Sabertooth in: A team re-united!

Details:

Crowds of people blocked Mashyuu and Itsu from getting to close to the center of the Rose Garden, apparently they all wanted to see the beautiful flowers. As Mashyuu stopped he slung his hammer down and let it rest on the ground, hands off the shaft, deciding that the heavy weapon might not be the best for a time like this, flowers were light and nimble. If he had to fight a Wizard who used flowers it could really cause him some problems. Besides he had never seen a flower mage and had no idea if that was based on wind magic or earth magic. Hell it could have been something else completely for all Mashyuu knew. Itsu on the other hand stopped at Mashyuu's side and looked up into the sky to see the flowers raining down and landing one atop the other like a heavy snow. "Oh these are beautiful. Are you sure the job wanted us to look into why the are falling and put a stop to it?" she asked with sorrow in her beautiful big eyes. Mashyuu simply rolled his while crossing his arms over his chest and nodding up and down. "Yup, and we are waiting for someone named Itori. I think I worked with her before I died, when I saw her name I had a few flash backs but I won't know for sure until I make contact with her and at least see her do something that would jog my memory." Mashyuu explained while scanning the area. "Lots of innocent people here, I don't want them to get caught in any fight that might break out. This could be a simple curse that has the garden in it's thrall but from what I remember there is usually someone behind these sorts of things." Mashyuu complained. With a shrug he glanced behind him to make sure that nobody was to close and hoisted his hammer up, letting the magic surge through him for better or worse and slowly started to lumber through the crowd.

"If your face and body changed how will Itori know it's you?" Itsu asked as the pair made their way through the sea of people. "Well, I have the same eyes, I bet my magical aura is the same, if not stronger, and I still have my mark on the same part of my body, it's why I'm wearing the open vest. So that she can see the mark on my chest." He explained while tugging at the white and orange vest that had no sleeves and exposed his body aside from a enough fabric to button the vest up if he needed to.

At last the pair stopped at the metal gate to the Rose Garden where he noticed that the bars were wrapped in vines. "Well that could be a problem. I don't know if maybe this is part of the curse or if these have always been here. We should really wait for Itoi before we proceed with the job." Mashyuu reasoned. He placed his back to the gate and leaned against it, a yawn escaping his mouth while he sighed and looked up into the night sky. Admittedly the raining pink and red petals did strike quite the image in his mind, reminding him of a simpler time when he was courting Kanix and even Itsu. It was strange how women seemed to all like flowers to some extent. Even the ones that acted like they didn't seemed to actually like them a little. His attention was pulled though when he felt a gentle weight on his massive arm and looked to see Itsu snuggling up to him and looking up to the sky as well. "Reminds me of being a kid, sneaking into the forest and picking flowers. Before we both left home and before we were dead." Itsu chimed in, making Mashyuu blush a little and nod silently.

"Yeah... it's a real shame this is a curse and might end up really hurting someone if we don't put a stop to it. Think about how bad this could get if they never stop falling to the ground. This might one day cover the entire area. How bad would that be if this was only the first place that the flowers started to fall."

WC: 729
Post: 1

Cherry blossom petals were floating down, numerous pink flecks decorating the dark blue sky as Rose Garden was being adorned by a very unusual form of decoration. It was very pretty though, many of the inhabitants of the city spending more time than usual outside to admire the cherry blossoms. Usually this kind of display was reserved for the distant land of Midi or specially prepared groves which only contained cherry trees, so being able to gaze upon this kind of view from the comfort of your own city or home was an opportunity that the people of Rose Garden gladly took advantage of. Granted, it still wasn't quite the same as walking amidst the cherry trees during spring, but the petals in themselves already were quite nice.

Amidst all the cherry gazers a rather unusual person strode through the streets, taking her time and taking deliberate steps as she waked past the others, deftly avoiding any collisions with those too absorbed by the unusual sight to watch out for themselves even as she herself also studied the petals. Her vermilion eyes betrayed nothing of her personal feelings as she watched those many, many cherry petals, her three white tails swaying sedately behind her as her sandalled feet carefully avoided the cherry petals wherever possible, and stepped onto them gentle, almost apologetically, whenever her path didn't allow her the alternative. For Itori cherry blossoms had a rather personal meaning, as they reminded her of places very long ago, so long ago that for most people they were beyond even myths and legends, long enough ago that entire kingdoms and empires had grown to their full splendour and glory and decayed into nothing but ruins since then. A time long ago when Itori was still enjoying the blissful innocence and joy of children.

It was in some ways painful to be reminded of those times this way, with these fake cherry petals filling the city of Rose Garden. It was similar enough for the memories to be brought to the surface, but at the same time it was so obviously fake that the contrast was uncomfortable. Itori liked cherry petals, but she couldn't really appreciate these, beautiful as they were. Like a painting which had been damaged and repaired poorly, it was wrong. She would have to find the cause of this sudden rain of cherry petals and put a stop to it, both for Rose Garden's sake and so she wouldn't have to deal with this uncomfortable sensation any longer. Those memories, still etched into her mind as sharply as if from yesterday, were precious but not something she wanted to be forced to deal with because someone was causing trouble with cherry blossoms.

Speaking of memories, there was another group of memories she would have to deal with today. It had been a while since those she had been friends with had disappeared. More specifically, the last group of friends, since through her long life Itori had dealt with a lot of people and made many friends. This group had been quite interesting, although not without its issues as well. Itori personally had been grateful for them, especially the only girl in the group, who had been able to help her with a problem which had been haunting her for as long as she had been alive. A girl who couldn't have been much older than a decade, and she had managed to solve a problem which had already existed for millennia. A wondrous experience, and because of that Itori had been very grateful indeed. She wasn't sure where all of them had gone, but one by one all three of her latest friends had gone somewhere where she couldn't follow them.

Of course, Itori was well-acquainted with loss and partings: when your lifespan was so different from that of almost everyone else you got used to seeing them get born, grow up, and then slowly wither away and die while you yourself stayed young and healthy, even if your age was best measured in centuries and millennia than individual years. As such even though she had been disappointed to part with this group so quickly she coped fairly well, continuing on with her life as she had always done. Even if they had died she would meet them again someday: once souls had formed a connection reuniting them was a lot easier than finding a soul you had never before met, and Itori as a spirit Kitsune wasn't necessarily separated from those she cared about by the barrier called death. It might take several human lifespans, and it might not be easy, but Itori had no reason not to believe that she wouldn't see them ever again, just like how she would meet everyone else she had encountered in her life again.

Except that she was now here to meet one of her latest friends, who apparently hadn't died. Instead he had disappeared, and now he had returned and sought her out. He hadn't actually come to talk to her face to face yet, but it seemed he wanted to use this job to reunite with her. Itori wished the job hadn't been one with such... bothersome circumstances, but it wasn't like Mashyuu could have known that cherry blossoms both were beautiful and sorrowful for Itori. That was a thing from long ago, and she had never really talked much about her life before arriving in Sabertooth. She'd just have to accept things as they were and as always not give people reason to worry about her.

Walking towards the gates that Mashyuu and Itsu were resting at Itori's eyes widened for a moment, her ears twitching and swivelling towards the two as the Kitsune listened to the song of reality. That girl next to Mashyuu... was someone who had died before. More specifically, it was someone who had died before and who had returned not as a reincarnation, but as herself. Itori was very familiar with spirits, souls, life and death, the afterlife and reincarnation. Combined with her unusual senses she could tell that this was someone who had passed into the afterlife before and who had been brought back. Itori wasn't too sure what to think about that... well, it seemed she had been brought back as an actual living being rather than a mere ghoul or zombie, which meant that there was no reason to immediately free her from her current prison and return her soul to the afterlife.

Itori walked up to Mashyuu and Itsu, her appearance pretty much identical to the last time that Mashyuu and she had been together. The Kitsune looked at the two silently before bowing, her hands folded together and hidden inside the large sleeves of her outfit.

"Hello again Mashyuu. It has been quite a while since our last encounter, and I am quite joyous to see that you are still in the world of the living. Could you introduce me to your companion?"

Just as before, Itori's voice was melodious, gentle and soothing, her words a near-song which could put you into a trance if you weren't careful. The Kitsune was controlling her voice to keep it from actually enchanting anyone nearby, but even with her suppressing the supernatural quality it still was the kind of voice you'd want to hear more of.

Arm in arm, Mashyuu and Itsu watched the pedals fall until his nose flared and his attention was drawn to Itori, even after dying her scent was so different to him that he recognized her before she got close. He gave his former teammate a nod of respect as she bowed. "It's good to see you again too Itori. It's been far to long, and sadly I was dead for a while, thus the new body. I was brought back by a god. That includes my friend here, this is Itsu." Mashyuu motioned towards his friend while unlocking arms with her and giving the two some space. "Ummm. Hi. My name is Itsu, Mashyuu's former lover. I was revived in order to guide him through life as a God Slayer, almost like an aspect to teach him. He is a quicker study than I remember." Itsu admitted while bowing low to show the respect she had for the great wizard before her. The woman with the ram skull on her head smiled warmly and pointed behind her to the bars. "We were about to head inside when Mashyuu decided to wait for you just in case. The walls are lined with flowers and we thought it might be some sort of trap." Mashyuu nodded to support the theory that Itsu was explaining while he walked around to the door and pointed at the gate. "I can change to sand and just blow through the bars, open it from the other side but I wanted to wait for you in case something happened." Mashyuu then stepped forward and exploded in a plume of sand, only to shift and assemble on the other side of the bars.

Carefully Mashyuu reached out and grasped the bars of the gate, his gloved hands tightening as his grip increased. While Mashyuu wasn't harmed by the gate as he pulled the bars he did slip, crashing hard into the ground. "Gahhhh! Why are these so slick!?" He howled while he grasped the back of his head and flailed about. As he came to a stop on the ground he sat up and pointed at the pavement his hammer was under, causing the ground to roll the hammer to him so he could use it to pull himself up. "Okay, that hurt more than I thought it was. I think it's an effect from the petals. Watch your footing here." Mashyuu suggested and reached his hand out for Itori to help her step through the threshold of petals then Itsu. "I wonder what kind of magic is being used. It could be flower, basic plant, earth or maybe even the after effect of water magic." Itsu pondered then stopped at the side of the other Wizards. "Well if the ground starts to move in a way that magic would effect it I'll know it. Plus I learned a few new tricks I'm dying to try out. Itori, you have senses as strong as mine. Maybe stronger. Think you can track the mage down or are the petals obscuring your senses to much?" Mashyuu asked the beauty while admiring her voice, something he didn't get the chance to hear very often.

As the last member of the group came past the gate, the metal bars swung shut, trapping the trio in the garden's flowers. Mashyuu sighed and raised his brow. "Never do they just let you walk in and leave. Always gotta find the leader and knock him out cold in order to go home." Mashyuu grumbled. He shrugged his shoulder and slung his hammer up onto it to rest. "This hammer really slows me down so I'm gonna count on you to hit em fast and I'll hit em hard." Mashyuu told Itori.

WC: 636
Total: 1365