A Song of Wood and Water

[Spekkun]

Damian thought this would be fun, he thought he would enjoy himself but so far it was all being a headache for him. He stood in a room of the nearly empty Inari Shrine, a cap on his head to hide his ears. He came to the island of Japan to engage with his inherited culture since he found he knew next to nothing about it. The first stopped seemed obvious, considering what half of his make-up was.

The only Issue? He barely spoke Japanese. He knew enough to get by and could understand tidbits of the language but it took a lot out of him to get it. There was one instance when he completely mixed up two words, forgetting to elongate one and it resulted in him getting kicked out of the restaurant. Still, it was only day two...he had to keep his head up, good things came to pass always, right?

The shrine felt like the real deal to him though. He couldn't help but feel a pull, like something was inviting him deeper into the shrine. Of course, it only made sense...Inari was the Goddess of all Kitsune. He stepped deeper into the shrine, looking around with a mystified look on his face, though he tried to keep it covered up mostly. He stopped in front of a statue of the Fox goddess, staring up at her with a peculiar look on his face.

 

[Greenie]

And so it was in the present day. However, the auburn haired kitsune who was trotting through the woods was not from whatever time Damian may come from.

Five hundred years earlier, the Inari shrine had not been erected. In fact, the entire area was simply a rather large forest, untouched for the most part by humans. It was known that youkai and kitsune lived here. Unless a person was brave, or stupid, or both, people would keep away from the forest and find another way across to the village on the other side. There was the river's way, or simply plodding half a day's worth of time before reaching a grassy field that would eventually lead to the village. A waste of time, but considering what may come upon them in the forest, most people decided wasting time was valuable.

For Ayame the kitsune, however, the forest was life. The rather short humanoid with fox feet loved being among what she called 'the green life'. Plants, trees, grass, flowers, all of it was friend to her, and she was friend to it. And for the time, it was going to be her resting place for the afternoon. The little kitsune was sleepy, having been wandering about for more than a few hours. Where she was headed, she had no idea. All she had was a dream. Literally. Inari-sama had come to her while she slept, glorious as always, her ten tails swaying behind her. There she had been instructed to come to this forest.

"I'm hungryyyy..." Ayame whined. No one could hear her as no one was around, but it wasn't like that would stop her. She had quite the habit of talking to herself, after all. She suspected it kept her from going completely mad. Sure, mad people talked to themselves, but at least she knew she was yapping to herself. That made a difference, in her mind.

"I want something sweeeet." She flopped down at the base of a rather large tree. "After sleep." She snuggled against the bark, feeling rather comfortable. Her fluffy fox tail wrapped around her waist as she shut her eyes. She didn't even have to wait a few minutes before she fell asleep...

... and woke up a some moments later, nose twitching. Bright green eyes looked around suspiciously, catching the scent of another canine... and more. She blinked, looking around.

"Ehhh?!?" Where in Inari-sama's name was she?

​

 

[Spekkun]

Damian thought about touching the statue, his hand reaching up for a light brush of its cheek. Maybe it was the child in him or just him being overwhelmed by a feeling of belonging. It was technically HIS goddess anyhow, and he was sure it wouldn't hurt to touch it...right?

In any case, just before his fingers could touch the stone he paused, hearing the shriek. Would he have brushed it off normally? Yes, but there was nothing normal about the shriek, depending on what constitutes for normal. It wasn't in English or even Japanese, but in Canidae. "Huh..." He looked at the statue once more before deciding to go venture towards the voice.

One hand in his pocket and the other holding a strap to his bag, Damian kept walking until his eyes fell upon the fox. At first he dismissed it as a fox hanging out in a fox shrine, but he realized it very well could have come from the fox. She seemed confused enough. "Was that you?" He asked her, straightforward and without hesitation. "Or are you just an ordinary fox?" He asked.

Of course, the shrine maidens that were still there were looking at him weirdly, some of them anyway. Others probably believed in the goddess, which they were probably right to do so. Still, he was just a normal guy as far as they knew...he hoped. They might suspect his hat to be a tool to hide things...fluffy, canine things.

 

[Greenie]

Ayame jumped to her feet- paws. She looked down at herself, noting she was no longer in humanoid form, rather a little fox. She was quite the ordinary looking fox as well, aside from the fact that her tail was completely cream in colour, and her eyes were as green as the trees she adored. She huffed slightly as she turned around, looking up and down and side to side. She was in... a building. She hated buildings! They made her skin crawl; why, she could almost feel the leash around her neck-

Her ear turned sideways, hearing the voice. "Eh?" She was a vocal person, but apparently words were failing her at the moment. She turned toward the voice, blinking when she saw a tall young man. Why tall? Whyyyy? It was a hard world as is without having to look up to everything! Still, what was this? He was talking to her.

She trotted over, sniffing as she did. The scent was coming from this fellow here. It was a weird scent. There was kitsune there, but there was also something else. Whatever it was, it was weird. Her mind insisted on that fact.

Ayame paused a couple of feet away from him and sat down on her haunches. She studied him with her beady eyes for a good few seconds before pointing at him with her paw. "Me? Ordinary? Baka! I am the Great Ayame! There's nothing ordinary about me! I am so great that your mind will be unable to comprehend my greatness!" To the shrine maidens, of course, it would only sound like a gekkering fox. Then again, Ayame wasn't even noting who was around... for now.

That said, she set her pointing paw back down on the ground before staring at the male. "Who are you? Did you abduct me and bring me here?! If so, you will regret it!"​

 

[Spekkun]

Damian was a little taken aback by her attitude. Whatever he was expecting, he wasn't expecting that. The great Ayame? For a moment he wondered if her title was well deserved, if she was somewhere within the annals of history, Kitsune history. Of course that line of thinking was cut when she accused him of being unable to comprehend her greatness. "Yeah..." He said dryly for a moment. "Great Ayame, I did not recognize you for a moment." He still didn't.

Still though, maybe she was great around these parts. He didn't know so maybe he oughta play it safe for now? Last thing he wanted was a fight in a shrine.

"I didn't kidnap you or anything, don't worry about that," He told her, crossing his arms for a moment. "I just got here myself...I wanted to visit the shrine." He explained. "Then I heard you over here and decided to come say hello." A Kitsune to Kitsune talk, though he didn't know if that was going to work out now.

"My name is Damian." He told her before asking a more pertinent question. "You have no idea how you got here?" He asked, sounding a little suspicious. "You didn't just...walk here? Come here with anyone?" For a moment, he thought she was messing with him. She was a natural born prankster, at least in theory. Weren't all foxes? So he had to ask. "Am...am I being messed with?" He asked her, voice dripping with obvious suspicion.

 

[Greenie]

"Well it's not like many know me-" Ayame stopped herself in her tracks. Best not to mention that. Always give a false impression of yourself to people, otherwise they'll think little of you and treat you like dirt. She refused to be treated like dirt; she was of the Mori path, not Chikyuu. It might have been a good thing for her to start on the path of earth, but not know. She had a mission, after all. The self imposed mission of finding whatever Inari-sama had told her she'd find in the forest... the forest she had been in just moments ago it seemed!

Staring up at the fellow was starting to get annoying. Poof! Ayame was suddenly in her humanoid form once more. Shy of five feet, she had a rather boyish body, and her clothes didn't help much in that regard. She was wearing a loose sleeveless green tunic and a pair of poofy blue pants that reached her knees. Below that, her legs were actually like a fox's. If anything was feminine about her, it was her long auburn hair, tied up with a pretty blue ribbon. Even then, she was more often than not mistaken for a boy. It didn't help that she had boisterous and somewhat annoying attitude.

"Hmm..." She kicked at the ground with her paw before turning around and looking properly, hands on her waist, eyes narrowed comically as she tried to figure out where she was. It was then that she finally saw it, the statue of Inari-sama. "Wah! You! You were right! This is a shrine!" But she hadn't slept in a shrine! That didn't make any sense!

"Damian, eh? Hrmmm..." She stuck out her bottom lip, thinking. "That sounds like a foreign name. Daaay me yun. So strange!" Strange was actually the entire situation, but Ayame had decided she would only focus on one thing at a time. The problem with that was that she was easily distracted, so she jumped from one subject to the other. "Messed with? What do you mean?" Now she was the confused one, or rather, the more confused one. "I went to sleep, and I woke up because I smelled you. You smell weird, by the way. What are you? You have a kitsune scent, but something else."​

 

[Spekkun]

"Well...my name isn't Japanese, I wasn't born or raised here, but my family comes from here...maternal side anyway.." Damian told her. It was where he got the Kitsune in his blood from. "The other thing you're smelling is wolf." He explained to her. But he didn't wish to speak of his heritage, it was a mess that would be confusing and enraging, probably for both. "And I don't smell weird." He added, sounding only the slightest bit offended.

Damian could hear the fierce whispering of the shrine maidens as they stared at Ayame. The cat was already out of the bag so why keep it on? He doubted they would freak out or burn them at the stake. That was more popular with Westerners. He decided to remove his hat, grateful for the relief he felt. His ears sprung free, having been pressed against his medium-length and messy black hair., dark in contrast to his emerald green eyes. The ears on his head flicked, as if stretching themselves out.


"Of course it's a shrine, though lately I guess it's more of a tourist attraction than anything." He told her. "Messed with...you know...playing a trick on me." He explained to her. Was it not a term used here? From the way she was talking she sounded misplaced herself. "You are, aren't you? Or are you truly unsure of your whereabouts?" How could someone from the homeland not know of the shrine? From what he knew it was pretty popular.

 

[Greenie]

"Ah!" Ayame's mouth hung open for a wee bit before she brought her hand up and pushed at her chin, effectively closing her mouth. He was only half kitsune... that meant he was a- "You're a hanyou!" A kitsune breeding with a... wolf? She had never heard of such a thing. With humans, sure. They were known for seducing men. Not that Ayame was not into any of that, however. She'd rather eat something sweet. Like mochi, or dango.

As always, Ayame wasn't paying much attention to anything besides the topic of her interest. Oh, she could hear the shrine maidens well enough, but it wasn't like she cared about what they were saying. If they tried anything, well, she had her own methods of doing things. She wouldn't hurt them, oh no. The small kitsune wasn't the violent type. She would just... shake them a little. Besides, if what he was saying was actually true, then they wouldn't hurt her. She was, after all, a worshiper of Inari-sama, to whom this shrine supposedly belonged!

She huffed a little, looking from the young man Damian to the statue. "I wouldn't lie in a shrine! I may be a mischievous kitsune, but I'm a devout one too!" She crossed her arms over her small chest, pouting something fierce. The effect was ruined as a treacherous bang fell onto her nose, causing her to sneeze.

"Uwah!" She rubbed at her nose before blinking. What did he say? "I know where I was. I was in a forest!" She turned away from Damian and trotted toward the exit. "It was all trees. It was beautiful, so green, green everywhere!" She smiled, a sincere smile, no tinge of mischief there now. She seemed to be truly passionate about trees, or green, or green trees, apparently.
​

 

[Spekkun]

"Hanyou?" Damian raised his eyebrow. He'd been called a lot of different names before but Hanyou was new. "What the heck is that?" He asked with a grunt. He almost thought it was an insult but there was no way she'd be all that surprised looking if it were. With some thought and deductive reasoning he was able to get an idea of what she meant. "Oh...a half-breed." He grunted. He wondered if it wasn't all too common for Kitsunes to breed with other species.

"If it's any consolation, it's the only side of my family I really learn about." He grunted. It was the easier to learn about as well. He wouldn't have to go into a town in the middle of nowhere and if he did it'd be for one reason. He shook his head, erasing the thoughts from his mind. He was here, in japan. He wasn't going to dwell on that.

"Well...I don't think there's that much of a forest around here." Damian told her. 'Maybe a small grouping of trees.." In a way, he was kind of teasing her, just subtly. But he forwent the subtly, where was the fun in that. "Hm...maybe the great Ayame is going crazy, hm? Are you seeing things?" And he just accused her of messing with him.

 

[Greenie]

Ayame couldn't help but be surprised at how this person didn't even know what a hanyou was. Well, not everyone could be as great as her, after all, so maybe that was why. He seemed to realize what it was after some thought. There was hope for him yet! It was interesting to say that this was the first kitsune she had seen in a good few months. She was, of course, a pure youkai, but as for parents, they were gone. The only thing she had left of them was the ribbon in her hair as well as... well, her. What better reminder was there anyway?

Her tail flicked a little before lowering. She stared at the outside. A small grouping of trees? "Nani?!" Outside, aside from the shrine trees, there was nothing that would suggest this had been a huge forest full of trees! Ayame scurried out of the shrine to stand outside in the middle of the pathway, turning around and around, looking in every direction. In the distance, she could spot buildings, many of them, huge ones! This... this had to be a dream, right? A not so nice dream! "This is not real!" She sat on her haunches, reaching out to pat at the ground. Marble? Stone? She didn't know, she wasn't on that path.

"I'm not crazy!" she snapped in a grouchy manner. Truth be told, she was freaking out inside. She stood up after a moment, trotting over to a nearby tree, one that seemed big enough to be here for quite a few years, centuries in fact. She put her hand on the base of the tree, letting out a long breath. Strangely, it felt familiar. The tree seemed to recognize her as well, a low branch slowly moving down, tendrils growing from the end, wrapping around Ayame's arm.

She looked to the tendrils and reached out a hand, petting them gently, almost as if they were a pet. After a few moment, she let out a sigh, and the tendrils retracted, the branch returning to normal. "Well. Hmph. It seems I'm where I'm supposed to be, just not when."​

 

[Spekkun]

"Alright,alright." Damian grunted, seeming a bit put off at being snapped at. He did just watch her pat around the marble floor and look around in a panic., and as crazy as it seemed, he didn't really think she had lost her mind. She seemed more...out of place anf filled with panic that he felt sympathy for the girl. In fact, maybe even a little empathy. "You're not crazy." He added, just in case.

He watched her interactions with the tree and was shocked, but pleasantly to see the tree grow tendrils. . He had to remember, she was a Kitsune so her abilities, her path had to be with the forest. That would explain her need for the trees and her shock for their being so few. He watched her patiently, and when she supposedly got her solution, he wore a look of disbelief at her words. "So what does that mean...?" His first guess was she was supposed to meet someone and got the time wrong, but that didn't explain her weirdness or reaction to the surroundings.

Of course it wasn't really any of his business, and he contemplated leaving it all alone but he was curious. "So you're..." He started, leaving his sentence open for her to finish it. He was trying to think outside of the box on what she meant but he wasn't that wild of a person. Despite the fact that so many Kitsunes had various different abilities, he still had a somewhat mundane way of thinking about these things. There were somethings too crazy, even for the half magical fox, half wolf "Hanyou" to believe.

 

[Greenie]

"I'm a kitsune," Ayame replied immediately before realizing that wasn't what he meant at all. She smacked her hand against her forehead before settling down on her haunches, arms resting on her knees as she rocked back and forth, back and forth. "The trees speak to me. The green life, actually. Because I am of the best path, Mori!" She perked up a little at the self ego raising, though it only lasted for a little bit. "The tree was just a sapling when it saw me! It said I disappeared once I slept, and now is the first time it saw me again, after five hundred years! Huh! It's crazy!"

She flopped backward, rump settling on the ground as she pulled her tail onto her lap, grumbling as she combed through the soft and fluffy fur, pulling out some dirt and bits of mulch. "Inari-sama, she told me to come here. She said I would meet the person who will teach me. My Sensei! She never said I'd end up somewhere... like this!" She looked to Damian, taking note of his clothes and shoes. They were nothing like what she was used to seeing or wearing. How much had things changed from her time? Was she supposed to be here? So many questions! Where were her answers?

Ayame's bottom lip stuck out in a pout, thinking. "Where do you stay?" She made her voice sound all casual, as if it was a simple question with absolutely no ulterior motive. There was a slight glint of mischief in her eyes, however.
​

*****​

Meanwhile, there was a dark shadow that seemed to be fleeing the shrine, heading in the opposite direction from where the two canids were talking. It shot through the air, heading for the nearest refuge it could fire, a manhole in a nearby school building. Once it was underground and in the darkness, the shadow took form, morphing into what seemed like a dark shaded fox with red eyes, four tails swaying behind him.

He wasn't sure how he ended up... wherever he was. He had simply been after that pesky fox. Now he was here, and he wasn't sure he hated it. His nose twitched and a grin grew on his fox face. There was darkness here alright. No-chan will be having fun.​

 

[Spekkun]

"From the past? 500 years ago...?" Damian blinked, disbelief dripping from his voice. Time travel? No way...! Though didn't some Kitsunes have time itself as a path? But her path was Mori, so maybe it wasn't her, maybe it was someone else? He was confused by the whole thing, so he decided to focus on the more simple stuff...well as simple as it could get. "So you were sent here to find a teacher." He scratched his head. He almost asked her who sent her here but the answer came to him on its own. "Ahh...you probably were sent here by Inari, then."

Who else but Inari could have done it? And Inari sent her to that location anyway. "Well I'll be.." He chuckled, looking back at the shrine to the fox goddess. He made a mental note to be more open-minded about this kind of stuff. There really was a fox goddess out there, maybe he oughta make offerings often..."The Mori path is alright." He said, looking back to her. "It was pretty cool that you could commune with the trees like that...but it's not the best." He smirked at her.

"Where do I stay?" Damian blinked. "I stay at a hotel a few blocks away." He told her before wondering if she would have any idea what a hotel was. Did they have hotels back then? "Once I finish up here, I'm probably leaving." He didn't have much else to do for the day. He'd had his fill of excitement for the day. "Perhaps praying to Inari will send you back." He suggested. He had no other idea on what to do.

 

[Greenie]

Ayame blinked at Damian before giving a huge 'hmph'. Mori path was 'alright', not the best? How rude! It was the most wonderful of all paths! It was life and shelter and green, it was lovely! Hm... She wriggled her nose, taking in the scents surrounding her, and more particularly, the hanyou's. Could he follow a path? She didn't know, obviously, but the fact that he said that her's wasn't the best led her to believe that he could. Well, he didn't smell like fire at least.

Fire was Ayame's biggest weakness, but even more than that, it scared her. She hardly cooked the food she ate, seeing she was too fearful to build a fire. Besides, the thought of using parts of her beloved green friends just to light fire and have cooked meat seemed very wrong to her. Maybe it was silly and ridiculous of her to think that way, but she didn't care. No one had been there for her like the forest had, and she would try to protect the trees the best that she could.

"As long as you're not Kasai or Kage," she told him. Fire and Shadow. She had met a nogitsune who had been a master of both those paths. Needless to say, the meeting had not gone well at all. Ayame's pranks were never meant to hurt anyone. They were just for laughs, usually hers, but they were never more than an annoyance. The nogitsune had been different, however. He had clearly enjoyed watching the pain and torment of the people he 'pranked'. Ayame had watched in something akin to horror. She may have helped the humans, but by that time they were no longer trustful of another fox youkai. They hated both equally, and youkai hunters were sent her way.

"Hotel?" What on earth was that? Ayame had no clue, but she couldn't make it seem as if she was stupid. "Hah! I knew that, of course." Whatever it was, she'd find out soon enough, with her super stalking skills. "I will pray to her. Whatever is best will be done." She did have faith in the ten tail. Hopefully everything would be sorted out. And if not... well she would see to that later. "Well then, ja ne!" With that said, the little kitsune shifted back to her fox form and trotted back into the shrine.​

 

[Spekkun]

"Kasai? Kage?" Damian shook his head. He found it funny, considering that the path he was born to follow was the exact opposite of Kasai. Kasai did seem to run in his family though, his aunt and grandfather having started with that path. His mother and grandmother, and even his half-siblings were very different however. His mother was just like him, his nature being tied to the oceans. Umi was his path and it made perfect sense to him.

"Alright then," He told her, giving a nod of his head, "I hope you find what you're looking for. And be careful." He told her as she trotted off. He didn't think people were receptive to Kitsunes back then and they sure weren't receptive to them now. Anything even slightly weird or different and there could be riots or panic attacks. She would be fine though, she had the trees and other plant life looking out for her, as well as the ten tailed goddess after all.

Putting on his cap once more, Damian made sure his ears were secure and hidden, a grimace on his face as they were held captive and oppressed once more. He looked back at the shrine before he headed off, leaving the temple area. He wasn't quite sure what to do next so he figured he would nab himself something to eat and head back to his hotel room. He would visit more of the tourist attractions tomorrow at the crack of dawn.

On his way back home, the half-breed Kitsune nabbed himself some sort of soup, making sure to nab extra meat and veggies, as well as rice and some drink. He retreated to his hotel room almost immediately, trying to make sure the food was still hot before he got through the door. As if starving, he wasted no time in opening up his meal after closing the door behind him, tossing his hat aside and letting his fluffier-than-normal wolf tail free. He settled into his seat and placed the rice into a bowl and poured the soup over it before grabbing a spoon to dig in only to pause immediately.

"Hm..." A thought crossed his mind. He was in Japan, he'd went to visit the Inari shrine and he'd met a time travelling Kitsune. All of these things seemed to fit in well with what he knew about the country, so perhaps he should immerse himself in it more? As if he were embarrassed to say it, the words left his mouth in a rush. "Itadakimasu." And just like that, he dug into his meal, tail swishing back and forth behind him.

 

[Greenie]

Ayame didn't stay in the temple for very long. In fact, once she was done a little prayer to Inari-sama, trying to keep the whining and complaining to a minimum, she turned away from the statue and started out once more. There was nothing left for her here. She wasn't a shrine maiden and she certainly didn't want to become a shrine keeper or a familiar. She wasn't even of the heaven path! No, there was somewhere else she had to go.

She remained in her fox form as she headed out of the shrine, nose twitching, picking up the scents in the air. So much was unfamiliar! The only comfortable scents were those of the trees, and that of the hanyou, or rather, the bit of kitsune in him. The wolf part made her wary, but not too badly. She had never fallen into any trouble with the wolf youkai back... back in her time. There was the occasional threat to eat her, yes, but that was just a joke, in her opinion.

There it was. She caught on to his scent, and the direction he had headed in. With no qualms about how he might take this, the little kitsune started after the hanyou. Stealthily, of course. She wasn't about to let him know she was coming! She took her time as well, not wanting to get close. Which was actually not too hard to do. See, Ayame had not realized that the present world was much more different than the one she was used to.

She jolted to the side the first time she saw a car pass by. Her tail was between her legs, ears flat against her head, eyes wide as she hid in a bush, shaking with fear. What was that?! Louder than a dragon, and the smell! It was horrible! A whimper escaped her as she rubbed her nose with a paw. The scent, Damian's scent, would she be able to find it now?

It was only once the sun set that Ayame venture out from the bush once more. The street, whatever the material was made of, seemed calmer now. The huge... beastly things seemed to have lessen. She had also observed that none of them seemed to traverse on the elevated sides of the road. Still looking rather cautious, she set out once more, sniffing at the ground. It took a few minutes before she finally caught Damian's scent once more. Relief came over her as she trotted forward, making sure to keep to the side of the street.​

 

[Spekkun]

Damian took his time with his meal, savoring bite after bite. He wasn't one to rush through his food unless starved or pressed for time. As he chewed, he thought about what happened at the Inari Shrines, a chuckle leaving him shortly after swallowing. The odds of that happening were pretty low, right? The odds of anything even remotely close to what happened happening had to be abysmally small. He reached into his pocket to pull out his cellphone, raising an eyebrow at the time. It was getting late.

He opened it, deciding to send a message to his mother. He was sure she was wondering how he was, that and he figured he had a pretty interesting story to tell her. He started to type but after a few words he paused his text entirely, staring at what little text was on his screen. Instead of finishing, he saved the text as a draft, leaving his phone on the table. He repackaged the food that he didn't eat and moved it to the mini-fridge in the hotel room. He would talk to her later.

The wolf-fox hybrid decided that he would work more on his Japanese for now. Grabbing his book, he fell back onto is bed and got to work on improving his language. Of course, he got bored with the practice quickly and decided to close his book and rest his eyes for the moment. He set the book aside on the nightstand, relaxed with a sigh, focused on the taste of the food from earlier while trying to take a small nap.

 

[Greenie]

Ayame wasn't the nosy type. Well, literally yes, and sometimes figuratively too, but it wasn't a common practice of hers, at least not with strangers, and most certainly not since her father had passed away. But now that she was in this strange world with only hints of familiarity, it made sense for her to be a little of both. How else was she meant to survive, right? She didn't trust the shrine, she didn't trust the strange looking roads, and she was very quickly learning to detest the roaring moving metal boxes that seemed to have people in them. How they survived in there, she had no clue. Why, she even heard some weird music coming from one!

Leaving all that aside, however, she was being rather nosy right now. Having followed Damian's scent, she soon found herself at the door that led into his room. She was a kitsune; it wasn't a great feat for her to simply make the illusion that she was a worker here, as strange as they seemed. She paused where his scent had finished, putting her hands on the door and giving it a large sniff. It was wooden, which was good for her. A grin came over her face. She didn't knock, figuring he'd probably not want her to come in. Instead, she decided to use her mori abilities.

Wood in any form other than living wasn't the easiest to work with, but Ayame had had a lot of practice growing up with her father. She hadn't used it since that dreadful day he had passed, unsure whether she would be able to control herself. Even now she was a little nervous, but she figured with a task this small, it would be no big deal. As it were, it only took a few moments before there was a crack in the door. Noiselessly, the crack expanded until it was three inches high and approximately the same width.

"There." The small kitsune looked rather pleased with the result. Without further ado, Ayame pulled a leaf out of her pocket and placed it on her head. Poof! She disappeared... for the most part. Actually, if someone looked down, they would see a small mushroom with a puffy cream fox tail. Said mushroom had leaf green eyes and was hopping through the crack that was made. Thank goodness no one was paying attention. At least that's what Ayame hoped.

As she passed through, the crack resealed itself, and poof! Ayame was now in her fox form. She shook herself before looking around, green eyes taking in the sight. She was curious, that was for sure, but the great yawn that escaped her proved that the day's adventures had tired her out. She yawned yet again before spotting the bed, and Damian on top of it. Her tail wagged before she hopped onto the bed, as light as can be. She didn't think twice before curling up next to the hanyou and closing her eyes, ready to sleep away.​

 

[Spekkun]

Damian's eyes opened when he felt his book slip from his hand and fall to the floor. He didn't know how long he'd been out but he was sure it was at least an hour or more. The hanyou raised his arms and stretched out his legs, a slow yawn leaving his mouth. He moved to grab his translator and that was when he finally took notice of the fox that was curled by his side, sleeping in his bed. At first he thought he'd run into yet another Kitsune, but one sniff and his nose was able to recognize it was the same one from before. "What the..."

Damian stood up from his bed, staring at the fox. How did she get inside? Better yet, it was impressive that she was able to track him here, especially with the barrage of new and different scents that had to have assaulted her nose. She was practically in a different world now! With that thought he was somewhat less irritated by this. She didn't have anywhere else to go if she tracked him here, she wasn't able to get home. He couldn't really be mad at her for that. Well..at least not 100 percent.

"Kuh..." He grunted, scratching his head before reaching over and flicking the snoozing fox on her nose. "Oi, wake up, Ayame." He told her. Why? Well...he didn't want to wait for her to wake up, who knew how long that would be? Besides, if he were to leave he didn't know if he could leave her here.

 

[Greenie]

The little kitsune let out a yelp as she felt the flick to her nose. She sat up straight rubbing at her complaining nose with her paw, ears flat as she glared at the rather mean hanyou. "Why did you do that?" she demanded as she finally brought her paw down. Her tongue slipped out of her mouth, licking over the protesting area. She huffed a little, guessing why he might have gotten a little irritated. She did intrude not just in his room, but his bed as well.

"Still!" she said aloud, mostly scolding her own thoughts. It was perfectly fine for her to be here. Kitsune had to stick together, didn't they? Alright, maybe they didn't, but Ayame was sure that she wouldn't be able to survive this strange and in her opinion rather horrible world alone. She needed help, and he would have to help her. She found him at Inari's temple after all. That had to be a sign, if anything was!

But how to convince him? That was the hard part. She had been rather rude to him before, and now she was even ruder, perhaps double the amount she had been before. Hmmm... She had a paw to her chin, rubbing at it almost as if she was in her humanoid form. "You.... you need me!" There, that would have him listen to her at least, wouldn't it?
​

*****
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In a forest not too far away, there was the flickering of a fire. It was a rather small affair, rather easy to put out if someone wished. It was warm and comforting, almost peaceful it seemed. At least for the small fairy who seemed to be deep in sleep. She was a rather pretty thing, fair skinned with wavy white hair splayed around her head and shoulders, touching the tips of her translucent butterfly wings. It seemed like at the moment, nothing in the world could disturb her.

Or perhaps it was that the man who was sitting next to her was keeping it that way. He was a tall and slim sort, with pale skin, clear blue eyes, and golden hair long enough to slip past his shoulders. Usually it would be tied back loosely, but tonight it was open. He seemed almost elf like, or what people seemed to perceive elves in popular culture during these times. However, he was anything but.

A slight frown was on his face. His eyes were closed, but that did not mean he couldn't feel evil somewhere nearby. This particular man was good at feeling, from pure to evil, truth and lie, and more. It was a defense mechanism of sorts, seeing that the sight of blood made him uneasy. He wasn't the type to fight either; violence literally made him sick. Forcing himself was literally painful.

He didn't want to stay here long, but unlike him, his little companion needed this rest. She was a being of light, the sun; she woke and slept with its dawning and setting.

Worse come to worse, if whatever evil he sensed came near, he would pick her up and flee. For now, he waited.
​