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Imperial Princess Rika Vice Captain
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 Posted: Thu May 21, 2009 5:35 pm
Weak, foolish, ineffectual, powerless, is he? He'll show them. Oh, they'll laugh when he's done with them -- when he's dragged them through the valley of the abject, spattered them with the searing oil of helpless terror, injected them with an understanding of how short-lived and small they are --
These roiling dark thoughts are kept silent behind an icy wall as the Mist Sorcerer lies on his stomach on a tree branch, concealed by a mass of leaves. His pale brown eyes scan the ground for the approach of his prey while he tightly, but carefully grips his weapon.
Soon she will be here -- his quarry.
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Posted: Thu May 21, 2009 5:43 pm
Of course, Shuuken has no idea about such dark rumblings--no, she's just darting through the park, enjoying a sunny day. Her movements reveal that she has no real direction, her body zig-zagging from tree to bush, and why would she? If she had set out with a destination, she would have ruined half of the fun of coming to the park!
The red-headed girl, as if guided by some invisible hand, glides along the ground towards the tree, a bright smile on her face and cheerful emotions spilling from her mind as something glowers at her from above.
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Imperial Princess Rika Vice Captain
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Posted: Thu May 21, 2009 5:46 pm
He lies. He waits. Like a slender tiger up in his tree, he does not move until the perfect moment comes to strike, to unleash his anger, his frustration, his resentment and hatred of that pretentious, vicious, violent little woman, lovely little daughter of Hyouka who thinks she can be anything she likes --
He will punish her.
And he does so by, just as the innocent youth steps underneath his branch, releasing, with a bloodcurdling scream of fury and malice, dropping a still-slippery fish on her head.
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Posted: Thu May 21, 2009 6:06 pm
And Shuuken, formerly full of joy, emits fear as an unknown object smacks her head and sends her stumbling forward. In seconds she's scrambling across the ground on her hands and feet, away from the assailant as pain echoes through her thoughts. Her head jerks over her shoulder, looking at whatever attacked her...
... and she finds a fish staring at her blankly from the ground. All anxiety is replaced by rage as Shuuken automatically knows who the Master Fisherman is in the tree. With a cry of anger, Shuuken rushes the tree, leaps on, and begins her ascent.
The Mist Sorcerer is dead! scream
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Imperial Princess Rika Vice Captain
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Posted: Thu May 21, 2009 6:11 pm
Cackling with laughter, the Mist Sorcerer takes another item from his bag -- a long, slimy piece of seaweed, and drops it on Shuuken's face as she approaches.
So like a girl! So scared of a harmless little fishy! Ooey-gooey, scary things -- isn't that what boys like!?
Shuuken claims to be a boy, but she's all talk! "Shu-u-ke-n, Shu-u-ke-n," he taunts, enunciating all four syllables as he now draws out a dead crab to pelt her with.
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Posted: Thu May 21, 2009 6:16 pm
And a growl emerges from Shuuken's throat as the seaweed covers her face. However, she not only continues to climb the tree, but the Mist Sorcerer might find her starting to eat the seaweed, allowing her eyes to be uncovered despite his trick.
Shuuken is going to KILL the Mist Sorcerer and nothing can stop her now! Closer and closer the princess gets, her cheeks full of seaweed and her eyes full of flame. scream
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Imperial Princess Rika Vice Captain
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Posted: Thu May 21, 2009 6:20 pm
"Angry~ little~ Shu-u-ke-n~" he cries in a sing-song voice as he adds the crab to her hair -- ooh, it matches, like a lady's hair accessory ought to! He laughs deliriously -- completely concealing the fact that he was a little bit impressed at her way of dealing with the seaweed.
Shuuken just can't forgive an insult to her honor, can she? So proprietous, so ladylike, so Named! He continues to taunt her as he rises to his feet, walking wobbily along the top of the branch. One little fish and...! "Execution!" he squeals.
If Shuuken came before the Celestial Oracle and asked to be his apprentice, the Mist Sorcerer is sure he'd laugh, too!
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Posted: Thu May 21, 2009 6:26 pm
Upon swallowing the seaweed, Shuuken screams in pure rage at the crab accessory. She hefts herself up on a branch, a finger pointed up at the Mist Sorcerer.
"Worthwhile Sorcerers also have honor which explains you, you b*****d!" screams Shuuken before she jumps upwards, her hands gripping a branch and easily pulling her lithe body upwards--and pauses.
At the last comment, Shuuken clenches her teeth and trembles with rage as anger shoots from her like sparks from a raging fire. Shuuken is more of a man than the Mist Sorcerer ever could be and he is telling Shuuken these things?! The Sorcerer's apprentice grabs at the crab in her hair, raises it in the air, and sends the crustacean flying like a rocket at the Mist Sorcerer.
EAT SHELL! scream
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Imperial Princess Rika Vice Captain
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Posted: Thu May 21, 2009 6:31 pm
The crab is too small to knock the Mist Sorcerer off the branch -- which he doesn't seem to realize, because he nearly falls off the branch in his attempt to dodge it.
He regains his balance, though, and grins wildly at Shuuken, his eyes wide. Oh, really~? Who told Shuuken that -- "Books? Scholars? Courtiers? Queens?" What sort of silly princess's idea of Sorcery is that?
"You don't know," he gasps. Shuuken doesn't know what a Sorcerer is -- she has "No one to teach you!"
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Posted: Thu May 21, 2009 6:35 pm
Shuuken knows enough of what a Sorcerer is! She has read of them, and she has seen them! Sorcerers are so much more than the Mist Sorcerer who menaced all around him with his petty, transient powers!
Shuuken scrambles up another branch, every hair bristling atop her head. Shuuken knows that a Sorcerer is free, that a Sorcerer is madly wise, that a Sorcerer brings change!
And Shuuken will bring change by clawing out the Mist Sorcerer's eyes.
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Imperial Princess Rika Vice Captain
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Posted: Thu May 21, 2009 6:41 pm
Shuuken is so mistaken. "Wrong, wrong, all wrong!" he cries, as he spreads his arms wide, tossing his bag and its remaining bits of trash away.
That's what Sorcerers are -- "Wrong!" Not written in any book, not known by any Empress -- invisible, unknowable, wicked, evil, twisted, hungry.
And he dodges Shuuken's assault by dropping off the branch -- ... ... ... and feeling a sharp pain in his ankle, which he completely conceals, instead blasting the little girl up on the branch with a cacophany of projections, intertwined bits of mockery and disdain and madness: Shuuken is so honorable, so correct, so elegant. She's trying to be a Sorcerer by doing what Sorcerers are supposed to do! So funny -- like a poet trying to grasp the mad sublime of nature in a five-line poem.
That's what Shuuken is like -- an excellent little poem, "Shuuka."
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Posted: Thu May 21, 2009 6:47 pm
And Shuuken's anger and anxiety build and build, her shoulders trembling, her teeth clenching, her stomach knotting--
--before the name is said. Shuuken looks down to the mad Sorcerer, her reddened face suddenly gaining some element of clarity before becoming pale once more.
"Shuuka," says Shuuken softly, one palm placed on the branch on which she rests. With a nod of her head, she continues to speak.
"I am now Shuuka," says the former princess decisively, "And what is your name? You weren't born with the name Mist Sorcerer--who are you?" She moves to stand on her branch, looking down at the madman.
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Imperial Princess Rika Vice Captain
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Posted: Thu May 21, 2009 6:51 pm
As Shuuken calms, the Mist Sorcerer seems to as well -- the wild mood that had his eyes flashing and rolling ebbs away, though when he speaks again it is still in a taunting tone -- what, Shuuken will just grab that name and take it when she still has that and doesn't have this--
... ... ... but then, when she asks him his name, his face darkened, not becoming maddened so much as shadowed with quiet roiling rage. "Not-- yours," he finally manages to hiss as he turns around and begins to walk away from the tree.
... or rather, hobble.
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Posted: Thu May 21, 2009 6:55 pm
And Shuuken drops from branch-to-branch before hitting the ground, her feet carrying her a few feet away from the Mist Sorcerer's left side. She peers at him for a few moments before giving in to her curiosity.
"You are Shuuka?" asks Shuuka as she wanders ever-so-slightly closer to her adversary. She frowns before being filled with a sudden daring, her hand reaching out to grip the Mist Sorcerer's shoulder.
"... Can I share your name?"
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Imperial Princess Rika Vice Captain
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Posted: Thu May 21, 2009 6:59 pm
The Mist Sorcerer cries out as Shuuken tries to touch him, jerking away -- though his injured ankle impairs his mobility. "Don't touch me!" he cries, trying to hobble away from her faster.
"Not your... not your... not your..." he stammers as he limps away, his eyes rolling around his head, settling on objects from the scene -- trees, bushes, rocks -- as he tries to remember the word. "Not your... BUSINESS!" he screeches, breaking into a grin at successfully recalling it -- though that may be inexplicable to Shuuken.
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