LIGHT WHITE LEAVES ♦ open to all

Sickened eyes fluttered open as bright light shone through the radioactive atmosphere of the region. The bakedanuki had been left for dead, an unidentifiable mess by the time the Nightshade Hell Deity had left her alone. Broken, useless arms, torn flesh, and a ripped spine and missing tail were all the yokai had to account for after the bloody encounter. Typically the ayakashi would have regenerated quite quickly, but the poison of the deity’s magic coursing through her body allowed for no such thing.

Her mind did not sleep until a full twenty four hour period after the event. She was left to be painfully awake and tired with the agony still running through her nerves and the pain of the spiking squirms from what was within. Only later did the poison allow her mind to go unconscious, a much wanted mercy for the bakedanuki. During her stiff and uncomfortable slumber, her body began to fully deteriorate as her abilities permitted, the venom slowly being fought against as it left her system. Finally, the mass of dark matter energy that made up the strange ayakashi’s body ripped apart what was left of her physical appearance.

More hours passed as the mass began to squeeze out the rest of the venom, either absorbing it or dropping it to the irradiated ground. There was something that the abomination was unable to remove from itself, however. Three wriggling demons remained caught up in the matter, unable, and unwilling, to leave their new nest. After the passing of a couple days, the dark energy would begin to reconstruct itself as a person. The instinctual memory did its best to recreate what it recalled of its old appearance, but something was off. There were factors and aspects that the shadow matter was unable to reproduce from being stained by the three.

Eyes that were colored with crimson overlaying swirling shades of yellow stared up at the nuclear sky, beginning to take in the truth about where she was and what had happened. The young bakedanuki began to sit up, scanning her surroundings and the new body she had regenerated. Wine colored orbs stared in mild shock at the strange colors on her new tail. The Nightshade Hell Deity had made off with her lovely silver tail and her body had regenerated one that was alabaster in color with an obsidian tip. In the previous instances where she had been forced to reconstruct her yokai body, her appearance had always remained consistent-- ginger hair with her glacier-stained tanuki features. This time, her hair was pale white and matched her fur color for once. Beyond that, the rest of her figure appeared to be the same as before.

Slightly disturbed but unwilling to linger on the fringes of Morgate Town any longer, Izayuki forced herself to stand up. Using tanuki illusions, she created a temporary new shirt for herself to replace the torn one and made it so that her black blood stained capri pants appeared only mildly worn once again. Creating a shiny green leaf in between her thumb and index finger, the bakedanuki focused on a specific place to move to. Normally, she would have simply taken an avian shape and flown to a new place. On this occasion, the guild master had chosen to use a trump card, refusing to stay any longer for fear that the deity may be back.

With a flash of pale green light, the bakedanuki was transported to an ever so familiar forest. “Sakuramori,” she breathed, feeling a sense of calmness and relief at the beauty of the Black Rose territory. She had chosen a settlement close to, but not directly inside, the forest. The beautiful cherry blossom trees still littered their glory all over the village due to hanging on the fringe. The place was perfect for tourists and a generally lovely place to live. Holding onto her leaf, Izayuki forged a few illusions once more-- specifically a version of herself. She spoke through the feigned figure to request room in a village inn due to not wanting to be seen in person. The illusion looked far better and healthier, retaining her old appearance. Upon being granted access, the bakedanuki slipped into the room and gladly cleaned herself up. She brought out a few spare clothes from her unique spatial storage and briskly put them on-- another pair of loose pants and a loose-fitting and comfortable shirt.

She calmed herself down with the serene village and the comfort in the inn, choosing to take a walk through the dirt and stone paths of the traditional Midian village. However, the shock from before began to leave her, the adrenaline dying down as she strolled through the tranquility. As it did, the harsh realization and memories started to trace their way back to Izayuki, one by one. Flinching at the traumatic recollection, the bakedanuki felt a strange pain once again. Her first assumption was the logical explanation of it being a phantom pain due to the event having been so recent. As it continued churning under her skin in her abdomen, the bakedanuki’s pale crimson eyes widened in horror. Those… things... were not gone?

The bakedanuki found herself hacking and coughing suddenly. Upon removing her hand from covering her mouth, the guild master recognized drops of her unique black blood, residue from the dark matter that made up her body. Falling to her knees as more pain penetrated her body from within, one of the three hell demons awakening for a few moments from its hibernation, the alabaster-haired tanuki found herself coughing more of the sour dark liquid. She was blessed to find herself on a mostly non-populated road, with the few that did pass keeping their distance for natural fear of sickness. Eventually her coughing fit came to an end, leaving the tanuki girl fairly winded and sore. The squirming demons within finally were at rest once more, but the realization that her dark matter body had not disposed of them frightened her more than anything. How could she face her guildmates in this pathetic state unless she lied to their faces and puppeteered illusions? Salty and bitter tears began forming at the yokai’s eyes as her mind toyed with the despairing thoughts. Trailing back to the inn, the ayakashi sat on the large flight of steps that led to the inn. She wanted to stay outside for now, hopeful that nobody would recognize her in her new appearance. The only ones that could so easily sense her were ones who could see her soul, knew her scent or the basic frame of her appearance, or would sense her unholy icy magic.







ooc: // please don't feel obligated to match my wordcount i went overboard ;A;

The flesh of the innocent so often becomes dirty in this cruel, cold world. Sirens and screams so often reverberate throughout the lampshade of the midnight mist.

Healing.

Recovering and support often follows those who themselves do good. Blurry ley lines cover the world on upon each, people are constantly drifting, like leaves in a vast forest. Sakuramori offers a quiet respite for souls that have been wounded or distressed. Or for those simply needing peace of mind. Small footsteps trail away from the forest, on a path bordered by pitch black roses. Beautiful in their own right. An ironic sight that conveys the luster of hurt turning into faint memory and giving birth to newfound trust.

On his way into town, the soft fiddling of a street performer introduced him to the mismatched cobblestone and packed dirt of the town street. He walks and eventually heads to the inn. Serenely, his eyes set upon Jiyu; he seemly can never avoid her. He makes his way to the small group of people conversing. Someone he doesn't know. And Izayuki, if he eavesdropped correctly. The guildmaster was always changing her form nowadays. As a friendly, light spirit, he senses a deep pain--no, darkness within Iza--not the usual darkness, either, but something else. He runs, lightly--more of a bouncing jog--up to the group. "You're hurt," he exclaims softly, so genuine that if it came from a regular human it might be concerning. He tries to make eye contact, and then asks for permission, "Can I help you?"

In the territory that was managed and often occupied by the Black Rose guild, the tanuki knew that she could have expected to see her guildmates at some point. The fact that the little kitsune girl was there, however, was a comforting surprise. The bakedanuki’s physical appearance was not enough to hide who she truly was. Aiyana of course could feel that something was wrong and instantly inquired, already making it obvious that she recognized the white-haired ayakashi as the fellow wizard saint. Izayuki welcomed the comfort of a friend sitting nearby, and unconsciously began wrapping her new alabaster-furred tail around one of the kitsune’s own snowy-white tails. She did not wish to go into great detail of what had happened; it was too painful to call or bring to mind. Though the event was passed and she had regenerated a new body, the memories still brought a sort of phantom pain to the girl and she did not want to risk stirring one of the three demons again.

“Nightshade Hell Deity,” Izayuki whispered, arms crossed in uncertainty as she wound her white tail even tighter around one of Aiyana’s. A couple of tears still welled at the corners of her eyes, but did not begin to fall. “She… it… it left me for dead and took my tail,” the bakedanuki tried to force out, her forehead resting against Aiyana’s shoulder as she held herself, arms remaining crossed. She could not pipe out the details of the torture, nor did she want to mention it and stir anything worse from within her. She realized that she had a new tail now, but it was not like the old one. This form was not one she created by choice but rather was one forced upon her from the demonic energy unable to escape her body.

The scent of another canine washed over the ayakashi, who raised her head to see the familiar inugami and ace of her guild. In silence, the wounded tanuki allowed the other yokai to sit at her other side. Jiyu was not the only other guildmate of hers to appear. The guild master recognized the presence of the guildmarks all over, with Seth, Esialeth, and finally Victoria all approaching to inquire about what had happened and if she was alright. Izayuki was quite impressed that they managed to recognize her despite her new form, but such a thing could only be expected of family, perhaps. Gingerly, she turned her head towards Seth at first before continuing to focus her pale optics to Esialeth and then Victoria. “I’m fine now,” she said softly, gazing back down at the paved steps below her as she told the most of the truth. “I had a tangle with a demonic goddess is all, and I lost.”

So much for keeping too much attention from herself. The bakedanuki was not willing to share the full details for the sake of her guildmates and herself. However, the small descriptions she had given were quite true. She had been helpless against the demonic being, completely unable to fight or defend herself. Normal healing magic or unique herbs were not going to mend the wounds she had sustained. Even her own unique body had been unable to purge the three hell demons and their excruciating venom. Regardless, the guild master attempted to force a small reassuring smile, not wishing to further worry her guildmates. To them, hopefully it would be a simple case of a powerful mage losing to somebody stronger and escaping with their life. It was nothing more.

“I’d prefer not to return to the inn, for now,” Izayuki clarified at Esialeth’s suggestion. She understood that her guildmate only wanted to help, but she could not present herself to the bulk of her guild in the state she sat in. There were too many questions and the young ayakashi questioned her own mental, emotional, and physical stability for the moment.

Aiyana, however, ignored the surrounding commotion and whispered to Izayuki words only she could hear. The bakedanuki’s ears pricked at first in surprise and then at mild dismay as she shook her head. “Whatever you do, don’t go after them. I don’t want anybody else getting hurt,” the guild master murmured to the kitsune, a worried look in her pale eyes, before peering around at her guildmates once more. She was about to relay the same message to them, but quickly found that she would not have to. Jiyu had begun lecturing the surrounding Black Rose members on not tracking down the deity who could do so much physical and psychological damage.

However, then the subject of at least investigating the Nightshade Hell Deity was brought to light. Overwhelmed between the sudden influx of familiar faces and the recent trauma, the guildmaster pulled her hands over her soft snowy-furred ears, attempting to blot out the thoughts and the stream of unfortunate emotions. She knew that if they attempted to track down the identity of that monster, they would likely meet a very painful outcome. Shaking her head, the bakedanuki felt relief when Jiyu finally mentioned it could wait. “Later,” she muttered out, unable to really summon the words she needed to further give information or orders. For now, she just wanted to remain in the comforting tail embrace of Aiyana, if nothing else.