Waking the Dead 2.0 || May 16, Shin Yamatai || Coming Home.

[icarusalsoflew]

[He had been... vague, whenever they had asked him exactly where they were going. Lenneth had known the moment he had oh-so-casually mentioned a detour now that the Hounds were done with their route. It had been in her eyes.

At least she is loyal. At least she respected him enough to say nothing.

He leads the War Hounds through a forest in the far reaches of the island, and they end up stepping out to a waterfall. A little further down, along the river, there's a beautiful house there. It's been restored to its former glory, properly furnished, renovated and modernized wherever it had to be. There's a garage, for one.

He takes just one moment out take the sight of it in, and try not to think of the ghosts. It never gets easier, coming back here, and yet...

Turning to them with a smile now.]

So. This was my old house. I think we can take a break here for now.




[OOC Notes:
+ The Shinta House is your typical traditional Japanese home from like, centuries back - furniture is all old and traditional. Yes, there are photos from lots of different life times here and there; if you want deets, lemme know. There's a garden out back, a small training hall, and a path into the forest that actually leads to the graves of his parents.
+ Feel free to make your own threads if you guys want to explore on your own and talk to each other! You're also welcome to tag Hikaru's thread, which I've put down there just because.]

Comments

[icarusalsoflew]

[And after giving them a proper tour of the place and riding with the banter, putting on the smiles and generally being good at being okay, he's leaving the War Hounds to have free run of the place.

Sitting by the river now, because it's time for a cigarette.]

[bostova]

[ She follows him, quietly, keeping her distance; at the same time she's marveling at the place. It's new and old, and very beautiful, and she thinks of the files they've read written in old paper. She is reminded of the smell of old yellow paper and ink. It was all pretty, and at the same time... delicate.

He's probably noticed her by now (or even earlier). She just stands a few meters away, hands to her sides. ]

... May I join you?

[icarusalsoflew]

[Glancing back with an easy smile, and patting the spot beside him.]

Getting tired of the others, huh?

[bostova]

They can be a handful.

[ When she sits, she leaves space between them. She brings out her own pack of cigarettes and her lighter, places both of them next to her after she lights up. ]

[icarusalsoflew]

[Chuckling.]

That's one way of putting it. I hope you're all having fun, though.

+1 Makoto Kuzunoha, y/y?

[larue]

[ He wanders off towards the woods, a quiet whisper in his head telling him that there are interesting things over there, kid; stuff you probably should know since the opportunity's presented itself before he finds the path out back, the one he follows until he comes upon two graves. ]

Hikaru's right, you are such a troll.

[ He's nosy, but he understands boundaries. He's not quite sure that Hikaru will appreciate him "stumbling" across this place. He's got a thing about privacy, that one. ]

y!

[sadame]

[She had not come with them, not really. She had figured that it would be good to let Riley and Hikaru have their time together, and let her brother have his reunions with the others and a little more time with the War Hounds. When she had glanced towards Shin Yamatai, though, and spotted them entering their old home...

Anyway. Here she is in fox form, curled up between the tombstones of her parents. She looks up quietly at Josh's approach, and her tails swish in greeting. That might be the only time that he'll notice her properly; she knows how to be invisible when she needs to, and appear when it is necessary.

She has not spoken to this one yet, nor has she said hello again to Makoto properly. She is not too surprised to see that he has brought Josh here.]

-w-

[larue]

[ He doesn't spot her right away, distracted as he is by the etching on the two slabs set up in the middle of a clearing. He knows, on sight, that these are graves, and given whose home they've just arrived at, he has an inkling of who they might be. And then--

--brows lifting. Oh. ]

Hello, Setsuna. [ He crouches down, smiles. ]

[sadame]

Hello.

[Saying that directly into his mind, of course. This form is not conducive to verbal speech.

She gets up, yawns, stretches, then sits up properly, as a proper Great Spirit in a more portable form should. Then she's glancing at the rings.

Hello, Makoto.

(Sister Fox. It's been a while.)

Josh would hear that exchange, for sure. Brief, effective, warm. That's all they ever needed.]

[larue]

[ He smiles when he hears that, the warmth in Makoto's tone something the prompts him to clasp his hands together. ]

I thought you were staying behind in Seigi?

[ He remembers the way she'd looked around, in fox-form, head tilting to one side and another as if noting important things that none of them could see. ]

Pam plz to be giving description of what training hall looks like?:D

[atlas_shrugged]

[ From where he is in the garden out back, Brigade finds his feet taking him to one of the two places which interested him the most. He takes off his shoes before stepping into the Shinta training hall ]

On it. :3

[icarusalsoflew]

[The training hall stands separate from the house itself, on the other side of a tiny stone path that diverged two ways: to the doorway of the hall, and to the forge where Hikaru's father used to smith weapons for the Storm Queen's armies. It has not changed much, but beyond the usual traditional paraphernalia, one entire wall is covered with masks. All of them come from different times, but each one is the mask of an oni-tsukai, and their only real commonality is that they are each fashioned into the face of a wolf.

Hikaru's masks, exactly 28 with space for the 29th, for every initiation he has done into his own conspiracy for every life time, and some to mark the life cycles that he was unable to be with his operatives, and others to mark the years before Zangyaku became Zangyaku. That might explain their differences in size. They were meant to fit the face that it had belonged to, no matter how old or young they had been.

Hikaru himself comes around a few minutes later, and glances first at the masks on the wall before focusing on Brig. He leans against the doorframe, folds his arms across his chest, and smiles.]

Should've figured that you'd come here.

[atlas_shrugged]

[ Brigade's been looking at the masks. Feeling the floor with his feet. Breathing in the air. ]

Of course. You know me. I understand things best through training, combat and history. All of which were, still are, here.

[ He's counted the masks on the wall. Noted their similarities. ]

This was... where you were born the first time? Yamatai, wasn't it, back then, right? And you come home to add the new mask of your new life?

[icarusalsoflew]

Yes, yes, and yes.

[Pushing off and moving in to stand at Brig's side, smiling at the masks.]

I try to follow my own rules, and undergo an initiation each time I come back. One must be a good example to one's men, after all.

[atlas_shrugged]

[ Brigade nods his respect. But finds his eyes looking for the smallest of the masks, which he thinks must have belonged to his youngest joining ] May I take this one down? [ He points to it, not presuming he's allowed to just reach out and hold it. ] How young were you when you wore this? And which life?

rooftop drinkies with the Blade King y/y?

[bladeweaver]

[Taning will forever be grateful to Tohru Fukuzawa, if only because his first attainment in Celestial Mastery lets him see further out than he has ever seen before.

From up here, on the roof, in the evening eye of a stormy sky, he could see Shin Yamatai for miles around; could see Stormguard armor flashing, borne stiffly proud; could focus on faces, vampires whose only difference from other people, really, is a very very slight pallor and an ever-pointed smile; could follow every street and see life scuttling about from high above.

Though it does take him the utmost self-discipline not to go peeking inside houses. It has become as easy as breathing to do so, these days; however, he does not want to validate Brianna's opinion of him as a creeper (for that matter, he does it out of his own self-respect, too). Which was a pity, really: he would have wanted to see how different household life here is as opposed to the other places he's been to.

He sits there, not quite meditating, but watching everything, drinking in all the sights, as he's wont to do. It's... quite nice. He watches his blademates do their own thing, each of them separate. He gets an oddly comforting feeling when he next thinks that later tonight, they'll all be under one roof.

He supposes that this is another thing that he should be thankful to the Shinta Clan for.]

y! lol Taning water u doin up there u stalker u

[icarusalsoflew]

[He could take the stairs to the rooftop, but he's choosing to free run his way up there instead. It's easier, and also a little less boring.

Anyway, here he is, not bothering to hide his presence as he comes around to plop down beside Taning. He has an offering, though, for disturbing the man's alone time: a rather large gourd whose contents slosh around, and two cups.

Pouring sake for them both now.]

Enjoying yourself?

trying not to creep that's what

[bladeweaver]

Hello, Hikaru-san. This is a nice house you've got, here. And a nice neighborhood.

[He turns off the attainment so he can have a decent conversation with Hikaru, not Hikaru's pores.]

Oh, are we drinking? Excellent! I've never gone drinking on a roof before.

horrible

[icarusalsoflew]

Seriously? Until now, then, you were missing one of the simple joys in life.

[Handing a cup over, then taking his own.]

And thanks. Kawamura did a really good job with getting this place fixed for me.

you know it

[bladeweaver]

You know those Arrows buildings, always had pointy roofs.

[He takes the cup, sees Hikaru do the same, and offers a toast.]

To home, then.

A Curious Brianna has appeared!

[therealbrianna]

[ And once everyone else has scattered off, Brianna goes on an "adventure" round the house, alone. She peeks into a few rooms to marvel at the furniture, the decorations and several other ornamental arrangements. It's a beautiful place, and she can only imagine what it was like to grow up in a house like this.

She's curious to learn more about her Daddy, so she pokes around more. ]

[icarusalsoflew]

[What Brianna was going to end up finding the moment she hits the second floor of the house is Hikaru's study. Every shelf is full of books from different time periods, all of them well-preserved regardless of how old they happen to be. The selection is pretty wide, as well, although there is a clear preference for politics, history and literary works.

Something more interesting than the books, though, are the photographs. Some are hanging on the wall; others are in frames scattered among the tables, the desks. There are also glass cases hanging on the wall too, containing medals that looked like they belonged to a military man. Then there are diplomas for various top universities all around the world for various degrees and levels of tertiary education and post-graduate studies, and each one of them has Hikaru's name on it.

Hikaru's in the study at the moment, looking down at a picture frame in his hands with a small smile that is both nostalgic and rueful. He immediately picks up on Brianna's presence, though, and glances her way.]

Hey.

[therealbrianna]

Oh, hey!

[ Her face is the kind a child would have when caught sneaking around the school's record closet. She manages a sheepish smile and walks up to Hikaru. ]

Whatcha doing here? Everyone's... around downstairs.

[ She makes a quick sweep of the room, taking in all the books, certificates, medals... ]

Wouldn't blame you though, this place is pretty neat.

[icarusalsoflew]

Oh, just reminiscing. I sort of dump all of the things that can't really go anywhere else here.

[Setting the photo down now. It's one of the more recent ones, since it has Tohru Fukuzawa in it. It was taken from behind, with Tohru walking down a dirt road lined with colorful stalls, smiling down at the little boy that's holding his hand. Both of them are in kimonos. The boy has a festival mask.]

[therealbrianna]

[ She takes a peek at the photo Hikaru just put down. She smiles because she has an idea what it's a picture of.

Sometimes Clueless Brianna, being her usual sometimes clueless self... ]

So, do you have like a twin brother or something?