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 Posted: Fri Mar 18, 2011 3:45 pm
  This is a private roleplay between Sarangerel [Oooka] and Huojin [Kotaline].
Setting
How did I end up here? - Huo takes Sara home!
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Posted: Fri Mar 18, 2011 3:59 pm
So here she was.
Well she was almost there, she was still being pulled around by her hand. She did not know why Huo wanted to hold her hand but she did not want to insult him by pulling it away. She smiled and kept nodding, he had hardly stopped talking all the way but she did not mind. She liked to listen and his words were interesting. She looked at the way they were heading, she did not know her way around Lunaria at all and hoped he would show her the way back or she would just loose herself in the maze which was the city. She stood next to him, looking over to the side. "Are we almost there Huo?"
She asked, she was not in a rush, but she was however very curious to see where he lived. She wondered if it would be as bright at his personality was... and as dangerous. Did he live alone? Did he have any family? So much was unanswered, she knew so little about him but he was acting like they had been friends for years. She hoped that they could learn more about each other - so that one day they could call themselves friends.
Well in a way, I guess they already could.
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Posted: Fri Mar 18, 2011 4:41 pm
"We're here!" Huojin announced grandly, gesturing to a house that didn't match the enthusiasm with which he presented it. It was small, narrow, and much-patched, especially on the roof, which even now appeared to have some holes in it where either something exited at great speed* or someone standing on top fell through.** Around the house there were plenty of animals, none of them rats or birds or mice, but rather cats, who circled the house like hawks. Huojin did his best to shoo them off, clearly less than pleased to see them.
"Oy, off, you cats, there's a lady here," he grumbled, nudging them aside with his foot. Huojin didn't like cats at the best of times, but his little brother fed all the strays, and that plus the room full of mice and birds that was Huojin's workshop was enough to make them overstay their welcome. Battling his way to the front door, Huojin quickly opened it, pulling Sara through, then shut it, nudging out a stray with his foot. "There's only two cats in this household, and that's too many, if you ask me." he said sourly, glaring over at the corner where an incredibly fat cat was eyeing him, tail swishing back and forth. That was one, and the second one soon made itself present when footsteps pounded down the stairs and a little boy who looked remarkably like Huojin appeared with an ocelot kitten in tow.
"Did you bring me a mouse for Bàomāo?!" he demanded, huffing from the effort of carrying the already-pudgy looking kitten. Spotting the rat, he said, "Ah!" and made a lunge for it. Huojin dodged, holding Haozi in the air.
"No, no, no, this is my rat," he insisted, "and if you want to feed that furball, you can catch your own!"
"But he'll die of hungerrrrr!" Qi whined, and made a face. However, by that time he had noticed Sarangerel, and at the sight of the stranger he made a high pitched squeak, picking up the ocelot kiten again and hiding behind it.
"This is Sara," Huojin introduced. "Sara, Qi, Qi, Sara. Where's Baba?"
"Upstairs," Qi replied, suddenly bashful now that he knew there was company. "He said to go tell him when you got home so we could have dinner."
"Okay!" Huojin replied, and instead of going upstairs, he took a deep breath. "BABAAAAAA, I'M HOMEEEEE!" he shouted at the top of his lungs. "AND I BROUGHT A GUEST, HER NAME IS SARA AND I MET HER IN AN ALLEY-" he stopped when his father came down the stairs. "-way."
Huojin's father looked nothing like his scrawny son. Tall, muscular, and intimidating, he let out a booming laugh and ruffled his eldest son's hair as his younger one began rapidly complaining of how Huojin hadn't brought him a mouse and Huojin tried to explain that Qi didn't deserve one. Over this racket, he stretched a hand out to Sara in greeting. "Charmed!" he boomed. "Glad to know that my son has friends."
"Baba!" Huojin whined, "I have plenty of friends! It's evidence that I have friends that I'm short on!"
*Huojin's rockets.
**Guess who?
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Posted: Fri Mar 18, 2011 5:00 pm
She took in a deeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep breathe.
She had been brought into a house which seemed to attract cats like cat n**. All she could do was let her eyes wonder as Huo thought with them, her attention going to the fat cat in the corner. The creature and the girl exchanged looks and that moment she knew who was really in control of the house, the cat had the eyes of a Mafia Boss. She gave a respectful bow to the cat, in thanks of letting her into its home. Personally she loves all animals, besides rats. UGH! Cats were another matter, they were fluffy and cute! She smiled and looked around hearing someone come down the stairs.
Qi, his little brother was adorable! For the first two seconds before the brothers started to fight over the rat, her eyes widened she would be throwing it out the window if she had it. Please do not drop the cage! She would cry if that monster was loose once more. She smiled as the little boy noticed her, he seemed to shy away. Like her he also seemed like a shy soul. "I is nice to meet you Qi." She bowed her head slightly, it seemed like everything in Huo's life moved fast. She could not help but feel like if the roof fell in right now... no one would bat a eyelid. A odd feeling. Then a larger man came into sight. She swallowed and gave a nervous chuckle. Great, she was in a house full of STRANGE men. Spirits help her.
She smiled and took the man's hand. "Your son is something alight, both of them by the looks of it.... Thank you for greeting me in such a way. I am honoured to be in your home, sir." Wait... that did not come out how she wished. "I MEAN, they are special... wait- no they are unique. Not the word.... They are very lively..... yes lively...." She was screwed.
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Posted: Wed Apr 20, 2011 1:57 pm
Huojin's father let out a booming laugh, reaching out to thump Sara's back, supposedly as a sign that she had been accepted. "They're something all right!" If Huojin was like an explosion in energy, his father was like an explosion in volume. His voice echoed. "My sons are quite a handful, but luckily for me, I'm not the one that has to deal with them most often, except when I'm teaching the little runts. If you want to see the real force behind this family's peace of mind, that would be my wife."
Huojin's mother bobbed her head in greeting at Sara, appearing out of nowhere, or perhaps having simply made her way into the common area while the rest of the family provided their noisy distractions. Her slender, short stature was reminiscent of her eldest son's, but whereas he was just scrawny, she seemed elegant and composed. "It's a pleasure to meet a friend of Huojin's," she said smoothly. "This is my husband, Sun Wengcheng, and I am Sun Xiaoli. My husband's father should be dining with us this evening as well, but I'm afraid he's always late to dinner."
"Yéye?!" Qi said eagerly, dropping Bàomāo. "I can get him, I can get him!"
"Mollycoddled," Huojin muttered under his breath.
"You're just upset because he loves me more!" Qi whined, running upstairs to get their grandfather before his mother could tell him not to. Huojin's mother watched him go, then said, "Well! Dinner will be ready shortly," and nodded to Sara again before she left.
Huojin watched her go, then reached for Sara's hand. "Come on!" he exclaimed. "My workshop is through here, I can show you all my inventions and where I think it's haunted."
His father paused. "What?"
"Ithinkmyworkshopmighthaveaccidentallygottenhauntedbutit'sokaybecauseSarawillfixitdon'tworry,Baba,bye!" Huojin fled the scene before his father could process his confession.
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Posted: Wed Apr 20, 2011 2:11 pm
Sara's pale eyes widened as she was hit on the back, the man had some strength behind him but she assumed that this was a positive sign. Maybe she did not have to worry too much about her words, he seemed nice enough. She smiled at all the introductions, her mind drifting back home to her own house. Her father was always very strict but at the same time Sara never feared him, he appreciated hard work and always held his family very close to his heart. Her mother was a lot softer, she like Sara was very shy and did not speak much, however when she did she always welcomes her words. She did little things like tuck her into bed and bring her out something to drink when she was working the fields. This family atmosphere made her miss her own deeply. How blessed this young man was to live so closely with them all. "It is nice to meet you Lady Sun." She finally let out.
However before she could even process what else was happening Huo had her on the move again. He grabbed her hand in order to take her to the place which he thought might be haunted. She looked back over her shoulder one more time to see the family before the two were out of sight, her long teal hair flowing behind her like a veil. Her eyes looked over at Huo, a soft smile coming onto her lips. "You are very lucky to be so close to your family." She nodded her head, her eyes drifting down to the way her hand was being held by his. She made sure to take note of her surroundings as he lead her thought the house, it was no were near the standard of that she herself lived in but it was cosy and welcoming. A lot like her hut back home in her village. She missed home so much, it ached her heart to remember that she was infact so far away from the people she loved and cared about.
She thought about the task at hand. She was sure that a few prayers would be enough to convince him nothing was haunting his work shop, she had not been able to sense anything so far and she was sure this was a good sign because she could usually feel a cold aura very strongly when there was a spirit about. "Is it safe...?" She asked, she still remembered that she was going to a place filled with explosives. It made her feel slightly uncomfortable.
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Posted: Wed Apr 20, 2011 2:51 pm
Huojin shrugged. "Is it safe?" he echoed. "I don't know how to tell when a ghost is in the room." Looking around suspiciously as he said this, he stepped back slightly, hovering in the doorway just in case. "I'm not sure my own rat would haunt me, but maybe he blames me, you know? I wasn't very careful." His face fell a little, but he shook it off, forcing himself to smile. "Not that I couldn't handle a rat, even if it was a ghost! I just want to do this properly."
Getting his energy back, he moved to step in the room, but a breeze blew through it at that moment, making him quickly step back. "Ladies first though, right?" he offered, laughing hollowly. "You'll know if it's safe, of course, and then you can show me how you work, which I'm really interested to see. The last time I saw a prodigy besides myself they were trying to beat me in a competition, and then I won, and then they threw gunpowder at my face, but didn't light it of course, that would be murder, but still, they didn't want to stay and talk, and I was better than them anyway, so what would the point be? I'm terrible at exorcising evil spirits though, so I promise I'll be very impressed even if it doesn't work very well."
The workshop was crammed full of cages and experiments and projects. Firecracker models and wire frames that looked like birds were hanging from the ceiling, and designs were papered onto the walls in such number that the original wall colour couldn't be seen. Huojin's diagrams were cramped and complicated, but elegantly drawn, with a painstaking attention to detail that was surprising for one who seemed to have so little attention for mundane things. Around them, the noise of stirring birds and squeaking rodents was all around, but the animals all seemed placid. After living in Huojin's workshop for long enough, not even an earthquake could ruffle them.
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Posted: Wed Apr 20, 2011 3:18 pm
Sara smiled as she heard him talk, he really was like no one he had ever seen before. She had to admit, someone throwing gun powder in his face was something that sounded very unsportsmanlike, it could not have ended badly too. "There is no need to threat. I can already tell no one is here." Her prediction was Huo was probably paranoid, brought on by guilt of his past pet. She smiled and nodded her head wondering into the room before him. The least she could do was put his mind at ease a little. She wondered to the middle and closed her eyes, lacing her fingers together in front of her.
"Please spirits protect this place and the people who reside in it, we also ask that you take good care of any companion of Huo who makes there way to you. Also keep him safe in his dangerous line of work." She preyed, afterwards she opened her eyes again and her gaze drifted to him. "Thats all that we can usually do, if you are scared of evil spirits you can light candles and prey every so often, they get lonely sometimes and conversation helps them relax." She explained, spirits where not that different to the rest of the world, even they needed a friend every so often. The voice of someone they knew when they were alive actually calmed some. It was not long that she realised she was in a place surrounded by rats, she gulped and wondered closer to him. She hoped they could not get out!
"Your drawings really are lovely." She commented, referring to all the different complex designs on the walls. He was a good artist and by the looks of it his claims of skill were true. He put a lot of effort into his work and his shop showed it clearly.
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Posted: Wed Apr 20, 2011 3:32 pm
Huojin relaxed slightly and smiled less widely, but more genuinely as Sara prayed, stepping inside his own workshop at last. "Phew! That's a relief, thank you. That was really nice, how you prayed for my workshop and all. Quiet! But nice. I knew you were a prodigy, I'm sure my rat is fine now." He looked relieved and put his new rat in one of the cages, patting the top as he closed it and the rat fell in with a squeak. "I light firecrackers and talk to myself, does that count?" he asked. "I'm not sure about lighting candles in a place full of gunpowder, even if it will please the spirits. I don't want to join them!"
"My mother prays a lot," he added, scratching his head. "She worries about me too, I guess." Glancing up at her, he added, "You mentioned that I was lucky to live with my family, don't you live with yours?" Huojin was a proper city boy, through and through, he couldn't imagine living outside of it, nor had he ever been outside of it. "Oh? Thank you! My brother draws too." He gestured at a borner of the back wall covered in stick figures labeled with names. One seemed to have Huojin dressed as a mouse and the other had Qi riding a tiger. "My drawings aren't the most fun part of the job, but they help me figure out my ideas. I want to dissect a bird someday so I understand their anatomy better though, but you know, evil spirits and all that. Dead things sure are complicated! How do you handle it?"
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Posted: Sun Apr 24, 2011 11:06 am
"Yes, maybe that would be wise." She chuckled, mind drifting to the inevitable outcome with would come of bringing any kind of open flame into this room. She shook her head, and then her ears captured what he was saying about his mother. "Its a mothers job to worry about their child. From the moment they first open their eyes to the time they are eternally closed --- mothers will always worry." She knew her mother would be worrying about her. Even though she told her not to.
"Neither I, nor my family are from this city. I was born a few miles away in a small village. When I came here I did so alone. Thus my life with out them began --- I do miss them, they are in my thoughts every day however this is for the best. All I can do now is keep them close to my heart and hope that one day fate will bring us together again." She hoped that one day their family would be complete again, maybe when she had more status in the city she would be able to afford to keep her parents here with here, however as it stood they were too poor to be with their daughter and she did not have anyway of keeping them here. All they could do was write and hope one day they were in a position to do so. She missed them dearly, there was no denying it. Yet at the same time she knew this was the life they wanted for her. She knew she did not have a choice but to come here --- it was easier this way. "I am sorry, I did not mean to ramble." She nodded and smiled, Huo probably did not want to hear her whining anyway.
"I handle it because I am in training to become a priestess, it is my duty to manipulate, understand and respect the souls of the dead. I was born blessed with the ability to do so and I must honour that. I will not lie, it has been a lot of hard work and at times a lot to handle however I am slowly coming to understand and appreciate my talents." It was something that she always had to deal with, she did not know what life was with out her connection with the spirits --- she could imagine it being very quiet to say the least. She looked around the workshop, a smile creeping on her face as she observed Qi's masterpiece, he seemed like a adorable kid. A little siblings is not a blessing Sara had --- but she always knew if she was ever going to have children, she would want more than one.
Kind of like dogs --- you needed two so they never got lonely.
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