[ #cc9966 Renna
#ff6699 Mashiro ]

Renna was laid down in one of the many clinic beds in one of the several patient rooms. She was hooked up with an IV, heart monitor, and other such things. An oxygen mask was also somehow clamped over her beak. Her condition wasn't critical, but it was hard to breathe and move. That was enough reason for her to be in the clinic. She felt like she had barely put her head down and closed her eyes when they were open again.

She could see and feel the orange rays of the setting sun streaming in through the window blinds. She tried to bring her hand up to shield her eyes but she couldn't move them. It felt as if she was wearing any extremely tight and heavy metal armor. She couldn't even lift a finger and she felt as if something mammoth was weighing itself down on her body. She could only move her head slightly, but still, she tried to move her arms and legs.

"You shouldn't try to get up. You might end up like me. And you've still got many people that care about you and want you to get better, right?" A small voice sounded. It was a little girl of about twelve years old, standing by Renna's bed. She had short, light brown hair and
large, violet eyes. Her bangs were pushed away from her face with a pair of dark purple clips. The girl was standing there barefooted, clad in a pink pajama top and matching bottoms.

She had on the most innocent smile, and her eyes were so pure, she might've never been touched by any evil in the world. But there was something strange about the little girl. She stood next to the window, with the bright sunlight streaming in. The light made her look tranparent, and the part of her that was in the shadows seemed almost invisible. All her features seemed pale and faded even though she looked quite healthy.

Renna's eyes opened fully, trying her best to not let the bright sunlight bother her. That little girl... how long had she been standing there? She hadn't noticed her walk in through the door and she had been so quiet the entire time. Even with the warm sunlight streaming in, the girl emmited a cold air. "Who are you? Are you a patient here as well?" The questions just seemed to leap out. Her voice was muffled by the oxygen mask.

The little girl continued to smile sweetly at Renna, her hands behind her back. "I'm Mashiro. And I used to be, a patient." Her voice was as innocent and pure as her appearance, like the first snow of winter. It was quiet, followed by an awkward, echoing silence.

A nurse walked in through the door with a clipboard. She had come to check up on the other patients. As she neared Renna's bed, she stared at her in suprise, lips pursed. "Sick patients should be resting. That means your eyes are closed, dear." She turned around and walked briskly out the door. Just as she was about to turn the corner, she looked over her shoulder and shot Renna a death glare. "When I get back, you had better be asleep." And with that, she was gone. She hadn't paid any attention to the girl with the pink attire, nor seem notice her for that fact.

After the nurse had left, the little girl spoke again. "Someone took something for me. So I'm looking for it... my fragment." She wandered to the edge of Renna's bed and sat herself down. Her whole figure glowed an eerie white. But when she sat down, the blankets didn't wrinkle at all. The mattress didn't move, maybe because she was so small and so light but... Her violet eyes looked at the photopgraph on the table. A pleasant smile spread onto her face. "Oh! That's a really pretty picture of me and Daddy..." She reached out her little hand to pick it up, but she didn't seem able to get a grip on it.

Renna watched the girl, Mashiro, sit down on her bed and reach out for the photograph. She didn't notice anything strange about her, being too tired. She didn't notice the way the blankets didn't wrinkle, the way Mashiro floated rather than walked, nor the way her entire form glowed pure white. The only thing that caught her attention was what she was saying. A fragment? Just what was that exactly? And how did one go about losing it in the first place? And then.... Her dad? What did she mean by that?

Renna reached out her hand feebly to pick up the photograph and give it to Mashiro. Since the girl's small, pale hand was only a few centimeters away from the table, Renna expected to touch her short, warm fingers as she picked up the piece of paper. However, what she expected to happen, never did. Instead of touching something solid, the bird's hand went right through hers. It felt like sticking her hand under an icey cold faucet. She quickly withdrew her hand, eyes wide in alarm.

"Just what... are you?" Again, the question came out of her beak of its own accord, without her having to think twice about it.

"Dead." Mashiro answered flatly. Her translucent hand fell back to her side, to rest of the blindingly white bedspread. Turning her head to look at Renna, her pleasant smile dropped from her face like a stone, to be replaced with a tiny frown. "Everyone's heard of ghosts before. Even you, Renna. The stories that people pass around tell us that they haunt places. Bound to the earth, bound to the site of their death." Facing forward, the young girl hopped down from the bed and walked--glided over to the window, where the bright sunlight continued to stream into the dreary hospital room. "They're bound because of a curse.