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"A weapon is no good if you don't know how to use it! I will get you anyway!" The door slammed on her face. The shinigami's eye twitched, she pouted before yelling,"I will come back for you anyway! I will come back soon, but I am gonna go train and be come strong!"

In a small flash of pinkish red she disappeared from the door. The shinigami herself was unsurr of why she was so determined to retrieve Lumine or why it matter. The celestial's challenge burned into her mind but it felt like it was only the excuse to get to see her more. Wouldn't that end once she got the celestial's soul anyway? Well there was time to spare till then.

Next time the two met, it would be once more on coicidence,being the shinigami would still be training to master a weapon she had no interest in.

The morning had progressed nicely. Ochiba had already gathered food for her rabbit friends, and had moved to get food for herself, when she begun to think about the celestial... the rather helpless celestial. So Ochiba gathered some berries and fruits and went out to the Celestials 'new' home.

Well, she wasn't there anymore, and so Ochiba set out hunting down the celestial. The rabbit was sucessful thanks to her other bunny friends, she tracked down Lumine in record time. She observed for a little while, before jumping out,"HEY you can't just pick out any fruit! Brightly colored ones are usually poisoned!"

Ochiba sighed and moved to Lumine,"Evening... I just had a feeling you would kill yourself if I left you to figure out how to get food on your own. Seems I was right."

"Alright, then, I should teach you to find food and trade in the Human Village. It's bound to be of help."

"Excused or not, you would die either way," The rabbit crossed her arms," Death isn't too picky, now don't make it easier for it to find you, Miss Celestial!"

"I will gladly teach you what I have to say about the Forest's Goods, and I will teach you to get a good bargain with no need of money... Though I guess you can always sell your goods if money is what you need," Ochiba said, "Even if you don't like humans, they will be your best allies, because they can be fools and give you treasures for common herbs they could find themselves..." As she spoke she move to their make shift log table, standing across from Lumine, since sitting would set her too low.

"You see, humans don't like the forest of magic and you can always exploit that," As she spoke, she begun to arrange the berries and fruits Lumine had gathered,"So they pay well for things you can find easy. Or you can always do small tasks for them, they can always use a youkai's skills here and there."

Now seperated... It was obvious Lumine picked most of the nice colored or scented berries, since more than half where in the pile Ochiba would point at and say, "Game Over Pile." She pointed at the other smaller with darker colored berries and fruits,"Healthy Pile." The rabbit smiled at Lumine,"If you are willing to learn, I am willing to teach!"

Ochiba chuckled, leaned back as Lumine saluted and such, sligthly amused. "Yes they are dumb in their own way, Humans. They much rather fear than harness~" The rabbit stood as well, "Rabbit-sensei...? Erm ok then. Let's start with those fruits." She jumped over their 'table',  "Generally you will have to learn how the ripe ones look, without necessarily going by looks... The human village has a teacher whose books i borrow! I learned lots from them, but they are back home anyway."

"Come on, I will teach you what I have learned, write it down if you have anywhere were to do so, later you will appreciate the tips~" Ochiba smiled.

While the practice for looking for fruits that were edible were basic, the rules for the herbal roots and berries were a bit more difficult, since as Ochiba said, it depended a lot on what the humans had in demand. Ochiba was an adequate teacher, taking time to explain everything and review if Lumine found the need, and she spent more time on the things that Lumine would need to be able to live. She also stressed the need for a fresh supply of water.

All that said and done, night begun to fall. "oooh perfect. With the amount of things you collected I am sure you will be able to trade for something good in the village."

The rabbit tugged Lumine towards the Village,"Its easier to get what you want as a youkai at night!" 


((I know nothing of Survival biggrin ))

"What? I am more decent than that!" Ochiba laughed,"It has to do with some of that. People are scared at night, and as a youkai, some people think youkai prowl and the like. So Selling some things are much easier." The rabbit moved down the path.

"There is also the fact that last minute buyers are a bit more deserate for quick consumption,"She contiued,"Intimidation can get you in more trouble, but in the night you can be far more convincing and sucessful.. Marketing! It takes some of it to get the right things."

"Some herbs for fail attempts at magic sell better~ and people who need them right away too," the lights of the human village where visible. "We will just set up in Dragon Square, the main street of the village, that's where the humans go by. Those colorful flowers are perfect for dates, you would be amazed how much they buy."

As the two begun to walk down the street, Ochiba pointed at a stone hedge that framed Dragon Square's well, square, "Put things here, let me find some candles, I always hide some close by~"

"I do this when I need new supplies or food that I can't get in the forest. You know things like canteens and shoes don't grow on trees!" She came back with three candles and set them down to frame their arrangement. In her bag she pulled out a small box of matches and with a single strike, lighted the three candles with a single match. "Mh, the moon is full, sooo I think we will. Humans wanting witchcraft happen a lot around here~"
 
She looked back at the few that stared at them."They do that often, they see Youkai and get curious, but that's fine." Saiseki lifted a finger up to Lumine with a mischievous smile.

"See? You need to get their attention," Ochiba smiled, reaching into her bag pulling out a small sack of clothe. She pulled out piece by piece, arming a flute;o ld and wooden, but sturdy. The rabbit jumped onto the stone next to their supplies, putting the now empty sack next to the candle. She then begun to play a Melody, with her hands lighted with meager purple danmaku light, as if giving life to every note. She had been rigth; soon the humans begun to gather in twos or threes. 

One of the first clients was the tall, raven haired owner of club youkai, who merely observed Ochiba curiously before dropping her pocket's worth of change, and muttering a,"It is nice to see I am not the only one around here who plays music."  That said, though, she moved away, not bothering to peek at the arrangement of goods she herself was well acquantianced with. 

Nevertheless, soon the humans did buy a bundle or two of goods, getting their worth and moving away quickly to continue with their business. Ochiba knew that the Village's protector would not bother with her and Lumine, as Keine knew her from her constant rounds around here and from borrowing books from the teacher that had kindly taught her to read a few years back. 

So, Ochiba entrusted Lumine with managing the pricing, as she continued to play different tunes from exciting one to much more melancholic ones. 

Ochiba smiled to the celestial, crouching down. She took the sack Lumine had sealed and gave it back, taking only the sack she earned with her performance. "Take the gains from the goods, you picked well and earned that money, I was just help in getting their attention. At the moment you need the money, you are starting a new," she smiled," It will need furnishing and you'll need different things to really make it home." Ochiba took the sack of coins given to her by the ones who enjoyed her show, and dumped it into a zipper of her bag. She pulled out a thermo like thing, and dropped some water in the cap,"Moon viewing drink?" She grinned,"Even if it is just water~ " 

She then proceeded to sit down by the candle, her flute by her side. The rabbit listened to Lumine; she knew the celestial's loneliness all too well. "Mh. ..."  she looked to the sky, picking her words carefully, pensively," I am sure they can. In Heavens, you are closer to the moon than ever right? If you go a little lower from the clouds, I bet you could even touch it.  And In Hakugyokurou, I hear there is a permanent moon in the sky, because the sun will greet the coming souls when their time has begun to start a new," folklore perhaps, but stories where always good nevertheless.  "You'll see, before you know it, your friends will be back. If you are lucky, you will even be able to see through their new disguises."

She removed the large glasses from her face, and set them in her chest pocket,"I never found my old master." She chuckled,"Then again, I have lived enough for it to be possible that his soul has reached Bhavagra!" 

"The moon's light had shined much like this; the Night I earned his love, the night I saved his daughter but lost my sight, the night I lost him, and the Night I lost all that I loved," Ochiba smiled," People say to never swear upon the ever changing moon, but life is ever changing, just like out bodily ties. The moon changes its outer appearance but never its essence, much of how we all lose our physical looks but never our souls."

"I am sure your friends are happy, specially if they lived a long life like I have," The rabbit smiled at Lumine, playfully saying,"And if they didn't, lucky bastards, my knees hurt like hell!"

"There is reasons why people say there is such thing as too much heaven," Ochiba responded, capping the thermo she had grown to use as a canteen," I can believe that, and I can see why you would leave because of that." The Rabbit fiddled with the flute," I have avoided death because I still hope to find my master, or rather, I want to give my life for a good reason. I do believe in all that, and the idea of losing time in hakugyokurou or heaven.... It's not appealing to me one bit." She laughed,"Life is meant to be imperfect, impure, that is the whole point of it, to rise above all that, that's the fun in life."

"I do believe in that, I have seen the Shingami, and the Yamas do come now and again," Ochiba smiled, "Souls don't return just like that.... Souls that have reaached a level of purity... of, I don't know,... worthiness, reach Nirvana, Bhavagra being a section. Those are celestials; you. Others, the souls not worthy of Nirvana are in Hakugyokurou. They serve penance there, and wait until it is their time to return to this plane. In a way, they are cleaned there.... but, there has been stories of souls recalling their past lives. It is very possible."

"Those souls have something very very important to cling to, sooo memories are likely to stick in many cases, I wouldn't be surprised if they had a general understanding of their previous lives too." Ochiba nodded.

She blinked a bit,"Just like her..? Who?... Maybe it's just a coincidence?"