#waka 02

When Waka stepped foot in the Mistwood, a feeling of unease settled over him. A thick mist surrounded the area, impairing his vision and making the hair on his arms stand on end. Every now and again he would hear a voice, higher in pitch but none the less familiar, which didn’t help matters.

After roaming through the trees, the voice grew louder, closer. A shape began to form, and as Waka approached the shape became more defined.

A small, blond haired boy stared up at him, blue eyes questioning, yet holding a faint hint of fear.

“Where am I? This isn’t the temple, and I can’t find Akio.” Waka tensed as the boy spoke, wondering if this was an illusion or reality.

As he opened his mouth, a cry pierced the air and the boy’s eyes went wide.

“They’re here.” Waka turned towards the sound just in time; a crow tengu lunged towards the pair, its blade aimed for the small boy.

Immediately Waka lept in front, Pillow Talk blocking the attack directly.

“RUN!”

The boy needed no warning and took off into the trees, leaving Waka alone to deal with the demon.

Red pulled her cloak further around her as she walked through the Mistwood. She had been chasing a familiar young girl, a small blonde in a long dress. Yet, she had disappeared out of sight at one point or another. 

As she had stepped into the clearing, she hadn’t anticipated hearing someone tell her, or at least she thought they were talking to her, to run.

Eye frantically scanning the area, she could honestly recognize that goofy hat and hair easily. Drawing her gun, she paused, watching him. 

Of course, if there’s one exciting thing the situation is offering him that ‘home’ never had, it’s that the lack of a clear goal, or ability to reset, means that he has instead found himself on surprisingly many occasions with nothing but time to kill in his odd sort of ‘nest’ that he’s set up in one of the cells, with the bed shoved on its side and several pilfered blankets used to arrange a tent.

In the center of the floor, a small pit of pried-loose flagstones serves as a repository for the remnants of a wooden chair broken into as many pieces as he could manage, which he is in the process of trying to light, holding a piece of wood in the flames of his head before prodding it more or less ineffectually into the timbers. 

...What do you know, all the survival skills he has, and he doesn’t know how to start a fire.

Of course the other other thing is there’s a bunch of other people around here- so he only messes with his futile arrangement for so long before he happens to see someone pass by- someone he thinks he’s actually engaged with in the past, however briefly.

Is that... a crow tengu? Here of all places?

She would assume the Stars wouldn’t grab something overtly dangerous, but it might be weakened or disoriented if it’s not making an attempt to assume human form.

Poor timing, that it should cross her path at a time when she’s not the proper use of her form- and she hadn’t thought to take those restoring candies with her. She folds her umbrella, halting its resistance as she runs forwards, one of her heels lingering high enough to place a sturdy, black wooden sandal in her grip.

Shulk was actually grateful for whatever the Ascension Candy had done to his mind. Without what he was assuming were Nopon instincts, he doubts he would have gotten so good at flying so fast. That’s not to say he still didn’t crash into things (more like bounce off of them actually), but he thought proudly about how much better he’d gotten at landing when he gently alighted on the ground in front of the ‘Haunted’ Cabin in Cotes ward.

Riki had claimed a few times to be able to see ghosts. He wondered if that was a skill that all Nopon had, or one specifically gifted to his adopted dad. That was mostly why he was here, actually. He considered it an experiment of sorts.

Shulk heard a snapping noise behind him and he quickly turned to see some sort of large bird creature dressed in strange clothes and with far too many eyes. Normally Shulk would be fascinated, he might even pull out a notebook to write down observations, but he could feel his new instincts kicking in again. He growled and showed his fangs at the much larger bird. Puffing up his fur and feathers, he looked about as intimidating as a two-foot ball of fluff could manage.

“Big Birdbeast not make tasty lunch of Shulk!”

“Shulk great Heropon! Mighty warrior!” He snarled. “Beat enemies much larger than Birdbeast. Shulk not scared! Won’t be eaten so easily!”