logs | november catch-some!

[Hmm. His eyes study Kaito without roaming Kaito’s figure at all.

At least the aura returned to him is reassuring. Not that he assumed a man asking for combat-ready people to go into the Hinterlands with would be someone without any skill. But reassuring all the same.]

Yes. [He stands there very much like a cryptid statue, waiting, the black cape draped nearly closed around him.] I’m ready.

Is there a reason you’re looking for the shards?

[ ...It's actually a really cool cape. Kaito's more of a scarf guy, but he thinks he might be able to pull it off. ]

Good. I'll answer your question on the road.

[ With that, Kaito takes off. The guards give both Restless withering stares as if they're watching a pair of rabid dogs depart their squeaky-clean neighborhood. When the city vanishes amidst the vast wilderness, Kaito finally tosses a glance over his shoulder. ]

Part of me was curious to see what can be forged out of a star shard, but I don't know how much will be left for us to bring back. So, I've shifted my primary goal to obtaining a shard for one of my friends. She fares very poorly in cold weather, and I've heard the stone constantly retains a high temperature. It won't nullify the effects of the cold, but it can help.

How about you? Got any particular motives, or are you just looking to cash in the reward with the blacksmith?

[As surprises would have it, D also has a scarf! A striped thing twined about his neck beneath the stiff pauldron collar. They are now buddies by scarf association. Kaito can have a scarf and a cape.

Kaito goes, and he follows after at the side, stride easy. The star could very well vanish, but he doesn’t think it will, so he has little hurry.

The looks from the guards don’t even get his attention; he’s accustomed to having people look at him in worse ways. He walks on, quiet and not pressuring Kaito to answer.

But getting it finally makes him realize it’s quite a wholesome one. Not a bad thing.]

I heard it can be used to forge in place a soul. I would like to find out if that’s true.

[ Holy shit, this is the best day ever. Scarf buddy.

Kaito nods along to the other's words as they slink their way through the forest. The journey's been quite peaceful, so far—though there have also been no signs of Restless life where they've crossed. Perhaps the ones living out their 'exile' have hidden further in the thicket. ]

I've heard the same. I'm really curious to find out if that's the case, but given how rare it is that an asteroid falls out of space, I also wouldn't count on there being high supply of the stuff. That's one of the reasons why I'll settle on giving whatever I can get to my friend.

...If at all possible, I'd like to avoid having to harvest souls to forge anything, but as time passes I'm beginning to think it'll be a necessary hardship to compromise with. I've yet to find any literature in Serene that suggests alternative methods of forging durable materials in the Netherworld.

[Max friendship level means they tie their scarves together instead of holding hands (no).

With heightened senses, he's listening out for them. He's watching, too, but relies more on the ability to smell or hear. Kaito receives his undivided attention anyway, as is polite.]

I'm not against harvesting a soul from a spectre, or a rogue reaper.

[He isn't afraid to admit this; his job before was a vampire hunter, so it's in a similar vein.]

But I would prefer a method like this, if it's sustainable.

Edited (i thought about this all day and had to fix it gomen) 2022-11-07 21:26 (UTC)

(( I'm glad I waited a bit to reply then lol ))

[ Save for some auras several miles out and the animals traversing the underbrush, there's nothing around the pair. Kaito seems to be just aws aware of this fact as his traveling companion. ]

...It's a tough call to make. I'm not really sure I have the right to.

[ His hands are far from unsullied. Look at what he did to his family. He allowed them to die, so by proxy, he was their murderer.

In his mind, at least. Hunting for game and putting down creatures who had completely lost their sapience and sentience were also on his exception list. Either way... ]

I know that progress demands bloodshed, but if I can fight against that universal law, then I will. I'm glad to hear that others are willing to try alternative methods, too.

[ A beat. He glances over. ]

Is there a certain kind of food that you like, D?

[AAA HELP thank you i forgot they were actually broke in october f

His eyes linger on Kaito for a moment, then he glances ahead of them. There isn't anything wrong with Kaito's morals on it, and he isn't here to change Kaito's mind. So his silence is an acceptance. Kaito wants to try for alternative ways, and D doesn't disagree.

The question doesn't pull his eyes away from the horizon.]

No. I don't eat very often.

[The answer is honest. And also extremely weird and cryptic, but he doesn't offer any kind of explanation readily to clarify the strangeness of it. It doesn't seem like he's trying to hide anything, however.]

(( YOU'RE GOOD i distinctly remember asking mods how much money we could have had hard workers get paid by the october event just because i wanted to know how broke we'd be (but it sounds like 500 coins at that point in time would have been realistic)! ))

[ Kaito follows his gaze, curious. D honestly looks younger than he does, and there's this quality to his appearance that Kaito would struggle to describe in any other way than beautiful. Coupled with that abyssal aura, it only seems to make the reality of things more and more obvious for the empath.

He doesn't mind that, so he'll test the waters with a light ribbing. ]

Everyone's got different diets. Though, eating light has always been a theme with my elders. Are there any foods you associate good memories with?

[us gaming the system by working hard]

You misunderstand. [Kaito just old-person coded him in teasing? Mean. But D doesn't say this angrily. He's strangely as stoic about it as he has been with everything else. Like he has accepted this about himself and does not dwell on the lost sentiments.] I choose not to eat because it isn't a requirement.

[He should have just clarified earlier. But to answer Kaito's question after giving it a bit of consideration:]

Thyme and cheddar cookies. Chicken stew. I didn't eat them, but I remember how they smell.

Oh, whoops. My bad there... Your aura just reminded me of some primordials.

[ Well, if the other isn't trying to play up his mystique, Kaito doesn't really see a reason why he can't be just as upfront. Still, the eventual answer prompts him to quirk a smile. ]

Well, that's something I think I can whip up with ingredients from the market. When we're done with our expedition, I'll make you some cookies and stew. Even if you don't need to eat, there's some small comfort that can be had in nostalgia and familiar sensations.

Everyone's gotta survive in this hellscape, but everyone also deserves a little comfort.

[The first comment makes him look at Kaito. The gaze is somewhat flat, as expected, but there is a hint of curiosity in how it’s given. Something rather clinical.

But he continues to sort of stare with no shame at the rest of what Kaito says. He’s not sure he understands why Kaito would go through the trouble for someone he just met, work-related no less. It feels like he has instigated the notion; maybe he shouldn’t have answered.]

It would be wasted on me, [he says in his quiet voice.] I don’t receive any benefit from it. The smell only reminds me of times when humans were kind.

[To him, but he doesn’t say that part. It comes out sort of implied against his will.]

What did you mean by primordial?

[The curiosity hasn’t gotten away.]

[ Kaito has to fight his impulse to chuckle at the look D shoots him. Somehow, he succeeds. ]

I disagree, [ the empath replies, equally quiet but with firm insistence. ] Some humans are still relatively kind folks, and I will reiterate that we all deserve a spot of comfort.

[ He won't push too hard—he's not trying to override D's point of view. But there's something in the warmth of his words that suggests he understands the other's implication beyond a base level of empathy.

For now, he'll satisfy the other's curiosity. ]

If you'll allow me some level of audacity, I get the feeling that a lot of people with magical insight tend to feel unnerved when you step around the corner. I mean no ill will with that. Your aura simply reminds me of a creation goddess who I've entwined my fate with. Or, well, who I had entwined my fate with, before I landed here and lost the connection I had with her.

In a roundabout way, yes, I'm kinda calling you old. Again, no insult intended. In a way, it's a relief to feel a presence like yours in this place.

[Kaito is ethnic momming him. There is nothing left to do but accept the food and be grateful for it. (He would be grateful.) So he doesn't make any other attempt to reject what's offered. He's getting thyme and cheddar crackers and stew, he guesses.

The answer to his question, though, gets the same quiet and thoughtful reaction from him that it did on the Frontier. When the people there attuned to something more spiritual tell him he feels like a dangerous or bad man. They aren't wrong. A creation goddess, huh.

He can't say he isn't old, unfortunately. He is, even if the dark aura may not have too much to do with his age.]

What is the goddess like?

[Will he continue asking questions so he doesn't have to explain anything...? Yes.]

[ Well, he does have malewife vibes. Ethnic momming just comes with the territory.

At D's question, Kaito's smile angles into a playful smirk. ]

Would you like the short answer or the answer that takes the exact amount of time required to reach the fallen star?

[ Is that a good guess, or did the vampire get his aura read? Either way, Kaito's a dirty, filthy cheater. ]

Her name is Izanami. In my peoples' religion, she and her husband Izanagi created the world with a giant paintbrush. And then she died and became the ruler of the underworld.

Personally? She's pleasant, but we struck a deal and it went awry, and I currently owe her my soul. She's been trying to get me killed ever since that went down, and while I'm here now, I don't think this was part of her plan.

[Carefully, D's gaze turns toward the horizon where he can hear a distant, strange sort of crackling and where the smell of heat and flame is drifting. They're on the right track, at least.

The cheating is a little mean, but surprisingly, D had been familiar with having it done to him here and there on the Frontier. Nothing as riveting as having some spiritually-inclined old woman tell him he had the same aura as the first god-like, vampire creationist. Beautiful and petrifying.]

You're Japanese. [He looks at Kaito again. He's meeting so many people from Japan here! Japan... which hadn't existed anymore for him in the far-flung future.] Wouldn't she have your soul once you finally died?

[Impatient...? Not counting being here.]

[ Kaito doesn't look—his physical senses aren't nearly as sharp by default—but he can sense auras from the same direction. Auras that don't bear the same signature as the Restless.

He can think about that later. For now, his eyes widen. ]

You're from Earth! Wow, there are quite a few of us around, huh? Parallel universes or otherwise...

[ At the question, he nods his head. ] She would. So going off that logic, she should. Yet she doesn't.

There's a running theory among some of us that we aren't actually dead, or that we're in some version of Purgatory. All I know for sure is that our souls are still firmly within our vessels.

I wish some of the tomes in Serene weren't so heavily censored. I don't like having such little control over what info I can or can't gather.

If she was promised your soul already, [he corrects,] why didn’t she just wait for you to die as you normally would?

[The rest isn’t something he disagrees with at all.]

It’s unlikely I died, but not impossible. I don’t know yet if we’re fodder for what’s eating away at this place, or if it’s something else. One of the Hierarchy encouraged us to stave off the unsavory by finding a soulmate.

But it’s true information is guarded.

Impatience, I guess? I was in the process of letting her take my soul—I could feel her grasping it. [ Actually, that was just her hand stabbing you through the chest. ] And then I was kicked out and sent back home. I wasn't trying to deceive her, but I suppose she feels slighted over it?

I couldn't tell you. We haven't spoken since that time, and now I'm here.

[ A beat. He glances over. ]

Not to pry, but have you thought to give it a try? Bind your soul to another?

[KAITO?]

I see.

[It makes sense. He can't say Nobles wouldn't also be impatient and shrewd when humans wouldn't do their bidding.]

I had no intentions. If you can feel my aura, then you know why. It would be dangerous for many of those here. [To carry the burden of his stronger self, he means. To be linked to him without the same kind of composure and control he's built up over time.] But I have considered it more, knowing how easy it is to be influenced by the voice.

[The Shadow.]

[ Don't worry, he got better. And then he got worse, and now he's here. ]

I was unsure, at first. Not to boast, but I always thought I had a better sense of self-control over most folks I knew. It was a necessity for several reasons. Thought my Shadow would work out the same way.

But I was sorely mistaken, and since forging a soulbond with another I've felt much more... Mmm...

[ He trails off for a bit, walking a few paces before glancing sidelong. ]

Secure. So far, it's as the information available has described. A Soulmate's voice does much to quiet the impulsive, invasive thoughts of the Shadow.

[Curiously, he glances in Kaito's direction, waiting on the follow-up of being soulmates.

Secure, huh? He thoughtfully shifts his eyes back to the direction in front of them. It really does sound all great and wonderful. But he's still mildly a skeptic, not in he thinks it doesn't work. Only... he wonders what happens when it doesn't.]

Have you had any adverse reactions yet? Is everything always in agreement between the two of you?

[ An inkling of doubt still glows in the other's aura, and he doesn't hold it against him. Kaito gives the questions some thought before speaking up. ]

No, not really. Our Shadows are still prone to being a nuisance, but the presence of a Soulmate can immediately silence or quell them. As for your other question? My Soulmate and I get along pretty well. I suppose it's because we had a head start in our friendship. They're from Earth, just. Possibly a parallel Earth.

november catch-some!

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