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 Posted: Sat Jul 14, 2007 9:57 am
Ripple Effect A modern fantasy free form role play for the literate detailed rpers.The plot is loosely and I mean very loosely based off of the idea that there is a rift in time; where people from the past and future are drawn into the present day and time.
Setting: Modern Day City Called:- Sagewood (Smiliar to New-York...or any other fast pace city you can think of!)
Number of Role Players: 15
Spaces Available: 13/15 She was pretty much pissed off. How could something like that have happened? If there was one thing she prided her self on it was making sure things were in order. They were always in order; it was the very reason she had gotten the position she had. Someone was trying to mess with her. She never took things like that lightly. From when she was younger she recalled her father always telling her. You never take things lying down Althea, and she never did. She had always been a fighter, it was in her blood.
The car door slammed behind her. She had just finish pulling her brief case out the back seat of the car. Shrugging her bag on her shoulder she gripped her keys in her hand and began to make her way out of the parking lot. The lot was about two blocks from where her apartment was. Well it wasn’t just her apartment; her little sister lived there as well. It was what her second year in college, third semester or something like that. Honestly she couldn’t keep up anymore. It was almost, summer that was all she knew. Summer time either meant her sister would have a bunch of friends over or she would go by a bunch of friends. The latter at times was better, especially when she was working. Other than that she didn’t mind the noise of the girls around the place.
Thea made it out of the dark tunnel without much hassle. The sidewalk was really where the pain came in. Especially with the workers that were just getting off. She was slightly knocked kneed and so her hips would sway provocatively if she wanted them too or not. Thea wasn’t the type to wear long pants but wore tight fitting skirts that clung to her figure. She wouldn’t say she was slender or slim no that was better left for her sister. Thea, she had curves. Her bust line was impressive for something that was all natural. The waist was concaved and the hips just flared out. She loved her shape and didn’t hid it not even when she was in the work place. Where she had been schooled a woman was encouraged to be a woman even while mastering the board room.
Her dark brown hair was pulled up into a chiffon bun and pearl earrings hung from her ear. Everything about her appearance had been done with a very judgmental eye, her own. She loved things to be in order and just how she wanted them to be. Her nails were well manicured, her eyebrows plucked, her teeth cleaned and all other things that women did to pamper themselves, and she did that well and to a tee.
The sounds of her heels could be heard as she made her way down the block and towards the apartment that she and her sister were both living in curiosity of their father. It was a very nice place and she was glad they didn’t have to pay much rent for it. At least not as much as the other buildings on the block, some just had better lives than others. It didn’t mean they worked less or didn’t deserve the treats they happened to get.
With her key in her hand she pushed it into the key whole and turned the knob. The glass door closed behind her and she climbed the stairs to make her way to the apartment. There was no music, so she could only assume her sister was not home just yet. As she walked through the hallways of the apartment to her bedroom; she noticed the change she had been noticing all day. There was a change in the atmosphere. Thea didn’t know how she knew these things she just knew it. Her mother had once told her some tales about their family being blessed with precognition. She had never really been one to believe that, even if she did know certain things before they happened. It was simply a coincidence to her, but this wasn’t like that. It was different. There was something going on and it had the hair on her arms standing on edge. It had been like that almost all day though she had ignored it well at the office. But now she was home and she could deal with her weirdness.
Pushing the door to her bedroom open she went to her basket and pulled out a pair of blue shorts and a white tee-shirt. Quickly discarding her work clothes she pulled on her house attire and pulled the pins out of her hair. Thick black curls fell down her shoulders and she gathered them quickly as she weaved them into a French braid down her back. Securing the end with elastic she walked out of her room and into the kitchen. Maybe she could continue to ignore this whole mumbo jumbo feeling. It was nothing and she was sure of it. She had no way of knowing if something happened around her. She wasn’t some odd psychic or anything like that. She was simply Althea, business woman and daughter to a mob boss, nothing more, nothing less.
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Posted: Sat Jul 14, 2007 9:58 am
Character List
Present Day Characters
Althea Mancini-{Aiyanna Zohar Contiello}
Characters From The Past
Ahns Sprah-{Mortal Being}
Yumi Fujiwara {Yukito Yu}
Characters From The Future
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Posted: Sat Jul 14, 2007 10:01 am
Plot Updates
It's about six o'clock in the afternoon. People are moving through the heavy after work traffic and some are being pulled from their worlds into a world they know nothing of. There are some that will come from ages of Knights, Dukes, Earls and the like and others who will be drawn into a world where people still prepare their food on stoves and live on a earth alone. For everyone else, its just a normal hot Friday day in the lovely city of Sagewood.
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Posted: Sat Jul 14, 2007 5:44 pm
Althea Mancini
Mob Princess to YOU
Thea stood in the kitchen with her glass of ice and water and she still couldn’t shake the feeling that something was going on. “OKAY ….so .what if I admit something is going on? Will this stupid feeling go away?” The negative answer came in silence. Nope, she wouldn’t stop feeling what she was feeling. Great now not only was she talking to her self, a sure sign that she was losing it, but she wasn’t going to be able to shake these feelings. Why she listened to her mother talk those foolish stories about their family being gypsies and having powers she would never know. That was just crazy talk. There was no such thing as people having supernatural powers. If there was then she would have know about her special powers long ago, and not when she was a woman of twenty three. “ Twenty-three,” gosh saying it out loud made her feel so much older than she really was. Walking out of the kitchen to the living room she flopped on the nearest chair and placed her feet up on the coffee table. Taking a sip she let her mind wonder. There was the whole precognition thing and then there was work.
That old c**k sucking fart of a man had come in the office and dared to tell her that some of her work was questionable. He was a jack a**. She could do his job and her job twice as good as he could do her own. Maybe that was what it was! She knew the managers were singing her praises; saying she might be the next big thing in the office. There had even been word about her taking his place or even being his boss. Maybe that was what had his fiery red thong in a bundle. Thea grinned; the image of that man in a thong was hilarious! But, none the less he had pissed her off. If there was one thing she couldn’t take well it was someone demeaning her when she knew she was doing a kick a** job, and she knew she was doing kick a** at her job.
Well Thea…maybe he can’t take the idea that a woman is smarter than him. And you know you make no effort to hide that you are a woman in the office. You don’t dress in trousers and try to hide your femininity. You saunter in with your perfume lingering behind you and your skirts and tight fitted blouses, and you’re business with the credentials. Any man worth salt would run from you or try to bring you down a peg. If only you were a bit softer….maybe not so bold so out there.
Thea frowned; she hated it when her conscious decided to speak as if they were two different people. How was she supposed to help the fact that she hadn’t been bought up to hide the fact that she was an intelligent woman? She wasn’t going to dress down in men clothing just to make the men feel comfortable. So they could sit back and judge her as another man in the arena. She was a woman and she loved that fact. In fact, she enjoyed the skirts and the suits and looking her best at the office. Her assistant had even begun to wear more feminine clothes that were appropriate for the office; she nearly cheered the woman on when she saw her two days ago. To do so she knew would mean a riot in the office and so she had kept her joy internal. She seriously felt someone needed to shake these men out of the golden ages. This was a new area and there were such things as the feminist act and an appreciation of women as self. So why after so much struggling for a woman to be a woman and have rights as a woman should she wish to conform to be a man?
Oh no, she didn’t wish to be a man; but she did wish she could kill a man. If she was spiteful, she would call her father by now. No, she couldn’t do that. She promised she wouldn’t ever do that. If she had a problem then she would deal with it. To get her father involved would simply mean more stress and police on his case than he needed. Was it a normal thing for her to think about bringing her mob boss father into her every day life? Not at all, in fact, she was still adjusting to dealing with the fact that he was a mob boss. Oh yes she had pretended during her younger years that she didn’t know but she wasn’t young any more. She knew the truth and it was something she couldn’t hide from. Something as a woman, an intelligent woman, she didn’t…couldn’t hide from. Thea was the daughter of a mafia boss and well there was nothing for her to hide. She knew nothing so she couldn’t really hide anything. It wasn’t that she was proud of her father’s reputation, but she was proud of him as a father. He had always been there for her and her sister. When it came to providing for them she could find no fault in him what so ever! And no one would ever turn her against him no matter what he did. The blind love a daughter was a beautiful thing was it not?
The shrilling ring of the phone pulled her from her trance and her thoughts of poking her boss with a really hot poker from a freshly kindled fire. Having to leave her thoughts for a moment, she dropped her legs; nearly hitting it on the edge of the coffee table but managing to be graceful enough just to miss! Scrambling towards the phone she quickly picked it up before it stopped ringing.
“ Hello?” A pause, Thea was always excited when the phone rang. Yes, she was odd but she always liked the idea of not knowing who was calling of what excitement a conversation could turn into. Unfortunately it was a wrong number. Letting out a sigh she set the phone down and wondered back over to her chair to think about the evil boss some more. Glancing at her watch she wondered what time her sister was going to put in an appearance. It wasn’t like her to be this late coming home. She usually left a message on the answering machine or somewhere in the house. The least she could do was call and say something! Geeez, she was really getting out of hand now that she didn’t live at home with their parents any more. Or maybe it was just that Thea was a bit more laid back so her sister didn’t see the need. Well whatever it was, it was flipping inconsiderate!
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Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2007 8:07 pm
Althea Mancini
Mob Princess to YOU
A shiver ran down her spine and her hands jumped to warm her even in the mists of a very hot summer. Yeah, she had the central air-conditioning on but that wasn’t enough to make her shiver. It was something else entirely. She felt as if a vortex had been left open and she was being invaded by all sorts of weird, freaky feelings she so didn’t need to deal with. Usually Althea wasn’t an overtly emotional person but they were spiraling in all ways today. One minute she was on a high the next minute she was paddling in the sewage without any paddle, there was no wind to push her along….and her hands were the only way to get out. Okay so that was an extreme analogy but it still fit.
She hated feeling this way. Maybe she should call her mother and find out of the woman was also feeling this. Or, she could just rant to her mother about how she now had her eldest daughter going crazy over something that wasn’t real. A frown set on her lips and she took another sip of the water that was in her hand. Her body seemed a bit starved for the water because it reached out from all angles grabbing at the water as if it had been parched. It must have been the walk from the parking lot to the apartment that did it to her. Gosh she really did wish there was space around the apartment for her to park, but in the city that was all a dream.
Taking another sip of her water she wondered if she should really get up and give her mother a call. This feeling it clung to her like envy stuck to a person that was never simply content to be. Like that one person you knew who just had to have everything and if you had something they wanted it. Yup, that’s how this feeling was clinging to her the way envy clung to that person. It made her edge and perhaps a bit irritable, which would explain why she even let her lard a** boss get to her. It had to be this nagging insisting feeling that something was going on that shouldn’t be. What it was she really didn’t know. But, maybe her mother would
JUST CALL HER FOR PETE”S SAKE AYIANNA!
Frowning at her rebellious conscious that obviously didn’t get the memo that she didn’t like being addressed as if they were two separate people; she got out of the sofa and went in search of her cordless. Her parent’s home number was on speed dial. Ayianna’s mother refused to keep her cell phone on so it was pointless to try and reach the woman on the thing. Both, she and her father often asked her mother why she even had the thing. But, talking to her mother at times was like talking to a stone wall that had stood through the age of time; defeated hurricanes, tornados, the wildest storms and was still standing. Pushing that wall down by running into it was not the way to get a crack in the seam. Just as you couldn’t crack the wall you couldn’t get a crack when her mother’s mind was set on something. The woman was as stubborn as could be; Ayianna’s father swore she got the streak from her mother. Often when she wasn’t up against her mother who of course was better at standing her guard; she believed her father.
Her parent’s phone was answered by an all too familiar voice, “ uncle Vinne!” Uncle Vinne wasn’t really her uncle; he was in fact her godfather. The man had been a fixture in their house growing up and it seems he still was a fixture even after they left. Of course now she knew that her “uncle” was her father’s body guard and right hand man so naturally he would always be there. But, it was a rare thing when he answered the phone, must of meant not much was going on. “ Good….no no everything is good. You don’t…” she stopped because it was useless…no matter what she told him, he was going to put her father on the phone.
A few minutes went by and she couldn’t help but smile, “ Ciao papi. Yes I’m good. She is good also.” Thea wasn’t going to rat out the fact that her sister wasn’t home yet. Her father would just bring down the walls of holy hell on her when she did get home, and before that happened he would call every thirty minutes and harass Thea until her younger sister walked in the door. What she was going to do was save them all the heartache and omit the fact that her baby sister wasn’t home, yet. It was better for everyone that way.
“Ey’ papi is my madre there? I wanted to talk to her and I knew she wouldn’t have her phone on. Si, si I know papi. Ti amo, anche. ” The phone danced from her father through the house until it reached her mother’s hands. “La mia madre favorito.” Thea grinned as her mother politely reminded her that she was her only mother. “ I’m teasing you mama. Mama …something has been. ” She paused and listened to her mother and nodded, “si, that is what I’m calling you about. I’ve been feeling off all day. I don’t know what’s wrong. MAMI! You know I don’t believe in that ……Nay that is not why I’m calling….okay, okay yes that is why I’m calling. I don’t know what it feels like…Yes mami.” She rolled her eyes as her mother told her to be careful that something was happening that even she couldn’t predict. “Si, I’ll be careful. Okay mami. No I’m going to go…iye. Si this weekend. Okay Ti amo. Buh bye mami.”
Thea hung up the phone feeling a bit exhausted. Her mother was a handful and she was still stuck on this whole idea that they could see bits and parts of the future. She made Thea promise to be very careful and to follow her ‘gift’s instincts’, whatever they were. Of course being the daughter she was she agreed so she wouldn’t upset her mother. Setting the cordless on the side she dismissed all notions even though in some dismal part of her mind she was starting to believe them. Picking up the glass that was dripping in sweat because of the heat, she took another gulp and picked up the remote. She needed a distraction and nothing said distraction like tv. Ooc
English Translations: Ti amo, anche = I love you, also
La mia madre favorito = My favorite mother
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Posted: Sat Jul 21, 2007 3:05 am
Ahns Sprah
~The man who started it all~
Out in the middle of nowhere bestowed miles upon miles of grassy land only interrupted with rivers, lakes, and the occasional mountain. In fact almost all of the earth was this way, making it seem so calm, so peaceful, just the way nature had intended itself to be. Yet, as always, something was stirring. Its energetic warmth flooded the earth, letting its vibrance oozing out almost flooding the world with itself, before its presence became known, but soon, very soon it would be announced here, and the floodgates of enthusiasm would be released.
Twilight approached, the sun basked the brown caves once more, letting them rejoice in their sun-kissed beauty before it settled down. Views of magenta, and dark oranges filled the very sky as the sun slipped away unknown but its very presence seen. Twilight, the very bringer of night, and just as the presence of the sun was known but not seen so was the feeling, but once night filled the air it would reveal the truth. Oddly as it seemed, darkness could be the only thing to bring light to the very depths of this very... existence? This presence which seemed to be so different than nature, this flow of energy of vibrance and joy, what could it be? It could come from only one thing, the human spirit.
Out on the soft dirty grass a rather large tanned, and not to mention quite hairy, man stood proudly boasting his height. His black loin cloth fashioned perfectly around him, letting his body be protected from the winds, but allow just enough leeway for the breeze to seep against his worn chest. A smile brimmed forth on his face, as he looked onward, ready to unleash the tension, yet it continued to rise, even as he raised his foot into the air until-
THUD! His step on to the earth's soil was covered up with a rather loud thunderclap. Ahns Sprah glanced around with his brown eyes, almost as if he was scanning the entire forest and the valley about him, looking for the creator of this noise. His bronzed gaze stopped short as he hefted his next foot up into the air, and down it went for another loud clash. Although it rang well throughout the valley, it had its own unique toll to it, and its very vibrance made his eyes engulf with curiosity as his spirits heightened.
Curiosity itself brought him to move his feet quickly against the ground. THUD THUM THUD THUM! Every time his foot met ground the sounds bellowed forth, and it was a joyous feel to him, overwhelming so, but there was no limit to his spirit. With that said, he continued to move his feet against the ground faster and faster, never hearing a step as the beating rumble covered everything.
Just as it reached its apex, he jumped up in the air, landed down hard, hearing both noises sounding off together, and right as they lulled down, he shouted in his strongest voice, lungs filled with air, "Huzzah!"
"Huzzah!" Echoed back throughout the valley, and some even in the forest. It seemed the human spirit, primed with energy, was now countless as the stars in the sky.
Ahns immediately let the overflowing sensation sweep him off his feet as he started to tap the ground over and over again with his feet, establishing a base line rhythm. Once he caught ear of its fluidity he outstretched his hands and looked towards the left of the valley. Two shadows loomed almost poised in anticipation, and just as his hands dropped- RATTLE it shimmered off the walls from those that were lurking about. Again Ahns raised his hands and let the rattling noise continue. Everything was synchronize with his movements, and now as he started to rock back and forth and swaying from sides, he heard hollowed yet melodic clinging sounds started to call to his movements as well.
Within very little time he was able to start up a whole musical transition from step to step and slowly started to fade away from his movement and instead heeded to the echoes, answering to its own calls. It seemed though he had pleased the spirits and as they lifted off growing ever steady, bright light shimmered from the valley's. Orange flames flickered on torches letting the fragrance of sulfur spread through the air, while its radiance shown men of all sizes and shapes swaying to the seducing musics call. To the sides of these men, the sounds of the noises became illuminated, men were banging against weird instruments creating the very thunder, rattles, and clinging sounds. Everything that flowed from these musical creations surged enthusiasm through everyone, making them move more and more, until finally they could resist standing there no longer.
Those with torches swayed back and forth to the base melody, as those who were on the ridge empty handed, flooded the valley's middle ground, engulfing Ahns with them. Immediately they synchronized themselves together and started to dancing eccentrically. Some found themselves dancing around, others found themselves clapping heavily, while the brave preformed acts of spinning, rolling, and shouting. No one was untouched by the spirit.
Everything vibrated with the beats, the earth shook, and the souls of the men forced themselves upon the world. Smell of hard earned sweat filled the air from these zealous men as they continued to move about. It seemed almost as if they could continue on forever, but within the midst of the song Ahns flung his hands out into the air shouting as loud as he could, "Huzzah!" Everyone echoed back to him in the same manner, but now that his voice bellowed across the valley, it seemed to quell the pounding drums, making them subside to a dull roar as he continued on, "Let the new warriors return!"
"Huzzah!"
He smiled as figures from the forest came forth, most young strong healthy lads, while others seemed worn out exhausted from their journey and trials, and yet everyone of them seemed to have the humans' joyous spirit brimming out of their eyes. Today, today was a day to be remembered by all, but more importantly to these young men, and to Ahns Sprah.OOC
Because I do not feel like writing Oogha oogha ogha for everything, I have and will continue to translate everything they say into the English tongue, but note however that if anyone hears him in the modern day... when he goes to the modern day, they'll only hear variable grunts.
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Posted: Wed Jul 25, 2007 8:22 am
Althea Mancini
Mob Princess to YOU
In the mists of channel surfing, she fell asleep. Sleep was usually a blissful dance through the passage of her mind, and on rare occasions through the narrow hallways of space and time. And of course because of the shift that did in fact occur; the very shift she wanted to pretend did not exist, she traveled down one of those hallways. The night it seemed was coming to an end as she closed her eyes, in truth it was only the beginning. Althea had no idea she would be tossed through the shifts of time.
And our first stop is…1794.
Heat, it drained down the back of the twenty one year old. Before her was a ball unlike anything she had ever seen. It was surly the most magnificent thing she had seen since she had her coming out ball three years ago. True, she had been on the market for some time now and was surely entering her spinster years, but there was still hope for her. Or, so her father believed, truthfully she felt that this would be the last year for her to catch a match in marriage. If not this season then she knew she would never be married.
She really shouldn’t be thinking about such things, not when there was a serious matter at hand now should she? No she shouldn’t. Already many had been killed during this revolt the servants seem to be going through. Everyone in the high court was trying to brush it under the table, make it as though nothing was going on but they could not hide the truth. Already some people were packing up their families and moving to England for the duration of the season. Her father the stubborn proud man that he was refused to pack up and she being his daughter in all things had refused to leave him.
Her mother and sister had long gone. From the first tragic news where her mother’s dear friend Countess Reinwood had been slain in her bed; her mother had left town. She had begged Althea to come with her but stubbornly the young woman had refused, she would not leave her father’s side. If he was to stand and be proud; then she would do the same. So she and her father remained, and only the walls of her room knew of the terror she felt every night. Only they could recall the way she feared waking to find people grabbing at her dragging her through the house she loved. She could see their faces, all of them people she had loved, people she had grown up around. And they were mauling her, ripping her clothes off of her body; they were dragging her to the courtyard and there her father’s head was attached to the broken pole of a broom.
For mornings on end she had that dream, her early mornings were filled with sweat drenched and drained and her sheets were almost always flung from her bed by the time she woke the next morning. Althea had even learned to fix the sheets on her bed so that her fear would not be known. But, this was not the early morning but it was night, and in the night she could pretend with others that their world was perfect. It didn’t matter if the numbers of deaths were climbing with the rapid pace of tendrils, which longed for sun light along the walls of castles. No the only thing that mattered was holding a brave face and in this room where you could see one today and hear of their death on the morrow; everyone needed that brave face.
Look across the room
Warnings she always got such warnings and Althea had learned from past experience to heed them. When she turned she saw her father in the midst of a group of gentleman and he was sharing a laugh and drinking port. His smile urged her, but she could not shake the feeling that something lingered where it should not. The dark hand of death swirled around the room and it nearly chocked her. Then she saw it, a figure cloaked in black. It reached out for her father and her eyes went wide in horror. She screamed, cried out, reached out for her father but it was too late. The laughter died on his lips and his eyes were wide in horror as he felt the bite of the sword against his neck. It wiped his head clean off of his neck and sprayed blood on those around him. There was no time to calm the crowd. Everyone scattered and they ran towards the door. There was only one that ran against them. They pushed and tromped over Althea even as she screamed at them. She clawed at them wanting them out of her way, wanting them gone. She had to get to him there was no other way. The pain that slashed through her chest was unlike any other. Madness she could feel it seeping into her. Someone was screaming a blood chilling cry that was driving her mad! She only wanted to reach her father but the screaming it was weakening her. Putting her hand over her ears she continued on, not realizing it was her own screams that were torturing her.
Huzzah! HUZZAH!!
It seemed a chant that was ringing in her ears. But, she was too scared to remove her hands. The other chilling scream was more horrifying than this chanting she was hearing. It was becoming louder and she could feel herself moving away. NO!! She didn’t want to leave she couldn’t her papa! HER PAPA!!!
Althea slammed against the chair she had fallen asleep in. Sweat dripped down her face, which had lost all its color. Her hair stuck to her face as if it had been drenched. Althea couldn’t move, her whole body was shaking. It had been so real. Everything had been real. She could still hear the screams of a demented woman in her head, and the chanting the promise of warriors. A shiver went through her body.
“ It was only a dream. Only a dream…only a dream,” Thea looked at the glass and then at the tv. Switching the channel from wrestling, she turned it off. She wasn't interested in watching tv not tonight. Her imagination was already running wild. Picking up the glass she left on the coffee table with a shaky hand; she headed for the kitchen. She needed a glass of water to calm her nerves. Or, maybe a shot of whiskey would be better. Whatever it was she needed it and she needed it now.
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Posted: Sat Aug 04, 2007 2:55 am
Yumi Fujiwara "Gomennasai! Gomennasai!" The words spoken hastily and earnestly were followed by the approaching sound of hurrying feet along the tatmi of the west hall. The echoing of the feet was a familiar sound to this part of the castle and yet many of the servants were always surprised at how loud they seemed to sound in such a large place. A short figure scurried passed two serving ladies carrying various linen, turned sharply at the corner, took a moment to inhaled and then pushed the shoji aside. Immediately as she entered the room the child fell to her knees, placed the palms of her hands on the floor infront of her and placed her forehead on the floor in a bow. Her chest heaved from running from the gardens all the way to the west hall and now found it hard to calm itself due to the trouble its owner was in.
Across from the bowing child knelt a beautiful woman of Japanese decent. Her face was white as porceliam save for her ruby red lips and her jet black hair was expertly done up in an tsubushi shimada with a blue hairpin sticking out the left side. The blue and gold kimono that she wore bore an ivory obi and complimented the colour of her painted face. Usually the eyes of this woman were soft and welcoming, but currently they regarded the young child with disappointment. She watched the child silently for a moment before letting out a soft sigh and relaxing her posture. "Really Yumi, must you be so careless?" The woman reached over to the porcelain kettle on the table and carefully poured hot tea into two small cups. The steam rose from the cups filling the air with a jasmine aroma and causing the young Yumi's stomach to rumble.
Yumi pressed her forehead into the floor as hard as she could, "I really am sorry Izumi-sama! I did not pay enough attention to the sun." The words were muffled from her position, but Izumi had already heard this excuse before. The older woman placed one of the tea cups infront of the still bowing child before cupping her own tea cup with both hands and taking a sip from it. "Sit up, please, and listen."
The child sat up, resting her buttocks on the back of her heels and looked directly at the woman. Yumi's straight, long dark hair sat wildly around her face with evidence of a rose bush or two amongst the knotted strands. Her soft face bore scuff marks from the dirt she accumulated in this mornings adventure and her simple yukata retained green stains in various locations. All in all Yumi looked as if she had led an expedition through the jungle even though she had never left the castle grounds. Yumi's dark eyes travelled to the cup and involuntarily reached over and took a sip from the cup. As the hot liquid travelled down her throat soothing her nerves, her eyes widened and she bowed once again, "Gomennasai!" Sitting back up, Yumi picked up the tea cup again and nodded her head towards Izumi, "Doumo arigatou gozaimasu!" Yumi then took another sip of the hot liquid.
Izumi rolled her eyes, but a smile played on the edges of her lips. Yumi was a child of nine and although she was expected to grow up faster than many, Izumi let her get away with many things because of that. Unfortunately, Yumi had picked a horrible day to be late and Izumi now had to hurry to get her ready for the emperor. "Yumi...because of your tardiness we must work in haste to get yourself presentable for Seinei Tennō." Izumi pointed towards the closed shoji to the right and Yumi automatically nodded and headed towards the baths without question.
The process of getting ready for the emperor was tedious, but familiar to the child and so most of the actions were done without thought. The bath was the most enjoyable part of the routine. Yumi was privileged with hot salt water to purify her body and it relaxed her before the poking and prodding began. After the baths several serving ladies would enter and cover her body with sweet smelling powder and then they would start putting on her kimono. Although the serving ladies were skilled at their job, the task still took a good 20 minutes or more to complete and aftwards they began to tackle Yumi's wild hair. This was Yumi's least favourite part as the women had no regard for Yumi's pain as they were only concerned about time. Today was especially bad because of the thorns and small pieces of branch stuck in her hair. Yumi's eyes waters as the women tugged and pulled at her raven tressels, but her mouth remained tightly sealed. She could not yell; she would not yell.
Once her hair was up in a taka shimada, she shuffled back out into the room where Izumi still sat and placed herself upon the pillow and waited for Izumi to begin with the makeup. Usually the make-up was the first to go on, but Yumi was notorious for crying so the make-up was always last with her. Izumi reached for the wax and began to apply it to the child's face. "Yumi, you must brighten your appearance for Seinei Tennō. This frown of yours will not do." Yumi remained silent as Izumi put down the wax and began to mix the white lead powder with water and began to apply it to Yumi's face with a bamboo brush. Izumi's skillful hand covered Yumi's face, neck, and chest leaving a 'V' around the nap of her neck and along the hairline at the back of the neck un-painted. "Honestly Yumi, you should consider yourself lucky. You are a Fujiwara and with that comes great prestige and opportunities. Many children wish their lives to be yours." Patting the powder to solidify it, Izumi then continued to paint Yumi's eyebrows and lashed with black charcoal and then she painted Yumi's upper lip red. "There now. You are ready. Remember to speak only when addressed and not to disobey his orders."
The made-up child nodded silently before turning and slowly shuffling through the shoji with two serving ladies. As she walked down the halls covered with tapestries Yumi's stomach began to feel empty. Every step she took in her tabi brought her closer to the emperor. I must do this for my parents. This is nothing new to me. I can do this. With her eyes on the floor, Yumi continued to walk alongside the serving ladies until they reached the shoji in which the emperor sat. One of the serving ladies sprayed a sweet smelling perfume in front of Yumi before the other opened the shoji and guided Yumi inside with her other hand. The Shoji then closed and Yumi was alone with the emperor.
Emperor Seinei sat in a straight-back chair at the far end of the room. His natural-born white hair was tied at the back and he worn an elaborate kimono with a Hakama. His eyes glided towards the child and motioned her to come closer. Yumi's cheeks burned as she shuffled closer before slowly dropping to her knees and bowing in respect. Seinei stood up from his chair and walked slowly over to the child and knelt closely to her. Reaching out his large, hair arm he caressed the child's cheek in the palm of his hand. "Yumi, you are late, but it seems that Izumi has outdone herself this time so I am not as cross as I should be. Come. Sit. Bring the tea." Seinei stood up and walked back to his chair with a calm and steady grin on his lips.
Yumi slowly stood and went for the teapot. The tea leaves had already been placed inside so Yumi simply lifted the pot and shuffled tentatively over to the emperor and began to pour him some tea. Once the tea was pour, she placed the tea on a small table and handed the cup to Seinei with her head bowed. Once accepted, Yumi took her place on the ground beside the emperor's chair with her head on his lap the way he liked it. Yumi's eyes stared blankly at the fusuma across the room as she felt the emperor's fingers caress the back of her neck.
Ooc
Seinei Tennō - Formal for "Emperor Seinei"
Gomennasai - Semi-formal "I'm sorry"
Shoji - The opaque Japanese sliding doors.
Doumo arigatou gozaimasu - Very formal "Thank you very much"
Hakama - Long skirt worn over a kimono only worn by men.
Obi - Sash worn around the Kimono
Tsubushi shimada - aflattened chignon (bun-like style) generally worn by older women.
Taka shimada - a high chignon usually worn by young women.
Tatmi - floor mats made of straw.
Tabi - White, split-toed socks.
Fusuma - Like a Shoji but intricately painted and meant to divide room space.)
Fujiwara - A family known for providing emporers with consorts and concubines. (No, really, in real life too)
Yukata - More Casual Kimono
[[Current date is 5th century feudal Japan]]
Also, please assume they are speaking Japanese fluently, I just don't want to translate my entire posts.
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Posted: Wed Aug 29, 2007 9:13 am
Althea Mancini
Mob Princess to YOU
Whiskey, she swirled it in the small decanter she had taken down form the cupboard. Water she had decided was not what she was looking for. It wasn’t what she needed. Her nerves were fried and she was dreaming of things that were just a bit to real. And she couldn’t help feeling she couldn’t help feeling that what she had seen was something so real. A shiver passed down her spine; Thea clung to the glass in her hand. The glass was as cold as those five fingers that was wrapped around it as if here was no life, no tomorrow.
Her throat burned. This was the third shot of whiskey and yet she still couldn’t shake the feeling that had haunted her all day. What was happening to her? She walked out of what she and her sister had claimed as their study with a now empty glass. From the study she walked towards the kitchen and set the glass down on the small island. Moving out of the room she realized she was still in her work clothes. Maybe its work related stress. She did have a really hard day more than likely that had caused her distressing dream.
Even now she had to fight the need to gag. She could still the bitter taste of fear lingering in her mouth. It clung to her skin, much the way the day still clung to her body. Thea looked around the empty house; once again she wondered where her sister was. If her sister wasn’t home in an hour she was going to call her cell. The least she could do was be considerate enough to call or leave a message or something. Yes, after she took a bath to rid herself of these overbearing emotions she would deal with her sister. Or maybe she would just go to bed. Her sister was old enough to make her own choices. She was in college and experiencing fist hand the taste of freedom so to speak. So maybe this time she would just go to bed.
Waking towards her bedroom she grabbed a few essentials out of her drawer and headed into the bathroom that was connected to her room. Most of the apartments didn’t have such luxury but when her father gave her the place he did some remodeling at her request. The place was now her paradise her safe haven and she adored it. Very few were allowed to intrude on her sanctuary, which begun from the front of her bedroom to her bedroom.
Her bedroom was very much like a bedroom pulled out of a designer magazine. What could she say. It was the first bedroom she would be able to call her own. She was in an apartment that was her own and in her room she would be able to express herself and her growth as a person from under the wings of her parents objective eye. She had spared no expense over the years and now her room was all she had imagined it to be.
If there was a theme to her room it would be called autumn. Her walls were painted that dull, yet soft yellow that leaves took before they ripened, aged and fell off the tree. The trim on the wall was a dark brown pulled from the colors of other maple trees, during the harvest season. And just as the colors blend during the later months of the month the blended on her walls. Her sheets were a collection of browns and other undertones that complimented the colors on the walls. Lately she had been thinking about change, but more and more her room was growing on her and she was finding other things that would compliment the room. Various art pieces carpets and small trinkets.
Her bedroom was her joy but the bathroom was her pride. She had installed all the latest features for the bathroom in the bedroom. The old tub had been replaced with a sunken tub that she often enjoyed bubble baths in. Her shower was a miniature steam room. The sinks were in another section as well as the toilet and the mirror and all other trinkets. Walking into her bathroom she could feel her body simply melting. It always did that when she entered the bathroom.
The shower would be heaven, but she wanted to soak. Walking over to the tub she turned on the water and adjusted the knobs to the right temperature. Along the rim of the tub she had a collection of bubble baths from Bath and Beauty, she choose the Chinese Blossoms for this particular bath. Listening to the water run she pulled her hair up and began to strip out of her clothes. She wasn’t going to wait for the water to full the tub before she went in. Stripping out of her clothes she tested the water with her foot before taking the plunge.
Laying her head back against the edge of the tub she simply allowed the water to cover her body. She allowed the water to call to her stress, to the worries of her mind and simply take her away.
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