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 Posted: Sun Aug 02, 2009 3:41 pm
Gabi was taking his usual patrol- a wide circle around the small village. He did this routine every day to give himself peace of mind. Demons hadn't been seen for about a week now, which was highly unusual given the area; and so he had a sense of foreboding that they were up to something. Then again, it could just be in his head. Maybe he'd finally killed them all.
Truth be told, he was growing restless. Most of his life he'd spent travelling around Nippon, gaining new knowledge and an awareness of the state of things. Now he felt out of the loop; but he couldn't bring himself to leave this place to fend on its own. He felt the humans were used to him, and he wasn't sure if they would make it through the winter without any losses if he wasn't around. Still, human company just wasn't doing it for him. He needed something new; if only more Kuniku could be found around these parts maybe he wouldn't feel this way.
Lost in thought Gabi snapped to attention, fur bristling, when he heard a snap- but it was only one of the shaggy cows crushing fallen twigs. He yawned wide and sat down in the fresh snow, surveying his town.
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Posted: Sun Aug 02, 2009 7:33 pm
“Gah! Why does it have to be so cold?” Tsuchi bounced through the snow with his nose wrinkled in annoyance. Apparently he had inherited his mother’s much shorter coat much life in Hokkaido not as fun as he’d expected to be. “Come on Ringo, keep up!” He paused, shivered and looked back at the red female. “You’re too slow.” They had been travelling for a long time now and Tsuchi had gotten them lost three times before Ringo had taken control as navigator; that of course didn’t stop the male from leaping forward as he was the leader. Which of course he was.
Smoke tendrils rose up ahead indicating the town. Haha! They were nearly there finally. Now they could find the fabled Gabi and fight demons. Tsuchi leapt over a snow drift and as he touched the ground; disappeared in a flurry of snow. His head poked up; frowning in annoyance. How had his papa lived in this place for so long?
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Posted: Sun Aug 02, 2009 10:09 pm
The pretty red female known as Ringo rolled her eyes as Tsuchi wondered why it was so cold. "This is Hokkaido, which is way up north! You're an idiot if you thought it would be as warm as Kyushu!" Ringo grunted as she walked through a patch of deep snow, which came all the way up to her shoulders. She didn't admit aloud that the snow was very cold because then she would seem as dumb as Tsuchi and there was no way she'd ever do that, but she also had short fur so this wasn't exactly a 100% pleasant voyage.
She shook her head out of annoyance as Tsuchi called her slow, "I may be slow, but at least I've got enough brains to not run far ahead!" she called to Tsuchi, who was once again running ahead for the 500th time. She pushed her way through the deep snow and got to a shallower spot before she suddenly laughed. Tsuchi's head popped out of the snow, and looked ridiculous. "You know, I'm not going to dig you out this time."
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Posted: Mon Aug 03, 2009 1:29 am
Gabi heard the younger Kuniku coming before he saw them; sounds travelled far around here as it bounced off the wide expanses of snow. He watched them struggling their way through the snow toward him, and couldn't help but crack a smile when the brown one nearly sunk his whole height in the snow. Obviously they were new to Hokkaido, after living here the snow was still difficult as always but you at least figured out how to traverse it without wasting so much energy.
He stood up, shaking clumps of snow out of his fur, and stretched. If they were newcomers then they might bring news of Honshu with them- Gabi figured he may as well help them up the slope and get them to a fire. He let out a sharp bark to let them know of his presence, and began to trot down through the snow toward them.
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Posted: Mon Aug 03, 2009 1:46 am
“I don’t need you to dig me out. I’m fine.” Tsuchi struggled around in the snow for a while before he found a more compact area beneath his paws and hoisted himself out of the hole. The young male shook the snow off his fur and then snorted. “Stupid snow, I think-“ He broke off suddenly as a bark was let out by somebody unknown. Tsuchi leapt in front of Ringo and pulled himself upright, fluffing out his fur to appear more imposing.
“Hey! Who’re you?”
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Posted: Mon Aug 03, 2009 1:10 pm
Ringo inwardly sighed as Tsuchi jumped infront of her. She never understood why he always felt like he needed to be the first kuniku spotted between the two of them, but walked forward to be at Tsuchi's side. "Stop acting so tough. If you make a bad impression, whoever this is might not help us out." she commented, before shaking slightly to get some of the snow off of her coat.
Truth be told, Ringo honestly no idea what Hokkaido natives thought of outsiders. Miss Sazanami had said that they were for the most part kind, but didn't enjoy being generous to strangers for more than day or so. Whoever this was, Ringo hoped that she and Tsuchi wouldn't cause them too much trouble.
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Posted: Mon Aug 03, 2009 9:26 pm
Gabi's fur bristled a little at the male's sharp question. "I should be asking you that question. This village up here is mine." He wasn't much for socialising, and lack of respect was one of his many pet peeves. He remembered why he'd come down here though- hopefully he could find out some news from these two. He turned to address the female-
"Actually, there is a fire up there I can take you to if you're cold- and food." He began to turn toward the town. "What are you doing around here anyway?" It wasn't too uncommon for Kuniku to come to Hokkiado; but they rarely ventured this deep into the mountains.
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Posted: Tue Aug 04, 2009 8:02 pm
“I’m not acting tough, I am tough!” However as Gabi came closer, revealing himself to be a rather powerful looking male, Tuschi shrank back a bit. He stuck close to Ringo’s side, probably more so than she would like, eyeing the male up and down. Eventually when they were asked what they were doing there he perked up and announced. “We’re looking for the great Gabi. Do you know where we can find him?” It would have been more useful if he’d gotten some sort of description of his father, but Tsuchi hadn’t thought quite that far before running off.
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Posted: Thu Aug 06, 2009 10:39 pm
Without saying a word to Tsuchi, Ringo gave him a good whack with her tail to get him to stop leaning against her like a baby, before she replied to Gabi. "If it's not too much trouble, please show us the way. We've never been to Hokkaido before, so we've had some difficulty making it this far." Ringo was being humble to this stranger. He looked like a seasoned fighter alright, so she was trying to keep Tsuchi on his best behavior to avoid getting into trouble. The kuniku had said that this village was in his territory, and even though Ringo had confidence in her fighting abilities, she didn't think she and Tsuchi would be much of a match for the older male should he try to drive them away. "My friend's father said that he met a kuniku named Gabi around this village, so we were hoping that we might be able to find him if we came here."
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Posted: Fri Aug 07, 2009 1:29 am
The great Gabi...? Friend's father..? How did these Kuniku know of him? Neverthless, Gabi began to laugh. He turned back around to face the two Kuniku. "Well, I'm Gabi." He told them with a bemused smile. "I think you two had better come back with me to the village. I want to know why you know of my name."
He was pleased that his judgement had been correct and that the female was certainly the more respectful of the two. Still, how did they know who he was? He hadn't known all that many Kuniku well during his lifetime- he couldn't think of any of the top of his head that might spread tales about him. What was there to tell anyway?
He thought this as he trudged his way back up through the snow, assuming the Kuniku pair would follow. He knew one of the older women in the village was currently preparing dinner, so he would take them there and they would surely be fed.
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Posted: Sun Aug 09, 2009 6:17 pm
Tsuchi gave Ringo a pouting face when she whacked him. He huffed a little as Ringo explained further as to why they’d be out in the freezing cold; though when the male suddenly announced himself as being ‘Gabi’, Tsuchi’s mouth dropped open. “You’re Gabi!” He bounced up and down on the spot. “See, I told you we were going the right way Ringo. You thought I was getting us lost but my divine sense of direction led the way.” He puffed out his chest and followed the male towards the village. How exciting!
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Posted: Sun Aug 09, 2009 10:46 pm
It took a lot, but Ringo managed to hold back her urge to tell Tsuchi to shut up, and that he just had a case of Idiot's Luck. She knew for certain that he did not have great navigational ability like his father, but didn't comment about that aloud.
Instead, she followed after him and Gabi to the village. "Really? You're Gabi?" Ringo was genuinely surprised by the information. Her tail started to wag as she spoke. "Well, that's good news. We had no idea how long it would take until we found you." She really was relieved, because she figured it would be days before they found the right kuniku since neither of them knew what he looked like beforehand.
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Posted: Wed Aug 12, 2009 3:33 am
"Well, my name is Gabi, although there could be someone else with that name." They reached the old woman's small house; the door was open as it usually was when the snow had subsided. It allowed him easier access, this was one of his favourite houses to sleep in and the human seemed to have noticed this fact.
"You mentioned your father told you of me? What was his name?" He asked as he stretched in the warmth of the house. A fire had been lit in a pit to cook over, and made it much more pleasant than outside.
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Posted: Sat Aug 15, 2009 1:48 am
As they made their way through the village Tsuchi chose to remain fairly silent, instead focusing on not falling through any holes in the snow. In front of Ringo it was embarrassing enough but in front of Gabi, well… he would never be able to live it down. Once they had reached the cozy little cottage Tsuchi darted into the warm dwelling and shook off the snow, flopping over gratefully to bask in the fires glow. Much better!
“His name is Masao.” Tsuchi replied with pride in his voice. “He was only young whne you met, but I’m sure you remember. Er… Hit… something. Ah, Hitou. That was the village name.”
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Posted: Mon Aug 17, 2009 7:49 pm
Gabi paused, thinking back. Hitou? He remembered Hitou. Then he remembered Masao.
"Ah, Masao." He laughed. "Well I'm glad I made such an impression on him... so you're his son?" Gabi was a little surprised, Masao had been very mature and well spoken, obviously this Kuniku hadn't inherited that. "What was your name?" He asked, realising he didn't know.
Gabi wasn't exactly sure why these two had come to him, he didn't have that much to give. It could be useful though, the apparent lack of demons was worrying him and he felt sure they were scheming. If the Hairy Oushi did attack in large enough numbers he would be grateful for some help. He didn't have to worry about that until sunset however, the demons rarely came out when they couldn't hide in the shadows. As an afterthought he added, "Have either of you fought a demon before?"
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