[AIM RP]- completed some time ago. :3
Kione- Apotropaics
Kurai- Huroggmeten
Kione- Apotropaics
Kurai- Huroggmeten
The stallion stood beneath the tumultuous waterfall, letting it wash away his sins. Torrents of water cascading over his placid form.
In time, naught would be left. Water, cleanse my soul of impurities, heal me of all past wrongs.
Deliver me, and let me rise...
Eyes closed in reverent bliss, he let the ritual carry him away.
Kurai let out an impish giggle, peering at the strange stallion from behind the brush.
What was he doing? Standing there, beneath the crashing water... was he like Auntie? Was he 'wrong' in the head?
She crinkled her nose, trying to discern whether or not she would be disappointed if he really were sane.
She's snuck away. Escaped her brother's tentative care, her sister's presence, her parent's love. They slumbered on, oblivious, unaware of her absence.
She wanted... well, she didn't know what she want. But she certainly wouldn't get it if she was asleep!
Not that he had committed any atrocities. No harm had befallen others, no hoof raised against another heart, that was his doing.
And yet... 'twas proper, to stand so, to believe.
He sighed, ethereal features magnified by the moon's gentle glow.
Rise...
... well... actually... she probably would! After all, anything was possible in the dream world.
But... but... it wasn't the same as getting it in real life!
She frowned, and stomped one tiny hoof.
Decision made, she burst forth from the brush and trotted to the water's edge, trailing snapped branches and crumbling leaves in her wake.
Kione's ears flickered, long-instilled survival instincts finally breaking through his reveration and alerting him of another's presence.
He cracked open one cerulean eye, then blinked as the somber-hued filly trotted sprightly into his line of vision.
... What have we here?
With a swish of her tail, the filly pranced towards the riverbank, flounced through the shallow water, and began to swim- kick! flail! kick! flail! kick!- towards the strange creature standing beneath the waterfall.
Pale gaze fixed firmly on the most recent object of her near-obsessive curiosity, she studied him as one might a book.
Pale features, cast of ivory... was that a natural luminescence, or was the moon's gentle glow playing with the water's surface to create that prismatic effect?
Oooo... rope!
She kicked a little faster, dainty hooves cutting through the water... yet try as she might, she drifted further away... carried by the water's current.
A low chuckle escaped him.
Poor little dear. Can't swim against these currents. A fatherly pride shining in his cerulean eyes, he stepped forth from beneath the gentle waters... Misogi Harai had come to a close, on this day.
He glided towards her, a leviathan in the shallow waters.
Kurai, her nose crinkled and brow furrowed as she concentrated on closing the distance, huffed in annoyance. Oh, sure, he could go where he pleased! (Somehow, she'd decided that one of his size had to be male.) But she... 'cause she was so little... had to wait for amusing things to come to her!
She frowned as she watched him approach, trying to show her displeasure- but then, if she were truly dismayed, her gaze would not have been so bright. She watched his approach eagerly, wondering what to say...
... she'd never been good with words.
"Greetings, little one." Somehow, 'good night' seemed not to fit, though only night could describe this time of day. So strange, the Kawani tongue... these traditions to mark the passing of time, though even the blind could see these hourly markers.
He knew not that 'little one' may be perceived as an insult. In his mind, 'twas naught but the truth.
Her head jerked back, as if dealt a blow.
Was he mocking her?
She suddenly decided she didn't really like this creature, after all.
Blowing a quick burst of air through her nostrils, she sped forwards, mouth agape.
... Ah...?
Kurai's teeth sank into the nearest object- which just so happened to be the strange rope the stranger carried about him. Making strange little growling noises, she thrust her head from side to side, flailing her hooves beneath the currents as she tried to swim off with her prize.
That'd teach him!
Kione blinked.
Strange little filly... what did she want with his shimenawa? Surely she was no kegare soul, sent to bedevil him this of all nights... kiyomi seemed to radiate from her, an innocent naivety that transcended even her impish acts.
"What troubles you?" he stood like an anchor in the shallows, moved by neither the steady current nor her insistent tug.
Kurai glowered sullenly up at him, rather put out by the fact that he little plan had not worked. Not that it was much of a plan... but she had never been one for scheming.
With a huff, she stopped struggling, and was slowly carried off by the current until only his rope-thing kept her near.
Kione quirked one querulous brow, then relaxed as recognition hit. Ah... a mute. Poor dear.
He would have to determine the source of her distress on his own, then.
He rolled over his past thoughts, deeds, in his mind, trying to place her disgruntled morose in the course of their encounter.
Ah...
"Little One is not diminutive, rather truth..." With swift grace, he lowered his finely sculpted head so he was at eye-level. "Would you not agree that you are smaller than me?"
She was not mute. She simply didn't want to talk to a stranger, least of all one who insulted her...
... but, he claimed it wasn't an insult. But then, he would, wouldn't he? Trying to make her comfortable so he could do... do... whatever. What exactly did strangers do with foals?
Chewing the rope speculatively, she eyed his jawline. He didn't look like a meat-eater...
Kione took her silence as agreement.
"Might you please return my shimenawa, please?" He didn't wish to spoil her fun, but... a slight pang accompanied her antics. He did not wish for the evils inside to be let loose upon this world, least of all by one so young.
It was not egotism that goaded him into worrying about the state of the world; after all, kegare compounds itself until one foul deed annihilates an entire herd...
She blinked. Was he speaking another language?
"Whaza shimm-ehn-ah-wah?" she blurted, her words muffled by the rope, eyes wide as she stared at him in awe. Her qualms forgotten, she waited expectantly for an answer.
Not a mute then?
Perhaps she was just shy... but no reticent maiden he had ever encountered would be so bold.
With utmost credence, he undertook the role of sensei once more... "A shimenawa is meant to ward off evils, or mark a sacred place." He gave the definition with swift precision, answering her question- nothing more.
Would her natural curiosity lead her to the teachings of Shinto?
All creatures great and small were capable of following its benevolent teachings. Would he... Would he no longer be alone in his faith, in these strange lands?
Best not jump to conclusions. He would satisfy her curiosity, but he would not push her into his faith.
She would have to make that decision on her own.
[will continue when I find the rest of 'em.] :C
