Description: So it begins. The innocent Hotaru Futaba wanders into a dark alleyway out of altruism for lost cats. What she finds, instead of her feline charges, is something that chills her to the bone... A ghost?
If one takes the normal streets, the route between the Futaba estate and the old church where Hotaru passes much of her time is a few miles; a distance the girl will often cover with a jog or run as part of her exercise. There are, however, shortcuts available, that can cut the trip down substantially. Handy when in a hurry or just not in the mood to run.
With the slow pace Hotaru is maintaining, it's probably the latter reason. Hands clasped behind her back, head lowered in thought as she makes her way along the familiar route, Hotaru is definitely not in a hurry. In addition to her normal Chinese styled garb that she'll wear by default when something else isn't required of her (School uniforms... bunny suits...), she has on a thin, white overcoat that hangs open, reaching down to just below her knees. She wears the garmet whenever Itokatsu is along with her, the ferret having a large pocket in the inside that he enjoys riding in. It sure beats trying to keep up with the young fighter on foot, as when she's in a hurry, she can seem almost as nimble as a squirrel when it comes to making her way across town. Currently he is watching the route, his forepaws resting on the cuff of the pocket, his head looking all about with the nervous energy he always has. The girl also has on a small backpack.
Weighing heavily on her mind is her string of losses in many of the larger events she's managed to work her way back into. If she keeps it up, she might find future invitations lacking. The obvious problem is that she has no one from which to learn anymore. Never having belonged to a dojo, her stern father was the only teacher she ever knew. In his absence, she feels that her progress might be stalling.
Turning down a back alley, Hotaru shaves another several blocks off her route. Though this detour isn't just for the convenience. The backpack she has on contains within it a fair amount of dry catfood. There's a plastic dish she'll often fill in this alley as she comes through, well aware of the number of stray cats that call the dank thoroughfare 'home.'
The weather grants the wayward Futaba heiress a pleasant evening. The few clouds within the twilight, starless sky gently slide across the heavens. The moon lays low amongst the mountains northwards, offering an ethereal beauty in the moments where the urban skyline permits its view. A bit warm for the season, as the humid Japan air holds the sometimes blistering island warmth of the day.
Quiet out this night. Many students doubtlessly studying hard for their upcoming final exams or fighting afficenados watching reruns of the latest Neo League All Stars episode.
As the diminutive girl calmly strolls through the tranquil streets, she occasionally hears the sounds of cars passing along the roads in the distance. The faint static of a radio playing out of tune. This little corner of the Village is a bit out of the way, forming a caul du sac amidst the aging buildings of the older part of town.
The silence is beginning to come errie for a single, chief reason. Invariably when the charitable girl brings her backpack filled with feline cuisine, the little toms and alleys come running. Mewling and purring and racing about her ankles.
This time?
Just silence. No sounds of animals at all, for that matter. No rats, no birds nearby. There doesn't even seem to be cockroaches amidst the piles of refuse in the alleyways. Only stillness.
HSSSSSSSSSS!
Perhaps startling the youthful girl, her companion Itokatsu suddenly bolts up from his little perch. Standing upon her shoulder with his back arched and fur frayed, hissing furiously the way all animals react to danger.
A looming shadow stands at the opposite end of the alleyway. Silouetted only faintly by the shafts of moonlight that filter from the stringed laundry lines high above, wafting in the air like flags of a mournful nation. The outline is easy to miss if you arn't looking carefully, and so unmoving that it offered no reason to suspect.
Save for the creatures of the Earth, who know what the unnatural smell like.
The dark figure seems to be the rough outline of a woman, wearing a bleak kimono. Her back turned with a wide ribbed umbrella masking her upper half, seeking succor from even the illumination of the silvery heaven above.
Her pace had already slowed before Itokatsu becomes alarmed - the dead silence of the alley unnatural, even for this time of night. Eyes becoming more aware of her surroundings begin to scan up and down the walls or study a pile of garbage as she passes by it. This is strange- Her ferret's movement provokes a startled hop from Hotaru as he takes his place on her shoulder.
"Itoka~" she starts to ask, lifting her hand to place against his head, hoping to calm him slightly as she peers forward in the direction he seems to be indicating danger to lie. But before she finishes, she sees something. A darkness that stands out against the already dark alley. If not for his warning, she would have walked several more feet before having had the slightest indication that in spite the deathly silence, she was in fact, not alone here.
Her steps have come to a stop, girl and ferret frozen in place. It's really no big deal to go back out the exact way she came as surely nothing blocks the path behind her. And, in fact, that's exactly what the occasionally prudent girl decides to do. Two steps back are taken. Then a third. Yes, let's just go /away/ from the shadow - away from this once familiar but now unsettling shortcut.
"Aaaah.." A soft murmur finally dispels the silence. A curious, feminine sound as the parasol shifts a fraction. The figure acknowledging the sound of the tiny creature as Itokatsu continues to resist his mistress' restraints, desperately hissing over and over again as if trying to warn.. Or perhaps out of fear.
"I see little hearts beating.." The shadowy figure turns part way, revealing more and more of the figure as the golden, embroidered symbols along her skirt glint in the faint light the shifted umbrella permits. This woman's footfalls make no sound; perhaps because of her barefeet or perhaps because she is not truly there.
Turning fully sideways now, the youth can see the rich paleness of this strangers ghostly skin. The lower contours of her beautiful chin with eyes yet hidden beneath a curtain of unruly ebony bangs. Her hair arranged in a traditional maiden's hairstyle, held in place by two golden needles. Delicate hands shift gently as the parasole collapses forth into a simple shaft.
"Yessss.. faster now.." This ghoulish maiden's voice is a breathy, whispering affair with a hint of.. hunger..
As the figure moves it only becomes scarier than it was when it mimicked a shadow. Things that move are oh so very much real. Things that don't? Well... imaginations can get overly active at times, making out ghosts where no such figment exists. But this? Moving and speaking and even worse, looking back at her? This is no invention of her mind. Of that Hotaru is quite certain.
It must be something from the past; some horror come to walk the streets that may have looked very different when she had once lived. Her heart indeed does begin beating faster, adrenaline entering her system as her body begins to react to a fight or flight scenario. Two more steps backward are taken, but Hotaru doesn't stop there, turning around completely as she shifts from slowly backing away into something more like a dead sprint, "Let's go," she murmurs to the ferret, hand more insistant now on taking hold of the animal to pull him from her shoulder. She's about to pick up the speed and clinging to her shoulder is not the place to be for that. She can't imagine what brought this woman back to the streets now, nor does she care to find out why she has such a keen interest in her heartrate!
As the little girl turns and flees with all the speed her feet can give her, the dark maiden's gaze reveals itself from the darkness of her locks. Golden, intense pools stare through the girl. Seeing her body but the vibrant, healthy lines of ki flowing within her. Thrumming with every pulse of her heart, with every huffing breath..
..She would have been so delicious..
The shadowy woman does not race after her like a common criminal. No. A predator does not waste energy on prey that was given warning and fled.
That accursed little weasel.. warning that girl before she wandered too close to evade, too close to defend herself.
No.. this little thing will be one that got away. This time. Inhuman eyes follow her until the small one turns a corner and out of sight. The edges of her smile creep upwards as her tongue flits across her lips. She will find her again. She would not have fed these mangy strays unless she lived nearby.. familiar with these streets.
Strength of spirit like hers cannot hide for long. Strange that one as strong as she had ran so easily.. Perhaps she lacks confidence. Unaware of the power brimming within her?
"...Delicious.." The shadow whispers before unfurling her parasol in an abrupt flip, obscuring her figure once more as she slowly stalks away.. back to the darkness that spawned her.
There will be more prey.. Another time.
Turning the corner out of the alley, Hotaru continues running some distance, though her pace slows eventually, out of necessity. She sticks to the open streets all the way back to the wall and wrought iron fence that encloses the Futaba estate. The girl has other places she stays. Apartments in her name, leased then fogotten, left to sit until the lease expires while she goes on to pick out some other spot. She has a dormroom too that usually sits unused. Other times she'll sleep the night away at the church, too tired to make her way home.
But tonight? The always-on porchlight of the large, walled in house is strangely more comforting than usual. Not that there's typically anyone home. At least not this late. The helpstaff that maintains the house day by day will most assuredly be gone by now. There's just something to be said of coming back to 'home', when home is a real place, after being spooked like that. The gate is closed behind her, Hotaru reaching up to set the lock that she rarely bothers fiddling with, and then she's gone into the house. One by one, the windows of the house light up as she moves room to room. Energy conservation be damned, the dark can stay outside for tonight.
Log created by Marise, and last modified on 22:15:31 04/29/2007.