Seaside Stories[Social/Invite Only]

With no passenger rooms on the trading vessel and little more than a crowded cargo hold to use for lodging, Yakuroro found himself spending the night above deck where he could be with his beast companion Akatetsu. Looking up at the stars as he leaned his back against the chimera which was now as large as the Imuchakk, Yakuroro rested peacefully enjoying a cool midnight breeze. Akatetsu was already long since asleep, the beasts breaths making its body rise and fall in rythmic cycles. Yaku however, could not bring himself to slumber. There were too many unknowns in his life right now and it somewhat filled him with excitement.

One such unknown sat next to him, Lady Soushui seemed intent on getting involved in Reim. But there was no telling exactly what it was she had planned. Yaku was confident that she genuinely wanted to ensure Kou did not have control over the far and foreign lands. But part of him worried about how this former assassin turned diplomat planned on going about it. Looked down at the woman, Yakuroro could see that she too was still awake, seated on her flying carpet insisted that the deck would be too dirty for her dress. He emerald eyes were staring at him as thought she wanted to speak, but at the moment Yakuroro had no clue what to say to her.

Turning his eyes back to the night sky, Yakuroro sighed and closed his eyes convincing himself that he needed at least some rest. No amount of impatience would get them to Reim any faster...

Inside the cargo hold, Ilirran sat with Diego, Trixie and Zanzibar, unusually quiet as he thought. This business chasing after Jagang for vengeance did not seem right. He was no match for a magician as powerful as Jagang, who could wipe out a tribe with a disease. As he mulled over his options, Inquisitor's Gaze rested on his nose, enhancing his intelligence to make a better decision.

Ilirran enjoyed Diego's company, but it was clear Diego was set on finding Jagang, no matter what. He also saw himself as a hindrance to the boy.  With a sigh, the leopard-headed Imuchakk turned to the Fanalis boy, "Diego, I will not be joining you on your journey. Even after everything he did...I would prefer to live an easier life. When we get to Reim, we shall split ways. Also, take these."

Ilirran handed Diego the Inquisitor's Gaze, giving him possession of the magical tool. It would be of great assistance to the Fanalis, he thought. After that he moved to a quiet corner and rested his eyes, ignoring anyone who tried to talk to him for the rest of the journey.

[exit]
[145/150 stamina]

[OOC: Diego has possession of Inquisitor's Gaze magical tool]

Spoiler:

Diego sat cross-legged on the wooden floor with his back against a crate, while Madam Trixie rested her head on his lap. Zanzibar was curled up tight against Trixie's stomach, warbling softly in his sleep. Ilirran sat beside him, the Imuchakk had not said much since they came to the cargo hold to try to sleep. Accepting the silence as needed, Diego leaned his head back while he stroked Trixie's head.

When Ilirran decided to speak, it was to tell him that they would be splitting ways. Confusion sparkled in Diego's eyes as he accepted the Inquisitor's Gaze, holding them to his chest. "Thank you, Ilirran. Why can't you come with? Don't you want vengeance?"

The leopard-headed Imuchakk had made up his mind and refused to talk more, going off in corner by himself. Diego poked Ilirran's nose several times, thinking it would get a reaction similar to Trixie when he poked her nose, but the Imuchakk ignored him. Giving up, Diego went up top to the deck, clicking for his pets to follow him.

He found Yakuroro and the strange magician who had followed the Imuchakk magician. Diego leaned over the railing beside Yaku and sighed. After the past couple weeks, Diego had grown to like Ilirran, it was disappointing to be losing a friend. He decided to respect Ilirran's decision, at the very least he had Ayero and Yakuroro now.

Zanzibar skittered over to Akatetsu and hesitantly climbed up the creature's back. "Squee~"

Yaku's eyes were closed, but his senses remained aware, still awake unlike his chimeric son. As he heard Diego's foot steps on the creaking ships deck, the Imuchakk opened one eye just in time to see the boy lean against the railing. His sigh was one of someone who had just lost something important. Yakuroro closed his eye again and frowned slightly. He was glad to have someone other than Lady Soushui to talk to, but it seemed like now was not a good time to press the young Fanalis over what was bothering him. Instead, the magician spoke up and tried to play the part of a good "older and wiser" companion even though he himself was still fairly young by human standards. "I'm not sure if you've noticed. But you look like you've grown a lot since I last say you." Yakuroro said, his eyes still closed with a gentle smile now covering his visage.

Akatetsu remained asleep even as Zanzibar squeed his way up the bonehead's body, but he did stir a bit and moved his tail to nudge at the creature which was causing a tickle on his scales. "What did you go through to make you seem so much more reliable? It's not just that you seem to have another friend... Yakuroro said referring to the fuzzy spider scuttling on Akatetsu's back. "You seem a bit more sure of yourself now."

Zanzibar nipped playfully at Akatetsu's tail, squirming up higher to rest on top of the chimera's head where he watched over Diego. His furry white legs rubbed around the Akatetsu's head until he found a comfortable spot to lay.

Diego looked over at Yakuroro's smiling face and broke into a grin himself, "Really? Thank you!" The Fanalis boy stood tall at the compliment, mistaking it to mean he had gotten taller. Yakuroro's next words explained what he had meant, bringing up a topic that was more painful than the loss of Ilirran's company. Diego's eyes unfocused, not wanting to tell the story again, but willing to because Yakuroro was his friend.

"Well, since we last saw each other, a lot has happened." His voice took on a storyteller's tone and gestured with his hands to express parts of the tale, a hypnotizing motion that would draw in the listener. His joy of storytelling and experience was obvious as the tale went on. Diego explained how he came to visit Reim to chase after Jagang only to get split up from Madam Trixie. He told him how he learned to use a bow and arrow, gesturing to the two bows slung over his shoulder. The story about obtaining Zanzibar from his beast-tamer teacher was also mentioned. Diego's voice took on a harder tone as he explained the events he had experience at the Slave Auction and how Jagang had used Ayero, him and a few others to cause the chaos. Anger briefly flashed in the Fanalis boy's orange eyes, cursing himself for letting the magician slip through his fingers.

He summed up the time he had spent with Ilirran and how he found out that Jagang really was in Reim this time. Finished, Diego exhaled and visibly relaxed. "Anyway, that's the story. I guess I found even more reasons to find Jagang, even if others lost them."

While Diego had been telling his story, Trixie flopped down next to Yakuroro, resting her head on the Imuchakk's lap. Her body vibrated as she let out a throaty purr, begging to be pet.

The youthful vibrancy in all of Diego's actions and words was refreshing for Yakuroro as he opened both eyes and turned to take in all of the fanalis' tale. Lady Soushui listened in silence as will and seemed content to hold her tongue while the two caught up. Akatetsu made a grumble of discomfort as Zanzibar continued to scurry around on his body, but when the spider finally settled on Tetsu's head, the chimera found its furry warmth to be somewhat pleasing. Akatetsu let out a satisfied snort of hot breath from his snout and relaxed back into deep slumber. In the mean time, Yakuroro reacted to Diego was interest and at some points surprise. "Both you and Ayero were in the city on that day? It is a blessing you both got out alright, regardless of what role you were forced to play in Jagang's machinations." It was somewhat unsettling to hear all of what this child had been through alone. Sure, he had his beasts and at times, Ayero. He had teachers and he had others met along the way. But somehow Diego always seemed to find himself walking his path towards Jagang which pulled him far from those around him who cared and right into the jaws of danger.

As Madam Trixie rested her head upon Yaku's lap, the Imuchakk tried to ignore her on the basis that he was trying to look older. Being distracted by cute things kind of destroys any vision of wisdom, but the fuzzy face purring into this lap with warmth was too hard to resist for long. The tiger would be given a petting of gentle care as Yakuroro shared his own stories about how he'd searched tirelessly for ruins to finally discover an ancient Torran Library. Yakuroro told him of the guardian he'd encountered and the jewel he found, as well as how he fought a giant black monster on the day of the eclipse. "Don't forget about how you "lost" Akatetsu" Lady Soushui chimed in near the end prompting Yakuroro to reluctantly explain in very brief fashion that he had indeed lost track of his son. "The kind lady here abducted him and worked her magic on the babe. Now he's...bigger than I am. They grow up so fast."

When the two had caught up and shared as much of their pasts as they were going to for now, there would be a slight pause before Yakuroro brought up slightly more current events. "Have you heard about what happened in Reim?...Apparently Kou has claimed it as their own land. We're going to Reim in order to see for ourselves the truth of the matter. There may be many people in need of help. Doubly so if Jagang is also on the move within Reim's borders."

Diego listened eagerly to Yakuroro's tale of the magician's adventures, sitting down cross-legged next to the Imuchakk. His eyes grew wide when he heard about the monsters that Yakuroro had fought. Diego looked over his blue-haired friend with a new sense of awe for how powerful the Imuchakk's magic must be. Lady Soushui's tattling brought an amused laugh from Diego, that both the Fanalis and Imuchakk had shared a similar fate of losing their pet for a time.

When Yakuroro explained that Lady Shoshui had kidnapped Akatetsu, Diego shot her a scolding look. Akatetsu had certainly grown to be impossibly tall for his former form and he wasn't surprised to learn that magic had been behind it. The odd-ball group of beast and 'man' lapsed into silence for a while, broken by Yakuroro giving a brief explanation of Reim's state of affairs.

Diego gave a determined nod, "I'd like to see what has happened in Reim and help people if they need it." He took a breath and looked back at Yakuroro, "After that though, I still plan on finding Jagang. Would you be willing to help me?"

Something shook in Yakuroro's heart as he looked at Diego searching his eyes for any signs of doubt as he asked for help in dealing with Jagang. There was none. The magician didn't like the idea of fueling Diego's thirst for vengeance or encouraging it in the least. But at the same time, he knew that Jagang was indeed a dangerous man if what Diego had told him were true. Especially if he was somehow connected to what happened back in Heliohapt. Yakuroro hummed in concerned ponder as he crossed his arms ceasing the pets to Madam Trixie's head. After a brief pause, Yaku spoke, "Yes, I'll help you. But only if you promise to let me know before you make any moves against him. If you want us to do this together...then we do it together. Deal?"

Hopefully ensuring that he could be by Diego's side when things got rough, Yakuroro could make certain that he did not stray from a just path. It was hard to tell how far the boy would go for the sake of defeating Jagang. Yakuroro would play the role of guardian and role model if Diego would let him to prevent any rash decisions which the boy might later regret. "I hope you'll be prepared to help me out in turn~" The magician finished as his hands returned to caressing the tiger's fur. "I'm not sure I'll be able to do much in Reim with my strength alone. I may need your help in the future..." He then smiled a genuine smile and gestured a closed fist to Diego. A fist bump to seal their agreement.

Diego bumped fists with the Imuchakk, returning an enthusiastic smile of his own. It seemed like he had traded one Imuchakk for another to help him fight Jagang, but he felt more confident with Yakuroro at his side. Not only was Yakuroro strong, but he was a magician as well, commanding his will over things the Fanalis could only dream of. Diego still remembered the job they had taken together, clearing out the bandits from the Temple of Anubis. The Second Sons, the monks who resided in the temple, had been taken hostage and Yakuroro had summoned a mighty ball of water among other things to deal with the bandits.

"Deal, I will help you too." Diego's seriousness about the oath he made with Yakuroro was reflected in the Fanalis' orange-rimmed orbs.

After that, Diego sat down, lapsing into comfortable silence, imagining the adventures that were soon to unfold for them and their pets.

-exit-