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 Posted: Thu Aug 06, 2009 9:50 am
 There he was in the tropics again, unfamiliar territory to the spectral Kuniku. Every time he trekked down to southern Honshu and to the island he expected rest and relaxation, tasty new fruits and berries, a refreshing change of pace- but always found himself wondering why it was that he'd come to such a hot, bright, strange area in the first place. Spectre was quite the tourist when it came to the south.
The jungle was so humid and abrasive, and how he hated to pant. It probably made him look even stranger than he did normally... With a sigh the strange Kuniku stopped for a moment to scan the area for any sign of the jungle waning.
"Hm?"
A small break in the trees caught his eye and curiosity led the Kuniku to poke his head into the clearing.
"Ruins...?"
Taking a few more steps into the clearing, Spectre gazed at the crumbling buildings in awe- his trip suddenly seemed a little less troublesome as he padded over toward them.
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Posted: Thu Aug 06, 2009 2:26 pm
 What Spectre didn't know, was that he was not alone...
Granted, Koishii didn't know either.
On her journey home, the elegant Kuniku had decided to make a detour to the southern end of Honshu, before she looped back up and around to head to her home. It wasn't every day that she got to view the beautifully rare flowers that bloomed in the humid landscape of Honshu's very own jungle. Luckily, Shii didn't mind the weather, the humidity. She, in fact, embraced it, liking the warm glow it gave her skin underneath her cream fur and feathers. Her tail was wagging slightly, careful with her paws as she treaded across the floor, as not to disturb any of the beautiful flora that grew here. Everything around her bloomed when she smiled at it (It had been a gift of hers since birth), and this gave her incredible opportunities to see much of the life of small bell flowers that twined around roots of trees.
Her paws kept up a slow walk as her eyes scanned across the growth, searching for a particular flower she had only heard about from old stories. Her mother had once shared her love for this flower, and since then, the image of the baby-blue daisy-like plant had been in the back of her mind, and would re-surface every now and then when she spotted a particularly beautiful flower.
Deep in thought, Koishii almost passed up the fabled petals, when a glimpse of beautiful blue hooked her from the corner of her amber eye.
"Oh?" She paused in her tracks and turned back to see if her eyes had mistaken her, but indeed, they had not. The flower was almost exactly as she had pictured it, tall and slender, it's thorny vines wrapped around its stem, as the head grew toward the sky, mirroring the intense blue. It was absolutely beautiful.
"It's so beautiful..!" her eyes widened as she stepped toward it, holding her breath as if it would blow the fragile flower away. Shii didn't notice the stone buildings that created the dying background for the plant. The thorny daisy was the only thing in her sight, and she dipped toward it to inspect the texture and smell. And just like in her dreams, it was completely intoxicating.
"Fantastic...!" she whispered, completely blind to the strange Kuniku that was nearly on the other side of the ruins.
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Posted: Thu Aug 06, 2009 8:13 pm
Likewise, Spectre was completely oblivious to the presence of another Kuniku in the area. After all, he was deep within the island's inland jungle, why should any other Kuniku be out here? In general it was common for them to keep near civilization, but Spectre was another story. He had a but of a phobia of populated areas due to his, well, somewhat strange appearance. More than once he'd been mistaken for a demon when he only wanted to help or when trying to socialize with other Kuniku, so with a broken spirit he kept to himself for the most part.
Hence his current situation.
Ecstatic, the strange Kuniku had reached the ruins and was weaving in and out of crumbling passages and arches, exploring the perimeters before venturing inside. Panting half with excitement and half from the heat (though he'd forgotten about the oppressive weather at this point) Spectre noticed the excess of impressive flowers in and around the clearing- since the buildings had been abandoned the flowers and wildlife had made them their home.
Peering down into the entrance of the main building, eyes glowing dimly and mist wafting around his paws, Spectre took note of the danger that may await inside. Normally he was quite frightful and skittish, but he couldn't imagine anything very exciting happening in an old building.
"S'not like anyone would miss me if I were gone anyway..." he reasoned with a weak smile.
The outside had been up against the elements all these years, but the underground portion would still be in tact. The entrance to said underground was a simple slope heading down into an abyss and Spectre stood right at the doorway.
"HELLOOO~!" His voice echoed a few times in the passage and caused a few rocks to tumble from the ceiling.
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Posted: Thu Aug 06, 2009 8:34 pm
Even from above, and distracted by the flower, Koishii's ears could pick up the call echoing off the internal sides of the ruins ahead of her. She jumped at the sound, her large ears flattening with discomfort as she peered around cautiously. What in the world had that been? It suddenly registered in the Kuniku's mind, that, behind the flower stood--or, rather, sagged--a structure of nature-claimed ruins, which would quite possibly be towering over her at the moment, if they weren't so... Broken. The slim female heard a few earthy crashing noises from within the sorry-looking building and padded around to the other side, spotting a crumbling entrance that punched itself through the center. Had this been where the noise came from?
It had sounded strangely like a hello...
Gazing cautiously into the darkness, Koishii took a measured step forward, poking her head into the entrance to listen for another sound. When none came after a moment or two, she cleared her throat and let out a small, "Hello..?" It echoed dimly off the thick walls, and finally drew attention to the path that lead to the underground portion. She blinked, and thought she heard footsteps. "Hello?" Shii called, a little more confidently, this time. She took a few more timid steps in, and gazed around the broken walls and falling ceiling. Time had most definitely taken a toll on this place. That much was obvious.
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Posted: Thu Aug 06, 2009 9:41 pm
Paws padding gently on the stone ground, Spectre crept his way deeper into the ruins at a nice, slow pace. He hadn't made it terribly far into the building when a strange noise sounded behind him- from the entrance he was at only moments before. He only caught the last bit of residue from the echoing voice and it was so muffled that he couldn't make out what it had said, or if it was even a voice at all. It could have been anything, a ferocious tropical beast waiting for him at the entrance for dinner plans, a group of secret natives who'd caught him trespassing and expected him to pay the price, or worse, ghosts that were angry at him for upsetting their ancient home!
A whimper escaped from the strange Kuniku's throat as he crouched down, tail between his legs and ears tilted back, shivers down his spine. What was that? Another noise? Since he was listening intently it came a little more clearly, was it... hello?
"H-hello...?" His reply was horribly weak and Spectre knew that nothing would have been able to hear it. Taking a deep breath he sat up a little more before calling out a little louder.
"H-HELLO?!"
Instead of a firm call it was a shaky, high-pitched one that he was surprised to hear even come out of him. Bowing his head with embarrassment, he hoped that it had all been his imagination and that nothing was up there- or if there was that it would put him out of his misery.
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Posted: Thu Aug 06, 2009 10:14 pm
Hah! She had been right! There was someone down there! ... But the question was, what were they doing down there in the first place? And another question: What were you supposed to say to a high-pitched 'Hello' that had just yipped back at you? For some reason, she thought it bad manners to ask who, or exactly what they were, so she settled with trotting further into the ruins, dipping down slightly into the even darker underground portion. Koishii pondered for a second if it would be rude to ask what he or she (she couldn't tell from the high-pitched 'hello') was doing down here. Instead, she sniffed the air for a scent, and called back once again, a greeting.
"Hello there...?" It wasn't really a question, but considering that she couldn't see very far into the darkness of the underground section, it came off as such.
Padding gently further in, she pressed herself up against the wall, in order not to get turned around, in case the light behind her wasn't enough of a pointer of where to go back to. She could sense a presence down here, and it was close, but she honestly couldn't tell how close. The darkness could throw off the senses if you couldn't see a foot in front of you.
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Posted: Thu Aug 06, 2009 11:00 pm
Spectre stood and listened for awhile but heard nothing, which only added to his anxiety. The only light in the tunnel was the dim glow of his blank eyes, which hardly provided enough to see a thing around him, but could certainly be a small beacon to anything approaching.
Another sound, another 'hello', and it was closer this time. Since whatever it was was saying hello to him, it couldn't be all bad. Certainly no monster or vicious tribesman or ghost. But he couldn't help himself from still being nervous as the light sound of something approaching entered his ears.
In a moment of panic he shut his eyes tight so that whatever it was would have a more difficult time finding him. Taking a few steps backward and pressing himself against the wall to make himself as small as possible, it was all Spectre could do to wait for whatever it was to bump into him or, hopefully, pass him by so he could make his escape!
Another step backwards- but this time the solid ground he expected to meet was not there. He yelped in panic as he nearly fell backwards- this was it, this was the end. Before him was some unknown monster trying to pretend to be friendly, and behind him, an abyss within an abyss.
Shutting his eyes once more, he was at a loss. This was the worst trip ever.
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Posted: Thu Aug 06, 2009 11:41 pm
Koishii halted her steps immediately when the other creature yelped in front of her. It was a lot closer than she had expected, number one, and number two, whomever the creature was, she could tell by the noise that it was scared, and had possibly just injured itself. She nudged herself closer, her senses on edge. "Are you alright..?" she spoke softly. "I won't hurt you, I promise." Shii was careful in her next tiny steps forward, her eyes wide, trying to find any trace of light in the darkness. However, she too squeaked when her nose poked Spectre's forehead. She leaped back in surprise and her ears flicked back in alarm.
He was way closer than she had expected him to be.
And a lot more solid than the ghost she was expecting.
((God, I'm so sorry. My computer's lagging so bad, even after I restarted it. I promise I'll write more when the internet's fixed. DX))
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Posted: Fri Aug 07, 2009 4:57 am
Spectre was in despair as the soft steps got closer and closer to him. Whatever it was had spoken again, in a soft voice that sounded rather feminine actually. But he would not be fooled! It was probably just a demon trying to trick him! Should he venture further into the tunnel, stepping back to what could possibly be his doom? Lost in his own fleeting thoughts his heart nearly stopped when something poked him in the forehead.
With another yelp of surprised Spectre jumped back out of reflex- only, there was nothing to jump back onto. Flailing, tears in his eyes, he latched onto the edge with his front legs, eyes open wide and emitting their eerie glow, though not enough to be of any help at all or even to see the creature that was right in front of him.
Desperate and afraid, he whimpered.
"P-please help me!"
His back paws padded against the wall in an attempt to pull himself up, but with little luck. He wanted to cry and suddenly had completely changed his mind about plummeting to his doom.
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Posted: Sun Aug 09, 2009 9:18 am
For a single, breathless moment, Koishii could not look away from the glowing lights in front of her, suddenly realizing--from the location of the voice ahead of her--those lights were the creature's eyes. In that single moment, her mind let open a floodgate of terrified thoughts of malicious ghosts and spirits, and urged her to turn tail and run as fast as her paws could carry her. And as much as her mind screamed for her to do so, the creature's voice pleaded for help, and this, she would not-- could not ignore. Ignoring every horrified nerve in her body, she hurried forward, dipping her muzzle to feel for a place to grab on the creature. From what she could feel, it had the shape of a dog, but this was not the part that registered in her brain. The part that did, however, told her that this creature had a scruff, and so she grabbed it with her teeth and began pulling in the opposite direction to help him up.
It was almost funny, in panicked situations like this, really... The mind goes to places so unimportant, almost distracting from the stressful situation at hand. It was probably a natural defense mechanism, but it seemed strange to Koishii as she suddenly was wondering what was at the bottom of the seemingly endless pit she was pulling Spectre up from. The things her brain thought up to fill that void were not only strange, but they were impossible... For example...
I don't suppose there are other little ghosts having a tea party down there...
Her paws scrabbled against the stone flooring, and her mind was jarred back to the immediate situation at hand. With adrenaline pulsing through her veins, Koishii gave a mighty pull and managed to pull the other up (With help from his scrabbling paws as well) onto the flooring, accidentally biting through the skin on his scruff. Though the bite wasn't bad, Koishii could still feel her teeth puncturing skin, and she let go with a yelp when Spectre was on solid ground again.
"I'm so sorry! Are you okay?" she worried, the terrifying feeling of teeth puncturing skin urging her to lick repeatedly at the other creature's wound unabashedly.
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Posted: Sun Aug 09, 2009 3:02 pm
What a horrible, horrible day. Eyes watering and claws scratching against the stone like mad, Spectre struggled to pull himself help, thoughts of his inevitable demise flashing through his mind, the vision of himself plummeting down, down, down and smacking against the ground played before him in the darkess.
Just then as he was about to lose all hope, he felt fangs grip the scruff of his neck. Oh God, the monster was going to eat him! He yelped just like a dog would in pain as the teeth punctured the skin under his fur. He wasn't sure which sounded like a worse fate- falling to his death or being devoured by a monster.
But the next thing he knew, he was back on solid ground, and he never knew it could feel so wonderful. Not only that, but there were no longer fangs biting into his neck, though the pain still stung a little and he could feel the trickle of fresh blood making its way down his side- nothing major of course, but it would call for a nice soak later on.
Head spinning, Spectre groaned as he tried to pull himself up only to fall back down. It was only then after he lay there panting for a moment that he realized that the monster was still present- not only that, but it was something... fuzzy. And it- it smelled nice? He was so confused- he heard words but his head was still spinning too much to understand. All he knew was that it was a feminine voice and he felt an odd sensation on his back where his wound was unlike he had ever felt before, nice but strange- was she licking him?
He struggled to stay conscious and drifted in and out a few times before he secured wakefulness. With the stress of the whole ordeal his fear had all but melted away, and he felt strangely comfortable even. Unfortunately he still found himself unable to speak, so he closed his eyes and rested a moment, his breathing finally returning to a more normal pace.
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Posted: Sun Aug 09, 2009 8:03 pm
For minutes, Koishii sat next to Spectre, drawing her tongue over the wound until the bleeding stopped. She could feel the other's breathing slow again, and it was then that her mind returned to its normal state, beginning to process what exactly had just taken place... And what exactly had she just saved? Well, as Koishii thought about it, the last question could be easily answered. The other was a Kuniku, no doubt. Certainly a very strange Kuniku... His eyes glowed in this complete darkness, after all. As for what had just happened, however, it took a moment for her to completely compute the situation.
For one, Koishii was pretty sure that she had just saved the other's life.
Spectre could possibly clue her in on what had just happened, too, but first, she needed to hear his voice. Make absolute sure that the other was alright. "Y...You're alright, then?" She dipped down near him, and carefully nudged his paw with her own. "Nothing hurt?" She felt guilt wash over her at the wound that she had caused him. "I mean... Besides your neck... I'm really sorry about that..." And then her medical instincts kicked in. "You know, I could just grab some spiderwebs... Clot the bleeding, if it worsens..." She hadn't thought to wait for a response, and then she fell silent, sitting worriedly in front of him. What if this Kuniku was actually a ghost? Would it be angry with her for injuring it?
Shii certainly hoped not.
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Posted: Sun Aug 09, 2009 10:03 pm
The strange Kuniku's eyes flickered open at the sound of the female's voice, glowing dimly in the darkness. By this time he was convinced that she wasn't a monster, but probably a Kuniku like himself. In that case, it was probably for the best that they were shrouded in darkness- had she seem him in the light she probably would have run off the moment she spotted him. The eyes were probably bothering her enough as it was.
Once he'd finished savoring the brief moment of comfort, he forced himself onto his shaky legs, still a bit in shock and glanced in the direction of the other- or, where he assumed she was standing.
"Oh, it's nothing really," he chuckled. "I've had much worse." Spectre exhaled and bowed his head, eyes closed in an effort to clear out the rest of his head. Shaking the dust from his coat, he coughed a little. "Oh, ha*cough*ha- you don't have to apologize, I'd be in much worse shape if you hadn't've latched onto me."
Spectre went to move forward, back towards the entrance of the ruins only to bump snouts with the other Kuniku. Blushing with embarrassment he scrambled backwards a little and stared wide-eyed at the ground. Now that he knew she was a Kuniku AND a girl, well, that changed things a little.
"I-I'm sorry. I, uh, can't see a thing in here, haha..."
He almost wanted to stay there, that way she wouldn't be able to see him- come to think of it, what in the world did she look like? What would she think of him? Would she run away? Would he run away? It seemed like no matter what he was always in some kind of unfortunate predicament.
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Posted: Mon Aug 10, 2009 5:43 pm
It had eased her mind, knowing that the other (now obviously male) Kuniku was really not a ghost, and not angry at her at all for accidentally biting him. She smiled momentarily before she felt the other's muzzle came into contact with her own, then she squeaked, nearly tripping over herself as she tried to back up for him. Completely flustered, she listened to his apology and fought to find words to respond.
"No, no... That's quite alright. Understandable," It was dark in here. Koishii supposed that she should lead him back to the entrance, but she found herself staring at Spectre's glowing orbs for a moment before she continued speaking. "S-Shall we get out of this place, then? I'd like to see if I can't do anything for your neck..." She hadn't meant to stutter, really. In fact, it embarrassed her slightly, to the point where she didn't wait for the other Kuniku to answer her as she spun on her heels to head back. She pressed herself to the wall once more, fixing her eyes on the dim light at the end of the tunnel (oh, the irony!) as she padded across the stone to the steps up to the top level.
Here, the light was welcome as the humid heat washed over her body, even at the bottom of the steps. She could see a few feet around her, finally, though it was still pretty dim. Koishii turned to make sure that the other was coming... Wanting to inspect the bite hadn't just been an excuse to move, really, though, it could have been easily mistaken as such.
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Posted: Tue Aug 11, 2009 12:14 am
Spectre watched as his fellow Kuniku began to make her way toward the entrance- or, watched in the general direction he knew she was heading in at least. His face wrenched into a crooked scowl and he debated on whether or not he should follow her. He didn't know her name, she didn't know his. When she saw him in the light she would probably run away, thinking he was a demon in disguise or just that he was hideous.
Such a shame too, he would have liked to get to know her a little, but there was little he could do at this point. Naturally the Kuniku couldn't stay down in the ruins forever, no matter how much he would have liked to. With a sigh he slowly began to follow after her, paws padding heavily on the stone ground.
Making his way up the slope, the air became more moist and warm as opposed to a stale warmth. He squinted as the light became stronger and finally he reached the doorway. Too ashamed to look up at the Kuniku that had saved him, head bowed, he saw only her feet and quickly turned away from them, slowly walking away with his tail dragging behind him.
"Th-thank you for helping me, I'll just leave you now... no need to scream or run or anything..."
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