TAKESHI NITEN SHIRANUI.

he stepped carefully over the same fallen tree, though with significantly less grace, brushing moss from his palm as he landed on the other side, “so that’s it, then? you think the town just… cursed itself into implosion?” he glanced sideways, his voice casual but not dismissive, “can’t say it doesn’t track, though.”

“still. i want to believe something good could come to pass. even here. maybe that makes me stupid.” another glance at takeshi, a crooked, half-smile on his lips.

“or maybe i’m just the sort of idiot who reads books and still thinks stories can end well, but if this is one of those stories that ends in blood — i'd at least like to know whose.”

"it takes stamina to maintain optimism in this environment, not stupidity," he murmurs, eyes stealing a glance of the man at his side only to find edgar is looking right back at him, sporting a half-cocked smile. his heart lurches in his chest, and dark eyes find the path quickly. it's as if edgar sees right through him. "i'm surprised it hasn't been snuffed out yet."

stories ending in blood were all takeshi knew, growing up among thieves and pirates. the ones that didn't end in blood went up in flames. it was only matter of time before one of those fates found him. the burns on his left hand and shoulder begin to seethe, a phantom flame he can never shake stoked to life. "i'll keep the bloody endings at bay if you keep that ..hopeful torch burning. deal?"

if all the tales are true, the sanctum was a charming place.

she could almost feel the energy of it drumming in her veins. of the hallow ground that was older than the religion currently inhabiting it. it almost made her laugh. but instead of succumbing to it, she simply cocked a grin the male's way. oh, indeed. she had no allegiance with the almighty being they called a god. she had not such worships - she found them laughable & meek. only one god above the rest? how unimaginable. how very egoistical.

"for one, I don't feel like traipsing about in search for someone I don't - if you pardon me - really care about. I was an accidental invite, I'm sure of it. they've invited everyone in netherbridge, so I suppose they didn't want to leave me, a newcomer, out as well." feiyue shrugged, but then tilted her head as she observed the man. "if not here, where do you propose we wait for news? typhon inn is ten minute walk, though I doubt there will be a server available."

"wisdom has nothing to do with it. it's instinct. this place feels like it could swallow me whole, and as a man who spent his life at sea, i can tell you in earnest, it's something to be avoided." the trader busies himself with rolling a cigarette, shifting his weight and contemplating his next move as she speaks.

"if you don't care, why exactly did you come?" for takeshi, it was the spirits & food; knowing what it means to go without anything by brined, raw fish for months on end, he's developed a rather insatiable sweet tooth. a riotous hunger that manifests in a myriad peculiar ways, even beyond the demands of his stomach.

"we need no server. i can serve drinks," he says, lifting his head as his attention is grabbed. the cigarette in his teeth swivels from left to right, guided by his tongue. "lead the way, miss ...?"

with: open to all !

FEIYUE DID NOT EXPECT FOR SOMETHING AS COMMON AS A WEDDING CEREMONY TO BE SO DANGEROUSLY CHAOTIC & UNSTABLE. she couldn't point her finger at the thing that was causing her discomfort & a knot in her stomach, but the very hairs on the back of her neck & her back had rose - as if a lover's breath had caressed her skin, leaving gooseflesh in it's wake. the bumble & rumble of unseen things coiling like serpents around the columns of the sanctum had been ill thoughts & expectation carried on a southern, foul wind. warm like the summer's rotting days, the breath of carrion & decay all but plugging her nostrils. it was odd & eerie.

she disliked chaos that was not of her making.

turning around to face the figures upon this mismatched board, yuer frowned, but after a moment the wrinkled crease of her brow smoothed. "how unexpected. I though weddings were a customary, tedious affair. & yet here we are, prompted to search for the very bride & groom that remain so odiously in absentia. I am not a personal friend to either of them, so I believe I ought to stay behind. will you join the hunt - pardon, search - or will you keep me company?"

for a moment, he's teetering on the edge of sanity, because part of him wants to laugh as the world which netherbridge has imagined comes apart at the seams. how foolish of them to believe everything would fall into place, when the nature of all things is to deviate and splinter! the other part of him feels ...numb. as if he's seen this all before. a half-remembered dream. a dimly realized prophecy, once told, never repeated. not until today.

the voice at his side feels like a hand slipping up his shoulder. the hiss of a snake in the trees, and he nearly flinches at the cool lap of her presence. he doesn't know the woman, and yet she calls for his company. a white wrist curling inward to beckon. takeshi looks away from her towards the door, then slowly scans the room around him until he finds her gaze again. ❝ i've avoided this place for years; i'm not compelled to stay. ❞

edgar loved weddings, not just for what they represented, but for the rare sense of joy they brought to netherbridge.

he expected joy. he didn’t expect the bride and groom to skip their own wedding.

for the past half an hour he heard some ridiculous comments from people and even more ridiculous suggestions of where they might have gone. eventually, tired of the noise and needing to move, he joined the search and was one of the first to slip away from the main group to cover more ground, thats when he ended up in the woods.

thankfully, he wasn’t alone. one person had agreed to come with him and edgar was very grateful for that, even if the silence around them was smothering him. that's when he spoke, his voice low as to not draw any unwanted attention for them, “what do you think happened?” he asked, turning to look at the person next to him, “and dont give me the ‘cold feet’ theory. i’ve already heard it from no less than three old ladies.”

there's something wrapped up in this that he doesn't have the clues to unpack; he can only feel the pull of death, the promise of shrouds, the whisper of the deep.

he's paired off with edgar, a man he knows only by the books he's purchased from shiranui-dō, and they've picked their way through a dense pocket of the woods. only finding errant tracks of wildlife and bursts of disturbed birds taking to the sky. yet they continue in silence. takeshi doesn't mind the silence, but he's not as annoyed when edgar speaks as he might have been in the company of another. there's something genuine about the man, his question sincere and without pretense. though it's not quite enough to smooth the smuggler's harsher edges. not yet, anyway.

❝ i think the town's responsible. ❞ his tone is dry, perhaps bitter. ❝ the gravity of everyone's superstitions and fears — honestly, it's no surprise to me that everything caved in on itself like a dying star. ❞ he slips with agility over a fallen tree, moving almost serpent-like through the terrain even as it grows wild and rough. ❝ that's what happens. if you weave enough negativity into the air, it strangles out all the possibility of anything good coming to pass. ❞

she didn’t fidget like some. no tugging with her sleeves, no anxious glances toward the altar. katherina barbosa simply watched.

katherina stood off to the side, arms neatly folded, spine straight, her expression unreadable as her eyes swept across the room. the whispered theories sounded a bit too loud in her opinion. and most of them, she found laughable. she waited a moment longer, for some brave soul to offer logic, an explanation or even a decent lie. but when no one came, so she spoke, her voice soft and curious.

“and here i thought this family had a reputation for punctuality.”

she let it hang there. not an accusation. just an observation. “forgive me,” katherina added after a second, “i was under the impression today was a celebration, not a witch hunt. unless, of course, i’ve misunderstood the performance.”

he only stayed to taste champagne — or perhaps the three-tiered strawberry cake — but this has turned out to be more entertaining than he expected. he can't help the amusement bubbling up in him — the paranoia, the rumors, the stirring unrest that has shrouded the town in its embrace — the energy surrounding the doomed nuptials finally soured enough to spoil it!

manifestation is a tricky bastard.

when he hears the dry observations sound to his side, takeshi almost laughs. but there's only a flicker of humor in his dark eyes.

❝ a witch hunt seems the appropriate reaction considering the superstitions running rampant in this town. i swear i saw the priest grab a pitchfork. ❞ no, not truly, but he did see a noble lady of a certain age fall to her knees to sob. ❝ i believe the party's moved outside. ❞ he leans forward to light a cigarette with the flame from a decorative candelabra before making towards the door.