The Rarest Flower (Kaisto and Kim's Job)

Man, would he stop complaining? First on the way here, and now he was continuing with his groans and huffs when they were at their destination. He was starting to sound like a woman who found out her favorite salon ran out of her desired color of polish.
"Good GOD stop whining!" She snapped loudly, posture slouching forward as she folded her arms across her chest. She lifted her legs over the downed log one at a time, rolling her yellow eyes when she saw Kaisto stumble out of the corner of her sight.
Though she would agree this place was rather strange for such an important plant to be growing his words weren't helping calm the mood at all.

"Look lets just get through this job, get the damned flower, and try to get out of here with some of our limbs intact, okay?" She could care less about why they needed the flower or what they would do with it afterwards. If it got her money she wasn't going to complain.
Optics flickering around the dark forest a shiver ran down Kim's spine, chattering her teeth. It was rather creepy, even to Kim who had just spent two years living in places like forests and jungles. There was an unnatural feeling to it... Like they were being watched...

Growling. There was only one animal Kim was familiar with who emitted that low rumbling noise. And by the sounds of it there were more than one of them.
Freezing up in her place Kim's eyes turned wide and shaking, head spinning towards where the growls were coming from. "K-Kai..." She'd stutter out weakly, her body beginning to tremble. The usually composed and tricky witch was replaced by fear of the unknown. It was only natural, after spending all the time out in the woods, being bombarded by wolves over and over again. It reminded her of her old medic days, when Tale's weak body crawled over to her for treatment. She was so bloody... And so innocent...

"Food?"
"Food for pack."
"Kill for pack."
"Hunger."

She could feel their eyes digging deeply into her like knifes, and their breath so close and warm it made the hair on her neck stand on end. Their words pierced through her mind in a low grumble, making the front of her mind pound like a hammer beating a nail into a wall. She wasn't use to communicating with animals in her human body quite yet, catching her off guard.
While dealing with a throbbing mind she didn't turn around in time to see the wolf attempt to attack her, or Kaisto killing it. All she saw when she finally turned back around, having the ringing in her mind stop, was one less wolf and a wounded Kaisto.

"K-Kai!" She gasped, peering at his bleeding arm. Though it didn't look too deep, she knew it could get infected in not treated. They had to finish these guys off quick before something like that happens again.
Her fright turning to anger at the sight of the wounded boy Kim's optics narrowed, expression hardening. Clenching her fist tightly she bit her bottom lip, yellow eyes turning a glowing green color. With a deep rumble in her throat a venus flytrap burst out of the ground, it's white, flowery stem shooting upwards towards the branches of the tall trees above. Stopping at it's maximum height it gaped open it's mouth, a thick juice slobbering out between it's pin-like teeth. Bending down the plant rested it's large head upon Kim's shoulders, nudging at her like what a cat would do to it's master.
Eyes not turning from the wolves Kim lifted an arm to rub it's lower jaw.
"... Attack."
With the softly spoken order the flytrap would lunge at the nearest wolf, knocking the other two over with it's large head. With the wolf yipping and barking in pain the plant would hold it in it's mouth, biting down and causing painful damage.

[451 words, counts as two posts]

Kaisto huffed as he held his arm close to him, the wolf bit wasn't serious but still it stung like hell for him, these wolves were probably hunting for their own pack and Kaisto and Kim looked to be like their targets of the day. He held his sword there with his one good arm as he faced the other two wolves, one wolf was in the Venus flytraps mouth and it was in horrible pain.

When Kaisto saw that the other two wolves were down, he had to make a decision, he could either fight the other wolves one by one or use his sword's fireball canon shot to kill the other two at the same time but at the risk of hitting the Venus flytrap and possibly flash-banging Kim's eyes which would not work then he thought and smiled, he stopped and in the face of his hurt arm he held it out and took a deep breath and then his hurt arm was covered in lightning.

Rushing towards the giant Flytrap and wolves his sword in his good hand and lightning covered his other hand on his hurt arm. Kaisto was gonna try and kill the wolves quickly while Kim handled the other wolf with the Flytrap, as he reached over to the downed wolves Kaisto soon slammed his lightning covered hand onto the wolf on the left as he yelled "Raiju's Strom!" and then started electrocuting it as it quickly yelped in pain but soon slumped over dead, lightning was sorta quick, it would hurt them a little before everything in them fried and killed them. The other wolf was already up as it snarled and jumped at Kaisto with its speed but even hurt, Kaisto was quicker as he turned with the sword and brought it straight down as he decapitated the other wolf making its body limp in the air as it skidded down beside the other dead wolf.

Finally those two were dead, he then looked to the Flytrap and then saw that it was still biting the wolf and he saw it wasn't dead yet. Kaisto then looked to Kim and hollered to her "K-Kim! Kill it ok the other two are dead!" hopefully it would try to sorta snap her out of her anger and get her back to reality and hopefully she would be ok from the experience with the wolves just now.

(Word count: 459 words, counts as two posts)

"Are you okay, Miss Kim?"
"One day i'll be tall enough to get you anything you want, Miss Kim!"
"No berries will ever be too high again!"
"You're the first family i've ever had."
"I'd do anything if it meant you were happy..."

Vanilla's childish voice filled her mind, along with the memories of the tiny feline. Her sweet scent filled her nose and grayish fur felt as though it was being pressed right against her, covering her with her warmth.
The more she stood there, teeth clenched tight, nails digging into her palm so hard they pierced the skin and allowed a few drops of blood to swell up in little pin-sized balls, the more she forced the flytrap to bite down on the wolf, its loud whining now subsiding into a quite, jumbled noise through the plant's jaws. Her breathing became erratic, letting out quiet whimpers through her closed mouth every time she exhaled. Seeing the wolf in pain made her feel like she was avenging the fallen child who had died at the paws of these cruel, heartless beasts. It felt like maybe, if she let it suffer, it would bring Vanilla back.
With Kaisto's call fading into the background a big rush through her system caused her to growl, feeling the pressure inside her building up into one big pit on anger.

"I love you, mommy."

With a loud scream roaring from her throat the flytrap would chomp down, silencing the canine for good, dropping the torn body to the ground with a loud thud.
After a few moments of cold quietness the plant would subside back into the ground, licking it's bloodied jaws with a green tongue, causing redish, gooey spit to splatter upon the ground before it disappeared completely, leaving only the hole which it had appeared from.

Swallowing hard to wet her dry and sore throat Kim would place a hand upon her forehead, trying to regulate her breathing once again.
Green eyes flickering to their usual yellow color they would focus and unfocus in time with her breaths, making her blink a few times before they could see once more.
Though her knees wobbled she would force them to keep standing, keeping her posture straight with all her might.
And with the wolf gone, so was Vanilla's memories. She no longer heard the child's call, nor smelt her. All she was once again, was a distant memory.

Letting out a long sigh through her nose Kim would stare at the wolf's body, expression hard, eyes narrowed and mouth in a scowl. It was dead. Good. As it should be.
Lingering her gaze upon it's body she'd rub her fingers across her palm, feeling the wet blood before wiping it upon her green dress.

"... Hmph..." The tanuki witch let a grunt bubble in her throat before turning in her place, beginning to slowly walk away, not waiting for Kaisto.

By this point she just wanted to get this over and done with.

[505 words, counts as three posts]

Kaisto was shocked, everything he saw...everything he had witnessed that Kim had done...AND SHE SHRUGS IT OFF?! Kaisto knew that this job was tough, that it was gonna be hard on them during this trip to find this stupid freaking flower but now all that complaining that he had beforehand was gone and it was replaced with anger and needing to know what the hell was going on in Kim's mind right now as he sheathed his sword and growled speed walking over to her and stopping right in front of her gripping her shoulder tightly.

"WHAT THE HELL KIM!" Kaisto snapped at her, his face was flushed red with anger but also a mix of wondering why. "Why in the hell didn't you kill it quickly, you made it suffer, you didn't see me make the other three suffer in pain and agony before i killed them, WHY KIM!"

By this time Kaisto was in tears as they were streaming down his cheeks in anger "They didn't deserve that, they attacked us yes, i was slightly injured yes..but you acted like it was a submergence of vengeance against the wolves...what made you wanna just have kicks in enjoying the pain of a creature of nature, even if the wolves were bad what possessed you to do this Kim...

"I have watched to many things die in horrible ways...some from my village...animals in nature...but you...YOU ARE A TANUKI! Don't you value nature, don't you remember that you love nature and everything part of it... Kaisto loosened his grip as he let his hands drop to his sides as he looked at her, anger was now gone in his face, and in his face he wanted...no...he DESERVED to know "...Kim..." his voice cracked as he looked at her ....please tell me why you did what you did, tell me why you did it so I can know and realize why this happened the way it did...

By now...Kaisto just wanted to know what made Kim do the things she did to that wolf while it was being killed by the Flytrap.

(Word Count: 351 counts as two posts)

Kim stopped in her tracks as Kaisto gripped her shoulders, hopping back a step and letting out a rumble of surprise. Though confused at first, yellow eyes blinking wide at the boy, her gaze hardened at his words over time, lifting her head up at him. He was crying? Good God this guy was a wimp. Crying over a wolf was idiotic, especially since they were about to kill the two. So what if she let it suffer a little more than she should of? They were bad creatures. Horrible, nasty beings. They took away her child. The sweet, innocent child Kim had grown so attached to. Vanilla's bloodied corpse had been found close to their borders, close by to where an Exiles patrol had been spotted. If under any normal circumstances they would have blamed the Exiles for such a cruel act against the tribe. It was in their nature after all. It was only a few days before that the tribe had been visited by them and were left with the defiled bodies of their own members. They were such evil beings.
But the case with Vanilla was different. The smell of wild, lone wolves was discovered at the sight. The tribe always had a problem with wolves, so it wasn't that surprising.
Kim herself had never been bothered with wolves that much. They were pesky yes, but nothing they were never able to handle before. However, after they killed her child, it was a whole other story. While mourning the loss of her daughter, her nose pressed into the fur of the feline as was normal tradition with death, she had vowed to make every last wolf pay. Even if that was going against her entire nature. Her maternal instincts were too powerful and edged her on to kill every wolf to ever cross her path in hopes someday she would finally kill the pack who had taken Vanilla from her at such a young age. Even if the chances were so small, it's all she could think to do.

"I'm not entitled to tell you anything." The witch finally spoke after a few minutes of painful silence, glaring down at the boy behind shining glasses. She took a moment to push them further up her nose, feeling them slide down.
"I think you've mistaken me for a friend. Let me make this clear, i'm not and will never be anyone's friend in your little guild. I came here to take care of Hyoujin. Once she is better and can live on her own again i will leave for my home and never return. You're not my friends, nor my family. So don't think you can ask such questions as to why i do anything. I'm sure you have things you want to keep private too. Respect that."
Black Rose was a family, just not her family. Her family was still StoneTribe. Izayuki was the only reason as to why she left them in the first place. Once she no longer needed her Kim would leave.
Even if Izayuki was her blood family, Kim had learned long ago that blood didn't matter. Your family was whoever you wanted them to be. And right now she had to leave her family in order to help out a blood relative she had no idea existed until recently.

As far as she was concerned, Izayuki was just a stranger who she decided to help out of the kindness of her heart.

Blinking lazily at the crying boy she turned in her place once more, arms folded across her chest.
"Come on, Sword boy. Let's get the flower before you dehydrate from all that damn crying."

[618 words, 4 posts]

Kaisto looked at Kim and wiped his face off and then said "How about i stop before it freezes wit that damn cold shoulder of yours" He huffed and walked ahead of her but then stopped and turned around "You wanna know WHY i said for you to kill them quickly...That was because i watched as Dark Guild Wizards come in and demand money, when my village refused, they slaughtered them like livestock! I watched as friends in the village were ripped to shreds, my mom and dad savagely beaten my sister and brother taken away for GOD KNOWS WHAT! I have nothing to go back to nor nothing right now but me clinging on to the hopes and my prayers that my sister and brother are alive...hopefully my mom and dad too...Cause as it happened i was knocked unconscious and when i woke, it was nothing but ash, burnt buildings...blood splatters...so far all i know was that adults were killed, children were carted off by them i was lucky...but the visions of those dead women and men haunt me and the thoughts of what they might be doing to my little brother and sister torment me EVERY DAY."

Kaisto looked down and sighed even more, the thoughts of those deaths he saw and the aftermath images just flooded his mind. Kim how do you think i feel..when i see something tortured like that, I immediately think of them, Janina and Vizo, I couldn't save.." Kaisto took a deep breath and cleared his throat "That's why i asked you to kill it quickly and not torture it, and for the remark that the guild isn't your family and im not your friend...would a friend or a family member jump at a wolf and take the bit that was intended for you? Would Iza not do the same? You need to realize that even if you shut off people frim ya, there are those still willing to go and put everything on the line to make you happy and to make you safe" He stood there and sighed scratching the back of his head and chuckled "You know you are the first person i've told that story to..it made me feel better to get it off my chest now."

(Word Count: 380 words, counts as two posts)

"Oh boo-hoo. Cry me a river." Kim would remark darkly under her breath, yellow optics rolling. She wouldn't stop for the boy as he told his story, but rather continued onward as she listened. Well, half listened half zoned out honestly. She didn't care about his story or even got why he was telling it to her. She had just told him they weren't friends of any kind. Didn't he get the hint? She didn't care about him in the slightest.
From the parts she had tuned in for, yeah, it was tragic. But it seemed everyone had a tragic story to them in some way. He wasn't special, and he hadn't been through the worst thing ever. The witch was almost temped to yell at him to suck it up, but decided against it as he brought up Izayuki, cutting her train of thought it half.

"Don't drag Iza into this." She would turn around at his words, pointing a finger to his chest to stop him in his tracks. Her gaze hardened, clearly annoyed and irritated by him from everything he had done and said so far. A growl bubbled in her throat.
"I didn't ask you to save me back there, you did it by your own accord. Even if you see me as a friend don't expect the same kindness in return. That goes for anyone else who thinks i'm their 'friend'." She had done just fine by her own out there for the past couple of years. She didn't need people around her. They just kept getting hurt, along with Kim herself. This was for both their and her own sake.
Iza was a different case. For now it was Kim's duty to protect her. It was the reason she came out here in the first place. But as soon as her cousin no longer needed her there would be no reason to stay and chat. She was blood... It was different. In a way you're forced to look after them. Not that she even thought that the little brat would give her anything in return let alone protect her. Their family weren't exactly the kindest out there. They were usually all loners. If Izayuki had even the slightest bit of Diehl genes in her Kim didn't expect her to be any different. Would she be ungrateful? Would she come to hate her too? Maybe even pity her? Only time would tell.

Allowing her arm to drop back to her side Kim's head would suddenly turn to a rustle in the bushes, narrowing her eyes as she heard the growls rumble. Great, more of them. Scowling at Kaisto she would fold her arms over her chest, taking a step back.

"Okay then. If you don't want them to suffer, how about you take them on alone?"
If he was going to complain about her fighting, then she wouldn't fight at all. She'd see how long he'd last.

[497 words, 3 posts]

Kaisto Rolled his eyes and scowled back at her as a growled formed in his throat "You think that the world is all about you huh but YOU'RE WRONG, You need to realize that Kim Deihl may be looking out for herself but damn it to hell is there any damn thing you hold precious to yourself or do you just hate anything with a heartbeat! Holy Hell Kim, and i thought the myths were loners but you take the cake"

He then poked her chest back and said "Look, You are Iza's family, Iza is a happy person, she gets along with a lot of people in the guild, Don't you Tanuki's have a saying about Family? See what i'm not knowing is how you can just STAND there and say you don't care about things, if something happened to your past and you have a hard time getting over it, and let me sound like you here for a minute" he then took a breath and acted like he pushed up fake glasses "I just don't care about it" he then rolled his shoulders See that's how you are sounding, how can i suck up all that has happened to me, as i said it haunts me, so i can't friends is what helps me find solace and not think about it so why don't you at least try to as well huh?" he asked her simply, it was the simplest of requests and Kaisto didn't understand why she was acting like this, it was a simple damn request after all but Kim was acting like it was just the worst thing she had to freaking hear in all of her life

Kaisto growled and walked past her until he heard more howling "ARE YOU KIDDING ME RIGHT NOW?! NOW OF ALL TIMES?!" Kaisto growled more and pulled out his sword getting ready for the attack of other wolves, jeez how many more wolves were they gonna have to fight to find this stupid freaking flower.

(Word count 340 counts as two posts)

A slim, pink eyebrow would twitch out of irritation, eyes narrowing angrily. Kim began to fume, hands clenching into hard fists and teeth grinding together, her body becoming tense with the anger surging through her body. Didn't he get it? She didn't want to talk about this anymore. She just wanted to get this job done and over with but he kept bringing it back up.
With a dog-like growl rumbling in her throat rabbit ears would pop upon the girl's head, brown and long, standing up high and straight. Along with them came a fluffy, brown tail from her behind, it's fur standing on end, becoming four times it's normal size as it fuzzed.
"Don't you get it?! It's because i can't afford to get close to people!!"
With a slam of her foot upon the ground murky, brown water would begin so submerge from the ground beneath the two, creating little puddles around them before it gathered up into one big wave, standing much higher than the two. The debris inside it would hover around, splashing in and out of it from time to time.
With a flash of green in her eyes Kim would unclench her hand and swipe it towards the wolves, causing the water to rush towards them and knock them backwards, causing them to yelp as they were knocked over and caught in the water, whimpering as they were knocked against debris and trying to swim against the current, paws splashing wildly.

"If i get close to anyone they all end up dying or leaving me! So all i can do is push everyone away for their own sake! Even if it means they hate me! Isolating myself and becoming more bitter by the day! So yes in a way i don't care! You're right! But i don't care because i care too much! I don't want to loose anyone else!" She'd yell against the roaring of the rushing water, tears welding up in her eyes. Tsubomi... Vanilla... Trojan, Cempa, Tale, Mary, Scythe, Dagger, Mikasa, Subaru, Ayato, Kanato, Ayano, Yang, Ruby, Gaara, Minako, even her family. They were all gone because of her actions. Perhaps if she could have done something different maybe they'd all still be alive. So what's better than doing nothing? By doing nothing and pushing them away she was protecting them from herself. By doing nothing they wouldn't be caught up in whatever curse was laid upon her.

By being alone, everyone would be happier.

[418 words, 2 posts]

The torrent of water was a lot on the rocks that Kaisto stood on, he was surprised Kim had this much magical power, he heard the wolves yelps as they were tossed in the water before being discarded as they yelped and ran away in pain to lick their wounds so they wouldn't be back, that was until Kaisto heard her words, she did it all cause...she was scared of loosing them...honestly Kaisto didn't know she cared for her friends to go so far as to keep herself isolated to save them. Honestly...Kaisto honestly could understand what she meant now, it wasn't that she was mean to be mean, she was mean to keep them safe so they wouldn't be hurt.

Kaisto grunted as some of the water splashed on him as he wiped it from his eyes, he grunted and looked around before looking at Kim Kim! You aren't alone! everyone at the guild is there beside you! Iza, Me everyone you need to keep calm please!"But he didn't know if his words would reach her over the torrents sound so he had to stop it here, so he took in a deep breath, the air had a certain chill to it as he then used his roar spell, Hydra's Ice Roar and used it all on the water, putting a lot of force behind it but he continued the roar long enough that the water started freezing it in place until finally it did freeze that water.

Panting slightly he looked up to her, the water was frozen solid only a light flurry of ice crystals in the air shone in the air, he then looked up to the rocks and carefully traversed his way to Kim before he was standing face to face to her as he looked at her and placed hands on her shoulders and said "Kim...never think you are alone or that you need to keep yourself away from them...just try that please, at least try to be friends with Iza, and me and whoever else you want, that's all i wanna ask of you Kim." he looked at her and hopefully tried to calm her down, this mission was hitting more and more home for Kaisto and he was finally seeing why Kim acted the way she did to others all he wanted right now, was to keep her calm.

(Word count: 398, counts as two posts)

By the time Kaisto wad done freezing over her muddy and debris-filled water, the tanuki witch had curled herself into a ball right in the center of the once rushing torrent, untouched and clean. Her head rested in between her knees, legs being hugged by her arms to keep them upright. Her usual, up-right rabbit ears flopped and dangled over her head and spilled lazily onto her legs. The fluffy tanuki tail was now back to it's regular size, curling itself around her body for comfort.
Eyes closed Kim's body flinched as she heard footsteps, causing one rabbit ear to tense up before flopping back down.
Despite her throat becoming dry she was still able to emit a growl from it, though it managed to crack in between the noise.
"I can't." She'd mumbled, slightly muffled by her legs. Kim didn't know what he was trying to accomplish with his words. It took much more than talking to someone to change their minds. Especially if the person had been doing it for years. It was all she knew how to do. Lie, cheat, and play mean. She'd let her guard down around her tribe, and now look at it. It was full of strangers and lost faces. She couldn't remember the last time she saw a familiar face. Because they all managed to die or leave and be replaced by newcomers. What was the point in trying to befriend people if they just kept leaving her?
It seemed like no one really wanted her anyway, not even her birthplace. And that was fine with her. If she didn't get close to anyone it wouldn't hurt when they abandon you. No one liked her for what she was. If it wasn't for the fact that she was a witch, then it was for her magic. If it wasn't for her look, it was her personality. She couldn't seem to please people enough to make them stay.

"I-I like being alone. It's okay. I'm use to it."
It was a lie. God, it was a lie. She loved being around people. Her friends in the tribe had made her feel so good, to finally be accepted even if she did have to lie about what she was. At least for the times they were there, it was wonderful. She loved to chat, to be happy, to be around people she loved. But it seemed to not mean as much to other people as it did to her. They'd leave, and never come back, leaving Kim alone to wonder what she did wrong... What did she do wrong? It always felt like her fault. Maybe she could have gotten there sooner, maybe she could have talked to them more... Maybe she could have been a better person...

Maybe she was just cursed to be alone. That's what it felt like at least. But Kim was okay with it. If it made others stay and alive, it was okay for her to sit on the sidelines and watch, pushing them away. It was good for both parties. Kim wouldn't get hurt, and they wouldn't either.
It was for the best.
"Iza doesn't need me... I don't want her to need me... I-I don't want anyone to need me. That's too much power over someone's life."
The times where she had thought to just leave the guild and let Izayuki die had crossed her mind too much. She didn't know why she would think about that from time to time, but she wanted it to stop. It made her uncomfortable.
"If i'm alone all i have to worry about is my own feelings... That's all i can handle. Other people confuse me."

[621 words, 4 posts]

Kaisto looked down and knelt down at her, eyes filled with sadness, as Kim explained to him more, god why did he have to make her cry for, he felt bad that he did but he also knew about her plight, when Kaisto first came there he was a recluse, never talking at all, heck even the guild thought he was a mute, which was till he actually did speak, that was with Iza during a certain mission. But truly...Kaisto felt bad for Kim, she thought that being alone would help her move on with her life and keep everyone safe but honestly, he couldn't bare to see Kim like that, he had been there and seeing it through his eyes, he didn't want her to spiral down from it.

As he sat there Kaisto slowly reached in and actually gave Kim a hug, it wasn't like a romantic hug or something like that but it was a hug that showed that he was there and he was willing to help her no matter what "Kim...You don't have to be alone, even if you push people away they are willing to be there for you, I would definitely be there, and so would Iza, it's not power over someone's life, its a way to help people make adventures with you in BOTH of your lives, you don't have to be alone no more Kim. With Iza you are her family, family is everything, you shouldn't keep it away but you should cherish it..." his voice cracked a little bit and then took a breath

"and with me he chuckled a bit Well honestly with me i would be happy to be your friend, to help ya when you need it and, i would never hold it above your head o anything like that, thats not what a friend does, a friend is someone who is happy to be able to be with ya every day no matter the circumstances and we help you whenever you are down, or upset or anything he smiled and pulled back a bit before he gently used his right arm to lift up Kim's head so she could look at him " Now...lets wipe those crocodile tears away..." and he actually did it for her, he saw tears forming in her eyes so he gently rubbed them away and then smiled slightly "And how about a smile? Cause i'm actually sorry if i upset you today" he looked at her actually serious, he wanted to make sure she was ok before even thinking about continuing this job and to make sure that he didn't hurt your feelings, cause admittedly...he did sound like a complaining jackass during this whole mission and he wanted to change that.

Kimial tensed at the embrace, arms jutted outward, muscles clenching and frozen. He was... Hugging her? By why? She had just explained how she didn't want to get close to people, but yet he still continued to try and break the walls she had placed up mentally. Didn't he get it? She wanted to be alone... If he kept doing this, she couldn't achieve her goal.
Stop... Please...

Yellow eyes wide she parted open her jaw to beg him to go away and leave her alone... But the words couldn't form in her mouth properly and all that came out where quiet whimpers. She didn't want him close. She wanted him to go away. He'd get her... She'd get hurt!
At least that's what her mind wanted. But the warmth and closeness of his body was... Strangely nice. When was the last time she had been in someone's embrace like this? Kim didn't know. Maybe when she was a baby, her mother cradling her in her arms when she cried. Yeah, those days were the last time someone hugged her like this. It had been years.
Still unsure of what to do the witch closed her eyes, pressing her forehead against his shoulder as she leaned into the friendly hug, giving into the temptation of another being's kindness.
"B-Baka..." She'd murmur, her fluffy tail wagging out of instinct at the warm spot she started to feel in her chest.
Though she wanted to believe his words, there was still a part of her that could not accept that. It would take some time before she could even start to think those were true, or maybe she would never think of them as true. But for this moment alone Kim would let her guard down again... Just this once. The act of having a nice interaction with someone was something she craved too much to just let go of at this point. She wanted to savor it to keep later in her mind when she was once again alone.

Lifting her head as Kaisto wiped away her forming tears she lightly knocked his hand away, starting to wipe them herself, a small blush glazing over her cheeks. God, she had let him see her cry, how embarrassing. She hated crying in public, it made her seem weak. And goddamn she hated feeling weak.
Blinking the rest of the salty liquid out of her eyes she stared up at the standing boy, her thin lips opening to a small "o" shape before closing to a smile, turning her head slightly to try and avoid his line of sight. She leaned back in her place, arms crossing over her chest once more.
"Anata wa hontouni bakadesu." She chuckled, her usual toothy grin returning.

[450 words, 3 posts]

Kaisto smiled and chuckled as he reached down and helped her up gently, he smirked knowing he didn't know what she had said "Ok honestly you gotta tell me what you said when we get back to the town ok" he joked a bit smiling at her. To be honest he was happy that she was now actually having a smile on her face and she didn't push him away from teh hug which made him think that either she was ok with it or she actually accepted the hug from him and opened up just a bit.

As Kaisto stood there with Kim he blinked as more howls came, he then looked around seeing more yellowish eyes glowing in the tree lines, it made him a bit worried with how much was around them right now "Kim...we need to run and we need to get to that flower NOW" he emphasized on the now part cause even with their magic both of them couldn't take on god knows how many Wolves were there, he then instinctively grabbed her hand and started booking it away from the wolves with Kim next to him running too and the other wolves now giving chase to them both.

(Word count 206)

Kim pulled herself up with his hands, popping up to her feet easily.
Grinning at his lack of knowledge her expression softened, a single laugh catching in her throat. Would she tell him? Probably not. Somethings said should never be repeated, even in another language. "Oh, it was nothing" she shook her head, fingers intertwining as she rested them against her front gently to give herself an innocent look.
She appreciated the fact that he went out of his way to help her, she really did. But she didn't have the heart to tell him she didn't fully believe in his words. The only person who could ever change her mind, was herself.
Maybe one day...
As she stared at his face more, the more Kim felt comfortable around him. Kai seemed to have a nice aura around him, she could feel it. It was warm and friendly. No wonder this guy didn't have a problem with making friends. He had that goofy friend vibe to him. It was a character she didn't get to see so often, and one she was rather fond of.
Now if only he talked less... Then Kim might not mind hanging around him more often.

Hearing more growls and rustles coming from within the nearby bushes the witch jumped slightly, turning her head quickly to spot the glowing, yellow eyes. Now she could understand why the shop members didn't like coming here, this forest was just crawling with wolves and monsters. No normal mortal could possibly deal with all these things prowling about.
Feeling her hand grabbed she let out a squeak, almost jumping out of her skin before she was pulled along, her legs naturally reacting and beginning to run and match Kai's pace. Not that she had any choice. With his strength and grip on her if she went slower than him she could get pulled to the ground and slide along on her face.

Huffing and wheezing as they ran forward through the trees Kim looked behind her, seeing about eight wolves running along behind them, paws pounding against the forest group, spilling up dirt and leaves as they went. Huffing through her nose yellow eyes hardened. They just never did give up did they? Maybe they were the pack before and they brought backup... Typical.
Knowing the animals wouldn't give up the chase easily the tanuki brought up her free arm as she ran, allowing small, red berries to appear in her hand before she threw them out to the animals. They splattered upon contact with the wolves, some in their faces and others around their bodies. They howled as the juice stung and nipped at their skin, causing them to skid to a halt and yip widely, running around in circles, unsure of how to stop the poisonous damage done to them.

That would keep them busy for a while.

[482 words, 3 posts]

As Kaisto ran with him, he looked back and saw her throw the berries at the wolves which made them yelp in pain, he continued running for a bit before stopping and looking around before finding a good hollowed out standing tree as he looked around the tree and saw a opening and slid Kim into the tree first and then he slid in next, it was quite a tight fit but where the tree was hollowed it would offer good cover and nice cover for their scent, though bad side about that...they were really close together like chest to chest closeness, so Kaisto decided to speak up "two things..." he whispered "We never tell anyone we were trapped by wolves like this, and second, lets try and not make this awkward as possibly" he couldn't help but chuckle at the last part before he cleared his throat a bit.

Though quickly he shut up after then he heard wolves started running around and sniffing loudly around the tree and the surrounding area, Kaisto hoped that they would leave and not return for them, he listened closely and then after a tense 15 minutes one of the wolves howled loudly and he heard the pack run off and not return to which he took a deep sigh of relief he chuckled a bit "W-Whoo.... that was pretty freaking close....n-not as close as this fit b-but, ah jeez i'm floundering her he blushed bright red in embarrassment before he looked up "I-I'll be damned.....Kim what color and type was that flower?" he asked her curiously

(Word count: 265)

Unlike Kaisto, Kim wasn't nervous about being this close. Yes, it was slightly uncomfortable, but their lives were kind of on the line here. Being embarrassed about the closeness should be the last thing on his mind. The witch didn't see why being crushed against someone was getting him so riled up anyway. Though that could just be the fact Kim lacked any attraction to the male gender in the first place. If she was stuck in such a tight space with a woman... Maybe she would get slightly flustered... But for him and his little heterosexual mind this was probably like getting to first base or something. Pathetic.
"Shut up" she whispered harshly towards hims, pointed finger pressed against her lips as she glared at the boy.

After a few moments of sitting, crouched uncomfortably within the small tree Kim let out a deep sigh of relief as the sounds of the wolves faded away, bringing silence over the two's head.
Still irritated over the male's actions the witch balled her hand into a fist and forced it down onto Kaisto's head, letting out a loud sigh through her nose.
"You COMPLETE idiot!" She yelled, voice cracking.
"You almost got us killed because you couldn't keep it in your pants! GOD, i hate guys!" The tanuki huffed, crossing her arms over her chest before shooting yellow tinted optics at him. Her fluffy tail lashed back and forth behind her, flicking up leafs and dirt. If his loud voice had gotten them injured or killed she swear she would have haunted him in the afterlife.
How irresponsible could someone get? They were animals, animals have good hearing. If he spoke just a little louder who knows what could have happened.

Another sigh escaping her mouth she shook her head, shrugging.
"Whatever... It was a white flower or something... Kinda looked like a Calla Lily."

[312 words, 2 posts]

Kaisto blinked and then felt her hand crash on to his skull "OW!!! What the hell Kim! What do you mean keep it in my pants? Hey i've never been in a situation like this so i was caught off guard i didn't wanna make it awkward was all jesus!" Kaisto rubbed his head and then took his hand and used it to make Kim look up while they were in the hollow tree and saw some followers that matched her description "Kim...i think we found what we were looking for" He looked around and well actually grabbed Kim's shoulders and made her back touch the wall of the tree and then knelt down and pointed to his shoulders with a plan.

"Kim, its very simple, stand on my shoulders and start picking the flowers i'll keep you balanced and not being able to fall off while you pick them and the quicker you do that the easier we can get this done and go home" this was of course...before Kaisto stopped and facepalmed himself "Oh...my...god....I'm a freaking idiot, you can just easily use your magic to get the plants with out any of that hassle huh" he said sighed and chuckling a bit "Welp, im gonna leave that up to you to decide, you can either hand pick them or use the magic to get them faster, your choice Kim"

(Word count 232)

Ah, seemed as though he had a brain after all. Pushing her weight upon one leg as she bent the other Kim clicked her tongue, optics rolling in their sockets.
With her arms folded across her chest the tanuki stood for a second, eyeing the white flower. That was it alright. The cup shape of the petals was evidence enough. This was the flower everyone was too scared to get.
All that work for this... And it was well hidden in a tree too... Kim began to become annoyed at how little they were getting paid for this.

After a moment of gazing up at the plant one slim vine would grow slowly out of the ground, curling and unwinding itself as it grew taller and taller, reaching up towards the top of the trunk of the tree.
Stopping just before the flower the vine would hesitate, pausing for a brief second before curling itself around the slender stem of the plant, plucking it easily from the soft ground.
Having extracted it's target the vine descended, quickening it's pace as it dropped the flower in Kim's open hand.
A small smile tugging at the corner of her lips the witch would pat the end of the vine before it sunk back into the ground, leaving no trace it had been there other than a small hole in the ground.

Studying the flower carefully she'd reach her free hand towards it and stroke a petal, holding it between her nimble fingers.
"Well it's in good shape... Let's go back and get our money." She'd comment, ears twitching upward as she began to shuffle out of the tight space of the tree, making sure the flower wouldn't get mashed in the process by holding it above her head as she exited.

[300 words, 2 posts]