Open Log ➵

[warmare]

WHO: Hayame and YOU(?!)
WHAT: centaur cryptid action, the angriest breeding season ever, archery, a local lurker probably yelling at kids to get off her misty lawn and stop trying to care about her
WHERE: Lohkimareen [Greentruth heights, misty depths, and forest's edge]
WHEN: Beginning of Visoseri (June)
WARNINGS: potential suicidal ideation, mentions of csa, violence, estrus


01 ➵ IN MISTS [FORESTS BELOW GREENTRUTH]➵ 霧の靡に

[The Aions have been provided lodging among the tall, fortified trees of Greentruth... But one potential member of the Pleroma group has not made use of them a single night. In fact, for the more observant types... the centaur who had been among their number that first night through the portal from Godsblood, who had hung around the edges of the welcome banquet silent, brooding, and angrily eavesdropping... has barely been seen since.

There are whispers, though, the occasional bit of gossip amongst the natives. A man who often works one of the freight elevators that transports supplies up from caravans on the forest floor who complains about an occasional extra load who doesn't even tip. Merchants who talk about being watched by a strange monster or spirit in the mist, shaped like some unnatural combination of mount and man. An armorer who laments that as much as they ought to aid the Aions in their mist, there is just this one who keeps taking shortbows- what is she doing to them?

And if someone were to actually seek out that woman... The search will take them to the dangerous mists below the safety of the Greentruth trees, where shadows play across the mist and large beasts roam. But amongst the tracks left behind by reptiles are faint imprints of hoof, there is a hollow tree that seems to have been made into some sort of crude shelter, game hanging to dry high off the ground and half-prepared pelts stretched out over makeshift racks, and when you turn around-

There might be an arrowhead embedded in a tree near your face, the arrow shaft quivering with the force that has punctured the bark.]

02 ➵ FLETCHER [GREENTRUTH, NEAR GODSBLOOD PORTAL]➵ 矢作り

[There is a downside to the intense aversion Hayame feels to using her shard for so-called "communion". Mainly... she has refused the easy way to know where people are across the planet. To her it is normal, coming as she did from a world in the year 1590 where the most advanced technology consisted of woodblock printing, looms, and matchlock rifles, but...

It means she does a lot of waiting in exchange for trying to keep people out of her head, where she has so much less control than she would like people to think. Risk emotion bleed with inexperience into a conversation that, if held in person, she'd at least be able to control? She does not fancy it.

And in waiting for the man she has commissioned a bow from to appear from Godsblood... she stands (glowers) near the portal from the coastal town, hands crossed beneath her tightly bound breasts. After a few hours... she begins to resent herself for the wasted time, and right there, her large body taking up a decent amount of space near the portal...

She just commandeers a table and starts to work, pulling a feathered kill from its place hanging at her harness and beginning to pluck feathers off it right there, squinting at each one and beginning to cut them into arrow fletching. Sorry, did you need to get past her? Wondering why she's still standing there?

She isn't volunteering. She's working.]

03 ➵ NATURAL DESIRE [RIVER NEAR GREENTRUTH]➵ 発情期

[Hayame has always resented the fact that she was born a woman.

From the moment she had been old enough to watch the empty shell of an Armless woman that was her dam be led to the mounting post each year and understand why, she had known what women were best suited for in a breeding stable. Even as she trained herself in bow and polearm and blade, threw her entire effort into making herself a warrior who would be bought by a warlord to bring him victories in battle, the possibility of being sold as a broodmare or "companion" mount had always been a possibility. Always.

And nothing was a better reminder of the femininity she strove to cover with bindings, strength, and harshness than a jinba mare's heats. The urges frustrate her as they always do, turn normal scents in the air to tempting aromas, make her body into a traitor willing to lift her tail with interest at the sight of potential mates, and force her to burn with desire that anyone with a proper nose or eye would notice.

Which is what has led Hayame to the cold mountain river she is now immersed in up to her lower shoulders, letting the water wash away proof of her want and cool her body. Thinking herself alone... she allows herself the luxury of a moment of weakness, letting down her fetlock-length ebony hair and trying to work her fingers through the tangled strands that have grown difficult to handle without her master's women to provide oils and comb.

The sounds of the water, unfortunately, mean that she is somewhat unprepared for visitors. Her bow and knife, however... are still within reach.]

04 ↣ WILDCARD ↣ 鬼札

[Hit my plotting comment/send a PM/hit me up on stormcoming if you'd prefer a starter or want to discuss a specific thread you'd like to do!]

Comments

shounen protagonist speech comin in hot

[recursive]

( he definitely knows that greentruth has certain amounts of organization and hierarchy, and perhaps he's heard the name "tehri" spoken in the context of a veteran Aion that was here to represent the resistance as it continued to persist in horos, but... that isn't necessarily what they are. whether or not Aions of the Pleroma necessarily decided to align directly with the resistance seems to be up to personal preference. the lack of official organization is actually something yuuta finds troubling, having been locked into a rather strict one when he had become one of the only four sorcerers of special grade rank among the jujutsu society. he just... struggles to see how they'll make any concerted positive difference without mustering a concerted and organized effort, but —

well, hold on, no. that's not why he's here.

her question causes his brow to crease, to draw together in faint confusion and compassion. he takes more time to carefully consider his reply.

he had once been interred in a cell, its walls plastered in spells and talismans to ward the curse he carried, awaiting the special execution that had been decided for him as a cursed human too dangerous to be left alive. he had welcomed it. he had already tried to turn a knife against himself, seeing no other way forward and no other way out, but — rika wouldn't allow it. she'd crumpled the blade in her hand like it'd been made of paper, telling him he couldn't break the promise he'd made six years ago, when she was still alive and human. but he'd been so tired — tired enough that he hadn't wanted to listen when gojou satoru had come to visit him, to offer another path. a lifeline that he had only taken for two reasons: because he could choose otherwise if he didn't find that it was worth it, and because it had offered what he'd wanted all along. the possibility to be around people again and not endanger them; for him to rely on someone, and for them to look to him in the same way.

standing here now, he knows that the situations aren't the same, and he doesn't want to make the assumptions required to draw such wild comparisons. but he does try to remember what his future teacher had told him, and he tries to think about what he must have been thinking when he did. he'd made a huge risk for him — a big enough risk that if yuuta had made too many mistakes, they'd both be executed. he'd been a complete stranger to him. so why...

his shoulders ache in their sockets, so he slowly lowers his arms; there's not much in the slouching bow of his shoulders that indicates aggressive intent, and there's even less in the heartfelt earnestness on his face. the kind that is only easy to find when you are young and believe the world is simpler than it actually is, either through naivety or brute force hope. )

Because it matters to me how all of us are doing! And, no, this isn't about the Pleroma thing, or the war — we were all brought into this the same way, and I think the only way we're going to make it through this is together. I know you chose to live down here, and I'm not questioning that, but... when I thought about it, it made me wonder - how many people even know you're down here? Is anyone checking to see if you're alright? I wasn't sure, so... I came to see for myself. ( he pauses, mouth pressing into a thin line for just a moment as he grasps for the summation of his point. ) And in addition to all that... I thought about you specifically because I know what it's like to live apart from everyone else, just "surviving," just like you said. I remember how that felt, and I remember how it felt when someone finally reached out to extend a hand to me. So... even though you might not want it, ( because he hadn't either, not at first, ) I wanted to try. I wanted to reach out.

( after everything he's done and everything he's seen, he thinks everyone deserves someone to care for him. even the man that had once come for his life had had his best friend to stand by him as his life finally ebbed away. so when it seemed like someone didn't have someone to concern themselves over them, or if they pushed that away... for better or for worse, it just made yuuta want to care that much more. )

i am so sorry

[warmare]

[This boy has a sweet face.

Hayame doesn't mean it as a compliment when she thinks it. Though she knows him to be a man by her eyes, he is surely come of age, as have many in this "Pleroma", she cannot but think of the people who spout such simple, hopeful things as children who do not know better. Hope and trust were such... such childish things. And yet on he goes, despite the arrowhead leveled at his chest.

This close, even with a bow far weaker than she was accustomed to wielding... it should punch through her chest just fine. The thought consumes her as he begins to speak, talking of caring for everyone because they should all feel connected, that they were all in the same situation- How many people knew she was down here? He wanted to grand her some good feeling or emotional response by reaching out?]

If I wanted busybodies checking on me, I would tell more people where I was.

[But she hadn't. She had vaguely alluded to living below the trees to a warrior whom she owed a debt and might need to be found to repay it, to the man she had commissioned to create a proper bow for her so that it might be delivered, but that... is it. Was she supposed to be grateful that he'd followed rumors of her presence? That he'd taken time from his life to hunt her down? Was she supposed to think that meant he cared?

Her gaze darkens as she draws her defenses back around her hearts, obvious and thick.]

You have tried, and you have failed. If my feelings matter to you so much, you can name the price that will repay you for your... your magic.

[Because once that debt is paid...

He should have no more reason to come down here and trespass in the territory she has started keeping while she tries to find some reason to do anything but die.]

don't be! i know what i'm getting myself into hehe

[recursive]

( they were bright, idealistic things — they could be painted in garish colors like children' toys, touted as fancies that only the truly foolish would waste their time in believing. in a way, yuuta understood that it was a privilege to place mental stock in hope. not everyone got such a luxury. his earnestness belied a profound understanding of a world that was not nearly so idealistic as the things he chose to believe in. he had watched the girl he'd promised to one day marry die, her head crushed by the impact of a speeding car — he would never forget the slow crawl of blood across asphalt, the subdued shock from the other onlookers. to be a jujutsu sorcerer is to look misfortune in the eye. you cannot save everyone. there will be thousands of unexplained deaths at the hands of curses each year, even with your best efforts. he has seen them with his own two eyes — over a year's worth of near-constant missions to dispatch the worst spirits that the depths of humanity's despair saw fit to spit out, where often he had to run over the bodies of those that had already fallen just so he could save the ones that hadn't quite yet. some would wonder... why? what's the point? doesn't it just make it hopeless, if that's the case?

when he had returned to japan from his travels abroad, he had saved a young girl from an enormous cursed spirit. he has no idea where she went, what might have happened to her after that. if what they all fear is true, she is dead with all the rest of them. did it matter?

what yuuta has learned is that very few things are so simple as to have a single face. jujutsu sorcerers wield the same energy that gives birth to cursed spirits to cull their numbers. the world could be a cruel place, ravenous and callous, but it was also a cradle for joy, camaraderie, and accomplishment. he didn't always believe in these saccharine things he gives voice to, but he does now because he needs to. they're not a mantra to blindly pay lip service to; they're a justification, a reason to keep on fighting.

his eyes slowly close, and his shoulders rise and fall with a deep breath. when they open, the conflict on his face appears exorcised. he smiles lightheartedly. )

I wouldn't say that. I just said I would reach out, after all — I didn't say anything about how you might react. ( his smile spreads a little wider, and he chuckles — the sound is dry and nervous, like the rustling of autumn leaves. ) You haven't shot me with an arrow yet...! That's enough of a "mission success" for me.

( yuuta... don't push your luck. )

You don't owe me anything, Hayame-san. I'm not here to collect. I already told you what I came here for, and I accomplished that, so... I'll leave, as long as that's alright with you? Though... if there's anything you want me to get for you from Godsblood or the city above, you can tell me. I'll bring them next time.

( yes, there will be a next time. even if she threatens to shoot him, either now or at that point. it's not like it's anything he hasn't dealt with before... her arrows aren't even made of blood! )

<3<3

[warmare]

[He surely doesn't know how tempting it is to shoot him right there where he stands, just because he says she hasn't as if it's some victory. Her hand twitches, the arrowhead shifts slightly in the air-

And she releases it, to whistle past his face so close that the fletching caresses his cheek and leaves a paper thin cut behind before the arrow embeds with a sharp crack of sound into the trunk of a tree behind him, the shaft quivering powerfully where it was embedded a good few inches into the solid wood. Deep enough to make it clear that if it had been a body of flesh and blood there... There would be a hole in it, even though she's working with a weaker shortbow that can't properly handle her draw strength.

Did that make it clear what she thought about "next time"?]

If I need supplies, I'll go get them from those accursed tree tops myself.

[That took care of Greentruth, but-]

And I certainly don't need anything from that filthy city full of rubberneckers.

[... She's not bitter about her inability to blend into the populace there, surely.

But even if she were... she doesn't draw another arrow from her quiver. Surely it's all talk- "next time". This boy wants to feel like a little hero, and here he is... so she doubts that he'll be back. And that's what she wants, so-]

I need to move camp anyway.

[So if he does come back... No, he won't. It's fine. She can turn tail (literally) and leave as if this wasn't her "home", letting the mists of the mystic forest floor swallow her form whole.]

[recursive]

( he actually does have a pretty good idea, just from how often he had nursed smarting bruises from whenever maki had deemed him a little too annoying or considerate or thoughtful or any of those things that she generally found irksome from other people. it's less that he sees the twitch of her fingers and more that he feels it, thrumming through the connection between himself and rika as the cursed spirit coils, her ire palpable, straining desperately at the strands of control that yuuta uses to guide her. if she had it her way, she would have already snapped the bow in this woman's hands by now, but yuuta has been telling her almost non-stop for the last few minutes to stay still and stay hidden.

there's only so much him telling her can do, however, if someone goes so far as to perceptibly attack him.

as soon as the arrow is loosed, a huge, pale hand materializes out of thin air beside hayame and swipes at it; she had wanted to catch it in her hand, but she's only just barely able to brush past the fletching as it whistles towards yuuta. a high pitched screech, like that of a young girl layered with thick distortion, sounds in blistering irritation. the first hand disappears, and another reappears closer to hayame to reach out and attempt to enclose around her forearm and prevent her from drawing another arrow (even if she didn't intend to) — the hands of the spirit are large enough to completely encircle it. )

Don't hurt Yuuta!! ( she roars in that same girlish voice.

at the same time that all of this happened, the arrow had been slightly knocked off of its original trajectory. unfortunately it had actually been knocked more towards yuuta than away from him, so he has to reinforce himself with some cursed energy to get the speed and reflexes to step out of the way. it still grazes past his cheek, but... maybe he'd intended for it to? might as well preserve hayame's intention and show that he can "listen." the force of the arrow sliced through even the reinforcement, opening up a thin line that begins to draw a slow ribbon of blood down the side of his face.

he doesn't think about that right now, instead stepping forward to say in a sudden shift in vocal tone, ) Rika. Let her go. ( the words are firm and authoritative, yet faintly gentle. the spirit clearly hesitates, grip tightening infinitesimally for just a moment before doing as yuuta said and disappearing again. he heaves a sigh, reaching up to swipe the pads of his fingers across where he can feel the blood trickling from his cheek. he doesn't seem all that alarmed by the injury. he could probably seal it up with reverse cursed energy here and now, but there wasn't really much point.

instead he completely devalues what just happened and beams a smile at hayame, snapping right back to his previous mode. ) So, anyways, yeah - moving camps, that makes sense... ( as if he's rationalizing that she was doing so for external reasons like local wildlife rather than the fact that he'd found her here, ) That's fine. I'll just have to search you out again, but that's no trouble.

( yeah he's just not gonna talk about rika even if he's certain she's gonna have something to say about it )