Old Friends (Sharaku)

The sun was out and the sky was blue as a nice breeze floated through the area carrying on it the scent of nature and peace. The birds sang, the insects hummed, and the trees swayed to the music of the babbling river. Not too far off the distance roar of a waterfall could be heard. In a word, the day was perfect. This place perfect. It would be hard to believe that just two years ago events had ran through this place that threatened to erase this patch of peace from the world.

Two years…

Much had changed around the islands and yet this one spot seemed to remain tranquil despite it all. Perhaps it was the tranquility in the area that caused the being that came there to stay or maybe being outside simply had too many distractions to make it go away. Whatever the case was, the being that called itself Oki had come to the island early in the morning starting somewhere in the lower regions before weaving its way deeper and deeper into the island until finally it had arrived at the falls.

At first the creature seemed to be enjoying itself, picking flowers, or chasing butterflies it saw; however, around noon the being would find that its body was becoming tired and so it sought out a more secluded area to rest. It would move through the trees finding a small grove that looked out to the stream that passed through the area. A few miles upriver was the roaring falls and the deep pool it poured into. Perhaps after a rest, the being would go fishing or swimming. It would perform any activity to keep its mind away from falling into darker thoughts today.

However, for now the creature would worry about finding a comfortable spot within the trees to rest. Green eyes would scan the tops of the branches before settling on a nice spot above. Content with what it found, the creature would push off from the ground before climbing the tree not really caring at the moment that when it went up, its hat fell off. It didn’t expect anyone to come to steal it, so it left it resting in its spot at the base of the tree.

The creature would climb up to the spot it saw and after testing it, Oki would take off its jacket and fold it into a makeshift pillow that it would settle in the natural bed of branches. Being careful, the being would climb into that nest and settle, resting its head on the pillow it had created.

Once settled, green eyes would look up at the shifting foliage above it, watching as green and blue played as the wind brushed against its bare arms and tugged at the white undershirt it wore. It was nice being out of that stuffy jacket and hat. Perhaps, this was a sign it should invest in some different clothing, but it had to wonder…what could hide the current condition of its body without drawing questioning eyes.

Hmm….

The being would ponder the issue of clothing as it continued to relax in its spot.
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The being would continue to be lost in thought as its other senses told it what was happening around it. For the most part, the place remained undisturbed and quiet, the soothing sound and nice weather enough to make the creature feel sleepy and debate about a nap instead of clothing. Slowly, the creature would relax even more in its spot, its mind falling into a light trance as it began to stop thinking and head towards sleep.

Maybe the being might’ve fallen completely under the spell of the relaxing area; however, it was around this time that an odd thing decided to happen. While it was true Oki did hear the rustling of leaves, the being didn’t see the sound as threatening. After all, things did live in the tree such as birds and other tree critters like squirrels. So the sound itself didn’t set off any bells. Even when the new arrival settled next to the creature and spoke, the being was at first not concerned at all.

“Mmm…clothing shops…” the being began to respond, but then paused as it blinked. Wait...Why was there a voice in the tree with it? Oki would move its head a bit to look over in the direction of the voice. For a moment, green eyes would take in the form of the older man next to it without any emotion, but then as reality caught up with the mind, the blank expression became startled one as the being instinctively attempted to get away from whoever this was. It was a natural response to those that manage to catch it off guard like this older man did.

And unfortunately said movement would disturb the delicate balance of the branches underneath the being. With a groan and snap, a hole would form right under the being as the bottom of the bed broke. In a rain of leaves and branches the being would fall towards the ground some feet below. The height was enough to harm a normal person; however, Oki was anything, but normal. In the few precious seconds it had before making contact with the earth, the being would twist itself around gracefully so that when it landed it caught itself on all fours, its body bending to release the energy from the impact into the earth, the action mimicking a cat.

However, now that it was on the ground once more, a second dash of oddness decided to make itself known. Unlike the gent in the tree this new oddness started with a scent so to speak. A strange pull in the normal energy of the land that twisted and lashed about chaotic. The pull of a shadow, an energy trace that very few could pick-up, but one that the being was quite familiar with considering what it was now a days.

The scent caused it to freeze in its lowered position before slowly, the head of messy black hair would rise allowing a pair of bright green eyes to lock upon the being under the tree. The being that was not human and therefore a potential threat.

“….”

A barely audioable growl would come from the being that remained crouched like a wild animal within the grass as its mind whirled about in utter chaos. It felt threatened and yet something inside of it told it not to lash out just yet. No it needed to calm down to refocus, but how to do that when it had something that reeked of shadows on the ground and an creepy old guy in the trees? What to do? What to do?

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The question that had been asked while the old man and Oki had been in the tree was left unanswered thanks to the unexpected tumble and presence of another shadow type in the area. The ordeal had rattled the being’s mental frame and shifted its mindset to one more beast like than human.

The being remained tensed and unsettled for a moment longer, its body shivering slightly from the restraint it was using to not attack on impulse. Even if it could tell the one under the tree was a shadow in some fashion, there was something about the calmness the other gave off that slowly made the hostility towards him lower. As for that creepy old man….well he most certainly didn’t stop being creepy.

Green eyes would move towards him as he jumped out of the tree with the grace and elegance of a young man rather than a man of the age that his body seemed to show. Nothing lined up that made sense for him. Yes, it was true the elderly could perform some amazing things provided they kept themselves in good health, but to appear out of no where and do what this guy was doing? Nuh-uh. Something was wrong with that…and yet it was that something that was wrong that made him so intriguing to the more logical part of Oki; however, the curiosity would not show currently as green eyes narrowed at the man.

The human side of Oki understood him quiet well and agreed, but the beast side didn’t want to hear. It would take a full minute for the being’s head to droop slightly and the body that was so tense before to relax. While the creature remained in its odd crouched position, it would speak its voice a bit worn.

“Oki not well, but then again Oki never well,” the being would begin in bland tones before shaking its head with a cold chuckle. The irony of the statement that was said, was that it was all true. In any case, after the strange action occurred, the mood around the creature would seem to shift as it looked up at the old man with a light tilt of its head, its green eyes were alert and now brimming with curiosity rather than hostility.

“Oki wonders…are you real?” the being would shift its head to the other side before unexpectedly crawling across the ground in an odd fashion that could be considered creepy by some and just plain odd to the other. However, the creature didn’t seem to care about the oddness as it came to a stop near the old man’s feet.

Hesitating only slightly, the creature would reach out with one hand to touch the pant leg. If the man allowed it, he would only feel a light tug before the creature was scuttling backwards to sit.

“Hrmm…well…you seem real, but if this is so then how do you know Oki’s name? And what do you want with us? Who are you, hm?” the being would ask as it watched the old man curiously for few moments. Then becoming distracted by the other male, the creature would roll across across the ground until it ended up on its back next to the other. Not seeming to care about the grass on itself or the fact it was now in the other's personal space bubble, it would look up at the strange face taking in the odd skin tone and those strange, strange, strange eyes.

Now that it was up closer to the guy, it found that despite the change in looks there was something very familiar about the face, but what it couldn't quite say. Regardless, it would speak out once more.

“Oki be confued, old man. See, you do and know things you shouldn’t and this one,” the being would blink and then refocused on those golden eyes. “This one seems like a person Oki knew long ago and if Oki is correct in the assumption, then Oki must truly be broken today. Oki cannot imagine anything, but figments playing games like this one with us and yet it now seems reality wishes to join in the fun."

The creature would finish, its voice holding an air of amusement more so than anything else as it considered the guy next to itself and the old man in the area. What was going on? And why was Fate being unusually twisted with her humor today?
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Oki would sit for a moment as it considered the odd man after examining him and determining more or less that he was real. It was true its mind was in no logical state, but then again after two years of isolation and pretty much being broken by previous events, the being was still trying to regain a grip on what was real and what was not. As for its more animalistic behavior, it had simply learned to survive on instincts rather than logic action for the time it had been away from its home. It's shadow did not make matters any better for the latter. In a nutshell, it was bad cases all the way around, but ones the being did not quite understand was wrong in society’s eyes.

A fact that was only proven more true when the creature rolled over to the other under the tree. When it had spoken, the one sitting under the tree gave off such a negative air in response that Oki’s curiosity about him dried up as a frown came across its face as a small hint of color came to its pale tattooed cheeks. It was anger...

“Hmph! We see.” would be cold response it gave the other who had turned away. If this figment, person, thing, whatever it was didn’t want to be bothered then why on earth had it come here to begin with? Tch! Such disrespectful behavior and for what? All it had done was come to see what he was? Was that so wrong?

Well then.

The being would blink before rolling to its feet and dusting itself off. It would give one last cold glance at the guy under the tree before it moved away deciding to ignore the guy just as he had ignored it. It had tried to engage the other in its own way; however, the response was less than pleasant and as result, the outlook on the strang guy was negative for the Oki.

Green eyes would shift away from the guy under the tree as Oki headed back to old man deciding to sit not too far away from him as it considered his earlier words, the anger from earlier vanishing as it focused on the less negative of the two odd balls.

“Not sure how we like being spied upon; however,” the creature would pause as it reached up to scratch the back of its head in thought. “You do pose an interesting offer to Oki, but what reason should we believe you can help with Oki’s state of being?” the creature would ask the other deciding to focus solely on the old man as long as the other strange man decided to remain rude and what not.
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Emotions were a strange thing, even stranger when things within weren’t working correctly in the first place. For example, the man under the tree seemed overly sensitive while the being next to him changed like the waves in the sea. The two had a brief clash because of a wrong move on the man’s part and to be honest the mutter didn’t make anything better. Sure, Oki didn’t understand exactly what he said, but it could tell from tone alone that it probably wasn’t nice….and this in turn made it become even more closed off towards the other as for two seconds it had the urge to snap at the guy for simply being rude.

However, just as quickly as the urge came it faded as the being heart became like ice once more.

“Saigo ni, sore wa tsuneni... Muimidearu to onajiyōni... Muimideshita...” that was the soft monotone and depressed sounding words the being said in response to the mutter. The words were probably only heard by the man it was near thanks to how quietly they were spoken; however, whether the words were directed at the man, the situation, or something else was questionable and a mystery that would not be solved as the being decided to roll away and instead focus on the old man and his strange offer.

As it watched the older and heard the words spoken, the creature would become quiet for a moment before closing its eyes to think. This guy…what was he? The mystery was enough for the creature to want to know more.

“Heh. Is that so?” Oki said after a moment as its green eyes opened and settled on the man as a smirk crept across its face. “I wonder what sort of clarity you can offer us these days. It is very tempting to take the offer we must admit; however, you still have not convinced Oki of taking the offer fully. More work needs to be done for that; however, you are welcome to try to convince Oki if you like. We don’t mind such things, Mr…?” the being trailed off as it kept eyes devoid of emotion locked on the old man for a moment.

It was being plain and honest with the other. It truly was curious about what the man offered and so was willing to take a step forward to see what could be found; however, the oddness of the man and his spying did not make the creature so trusting of him.

The man was much too odd to simply trust blindly…He would have to work to gain that precious gem called trust from the being, but at least for now the being had left the table open for future meetings or discussions.

In any case, how the man took that answer was yet to be seen and would soon be the last thing on the being’s mind as the old man decided to actually address the other under the tree. As he spoke the creature would just listen as it took a somewhat neutral air towards the other. At first it wasn’t going to do anything to add onto what was happening, but the guy’s reaction and voice shook it out of its neutral stance as it blinked a bit. Grabbing its folded legs in its hands, it would tilt back to look at the guy that had seemed to have snapped. What was with this one? Why did the being feel something tug at its icy heart every time it looked at him and why did the pain it could hear in his voice make it want to care for a brief second?

Who was this odd guy…and what did the old man mean by calling Oki a friend of this one? Surely, Oki had not met this one before….had it?
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