Avatar of Skull
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    1. Skull 11 yrs ago
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5 yrs ago
Current Space vampires and werewolves try to stop a Mummy AI from spoiling their human food roleplayerguild.com/topics/…
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5 yrs ago
5 yrs ago
omg it's been a very long time since I've been on here...
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7 yrs ago
"A creepy old man cut my hair off!" - Thor
3 likes
7 yrs ago
My OOC is complete. I will now go outside and enjoy the beautiful sun, until it gets too hot, then scuttle back inside where Horizon Zero Dawn awaits me. Finally, I get to play you!
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Ishawari answered her question with a question. “Perhaps some training is in order?” His eyes lit up at the idea, but lowered his head as he glanced over at the sleeping prince. “Well, maybe you can get a session done. I’ll stay with the prince.”

He rose from her mattress and walked back towards the doorway, taking his chair with him. “Oh, and thanks for the blanket.” Ishawari smiled as he scooped up the fabric, placing it on his lap after he sat back down by the doorway.

“No, I’m afraid not.” Ishawari responded, gently rubbing her back like he did with Prince Hotaru. “I must say, he’s quite the heavy sleeper.”

His thoughts fell to her concerns about his safety as she recalled her vivid nightmare.

“A house fire?” He relaxed his massage, feeling it might’ve overstayed its welcome and withdrew his hands back to his lap. “Surely not from your cooking. It’s not that bad, ya know? Far better than what I could hope to drum up. Gods, they’d think it an assassination attempt, have me executed for trying to poison the child with my culinary arts.”

He couldn’t help but laugh at the absurdity of it.

“Oh, to see the shame on my parent’s faces.” Ishawari muffled his cackling. “They’d really hate me then.”

He turned back to her with concerned eyes, perhaps unsheathing his own vulnerabilities in that moment when he asked, “Are you sure you’re okay?”


A blood curdling scream woke Ishawari into full alert mode. He rushed to Prince Hotaru’s bedside with chair in hand, nearly tripping on the blanket that was put on him. He quickly observed that the sound didn’t come from the boy, who was still fast asleep. Ishawari then turned as he heard gasps for air coming from the far corner of the room.

“Jin?!” Ishawari set the chair aside and sprang to her. “Are you okay? Are you hurt?”

He surveyed her from the dim light that glowed from the room’s lantern, but couldn’t detect any foul play. When he realized that she was just having a bad dream, he couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief.

“Scared me...” Was all he could say. Ishawari drooped down beside her, hugging her with elation, relieved to know that his worst fears hadn’t come true on this night.
Definitely interested.
"Likewise." He held her hand in place with his for a moment, then released as she went outside. The sound of her foot steps trailed off into the cicada's echoes, leaving him with his thoughts.

"I hope the Emperor is well..." Ishawari whispered.

***


The lord of Majima rose from his chair with the help of a servant. His illness subsided for now as color slowly returned to his face. Before him stood three members of the Royal Court, the only officials left he could trust. They bowed on bent knees, averting their eyes.

"How fares my son?" Emperor Mifune asked, standing on his own two feet.

"My Lord, Daigo reports the boy is safe with the Nightingales." Useugi, the oldest of the three, said. "They wait for the right opportunity to advance toward the next line of the poem."

His tense shoulders relaxed, but he was still visibly troubled.

"Any clues as to who sent those assassins?" The Emperor said, clenching his teeth. They tried to kill my son!

"Nothing concrete, my lord." The woman official, Setsuna, responded. "But we believe Official Hideo Gan might be behind it all. The traitors in your court seem to gravitate towards him."

The Emperor scowled at the name: Hideo Gan. For years, the man has pecked at his side, relentless with his proposals, suggestions, and underhanded schemes. Of course it would be this man! I'll kill him myself!

"They plan in secret," The third official, Meijo, said. "Dissent has already sowed its way through the royal army. If they intend to overthrow you, my lord, it will be soon."

"We've doubled your guards, my lord, but..." Useugi shared glances with the other two officials, then craned his head up to stare into the Emperor's sullen eyes. "We think it wise you follow the poem's verse as well."

"My fate is sealed here, Useugi." Emperor Mifune said, "We will stall the court for as long as we can, until my son is safe. So long as he breathes, our legacy will endure."

"Our agents are in position to help with the prince's escort, my lord." Meijo assured, "They will give their lives to make sure he reunites with The Mentor."

In that moment, Emperor Mifune sighed. Weakness overwhelmed him once more, and the servant quickly shuffled over to carry him back to his chair. The three officials pounced to his aid, but Mifune brought up his hand.

"We will not rest until that is made into a reality." The Emperor said, and they bowed in agreement.

***


Ishawari rose from the small wooden stool, then carried it over to the doorway of the prince's room. He placed it against the sliding door frame, then gently sat down. Arms crossed, back pressed up against the door frame, he watched as the boy slept in peace. He resisted the urge to do the same, but his body yearned for rest, and he eventually nodded off into his own slumber.



Happy Holidays, cheers all around! Managed to get my sheet done before the festivities get out of control. I had fun making this one.

I’d like to join in too if it’s not already full. If so, I’d probably roll with a mage character. Realized in all my years of RPing, I never played as one lol.
Ishawari momentarily glanced at Jin, who was shimmering in sweat. The room suddenly felt hot. The two had always kept things fairly professional, but here, away from strict royal guidelines, it was almost as if he were looking at her for the first time. Even more so without their regulation attire on. He cleared his throat, focusing more on her summary of today’s events. He acknowledged everything she said with a nod, twirling a loose strand from the unkept mustache of his beard. He thought about the prospect of returning to Hanowa village.

“With the Gods’ permission, I wouldn’t mind coming back. There’s something about this place, isn’t there? Their hospitality has been overwhelmingly...refreshing. To be so genuine without knowing who we truly are, who the boy really is? I am just glad he’s able to experience a place like this, with us.” His gaze fell back onto the sleeping child, remembering when he was just a babe, then wondered what kind of man he’d grow up to be, Gods’ permitting his survival. He frowned at that last thought, shaking his head in protest for allowing doubt to enter his mind. Prince Hotaru will endure this. He will come back to reclaim this realm. We will make sure of that. One step at a time, we will make it so.

He recalls the night before their escape, when the Emperor summoned the pair to his chambers. Their lord forced them to commit his poem to memory, commenting on small details here and there, but was otherwise tightlipped about the whole ordeal. Who were they to press the Emperor of Majima, but looking back on it now, Ishawari wished he lacked such decorum. What they did know was that the secret talisman hidden in Prince Hotaru’s possession was key for discerning who to trust. The simple wooden carving of a nightingale is absent of jewels or royal bluster, fashioned on the boy as a necklace. When presented, agents will recite the specific line of the poem they’re currently on, and heading to next.

“Five days...” Ishawari said, reciting the first two lines of the poem in his head, ”Then the Ferryman will take us to the Smiling Monk. I’m not sure what aggravates me more: This quiet refuge without a hint of an assassin’s lure, or the obscurity of this poem. At least Daigo’s timely escort proves its authenticity, but I wish we were filled in on the details, especially whoever this Mentor is.”


Ishawari knelt quietly beside the two, his hand still gently pressed against Prince Hotaru’s back. The storm in the boy’s heart had lessened, thumping more like soft rain ripples on a pond. He nodded to Jin approvingly, admiring her way with words. He often teased that she was far more suited for the Royal Court, and given the present circumstance, she would’ve been a much needed improvement. Nature’s symphony of insects filled the silence between the three. Then, Prince Hotaru got down from Jin’s lap and stood on his own two feet. He faced them both with stern determination.

“Thank you.” The Prince bowed, and out of habit, Ishawari made sure to bow even lower as he did. “You left your home and your family, to protect my home, and my family, and now you protect me. Bad people want to hurt this land, but... I won’t let that happen!”

The prince straightened upright, commanding an aura that encapsulated the genuine serenity and fiery countenance of his parents.

“You left your homes and now I have left mine, but we will return. I will come back, and I will protect what is ours. I swear it!”

If Ishawari could bow any lower, he would. Instead, he kept his head low, averting his eyes. He will remember these words and keep them close to his heart, the spell that enchants undying loyalty, one summoned not by magic, but cast by a child’s innocence.

***

Ishawari sat on his chair, staring from across the living space and into the room where Prince Hotaru slept in peace. He thought long and hard about the coming days, tried thinking up contingency upon contingency. It made him restless, worrisome, and with the prince’s resounding conviction, the pressure only intensified.

“I was out at the Ochi family’s farm today, the one along the outskirts.” He said to Jin, his eyes never leaving the prince. “It was a normal day until their eldest son came running to us, claiming he saw a dead body out on the path leading into the village. I went over and thought the same thing, until I rolled the body onto his back and saw that it was Saito, the town drunk. Other than that, the family hasn’t noticed anything peculiar. No bandits or vagrants lurking the trail, just the same villagers that come to and from the port. How about you? How goes it with old lady Kana?”

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