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Post by The Sidhe on Feb 24, 2015 0:11:57 GMT -5
There was a single road still leading to Matsuo, and not much of one at that. The dirt bore tire treads worn into it and misshapen shoulders from bikes and those on foot. Footprints stuck in the damp earth, the unkempt grass still bending under dew left over the previous night’s rain. No houses could be seen, not for a few miles down from where a teenage girl stood, still dressed in navy and white for school with long black hair tied tightly back into a bun, though her loose bangs threatened to obscure her face. Beside her was a small guardian stature, features worn away, moss growing over it. Behind her was a wooden marker with the name “Matsuo” and an arrow pointing up the mountain path beginning nearby. Above was grey, too much grey in her opinion, and the kind that would make everything ever worse than it already was. Rainclouds and mist were the exact opposite of what Kaede wanted to see that afternoon. Crinkling her nose at the sight of more grey infiltrating the sky above, she leaned back against the damp wood marker at the base of the old road up to Matsuo. The moisture barely breached the fabric of her school uniform, but Kaede didn’t really feel it. It was too familiar to pay attention to, and the unpleasant chill biting at her bare ankles proved more distracting. For once she was thankful the school dress code included skirts that fell past the knee. She was also thankful to have been excused early, not that Kaede didn’t have ample reason. Thinking of what happened and remembering the events that had taken place put a bitter taste in her mouth and a lump in her throat too stubborn to swallow. Nothing about it seemed believable and everyone involved was unreliable, except for her. Midori hid behind her parents and their influence in the town. Chika still wept at the sight of any of their little group of friends, at least honestly grieving. Hoshiko had since lit three trash cans on fire and knocked a second year student silly just for looking at her wrong, predictably physical rather than teary eyed. And Akane, of course, was dead. Kaede breathed in slowly through her nose, breathed out a little too quickly through her mouth. The cold made her breath linger like smoke that she watched disappear in the hopes it would calm her. She needed to be sharp but she was already shaking, and not from the cool mountain air. Kaede turned her head to gaze down the only road the supposed hero of the hour would be arriving from to meet her. She sure hoped whoever it would be a hero. Nobody else could down that beast, and Kaede would accept nothing less in avenging Akane. Because you can’t. You can never do anything, can you? Kaede crossed her arms and tucked her chin in towards her chest. Her eyes closed and for a moment they stung like someone had thrown salt into them. She would need to remember and retell the story for whoever showed up. Just like she’d had to tell the police, her family, Akane’s family, students at school who didn’t know when to stop asking until she clocked them, all because the others were too hysterical. And, because Midori was a liar. Kaede bit the inside of her cheek and opened her eyes, shifting to one side and leaning solely with one shoulder on the wooden marker. Her gaze locked onto the deep green mountains looming above, thick forest and a rather decrepit road awaiting her when she would have to act as a guide. Dark eyes regarded the dense mist already moving in over the mountain tops with distaste, noting how it was beginning to creep in around her and the lonely road marker as well when she shifted her gaze downwards. This hero better hurry. If the mists reached Matsuo before they did, they would have a hell of a time fighting a beast they couldn’t see.
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Post by Avery Sovereign on Feb 27, 2015 0:49:40 GMT -5
Returning to Japan was a rather exciting turn of events but Avery was sure this trip would be much more interesting than her last. It was the country where she discovered her partial form but it seemed like it happened so long ago now that she was a real Shibusen student. Before heading out Avery did a quick review of Japanese to refresh her memory on the language. As long as she didn’t need to write anything her memory should get her through just fine for the mission. Once the plane landed she took a moment to glance around and take in what kind of conditions she would be dealing with. Gray clouds and the threat of rain, wonderful. The last thing she needed was to slip on some wet ground while fighting the kishin egg. Hopefully it didn’t come into play but keeping it in mind was important for now. Shortly after exiting the airport she encountered the driver from Shibusen who would take her to where the contact was, or at least as close as she could get. After reassuring the driver by speaking Japanese she headed toward the mission location. Getting out of the car Avery was met with a singular road that was supposed to take her to her destination. There were no houses around so that meant like the last mission there shouldn’t be any bystanders getting into danger. Noticing the dew and dampness on the ground only confirmed her suspicions from earlier. Scrunching her face for a moment Avery wondered if her shoes would give her enough traction to fight properly or if she would have to compensate for the environment. Either way there wasn’t much she could do about it so that was a problem to be dealt with if and when it presented itself. Waving to the driver as they departed Avery headed down the path to where her contact was supposed to be. Seeing the rainclouds and mist around her Avery regretted her choice of attire. If she knew the area was going to be so gray heavy she would have reconsidered wearing gray skinny jeans and a gray jacket. Had the weather not been so cold she would have considered unzipping her jacket just to have a little bit of color from her shirt but the temperature prevented that. Letting out a sigh and seeing her breath linger in the air Avery pressed on down the road. It didn’t take too long before she saw someone standing in the distance who most likely was her contact. Picking up her speed Avery broke into a slight jog to clear the distance before returning to a walk when she could make out the person. She looked like a schoolgirl which matched the briefing she received on the mission. What the briefing failed to mention was that the uniforms looked better than the one she wore while she was in Japan. Had it not been an actual mission Avery would have been more upset by the cute set of girl and uniform ahead of her. Once she reached the girl Avery gave her a quick bow in greeting before introducing herself. <Hello. I’m Avery, the student from Shibusen here to take care of your monster problem.>
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Post by The Sidhe on Mar 5, 2015 14:36:19 GMT -5
Footsteps alerted Kaede to the fact that the long road uphill may begin soon. Or that one of the farmers was passing by, or that one of the Tachibanas was wandering again to avoid going home, or that one of her parents had come looking. They approved of her bravery in contacting Shibusen, but that approval quickly evaporated when they heard she intended to lead whoever showed up along the trail and back to the place she had nearly been killed alongside her friend.
Kaede swallowed the lump forming in her throat and turned her head to one side, ear touching her shoulder resulting in her looking bored if nothing else. In her opinion, appearing apathetic was better than losing her composure in front of a complete stranger. When they grew close enough for her to make out features that let her know another girl was approaching, she shoved off the post she leaned on and stood with her arms crossed.
Mild surprise made Kaede’s brows arch a bit. She hardly expected her to know Japanese, or manners for that matter, yet there she was. Impressive. Letting her arms hang at her side, Kaede bent at the waist to return the girl’s bow. <<Matsuda Kaede. I’ll try not to waste time. The closer the mist gets, the harder this’ll be for you.>> Straightening once more, she nodded over her shoulder back towards the start of the path. <<It’ll be easier to talk on the way there. It just rained, though, so watch for mud. The path’s a little steep.>>
Kaede kept her eyes on Avery long enough to know that she was following her before eyeing the Matsuo town sign as though it were diseased, moving past it in a hurry and moving up a small series or crooked and crack stone steps. They gave way to dirt soon enough, the mu she had mentioned seemingly sticking to the side of the path and the rest merely damp to fill the air with the smell of pines and earth. The forests enclosed them quickly, deep green needles and bamboo shoots boxing them onto the path and leaving little wiggle room to stray from it. Between the gaps, the abrupt and steep drop-offs to the right of the path could be seen through the underbrush, discouraging deviations before they happened. To the right were intermittent glimpses of rock, water still trickling down over the rough edges from somewhere above that hadn’t yet completely drained of the rain.
Stepping carefully and cursing the damned incline and the sore knees it would give her later, Kaede kept moving at a pace she hoped Avery could keep up with. If she was going to fight that beast, then she could only assume a little bit of a hike wouldn’t be much of anything to her. Still, there was one thing she needed to know before launching into her story. <<Before I tell you what happened, there’s something I want to ask you,>> she said with another glance over to the student. Kaede paused, not for effect but to restrain the urge to cringe at the thought of the monster. The growling, the howling, the vibration of its huge paws chasing them. Kaede prayed the girl didn’t notice the shaky breath she needed to take before asking.
<<Do you know what an Inugami is?>>
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Post by Avery Sovereign on Apr 25, 2015 18:52:12 GMT -5
The girl returned her bow in greeting before jumping to the point. Her name had been expected and the directness wasn’t out of place but the other thing she mention did get Avery thinking. The mist would make things harder? That meant the mist was either incredibly thick or held some other properties that would inhibit her. Based on Kaede’s reaction she assumed it was just the former. Dealing with the mist would be an annoyance but as long as it was just normal mist Avery was fairly confident she could work around it well enough to get what she needed done.
Nodding in response to Kaede Avery followed her along the path. Remaining on the tight path Avery focused on not losing her footing for the most part. If she felt her feet slipping a quick partial transformation should steady her but not having to resort to that would be even better. While walking she noticed the mist seem to surround the path with just enough space to seem like it was waiting to engulf them. There was no reason to attribute such ill intent to the mist but it was one factor that could hamper her mission performance.
Snapped out of her overthinking by Kaede’s sudden speaking Avery brought her attention back to her contact. If it was something she needed to ask prior to describing the target of her mission it must have been rather important. Picking up on how her breathing changed only reaffirmed her suspicions that it was important. Anything that caused such a response was definitely something Avery would rather know before going against what she assumed was the cause of said reaction. At the words Avery stared for a moment before closing her eyes and tapping her forehead. The word was familiar but not something she had needed to think about in years.
After a few seconds she remembered and looked back to Kaede. <Well I don’t know everything but I think I have a general idea. Dog spirit, pretty bad news?>
Not being able to remember much more annoyed her but it was to be expected. She had been out of Japan for years and hadn’t done much thinking about Japanese folklore outside of the country. More so she was curious as to how it connected to her mission. Considering she had taken out a vampire-like creature on her last mission it wasn’t entirely improbably that the kishin egg was inugami based in form, if that was the case it was a good thing Kaede was there to explain how that worked.
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