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Post by Kana Etsuko on Apr 4, 2015 17:34:24 GMT -5
... AND SPEAKS MY NAME
It had been the usual day for Etsuko Kana, her daily chores all lined up and one by one she had diligently completed all of them and it could be said her work was often unblemished. Most thought she was perfection itself but to uphold such reputation was a tedious task since she forced herself to be perfect. Not really to meet people’s standards but to make the best of every single day she lived. It was one of those things she enjoyed the most about her life right now, that she did not depend on people that did not wish to have her around. In all honesty she was a bit happier being among these people and earning her wages than she had been all the years she lived with her parents. She knew that it was harsh to think that way but there was no other way to look at it really. She smiled as she watered her plants, she had them decorating her window and always treated them with the outmost care. Her amber eyes softened as she looked at her flowers once she was done. It was true that she had suffered in the past but she did not hold a grudge adjacent anyone nor resent her parents. She preferred to live every day to the full and leave her body and heart free from negative emotions that only harmed you.
Not to mention she had promised Seiryuu to enjoy whichever life she lived so long as her parents could be happy. And now she knew they were so she could not think about them anymore nor would she waste her time understanding their reasons because what they did could never be justified but. She passed to the next chapter of her life and through serving adults all her life she had decided to take the reins of her own life once she was handed to this Lord and the Geisha. She carried on with her tasks and took the occasional break to read a book or update herself with the gossip she could hear among the other Geisha but she seldom partook in their conversation. She only liked to hear the news and then do her own little research, you could say she was a very intelligent woman but that was mainly because she took her time to observe people and judge their attitudes and actions rather than what others said about them.
She finally got to her room and was told that the Lord was too busy with is retainers and some visitors that carried urgent messages from the Emperor so he could not partake in leisure activities. She nodded and bowed softly the moment she was left alone. She smiled, she truly enjoyed nights where she could simply enjoy her own company and the stillness of the night. She put on a cloak and used the hood to cover herself before she walked outside. Dusk was upon them, it was the perfect moment to sneak into the woods and reach that stream she was so fond of. She knew shortcuts so there was little chance she would come across someone who could put her life in danger or force her into something she did not wish to do.
Looking up at the sky as she arrived she smiled, it would be a clear sky and she loved to fly with few clouds in her way. She could also enjoy the moon and the stars better that way. She sat on a rock for a long moment and looked at the stars and also at her reflection on the water while she also noticed the stars and the moon reflected as well. She smiled and then stood on the rock once she sensed no one was here. One of the advantages of being a dragon meant her senses were much enhanced. She closed her eyes for a brief moment and soon she was surrounded by a small white cloud that soon dispersed in aquamarine light. She stretched her dragon muscles and then opened her eyes, now n her frost lung form she began to run for a bit before she finally took off and her elegant long form soared in the sky enjoying herself.
She closed her eyes for a moment feeling herself rise in altitude and growled softly as she twirled in the air and then finally bat her wings in order to fly straight. After years of expertly flying it could be said she had come to master the art and come up with tricks of her own. She twirled occasionally and once the moonlight touched her lovely white and aquamarine reptilian body it seemed to shine as if it were made of precious gems. She opened her eyes and enjoyed saying while being able to enjoy the starlight sky. she moved form cloud to cloud also enjoying the possibility of camouflage and it was at that very moment, as she moved away from a cloud that she spotted the castle she served once more. She sighed and closed her eyes for a brief moment, at least no one knew of her secret and she could be free to some extent but the dragon nature had become pretty much her own… which mean she loved for a different life at times, she felt trapped… imprisoned here…
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Goddess
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Post by Hotori on Apr 6, 2015 11:19:39 GMT -5
Keikan Shensetsu was feeling quite at ease. He had started working for the lord of this castle a little over a week ago, and already he had gained quite a bit of respect amongst the men, and with the lord himself. His reputaiton from his last few jobs preceeded him, and the letter of recommendation Shun-sama had sent with him did nothing but further showcase his merits. This meant that, although he was new to town, the lord had hired 'Taro', as everyone called him, for a higher ranking job immediately. It gave him the chance to help guide the lower solders in the right direction. It helped that most were his age or younger, as they seemed to like being able to relate to their superior more. It also meant he was granted more freedoms around the castle,though he was careful never to abuse them, and paid higher wages. He was already putting aside quite a bit to send home to his mother and sister, though he had yet to figure out how to do so without anyone in the castle learning about them. He did not think they would be in danger...he simply believed in keeping his private life private. No one here needed to know about his family, so no one here knrew about them. It was that simple.
"Taro-san!" One of the younger soldiers called out to him, breaking him from his train of thoughts. He stopped in the hallway and looked to the boy...Katsuya, he believed his name was, and he was only eighteen. "Jiro was walking the walls, and fell off. He's fine, but he broke his leg."
Keikan sighed. Jiro was Katsuya's twin brother, and was really too clumsy for such a job. He started to ask what fool had told Jiro to walk the walls in the first place, but figured that wasn't the important part. "I will do the perimeter check. Check on your brother, and then return to your post."
Katsuya bowed with thanks, and then ran off once more. The shift was almost over, so he would only have to walk them once before the relief took over. With that thought in mind, he headed outside to start the perimeter check. As always, he started by making sure the roof was secure before nimbly leaping to the lower side of the wall. Then it was simply a matter of keeping his balance-something he was very good with-as he continued aroung the wall. The castle was built on a hill, so the wall was higher in some places than in others, though it looked the same height all around. He liked doing the perimeter check, as it was usually very quiet and gave him time to think.
Many in the area liked the lord-though Keikan didn't quite get it. He was good to his people, but something about the man was off-putting. Perhaps it was all the things the Geisha said about him. As soon as they figured out he was not the typical customer, many of them relaxed and would begin to share gossip with him. Not that he was interested in the gossip, but if it was how they wished to spend their free night, he would let them. Some of the others had different ideas for relaxing, and would aapproach him with lustful notions, but he was quick to politely put those thoughts down. He supposed they thought he was handsome, and many seemed to like his red hair, but he just wasn't interested in such activities, not 'just for fun', at least. Still, no one knew what he did with the Geisha each night, and knew that he could be quite flirtatious at times, so this combined into him getting quite the reputation as a womanizer. That was fine, so far as he was concerned. Again, his private life was private, and he cared not what others said or thought about him.
He was nearing the higher part of the wall when he saw a movement up near the clouds. It was probably a bird, he knew, but he couldn't help but stop and scan for whatever it was. It took a moment for his eyes to find the light colored figure in the night sky, but he couldn't help but feel stunned when he did. It was a dragon with lovely white and aquamarine scales. It seemed smaller than what he'd expected, but was still larger than him. Though he'd grown up in Kutou and prayed to Seriyuu daily, he had never seen a dragon before...had not even known there were real dragons out in the lands. He watched it for just a moment, and silently thanked Seriyuu for letting him see the lovely creature before he returned to the task at hand. There had been trouble with bandits in the nearby towns lately, and the lord feared they may try to break into the castle to steal some of the valuables. Keikan doubted anyone would be that foolish, but his job was to do as he was told, and so he did.
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Post by Kana Etsuko on Apr 8, 2015 13:30:36 GMT -5
Etsuko was almost going past the castle when her amber eyes opened and she spotted someone looking up at her. At first she feared for her life. She was in her dragon form and most people feared dragons for no reason at all. That also meant that without second thought they would hunt them down or harm them even when they truly did not mean anyone harm. Her eyes fixed on the man to guess if he was going to give the order but instead she felt as if he were… admiring her. She blushed lightly, as if that could be possible, who in their right mind would think a dragon was beautiful? She had always heard stories of people fearing dragons, hunting them down for a better reputation and even to set them as trophies on their walls. Many said that they were scaly and slimy and ugly monsters and though Etsuko was partly one, at the most part she never considered herself a monster and rather liked to help out whenever she could. She had no malice in her heart and she could easily forgive others so she did not understand why others could not be so easy to trust and forgive as she was. It made her somewhat sad to be honest, since that meant that dragons and humans would misinterpret each other constantly throughout the years and she honestly did not look forward to living like others have before her. She wanted to put a stop to all this madness, but who would listen? She knew that men wanted the power of the dragons to fulfil their own selfish desires, they would even hunt them down with the hopes of forging weapons with their magic and abilities in life so that they could use them themselves. It was truly preposterous what people could do if given the wrong idea.
She shook her head and closed her eyes for a brief moment, she did not want to remain in such negative thoughts and instead thought about the man she had just seen. She had never seen him before but she had already heard so much about him from the other geisha, his hair was the colour of fire and his eyes a piercing amethyst. He seemed fond of inviting the Geisha over to his chambers and he was a bit of a flirt. Or so they said. But the ladies were all charmed by the man and she knew there were quite a few that had fallen for his charms. They would make sure to look their best whenever he called for them and would even try and find out what kinds of things he liked and what food to make for him. He was truly in everyone’s mind to be honest and she had felt slightly curious to see him. She knew she would be unable to meet him though, he was a samurai so during the day he would protect the Lord Tai-Lung and during the night Etsuko had her own duties. The Lord was a rather selfish man when it came to the things that were “his," as he would have it. She flew higher in order to reach the clouds yet again and get lost in their softness before looking up at the brightest of stars. She was a prisoner, she knew it well, and at times it suffocated her. The part of her that was a dragon governed most of what she did or thought and even felt, and at that moment she knew she needed to fly and escape. She was more of an adventurer and all the years she had spent in the castle were taking their toll on her spirits.
So whenever no one was around and the Lord did not request her presence she would sneak and go far away and sometimes would not return till dawn. She took a deep breath and then released a small icicle. It fell graciously into a nearby frozen lake. She sometimes felt like that frozen lake. She had never experienced the most passionate emotions not even as a child did she get to know what it was like to be loved and protected by a family. She truly never had one, and then she was practically sold into slavery. Although she knew the Geisha well and she had a few friends and the like it was never the way one would like. She found it hard to completely trust others because she had missed that in her childhood. So she was very analytic before trusting someone. And that made others weary of her. It did not help that she was the Lord’s favourite. Everyone grumbled that she received better treatment than the other Geisha but it truly was not so. She simply worked hard to use her skills against his demands and it worked to some extent but… not completely.
She closed her eyes and growled softly, once she was high enough there was no danger in playing a bit, no one would hear her or see her at such altitude and she decided to practice some new flips and turns she had come across one night as she flew past the castle. She growled excitedly, what humans would call laughter. She was truly enjoying herself and for once, she forgot everything about her duties or the cold castle. In a way she was a tiny bit jealous of other Geisha since they got to choose their customers and lived a more normal life. She was seldom allowed to leave the castle grounds in case she tried to escape or worse. She took a deep breath and released it sadly and with a heavy heart she turned around and slowly began to head back in the direction of the castle. A small tear left her eyes but she ignored it, she was not used to crying anyway. Not knowing that much about her own emotions she deemed she only needed to clean it once it touched her face and then the tears would not bother her again. Nonetheless, she had seen some Geisha cry at times and others embraced them to bring them comfort, was that how a person expressed sorrow, grief, despair?
She growled softly and shook her head trying to concentrate now on the flight. She slapped her tail as she increased the speed and extended her powerful wings in order to begin dropping altitude. She did not want to be too noisy or obvious when doing that, least any of the guards should see her. She had done this for so many years that she learned to study her tactics and plans before carrying them out always coming up with other plans or even taking into account new obstacles should they present themselves. She was basically used to looking after herself. She flipped in the air before her amber eyes spotted the castle once more. She sighed once more and then did not move her eyes from the castle. Being a dragon her senses were enhanced and she could clearly see if there were men on night watch or if anyone was nearby. She knew the samurai Keikan was still walking around but he did not seem to have any trouble with her presence, or so she hoped as she kept on moving.
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