"Great!"

Ariel proves to be just as outgoing while shopping as she was at lunch. She always seems to have something relevant to say, no matter the current topic, but she tries not to monopolize the conversation too much.

Her clothing preferences are a little bit out there; half the stuff she picks out might as well be from a different planet from the rest. For her first day at school, she wore a black and silver western shirt, long swishy red skirt, and black steel-toe combat boots embroidered with roses. She deliberates over baby-pink polo shirts, graphic tees that say things like HAVE FEWER OPINIONS or MY EYES ARE OVER HERE ->, a biker jacket with a flaming skull on the back. She's pretty clearly having the time of her life.

And so's Anna! She compliments Ariel on her fashion sense, helps her pick out things that set off her complexion well or go with other pieces, points out things that seem to be striking a chord Ariel's going for, apparently has a perfect memory of every clothing store in the mall and what they tend to carry and even recalls a few places having sells...

Sakura seems mostly content to just spend time with her friends.

Anna seems to get what Ariel is going for, which is great. They can spend a very companionable amount of time buying clothes and chatting about various topics!

Then, as they're cutting towards the exit - after dark - around the back of the mall, something begins to feel... Off. The air's heavy. Everything sounds weird, distant, like their eardrums are about to pop.

The lights flicker.

"...uh. Anybody else feel kind of weird?"

"Yeah. What's going on?" Sakura says, looking around, worried.

Anna has a hand to her head, and is frowning, eyes not focusing well.

"I don't know, this is- Anna, you okay?"

Sakura goes to help Anna stand, as Anna says, "I really don't think so..."

"Okay, that's a problem." Ariel moves to support Anna's other side. "I vote we continue toward the exit, but if the weird feeling gets worse we go backwards and find another exit?"

"Yeah," says Sakura. "Come on."

She starts moving.

Ariel helps support Anna and moves with purpose toward the exit.

An injured creature runs towards them out of a gloomy side corridor. White with red markings, long ears. Breathing heavily, bleeding.

Oddly familiar.

"Oh what now-"

Ariel gets hit with a wash of déjà vu and shudders. "Goddammit. Sakura, can you support Anna on your own? I need to make a bad decision."

"Yeah."

She takes more of Anna's weight.

Ariel snatches the creature up in both hands, fully prepared for it to start scratching the living hell out of her, because she is picking up an injured animal and this is a terrible idea.

It presses into her.

And somebody familiar rounds the corner - following the same path as the creature.

She stops short when she sees Ariel.

She's dressed like she was in the dream. Orange and dark blue dress, orange shield...

Oh thank fuck it's domesticated. It's a little bit weird for it to be this friendly even so, but she is not looking the mystery animal in the mouth.

"I love your color scheme," she says inanely to the girl from her dream. "Is this yours?" She nods to the creature.

"Thanks. And, yeah, can you hand him to me?"

'Don't let her take me,' a voice echoes in Ariel's head. Somehow, she knows it's the creature's.

Ariel startles. “Jesus, this day just keeps getting weirder... He says he doesn’t want to go with you.”

"He's not trustworthy."

“See, here’s the weird part? One of you lied to me just now. It wasn’t him.”

"Truth and trust aren't the same thing."

"I'm not handing a person over to someone he's afraid of without a very good reason. Also, my friend just had a stroke or something, and my priority right now is getting her help, not arguing with you on the basis of zero evidence about whether this adorable telepathic cat is secretly evil."