Mashyuu and Sorano in: Spirited Away?

Marshy @ THQ

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Nodding and thanking the librarian as quickly as possible, the disguised mage left the library as fast as she could without looking suspicious. Within her mind, millions names and various chains of information swirled throughout her head. However, all of them revolved around several fragments of information. Kidnapped, gone, vanished. Dates, situations, and all sorts of things leapt through her mind, and she found it tough to keep all the information absorbed in. She had done something she hated doing, and here she was, experiencing the literal headache of a consequence. Having recently developed an ability to strip books of all their knowledge, transferring it all into her own mind, she hadn't been sure whether it was blessing or curse. She felt it was sabotage of the books, and it left her in a terrible mess. However, she had to work to solve this case, and fast.

This time, she felt it was more closely related to herself, seeing as how an acquaintance of hers had vanished a while ago as well. Whether it was related to this case or not, it would be best to find out, if only just for his older brother. Briskly moving down the street, forming ever more barriers in her mind to keep her head clear, Sorano suddenly found herself somewhere else. "Ah...?" A surprised sound escaped her lungs as she suddenly found herself immediately transported to a place she immediately recognized. The weird skies, the random things and animals floating around, yup, it had to be Nazo. By now, Sorano had already visited most the planets with a Wakusei Portal, including the famously weird Nazo. As she stood, she suddenly found her feet sliding apart, as if she stood on a sheet of marbles. Yup, the weirdness was included in the physics.

Awkwardly sliding around an inch above the ground, the letter mage now had to determine why exactly she was here. Having not brought Hoshi out on this excursion, it was rather lonely. Cautiously leaning against what looked like a boulder, Sorano relaxed to get a hold on her surroundings. It appeared she was on a long flat plain, stretching far to one side,and she was at the edge of a dark forest on the other. Hearing a commotion echo from the trees, the letter mage leaned over to check things out. As she stood, fighting to keep her feet still, she spotted two animal-like beings step out, a human held in between them. As the weird physics applied to them as well, each was doing something different. One walked stiffly and stepped down extra hard, as if afraid to float away, and one's feet kept sinking into the ground. Narrowing her eyes, Sorano would approach the woodsy area. Checking the sky to see if there was anything that could attack from there, eyes widened as a dark shape seemed to be flying about the forest. A familiar aura. Good. She would begin to approach the Sabertooth mage, hoping it wasn't another trick of Nazo's.

Marshy @ THQ

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Glancing up as she heard the familiar Sabertooth mage's voice call down from the treetops, she wondered whether to be panicked or relieved that Mashyuu seemed to recognize her. I mean, it made sense, right? She knew dragon slayers had an excellent sense of smell, and he had likely recognized that. As he floated into view, she began to open her mouth to greet Mashyuu cautiously, unsure of how this former job partner would view her now that she was technically in a dark guild. However, as he floated closer, she suddenly saw confusion cloud the mage's aura. Ah. So he couldn't recognize her appearance. She supposed the absence of Hoshi likely confused him as well, seeing as she seemed to go everywhere with the creature.

Blinking and pausing a bit, Mashyuu would seem to remember what he was doing, quickly firing away questions at her as if she were any other random kid wandering around on another planet. Deciding against revealing her identity immediately; Mashyuu would find out eventually with his skills anyways, Sorano easily thought up of a cover story of sorts. Reaching into her bag, she would pull out a small slate, writing upon it at a pace slightly slower than her usual supernatural speed. "I'm not quite sure. Appeared here while walking home from school. Pretty sure this planet from Wakusei P. I don't know. No." After scribbling these short answers down, Sorano would gesture at her ears and make a cross with her fingers to represent that she was "deaf". This would do until she could figure out Mashyuu's opinion on the sudden dark-ifying of Fairy Tail, something she should be able to figure out pretty fast. Then, it was stay and help out, or quietly exit stage left. She was mostly sure Mashyuu wouldn't kill her, right? Sabertooth had morals after all.

Glancing in an unconcerned manner at the dragon, Sorano would nod slightly at Mashyuu's reassurances that she sure didn't need. Reassurances he might not be able to keep? Who knew? "I'm good. Know some magic." She scribbled quickly on the slate, in order to explain the magic signature that she quashed slightly to make her appear weaker, maybe around rank C. "What are you doing here rn?" Was added next accompanied by a questioning look from Miss Emotionless. Meanwhile, as she kept up the small "talk", dark eyes would begin the process of trying to scan Mashyuu's emotional reactions to different things she might drop, as well as his surroundings to check his opinion of her guild.

Marshy @ THQ

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Wait. Wait. Wwhaaaaaaaaaaatttttt?!?!? That's what probably would have been happening in Sorano's mind as the news was abruptly shoved in her face. Oh. Oh. Okay... How did she not know this? Had she been away from the guild when everyone was told? Or did Kanix mostly keep it a secret? Mind brimming with questions, the relief at being with, well, a person who wasn't against Fairy Tail went by unnoticed. Still, Kanix was married to Mashyuu? She'd known that the imposing Mother of Faeries was indeed married, but to this guy? How did Mashyuu even manage to live with her? Wouldn't Kanix have bitten his tongue off long ago? Wha—sjxjelkftdtgojpjppmmmhphpjp? But, of course, she being such a dignified image of a perfect young lady, Sorano wasn't about to think such noisy thoughts!

Anywho, she now had to contemplate whether to show Mashyuu who she was exactly, as though he seemed to recognize she was a mage of Fairy Tail, he apparently had no idea that this was the Miss Emotionless he had been acquainted with already. Naturally, being the person she was, this decision would take an extremely long time , time she didn't feel like wasting. Besides, talking was much easier than trying to make people understand her complicated manner of writing. "Wait... Since when were you and Kanix-san married?" There we go. Thus was the blunt nature of Sorano Granon, who had likely been buried deep within a book when this event had occurred. "And also, Mashyuu-san, apologies for not greeting you properly earlier, but one does have to be cautious these days," she would add, loosening her hair from the pigtails, and wiping the makeup from her face with a handkerchief. Letting her magical signature swell back up to its former level, still a bit below the Sabertooth mage's, she would now be easily recognizable as Sorano Granon, longtime mage of Fairy Tail.

This all occurred after Mashyuu had finished the pit, seeing as it took such an astonishingly long time for the youth to make a decision. Welp, it could be used to protect other humans later, as it seemed it would be needed. "Well, to explain things from what I know, we are currently on the planet Nazo, known for how eccentric it is. The Nazoites or whatever they might be don't seem to be in a playful mood either, seeing as their auras don't display much joy."

Marshy @ THQ

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"There are all sorts of spirits in the world, Sorano-chan." The memory found itself at the front of the letter mage's brain as she looked up at the five surrounding yōkai. "And all they want is recognition. Spirits are selfish little things, but we as humans respect them and worship them because they do have the ability to change our lives,whether it be for better or for worse. But, as I'm sure you are realizing as you grow more conscious of the world around you, people are changing. This modern way of looking at the world excludes the spirits as powerful god-like entities. They have become something like pets; curious little companions who are equals to us humans at the most. And trust me, Sorano-chan, they don't like it. Even if humans are getting more and more dominant, spirits don't want to realize this. They're stubborn little things, see. But, dear, as long as you treat the spirits with respect, they will treat you with respect. That is how it should be whenever you deal with these creatures."

Years ago, visiting a temple with her grandmother in Midi, this was what Sorano had been taught of the spiritual species. And here, she would apply it for the first time where it would actually seem to matter. "Ah, Tengu-sama, may we negotiate this deal?" Behind the crow-like man stood a pack of dog-like creatures, probably Inugami if Sorano remembered her yōkai accurately. "We do not wish you any harm, and will comply with your instructions if our final terms do not satisfy you." Bowing easily with no sign of humiliation, the letter mage carefully maintained a controlled air while appearing lower in rank to the spirit. Turning to Mashyuu, she would re-say what she had the Tengu had said in broken Common and translated what she had said to the yōkai in its native language.

The crow-man, being one of more logic and a more open mind than other sorts of spirits slowly nodded, willing to hear what they had to say, but, as Sorano wrote mentally on a mirror she held so only Mashyuu could see, they had to prepare to engage in battle at all time. Shooting what she knew to be a more sort of "action man" a "got it?" look, she would turn back to the yōkai. "If you may, please allow us to discuss for five minutes, and we will give you five minutes then to rest from your hard work while you await our decision." Bowing once again, Sorano turned back to Mashyuu. "Well," she would say with a sigh. "It would be better to chat in slang terms so Mr. Birdie o'er there can't understand what we say as much." She herself was already slipping into this uncomfortable speech pattern, frowning at the informalities.mood either, seeing as their auras don't display much joy."[/color]

Marshy @ THQ

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An inward sigh. This slayer certainly had quite the attention span, huh... But, then again, Mashyuu had always seemed to be more an action-based character, one who excelled in making quick, fast plans of action and carrying them out, unlike Sorano who often took the long, scenic route. For a moment, looking at the older man's somewhat blank face, the letter mage felt a bit like a teacher having to reprimand a forgetful student. Opening her mouth to re-explain the situation, she was met with, "Ya know, for a guild who was known for being destructive you sure talk alot."

Frowning at the comment, Sorano would calmly reply while keeping the beat of the conversation up with ease. "Well, that isn't the same with everyone of Fairy Tail," she said lightly, "and I suppose I could be destructive if I wished, but as a letter mage, my greatest weapons are words, and thus I use these words to fight verbally and mentally before engaging in physical combat." After reassuring her he would definitely be ready if trouble arose, the letter mage nodded along and paused with him in his thinking. To her slight surprise, a foreign language dropped from Mashyuu's tongue a few seconds later, one that took Sorano only a few moments to confirm. Having studied dragons for a while, she had quickly taught herself quite a few draconic languages in order to read the many ancient books inscribed in the slippery tongue.

Affirming that she could speak and comprehend with a quick bob of her head, Sorano would then lend an ear to Mashyuu's thoughts. Showing her comprehension with occasional nods, Sorano suddenly paused at his question about portals. "Unfortunately, Mashyuu-san, that is something quite difficult to tell on Nazo. Seeing that the very existence of this planet is an oddity, many things are off. The features around the portal are forever changing, so the portal I saw last time would have a completely different appearance now," she would murmur, half in thought.

"But our primary concern right now, as I see it, is getting away from these yōkai. We can either fight, run, negotiate, or comply. None of which a great choice to make." Personally believing negotiating would be the best choice, Sorano would look towards the Sabertooth for advice. "Perhaps we could offer a service, or solve whatever problem's making them act this way? Or do you have an idea of what else we could barter with? I'm currently thinking of simply asking them, them bartering down in we must."

Marshy @ THQ

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As she switched tongues easily, the letter mage would notice the dragon slayer's eyes light up for a second, a warm emotion blossoming in his aura. It was interesting how easily a language could make someone feel at home, Sorano would muse, then turned her mind back to what Mashyuu was saying. After a moment of mulling over Mashyuu's suggestion of splitting up, Sorano would agree with a short nod. "Seems logical enough," she answered with a few tilts of her head to accent the point. Adter all, she wasn't sure how the yōkais' abilities worked, and how stable their teleportation skills actually were.

From Mashyuu's agreeing to their negotiating, a soft inward sigh of relief would blossom inside her, and she dipped her head slightly in response. It was quite obvious that Mashyuu wasn't one for this style of fighting, as she wasn't the type for fighting with plain brute force. However, she wasn't sure she was quite up for the idea of her taking leadership. Still having a bit of that teenager mindset, she was more accustomed to taking orders from those who were older than her. With a quickly adjusted tighter grip on her mind, she would wrench it to focusing on what would be good for this plan. She knew she could lead, certainly. The issue was whether she wanted to or not.

After convincing her mind, Sorano would now consider the issue from different points as a leader should. Mashyuu's idea of going to their base and meeting their leader was one idea, but not one Sorano felt was an exactly safe one. "Hm, there is that, of course. However, if you think about it,wouldnt we be at their mercy on their camp? Though I somewhat understand how Nazo works, the yōkai will obviously know it better. By going to their base, they will have so much more power over us in those turns. Even if we as humans have gotten much stronger, yōkai are still yōkai and have a very much different way of thinking. If we fail in negotiations because of this, then we would be in quite a bit of danger.

"Instead, my suggestion would be to first of all figure out how they are viewing the situation. What they want. In any debate, you will most likely fail if you don't know what your opponent wants. In fact, this is a thought process that probably runs through your mind unconsciously even when you fight so you can better find weaknesses, am I correct? At the moment, they have power over us because they have a basic understanding of what we want, while all we know is that they want something to do with the humans. I believe we should ask them questions to understand how we should approach the issue first, then improve a bit as we go."

Finally stopping and taking a breath from her bit of a monologue, Sorano would glance over at the yōkai who looked over at them with distrustful gazes. Suddenly, a hand would clap down on her shoulder. Blinking up at the older mage, Sorano would stare up indifferently as he stated he would protect her. Well, in the end, Mashyuu still was a hero character, huh?

Marshy @ THQ

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Taking note of Mashyuu's unusually passive attitude, Sorano would begin to realize that the earth slayer seemed to have changed a bit since their last meeting. Something about him was, well, more peaceful. Though there was still that same fierce love of action and battle, he was suddenly more understanding, and more willing to try different things. Interesting. Wondering what had caused it, a break was formed in the letter mage's thoughts as she considered what could be. Kanix? The strict woman who was her guild master and his wife was certianly a possible cause for thia subtle change. Or might it be someone or something else?

Pulling her mind back to the problem at hand, Sorano watched as Mashyuu let one of his companions off to search for a portal.Hopefully the yōkai wouldn't mind that a non-human flew off, right? It wasnt anything of too much importance, after all. Well, it certainly appeared they did care, as one of them rose up after Hoseki to ensure that no funny business occurred. Okay. She reeeeally had to focus. Clapping her hands a couple times on her ears, Sorano glanced up as the large handbwas lifted from her shoulder. Twin blue spheres looked down on her in an almost freakishly fatherly way, and Mashyuu would tell Sorano to do as she wished.

A calm nod. Just as she turned to face the spirits, they had obviously had enough. Spitting and glaring, the leading one it seemed would whine and threaten, giving off plenty of useful information in the meantime. It would appear that Mashyuu caught this odd slip up in words, for he raised an eyebrow at the yōkai. And indeed, this was a rather interesting little thing for them to have said. They needed to process human bodies to reclaim Earthland, yes? "Ah, Tengu-sama, my sincerest apologies." A bow at a perfect ninety degree angle. "We must have lost track of time, for were naught but lowly humans, after all. We do not posses such acute senses as your kind does."

Yes, perhaps she was laying it on a bit thick, but the spirits seemed to gulp it all up with eager movements, a quick puffing of the chest from the leading crow-man. "So, Tengu-sama, if I comprehend correctly, you and your kind are abducting humans in order to conquer Earthland?"

"Well, yes, human. We would naturally want control of what is currently the wealthiest planet in all senses." The tengu's comment was very brusque and to the point, something that seemed to be common in creatures of his type.

"Is there a particular reason for such action now, Tengu-sama?" Sorano fired back, face ever so passive.

"Why, because of you magic humans of course! If you rise to too much power, then we would most certainly be in danger as well!" came the sharp reply, a caucous noise echoing in the back of his throat. A nod would be Sorano's response as she tried to think of something else to say. But really, what was there for her to say? She had no idea at the moment, quite frankly.

Marshy @ THQ

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Obvious boredom radiated off of Mashyuu in waves, something that was rather irritating to the letter mage. She knew this was extremely out of character for him, but it was almost starting to ruin her concentration. Building ever more mental barriers, Sorano took a breath and began once more at the yōkai, then stopping as she heard an intake of air from her partner. Right after he opened it to speak, it was closed just as quickly, for he seemed to trust in Sorano. It was certainly a kind a very touching move that Sorano felt was unusual for people to feel around her, and turned it over a few times to treasure it. Giving the slayer a brief thank you glance, focus was back on the yōkai.

With a brief summary of her thoughts, the letter mage began once more. "Would you be willing to agree to a compromise? A sharing of the land?" Fingers were clasped behind her back, firmly clutched for one second, then twiddling and fidgety the next. Occasionally, she would bounce from one foot to another, restless movements that she didn't even notice.

"Perhaps, but you humans soon forgot about the deal last time we made it," snapped the tengu. Eager barking from the dog like yōkai punctuated his point, making it seem more menacing than the actual meaning. "You found your own sources of power, and the contract was broken as we weren't providing you humans with advantages anymore. You magic humans made all the power yourself!"

"Yet, there are still plenty of people who worship yōkai today, am I correct?" Sorano asked, slowly beginning to realize what this entire knot of things was. It was similar to those words told to her by her grandmother all those years ago: all they wanted was some attention to keep their places.

"Not enough. And so we were kicked off." The replies were growing evermore hostile, and Sorano was having to think harder and harder for other ideas.

"What if we tried it again? Without a required contract. You could roam around the earth hidden, like you were in the day, but not have to give benefits," a slow and wobbling suggestion dribbled out the edge of her mouth, accompanied by a furrowing of the brow. Mashyuu's next comment made her think some more. "Benefits for both? That sounds a bit interesting, please do go on," Sorano urged her partner, knowing at least that two minds were often better than one.

"Yes, let us hear this," came a new voice, a slow voice coming from their left side. A new group of spirits had arrived on scene. A whole crowd of bakaneko and hebi had arrived, looking questioningly at the tengu and inugami. "Negotiation is always entertaining ~."

Marshy @ THQ

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Watching with an almost nervous expression on her face as Mashyuu suddenly froze up. Unable to tell that Is was speaking to Mashyuu, Sorano was immediately worried that something was wrong. "Ah, is everything okay, Mashyuu?" Though it was a dull and emotionless question, the letter mage was smart enough to know that a Mashyuu in trouble wouldn't bode well for her. Though she could negotiate, if she had to do everything by herself in this job on top of everything else that had taken up her mind recently, he brain may very well explode. Like the person he was, Mashyuu immediately guided Sorano to stand behind him while he stood awkwardly staring at the spirits in a gesture of kindness.

Knowing she would have to talk pretty soon, her mind immediately began to work as fast as it could. If the yōkai were worshipped again, how would that work? Would humanity even be willing to worship these creatures? Noticing Mashyuu's gaze travelling around the area, Sorano followed the worried gaze, taking in the current situation. The humans had all apparently been taken away, and only the mages were left to work things out here. As Mashyuu would begin his uncertain lite presentation, Sorano considered his points. If they didn't as exceed's... Well, that could work to an extent, but from the area that rose on the faces of the inugami, it was obvious that not all wanted to be corralled in such a fashion.

As touch more interest was displayed at he likening to a dragon, though it wasn't quite evident as to how the oddities felt. And despite the cheery thumbs-up that was shot at her, Sorano could feel the same uncertainty roiling in his aura beneath the heroic facade. As expected, after what seemed to be Mashyuu reasoning with himself from the letter mage's standpoint, he looked back at her, obvious cluelessness in his expression. Oh dear. He wasn't thinking of having her do everything, was she? Even though she liked to think of herself as a very mentally strong person, in the end, even she had to be truthful with herself. Something had definitely been wrong recently, and Sorano had no idea how long her current mental state would keep up.

Immediately, the spirits began to converse, swirling round and round in spirals, their language so mixed up in each others' speech that even Sorano found it difficult to pick out bits and pieces. Naturally, her companion took the chance, whirling around to face the younger mage with a set expression. "Can you keep these things from getting to Earthrealm?" The words sprung out of his mouth, poised and ready to fight. Two slow blinks. Wait, what? Come again... "Um..." Sorano trailed off, trying to come up with something to say in return.

"That would be difficult," was her final reply. "These are spirits, almost god-like in their nature. They don't quite follow the rules of what we know, for they managed to get so many humans here without carting them all through the portal, after all. But I see your point. I'm not quite sure how to ensure that we can trust each other as well. Neither side here is stupid, see."

As the conversation dragged on, a suddenly hoarse call from the tengu came, "Seeing as we are an extremely large group, the yōkai, we have decided to take you to our area of gathering to receive opinion from all of our kind." From its tone of voice, it was obvious it wasn't willing to give them a choice. Even so, Sorano would hesitate, knowing how much of the advantage they would lose.However, with a quick mustering of her courage, she would nod slowly, hand palming a knife. "I personally believe it would be best to try and negotiate a good solution before resorting to measures such as that, because yōkai are valuable allies if we can come to a peaceful agreement. But please do tell if you have a better solution."

Marshy @ THQ

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As she shifted muscles in an act to begin the move forward, she was suddenly stopped by Mashyuu's voicings in the ancient language. His hand fell on the one she palmed Kagayaku in, and she stopped, sliding it back through the mirror stitched into the inside of her sleeve. "Okay, I'll try to think of something," she said quietly, letting the older mage take the stage again. Holding the breath, she could only hope that things would go okay now. But thinking back on all she had read on the subject of Nazo and yōkai, they weren't exactly the easiest people to understand.

Immediately, something about the attitude of the yōkai shifted as the very different character began to speak. Sorano's address was more of a meek and lowly one, one that snuck around in a subtle manner. However, the boldness and directness of Mashyuu's brief speech was in huge contrast. It wasn't necessarily bad contrast, but it definitely changed how the yōkai were feeling a bit. Something was more blunt, less tricky in a way than the little one. It seemed to lend them a bit more confidence in themselves as well, for their own nature's shifted to match the mage's as was the nature of many a deity.

It also seemed to cause them to be more compliant with the human's request, as they would seem to confer as one being for a few moments. "Very well. You have given valid reason and we will comply to an extent with your point." Raising his head, the crow man would let out a hoarse cry in raw yōkai language to all yōkai to choose a representative to negotiate for their species and to come to this location. "When they arrive, we will finally negotiate. Prepare to have to give up quite a bit, as our subspecies can be very different in requests." Twiddling her fingers unconsciously, Sorano would start wondering how they could possibly comply and barter with the terms of all yōkai types upon the island.

"Anyanyanya~" a rasping purr could be heard from behind the two as a bakaneko grinned at them. "Since we are all one as bakaneko, we will make our request first. Giving up territory is always so hard, isn't it?" Idely licking at a law, it would continue at a leisurely pace. "If one of you humans would stay and serve us for the next century, we would be plenty please. It would be taken good care of, too." Settling back on its haunches, the bakaneko finished it's dialogue and would now wait for a reply. Still, what was this sort of request? She knew of no way this could be possibly arranged in such a short time...!

Sighing, she would say, "How about we hear all the requests first and try to compromise?" Seeming to agree, the next oddity came up. A snake slid up, it's emerald eyes glimmering eerily at the two. "Sssoooo... we do not care much of these meddling affairs with a faraway planet. But to take this chance for some reward, we will request some gem or jewelry of the humanssssssss. That is all." This was definitely easier, and more manageable than the previous.

Marshy @ THQ

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Casting her umber gaze towards the dragon slayer to see how he was faring, Sorano blinked a few times when Mashyuu spoke up once more. Wait a moment... How could he possibly have found solutions to those problems already? She had already been planning out possible combinations of words that might create a jewel or a humanoid golem of sorts, but it seemed she has no need now. Wondering where he could possibly have found a solution, she gaze flickered down to the dragon adorned with a coat of shimmering gems. However, she doubted it would ever let anyone remove a gem from what she had read about such draconic creatures.

Watching with curiosity tinging her features, the letter mage would follow Mashyuu's movement as the clump of earth was lifted up from the ground. Her auric sight carefully tracing the threads of energy entering the earth, she blinked in surprise as it suddenly swelled outwards. As the earth built itself up into a magnificent golem, a low hiss came from the bakaneko. However, they made no other move or reaction, patiently waiting through Mashyuu's explanation and demonstration. "This is all excellent, human, but we bakaneko are gentle and graceful creatures, nya?" A disdainful look was shot at the mage's before this lead speaker continued. "A golem as you call it, could never replace a human in its usefulness. Why would we ever desire to tear apart the trees that protect us and shelter us? Nya, Tree-Killer? We do not accept this offer."

However, Mashyuu's second offer had a much higher rating than the unfortunate rejection from the bakaneko. The hebi, emerald eyes glinting, slid up in eager anticipation, caring not for the wounded expression of Hoseki. Blinking in hesitation, Sorano would look wonderingly and thankfully at the gem dragon, now minus one sapphire scale. "If there is ever anything I can do to repay for your sacrifice, Hoseki-san, do not hesitate to ask." With these thankful words, Sorano would bow low, offering the gem to the leader of the hebi. "Well, they will cherish it well, at least. It would be quite a precious treasure to them.

"As for the bakaneko... hm..." Turning to Mashyuu, Sorano would switch over to the draconic language with ease. "Do you believe you could make another golem? I can use my letter magic to shape it down to something more graceful and humanoid, and add features to it so it is much better appreciated by the yōkai?"

Following this incident, the inugami would come to request their own price. Their request came in a powerful chorus, their forms shifting to more humanoid ones. "Food! Food! Fun! Run free! Earthland much good food and good run! Good food!" Now not even Sorano could make sense of this in the beginning. The inugami's lack of knowledge in the common tongue was quite a problem in transmitting their message. But what Sorano managed to catch from the jumble of words was a wish for food and a place to run. "So, um, you want food and running space?" Scratching her head uncertainly, the letter mage pondered her possible word combinations. "I can provide food, and possibly a place to run. You?" The gaze turned to the slayer once more.

Marshy @ THQ

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Warily, Sorano's gaze would notice Mashyuu's aura spike in frustration again, though he did a surprisingly good job of hiding it than he had in the past. Quickly removing more gems from Hoseki, he would quickly toss them at the hebi to ensure their departure. Just the movement even held some of that pent up anger, and Sorano paused, unsure of whether his temper would last through negotiations. Ah, well, the two of them should have enough power to escape reasonably unscathed, but the letter mage thought it for better that things not end up like that. However, the earth mage's next comment was somewhat concerning. She wasn't sure that the technique he had decided on was one that was a good one to solve this task, but ah, well... Still, the main issue here was that it was hard for him to hold the golem for long, so...

Visualizing the exact wording of the spell she wanted in her mind, the letter mage began to right. It was a long, complicated spell, for there is no such thing as a human who is simple. Now, there was no way even the most skilled of letter mages could create a human, for there was no way to describe that special life that was just there, but one could get close enough for such a being to seem a convincing human. It would take at the very least a minute, if not a few seconds over for Sorano to fully form the spell, a huge sheet of the pale misty words stretching before her. Gathering the energy required to create this doll of sorts, she carefully cast it into the words, pulling out the essence of each one. Slowly, they merged, swirling into something solid. A humanoid shape began to take form, and before long, a simple figure that could be mistaken for man or woman had appeared. Clothed in a very plain tunic, it looked exactly like a human if not for that blank look in its eyes and robotic way it moved, for Sorano had had no time or energy to smooth things out to its best.

Now, as the bakaneko came up to observe this new creation, they would find with delight it responded to commands in the common tongue, the language the yōkai shared, as well as that of felines. "Nya... I suppose it will have to do. Hmph! Humans, nya?" With a proud flick of its tail, the lead bakaneko would lead its little gang and the humanoid off in disdain.

Knowing Mashyuu would be displeased at such a comment, Sorano pursed her lips slightly before moving on to the next task as soon as possible to try and prevent anything big and dramatic. Being rather drained from the energy it took to process so many words, Sorano was breathing hard as she addressed the inugami. "Ah... well, good inugami, we can create food and a place to run and have fun in, yes. Could you bring us to a place with more space?" A rapid series of nodding heads came almost immediately after, and soon, the letter mage was chasing awkwardly after a herd of were-dog things.

Reaching the site; a large earthen clearing, Sorano nodded, the began to write again. This was a spell she wrote often, so she easily laid it down. Almost immediately, a basket appeared. "Whatever you desire to eat will be manifested in the basket. However, if it is broken, the spell will no longer function." She would then turn to Mashyuu for his part of the spell.