isn't true. Mom always told me that was bad. -But she also said that leaving stuff out of the truth to make it better, was also pretty bad too. I don't think I really understood that part. But... That ah... Doesn't sound like something easy at all." She murmurs before returning to her original intention: "So I mean. I want to, but I wouldn't know where to start."
Lucky, in the meanwhile, grows complacent. Lowering himself to lay his big self down right on the alley floor with a lazy yawn. Ariel furrows her brow when her offer to pet the massive hound is declined, but doesn't force it.
"He um. I tried asking him why he wanted to take all that stuff, and he didn't give a good answer." She points out. "If he had been a bit more honest, maybe it wouldn't have been so bad to let him have some of that equipment? But I don't think he had a better reason than what they were being shipped for, anyway."
A sigh, and Ariel puffs her cheeks out. "He doesn't seem like it." She agrees. "But I think that's because he chooses that. I don't think you choose that though."
Lacrima frowns. "I asked him if he needed help. He said yes. I helped him. I don't know why I..."
She just shakes her head and sighs. "I think he has his own reasons for doing what he did and I don't think he's the kind of guy who does things 'just because'." she says softly. "--and if I did really know, I don't think it'd be nice of me to go around telling people stuff unless you hear it from him." she says softly.
"He offered me a place.. with people like him. Because. I'm like him." she says. She pauses. "I mean. Our power. Comes from the same place. More or less." she says softly. "and.. It'd be nice to- find out more about my power. If I can control it. Then I can control myself better-- and if I can control myself better..." she looks down at the drained man. "Maybe I won't need to do this every other night. I can space it out further-- or- or find a different way that isn't.. isn't /mugging/ people to survive." she spits out.
For a moment, Ariel seems to slide into a world of her own thoughts. Just a quiet, distant, look that says her mind has wandered. It's very brief, but after poring over her own memories of the events on the ship, the girl shakes her head. "I don't think I know him as well as you might but I think there was probably a reason, too." She says in quiet agreement. "And I wouldn't pry it from you if you did know."
Then there's the rest though. One foot scuffs the ground as Lacrima voices her desire to be in better control- to rely less on feeding. "Mm. I really hope that works out for you." Her tone is quiet, but genuine. Her focus shifts, now to the drained man, lowering herself to kneel at his side. "For now, I'll tend to him. ... I guess you probably shouldn't be here when he comes to." There's a small sigh as she glances back up, though. "No matter what the future brings, though... Please take care of yourself?"
Lacrima sighs and shakes her head. "Someone will eventually find him. Or he'll wake up." she says.
She turns around. "Right..." she says, when she's asked to take care of herself. Part of her wonders which herself- but not like the girl would know that.
Netherless- she steps off into the Dusk Zone somewhere within the shadows.