Fight for the Shaman King (Shaman King RP) V.2

[Chadanaiy]

((I'm sorry for being off so long, finding time to sit down and write has been pretty hard recently. I'm on vacation at the end of this following week however, so I should have more time then!))

-Arisu-

"Oh absolutely..." a curling yawn carried the words across the cat's face. "I'm sure we're all very eager to have the both of us reunite and resume our constant bickering. I have nothing against optimism Ryoshi but I'm afraid you might be underestimating how much spirits can be emotionally stagnant." She imagined a smile would have been apropos —and even started one as an ending flourish to her yawn— but there was in her something which wanted to underline this statement as true, independently of whether the choice of tone could harm the current discussion. Her animosity towards the boy's spirit had been both remarkably petty and memorable, as the immediate appearance in her mind of episodic and sensory imagery could illustrate. Words were rarely what one remembered in these cases, but some odd details remained, often proving to be the most irksome of the memory's elements: grass or weather, spacial positioning, movement... She decided she was not in a good mood. However, something was keeping her from scowling completely: a faintly luminous balm held within the composition of one of their interlocutors, calming, she found, in the way that warm things are... "Well," she said finally, "hopefully it will entertain," then turned smilingly towards Roka to ask: "have you met with our beloved cactus yet?"
Arisu slipped off her claws as Bastet talked, scraping the cold off of her short fingers one hand after the other. She could hear it in her voice that Bastet was smiling and, looking down, noticed that her nails were blue; slotted her weapons by her side.
"I wouldn't want to intrude on your reunion," she told Ryoshi, "I mean, I..." She rotated the thought. "I'm flattered that you'd offer we come, I imagine the two of you were close. I'm also really glad to be seeing you again, and I don't think I want to be leaving you just yet." She smiled and burrowed her hands in her pockets, letting them weigh like two wet stones. The process of grinning would fleck her purple eyes with a thankful golden joy. "I'd gladly partake in the spirit waking party."

[Leviathan~]

Ryoshi...

Ryoshi smirked, the way he had a long time ago before things had changed so drastically and without warning. Her charm reminded him of why he wanted to remember the past instead of putting it aside, because with each tragedy there was a blossom of happiness that could brighten one's day in its darkest moments. "Well we're happy to have you of course, I'm sure Komo will be glad to see you too, and he'll probably like seeing the old cat again too, but he''d never admit that, even to me." he said, easily picturing the stubborn dragon's face with rolling eyes and dismissive waves of the tail. He had to remind himself that he actually planned on seeing him and not just thinking about him. Roka, beside him, gave a bit of a snicker. "Yes, although I can't say he was fond of me either, although that might've been due to our elemental affinity's being a bit contrasting in nature. Although I must say, he's extremely powerful for a spirit so modest in appearance." she said with a bit of a twinkle in her eye. The fiery spirit was not fond of those who overpowered her, but she always gave credit where credit was due, even if she didn't really want to. "Anywho, Ryoshi, let's get a move on then?" she said, attempting to change the subject from her admittance of inferiority. Ryoshi had to blink for a moment before understanding the situation. "Right right this way, it's not far we were just there a few minutes ago." he said, turning about and moving back around the corner. The turn brought a wave of cold air, but within the breeze there was a calling. The rain grew harsh. Roka looked to the sky, her hair darkening whenever it was struck by rain only to reignite to its original flaming color. "I think someone wants us to hurry up." she said. Ryoshi nodded. Even grand spirits got impatient after all. With a bit of a kick in his step Ryoshi pushed forward, at this point only sort of assuming that his friends were following behind. Admittedly, the thoughts of reuniting with his old friend had given him reason to ignore most other things in the world. He sped up until the rain hit him at an angle, until the wind was whipping at his face, whispering for him to run faster. He was moving, he was closer. His head cleared over the top of a hill. There was a light, so bright it blinded him for only a moment. The wind stopped, the rain fell straight. He smiled. There was a snort from a thorny snout, and a little whirr from the glimmering spirit behind it. "I come back after all this time, and the first thing I have to smell is that cat. Ryoshi, I'll tell you this now, I'll kill the Rain Spirit stops the chain of events causing that crazy feline to smell like the fungus on a dead man's left toe." The rain then promptly stopped. That was enough to get Ryoshi to grin.

[Leviathan~]

((hehe, if I'm used to anything Chad, it's you being a bit late. Glad you're back))

[Chadanaiy]

((Yep, that's me: being inconsistent! Here, have another short one to make up for three weeks of nothing ))

-Arisu-

After the tunnels of night they had walked through, a wet light had met them over the ridge: a neon dawn in the smoke of night.
Arisu flashed her line of tiny teeth at the air and let out a puffing laugh as the rain rewinded into the sky. The blue of the trinkets around them disappeared, becoming the color traveling down their stilly gleaming faces. She breathed, quiet fell, and her bag squealed as she let it off her shoulders and slipped away the strands of hair plastered to her face.
Bastet, however, was already piercing at space with her sharpened eyes: things felt familiar. The cat didn't need to breathe, to exhale when that time was given, she wanted to clasp onto the next instant and grip it.
"I love you too Komo," she said sweetly. "Unfortunately I've already developed a nasty headache at the simple thought of seeing you, so please," she mimicked pain, "if you could refrain from conjuring up one of the more putrid smells you've been making yourself familiar with these past five hundred years in an attempt to insult me, I'd be very grateful." She glanced up at the Spirit of Rain who radiated as if spilling projector light from the planes of its back. "And for some reason," she added, "everyone here seems to trust that a few centuries of time out will have made us more mature: let's not disprove them shall we?"

[Leviathan~]

Ryoshi...

Komo chortled at the notion the cat proposed. "Maturity is perceived, unlike your stench. Of course, if it so pleases you perhaps my shimmering friend can douse you of both your attitude and your odor?" The Spirit of Rain of course shook his head furiously to assure Bastet that he had no intention of doing such a thing. Ryoshi couldn't help but roll his eyes. "Alright you two that should be enough banter to satisfy your needs for a little while. Also I think you might be frightening the mightiest spirit here." The SoR's expression neither admitted nor denied that statement. The ethereal blue titan finally gave into its introvert nature and hurled itself into Ryoshi, sinking into the comfortable refuge of his soul. Ryo felt a little cold wet rush that balanced out the fire that had been living within him for so long now. Roka, who had been watching all this, eventually had an awful idea. Without asking permission she took Ryoshi's sword from his back and threw it at the cactus dragon with blinding speed. There was nothing more than a blur and a harsh thud. "I said it the last time you came to visit me, you can't surprise someone as old as me." the dragon spirit grumbled, tugging the sword free from the ground it had sunk into when Komo had expertly stepped roughly 8 inches to the side. Ryoshi extended his hand and the blade returned to him before he gave Roka a nasty look. The fire demon shrugged. "Compliments of Lady Bastet." Komo snorted at Roka's words. "The golden cat may smell of death, but don't think of dedicating such a lazy assault to her prestige." Komo wasn't fond of Bastet as an individual, but he had ample respect for her as a comrade.

[Chadanaiy]

-Arisu-

Bastet saw the sword prick into the soil behind the dragon. Surprise halted her for an instant, before sending back to her the knowledge of having wanted to leap both towards and away from the oncoming blade. Roka's sentence smoked out, thawing her gaze away from the object; plucked by the smell, she flicked her eyes into a bouquet of white flames: "compliments of lady Bastet." Her 'prestige' was then mentioned in response; she unzipped her jaw to say and— closed it. She listened, and instead chose to tilt her head and peruse. This was banter, or at least tried to be of that tone, but banter was never entirely meaningless. And this was not something that had made her want to laugh. The crossing of the line between prank and assault lay simply in the words, she decided. This was curious. This was an opportunity to change much by simply saying, to tip weights, to find it in her snobby voice to be balanced, mild and underlying.
"Prestige!" she said, her words sewn shut by a chuckle and five fungus dots. "Your scent may be affected, but I'm flattered."
A crease formed in Arisu's face. Something the girl was hearing was to her like honey covered razor blades. Or more, she thought, as if something was dripping away to reveal shining edges, thinned enough for her to frown yet still so thick that nothing really should be pointed out. She could have, however: she knew what it was she wanted to say. Sometimes now these things appeared, typed conscientiously out of necessity, practice, maybe observation on the thin walls of her skull. There was a structure and there were terms, somehow, for what she wanted to ask: but now was not the time. That time might come later, she thought, and then she'd have her words ready to pull out.
She swept away the papers. Ryoshi was a dark silhouette now, glowing at the back. Looking at him felt like chipping away at misconceptions on an old wall, breaking chips, nails slowly digging under where the white paint cracks to reveal a structure.

[Leviathan~]

Ryoshi...

Ryoshi turned back, the stillness in the air informing him of the eyes on his back. He knew who's they were and why they were there, but still he turned. He saw the thoughts in her head as though her eyes were lenses amplifying the sight for him. He knew her well enough by now, the way she barely moved when something tipped her curiosity, the way she tried to act unfazed when in reality something was making her think. His gaze was light, a question with little more than eye contact. He always wanted to know what she was thinking, even if the answer was nothing at all. Komo, as observant as his human counterpart, witnessed this exchange and left it to rest between the two of them. He knew by now that even spirits couldn't understand the way those two communicated. He put his eyes back on the woman of flame and she grinned. The fire in her eyes was brighter, but he couldn't tell if that was because the flame was stronger or the darkness around it enhanced its contrast. Suspicion made his thorns twitch, but he saw the essence of the rain spirit in Ryoshi's body, a protective veil around his soul. His suspicion was calmed by reassurance. "Bastet. What have you heard about our new Shaman Queen?"

[RedLionPaladin]

Celeste gave a doeish nod, her green-gold eyes open wide. she smiled. "I would love that, more trees, grass, and plants, of corse animals."

Amidamaru chuckled lightly as he replied, "Sounds like a lovely dream. I think returning to nature is an excellent thing to strive for. I remember the stories I had heard about Zeke Asakura and in a small way, I agree with him. We should respect the earth and nature instead of destroying it."

[Bahamut's Regent]

Celeste smiled and looked around the sitting room. "I want to smell true fresh air. Unmarred by smoke and chemicals." She stood up slowly and looked at Kohaku before she looked at Amidamaru "I'm going to make tea, do you care for some?" The great dragon bowed his head, and rumbled. "I would like some." he said even though he couldn't really drink it.

[Chadanaiy]

-Arisu-

Bastet’s ears ticked away at Komo’s question while her eyes lingered, frowning at the space where they had been slipped, the one between the kids, thinking maybe just an instant more would bring upon a sudden knowledge of coniology or space or celestial bodies and explain… something. Answer one of those question words.
“Oh, well,” she swiveled, rolling her tongue behind her teeth. “I’ve been getting first hand experience of her wonderful world for a bit now. See, you were allowed to get some well deserved shut-eye during most of this… But missy here decided she’d get me back into the game by the time she reached age four again.” Her lashes lilted the words away. “Lonely I guess. I don’t know exactly if I’m surprised or not by what we’ve found now that her reign is coming to an end. Maybe I was expecting a methodical tyrant but really..." She thought about it. "Negligence, I think, is the word that first comes to mind. It’s all quite barren: not that many shamans around, and even fewer humans.” She paused and somewhat gathered the way the dragon’s spikes enclaved his small yellowy eyes into his head. “Really it’s just like the world’s been left to rot for the past five hundred years…" Her voice finally slowed and steered away from its meanders, a bit hardened. "She uses subordinates, mostly. In fact, she isn't very active herself. No one sees her, very little is said of her and her minions constantly compete for more territory to control. I've never really tried so hard to figure out her specific personal intentions if that's what you're asking. She's lax, almost."
Ryoshi turned to catch the fall of Arisu's eyes on him. She had an instant of feeling like a thin pocket flashlight. What was death like for you? Staying very still, she passed him a smile like a burning note under gossamer. It was strange what made one happy. She could equate it, but nonetheless things would have a certain perfume which was not that of maths. Being soaked seemed to inspire her thoughts to be be somehow more quiet, as if they'd been made heavy like sponges or slugs and trailed down into the grass atop sticky trails of restraint. Still Bastet cooly weaved her and's and how's, twitching with single parts of her body as Arisu happened to breathe. "Should we go find Celeste after these three finish pretending they hate each other?" she whispered as Bastet explained what had happened to the Patch, the Asakura, the Tao...