Tuujaimaa

Natrelmon: Forge of Souls

Accepted :)

Natrelmon: Forge of Souls

As Caelyn crumpled to the ground after metaphorically shitting himself, Kasumi rolled over and started laughing - loudly and obnoxiously - for a good couple of minutes before getting up and sighing to herself, wiping a single tear from one of her eyes. She looked around the hospital corridor quickly, before pointing in a direction and beginning a moderately-paced walk towards it. Her Gen and Mythari towed behind, being sure to keep a watch out for anything that could be approaching from the rear, while Kasumi pulled her knife out of her belt into a more comfortable position: Ready for action.

"You scare too easily, studmuffin. How are you ever going to impress someone when you shit yourself at the first sign of danger?" She commented, rather dryly, as she kept her eyes focused on anything that moved within the strange mist. The corridor seemed to not be that long, and it quickly split off into two additional corridors, leaving three choices of direction. Kasumi, having never been one to think particularly hard about the direction she was going in, deigned to simply continue going forwards. After Caelyn's earlier display, she figured that he'd stay with her for as long as he needed to. Judging from the increasing chill in the air, it seemed like the pair were getting closer to either the morgue or to their impending demise. It couldn't hurt to guess which was which.

After another couple of minutes of walking, she stopped suddenly and extended her arm, the universal nonverbal symbol to request that your allies stop in their tracks. The staircase directly ahead of them seemed to be filled with a higher concentration of mist than the rest of the corridor had been, and Kasumi was suspicious - she allowed the same ethereal-white energy to coat her left hand as she primed a Lesser Fireball for use, ready to react to anything that could possibly come up the stairs. After what felt like a solid ten minutes of waiting - despite only being five seconds - Kasumi shrugged and threw the fireball into the mouth of the stairwell regardless. After hearing the telltale sounds of an explosion, as well as an unholy shriek, Kasumi was glad that she had deigned to do so. Whatever it was that had just burned in purifying fire was likely not going to be friendly towards herself or her new boytoy/unwitting ally. It was for the best that it had died. Again.

Natrelmon: Forge of Souls

Seeing that the group had arrived, Kasumi prepared herself for the inevitable ascent to the hospital building. It was obvious from even her now-hooded form that she was going to very much enjoy the upcoming adventure into the morgue. Her blood was beginning to course through her veins at a speed befitting a member of the Touhou, and as her pulse rose so did her senses, caused by the adrenaline that was beginning to seep into her systems. Amid her brief reverie of getting suitably pumped up, she heard an immense screech pierce the eldritch fog and turned her gaze towards its source - apparently, an immense shadow that was hurtling towards her. Her only response was to grin as pyromantic energy begun to gather around her left hand, oddly tinged with a spark of white, and to leap off of the building towards the hospital. To an bystander, it may have seemed clear that from standing she wouldn't have made the jump towards the ledge without assistance like Cat had.

Suddenly, at the peak of her ascent, the shadow that had been moving towards her from the mist was revealed: An immense Hawkline, clearly just reanimated, flying towards some unknown destination. As Kasumi began to lose height, it was clear that her intention was to land on the immense bird and use it as a springboard, and do that she did - as her relatively small but powerful bulk landed upon the Hawkline, it faltered, and she used the small change in momentum to leap off of it, splaying her hands outwards towards it as she turned mid-air and landed upon the third floor of the building, like Cat had managed to. As she had jumped, the spell had been released, and the decaying Hawkline was covered in a mass of ethereal white petals. Any mage with rudimentary knowledge of Pyromancy - that was, most mages - would understand that it was the work of the spell "Cinders of Kyokujitsu", but the ethereal white flame that the petals were comprised of was somehow different to the normal spell.

As Kasumi landed, she found herself next to Cat, and laughed to herself under her breath. As she turned around to enter the hospital building through one of the windows, another shriek could be heard - but this time, it was a shriek of pain rather than a shriek of life like it had been before. The Hawkline had erupted in an immense fireball of white fire, which seemed to be cutting through the shadowy aura that surrounded it, and crumpled mid-air, falling to the ground as whatever had returned it to life was released from its body. She turned to Cat, blew a kiss and pressed it against her cheek, and caved a window in with a knife before winking at the detective and stepping through. It was certainly good to be Kasumi on days like these.

"Cya later, cupcake." Could be heard from inside the hospital while one Kasumi Touhou vanished into the mist. Her first move was to release her Gen and her Mythari, become invisible, and allow the two to scout for her. Due to being a skilled mage her Mythari had the bonus of telepathic communication and her spiritual bond with her Gen allowed for non-verbal communication, which would prove to be a boon as she allowed the two to scout for her. While the Natrelmon never got far, they were far enough away from Kasumi in order to keep close tabs on anything that moved through the mist around her. The labyrinthine corridors of the hospital would prove difficult to navigate, given that Kasumi could hardly see more than ten feet in front of her, and the signposts seemed to be either obscured or taken down. Perhaps there were no signposts in this particular section of the Hospital? Still - she figured that a morgue would be kept near the back, on the ground floor. It would be easier to navigate from up above, though, and she'd certainly not run into a troublesome group of trainers who might want to get out of the mist as quickly as possible...

It didn't take her long to find the somewhat-dishevelled form of Caelyn wandering the halls, obviously having had the same idea to scout the upper floors. She made a mental note that he was easily surprised, and chuckled to herself under her breath - this would be fun.

With an immense screech, she leapt forwards out of her invisible state towards Caelyn, aiming to rugby tackle him to the ground in the process. There was every chance that he'd somehow manage to react and that she'd miss, but either way she would find the entire situation extremely funny.

Natrelmon: Forge of Souls

Shio's immediate reaction to Kasumi's little prank came as no surprise, and as soon as the knife was loosed, Kasumi had prepared herself to intercept it. The Word of Conviction: Blind would do little in this situation, given its limited power due to its immediate casting and Kasumi's training. With a single deft motion, she caught the grip of the blade while pivoting on her left foot, reducing the worst of the bright light, and nullifying the blade attack immediately. She completed the turn, using her momentum fully, before extending her hand out towards Shio with the grip of the blade pointed towards her.

"Good reflexes." Was all Kasumi said, chuckling a little under her breath.

As the Crowire hurtled through the window, Kasumi's first reaction was not one of shock or fear. She studied the decaying corpse intently, keeping her gaze towards it unbroken, before turning to Violet and Cat. The grin on her face was unmistakeable - a thrill-seeker such as herself found the entire prospect of Natrelmon being risen from the deaf enthralling, no matter the danger to herself and others, and when she next spoke the almost giddy tones of her voice gave her excitement away if the grin had not:

"Kasumi of the Touhou, at your service, officers. Let's fuck them up."

With those words, Kasumi vaulted out of the broken window, clearly expecting Shio to follow her, and set her sights on the morgue. The route that she knew that she could take was somewhat difficult for the less physically able to traverse, but it was certainly the quickest route. Kasumi had faith that herself and Shio could at least make it across the rooftops, but she did not bother estimating how well the others would fare - Cat and Violet would be perfectly capable of keeping them out of harm's way. She started by sprinting forwards, as fast as her namesake suggested she was, and withdrew a knife the holster strapped to her waist as she ran, clearly looking to thin out the horde of undead Natrelmon as she ran. The style of the Touhou was to be fast and to incapacitate rather than outright damage like some schools of martial mastery were wont to do, and so it was not particularly difficult for her to take out the majority of the undead that crossed her path. Before long, she had travelled through some of the more labyrinthine passages in the city, and found herself at precisely the location she desired: A ladder. While she could have just entered a building and attempted to gotten to the roof from there, it was much less efficient and far too safe for Kasumi's tastes.

As she started to climb up the ladder, she felt a decaying hand grip at her ankle, trying to claw her down from her perch. Rather than let such a situation get the best of her, she loosed her grip on the ladder and slid down, vaulting backwards as she did so. The atrophied corpse was hardly a match for a physically fit human, and it was far too slow to avoid the knife that plunged into its throat. Keeping her left hand on the knife, Kasumi kicked with her left foot, squarely in the center of the zombie's chest, retrieving her knife and ensuring that the corpse would not get up for long enough that it could not possibly be a threat. It took the work of a few seconds to ascend the ladder and reach the top of the building. As an afterthought, Kasumi cast a Deceptive Bolt straight upwards, designed to look like a Fireball, as a primitive signal flare as to her location. Some of the group may have found it helpful or inspiring to know where Kasumi was, but it would at least allow Cat and Violet to know that another route to the morgue was clear, if nothing else. It didn't take the scion of the Touhou family long to start leaping across the narrow gaps between the rooftops, keeping an eye out for any undead flying above her as she did so. She would arrive at the morgue's general location fairly quickly, but would wait atop a building within view of it while invisible. Cat and Violet would appreciate a scout, even if they did not appreciate her brash antics.

Natrelmon: Forge of Souls

Beware. Things get even more 2spooky from here on out!

This is also totally not a ploy to claim the 100th OOC post. Nope.

Natrelmon: Forge of Souls

2spooky

As the news of the mysterious murder unfurled on the streets below, the form of the Fox-Faced Thief could be seen perched upon the edge of a building overlooking the entire scene if one had the Perfect Sight necessary to see through the invisibility that she had wrapped herself with. The ace detective, Cat, had been known to Kasumi and the Touhou family for some time due to her assistance with investigative matters in Orin, which had been of great interest to all of the great families, but Kasumi's vested interest in keeping her nocturnal activities outside of the eyes of the law was what had given her real interest to follow them. In the past, she had sparred with Violet, but she had lost miserably - her speed at the time had been nothing compared to Violet's incredible strength, and she had suffered from the bruise for a good few weeks. It had been a good lesson in humility, her father had said, for the Touhou family were often known for their needless pride. It had certainly knocked her down a few pegs, so to speak, but she had quickly gotten the skill to bring herself back up - but when she felt ready to challenge Violet and win, her life had gotten far too busy due to the calling of the Lifanese government.

Still, the idea of such a murder in Toran was strange - she knew why people killed, and she also knew that men like Dr. Imin typically did not have anything of convential value - the valuables that a researcher kept were secrets or artifacts, and as no theft of artifacts had been stated, it was more likely to be that the Doctor had known something someone hadn't wanted him to know, or had something that someone else knew the true value of. Either were a disturbing thought, given the nature of the murder. From a thief's perspective, the murder was highly suspicious, but it was still entirely possible that the murder had been for a personal reason, or even a reason beyond the comprehension of most "normal" minds. These things were even more worrying for most of the populace - but for Kasumi Touhou, the Fox-Faced Thief, this was the essence of excitement. The thrill of danger had been like a drug to her for many years, and this particular case promised a chase unlike anything she'd experienced before... But even she felt uneasy about the situation. That was strange, and that meant that the case was strange.

Still, it couldn't hurt to allow the two detectives to do what they did best: Detect... Things... To do with murder. Without being caught. As far as she knew, neither had the gift of Perfect Sight, so she followed them across the rooftops.

~

Shio and Kasumi had watched the sunset together for a brief time before Shio had decided that it was time for her to retire, which had separated the two from their somewhat-bonding-experience - It had been quite lovely for the brief time that it had lasted, and the words of Kasumi's father had indeed echoed true: It was always a lovely sunset in the city of Toran. Sunset had its own sets of connotations for whomever experienced them - and in the case of Kasumi, it was the gateway towards the nocturnal hours, which given her little habit, was considered preferable. Though they had only spoken briefly - and Shio had not really engaged in conversation at all - Kasumi already understood the foundations of what made Shio tick. That was one of the more fortunate elements to being of a higher noble house.

After they had departed, Kasumi and her Gen had taken the opportunity to practice their pickpocketing skills, and despite not having the gift of Invisibility like Kasumi did, the Gen's affinity for the shadows was more than enough to keep it concealed from the drunks and the fools that were wandering around the crepuscular landscape of the sunset city. The spiritual bond that Kasumi had begun to explore within the art of Gishiki had been very interesting, for both herself and her Gen, and the ability to communicate with her Natrelmon and guide it without the need for verbal commands was exceptionally useful... But something about the art did not seem to truly resonate with her. She was a talented magician, favouring the deceptive and intellectual arts, but the nature of Gishiki was something that she was not sure she could truly abide by.

Perhaps, in time, it would be useful to her - but she did not hold her breath. There was talk of more magic, ancient magic, that had the potential to be more powerful than she had ever imagined magic could be... But it was not time to discover such things yet. She'd been told stories of blood mages as a child, perhaps in order to scare her rambunctious self into submission, but she had only ever found the promise of power enthralling. It would certainly be interesting for her to obtain such a magic - but it was one she felt would not bode well with the nature of Gishiki. Perhaps she would have to ask Shio about the nature of Gishiki and its compatibility with blood magic, or even other types of magic.

After a brief half an hour, Kasumi decided to venture to the Inn that seemed oh-so-popular, and stood at the entrance while she surveyed the scene, and used the spell Aspect of Mirrors in order to immediately move within distance of the unlikely trio.

"Boo." was all she said, hoping that she had been too spooky for them to react.

Natrelmon: Forge of Souls

Fish.

Creative writing vs mediocre storytelling. (Writers vs Players)

I, personally, question the validity of a point regarding an "ambitious original RP with new and inspiring premise," of someone whose current RP is named "Hogwarts: Legacy of Lord Voldemort".

But that's just me. #Elitist

Natrelmon: Forge of Souls

"No, Shio, not today. Perhaps soon, though... You feel it in the air, don't you?" Kasumi noted, looking around the room with practiced precision and sniffing the air slightly. Perhaps it was the nature of one who had long been attuned to the darkness, or perhaps it simply came of being observant, but despite the warmth and glow of the sunset there was a chill that hung in the air, however mildly. It was not unusual for the time of year, but perhaps that said something in and of itself about what tidings the time of year could bring.

While Shio was respectful and formal to the extreme, it was clear that Kasumi took her status as a high-ranking member of a high-ranking family as something to be used rather than something to be dutiful towards. It was not uncommon for members of the elite to be raised as such, 'spoiled' some called it, but Kasumi was not spoiled as such - she simply understood the social fabric of the world in a far different way than most did. That same fact was true to Shio, though, but the lenses through which each viewed the world were distorted in different ways. It was an interesting paradigm to consider in a world where the social norm dictated so much. With a small clanging sound, Kasumi set her cutlery down and placed her feet on an adjacent chair, leaning back to relax a little.

Despite the sudden shift of pose, Kasumi's Gen kept its composure and pose without so much as moving, effortlessly adjusting to the change in environment, a sign of co-operation between the two, as well as a testament to the well-trained nature of the Gen. Kasumi's Gen seemed most unlike the majority of its species, however, as it was quite clearly acting as a kindred spirit to Kasumi, rather than a subservient creature as the Gen line was known to do for trainers who did not truly resonate with the Natrelmon. Most people perhaps would not have picked up on such a bond, but Shio of the Enyo family was not most people. She had been taught to see what should not normally be seen, both as an exorcist and as a member of the social hierarchy, and it was doubtful that she would not pick up on Kasumi's alter-ego. Still, it did not concern her, as Shio observed the courtesy given by lesser families to greater ones, and her silence was assured as a service that she could provide to the Touhou.

"You should experience the sunset with me, Shio of the Enyo family. It is an experience worthy of that book, believe me." Kasumi invited, standing up and walking over to the waitress to pay for her meal. While it would have been customary for her not to pay as a member of one of the Great families, she felt like the Red Nakumo had an aura of reverence, that it could not possibly be stolen from. It seemed to be immune to such mortal things, in its own special way. After paying Kasumi and Gen bowed before heading to the exit and beckoning for Shio to leave with them. It was her choice to accept or decline the invitation, but she would likely not refuse. Still, if she did, it would make proceeding to Kasumi's favourite nocturnal activities a little easier.

Natrelmon: Forge of Souls

Cities have secrets. It was a simple fact that seemed to elude most people, but it was something that was very much abused by those with the necessary knowledge - be it thieves, thrill-seekers, bureaucrats or even the leaders of cities. Cities were almost like people in that regard - once you knew their secrets, they could be manipulated - and this was not a fact that was lost on the second member of the Elite Triumvirate, Yugaku Hayake. Her trips to cities were always very interesting, for she saw the secrets that most people took to their graves effortlessly. Within a few minutes of being within the city of Toran, she could tell all of its hidden nooks and crannies, and the secrets of those within it. She saw Anastasia's secrets, her immense capacity for strategy and her love for her Tibearius. She saw the secrets of Kasumi Touhou, the fox-faced thief who had killed mercilessly and efficiently within the wars who was deceiving her parents in order to receive her inheritance. She saw the secrets of Kito, who had recently encountered the Natrelmon Ritoi, and she saw Ritoi, standing guard over the city. His secrets were less obvious, hidden more carefully, and she turned her gaze away as best as she could to avoid gleaning any insight into them - it was not her place to pry into such an ancient Natrelmon's secrets, and the two of them knew this. Neither could hide from the other, and so they both came to the consensus that staying away from one another was for the best. It was a pleasing symmetry in a world of imbalance.

A place in Toran that few knew about was the Peak of the Gods, an ancient track of gates that extended out over a grassy cline towards the sunset in the evenings. Those who knew of the location knew nothing of its significance, but Yugaku had long-since discovered the area's secrets. It had historically been used as a beacon for power, with each gate imparting a little power into those that walked through it, until the culmination was the infusion of enough power to commune with the "gods", but that was a truth from a time that had long since passed. If the Lord of the South still heard the prayers of those at the Peak of the Gods, he showed no inclination to answer them. That was, if anyone still knew enough to pray there.

Yugaku took a steady stroll through the first of the gates, admiring the architectural integrity as she lightly ran her hand across the old stone foundations that kept it standing. Despite being obviously ancient, it had weathered the test of time, and its features looked no different to how they had hundreds of years ago. The stone bases of the gates were thick cuboids, bridged together at the top with vermillion red tiles, and decorated with kanji that had lovingly been carved into the slates and painted over with red. Prayer beads were strewn across the gates, in some cases underneath them, and in some cases in front of them, or attached to the walls. Despite their age, the aura of reverence had not yet left, and walking through the gates gave Yugaku a feeling of serenity and hope. It was brief, but she managed to enjoy it while it lasted, and after ten minutes of walking, she had reached the end of the string of gates, and was overlooking the sun as it began to dip below the horizon, reflected across the water like a painting upon a canvas.

"If you still hear our prayers, O Suzaku, I ask that you listen well. The darkness that Ritoi has foreseen will be upon this new blood soon, and we three cannot protect them all. You know that our duties will keep us elsewhere. There will be casualties before the upcoming storm - give them your blessing, Lord of the South, and watch over them where we mortals cannot. I fear they will need your assistance soon enough." She began, looking out towards the sunset before it dipped below the waves for the day, and the time of prayer was no longer correct. It was cathartic to speak out loud the worries that she had felt for some time - while the other members of the Triumvirate might understand, there was little that any of them could do, and speaking to them about the upcoming darkness was hardly necessary - they had all come to the same conclusion, in some manner or another.

For now, she would wait by the shore before visiting Toran and returning to Lifan - she would check up on the new trainers before they challenged Anastasia, but beyond that there was little assistance that she could offer.