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Seiji Okura
Musician

Age: 32 | Height: 5'7" | Race: Accepted | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 2 - Strg: 10 - Dext: 25 - Endr: 12 - Luck: 10 - Int:
Played by: kae Offline
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Posts: 149 | Total: 255
MP: 0
#1
What is a ghost?
Wildwood.

Maybe he has heard this whispered on the lips of those back in the Hollowed Grounds, the tone somewhere between fear and excitement. After the destruction of the barrier, the breach of the spire, time ceased to unfold normally. Seiji remembers it all as a blur, distinct events melding together and reordering themselves at will. He was not present for most of it. He did not think it a very good idea, all the fighting and the jostling and the tension wringing the air. Now, of course, it is done. For better or worse. And he stands at the edge of the trees.

He fears them. He is not too proud to admit this. They are unlike the first wood he met in Caido. They are taller, denser, more ferocious in a way he cannot describe. The air between them hums, hot and sticky. And Seiji is nothing at the foot of them. A sprig of grass bending softly to tilt back his head, to peer into the shadows of the boughs. He knows some people must have gone inside, already. He does not know what they found. Seiji himself is dressed in shirtsleeves, sweat slick on his skin. A far cry from the aching cold of Longnight. He combs back unkempt bangs with his fingers and steps forward.

He is not quite certain what he intends. The questions on his tongue are myriand and poorly formed just yet. But he has ever been the one to push forward into the unknown. He cannot bear the lack of knowledge. Or, perhaps — the lack of trying. Even through his fear.

He moves softly as a doe, his every step placed with care. His dark eyes rove from trunk to trunk, shadow to shadow, through beams of sunlight and across the fertile ground. His progress is slow. He has no goal beyond exploration, beyond seeing what he may see. Firsthand experience is always better than merely asking, Seiji thinks. Though even as he begins to progress, he never seems to make it very far...
Something dead that seems to be alive.
Something dead that doesn't know it's dead.
Niambh Sirideán
Scout

Age: 106 | Height: 3’8 (117cm) | Race: Fae | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: - Strg: 8 - Dext: 10 - Endr: 14 - Luck: 3 - Int:
Played by: Nat Offline
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Posts: 10 | Total: 58
MP: 0
#2
There is another that sits at the forest’s fringe; not just the wind that whispers through the canopy, nor the trees themselves, an ever shifting and living labyrinth. The scout sits, knees bent up and chin perched upon them, where the boughs begin to narrow and the leaves need not fight so hard for the light smiling down.

Perhaps if he were to glance up, to navigate the thin blinding shafts; maybe if he saw beyond then the fluttering leaves and old timber, then the stranger might spot her.

But she is confident he won’t.

They don’t.

Her eyes are as bright and clear as the midday sky and she is watching (they come one by one, as dependably as the days turn into night), almost jadedly, twirling the stem of a yellow leaf between two fingers. And then he moves. The scout’s eyes narrow upon the raven-black gloss of hair as he passes with deer-like finesse below; but she has seen this before and knows the trees well. Branches ahead will tangle together before he even arrives to meet them, or is it the path whose direction will change; either, creating a new route that will see him returned to this point and removed-

or…

Wings, long and glassy, unfold their length behind her. This is why she is here. He is the reason she has waited through countless hours. They are the reason The Greatwood is ailing.

As silently as the dragonfly swoops the scout descends between old limbs and she angles her flight well to alight a small distance before him. “Why, hello!” she grins broadly, boldly,  peering upwards, for he stands like a towering giant in contrast.

Seiji
Seiji Okura
Musician

Age: 32 | Height: 5'7" | Race: Accepted | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 2 - Strg: 10 - Dext: 25 - Endr: 12 - Luck: 10 - Int:
Played by: kae Offline
Change author:
Posts: 149 | Total: 255
MP: 0
#3
What is a ghost?
Seiji moves ignorant of the eyes on his back. The trees themselves seem to watch him, his progress meandering between the trunks haphazardly. He seems always to be lacing along the eaves, watching the shadows deeper in shift and turn. The leaves whisper above, a thousand voices he will never understand.

And then

He sees her when she wishes to be seen: a small shape, hummingbird fast, the quick hum of wings. He stops back on his heels, heart beating harder than it needs to. And then he stands, blinking, at the diminutive figure occupying his path.

If he hesitates too long before he returns her greeting, it is no lack of manners. More — a sudden, overwhelming surprise. His eyes trace the shimmering wings with something like wonder, his lips just slightly parted. And then his gaze snaps back to her face, the shocking blue of her eyes. "Hello," he replies, hesitant. Is this one of the folk who call this wood home? He cannot recall the word for them, just now. He recalls something else instead, another word, from a very long time ago.

It tastes of salt and darkness on the back of his tongue.

So he swallows, and his features are kind, betraying only a little of his fear. "I am Seiji," he says, because if he were home, this would be polite. He thinks. "Do you live here?" Is he trespassing? He will leave, if she wills it. He would prefer not to be driven out, but he would also prefer to remain alive, and he can never be sure what in Caido might kill him.
Something dead that seems to be alive.
Something dead that doesn't know it's dead.
Niambh Sirideán
Scout

Age: 106 | Height: 3’8 (117cm) | Race: Fae | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: - Strg: 8 - Dext: 10 - Endr: 14 - Luck: 3 - Int:
Played by: Nat Offline
Change author:
Posts: 10 | Total: 58
MP: 0
#4
The Fae, despite the fact that he stands in this forest, in spite of his transgression (regardless how innocent), appears to be friendly; he is swiftly swallowed by surprise. The smile she still wears travels on through her expression, creasing the brow, extending from one ear to the other, bolstering the sweet rosy apples of her cheeks. Even her eyes, so big and bright, appear to sparkle with the same good cheer.

“And I’m Niambh!” The voice she owns is spirited and exciting, the words are given surely. Perhaps she hopes to reassure him, at least, the posture of her lean, leather-clad figure suggests as much.

The tiny woman flutters forward, appearing almost to levitate, but pauses again after only a foot. The rabbit, she thinks, is skittish, so she answers him more tenderly, quietly, “yes Seiji, this is The Greatwood,” but adds, “…and there are more fearsome things in here than I.” The smile remains and she thinks to curtesy for him, in a show of good grace.

Seiji
Seiji Okura
Musician

Age: 32 | Height: 5'7" | Race: Accepted | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 2 - Strg: 10 - Dext: 25 - Endr: 12 - Luck: 10 - Int:
Played by: kae Offline
Change author:
Posts: 149 | Total: 255
MP: 0
#5
What is a ghost?
Her voice is a silver charm, bright as the blade of a knife. Friendly? He cannot say for certain. He does not know how like him these tiny strangers are. But he will not transgress; he does not realize he has done so already, merely by setting foot in the shadow of the trees.

"It is nice to meet you." Seiji returns her smile, even offers a shallow bow. Should he take her next statement as a warning? As a threat? He cannot be sure, and perhaps the cheer in his naturally kind features dims a shade. His dark eyes lift from little Niamh to the trees around and behind, the whispers of their leaves. "I have heard of Greatwood. I wanted to see what it is like. What kind of other things live here?" he asks, truly curious.
Something dead that seems to be alive.
Something dead that doesn't know it's dead.
Niambh Sirideán
Scout

Age: 106 | Height: 3’8 (117cm) | Race: Fae | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: - Strg: 8 - Dext: 10 - Endr: 14 - Luck: 3 - Int:
Played by: Nat Offline
Change author:
Posts: 10 | Total: 58
MP: 0
#6
The little Fae seems pleased as he airs the desire to explore her home, convincingly so; in fact, everything about her behaviour thus far seems incredibly contrary to the intolerant reputation her kin upholds. She knows this well. He… they, are loathed for their poisonous tread and nosy intrusion. Still, Niambh stands across his path in spite of that fact, offering what could only be an olive branch. Respect. Even information-

So many wonderful creatures live here,” her bright tone tells him. “Sky whales, gigantic beetles, story-telling fish! Her gaze, as animated and alluring as each word sung through the air, inviting him forward to see these things for himself, and even her body is turning; but then she stops suddenly and those features grow dim as the dusk of day.

“…but alas, Delah... you have heard of the Fae War Chief?” Niambh peers curiously, warm smile lingering  on as soft wrinkles by each eye. “She would have you caged or buried in her pit, me also, for fraternising with the enemy. It is true,” (She cannot lie). A show of disappointment for the futility of his plight emerges, sadness for the friendship that is forbidden. But quickly it vanishes, choked out by the surge of an idea-

“It can be our secret?” A whisper. She glances this way and that, smiling beneath a cupped hand. There is added curiosity to her voice now, mischievousness even too, dancing through her energetic expression. “If I show you my home, will you show me yours?”

Seiji
Seiji Okura
Musician

Age: 32 | Height: 5'7" | Race: Accepted | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 2 - Strg: 10 - Dext: 25 - Endr: 12 - Luck: 10 - Int:
Played by: kae Offline
Change author:
Posts: 149 | Total: 255
MP: 0
#7
What is a ghost?
She cannot know — she cannot know these words exactly draw him in. Seiji comforts himself with this; she cannot know his mind. Yet his eyes alight at the mention of whales (sky whales?) and fish, and in his mind is the memory, that perfect memory, of the curving shore. His heart aches with it; his bones ache with it. Homesickness bursting in his chest and flooding his veins with that peculiar poison he can only call sadness.

Her tone changes, though, and maybe a prickle of concern comes with it. Just a prickle — Seiji is trusting. He has never been wronged by a person before. Not in his memory, however fractured it is. He does not suspect her of mischief. He expected violence, if it were to come, would already have done so. So of course, Seiji merely blinks, his eyes curious, as he takes in this information.

"I know of her," he says at last, slowly. Her words make the chief sound much more dire a character than Jigano did, some days ago. "I did not know she was..." Here he searches for a word. "Strict?" Maybe that's the one. "I do not want you to be hurt..." he adds, uncertain. Though he would quite like to see the home of the fae. To explore more of this forest. Perhaps to bring back knowledge of his findings. To be useful to the lorekeepers and the denizens of the Hollowed Grounds alike.
Something dead that seems to be alive.
Something dead that doesn't know it's dead.


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