REASON AND RHYME ♦ private

Rose Garden- a strange home and wonderland of magic. Even of magic that nobody had ever seen or heard about until they experienced it lived here, and Izayuki had already discovered her fill of nonstop, interesting, and often fun subjects. It was around midday, but there was still a load left to see. She did not come here often, but realized that she should, seeing as experiencing everything in only a matter of days would be impossible. There were a number of jobs with Rose Garden written as their location, so foreign mages were not rare sites. Even Izayuki herself was not from this place, but she was on no job. She had come with Elyx for the sake of looking for something to do, but the two mages of Black Rose had gotten separated from one another in the crowds.

Not that she minded- now she was free to do whatever she wanted, with no restrictions. A playful and devious grin on her face, the tanuki yokai continued on down the streets. She had something in mind- an interesting little trinket she had seen sold in the market-like areas lining a few streets. It definitely would not be hard to grab with an easy sleight of hand, or perhaps she could trick the seller into accepting leaves cloaked with Bakedanuki powers as Jewels. Either one was easy enough for the trickster yokai, who had not quite left behind bad habits. She preferred drastic measures when bored, and Elyx and the guild had yet to do something super interesting to entertain her. Or better yet- instead of subtle stealing, she could have some fun with her shapeshifting and cause a big, dramatic scene. That sounded like the better choice for the bored yokai, in the end. That grin broadened to a smile, and Izayuki began making her way for that one street- this would be fun!

Coincidence was a funny word. It could literally be defined as the remarkable occurrence of events or circumstances without apparent casual connection... and honestly, Izayuki had no idea. A familiar face from a meeting at a bar long ago in Lavantir Port City, all the way to today, where pink eyes barely glanced out of the corner of their sockets to spy out the blonde. It did not register as familiar to Izayuki at all- perhaps she was not thinking quite right, or simply, her mind was elsewhere. For once, she was focused- mind set on that shiny item she was to steal. With all of the connections in place, thus began the instant coincidence, without so much as too hard a care from Izayuki.

Honestly, she cared less about the item. It was shiny. She liked shiny, but she would aptly return it later on, having no true need for the item. All she desired was to see a good reaction to a dramatic scene- playfulness was in her nature, and there was no way should would be too subtle. Thus, seeing the shiny object on the street shop table, Izayuki used some sleight of hand. However, instead of keeping it muted and subdued, she swept her hand for the object with some flair, making the robbery quite obvious. The shopkeeper shouted at her angrily, but the girl had already began backing away.
The Bakedanuki thought back to faces and images she had seen before. Creating a new form altogether was often almost impossible, but she had observed enough people for long enough to be able to mimic and replicate quite easily. Using her shapeshifting, the yokai took the appearance of a certain acquaintance from long ago, keeping her transformation subtle as pink hair grew thicker, curlier, longer, and blonde, her height increased, her clothing style changed, and her pink-hued eyes changed to a nice shade of violet. Yes, she was now that one girl... and had managed to completely become that person she had once come to know as Venir RuLush. However, that name was all a blur, scarcely remembered in the back of the tanuki's mind.

Leaping back into the crowd, she held her new shape with a bright smirk. Leaping up with ease and great agility, Izayuki landed atop one of the crystalline lacrima lampposts that lit the streets during the nighttime and evening hours. Dangling the shiny, stolen object, a magical pocketwatch of sorts, the fake-blonde aimed to tease the shopkeepers and clamoring people below. Some were already on her case, ready to stop her, and readying their own magic attacks. How far would this go? She could only wait to see... and best of all, Elyx at least would not recognize her now, right? Oh wait... that person he wanted her to meet... that mutual friend Venir once mentioned... damn...
Well, too late to go back now. She could only hope he was nowhere to be found, and that realization soon left her as she continued to focus on the more pressing matter at hand.

The magic attacks fired in attempts to get her down simply went through her and smashed into the buildings behind. Her Flurry Transformation was perfect- she had trained herself to keep the same appearance, so long as she did not move too much while she used the unique ability. Her grin broadening, Izayuki continued to dangle the shiny magic item over the crowd, eagerly taunting and teasing them. As they seemed prepared to reach her level, she made a far and wide jump to the next lacrima light pole, only a few meters away. It was then that when she turned her now-blonde head, she noticed... oh dear.

The magic attacks were no longer being fired in her direction, but in the direction of another- the true holder of the appearance she had currently stolen. The name was right in the back of her mind, and on the tip of her tongue, yet she almost could not recall it just yet. It started with a V, right? And had Elyx mentioned it earlier? Was that not the purpose of this trip? Either way, she had enough to worry about. Giving a slight giggle, Izayuki leaped off of the lacrima pole and attempted to land near her new lookalike, landing right next to her and laughing even more at the confused reactions some of the surrounding people gave. Reactions were everything- this was priceless! Well worth the effort!

"Guess we'd both better get out of here, huh?" she said, continuing to use her Bakedanuki powers to mimic the girl's voice and tone exactly. Attempting to grab Venir's hand, she would try to use a fair D rank spell- admittedly, the magic she had had the longest out of all her primaries. She would then aim to fly up into the sky, manipulating the wind around her and her 'twin' to have them rise up and be able to literally 'run' on the air, so long as physical contact remained. "I suppose I'm having too much fun with this... but did you SEE their reactions?! Amazing!"

To the yokai, this was all one big joke and prank, mostly on the shopkeepers, more than the one she was attempting to 'save' and escape with. If they continued, she would attempt to land on a different street- one that was much more quiet and without the commotion from before. It was not too far from where they originally were, but would give her a moment to breathe before the excitement started again. Good thing Elyx was not here, right? Well, hopefully he did not sense her use of magic with the flight... no promises there. But since when did she care what anyone thought? All Izayuki wanted was a good time, and at that moment, her time was quite fun. Maintaining her form as the exact image of the girl before her, she continued with a playful and devious smile. "That was close, hm?"

As expected, the girl was not too fond of the prank that Izayuki had pulled. She had so many ways of making it worse right then and there, continuing on, but at that point in time, she did not feel the need to be so cruel. The reactions were enough, including her twin's- the darkness-infused fire made a few things evident. She was a mage, and a god slayer, at that, and definitely angry. Still, the scene was definitely amusing, and the yokai maintained a wide toothy grin while she continued to tap into her personal Bakedanuki abilities. She mimicked a dark fire to surround herself, and had it produce heat as well. Not only that, but she made it slightly larger than Venir's flames. However, this was only her ability to skew perception. An illusion, sort of, just much more refine and realistic than a mirage to the eyes. It was fully believable that the fire was real, only when touched- it was not corporeal. Only a show, a display. Still, she was hoping it would throw off her blonde twin some more.

"No- that was fun," Izayuki corrected at first in response to the girl's first words in reply to the situation. She continued to mimic Venir's voice as well, using the same perception manipulation illusion for sound with her Bakedanuki ability. "Ahhhh so you were a fugitive or something? Why, pray tell~" she continued with a laugh, somewhat interested in the blonde now. Besides, in the end, curiosity killed the cat, not the tanuki.

And now she was finally getting to the punch- just who was the one who had stolen her shape and form? Still smirking, Izayuki would wait for a response to her first question, if there was one, before going on. Her Bakedanuki power was nearing a limit. She could keep this up all day, but personally, she did not feel like trying. Ah, sweet laziness. "Good question~" she began, allowing her voice to shift back to her original one as her violet eyes turned to their original shade of pink. Slowly breaking her transformation, she made her flames disappear with a great flash of bright colors and light. As one would expect of a tanuki unable to keep holding their shape, she then had her silver-furred tanuki ears atop her head, along with a fluffy tail, claws, and slightly more pointed canines. All on Ven's form, before... poof!
There was Izayuki- long, straight, pink hair, blowing slightly in the wind, with her tanuki features still maintained. She was a bit shorter than the blonde, but not by too much. She wore a black skirt, a black tank with a white sweater, and long black socks and brown boots. Hands on her hips in an arrogant, confident, and sassy manner one could familiarize Izayuki with, the yokai flicked her tail proudly before continuing. "A good question with an easy answer- I'm a Bakedanuki- a Tanuki Yōkai. The name's Izayuki, but you can call me Iza. And you're Venir, right~?"

Izayuki's smirk widened as Venir continued to deliver energetic reactions, but lifted an eyebrow in slight surprise as the blonde went on to reveal her crimes. Eclipse Soul, yes she had heard the name once or twice, and Elyx had likely mentioned it at some point, but to believe that this woman had taken out the entire guild? Well, it was quite a feat, and perhaps the flame-user was not one to be underestimated. Still, that did not mean the tanuki was about to give up just yet. "Is that so?" she mused with a mischievous grin, before she noticed her guildmate, friend, and lover finally arrive- better late than never.

Elyx was much too late to arrive at the scene- the illusion was gone, having burst from flames into bright colors and lights before vanishing, and Izayuki had returned to her original human form. Thus, no use for that annoying Deemo's orb.... really, that tiny glass ball certainly annoyed her. If it were not for having the slightest hint that Elyx actually needed it and used it against illusion-using enemies, she would have smashed it herself at some point, if she could get her paws on it. Folding her hands behind her back, she giggled slightly as Elyx went on to apologize for the troublesome actions of the yokai, and then take on the responsibility. Honestly, it made her respect him ever so slightly more for it, but that would never be something she would admit. "Sheesh, formal as ever, Elyx. We were only playing~" Izayuki said with an innocent smile, taking a few steps towards the brown-haired boy and the blonde-haired girl. Perhaps she had gone a little far? This lady certainly was a sensitive one, but that made it all the more fun and amusing, right?

Another idea came to mind as well. Elyx possibly had not heard her story of burning down a guild, having arrived before the tanuki removed her mirages. Venir was easily feeding Izayuki all she needed to continue on subtly, even with Elyx there, who obviously disapproved of her little 'tricks'. She paused at Elyx side for a moment, before continuing on towards Venir, slyness on the smile on her lips and in the shine of her pink eyes, unseen to her guildmate. However, activating her illusions and perception manipulation once again, the yokai used one that would allow Ven to hear Iza's voice, as if said audibly without Izayuki speaking, yet it was directed only at the blonde. Elyx would be unable to hear or pick up on it at all. "Rune Knights on your tail, hm? Does Elyx know you're a killer?" she would ask through the illusion, expression remaining sly, with a hint of mischief and a slightly threatening demeanor one could not see from behind.

She felt somewhat bad for the comment, but her curiosity was insatiable. Leaping upwards, Izayuki shapeshifted into a small, silver-furred tanuki and attempted to land atop Venir's head, paws balancing gently on golden blonde locks of thick hair. She had used up a good deal of her Bakedanuki energy, and it was just easier to stay in her true form. That, and it was a bit of an apology. She almost felt bad, seeing how Venir was taking it. But, keyword almost. She never formally apologized out loud, or if she did, it was beyond rare. Still, revealing her true form so easily was a bit of something, yet a thing that their human minds would likely not take as sincerely as another yokai might. However, she was not finished just yet. "I'd tread carefully, cause you never know who knows a few Rune Knights~" she projected her voice in the audible illusion towards Venir in a casual and chipper, yet cautious, tone. She meant what she said- the comment could lead Venir to believing that Izayuki knew people to tell about Ven, but in actuality, Elyx would be the better reference. She knew that he knew Rune Knights, was a Wizard Saint himself, but if Venir were a true friend, he would do nothing to get her in trouble. So hopefully, that was the case. Throwing off the illusions for good, Izayuki spoke aloud, hopefully from the blonde's head. "Awww, don't go yet! That's no fun," she pouted, gently attempting to paw at Venir's head a bit from laying on top. "And you and I have met before, once, long ago in a tavern in Lavantir."
They had only exchanged a few words back then, and the tanuki was surprised that she even remembered the golden-haired girl. Perhaps it meant something? She could not know, but still, she liked Venir already. She was fun!