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Post by The Sidhe on Jan 13, 2013 21:02:11 GMT -5
Five under her care were dead. They had come to her in confidence, in their time of need, and she had failed them all. Tuuli felt as though she were the worst therapist in Finland and possibly the world. If she couldn’t help her patients, then what was the point? The blonde had contemplated not bothering with the trek through the snow to her office overlooking the lake, but didn’t have much choice in the matter. The small building was where she had told Shibusen to send its students to meet up with her, and so Tuuli had reluctantly dragged herself from the warmth of her bed and gone through the motions of getting ready. She put on an extra coat and donned her heavier snow boots just before leaving. There had been a snow storm last night. She hoped the roads weren’t too iced over to get to Inari, then again this late in the season the students would likely be brought in by ATVs that could handle the slush and tightly packed snow. Tuuli adjusted her glasses and made sure her earmuffs were secure before venturing out into the cold. On the plus side it wasn’t windy. Still, the moment she left the house, she quickly stuffed her gloved hands into her coat pockets, hunched her shoulders, and kept her head down. The cold still seeped in just enough to let her know it was there, waiting to nip at any exposed skin. She’d only just set out and already her nose and lips felt the numbing chill of winter. Inari was covered in no less than three feet of snow. The roads had only small dents in them to show where ATVs and cars with four wheel drive had been earlier in the morning, pushing blackened ice aside to freeze to the curbs. The shop owners were all out in force with their shovels, trying their best to clear paths along the deeply covered sidewalks and laying down salt in hopes it would cause fewer of their customers to slip and fall on the stray patches of ice. There were trees in every direction. The roads were wide and the buildings left large gaps of white between them, and so it was easy to see the surrounding forests of tall, snow covered trees. A few bears had wandered near the town a few weeks ago, but hunters had dispatched of them fairly easily. The town had other things to worry about now, though. Tuuli tried to ignore the dirty looks and harshly whispered words as she passed by her friends and neighbors on the way to the building where she ran her small business. She knew they all thought it was her fault, but how could it possibly be? She was no animal, and an animal was very clearly what was responsible for at least the most recent death, right? Tuuli couldn’t help but wonder, though. How could a bear or a wild cat made such a clean kill? Even more so, there was no way an animal would have the sense to toss its kills into the ice to hide the evidence, nor would it have left so much flesh upon the corpses. Maybe it wasn’t an animal. Maybe they were all trying to fool themselves so they would be less afraid. Pushing her glasses further up the bridge of her nose, the therapist’s deep blue eyes lingered a moment on the waters of the lake as she passed it, or rather the ice atop them. The family members of the deceased had filled in all of the holes that had been haphazardly drilled into the ice. Some of it was for superstition; most of it was because looking out at the holes only brought them more pain. Tuuli’s office had been uncharacteristically occupied and her phone had been ringing off the hook. She was no grief counselor, but she did her best to console the family members of the dead. She was a therapist, and she loved her job, but it was all getting awfully stressful due to the recent suicides, or at least what everyone had thought were suicides. The worst by far, though, was that the symptoms of those who had drowned in the frigid waters of the lake were now reappearing. A neighbor of hers was now calling her repeatedly with frantic words about how she too was hallucinating now. As Tuuli reached her office and unlocked the door to quickly hurry inside, she wondered whether it would be a good idea to call her in to speak with the students as well. At the very least she would mention it, she decided. Now safely inside and away from the cold, Tuuli removed her heavier coat and hung it up along with her earmuffs and hat. She threw her gloves on her desk and wandered to the hot plate she had set up in the corner next to the sink. She removed a kettle from the little cabinets and filled it with water before putting it on to boil. Anything that would chase away the cold and calm her nerves a bit would be helpful. She would need her mind in the right place if she was to be of any help. Her mother always used to say that a watched pot would never boil, so the blonde shifted her gaze to the window and the frozen lake beyond it. It was usually a calming sight to her, in fact that was why she'd chosen the little building so near to its shores. However looking at it now put her slightly ill at ease. All she could think of were her patients, distraught by what had been haunting them, wandering out onto the ice and drilling their way into the water to end their suffering. Maybe they'd thought it up sitting on the fainting couch. Maybe they'd thought it up right where she was standing during one of their sessions, thought that the lake would be the best way to go. Tuuli closed her eyes and rubbed her upper arms with her hands, heaving a sigh. She hoped the students could fix this. She couldn't take much more of the guilt.
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Misaki Saito
Meister
Spear Technician
Tiny Japanese Girl
Posts: 124
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Post by Misaki Saito on Jan 13, 2013 22:04:02 GMT -5
It was fucking freezing. Misaki had seriously underestimated how cold it would be in Finland and the tiny Japanese girl was kicking herself for it. She hadn’t worn nearly enough layers. She’d spent half of her life in Kyoto and the other smaller portion of it in Seattle and then Death City. None of those places got particularly cold, especially not when compared to the apparent ice hell that Finland seemed to be. There was no reason for anywhere to be this cold. Misaki only prayed she wouldn’t slip and fall on any ice. The last thing she needed was to make a fool of herself. The trip to Inari hadn’t been nearly as bad as compared to its current weather. Sure, she and Dion had needed to wake up at pretty much dawn to go to the airport so they could arrive in the proper time zone when it was actually daylight. Misaki didn’t remember much of the flight considering she’d slept through most of it. She’d tried to stay awake but as soon as they were up in the air the tiny Japanese girl had soon found herself dead to the world, her head resting on Dion’s shoulder. Thankfully the airport they’d landed at was fairly near Inari and they’d been met by a few rather burly looking lumberjack types on ATVs that drove them to the city center. Misaki had partly wished they’d let her drive, but then again maybe that wasn’t the best idea. Trudging through the snow alongside her Weapon, Misaki rooted through her coat pockets for the slip of paper she’d brought along with a rather hastily drawn map of the place. It would be a lot easier to find if she could feel her fucking hands! Even with gloves, her fingers felt totally frozen! Eventually hearing the distinct crinkle of paper, the tiny Japanese girl withdrew her version of the town map she’d copied from an actual map before leaving and looked it over, teeth chattering as the cold tried to bury itself into her bones, “Okay so this therapist chick’s office supposedly looks out over the lake so I guess we should head over in that direction. God I hope she has a space heater or something, I think I’m turning into a snowman.”She may have been acting a bit overdramatic but the cold had numbed her sense of toning down any attitude that threatened to rise up. Misaki hated cold, and she hated snow even more. Hence why Seattle was so great. Temperate climate with little chance of any white stuff falling from the sky and ruining her day. Still, she was just going to have to deal with it for now in Inari for the sake of the mission. Maybe she’d get lucky and not wind up losing a foot to frost bite. With how spread out all the buildings seemed to be, it was fairly easy to spot the giant expanse of frozen water looming in the distance. Misaki headed off towards it, stumbling over a stray snow drift on the way and kicking her way out of it. Damned snow! The stuff was up to her knees, this was ridiculous! Misaki half expected to see Santa Claus drive by in a sleigh. Huffing, she grimaced and kept walking until they were at the end of the road, the tracks of vehicles halting completely and giving way to untouched snow from their feet to the frozen lake. Misaki looked down at the fail map and then glanced around before nodded to their left, “That’s it, that little building right there.”Shoving the map back in her pocket, Misaki crossed her arms and hunched her shoulders. She could barely keep a thought train going without having it end abruptly in fuck, it’s cold! She could see a blonde woman inside looking out the window and assumed that was who they were meeting. Once they were both nearly to the door, Misaki looked up at Dion, “Alright, here’s what I have in mind: we knock and the second she opens the door, I use Soul Perception on her. If she’s clear, I’ll hop three times once we’re inside, it’ll just look like I’m getting the snow off my boots. If she’s the thing we’re after, I’ll hop once. Sound good?”Misaki finished her plan of action as the two reached the door of the therapists small office. The tiny Japanese girl liked to think that their contact would just be some nice young woman from a small town and not some crazed, scalpel wielding psycho, but it really was better not to take chances.
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Post by Dion Key on Jan 14, 2013 20:47:10 GMT -5
When the mission had called for cold and snow Dion hadn’t been worried, he was used to that. It got pretty cold and snowed plenty back in New York so how bad could Finland be? He quickly found out that he was wrong in his assumptions as soon as they arrived. He had luckily prepared to an extent for the weather but it wasn’t doing as well at it could be considering the cold seeping in. Even going so far as to wear more boot like footwear and not having his pants billow out at the feet. It was odd but it was at least keeping him marginally warmer than he would be otherwise.
Getting up early was a pain but it was tolerable. This was their second mission so his excitement at getting his second kishn egg soul was more important than worrying about sleep. Plus he could always just sleep on the plane ride to the location, which he did. No use trying to stay awake on a plane when you had to get up that early. Being high up in the air was nice and all but not ideal that early in the morning. Resting until they landed helped pass the time as well as help him have some decent rest before the mission started.
Upon arrival they met with some guys on ATV’s who were supposed to take them closer to the mission point. It couldn’t be as bad as riding on Misaki’s Vespa so there was no problem there. Except for the blast of cold, that was a bitch. Keeping his hood up and trying to hide his face as best he could Dion held out through the ride. His hair doing nothing in the way of helping to protect his face from the blizzard winds they were going through.
Walking through the snow was a pain but a familiar pain. Trudging through frozen wastelands was just a thing one got used to when living in New York so he wasn’t having that much difficulty. Try not to slip on any ice and don’t be surprised when the ground suddenly opens up ten feet under one foot for no fucking reason. Yep, the basics he was used to when traversing snow. Keeping his head down and his hands locked in his pockets and sleeves Dion managed to tolerate the walking they had to do so far.
Hearing Misaki say something about the office they were heading to Dion nodded before speaking. ”Sounds good to me.” Not wanting to speak for too long and have his mouth frozen over by the cold Dion made sure to speak down while hoping the air wouldn’t freeze his mouth closed on contact. He did hope Misaki was right though and that there was some sort of heater in this office. There had to be though, no way did people go to a place without a heater in this cold as fuck area. That was at least a little reassuring to think about how they were approaching a place with heat.
Noticing the lake along with his meister Dion followed her in the direction toward it. It was surprising that it wasn’t just solid ice by now. Or was it? Then why call it a lake when it was just a solid chunk of ice? Dion gave up trying to figure it out and just went with it for the time. Whatever the reason was of little importance to the mission. Unless the kishin was the so called lake itself than he didn’t need to worry about it. However the idea of an entire lake being a kishin was pretty bad ass. Dion almost wanted that to happen now.
On the bright side it did seem like their contact was already inside and waiting for them to arrive. At least they wouldn’t have to wait for them, especially not waiting outside for someone to show up. As they grew closer he noticed Misaki look up at him and turned his gaze to his meister. She had a plan for how to approach this so they didn’t have a repeat of last time. Wonderful! The last thing he wanted was some crazy plot twist that fucked them over again. He nodded as she finished explaining her plan.
”Alright. If she is the kishin I’ll transform at the best opportunity or just move closer to her so it will be easier to get her with a surprise attack.”
Everything seemed in order and the plan was set. Dion didn’t particularly care either way if she was the kishin or not. True it would be easier if she was and that would save them some travel but if not oh well. Either way the second priority after finding out was just to get some amount of fucking heat.
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Post by The Sidhe on Jan 14, 2013 22:04:35 GMT -5
Despite having been staring blankly out the window, Tuuli hadn’t noticed the students meandering towards her office. Her thoughts were elsewhere, keeping the darker subjects of town conversation company as they weighed upon her mind. Noise was what brought the therapist out of her stupor. The kettle was boiling and someone was at her door judging by the quick knocking. It must be the students. She didn’t have any appointments this early in the morning. Tuuli turned off the hot plate and set the kettle aside before hurrying over to the door. She quickly opened it, bracing herself against the rush pf cold air that invaded the space as best she could. Hunching her shoulders, she threw a smile at the two teens, melancholy thought it was,
“Ah, huomenta! Good morning, you must be the students!”
Misaki's Soul Perception would find no reason to raise the alarm. Tuuli's soul was not the corrupted one they were looking for, appearing as a mere pink orb, albeit looking a bit worried perhaps. Not wanting to keep them out in the bitter cold, Tuuli stepped to the side and held the door open for them,
“I am Tuuli Hakala. Please, come in and warm yourselves up. I’m afraid we’ve had a couple of bad snow storms so it’s a bit chillier than usual.”
Once the two were inside, Tuuli quickly closed the door. Crossing her arms, she herself tried to rid herself of the shivers that had taken hold even for just that brief moment that the cold had been allowed in. Still, the room itself was well insulated and cozy. She hoped the journey hadn’t been too terrible for them in the snow, although she couldn’t be sure and didn’t plan to ask. There were other matters at hand to be discussed. However she would still play hostess and at least try to help the poor things warm up. Rubbing the cold from her hands, Tuuli wandered to the kettle,
“I’ve just boiled some water, would you two like some hot chocolate to help you warm up?”
Tuuli usually kept only coffee in her office, but given recent events hot chocolate was far more comforting. Besides, it wasn’t like she needed the extra caffeine. She had enough trouble sleeping as it was with current events circling around and around in her head, insisting that she could have done more for her patients. She could have listened better, read their body language, asked them to keep journals, something that could help. She’d put that last one to use rather recently, though. She’d asked the latest walk in complaining of hallucinations to keep a journal of what she saw as well as where she was and when it was her hallucinations seemed to take place. Tuuli wasn’t sure that it would help, but it was an idea at least.
Rifling through the cabinet for mugs and a spoon, Tuuli glanced over her shoulder at the students,
“I’m sorry if I seem a bit discombobulated. Inari’s a quiet town, usually. We’re not immune to tragedy, of course, but nothing like this has ever happened before. I’ll be honest, I’m not sure how much I’ll be able to tell you in the way of information, then again I suppose doctor patient confidentiality no longer applies since…well…you know.”
Tuuli couldn’t make herself say ‘because they’re all dead’. She thought it but she couldn’t get the words out. Even worse that she was starting to ramble and that was always annoying. She would need to try and rein that in and stick to facts. Pausing to adjust her glasses, Tuuli supposed it might just be better to ask what exactly they hoped to hear,
“So, erm…where should I start? I mean I only got a glimpse of the bodies. I am one of the town’s only two doctors, but the other handled the corpses for the most part, thank goodness. I’m no good with dead things, I always start to cry.”
Rambling again. Tuuli shook her head to rid herself of any excess thoughts,
“But that’s beside the point, yes? I could tell you what I’ve seen of them. Or I could always start with my patients, or rather what they told me. There’s a few local superstitions swirling about but I think those are just coping mechanisms at best. I can’t blame them. We’re all so close together here…losing anyone is like losing a family member, really.”
Her voice grew a bit softer, a look of restrained sadness blurring her features. She wondered if perhaps after this if she should take a break from being a therapist for a while and perhaps seek out therapy for herself. She almost laughed at that. A therapist needing therapy? What was the world coming to?
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Misaki Saito
Meister
Spear Technician
Tiny Japanese Girl
Posts: 124
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Post by Misaki Saito on Jan 14, 2013 22:41:35 GMT -5
With her and Dion on the same page, Misaki reluctantly removed one of her hands from her coat pockets. Grimacing at the cold nipping at her fingertips even through the glove she wore, she nodded to her Weapon,
“Fucking hell it’s cold, let’s get this over with!”
Granted they’d probably need to deal with the cold regardless, but even a momentary reprieve into heat of any kind would be welcome in Misaki’s book. If they’re contact was a Kishin Egg again, so be it. They could just steal whatever heating device happened to be inside of the office after they killed her and cart it around with them. It was a ridiculous idea but one that worked perfectly in Misaki’s frozen brain. The tiny Japanese girl knocked three times and waited, already bouncing on her heels to try and keep warm, not that it helped very much. Were there icicles forming on her eyelashes? Thankfully the door opened soon enough, warmth rushing out to greet them briefly before it was systematically culled by the cold air surrounding them. The blonde seemed cheerful enough, but it could easily be a disguise.
Misaki closed her eyes and focused, masking the necessary movement as a grimace towards the old before opening her eyes again. Nope, no corruption there. While it would have made things a lot easier, at least she knew something that would probably help them out in finding where the Kishin Egg was. Misaki blinked to deactivate her Soul Perception and grinned, bowing her head slightly out of habit as the woman introduced herself,
“I’m Misaki Saito. I wish we were meeting under better circumstances.”
Moving quickly past Tuuli, Misaki let out a sigh of relief to be inside someplace warm and snow free. Oh wait, the hopping thing. As she’d planned, the tiny Japanese girl hopped three times to signal to Dion that the therapist was not who they were after and that this would be a far more pleasant contact to speak with than their last, giving him a grin and a wink for added measure. The hops successfully knocked the excess snow off of her boots and Misaki also took off her gloves if only to cup them over her mouth and breathe into them, trying to warm them up. Her fingers felt like icicles and were stiff from the cold. She hoped being inside for a bit would help, especially since she’d be twirling around a spear later. At the suggestion of hot chocolate, Misaki’s face lit up. She could have hugged Tuuli but restrained herself,
“Yes please, that sounds fantastic!”
Anything of the warm variety was helpful in Misaki’s opinion. Anything to chase the cold from her bones was more than welcome. Watching Tuuli rummage around for mugs and such, the tiny Japanese girl kept her hands over her mouth a moment longer to try and get them warm before rubbing them together and dropping them to her sides. Listening to the therapists words, Misaki did feel for her a little bit. It couldn’t be easy watching a bunch of your patients go from bad to dead. Well okay, she knew someone who was exempt from that, but she and Dion kind of killed that crazy scalpel happy nut job so he didn’t exactly count anymore.
Only two doctors and one was only a therapist? Misaki found that strange, but then again she was used to living in larger cities. Anywhere as small as where they were currently was completely alien to her. She was used to the sounds of traffic and buildings that were built a tad too close together, not snow drifts and bear attacks. Misaki did feel sorry for her, though. With how small their community seemed to be just from walking through it and from how she was speaking, the tiny Japanese girl could imagine that a bunch of unfortunate deaths hit everyone pretty hard. Misaki kept her face passive, saving the evil grins for when she and Dion were actually going after the son of a bitch,
“Why don’t you start from the beginning when this whole problem started and work your way forward from there? It’ll be easier to hear how everything was in the beginning with your first patient and see how things escalated from there. We’d be happy to hear anything you think might help us find and kill this thing.”
Misaki gave Tuuli the warmest smile she could manage with her face feeling as numb as could be from walking through a virtual ice apocalypse,
“We’re here to help.”
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Post by Dion Key on Jan 15, 2013 23:44:32 GMT -5
Dion couldn’t agree more with Misaki’s statement. The cold was annoying and the sooner they got this done with and returned to Death City the better. He never thought he would rather be in the desert that was Nevada instead of a place with snow but he was quickly rethinking this. At least there a simple hoodie and normal Tripp pants were tolerable even with the heat, here if he dressed normally he would be an icicle in no time. Not there was anything wrong with being a pointy stick shaped object but he preferred his to be more metallic in nature.
As his meister knocked Dion stood behind her and waited for whatever happened next. The woman opened the door and let them in without any problem but Yersinia didn’t give them any difficulty either. Introductions were exchanged but Dion was a tad hesitant while waiting for the signal. After Misaki gave her introduction Dion felt like he should do the same. Nodding slightly after his meister finished speaking.
”Dion Key, likewise”
Following his partner in Dion was glad to be in the warmth but still on edge. He was about to enter his partial form just in case when he noticed Misaki’s hopping. Three, so she wasn’t the kishin they were looking for. Well that was a bit of a relief but that did mean that they would have to go back out into the snow and cold again. Kicking his feet against each other to knock off snow Dion followed Misaki as she walked into the office. Removing his own gloves shook his hands to try to see how frozen his hands were. Luckily once they found the target he could transform into his weapon form and escape the worst of the cold for at least a little stretch of time.
”Yes please.”
Echoing his meister Dion was more than glad to have something warm. Granted he didn’t have the best track record for actually receiving beverages offered to him on missions. No he wasn’t still mildly bothered that he never got the hot chocolate in Australia. At least this was from all perspectives safer and more useful. Hopefully he wouldn’t go two for two as far as missing hot chocolates on missions went. It looked good enough since he wasn’t going two for two dead doctors so there was the positive side of things.
As Tuuli and Misaki seemed to have everything under control Dion simply stood with either rubbing his hands together or sticking them in his pockets. Moving his toes inside his shoes to try and get some of the feeling back into them as well. Considering the other doctor had been the one to deal with the bodies Dion hoped Tuuli knew at least a little of what they looked like. Knowing how they were being killed exactly would be helpful in facing the thing. After Misaki spoke he added his own commentary.
”If there is any superstition in particular that is close to what is happening it may be useful to know. A superstition seems like a thing a kishin would use to hide itself temporarily at least.”
The more they knew the better off the hunting portion would go. If the kishin was using some sort of local legend to hide itself that might give them a location or possible features of the kishin. It was pure speculation but anything was better than nothing. Surprises weren’t exactly something he was looking forward to a second time.
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Post by The Sidhe on Jan 16, 2013 1:02:07 GMT -5
Tuuli thought the two might be eager for something hot to drink, even if she’d started preparing the hot chocolate even before they had answered. Spooning a generous amount into each mug before pouring the water in after, the blonde took note of what each student said. Starting at the beginning would be easier since then she could follow the timeline in her mind of how things had gone from bad to horrendous in such a short while. Tuuli nodded slowly, thinking as she stirred up the hot chocolate. When she had a handle on her thoughts, she picked up two of the mugs and handed one off to Misaki and then the other to Dion, turning then to retrieve her own before leaning against her desk,
“Well, it all started out simply enough. The first, Alvar, came to me maybe two months ago. He said he was experiencing visual and auditory hallucinations. I thought it was very strange. No other family members of his had shown any sign of mental illness before. I thought maybe it was environmental, caused by stress or maybe chemical exposure.”
Tuuli gingerly sipped at her hot chocolate before shaking her head,
“Nothing made any sense. Talking about it seemed to comfort him for a while, but he very suddenly got worse about a week after he started seeing me. He claimed ‘it’ was getting closer, that it would stand at his window as he slept and follow him everywhere he went. He said ‘it’ whispered to him. I tried giving him medication but it only made him worse. He, erm...they pulled him from the lake just three days after that.”
Tuuli set her mug down on the desk, preferring to clasp her hands in her lap, staring at them as she continued,
“Next was Into. He complained of the same hallucinations as Alvar, only his were worse, more frequent. There wasn’t anything gradual about his case; he came to me in tears one morning right after I got in. I tried what I had done with Alvar, but medication did nothing. Talking helped him little. He died one week later.”
Again, the blonde paused. She didn’t need to think, she had everything she wanted to say in her head, it was just…difficult. She didn’t want to remember; remembering only reminded her of how she’d failed them. They’d come to her for help and she’d done nothing but seemingly make things worse. Sighing, Tuuli continued,
“The three that followed were much the same. Kai, Irma, and Marja all complained at hallucinations. They all came to me starting in varying stages of psychosis, even though that diagnosis doesn’t really fit what they were experiencing at all. Not diagnosis does, really, or at least not one that I’ve found. In every case, they all complained of the same thing.”
Tuuli finally looked up at Dion and Misaki,
“They told me that they were being followed by other versions of themselves. They said that something that looked exactly like them in every way was following around, whispering to them, watching them at all times. It would tell them to hurt themselves and those around them, to take them to the lake and drown them beneath the ice. It would steal their things and move around the furniture in their house. It would even speak to their friends and family, spreading rumors and saying terrible things. In terms of how it links in with local superstition though…”
The therapist picked up her mug and took another sip of hot chocolate,
“Kaksoisolentoon. A doppelganger is the creature they are saying is roaming through our town. I’m familiar with the fact that these things copy the likeness of their victims and are perceived as omens of bad luck or death, but the way my patients acted…”
A thought struck her, something that could be helpful. Potentially. Possibly. Tuuli supposed she wouldn’t know unless she tried. With a pensive expression on her face, the therapist set her mug down upon the desk again before standing and hurrying to her file cabinet,
“There is something I believe may help you find this thing. After medication seemed to fail and therapy alone didn’t go anywhere, I thought perhaps the issue was deeper than that, or at least back when I thought this was a psychological issue rather than a physical one. Let’s see now, not that one, not that one either-aha, here they are!”
Tuuli pulled a rather hefty looking folder from within the filing cabinet and beckoned the students over with a hand, setting it on the desk,
“I asked them all to draw what they were seeing. I’d hoped it may help me understand, but it only made me more confused and, well…a bit uneasy, to be honest. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
The blonde reluctantly opened the folder. She had no desire to look upon her patients drawings again, but it may help in some way. Inside were no less than twenty five drawings, all done by the victims at some point. Each was rather child-like save for two done by Irma who appeared to have had a bit more artistic talent than the others. For the most part, it did look like her. Long blonde hair, pale skin, simple clothes designed to protect against the harsh Finnish weather. However the disturbing part came with the eyes. The eyes were drawn over aggressively with black and then redone in silver. All the other drawings bore the same thing. What’s more, all of the mouths on the figures drawn were wide, gaping maws full of sharp teeth. Into had scribbled something being spoken by the thing, but it was in Finnish. Tuuli turned away from the drawings and pinched the bridge of her nose,
“If you need hints, look for silver eyes and sharp teeth if those are anything to go by. I’m not sure what else there is to tell other than that, and also to be careful. Please, please, be careful.”
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Misaki Saito
Meister
Spear Technician
Tiny Japanese Girl
Posts: 124
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Post by Misaki Saito on Jan 17, 2013 22:24:35 GMT -5
Dion’s comment about the whole superstition thing wasn’t something Misaki had actually considered. In her own mind, she liked to imagine that Kishin Eggs weren’t that smart, even if their own personal experience against certain crackpot doctors definitely proved otherwise. Still, it was something to think about. If there happened to be a local superstition that fit with its skill set, then she could see why it may take advantage and try to hide behind it. She only hoped it wasn’t anything too nasty if there was indeed a local myth that happened to convenient for bringing to life. The last thing they needed was to be chasing an ice giant or something, not that she and Dion wouldn’t beat it to a pulp regardless.
Misaki tried not to look quite as crazed about the hot chocolate as she actually was. The tiny Japanese girl had never been so happy to see the hot drink and sipped at her eagerly, burnt tongues be damned. Once they were outside it wasn’t like she’d feel it anyway. If her entire body was frozen solid by the end of this mission she’d be genuinely surprised. Giddy drinking noises aside, Misaki did tone it down enough to properly listen to Tuuli speak.
Seeing and hearing things? Well, Misaki could certainly understand wanting to seek help for that. Given that it was individual people that were experiencing these issues; she assumed that whatever was actually happening wasn’t visible to other people. That much was a given. Environmental? What, like it was so cold people were going stir crazy? Misaki could believe it. Any longer than a day or two in this sort of ice hell would have her climbing the walls for sure, figuratively at least. The literal climbing of walls was something she left to Dion.
Misaki sipped away at her hot chocolate, figuring she would save any questions until the end, like at assemblies or long lectures. She wanted to ask just what ‘it’ was that Tuuli was speaking of. Thankfully that did get answered. Well, that would certainly put her on edge, being followed by a body double. Hell, just standing side by side with Natsuki was weird sometimes, save for the obvious height difference, among other things. The fact that all of Tuuli’s patients seemed to become worse and worse at an accelerating rate, though, seemed to Misaki like this thing hit the ground running. Either that or it was just that hungry.
Okay, the whole stalking thing was just creepy. Was that really necessary? The killing and stealing of souls was expected, after all it was a Kishin Egg, but did it really have to terrify those poor people before it ended their lives? It must have been more intelligent then she’d initially given it credit for, though, especially if it had not only the sense but the balls to actually converse with the friends and loved ones of the victims in order to fuck up their lives even further. That took dedication. Maybe this would be more difficult than she’d originally thought. The fact that the townspeople considered it to be a doppelganger only made her narrow her eyes.
If this thing could act as it had been doing for all this time, it must have been able to copy people’s appearance exactly. If something was off, like if their appearance was mirrored or if their voices were somehow just a hair too high or too low, then it would have been exposed way earlier. Misaki sighed and stared into her now empty mug. This thing was going to be a bitch and a half to track, she just knew it.
Or maybe she was just being pessimistic. Tuuli appeared to have something that may help them find it. That was a plus! Misaki’s opinion of all doctor-like people being evil was going to lessen considerably at the rate the blonde was going. To have a nice contact was one thing, but to have one with a plethora of information that was actually useful was another entirely. Misaki wandered over and peered around the therapist’s shoulders to look at the drawings she spoke of. Her eyes narrowed as she looked each on over. Well, that was a pattern if she ever saw one. She wondered if only the victims saw this side of the supposed doppelganger, considering if anybody else in town saw anything similar to a silver eyed person with a gaping, toothy mouth they’d probably know more by now. Having looked over the drawings, Misaki looked to her Weapon if only to get her eyes off of the demented things. New objective: don’t get separated. The last thing she needed was the Kishin Egg copying her or Dion’s appearance and fucking with their minds.
Misaki set her empty mug beside Tuuli’s on the desk, donning her gloves with only one more question in mind,
“One last question before we get out of your hair: do you have any suggestions as to where we might start looking for this so-called doppelganger? Was there anywhere in particular your patients seemed to encounter it the most?”
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Post by Dion Key on Jan 19, 2013 22:06:43 GMT -5
Tuuli was certainly being a better contact than Yersinia from the start. She was getting them their drinks in general and quick so the cold wasn’t that problematic. Plus there was the fact that she wasn’t trying to kill them which was kind of a good thing. Taking the hot chocolate she offered Dion followed his meister and began to sip on it shortly after it was in his hands. He actually got his hot chocolate this time and it was made all the better by the frigid conditions that they were in. Content now that the beverage had been received Dion waited to hear what Tuuli had to tell them.
Listening to the explanation of what had happened Dion attempted to figure out what he could. Apparently the kishin had been active for at least two months around the area, assuming it originated here and hadn’t travelled from another location. In theory they could try to figure out who had transformed into the kishin egg but it was pretty much useless. It didn’t matter who the person was, they were now a monster whose soul would be taken for a better purpose. The purpose of making Dion even more awesome than he already was!
Hearing that hallucinations were one of the symptoms was interesting. Dion knew that hallucinations were one possible reaction to exposure to madness, something that could come with encountering a kishin. Listening and drinking his hot chocolate Dion sat silently as Tuuli explained how it was apparently hunting its prey. The stalking was a new feature as far as kishin hunting was concerned. Sure they didn’t have much experience and the last kishin they hunted wasn’t the best example but still. Yersinia may have gone after his patients but stalking seemed like something the ‘good doctor’ didn’t do.
As Tuuli continued on Dion was curious as to why this thing was going after these people. Was there some kind of connection besides seeing Tuuli? They only saw her after things started so she couldn’t be the link. He would have asked but it didn’t seem that relevant currently. It may have helped figure out why the kishin went after them but Dion could care less about the reasoning behind the attacks. The more he heard about this kishin the more it sounded like some bad ghost story. Following people and telling them to hurt themselves and others, along with the general annoyance of moving things on people. It seemed like one annoying fuck of a kishin, but possibly not the most combat oriented.
If the kishin was more animalistic in nature Dion would have expected just slaughtering of the populace but this thing was hunting. It was acting stealthy and fucking with its targets instead of straight murdering people. Hell, it might have convinced the people to kill themselves and not have touched them. That just made it all the more likely it was weak as far as combat went. Dion hoped this was the case, unless they had some fuckton of scalpels with them it might be an easy kill.
Cracksoltoon? Kaleidoscopetoon? Dion would stick with just calling it a kishin. Though it being an omen of bad luck or death just made it sound fucking awesome! Well not for the town people that were getting killed but for a kishin to fight it seemed pretty awesome. Drinking his hot chocolate as Tuuli went to get something Dion couldn’t wait to see this thing. After seeing the pictures it was only more tempting to find this. Silver eyes ad sharp teeth, that seemed pretty telltale enough for kishin identification. In any case the signs they were to look for was more than they had for fucking Yersinia.
With Tuuli done explaining Dion focused on his drink for the moment as Misaki seemed to state one thing that was on his mind. He didn’t need to ask if the people had anything in common if she had asked if there was a place to look for it. As long as they found the kishin it didn’t matter how they found it. He did have one other question to ask after Misaki had asked hers.
”Another thing that kinda ties in to that but do you know if anyone else is experiencing this? If it was in the process of stalking someone that would make it like ten times easier to try to find. ”
Done speaking Dion returned to his hot chocolate and waited for an answer.
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Post by The Sidhe on Jan 20, 2013 1:30:46 GMT -5
Tuuli opened her eyes a bit wider, blinking twice before sighing. Of course, why hadn’t she thought of that? Misaki and Dion were more inquisitive than she was, and she was thankful for that. Neither of those things had occurred to her to tell them until they’d asked. It could have been the guilt weighing on her mind of her patients having died, but then she’d never been one to have all her ducks in a row in the first place. Something was always off. Tuuli gathered her thoughts, making sure she had everything in mind this time before speaking. She answered Misaki first,
“In all honesty, I can’t be sure. For the most part, they told me frequently that it was always at their window while they slept, watching them all night long.”
Pausing, the blonde really could think of any other locations that the doppelganger seemed to enjoy following its victims to. All of her patients had different jobs which most of them had quit at least a few days prior to dying, not being able to focus on anything more than that they were being stalked. Into had been in the business of lumber and Alvar had owned a small shop near the lake that sold fishing supplies. Kai had been a trapper, Irma a nurse, and Marja a school teach-wait a minute. Tuuli pursed her lips and looked to the two students,
“It’s not a similarity but it’s definitely strange. Nobody heard about this until after they’d all passed, so it slipped my mind. Each of my patients held different occupations, but they’d all quit due to the stress of being followed. The strange thing is that their employers and coworkers all reported seeing them at work even after they’d quit regardless. Marja was even seen teaching the afternoon her body was pulled from the lake. She saw the children off to the bus stop herself not ten minutes before word spread that she was dead. When the other teachers went looking for her, though, she was gone.”
Tuuli sighed and closed her eyes for a moment. The thought of the vile thing that killed Marja parading around that close to the town’s next generation made her head spin. It was completely unnerving. She had no children of her own, but it was still unpleasant to think about. What if it decided it wanted a child next? Opening her eyes again and blinking rapidly away any worry that shown in them, she continued to answer Dion’s question next,
“As a matter of fact there is. Her name is Virva Jarvi, she called me a few days ago in a panic saying she’d seen someone who looked just like her watching her while she slept. I’m meeting with her today to tell you the truth, but not for several hours still. She runs the little café just down the street from here. If you wish to speak with her, that’s where you’ll find her. Tell her I sent you, I may make her feel more comfortable.”
If Misaki and Dion wished to know more from Virva, then they really would need to talk to her themselves. Tuuli wanted to help as best she could, but she wasn’t about to make of breach of doctor patient privilege. Virva didn’t want to let anyone in the town know for fear of making their friends and neighbors panic even more than they already were. If that was what she wanted, Tuuli had no choice but to hold her tongue, but she had confidence that Dion and Misaki would find the wretched thing before it killed yet another friend of hers.
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Misaki Saito
Meister
Spear Technician
Tiny Japanese Girl
Posts: 124
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Post by Misaki Saito on Jan 21, 2013 20:12:35 GMT -5
Dion’s question wasn’t something she’d thought. The tiny Japanese girl felt a bit stupid for not having thought of it, but that was what partners were for. Whatever one didn’t think of, the other likely would. He was right, too. If there happened to be a current patient of Tuuli’s that was experiencing hallucinations, then Misaki and Dion would be able to track it far easier. All they would have to do was stick to that person like glue and the thing would be sure to show up at some point.
Misaki grimaced at the answer to her own question though. She didn’t even want to think about being watched by some creepy double every night. If that wasn’t nightmare fuel, then the next snippet of information Tuuli bestowed unto them certainly qualified. The stalking was one thing, but this was just ten different kinds of creepy. It was almost like this thing was trying to literally become the person it hunted and then killed. She wondered vaguely if drowning wasn’t just the way it killed, but if it had been hoping that the ice would conceal the bodies so it could continue to parade around as its victims as if nothing was wrong. This was definitely strange.
What was worse, though, was Misaki’s next idea. What if it started going after children next? Killing people in general wasn’t okay in the slightest, but in her mind it took a special kind of cold-blooded monstrosity to kill a child. Thankfully no children seemed to be on the victim list, at least not that Tuuli mentioned. She and Dion would make sure it stayed that way. If anything else, this also proved that the Kishin Egg was one bold son of a bitch. If it had cut it that close to being found just before disappearing and ditching its disguise and moving along, then maybe it’d seek them out rather than try and hide. Oh, Misaki hoped so. That would not only save them time, but also just make fighting it that much more interesting.
Ah, so there was another patient of hers that was having hallucinations. Misaki would have thought it excellent had she not felt sorry for this Virva woman. It was excellent for her and Dion since it would make tracking the Kishin Egg easier. On the other hand, it also meant that her recent days had probably been a living hell for her, and Misaki sympathized with that. Hopefully they would be able to find this thing and kill it before it caused her anymore torment. She would not let this woman die, that was something she held as another focus. Don’t get separated from Dion, don’t let Virva die. These were her goals aside from the most obvious: kill the Kishin Egg. Misaki glanced at her Weapon,
“Looks like we’ve got our starting place for our hunt, then.”
It would be better to seek out Virva rather than just wait with Tuuli for hours on end for her to arrive. Besides, that would waste far too much time and possibly put her life more at risk than it already was. Stepping back a bit, Misaki bowed to Tuuli before giving her the best encouraging smile she could muster,
“Thank you very much for your help, Miss Hakala. You can rest assured that we’ll have this thing’s head on a pike, or rather a spear, before it causes any more harm.”
With that, Misaki turned on her heel and headed towards the door, pausing only to wait and make sure Dion was following her. With one hand in her coat pocket and the other on the doorknob, she mentally braced herself to venture back out into the cold that awaited them. This would be a million times easier if the threat of frostbite wasn’t looming over her head.
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Post by Dion Key on Jan 22, 2013 21:32:27 GMT -5
Things just kept getting more and more pleasant in regards to the kishin. It was going full stalker apparently and staying with the target all the time. What could be more comforting than having some creepy fucking abomination that looked just like you watching you sleep? Though creepy factor aside Dion couldn’t wait to find this thing. In the meantime he was more than content absorbing what heat he could from the hot chocolate. With any luck his body wouldn’t become an ice sculpture too quickly. Though maybe his weapon form would and he could be a demon giant icicle? No it was probably for the best that that didn’t happen.
Getting people to quit their jobs due to stress seemed like a very human motive for a kishin to have. Weren’t they all supposed to be all hungry for souls and whatnot? Granted Thomas Yersinia acted quite human until he suddenly turned on them. He was still doing doctor stuff, albeit poorly, until they had the pleasure of taking him out. But this thing was making people quit…and then filling in for them? That didn’t make any sense to him. Why would a human turned monster try to take the place of other people?
Dion would have hit his head on his hand if it didn’t mean taking his hands off the hot chocolate. The kishin could have massacred huge masses of people if it just took over the right identity. Hell the school would have been a prime feasting ground for a monster hungry for souls. Yet for some reason this thing wasn’t going off on killing sprees when it had the chance. There was one reason that Dion could think of but it didn’t change anything. It didn’t matter if the kishin was attempting to be human again; it had already strayed off of Shinigami’s path and would be eliminated.
All of that was unimportant though. There was a person currently being targeted by the kishin so they were of first priority. Going to see her would probably be best and if she ran a café maybe she would have more hot things to give them? Save your life for warmth. Didn’t have much of a ring to it but it might work for a decent sales pitch. If they could save this Virva chick it would at least be a little bit of a step up from that poor Australian guy.
Not wanting to get too caught up in past failure Dion nodded at Misaki when she spoke. It was their best place to start and hopefully it would work out for the best. This was their redemption mission so to speak and they were going to kick ass! Finishing the rest of his hot chocolate Dion got up and followed his partner. Giving his own little nod/bow he stood next to Misaki as she spoke. Giving her a slight side glance when she said pike and rolling his eyes as she corrected herself. Following her out the door he kept his head down as the blast of cold met them.
”If I’m right we have quite the interesting kishin on our hands.”
Smirking slightly he buried his face in his clothing. If Misaki wanted to know more she would have to wait till they got inside at the café or something. Explaining could wait till the threat of a frozen tongue wasn’t immediately looming over them.
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Post by The Sidhe on Jan 24, 2013 16:08:07 GMT -5
Well, that was that is seemed. Not that the therapist had any complaints. The two could talk to Virva all they wanted. If the poor woman didn’t shut them down, then she could complain later during their session if she had a problem speaking to the teenagers. Really, though, there wouldn’t be any reason for her to not talk. Any help would be appreciated, the blonde thought. Tuuli followed the two to the door, waving to them as they exited her office,
“Good luck, you two! Please be careful!”
The door shut and Tuuli disappeared back inside to hide from the cold and prepare for her later appointments. Outside, the sun had decided to show itself and come out from behind the clouds. It was perhaps a degree or two warmer, not that one would be able to tell. The light reflected off the ice in many a place to produce an ever present and annoying glare. More of the townspeople appeared to be out and about. Shopkeepers had opened their doors, having shoveled most of the snow off of the sidewalks. ATVs and more heavy duty cars were being slowly driven through their streets by those still on their way to work.
The café the students were looking wouldn’t be difficult to find. It was only two blocks down the street and it was also the only place like it in Inari. Fairly near the lake so that it could cater to the fishermen during their lunch breaks, it was a cozy looking building that appeared more like a small cottage than a café. The large open windows that faced the street along with the glowing neon sign were the only indications that it wasn’t a private residence. Once of the baristas still stood outside, scraping ice off of the windows as best he could. Another was packing snow into the corner of the street, still trying to clear the way as much as possible for the customers.
Inside, Virva looked a mess. Perhaps not at once, but even a passing glance would let someone know that she was not at all alright. She’d forced herself into work today. She needed the money and in the winter time, the less the fishermen had to walk for nourishment, the better. It was a wonder the doors didn’t freeze shut sometimes, but that wasn’t what had her so worried, no not at all. Virva hadn’t gotten a moment’s rest last night. That thing with her face had been at her window again, staring her down all night long. It knew that she’d seen it too; it would sneer at her whenever she happened to glance up to see if it had gone away and Virva would see those horrible teeth!
Her dark hair was a mess. She’d run a brush through it, but that had been it. There were dark circles under her pale eyes. She couldn’t focus on anything, her gaze constantly lifting to the window to see if it was there, following her again. She was even paler than normal, appearing sickly and weak. Her mind was racing with a hundred thoughts all at once, and yet she couldn’t pin down a single one and properly think on it. Taking a deep breath, Virva shut her eyes, bending over and leaning her head against the counter top. This was beginning to be too much. A hiss met her ears and she was up in an instant, turning around every which way to find the source of the noise only to see it was only the steamer heating up. Letting out a breath that sounded far too much like a sob, Virva held her face in her hands. She was too young for this. It had made a noise similar to that, almost exactly like that hissing. She would hear it just behind her only to turn around and find no one there. It was toying with her now. It wouldn’t be long, she could feel it in her bones. Soon she’d be frozen like the others.
“Virva? Oletko kunnosssa?” ((Are you okay?))
The dark haired girl damn near jumped out of her skin. Quickly turning with wide eyes, it was only Oskar, looking quite concerned about his coworker. She sighed a nodded,
“Minä pärjään, anna minulle hetki.” ((I’ll be fine, just give me a moment.))
Oskar looked not at all convinced but only sighed, giving her a gentle pat on the shoulder,
“Kunhan et rasita itseäsi liikaa, okei? Jos tarvitset tauon million tahansa, tee niin.” ((Just don’t push yourself too hard, okay? If you need to take a break at any point, please do so.))
Virva nodded again and put on the best smile she could manage which really wasn’t much at this point. It was strained at best and fell as soon as Oskar wasn’t looking. Heaving a sigh, she turned and leaned against the front counter, donning her nametag and waiting for the next customers. A few of the usual fishermen were already inside sipping enormous cups of coffee to which they may or may not have added a good amount of lakka. Virva didn’t mind so long as they didn’t get plastered and start dancing on the tables, at least not this early in the week.
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Misaki Saito
Meister
Spear Technician
Tiny Japanese Girl
Posts: 124
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Post by Misaki Saito on Jan 30, 2013 20:28:39 GMT -5
Any train of thought Misaki had while leaving Tuuli’s office was immediately silenced by the rush of cold air that made her stop in her tracks and blink a few times. She continued onward quickly after the door closed, but not before pulling her scarf up over her nose and hunching her shoulders. Fucking fuck on a fuck stick nowhere should be as cold as Inari was! While definitely distracted by the freezing temperatures, or possibly below freezing at this point, Misaki had noted what her partner had said and nodded to show that she’d heard him even through her own mind screaming every obscenity she knew in English and Japanese over the cold weather.
The town was far busier than when they’d first arrived, that was for sure. The sun glinting off the snow and odd patch of ice did make her blink or turn her gaze elsewhere, usually on her own feet. She mentally thanked whoever had invented snow boots. Slipping and falling on her ass was not something that would help the mission along. With the Kishin Egg being so loosely related to the lake, she kept in mind that they may need to actually venture out onto the ice, in which case she was doubly thankful for the boots. Misaki also hoped with all her heart that it was thick enough that they wouldn’t have to worry about falling through into the icy waters below. Going toe to toe with a Kishin Egg was one thing, but falling into freezing water was another matter that only made her shudder and shove her hands deeper into her coat pockets.
Thank goodness for Inari being a relatively small town. The café wasn’t all that difficult to spot and with how quickly she walked to try and get out of the cold as soon as possible, they’d reach it in no time. The tiny Japanese girl tried her best to ignore the freezing breeze that berated any patch of exposed skin along the way by thinking over the information they’d been given. This thing was at the very least smart enough to legitimately hunt its victims. The fact that it seemingly enjoyed torturing them psychologically as well just told her that it was as twisted as all Kishin Eggs usually were, even if it wasn’t into the whole dismemberment thing like their dead doctor had been. Still, driving them all to drown themselves was pretty sick, not to mention cunning. It didn’t even need to touch them until after they were dead, all it needed to do was terrify them and then sit back and wait. It’d make for an interesting fight, that was for sure. Oh, she couldn’t wait to hunt this thing down!
Once outside the café, Misaki paused momentarily. She thought briefly about using her Soul Perception before heading inside, but then remembered she could only use it within around ten feet of her. Rolling her eyes, she shook her head at her own absentmindedness and headed inside, thankful for the rush of warm air that greeted her and Dion. It was a small little place, but that only help the tiny Japanese girl. Wandering a ways in, she seemingly paused to wait for her Weapon and closed her eyes. Now that she was within range, she gathered her focus and lifted her gaze, turning her head to survey the people in the café, mainly the dark haired girl. She appeared to be the only female present, so she assumed it was Virva. If she was wrong, she could always look the place over again. Hopefully the Kishin Egg wasn’t hiding inside in an attempt to ambush them. That could get messy. As she did this, she reminded herself of what Dion had said,
“So what’s your theory so far? You said that we may have quite the interesting individual on our hands, right?”
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Post by Dion Key on Feb 1, 2013 9:58:31 GMT -5
Catching his meister’s nod Dion figured she would want to hear his idea when they got to the café. He would have nodded back but as he was following behind her she wouldn’t see. Not wanting to speak and face off against the cold around him Dion was content remaining silent and walking. Focusing on not getting blown over by a gust of wind or slipping on a sheet of ice took enough of his concentration. As far as the mission was concerned Dion was actually rather glad that he wasn’t the one who had to fight in this weather. Misaki would figure something out about it by the time they actually managed to reach the kishin.
Arriving to the more inhabited part of town it was interesting to see it become more lively. With more people coming out though Dion did become slightly worried. Their target was something that took on the appearance of humans, sure it was hunting its own prey but that was more of an afterthought. If it could change form it could really become anyone around them. Misaki wouldn’t be able to use her soul perception on everyone in town so that was an issue to keep in mind.
Keeping on his guard Dion continued on ready to throw a spear-tipped fist at any passerby who wasn’t all human. Following Misaki he stayed close to her just in case any impromptu transformation was required. Hopefully at least if this thing was supposedly smart it was smart enough to not suddenly attack them in the middle of town in broad daylight. Granted that would make it easier to find but having to worry about bystanders was not something that Dion wanted to worry about. Luckily this kishin seemed less prone to random acts of violence so they should be safe from it for a little bit longer. It wasn’t until they got on its trail that running into it seemed likely.
Hurriedly Dion followed after his partner and moved inside the café. Standing still once inside he let the heat wash around him. Misaki could go and use her soul perception but Dion just wanted to stay where he was and be warm. Hopefully Virva was working at the moment and they could get a good trail on the kishin that was hunting her. Sighing at the prospect of movement Dion walked closer to where his partner stood when she spoke to him.
”Well if I’m right this is probably a young kishin egg. Some idiot who stumbled onto a human soul and consumed it. They seem to be trying to meld back into human society but always get found out, that’s why they haven’t gone on any huge murder sprees. Hopefully because of this they’re not very experienced or powerful.”
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