Lower Mobius - The Silent Songbird

[V for Vizetta]

Lower Mobius... it was strangely quiet now that several of its more... active citizens had left for Knothole, but it was by no means abandoned... just quiet.

Very quiet... except for the faint sound of someone humming quietly to themselves, that unless you had hearing like a bat, you wouldn't even notice, unless you were nearby...

And the source of the sound? A sparrow girl, sitting on top of Zachary's roof... tending a small plant, a rare sight almost anywhere on Mobius, but especially here in Lower Mobius. In fact, it was a small evergreen, that was being used, albeit with an amateur skill, as a bonsai tree.

It was a hobby Cassia, for that WAS the girl's name, had picked up from her adoptive father, Although she'd done so without the echidna's knowledge... It was part of the reason she kept the small plant on the roof. The other part was so the power stone that kept the "micro-city" alive would act as a sort of sun to the plant... It wasn't doing very well though. In fact, it was impressive she'd kept the plant alive this long.

It was this thought that occupied the girl at the moment... until her very soft, subconscious humming stopped.

"...I'll... need a sun lamp..."

[SHM 128 III]

Suddenly, another sound could be heard nearby. It sounded like something large and heavy being carried around right below Zack's house. This was soon followed by a relatively loud "BANG!" as the top of a ladder suddenly appeared resting against the edge of the building. Someone could be heard climbing up the ladder for a moment before he poked his head over the edge, face-to-face with Cassia and her plant.



"Phew... There you are, Cassia. You gotta make yourself a little bit easier to find, my friend."

[V for Vizetta]

Cassia jumped at the bang from the ladder, but then simply blinked for a moment at Nate. Once the moment passed, the girl looked down at her plant, her voice quiet as always.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Nathaniel."

[SHM 128 III]

"Hey, it's alright," Nate insisted, pulling himself over the side and onto the roof, "I'd just wish you'd pick places to hang out that don't require wings to reach."

Glancing back behind him, Nate looked down from atop the building and shuddered a bit. He quickly shook it off, however, and turned his attention back to Cassia.

"And I told you, 'Nate' is perfectly fine with me. 'Mr. Nathaniel' makes me feel like an old fart."

Nate kneeled down and examined the small plant the girl was growing.

"So... What's this you have going here? Trying out the ol' green thumb?"

[V for Vizetta]

The sparrow looked down at her plant again, then held it up for Nate's inspection.

"It's... a bonsai. Mr. Zachary raises them too..." The girl paused, bringing the waifish plant back, and holding it close to her chest.

"But this one needs sunlight." She looked up at the ferret again.

"I think I... need a sun lamp, maybe."

[SHM 128 III]

Sitting down, Nate inspected the plant further, listening to Cassia's lament.

"A sunlamp, huh? Well then, tell ya what: Next time we go on a scavenger mission aboveground, we'll see if we can't find one in the junkyards, how's that sound?"

[V for Vizetta]

The girl, after seeming to carefully consider Nate's offer, gave a single nod.

'That would be good..." A thought came to the girl then, that she quickly voiced.

"Unless it would be too much trouble."

[SHM 128 III]

"Trouble? Cassia, it would be an honor to retrive a sun lamp for you, under one condition..."

He reached foward and brushed the bangs (crest feathers? Whatever...) out of the sparrow's face.

"Let's see a smile, okay?'

[V for Vizetta]

The girl's eyes were on Nate as he mentioned he had one condition for getting her a sunlamp...

And when it was voiced, she just... blinked for a moment, letting her bangs fall back (mostly) where they'd been lying before.

All she had to do was smile, right? ... That wouldn't be so hard... if it'd been anyone else Nate was asking.

For the sparrow, the moment felt like an eternity, before she finally, as if with great effort, pulled up a weak smile.

[SHM 128 III]

She smiled.

She actually smiled.

True, it was a rather weak smile, one that took a great effort to make, but it was there. Inwardly, Nate was elated, but he remained very calm on the outside. He didn't want to do anything that would make it go away. Instead, he simply put his hand on her shoulder and smiled warmly back.

"That-a girl... I knew you could do it. You have a very pretty smile, you know that?"

[V for Vizetta]

The girl blinked at Nate's hand for a moment, not really feeling it, but registering its weight, before looking up at Nate. Unfortunately, her smile had vanished in the process, replaced b her normal expression... although it carried a faint hint of suprise to it at Nate's comment about her smile.

He thought it was pretty? ... She'd never seen it, at least that she could remember, so she couldn't say...

"Thank you...?"

[Mage]

Close to the sparrow and the ferret was another citizen of the small underground village, a young buck known as Iron. He was just walking down the road going to his teacher's workshop after taking a nap at home, and was just passing by the house of the roof the two were on. "I wonder where the Dr is..." He wondered aloud

[SHM 128 III]

And just like that, the smile was gone. But it was there. It may not have been much, but it was there, and that was enough for Nate.

However, his thought process was quickly interrupted when he heard someone talking down on the ground. He quickly recognized the voice: It was Iron. Getting back up, he began to walking towards the edge of the roof while calling down to the buck.

"Hey! Iron! Is that you?"

[V for Vizetta]

Cassia watched Nate head for the edge of the roof silently, as she usually did most things, until she remembered something in particular about the ferret...

He got vertigo from heights. So she took a step after him, not sure if she should stop him or not.

"Mr. Nathaniel... we're on the ROOF..."

[Mage]

"Huh?" Said the young man as he looked around for the voice, but then his eyes were brought to Nate as he was on the roof. "Nate? What are you doing up there?" He asked the friendly ferret, he didn't seem to see Cassia though.

[SHM 128 III]

Unfortunately, Nate failed to hear Cassia's warning as he walked towards the edge of the roof. He would've probably been more on guard himself, but he was still on a high that he finally had gotten the sparrow to smile. In any case, he reached the edge of the roof and, completely forgetting what the inevitable consequences would be, looked down at Iron.

"Yeah, I'm up here! So is Cass... Woah... Uh..."

Almost immediately, Nate felt his head began to spin. Closing his eyes (although that hardly ever worked), Nate tried to back slowly away from the edge... Only to trip over his own tail and fall flat on his back. And if that wasn't bad enough, he just so happened to kick the ladder in the process, sending it away from the building and falling in the opposite direction... Right on top of Iron.

[dice=7]
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[V for Vizetta]

Cassia winced faintly as she watched Nate fall back. She should have warned him sooner, or been louder... The girl then approached Nate, and looked down at him, her expression silently asking if he was all right.

She hadn't realized, though, that he'd kicked the ladder down until she was standing near the ferret.

This would probably not end well.

[Mage]

[dice=5]

Well luckily for Iron he saw the ladder coming down quickly, he couldn't catch it though, so he just side stepped from it while it hit the ground. "Phew close one..." He looked up at Nate. "Are you alright up there?" Iron didn't mind that he almost got it, accidents happen.[rand=46908793258636163799684914222917218650278759442543238927577923971]

[SHM 128 III]

"Ugh... Yeah... I'm fine..."

Nate rubbed his sore head as he slowly sat up. Almost as quickly as it came, the dizziness was gone. He gave Cassia a quick nod of assurence before turning towards the side of the building Iron was on.

"Never mind me, Iron, are you okay? I think I may have dropped a ladder on you."

[V for Vizetta]

Cassia just nodded in response, and turned towards the edge of the roof, following Nate in case he AGAIN looked over the edge.

[Mage]

He pulled up the surprisingly not broken ladder, and put it to the side of the roof. "Im fine, I dodged it just in time. Hope its sturdy though." It seemed that the wood was strong enough to stand a fall to the ground.

[SHM 128 III]

Getting up, Nate walked back towards the ladder and, taking extra care not to look down, turned around climbed down until he was on solid ground again.

"Sorry 'bout that," he apoligized to Iron, patting him on the shoulder, "my vertigo seems to be getting more and more obnoxious as of late. Remind me next we raid one of Robotnik's factories not to go any higher than the second floor."

[V for Vizetta]

While Nate climbed down the ladder, Cassie carefully put he bonsai plant where she'd originally had it, with a direct line of "sight" to the Power Stone keeping Lower Mobius running.

That task complete, she then headed over to the ladder, and climbed down herself. Once on the ground, however, she moved near Nate, watching Iron. She knew OF the buck, and that he was Zack's assistant, but she'd never really interacted with him.

[Mage]

As Nate patted Iron's shoulder, he gave a reassuring smile to him. "Of course, ill be the one on the second floors." He joked. But then he saw Cassia, coming down the ladder. Iron saw her around the village before, especially around Zack's lab. But he never really got to know her. "Oh, hi there. Cassia right?" The buck asked the shy Sparrow.

[V for Vizetta]

As an answer, Cassie just nodded once, still staying near the ferret. Glancing up at Nate, she still said nothing, just blinking at him before turning her eyes back onto Iron.

"... ... ..."

[SHM 128 III]

Noticing the awkward silence, Nate leaned over to Iron and whispered discretely to him.

"Cassia doesn't talk much... She's still shell-shocked from the coup."

[Mage]

When Iron heard Nate's tip, he found it understandable. A lot of innocent people lost they're families and loved ones during the coup, Iron was included. Though Cassia seemed to have it worse. Taking all this into account, Iron looked to Cassia. "I'm Iron, Dr. Zachary's assistant." He still had a feeling she'd shy away from him, but Iron knew he had to let her know he was a friend.

[V for Vizetta]

As if on cue, the girl took a small step back, looking Iron over as his words registered.

That's right, he was her father's assistant, she knew that... and Zachary seemed to trust him...

With a faint nod, that seemed mostly to herself, she spoke, VERY quietly.

"I'm... Cassia." Wait... he already knew her first name... But a person should know your whole name when you introduce yourself.

"Cassia Acerbus."

[Mage]

"Acerbus...wait a minute." He stopped noticing something interesting: She had Zack's family name, a relative perhaps? "Your related to the doctor, Cassia?!" He was pretty surprised, for one Cassia and Zack don't seem to belong to the same species.

[SHM 128 III]

"Heh, not quite..." Nate explained, "She kinda adopted herself into his care. Certainly takes the edge off the old man from time to time, I must say."

He then turned back to Cassia and patted her on the head.

"Isn't that right?"