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 Posted: Tue Jul 17, 2007 5:46 pm
Murky eyes lifted from the ground, listening to Iku's story. Bitterness, that was just another emotion she never felt. It was hardly recognizable to the young femme, being that her family never expressed it. But it did sound...like a negative feeling. A painful one.
Nahanni stumbled over his logic, trying to understand. How did the world relate to her own aging. Childhood? Was there some universal statement to what made one claim such a state? Surprise stumbled in her eyes, wondering how he had slept so to make him forget all; become a sudden adult. "Weak and foolish, is that what children are?" It sounded like that was the basis of his reasoning. Unless she was mistaken. "To just be....we all go through that though. Don't we?" She was confused.
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Posted: Tue Jul 17, 2007 5:56 pm
Ikuinen shook his head. She didn't quite understand, but that was okay. He hadn't expected her to. No one really understood. "Adults are the ones weak and foolish. At least, many that I've seen, including myself." That's why, whenever he saw a kit grow into an adult, it bothered him. Of course, never as much as her growth. Still, he couldn't believe she was a fool, even if she didn't follow his ideals.
"I've tried to warn the children about the cruel world while they're still young and can understand. Yet, they all ignore my warnings and eagerly become adults, blinded to the truth." His gaze returned to her, wondering why he seemed almost willing to tell her his secrets. Perhaps he thought she wouldn't think badly of him if he did. Or maybe it'd been so long that he just needed to tell someone.
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Posted: Tue Jul 17, 2007 6:10 pm
Nahanni ducked her head bashfully at his shaking of no. She felt like she was in study time, and had just responded with an incorrect answer. It was often enough, and she still felt the sting each time with dissappointment. She listened quietly, trying to understand which Iku despised more, adults or the world itself. But she held her tongue, for fear of aggravating him and sounding dimwitted.
"Well, I didn't ignore the...warning." True she didn't put it at the front of her mind. Or perhaps she had, unaware that it flowed with her natural timid cautiousness. At the very least she had listened, without arguing his point with a driving sense of right and wrong. Things simply were, in hre reality. "What happened....to all the kits you've met?" She wondered if they all shared the same outlook on life now. And if she was somehow....disabled in not being able to comfortably settle in with the rest of them..
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Posted: Tue Jul 17, 2007 6:41 pm
"I'm glad you didn't." And yet, even though he knew his teachings couldn't keep Kitsu from becoming adults, he was still honestly glad. Even though it was only a little. Despite the fact that he told himself he didn't care, there was always a pang of disappointment everytime others disreguarded his warnings. Maybe he was wrong about the world being so cold and cruel, but that was reality for him. Nothing had yet shown him otherwise.
"I'm not quite sure," he continued in answer. "Many of them I haven't seen since, though I fear they've merely fallen prey to the sugar-coating of our world." He sighed, shaking his head and suddenly feeling weary. Had she not come along, he probably would've fallen asleep where he laid, though he would've regretted it later. "And the ones I have seen... Well, they did fall prey. It's unfortunate." There had been one or two adults he'd met who weren't like that. One male he'd met, though they didn't share views completely, had been rather enjoyable to talk to. The rest, however, he felt were unenlightened.
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Posted: Tue Jul 17, 2007 6:55 pm
Nahanni didn't how to quite respond to his one positive opinion, so merely nodded. Though she never connected the dots, little compliments from others actually...lifted her own placid emotions. But they always fell quickly back to a smooth indifference, dented by anxiety.
She couldn't help her maw twisting in a frown, as if she just licked something sour. The tan girl didn't favor sugar, at all. The 'sweet' food gave her headaches, and made her act in shameful hyperness. To think of the world as sugar coated, actually made her frown. But that soon flitted away as Iku showed signs of fatigue, and she shuffled her front paws nervously. "I'm sorry, I..interrupted your rest. You must be tired." She mentally scolded herself for bothering another so rudely and blankly.
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Posted: Tue Jul 17, 2007 7:11 pm
Ikuinen chuckled, canting his head in that familiar way. A sort of pondering and questioning motion. One which he often threw out for no particular reason at all other than to assure the outside world that he was till who he was. "It's alright." In fact, he probably wasn't as tired as many others times in his life. This was just the prelude to a fitful trial of keeping his eyes open when his body wished for rest. "I'd much rather speak with you than sleep. Honestly," he said with a grin.
Perhaps his words sounded unusual, but they were completely true. After all, sleep wasn't something that came without consequence. And merely resting without surrendering one's consciousness... Well, that may be slighty restorative, but just as bad. Getting too relaxed always meant dropping your guard. He hated doing that.
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Posted: Tue Jul 17, 2007 7:23 pm
The chuckle left Nahanni no comfort, being that chuckles could represent such strange feelings. And the femme refused to use empathy, even for her own sake upon others she considered of....friendly demeanor. No, not friendly, just non-threatening. But, she need not ponder it, as Iku reassured her with words.
"Umm...okay." Her gaze flickered around the ground, having no real focus on what to look forward to. What else was there to speak of? She was never really good at chatting at an excitable level. There was nothing exciting about her life to reveal or recall. Hesitantly she stepped forward, one paw at a time that wieghed heavily, able to backstep should it be required. "Did you want to stay outside?" Sitting awkwardly in one place was not helping any on the poor girl and her efforts to have a conversation.
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Posted: Tue Jul 17, 2007 7:35 pm
Noting that conversation wasn't exactly the young one's strong point, he merely grinned. And when she moved, he moved as well. Of course, to remain as non-threatening as he tried to be around her, he didn't want to do anything more than stand up until they'd decided what they were going to do. Glancing behind him at the HQ not far off, he shrugged, wondering for a moment how many others would occupy it at this time. It was a strange place. At the same time of day it could be full or empty. Ah well. As long as he could focus his attention on her, even if there were others, he could probably ignore them well enough.
Looking back to the femme, he spoke. "It doesn't much matter to me. If you'd like to go in, then we should go in. Inside or out, it doesn't make a difference to me." After all, there were still things that reminded him of his hatred, both inside and out. Sometimes he really wished he could escape it and rest peacefully for once, but his bitter mind wouldn't allow it.
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Posted: Tue Jul 17, 2007 8:16 pm
She paused slightly as he stood, eyes trailing in the same direction as HQ. No, she had visited that place only few times, but already knew it was a place of no comfort. Always either an empty waste of time, or a crowded nerve box. That was the only change within that location, and it had become a dull sight for the girl.
Red tipped ears swayed as she shook her head in opinion. "No, I like it outside better." And that was all she could confidently reveal. She was by no means a leader, and so peeked at the older adult shyly. "You...you can choose the direction." She wouldn't mind any direction choosen. Just not idle and awkward sitting as the day passed by.
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Posted: Tue Jul 17, 2007 8:33 pm
"Outside is fine," he said with a nod. Even though outside was where he usual stayed, he didn't care in the least where they went. However, despite his lack of care, he had a feeling she wouldn't be suggesting anywhere in particular they go. So, trying his best to break a bit of tension, he grinned and nodded off in a random direction. Taking a step, he looked back to make sure it was okay with her. Never did he pay so much mind to the cares of others.
"How about just along the trees?" he questioned. As long as they stayed out of the woods, he'd be fine. Normally, being surrounded by trees was a necessary evil, but at this point, he didn't think he could handle it. He felt strange, the same sort of strange he'd felt when he'd spent this much time with her at their last meeting. It was almost a bothersome sort a strange, yet it was masked so easily by a grin.
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Posted: Wed Jul 18, 2007 1:40 pm
"That sounds fine." The tension in her body ebbed down as some sense of direction was finally achieved. A walk just on the border of the woods seemed pleasant enough, and the weather held enough clouds to keep the warmth of the sun comfortable. Nahanni wagged her tails numbly, as it seemed the situation called for it, and padded forward.
She made sure the distance was polite, just enough to be considered a pair to converse with. It felt....strange. Though she had been in Iku's presence before, he wasn't family. And it was the aura of her family that she had grown so accustomed to, enough to almost predict each members actions. With this kitsusagi here, she found herself struggling. Not like the normal anxiety when with other strangers, where she tried to divert their attention away from herself. Instead, she seemed to crawl along, daring to peek up and understand the aura of this gloomy male. Sort of like finding a new, promising book. "Iku....do you know about empathy?"
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Posted: Fri Jul 20, 2007 6:30 pm
A long, banded ear slid back, catching her words. "Empathy?" All three tails swayed as he thought, just enough to assure his company that he hadn't decided to ignore her question. Well, he supposed he knew what empathy was. "It's understanding how someone feels based on your own experiences, correct?" he responded, now watching her from the corner of his eye.
Ikuinen hadn't expected their conversations to be normal by any stretch of the word. Honestly, he didn't think he or Nahanni fit the stereotype of 'normal.' Yet, he hadn't been expecting a question like that, either. Empathy was something he'd heard of, sure, but he'd never felt it. Was it something she felt? he wondered. Was it something he should feel concerning her growth into an adult? In the time they'd spent together now, he'd begun to accept her new appearance once he realized it was the same female on the inside. The same little kit he remembered. It was almost comforting.
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Posted: Fri Jul 20, 2007 6:46 pm
She nodded, though it slowly turned into a shake at the same notion. "Sorta....alittle." She found her moving paws to be suddenly, very interesting. This was something she was supposed to know about, but her level of research and experience were two differing levels. Besides, motions of sympathy were something untouched by her jittery mind. "It's abit different in magic. Where experience isn't needed, just skill." It had been the one subject she ever focused on, moreso than her own developments and relations. In her logic, if she could study about emotions, it may help her in the end with her own timid nature. Not to destroy it, just to better judge it's reasoning. "It was something I inherited from Mother. But....it 'feels' more than emotions." And she dared a peek at Iku, though her eyes held their same, murky blankness. "It also reads memories....." An innocent suggestion, one stated with slivers of doubt and hesitance.
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Posted: Fri Jul 20, 2007 7:09 pm
"Magic, hm? I hadn't expected that answer," he admitted, eyes leaving her when she looked to her paws. Magic wasn't something he often dealt with. Or rather, he'd never dealt with magic, nor found the need. He hadn't been gifted with any extraordinary abilities. At least none that he could remember. Ears slid back, as if questioning the notion. Magic was one of those things it was difficult to understand. It was one thing and yet another. Slightly confusing. Throughout her explaination, his mind attempted to form a concrete understanding of what she was saying. He found he couldn't quite come up with a permanent idea.
It wasn't until he could feel her eyes on him that he allowed his own gaze to return to her. The normally placid expression shifted to unreadable for a moment as he let her suggestion sink in. Then eyes widened, holding some morbid fascination. The feeling seemed to spread from his pale eyes, slowly morphing the features of his face to express the same thing. "Do you think it would work?" he asked, voice laced with a sickly strange sort of tone. It had been shocking, to say the least, to hear that his hatred could perhaps be quelled with something so simple, yet so complex.
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Posted: Sat Jul 21, 2007 6:35 pm
Gifted or not, it was something that Nahanni was bonded with through bloodline. That's why she spent so much time reading, studying. And even that left her with many cracks and confusion of the subject. But, she had enough to get by...at least on her own topic of empathy. Her pace remained slow and steady through the quiet between them, her tails seeming to drag dettached behind her. Was Iku as stumped by her own choice of topic, as she was with his explanations?
Her treading slowed and paused at his features, blinking at the strange metamorphisis. Feelings of confusion, to disbelief, to a flicker of interest brushed her senses from the one beside her. Striped ears lifted an inch before dipping once more, listening to his question. Could it? "The books, they say emotions are tied to the events...." And for as much as Iku had forgot, his emotions balanced in negative force. No, not negative, just very forceful. "If I could read your true emotions, then they may stir up memories....in small pieces, most likely." Even if they were locked away deep in his mind, every door had a key to find. Her delicate face turned to glance at the sky, apparently for the first time today. "But....I'd see them too. Right after you do." Was he willing to do so with those rules of magic?
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