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Description

For Story Quest 12: Curious Encounters over at And I was worried I wouldn't be able to get stuff done in time cause ugh body is trying hard to self distruct right now. Please pardon the sleep-deprived art and blurb XD Also, Diluculi we officially need to make Lu and actual Sanjica friends now, sorry for drawing not-her not so great XD

*****

It wasn't that Lurdes hated Christmas, after all her entire family celebrated it in a pretty big way, it's just that at this point she was jingle-belled out. She has escaped another trip to the mall with her cousin with an appeal that she needed some time at the skate park if she was going to stay competitive and she had been "traveling" quite a bit lately. (She had... but she had also been hanging out at the Crystal Caverns more recently too). She loved spending time with Daniella, but she could only stand so many shopping trips in the packed mall with the speakers blasting the same dozen pop music Christmas covers. She was more than happy to have an excuse to get out in the fresh air and move her body far, far away from another round of All I Want For Christmas Is You.

Half an hour or so into her skate session, she was feeling a bit looser and less humbug, getting lost in motion and random thought trains. She missed her name being called until she looked up after landing a long grind down the stair rail and saw a familiar if unexpected blond girl waving at her with a bright smile. A sweet-face teen with a natural grace to her motions, her wave was endearing in its enthusiasm. Or at least it would have been if it made any sense. Sanjica was very out of place for a few reasons. Sure, they were both more than they appeared at first glance, each actually a magical warrior in the service of some mythical forces (basically), but they had never actually spoken to each other. She didn't dislike the girl or anything like that, she seemed unoffensive and overall fine, but they just never had much reason to converse. Lu was a member of the Dragoons under Amethyst Dragon while Sanjica, also known as Sapphire Swan, was a member of Unicorn's Diamond Herd and this they had not had much opportunity to spar or train. Lurdes was based in San Diego California and Sanjica was a Polish high school student, significantly younger than herself. It was just odd that she should be here in her local park, without any other the other senshi.

Lu adjusted her sunglasses while she considered the unlikeliness of the situation but then inclined her head towards the younger girl. In a lower tone to not draw any additional attention from other skaters in the park, she asked, "Hey there, Sanjica... what's the situation?" Lurdes had an uneasy feeling in her stomach as she wondered if something had happened back at the Caverns and Jun had sent the closest messenger. Was Ame okay? What about the others? She made to reach for her phone to check for any texts from Frankie, Nat, or Potoo. She was interrupted by a dismissive light giggle from the other girl and another sunny smile.

"Oh nothing wrong at all! I'm just visiting! You looked so cool up there; you really have to teach me how to do tricks on that!" Sanjica reached out to gesture at her board, which Lu had stood on end and leaned against the stairs. "Though I'm sure it's not as easy as it looks!" Her smile seemed just a bit too bright as she flipped her braid over her shoulder.

Lu raised an eyebrow as she scrutinized her visitor. Sanjica wasn't acting worried or behaving in a threatening manner, she wasn't heralding a crisis. Yet, the anxious feeling in her stomach wasn't going away. She should be relaxing, knowing that Swan wasn't a messenger to summon her to rescue or other bad news. She should be sighing with relief. Instead, the alarm bells were still sounding and her heart rate was climbing.

Sanjica was out of place. She was too bright, too social. Lurdes wasn't mean by any measure, but she didn't go out of her way to be overly social at the Caverns outside of the group of sweet but odd women she had befriended. Yes, a couple of them like Ruby or Jayeon were younger and she had basically adopted them as little sisters, and of course Frankie, Helka, Miyana, Nat, Elanor, and a few others had become important friends, but in general her reputation was of her not being overly approachable. Put together, poised, brave, and extremely dedicated to the Dragoons and especially to Amethyst Dragon, but not friendly and welcoming in the way Frankie was. Plus, the travel system of the Caverns didn't make it easy for casual trips around the globe. In theory Sanjica COULD be here from Poland but unless she specifically arranged it with Jun ahead of time, it was pretty unlikely. Also, why would someone who had never, as far a Lu knew, had any interest in interacting with her or familiar with a sizable city in another country across the globe even KNOW where she was right now.

The teen's smile seemed to become brittle and fade a bit as Lurdes shifted from one foot to the other and then half-turned to survey the skate park, taking in how many young civilians were out and about in the early December afternoon. The blonde's eyes watched the skater absently run her fingers around the gold and Suglite bracelet at her wrist as she turned back to her.

Sanjica's rallied with another perky smile. "Ruby was telling me how you're actually a pro skater; I really would like to see some more!"

Lurdes set her skateboard down and pulled out her phone while keeping her eyes on the girl. She was aware that Sanjica was in fact friends with Ruby, and Ruby had become very special to Lu. Unfortunately for the person who was was trying very hard to put her at ease by mentioning the girl she had basically adopted as a little sister, it only made Lu more suspicious as well as worried for her friend. So far, Lu had survived a couple of intense fights this year by going with her instincts. She selected a contact from her list and remained silent as she set the phone to her ear.

"Sanjica" tilted her head, lifted her hands, and shrugged. "Well, I can see you aren't really in the mood to chat or have company, I'm sorry for disrupting your skating." She began walking backwards slowly before giving a dramatic wave and turned. "Let's catch up later, okay?" She headed towards the gate in the park, stopped for a moment longer and looked back, before going around the corner.

Lu's phone went to voicemail as Ruby's answering service rattled off in Spanish. Well, that made sense if she was at home she was likely asleep as it was after midnight on a school night in Spain. It didn't make her feel any better. Lu got on her board and rolled out the gate to look down the long street outside. It was bustling with shoppers and other locals but she didn't see the other girl in sight. She headed towards in the closest bus stop and texted Frankie to come pick her up. She would see if her local friend and sister Animate had seen or heard anything weird.

*** TLDR; Lurdes sees meets another Crystal Animate in an unlikely situation and knows something's wrong, but due to the danger to the public she can't openly challenge it and the encounter ends when the likely imposter leaves. She reaches out to a trusted CA friend to discuss ***

Pictured

Lurdes/ Sailor Sugilite Chiroptera and her cousin Daniella belongs to me nickyflamingo

"Sanjica" / "Sapphire Swan" belongs to Diluculi

Mentioned:

Amethyst Dragon / Ame, Ruby / Ruby Salamander, and Jun belong to SailorAlcyone

Frankie / Rhodochrosite Chinchilla belongs to Unisamas-Art

Nat / Snowflake Obsidian Arctic Fox belongs to ArtByGemini

Elanor / Pyrite Potoo belongs to KOSMOS-ver3

Miyana / Jet Ermine belongs to Jateshi

Helka / Turquoise Spider belongs to LotusLumino

Jayeon / Jade Deer belongs to TenshiNeera

Diamond Unicorn belongs to iCheddart

SailorAlcyone iCheddart Lumaea

Description

For Story Quest 12: Curious Encounters over at And I was worried I wouldn't be able to get stuff done in time cause ugh body is trying hard to self distruct right now. Please pardon the sleep-deprived art and blurb XD Also, Diluculi we officially need to make Lu and actual Sanjica friends now, sorry for drawing not-her not so great XD

*****

It wasn't that Lurdes hated Christmas, after all her entire family celebrated it in a pretty big way, it's just that at this point she was jingle-belled out. She has escaped another trip to the mall with her cousin with an appeal that she needed some time at the skate park if she was going to stay competitive and she had been "traveling" quite a bit lately. (She had... but she had also been hanging out at the Crystal Caverns more recently too). She loved spending time with Daniella, but she could only stand so many shopping trips in the packed mall with the speakers blasting the same dozen pop music Christmas covers. She was more than happy to have an excuse to get out in the fresh air and move her body far, far away from another round of All I Want For Christmas Is You.

Half an hour or so into her skate session, she was feeling a bit looser and less humbug, getting lost in motion and random thought trains. She missed her name being called until she looked up after landing a long grind down the stair rail and saw a familiar if unexpected blond girl waving at her with a bright smile. A sweet-face teen with a natural grace to her motions, her wave was endearing in its enthusiasm. Or at least it would have been if it made any sense. Sanjica was very out of place for a few reasons. Sure, they were both more than they appeared at first glance, each actually a magical warrior in the service of some mythical forces (basically), but they had never actually spoken to each other. She didn't dislike the girl or anything like that, she seemed unoffensive and overall fine, but they just never had much reason to converse. Lu was a member of the Dragoons under Amethyst Dragon while Sanjica, also known as Sapphire Swan, was a member of Unicorn's Diamond Herd and this they had not had much opportunity to spar or train. Lurdes was based in San Diego California and Sanjica was a Polish high school student, significantly younger than herself. It was just odd that she should be here in her local park, without any other the other senshi.

Lu adjusted her sunglasses while she considered the unlikeliness of the situation but then inclined her head towards the younger girl. In a lower tone to not draw any additional attention from other skaters in the park, she asked, "Hey there, Sanjica... what's the situation?" Lurdes had an uneasy feeling in her stomach as she wondered if something had happened back at the Caverns and Jun had sent the closest messenger. Was Ame okay? What about the others? She made to reach for her phone to check for any texts from Frankie, Nat, or Potoo. She was interrupted by a dismissive light giggle from the other girl and another sunny smile.

"Oh nothing wrong at all! I'm just visiting! You looked so cool up there; you really have to teach me how to do tricks on that!" Sanjica reached out to gesture at her board, which Lu had stood on end and leaned against the stairs. "Though I'm sure it's not as easy as it looks!" Her smile seemed just a bit too bright as she flipped her braid over her shoulder.

Lu raised an eyebrow as she scrutinized her visitor. Sanjica wasn't acting worried or behaving in a threatening manner, she wasn't heralding a crisis. Yet, the anxious feeling in her stomach wasn't going away. She should be relaxing, knowing that Swan wasn't a messenger to summon her to rescue or other bad news. She should be sighing with relief. Instead, the alarm bells were still sounding and her heart rate was climbing.

Sanjica was out of place. She was too bright, too social. Lurdes wasn't mean by any measure, but she didn't go out of her way to be overly social at the Caverns outside of the group of sweet but odd women she had befriended. Yes, a couple of them like Ruby or Jayeon were younger and she had basically adopted them as little sisters, and of course Frankie, Helka, Miyana, Nat, Elanor, and a few others had become important friends, but in general her reputation was of her not being overly approachable. Put together, poised, brave, and extremely dedicated to the Dragoons and especially to Amethyst Dragon, but not friendly and welcoming in the way Frankie was. Plus, the travel system of the Caverns didn't make it easy for casual trips around the globe. In theory Sanjica COULD be here from Poland but unless she specifically arranged it with Jun ahead of time, it was pretty unlikely. Also, why would someone who had never, as far a Lu knew, had any interest in interacting with her or familiar with a sizable city in another country across the globe even KNOW where she was right now.

The teen's smile seemed to become brittle and fade a bit as Lurdes shifted from one foot to the other and then half-turned to survey the skate park, taking in how many young civilians were out and about in the early December afternoon. The blonde's eyes watched the skater absently run her fingers around the gold and Suglite bracelet at her wrist as she turned back to her.

Sanjica's rallied with another perky smile. "Ruby was telling me how you're actually a pro skater; I really would like to see some more!"

Lurdes set her skateboard down and pulled out her phone while keeping her eyes on the girl. She was aware that Sanjica was in fact friends with Ruby, and Ruby had become very special to Lu. Unfortunately for the person who was was trying very hard to put her at ease by mentioning the girl she had basically adopted as a little sister, it only made Lu more suspicious as well as worried for her friend. So far, Lu had survived a couple of intense fights this year by going with her instincts. She selected a contact from her list and remained silent as she set the phone to her ear.

"Sanjica" tilted her head, lifted her hands, and shrugged. "Well, I can see you aren't really in the mood to chat or have company, I'm sorry for disrupting your skating." She began walking backwards slowly before giving a dramatic wave and turned. "Let's catch up later, okay?" She headed towards the gate in the park, stopped for a moment longer and looked back, before going around the corner.

Lu's phone went to voicemail as Ruby's answering service rattled off in Spanish. Well, that made sense if she was at home she was likely asleep as it was after midnight on a school night in Spain. It didn't make her feel any better. Lu got on her board and rolled out the gate to look down the long street outside. It was bustling with shoppers and other locals but she didn't see the other girl in sight. She headed towards in the closest bus stop and texted Frankie to come pick her up. She would see if her local friend and sister Animate had seen or heard anything weird.

*** TLDR; Lurdes sees meets another Crystal Animate in an unlikely situation and knows something's wrong, but due to the danger to the public she can't openly challenge it and the encounter ends when the likely imposter leaves. She reaches out to a trusted CA friend to discuss ***

Pictured

Lurdes/ Sailor Sugilite Chiroptera and her cousin Daniella belongs to me nickyflamingo

"Sanjica" / "Sapphire Swan" belongs to Diluculi

Mentioned:

Amethyst Dragon / Ame, Ruby / Ruby Salamander, and Jun belong to SailorAlcyone

Frankie / Rhodochrosite Chinchilla belongs to Unisamas-Art

Nat / Snowflake Obsidian Arctic Fox belongs to ArtByGemini

Elanor / Pyrite Potoo belongs to KOSMOS-ver3

Miyana / Jet Ermine belongs to Jateshi

Helka / Turquoise Spider belongs to LotusLumino

Jayeon / Jade Deer belongs to TenshiNeera

Diamond Unicorn belongs to iCheddart

SailorAlcyone iCheddart Lumaea