paixaorpg | To the Ends of the Earth and back again [ Finished ]

Entry tags:

To the Ends of the Earth and back again [ Finished ]

Character: Tsume + whomever wants to join
Content: The renegade wolf doesn't seem surprised about the quality of his ~~paradise.~~
Setting: Vanaheim gate -> The Glass Bonsai
Time: Mid to late week 25, dusk
Warnings: PG :: Language, light gore.

The red moon was rising, and the air was heavy with the smell of blood and sweet flowers. His paws were heavy as snow kicked up in high clouds behind him. The wind tore at his maw, ice cutting into the thick pads on his paws as the mountain drew ever closer with each footfall.

He could hear the skirmishes, yelps, snarls and sickening breaks on occasion, but he wasn't deterred. He was fearless, he had a purpose. His legs were sure as he started the ascent, bounding from one rock to the next to try and get that much closer to that cursed half-breed Noble. Cheza needed him, Kiba, Blue, Hige..Not even Kiba or Tsume, himself, could last long one-on-one against Darcia. But then the ground gave way under his legs. It couldn't support his weight, and he leaped for another ledge with a frustrated snarl tearing from his throat, trying to hold on, but to little effect. He fell to a large ledge below, his head smacking the ground. He bounced once, flopped, and lied there for a bit in darkness, unaware of the world around him.

When he came to, lo and behold, he was lying in grass and had one hell of a headache. He lied there for a moment, golden eyes watching people file by and head towards some gates, trying to adjust to the light. Nothing kept him down for long, though. He sat up with a grunt. To the world around him, to the people unaware, he was human the whole time, dark-skinned and gray-haired. As one knee raised to support a wrist, his other hand pulled out a pair of sunglasses to put on. For a few more moments, he sat there, eyes flittering around behind the shades as he processed the various foreign scents. Nothing even vaguely familiar yet.

"T'ch." He heaved up, fingers slipping into leather pockets, and looked ahead to the front of the line before skipping forwards and stepping up to the front of the organized and maintained line to slip in. Of course he died. That's how it went. Tsume didn't get to redeem himself. Yeah, fuck you, too, world. The only smell he knew was that of the water and flora around him. Water was almost overwhelming, and he could, in the distance, see a vast body of it, rippling. Well. Might as well head inside, and see what kind of hell waited for him. Seemed like that was the only option open to him.

So he did, after brushing off someone urging him to get this useless journal when he passed the guarded entrance. He was fine without one, so he just ignored him and moved on past him with a passing glance. Since when did wolves ever need that crap?

"Of course, I should've known better.." He grunted after murmuring under his breath. Everything smelled fake as hell, there was graffiti everywhere, and the people looked absolutely ridiculous. He hated it already. But it was what he deserved, right?

He'd just wander the streets for now, getting a lay of the land. Right now, he was hanging around the outskirts of a pawn shop, The Glass Bonsai. Maybe there was some trouble to get into here..it reeked of people, something was bound to happen or come up, right?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Well...this was interesting. Among all the fake scents of this world, it was rare for Kovu to find someone who actually smelled like flesh and blood. It took a few minutes to track it to its source, about all he could tell before seeing the guy was the fact he was male, and he was canine. Not much past that, he'd never smelled an animal like this one before. But there was a lot of blood, too...like that was surprising for a predator.

Kovu had become rather glad of the wide berth that the odorless citizens gave him, due to his rather large size and intimidating stature. The last thing he wanted was to feel like he was getting crowded in...especially after all those weird shadowy things had attacked.

When he found where the scent was coming from, he noticed something funny pretty quickly. Everyone was treating him like he was just another one of them. They didn't seem to be noticing (somehow, though it was pretty obvious) that the guy was a canine, on all fours. Was it the guy, or were these people all just that stupid? They were still making a wide ring around Kovu himself, so it couldn't be that bad, but it still didn't make any sense.

[ooc: Okay, Wolf's Rain is funny. If you'd rather Kovu couldn't see that Tsume's a wolf, he'll still be able to tell he's not human from the scent, but I'll change this tag if you want me to. ^_^]

[[ c: Oh thank god almighty, I was starting to worry no one would be able to post to Tsume cause of where he was placed. xD But yeah, Kovu is another animal, so he can see Tsume for what he really is. Any animal can see him for what he really is, and it seems that in the anime, animals that are smart enough(cats, other wolves), can choose to see the illusion, or as a wolf. c: ]]

His attention perked as something actually registered with some kind of scent. True, he could smell the water and grass, but the air was still..hollow. It reminded him of Jagura's domain..the air was stagnant, empty, as though it were far too sterile. And the people here behaved much the same, but he'd be damned before he accepted being damned to a knock-off of that loony bin.

Golden eyes flickered around behind the shades as he scanned the crowd, searching for the origin of the scent. He stood right where he was, leaning against the side of the building..well, at least to the human populus. To those savvy to the illusion of wolves, to those who knew he was a wolf, and chose to look past the illusion, they would see an ashen colored wolf rising from a sitting position. His ears shifted, turning to try and pick up the sound of footfalls as his tail raised into the air.

And then came a lion, something Tsume had never seen. The scent was feline, but damn was he ever huge--almost, if not the same size as Darcia. He didn't know what to make of him. The wolf just stared for a second, his maw unmoving. The humans around him would see a tall, dark-skinned man talking down to a lion; nothing out of the ordinary at all.

"So, what are you? Can't say I've seen a house cat get that big." Ears remained trained on the lion, and while he was alert and a bit on edge, he wasn't prone to attack unprovoked.

[ooc: One other note, we always do logs with replies to the main post, instead of doing them in comment threads.]

"A house cat?" Kovu couldn't say he had any clue what the heck that was supposed to be. He gave the canine a weird look, emphasized by the fact he was so much bigger. "What's...that mean?"

He took a few steps closer to the other animal to get a closer look, and to get all the people to go around him, instead of reminding him so unmistakably that he didn't belong here. The thought made him growl softly as he looked down at the ground away from the canine, but when he looked back any trace of the upset was gone. He could tell from this distance that the guy wasn't exactly the most relaxed in the world, but then...canines usually weren't unless their pack was around. Even then, being in a place this weird should put anyone on edge. Kovu wasn't worried about something so much smaller than him anyway. The shadow creatures were probably far more of a threat.

"...I'm a lion. Your turn."

[[ We do? Huh. So that's what that meant..I remember reading something like that in the rules, but couldn't make sense of it. But, makes sense that you wouldn't want a bunch of little expand menus popping up everywhere. Albeit...aside from regularly checking back, how would anyone but the author be able to know when posts were made? I know on Gaia there were notifications whenever anyoneone posted a journal or in the club message boards as long as they were subscribed, and Yahoo's obvious, even forums send notification PMS. o _o; Regularly checking back's the only way? ]]

Odd. Who didn't know what a house cat was? They were tame pets, owned by humans. Not to mention they were resourceful and clever sources of information if you got hold of one that wasn't cryptic and bored. However, the lion took a step closer. And to this, Tsume neither took up the offense, nor backed off, knowing that holding one's ground was always key when dealing with any sort of apex predator.

His ears twitched as the sensitive ears picked up that small displacement of air, that low growl. They laid back momentarily, but returned to their upright position, trained on him once the big cat. As usual though, to the world of humans, he merely stared quietly at the maned beast the entire time with a casual nonchalance, as though it barely registered that he was talking to an animal. An animal that could tear any human to pieces if the urge struck, but as Kovu drew a bit nearer, the humans cleared out, a feeling he rather enjoyed. If he'd come from any other world, he would trounce around with his fur and fangs on display all day, but he was used to humans killing that which they feared without second thought.

Don't worry, you weren't the only one that didn't feel like they belonged. "A lion, eh?" He tilted his head a bit, his human chin cocking upwards at an angle as the canine's would merely turn a bit to one side. "Can't say I've ever heard of those." His voice took on an airy quality at first, as if searching his memories for the word. When he stated nothing came up, that distant tone of voice had disappeared again.

"Can't say I agreed to taking turns, either, but I've got one more for you, kitten. You can talk like us, so why don't you just blend in like the rest of us?" Human lips curled into a wile grin, as did the ashen canine's with a huff of a mocking laugh. "Unless you're some self-righteous prodigy, too." Ah, Kiba. That lucky bastard.

Edited 2010-10-24 06:02 (UTC)

[ooc: See the thumb tack in the row of buttons at the top of the page, between the post's icon and its text? If you click that, it'll take you to a page where you can set email notifications for replies to the post.]

"Blend in?" Kovu took a second. "...I wish." In truth, there was nothing he would have loved more than to just 'blend in.' If he could have, anyway. The thoughts were plain on his face. Mostly, it was loneliness. But there was some scorn, too.

"And I'm no prodigy..." He figured that the self-righteous part would be disproved quickly enough, so he didn't bother to comment on that. "At least...I don't want to be." Scar. The very thought brought a snarl, even though he tried to keep it in check.

[[ Oh, ho, ho. I see. How very convenient. You're such a help. c: -Cheek pinkch.- ]]

"You don't say." Well then. Guess that little trick only applied to the harbingers of paradise, not just any endangered species with the willpower to survive in that dying world. He had to wonder for a second what else he'd bump into in this odd place, though.

Tsume stared the lion down, showing little emotion on his face after the initial confusion. He was a wolf, it wasn't like a wolf to concern itself with the plight of those not within the pack. He wasn't like the runt, defending the need to help all of those around him, that stupid kid. See where it got him? Hmph.. He mulled over the thought, a pang of..well...too much nagging at him. Thus the thought was dismissed, full attention returning to the feline as he heard the snarl again.

He couldn't help but chuckle a bit again, a dry, amused sound. "Hah..you cats are all the same, always over complicating things."

Tsume was best adapted to the city life, but in order to adapt, he had to first know where he was, at least, so he could settle into his damnation. "So, you know where this is? It looks too run-down to be Jagura's keep."

That stung. This guy had no idea what he was talking about, and he was just laughing it off like it was nothing. But Kovu...did need to lighten up. At least...he needed to try. The fact this guy didn't know was all the more reason not to be offended. It wasn't like he said that on purpose.

"I don't think that's the way I would put it. Not that it's any of your business. Oh, and you need to answer my other question before I'm going to answer any of yours. I don't do that charity thing." He remembered something annoying about canines.

"Oh yeah, and don't try to threaten me for it either. That really won't work. I might just laugh at you and leave."

He really didn't know. And even if he knew, Tsume wasn't the type to spare someone's feelings when he spoke. Even as he started to earn his place in their ramshackle pack, he still wouldn't mingle his words, and say precisely what he meant. Perhaps he didn't say it on purpose due to his ignorance concerning the lion's past, but even had he known, it wouldn'tve made a difference to him. Besides, part of him didn't expect anyone here to have any semblance of a personality or past, anyway. He was dead, apparently, having fallen--quite literally--just short of his chance at redemption. Screw paradise, he wasn't getting in anyway, nor did he ever expect to.

He was surprised when Kovu cocked an attitude with him. He couldn't say he wasn't interested now, at least. "T'ch, threaten you? Don't flatter yourself, kitten, I'm not here to waste my time."

"Or play twenty questions." In his frustration at the lion's own ignorance concerning something that was really considered common sense as far as he knew, a corner of his lips peeled back, but he did answer the question. He had to if he wanted information, apparently, because everyone else seemed too put-off by his appearance to do no more than cast side-glances or ignore him all together while bustling past. And, while Tsume wasn't the epitome of poise, he didn't pick fights, either.

He only responded with violence whenever provoked. Or when faced with stupidity and annoyances. "It's a human's pet, don't make me spell it out." His voice grew a bit terse as far as the humans could tell, but for any animals around, a slight growl would creep into his voice as his ears laid back a moment. "You know, the whole collar and leash bit? Don't tell me you haven't seen it, it's pretty damn hard to miss.

Now just tell me where the hell we're at or I'll find someone who can." He was getting impatient with the feline's games, especially because he didn't particularly believe that 'sharing was caring.' He just wanted to get what he needed and go. Where, he didn't know, but he had to do something in this god forsaken hell-hole, and knowing what this stupid place was would be a start, at least.

Tisk, tisk, Tsume. Starting to revert to your old ways so quickly? And he'd come such a long way with Kiba, Toboe, Hige, and Blue, too. Then again, all those loose ends would nag at the back of his mind, always, a reminder as painful as his scar.

Edited 2010-10-24 07:52 (UTC)

What was this guy's problem? Kovu wasn't the easiest guy to talk to, he knew that, but...this was something else. It was like talking to his older brother, except it wasn't funny, it was just stupid.

"There aren't any humans where I'm from. I probably know less about the kinds of things in this place than you, and you're not doing a good job of getting me to tell you what I do know." Maybe Kovu should just take him up on the offer to leave. It would be far less frustrating.

"Because some of it doesn't have anything to do with the humans at all."

"Consider yourself lucky." He scoffed, the human illusion's arms folding across his chest. One ear laid back, the other remaining trained on the lion.

"I don't beg, and I'm not in the mood for games. Now, the score's even." He paused, cocking a brow as the feline went on, being as cryptic as ever. They really needed to come with translators, this would be a hell of a lot less frustrating for him, as well.

"What are you talking about?" His eyes almost narrowed. Almost.

He couldn't smell lunar flowers anywhere, not even the remnant's of Cheza's scent wafting from his fur. There was nothing, nor did this even look like the slums of Jagura's keep. It was just..a dump. Ugly and stale. Besides, supposing they were somewhere within her keep, then why was he alive? And why the hell was there a lion--whatever it was--standing right there? Humans, especially nobles, eradicated anything that threatened their existence without remorse or thought to the consequences.

"Don't ask me how, because it doesn't make any sense to me, but apparently this whole city is inside a castle or something." Kovu had the feeling he wouldn't be talking with this guy very much if they ever met again. The canine was way too much like some of the lions in the Outlands...the ones Kovu wanted to forget.

"And you've got a weird idea of 'even.'" The lion was starting to wish he'd dealt with canines more often, but the times he'd gotten to talk to them--instead of hunting them down and killing them at his mother's orders--had been very, very rare. They were just like all the other animals, and had avoided the desolate Outlands as much as they could.

"That'd explain a lot." Tsume wouldn't know the mechanics either, and he didn't care to know, but he'd heard of the Nobles accomplishing wilder things in his lifetime. It'd make perfect sense if he was destined to remain trapped in a faux paradise. It was nice, but far from what he'd hoped for.

"Hey, I don't run a charity. You asked two questions, I answered them. If you want to know more, I suggest you ask."

Don't let his bark put you off. He's just in a piss-poor mood. He sat for now, tail turning to tuck around one of his hind legs as the human illusion leaned back against the wall, resting halfway on the ledge of a windowsill. He was still wary of the lion, and still quite agitated, but he didn't plan on moving until there were no more answers to be had, or until he knew enough to get along on his own without feeling like he was stowing away among ghosts.

"You never told me what you are." This guy must not have had a very good memory, because that was the first question that Kovu had actually asked. Then again, Kovu remembered the weird situation he'd been in when he suddenly showed up here. Maybe that was why this guy was being so testy.

He didn't really care just what kind of canine this was, but the fact he was reminding Kovu of the lions in the Outlands was making the whole conversation more and more frustrating as time went on. He was going to learn that last thing, and then, probably, leave. He really didn't want to hang around someone that was likely to start making him think too hard about his mother.

He cocked a brow, giving his head tilt as this lion just asked what he was. It would be logical for him to know what a wolf was. The legends were universally known--that is, at least to those that weren't brain dead or jaded. But then, he paused, calming the frustration and ignore that general vendetta he was starting to harbor against the world again to think. That was, after all, what he was pretty good at when he finally started to fit into the pack.

Obviously, if he doesn't know what a lion is, then it stands to be that Kovu wouldn't know what he was, either. 'Could be that this big cat died long before he did, in some place too far from wolves, before the prophecies started to spread like wildfire. And they just happened to end up in the same place.

If they were even dead at all. If they were, why would this creature be the only one talking to him? No one else could seem to tell what he really was, which was made obvious by how they didn't give him a wide girth like they did to the lion. They didn't know what he was, they couldn't see what he really was. Besides, in any kind of hell or paradise, why would he have to--let alone be able to--hide? Seems kinda pointless when being tortured or allowed to run free. He just might be wrong, but that was making a bit of sense. Or he could just be trying to rationalize the afterlife. What the hell ever was going on. He couldn't tell, yet.

"You never asked." At least..specifically. 'your turn' was too vague for his tastes. "I'm a wolf. You haven't happened to see any more around like me, have you? They'd be brown, tan, white, or black." Normally, he'd just rely on his nose, but it was pointless in a city unless he was already close to a trail. The stink covered up any scents that weren't strong enough to waft around a bit, such as the scent of death or flowers.

Edited 2010-10-25 01:59 (UTC)

"Sorry, nothing even close," he answered. "The only animals I've met here are ones I already knew. Other than you, anyway." He hadn't heard of a wolf before. They probably just didn't live anywhere near the Pride Lands. And if this guy was anything normal for them, it was just as well. The pride would have ripped someone so frustrating to shreds. ...And that Simba wouldn't stand for anyone like that hanging around. He snarled before he could catch himself, and a brief moment later he was reminded of what Kiara said about her father letting him into the cave. So at once, he was feeling confused, and guilty, and these thoughts were going through his head in front of this...wolf, who didn't know a thing about any of it. And who, Kovu hoped, never would.

"Thought so." Figures, but he might as well have a look around. "So there's others around here like you? 'Course I'd get mixed in with a bunch of cats." He huffed out another one of those sardonic laughs. Toboe would've liked to've met the lion, the foolish pup he was.

He stood, ears shifting a bit as he looked in a number of different directions with an intense, almost thoughtful expression, considering which might be the best route to take and explore. "Alright kitten, let me know if you spot any of my pack mates." He'd ignore the feline snarl. Though he was still wary, the lion seemed to keep growling at himself, rather than attempting to threaten him.

He wouldn't stick around for long in the first place, and it sounded like this big cat couldn't answer any more of his questions. Time to hit the dusty trail then, and familiarize himself with this place. He might as well get used to it, whatever it is, and he might uncover a few nuggets of information on his way. Therefore, he turned and sauntered off at a casual pace.

His shadow, no matter whether seeing his illusion or his true form, would always give away what he was, but no one seemed to notice that little detail.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

To the Ends of the Earth and back again [ Finished ]

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject