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Post by tsuru on Dec 13, 2012 2:13:56 GMT -5
Tsuru greedily slurped the noodles and chomped the sashimi that was given to her as a meal. Her hosts were distant relatives who had been demoted to looking after a province because of a scandal one of the older sons had caused. Tsuru had no idea what. She was only here to visit her friend, Masako, who was a lady in waiting to the former empress. She had no desire to get married. “So Tsuru, does anyone know you are out here?” Masako, a plump faced woman with a gentle smile, asked. Tsuru simply smiled back and laughed. “Haha, no one knows I am here! But they will know soon enough. Court became stuffy and boring~” Masako sighed and wondered how the young girl before her, ever managed to take a 4 day journey to a far, distant place without getting caught…
The next day, afternoon. Masako’s family had sent a message to the Fujiwara family; her parents had voiced out their displeasure and told her to expect punishment when she got back to Kyoto. They sent out their fastest escort to retrieve the girl but it would be 2 days before her escort (more like warden) would arrive. Until then, Masako decided to enjoy one of her hobbies; Hunting. Tsuru was in a party of 6 (her friend Masako, and her brothers) and rode appropriate hunting gear; though Tsuru insisting on wearing men’s wear. If one didn’t look at Tsuru’s feminine face and figure so closely (and ignored her long pony tail), one forgets that she is a woman. “Tsuru-sama! It’s coming your way!” One of Masako’s brothers shouted. “I’m on it!” Tsuru shouted back as she rode hard, chasing the stag that was going to be their dinner. Tsuru took out an arrow and aimed at the stag’s leg. She loosed an arrow but missed. The young girl cursed and decided to take another plan of action; she rode even faster on her black steed and rode ahead of the stag. The young girl turned her horse around and loosed another arrow, this time it landed between its eyes. Tsuru let out a “Yes!” and slowly rode towards her prey then she realised that she was deep in the woods. “Great.”
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Post by Kage on Dec 14, 2012 2:39:22 GMT -5
It had been a relatively peaceful morning. The woods were calm and quiet, it was really the perfect day for gathering. Kage dug her fingers into the damp soil of the ground, kneeling by a mossy tree. She yanked the roots of an herb from the ground, her hands stained with dirt. She gently shook the dirt from the herbs, before breaking the roots from the plant. After a moment, the woman wrapped her herbs into a small blue cloth and gently put them away into her bag.
Finally, the yōkai got back to her feet. She brushed the dirt from her plain black kimono, heaving her bag onto her shoulder. Kage carefully stepped over a protruding root and continued slowly. Her blood red eyes peered at the base of trees and next to logs, searching for the necessary herbs and mushrooms. So far it had been a decent day for gathering, so if this was all she got for the day, she would be satisfied.
Kage stepped out from behind a tree, before freezing at the sound of galloping. She clenched her bag tightly, glancing around through the trees. Her gaze fell upon someone upon horseback. She couldn't tell, but the person appeared to be a hunter. Kage sighed somewhat disappointed. Well, she certainly didn't want any trouble with this man. Whoever he was. Hopefully he'd just let her be. The yōkai slowly continued to walk, pretending as though she hadn't seen Tsuru (who she assumed was a man).
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Post by tsuru on Dec 14, 2012 5:13:21 GMT -5
Tsuru cursed her luck as she pulled the arrow out of the stag. The girl took out rope and started to tie the deer to the back of the horse (with much difficulty) and huffed and puffed after finishing the deed. She never expected to physical labour. The girl looked around her surroundings and did not remember what direction she came from. She felt a pang of fear and dread; the palace pampered girl was not at all prepared to survive out in the wilderness for a long period of time. As the girl looked around, she spotted a woman in a black kimono. Tsuru felt relieved and started to run towards the figure. “Excuse me! I’m lost, can you take me out of this forest?!” She asked loudly; as she ran closer, her gender should be more obvious now (if her obviously girly voice hadn’t given it away first.
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Post by Kage on Dec 14, 2012 18:16:20 GMT -5
"Hm?" Kage froze. She turned her head, looking sideways as Tsuru hurried towards her. Her red eyes widened with slight surprise, as she realized the hunter had in fact been a woman. "Uhm. You're lost?" She asked, shifting on her feet uncomfortably. She glanced around, slipping her hands into the sleeves of her kimono. It wasn't that Kage didn't necessarily want to help this girl; but it was definitely something else to be approached so easily.
The drops of sunlight seeping through the canopy of trees illuminated the strands of gold and maroon in the yōkai's long, black mess of hair. She brushed her hair behind her ghastly white ear before finally nodding. "All right, where are you trying to go?" Kage asked gently.
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Post by tsuru on Dec 17, 2012 16:49:18 GMT -5
Her hair is so pretty! Tsuru thought to herself. The girl pulled herself out of her day dream and smiled. “I want to get out of this forest, I have a hunting party of 5 and they are probably very worried. If you lead me out I’ll repay you, deal?” Tsuru said, holding out her hand for a handshake. The young woman looked at the black clad woman before her and made a guess on what she was; a forest spirit? A demon? Tsuru did not care as long she was back with the others.
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Post by Kage on Dec 19, 2012 17:05:51 GMT -5
"Oh." Kage murmured slowly. She stared at the woman for a moment, before nodding. "There is no need to repay me." She shrugged with a small smile. "I was on my way out of the forest anyways." The yokai added slowly. Her blood red eyes stared at the hand extended. She didn't understand, perhaps it was something humans did. Kage swiftly bowed low, before straightening.
"How did you lose your hunting party?" She asked gently, glancing back at Tsuru and her horse. Her red eyes fell upon the dead stag. "And were you intending to take that with you?" Kage's eyes flicked back upon the woman.[/size]
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Post by tsuru on Dec 20, 2012 17:24:05 GMT -5
Tsuru felt a bit stupid when the woman before had not returned handshake; she slowly put her hand back down. Instead, the young woman bowed back. “I rode my steed too fast to catch the game; I guess my party couldn’t keep up.” Tsuru said with a chuckle but stopped when the red eyed woman flickered her eyes at her; Tsuru took it as anger. Maybe the woman before her was a forest spirit? She gulped. “Yes I do intend to take the stag with me; it would be waste of life to leave it as it is. Also I have given it a swift death; he didn’t suffer.” Tsuru said nervously.
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Post by Kage on Dec 20, 2012 18:42:53 GMT -5
"I see." Kage said slowly, smiling gently. "Well, we'd better tie your kill to your horse, if you don't mind walking that is." The necromancer glanced back at the dead stag thoughtfully. It wasn't exactly like she had some rope laying around though. "Though, I'm not sure how we could do that, unless you came prepared." She laughed softly, before moving towards Tsuru's horse.
Kage gently stroked the horse's neck, her ghastly white hand, running up to the steed's saddle. "If you have some rope, we could tie the stag to your horse's saddle." She said, sidling up next to the dead stag on the ground. She knelt down, examining the large beast.
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Post by tsuru on Dec 20, 2012 19:47:49 GMT -5
“Ah! I have already tied it to my steed! Tiresome work, alas I am only a weak woman” Tsuru gestured to the stag that was securely fastened to the back of the horse with ropes. She was proud of her handle work and had no doubt that she and her host family were going to eat to their fills. Tsuru looked at the woman as she looked gently at her steed. “Beautiful isn’t he? His name is Kurokaze (Black Wind); he was a gift from my father, though I had to break him on my own haha! It took awhile but now I cannot imagine riding or hunting without him.” The young woman said with a proud gleam in her eye and smiled. “You can ride him if you want, I’ll hold onto the reins while you lead!”
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Post by Kage on Dec 20, 2012 20:20:26 GMT -5
Kage straightened and turned to face Tsuru as she spoke so fondly of her horse. "Hm? Ride?" She glanced sideways at the horse. "Oh no. I'm sure your horse will have enough with dragging this stag through the woods." She replied gently, before shifting her haversack on her shoulder. "Perhaps we should get going, so your hunting party doesn't go looking for you."
Kage started walking, leading the woman, her steed and catch through the woods. The yokai was quiet as she walked, seeming to be focused on nothing in particular. She didn't stop to gather as they walked, despite catching sight of some mushrooms that certainly would have been handy for alchemy. Finally, after an hour, the woods seemed to thin out somewhat. "We're getting close to the edge of the forest, the road should be nearby." Kage said, glancing back at Tsuru.
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Post by tsuru on Dec 20, 2012 21:09:10 GMT -5
“You sure? Hm okay but I am sure Kurokaze wouldn’t mind.” Tsuru said with a smile. The woman did not talk much; she didn’t seem that talkative so Tsuru kept to herself humming a tune while they walked through the forest; Tsuru did not want to give away that she was from the Imperial court; demon or not. “Oh thank goodness!” Tsuru exclaimed as the black clad woman told her the road was near; the road should lead to the village (and beyond that, the manor she was staying in). She smiled ear to ear and was so glad that she did not need to stay the night in the wilderness. “Oh thank you so much! Here please take this!” Tsuru reached within her robe and took out a silver hair pin with a carved bird made out of Ivory with silver accents. It was something she bought on a whim but had no occasion to wear it at all; Tsuru thought it would be more useful to someone else. “This could set you up for a few months so please take it as a token of my gratitude! And please don’t say no.”The young woman said with a smile (complete with sparkling eyes.
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Post by Kage on Dec 24, 2012 17:17:24 GMT -5
"Well, we aren't out of the forest yet." Kage said gently, with a small smile. She couldn't help but be a little bewildered by the woman. She seemed incredibly strange. Not that the yokai minded so much - after all Tsuru didn't seem all that bothered by Kage's dark aura and semblance. It was a refreshing change of pace, that was for sure.
Kage glanced sideways at the woman and the silver hair pin. "Uhh." The woman hesitated. It was very kind, but Kage had been leaving the forest anyways so it wasn't like it was trouble to walk with some company. She shifted her haversack on her shoulder carefully. "I graciously must decline." Kage answered finally. She smiled awkwardly. "I was leaving the forest anyways, it wasn't any trouble to walk with someone." She shrugged as they continued towards the road.
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Post by tsuru on Dec 25, 2012 21:40:09 GMT -5
“Oh okay. If you insist…” Tsuru said with a slight pouted face with puppy eyes. Usually this method worked with her family but she had a feeling that this wouldn't work with this woman. Tsuru knew how infuriated people can become when pestered and pushed. She sighed and put the pin back into her robes. Tsuru side glanced at her walking companion and wondered if the woman lived alone. “So do you have family? Mine is so huge! Parents, grandparents, cousins, in laws and 7 sisters! 7 sisters, can you imagine?! It’s ridiculous! It’s annoying when several are prettier than you but its maddening when everyone compares you to them even though you are the eldest!” Tsuru started talking energetically to lighten the mood. She had no idea if the stranger would be interested in listening to her but it was better than silence. “I have no brothers so my father has to rely on mine and my sisters marriages.” She said with a sigh.
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Post by Kage on Dec 26, 2012 16:21:37 GMT -5
Kage stared at the woman, bemused by her strange expression. She didn't pay it much mind however, and looked straight forward as they walked. The woods had thinned out greatly and it wasn't much longer until they would find the road. The woman was talking again, she seemed pretty energetic. Kage glanced sideways at Tsuru as she talked. "Family? No. They have all passed." She answered slowly with a smile.
"I'm sure it's nice to have so many siblings though. I don't have any siblings." Kage added. "Marriage can't be all that bad, you'll have someone to care for you, and be with you. You won't be alone."
(Not sure where you wanna go with this. xD)
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