undergrounds | Kitsunegari (July catch-all)

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Kitsunegari (July catch-all)

A: After the full moon

Heiji had been lucky to walk away from his run-in with Tal as well as he had -- a werewolf during this particular time of year was even more dangerous than usual. But he was still badly hurting, and he did not yet want to return to the Other Realm, where one of his own kind might see an excellent opportunity to take advantage of his wounds. Nor could he wander the streets as a human slowly bleeding through his clothing.

So instead he limped along quietly in the early hours of the morning in the least energy-intensive form he could. A small black fox, looking for a burrow to hole up in and lick his wounds.

B: You are cordially invited (July 7)

In light of his new title as well as his decision to stay in London for the foreseeable future, Heiji had had a home constructed for himself in Faery -- a little out of the way for his non-fae acquaintances to come visit him, but much less likely to arouse undue interest from any neighbors. It was a Japanese-style house, of course, with a small pond and cherry trees outside the windows.

Now he sat out the steps, sipping at his sake and waiting for company.

C: Fox hunt (Evening in Richmond Park, July 11th-ish)

Hoofbeats sounded in the distance, accompanied by the distant baying of hounds. A flit of red fur through the grass, and then the sounds of the dogs took on a new, excited cast. Panicked and frightened, the young fox ran blindly through the trees. The paths looked the same, the woods were unfamiliar. Meanwhile, the sounds of her pursuit was getting closer...

Heiji ran through the park, looking for any sign, but he'd lost sight of the hunting party. All he had to go on now was the baying of the hounds. There were thousands of foxes in London, and why hadn't she listened to him?

He grimaced as he charged through the grass. "Of all the rotten luck...!"

D: Choose your own adventure :')

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Malia had vacated the pack house during the full moon. It's dangerous enough for her as a shapeshifter during the normal days, but this time of the month was out right suicide for her to stick around. For the three days of the full moon, she went back to her old world of the streets of London — although this time she had the money to snag a hotel room. It still made her skin crawl, especially the scent of the hotel room. Cleaning did little to mask the scents of the people who'd been there before and the things they had done.

Which was why she was out, in human form, in the middle of the night. At least out here there was fresh hair and the lack of the pungent smell of ammonia and cheap industrial laundry detergent.

In fact, there was one scent the caught her attention above all others. Malia stops in her tracks, glancing around, subtly sniffing the air. She's smelled that before, and she tracks the scent to a small hole where she crouches down and peeks inside.

"Are you okay?"

Malia's answer was a kind of warbling growl, which was not a sound of aggression but rather the sound of a wounded animal trying to convey the message that although he was wounded, he was still capable of defending himself.

Sort of.

His eyes reflected the small amounts of light that filtered in from outside.

She snorts at that, reaching inside in an attempt to pull him free.

"That's a no, I guess. Come out of there."

Heiji dug in with his paws, trying to keep her from pulling him out, but he'd been too fatigued to dig very deep in the first place, so this was pretty much a doomed attempt from the start. He was only twenty, twenty-five pounds in this form, so he could hardly rely on that as a deterrent, either.

In the end, he simply gave up (!!FOR THE MOMENT!!), panting a little as she lifted him out. There was blood in his fur, but his thick coat also made it more difficult to tell the exact nature of his injuries.

This was really undignified. When he was able to muster up the energy, he made another warbling fox noise.

She's got him lifted up, but there's not a lot of light and his fur is too dark and thick for her to see the extent of his wounds. He barks in her face, and she glares at him, looking him right in the eye.

"You're the guy that gave me scones, right? Stop being stubborn. You're bleeding all over my shirt."

Heiji hated this situation and he especially hated feeling vulnerable. That she was able to lift him out of hiding so easily was embarrassing to the extreme. However, he needed to conserve as much energy as he could at the moment, so he went still.

Begrudgingly.

What now, Malia? Were you going to take him to the pound?

The pound isn't even open this late.

Malia starts walking, cradling him against her chest, his head on her shoulder.

"I probably have towels or something in my hotel room," she says, ignoring the fact that at least one person turns to look at her for talking to her pet like it can understand her. "At the very least you can bleed all over those. What happened, anyway?"

SAFE.

Since he was already partially committed, Heiji didn't try to escape once she had him over her shoulder. The tip of his tail twitched slightly in response to her question, but he couldn't really speak in this form.

A hotel room might work out, though. Maybe he could hide under the bed. Alternatively, he supposed he could try and revert back to human form, though that had its own problems. Shapeshifters, as Malia had demonstrated, didn't keep their clothes when they changed forms. Did that mean he'd have to change naked? Awkward.

There weren't exactly too many Japanese-style homes in this part of the Other Realm - although Balem had never been to Japan he had seen enough pictures to know what one would look like - so he knew even from a distance that this new house must be Heiji's. He approached, long robe flowing out behind him.

"My, my. You're certainly moving up in the world."

"Still not as big as your palace, though!" Heiji said. He gave Balem a bow in greeting.

"But it reminds me of home. Feel like joining me? It's quality junmai." By which he meant the alcohol, of course. One nice thing about growing up in Japan was that it was easier to understand the differences between the different types of sake available.

"The palace took a lot longer to build," he said. He didn't know how long, exactly, because he was out and about at the time. The palace itself was designed to entice him and his siblings into reuniting and living as a family again, and it worked...for a while.

"Of course I'll join you."

This seemed like a reasonable answer. Heiji poured Balem a cup and motioned for him to sit down if he wanted and enjoy the weather, which was pleasant and temperate. A rather nice contrast from the blazing hot misery of urban summer.

"I have a bit of news, too. The Pack found the idea of a nonaggression pact agreeable. The Alpha also offered to personally help out during our territory disputes, with the understanding that those under him were free to pitch in or not depending on personal alliances."

He nodded, "That's good. I've gotten some Circle Midnight witches to agree not to restrict or interfere with us as long as we do the same for them. For now, at least, it seems we can all direct any anger towards our common enemy."

He took a sip of his drink, staring off into the distance, "The conjunction was invigorating. I am more than ready to take action - I trust that you are ready, too."

The corners of Heiji's mouth turned slightly upwards in an expression that was not quite a smile. He was looking ahead, eyes intent, as if he'd spotted movement in the grass.

"I am," he agreed. "It'll be like the Night Parade of One Hundred Demons. Best to stay home if you've no business out-of-doors. Is Tybalt helpin' you out?"

"Yes, he'll be there. I don't expect any resistance given the location, so we should do just fine," he said, "What about you? Are you expecting any trouble?"

Heiji considered the question. "Bromley's next door to Croyden, so we might run into a spot of trouble there. Then again, they've been running unchecked for so long, they might be thinkin' they can just leisurely pick up territories as they go along -- go for Lambeth first."

A defensive move, designed to consolidate power. "As long as they don't find out we're coming, though, I think we'll be all right."

She's been out for a little stroll is all, going through the trees of the park for some solitude and peace. Perhaps spend an hour or most at the park before heading back to the shop. Mostly to calm herself from the roar of events that she feels overwhelmed her last month and to certainly assure herself that she can still go out without the worries of being eaten or something. (Can ghosts be eaten? That's a question that has been plaguing her for a while.)

One can forgive her for being on edge. More so when an animal (a fox) sprints pass by her as she was passing by a bush and she, for a frightened second, thinks back to what happened earlier.

"!!!" Is there a possible way to describe the sounds she made then? No. NO way. The best attempt is just this, "!!! Goodness!"

The fox seems to pay her no heed, running away... straight into some traps she knows have been set up earlier. She dismantled them earlier, clucking her tongue in disapproval of such dangerous things being here, but it doesn't hurt to give a warning. After she hides behind a tree to be sure. "Careful! There were some traps up ahead!"

She has no idea if the fox will understand her or not or hear her. Fingers crossed all the same.

Despite her panic, the little fox darted around in a U-turn.. and made a beeline straight for Clara. For a moment, it tried to bump up against her... but ended up passing straight through her and bumping into the tree instead.

Then something even stranger happened -- suddenly the fox was gone and there was a little girl in a red flower-print yukata standing there addressing Clara. "Please help me, Granny!" she said, crying. "The dogs are going to get me!"

That was what she was really worried about, the dogs.

"Wait!" Clara feels horrible when the poor fox flies right through her -- the cold! -- and hits the tree. She whirls around to see if they're safe and instead sees a young girl very out of place here in these parts, asking for help to get away from the dogs. Wherever they are.

For a moment, she just stares as if she isn't sure this is happening. You think she would be used to these sort of things happening by now.

"The dogs?" When the moment of shock pass, she knows she's going to help. Of course she will. There is no way she's leaving the poor girl by herself this scared. She looks around and doesn't see them. Yet. Best to get use that to their advantage while they still had it. "I promise, dear, that I won't let them or anyone hurt you while you're with me. Let's get out of the park first and find a place to hide."

That means getting out of the woods and do that fast. She moves closer, trying to look harmless as possible and friendly as possible to try and help the girl get up and move soon as possible.

Tsubaki nodded, looking pale but at least a little reassured as she shuffled after Clara and tried to keep up. She was quick-footed, as most children were, but she looked fearfully behind her each time the sound of the hounds broke in the distance.

She tried hard to remember what the adults had told her about what to do if she was chased, but it was hard to keep a cool head at the moment. Suddenly, she brightened. "People!" she exclaimed. "We should go where there's smells from lots of people! That makes them confused!"

Meanwhile, Heiji's search had led him to the very edge of the park -- not far from where Clara was. But would Tsubaki break for the city? She was used to thinking of trees and forest as safety...

Normally she likes dogs, much more fond of them than cats, but the young girl has no interest of running across them soon so she does her best to lead them away from the sources of the barks by going through twists and paths she hopes the dogs will have difficulty getting over.

Hearing the young girl's words gets her attention, making her turn around as she phases through a bush. Somewhere with a lot of smells and people? That makes sense. "Um! The alleyway next to that bar over there. We can hide there for a bit."

Then slip to somewhere more appropriate for her. The smell in the alleyway won't be the best and that's the point. It should be enough to keep the dogs at bay and long as they're out of here, they'll be safe. She hope they'll be or she'll need to hope for a police officer to be nearby. "We'll go there and-- We need to get someone to get you. Is anyone looking for you, dear? Or do you have a place to go?"

Tsubaki started briefly; Clara's question had jogged her memory once more. "Heiji-niichan! I'm staying with him. He said to stay at the house, but I wanted to go pick flowers..."

And somehow gotten herself lost. Who knew how she'd ended up in the park? Now she looked up at Clara, wide-eyed. "Is there a calling box nearby? I have some change! I can call him!"

"Good," he said, "We'll have to plan a celebration of some sort, for the victory. I wouldn't want anyone to think we were boring, and it'll be good to show ourselves in high spirits."

And get to gloat, that was nice too.

"Any suggestions?" asked Heiji. "I'm assumin' you'd like a party under the stars."

That actually sounded nice to Heiji, as well. And say what you'd like about the fae, they threw some pretty rad parties.

She was on her own way back to her doorway to the Other Realm when she saw him. At first he was just a tiny black fox and she didn't realize who he was, his powers so weakened to be barely trickling through. But as she walked in the same direction as he, her own sure footsteps catching up to the limping tiny form something of familiarity brushed by her.

Mab might be just about the last choice most would have on who to stumble upon them vulnerable and weak. She was not particularly known for her kind and giving heart. Or having any heart at all. But Heiji was still more useful to her alive than dead. And he presented more of an opportunity to her right now that he, perhaps, ever might.

Her steps were quiet enough if he wasn't paying attention to more than survival he might not have noticed her. But just to be sure, her voice rang out in the quiet morning air. "Sir Heiji?" She stopped a few feet back from him, looking down at the sad looking bundle of fur.

Edited 2015-07-06 01:38 (UTC)

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Kitsunegari (July catch-all)

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[ C and oh nooo ; ; ]

save her ghost grandma :c

she'll do her best /o\

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A