005. those countryside roads to somewhere

[takasugi]

( weeks spent gathering non-perishables and their personal items into boxes couldn't have prepared them for what was about to happen.

it occurs in a flash, like a plant's tendril reaching out to seed a new life in something.

the sea vanishes, their epic on the high seas punctuated by a change in pressure. like when a whale breeches or dives with something inside it's mouth, it's an almost unimaginably long pause. their watery landscape transforms into an empty void, pieces of a plane that simply don't exist in the mind, and if one were to stay here, it could easily drive them mad. humans were never made to shift between realities and witness such emptiness, after all, and before takasugi can even think to figure out how shouin's soul might be contributing to this, everything tilts. the world about them flips to a new chapter filled with light, darkness, and stars, and if one blinks, it all becomes clear that everything is floating, floating without a sky to touch the pitch-black remnants of the rippling universe below, and—

a blink of the eyes next reveals that everything they've known has come to change.

the arahabaki mk. ii on the water is gone, and only rolling hills remain.

in the distance, a couple women tend to a small, cultivated field off a well-worn path, meticulously monitoring the water that'll birth life into their crop. the town is green and vulnerable under the piercing blue of the bright spring sky, with a quieter vibe compared to the larger towns that boast all the hustle and bustle of city life. a few open tea houses welcome visitors, inviting them to pause on their journey as they seek bigger opportunities in this new era of industrialization, but most importantly, as the members of 3kon might notice: some of the citizens here are sporting animal ears of various types, and no one acts like each other is worser than wear for it. )

Comments

1/4 this got away from me

[hanikamu]

[ Whatever happens before this, Rinne would rather not say.

A monarch wasn't trained in espionage the way a soldier was. Diversion, infiltration — these were tactics he only read from books. Stratagems he never had the natural opportunity to apply himself. So, he created it. In his mind, he didn't have a choice. It was more humane to kill game swiftly, more just to smuggle knowledge he would have never learned, and even wiser to prevent the enemy from ever reaching your camp. He never liked the burden that came with responsibility, but if there's a need to have a sword in hand, he's more than willing to carry the weight behind it. All Niki and Takasugi want to do is party, right? Rinne, too. That's why...

From the darkness, a powdered hand reaches out him. A hand so elegant and delicate in appearance that, when it grabs him by the front of his shirt, he is shocked and stripped of all his defenses. No text nor tutor prepared him for this. The hand pulls him in.

Suddenly, the world is nothing but the cloying scent of camellia and warm orange lights.

"My, my! Look at him, dear," says the woman with a singsong lilt and fox-like smile. She twirls Rinne around and pushes him with a strength she shouldn't have. "What a fine specimen he is. You rarely see this kind around these parts now."

Her long-lashed friend catches him. "Oh, he's so much better than the last one! He looks like the ones from up north." She gives his muscular arm a squeeze — before tearing his shirt in two. "Those are so much meatier—"

"Patience." The bespectacled fox woman yanks him out of their grasp. Her stern gaze regards his face once. Her manicured hand regards his chest twice. ]

Hngh...!

[ The sound is enough to lift her brow. She hums. Her fangs shine in the dim light as her pink tongue licks the spot of milk off her palm. "He tastes like a vixen, but appears like a man..." She shoves him back at the powdered hands and long lashes. "Keep him alive. Dress him. I'll report this to Her Majesty."

"Understood."

"Got it!"

The bespectacled fox woman leaves the dressing room, and the two start dressing him up. Every effort to throw them off is met with a grip that could draw blood. ]

What the fuck is going on? Who the hell are you?