Walking Alone ((Zensen))

[shatan]

¡˅¡Nagurikorosu¡˅¡
¡˅¡Have you heard the news¡˅¡
¡˅¡That you’re dead?¡˅¡
¡˅¡I think they never¡˅¡
¡˅¡Liked you anyway¡˅¡

I knew something would go wrong.

Working in silence, the youkai finished pulling on his boots and moved on to pulling on the detached sleeve, pulling them up and setting them so they wouldn’t move about, and especially so that they wouldn’t get in his way. The sleeves stopped right below his shoulders, leaving bare the patch of skin on which he had his tattoos, and continued down to his wrists, where they met with the gloves that he pulled on next. He spent a brief moment wiggling his fingers to make sure his gloves were on well before he turned his attention to the scarf, wrapping it about his neck several times so that it covered from just below his chin to the top of his chest and around to his back, the trailing ends he pushed back so they fell behind him, out of the way. The scarf did a wonderful job of covering the necklace, though it was still cold against his neck, and its aura made sure that he would not forget its presence any time soon.

Having been crouched throughout this, the youkai finally stood, picking up his sash and belt as he did so. His back still facing the girl—he knew he should be more concerned with what she was doing, but he couldn’t make himself look—he wrapped the sash loosely around his waist, setting the belt on over it to hold it in place. Finally, he picked up the Dokuja and slid the sheath between sash and belt, the same place he had been setting the katana for the past seven centuries or so, since he had been given the weapon.

No longer having anything to do, the youkai finally turned around to watch the girl, and found her simply brushing her hair; he shook his head slightly: and here he had almost worried that she was up to no good again. Shaking his head slightly, the komodo sat down on the rock he had been using to set all his gear on, his sapphire gaze following the girl’s movements as she soon turned to braiding her hair. He couldn’t imagine why she bothered; to him it looked like far too much effort for no good, though this was coming from the very one whose hair was completely untamed and rested upon his head in locks going every which way.

Being such a person with such hair, it came as quite the surprise when the girl looked pleadingly at him and asked him for help with her hair. Him! Of all the people in this land, she asked him for help with her hair. He stared disbelievingly at her for a moment before he composed himself enough to answer, “You may as well quit demeaning yourself with begging; you’ll get no help from me unless you wish to take back this necklace of yours,” he said, placing his hands on the rock behind him so he could lean back, smirking as he watched the girl; at least it would be entertaining to see what would come of her own pathetic efforts.

¡˅¡The Ending of Your Life¡˅¡
¡˅¡If life ain’t¡˅¡
¡˅¡Just a joke¡˅¡
¡˅¡Then why am I¡˅¡
¡˅¡Laughing?¡˅¡

_{Lyrics © My Chemical Romance, Good Charlotte}

[kitsunemiko]

When he turned around the look he gave her almost seemed like he was suspicious of her. Didn’t she say that she would play no more tricks on him…well at least for tonight. Though she couldn’t blame him for being a little wary around her, after all she just slammed him and his ego into the ground with out making much of an effort. But that didn’t change the fact that she currently needed help with her hair. Now any sensible girl would have smacked her right upside the head for even considering a guy with as messy hair as that would be able to braid hair. It was obvious he didn’t put in much effort to tame those messy locks of his. Though when she asked him the look on his face was priceless, it was just complete and utter shock. Next time she came to the past she would have to remember her camera; it was just to funny here not to.

Of course as expected he denied her request and she pouted a bit. Now what was she going to do, well she was just going to bed the braid didn’t have to be perfect. So she flipped the rest of her hair over her shoulder and finished it herself. It was a bit messy and wasn’t straight but it would do. Now her problem was to find a dry place to sleep, sleeping where the steam was, wasn’t such a good idea for it would make going out tomorrow in the cold that much worse. Not to mention the mist from the steam would eventually get her clothes wet which defiantly wasn’t good. After a while of being lost as what to do she almost smacked her self on the forehead for being such an idiot. All this time in the past was beginning to make her forget some of the wonderful things about the future, one of those things being a sleeping bag. She reached over to her over stuffed back and pulled out the neatly packaged water proof heavy duty sleeping bag, complete with a built in pillow. Now since she could stay dry and she was going to be warm anyway she could stay near by the springs.

She laid out the sleeping bag and crawled inside it, after getting comfy she let out a content sigh. For a luxury like this becoming human was more then worth it. She was so comfy that she had almost completely forgotten about Naguri. So she rolled over on her side only to find him still staring intently at her. The silence was beginning to bug her so she decided to start up a conversation.

”Naguri, what’s it like where your from? I’m also curious to what the Dokusatsu tribe like?”

It wasn’t until then that she realized that Naguri hadn’t a dry place to sleep, and she didn’t have anymore of her sleeping bags. Her delicate features frowned slightly, it just wasn’t right for her to have a dry place to lay down while another didn’t. This was the down side to have being born as a human for her mother had drilled politeness into her at an early age. Fully knowing that she wouldn’t be able to sleep until she did something she opened up her sleeping back so it would spread out. This meant she didn’t have a blanket for the night and her clothes were most likely going to be damp in the morning from the constant steam but at least they both would have something dry to lay down on.

”You can come sit over here you know, it’s a bit dryer then on the plain ground. Don’t think of it as an offer to help more of a way to shove my conscience back into the deep corners of my mind.”

She laid back down and curled up, only missing the warmth of her blanket slightly. Her eyes slowly closed and quietly muttered a quiet good night before drifting off into some much needed sleep.

[shatan]

¡˅¡Nagurikorosu¡˅¡
¡˅¡Have you heard the news¡˅¡
¡˅¡That you’re dead?¡˅¡
¡˅¡I think they never¡˅¡
¡˅¡Liked you anyway¡˅¡

I’ll be here wondering.

He smirked slightly at the girl’s reaction to his refusal; he had to admit, she did look quite cute, pouting like that, though it’d do her not good to do it. His train of though changed tracks, however, when the girl pulled out a large bundle from an even larger back; now what was she doing? He tilted his head slightly, his eyes narrowing a bit as he watched her suspiciously, only to find that it was merely some sort of portable cot of some sort; or so he guessed, given that she looked about ready to go to sleep wrapped in it; and here he had begun to think she was up to another trick.

Now just what was wrong with him; any other time he would never have thought anything of her moving, now he practically jumped every time she did—though he certainly hid it more than openly showing his unease. It was hardly proper for him to feel even the smallest twinge of worry about another’s actions; and though no one else could hardly blame him given what had happened the last time he dropped his guard, he knew full well that the Dokusatsus would never let him live it down if they knew about any of this; and as far as he was concerned, their opinion was all that matters.

He was still watching the girl carefully when she rolled over to look at him, only to speak half a heart beat later; could she not give him one small reprieve? He had no intention of sharing the ways of the Komodos with an outsider, especially not this particular outsider, and so he merely said, “Family; not tribe. The Dokusatsus are a family.” He may not be willing to share the details of that family, but he could at least set her straight on that matter; the Dokusatsus were no heathen tribe like the mutts living up this way; they were a respectable and civilized family; not that it meant anything here.

When the girl began to move again, he watched her closely, not quite understanding the concept of what she was trying to do, though he’d never admit such a thing. When she offered part of the whatever-that-thing-was for him to sit on, he simply stared blankly at him; honestly, did she think he was seriously that stupid? There was no way he was going to get that close to her again, not after what had happened the last time they got so close. He didn’t even want to think about what might happen if he let his guard down again; the necklace was bad enough, but he had no doubt that this girl could come up with something even worse. And he was not about to let that happen.

Not bothering to justify her offer with a reply, he simply remained where he was on his rock, nice and safe out of her reach, watching her as she laid back down, and wondering all the while if this were another stunt. But when he caught the sound of her deep, steady breathing, he knew she had finally fallen asleep. There was one thing, he supposed; if she were a youkai, he’d not likely get this reprieve from having to watch her so closely. Still, he wasn’t about to let his guard drop, incase she woke up and decided to try something else; so, he would just stay up, no problem.

However, when the temperature began to drop as the darkness fell, that open spot on her whatever-that-thing-was-called was looking more and more welcoming. Hissing quietly at the cold, he jumped up and stalked away from the springs, stopping where the ground was a bit drier but where the warmth still spread. Pulling the Dokuja from its sheath, he dropped into a stance; he hardly needed her help to stay warm, he’d be fine on his own, thank you very much. Taking a deep breath, the youkai settled into one of the old exercises his father had taught him long ago; it was a simple, mindless task, but it keep his blood moving and thus kept him warm.

¡˅¡The Ending of Your Life¡˅¡
¡˅¡If life ain’t¡˅¡
¡˅¡Just a joke¡˅¡
¡˅¡Then why am I¡˅¡
¡˅¡Laughing?¡˅¡

_{Lyrics © My Chemical Romance}

[kitsunemiko]

Before the sun even got a chance to rise, Yui began to stir from her peaceful slumber. She sat up and stretched much like a cat would, as she did her shoulders and other bones snapped back into there rightful places creating a satisfying pop. This was something she did every morning that her human mother fond very odd. Of course it was a habit she had formed in her previous life but her mother didn’t know that. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes and looked around to see where lizard boy went. He wasn’t to far off and seemed to be practicing a drill with his sword. She greeted him with a smile, apparently he didn’t trust her enough to go to sleep last night. Which she found amusing, after all he didn’t seem like the type who would worry about what others thought of him. Apparently his little meeting with the ground had traumatized him enough that even when she was sound asleep, he didn’t let his guard down.

”Good morning Naguri kun”

Just as she spoke a large cold gust of wind sent her shivering, that was probably why she woke up so early. She turned and glared at the direction the wind came from, it seemed it was even colder then it had been when she went to sleep. Snow now managed even to reach where she slept, her sleeping bag was covered in it. A sigh escaped her lips, today was certainly going to be chilly with or without a sun. She stood up and shook over her sleeping bag before carefully putting it away. Now that her hair was dry she took out her brush and un did her braid. Her hair now had nice waves to it caused by being dried while it was in the braid. To her great delight she didn’t have any large knots to deal with and since it looked so nice she decided to leave it down. Another gust of wind came blowing a dusting of snow at her, causing her to shiver once more.

”I swear today’s going to be worse then last night, I wouldn’t be surprised if a good snow storm popped up. Which makes me think that a nice hot breakfast will be good before we take that lovely trip down the mountain.

She fished threw her bag once more and pulled out some instant ramen noodles, course they weren’t breakfast food but she liked to eat it anyway. Grabbing a pot that she had with her she got up and went out far enough where the snow was high enough and scooped some up and brought it back to camp. Now here she was with a pot of snow and a pack of ramen noodles and no fire to cook them on. But this was the lovely thing about being part Kitsune you didn’t need wood to cook a good meal. She held the pot over her hand as a large flame appeared in her palm, quickly melting the snow and bringing it to a boil. Soon the ingredients for the ramen were added and a lovely most appetizing smell began to come from the pot. It wouldn’t be long until it was ready.

”Naguri Kun would you like some? I’m cooking plenty for both of us.”

Personally she could care less if he said no or yes, after all food was food and if he didn’t trust her enough to eat it then he could starve. Her grey eyes looked over at him waiting for an answer. After all what other warm meal would he find up here, so it would be wise of him to take it.

[shatan]

¡˅¡Nagurikorosu¡˅¡
¡˅¡Have you heard the news¡˅¡
¡˅¡That you’re dead?¡˅¡
¡˅¡I think they never¡˅¡
¡˅¡Liked you anyway¡˅¡

Did I get what I deserved?

Of course the obvious answer was no; he had done nothing wrong, there was of course no reason for what had happened, for this bloody curse—for lack of a better word—to befall him of all the youkai in this land. Of course, this was only what he believed; any one else could have definitively told him that he got no more than he deserved, and in fact, a great deal less, to be truthful of the matter. But he had been raised as a Dokusatsu, he had been raised as a Komodo; their beliefs were his, and those beliefs told him that he had done not a single thing wrong in his very long life. A shame that he would not recognize his faults, for he could never learn from these mistakes without first recognizing that they were there. Oh well.

His sword sung through the air as he swung and spun and twirled it through a series of complicated, flashy, and utterly useless moves; they would do no better in a fight than if he swung about a lock of hair, but for keeping warm on this very infernally cold morning, they did just the trick. The katana’s blade glowed dully, streaked through with veins of red, its response to the activity of his demonic blood, so eager to work as he held the sword in his hand. The veins seemed to be alive, shifting and throbbing with his movements, with his grip on the hilt; it was these veins which gave the Dokuja its true power, but now, as he swung the blade through naught but air, and with the cold sapping his energy even as he tried to remain warm, the veins of bacteria and venom were as useless as the moves he practiced.

He did not pause when the girl spoke, did not turn to look at her, or even pay attention; instead, he simply ignored her, continuing his drill. He was not about to stop on her account, not when it would cost him valuable warmth and time to do so. But, now knowing that she was awake, he shifted smoothly and seamlessly into a different routine; his blade swung faster now as it hummed through the air; these were moves which could be used in real combat, moves which would give just about any youkai a run for their money, and though he was hardly fast enough to unleash their true potential, they would still be quite the show to watch.

When the girl spoke again, this time he actually did take notice, though he did not pause his routine as he spoke, “I have no idea where you are getting this ‘we’ from, my dear, but I would suggest you put it back where you found it; it’ll do you no good here,” he hissed, the movement of his blade slowing only slight for the lack of concentration.

His sword regained its lost speed as he continued the drill, performing the blocks and dodges and feigning strikes which it required, all in an impressive display of swordsmanship; he and Shiryou had indeed enjoyed their sparring matches at the sword; always more strategic and more enjoyable than sparring in their other forms. It was only when the scent of cooking food reached him that he finally ended the unending repetition of moves to see just what on earth that girl was up to now.

It did not take his sapphire eyes long to sight the fire in the girl’ hand; it was relatively impossible to miss, even with a lizard’s eyes. So now, this was why she felt so confident she could help him; of course, leave it to him to find himself with a do-gooder fire kitsune just raring to show off her flashy little skills. He rolled his eyes, shook his head, and resumed his sword drill as if nothing had happened at all.

When the girl again called to him, he gave a contemptuous laugh, “Sweetheart, I don’t eat that pathetic excuse for food you mortals are so fond of, so sorry to decline your offer,” he hissed, again without halting his drill, though this time the slowing of it was more noticeable; it was definitely getting colder.

He sighed quietly; if the temperature continued to drop, he’d be in a whole heap of trouble up to his neck if he didn’t find a shelter or get the heck out of dodge and fast. He had no intention of spending the day huddled in the hot spring, nor did he believe even that would help him if it got much colder; he would need to get out of here. He paused mid-swing, glancing over at the girl and wondering exactly how powerful those fire tricks of hers were.

He hissed quietly at himself for what he was about to do, sheathing his sword with more force than was needed as he did so. If word of this ever got out, he’d never live it down; but, given the alternative, it was certainly better than never living at all. He stalked back over towards the springs where the girl was at and promptly sat down at the edge of the water, his back facing the girl as he muttered, “You’d best eat quickly; we leave before it gets any colder.”

¡˅¡The Ending of Your Life¡˅¡
¡˅¡If life ain’t¡˅¡
¡˅¡Just a joke¡˅¡
¡˅¡Then why am I¡˅¡
¡˅¡Laughing?¡˅¡

_{Lyrics © My Chemical Romance}

[kitsunemiko]

Her gaze watched him intently as he ran threw his drills, she had not seen this type of style before so it intrigued her quite a bit. He had completely ignored her good morning, but this didn’t come as a surprise after all they weren’t on friendly terms. Also he stayed up all night that would make anyone act like they had an icicle stuck up there but. At least her we comment got a reaction out of him and a non to pleased one at that. If she didn’t know better she would say that she found a way to get under this lizards thick skin.

Eventually the smell of food distracted him enough to pause in his exercises. Though to bad he didn’t know how far off he was when he commented on her food being pathetic. Humans over the years had developed quite an arrange of tasty dishes. One of them being ramen noodles, which were best on chilly days like this. The best thing about ramen was the broth which seemed to warm you up from the inside.

Now what was he doing, he was looking at her kinda strange well looking at her hand kinda strange. It didn’t take her long to figure out what was going threw his mind, his little miss pissy attitude gave it away. He stalked over and gave her a very nice view of his backside as he plopped down on the ground announcing that she should eat quickly for he wanted to leave soon. Now there were quite a few things that she could do with that statement, she could taunt him about it or even point it out. Though she knew it hurt his ego tremendously to go back on what he already stated. So she left it alone pretending that she didn’t notice the change. She did however poor him a bowl of ramen and hand it to him with a small smile on her face.

”I’ll be done much faster if you eat some too”

She sat back down at her spot and began to eat her share. This time she ate a little faster then she normally would. It didn’t take her long before she was finished and packed up all cept the bowl she had given to Naguri. She only hoped it didn’t end up snowing like she predicted. If it did it would mean that she would be forced to use two of her powers at the same time. Using two completely different gifts at once was draining not to mention extremely difficult. Could she do it? Certainly she was sure she would be able to maintain it long enough to get down where it was warmer. Though that would put her at a disadvantage if a demon should attack after, for she would be to tired to use any of her powers to there full extent. If worse came to worse she could always fling her heavy back pack at an attacking demon, it would at the very least slow them down if it didn’t knock them out first.

”Ready to go when you are!”

She conjured up about 8 of her Kitsune lanterns, these little balls of fire gave off nice and toasty waves of heat. They floated around her and as long as she stuck close enough to him they would circle him also.

[shatan]

¡˅¡Nagurikorosu¡˅¡
¡˅¡Have you heard the news¡˅¡
¡˅¡That you’re dead?¡˅¡
¡˅¡I think they never¡˅¡
¡˅¡Liked you anyway¡˅¡

I’ll be the strength I need.

Not long after the confrontational komodo flopped down and gave the girl a nice view of his back while simultaneously being a complete jerk, he found a bowl of whatever food she had been making practically being shoved into his hands; now what was she doing? Another person might have questioned the girl’s sanity for feeding the very one who was being the rudest he possibly could be without even trying; Naguri, on the other hand, saw it as an insult, as if she didn’t believe he could feed himself. He was just about to correct her on that when the scent and heat of the food hit him full on, and he quickly reconsidered.

He bent his face very close to the soup, smelling it and trying very hard to find something wrong with it, some reason to not eat it, but he couldn’t find a single thing. Still not facing the girl, he quickly devoured the soup; he’d never admit it, but it was probably the best thing he had ever eaten. But no one else would ever know that if he could help it, and he didn’t intend on eating it again himself; he was trying very hard to convince himself that he had eaten it only because he needed the warmth. He did not want to admit that he had actually enjoyed human food. How much more embarrassment could he bring upon himself in one day? At least Shiryou—or anyone else, for that matter—was not here to see it, and he could safely pretend as though none of this had happened; after all, in the nine centuries of his life, a single day is hardly much worry.

Composing his face into a rather masterful scowl, the youkai turned and tossed the bowl back the girl, as though it was the worst thing he had ever had the displeasure of putting in his mouth; his guess was that the girl would never suspect anything different. Or so he hoped.

He watched in silence as the girl chirped out a rather annoying ready and conjured up floating balls of fire, doing quite a good job at hiding his appreciation that they were there; the warmth was quite welcome, though he wasn’t planning on letting that show, either. He had a reputation to keep, here!

Still without a word, the youkai started off towards the south, judging his direction by the wind, and set a rather swift pace; the sooner he got where it was warmer, the sooner he could get away from this girl without turning himself into some lesser youkai’s frozen treat; truly an outcome which he wished to avoid at all costs. His left hand rested lightly on the hilt of the Dokuja, holding it slightly forward so he could draw it with ease; he wouldn’t put it past this girl to get him into more trouble just by smelling appetizing to some nearby demon, and he was not about to let her cause him any further trouble.

By and by Naguri realized that he was acting pretty strange as compared to normal; any other time he would have already taunted this girl into a fight and crushed her into the dirt; instead, he had dropped his guard, gotten crushed into the dirt himself—twice, at that—and now was acting, well, soft. Like her. Almost. But not nearly as bad. He almost cringed at the thought of how obnoxiously nice she was; if he didn’t have a better handle on his temper, it would be infuriating to him, how she acted. But, as bad as her or not, he was still accepting the help of another—a human, at that!—had tasted—and enjoyed—human food, and had hardly taunted her at all. Yep, he was way off character.

But, he reasoned, it probably was a good thing he hadn’t taunted her; he did not feel like eating any more dirt, especially not when he’d be going through snow first by the point. As for the other two offenses; well, he supposed they could be out of self preservation. By his scaly tail, though, since when did he need any help with self preservation! He shook his head slightly; this was a true disgrace. But he’d redeem himself; the very minute he could stand the cold on his own, he’d find the strongest bloody demon in the area and prove who the strongest was. And then this whole thing would be behind him. He grinning slightly, quite pleased at coming up with a solution to his dilemma. It was a true shame, however, that he did not factor in the necklace or the girl; but oh well, let us not ruin his mood, eh?

¡˅¡The Ending of Your Life¡˅¡
¡˅¡If life ain’t¡˅¡
¡˅¡Just a joke¡˅¡
¡˅¡Then why am I¡˅¡
¡˅¡Laughing?¡˅¡

_{Lyrics © My Chemical Romance, TRUSTcompany}

[kitsunemiko]

It had been amusing to watch him study the food, trying to find anything that could possibly be wrong with it. Another good thing about ramen was it was hard to screw up so she doubt he would find anything. It hadn’t been long after he ate it that the very empty bowl was chucked back at her face. She caught it with ease and placed it in her bag as if nothing had happened. After years and years of human school you tended to learn to expect things being chucked at you,, and you had better of been good at catching otherwise you would become use to being clonked in the head. It didn’t seem to her that he enjoyed the meal but at least he had eaten it. After all she was always grumpy when her stomach was empty and she certainly didn’t want to be around a hungry lizard.

With out a word he took of in the direction he thought they should go in and she quietly trailed close behind keeping up with his pace. Once out of the warmth from the hot springs the weather worsened considerably. As she predicted a large snow storm was moving in from the north. Right now they were just at the beginning stages of it, it would worsen as time moved on. A frown crossed her features and her eyes gained a more calculating glint as she went into deep thought. Judging by the wind speeds picking up speed every few minutes the worse of the storm would arrive much quicker then she would have predicted earlier. If things continued along this rout she would have to figure a way to get both of them down the mountain faster.

She increased the warmth that her fire gave out and trailed a little closer to Naguri. It was around this time that the sun began to rise, revealing dark clouded skies. It wouldn’t be long before the snow hit. She quickened her pace so now she stood side by side with Naguri.

”The storms going to be worse then I expected, I suggest we try to quicken our pace before the worse of it hits.”

With all this wind she also began to worry about the chances of an avalanche, if something like that would occur they would be in deep shit. Not to mention the temperature was continuously dropping. Her Kitsunes lanterns soon wouldn’t be enough, so she increased the temperature in her own body so that she would spike a fever. Her own body now would radiate enough heat so long as he was close enough he would at least stay somewhat warm. She just couldn’t slip and make in rise any higher then it was, otherwise it could be dangerous for her mainly because her human body wouldn’t be able to handle it.

The frown never left her face, she just had a bad feeling that she couldn’t shake off. Usually she was pretty good at predicting when things would go wrong and now was one of those times. She glanced over at Naguri, if something would happen to go wrong and he ended up being stuck with her for yet another night he would surly be in a foul mood. Though he couldn’t get much worse he was already being a jerk, but she suppose it was better then him trying to taunt her into a fight.

Just then her sensitive hearing picked up something that the Komodo’s hearing would be able to. What she heard mad her head snap up straight and look back. The sounds she heard only increased and she swore out loud at her luck. The kami’s really had it out for her. She took a deep breath and blew it out and something like a large sled from the future appeared out of ice. Sure she just revealed another one of her tricks but this one was much needed. She looked back up at Naguri, her face completely serious as she spoke.

”All your opinions or wishes are here by rejected and replaced by my own.”

She grabbed the back of his shirt and forced him to step on the sled while jumping on herself. By now you could visibly see what had caused her little upstart. A rushing wall of snow had begun to barrel down the mountain quickly burying and destroying anything in its path. She kicked off and the sled began to go down the hill at an increasingly fast rate. Now back in the future one of her favorite things to do was snowboard so steering the make shift ice bored was basically the same. She knew that they stood no chance on beating the rampaging chunks of ice down the mountain so her eyes franticly looked for a shelter of some kind.

Sure enough she spotted one, an old fox den jus barely visible through the snow. Plus it was in such a perfect location since it buried deep beneath a large boulder. She sharply turned the bored off to the right making it skid to a stop near the opening. There wasn’t much time until the avalanche reached them, you could already feel the ground rumbling from its weight.

Luckily the opening was large enough that both of them would be able to fit, and knowing fox dens there would be plenty of room underneath. She dove in first and quickly made room for Naguri, she would seal the entrance with ice after he had entered.

[shatan]

¡˅¡Nagurikorosu¡˅¡
¡˅¡Have you heard the news¡˅¡
¡˅¡That you’re dead?¡˅¡
¡˅¡I think they never¡˅¡
¡˅¡Liked you anyway¡˅¡

I am not afraid to keep on living.

Well, this day had certainly already shaped up to be what was likely the worst day of his very long life; as if the cold wasn’t bad enough, with the wind penetrating through even the heat the girl provided, but now they were flying down the mountain on a giant hunk of ice with all the bloody snow on the whole bloody mountain hard on their heels. And that was so not cool. Drawing on the strength afforded him by the little heat he had, Naguri activated the Hen’You, his feet changing to claws as he clung to the giant hunk of ice for dear life—quite literally, at that.

He had, at first, been rather irked by the girl’s words; he had, truthfully, been ready to put her in her place, necklace or not, for that little stunt. But when he finally caught sound of the wall of snow—and, what was more, sight of it—he decided to hold his tongue; actually, he decided to shut up and hold on, but same difference.

His heavy claws dug into the ice as he crouched slightly, sinking his weight into the ice so he was steady as the girl—quite miraculously—steered the giant stampeding chunk of ice down the slope and suddenly brought it skidding to a bone-jarring stop before she dove into what appeared to be an old fox den. Wasting no time—this was no time for him to be, well, him—Naguri yanked his claws from the ice and—quite literally—dove head-first into the den, not worrying about personal comfort until he was safely within the shelter.

It was only at this point that the youkai finally let the Hen’You’s effects leave him—gratefully, at that, for the blood of his human form was warmer than that of his others, and even the small change of the Hen-You was painful—his feet returning to normal as he repositioned himself within the den, his sapphire gaze watching outside the den with quite well concealed worry; even he had to recognize the fact that nature could effectively and quite emotionlessly slaughter literally anyone on this planet, youkai, hanyou, or human.

Taking a quiet breath, the youkai turned his gaze on the girl, “Well then, now that we’re all safe and peachy, might I have my opinions back?” he asked, grinning slightly; avalanche or not, he felt quite safe now that they’d not be crushed by snow; nor was he particularly worried about getting out of here if the entrance managed to get buried in snow; if this girl was as good as he figured after watching that display, then she could keep him warm enough long enough for him to use his Hen’You and dig their way out. Knowing this, he was dead set and determined to not show any sign that he had been worried at all; this was already enough trouble as it was.

¡˅¡The Ending of Your Life¡˅¡
¡˅¡If life ain’t¡˅¡
¡˅¡Just a joke¡˅¡
¡˅¡Then why am I¡˅¡
¡˅¡Laughing?¡˅¡

_{Lyrics © My Chemical Romance}

[kitsunemiko]

At first she had been surprised that she didn’t get a tongue lashing for her suddenly taking charge. But at that point she hadn’t cared one little bit about what he felt or what he would do, so it was a pleasant surprise when he didn’t say a word. As soon as they were both safely sealed inside the den she burst into a fit of giggles. That had to be some of the most fun she had in years. Anyone with a sensible mind would have been freighted out of there wits from being in a life threatening situation like that. Though Yui had always been a thrill seeker, at that had to be the ultimate thrill. Her light grey eyes twinkled with joy; if one didn’t know better they would say she probably wanted to do that again just for the fun of it. But she was a complete idiot, if it wasn’t for her being able to spot the fox den they probably wouldn’t have made it. After regaining control over her fit of laughter she ignited her Kitsune lanterns again, knowing that the lizard had to be cold by now.

”Well that was certainly fun.”

Her lanterns quickly lit up and warmed the den, it was quite roomy to, well for a fox den. If she sat up all she would have to do is duck slightly, but for now she was perfectly happy laying on her stomach watching the snow pile up from beyond her thick sheet of glass that she had used to seal up the entrance. She glanced over at Naguri who shockingly was smiling at her. Now this certainly was an improvement of his mood from just a few moments earlier. She returned the smile and chuckled a bit when he asked for his opinions back.

”I suppose it would be alright, just as long as no more of mother natures fury comes chasing at us again. Though just to make sure that doesn’t happen I suggest we stay in here until the worst of the storm passes. I don’t want to chance trying to out run another avalanche anytime soon. If my guess is correct the worse of it will pass over us in a couple of hours, then we can reach the bottom of this godforsaken mountain by night fall. But its your choice, we can either chance it and freeze our asses off, or stay here where its nice and warm and wait it out.”

At the current moment she couldn’t help but feel just as much dislike for the cold as Naguri. So she hoped that he would pick staying here for a while, also she knew he didn’t like being told what to do and let the choice up to him. While she was waiting she ignited another one of her Kitsune lanterns only this time she merely just tossed it up and down like a ball. It was a great little trick that would keep her amused for the time being.

[shatan]

¡˅¡Nagurikorosu¡˅¡
¡˅¡Have you heard the news¡˅¡
¡˅¡That you’re dead?¡˅¡
¡˅¡I think they never¡˅¡
¡˅¡Liked you anyway¡˅¡

It’s a good life, that’s what I’m told.

And to be truthful, he couldn’t disagree more. Sure, he was, for the moment, safe and warm, but that did not change the fact that he would soon have to face the cold once again before he could get to some warmth; and until that time, he was stuck depending on the most insane person—youkai, hanyou, human, or otherwise—that he had ever met in his life. Not two seconds after she sealed them in the den, she burst out laughing. He wasn’t even going to try and fathom (vocab word! Again! xD) that one.

When she seemed to return to being sane long enough to answer his request, he had to chuckle quietly at her answer; mother nature’s fury, indeed. But, there was quite the important question to answer, so he turned his attention to deciding what they would do. Now, to anyone else, it would have been quite obvious that the girl was only trying to nurse his heavily wounded ego with that stunt; well, luckily for her, Naguri was too dense to notice, and even more luckily: it worked. Feeling as though he was back in control of things, Naguri made his decision quite quickly.

“Well my dear, since I have no desire to test whether or not my particular species of lizard can regenerate a tail by losing mine to frostbite, I say we stay here for a bit,” he said, chuckling quietly; he knew very well his kind could not regenerate a tail, but all the same, he still did not wish to lose his, regardless of the fact that it would not even be exposed to the cold in this form.

Much more at ease now, the komodo decided to make himself a bit more comfortable and sat up as much as the den would allow; luckily, he was a relatively short guy, so he didn’t have to worry all that much of bashing his head against the ceiling, and was even quite comfortable even in the tight space. Settling himself, his katana in his lap since there was no place for it to fit if left at his waist, the komodo turned his attention to watching the girl toss one of those fire balls of hers up and down; he sighed slightly and shook his head. She was just like a kid; showing off and playing at the same time.

In a considerably better mood than before, and with absolutely nothing better to do to pass the time, Naguri decided to reconsider his earlier decision to not share anything about the Dokusatsus and Komodos with an outsider. He was silent for a moment as he decided exactly what the share with the girl, quite glad of the fact that he had never actually told her that he would not tell her anything so that he would not further wound his ego by going back on that. Suddenly remembering a part of their culture which he had never paid much attention to before, but that would be wonderful to entertain him by sharing with this girl at the moment, the komodo began to grin.

“You know, my dear, that if we were back among the Dokusatsus and were found to be spending this much time locked away alone together,” he paused, chuckling, “it’d be assumed we were planning to mate some time soon,” he smirked, hoping to embarrass the girl, especially when such things didn’t even phase him; not even the slightest speck of color touched his face, only the rather amused smirk.

“Though I must admit, I am quite glad that we are not among my family; I’d hate for them to get any ideas of my involvement with a human,” he continued, still smirking; after nearly getting buried alive in the snow, Naguri had quite effectively forgotten about the necklace which gave this mortal so much power over him, and so had no qualms with going ahead and taunting her now he had nothing better to do. It was, of course, very likely not to end well, but such were the ways of the Dokusatsus: taunting others for their own enjoyment.

¡˅¡The Ending of Your Life¡˅¡
¡˅¡If life ain’t¡˅¡
¡˅¡Just a joke¡˅¡
¡˅¡Then why am I¡˅¡
¡˅¡Laughing?¡˅¡

_{Lyrics © My Chemical Romance, Good Charlotte}

[kitsunemiko]

Overjoyed with the fact that she would be spending her time in the nice warm den instead of freezing her butt off outside. Though one thing bothered her about his answer, she remembered reading that Komodo dragons weren’t able to regenerate tales. Though she knew he probably knew that so she guess he meant it as a joke so she chuckled a bit. After her little laugh she continued to play wither her Kitsune lanterns, now effectively making it spin and twirl around her head. It was nice that they were both safe again but why did she have a feeling that something unpleasant was going to happen yet again. Her question was answered when lizard boy spoke, effectively making her accidentally let her lantern that she was playing with go up in a poof of smoke. A small blush crossed her cheeks as a thought of little scaly fox’s running around crossed her mind. What a creepy thought it was, she shook her head to rid herself of the image. Though it probably wasn’t just his family that would think that, most every one else whom didn’t know what a jerk Naguri was would probably have come to the same conclusion. Also the fact that they were currently in a fox den didn’t help either. His next comment didn’t help smooth out any ruffled fur either.

”Well I must remind you since you already know, I’m a full fledged demon just housed in a human body. I can relinquish this body when ever I feel like it and return to my normal state. Though if your family was here, I would assure them that my choices of a mate hardly sway toward the reptilian species.”

She ignited another one of her lanterns and began to continue entertaining herself. Her thoughts went back to the idea of relinquishing her human body. It would mean that she would be spending most of her time in the feudal era, which she already was, and also taking the risk of being discovered as Munashii. Though she had grown quite a few hundred years older in that time her powers had most likely increased a lot since that time. In fact she should be close to her ninth tail soon, which would make her a very formidable Kitsune indeed. Not many of her kind survived up to becoming a Kyuubi, so they were a rare find indeed.

Another stray though came across her mind, Naguri knew his heritage, but Yui had never found out much about hers. She didn’t even know her original last name, Hijikata just happened to be her human mothers last name which is the one she went by now. All she knew was her father was a fire Kitsune and her mother was an Ice. For a demon to have complete control over an element meant that they would have to come from an elite family. So which two families did she come from? What were there customs?

All these thoughts ran through her mind which caused her to frown. Why hadn’t she ever wondered about this before. She let the flame she was playing with die out and rolled over onto her back letting out a small sigh. Now that she had asked the question she would have to find them out. Her curious nature just wouldn’t her rest until she did, so she had yet another journey to attend to after collecting the jewel shards.

Funny how the lizards comment was meant to get her riled up but only succeeded into driving her into silent isolation as she mulled over her thoughts. For her to stay silent as long as she had been was out of character for her. It was almost as if the thoughts that occurred had made her sad. Which they had, she felt those old emotions of not belonging resurface. She closed her eyes and tried to fight them back into the dark corners of her mind, much preferring to continue on with her happy act.

[shatan]

¡˅¡Nagurikorosu¡˅¡
¡˅¡Have you heard the news¡˅¡
¡˅¡That you’re dead?¡˅¡
¡˅¡I think they never¡˅¡
¡˅¡Liked you anyway¡˅¡

Thanks for the memories.

A quiet chuckle came from the youkai as he caught sight of the girl’s blush; he did have to wonder what thoughts his words had triggered which resulted in such a blush. Ah, yes, times like these he did wish he could read minds; it would be such a source of amusement. Her words, however, would simply have to do for the moment, and they simply did the trick, his chuckle continuing as she spoke.

“Ah, yes, my dear, but until that time, you are still bound by the limits of mortal bonds, and I’m afraid that it simply wouldn’t do at all for my family to see me with someone so weak,” he said, smirking quite broadly; he had proven it was possible to get under her skin, now to just grab a stick and keep on digging.

He chuckled quietly before adding, “Though, I suppose, if you were so inclined, you could go ahead and relinquish that human form of yours, and try your luck at dealing with my family; who knows, maybe they’d actually not stick you over the fire at first sight,” he hissed, smirking at the girl; sure, he had heard her comment about her choice of mate not being of the reptile persuasion, but who said she couldn’t lie? After all, she was a fox, one who had already tricked him at that.

It was at this point, however, when he noticed the distinctive morose behavior of the girl, distinct in its stark (w00t, third vocab word! xD) contrast to her normal behavior, and he wondered if his comments were even worth making given the distinctive lack of effect on the girl since she had spoken earlier. Deciding that taunting her would do him no good until she was out of this mood, the komodo fell silent, still smirking slightly as he watched the girl, waiting for that irrepressible obnoxiously kind and anit-moroseful spirit to come through once again.

¡˅¡The Ending of Your Life¡˅¡
¡˅¡If life ain’t¡˅¡
¡˅¡Just a joke¡˅¡
¡˅¡Then why am I¡˅¡
¡˅¡Laughing?¡˅¡

_{Lyrics © My Chemical Romance, Fall Out Boy}

[kitsunemiko]

Her eyes opened once again and a smirk appeared on her face. If he wanted to play the taunting game so be it. She rolled over on her side so she could face him, this little stunt of hers would most likely cause him to go back to being a jerk but it was worth it.

”Well now if I’m so weak how is it that I was able to make you eat dirt so easily. Some ones strength isn’t always determined by there physical capabilities. Oh and just as a guess I’m sure your family would be more interested in your lovely new accessory then roasting me. Being beat by a mortal is far worse then being one.

Her smirk turned into a regular smile thinking that little reminder would be a nice blow to his ego once more. If he thought her so weak as a mortal, then he should have remembered if it wasn’t for her he would freeze out in this frozen tundra. If that wasn’t enough he should have been reminded that she a mortal just saved his pathetic tail from that avalanche. Just to remind him it was her who decided whether he would get down the mountain frozen or not she let her other Kitsune Lanterns die down leaving her as the only source of heat. But her mortal body was far too little to heat the den and the frigid cold had already begun to creep in.

She looked at the watch on her wrist, it was still a little more then a half an hour until it was safe to start digging out. Now what was she going to do to pass the time until then. She looked around knowing that fox burrows had usually more then just one main room, so it was strange that there was no opening here. It was then that she began to think maybe this wasn’t a normal fox den. She sat up a bit and began to run her fingers around the wall, if her guess was right then this was a demons old den and if that was true her hand should pass through the wall eventually. It wasn’t until she was almost right next to Naguri that her hand passed through and a triumphant smile spread across her face. With out an explanation she completely phased through the wall and into some un known place.

It was a portal to a Kitsune realm she had just crawled through, and she crawled right out of a snow bank, which had an entrance to the normal den. Her big grey eyes looked around in amazement at the winter wonderland before her. She stood up and brushed off her hakama, and to her surprise she found the air warm here. Now this was truly strange, they air felt like a cool day in late spring, yet the whole entire area was enveloped in soft white snow. A path lay ahead lined with ancient trees whose branches reached high in the soft clouded sky. Forgetting about lizard boy at that moment she decided to fallow the path which seemed to be calling to her.

Not long after fallowing the trail for some time a large castle came into view, her walked turned into a jog as she neared the front doors. She ran up the stairs coming to a stop near the front entrance. The entrance was something she couldn’t help but pause to look up in amazement, the entrance itself was sealed by two great oak doors that had to be at least 20 feet tall. Upon the doors two great carved kitsunes sat, after taking a moment to admire the work she brought her hand up to knock to see if anyone was home. Another shock came when the doors seemingly swung open by them selves.

”Umm Hello is anyone home?
She poked her head inside; there was no answer but the echo of her voice. Cautiously she stepped inside, her eyes now resting on an old oak table with a single envelope rested upon it. Approaching the table she could make out a name written in a messy scribble. Why! It was hers! She frowned could this be a trap? All logic was telling her it was, but her gut feeling told her it wasn’t. Her life choices had always been made with logic, hardly had she ever strayed far from it. Though maybe it was one of those times that she should; she reached out and grasped the letter in her hand now debating whether or not to open it. She frowned this wasn’t something that should be decided quickly so she reluctantly placed it in a pocket in her sleeve to read or not later.

Turning she walked back outside, into the strangely warm air. Now was probably a good time to leave, and maybe there would be another way out of the realm. There was always at least two entrances to a den, so another one might be close by.