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 Posted: Tue Aug 26, 2008 3:19 pm
 (( Continued from the So Long Summer roleplay festival. ))
Tanzaku obeyed, fell passive to her tugging and followed obediently, his head held high, eyes still riveted on the stars. It had been so long since he had seen them. He had only come here to revel in their beauty again, not expecting to find a festival, so many winiko, his own star- the brightest in his sky.
He listened with a full heart to her voice more than her words, a wry grin perched on his countenance. He shook his mane out of his face as he spoke,
"It's alright, I'm sure we'll all get along just fine. I'd love to meet them, Belle, really," he laughed, a twinkle in his eye. "And this Lieu character, she seems to be quite interesting; I'd love to actually see her in person. She's your sister, right?"
His eyes softened, his thoughts ran. Her mother, Belle's mother- was she that elegant, striped elder he had seen earlier? He shivered with excitement, his tail curling in behind him. When had he last felt so warm?
At mention of Alyssa, he only smiled, shook his head.
"I believe in her, I know she'll be alright. She always used to say to me, 'Zaku, one day I'm not going to let you in if you don't go out and find yourself a lady friend.' She'd say it with the eyebrows and everything," his tone was mocking and jovial, but there was a hint of pain underneath. "It's a little late now, but I'm sure she'd want me to be here. And I want to be here, no matter what anyone says. I want to be here. With you."
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Posted: Tue Aug 26, 2008 3:34 pm
 "Yeah, Lieu's my sister. My little brother is Cavalier, too, but he's really quiet most of the time." Belle smiled, having finally let for of his mane, and took a few bounding leaps forward. Her mother and father had just popped up over the hill, Lieutenant and Cavalier in tow. She shot a quick look to Tanzaku and ran to them quickly, hurriedly telling them what had happened. She laughed softly at something her mother said, then turned and ran back to his side.
"I made them promise that we could get you there before you get bombarded with hellos and introductions," she said, smiling broadly. She watched as Beau led their little group down the beach back towards home, striped pelt blending just as well as Belle's in the dark that was the night. "They said they would let you in the door first, yeah?" Another laugh came from her lungs. When was the last time she had felt to alive? She was always bright and cheery, always. This feeling in her stomach, however, was something new; it told her that everything was right, that there was harmony in place.
She stuck her tongue out at her sister as Lieutenant turned her head to shoot Belle a questionable look. She -better- not be a pain, or she'd just complain to mom; that always worked. Besides, she had always been her mother's favorite, hadn't she?
"It's about fifteen or twenty minutes from here," she said as they padded through the soft sand back towards the house, "It's funny; we come this way all the time, but Capricorn always says that she never feels right and walks the other direction. Must be why the celebration was over here, yeah? Only winiko must be able to find it." She grinned broadly, eyes alight from the sliver of moon hanging in the sky.
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Posted: Tue Aug 26, 2008 4:06 pm
Tanzaku pondered the idea of having siblings. Someone with you, day and night, sometimes annoying, strangely endearing - like the moon that followed his travels? Like the sun that lit his grassy hill and hid, with its shadows, his presence? It must be good, he concluded. It must be good and rewarding and absolutely brilliant, except he didn't understand why Belle could find it in her to complain about them, about this beautifully sheltered life that he was glad she was having.
Not that it would suit him, he decided. Some wilds are never meant to be tamed.
He padded softly, keeping at his own pace as he moved behind her and she rushed ahead, mane swishing in the slight breeze. She looked so delighted just to see them, and his heart ached, for her happiness more than anything. He knew what a family was like, and he loathed to admit that he missed it more than anything.
"Is that so?" he chuckled, turning his eyes to the group further along the horizon. Two large, looming, protective figures, one the lady he had seen earlier. Another large one was striped, the color of sand. Beneath their shadows were one Belle-sized winiko and a smaller one, presumably Lieu and Cavalier.
At her musings, he just nodded pleasantly, turning his face to her,
"We're not creatures of the norm, that's for sure. You can't really be surprised if we have special places in this world," he replied casually, swinging his tail so that it grazed hers as they walked. "It would come once in a blue moon, back on my hill, that someone could even sense my presence."
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Posted: Tue Aug 26, 2008 4:38 pm
"Well, yeah," she replied, path meandering back and forth rather than a straight course, "Sometimes I think that it's the people that really need us that can sense our presence. Capricorn, well... she lost everything she ever loved, ever knew. Not long after that she found the amulet that brought my mother into this dimension." Her eyes wandered from the ground up to Beau's back, smiling fondly as she watched soft purple wisps fall from her body; an elder's aura. "She was lost herself, and mom saved her."
She wondered, briefly, where her bonded could possibly have ended up without Beau. Dead? A murderous villain that wandered the earth? She shuddered softly at the thought of anything but the Capricorn she knew; soft, gentle, and caring. Just like... her mother? Perhaps she had had more of an influence on the woman that Belle had first realized.
"Makes you wonder what it must have been like being the first," she said offhandedly, "Roaming the world, not another demon like you out there. Then again-" she paused thoughtfully for a moment, clicking her tongue against her teeth. "from the stories dad told me, it sounds like they didn't really care about anything other than consuming a soul. Not a very satisfying existence, if you ask me."
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Posted: Tue Aug 26, 2008 4:49 pm
Tanzaku continued pondering her words. His eyes narrowed at the sharp feeling that filled his chest, the sent of his bonded that suddenly rose from the earth, as if to harm him only. He looked away briefly, biting his lip, before turning his head back, his eyes full of doubt,
"Not all bonded are like that. I mean, you definitely need a reason to summon one of us, or maybe you found one of us randomly, but for me, Alyssa had always told me that she needed a companion, that was the reason I existed in the world, but when her lover died I felt like it would have been better had I never been there in the first place."
At her stern tone, he simply laughed, moving in closer to her on the path out of habit more than anything, a subconscious need for her. Between them, he felt as though there was a subtle magnetism, an aberrant wish that even the air carried, for them to be together, as if there was no other way.
"We're lucky to be living in this time, this now. Thank goodness we're nothing like the demons of modern belief."
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Posted: Tue Aug 26, 2008 8:05 pm
"Well, yeah, I think I get it," she replied, eyes drifting up to the star-spattered sky, "But I still think that some people don't really know what they're getting themselves into when they summon a demon. There's not much information for someone that stumbles across an amulet, after all."
A soft breeze blew off of the sea, ruffling her mane as they walked, the lights on the shore becoming steadily closer. Up ahead the only things that gave away the presence of the other demons were the auras of the elders and the brighter stripes across their pelts. Belle found her paws felt where they had come through earlier, every now and then touching a rough patch of sand where a talon or two had kicked up the ground.
"I guess it's just person to person, yeah?" she started, head tilting to the side as she watched the stars, "They're like us, all different. Like... like snowflakes."
She paused a moment more, train of thought changing again. "Speaking of snow, don't mind Aldes; he's a little strange. He was born in the winter, so he leaves the freezer door open sometimes. Nice guy, though, he's like a big brother, yeah?" She giggled softly at the thought of it. "He'll be asleep by the time we get back, though, so that's one less name you have to remember tonight, at least."
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Posted: Wed Aug 27, 2008 7:12 am
Tanzaku held his breath as she spoke, feeling content that she was seeing the same sky as he was, for once. She probably wasn't familiar with the places in the city- like that dark, dark hill- where the stars weren't visible.
"That's true. But it's a lot better that way, I think," he replied softly, wondering if it was the right thing to do, teaching this seemingly fragile girl about the horrors of outside. "It's better not being wanted in the first place, there's no comparative pain. But if you were summoned for something and then just cast away, well, it really hurts. The orphan is better than the orphaned."
Tanzaku listened to the sounds of their claws grating into the sand, leaving bizarre tracks for believers of the supernatural to follow. Up above, lights grew, making him squint a little, focusing on the source.
"Like snowflakes? Humans and demons?" he wondered aloud, mirroring her words close to his heart. He had no answer for them.
At mentioning of Aldes, Tanzaku just smiled, laughed.
"The more the merrier. But you sure seem to have a lot family in the house," his tone was cheerful, but his eyes betrayed a bit of envy, though he knew he would much rather her be living like this than himself. "Your bonded must be an interesting person."
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Posted: Wed Aug 27, 2008 12:02 pm
Belle knew that his words were spoken from experience, and the thought saddened her. She kept her spirits up, however, thinking instead of how a demon orphaned was just as easily assimilated into another family. It was all she ever knew in her young life, the warm feeling that crept into every corner of your existence that told you this was where you belonged.
"Yeah, you know; we're certainly not exactly like them, but we're similar. They say no two snowflakes will ever be exactly alike. The same goes for us; we're shaped by who we've met and where we're from, every one molded in a different way." She smiled, glanced to him. "Kind of like chemistry, yeah?"
Her quick look had missed the look in his eyes, and a soft giggle followed his comment. "You could say that," she replied, "Not many people would take a dozen demons into their own household, willingly or not." She trailed off a moment, eyes looking down the shore where a figure was silhouetted softly against the light of a dying campfire, red embers giving off enough light to see that the person was standing facing the sea, chin tipped up just a bit.
"She's expecting us, yeah?" Belle whispered, smiling, "But she sits out here a lot anyways. Sometimes I think it reminds her of her good memories; that, or it just gives her a chance to relax." A laugh followed, tail curling contentedly behind her.
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Posted: Wed Aug 27, 2008 7:35 pm
Tanzaku let his mane sway, let the breeze carry everything inside of him that was like a caged bird- incarcerated, seperated, dying, dying. He would never have believed that it would have been so easy to revive his wrinkled, parched life; one girl. One girl, but, oh, she was so much more than that. He smiled faintly to himself as they carried their conversation, the incoming lights like serenades to his newfound contentment.
"Yes, it is like chemistry," he laughed, finding her metaphors strangely true, though a little random, wild. "And people, well, some people find they never get the chance to live; we are the same in the knowing that we are all in the world right now, and in that there is no real lack of hope anywhere. The world is a marvelous place, isn't it?"
His tone was amused, his back arched pleasantly and curved at the tip of his tail, sensitive in its brushing of the contours in the footprints they left behind them.
At her mentioning of her bonded, Tanzaku craned his neck to get a better view of her. The waning flames bit at his vision, and he looked away for a second; years spent living and hiding in the darkness -so that he could watch Alyssa unnoticed- had taken their toll on his eyes. But he looked back quickly all the same. Her frame was elegant, brilliantly accented with the sanguine light that flew in from inside, and her face, though he could barely see it from the distance, had a pleasant feeling emanating from it, making him warm inside.
So this was where he was going.
At her comment, he slipped a glance at her striped face, his voice soft to match hers in the muffled din of slow conversation and shuffling feet,
"Water is always amazing for healing, no matter who it is. And I imagine it must be so peaceful, living here..."
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Posted: Thu Aug 28, 2008 8:49 am
"I think so, yeah," Belle replied at his comment of water, "It's like... taking a long bath? It's relaxing." She giggled softly, leaning her head over to hit her own ram horns playfully against his. She was slightly startled at the noise it made, but laughed all the same.
Without warning, Beau suddenly took off ahead of them, strides coming in large bounds as she crossed the last space between her and her bonded. Capricorn did the same, walking instead of running, and met the demon with a large hug, quickly finding herself on the ground in a mild wrestling match with the elder.
"They do that a lot," Belle mused aloud, head tipping to the side as she watched them, "Mom and her are really close." The rest of the group padded up a small beaten path to the house, mostly unseen; the sound of their claws on the wood deck could be plainly heard, a dull thudding noise against the crash and roll of the waves.
"Who do we have here?"
Belle eyes turned back to the woman, padding a bit closer before she stopped a few feet from her. Capricorn was standing now, Beau standing contentedly at her side. Her fiery auburn hair hung in long strands to her elbows, violet eyes alight with amusement as she watched Tanzaku for a moment. In the soft light several scars that spanned her pale face and arms were barely visible, casting odd markings against her skin. Spindly tribal markings ran across her arms from wrist to shoulder, ink black tattoos stark against the smooth surface.
"A friend of yours, Belle?"
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Posted: Sat Sep 06, 2008 4:04 pm
At her simile, Tanzaku's eyes softened fondly, though there was a shock of surprise that coarsed through his veins. Baths were supposed to be long and warm and relaxing, like the way he used to take them with Alyssa. She never minded him being in the tub with her, and he fancied he could have just stayed there forever, in his castle of bubbles and stunning window views. Now, his baths were reserved only for frigid lake water, their murky depths cryptic and frightening. Still, he laughed just the same as they connectde playfully, adamant on not being pitied.
As Beau bonded up to her bonded, he saw himself doing the same with Alyssa and would not have found the strength to smile if not for Belle's sake only. Still, his lips were tight and unshaking as his voice held no view to the deleterious chaos within him.
"It's very nice to have someone you can care about to that extent," he mused aloud, looking to Belle with a faint longing. "I don't know where I'd be without it."
At her bonded's quiet voice, Tanzaku brought his gaze back to the beautiful beach house, trying his hardest to pull his roiling heart together. Capricorn was exotic, strange under the pale light, though her fiery hair was akin to that of his own bonded's. Strange markings ran up her arms like curses, and a few scars held secrets to a rougher life before. Tanzaku swallowed before speaking, a wry smile painting his lips,
"It's very nice to meet you. I'm Tanzaku, Belle and I met again at the festival," his tone was tender and mature, though the very sight of a kind human like Capricorn pulled at his heartstrings. "I've heard many good things about you."
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Posted: Sun Sep 07, 2008 5:41 pm
Belle made a small circle, coming back to stand close at Tanzaku's side. Her shoulder bumped against his, tail-tuft brushing against the ground behind her. She only hoped that her bonded's kind behavior wouldn't put him off; she wanted him to stay more than anything. Her silvery eyes glanced quickly to his face for a moment, ears swiveling to listen to the conversation at hand.
Capricorn stepped closer, crouching so that she was able to look at the winiko face-to-face. Her lips pulled back in a contented grin, revealing two finely-pointed fangs that hung just a tad father then the rest of her teeth. "Tanzaku?" she stated again, more for herself then anything else, "Finally... you found each other."
She beamed at his comment, tipping her head to him. "I'm just making up for my past," she replied, voice somewhat quiet and solemn, "I was given a second chance, and I swore I would take it." An amused smile crossed her lips, fingers tracing ancient and strange glyphs and runes in the sand at her boots. "But you, now... I've heard lots about you, Tanzaku."
Belle fought the urge to flush, however visible it may or may not have been against her dark fur. Of course she had told Capricorn all about the young demon boy she had met on her trip out, of course. How could she not have? Her bonded now, however, was playing the role of embarrassing parent; something she didn't want. She may be happy-go-lucky and all smiles and sunshine, but it was everyone's worst nightmare to have someone spill secrets and stories about them.
"Not nowwww," she whined, lifting her paw to push playfully against the vampire's knee. Capricorn merely flashed a charismatic grin in her direction and laughed softly, eyes alight from whatever ghostly light reflected off of the sea. It gave the violet orbs a strangely hollow and ghastly look, as if the moon could peer into the deepest innards of her soul. She shifted, though, and they were filled with amusement and warmth once more.
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Posted: Sat Oct 04, 2008 5:13 pm
Out of the corner of his eye, Tanzaku could distantly see Belle's eyes flickering bright over his face. She was worried, he was sure, or perhaps anxious about something, but he kept his face straight, not twitching a muscle under the nostalgic torrent inside him. He would do well not to mess this up.
Peering earnestly into Capricorn's violet amaryllis eyes, he assembled a smooth smile in return to her jovial expression. She wasn't a regular human, that was for sure, from the fangs that he caught glinting in the moonlight. She seemed stronger, less likely to break. His mind flashed over Alyssa before his eyes cleared again.
He beamed shakily at mention of his name, and nodded distinctly, looking over this lady's face as if it would hold a hint towards something else. But with that forlorn comment about her past, nothing else gave itself away, and perhaps that was all for the best, after all.
At her mention of Belle's antics, however, he flushed a dull pink, turning quickly towards his companion,
"Y-you told...? About..." he stuttured comically, paws puttering busily underneath him. But at her soft whinnies, he merely laughed, composing himself again, though the trained eye could catch the twitch in his tail that proved he was still an internal jumble.
So as to avoid to embarassing Belle, he looked away quickly, catching the eye of her bonded. He smiled widely at her- she was charming, though a little mysterious, and he was looking forward to spending more time with her.
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Posted: Wed Oct 08, 2008 3:09 pm
Belle finally was contented that Capricorn approved of him; after all, it wouldn't be fair if she had dragged him all this way and the vampire had folded her arms with a firm 'no'. It just wouldn't have been proper and kind.
Then again, had she really expected her to not accept Tanzaku?
Of course not.
"Why not?" Belle replied, laughing like a nervous schoolgirl, "I told you at the party that I never stopped waiting for the day I'd wake up and a striped winiko would be sitting outside waiting for me to come and play and just forget the rest of the world." She offered her trademark smile to him, beaming in his general direction.
Capricorn smiled at the two before standing to her full height, a couple of her joints cracking as she did so. She flicked a few particles of damp sand from her fingertips, turning to head up to the house. "If you'll excuse me, I'm going to head to my study for a bit of reading. You're welcome to come find me later if you'd like." She trudged up the slope and onto the winding path through the dune grass, disappearing from view after a moment or so. Beau followed close behind, her soft glow also disappearing amongst the spare foliage.
Belle's tail curled in the air behind her. "We can go inside, if you'd like," she started, breath coming out in soft puffs of fog from her maw, "Or we can stay outside. Either one is fantastic, yeah?" She grinned broadly, ears turning to focus her attention on him.
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Posted: Wed Jan 07, 2009 7:34 am
To his side, Tanzaku could sense a firm sort of satisfaction emanating from somewhere deep inside the striped pelt of his companion. It relaxed him more than anything else could, and he sighed softly, turning to her at last.
His jaws pulled back to reveal a wide, almost teasing smile as she spoke about past dreams, though a part of his chest ached with guilt for making her feel that way. Had he really made her wait? Had he really meant more to her than just that passing flicker of life, just another demon on another hill for a minute or two of solace? He looked down at his paws, tried not to sound as concerned as he felt while he laughed,
"I didn't think..." he trailed off absently, unable to finish. Instead, his smile caught a little sheepishness and he shrugged, glad to be where he was now.
As Capricorn left, he watched her receding back curiously, wondering what called her away so quickly. She had stayed with them fleetingly, and then left without time for him to say his goodbyes- that left him uneasy, as if he had missed that chance for greatness.
Still, turning back to Belle, he felt his heart swell with consolation and he slumped his shoulders, happily resigned to spend the rest of the night without the worry that was constantly on his back. Things would be fine. For once, he earnestly believed that.
"Is there anything... you'd like to show me?" he replied quietly, looking about him with brightness in his eyes, "After all, it's your home. I'd be delighted with anything."
As long as I'm with you. He swallowed his next words, but he was almost certain she heard them from his heart.
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