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Post by otomiya reira on Aug 13, 2010 16:59:19 GMT -5
Traveling through the forest probably wasn't the best idea she had ever come up with. The underbrush was dense, and Reira's zori kept getting stuck in loose tree roots, under mostly obstructed rocks, or caught in the general foliage. All in all, Reira couldn't say that she was fond of forests. Not one little bit. But still, at least they were safer to travel through than going the long way around. Fields and plains may be easier to walk through, but they were also far more dangerous. And for someone as completely inept at fighting as herself, that was not good at all. The only weapons she had to defend herself with were three tiny little knives that were good for little more than chopping up herbs into portions small enough to grind into medicine. They were hardly even suited for that. Or boning fish, though she used one of them for that on occasion. Basically her knives would be useless to her if she ran into a youkai that wanted to bite her head off.
Though Reira knew perfectly well that even if she did have a better weapon that she would still be as good as dead if she ran into a fiend. After all, what would be the good in having a weapon that she had absolutely no idea how to use? And then even if she did know how to use it that still meant next to nothing. For Kami's sake usually it was all she could do to keep from cutting herself with one of her pathetic excuses for knives when cutting up herbs or plants. She couldn't even imagine what it would be like if she tried to use a katana or something else just as deadly. The result would most certainly not be a pretty one. Somewhat sad, since as a woman traveling alone it was up to her to protect herself from danger. And so far she had managed to do so, for the most part... by staying away from large open areas and hiding whenever she heard or saw a youkai.
So maybe hiding wasn't the best way to deal with the situation, but it worked well enough for her. It kept her alive, which was the most important thing. Besides, after living with her father and brother for sixteen years she hardly had enough pride left for it to be injured by those acts of cowardice. Besides, wasn't it better to be an alive coward than a dead fool? Reira thought so. And that wasn't even considering the fact that she didn't necessarily see anything wrong with hiding. Sure, it could be seen as cowardly by some people, but it could also be smart. If she knew that she would just end up being killed if she stayed out in the open, then wouldn't the smartest thing to do would be to hide somewhere? Logically that made the most sense. Though all the same Reira couldn't help but sometimes wonder if maybe she would just be better off if she either settled down in one particular village to work. Or perhaps find someone that she wouldn't mind traveling with. Not a man though, since she knew traveling with one of those fools would be even more trouble than traveling by herself would be. Even the thought of traveling with a man, either by choice or necessity disgusted the herbalist to no end.
Grimacing she yanked her foot away from the too-tall grass that had captured her shoe for what had to be the sixth time since she entered the forest the day before. There was absolutely no way that she would even consider letting a man travel wit her. No way at all. She would rather die. Frowning down at her tabi clad foot she muttered an oath. Bending down she thrust her hands into the brush angrily. "Accursed plant, swallowing my shoe like that," she muttered, annoyed that this was happening again. It was the thought of men that made her so angry, she decided as she continued to try to find the zori, which seemed to have completely vanished into the brush. Yes, it had to be thinking about men. Nothing else would make her this angry at something as simple and nonthreatening as losing a shoe. Reira winced slightly as a burr stabbed her finger, but sighed in relief a few seconds later when her hand brushed against the rough material of the zori. Pulling it out of the plants she raised her foot and placed the shoe on it before taking a few steps forward. On the fourth step her foot caught on a tree root and she fell forward, landing face first in the foliage. She groaned. "Sore wa itai..."
Words ;; 794
Lyrics ;; Nightwish: Know Why the Nightingale Sings
Notes ;; Um... yay for Japanese? x3
Translations ;; Mori no tabi -- forest traveling
Sore wa itai -- That hurt... |
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Post by rikiishi rik on Aug 15, 2010 1:00:15 GMT -5
The afternoon breeze was chilling. It whirled slowly and carefully through the trees, along the path, and over the roots and rocks that scattered along the ground. It barely rustled any leaves, hardly caused a single blade of loose grass to turn over. But it was cold enough to send shivers down any spine, cause rows of goosebumps to rise along the skin and make even the toughest demon snuggle into their clothes. Yet it's silent travel and freezing effects were completely missed by the form lying before a large Sakura tree.
The form was absolutely still. Lying on his back, with his head resting in the palms of his hands, and one foot over lapping the other. He usually rested in the branches of trees, but the one he found was too beautiful to mangle and break with his weight. In fact, he planned on painting it when he woke up. Full moonlight was better then the harsh sunlight any day. It's glittery beams shining down through the tops of the trees would make shadows pop up in the most unsuspecting places. It caused green leaves to sparkle, outlining them in silver, like diamonds begging to be plucked from the dark branches holding them captive. The trunks of the trees would be drowned in darkness, the branches above claiming all the light for themselves.
Needless to say, the beauty that perked it's head at night, far outweighed what could be seen beneath the sun's rays. It was what Rik loved most in life. The night, and painting. The way colors that go unnoticed seemed to pop and dazzle before your eyes. And the night life that came out after dark. Fireflies, crickets, even a few birds that rarely showed their face in light. But, probably the best thing about painting at night would be not having to wear a bandanna around half his face. Being blind in the dark did not matter to Rik, he did not need both eyes to see, where as in daylight, he felt handicapped by his bad luck.
His leg twitched involuntarily, and he stretched it out to the side, bending his other leg to keep his knee from locking up. His mouth opened wide in a yawn, his cheek nudging the bandanna up above his eye, while he tried to nuzzle into the ground some more. The breeze had died down, only flowing few every so often, and never for longer then he could stand, which was perfect. But something seemed to perk the hanyou's attention. A mumbling in the trees not too far from his little clearing. Rik's body tensed as he listened for the noise, trying to detect who or what it was.
Then he heard them again, this time their mumblings were preceding by a hushed rumpling of cloth. Opening his good eye, Riki glanced over to the body laying in the foliage. He couldn't help but let out a few quiet chuckles, before slowly, and painfully dragging his body into a sitting position. The body didn't move, and he cocked his head, wondering if it had hit it's head and knocked itself out or not.
"Would you like some help?
[/b]" His voice was deeper then he liked, but carried itself softly towards his unexpected visitor. [/color][/b] - Reira <3 muse[/b] - Eh. notes[/b] - o3o Kinda short. Dx words[/b] - Fivehundredfiftyone. [/ul] [/blockquote][/blockquote][/size][/font][/justify] |
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Post by otomiya reira on Aug 15, 2010 12:30:27 GMT -5
Although her mind was admittedly quite preoccupied on more important things than listening out for sounds, such as attempting to pull herself free from the devil plants that had decided to leech onto her hair, Reira was almost positive that she heard someone laughing softly. She felt her heart stop for a few seconds before starting again. Someone was out there? What if it was a youkai? If it were one, she was a sitting duck like this. It could kill her with even less effort than if she were free. No time to worry about that now though, since she had slightly more pressing concerns. Well, not necessarily more pressing, but definitely a concern that would be easier to handle than a youkai. Besides, it wasn’t even as though she was sure she had heard anything or not. It could have just been the wind, or a bird, or maybe some squirrel or something that she heard. It didn’t necessarily have to be a person laughing. At least, she hoped that was all it was. It would be just her luck though if it was a person… how embarrassing, to be seen falling on her face and then getting trapped… but there was hardly anything she could do about that now, so she should just ignore it and pray that it was the wind.
Unfortunately, the wind was soon completely disqualified as a candidate when someone spoke from somewhere above her. Would you like some help? The words were spoken deeply, obviously by a male from the sound of it. The woman’s eyes opened wide and she grimaced. A man? Why did it have to be a man? Why couldn’t it just have been the blasted wind? Or if not the wind, why not a woman? Surely it wouldn’t be so bad if a woman saw her like this. And women could be strong enough to help her out as well. Reira groaned again. Why, why, why did this type of thing have to happen? It was unbelievably unfair. But there was hardly anything she could do about it. Fate seemed to be working against her whenever it could, and after all, who could fight fate? Well, some people surely, but definitely not her.
"Iie! I am perfectly fine without your help! I can get myself out of here,” Reira growled, not wanting to make it seem like she was completely inept. As though to prove the point that she was “perfectly fine” and could “get herself out”, she began thrashing about some to try and get loose. However, less than a minute later she stopped, having only managed to get herself more tangled in the weeds. Although she hated to have to admit it, she was completely stuck. And without that… man’s… help, she was doomed to remain that way for a lot longer than she wanted to. Sighing, she wondered if he was even still there. There was no way to know unless she asked though. "If…you’re still there… I really could use some help… if it wouldn’t be too much trouble…”
Words ;; 516
Lyrics ;; Nightwish: Know Why the Nightingale Sings
Notes ;; Short happens sometimes... like now, apparently. xD
Tags ;; Rik <3 |
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