#karnakt

@karnakt​ ✧

With the nearing winter, the storms were beginning to grow in size and frequency, which was already proving to be a great challenge for Inari. As a part of her duty, it was her job to look over the shrine at all times, but though she had sensed the turbulent weather, the sudden downpour was anything but welcome.

Despite her seasoned years of going through these same trials, her weakness to rain seemed to be an inevitable fault of hers. Curled into a small ball, the only thing the vixen could do was stay put as she put all her strength into controlling her breathing, each splatter of rainfall feeling like a pound into her chest. She had to keep her guard up - the shrine was still under her care - but she felt weak... so very weak.

What would Master say if they saw me in this pitiful state..?

Almost as if on cue, the sound of approaching footsteps interrupt her thoughts, and Inari used little of her remaining strength to quickly hoist herself from the ground. Slender fingers obscuring her face, a weak croak came from the pale woman.

@karnakt

On the lookout for anything particularly odd that day, Forte’s patrol felt rather slow. Nothing out of the ordinary, despite little reports here and there of odd occurrences from several citizens. Maybe it was the weather; though warm, any rain usually kept people inside. It might have even been deterring the mysterious culprit terrorizing some of the townspeople.

Something did catch her attention though: a peculiar man. Out of the rain, but mostly peculiar because she had never seen him before. The island was home to many, so it stood to reason she might not know everyone, but she was trying. 

The closer she came, the more peculiar was to her though. Were those dog ears? And a rather fluffy tail? Certainly not what she expected on the island. Had she not been watching him closely enough, Forte might have thought they were fake. Whoever he was, he was totally engrossed in whatever he was doing, though she couldn’t see what that was.

@karnakt;

[ ♛ ] — She never saw it coming.

The day had been a normal, and quite depressingly, uneventful one. With her not having to go into the tailor’s or cosmetics shop for work that day, Julia had all the time she needed to focus on her true pride and joy: the Minera Hot Springs. Business had been regrettably lacking as of late, (with most of her income coming from her silver tongued fox of a regular) and she had been working on a few ideas to reinvent the bathhouse’s image.

But just as she had been strutting down the halls, humming and jotting down her plans for herbal-infused milk baths, she smells... smoke. Of all the things she would have expected in her bathhouse, smoke was the absolute last on the list, and the mere presence of it spurs her to go and investigate.

And once she sees what it leads her to, Julia can feel her heart physically sink. 

The entire front wall of her main lobby was engulfed in flames. Not only the door (which she couldn’t even see for all the smoke and flame), but the walls and furniture around it, all burning and withering away under the fire’s merciless might.

Though her heart ached for her beautiful bathhouse -- the bathhouse she’d put all of her hopes, efforts, blood, tears and sweat into -- her first concern actually isn’t the tragic loss of revenue, or expensive affects and decorations. But rather, the customers still inside, whose well-being she was responsible for. Or rather... customer.

“Crap!” She curses, swiveling on her heel and pulling out her phone to put in a call to the police department as she rushes down the hall, towards the male baths. Not only was she going to drag Leon out, but also try and grab a few bucketfuls of water to try and contain the blaze before it spread anymore.

Without care or abandon, Julia rushes inside of the male baths and winces against the onslaught of steam that hits her in that moment. Except. It wasn’t just steam... there was only a hint, but she could smell it. The scent of smoke.

Had it spread to the baths already!?

“Hey, Leon! Get out, we’ve gotta---” She runs deeper into the room only to stop in her tracks when she sees the man in question, unconscious and leaning against the side of the baths. Julia couldn’t believe it. Had he seriously fainted? Now, of all times!?

Of course!

It happens to the best of us, no worries!

⛔️ - How does your muse react to others breaking the law? If they would do it themselves, what is their reasoning?