paixaorpg | Deforestation? [Complete]

Entry tags:

Deforestation? [Complete]

Character(s): Jintetsu, Morrigan
Content: In which he gets more lost than usual.
Setting: Joutenheim Gate
Time: sundown
Warnings: none...... yet.

Jintetsu often woke up in fields; it came with the territiory as a homeless drifter. But he hardly expected to wake up in a field when he'd gone to sleep in a forest.

Haganemaru was already awake next to him; the eye set in its hilt watched him glance around in surprise. "Good morning," the sword greeted him. "Sleep well?" Jintetsu didn't answer, but began gathering his things. Oddly, despite that they were apparently in a completely different place than before, everything was positioned as he'd left it.

On edge now, he picked up his sword and returned it to its usual place in his gunbelt. "Thanks, I wanted to get a good look around," said Haganemaru. "Where are all the trees? How weird. I wonder where we are." By now, Jintetsu had already retrieved his hat, and the sword paused for a second to let him get his cloak on. The cloth caught a small breeze as he turned to get a proper look at his surroundings; but he stopped short when he (finally) noticed the dome and the gate.

"Wow," Haganemaru breathed; Jintetsu just stared in disbelief. Out of the corner of his eye, he'd mistaken it for a hill at first, but now, looking right at it, it was kind of obvious it wasn't. "I know it was foggy last night, but this is ridiculous," his sword muttered. "Oh well." It squinted into the setting sun, jealous for a moment that its master got to wear a hat to keep it out of his eye. "At least the sunrise burned it off. I hate walking in the fog," it commented. Of course, neither of them realized yet that that guess at the time was about twelve hours off.

The sword quickly shut up as Jintetsu made up his mind and started toward the queue gathered in front of the gate; it wouldn't do to seem like he was talking to himself. He hung back a ways, though, not actually joining the line. By the looks of it, it was just to get into the dome, but it would be stupid to barge in there not knowing what was going on inside, especially given the circumstances. He didn't know where he was or what he was doing there, or more importantly, why no one in the line looked Japanese. It was safe to say he'd never seen that much fair hair in his life, and that wasn't even to mention their clothes.

More wary now than ever, he skirted discreetly around the line, hoping to get closer to the gate so he could get a better idea of what was on the other side first. If someone stopped him, fine - then at least he'd have a reason to ask why.

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It wouldn't be much longer now. The sun would be gone soon, and in its place would be the promise of another fun-filled evening for her. Granted that the locals and city itself seemed to be fairly dull in their own right; but that never stopped her. If she couldn't find any entertainment, then she would simply make some. Not like it would take that much effort anyways.

Morrigan had spent some of last night in a house that was close to one of the city's entrances. Joutenheim, she believed to be name of it. In any case, she had decided to wait out the last bits of daylight by staying near the gate and watching the new arrivals pass through the… two large giants. How quaint.

The green-haired woman watched as the blonde men and women passed by one after another but her thoughts soon went back to the white creatures she had faced a couple of days ago. For them to suddenly attack the city like that, it was very odd.

Ah well, no sense in worrying about them now. There were important things to do, like keep watching the gate for someone interesting enough to come through it…

It wasn't long before someone did stop Jintetsu, before he got a chance to really see what was inside the gate. "Excuse me, wait your turn in the queue like everyone else, sir," said a woman in the line.

Jintetsu turned toward her and tugged his hat a little to keep his face mostly obscured. "Sorry. Just wanted to see what you were all waiting for," he said.

"Well, to enter the city, of course," said the woman. "Isn't that why you're here, too?"

Jintetsu merely shrugged in reply and moved toward the back of the line. It wasn't as if he had much of a choice; there were some supplies he needed to find pretty promptly. On the plus side, the line was short, and within a few minutes, he found himself at the front, where he was addressed by another young blonde girl. "Welcome to Paixao! Can I get your name?"

This raised a minor red flag. If they were asking names at the gate, that meant they were probably looking for someone, and he was the kind of person who always somehow wound up as a suspect. After a second's thought, he answered, "I'm just a traveler passing through."

Fortunately, the girl didn't seem to have a problem with his minimal cooperation. "All right then, Mr. Traveler," she said cheerily, then handed him a small box and a brightly colored paper pamphlet. "Here's your free journal, and a little bit of information about our city." Curious, he took them with his right hand, keeping his metal left arm hidden for now so as not to attract undue attention. The girl gestured at the statues comprising the gate. "Enjoy your stay!"

"Thank you," said Jintetsu, and he proceeded through the gate. As soon as they were sufficiently out of earshot, Haganemaru spoke up again. "Well, they're welcoming enough, if nothing else." Jintetsu ignored it, though; he was so busy staring at the foreign buildings that even a green-haired succubus could escape his immediate notice.

Nothing but blond-haired men and women kept passing through the gate. Though the constant flow of males assured her that she wouldn't be running out of "food" any time soon, it was a boring sight to watch. She hated monotony, of all kinds. Just as she was about to go on her way, Morrigan finally saw someone that stood out.

A boy with black hair, wearing what appeared to be a Japanese-styled hat and clothes. As the latest person to be brought to the city, she couldn't help but wonder where he had been taken from and what he was like.

Not being one to satisfy her curiosity with mere assumptions, Morrigan waited until enough distance had been put between them before following him...

[OOC: Morrigan looks human right now, so the wings on her head aren't really there right now. Just thought I'd let you know.]

As he kept walking, Jintetsu flipped briefly through the brochure, only half-listening to his sword's comments. "I wonder what kind of a place this is. We can't be as far as Nagasaki," it murmured. "It's kind of creepy. Better if we leave as soon as we-" It stopped as Jintetsu discreetly gripped its hilt, the action hidden by his cloak. "What is it?" it whispered.

Jintetsu turned his head to the left a bit, peering out from under his hat to see who was behind him. Even from this distance, she stood out; one green-haired (green? what the hell?), amply-endowed woman in form-fitting clothes, against a background of conservatively dressed blonds. There wasn't much to suggest that she was the one following him, but given how bizarre she looked, it almost had to be her.

Keeping his eye on her, he stopped, and waited to see what she'd do. Hopefully, she would just happen to be going the same direction.

The boy must've had sharp senses to have become aware of Morrigan in such a short amount of time. Or maybe it was her radically different appearance when compared to the rest of the people around here that had given her away. It was probably the latter, but who cared?

Acting differently now would've only made her seem more suspicious. So, she continued walking, making sure to look straight ahead until she was right next to the kid.

"Hello there."

A simple greeting with a smile before walking past him… That should've been enough to make her seem like a regular, friendly person.

Jintetsu tipped his head in reply to her as she walked past, and had she been anyone else, that would have been the end of it. After all, she did seem like a regular, friendly person who just happened to be going the same way as him, even if she looked awfully strange. (Everyone here was strange-looking, anyway.)

But there was something about this woman that piqued his interest, looks aside. He couldn't put his finger on it, but for some reason she...

"Wait," he said a few seconds after she'd passed him. "Why were you following me?" It was odd that he should ask that, as he really didn't have any reason to believe she'd been following him at all. Maybe he just wanted her to stay a little longer... which, knowing Jintetsu, would also be odd. Normally he just wanted people to leave.

"Me? Following you? What ever do you mean by that?" Morrigan continued playing the innocent passerby with him, and she was a pretty good actor in those types of situations. "If that's what it looked like, then I'm sorry. I've only been here for a day, so I'm afraid I still don't know my way around this strange city all that well."

Noticing his steal mask, Morrigan wondered if he was really Japanese. She never recalled them wearing such a strange accessory...

"Oh, I haven't even introduced myself. My name is Morrigan Aensland, pleasure to meet you."

Jintetsu nodded in greeting. "Jintetsu of Steel," he said. This was very interesting - if she'd only been here a day, maybe she was a drifter like himself. Not that it mattered, her business was her business, of course. But at the same time, he found himself increasingly curious about just what her business was.

As Jintetsu's fascination grew, so did Haganemaru's suspicion. This wasn't like him, not at all. What on earth did he find so riveting about her? - besides the obvious, that is. Personally, the sword figured she was dressed to sell, and that wasn't really the kind of person Jintetsu associated with...

Well, but that was none of its business, so it just repeated what its master wanted to say. "I just got here myself. Are you just passing through?"

Jintetsu of Steel, a strong name, and an intriguing way of calling himself. "Mhmm. I was taken away from my castle, and I thought of getting acquainted with the area while there was still light outside. But I’ve never seen buildings like these and the same goes for the big dome up there."

A mixture of lies and truths was what Morrigan was giving him. It would be up to him to try and discern one from the other.

"You just got here too huh? What a strange coincidence. I wonder who else has been brought here. You’re the first person I’ve seen without blonde hair or blue eyes, now that I think of it."

Give him a little bit of information, but leave him wanting more…

Castle? Her castle? Jintetsu was honestly surprised at that. Did that mean she had some connection to the local daimyo, maybe? He certainly didn't want to get involved with anyone that important. He should just end the conversation now... but she still had more to say, didn't she? It'd be rude if he just left.

Since when do you care? Haganemaru thought, annoyed, but kept the remark to itself.

When Morrigan remarked on the locals' coloration, though, Jintetsu forced himself to take a look at them (and away from her). They were all blond, all of them. Shouldn't there have been at least a few Japanese around? By now, he was quite used to being the strange-looking drifter, but never for something as mundane as having black hair.

"That's strange," he said, more quietly. "Why do you think that is?"

"Hmmm, I really don't know. But it is rather peculiar, especially how they all seem to look like each other." It was the most truthful answer she had haven given him yet. There had to be a reason for the trend in their appearance. And yet, the answer to that riddle would probably be just as hard as discovery whey they had all been brought here in the first place.

"I've tried asking them a couple of questions about this place, but they refused to give me a straight answer each time. It's somewhat frustrating... I tell you." Nothing that she couldn't handle though. Morrigan would've ended her conversation with him there, but she managed to take notice of the weapon he was carrying.

"Oh! Is that a sword? I've only seen them in books."

She'd never seen a real sword before? Somehow Jintetsu found that hard to believe. Either that or this woman was incredibly sheltered. "Yes," he said simply, with a quick glance at the sword.

It was strange; he couldn't decide whether to just leave now or stick around. On the one hand, she'd hinted she was someone important, and if she'd been "taken away" from wherever she came from, he definitely didn't want to be around to take the blame for kidnapping her. But at the same time, he didn't want to just leave her...

His sword had no such compunctions, and decided to settle the issue on its own (after all, it wasn't like Jintetsu to hem and haw like this when the solution was so obvious). "If that's all, I'll be going," it said succinctly.

Jintetsu made no such move yet, though, only shot a quick, angry glance at Haganemaru, before looking back up at Morrigan. It hadn't been what he'd wanted to say, but he sort of had to go along with it now. He took a single reluctant step in the general direction of past her, then hesitated.

Was it time to say goodbye already?

Such a shame, she had enjoyed exchanging words with him. "Mmm, yes." She nodded. "It seems I've kept you for quite a while, my sincerest apologies." Yet another smile was given to Jintetsu, as Morrigan started heading down the street before he had spoken to her. "I look forward to seeing you again, Jintetsu."

If he was now residing here, then it would only be a matter of time their next encounter, in which she would give him more than just a friendly conversation...

Jintetsu let her go, and the further she got from him, the less he regretted it. It had always been in his best interests to keep away from important people as much as possible, and this was no different. In fact, he had no idea why he'd struck up a conversation with her in the first place.

He did remember to be irritated at his sword for talking out of line, though. Haganemaru scowled as much as you could with only an eye. "She's really not your type, Jintetsu," it said cautiously.

The swordsman glared at it for a few seconds, but it was right, after all. After a moment, he shifted his cloak on his shoulders and set off again, deeper into the city. Best to get what he needed and leave as soon as possible.

(OOC: I suppose so. It was fun!)

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Deforestation? [Complete]

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