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 Posted: Mon Jun 14, 2010 9:52 am
This is a private RP for Dragain and Nisshou. DN Allowed only~ The full cast hasn't been 100% decided yet but this list will be updated as they show up. =3 From D: Fleurite Zuriel From N: Torao Etoile    
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Posted: Mon Jun 14, 2010 10:38 am
Gray clouds hung over the Kawani lands like a great, dull winter blanket. In the East lighter patch could be seen in the clouds, the sun's hiding place. Mists made from low hanging clouds or slowly evaporating water from the heavy rains during the night wove in and out of the trees in tendrils like great fingers of ancient spirits. Mere feet from the forest borders stood a tall stallion. While he was tall he was far from being broad. His bones seemed more compact and while he was strong his physical condition would have never given it away. His black mane and tail looked shaggy and completely unkempt but somehow it still looked as though he meant to wear it that way. His piercing golden eyes stared into the forest fiercely as he snarled.
Without warning he suddenly moved forward with his head bowed like a wild cat stalking a deer his golden eyes narrowed. His black hooves left impressions in the soggy ground as he moved and kicked bits of mud up in his wake. Swirling black marks on his body made it look like someone had felt the need to take an ink brush to him each and every morning. And settled on his back was the skin and fur of a tiger long dead. The pelt was part of him, though not in a physical sense. It made the stallion who he was. He was the Tiger. It was even in his name: Torao.
Torao, the Tiger, stopped his prowling for a moment and lifted his head. Small water droplets now clung to his pelt, hair and coat stubbornly. Without the warmth of the sun they brought a terrible chill though he didn't seem to notice. Instead he lifted his nose into the air and breathed deeply. Several times he took in these breaths pointing his head in different directions each time. Finally he let out a ferocious and frustrated growl pulling his head down sharply.
The scent of the mist was everywhere. He could smell nothing but water. If only he'd arrived earlier, he could have been there when the heat made every scent carry for miles. Furiously he lashed out at an innocent tree. He had been traveling for too long for this to be happening now. The gods had clearly cursed his existence. It was the only explanation for his consistently bad fortunes.
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Posted: Mon Jun 14, 2010 11:23 am
Although it was not completely unusual for a fog to set in after a heavy downpour, she did not expect it to be this bad. In fact, when she left the herd early this morning for her usual walk through the forest, there was only a thin mist... She did not predict the mist to become such a thick fog. Wrinkling her nose, she sighed as she trotted through the forest floor, trying to see through the fog as she made her way home.
The moisture in the air caused dew to form on her mane and tail-tuff, making it wet. Shaking out her mane, she smiled as some droplets of water sprinkled on her face; surprisingly, it felt rather refreshing. However, the moisture was also causing her small flutter wings to become wet - although useless for flight due to its small size, her wings are still a part of her and it felt rather uncomfortable for them to be wet. Wiggling them in a futile attempt to dry them off in the humid and cool air, she giggled softly at herself; perhaps it might be a better solution to wait for the fog to pass.
Crack.
Fleurite froze in her tracks as the sound of splitting wood rang through the forest; it was obvious that she was both nervous and frightened as her eyes darted to and fro in an attempt to locate the source of the sound. She had heard many stories of humans hunting unicorns for their horns due to its healing properties, and while she is no pure unicorn, she does have a horn... Some thing a greedy human might be after! Partially because she was too nervous to move from the spot, and partially because she did not wish for whoever it was to find her, Fleurite decided to stay completely still - maybe whoever made that dreadful sound will go away and miss her?
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Posted: Tue Jun 15, 2010 9:38 am
Sucking in several deep breaths Torao attempted to cool his head and steady himself. It didn't really work. While he no longer felt the need to attack the surrounding trees he was still fuming. Fury swirled about inside of him and he silently cursed the kami before spitting at the ground angrily. He took in another breath the air completely filling his lungs before he exhaled. Despite the want to rip everything apart everything around him to spite the kami he started moving again. The desire to locate the Fox was far stronger than his impulse to destroy the forest.
He delved deeper into the fog keeping his ears alert to each and every sound around him since his eyes could only see a few meters into the fog. He could hear the dull squelching sound his hooves made as he stepped. He could hear the birds ruffling their feathers high in the tree tops. He could hear the leaves rustling as a faint wind cut through the fog. He could hear everything so when a sound not quite normal reached his creamy white ears he stopped on a dime. He turned his head slowly so he was facing the direction of the unusual noise, the quickened breaths of something frightened or excited. He couldn't see the source but he knew he was close to it.
Bowing his head low again he rolled his shoulders and slowly started to creep forward keeping as close to the trees as he could. After only a few steps a silhouette took shape in the fog. It was small and largely shapeless but as he approached it began to clarify. It took the shape of a horse, albeit one with a cat's tail and a horn stuck to it's face. He scowled and stopped his approach straightening up instead. It was not the one he sought. "Who the hell are you?" He demanded. His voice was a gruff baritone. His words held an unusual inflection and were carried with strong traces of a foreign accent. Overall he sounded impatient and tired.
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Posted: Wed Jun 16, 2010 4:03 am
Seems like it was too much to hope so.
As the hoofsteps came closer and closer, Fleurite resisted the urge to turn and run; knowing herself, she would be unable to outrun whoever might be nearby if that whoever was really after a prey such as herself... Besides, in this thick fog, she might hurt herself by running into or tripping over something. The fluttercorn sighed inwardly as she shivered; she could only watch as a shape in the fog came closer and closer, until a stallion much larger than she was appeared from it.
His hair and tail were in quite a mess, and an unfriendly scowl was on his face. To make matters worse, the male was wearing the pelt of some animal she had never seen before on his back; it scared her further to think that this stallion might be the one who killed and skinned the animal.
"O-oh! I-I-I-" The mare looked scared and nervous as she tried to give the male a satisfying reply, dreading whatever might happen if she does not, "I-I am F-Fleur-Fleurite..." She finally managed, her voice soft and gentle despite her circumstances in contrast to the stallion's voice. She bowed her head, eyes rolling up to took at the towering stallion, "H-How m-may I ad-address you?"
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Posted: Wed Jun 16, 2010 7:59 am
Torao rolled his eyes impatiently as she stuttered and stumbled over her words. He didn't have all day to be waiting around for some idiot mare to answer. Thankfully he didn't have to wait too terribly long. The mare bowed her head and introduced herself. Long curls of green moved with her reminding him vaguely of vines. He snorted as she asked his name, albeit in a round about way. Clearly stuffy introductions were as important here as they were back home. "The name's Torao." He practically spat out jerking his head to look in a different direction as if expecting to see someone else standing there. When he saw nothing but trees and more fog in the distance a frown pulled his lips tight.
"Live around here?" He asked still staring into the fog. Then without awaiting an answer he continued, "Notice anything strange lately? People you might have known going missing one night?" His golden eyes shifted to look at her without needing to turn his head.
It was clear to the stallion that she lived there. She spoke without an accent even if she did stutter needlessly. Natives to the area had to have noticed something out of the ordinary by now. Something that would help him with his haunt. They had to unless they were every bit as useless and hopeless as he had come to understand over the years. Keeping their noses down ignorant of the world around them, only caring about their own lives and nothing else.
He fixed the mare with a steely look as he awaited her answer. She had better know something. He didn't feel like playing nice with idiots today.
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Posted: Wed Jun 16, 2010 9:47 am
"T-Torao," She repeated softly, more to herself than to the stallion in an attempt to internalize the name, although she was unsure if she had gotten the pronunciation right. In all honesty, now that she was almost certain that he would not be eating her for breakfast - well, at least for the time being - Fleurite felt herself calming down a fair bit. For the first time since they met, she noticed the strange accent he had; however, fear stopped her from asking him about it.
Tilting her head upwards to take a better look at the stallion, she nodded in reply to his question, "Y-Yes..." At his next question, however, she shook her head nervously, shifting her hoofs before frowning; he didn't look like someone who would take 'no' for an answer... But she honestly did not notice anything strange going on, and lying would just complicate things. Then again, although her answer was not a lie, she knew that might be true only for this part of the forest - it is a big piece of land, after all, and she hadn't explored most of it. Her eyes lit up quickly, however, when a certain mare who might know more came to mind.
"M-My f-f-friend might k-know some-something though," She offered after a slight pause, looking thoughtful as she continued, "H-Her name's Etoile a-and s-she u-u-usually knows about t-things g-g-going on in the f-forest... E-Es-Especially strange ones."
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Posted: Wed Jun 16, 2010 3:37 pm
The Tiger scowled and rolled his eyes to look away from her. So she was useless after all. That or she was completely oblivious. He wasn't sure how people could not notice when groups started to vanish. Somehow he had been unable to figure out that if everyone noticed disappearances they would have been caught and slaughtered long ago. His mind was not focusing on such obvious things as that. Instead it had settled itself on the fact that he was no closer to his partner now than he had been before he had approached the mare. In fact he was preparing to leave without another word when she spoke again.
His ears perked up and a surprisingly hopeful light flickered to life behind his eyes. He turned to face her suddenly giving off a significantly less threatening aura, it was even childish in a way. "She does?" There was a certain excitement in his words. Perhaps the mare wasn't so useless after all. If she could take him to a creature that knew where to find the Fox then she would have proven herself.
He began looking around the area as if expecting to see her emerge from the fog any second. "Where is she?" He growled but the traces of whine in his voice made it sound far more pathetic than intimidating. "Take me to her. Right now!" He shifted anxiously as he gave his orders. "And move quickly!" He was quite insistent and seemed incapable of holding still any longer.
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Posted: Tue Jun 22, 2010 11:26 am
"Oh! Yes, of c-course! R-right away!" She nodded quickly, her voice significantly calmer than before as she realized that he just wanted directions. Although his questions didn't exactly make sense to her, perhaps they would to Etoile. Despite his rather oblivious shift in moods, she still found his towering height rather intimidating. Besides, first impressions are hard to change and she couldn't help but feel that she's still in a dangerous position just by spending time with this presumably foreign stallion.
She turned, gesturing with a nod for him to follow before breaking into a gallop. Her moist wings still feel uncomfortable, but that was the least of her problems right now... As she darted between trees and jumped over logs, the mare prayed silently to the spirits for her friend to be where she usually conducts "princess training" for her brother...
Oh no, her brother.
He still didn't know that the previous incident was all an act - a story Etoile and Fleurite had came up with. The mare frowned silently, feeling nervous again, this time for a different reason; he better not be there... It would only complicate things further. She turned her head, throwing Torao a quick glance - yup, things are complicated enough without Fionn finding out that his kidnapping was nothing more than a deliberate act.
"Etoile," She called out as they neared the clearing, unsure if she was more afraid of being attacked by Torao or the consequences of Fionn finding out the truth. Slowing down to a halt, she looked around for signs of the mare, although it was difficult as the fog was still as thick as ever, even in a different part of the forest, "Etoile, are you there?"
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Posted: Tue Jun 22, 2010 12:08 pm
A rather satisfied smile settled over his features as the mare agreed to his orders. When she took off he waited scarcely a second before following after. His hooves thundered over the ground as he went digging up clods of dirt and tossing them behind. He followed the mare as closely as he could and only lost the clarity of her form to the fog once. He bound nimbly over the same logs that she did and wove along the same path through the trees that she followed. He matched her nearly step for step. When she began calling for her friend he slowed until he came to a stop a several feet away from her.
The sunset colored mare sighed as she patrolled her training grounds. Lessons for the day had been called off for the day because of the fog. It seemed to be thinning out now though it was hard to tell. It was still as thick as a human's campfire smoke. So instead of teaching her brother all the ways of being a princess she took to tidying up the grounds, a pointless task really.
She took a moment to pause from nudging a log into the right place when the sound of approaching hooves caught her ears. She straightened up and looked around the area. She had told Fionn that he got the day off and he had been happy to hear that, so who was coming. She slipped into the cover of a few bushes to lie in wait for whatever was about. It was best to observe unusual creatures in their natural habitats after all so she could accurately get all their quirks down.
When she heard her name being called she poked her head up over the bush. She knew that voice. "Fleur?" She called back cocking her head to one side. "Yeah I'm here! I'm just- ow!" She stumbled her way out of the bush with all the grace of a drunken pigeon. One of these days she would learn to hide away from bushes, they liked the taste of her blood too much to be safe. Once free of their gnarled grasp she trotted in the direction that Fleur's voice had come from until she could see the mare. "What's up?" She asked cheerfully.
As Torao listened to the faceless response in the clearing his confidence in the mare that was meant to give him directions. She sounded like more of a ditz than the airheads back home that had tried to get in his good graces. He scowled and gave his little winged guide a piercing glare before strolling almost casually over to the pair. He came up behind Fleur and turned his head to look over the mare's and at her friend. He wasn't particularly pleased with what he saw.
A pastel mare with a bubbly smile stood before him. She had numerous fresh cuts on her body, likely the source of her earlier exclamation of pain, though he knew of no living creature that made marks like that. "Your friend?" He asked the doubt and displeasure so clear in his voice that it was unmistakable. Perhaps the little orange mare did know some stuff, she seemed like the type to listen in on all the gossip. There wasn't a way he would ever trust her as a source for information in different circumstances.
Etoile's ears perked up as the stallion came into her view. She smiled slyly at her fluttercorn friend. "A boyfriend?" She asked mischievously.
Torao snorted honestly appalled.
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Posted: Tue Jun 22, 2010 8:04 pm
She sighed in relief as Etoile was the only one who appeared; there doesn't seem to be any sign of Fionn being around... Although through the thick fog, she can't really tell. Beaming at her friend, she trotted towards her, eying the cuts on her body; she was probably hiding in a bush again. She did the same thing during Fionn's "kidnapping" after all, although it worked to her advantage as it helped convince Brioso that she was really attacked.
"Huh? O-oh! N-n-no, no! H-He's not-" She blushed at her comment as she shook her head vigorously, obviously flustered. In an attempt to change the subject, the fluttercorn bowed her head before quickly blurting out, "His name is Torao and he's here for directions!"
She slowly looked up, her face still flushed, "H-He wants to know if anything s-strange had been happening in the forest..." She looked expectantly at the mare, "And I thought that you might know something I don't."
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Posted: Wed Jun 23, 2010 12:33 pm
He watched the dark mare for a moment before looking away impatiently. A frown that was threatening to become permanent tugged the corners of his mouth down a bit. He couldn't see why she didn't just give a simple 'no' to her friend. She was nothing to him so why not just say it? Girls were just too complicated. Too complicated and beyond weird. He stood in silence, glaring into the fog, as Fleur started explaining the reality of the situation. He nodded in confirmation before fixing the orange mare with the same expectant look that the lion-tailed mare wore.
Etoile frowned slightly at the denial. "Awww...too bad...I could have made up a good story about it..." Her voice trailed off as she looked from her friend to her unusual companion. He was a bit grumpy...and weird. He vaguely reminded her of the Beast from one story she had learned. Maybe there was a prince hiding somewhere under all that anger. She didn't get a chance to consider it further as she quickly explained the full situation.
"Oooooh! Is that it?" She asked her face an exaggerated expression of understanding. She then grinned and bobbed her head up and down closing her eyes and putting on her best thoughtful look. "I see I see...well if that's the case I do know of some odd events. But what sort of events are you thinking of? There was a little cat walking around on it's hind legs like a human a couple nights ago...or an owl that was up and about during the day time..."
Torao was less than amused by the mare's over the top antics. Truly there was no reason for her to be so expressive. Just showing basic anger or happiness was expressive enough for him and everyone else certainly. His partner had practically mastered masking his emotions in the time that Torao had been with him. He had to admit though, she did seem to notice a good deal of what went on in the forest.
Fighting back his irritation towards the female he took a few steps forward until he was flanking the small winged mare. "Vanishings...you know of vanishings? Other horses being spirited off?" He asked studying the sunset mare carefully. If she noticed something so foolish as a cat walking on it's hind legs she must have noticed people going into the woods and never coming back.
Etoile stopped her babbling for a moment as the stallion approached. He was a lot bigger up close. From a distance he looked like he would be no bigger than her father, he wasn't even as broad as her dad. She could only assume that his height came from his long legs. It was rather shocking to see after getting used to the local soquili. What was more shocking was what he wanted to know about.
"Vanishings?" She looked to her friend to see if this was a joke. She got the feeling it wasn't so she shifted. "Errrr...well...not really...most people I see wanderin off come right back lickety split. I know about tiny light bugs who look like they vanish! Their lights go out for a second and then poof, they reappear somewhere else!" She smiled and laughed for a bit before it slowly became nervous. She could feel him glaring at her. "But not...horses...heh..." Why did she have the feeling that she was about to be killed?
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Posted: Fri Jun 25, 2010 7:20 am
"O-Oh d-dear..." Was the only thing that Fleurite could manage, her voice so soft that it was almost a whisper. She shifted about, seemingly affected by the fact that her friend was feeling nervous too - its hard not to, after all! The stallion was clearly grumpy and has an aura about him that makes him appear highly unpredictable and dangerous... Not the best combination on a miserable wet and foggy day.
"A-Are you s-sure, Etoile?" She asked again, trying to sound hopefully; perhaps she knows something but had forgotten it? It seems unlikely that Etoile would miss something as major as vanishings in the forest! Frowning slightly, the fluttercorn took a small step towards the other mare, "M-Maybe you forgot s-something?"
She the paused, turning to look up at the stallion before speaking hesitantly, "U-Um... T-Torao? A-Are y-you sure t-that t-this is the c-c-correct forest?" Unconsciously, she recoiled a little, as if instinctively afraid of his reaction to her question; after all, she does not know what it is that he is looking for... A person, perhaps? Maybe someone he knew had vanished and he was looking for him...? She stopped herself from asking, deciding that some questions are better left unanswered.
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Posted: Fri Jun 25, 2010 8:41 am
Etoile pulled a bit of a face when she was questioned. "I'm sure." She muttered and she was. She just didn't like the tense feeling in the air. It was making her feel all uncertain of herself. She didn't like that. She was absolutely positive that there hadn't been any disappearances. The only people that hadn't come back out of the woods where she could see them had exited in other parts. She had encountered them coming back days later. "Besides...if people just went missing...wouldn't you think someone would have noticed and sent alarms up by now? I think Fleur's on to something, you probably just have the wrong forest."
Torao growled at the both of them.
If he could have he would have sworn that this was the forest. This was where the Fox would be hiding. He wished he was certain that he would be slinking around in these trees but he honestly wasn't sure at all. On the way to this place he had stopped in many lands and searched through many places. He couldn't imagine the Fox going any further than this. It wasn't just the fact that they were an awful long way away from home now. It was the fact that he would know at least a little of the language. Torao knew this because he'd been the one to teach the Fox in the first place. He couldn't see him running from this place to somewhere even less familiar. Here he would at least be able to communicate.
For those reasons he gave his answer after a very long silence. "This is the forest." He said sounding completely sure of himself. Internally he had a few doubts but those were easy to ignore given everything else he knew.
Etoile shifted slightly after he broke the long silence. She wasn't sure she even wanted to know what the Beast had been thinking about. That in itself was unusual for the nosy mare. "Err...if you're sure...well may check the western edges for other people? I don't know what goes on over there..."
It took Torao less than a second to whirl about and face Fleur. "You, take me to the west now." He demanded leaving her no room to disagree with him. If there was a chance he'd take it.
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Posted: Sat Jun 26, 2010 10:39 am
"I-If y-you s-say so..." The mare answered softly, a slight frown on her lips; what Etoile said made sense... If there had been regular reported disappearances, surely someone must have done something about it already? There are so many herds living in and around the forest that at least one must have investigated the vanishings, right? Still, she knew that Torao's mind was made up and there was no changing it.
"Y-y-yes!" Fleurite's voice squeaked as the stallion's voice interrupted her train of thoughts, giving in to his demand without a moment's hesitation. The request - or rather - command had taken her by surprise. When she finally realized what she had agreed to, the fluttercorn turned to look at Etoile, 'W-will you be coming too?" She asked hopefully, her yellow eyes almost begging for the pale mare to follow; she really did not want to be alone with the stallion any longer than she has to.
Then, she turned to Torao, feeling the compulsion to explain to him why she had asked Etoile along; after all, he seemed impatient enough already... An explanation will hopefully get him to wait a little longer for the mare's reply, "O-One more w-will ensure t-that w-we are headed in t-the right d-d-direction." She then blushed as she added quickly, unwilling to allow Torao to pressure her friend into coming along, "B-But I k-know the way, so i-its fine i-if she w-wants to s-stay! I-Its j-just a p-precaution..."
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