displaced [open]

[SEIMEI]

[bg=fbda82][atrb=width,450,true][atrb=style, border-left: 12px solid #c16565; border-right: 12px solid #c16565, bTable][atrb=width,20%][atrb=vAlign,top][atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=cellPadding,0,true] save your breath it's far from over words : 624 • tagged: open • notes: n/a This was rather…irritating. There really was no proper word to describe the niggling annoyance he’d found in being sidelined to patrol detail – not to say that there was a great deal else to do but certainly walking around wasn’t going to provide for much stimulation. Alright, it wasn’t so much the assignment that was bothering Sei, it was more what had come after that was grating on his ever loving nerves. It was no small feat to get lost in one’s own territory, an achievement that no red Blade would allow him to forget if they were to find out he had misplaced himself in what should be his own backyard. Dear Gods on High he would die of humiliation if they had to send out a search party to retrieve him. He’d been walking for hours, breaking only long enough to drink from his now empty canteen before he was back to decrypting the road he had fallen upon. If he wasn’t so afraid of the relentless teasing he’d get back at camp the man might have realized that he’d past that small memorial site for the third time in the last two hours. Assuming that he could even see the few feet ahead of him considering daylight was a long forgotten memory and the looming canopy wasn’t anymore relenting to moonlight than to sun. Moving blindly, in and of itself, was a bad idea. Any smart man would have bunked down for the night in some niche of relative safety – or at least made a torch to go by. Sadly his good judgment stopped at swiping a parcel of dried meats and dates before he left camp. Hunger, at the very least, wouldn’t do him in. “Is there a color darker than black?” he groused vehemently, eyeballing his location with mounting frustration. He was lucky if he could see the low hanging branches in front of his face never mind roots, stones, or the occasional bush. He wasn’t too badly scraped up, it was more dirt than injury but the largest wound was on his pride for having managed to misplace what should be impossible: himself. He’d walked these trails for the better half of his pre-adult life! It was the work of demons! That had to be it! As the brunette was busy cussing, presumably at the devils tricking his senses, he lifted himself up the small foothill and only barely recognized where he had ended up. It wasn’t camp but it was a familiar enough landmark for him to deduce that he’d been going in the wrong direction for the better portion of his patrol. “Bet it’s some damned tanuki…” he grunted, climbing the last few feet up the hill to look down on the ruined scene where Yanwo’s monarch had risen and fallen. He wouldn’t go down there, ever since his first trip to the area the place had creeped him out and it was only his own stubbornness that had gotten him as close to it as he had. He was a good seven miles or more from camp, getting back sooner rather than later wouldn’t spare him the questions he was sure to face. If one thought of it that way there really was no reason to rush back anymore. A few more hours weren’t going to make any more of a difference in what he’d hear from the senior officers. With his mind firmly wrapped around that small piece of comfort, Sei unhooked his spears from his back and laid then down on the scraggly grass before seating himself and dragging out his pack. He’d have a late dinner, a rest and then would be back to stumbling through the darkness in no time at all.

template by vertigo baby

[YORI]

[atrb=width, 450px, true][atrb=style, background-color: e5e5e5; border-left: 10px solid #BBBFBB; border-right: 10px solid #BBBFBB; padding: 10px; margin-top: 10px;, btable][atrb=border,0,true][atrb=valign,top] he kind of felt sorry for the poor jackass. while yori was hardly the 'sympathetic type', he had to admit that watching some idiot walk in circles for hours was as sad as it was completely and utterly hilarious. he'd probably tell this story later, maybe adding in some amusing voices, and it would kill with most of the local spirits. but really, right now he was genuinely considering helping the guy out. considering being the operative word. he was quite comfortable in his hollow - it was lined with moss and down and everything, and he'd taken a great deal of pleasure at knowing somebody was going to be really pissed to realise he'd been sleeping there for much of the evening. did he want to get up just to yap and bark at someone who was dumb enough to get lost round here? the yapping particularly. ugh, so demeaning. sometimes he wished that humans were the sort that wouldn't flip out if he just spoke civilly to them in the first place. there had been one traveller maybe eight, nine days ago with the smell of salted pork wafting from his satchel, and when yori had grown impatient enough to actually say 'please, just a corner' in the man's mind he'd had to dodge all manner of rocks and a shoe and the man's compass. rude. needless to say he was going to be a little more careful for the next while, but catching mice was hardly the way for a spirit to live. he dragged himself up, shaking the stray bits of moss from his fur and trotting after the man. might as well - it smelled like rain, and he could pop into the better-preserved parts of the ruins to find a dry place to spend the night. he'd wandered too far from the shrine to make it back before the weather changed, and if there was something he hated about being short it was wading through the damn mud round here. wait - he was sitting down. with a faint sniff of frustration yori paused, before realising that the man was starting to dig through his pack. aha! ever the opportunist, the little spirit briefly shook again and then barked once, trotting around into the man's peripheral vision and then plonking himself down on his hind legs, large eyes bright with curiosity and curled tail wagging slowly. every bit of body language said 'inquisitive', and he didn't particularly bother hiding how badly he wanted to know what food the man had with him. or maybe just 'cute' wouldn't cut it. men weren't as charitable, usually, nor were they ever quite perceptive enough to notice why he was bugging them. stepping forward - slowly, he could see those spears, smell the faint burnt scent of a whet blade - yori snuffled around the base of the man's pack, tail still eagerly swishing over his back.

[SEIMEI]

[bg=fbda82][atrb=width,450,true][atrb=style, border-left: 12px solid #c16565; border-right: 12px solid #c16565, bTable][atrb=width,20%][atrb=vAlign,top][atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=cellPadding,0,true] save your breath it's far from over words : 364 • tagged: that mutt • notes: n/a He was a little surprised, there was more left than he would have suspected. That or he’d taken double his share and someone was going to miss out. A shrug conveyed it finely enough that the man-child didn’t care, for the moment anyway. He wouldn’t deny it if someone happened to make the inquisition but there wouldn’t be a whole lot they could do short of cutting him open and Seimei certainly wasn’t going to put off eating these rare indulgences any longer if he didn’t have to. Rice turned out to be a poor substitute for other staples, even less for comfort food. With deft hands he was unraveling his paper-bound meal, nearly dropping the lot of it into the dirt when that bark sounded in front of him. The warrior made a face like a child caught stealing from the market carts. Somehow one hand grasped a spear as he saw the white form sneaking into his line of sight and planting himself where he could be seen and obviously acknowledged. Sitting there like we’re friends or sumthin, he griped but damn if he didn’t have a soft spot for hairballs of every variety. At home he’d had at least three of them curly-tailed mongrels, slept, ate and caught fleas with them. His mother had a fit whenever he snuck them into his room, threatening to throw the lot of them into a barn. He’d actually been rather keen on the idea. “Smelled sumthin good and came running didn’tcha?” he quipped drolly, taking his hand off his spear to scrub between the mutts ears in a show of rough affection. It didn’t matter that the dog didn’t have the temperament of a stray, was well-kept and didn’t look like he was anything but somebody else’s pet, Sei was just happy for the company. One that wouldn’t judge him for being lost in what should be well known territory. “Tch, with my luck you’re gonna eat and retreat right?” he murmured, selecting a piece of the dried meats and offering it up to the animal without further reservation. “Or maybe you’re like me and got lost? Ya don’t look like a stray.”

template by vertigo baby

[YORI]

[atrb=width, 450px, true][atrb=style, background-color: e5e5e5; border-left: 10px solid #BBBFBB; border-right: 10px solid #BBBFBB; padding: 10px; margin-top: 10px;, btable][atrb=border,0,true][atrb=valign,top] he didn't like how quick the guy was in reaching for the weapon - the actual act he'd semi-expected, but the movement was too smooth, practiced. if he was lucky the guy was from the blades. he didn't have the aura of a seasoned spirit hunter, the mantle of stagnant energy, but maybe the guy was just new. he couldn't be sure. what did please yori was the hand between his ears, and he pressed his head into it a little. okay, some would call it demeaning, but being petted was pretty damn good in his books and mortals who offered it freely were okay in his book. usually not the sort that would decide they fancied spitted dog for dinner. at 'eat and retreat' he visibly paused, even as the little spirit mulled it over. eh, maybe? this guy didn't seem too bad, and he could maybe use the company. not that he was lonely or anything - psh - but it was nice sometimes to meet a stranger. nice strangers, not the shoe-throwing kind. sniffing the meat briefly and then taking it neatly with his teeth, he plopped himself down on the ground to begin chewing off a piece. not bad, even if it wasn't up to the standard of most human food. okay, yes, he wasn't about to lie, he did eat the shrine offerings - but that was what they were meant for, right? "pfft, we don't get lost. speak for yo-" ... wait. "-urself." telepathic incontinence, at the best of times! immediately he was on his feet - with the meat in his mouth, he wasn't about to leave it - and ran a few steps towards the edge of the clearing, turning to face the man hopefully out of the reach of that spear. a long pause. "if you don't mention that," he projected, in the rich warm voice that didn't at all fit the cute-little-dog appearance of the inugami, "neither will i." ... he'd probably blown his chance of getting any more food, hadn't he?

[SEIMEI]

[bg=fbda82][atrb=width,450,true][atrb=style, border-left: 12px solid #c16565; border-right: 12px solid #c16565, bTable][atrb=width,20%][atrb=vAlign,top][atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=cellPadding,0,true] save your breath it's far from over words : i dunno • tagged: the talking mutt • notes: n/a A quick sniff and the meat left his hands to be nibbled on, with more etiquette he’d ever seen from a mutt too. It made him a little self-conscious about how he ate. It wouldn’t kill him to chew his food really but all that extra work had seemed rather pointless if it all came out the same way in the end. In hindsight the man-child did pace himself as he brought a strip of pork to his mouth and ate with more decorum than he was used to, however he still shoved a sugar-coated date alongside it so it hardly counted. Turns out his squirrel impression had a few hazards – although, one rarely had to count back-sassing dogs as reasons to choke. The mutt of almost seemed as surprised as the human who had a second voice working through his head like some misguide conscience, hopping up and away with the meat still in mouth. Priorities. Seimei’s face was achieving a shade of red as dark as his clothing while he thumped at his chest and violently expelled the fruit that had gone and lodged itself in his windpipe. Of course, the mouthful of meat came with it all amounting to a dark, mushy mass that the shadows thankfully covered. “YOU TALK!!” Sei was about as eloquent as a four-year old. But who could blame him? It wasn’t like dogs swung by all the time just to say ‘hey’. He was entitled to his reaction. Again his hand was on his spear without any conscious thought as he stared into the bright, mirthful eyes of the canine that had put himself well out of his reach. He’d dropped his food though. Damn it. “A-are you… a demon? A vengeful spirit hauntin’ these ruins here to lead my astray?” he questioned skittishly. He didn’t know why he was still conversing with it. Not that he was the ‘strike first ask later’ guy but this went well beyond protocol and slaying an evil spirit was certainly better than having it mislead him. “Y-you are, aren’t you? Were you the one who kept changin’ the paths in me!” it was more accusation than question but it was better to be angry than to be fearful.

template by vertigo baby

[YORI]

[atrb=width, 450px, true][atrb=style, background-color: e5e5e5; border-left: 10px solid #BBBFBB; border-right: 10px solid #BBBFBB; padding: 10px; margin-top: 10px;, btable][atrb=border,0,true][atrb=valign,top] ... was this guy seriously getting self-conscious about his table manners? it amused him a little - okay, a lot - but the situation was - well, it was kind of nice. sharing with a human, sitting in the twilight, nice dry sleeping place nearby. it was good, one of the days that wasn't the usual impossibly boring spirit lifestyle. springing back at the loud hacking, he was genuinely a little concerned for a moment - oh shit, did this make him a murderer, killing a man with a preserved date - but no, there it was. the lump of semi-chewed food landed not too far away, and despite himself yori couldn't stop looking from it to the man slowly. "... really? you people are so disgusting sometimes." well, now the ruse was up, he guessed, why not. "maybe a little?" seriously though, now he was less worried about himself and more worried that the young man was going to keel over in apoplexy. "whoa whoa whoa let's put the weapons down here, you're already five times my size we do not need those okay." he was trying to be reassuring, but the faintly nervous tone in the mental voice probably didn't help that much. a brief chuckle, despite the vague roll of the dog's brown eyes. "do i look like a demon? spirit, i guess, but nah. i live a little way out, uhh..." he paused, turning his head in the direction of the shrine. "that way. west? never mind. but vengeful, ahaha. no." he backed up a little - that spear was pretty long - and slowly lowered his hindquarters to sit. "sorry, that's just your own really bad sense of direction. i was kinda sleeping along the road and you passed me something like three times." he paused, a faint crease appearing between his eyes, something quite like a canine frown. "you're red blades, right? i initially came up thinking i could get you back on the right path or something, the weather smells like change."