Shadow under the Thorns

     So it had a name. Also unexpected. Beasts who are vocal rarely remember much of anything. Was he perhaps mistaken? He was almost certain of the sight of deformity… 

     “I am of the title Father Gascoigne, blood-made Hunter tasked with the execution and population-control of those who carry the Beast plague, a disease that transforms even the mildest of temperament into savagery. If you claim lack of affliction, then what do you propose your true nature to be? Beast? Or man?”

“Ah a man of the cloth and medicine. You must be well studied.” Elias stepped out of the shadows, tapping his cane on the street. A curious fellow, he wanted to see them more and without fear. How could he fear a priest?

“I will be honest that I cannot give you an honest answer. But if my own nature is under my own decision, I stand with man.” He walked past them, bushing by Gascoigne’s shoulder and motioning for him to follow.

piluumurale

What was this chocolate that every place seems to be talking about? She stared at the sign curiously, what do humans even do with this small item…? The human tending it gave Pearl a gift, or samples was what the human called it, it was then she noticed someone nearby. 

She held out her small hands towards them. She didn’t deserve such kindness anyway.

“Please take it”.

Elias looked down to the gift from a stranger. The sweet milk candy was a fondness of his but he knew better then to take so freely. He shook his head, feet coming to a stop under his cane. “It is rude to take without giving. I would dishonor the Fair Folk with that behavior.”

“usually i would care, but this is just practice. keep my hands busy keep my mind busy. otherwise this place might freak me out more.” ezekiel said, with a shrug. here he was just another guy. which was both painful to his ego and not much different than back home. sure, he had his reputation as a thief, but otherwise he was a ghost.

ezekiel grinned, “sometimes. at this point, it’s hard to get faster, but no one really uses these locks anymore, not for anything very valuable.” a hum, “i’m ezekiel jones.”

“Ah, so it is an act of dexterity to focus your thoughts? I understand.” Yes it was much clearer now. Sort of like a type of puzzle solving, the sort they would put in the daily paper for amusement. 

     The Father hesitated as the other responded to his threat. How quaint. He genuinely did not expect the Beast to mimic speech. The words of his… ‘friend’, Djura, resonated in his mind. ‘The Beasts are human!’

     Not to be deterred, Gascoigne straightened his posture. Debating with those in possession of foul blood did not suit him, but perhaps humouring it on his approach, following the sound of it’s voice, would lower it’s guard.

     “Lest you a vessel of sickness, there is nothing to fear. Lest your mind be addled with cursed blood, you are of no threat to me.”

Elias nodded to himself. “That’s true, I have nothing to fear of illness, but I was asking if I should fear you.” It was a honest concern to worry that they were ill and spreading it. Perhaps this man was a doctor of sorts? Elias shuffled in the darkness, hovering on the verge of the light. 

     Round each corner with care. Follow the footsteps. Footsteps were always light, but there was an increase in pace ahead. Quick. Then… silence.

     An empty street. He swept his head from side to side, tracing for scents. Nothing. Looked up, peering into the inky sides of the wall, hoping to catch any silhouette. Nothing. The beast was nowhere to be seen. 

     A guttural growl wrenched itself from between his teeth as he hit the brick wall with the side of his fist in frustration.

     It must be around here somewhere, lest the damnable thing sprouted wings. Raising his head, the Old Hunter inhaled deeply. It was too dark to see down the road, but if a Hunter only relied on their sight, then they weren’t a very good one.

Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Something.

     Gascoigne jerked his head to the side, staring into the seemingly empty shadows of an black alley. “Come,” He finally intoned. “Face what it is which you might fear.”

So it spoke. Elias was immediately put at easy. Anything that could talk could be reasoned with to reach agreements or other forms of understanding. Their words were not the friendliest sort however so he would stay in the comfort of the darkness for now.

“I am facing you.” They simply could not see each other. This person must have used scent as well. If they were face to face, was the person also the one he might fear? What could that mean?

He could sense fear in others, usually at his appearance, yet Elias had only a word for the emotion and no feeling in his bone that he could connect it to. Perhaps the feeling when he saw a small child would hide from their curiosity? That may be fear but it was not a part of the situation he found himself in now.

@piluumurale

Beast…

     The only thought that runs through his head as this… ‘abomination’ ducks between the faint light of the streetlamps.

Beast.

     The ‘weapon’ they had given him, unfit for a Hunter, lay heavy in his hands. Gloved fingers gripped its handle, shaking with desire. How Henryk would laugh if he saw what his partner had been reduced to here, unable to obey the call of blood.

     He settled to simply follow the other. If it came to it, he would kill with his bare hands to keep this creature from harming someone. 

Night was easier to move in for him, less concern for the citizens who might see him. They should be prepared for such monsters when going out so late. Yet he was not nocturnal, rather a heavy sleeper actually, and all the stores with value closed at night.

Freedom of movement was the only reason, it was enough of a reason. He had to get out of the house once in a while. An escape into the woods? There were no trees to hide in, stretchering shadows of building numerous but lacking in his thorny element. The city put a choakhold on nature in this area.

“– The best doesn’t need to know things that don’t matter to them!”

“And, ugh, you’re only interested in that? Hmph,” Tenshi grunts– face souring as she crosses her arms. “It’s a quote from the Buddha himself, and is part of his teachings to achieve enlightenment. The chain of desire traps us in a circle of pain, pleasure, and suffering which can bring humankind to it’s most despicable! Only upon breaking free does one walk the steps to an enlightened life! Not like that’s all it takes to get into Heaven, but that’s just basic Buddhism. Get it?”

“Of course. It is easier when you admit gaps in your knowledge.” There were some things people didn’t need to know, certainly. 

“keeping myself occupied. i’ve got it down to nine seconds. usually i’m at about seven with both hands and ten with one hand.” ezekiel explained with pride, “i’m cracking the lock and seeing how quickly i can do it. almost an autopilot by now.” he joked. “so – what are you? or who are you, either or.”

“You have no thought for what might be inside?” Interesting. Usually the lock as a barrier to overcome, not a means of enjoyment. This definitely deserved further consideration. Elias put a hand over his chest. 

@piluumurale / sc.

“How would I know that? I can’t tell what you are to begin with.”

     Placing her hands on her hips, she looks up at the particularly taller being, not intimidated at all by his appearance, even if it was rather morbid. As if he’d scare her, though!

“If you want to know so badly, though, then I’ll tell you. Us celestials are the ultimate goal of any human! To attain immortality and ascend to Heaven, or to become enlightened and reach nirvana– that’s what a celestial is! The top of the line, who live in eternal bliss! Something most humans will never reach!”

“And that’s what I am! And I, especially, am the best!”

“Really? If you’re the best, then you should know.” What a curious contradiction. It made Elias think the girl may not be as great and mighty as they claimed.

@piluumurale

          “Woah, what are you?” Absolutely no greeting was given to the man beyond a demand for him to reveal his identity - at least she thinks its a man underneath the mask, the robes and the generally supernatural vibe she is feeling from the stranger. “You totally look like a demon or something from a story book or manga! The skull is like, a killer aesthetic pleaser too! I once did a photo shoot with skulls and they went the sexy route or whatever and I had to wear a plastic skull instead of a genuine one, which I totally would have gone for instead of the cheap shit you can pick up for like a buck after Halloween when the sales are on, but you’re terrifying - I’m like, absolutely shitting myself, not gonna lie!” 

          And for a girl who wouldn’t shut up and was literally grinning from ear to ear, she was afraid - and she absolutely loved it. The despair that accompanied the feeling of an emotion such as fear was such an adrenaline pusher and she was all about it, would take it whenever she could get it and wanted to know more about this strange figure to heighten it. “Do you eat people? Oh shit, that would be sick! Your mouth is big enough, you could chomp someone down and swallow them in a few bites! That said, are you like, a zombie? Why is your head a skull? Did you used to have a proper head but it disintegrated over your long life or something? Oh, oh - even cooler, did it get like burned to a crisp so that nothing remained?! Tell me!” 

It was such a pain that he couldn’t shape-shift into his human disguise, anything that would have hid him in the crowds. Looking like this scared away many innocent humans, less so in this city where it appeared people had grown accustomed to these things. This was all well and good, even made him feel like his was the normal one sometimes.

However, there were other humans all too curious for his liking. These were the ones he avoided the most and this was the attitude of the girl in front of him now. Elias snarled a little before he smashed his cane on the ground between her feet then brought it up pointed in her face violently.

“Silence! You will let me speak.” Question after question with no end and less sense to them. Most fey would only allow one query and he was not going to let the girl make a fool of him by addressing all her blathering. “I am a mage, and I have always been as I am. That is all.” He didn’t know much more then that himself, or at least was unwilling to confront the realities of his past right now, with a total stranger. 

“I wouldn’t expect a… demon, or whatever you are, to understand. And of course they do. But when most humans are commoners, it would be hard to tell. I’m long since surpassed the limits of mere insects crawling on the earth!”

“I’m a celestial from Heaven! The best of the best! Feel free to bow to me!”

“Huh? Dates, as in the fruit? … Ohh, so those kinds of dates? Are they such a big deal? No wonder Heaven hasn’t gotten anyone new in a while. Fufufu…”

“You cockroaches make the commoners from Gensokyo look good. Being chained down so much by your earthly desires– hilarious! ‘Desire is the root of all evil.’ Drink deep of your desires and you’ll surely fall to Hell! Be gracious an ultra high-class human like me is kind enough to give you all advice!”

¥ ∫∫ kunikazu took a hot dog, staring at it for a moment as he thought on how to respond.  “i suppose humans are born with a full set of emotions, but we don’t know what they are called or how to work with them when we feel them.  pity is something you learn because it’s simply feeling sorrowful and compassionate when others are suffering, wanting to either stop it yourself or help the other stop whatever’s making them sad.  one can’t tell what pity is if they’ve never seen someone suffer and feel sorrow,” he explains.

“Yes, I realized this.” Eliza scowled at them before tearing into the first hot dog. He was not some child and he knew how people were supposed to behave. All the more painful to see their connections and understand, then lose the words he needed to say. Even in his shape shifting, his guise of a man was cheap. So he would concentrate on being a mage first before a fleshed-out person.

¥ ∫∫ “i didn’t just pick up pity like nothing,” kunikazu said, eyebrows arching just a bit.  just who was this creature?  “i learned it just like you will.  you have no reason to be jealous of me or the life i’ve led; it’s horrific.  i’m horrific.” he sighed when the creature handed him back the hot dogs.  “i’m not going to eat all of these.  how about i eat one and you eat the other two?”

   “What does it convey? Well… Uh…”

He really stumped her there. Usagi wasn’t very good at English class - analysis was not her forte. In fact, most critical thought was not her forte. Rubbing her chin, she wracks her brain to try and remember a few sentences of a past essay or class that she could recycle for the tiny frog flying through space. 

“The frog represents… A young worker, finally freed from classism in a post-capitalist world.”

Yeah, that sounds good. Now to bring it home, Usagi! What was that other part of that essay?! 

“Flying through space is symbolic of escaping the pressures of capitalism in favour of a communist economy.”

“Yes.” Elias nodded and then planted his cane to wait for her explanation.  It took some time and in the end was unsatisfying. Half of those words he didn’t understand. And Chise had told him a joke had only one chance. If explaining the joke was not enough, further elaboration was wasted. He had ruined a few that way apparently.

Sadly he shook his head and took a seat in the train to contemplate this gap in his knowledge. “I do not understand. Your humor is too complex for me. This meme, too nuanced.” Ah well maybe this was not the only memes. Surly one among many choices and he could not ruin all of their humor.