|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Sat Apr 25, 2009 6:57 am
Raco yawned and stretched from his watch post in the trees lining the edges of his territory. His mismatched eyes scanning the nearly empty street not far away. The traffic of people and dogs and cats was a little slower than usual today, but the weather had been threatening to rain. Not that it was going to stop him from keeping his watch, but it would keep most of the common traffic indoors rather than out here where there was a chance of getting wet. Lucky for him he was under the dense cover of the trees and wasn't likely to get wet if it did rain, but although he could sense and smell the moisture in the air, he didn't believe that it would rain down.
Raco sat himself up stretching his arms making his shoulders crack. His tail lashed and he twisted himself to crack his back which snapped off multiple times in succession down his back. "Much better..." he muttered to himself as his slanted eyes continued to watch. It had been a very uneventful day thus far and he was starting to debate on just sending in another of his ranks to take his place. He had other things that he could be doing besides sitting here and staring off into space.
That laze about Youko still had not made his appearance and he was supposed to have arrived quite some time ago and still there was no real sign of the cat. Raco was tiring of waiting, but there would be no arguing when Youko finally did show up, there never was.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Apr 25, 2009 2:05 pm
Valiant felt the first of the storm flow continuously down her back. It was beautiful, as it always was just before the storm hits. Her hands found the braids that covered her head in complicated knots and pulled it back. Valiant winced from the strain on her hurt wrist. Old scars never truly leave. She would need to use her senses to the best of her ability as she neared the trees, for she had yet to find a territory she would belong in. When her head finally cleared from the apprehensions of entering the thickets of trees, she found she was not alone. A series of cracks were heard from his back as he stood and stretched. He was lovely, a perfect mixture of muscle and build, and therefore Valiant was all the more cautious.The nice ones, were always the ones that could destroy you. Silently she wondered if he were friend or foe, her golden eyes sparkling with mischief. Everything in her lean body was telling her to run, but she made her way silently to the larger man, using trees for cover.
Quickly she scampered up a tree and looked down, the tree at least would serve as some kind of protection if he were foe, and she would be able to make her way through the treetops.
"Good day, its beautiful out is it not?" she called from the branches, looking down upon him smiling. She meant no harm, and tried to convey that with her appearance.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Apr 25, 2009 2:16 pm
Raco didn't start as the voice of the young manx female reached him. He was so used to cats wandering into the opening of his territory, instead of going after each and every one of them as he had originally done he had taken to leaving them alone unless they attempted to go deeper.
"Yes, t'e weat'er is quite nice. T'ough I dare say many would not agree." he said his thick accident very apparent with every word he spoke. His tail flickered just at the tip while his ears twitched. He was already aware of where the girl was, but he wasn't going to move just yet. He's chat, he knew it was the polite thing to do and for all he knew she was merely passing through.
"W'at brings you to t'is area?" he asked curiously, though not giving away too much. He was more rather making sure she had no ill intentions for his territory.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Apr 25, 2009 2:31 pm
"I suppose I was exploring, and decided it would be lovely to have company on a day such as this." she smiled to herself. He wasnt fooling her, she knew he had training, and would at the very least pick up on where she was.
"I didn't quite catch your name, or shall I simply call you stranger?"
She stood on the branch looking down, thinking about jumping. She judged him with curiosity, no he was not that of Schmee, or the others she had met, he had a since of stillness about him. So she stayed, trying to ignore the gut instinct to run, after all, her gut had been wrong before. He was waiting for something she realized, though valiant couldnt quite place it. She kept her gaurd up, and continuously glanced about her.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Apr 25, 2009 3:12 pm
Raco shrugged his shoulders. "I believe some of t'e best time, is t'e time t'at is spent alone." he said stretching a little again.
Raco looked up toward where Valiant was hiding but didn't quite look toward her exactly. "Excuse my rudeness t'en." he said bowing his head a little. "My name is Raco Shadou, second in command of t'e Anbu."
His tail lashed with pride at this statement, he was very proud of being of such a high ranking, but for the time being he was first in command with Youko's absence. "Now, may I ask you for your own name?" he questioned, his slanted eyes looking out into the masses of green and brown that hid Valiant quiet well against even his own well trained eyes, but he knew where she was.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Apr 25, 2009 3:31 pm
Ah. that explained a lot valiant thought to herself. He had to be tough. She smiled and jumped from the tree.
Cautiously she walked toward him, he was a proud thing to be sure.
"My name is Valiant or val, I suppose you can call me Schmee's apprentice. Though I belong to no territory." She curtsied gracefully, a way back never taking her eyes off of the person in front of her. Perhaps this person with her luck would be friend.
She felt extremely vulnerable in the open, but she would stand her ground. A few drops of rain splattered around her through the over thickened vegetation.
"Are you expecting someone, or are you waiting for something that you have lost?" It was an odd question, and more then likely perceived by such, but her meaning was well enough.
She studied his face, hoping for a glance into something deeper then pride and physical structure.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Apr 26, 2009 5:58 am
Raco's mismatched eyes looked over the Manx, she was dressed in the Elven fashion, something he had not done in a long time. He almost missed those days in which he did, but that was before the attack...
"Valiant, suc' a strong name...I do not know of Schmee, I do not often leave t'e wood. Except when I am on patrol." he said looking out at the street again and the still slow foot traffic of young girls giggling to themselves, others slightly older coming home from work with their umbrellas held over their heads. Raco was only brought back to his conversation by a rain drop that slipped through the thick tree branches and hit him on the nose.
"No, I am keeping watc', we are very protective of our territory. Too many wander t'rough here and we must protect what is ours, as well as our secrets." he said straightening himself up with pride for their work. Part of the mission of the Anbu was to keep Ikebokuro safe. But still he gave nothing more away, his face stayed straight and nearly emotionless. But this was always how Raco was, the only time he loosened up was around the Anbu and Youko, and that was usually during the bonfires in which they sang and dances and played music, Raco himself playing a small wooden flute, the dangled around his neck just under his shirt, but it served more of a purpose than just for play, it was also a signal in case of danger.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Apr 26, 2009 12:47 pm
Valiant shifted uncomfortably under his gaze, feeling a light flush from her chest to her face.
She watched with curiosity. There was just something off.... and then it hit her. She sat on the ground playing with the braids in her hair. Raco didn't smile. Everyone should smile, its good for the soul she thought idly.
Her gaze fell onto the people walking, unbeknownst that they were being watched. Human beings were fickle things, to ignorant for their own good. She was distracted by a rustling near by, her ears perked up and her eyes dilated. Friend or foe she wondered, for that was always the question now a day.
At the acknowledgment of her name she smiled to herself.
"You need to be strong to survive in a world like this.. But you also need to find joy in the little things, otherwise there is no point in living."
she eyed him out of the corner of her eye, still focused on the people passing by. A stillness filled her, as if she were completely one with the surrounding Forrest.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Apr 27, 2009 7:38 am
Raco nodded his head. "T'is is true..." he replied closing his eyes with the acknowledgment of her words. He may not smile, but he never found reason to anymore, his half smile that he even then rarely showed was about as close as he got and that had been shared with one of the cats here in Ikebokuro which was the pretty little female Touya.
"So tell me, if it is not too muc' of an intrusion; 'ow is it t'at you came to Ikebokuro?" he asked opening his mis-matched eyes again to look at Valiant. She truly did remind him of the good old days, and he wondered if she had possibly come from a small Elven village. It wouldn't be an impossibility, he had come from one very far away and had travel far before settling here. "If you care to s'are wit' me I will be sure to make it wort' your w'ile." he added the corner of his mouth giving a small twitch. But his eyes shone with the truth in him, that he would tell his story...but maybe he would leave a few parts out, parts that still haunted him in his sleep to this day.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Apr 27, 2009 9:13 am
Valiant nodded slowly, captivated by the truth in his eyes. Another emotion, point for her. Her eyes grew distant as she told her tale.
"This was a time I am a little blurry on... when i was a wee kitten. My master stole me from a village... there were many people, and good food. My mother was devastated as I was taken away. I lived in a ranch in my younger years, not too far from the city, but not as far as the village. It was nice at the farm, but I always wished I could be back with my mother and my siblings, I suppose thats what made me sick. "Master" noticed the change in my health. I guess I wasn't worth the worry, so he gave me milk for the first time, and I felt the world go black. I guess I should have known he wouldn't have given me one of my old joys unless he had alternative motives. I found myself in a soggy box, with the disgusting smell of garbage surrounding me. Weakly I climbed out of the box and with blurry eyes I looked around. Night was near, pressing against the place with a almost visible hand, from the drugs im sure. Slowly, I made my way to the city, and promised I would NEVER be in the arms of a human caretaker again."
She blushed lightly
"I also swore vengeance on any human that dare hurt another cat."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Apr 27, 2009 7:32 pm
Raco nodded his head, it was a particularly sad story, but it was nothing that was too new to him. He had traveled and come across many cats who all had be ripped from their families young and tossed away with the trash. It was a story that he knew he would hear again and again.
"I am sorry for your loses..." he said bowing his head. "Now as I promise I will s'are my ow story." he said waving a hand.
"I came from a village very, very far away. I was close wit' a family and t'ey even 'ad a collar on me. I was a particularly 'appy cat at t'e time. But t'ere were ot'er cats who 'ad a 'atred for not only myself, but t'ose t'at I was close wit'. I warned t'em to leave us alone, but t'et did not. T'ey killed t'e one I loved..." he said stopping, the memories coming back to him and he felt the blackness in his heart stir, the hatred he felt pounding with every beat of his heart. "I went after t'em, and I killed t'em. I was so distraug't that I left, I ran. I stripped myself of my collar, left my family be'ind. I became w'at t'e 'umans call 'feral'. No cat not 'uman could come near me, until Youko. 'E broug't me out of t'e dark pit I had fallen into. I allied myself wit' 'im and we traveled, collecting ot'ers to join us, we created t'e Anbu. We vow to protect t'ose w'o can not protect t'emselves, or need our aid." he said looking up to Valiant.
"Rig't now Youko is off doing 'is own t'ing and should be eventually s'owing up to take back 'is place as 'ead of the Anbu. 'E's just taking 'is dear time, as usual." he said shaking his head at the thought of Youko.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Apr 27, 2009 8:36 pm
Valiant felt a loss for the man standing in front of her. He had been through so much, and somehow it didnt suprise her that he had gone after the killers of his family, after all, she realized with a jolt, she would have done the exact same thing. Feeling a mild discust with herself she needed to break the silence.
"I as well am sorry for your losses, but that is in the past now, we have only the future to look forward to."
She smiled her best smile for him, and fished her ivory flute from her dress. She smiled lightly and played a soft song, with the words mimicking themselves in her mind.
On the day I was born,
Said my father, said he
I've an elegant legacy waiting for ye.
Tis a rhyme for your lips
And a song for your heart
To sing it whenever the world falls apart
(chorus -)
Look, look , look to the rainbow
follow it over the hill and stream
look look look to the rainbow
follow the fellow who follows a dream.
'Twas a sumptuous gift
To bequeath to a child
Oh, the lure of that song kept me feet running wild
For you never grow old
And you never stand still
With whippoorwills singing beyond the next hill.
(chorus)...
So I pondered my heart
nd I roamed the world free
To the east with the lark
To the west with the sea
And I searched all the earth
And I scanned all the skies
But I found it at last in my own true love's eyes.
(chorus)
She stopped adruptly, realizing she had probibly ruined their conversation... she chanced a glance at Raco and waited for him to say something. This was a habbit of hers she would have to break one day.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Apr 29, 2009 10:39 am
Raco nodded his head. "Yes, w'at 'as gone and done, is just t'at. But all t'e same, t'ere are some t'ings t'at never truly leave us, our past can follow us, some parts of ourselves t'at never go away." he said his eyes becoming shadowed, he was speaking about the darker side of himself, the side that cared not for any life that came across him, from the days in which he would have killed anything living that he came upon.
The sound of the flute caught him and he almost took out his own which was a small wooden japanese styled flute. It was in a way he restitude in these days, a small sense of enjoyment he got that almost nearly brought himself body and soul back to his days when he was young and happy, even if only for a little while.
Once Valiant's song had ended he nodded to her. "Fair playing sister." he said, meaning the term 'sister' as though one who could associate himself with, one who knew ways similar to his own, or at least he guessed so. And usually Raco's 'guessing' was extremely accurate.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Apr 29, 2009 3:22 pm
Valiant turned away hiding the blush of pleasure that had crept its way to her face as Raco complemented her playing. At least he seemed lighter of spirits.
“I love playing the flute. Its one of the only things that calms me when I am alone; as of now, you are the third to know I play.”
She looked deeper into the forest, oblivious and unknowing of what lay behind the thick vegetation. Though, if any of the other warriors were of such stature as Raco, Val pretty much figured she would never see deeper then this.
His ways of life intrigued her, something about him triggered something deep inside that she knew she should not have forgotten. What was it about this place, that made her feel like home? She fixated her thoughts, and attention back to the people walking by, oblivious, but happy surrounded by people they love, and holding umbrellas of sheer black material. They are home, she realized with a start, and with a heavy heart, she found that was one of the things she wanted most out of life. A home, with people that cared for her, that were similar to her.
“I was just pondering the ideals of a normal life.”
“Sorry… distracted.” She mumbled turning back to him, sadness plain in her eyes, with an intensity that will never fade.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri May 01, 2009 1:42 pm
Raco nodded. "As do I from time to time. It soot's t'e soul and calms t'e mind." he said feeling the truth in his own words. At least that was his own consideration of what playing meant to him.
His own gave followed Valiant's out to the street as the few people who still wandered it, all hidden beneath their coats and umbrella's. Here he sat safe under the trees and their thick foliage, that would only thicken and become filled to the bursting with blooms soon with the coming summer months. He could only imagine the festivals that would follow, the food, the dancing, the music. But he was brought back to the present when he heard Valiant mutter to herself.
"Ah, 'ome is w'atever we make of it. I do not consider it to be a specific place, but rat'er w'ere the ones you care for are." he said waving his hand to the wood behind him. "T'is is my 'ome." he added looking at the deep sadness that stood behind her eyes.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
