Red Letter Day [Kiriyama]

[Quark]

Mail carriers. Quite skilled in themselves, able to travel over rough terrain and through almost any storm, but this carrier wasn’t an ordinary carrier. This carrier was a ninja. Tayler didn’t recognize the sender due to him being masked, but the ninja’s attire was definitely that of her old school’s dress code. Jarek never sent her mail because he didn’t feel the need to waste money on her, and she didn’t know many other people who would go out of their way to write to her, much less one that would send a ninja from home.

She gripped the unopened envelope tightly in both hands. This wasn’t good. The message was a high priority letter, being sent to her by an elite shinobi, due to her not actually living in any one place. The way they would have tracked her was probably through different tavern residence records, but still doing a lot of searching themselves. It wasn’t always a foolproof method of relaying a message, but it was the most effective way to get a hold of someone who traveled a lot, and was a ninja herself. Who knows how long this message had been traveling before it finally fell in her lands, it could have been written months ago and only just now found its receiver.

She looked back up the crowded street where the young mail carrier had disappeared just a few seconds earlier. She bit her lower lip and uttered a short prayer. Her finger slide across the opening and broke the seal. A small, folded sheet of tan paper fell into her hand. She removed the twine and unraveled the parchment. Her eyes widened. There was no mistake; this was definitely a letter from home.

Dear Tayler,

I have some unsettling news. Jamous Grey hasn’t returned in nearly two months from one of his research trips. He promised to return in two weeks. (You know how precise he likes to be, there’s no doubt he would have returned exactly two weeks later) This has many of students here worried, as well as half the staff. There’s some speculation that he may have been captured by someone he may have known in the past, someone he hasn’t said much to us about before but told us enough to know he would do something like this. We don’t know his name, but it’s just a theory anyway, Jamous has made many enemies in the past. Please, we need your help tracking your uncle down again. His trip was overseas to the same land you set out for to find your brother, Jarek (hope you find him soon). You’re closer to his last known location than any of us. You may be near enough retrace his steps to possibly figure out what could have happened to him. He went to the ruins of a refugee city called Shale, one that wouldn’t be listed on a normal map. It was roughly one hundred kilometers south of a city called Brayre. Any decent city should have a map kiosk with a map showing to Brayre. Just measure the hundred kilometer distance and Shale should be near that location. Please, Tayler, we need to get him back or else the entire school will have to close down. Don’t forget everything he has done for you, don’t disappoint us. Bring your uncle back.

-Uriah Klems and the students of Grey Academy

By the time she finished the letter, her eyes were clouded with un-fallen tears, held back by stubbornness. Jamous missing? How? He was the highest ranked ninja in the entire academy. Heck, he ran the academy itself! He was her guardian and helped her grow into the person she was, he was like a father to her. How dare Uriah think she’d forgotten what he’d done for her! That ass! Mr. Klems even pretended to care for her search for Jarek. She crushed the paper in her fist, but quickly slowed herself down. No, she shouldn’t get angry at Uriah. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. It wasn’t Uriah’s fault. Tayler unfolded the crumpled letter and tied twine back around it, slipping the parchment into her belt.

***

It didn’t take her long to find a map kiosk. However, it did take her a long time to find a map that listed the city of Brayre. It was an older map, but everything should still check out quite fine. She found it odd that none of the newer maps listed the city.

Brayre wasn’t too far south. Hitching a ride on a caravan or renting a horse could get her at least that far before nightfall. All she would have to do is find merchants who dealt with Brayre, which shouldn’t be hard considering the town was relatively close by therefore good for business. She’d merely have to bribe the right people, and then begin her journey.

[Kiriyama]

“Mew!” Ziran loudly protested when the butcher snatched him out of the trash. He’d been enjoying a discarded piece of pork until the portly man grabbed him. Muttering something about the lack of fresh meat, he took the kitten into his shop and walked to the back.

“Sorry kitty,” he said, slamming Kunto roughly onto the counter and forcing the air out of his little lungs. He held the windigo down with one hand and grabbed knife with the other. Cats were considered a delicacy by some. A kitten could net him a few dollars…

His thoughts of money and cat meat were overcome by blinding pain the instant Ziran shifted and sank his small fangs into his finger as deeply as they’d go. He let the cat go and hollered, dropping the knife as he did so. The freed kitten didn’t waste any time rushing out the door and straight into the street.

“Whoah!” a man shouted, nearly tripping over the fur ball. A greasy obese man wasn’t quite so lucky. His foot came down on the cat and crushed him beneath several hundred pounds of fat, cracking several ribs and nearly killing him before the man noticed and lifted his foot, allowing Ziran to crawl away.

“M-Mow,” Kunto groaned, crawling over to a discarded box on the street corner. It started to rain as soon as he reached the container, which served for very little protection against the frigid water, and the cat mewed pitifully until he passed out from the earlier abuse.

OOC: Sorry for the very, very, veerrryyyy short and ****ty post. I’m trying to get back into the groove of things and failing. >_>;;

[Quark]

Ooc: Bah, that’s not too short. That’s an average post for me. That being said, this next post defies what I just said. xP When establishing and finishing an RPG, I guess things tend to get a little long.

Bic:

Great, it was raining. She didn’t bother seeking cover; she would walk through it. If she caught a cold she would be able to cure it, so there was little need to waste money on an inn just to wait for the drizzle to end. She didn’t want to wait it out in a public tavern either; she’d witnessed far too much stress in bars, which would only do further harm to her in her current situation.

Caravans didn’t set out during the rain, and even so she wasn’t sure when the next one would be leaving for Brayre—if there even was a caravan to Brayre. All the stalls and stores tended to close during the rains too, so she couldn’t rent a horse right now either. The rain may delay her travels for a little while, but perhaps it would give her time to think things through. She veered into a small ally, one that thankfully didn’t reek of garbage. She sat herself down against one of the two walls.

Leaning back against a small cardboard box, she sighed through her frustration. What could have possibly happened to Jamous? Jamous was her mentor! If someone had captured him, there was no way she could fight the fiend alone. There was also no way she was going to ask Jarek for help, so she’d simply have to free Jamous without confronting his captor… but that was usually easier said than done. Also, what if he wasn’t captured at all? What if he was dead? The sudden thought made her uneasy. He couldn’t die, not Jamous. He was the most powerful man she’d ever known.

Powerful.

That word; it made her think of someone else entirely.

She shook the thoughts of that monster from her head. She couldn’t think of him now.

Suddenly, the box she was leaning gave way with a crumpled thump. She let out a surprised gasp, falling to the ground. She grumbled at her carelessness. She should have known that wet cardboard—

She shoved herself to her feet. What was that?

“Mew!”

A cat? She moved the soggy cardboard box to the side. Sure enough, a small kitten lay pathetically slumped to the floor, apparently wounded. The stress consuming her mind suddenly vanished at the sight of the poor, wounded creature. It was awake, but looked like it was in a lot of pain, possibly on the verge of death. Tayler positioned herself above the animal, placing her hands gently on his side. How unfortunate!

She rubbed his head a little, but received no purr from the injured creature. She felt his side, the cat growling in pain at the slightest touch. Apparently there was some internal damage, possibly a broken rib or two. Could she heal something like that? She hadn’t tried correcting broken bones before. She focused her energy and healed what external damage she could find. She waited on the bones, though. This poor creature would die if it wasn’t fixed soon. She would have to test her ability here. It would be better she fail on an animal than a human being, so now was the best time to further prove her healing ability.

She closed her eyes and toned out the sound of rainfall. She wasn’t sure how, but she could picture the ribs of the animal in her head. Ok, now to correct them. She bit her lower lip as she started to heal. Ok, just move the bones with her mind? That seemed to work, although the kitten didn’t appear to like the procedure. He started meowing. She opened her eyes and continued the technique. She exerted a little more energy to more firmly grasp the tougher parts and delicately move them back into place. Before she knew it, she believed everything was back in place. She surged one last burst of energy, healing the cracks in the bones and purging any infections. Did it work?

The kitten opened his eyes and meowed. Tayler smiled, she’d succeeded. Purring, the cat rubbed himself up against Tayler’s knee, following the line of her leg up and down her hip and to her ankle, showing his appreciation for her saving his life. Tayler laughed; what a cute little creature. She stood up and looked down at the animal with a pleased smirk.

The kitten sneezed. Tayler sneezed. They both probably had caught a cold.

[Kiriyama]

“Nice lady,” Ziran thought. He mewed and ran circles around her. The woman knelt down and scratched him behind the ears, causing him to stop his hyperactive running and flop onto his side. He looked up at her and started purring contentedly. “Really nice lady!”

She eventually stopped, as he expected she would, and sat down again. He guessed that she was probably waiting for it to stop raining. Kunto sat down next to his savior and looked up at her to get a better idea of what she looked like.

What he found was a beautiful woman with dirty blonde hair and icy blue eyes. She looked to be pretty young. He surmised that she was somewhere between fifteen and nineteen. By her scent and the way she looked, she was likely human.

She looked down at him with the same satisfied smirk she’d used earlier, though Ziran could tell that her thoughts were starting to drift back to whatever it was she was pondering before she found him. He mewed and curled into a ball. She looked away from him after a while, and turned her attention to her thoughts.

“If only it stopped raining,” she eventually muttered. Kunto looked up at the sky. He didn’t like rain very much either. Water was supposed to stay on the ground, not drop from the sky! The sky was supposed to be a happy place.

Ziran suddenly got an idea and ran out of the alley. He didn’t want to leave her, but he knew from experience that humans were usually frightened when he changed from a kitten to a catboy. Besides, he could always find her later. He was planning on it, actually.

Kunto waited until he was a good distance away before changing into his full Windigo form. His hybrid form would’ve done the job, but he wanted to get rid of the evil rain clouds as quickly as possible. Besides, it’d be easier to shift back to his kitten form after being in his Windigo form for a bit.

“Ahh,” he said, cracking his back. He shook his head to dispel water from his now-red hair, and looked up at the clouds. “Rain rain, go away, please come back some other day!”

He waved his arms and directed the wind to blow the offending clouds away. “Hopefully when I’m not here,” he muttered, smiling. He flew up into the air the moment the last cloud disappeared, and flew up as high as he could go while still able to see the people below him. To those below, he’d seem like a far-off bird. Perfect vantage point to wait out his transformation and make sure he didn’t lose track of his savior.

[Quark]

Tayler watched the kitten scurry off into the streets, probably back to its home or to catch a mouse or something. Tayler smiled; her mood was happier as opposed to the stress she was feeling several minutes before. She’d not only saved a cat’s life, but her ability in healing was better than she thought it was. She looked up into the stormy sky, closing her eyes just long enough to realize it wasn’t raining anymore. She opened her eyes again, gazing up into the heavens, now clear blue and void of storm clouds. Her eyebrow arched as she stood to her feet. How odd. The sky wasn’t even visible behind the veil of clouds just several seconds ago, but now there wasn’t a cloud in sight, just a bird flying in circles.

She strode off into the streets, deciding to shrug off the bizarre change in weather for the moment. Many other peasants were still perplexed by the event, but Tayler didn’t bother with them. She still had to find a merchant cart or caravan or something, one that lead to Brayre or at least a city close to it.

It didn’t take her long to reach the city stables. The place reeked worse than it probably usually did, wet manure smelling worse than the dry kind. She didn’t mind the smell, instead pressing through to the stables where the man in charge was most likely stationed.

“Excuse me sir.”

The man turned from the horse he was brushing, face smeared with something Tayler didn’t want to guess what. He wiped his hands off on his pants. “What can I do ya for?”

“Yes,” Tayler spoke as politely as she could in the messy man’s presence, “I would like to know if there are any caravans leaving for the city of Brayre.”

The farmer took that in for a moment, stroking his chin. “Brayre you say?” He repeated the town’s name several times, finally giving up with a shrug. “Never heard of the place.”

Tayler was a little surprised, “Oh, that’s okay I guess. My real destination is 100 kilometers south of Brayre.” She pulled out the map she bought earlier, the supposed location of Shale marked with a pin, “See? Are there any traveling merchants or… anything like that heading anywhere near this location?”

“Miss, there aren’t any caravans or merchants heading anywhere today.” The man explained. “However, I can get you a good deal on Lizard here.” He patted his horse roughly on the side, the animal neighing—or rather hissing—in response. “For three hundred gold crowns she can be yours.”

Three hundred? She only had about four hundred. “Um, how about for rent?”

“Two hundred then!” The man insisted, his voice sounding almost desperate.

“Uh, I don’t have the means to care of a hor—“

“Alright!” The farmer cut in with a smirk, moving his horse closer to the girl and petting it cautiously behind its ears. “You’re a hard one to bargain with, missy, but I’ll tell ya what. If you give me fifty gold pieces, the horse is yours… as long as you promise me to take good care of her.”

Wow, this guy was definitely trying to get rid of this animal. She’d never seen someone so eager to sell anything. “Whatever, I’ll take her.”

The sense of victory exploded through the man’s eyes. “Excellent!” He grabbed the reins and handed the animal over to its new owner. Tayler fished out the coins and handed them over. “Pleasure doing business with ya, lass!” He tipped his tattered hat and walked deeper into the stables, jingling the coins in his hands.

Tayler felt as if she were just conned, but by looking at the horse she couldn’t see anything wrong with it. It seemed kind enough, other than the awkward hissing noise it made from time to time. She mounted it. It took her a moment to remember her horseback training, but it came soon enough. She rode off into the streets, wondering why that man would sell such a good horse for such a low price.

[Kiriyama]

OOC: I’m really lax on inspiration at the moment, so I apologize in advance if this post is terrible. ^_^

BIC: “Why’s she going there?” Ziran asked aloud, content to keep his thoughts vocal while he was so high ahead of anybody else. That was one of the things he liked about being able to fly, in fact. He always thought that anything expressed with words was worth expressing aloud, rather than keeping them cooped up inside of one’s head.

Tayler had just walked into the stable at this point. Kunto wrinkled his nose in disgust as he remembered the wretched smell about the place. She obviously didn’t mind it as much as he had, if she was willing to actually go inside of such a stinky place. Then again, maybe she went in there for something important?

“What could be in such a smelly place? A water buffalo? A penguin who fell in the toilet?” Kunto spent the next few minutes going over all the other possibilities, and eventually settled on the belief that an armor-wearing polar bear was the cause of the horrendous odor. What else could there possibly be?

He was shocked when Tayler left the smelly place with something that definitely wasn’t an armor-wearing polar bear. It looked like a rather frightening creature known as a, “Horse”. Ziran couldn’t be completely sure at this height though. Whatever it was, she sat on top of it and started riding it down the street.

Wherever she was going, the Windigo wanted to be with her. Maybe she’d need his help again at some point? He decided that he’d continue to help her with whatever she needed help with, and that he would eventually reveal himself to her in order to give her the customary verbal thanks, along with a hug or two. The thought of the hug gave him a warm smile.

“Wait up nice lady,” Kunto said as he flew ahead of her and dropped down to the ground. Once he safely on his feet, the expiration of his Windigo form’s time limit forced him to revert to his kitten form to avoid any disorientation. He padded out to the middle of the road and waited for Tayler to come by, adding, “Kitty’s going to go with you!”

[Quark]

She was on the right road and her journey had begun. She’d head for Brayre, then work her way south. For a person with her skills, it shouldn’t be too hard, but maybe a little long. Lizard was a fast horse and would definitely make things a little faster. She couldn’t figure out why it was sold for such a low price, other than the sickly wheezy hissing noise it made occasionally, it seemed to be in perfect health.

Tayler felt a shadow pass overhead; she looked up but didn’t see anything. It was probably just a bird, but something felt a little different about it.

She returned her attention back to the road; she had to remain focused on keeping the horse up to speed if she wanted to get anywhere quick. Suddenly, for no reason whatsoever, the horse awkwardly halted dead in its tracks. The action threw Tayler off-guard, sending her toppling over the head of the beast and into the dirt road. The horse whinnied, more like laughed, as it stamped its feet and staggered backward. Tayler groaned in frustration, pulling herself back to her feet. Dusting her clothes off with her hands, she turned back to the horse which merely stood there stupidly as if nothing had happened. She was beginning to figure why it went for so cheap, it was probably sick. However, she most likely wouldn’t be able to cure it because she wasn’t exactly sure what it was sick with. As cruel as it may sound, she’d probably just ditch it when she was done with it, or at the least return it to where she got it from. "So much for a good deal."

“Mew!”

The familiar sound of a cat caught Tayler’s ear. Facing her back to her incompetent horse, she was greeted by a small kitten, one with exact same color as the one she’d seen earlier. Of course it couldn’t be the same cat, because this animal wouldn’t have been able to get out here before her. Besides, who ever heard of a cat actually following someone around? They were usually very independent, unless they wanted food or to be petted.

Tayler bent down and picked the animal off the road, “Hey little guy.” She said, stroking its chin. Two cats in one day; it was a rather odd coincidence. What would she do with this one? Could there have been a farm nearby that it might have wandered away from?

Wait, no. This cat, its markings, they were exactly like the one she’d healed in the rain nearly a half-hour ago. Its calico color was common amongst all cats, but its spots and patches were placed in the exact same places as the one she found in the alley.

“Well little guy, you got a home or something?” She asked the purring creature, “I’m not sure what I should do with you.” She could possibly stow it in her bag for a little bit, but she’d possibly only be putting the animal in danger. However, she could just let this little thing sit out in the street; it’d probably end up a hungry dog’s dinner. She’d have to care for it for now, she’d decide what to do with him later.