Prelude (Mariko & ????)

Mariko was speechless the entire time the old man shared his harrowing past explaining his connection to the Spirits.  Even now after he finished his tale, she was still at a loss for words.  For sure it was brave, but incredibly foolish, and definitely detailed his devotion to those Spirits.  While he realized his inadequacy to better combat Shadows, the most important lesson he learned was to do his best to help people.

That only strengthened her own resolve to nail this audition.  She was going to not only help people, but fight for them as well.  Like a true idol should.

“I… I don’t know what to say, other than I’m glad you and these Spirits are okay.  I guess your story’s inspirational.  You learned from your mistakes and made a wonderful relationship with the Spirits.  So thank you for sharing something you didn’t have to, even though it’s touching, really.” Mariko in gratitude bowed her head to the old man with a soft smile.  With that said she then turned her head to the Waddle Dee she had been petting prior, which was now nuzzling against her leg.

“And you!  You’re a hero, you know that~?  I want to become as brave and strong as you someday~” Cheered on Mariko as she lifted the Spirit up and twirled it in midair, before embracing it.

The man was petting Waddle-dee's as he sat there in silence, Waiting for Mariko to speak, though at the end of his story the Waddle-dee's had moved closer and where all taking turns hugging the old mans legs which got a chuckle out of him as they did so "Thank you my little friends, do not worry, I do not feel sad telling the story, or scared anymore, if anything I look back at that moment as a moment when I finally grew a little and became a bit wiser" he said to the Waddle-dee's as he putt he one he was petting down and picked up another gently petting it as he looked over to Mariko as she started to speak.

The smile stayed on his face "Not only is it inspirational, it's also cautionary, there are times one cannot do something, and people will tell you that you can't, sometimes they are right and it is the smarter and better choice to back down for a time, till you have grown stronger or wiser to perhaps see the wisdom in those words others have said to you, just because you can't do something, doesn't make you weak or something like that, there are things some people can't do, that doesn't mean you just give up ether" he said with a smile.

He then chuckled as he watched her spin around with the Waddle-dee as the Waddle-dee waved it's arms in the air happily, "Yes I try to remind them every day of that fact, but I think they are happiest when just helping people, playing around and having fun" he said with a chuckle. As the WAddle-dee Hugged Markio back.

“I knew me and these Spirits had something in common~” Mariko said while giving the Waddle Dee in her arms one more squeeze before setting it down.  Unfortunately she didn’t have as much alone time to enjoy herself, but living the life of an idol was entertainment in itself.

“Right, so your story’s really motivational to me.  I better finish this jog so I can get back to the grind, you know~?” Dusting off her hands Mariko then tapped her toes along the ground, alongside a final stretch of her arms and legs.  A warm and cheery smile graced her countenance, with a layer of self-confidence underneath.

“Thanks for the talk, I totally appreciated it~!  Maybe we’ll see each other again sometime and catch up!  Same goes for all of you little guys too~!” An ecstatic wave of her hand followed suit, before Mariko set out to finish her jog through the park.  Amazing how one little encounter could change things so much, enough for her to push herself forward bravely.  



[ EXIT. ]

The old man smiled, it was good to hear se considered the Waddle-dee's as somewhat the same as her, and as she hugged the waddle-dee it made a squeaky toy sound and happily hugged her back, the sound causing the old man to chuckle, gently handing out a few more snacks to the waddle-dee's as the young lady spoke.

"it was very nice talking to you as well young one, take good care of yourself, and don't forget to give yourself time to rest and relax at times, don't over work on this 'grind' of yours" he said in an almost grandfatherly tone as he waved to her.

then as she was leaving he called out "Oh and say hello to Rhapsody for me will you Nova?" though if the girl turned to look at the Bence the man was nowhere to be seen, though a bag of candies was still there among the waddle-dee's who where all happily splitting the candy. and they would look up and wave back to her if she in fact did look back.