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 Posted: Mon Jan 26, 2009 5:07 pm
bless the broken road This Morning
"Sunshine."
Sou looked over in the direction he had last heard movement. The moon warrior had been tending to the tea the last few minutes; making good tea was an art. It demanded all his attention. While Shula made sure his end of the cart was as shaded as possible, it still wasn't dark enough for regular sight, on his part. He needed to listen to the water, and smell the tea as it brewed.
When it was finally ready, Sou would tie his sash back on and guide himself around the cart to find his partner. "Too early to open, still?" Sou had a very hard time, keeping track of time. The moon warrior was naturally nocturnal, but living with, and serving, normal people required him to be active when potential customers were. "Oh, Shula. Who is uncle Chiroh, anyways?" He had been asked that, recently. He still didn't have an answer.
"Just a sec," Shula called back as she tossed the final package of noodles into the cart. Getting everything loaded and ready was always her job, seeing as her partner could not see properly in this light. She did try to make it as dark as possible so that he could see, but since they both had to work underneath it at times she couldn't make it pitch black. Then she wouldn't be able to see, and if she was to keep the fires going, she was sure Sou would have preferred her not to do it in the dark.
"A little bit too early, but not too much. Did you have a look at the horse last night?" She looked over as Sou made his way around the cart, reaching out to tug on his sleeve. "Sit here for a sec. You finished with the tea?" The sun priestess joined her companion on the side of the wagon, dangling her sandled feet over the edge.
At his question she merely shrugged. "My uncle," she answered, "So I'm told. My dad's brother apparently had a traveling business, but you know the air boys. Got bored of it, so my dad said I could have it if I wanted. You don't like the name or something?"
"I was just curious," Sou responded lightly, shrugging. "A customer had asked me the other day, and I had been wondering since." It was in a moon warrior's nature, to want to know things. He wouldn't have been offended if Shula had refused to answer him; it wasn't his business. The blind man simply would have been confused, Shula was a very straight-forward person. There was very little topics she had troubling conversing about. At least they were the same on that front.
"Ah, as for Artemis, I believe she is fine. She must have just got a rock in one of her feet yesterday. I didn't find any heat, swelling, or cuts," he said, answering the earlier question. Of course, if he was wrong...well, he didn't really want to think how Shula would behave if their mare was lame again. She had gone a little off yesterday afternoon, so they had to close up early and trek home. Losing a small part of one day wasn't enough to have a fit over, but if their horse had an underlying problem...well, Sou supposed their noodle stand could probably stay in one spot, but he wasn't sure how Shula would like that.
Sou traced a pattern on the wood as he sat, sheltered eyes facing down. "How long do you suppose before they find us here?" It was no secret that Sou would much rather be in this place than their home continent. It was much more relaxing to be able to do whatever he'd like, with whomever he'd like to spend his time with. The elders back at the Temple of the Moon were, no doubt, very upset to know Sou was finally falling for a sun priestess. He already had a mate. He blew it. Moon warriors knew no such things as second chances.
Shula simply grunted, but said nothing. Moon warriors always felt the need to ask stupid questions. That was what she had been told when she was little. They listened to people and asked them questions, but they didn't question the authority of their head warriors or their sun girl mates. While the priestesses did enjoy that last bit, Shula had always wondered why the moon warriors didn't question their instructions. What if they were told to save a village that was full of bad people? What if it was better to just let the village help themselves? Sou would never think to ask those questions, which was why Shula felt it was best she stick around. She had to make sure he didn't do anything too stupid.
It was safe to say that if the horse went lame, Shula wouldn't be the one pulling the cart that day. Thus, it was in Sou's best interest to make sure the mare was well and fit for a day's work. Unless, of course, he wanted to pull the cart himself. At his question, Shula gave a soft chuckle. "Long time. They'll have to figure out how to get here, first of all, and nobody there has even done a jump like this. Whose to say that there aren't tons and tons of other dimensions they have to search before they get here? And then they'll have to find us, and figure out how to get back." She laughed again. "I'm not worried. Why not enjoy this time rather than worry about when it's going to end?" The priestess nudged Sou 'playfully', though her rough gesture might have been taken by passers by as rather violent.
"Is it dark enough inside there? It's bothersome when you gotta walk around with this over your eyes all the time." She gave Sou's sash a tug. "Can't you get those dark glasses?"
"Mhhm." Sou nodded and inclined his head. Shula was right (as always, she would say). There was no use fussing over things that might never come to be. Liho and Zion were tricky beasts, but Sou highly doubted Liho had the brains and Zion had the drive to pursue them to such a far-off land. The Moon warrior hopped off the wood when he was nudged, assuming this was Shula's signal for 'go'.
"It's fine, thank you," he crooned, his affection for Shula never dulling. Most other people found her abrasive or bossy; Sou simply found it endearing. He had been paired with a Sun priestess before and he had been around well over five-hundred years. He saw the value of patience, especially when it came to the young and fiery. "And I rather like my sash. It's much more distinguished than glasses," the warrior pointed out. He was still a warrior, after all, even if he did just brew tea.
"Are you ready to go, sunshine? Uncle Chiroh's legend must live on."
Just because Sou was the nice one didn't mean he didn't attempt at humor every now and again.
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Posted: Tue Jan 27, 2009 5:29 am
 one day over fast cars and freedom
Sou had always wanted children.
This was a simple fact of life. The other simplest fact of his life was that it was very unlikely he’d ever have any of his own. His mate had cast him away (it wasn’t like he wanted her back anyways) and his mortal lover had died sometime while he was still serving punishment. And this was okay. Sou never regretted his past; he was a firm believer every major event in one’s life served a purpose.
After all, if he had never met Namid, he’d have never known love and Azar would have never cast him away. If he was still the sun priestess’s mate, he wouldn’t be sent off on all his missions, and he wouldn’t be charged with Shula’s welfare. The moon warrior smiled. Shula was abrasive, rude and pushy, but he couldn’t possible imagine his life without her. One might even go so far as to say he was in love with the young priestess, but Shula would probably kill them at the implication. That was fine. Sou loved her anyways.
This did not, however, soothe his desire to have a child. Shula would never bare a child, of this he was absolutely positive. It didn’t fit well into her list of ‘thing Shula approves’ and he was fairly certain she didn’t have the kind of patience to be quiet for nine months, nor the months following with the newborn. Sou paused and licked his lips. Shula’s mood swings would probably be unimaginable. Yes, she would probably kill him, especially if he were the one who sired-
Sou shook his head, shooing the inappropriate thoughts away.
There were other ways to get children. There were plenty of kids who didn’t have parents, who needed to be adopted. Shula couldn’t possibly get too angry, as long as the child listened to her. Sou had faith in his ability to deal with a child, he took Shula under his wing, after all, and everyone said there was nothing worse than teenage girls. (Okay, fine, Shula wasn’t actually a teenage, but in their terms, she was close to the sun priestess equivalent of a teenager when they had met years ago.)
The moon warrior chuckled and closed his book, setting in on the ledge of the wagon as he stood and stretched. (It was always a mystery why the man pretended to read even though the sash was dead give away he couldn’t see.)
He had heard things about a Cabbage Patch, from a pair of customers. Shula was out today, they didn’t run their cart on the weekends. It was time for rest and restock.
It was also the perfect time for Sou to make his wildest dreams come true. If he wasn’t willing to go through hell and high water for it, it wouldn’t really be worth it, would it?
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Posted: Tue Jul 28, 2009 11:02 am
good morning, sunshine
The cabbage hatched. Into a baby bird, no less. Somehow, Sou thought this was oddly appropriate. Of course, it had happened while Shula was off in town gathering supplies for their noodle station. Sou had been guarding the stand, as per usual (a blind guard was really a lot of good) when he had heard a strange peeping noise. In the beginning, he had assumed it was just one of the birds on the roof of his cart. He wasn’t concerned until the peeping had failed to stop. Had a baby fallen from then tree? He’d better pick it up before Shula returned!
With no further ado, Sou had removed his bandage and opened his eyes. Cringing in the early morning sunlight, he had to rub his eyes a few times before he was finally able to focus. He couldn’t keep the sash off for long, or he’d be blind for days after. He needed to find the bird quickly, lest it get-
“Hello.” Sou blinked at the small child playing in the dirt, cabbage leafs littering his fuzzy blond hair. Had he been messing with the-
Noooo. This was the cabbage child.
He walked over slowly, watching the blond as he peeped and ruffled his tail feathers. At least he had come fully clothed? How very odd indeed! “Do you have a name, little guy?” he asked softly, extending a pale hand towards the little baby bird. “I am Sou. It’s alright. Don’t be afraid.”
Said ‘little guy’ didn’t say much, but he did smile. Smiled quite brightly, in fact, all pearly whites and shiny blue eyes. He nodded and peeped, reaching up towards Sou. At least he wasn’t shy! The moon warrior could not help but beam, absolutely delighted his cabbage had borne such an adorable creature. He’d be hard to explain to Shula, that much was certain, but just look at him! All blond hair and little tail feathers and bright blue eyes. And that smile.
This was certainly worth the pain the sunshine was causing him.
Crooning softly, Sou pulled the child to him, absolutely delighted when the boy seemed to already have this down. The chocobo wrapped his arms around Sou’s neck and chirped loudly as the warrior lifted him up, enthralled by the view he suddenly gained.
“We still need to name you, small one,” Sou mused, setting the chocobo down on the cabbage’s former perch.
The blond peeped.
Sou grinned and reached forward to ruffle his hair, still in disbelief he had actually come from the cabbage. “We’ll call you Frey. Shula will like that name. It’s a good, strong name.” He nodded. “Frey.”
“Cheeeep!”
Sou could not help but laugh. “Right. Frey.”
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Posted: Fri Oct 16, 2009 10:50 am
adventures in candy land soutou Today was a Very Exciting Day. Zion had been angrier than a tomcat left out in the rain this past week. Not that Liho had minded, his poor partner had been sentenced to serve as a judge in a murder trial. The hellion knew how much the guardian hated meddling in human affairs, but that’s what they were sent to do, after all. He had little choice. This, however, did manage to wear on the young man after days and days. Zion had been allowed in bed after his temper tantrums, yes, but that didn’t mean Liho wanted to have sex. The anger around Zion had been practically buzzing, in fact, Liho might have even been afraid to touch him at all if he didn’t know this was typical of the guardian whenever he was irked. Still. Liho needed Liho time. Zion was busy. They needed groceries anyways; Liho had planned to make a stew for dinner, to celebrate the end of the damn trial, and nothing was better than fresh ingredients. Besides, he could use the fresh air. If he was lucky, he’d run into a candy vendor. Or, he considered, he could just bake a cake. Baking was practically like therapy and it was a surefire way to soothe- “…can I help you?” Liho glanced down at the small child clinging to his pants and gingerly removed the fingers. “Kid? Are you okay?” The blond glanced up, clutching a small stuffed toy as he whimpered. The hellion practically melted. “Are you lost?” “Frey.” Liho blinked and crouched. “Frey? Is that who you’re looking for? We can go look for-” The boy interrupted by pointing to himself. “Frey.” He pointed at the bird. “Sun.” “…huh.” The hellion rocked back and smiled awkwardly. “Well.” He stood. “Let’s go get that candy. I’m sure you’d like some of that.” Many hours later found Liho home with his newfound friend. The child sucked down candy faster than Zion (Liho wasn’t sure why the kid hadn’t choked yet) and then proceeded to streak through the house on a sugar rush. (So this was why people didn’t feed children candy.) Naturally, Liho couldn’t leave his little cottage in shambles. “Liho?” The hellion paled. (Impossible as it was.) Zion was home? “I-in h-ere!” he stammered, backing away from the plant he was dusting as he searched around wildly for Frey. It couldn’t really be that late, right? Right!? Chibi Sheepcat …. Zion didn't like the sound of that. Liho really had forgotten, hadn't he? He had forgotten to start dinner for the very guardian he'd lived and practically breathed with for hell knew how long. And for him to forget something that Zion knew was so important to him there was only one conclusion. There must be someone else and they were here. Had he been able to, the guardian would have probably been emitting smoke from his nostrils in his rage. Deep breaths, Zion, deep breaths. You do not let anger control you. You are in control of the anger. He was still repeating his mantra as he marched into the living room to find Liho. There was nobody there currently, but that didn't mean anything. Whoever was here could be hiding, waiting for him to leave and-- "What is that?" He pointed an accusing finger in the direction of a tuft of yellow hair that was sticking up from behind the footstool. Please oh please let it not be a pet. If Liho adopted a stray cat he was really going to have to kill someone. soutou "Frey," the tuft of blond announced, yawning as he stood. Blue eyes fixed on the new arrival and he yawned again, rubbing an eye sleepily before he grabbed onto his little birdy and leaned against the footstool, watching the stranger with a determined interest. "Zion." Inhale. Exhale. You have a spine, Liho. He won't actually kill you, Liho. He has no one else, Liho. He'll probably just maim you horribly and leave you on that lumpy couch for weeks. But at least you won't be dead. "Zion," the hellion repeated, "that's, um, Frey. I found him at the market. He grabbed on to me and just wouldn't let go, so I brought him home to make sure he wouldn't get sick." The dark-skinned man stepped fully into view, cheeks dirt smudged. He wrung his cloth in his hand. Frey wrinkled his nose as the tension in the room nearly crackled. Yawning again, he licked his lips and began to toddle across the room, bird trailing behind him as he made a beeline for the guardian. "'ion," he parroted, latching on with great big eyes. The chocobo pulled himself close and lifted the bird, offering it to the strange, angry man. "Sun." Liho bit back a gasp and wrung the towel tighter, all but ripping the piece of clothe as he watched the strange little boy offer up his toy. Please, please, don't let Zion notice the spot of candy on his cheek. Chibi Sheepcat A kid? Liho had brought home a kid? For a moment Zion's eyes darted between his darker skinned partner and the child as though trying to see if he could find even a smidgen of resemblance. Thankfully, he found none. The little pipsqueak looked more like him than he did Liho. Not to mention, his logical mind added meekly, only fellow guardians would be able to touch Liho long enough to bear his child, and he didn't exactly have any lady friends. He couldn't possibly be sleeping around to produce such a golden children. Zion promptly told his logical mind to shut up and returned his attention to Liho. "You found him in the market and brought him home. You didn't, you know, stop and think that he might have parents who are filing a kidnapping report at the local police station because their son is missing?" Oooh he could feel a headache coming on, and it was not the kind of headache he wanted. He hadn't even had any ice cream yet, not even one sweetie, and already he was having to deal with this. The guardian was forced to focus back on this Frey creature/child/thing when it latched onto him. Zion's eyebrows twitched. It was hard to resist. This… thing was very cute. And he liked children, on good days. "Where's your parents, squirt?" soutou Liho would have been horrified (not to mentioned totally wounded) if he knew Zion actually had to reason out the fact Frey could not possibly be his. As if! "I asked him about his parents," the hellion whined softly. "He kept avoiding the topic. I figured that meant he didn't have any, since he didn't know what they were. And he wasn't crying or anything...he was just...hungry. Like a stray." Liho swallowed and took a step back, still torn between rushing to Frey's defense and retreating into the kitchen. A moment later, realizing the child was in no immediate harm, Liho all but sprinted into the kitchen and flew into a full-on frenzy of knives, vegetables and meat, opting for the stir-fry. It'd be done fast and it still tasted wonderful. Frey, meanwhile, tried to offer his toy to the stranger. "'ion," he insisted. He leaned up onto his tippy-toes and offered one more time, big blue eyes shimmering as he willed Zion to accept the peace offering. "Sun." He shook the bird and shoved it forward. "'ion." The question about his parents went completely unanswered. Shula and Sou would come and get him. They always did. Chibi Sheepcat Zion resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Wait, why was he resisting? He rolled his eyes twice to make up for it. "Just because he doesn't know what you're talking about doesn't mean he doesn't have parents. You should have handed him over to the police or something." He did not want to be involved in a kidnapping case, especially since he had just finished playing judge. The guardian would not be impressed in the slightest if he had to go back to the place he was finally free of. Fur would really fly. Still, they needed to at least feed this kid and then find a way to send him home. Just because he didn't have any parents didn't mean he could stay here. The guardian's eyes followed Liho as he made a mad dash for the kitchen, before he was forced to look back at this Frey child. "It's not Ion, kid. It's Zion. Zion. With a 'z'." Did he want him to take the toy? "I don't have anything to give you back, kid. You don't just take stuff without giving something in return, you know." He paused, before trying again, "Where are your parents? Do you have a mom or a dad?" soutou Ignore the nasty comments and they might go away. That's right, Liho, stick your head in the sand and he won't be able to see you at all. Frey, on the other hand, was not the least bit put off by Zion's attitude. Shula raised him to be proud and brave! Huffing softly, he drew Sun back to his chest and gave the guardian a wary look, glancing between his toy and the frustrating blond he was trying to offer it to. There was nothing wrong with Sun. So why was Zion being so difficult? The chocobo took a few steps back and lifted his gaze, giving the older blond a determine once over before yawning. "Mommy n' daddy. Sou n' Shula." Respectively, of course. Guardian help him the day he called Shula 'mommy'. Glancing over his shoulder, Liho cleared his throat. "Zi-Zion? Uhm, dinner is just about ready. W-What d-did you w-want with it?" Bloody hell! Did he have no spine at all, whimpering like a child? And then the hellion's conscience spoke up, reminding him he forgot to make dinner for Zion after a week of stress and mortals. And, and! He had, apparently, kidnapped a child. Which, a much nastier voice prompted him, was something normal hellions did, you freak. Whining softly to himself, Liho just added the sauce and stirred, waiting for Zion and the kid to sit at the table so he could just serve them and make things better. Chibi Sheepcat "…" Sou and Shula. Were here. And this was their kid. What in the name of the seven hells was this madness?! Sou had a mate! He remembered that trial! Shula was far too young to be making passes at the moon warrior, not to mention there hadn't been an eclipse recently for her to even want a child. Gaia must have done weird s**t to their brain and now she was wanting kids and oh god the mental images were disturbing. Zion shuddered. There were some things that he did not want to be privy to, and this was one of them. Luckily, Liho interrupted with the mention of dinner. His stomach rumbled appreciatively, and he shot the kid a glance out of the corner of his eye. "C'mon you. And bring Sun. It's dinner time." He shushed Frey into the kitchen and nudged a chair out for him, before taking his rightful place at the head of the table. "I don't care, Liho. I just want ice cream. After dinner. With enough chocolate sauce to swim in." The guardian grumbled under his breath as he rested his forehead on the table, clearly Not In the Mood for this sort of thing. Sou and Shula's child. Damn it all to hell. "Liho… did you know the moonfish and his bird were here?" soutou Frey watched Zion, allowing himself to be shuffled into the chair. At first, the chocobo had insisted he do it on his own, but four failed attempts later, he looked at the guardian imploringly, lifting his hands and waiting to be hoisted up to the table. Once settled, he watched the blond take his seat and... Frowning, Frey pushed himself back from the table. Leaving Sun to guard his chair, he waddled over to Liho and pulled himself close, pressing a hand to his forward. "Well?" he asked, question punctuated by a soft peep. Liho looked up at the strange noise, gazing over just in time to catch Frey checking his partner for a fever. Unable to help the smile, the hellion plated dinner and paced over to the table, a serving in each hand. He set the largest bowl before Zion, naturally, and set a much smaller one where Sun sat. He wasn't actually sure what small children should eat, or how much they should it, and it just wouldn't do to make the kid sick. "Hey, Zion's fine. Why don't you come over here?" And he nudged Frey breifly, trying to avoid anymore contact. "What's that about a moonfish? Oh, did you mean Sou and Shula?" "Mommy n' daddy." "...oh. Oh. I...I should take him back now, shouldn't I?" Sou and Shula? Blazing stars above! Chibi Sheepcat Oh for the love of- why couldn't kids get on their own chairs? He wasn't a baby sitter. Nevertheless, he couldn't just let the little bird thing flounder around. With a soft grunt, the guardian hoisted Frey up onto his seat and tucked him in. "There. Stay." He could only hope it was enough to convince the kid to sit down and eat. If he ruined his long awaited meal there was going to be hell to pay, that was for certain. Still, the cool wood of their table felt nice against his face, which was enough to stop him from beating his forehead against it. He was interrupted, however, when he was pulled down and a hand was placed on his forehead. Zion reflexively jerked away, and as such missed the question. "I just put you up there kid and I'm not putting you b- oh thank you Liho." Delicious food! Finally! He was so tired of eating those pre-packed sandwiches those people called lunches. It was positively deplorable. Reaching for his fork he started on his food, practically purring in satisfaction. Fooooooood. It was amazing and warm and there would be ice cream later and what? Frey? Oh right. He'd forgotten about that little cheepy thing. "Leave him until after dinner. I'm not interrupting food just because the moonfish left his bird cage open. We'll bring him back in a bit." Which was Zion speak for "I really want ice cream and not even an angry sun priestess can stop me." soutou Liho fidgeted nervously, watch Zion scarf down his meal. Frey, finally settled in his chair, was picking at the noodles (which was not, for the record, anywhere near as good as anything his mommy and daddy made for him). At least he was eating; Shula wouldn't have anything to complain about. Twitching again, the hellion drifted back to his pan. "Did you want more, Zion?" Anticipating the answer, Liho removed a bowl (larger than usual) from the cupboard and began to assemble a sundae for the agitated guardian. Hey, maybe if the fates were with him, Zion would eat himself into a sugar coma and stumble to bed. Then he could tuck him in and escort Frey home (and run like hell before the firebird could light him up like dry timber). He'd get home, make a nice little blanket nest on the couch and- Right. Drown it in chocolate sauce. Add sprinkles, for good measure. And whipped topping. Sauntering over to Zion, he quickly exchanged plates and missed the quiet peep Frey gave when he caught sight of Zion's epic dessert. Liho made quick work of the dishes (stir-fry was great for so many reasons). Chewing on his lip nervously, he finally announced, "I'll go take Frey home now." Oh, he'd keep that little bundle of adorable if he could... "You can go to bed, or stay up, or whatever you feel like. There's some new candies in the cupboard and I did change the sheets this morning and..." Stop digging yourself a grave, Liho. "...c'monFrey. Timetogohome." Chibi Sheepcat More? When there was ice cream? The guardian shook his head as he forked the last bit of food into his mouth. It was delicious, but he was looking forward to what came after dinner much more. Luckily Liho seemed to be content to feed him, and he had to resist the urge to squee at the sight of his absolutely awesome desert. What he did do was shoot Frey a watchful glare, before tucking in. Aaaaand Liho was talking again. Taking Frey home? That was cool. "I should come with you…." Zion seemed to realize the implications of his statement the moment it left his mouth, and promptly filled the void with another spoonful of ice cream. Mmm it was delicious. But he should go with him. With all those people Liho was bound to touch people and there would be mass chaos in the morning. And then he would get into trouble with the guardians for not looking after his little hellhound. Somehow he doubted that ice cream was a reasonable excuse for not going. But it was so gooooood. "Just um… take the horse. She'll be good to you." Not to mention she could suppress a little of Liho's abilities. There were benefits to being a guardian's horse. When Liho mentioned candies and fresh sheets he was practically telling the guardian to stay home and eat his ice cream. Had he actually been all there he would have realized a trap when he saw one, but it seemed the chocolate and the sprinkles were working their magic. Zion was already starting to get glassy-eyed, but that didn't stop him from eating. "Well… thanks. I'll be here when you get back. Got the weekend off." He licked his spoon almost lethargically. "Bye kid. Be good."
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