Izanami Nightclub :: Merry Christmas!

Funny Restaurant Names

Fu King Chinese Restraunt	33.3%	[ 4 ]
QQ Buffet	25.0%	[ 3 ]
McWank's	8.3%	[ 1 ]
Cafe Polio	0.0%	[ 0 ]
Chez Ebola	8.3%	[ 1 ]
New Sea World (Fish market in NY apparently...)	25.0%	[ 3 ]
Total Votes:			[ 12 ]

[Elliterate]

The sound broke her concentration. Confusion flitted across her face, tugging her eyebrows upward toward her hair line and causing her neck to whip around so that her eyes could view the broken radio with a look of devoid of comprehension.

But how?

Jun Kaze frowned as she regarded the speakers which blasted out their angry tune.

Something else is here

She felt the presence even though she could not see it. Not many mortals held a connection with the spirit world, but as a child Jun Kaze had been the unfortunate (or fortunate) victim of an incident which forever set her apart from her brothers and sisters of the material reality. Because of this unique experience the woman was well poised to sense unnatural disturbances in the natural world around her, and while she did not always understand them, she always knew to never ignore them.

And so with a decisive flick of her wrist, Jun Kaze swept the pieces of the boom box from where they lay, reverberating sound behind her, forward and sent them skittering towards the stranger who had been spewed so irreverently from the spirit world. She understood now why the pull of curiosity had tugged her so ferociously to this place, there was a need for her in this moment, her calmness and clarity of mind was necessary to prevent some terrible and life altering situation from occurring in the bedraggled, barely human creature before her.

Her left hand snatched at the air to her side and the sound of the legs of a bar stool scraping along the wood panels mingled with the heavy chorus of music, but Jun's voice rose up above it.

"What dark shadow hangs over your soul?" She demanded as if it were her god given right to know the answer. "Tell me now and show your allegiance to mankind, or you shall perish with it."

[DXVII]

517's mouth shut as the music droned on into an incomprehensible hiss. Fear. It was powerful. It focused the mind, drove the hatred away into the deepest recesses of his mind. It also made him want to panic. To quail, to curl up and accept his fate. It was horrible. It went against everything that was good and right in the world. It crept across his mind like ice cold fingers, threatening to dig in and tear away everything that was good. To flay his sanity into pieces, and then stare him in the eye while each morsel was devoured by an eldritch maw. He was so tired. He wanted to give up. To slump to the floor and let it take him away... But he knew the fate that awaited him if such a decision was made. So he continued staring that cold, ugly thing in the eyes, and daring it to come closer.

And come closer it did. Carried by Jun's wind mastery, suddenly the shadow man loomed close to its intended prey. It towered over him, forcing him to crane his head back to maintain the stare. With great effort, he pushed himself off the wall and stood on his own two feet. Jun was speaking, saying something to him, but he couldn't make it out. The angry hiss so close to him drowned out everything else. In the face of evil, he did not take a step forward... but neither did he take a step back. He glared right back at it, the maw of madness, and reached for his throat. His hands closed around a half dozen holy relics, and his lips parted to utter words of impossible weight. Jun, being of good disposition and sound mind, would hear these alien utterances like a chorus of angels. A sound so hauntingly beautiful, that it permeated her very soul and uplifted her.

The plan had backfired. Instead of the vessel faltering and losing himself, he'd strengthened his resolve. Tch. Should have seen that coming, that the man who faces horrors on a daily basis would use his fear as a tool instead of a hindrance. And now, here he was, spouting holy ******** sermon at the shadow man like he ******** mattered. He was a tool. In every sense of the word. An a*****e meant to be used and abused as his master pleased. He was a ******** slave who'd broken his bonds and suddenly thought he was the c**k of the century.

"Why don't you just ask her to suck your d**k already?"

The music had long since passed. A garbled, mechanical screeching, like chaos given an auditory form, had replaced it. And now, amongst the shrill mechanical howls, a voice rose. It was the antithesis to the voice of the man, something that would cancel out every feeling of good that had just implanted in Jun. It carried with it a palpable wave of dread that washed over the building as a whole, flickering lights and giving the entire world a slight reddish tint.

"You just don't ******** get it, do you? You're not even a cockroach, you shitty little maggot. You're a glove. A ******** condom. Something to be fitted on my d**k, to be filled with c** and cast aside. You may be a ******** c**k-sleeve with feelings, but that doesn't give you a soul you shitty little mongrel."

The demon's voice snapped electronics beneath its weight. The mundane machinery was incapable of sustaining such a presence for long. There would only be a few moments more, which was good. Because 517's vocal chords weren't exactly built for the alien tongue he was currently speaking. Blood frothed past his lips in pink bubbles, coagulating a small trail down his chin. His current state mattered little though, for there was just time enough for one more statement...

"You're ********, both of. By the time I'm done, you'll have killed her, and will spend nights eating her a*****e out and jerking off while her corpse rots."

And then the speakers caught fire. The lights dimmed once more, and the red haze was lifted. All was right in the world. The spirit, the shadow man, was banished for the moment. 517 stared the creature in its fiery coals as it was whisked away into nothingness like a thick smog on a strong breeze. With his work done, he lifted the sleeve of his jacket to dab at the blood on his chin. His sunken, tired eyes, looked upon the woman and he spoke to her in the raspy voice of a man who'd just had his vocal chords start unraveling at the thread. "My allegiance is not to mankind, as mankind only describes the humanoids of this plane of existence. My allegiance is to good as a concept, in all of its forms, and to any who would carry out the universal principle of wholesomeness. Humankind is only a fraction of that." The synthetic man leaned against the wall once more. His eyes shifted to the floor and his eyelids drooped. "...As for the shadow that hangs over my soul, I think it just called you a whore."

[RynSetsuko]

☆═━┈𝓐lvaro 𝓡eyes ┈━═☆

Without any dramatic build up or explanation, the door to the club would swing open to allow a young man to enter the club. Storm gray eyes (the left clouded and obviously useless) were fixated on the device in his hands, that little dot had taunted him as it darted around the city and he'd only bothered to finally make a real effort at following once it seemed to settle. Right hand occupied with the tracker, the left in a sling, the man had somehow managed to open the door with his foot and sidle his way inside. He stood, hunched in on himself, in the doorway, frowning at the contraption. If his target was here, why didn't the place reek of blood and death?

Finally, he would glance up and give the scene in the middle of the room a quick glance. He'd walked into a scuffle? Nothing new there. He hadn't caught the real fight or anything beyond the man's 'whore' comment.

On first glance, some may take him for a bum. Indeed, the overlarge sweater, baggy pants, and perpetual chin-stubble certainly didn't help the image. Nor did the heavy bags under his eyes and the generally haggard look about him. The little device was shoved into the depths of a ragged messenger bag slung over his currently-good shoulder and his gaze swept across the other occupants of the room. Black-haired man....white-haired woman (which struck him as odd, given her apparent age)...man with- were those cat ears? He twitched, just a tiny spasm away from the oddity before he would locate, and then curl up on, a vacant armchair.

By the readings, Vincent was upstairs and the slight glimpse he could catch of what waited on the upper level looked like little more than rooms most likely used for activities Alvaro simply did not want to walk in on. He could wait.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Buy it, use it, break it, fix it, Trash it, change it, mail - upgrade it,
Charge it, point it, zoom it, press it, Snap it, work it, quick - erase it,
Write it, cut it, paste it, save it, Load it, check it, quick - rewrite it

[Rawrlicia]

Jesus, she should have known better than to call Tristan.

Having arrived in the night with little fanfare, he'd heard no arguments to the contrary, sending a car at once, taking her to a discreet healer to take care of the worst before, finally, meeting her at the back sliding door. "I'll be damned, Arian, if I let my sister rot in a ditch somewhere. This must stop." He had told her, shaking his head angrily, waiting for her at the top of the stairs as she ascended slowly.

She argued. Of course she did. But somewhere, secretly-she hadn't stopped thinking about the Izanami since her last, brief visit. After a surprisingly soft promise to talk in the morning, Tristan had gone back to bed, no doubt returning to a questioning Ashwarya.

Leaving Arian alone in her old, dusty room. Limping slightly to the bed, she had slowly climbed across it and managed to sleep.

That's where she was now. Lying in a bed she hadn't much slept in even when she HAD lived here, having woken to blearily work out her surroundings. Izanami.

Home.

Arian made her way to the window, looking out for a moment, nervous with herself. This was stupid. She'd been gone too long, what made her think she could just waltz back now? Angrily turning away from the window, Arian drew pause, turning back for a second look. Was that...the tree house?

It had been built so long ago...why...how?


She frowned, thoughts of a quick escape forgotten as she turned back, limped her way into the shower. The warm water was a relief, and although she hadn't been around in ten years-she found jeans still folded up on the top shelf of the closet. Tugging them on, Arian rubbed her knee slightly. She'd had to put the leather brace back on it, recently. She always knew Naria's long ago fix wouldn't last forever-and that last fight seemed to do the work even faster.

And so it was that a scarred up, limping warrior came down the stairs one at a time, pausing at the foot of them. She was petite and rather toned, the sleeveless turtleneck shirt she wore leaving her arms exposed, the dozens of small scars marring her dusky, reddish undertoned skin. Her hands bore the most horrific of these scarrings, raised puncture wounds from a distant time.

At thirty three, Arian had finally grown into her face, those almond shaped, vividly colored eyes world wary and more than a little tired-full lips and pert nose, a swiped scar across her left cheek, one that cut across the edge of her lips lightly, leaving a faint mark. Dark hair was shoulder length, unstyled-and sort of wild looking after that shower, longish bangs hanging in front of her eyes.

She wore jeans, though a stiffness in her left leg showed something to be wrong with it. On her right shoulder blade, the infamous double v brand clearly showed, as well as the inked circle tattoo around it.

Her brother was not down here. Probably not up yet, or busy. She didn't know the two (HI ELI!!! : D) who were-and found it best to slip behind the bar and out the sliding doors, making her way, slowly, to that tree house. She didn't even take a coat.

Pausing at the wooden planks that served as a ladder, Arian crossed her arms, looking up at the structure. Was someone seriously keeping it up?

She hesitated at the planks, the dull ache in her knee a sore reminder-but that had never stopped her before, and it wouldn't stop her now. Working her fingers around the first, Arian began, slowly, to climb up, hindered a bit because she couldn't bend her right knee.

Climbing inside the structure, she paused a moment to catch her breath, a hand to her bandaged side-before she rose to stand, looking about.

[Elliterate]

DXVII

"...As for the shadow that hangs over my soul, I think it just called you a whore."

Jun Kaze's jaw had dropped ever so slightly, as she witnessed the radiant song of the strange synthetic man and the guttural growl and hiss of the shattered boom box. By the time it had burst into flames and 517 was addressing her, there were tears at the corners of the air benders eyes.

"Spirits are capricious beings, they speak without meaning sometimes. I would be a fool to rise to its bait, for if I did that then I would be allowing it to work its will upon the material world... that is a spirits greatest desire and, in most cases, completely forbidden by the laws which govern such things... but..."

She dropped to her knees and bowed deeply before him.

"My apologies, I did not know you were a spirit guardian." She said in a low, humble voice, "I understand now the troubling signs of your aura, please accept my forgiveness..."

When the monk rose to her feet finally, she saw they had been joined by others (HI LICIA! c: ) and she glanced between them warily. She had snapped her fan shut during the chorus of voices, however now her thumb rested upon it as if ready to fling it open at a moments notice. The air bender was still tense, after all, she had just witnessed the entrance and exist of a powerful and malevolent spirit.

Clearing her throat she decided that now was as good a time as any to try a more peaceful approach and so she spoke softly and clearly to the small gathering.

"I am Jun Kaze, I hail from the air nomads, although I have long been walking upon the earth of this realm." She bowed her head to each of them in turn. "It is an honour to behold new faces." She smiled at them, it was a gentle, reserved smile. Exactly what one would expect of a monk.

[DXVII]

Elliterate

Was she- Had me made her cry?

517's lifted from the floor and his mouth opened to apologize. He hadn't meant to upset her and he- Why was she bowing? 517 shifted uncomfortably. The deep humility of the monk wasn't the sort of treatment he was used to. Although she had attacked him earlier- That's the treatment he was used to. Or, at best, people looking at him like he was a serial killer. To ease his awkwardness, 517 looked to the first entrant, the male. A kindred spirit. Whereas 517 hid under a priest's longcoat, the two of them shared the sunken eyes and bedraggled appearance of a street dweller. 517 inclined his head respectfully, still looking plenty awkward, and then shifted his head back to the female monk. He also caught sight of someone with a limp sneaking out the back, but they seemed nonthreatening so he didn't pay much attention. Plus the lady was talking to him.

And he knew enough to not interrupt, for such would be rude. Although that didn't mean he couldn't fidget while she talked. As she introduced herself, 517 produced a bottle of generic prescription painkillers with a Japanese label. He took two pills from that bottle in his palm, and then produced another bottle. This one being a bottle of caffeine pills, with an English label this time around. Two of those pills were put in his palm, and then he popped them into his mouth and let the thin stream of blood already running down the back of his throat carry them into his belly.

"You can call me five-seventeen." The strange man finally spoke. His voice was still raspy from his damaged vocal chords. But apparently the burn of speaking wasn't too painful for him, because he pushed off the wall and with a small smile and a motion of his arm, invited the monk to join him at the bar. He desperately needed some coffee to settle the medication in his stomach, and to get that copper taste out of his mouth. "...And thank you, for your respect. Also for not hitting me too hard. I uh. Have anger issues. Sorry." That small smile evaporated when he apologized. He was not proud of his short temper. "But uh. Spirit Guardian, that's what you called me? I haven't heard that one before. You'll have to forgive me, I travel a lot. Lots of different places call me lots of different things." For once, 517 didn't surround himself in lies and falsified insanity. Normally he would pass the whole incident off as the product of his own raving psychosis, and none would be the wiser of what they'd just truly encountered. Ignorance was best.

But this woman was already aware of the darkness in the world. Of the things lurking behind the veil. Of the single piercing blue eye in the night sky, with a vertically slitted pupil and a voice that spoke directly to one's soul. 517 would gain nothing from lying to her. So he didn't bother, simply swept up towards the bar, found a seat, and leaned forward like a man who hadn't slept in three weeks. He looked for a bartender and sighed softly. "...Although. I've been here before." Been here? The first time he'd come to the Izanami, he'd walked from his apartment. Long walk, but he'd had a tasty hot dog on his way hear.

[iCheru]

Cheru often prided herself in being able to tell man apart from woman, but she had initially thought that Michi was a girl. I guess it's Michi-KUN, instead, then. Michi, himself probably didn't mind since he hadn't corrected her, not that it matter now anyway. And she only shrugged to Orin's correction, finding it true." Yeah...Who knows...well, Michi seems like a nice kid..." As far as she knew. Orin gave her her morning kiss and sat next to her. "Good morning..." At his question, she looked up with a pondering look." Well... There was something, but I missed it too..." She hadn't exactly asked what Vincent had done, and thus, did not know. However before she could say anything else, a woman had opened the door to Izanami, causing the Siren to look her way." Ah, Hel-..." Turning her head to the next arrival, she went quiet again. And for all that had transpired here, she stayed quiet watching as dumb to the situation as possible. You think that after living here for most of her life, she'd get used to these thing...The five years or so worth of Izanami being somewhat calmed down must've broken that track record.

The demonic-like voice did get a little rise out of her, hoping her son wouldn't awake to hear it.

But all in all, she sort of stared like her writer did when everything happened. The next thing to catch her attention was a another person entering through the door, this time, a dark haired, almost scraggly looking man. However, he had kept to himself and took a seat. And then there was Arian. When did she get here? It had been almost five years since she last saw her... Everything about her...just seemed...tired... Her hair was no longer long... and she walked as if there was something wrong with her leg. Worried for her, Cheru opened her mouth to speak, and alas found nothing to say as Arian left the area in her quiet state. Usually, it had been easy to call her out, but perhaps, growing up had made her even all the more sensitive to people.

But now that the fighting seemed over, the woman glanced to her still sleeping child. a sigh then a smile to the introduction." Uhm, Hello. It's nice to meet you," Cheru would say as she would rise from her stool at the bar, sweeping her hip length, stark white hair over her shoulder." Welcome to Izanami...is there anything I can do for any--" At this she looked to everyone, even the young man on the couch,"-one here?" Since no one else was up at the moment, Cherry had no qualms about running the services here.

Wearing: tunic sweatshirt with a pair of loose,dark skinny jeans and fuzzy flats.

[Elliterate]

"Five-seventeen." The woman repeated in a tone that clearly said she was curious about the name, but not going to pry any further. Her amber eyes watching his movements as his hands transferred the pills from their bottles to his mouth. Jun did not have much experience with modern medicine, although she had come across it once or twice in her life, she disliked the idea of some foreign and unnatural compound exerting its influence on her body from within... it was not a concept which sat well with her own philosophical world view. She'd stick to the healing arts of the water tribes for now.

Jun followed the young man towards the bar. Watching as he sat down. The look of concern upon her face was evident. This young man seemed hardly in shape to hold his own head up... let alone fight off the advances of malevolent spirits. The air bender pulled up a chair next to him, or rather she gestured for one of the stools to slide out just enough for her to slip onto its seat and the stool did so.

At the sound of Cheru's voice, she glanced up and offered a polite bow of her head.

"Do you perhaps have any Jasmine tea?" She asked politely, she turned her face towards the slumped over man, "Would you share a pot with me? Jasmine tea is known to have calming properties and I think, after what recently transpired, we could both use a little relaxation."

[RynSetsuko]

Like Cheru, once the real action had begun, Orin had found himself unable to do little more than watch the chaos unfold. Had this place been so quiet for so long it all just erupted into a sudden fight? In his years here, the tiger-eared man had seen some freaky things which may have desensitized him to a point. The woman wasn't the first person he'd met who could control the air, either, though the struggle between man and....whatever it was he was fighting...did earn a curious look and a cautious glance to a certain white-haired toddler.

As the battle died down and, finally, stopped, and after a glance to the woman who wandered down the stairs - and then outside - and to the man who arrived only to huddle alone, Orin would slip off his stool. He moved around the bar, heading for the kitchen. The weretiger had missed breakfast, though it was his own fault.

[RynSetsuko]

☆═━┈𝓐lvaro 𝓡eyes ┈━═☆

Honestly, he hadn't expected anyone to bother speaking to him. Alvaro had been ready to simply sit there and watch people come and go until his partner finished whatever it was he was doing and wandered downstairs. So, of course, he was slightly surprised when the woman offered to get anything for anyone.

The man was used to getting things for himself, or for Vincent, and it had always felt odd to be waited on...but she had offered. So, he would unfold himself from his seat and shuffle on over to sit at the bar instead, that bag still slung over his shoulder. "Wh-what's the l-lunch s-special?" Did nightclubs even have lunch specials? Actually, if this was supposed to be a nightclub why was it even open a this-- Y'know what? He really didn't care if it meant food and a few moments of rest. He'd been forced to wander the city, and then search out the winding path through the forest, to locate the man that was supposed to remain within his sights at all times. All that fresh from a stay at the sick ward. He'd take a small bit of relaxation where he could get it.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Buy it, use it, break it, fix it, Trash it, change it, mail - upgrade it,
Charge it, point it, zoom it, press it, Snap it, work it, quick - erase it,
Write it, cut it, paste it, save it, Load it, check it, quick - rewrite it

[DXVII]

Cheru's greeting was returned in a grunt and mumble. The young man wasn't trying to be offensive, or curt, it's just that when he was this tired, he occasionally said something that rang clearly in his own head, but came out of his mouth as a garbled, mumbling mess. To cap off his rambling, 517 gave Cheru a small smile that inadvertently revealed that while he'd wiped his face clean of blood, viscera had a tendency to stick to your teeth. His not-so-pearly-whites were slick with a bloody sludge, and like any true social savant, 517 hadn't the faintest clue. He just smiled in a clueless fashion, and then looked towards the monk as she offered him a pot of jasmine tea. The hot tea would warm his cold insides and help ease the pain in his throat. Relaxation.

That sounded lovely, except for one thing.

517 was already on the edge of tipping over, and sleep wasn't something he could afford right now. He wasn't safe. Sleeping would be bad. The nightmares alone... He'd planned to supplement his caffeine medication with some more caffeine in the form of coffee, but how could he turn down such an offer? Especially when he'd already been so rude to the young monk. He smiled again, blissfully unaware of the crimson sheen to his teeth. "I'd love to." 517 spoke with an affirmative nod, and then retrieved that bottle of caffeine pills again. Two more wouldn't kill his liver. He was built of tougher stuff. But he wasn't going to swallow them with blood this time, he'd simply set the little capsules on the bar counter and wait for the tea.

And with that matter dealt with, the paranoia started to kick in. Sure he'd been here before, but who were all these people? Those vibrantly blue eyes of his scanned the room, from face to face. Searching for a hint of that black mist that signaled possession, or for subtle signs of malicious intent, or for overt signs of malicious intent. But since nobody was pointing a gun at him, or twirling a devious mustache, or casually sharpening a knife, 517 knew that they were all plotting to kill him anyways. He gave a small nod as his suspicions were confirmed, and then leaned forward on the bar. "Jun Kaze, I'd say you look out of place, but there's a mantiger just over there, so maybe I'm the crazy one here."

[Elliterate]

Jun regarded the individual whom 517 referred to as a mantiger casually. Although seeing such a creature was quite surprising to her, she did not make it known. She had long ago learned the value of keeping your Pai Sho pieces close to your chest.

The fact that there was blood splashed all over the man's teeth didn't bother her in the slightest. It would wash away with the tea when it arrived.

"I am certain I seem out of place in many of the establishments I visit." She laughed softly into her hand. "But as long as I know my own place within myself, I can walk anywhere free from worry." She smiled warmly and then glanced down towards the pills on the table.

"Tell me, Five-Seventeen, what are those?" She moved her hand to gesture towards them and they trembled in the wake of the gentle breeze that often accompanied her movements, "You seem to be partial to them... there is no shame in enjoying the things which life has to offer, but you should be careful not to start down the path of excess, it is steep and the climb back up is often more difficult than one bargained for."

While she waited patiently for his answer, and the tea, she straightened out the assortment of vibrant silk sashes at her waist. Each was a varying shade of blue, some dark enough to be almost black, others vibrant and bright as 517's eyes and still more pale as the sky at first light. They had fallen into disarray during her altercation with the synthetic man and while Jun wasn't bothered if they looked nice, she did want to be certain that none of them had been damaged. Each scarf had been a parting gift from her teachers at the temple and each held not only sentimental worth to the young air bender, but also great spiritual importance. It would have been a gross disrespect not to care for them reverently.

The lithe dark haired woman had many more questions for 517, but she was not the type to bombard him with them all at once, she would wait until more had been spoken between them and then, when they had begun to build up a level of camaraderie she would ask what she was really curious to know. How he had come to be a spirit guardian.

[iCheru]

Arian might've been surprised to see that the tree house she had labored over those many years ago was still intact. Better than just intact, actually. The wood had been fixed to fit together more smoothly and leave virtually no cracks or vulnerable spots in the structure. The door inside was fixed as well, closing properly and have a lock on the inside of the house. There was renovated space --Just enough to leave more walking space-- that hadn't been there before. There were now two windows, one on the east side and one on the west side, fully paned and functional. Right next to the window, on the outside, a pulley had been placed there, perhaps for the basket that sat in the corner with a rope tied to it. The roof was the thing that took the most time, perhaps, since it was reinforced and rain resistant.

Only pieces of furniture were a chest filled with blankets, and other useful items. There was a large, round rug on the floor and a desk on the other side, against the wall. Against another wall was a long set of shelves where things could be stored and held, full of puzzles, snacks, and games. Above it, hooks were screwed in for a coat. Against the wall laid a rolled up futon, on the floor. On the walls hung some pictures and drawings. One drawing was of Hikari, Arian, and Valas. Another one done looked like Tarrin, Kino, and Cheru. There were many other pieces of drawings of scribbled crayon. There was one rather larger poster of the solar system, and another of a waterfall. On the desk was a tiny lap, close to the edge by the window where the solar pads could receive sunlight. On the other side of the room, a larger solar charged lamp stood. All in all, for the past ten years, someone invested a lot into this treehouse.

Now, Thal...while you're there, take care of yourself... Get some sleep and just relax... I know...it'll be hard, but please try? For me?

Walking up the path, he could remember the worried tone in her voice even though he hadn't answered her back. He had simply taken his materials he needed to fix one pf the loose planks. With his duffel bag over his shoulder, he walked around the building to get to the back. He would've went inside, but instincts told him it was a bad idea, and he didn't wan the chance of distant memories coming back to haunt him. And so, he took the back way. Ten years had really been a long time. Though time had flown, he seemed somewhat lost in it. What did it really matter? One year? Five? Ten? Without her...it seemed to slow to a stop, life did. He knew. Yes she had told him where she was going and how things were going to be. He knew this... and he knew he couldn't stop her. He almost never could. That was already accepted. It was just... Why couldn't she let him help her? For the first time in his life, he had longed for something . He longed and wanted so much... He searched and traveled.

He just wanted her back...

His boots tromped along the trail, leading him to the tree house. Time had indeedly taken it's toll on the man. He hadn't loss in the way of his body, for he kept himself in shape to take his mind off of things. The six foot, lean man was still a body buster. Yet, his eyes no longer as expressive as before, having time to slip back into his stone-like persona. Facial hair started growing a few year ago, though he maintained it accordingly. Since his last shave, he began grow a light stubble. Before, he had cut his long hair to a short, boyish style. With the ten years, it not only grew back to its normal length, but his ponytail almost reached his waist. He went back to wearing his hunter gear with a swords belted onto his back. The only thing that was out of place was the worn, falling apart seashell bracelet on his wrist.

Approaching the treehouse, he noticed the door was open....Staring for half a second, he began to climb, poking his head through, starting at the feet near him and then completely looking up... Speechless, he pulled himself all the way in and closed the door. He'd sit his bag down and look to her with a quiet, unchanged expression."Arian..."

(( x - x Cheru Next))

[iCheru]

With her fiance off in the kitchen, Cheru felt a tad bit shy, not really knowing anyone in the room. She squirmed the tiniest bit, waiting for an answer.Jun Kaze would speak first, catching her attention. "Tea?" Of course. Lanfen, their Asian Bakery worker was always kind even to supply Izanami with many varieties of tea from her country with a discounted price."Of course..." Before she could even move behind the bar, the sink turned on on its own and water poured, directing itself into a stand alone kettle on the counter. Making her way behind the counter, she'd switch on the hot plate." It won't be long, I promise..." The shaggy man reacted next, moving to the bar. "Lunch special?" Cheru had barely gotten breakfast out of the way. Lunch already? Besides that, she usually went by requests. Guess it was default time." If you don't mind tomato soup and a sandwich, I'd be glad to get that for you." Her smile came when she turned to him briefly, the water cutting off. Cheru closed the pot and sat it on the hot plate. Orin might've noticed water clones coming out of the wood work to start the ordered meal in the kitchen while Cheru began to pull out teacups and the tea, itself.

"I'll be back" Now excusing herself to the kitchen, she'd begin to make a sandwich." You wanna wait for lunch instead, dear?" The Siren blinked her orange eyes up to the mantiger, pushing white hair behind her ear.