|
Kyran grumbled lightly and then changed his whole mood when he heard LaRae. He gave a small sigh and nodded when Hikari told her what had gone on with Nobu. "I'm not sure how he did it, but I assume he accidentally did it while he was running... After all he does run at abnormal speeds... I guess it can't be helped if it slid down his throat while running." He paused and looked back the way the others had gone. "LaRae is right however, if we don't get going we stand a chance of losing the others." He said lightly before starting to walk again; Then motioning for Nobu to follow.
Nobu relaxed quite a bit when Hikari started to rub behind his ears; His tails even began to sway slightly. Though he looked over at Kyran when he heard him talking again and was rather surprised that Kyran had pretty much put everything together so easily. After all that was what happened. While he was running he'd opened his mouth a little wider then usual to move his tongue and in the process the orb had slid right back his throat and he'd swallowed it before he knew it. He watched when Kyran had started to walk again and noticed him motion for him to follow and obediently did so, quickly catching up to him and walking at his side. LaRae just stared at Nobu when she heard what happened and shook her head. She couldn't believe that canine had done that, but at least the relic was still in their possession. Not to mention this way Kyran couldn't go leaving it anywhere. That is, unless Nobu decided to do his business and not check for the orb afterwards. She stuck her tongue out briefly in disgust at the thought. She sighed softly when Kyran started off again and wasted no time following after him. Aamori looked back to Kanone again after she'd stared at the ground for a bit. "Judging by the way he acts now, you just kind of assume he was always the way he is... Grumpy, violent and rather self centered at times." She said with a sigh. "I suppose you could also throw lonely into that too. It's painfully obvious at times... And I can't help blaming everything on what happened to him." She said quietly before looking back to the ground; Watching where she was stepping after having stumbled yet again. "Oh, you've never heard of Lani?" She paused. "I guess he might have gotten her after he left home then. Lani is a bird, for the life of me I can't remember what type..." She sighed softly. "Lani doesn't really like other people and usually won't come too close to Celestine if he's around me or any of the others..." She smiled faintly. "I also think that Lani might look at Celestine as a giant bird, and a parent... But don't ever say that to Celestine. I've already been yelled at once for saying that..." She said with a soft chuckle. |
Hikari nodded slightly to Kyran when he said that they needed to go to catch up with the others and stood up. She turned once Kyran had started forward again and hurried after him, half smiling when she saw that Nobu had taken her place at his side. She just slipped around to the other side and continued to walk beside him quietly.
Nanashi shook his head and continued walked as well once LaRae got moving again. He continued to walk a pace or two behind her, though he was looking far ahead of Kyran and Hikari, trying to catch sight of the others. Kanone looked over to Aamori, a bit surprised when she said 'what happened to him'. "You mean he actually told you about....that?" he asked, glancing toward Celestine. He was surprised to say the least. Celestine never wanted to talk about that day with anyone, not even him, and they used to be close enough that either one could tell the other anything. After that day, though, Celestine just seemed to fold in on himself. "Funny... he must like you a lot if he told you about that." he said with a half smile. He looked toward the sky when she said that Lani was a bird and laughed softly when she said that she compared Celestine to a daddy bird. "Hahaha that's great." He glanced over his shoulder for a moment and blinked when he only saw the creepy guy behind them. "Hey, fearless leader, I think we just lost ha;f of the crew!" he called up to Celestine. Celestine stopped walking when he heard Kanone yapping at him and turned around. "What?" he asked, crossing his arms. He blinked when Kanone pointed back and he saw only Nero. There was no telling when they'd lost them. He sighed and shook his head before starting to head back. "I'll go find them..." he said finally as he started back the way they'd come. Hopefully they hadn't fallen too far behind. |
Aamori glanced back over at Kanone, she sighed softly. She hadn't even realized that she mentioned 'that'. She hoped it was alright, since she was talking to someone related to Celestine. The last thing she wanted to do was say something that Celestine didn't want talked about. She paused for a moment and looked back at the ground. "He didn't exactly want to tell me about it." She said quietly. "...It was, well... an accident." She paused. "...So it has nothing to do with him liking me enough to talk to me about something like that." She commented. Then glanced back when she heard him say they lost some of the group. She looked past Nero and didn't see any of the others. She sighed. "Nero... When did we lose them?" She asked after Celestine said he'd go find them.
Nero lifted his eyes for a moment and looked at Aamori when he heard her question. "Oh. Not very too far back. I think Nobu came back and that's why Kyran at least stopped." He said before turning slightly to look back the way they'd come. "Are we supposed to just stand here and wait on Celestine to find them; Or can we keep going?" Kyran reached down and gently patted Nobu's head. He was still annoyed that Nobu had eaten the relic but at this point there wasn't anything that could be done about it. Not to mention it wasn't like Nobu ate it on purpose. He gave a soft sigh as he continued to walk. Then glanced over at Hikari when she moved to his other side. He hadn't noticed until now, but Nobu had taken up the side that Hikari had been at previously. He shook his head lightly hoping that wasn't any indication of how Nobu was going to act with people around the blades. Nobu couldn't possibly walk any closer to Kyran's side then he was at the moment. His tails wagged when he felt Kyran's hand on his head. He glanced over in Hikari's direction when he saw her go to Kyran's other side and watched for a moment before turning his attention back to where he was walking. LaRae continued to follow a few steps behind Kyran and Hikari, not really watching anything inparticular. Though her gaze did rather quickly fall to the ground and she couldn't help looking at the tracks Nobu left behind him when he walked. My god did that canine have large paws. After a few moment she lifted her head back up and gave a small sigh. |
Kanone smiled weakly at Aamori and nodded in understanding. "Ah...Think I know what you mean." he said before glancing back to the creepy guy...he guessed that was Nero. He shrugged slightly when he asked if they could keep going. "We can if you want." he said as he motioned for them to follow, "Cel knows the way back." He turned back around and started walking again, "We're not too far away, maybe another half hour...I swear that kitten can run..." He muttered. Obviously the only reason he was all the way out here was because he was chasing down Kyiri. "Crazy thing decided to go run a marathon at the crack of dawn. Guess she smelled Celestine."
Hikari looked straight ahead of them though she glanced down to Nobu a few moments later and couldn't help but laugh softly at the way he was walking beside Kyran. After a moment she looked up and sighed, "Geez, they must have been walking faster than it looked like..." she muttered to herself. Celestine wasted no time getting to the others. Hikari had barely gotten the words out of her mouth when he found them. "There you are..." He said simply, crossing his arms again. He looked down to Nobu for a moment and then sighed softly. "...Try not to get lost out here...this is a big valley..." he said simply before turning back around to continue walking. He glanced back to them once and then turned his head back to the front again. Kyiri was still perched on Celestine's shoulder, though she hopped off now and scampered over to Nobu, weaving between his legs and sniffing at his front left paw as he walked. She was small enough that she could easily walk under him without touching him with anything but the tips of her tails if they were standing up. She was curious just like a kitten and she'd never seen anything like this thing before, so she of course had to come and check him out. |
Aamori turned and followed after Kanone when he started walking again. She smirked slightly when he heard him say that Celestine knew the way back. "Well, I would hope so since he was the one leading us before." She commented with a chuckle. "...Celestine has quite a few things that really like him." She said quietly. Of course by things she was referring to Lani, Sheena and now Kyiri. She only wondered how many more there were going to be.
Nero didn't say another to word and just started to follow after Aamori and the other guy when they started walking again. He didn't really have anything against just waiting on the others but at the same time he was ready to get somewhere new. Kyran was a little surprised that Celestine even bothered to come back and look for them; If anyone came looking Celestine was definitely at the bottom of the list. He sighed softly and looked at him. "We had a slight problem that made us stop." He said lightly. "Apparently... Nobu swallowed the relic." He said with a sigh as he looked down at Nobu again before he started following Celestine. Nobu had still been walking close to Kyran when he spotted the little creature on Celestine. Of course his ears perked up when the thing came down to his level and started weaving through his legs. Surprisingly enough he was being careful of where he stepped down, as to not step on the small thing. He was having an incredible amount of trouble keeping his attention on where he was going and keeping close to Kyran because he was just as interested in the feline as the feline was in him; If not more. |
Kanone just smiled and shook his head. "Heh...he has a lot of people who like him, to. That just never seems to sink in past his hair." he said simply as he continued walking. "Hehehe... He is going to spaz when we get home..." he said with a mischievous chuckle. "And then he's going to try to kill me."
Celestine blinked when he heard Kyran say that Nobu swallowed the relic. "...I bet that felt good..." he said as he shook his head. He continued to walk at a relatively fast pace, only half trying to catch back up to the others, he had a feeling they would have gone on. Kyiri mewed quietly while Nobu walked over her, and continued weaving round his legs, sniffing at each of his paws before she went back to walking under him. She hopped up and put her tiny front pars against the back of his front leg and then fell back to all fours when he moved it to take a step, but she just scampered froward and did it again as she tried to sniff at his head, though even standing up like that she wasn't even tall enough for her her to touch his stomach, though her long ears kept hitting him now and folding back a little, probably tickling him. Even standing on her hind legs she was barely two feet tall, minus the ears at least. |
Aamori merely nodded slightly when Kanone said that Celestine had people who liked him too. She didn't doubt that. Though she quirked a brow at his last comments, and his chuckle. "Why is he going to spaz, or for that matter try to kill you?" She asked then moments later shook her head lightly. "You lied to him didn't you?" Of course that was the only reason she could think of that could warrant such a reaction from Celestine.
Kyran glanced down at Nobu for a moment when he noticed that Nobu wasn't glued to his side as much. He saw that small feline, clearly Nobu was more interested in that at the moment. He shook his head lightly and continued to keep up with Celestine. Nobu was trying his best to keep next to Kyran but the feline was making that a little difficult. He looked down at her when she tried to get closer to sniff him and shook his head lightly. He looked back at Kyran for a moment noticing that the pace had changed slightly. He flicked one of his tails around for a moment before moving so that he could pick up the feline with his tail. Of course he moved quickly and snatched the kitten up before letting her setting her down on his back. His tail released her and sank back down before he started moving to catch up to Kyran. |
Kanone snickered softly and then nodded. "Yup." He said with a soft laugh. "I didn't figure I'd get him back here any other way." he said simply, "Well unless I picked him up and threw him over my shoulder, but that'd cause a bit of a scene." he said simply as he pushed his hand back over his bangs. "He'll get over it." he said simply.
Celestine glanced back after another moment to see where Kyiri had gotten to. He half smiled when he saw her back there pestering Nobu. "Be careful with her, Nobu." he told him before turning back around. He at least didn't seem concerned that Nobu would try to bite her. Kyiri's eyes widened when Nobu picked her up in his tail and she started trying t run, her little legs flailing in the air until he sat her down on his back. She stood there for a moment as if wondering what the heck just happened and then looked down to Nobu again. She laid down when he started moving and belly crawled up to his neck, leaving a trail of messed up fur where she'd moved. Once behind his head she stood up carefully and set her paws down on top of his head, leaning over to sniff the area where his eyes shoulder have been before just crawling on top of his head and laying down with her paws stretched down to his nose. Nanashi watched the little feline crawling all over Nobu and laughed softly. That was cute to say the least. |
Aamori just stared at Kanone for a moment and shook her head. "He'll be over it after he makes sure you can't move anymore." She said looking away again. "You didn't need to lie to him, I think he was going to go back even though he doesn't want to..." She said lightly. "...So there's absolutely nothing wrong with his aunt?" She asked looking back over to him briefly. "For your sake you'd better hope she's at least cut her finger or something by the time he gets home..."
Nobu tried his best to just ignore the feline for the moment while he was following Kyran but the instant that she touched the top of his head his ears laid back slightly. Should he have had eyes he probably would have been cross-eyed by now. He shook his head gently and then relaxed a bit when she finally laid down. It didn't seem to bother him too much the way she was laying. LaRae hadn't really been paying attention to anything going on around her. Though she had acknowledged Celestine and that kitten thing when they came around. The kitten was cute, but that's about all she thought on the topic. She hadn't even paid attention to Nobu interacting with the kitten. She gave a very light sigh and continued to stare at the ground as they walked. |
Kanone smiled slightly. "Oh, was he? Oh well...I guess a little added incentive never hurts." he said with a soft laugh, "Of course I doubt he would have come anywhere near our house if I hadn't said something." He glanced around as they neared the town. They were coming in from the back of the village where most of the houses were, the shops and such were further up toward the other end. Kanone grew rather quiet now, mostly out of respect. Most of the trees ended a moment later and they were starting across an open, grassy area with only a few trees here and there. Once out of the trees, it was apparent why Kanone got quieter. There were several tombstones poking up out of the grass here, and the majority of them were dated to about 8 years or so ago. This place used to be where he and Celestine came to play around since it was so open, but after the big mess that area had been turned into a graveyard. Most villages like this didn't even have actual graveyards sin ce dragons has suck long lives, but so many had died at once, they had to put them all somewhere.
Kyiri purred loudly as she laid on Nobu's head and rubbed her face into his fur. A few moments later she started kneading his fur with her claws while she licked the top of his head. Celestine just continued walking silently, not bothering to check back again, he could hear the others behind him, so he knew they were fine. He was starting to get quiet as they drew closer to the village. He sighed softly and crossed his arms again as he walked, turning his own eyes down to the ground. |
Aamori looked at Kanone. "I'm not so sure, I think he might have passed by the house while glaring daggers." She said with a light chuckle. She tilted her head to the side slightly when she noticed how quiet that Kanone got. She still followed him, though she hadn't really been paying attention to the stuff around her. Once out of the trees though her eyes couldn't help but travel around. Her eyes rather quickly scanned over everything as she came to stop. She didn't have to focus on any one thing for too long mostly because thanks to Celestine she recognized the area, minus the tombstones of course. She was deathly silent, trying to block out the flood of memories Celestine had accidentally shared with her. She wasn't having very much luck with that however, and she was practically standing there watching it all over again. She'd grown rather stiff and her eyes glazed over slightly.
Nero followed still, not phased by the sight of the graveyard once they were clear of the trees. Though he too came to a stop when Aamori did, standing behind her waiting for her to move. When she didn't he quirked a brow slightly and stepped to the side to look at her. He sighed. "Looks like someone's never seen a graveyard before..." He said quietly before stepping past her and continuing after the other guy. Nobu was quiet and well behaved, completely not bothered by the feline. That is until she began kneading his fur. He let out a small yelp and came nearly to a dead stop and then started frantically shaking is head around trying to get the kitten off. He hadn't been trying to hurt her in any way, but he just wanted those claws to stop kneading him. |
Kanone continued to walk and then stopped when he heard Nero speak. He looked back to Aamori and waited a moment before walking back to her. He smiled at her and reached down to take her hands. "Come on, Aamori. They're all friendly, I promise no one will rise up and bite you." He said with a weak smile. He gave her hand a gentle tug to get her moving and sighed softly. "Sorry...Guess we should have gone around." he said softly. He knew that Aamori must have seen something from Cel's little visions, but he hadn't known what exactly. "Come on..." he urged again, keeping a firm grip on her hand as he turned back to continue walking.
Kyiri yipped when Nobu started to shake his head and latched onto him for dear life. After a brief moment of clinging she tried to jump off and ended up landing on Kyran's hip. She dug her claws into his clothes and scampered up his side to his shoulder then perched there, looking down at Nobu with those wide golden eyes. Celestine heard Nobu yelp and looked back just in time to see Kyiri jump off onto Kyran. He sighed and turned around, walking back over to them and looking up at Kyiri. "Kyiri, stop being a pain..." he said to her as he held his hand up to rub her head. She mewed and hopped off of Kyran's shoulder, back down onto Celestine's then laid down with her ears pinned back against her head. She laid there without moving for a moment and then sat up slowly and looked at Celestine's hair. Finally she sat up and started to smack at the long feather earring that hung from his ear, usually covered by his hair. |
Aamori didn't respond right away, not even when he took hold of her hands. It took her a moment but she finally blinked and looked at Kanone with a distraught look on her face. She stumbled forward slightly when he tugged on her hand and then shook her head lightly. "..No.. It's alright." She said quietly. "...It's just hard..." She paused. "...I've seen everything he saw..." She nearly choked. "...And I just got an instant replay.." She mumbled as she followed after him keeping her eyes glued to the ground.
Kyran startled slightly when Kyiri jumped onto his hip and then scurried up his side to his shoulder. He turned his head slightly and looked at the small feline before looking down at Nobu for a moment. When Celestine came up and Kyiri jumped onto him he sighed softly. It was probably a good thing that Kyiri didn't say on his shoulder. He had a pretty good idea Nobu might have gone after her for the fun of it. Nobu stopped flailing about once Kyiri was off of him and the claws were gone. He stopped walking long enough to lift his paw to brush it against his snout several times. Once he felt alright he started walking again and got to Kyran's side and went right back to being glued to him. Since Kyiri was on Celestine now he wasn't going to bother the feline. Mostly because he didn't want to be yelled at by Celestine for going after her. |
Kanone looked back to her and sighed softly, his ears laying back slightly. "...Yes...I know." he said softly, "...He gets those a lot." He released Aamori's hand and wrapped his arm around her shoulder before continuing forward. "...You can't let it get to you...you'll go nuts if you do." he smiled weakly. "So...you saw when it started?" he chuckled softly, "Wasn't I cute?" he asked, trying to lighten the mood. He was the little boy that Celestine had been playing with out there when they were ambushed. At least it was a short walk through the graveyard, and they were soon inside the town. Most of the houses were small wooden cottages back here, though a few started to get bigger as they went on. Kanone just led them past the houses back here; he lived a little further into the village. Soon water could be heard running as they neared the center of the village and a finely crafted stone bridge crossed over a fairly wide river, or at least one that wasn't quite small enough to be jumped over. The river ran from the mountain straight down through the valley. There was a rather large lake around nearby.
Celestine smiled slightly when Kyiri started to smack at his earring and then raised his hand to stop her. "Hey, that's attached, you know." he said with a soft chuckle. He stroked her head and continued walking toward their destination. It didn't take them too much longer to come to the cemetery, and he hadn't said a word on the way. Once they got there he paused at the edge of the trees and just stood there. He counting bring himself to step out of the trees just yet. He stood there for a moment and finally closed his eyes and took a deep breath, preparing to step forward; but he didn't move. Hikari smiled at Kyiri and shook her head as she continued after the rest of them. She stopped behind Celestine when he stopped walking and waited for him to continue forward. "...Celestine? Are you alright?" she asked, tilting her head slightly. Celestine startled when Hikari said his name and looked back to her. "...Yeah." he said shortly before turning back around. His eyes dropped to the ground as he started forward again, though about midway through he looked up again, pausing for a moment as he looked over at a rather large tree in the center of the area. There were two graves placed side by side beneath it, one of which read "Celeste" and the other read "Corentin". He shook his head and continued forward, walking faster now. Obviously he'd rather be in the town than be out here. Hikari blinked when she realized that they'd just walked into a cemetery. She went quiet then and moved a little closer to Kyran's side. She'd never actually seen this many graves in one area, at best she'd only seen four in any given location. Nanashi looked at Celestine for a moment and then looked around the area that they'd just stepped into. He sighed softly and closed his eyes for a moment, thankful for the bandanna on his head now. He could feel the presence of the dead here, or at least some of them... he didn't want to see them, too. "..." |
Aamori didn't lift her eyes again until she felt him let go of her hand and then wrap his arm around her shoulder. She glanced over at him briefly. "...I don't intend on letting it get to me, just does." She said quietly before nodding to his question about if she'd seen when it started. She looked back at him having heard his following question and couldn't help but chuckle softly. "Perhaps as a child." She commented with a faint hint of a smirk. Her ears perked up moments later when she picked up on the sound of running water and couldn't resist the smile that crept onto her face.
Kyran of course came to a stop when Celestine had and stood quietly waiting on him to start walking again. Once he started again he followed glancing around at all the tombstones. He'd never seen quite so many, but he'd seen a fair share. He looked over at Hikari when she moved closer to him. "You alright?" He asked quietly as he continued walking. Nobu's ears laid back and his tails drooped down when they entered the cemetery. He knew all too well where they were at and was extremely uncomfortable being in such a place. He couldn't see as everyone else could but he could pick up on different levels of vibrations and the different souls that had lingered were all too visibly clear to him. After a moment he let out a small whine before speeding up, moving closer to Celestine rather then staying back with Kyran/ LaRae finally lifted up her eyes and looked around when she couldn't see the trees from the corners of her eyes anymore. She was quiet and a little uneasy all of a sudden. This site wasn't too new to her. After all she'd leveled at least one whole town before on accident. She was at least thankful that all of these people were laid to rest. She continued to stand there quietly, half tempted to just turn around and go back into the trees. She couldn't help feeling a little uncomfortable with the thought of going into that town that Celestine was headed to. The last thing she wanted to put up with was more wind dragons who didn't like her clan at all and treated her poorly for it. She gave a heavy sigh and finally took a step forward reluctantly following after the others. |
Kanone looked down at her when she 'as a child' and smirked. "Hey hey! Come on, a little credit!" he said as he pushed his hand back through his hair again. He smiled at her when he saw her smiling. "...If you want later we can walk down to the lake. I need to try to catch something for dinner anyway." he offered. Maybe that would perk her up a bit more a least. He walked a little slower when the got on the bridge and put his arm back down to his side so she could go look over the edge if she wanted. They were at least getting close to his house now. His was one of the larger ones in the area, and was two stories high rather than one like most here. It was already visible from there they stood. The roof was slanted, mainly because of the heavy rains that they had there, and it spored a decent sized porch in front of the door. there were two windows on the roof with a peek over them as well, and one could easily crawl out onto the roof from there. At the base of the house by the door was a set of rather large windows that would let plenty of light into the living room. Obviously he and his mother liked their sun.
Celestine kept his pace quick, though he glanced down to Nobu when the mutt caught up to him. He slowly put one slightly shaking hand on Nobu's head. "...I know.." he whispered quietly. He couldn't quite see what Nobu saw, but he was definitely aware enough to feel it...along with the memories that kept flooding his mind when he walked through his place. Honestly by the time they got to the edge of town, Celestine looked a few shades paler. Hikari looked up to Kyran and nodded slightly. "Yeah...just....yeah..." she said quietly. She didn't really like it here. Finally she just started to speed up, too, more than ready to be off of this land. Nanashi paused long enough to glance back to LaRae since he'd accidentally passed her. He stopped long enough to wait for her to get back and then started forward again, hurrying after the others. He did reach down to take LaRae's hand and pull her along faster. |
Aamori chuckled lightly. "Why give 'credit' when you do a fine job of stroking your own ego?" She looked up at him a smile all the more noticeable. "There's a lake near here?!" She paused. "Is it decently sized?" She asked rather quickly and slightly excited. If he couldn't tell that was her way of saying yes, she'd love to go. After all the last pool of water she'd been in was in Radha and she was more then ready for another one. Once they were on the bridge and he removed his arm from her shoulder she nearly jumped at the chance to go over to the edge and peek over at the water. Her expression could easily be mistaken for a child at Christmas. So easily she seemed to be able to put those nasty memories of Celestine's behind her at the sight or mention of water. She just stared over the edge, her tail swaying back and forth lightly; It was taking a great deal of restraint for her not to just jump into the water right now.
Nero came to a stop when they reached the bridge and turned to that he could look back the way that they'd come. He didn't care too much that there was water here, nor that there was lake. So the conversation didn't concern him in the slightest. He gave a light sigh and continued watching, waiting for Celestine and the others to catch up. Kyran looked back to Hikari and then watched as she started to hurry to get out of the cemetery. He shook his head lightly. He could understand being in a hurry to get away from such a place but the area really didn't bother him all that much and if they weren't all in such a hurry he might have stopped to say a prayer momentarily but it was obvious that nearly everyone but him wanted out of this place. He gave a small sigh and went ahead and sped up his pace as well. LaRae looked down at her hand when Nanashi took hold of it to pull her along and then slowly brought her eyes up to look at him. She gave a sigh and followed him, walking a little faster so it wasn't so much like he was pulling her. |
Kanone laughed softly. "But i like me, ego, it's cute and cuddly just like me." He said with a laugh. He stepped over to the side of the bridge and crossed his arms over the side, looking down at the crystal clear water. "Yes, it's decently sized. You could definitely go swimming in it. And I swear there are some of the biggest trout in there you'll ever lay eyes on." he said lightly. He glanced over to her again and smiled when she started wagging her tail. "At any rate, I'll take the interest as a yes."
Celestine was practically running once they hit the town. He wasn't too concerned with anything but getting as far away from that graveyard as he could manage. He barely even glanced around this place as he walked; he knew more or less where he was going, there was no need to look around. He closed his eyes tightly again, trying to shove back all the memories of this street and this town...all he could think about when he was here was the destruction those people had caused... How the people here could keep going, he'd never know...all of these nicely build houses and flowery decorations lining the streets...they were nothing but a mask to cover up all of the blood that was shed here. A few moments later, Celestine ended up walking right into Nero, and nearly jumped out of his skin with a startled yelp. He backed up and looked at Nero with wide eyes for a moment and then relaxed and sighed before just leaning back against the bridge. Hikari was having trouble even keeping up with Celestine at the rate he was going, she'd nearly have to jog to stay with him. That boy certainly could scurry along when he wanted to. She sighed once they were in the village and started trying to look around. There weren't many people outside back here, though that was understandable..it seemed these were all mostly houses so most of the people would probably be out around the shops. Nanashi just stuck close to LaRae once they got out of the cemetery and continued trying to follow the others. He never did let go of her hand; he was still holding it rather tightly, though he did finally slow down a little. He glanced over to her and sighed softly when he saw that she still looked pretty down over something. Was she really that upset over what Kanone had said? |
Aamori just barely looked over at Kanone when he came over. Her eyes were right back on the water so fast you might not have even thought she looked up. "That's good." She said quietly. "There hasn't been a lot of water so far on this trek." She commented before smirking terribly. "You haven't seen big fish until you've been to the oceans of Kairava." She said quite happily. Her tail was still swaying from side to side; A little faster now, at the thought of fish. She finally pried her eyes off the water long enough to look over at Kanone with a soft smile. "Of course. I think I'd find it hard to live with myself if I didn't go with you." She said lightly before looking right back at the water.
Nero had been watching the whole time, waiting for the others to come into view and he just continued to stand there when Celestine came into view. He didn't bother moving when he noticed Celestine was a little preoccupied with other thoughts and was walking right toward him. He didn't want to believe the boy was going to just walk right into him, but sure enough he did. He gave a heavy sigh and looked down at him when he backed up and turned slightly watching him go to lean against the bridge. "...Glad I could help you come to a stop." He said quietly with a huff; Slightly annoyed that Celestine didn't even say sorry. Then again, he could've just stepped aside rather then wait for Celestine to run into him. Nobu was practically on Celestine's heels the whole way to the bridge. Once Celestine stopped he wandered over next to him and sat down; At least until Kyran caught up. Kyran caught up to Hikari easily enough, and could probably had caught up to Celestine if he wanted to. But he figured since they were at their destination it wasn't necessary to be directly behind the lead. He glanced around a bit just looking at the houses and noticing the lack of people around. Of course he thought they must be out; Doing something. He glanced back down at Hikari for a moment. "So, is this a little better then the cemetery?" He asked softly, more or less just teasing. LaRae started to lift her eyes slightly once they had entered the village. She was looking at the houses and everything around them, noticing too that there wasn't many people in the immediate area. She looked over at Nanashi for a moment. "...What... Is something wrong?" She asked quietly before her eyes fell back to the ground. |
Kanone laughed slightly. "Well I doubt I'll ever get that far out of here. Don't go burstin my bubble now, missy." he said with a wink. He laughed when she said that she couldn't live with herself if she didn't go with him. "Oh, of course not." he said teasingly before glancing back over to see that the others had finally caught up. "Hey look who's back!"
Celestine barely even looked up when Nero spoke, and wasn't even really listening to what he said "..Sorry..." he muttered quietly before his eyes dropped back to the ground. He didn't look over to Kanone either, he just stuffed his hands deep into his pockets and stood there waiting for someone else to start moving ahead. Normally, he hated not having his hands ready to do something, but sticking them in his pockets was the only way he could think of to get them to stop shaking so noticeably. None of them could ever possibly have any idea just hot hard it was for him to come back here again. In his mind, this entire area was tainted with blood and no amount of rebuilding was ever going to change what happened here. For all he knew he could be standing in the exact spot where his father had been murdered, or someone else's father or mother or a child... He just shuddered violently and closed his eyes again, trying to just stop thinking all together. Hikari smiled slightly at Kyran and nodded. "Yes...much better." she said simply. "I wonder where everyone is..." she said as she glanced around again. She saw a couple of people out and about doing odd chores around the house like watering plants, and those few looked at them all a bit oddly, but other than that, she didn't see many people at all. Once they finally got to the bridge she sighed softly and half smiled at Nero before glancing over to Celestine. She blinked when she saw the way he was standing there and that glazed over look in his eyes. She stepped around Kyran slowly and walked up beside him. "...Celestine, are you alright?" she asked softly, gently placing her hand on his shoulder. The poor kid was shaking like a leaf and nearly jumped out of his skin when she touched him. "...You look a little pale..." she told him as she went to place the back of her hand against his forehead. Celestine sighed and raised his hand to push hers away, though not violently. "I'm fine..." he said quietly. "Go worry over someone else." Nanashi looked over to LaRae and shook his head slightly, though he sighed when he realized that she wasn't even looking at him long enough to see that. "...Not with me..." he said quietly. "...you are the one acting as if you'd like to bury your head in the sand." he pointed out as he pulled her up to walk beside him rather than behind him. He smiled at her weakly and finally released her hand to place his on her shoulder. He did have a problem, but it was the same as usual. He was afraid of coming into a town full of people. Thus far at least...he hadn't seen many. |
Aamori sighed softly. "Well, if you can't make it Kairava then I suppose that's just more fish for me." She said with a soft laugh. "You don't know what your missing out on." She continued before looking over at him. She reached out and hit him lightly in the shoulder after his comment. "Me passing up a chance to go somewhere with water would be like you not being able to crack jokes and have fun for a whole day." She commented. She looked over when he said look and noticed Celestine was back, along with Hikari and Kyran. Then if she wasn't mistaken Nanashi and LaRae weren't to much farther back. Her eyes rested on Celestine for a moment and she sighed seeing how he was acting. Of course she knew why he was being like that but didn't know to what extent. Since it didn't actually happen to her she was able to think about something else a little easier apparently. She gave another sigh when she heard what Celestine said to Hikari. It was obvious that he wasn't fine. She leaned over to Kanone and spoke quietly. "Maybe you should take him to see his Aunt? It might take his mind off... Well... You know." At least she thought it might anyway, considering that Kanone had lied to him and everything.
Kyran glanced around a bit when Hikari wondered where everyone was. He wasn't really sure himself. "...I not really sure. Up town?" He said quietly. When they neared the bridge he looked at Nero for a second, then Celestine and watched when Hikari went over to him. He sighed hearing Celestine and then glanced over at Aamori and Kanone. He wasn't surprised to see those two getting along; Just from meeting the guy and his sense of humor it was obvious that Aamori would fit right in. He then looked at Nobu and motioned for him to come over to him. He was a bit taken back when Nobu didn't move, he just continued to sit there next to Celestine. LaRae finally looked at Nanashi once she was pulled next to him and he put his hand on her shoulder. She gave a soft sigh. She hadn't realized she looked that way, or at least she hadn't thought about it. "...If there was soft sand around I might." She said lightly before looking away again. "...I'm just uncomfortable being here, that's all." She said glancing back over to him. "Celestine obviously didn't want me here... And I can only hope the rest of the people living here aren't going to hate me like Celestine does... I still don't even know why he hates me." She mumbled. Only now thinking to herself that she probably shouldn't care what everyone else thinks. Though, she was only used to the crap coming from her own clan so she bound to feel bad. |
Kanone laughed softly. "Maybe you should bring me some." he said with a grin, "Our territories aren't that far apart. Who knows, that may be where out water comes from. I've never really paid attention." He said simply. He blinked when she said that he should probably take Celestine to see his aunt, though upon looking back at him he understood why. "...Yeah." he said softly. He gave her another weak smile and then started back down the bridge past Nero again and smiled at Celestine. "So..." he said as he draped an arm around him, "Ready to go see your dear old aunt Sonia?" He asked lightly.
Celestine sighed and laid his ears back at Kanone's comment before pulling his arm off from around his shoulders. "...I guess so." he said quietly. "...How bad is it?" he asked almost timidly. "Eh...I'll let you judge that." He said with a slight smile. "Come on, runt, let's get a move on." "...Would it kill you to just call me by my name just once?" Kanone shook his head and snagged Celestine's arm before starting across the bridge again, pulling him along behind him. "Come on, stop worrying over the minor details." Kanone at least seemed to be able to tolerate and overlook Celestine's grumpiness, so he was able to handle him a lot easier than the others were. Hikari just shook her head slightly and looked back to Kyran for a moment, noticing him motioning to Nobe. She half smiled when Nobu didn't go to him just yet. She half wondered if Nobu could tell how upset Celestine was. Once Kanone started to drag Celestine off she just started after them again. Nanashi smiled weakly. "Yeah...I'm not too comfortable being here either...but even still..." he shook his head and slipped his arms around her shoulders. "...If you really want to know why he hates you so much....maybe you should ask." he said softly. He shook his head and sighed. "...I'm a little curious, too..." he said honestly. "...But I guess it doesn't really matter." |
Aamori shook her head lightly, stifling a laugh. Bring him some? Yeah, right. He could get off his lazy ass and travel the same distance to see the oceans and get the fish. Though if she'd probably bring him some if he was nice enough. She smiled slightly and watched as he started to drag Celestine. She waited until they passed before pushing herself off the edge of the bridge and following them. She was glad to see that Kanone knew how to handle Celestine when he grumpy; It made things a lot easier.
Nobu continued to sit there on the ground, though he lifted his head and looked at Kanone when he came near Celestine. He tilted his head to the side momentarily. Then immediately got to his feet when Kanone took Celestine by the arm and followed behind them. Kyran watched Nobu for a moment and finally dropped his shoulders slightly seeing that he was trying to glue himself to Celestine. Surprisingly it bothered him just a little that Nobu was so fond of someone other then himself. Though he was sure that Nobu was being so close to him because of how Celestine was feeling. He gave a soft sigh and shrugged his shoulders before following after Hikari and the others. Nero glanced up again about the time everyone was starting to leave again and gave a heavy sigh. He followed after them, at least until he knew where they were going to be. Then he planned to go off and be by himself for a little while. After all, today of all days was the one day he wished he was at home the most. He really just wanted to be alone. LaRae bit her lip slightly and glanced at him for a moment. Giving it some thought she could probably try to at least not look so bothered by being here. She gave a small sigh and looked ahead. "...I'd like to know... But asking him for the answer... Well, I don't want too." She said quietly. "I have this feeling he's going to be an ass about telling me what I want to know..." She paused. "I don't know... I could just be thinking about it too much." |
Kanone continued to pull Celestine until they were halfway up to the house, then he finally released him to walk on his own. He just grinned as then approached the house, just waiting to see what Celestine was going to do when they got there.
As the group approached the door with Kanone in the lead the door opened and a middle aged woman stepped out onto the porch. She was fair haired, though it had the same jade tint as Celestine and Kanone's, only a tad lighter, making it look more silver than green. Her eyes were the same deep emerald as her son's and her single spiral horn was the same ivory tone as well. She looked very young for her age, but it was still obvious that she was old enough to be Kanone's mother. She smiled when she saw him, and her smile alone was enough to give away her gentle nature. "Kanone, did you find--" she started and then trailed off when she saw the rest of the group behind him, but her eyes had landed on one member in particular. Her eyes widened for a moment and then a wide smile came over her face. "Oh my gad... Celestine!" she cried happily. She darted off of the porch and headed straight toward him with her arms outstretch. Obviously, she was feeling quite good. Celestine froze in mid stop when Sonia stepped out onto the porch and then blinked, obviously catching onto the fact that there was nothing wrong with her. His eyes darkened and he glowered over to Kanone, "You lying son of a--GAH!" he yelped when Sonia smalled into him and wrapped her arms around him so tightly that he could barely move. He gasped and wiggled a little. "C-can't breathe..." he gasped out quietly. "You're...squeezing too tight!" He took in a deep breath when she finally relaxed her grip a little. Sonia did loosen her grip when Celestine told her that she was squeezing too hard. She couldn't help it, it had just been so long since she'd last seen him. "I'm sorry, Celestine, I just.... I'm so glad to see you alive! I thought for sure..." she started before she just trailed off into sobs. He just gave him another squeeze and pulled him closer to her. Celestine just stood there stiffly, clearly extremely uncomfortable. "...I'm...I'm fine..." he said quietly. He started to raised his hands and then hesitated before wrapping his arms loosely around Sonia's middle. She was a but taller than his he it was rather easy for him to nuzzle his head against her neck lightly. "...Stop crying..." Sonia just held him for a few moments longer and then pulled back slightly, sniffling and smiling at the same time. "My god, look at you... You're skinny as a rail..." she said softly as she felt his arms through his sleeves, "...You've gotten so much taller, too...." The kid had barely come up to her waste when he disappeared. She just hugged him again tightly and nuzzled against his hair. "...I've missed you so much..." Celestine's ears fell back when Sonia said that she'd missed him. He sighed and turned his eyes toward the ground. Did she really have to to this in front of everyone? He shook his head slightly and then stepped back a little. "...I wasn't that far away..." he said quietly. Honestly, if anyone had looked hard enough, he wasn't hard to find. Kanone stood back and crossed his arms with a slight smile on his face. He knew tat his mother would be glad to see him. Honestly he thought that half of the time she was more concerned with that little twerp than she was with him. Hikari was surprised at the way that Celestine's aunt reacted when she saw him. For a moment she'd looked as if she'd seen a ghost before she came out to greet Celestine. What a greeting that was. Poor Celestine looked like he was ready to go hide somewhere again. Had he been so against coming here just because he knew she'd react like that? Though his aunt seemed extremely loving...now she was really starting to wonder what made him run away to live alone on that mountain. Nanashi smiled weakly to LaRae. "...Who said him?" he asked softly, "...Maybe whoever we're going to see will know the answer." he suggested. He paused when they came to a stop and the woman ran out hugging Celestine to death. He sighed softly and looked at the ground, feeling as if he was spying on a personal moment if he looked. He wished he'd get such a warm reception somewhere, but he knew that would never happen. |
Aamori followed them rather quietly and when they came to a stop she did too. She looked up and towards the door that opened seeing the woman who came out onto the porch and watched quietly as she headed straight for Celestine. She chuckled lightly seeing the womans reaction to seeing Celestine, then at his reaction to her. She glanced briefly over at Kanone and then stepped a bit closer to him. "...I think I see where the good looks come from..." She said quietly. "Your mother is beautiful." She looked back over at Celestine for a moment. "Oh, and are you going to want to hide when she finally lets go of him?" She paused with a light chuckle. "He didn't sound all to happy to find out you lied."
Kyran came to a stop next to Hikari once everyone stopped. He was quite surprised by the greeting Celestine received from his aunt. With the way Celestine had been acting about coming back here he really wasn't expecting to see such a warm welcome. He glanced down to Hikari. "...So... What was he so afraid of?" He asked quietly. LaRae gave a small sigh and looked at Nanashi. Depending on the person she might be able to bring herself to ask such a question. Though she was sure she probably wouldn't like the answer. When they all stopped she looked up briefly when the door opened, then again when the woman rushed over to Celestine. She only kept her eyes there for a moment before averting them slightly. |
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