Kokoro No Naka

[Juchan]

"He upset the sexy archer and apparently thinks that 'no' means 'try again,'" Trinity said. "I'd say so. I've poisoned at least two men like that and I don't think one of them can leave the bathroom yet." She grinned and pulled out her poison. "Want to see what this will do?"
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I will separate the worthy from the unworthy, like wheat from chaff!

[Fran]

Mel twitched slightly. "I won't kill him," she half muttered. "But I'm VERY strongly tempted to shoot him someplace non lethal..." she finished under her breath, glaring darkly at Skif.

Slowly, she let the bow string go slack and lowered her arrow. "All you've done so far is make moronic suggestions and insist on things that cannot possibly be true. So unless you have something of an intelligent nature to say, keep your mouth SHUT else I will permanently shut it for you. Understand? You are not dealing with children here, so do not think that the reason that we aren't all instantly jumping to figure out or do whatever the hell you wish or answer your questions is just because we all have the brains of two year olds who cannot concentrate if something else in the room is moving!"
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[dogstarrb]

"Well excuse me, but I wasn't the one trying to get into your pants! If you're going to throw hissy fits, I'll just figure it out on my own!" Skif turned on his heel and walked off in what he thought might be the direction he came from. Perhaps eventually he'd find his door.
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Obligatory witty social commentary.

[Binara]

With all this arguing, Rai'd completely zoned out until Skif left the group. "Why does this seem like a bad horror movie?" she said to herself and started after him, somewhat ignoring the bat Shietsmsi (shapechanger priest in her folk's tounge). "You know, I thought other metas back home were gripey, but you two really take the cake," she called back to the huntress and the "shadow walker". Hopefully she'd be able to catch up with Skif, as he'd gotten a head start on her and she didn't know the area so well. Luckily, she got a good whiff of him before he left, and that could help her find him. She didn't want to morph near the group yet, becasue she didn't know them that well yet.
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Brandie(my OC): Well, my mental powers can be used to attack as well as
defend. *uses powers on guy that is interrupting her* Now, be quiet.

Avi drawn by Ami Belcher www.cordeval.com

[dogstarrb]

Skif muttered to himself, trying to find some sort of landmark with which to get his bearings. "If this really is just a manifestation of the fey, I should be able to just keep walking until I reach the edge of the field... then I should be back in my cabin where I belong...."
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Obligatory witty social commentary.

[Fran]

"Careful you don't get eaten! With all that lace, you might be mistaken for a dressed turkey!" Mel called after him, still fuming. Telling someone to go have sex with her for no reason and he acts like he's not in the wrong? Ha!

She carefully stowed her bow, looking sideways over at the latest newcomer. "Thank you. But watch your own skin when you do that."
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[Sennet]

"I... wouldn't doubt it," Vasvi replied blandly. He smiled amiably. "Do you know where we are?"

[Juchan]

"Indubitably," Trinity said. "We're in the forest."
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I will separate the worthy from the unworthy, like wheat from chaff!

[Fran]

Mel put a hand to her forehead, muttering to herself a moment. "I assume you're not in your home turf any longer either?" she asked.
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[Fran]

Cole sighed. You'd think they would have reached something by now. At least a road! But there didn't seem to be anything out here. No signs of civilization at all. But Kirou had to come from somewhere, didn't he?

Kirou looked over at him, expression nervously worried. Part of him felt the need to apologize, but worried it might cause the other boy to assume he had done something wrong. He wrung his hands slightly. Cole had mentioned before liking conversation... maybe...?

"So-- so... are-- are you from near by here?" he asked, voice small as he stammered.

"Never been here in my life," Cole answered. "How about you? You can't have gone far dressed like that. Are we getting close?"

Kirou looked down at the rather tattered and dusty clothing that he had salvaged and shook his head. "I was at a city before. Far from here, I think," he said, voice very soft.

"I can't imagine there was a bus," Cole said, looking at the trees around them. "Maybe a plane?"

Kirou blinked at the unfamilar words. "I-- I'm not sure what-- what you're talking about," he stammered nervously.

"No plane, then," Cole said with a sigh. "There can't be a city for miles," he said, then paused. "Or kilometers, hectares-- no that's a unit of area.... hands...? cubits.... Damnit, I can't think of any others."

Kirou hesitated a moment. "Not-- not in quite a few leagues, I don't think," he finally offered in agreement.

"Leagues!" Cole repeated. "Hah! I never remember that one, and it's a good one." He returned to the task at hand. "So how did you get here?"

"I-- I don't really know," Kirou admitted, wringing his hands slightly as he avoided meeting Cole's eyes.

"Huh," Cole said after a moment. "Does that happen to you often?"

The slighter boy shook his head.

Cole's brows drew in. "Are you speaking Japanese?" he asked after a moment. "It's my native language, so I default to it."

The boy blinked. "I-- I don't think so..." he faltered uncomfortably.

"But you understand me perfectly," Cole mused. "And it sounds like you're speaking Japanese...."

Kirou blinked again. "I-- I assumed you were-- were speaking..." he hesitated a moment, looking up at Tatsu.

The spirit shrugged. "It all sounds the same to me anyway."

Kirou looked down again, thinking a moment before looking over at Cole again. He didn't look like a mage...

Cole was pondering as he walked, half glaring at the ground in front of him until his eyes lit on Kirou's bare toes. He stopped, abruptly, and rummaged in his bag.

Kirou startled slightly, stopping as well, watching Cole nervously.

A pair of used but still serviceable sneakers came out of the bag along with a pair of thick socks. "Your feet are smaller than mine," Cole explained. "And it's warm enough, but I have clothes that aren't rags in here too, if you want them."

Kirou stared at the strange shoes in a mix of fascination and confusion. "You-- you're give-- giving...?" he stammered, looking up at Cole with wide eyes.

"Don't your feet hurt?"

Kirou blinked at the question. "So-- sometimes," he admitted, fidgeting slightly. "But-- but aren't-- I-- I mean..." he stammered. "Shoes like that must cost at least 100 stone!" he exclaimed, eyes wide just at the thought of the sum.

Cole looked at them. "There were 39.99," he said matter-of-factly.

Kirou blinked at him in confusion.

"It wasn't too bad," Cole translated. "And I've worn them already. I have new ones now."

Kirou just stared. If that was how they looked after being worn...! He looked down at Cole's feet where another pair of the strange shoes were being worn before looking up again at the offered pair. With slight hesitation, he accepting them, bowing his head. "Thank you so very much," he said, voice soft with wonder.

"Oh, but if I'm giving you clothes, you should put pants on first," Cole said, brows drawing down. "Doing it the other way doesn't work well."

Kirou just stared, dumbstuck. First shoes and now clothes... It was enough to make his head spin. "I-- I don't know how I-- how I can repay..." he faltered.

Cole shrugged. "Pay it forward," he said.

Kirou blinked. "Huh?"

"You never have to give me anything. But when you can, help someone else. That's what I've always done."

Kirou gave a small nod. "I will," he promised.

"Besides, who knows where I'll be tomorrow. You'd look pretty silly trying to repay someone who was off in Manhattan having sushi and canolis."

The slighter boy looked at him in utter befuddlement, but nodded anyway.

"So you get changed and I'll try to talk to the trees and figure out where we are."

Kirou stared a moment. Maybe he WAS a mage...? He gave a small, unsure nod before shifting behind a bush to change.

Sadly, the tree didn't talk back when Cole tried the direct approach. Only mildly frustrated, he stepped back to observe. There wasn't too much brush, and the trees had space between them. That meant that this was an old forest. Not enough sun got down between the big trees to sustain much underneath. There wsa enough cover, but not much else. That meant that people probably weren't through much. People tended to cut things down, whether they needed to or not. There were birds, but no sounds of other things. He wasn't too sure of that. There should be some other form of life, really. Avian was never the only type of living thing around. Especially with Kirou sitting there. But even that he wasn't too sure of anymore. Kirou came from a city, and obviously hadn't walked here on those feet.

Cole tapped his own foot, trying to figure things out. Then his innate "people-are-this-way" sense kicked in, and he turned to look in that direction. It seemed no different than any other direction, except that the birds were slightly quieter.

Kirou very hesitantly emerged, clothes slightly baggy and awkward looking on him, his old clothes folded carefully and in his arms.

Cole smiled. "Good. That's much better out here. We should go in that direction."

Kirou's eyes followed Cole's pointed finger before briefly looking up at Tatsu in silent communication. He gave a small nod before looking back at Cole.

"There are at least some people in this direction," Cole said. "Maybe we'll get some answers."

"You can tell?" Kirou asked curiously.

"Some of the birds are quiet this way," Cole explained.

Kirou cocked his head slightly, trying to hear the difference. Again, his eyes darted up wards before he gave another small nod.

Cole hardly noticed, peering through the slight gloom of the shaded forest floor to figure out how far the people were. They couldn't be too far if the birds were quiet around here.

Kirou watched him, fidgeting with the dusty pile of rags in his arms slightly.

"Did you want me to carry that for you?"

"You-- you don't have to," Kirou stammered, almost instinctively hugging the pile closer a moment before near forcing himself to relax. "S-- sorry."

"I just thought you were getting tired of carrying it yourself," Cole said apologetically.

Kirou shook his head slightly. "I'm fine," he said, voice soft. "Sorry," he apologized again, bowing his head.

Cole just shrugged. "I think I see someone...."

Kirou looked up, eyes wide with brief paranoia before he again forced himself to relax and tried to follow Cole's gaze.
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