The Adventures of WanWan and KoroKoro (Slight and Rye)

[SlightPhobia]

A Coward's day was never over. Early morning was full of the dread of what was to come. Afternoon was full of the dread of what was. Night time was full of the dread of what might be out there, or more often than not what wasn't. Night time was the worst though. The number of worries was limited only by what the imagination could concoct and Shiro had a pretty vivid imagination when it came to imagining things that weren't there. Had he still been in the modern era, he could have gone into a little room, locked the door, and turned on every available light possible. The Feudal era didn't really provide that sort of conveniences. Fires were hard to come by, unless you knew how to make them yourself. Food was even worse. These past few days he'd been living on snow-rotted vegetation, which had made him terribly sick a few times. He'd also attempted to kill and eat a fish. Having a guilty conscience about that prevented him from killing something as simple as a fish. The feudal world wasn't suited to him... or rather, he wasn't suited to exist independently in the feudal world. Come to think of it, he was pretty rotten at existing alone anywhere.

The scientist who'd performed his transplant had taken care of him up until his tragic death. As it happens, Scientist Jinsei had also had a crappy implant. His went terribly wrong though. Since that time his quest to follow his sister, who seemed to at least be capable of defending herself with her powers, had not gone too well. Upon following her into the feudal time, he wound up stranded and unable to find his twin. He wasn't sure how to undo the odd time jump he'd done and even if he knew, he was too weak now to do anything about his stranded predicament. Leaping across time took vast amounts of time and blood. He didn't have that at the moment. He'd run himself ragged wasting power at every little thing that went bump in the night. Being somewhat useless left him to wander in search of kind folks who weren't superstitious about mononoke and legends. How fortunate he'd landed in the Feudal ages! Everyone was paranoid about these sorts of things. The appearance of a pale boy with platinum hair and royal silk wasn't a welcome sight. People took him to be a mononoke or yurei every time. He was too abnormal to be human, but too human to be inhuman.

Tonight left him wandering in the woods. He'd been looking for another town when somehow he'd lost his way from the river bank. Instead of hoofing it on the road, he wound up falling over an embankment and getting lost in some thickly forested ravine. If only he could find something powerful but not... hideously ominous. Perhaps then he might at last find a shield to hide behind until he could muster up the power to return to his own time... and continue the cycle of running and hiding.

He didn't look the greatest at present. He had dirty patches on the knees of his Hakama. More to the point, his silks had been pathetically stained where he had wet himself. His hands were dirty-- his face was dirty. Though he didn't bear much more than the odd aroma of sap and dirt, he smelled peculiar none the less. The boy's implant had been that of an udumbari yousei. It was safe to say that he smelled curiously more plant than human. That didn't make it easy for him to hide in the winter. The cold was starting to get to him too. He was quite used to tropical temperatures. His toes hurt. His hands hurt. His ears hurt even though they were buried under a mop of pale hair. A few whimpers shuddered from him every so often as he trekked along. What an awful night!

[...LoL Don't even ask about the name of our thread. I couldn't resist. #irrelevant]

[Rye]

The son of the great dog god strolld though the snow laden forest. Humans were acting up again , as they did. Samurai were playing at war again. Well somewhat. Trade had been disrupted and every so often a new village burned down , but nothing out of the ordanary , rice was he needed an it was plentiful no matter which castle or fort he dropped by in. Sometimes he even let them live. Currently he wandered the Omi province , a nice place to be. His clothes bore the symbol of the ruling clan here after all and had made good headway so far so he had plenty of places to rest and eat before heading on. The forests were blanketed with thick snow which showed no signs of melting any time soon. Blizzards were a common thing but food stores seemed to be lasting. H silently padded through the snow, his feet making a light scrunch. For now the wind had let down and there was a fine powdery snow falling through the canopy. With his fine white silk he was barely visible , only the red on him gave him away. He passed by Shiro without making a sound , his philosophy was not to talk to the worms , no point in asking how they were or asking what they knew , they were just worms. So he passed the youth without a care or even a blink of a eye. The night was buetaful , a fine cresent moon overhead and a starless night. It was a good time to move. He had some where he wanted to rest before travelling further north. He heard there was going to be some fighting and he would rather not have to deal with it. He heard something about a marriage and some mistrust , humans always put so much value on marriage and mating.

[SlightPhobia]

Crunch. Crunch! Crunch!! Alright, so the footfalls should have been utterly silent to the typical human however, the boy wandering the night wasn't exactly normal. Beneath his mane of moon gold hair, he had a pointed pair of ears that picked up every little noise possible. Every noise became a threat to him-- even something as simple as cricket chirping. For all he knew, those summer crickets were legions of a great cricket lord who ate wandering blondes for breakfast! Fortunately there were no crickets in the winter... Just... whatever was out there crunching. Of course it was boots on snow, but to him.... some wild, demonic ruminid was chewing on the bones of lost boys. Terror was just leaking off the boy like steam from an open spring.

It might have been smart to dive for cover however, Shiro simply squatted down and covered his head with his hands. That was a pretty common reaction to a great dog demon's apparition though, wasn't it? It wasn't so out of the ordinary for worms to cower at the feat of the lord of the western lands. Even as the dog passed him by, he let loose tiny little whimpers; noises loosed by his cold shivering and the terrified shivering. Any minute now, he would be chewed up into cud and -- Wait! The footfalls passed him by and as they did, he slowly relaxed from his balled up state. Lifting his brows, he peeped in confusion. "Hnn?" With a gawk behind him, he saw no terror cow that ate little boys... Instead he finally saw another person clad in silks as fine as his. Worst of all, he noted those pointed ears. "A--Ah! Wait!" he called out, falling over himself as he turned around to face the man. Scrambling to his feet, he scuttered through the snow behind him. "You don't want to go that way, I think... I just came from there," he mewed. They boy had a peculiar voice. It was neither high nor low-- somewhere in that confusing range which made it difficult to identify just what gender he was. "There's a lot of... cross priests there right now... and a really... well there's this..." He wanted to say bitchy but... it didn't seem like the thing to do in front of someone who was dressed so nicely. "...There's this miko who makes this lizard-face... She likes to keep out pointy-ears..." Pointy ears. What a grand title for the lord of the western lands.

Though his words weren't the best, he did use exceptionally polite dialogue, choosing the subservient words to address himself. In context, it made sense to address Sesshomaru as such however... the boy did it to everyone and everything. All polite speech was about the be squandered though. His words of caution trailed off as he stared at the fluffy, fluffy boa dangling from the man. It looked so soft... so warm and... without fully thinking it through, he reached down and took hold of it, petting it like a kitten without a word. Let's just hope Sesshomaru didn't try to keep walking! Pulling it away wouldn't have been a problem but, it had to be awkward to have someone just reach out and touch your clothes!

[Rye]

Sesshomaru looked around for the sourse of the voice. He didin't see anything worth wile to talk to so was about the carry on walking , anything left out in the cold was sure to die eventually. He stopped at the mention of a village. He would have to pass through one, he was always on the look out of any information regarding his surroundings. "Hmf. It is unlikely they will even see me let alone attack me. I would hate to spill blood on such perfect snow" he said airily as he moved to walk on but was caught by a tug on his scarf. He scowled , he didn't get caught on branches or thorns. When he looked to see what had prevented him from moving he saw the child lock onto his fur. Scowling he turned on one foot and delivered a sharp kick to the boy to send him off tumbling back into the snow. Such unclean peasants should know their place, he better not have stained his clothes, white was such a lovely colour and he so hated to have it stained.

At least he used the right honorifics to address him and himself , it did well for humans to know their lace and to give a great deal of respect to demons. They still ruled in places men feared to tread. He started off again through thee snow. He could use some rice and the people would find they would be more than happy to accommodate him. He found most were after a bit of persuasion. He would have liked to stay out in the snow but he needed to stay warm sometimes and food out in the wilds was a little scarce during winter. He wandered along , wondering if the child was a traveller as well , or simply a lost kid, either way it wasn't his concern to save humans , he had had enough of them already. He would probably be found when the snow thawed , dead and rotted. A unfortunate end but children really ought to learn to stay with their parents , if he was perhaps a little more starved he wouldn't have thought it bad to take a arm off him to eat. Not that he liked the idea but meat was meat, even one from a peasant , they should be honoured that he should consider them enough to eat.

[SlightPhobia]

The dog demon hardly seemed concerned with his warnings. For the time being, Shiro hadn't figured out just what the being before him was. He was, like most modern folk, unaware of much of the lore of Youkai. He concerned himself only with Yousei and the occasional mononoke. As Sesshomaru scoffed at his warning, the boy's brows knitted upward. "Why wouldn't they see you?" He replied. Stupid boy! "...I can see you... Are you something that can't be seen by humans?" It was a phrase that easily gave away his inhuman breed. Then again, for youkai, his smell was the first dead ringer. He smelled sweet and vanilla, like some kind of exotic plant mired with the copper undertones of human blood. Ah, the insult of a halfbreed! Sesshomaru, on the other hand... he smelled very peculiar to Shiro. "...You smell like a--" He hadn't had time to fully finish that sentiment. In an instant he was met by the heel of the hell hound's boot.

"Ugk!" The boy grunted, sailing backwards. He hadn't even had time to lift up a barrier to protect himself from the blow. How fortunate the dog demon hadn't used his full force. The kid probably would have stayed down a few days were that the case. It was a little comic how easily the boy sailed backwards like some sort of play thing. The sad way he bounced off the trunk of a nearby tree forced a yelp from the child. The fluffy for was denied from his grasp for the time being and for a moment, he doubled forward on the ground and held his stomach, gasping for the air that had been winded from him. Of course tears stung his eyes. He was a coward and worst of all, a cry baby on top of that. That didn't mean he wasn't a thinker though. Frowning, he tried to unravel why the devil the dog had kicked him. There was only one explanation that came to his mind.

Though the dog began heading toward the village again, the boy picked himself up and staggered momentarily. The kick had not repelled him. Obviously the child was not smart enough to flee. "...Are you hurt?" He asked. His tone was still somewhat winded and injured, quivered with the sniveling threat of tears. He might have cried had he not been so oddly concerned. "...If it hurts, you should wait before you try to go to a village... Humans... aren't very nice sometimes... There are exorcists down there too... You probably shouldn't... You'll only get hurt more. You can go around maybe..."Fidgeting, the boy clearly wanted to reach out and grab the dog again to stall him. For now, he did not touch. Instead, he kept pace beside the larger gent. "...Maybe you should let me see it if you're hurt too... Mister?" At least he wasn't one of the halfwits who mistook fluffy for a woman.

[Rye]

"Because humans only ever see what they want to. If I don't want t be seen then I won't been seen" he replied , getting tired of him already , that was fast. He rolled his eyes "of course you can see me. Are you blind of just stupid" he retorted to the boy's stupid comment. Sesshomomaru didn't ant to spend any more time on him , he would be dead soon anyway. After the kick he carried on walking towards the village when he heard the pad of Shiro's feet on snow. "Of course I'm not hurt. How would anything even attempt to injure me in a any way." he ignored him after that, hoping he would just give up and die instead of taking up his valuable time. "I am not going to go round. I require rice and here I will get some. Who are you to tell me I can;t do that" he replied as he got the the village outskirts. The buildings were mostly wood and huddled together. It wasn't really a village , a cluster of houses with a strategic area advantage maybe , hence the temple and watch tower , but apart from that it was just a cluster of houses. He strolled towards it, he was sure Shiro would clear off before reaching the village , either he would find humans to care for him or would clear off. Either way he could stop thinking about it. He strolled towards the centre of the village , a couple of guards at the entrance saw him and rose their spears but soon saw the red emblem on his white clothes and let him pass through. He looked around for a house that would be useful to him ,he spotted a old farm cottage and headed towards it. Luckily there was no one about at this time of night except the guards. So even if he didn't want to be seen it wouldn't have been hard.

[SlightPhobia]

Sesshomaru's responses baffled him to a degree. He frowned somewhat at the comment about not being seen. He wanted to inform the dog man that sight didn't work that way. Just because you couldn't see another person, it didn't mean they couldn't see you! That's what Shiro thought the dog demon meant. "Um..." He peeped, unwilling to challenge the man. Maybe it was best to let him live in his delusions. Being called stupid though... it made him cringe. Surely the dog was injured! Wild animals had peculiar ways about them when injured. Wild animals were twice as vicious when wounded. "I... Don't know," he replied naively in response to Sesshomaru's question about who might hurt him. "I don't know a lot about fighting. I don't like fighting..." He confessed. Odd that he would follow so willingly after such a powerful foe. "Is fighting something you like to do, milord?" he asked, struggling to keep up with the taller man's pace. Obviously the child was tagging along physical and verbal abuse aside. "Um... and I didn't mean I forbid you to go somewhere... I'm just kinda worried is all... Humans are...." Deplorable was on the tip of his tongue. If the boy referred to them in such a sense, it was obvious he at least did not consider himself to be human- not anymore.

Harsh words didn't seem to deter him too much. Sure, every insult made the boy's eyes shine just a little with tears and maybe a stray snivel too-- but he pursued on, sucking up his snivelry. In fact, a few paces before the village, he smiled and stared up at the dog man from behind. "I'm Shiro by the way." He paused before adding the obvious: "it means white!" He might have even giggled too, but he repressed it. This man seemed too ominous to giggle around. "I guess it's not that great though. Where I come from black means strong... white means weak so..." He paused and looked a wee bit discouraged. "...But I guess I don't mind that." And then, just to show how foreign he was to the area, he asked a blundering question. "What's your name?" Most demons knew of the great dog demon. Some humans knew of his name. Few asked for it though and fewer still followed him after they'd been punted. Pausing slightly, he added softly, "You have really pretty hair... and you smell nice!" What, was he buttering the man up for protection? Not just yet. That thought hadn't occurred to Shiro just yet.

[Rye]

"I can tell." he replied simply to his statement about fighting. Either he wasn't very good or was out matched to look as beat up as he was , and to be so easily kicked around. "I don't enjoy it , but it is necessary, for honour , for pride , to get what I want. Humans carry higher ideas with their fighting , for peace and such" he said , bred with the conversation. A least he called him a lord , it was enough for him not to deliver more injuries to him. He couldn't seem to shake the kid. "Don't. There is not much in this word that can kill me" he replied , Shiro was right about humans though , they did tent to be spooked easily.

Shiro's tears sounded annoying , why wouldn't he shut up and go away "Shiro , suits you , you're mostly white anyway" he said , knowing the meaning of his name "Guess that explains why you're so beaten up" he said leading him into the village , the guards , thinking he was with Sesshomaru and let him pass without a second look. "I am Sesshomaru" he said , not bothering with the full title, most humans haven't heard of me" he said as he went into the house , it seemed to be empty. He was pretty lordly , but not enough to get work done. He lit a few candles and sat down by the fire and started it up. He mostly ignored all of the compliments , all just useless words. He looked around to see if Shiro had left him or had followed him. He filled the pot and started to boil some water , if this place had a bath it was worth it to get clean , but he would need hot water for it.

[SlightPhobia]

He could tell? Shiro looked down at his hands as though to look for some obvious sign. "...I can fight... and exorcise things..." Exorcists and demons didn't generally get along. Of course, exorcists tended to be gods or human though. Shiro was neither of these things. Smiling up at the man, who didn't look twice at him, he added in an enthusiastic tone: "I can heal stuff too!" Chewing his lower lip, he fidgeted as though leery the man would haul off and kick him through a tree. "...So that's why if you were hurt... not that anyone could hurt you," he added in a pandering way; "you should probably show me... cuz I could fix it!" Well, maybe he could. Healing vast wounds as a taxing thing.

Honor. Pride. "...What's... honor?" And that was a sign of his age... or his neglect. For a boy to be wearing such silks in such a dirty condition meant he was either an orphan or a run away. He had many troublesome questions, but oddly enough, he wasn't entirely afraid of the demon lord. He tottered along behind him, occasionally stalling to gawk at this or that-- or cringe at a common noise. Every cringe forced him to follow a bit closer behind the dog.

The dog demon's comment about his name forced the boy to flush an adorable shade of pink. "Hee... Kind of... but my hair is just really light blonde!" He paused and stared at his hands. "My hands are light peach too!" How... elementary of him to point it out. "You have white hair though. It's pretty!" Maybe pretty was sort of a bad word for a man but, Shiro didn't really understand. "It's like the moon when it's full..." Shiro's was akin to a harvest moon in color-- just a little gold. At last the dog demon gave him his name and as he did, the boy pondered it. "...Sesshomaru...sama... Sesshomaru-sama..." He said it a few times, never once leaving off the honorific. How fortunate he did not know the meaning (destruction of life). "It sounds like a royal name." It was, surprisingly, neither a pandering comment nor an insult. It was merely an observation.

The dog came upon a house and as they entered the village, Shiro shrank down somewhat but continued to follow his fluffy companion. Cringing, he kept quite close until Sesshomaru entered a little house. It would have been rude just to enter! "...Is this your house?" he mewed from the outside. Seating himself outside the entrance flaps he whimpered and looked around, no doubt paranoid that some beast was lurking somewhere in the dark. "...Is it... okay if I come in?" He sniveled. "I...lost my shoes so... I don't have to take them off..." He offered. He /lost/ his shoes. Shoes were a very expensive thing in the feudal era. It was pretty awful that he'd lost a pair! Then again, some homeless child was probably rejoicing at the find. "Mm... You can have some of my berries?" He bribed. Not that he knew they were the sort of berries one didn't generally eat without throwing them back up.

[Rye]

Sesshomaru sighed "no point explaining it to you if you don't already know what it is. Best if you forgot." he stated "A healer are you?" he questioned "a unusual choice , most healers take on other skills , if caught in a fight a healer is useless without something to fight for them" he said , thinking this was either a especially stupid slow child or this was really all new to him which he found hard to believe. Then again that Kagome girl was from another world or time or whatever it was and she found everything the same as he did, new and fascinating , even if a bit scary.

"No , just a house with no one in it , occupants might be dead , frostbite takes many each year for those that aren't prepared" he said simply "if you're not going to leave me alone you might as well come in and get washed" he said "and keep the cold out, close the door" he said , rather forcing him inside. He took the kettle into the bathroom and tipped it into the bath before returning and filling it up again to repeat the process. "Yes , humans are normally coloured as such" he sighed , dumb child was just saying what he was seeing now.

"Yes , it is a royal name. Yes , the colour suits me" he said as he looked down at the berries he offered "those will make you ill. There's probably dry rice in the back , feel free to boil it and get warm by the fire." he said , properly looking at him for once "hm , you'll need to clean those clothes , and from the smell you've soiled yourself" the smell being very obvious to him. He considered telling him to eat the berries as a price for staying with him , but what would be the point. "You'll need to wash yourself too...." he said as he moved the kettle back for another filling of the bath before getting more water.