Triggerhappy
Stick with Trigger and You'll Make it Through
- Location
- SoCal
No. She already gave her permission during the Gala. 'Midori' is okay.
It's single target asexuality. He's attracted to every pretty girl BUT Midori.
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Halkegenia Online Thread 24 : WE NOW RETURN YOU TO YOUR REGULARLY SCHEDULED PROGRAM
- Thread starter Triggerhappy
- Start date
No. She already gave her permission during the Gala. 'Midori' is okay.
It's single target asexuality. He's attracted to every pretty girl BUT Midori.
- Location
- Chicago
- Pronouns
- She/They
There's actually a specific hormone cycle for humans near the end of pregnancy that loosens ligaments and slackens tendons to allow the pelvis to distend more- it's related to how it becomes harder to walk and easier to dislocate things close to birth. So sobering similar would likely have similar drawbacks.
As someone who is also trans and loved Shiori quite a bit just for the way her internal monologue was written, I would kill and/or pay hard cash to get a chance to read this. I would *LOVE* to see her happy and enjoying herself for who she is now.
And got to say, I was actually crying at the "Shiori is a good girl" line. Long time since it came out, but thank you for it.
Triggerhappy
Stick with Trigger and You'll Make it Through
- Location
- SoCal
That's because Shiori is a very good girl. Even though she suffers from a huge handicap that would lead many to claim she can never be a good girl.
Being a cat rather than a dog
That's a lie! Cats can absolutely be 'good girls'! 😤
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Yeah, when it serves their purposes.
diesel366
To infect the stars with devastation
- Location
- Australia
Meowth, that's Right!
Shiori was one of my favorite characters and i even based my first ever DnD character on her (Badly). I'm very much looking forwards to seeing what happens in the story going forwards, especially if Guiche finds out who Midori is. I really need to find time to reread this story, its been long enough that i've forgotten a lot.
Icipall
Don't worry, we can fanfix that!
- Location
- Cold snow fields of Finland
Exactly. Dog wants to be your friend, cat wants to be your boss.
Really I've had over a dozen cats in my life that would risk their life for me and I've owned two dogs that have tried to kill me and one dog who was a good girl, in fact two separate cat were to ones to save me from those two dogs.
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Anzer'ke
Anarchism Ho!
And in their magnanimity they love us anyway.
- Location
- California Conservation Corps
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Yep. Despite the common misconception, cats don't inherently look down on humans. Its just that between us taking care of them and our clear incompitence at being a good cat, they usually just conclude that we are helpless without them and thus they are obviously the most important.
I mostly noticed this from observing my family's cat and how differently she treats each member of my family, as wellas other pets we later got.
I thought dogs understood humans weren't the same species, while cats perceived humans as fellow colony members and thus as sort of cats who just happen to suck at stealth.
Triggerhappy
Stick with Trigger and You'll Make it Through
- Location
- SoCal
"Boarder Guardians look down us!"
"Pixies look up to us."
"But SLUGS treat us as equals!"
- Miura Osaka
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Icipall
Don't worry, we can fanfix that!
- Location
- Cold snow fields of Finland
Close. To be perfectly specific, dogs can tell that you're not literally a dog, but they still see you as part of their dog family.
Human is the weird looking, distant adopted cousin.
Sakuya's Butler
A refined Butler to a knife wielding Mistress.
- Location
- ↓, ↘, → + Punch
Dogs:
You love me, you pet me, you feed me, you give me toys, you must be God.
Cats:
You love me, you pet me, you feed me, you give me toys, I must be God.
Honestly, explain how that observation is wrong.
-=-
Shiori:
..."Call us Queen."
*preens*
RandDSdevWCFaWF
Always with a song in their heart.
- Location
- Kokomo, iN
Yeah, I remember those scenes; they're what raised my suspicions. Honestly, at this point, I've partly lost track of which volumes I've read the original version(s) of and which I've read the refactored version(s) of.
OK, that makes sense.
I was raised LDS (though I'm inactive now,) not Catholic, so I'd substitute 'godhead' in for 'trinity,' but this is still funny if you don't mind that sort of humor too much.Edit : So ALfheim Shinto has its own trinity. The Mother, the Daughter, and the Sacred Tree
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Anzer'ke
Anarchism Ho!
Octavia: "How dare you! I would never waste the energy to look down at a Shade. You were given wings so I wouldn't have to bother."
Triggerhappy
Stick with Trigger and You'll Make it Through
- Location
- SoCal
Asuna taps foot expectantly.
Octavia gives grumbled half hearted apology.
DragoLord19D
I ate a TARDIS but I'm still hungry!
- Location
- Ma Treasure Hoard (I ain't tellin' where it's at!)
jwolfe_beta
Semi Genre-Savvy Overlord
- Location
- Canada
Along with us generally being higher then them in the proverbial pack.
Don't remember the full documentary but in a test shown as part of the video it was found that dogs tended to look back at their owners when they couldn't figure a puzzle out. You know:
"Boss, boss. I don't know how to get the treat, please help me."
Meanwhile cats tend to be a lot more variable in how their hierarchy works.
Hey, maybe that's why the Caits keep voting in Alicia Rue. She's hands off, takes care of the **** they don't want to and just asks for a favor in exchange every now and again.
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Arrun Parallel Story : Maid in Arrun 10
Triggerhappy
Stick with Trigger and You'll Make it Through
- Location
- SoCal
Suguha still didn't know how to feel hours later. After the Kurotsune had been transported, more like dragged in chains, through the streets of Arrun and taken down to the lock up.
The arrest had been recorded, the paperwork had been filed, and a sort of informal celebration had been had while the healers had tended to the injured.
'But not too badly injured.' Suguha thought. As fiercely as the Kurotsune had fought, he had held back from using anything too lethal. He'd dislocated joints, broken bones, left gashes and cuts on a half dozen officers, and slashed <<Wolf>> deeply along the ribs. But he could have done a lot worse.
'So why didn't he?' Suguha meditated. 'Remember, the mobs are people. The Kurotsune is a person. What he did isn't right. But there's a reason for it.'
"Here." A cup of something dark and rich was thrust gently into her hands.
"Wha -" Leafa shook her head as Suguha was startled from her thoughts.
"Black as night and hot as the fires of hell." Captain Ittetsu grunted. "You'll need it to keep standing much longer."
"Oh, right, thanks." The Sylph said quietly. She looked down into the darkness in the cup of Khali'd Coffee, inhaling the scent of nutmeg and cinammon.
She'd been leaning against a doorframe, watching the impromptu party wind down, almost but not quite dozing off. She'd been on her feet since incredibly early making plans with Kuwata and GiNo, and she'd probably still be on her feet until incredibly late because . . .
"You ready?" The Captain gave her a look of what, if it was fatherly concern, could only have come from the strictest of fathers.
"Wouldn't Kuwata or GiNo be better for this?" She followed the Captain to the stairs.
"Kuwata doesn't have the temperament for this." Ittetsu recounted. "And GiNo'd kill him given what he did to <<Wolf>>. Besides, Kirigaya, you may not have clapped the cuffs on him, but you're the reason we caught our fox. He's your collar, and everyone knows it." Then the Captain fell quiet as they reached the first floor and the front desk where the on duty Gnome was taking statements. Doubling back on the stairs, they descened into the lock-up.
'The Lock-Up'.
Suguha hadn't really given the cellars much thought beyond appreciating that they stayed cool on hot summer days.
Mostly they served as glorified drunk-tanks. Someplace for an inebriated Faerie to sleep off a drunk and disorderly before staggering home nursing a hangover. About as often, they temporarily held petty thieves and pickpockets before they were sent to stand trial in council.
Now though, descending into the dimness felt almost sinister. Nothing about the Kurotsune's thievery was petty. In total, it had added up to a eye popping sum in a very short amount of time.
'But why so many tomoe? Why this tomoe? If he recognizes it . . . why didn't he just take that one?'
The officers on watch saluted smartly, letting them through multiple looked doors in thick stone walls hastily erected to answer a very pressing question.
How did you contain a Faerie?
Well, unless you wanted to remove their hands, gag them, and lock them away hundreds of meters beneath the streets of Tristania, the humane options were few. A Faerie had the potential to be immensely physically strong, and unlike a mage, they could not be fully stripped of their magic by taking away a focus.
There had been no pressing need to answer the question until now. Few Fae had committed crimes so serious. But Captain Ittetsu had meditated on it throughout the Rip Jack incident and applied a methodical imagination to the answer.
Earth Mages had been summoned and payed handsomely to permanently etch every wall and bar in the lockup with Runes of resistance. While the two magic systems were applied differently, this had the intended effect. Even the most powerful Gnome casters would struggle to displace the enchanted masonry by means of magic.
And in the case of the Kurotsune, a prodigious spell caster and shape shifter, still further measures had been taken.
Leafa paused as she caught site of him behind the bars.
The Kurotsune.
Bound and gagged, in chains and a restraint like a straight jacket at the middle of a floor covered in glimmering <<Alarm>>, <<Binding>>, and <<Dispell>> traps, he sat cross legged and perfectly still save for his breathing. The screaming had stopped and the madness had faded. But there was an inescapable fire in his eyes that tracked the Sylph the moment he saw her.
Suguha wondered if he hated her.
Captain Ittetsu tapped on the bars to the cell and nodded to one of the Imp guards.
"Key us in."
"Are you sure, sir?"
The Captain nodded. "He's not getting through all of that."
Reluctantly, the Imp seemed to agree before selecting and intricate key, far more than a simple skeleton lock and inserting it into the tumbler mechanism. The cell door swung smoothly on its heavy hinges and the Captain stepped inside, followed by Leafa.
"Take out your notepad Kirigaya." The Captain instructed. "Time is . . . let's say four hours after noon. First interogation of the thief known as the Kurotsune accussed of thefts totalling . . . eight hundred and eight three crowns."
'Allegedly.' Leafa scribbled a note in the margines. 'Why the bulk goods?' They were valuable, but totally defied his normal MO and didn't seem to have anything to do with his Tomoe fixation.
"Now then." The Captain rested his hands in his pockets. "Let me explain what's going to happen. You're going to be given an opportunity to explain yourself and depending on your cooperation in returning stolen goods, the proceedings may go easier, and the council may be more lenient. Frankly, you're going to need all the help you can get. Now, my subordinates are going to remove your gag so you can speak. However . . ." The Captain looked stonely at the Sionach Sidhe. "If they even think you're trying to cast magic, they'll blast you with so many <<Concussion Shots>> you won't be seeing straight till next week. Do we understand?"
The Kurotsune's eyes moved sulkily from Ittetsu to Leafa. He nodded slowly.
With a snap of his fingers the Captain's orders were carried out, the Kurotsune's gag was removed. He licked his dry lips, flashing sharp canines.
"Now," Ittetsu grunted, "Do you feel like talking?"
Silence.
"Nothing to say?" Ittetsu slowly circled the shackled sionach. "Or is this defiance?"
Still the Kurotsune was quiet. His eyes followed Ittetsu whenever he came into view but always returned to Leafa.
"The crimes you stand accussed of are serious. They were serious before you assaulted multiple officer and a civilian. Do you have anything to say for yourself? What about the wherabouts of the stolen property?"
"May I try?" Leafa asked. "Captain?"
The grizzled spriggan nodded stepping back as the Sylph stepped forward. They hadn't really planned it this way, but it seemed like they had naturally fallen into the rolls of 'Good Cop' and 'Bad Cop'. At least, Suguha thought, it was a roll she wouldn't mind playing.
"Good afternoon, Kurotsune-san. Uhm . . . I know that you must be very uncomfortable like this. It's just that after what you did, the Captain doesn't want to take any risks. He's very concerned about the safety of his subordinates." She smiled as warmly as she could manage given the dreary surroundings. "Is there something I could do to make you more comfortable? Oh . . ."
The sound of a clearing throat. His lips parted though they barely moved. "I would appreicate a small drink of water." He whispered in a tight voice.
"Huh?" Leafa blinked. She glanced to the Captain who nodded and a guard came forward offering the Sionach water from a tin mug held at the end of a pole. It dribbled from from the corners of his mouth and ran down his chin while he drank until sated and the lowered his head seeming incredibly tired.
"Captain Ittetsu can be harsh, but he's right that the crimes you committed are serious." It went way beyond petty theft. "You could make things easier on yourself if just talked to us. I'll start . . . why did you steall all of these things?"
"I was searching." The Kurotsune said calmly.
"Searching?" Leafa nodded. "For that Tomoe Siesta had around her neck?"
"For that which can see rightly, what is invisible to the eye."
"Such as a Sionach Sidhe using <<Hollow Body>>?" Leafa mused. That alone would be enough reason for the Kurotsune to want the charm.
"Such as everything essential." He whispered it like a mantra.
Leafa frowned. She decided to try something else. "If you were looking for something you'd lost, you could have just asked. That's what people do in a polite society, you know." The Kurotsune made a sound that was between a weak cough and a small laugh. "Something funny?"
His silken tail swished softly drawing the Sylph's attention to the fact that it was a little too short, ending a little too abuprtly. Then she noticed other things. The shape of his nose, broken and then inexpertly set to heal. The small collection of scars that turned one of his eyebrows ragged. The notches and tears in his piqued ears. The watch hadn't done that to him . . .
"I'm sorry for whatever you've gone through." Leafa said quietly. "I really am. But it's only going to get harder for you if we can't trust each other."
"Trust each other?" The Sionach tilted his head. "Then it will get harder, I suppose." Simple, matter of fact, and explaining nothing. "You are wise not to trust me. Nor I to trust you. For we are not tamed."
"Huh?" Leafa shooked her head. "What do you mean not tamed?"
"No . . . I have said too much already."
As if his words had been noting but his spoken thoughts, the Kurotsune had turned in on himself and had nothing more to say.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Captain Ittetsu grunted. "This guys just running us in circles. Come on Kirigaya, we'll let him stew in his juices a little longer and come back when he's softeend up a bit."
"R-Right." Leafa glanced once last time at the Kurotsune, his eyes were closed and his ears were drooped. Whatever secrets he was holding onto, for now, remained his own.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
"Now this is going to sting a bit. But that's how you know it's working." The Salamander GiNo warned before gently dabbing something green and viscous along the flank of her canine partner and then at least tried to reapply the bandages that had covered teh shallow wound.
<<Wolf>> yelped and wimpered his misery, squirming and struggling half heartedly to sit back up only to elicite a short sharp curse from his Salamander partner.
"Oh come on you big baby! You didn't whine this much when the bushy tail slashed you in the first place!"
"You know, I've been wondering, do you actually understand him, or are you having these conversations with yourself?"
GiNo looked up from her attempt at animal first aid to meet the smile and Green eyes of the Sylph Leafa. Leafa had known she would find the pair atop the Watch House. It was the only place that was both private and close at hand.
"Well, he definitely understands a lot more than a normal dog. So it shouldn't surprise you he can make himself understood better too."
The Sylph nodded thoughtfully, recalling the night at the bath house and the token that <<Wolf>> had given her. He'd figure it out the same as Leafa.
"Anyways, congratulations again on your first big arrest." GiNo sat herself cross legged and gently stroked <<Wolf's>> brow. "That was a pretty cool stunt you pulled there at the end. I thought your crazy ass brother was the only one who did that dual weilding stuff."
"That wasn't <<Dual Blades>>." Leafa said.
"Huh?"
The Sylph glanced out over the rooftops. The Watch House wasn't particularly tall, but it was located on the highest tier of Arrun's spiraling centeral district. You could see a lot of the city with obstruction from here.
"<<Dual Blades>> is a fully ambidexterous style using two equal blades. What I used was derived from Niten and other traditional styles that pairs a katana with a wakazashi for pairying and close thrusts. Sakuya-sama has been lending me the manuals." Although GiNo wasn't entirely wrong. Suguha had no interest in duplicating her brother's style, but it was the best way to teach herself something similar to then pass on to Yui. Her niece wanted to be just like her Papa.
"Either way, the Kurotsune didn't know what hit him." GiNo observed. "So congrats again."
"Thanks. But I coudln't have done it without everyone. Kuwata, the Captain, you and <<Wolf>>. How's he doing by the way?"
"This big puppy?" GiNo scrubbed gently at his chest, elicitng the mob to lift his head and close his eyes in pleasure. "He's had it a lot worse. He'll live and be back in fighting fit in no time."
"Good to hear!"
"But that's not really what you're here about is it?" GiNo got up and came to stand beside her Sylphic partner.
"Not exactly. But it might be related . . ." So she told GiNo about what the Kurotsune had said. And she outlined her thoughts on the matter. "I wish you'd been there. But the Captain said it wasn't a good idea because . . ."
"Because I'd want to kill him?" Gino finished.
"Yeah."
The Salamander shrugged. "The Captain's probably right. At least, I wouldn't be in any state right now to have offered you much insight if I'd been listening in."
"But now?"
"This is because I 'Tamed' <<Wolf>> right? You're wondering if this is some sort of hidden ALfheim ability that the Kurotsune is talking about."
Leafa bit her lip. "Well, the way he said it definitely sounded like he was repeating something that was deeply ingrained."
"The mobs are people." GiNo repeated. "And just like any other people they can wind up conditioned." She closed her eyes and meditated for a few moments. "You're over thinking it."
"Really?" The Sylph smiled. "I'd love if you could explain it to me?"
"Grr." GiNo scratched at the back of her head furiously. "Sure it's just that." Something warm and soft siddled up to her, slipping beneath her hand so that the palm rested on <<Wolf's>> brow. He whined softly, receiving a look from his partner who finally relented. "Fine. But only because you asked." She leaned herself against the roof railing, looking off into the distance until her eyes were focused on the horizon.
"As a kid, I used to have really bad social anxiety." GiNo started. "I . . . couldn't even look classmates in the eye in elementary school. And by the time I was in middle school I could barely speak if there was someone else in the room. One of the therapies they try with kids like me is to work us up to interacting with our peers by introducing us to an aid dog. But I was afraid of dogs too so . . . For the longest time I just wanted to find some way to connect with people. So I'd try to bond with them through things like the manga I liked, or the music I listened to. But that never seemed to work right. The lines that work in a manga don't work in real life. And I got confused and ashamed and started wishing I could just disappear. And for a long time I almost had my wish."
"GiNo?" Leafa put a hand on her shoulder.
"Hey, this is about to get to the good part. For a long time I got by because, with games and the internet, I could be anonymous. Nobody needed to know me. And I didn't need to know anybody. Full Dive helped out a lot since I could finally practice my social scripts outside of therapy in a way that was almost natural. I thought I was doing fine but . . . that was just because I didn't realize what I was missing. And then well . . . The Transition happened."
Suguha listened carefully.
"I was outside Gaddan at the time so I spawned at a mid desert bivoac in some caves. I honestly didn't have a clue what was going on. Actually I was kind of freaking out. Got turned around in the caves and then out on a stone bridge . . . I met this big fella." She patted <<Wolf>> on the head earning a sympathetic whine. "Only back then he wasn't the big softy he is today. <<Wolf>> nearly took my leg off, and I nearly seared off his jaw. And then we both fell of that stone bridge and landed six stories down. If I hadn't been turned into a Salamander the fall definitely would have killed me. Instead a shattered my leg. <<Wolf>> didn't come out of it much better."
"So, how did you get out?"
"Ah. Well that's the good part. I don't really know how long we laid down there, staring each other down. Long enough for me to realize the pain I was feeling was real and the blood leaking out of me was my blood and to stop being shocked by it. Eventually I started wandering why he didn't try to finish me off. He was in pretty bad shape too, but I just couldn't see how our stalemate could keep going on. But then I wondered if I was asking the wrong question. Why hadn't I tried to finish him off? I was getting weaker faster. I remember being so so thirsty. Turns out as tough as we Fae are, we can't last much longer without water than a healthy human, and even if it was a cave, it was still the <<Desert Zone>>.
"And then I got to thinking how afraid I was of dogs as a kid. And how I'd never seen a real wolf before. Not even in a zoo. And well, you'd never meet an Ember Wolf anyplace on earth. But a wolf is still a wolf. He was teh first wolf I ever saw and I realized that's why I hadn't lashed out. Because he was unique to me in all the world. And I thought, that it must have been the same for him, he couldn't have been real before, even if he was now. I was first the Salamander he'd ever met. I was unique to him in all the world. I wasn't anonymous anymore. I had this connection to something else. And I thought . . . it would be a damn shame for us both to die."
"I couldn't really walk. But I managed to crawl to him. He didn't like that one bit. Growled out me, barred his fangs. I thought he was finally going to attack. But eventually he let me close enough that I was able to use the little healing magic and energy I had left to splint his legs and heal them enough to stand. I don't remember much exactly after that. We'd been down there three or four days and the dehydration had gotten me really bad." Gino shrugged. "The next thing I remember was, these really weirdly dressed people fussing over me in the shade of a canvas tent. Apparently I'd managed to hold on to <<Wolf>> while he carried me out over the desert. It probably saved both of our lives. Since the water mages who found us couldn't imagine an elf having a well behaved 'familiar'. They patched the two of us up and by the time we could walk again things were starting to get sorted out. I thought at the time we'd go our separate ways, but <<Wolf>> decided we were blood siblings or something so we've been together ever since." Gino still had the distant look in her eye. "The first lear memory I had when I woke up with those mages was someone giving me a tin mug. That was the best water I've ever tasted . . . " She shook her head, and smiled.
"Sorry, I jsut dumped my life story on you. So here's the test . . . How do you think I tamed <<Wolf>>?
Leafa thought about it and realized quickly. "You didn't." GiNo smiled knowlingly. "You didn't tame him, you tamed each other. You learned to trust each other."
"We made bonds with each other that aren't easily broken." The Salamander explained. "We trust each other, completely. My guess . . . Is that the Kurotsune is still guarding something important to him. Something so important to him he won't reveal the secret unless he trusts you completely. Unless you can figure that out, he's going to remain difficult."
"But how do I earn his trust?" They'd captured him. But this case would not be easily closed without the Kurotsune's cooperation.
"I have no idea." GiNo grinned. "I think I'm at the end of the wisdom I have to offer."
"Well, thanks anyways. It really is a big help." Leafa sighed, she opened her notebook and spotted the next appointment on her itinerary. Frowning, she wasn't looking forward to 'that' but maybe it would give her some time to think. "I'll see you later GiNo. And thanks for the story, I . . . actually think it might help." She was about to take to the air when she hard GiNo voice once more.
"Hey, Leafa."
"Uh, yeah?"
The Salamander was looking intently at her canine partner. A look that said 'are you sure?'
"My partner wants you to know. His true name is Akela."
"Akela?"
"The Lone Wolf." GiNo nodded. "For his age and cunning, and for his gripe and his paw."
The Sylph looked up at the sky for a moment and when looked down she was smiling. "But that's wrong."
"Huh?" GiNo blinked, Wolf right beside her.
"He's not a lone wolf. He has you! Well, later GiNo."
"Y-Yeah. Later." The two of them watched the Sylph vanish into the sky before the Salamander gave her partner a head pat and a meaningful look. "Y'know, she's got a point."
Akela huffed.
The arrest had been recorded, the paperwork had been filed, and a sort of informal celebration had been had while the healers had tended to the injured.
'But not too badly injured.' Suguha thought. As fiercely as the Kurotsune had fought, he had held back from using anything too lethal. He'd dislocated joints, broken bones, left gashes and cuts on a half dozen officers, and slashed <<Wolf>> deeply along the ribs. But he could have done a lot worse.
'So why didn't he?' Suguha meditated. 'Remember, the mobs are people. The Kurotsune is a person. What he did isn't right. But there's a reason for it.'
"Here." A cup of something dark and rich was thrust gently into her hands.
"Wha -" Leafa shook her head as Suguha was startled from her thoughts.
"Black as night and hot as the fires of hell." Captain Ittetsu grunted. "You'll need it to keep standing much longer."
"Oh, right, thanks." The Sylph said quietly. She looked down into the darkness in the cup of Khali'd Coffee, inhaling the scent of nutmeg and cinammon.
She'd been leaning against a doorframe, watching the impromptu party wind down, almost but not quite dozing off. She'd been on her feet since incredibly early making plans with Kuwata and GiNo, and she'd probably still be on her feet until incredibly late because . . .
"You ready?" The Captain gave her a look of what, if it was fatherly concern, could only have come from the strictest of fathers.
"Wouldn't Kuwata or GiNo be better for this?" She followed the Captain to the stairs.
"Kuwata doesn't have the temperament for this." Ittetsu recounted. "And GiNo'd kill him given what he did to <<Wolf>>. Besides, Kirigaya, you may not have clapped the cuffs on him, but you're the reason we caught our fox. He's your collar, and everyone knows it." Then the Captain fell quiet as they reached the first floor and the front desk where the on duty Gnome was taking statements. Doubling back on the stairs, they descened into the lock-up.
'The Lock-Up'.
Suguha hadn't really given the cellars much thought beyond appreciating that they stayed cool on hot summer days.
Mostly they served as glorified drunk-tanks. Someplace for an inebriated Faerie to sleep off a drunk and disorderly before staggering home nursing a hangover. About as often, they temporarily held petty thieves and pickpockets before they were sent to stand trial in council.
Now though, descending into the dimness felt almost sinister. Nothing about the Kurotsune's thievery was petty. In total, it had added up to a eye popping sum in a very short amount of time.
'But why so many tomoe? Why this tomoe? If he recognizes it . . . why didn't he just take that one?'
The officers on watch saluted smartly, letting them through multiple looked doors in thick stone walls hastily erected to answer a very pressing question.
How did you contain a Faerie?
Well, unless you wanted to remove their hands, gag them, and lock them away hundreds of meters beneath the streets of Tristania, the humane options were few. A Faerie had the potential to be immensely physically strong, and unlike a mage, they could not be fully stripped of their magic by taking away a focus.
There had been no pressing need to answer the question until now. Few Fae had committed crimes so serious. But Captain Ittetsu had meditated on it throughout the Rip Jack incident and applied a methodical imagination to the answer.
Earth Mages had been summoned and payed handsomely to permanently etch every wall and bar in the lockup with Runes of resistance. While the two magic systems were applied differently, this had the intended effect. Even the most powerful Gnome casters would struggle to displace the enchanted masonry by means of magic.
And in the case of the Kurotsune, a prodigious spell caster and shape shifter, still further measures had been taken.
Leafa paused as she caught site of him behind the bars.
The Kurotsune.
Bound and gagged, in chains and a restraint like a straight jacket at the middle of a floor covered in glimmering <<Alarm>>, <<Binding>>, and <<Dispell>> traps, he sat cross legged and perfectly still save for his breathing. The screaming had stopped and the madness had faded. But there was an inescapable fire in his eyes that tracked the Sylph the moment he saw her.
Suguha wondered if he hated her.
Captain Ittetsu tapped on the bars to the cell and nodded to one of the Imp guards.
"Key us in."
"Are you sure, sir?"
The Captain nodded. "He's not getting through all of that."
Reluctantly, the Imp seemed to agree before selecting and intricate key, far more than a simple skeleton lock and inserting it into the tumbler mechanism. The cell door swung smoothly on its heavy hinges and the Captain stepped inside, followed by Leafa.
"Take out your notepad Kirigaya." The Captain instructed. "Time is . . . let's say four hours after noon. First interogation of the thief known as the Kurotsune accussed of thefts totalling . . . eight hundred and eight three crowns."
'Allegedly.' Leafa scribbled a note in the margines. 'Why the bulk goods?' They were valuable, but totally defied his normal MO and didn't seem to have anything to do with his Tomoe fixation.
"Now then." The Captain rested his hands in his pockets. "Let me explain what's going to happen. You're going to be given an opportunity to explain yourself and depending on your cooperation in returning stolen goods, the proceedings may go easier, and the council may be more lenient. Frankly, you're going to need all the help you can get. Now, my subordinates are going to remove your gag so you can speak. However . . ." The Captain looked stonely at the Sionach Sidhe. "If they even think you're trying to cast magic, they'll blast you with so many <<Concussion Shots>> you won't be seeing straight till next week. Do we understand?"
The Kurotsune's eyes moved sulkily from Ittetsu to Leafa. He nodded slowly.
With a snap of his fingers the Captain's orders were carried out, the Kurotsune's gag was removed. He licked his dry lips, flashing sharp canines.
"Now," Ittetsu grunted, "Do you feel like talking?"
Silence.
"Nothing to say?" Ittetsu slowly circled the shackled sionach. "Or is this defiance?"
Still the Kurotsune was quiet. His eyes followed Ittetsu whenever he came into view but always returned to Leafa.
"The crimes you stand accussed of are serious. They were serious before you assaulted multiple officer and a civilian. Do you have anything to say for yourself? What about the wherabouts of the stolen property?"
"May I try?" Leafa asked. "Captain?"
The grizzled spriggan nodded stepping back as the Sylph stepped forward. They hadn't really planned it this way, but it seemed like they had naturally fallen into the rolls of 'Good Cop' and 'Bad Cop'. At least, Suguha thought, it was a roll she wouldn't mind playing.
"Good afternoon, Kurotsune-san. Uhm . . . I know that you must be very uncomfortable like this. It's just that after what you did, the Captain doesn't want to take any risks. He's very concerned about the safety of his subordinates." She smiled as warmly as she could manage given the dreary surroundings. "Is there something I could do to make you more comfortable? Oh . . ."
The sound of a clearing throat. His lips parted though they barely moved. "I would appreicate a small drink of water." He whispered in a tight voice.
"Huh?" Leafa blinked. She glanced to the Captain who nodded and a guard came forward offering the Sionach water from a tin mug held at the end of a pole. It dribbled from from the corners of his mouth and ran down his chin while he drank until sated and the lowered his head seeming incredibly tired.
"Captain Ittetsu can be harsh, but he's right that the crimes you committed are serious." It went way beyond petty theft. "You could make things easier on yourself if just talked to us. I'll start . . . why did you steall all of these things?"
"I was searching." The Kurotsune said calmly.
"Searching?" Leafa nodded. "For that Tomoe Siesta had around her neck?"
"For that which can see rightly, what is invisible to the eye."
"Such as a Sionach Sidhe using <<Hollow Body>>?" Leafa mused. That alone would be enough reason for the Kurotsune to want the charm.
"Such as everything essential." He whispered it like a mantra.
Leafa frowned. She decided to try something else. "If you were looking for something you'd lost, you could have just asked. That's what people do in a polite society, you know." The Kurotsune made a sound that was between a weak cough and a small laugh. "Something funny?"
His silken tail swished softly drawing the Sylph's attention to the fact that it was a little too short, ending a little too abuprtly. Then she noticed other things. The shape of his nose, broken and then inexpertly set to heal. The small collection of scars that turned one of his eyebrows ragged. The notches and tears in his piqued ears. The watch hadn't done that to him . . .
"I'm sorry for whatever you've gone through." Leafa said quietly. "I really am. But it's only going to get harder for you if we can't trust each other."
"Trust each other?" The Sionach tilted his head. "Then it will get harder, I suppose." Simple, matter of fact, and explaining nothing. "You are wise not to trust me. Nor I to trust you. For we are not tamed."
"Huh?" Leafa shooked her head. "What do you mean not tamed?"
"No . . . I have said too much already."
As if his words had been noting but his spoken thoughts, the Kurotsune had turned in on himself and had nothing more to say.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Captain Ittetsu grunted. "This guys just running us in circles. Come on Kirigaya, we'll let him stew in his juices a little longer and come back when he's softeend up a bit."
"R-Right." Leafa glanced once last time at the Kurotsune, his eyes were closed and his ears were drooped. Whatever secrets he was holding onto, for now, remained his own.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
"Now this is going to sting a bit. But that's how you know it's working." The Salamander GiNo warned before gently dabbing something green and viscous along the flank of her canine partner and then at least tried to reapply the bandages that had covered teh shallow wound.
<<Wolf>> yelped and wimpered his misery, squirming and struggling half heartedly to sit back up only to elicite a short sharp curse from his Salamander partner.
"Oh come on you big baby! You didn't whine this much when the bushy tail slashed you in the first place!"
"You know, I've been wondering, do you actually understand him, or are you having these conversations with yourself?"
GiNo looked up from her attempt at animal first aid to meet the smile and Green eyes of the Sylph Leafa. Leafa had known she would find the pair atop the Watch House. It was the only place that was both private and close at hand.
"Well, he definitely understands a lot more than a normal dog. So it shouldn't surprise you he can make himself understood better too."
The Sylph nodded thoughtfully, recalling the night at the bath house and the token that <<Wolf>> had given her. He'd figure it out the same as Leafa.
"Anyways, congratulations again on your first big arrest." GiNo sat herself cross legged and gently stroked <<Wolf's>> brow. "That was a pretty cool stunt you pulled there at the end. I thought your crazy ass brother was the only one who did that dual weilding stuff."
"That wasn't <<Dual Blades>>." Leafa said.
"Huh?"
The Sylph glanced out over the rooftops. The Watch House wasn't particularly tall, but it was located on the highest tier of Arrun's spiraling centeral district. You could see a lot of the city with obstruction from here.
"<<Dual Blades>> is a fully ambidexterous style using two equal blades. What I used was derived from Niten and other traditional styles that pairs a katana with a wakazashi for pairying and close thrusts. Sakuya-sama has been lending me the manuals." Although GiNo wasn't entirely wrong. Suguha had no interest in duplicating her brother's style, but it was the best way to teach herself something similar to then pass on to Yui. Her niece wanted to be just like her Papa.
"Either way, the Kurotsune didn't know what hit him." GiNo observed. "So congrats again."
"Thanks. But I coudln't have done it without everyone. Kuwata, the Captain, you and <<Wolf>>. How's he doing by the way?"
"This big puppy?" GiNo scrubbed gently at his chest, elicitng the mob to lift his head and close his eyes in pleasure. "He's had it a lot worse. He'll live and be back in fighting fit in no time."
"Good to hear!"
"But that's not really what you're here about is it?" GiNo got up and came to stand beside her Sylphic partner.
"Not exactly. But it might be related . . ." So she told GiNo about what the Kurotsune had said. And she outlined her thoughts on the matter. "I wish you'd been there. But the Captain said it wasn't a good idea because . . ."
"Because I'd want to kill him?" Gino finished.
"Yeah."
The Salamander shrugged. "The Captain's probably right. At least, I wouldn't be in any state right now to have offered you much insight if I'd been listening in."
"But now?"
"This is because I 'Tamed' <<Wolf>> right? You're wondering if this is some sort of hidden ALfheim ability that the Kurotsune is talking about."
Leafa bit her lip. "Well, the way he said it definitely sounded like he was repeating something that was deeply ingrained."
"The mobs are people." GiNo repeated. "And just like any other people they can wind up conditioned." She closed her eyes and meditated for a few moments. "You're over thinking it."
"Really?" The Sylph smiled. "I'd love if you could explain it to me?"
"Grr." GiNo scratched at the back of her head furiously. "Sure it's just that." Something warm and soft siddled up to her, slipping beneath her hand so that the palm rested on <<Wolf's>> brow. He whined softly, receiving a look from his partner who finally relented. "Fine. But only because you asked." She leaned herself against the roof railing, looking off into the distance until her eyes were focused on the horizon.
"As a kid, I used to have really bad social anxiety." GiNo started. "I . . . couldn't even look classmates in the eye in elementary school. And by the time I was in middle school I could barely speak if there was someone else in the room. One of the therapies they try with kids like me is to work us up to interacting with our peers by introducing us to an aid dog. But I was afraid of dogs too so . . . For the longest time I just wanted to find some way to connect with people. So I'd try to bond with them through things like the manga I liked, or the music I listened to. But that never seemed to work right. The lines that work in a manga don't work in real life. And I got confused and ashamed and started wishing I could just disappear. And for a long time I almost had my wish."
"GiNo?" Leafa put a hand on her shoulder.
"Hey, this is about to get to the good part. For a long time I got by because, with games and the internet, I could be anonymous. Nobody needed to know me. And I didn't need to know anybody. Full Dive helped out a lot since I could finally practice my social scripts outside of therapy in a way that was almost natural. I thought I was doing fine but . . . that was just because I didn't realize what I was missing. And then well . . . The Transition happened."
Suguha listened carefully.
"I was outside Gaddan at the time so I spawned at a mid desert bivoac in some caves. I honestly didn't have a clue what was going on. Actually I was kind of freaking out. Got turned around in the caves and then out on a stone bridge . . . I met this big fella." She patted <<Wolf>> on the head earning a sympathetic whine. "Only back then he wasn't the big softy he is today. <<Wolf>> nearly took my leg off, and I nearly seared off his jaw. And then we both fell of that stone bridge and landed six stories down. If I hadn't been turned into a Salamander the fall definitely would have killed me. Instead a shattered my leg. <<Wolf>> didn't come out of it much better."
"So, how did you get out?"
"Ah. Well that's the good part. I don't really know how long we laid down there, staring each other down. Long enough for me to realize the pain I was feeling was real and the blood leaking out of me was my blood and to stop being shocked by it. Eventually I started wandering why he didn't try to finish me off. He was in pretty bad shape too, but I just couldn't see how our stalemate could keep going on. But then I wondered if I was asking the wrong question. Why hadn't I tried to finish him off? I was getting weaker faster. I remember being so so thirsty. Turns out as tough as we Fae are, we can't last much longer without water than a healthy human, and even if it was a cave, it was still the <<Desert Zone>>.
"And then I got to thinking how afraid I was of dogs as a kid. And how I'd never seen a real wolf before. Not even in a zoo. And well, you'd never meet an Ember Wolf anyplace on earth. But a wolf is still a wolf. He was teh first wolf I ever saw and I realized that's why I hadn't lashed out. Because he was unique to me in all the world. And I thought, that it must have been the same for him, he couldn't have been real before, even if he was now. I was first the Salamander he'd ever met. I was unique to him in all the world. I wasn't anonymous anymore. I had this connection to something else. And I thought . . . it would be a damn shame for us both to die."
"I couldn't really walk. But I managed to crawl to him. He didn't like that one bit. Growled out me, barred his fangs. I thought he was finally going to attack. But eventually he let me close enough that I was able to use the little healing magic and energy I had left to splint his legs and heal them enough to stand. I don't remember much exactly after that. We'd been down there three or four days and the dehydration had gotten me really bad." Gino shrugged. "The next thing I remember was, these really weirdly dressed people fussing over me in the shade of a canvas tent. Apparently I'd managed to hold on to <<Wolf>> while he carried me out over the desert. It probably saved both of our lives. Since the water mages who found us couldn't imagine an elf having a well behaved 'familiar'. They patched the two of us up and by the time we could walk again things were starting to get sorted out. I thought at the time we'd go our separate ways, but <<Wolf>> decided we were blood siblings or something so we've been together ever since." Gino still had the distant look in her eye. "The first lear memory I had when I woke up with those mages was someone giving me a tin mug. That was the best water I've ever tasted . . . " She shook her head, and smiled.
"Sorry, I jsut dumped my life story on you. So here's the test . . . How do you think I tamed <<Wolf>>?
Leafa thought about it and realized quickly. "You didn't." GiNo smiled knowlingly. "You didn't tame him, you tamed each other. You learned to trust each other."
"We made bonds with each other that aren't easily broken." The Salamander explained. "We trust each other, completely. My guess . . . Is that the Kurotsune is still guarding something important to him. Something so important to him he won't reveal the secret unless he trusts you completely. Unless you can figure that out, he's going to remain difficult."
"But how do I earn his trust?" They'd captured him. But this case would not be easily closed without the Kurotsune's cooperation.
"I have no idea." GiNo grinned. "I think I'm at the end of the wisdom I have to offer."
"Well, thanks anyways. It really is a big help." Leafa sighed, she opened her notebook and spotted the next appointment on her itinerary. Frowning, she wasn't looking forward to 'that' but maybe it would give her some time to think. "I'll see you later GiNo. And thanks for the story, I . . . actually think it might help." She was about to take to the air when she hard GiNo voice once more.
"Hey, Leafa."
"Uh, yeah?"
The Salamander was looking intently at her canine partner. A look that said 'are you sure?'
"My partner wants you to know. His true name is Akela."
"Akela?"
"The Lone Wolf." GiNo nodded. "For his age and cunning, and for his gripe and his paw."
The Sylph looked up at the sky for a moment and when looked down she was smiling. "But that's wrong."
"Huh?" GiNo blinked, Wolf right beside her.
"He's not a lone wolf. He has you! Well, later GiNo."
"Y-Yeah. Later." The two of them watched the Sylph vanish into the sky before the Salamander gave her partner a head pat and a meaningful look. "Y'know, she's got a point."
Akela huffed.
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Anzer'ke
Anarchism Ho!
So Giancarlo Esposito will be playing him in the live action adaptation?
Also my word am I curious what Akela thinks of all the stuff going on around him. Though I suppose his memories probably don't include enough details of how Faeries act for him to see how weird their cities have become.
Icipall
Don't worry, we can fanfix that!
- Location
- Cold snow fields of Finland
Hmm, the interesting question is how much, and what, does the Kurotsune remember/know of the world pre Transition.
That is a very good question.
That's good.
Yeah, trying to hold someone with such a bag of tricks without killing, maiming, or constantly keeping them unconscious is not easy, or look pretty.
Hmm, but why, and how did you know to look for Tomoes?
As expected of Yui.
Wolf is a good boy.
FTFY
Makes sense. And that was a great story from GiNo.
Well said, Leafa.