120 E.
Houston Brownstone-#4
There
have been some additions to the once barren room. There's a new mattress up against the far wall with new
bedding. An oriental rug covers the
scratch marks that Toroki's left on the wooden floor, and there are dishes and
a new mini-fridge in the kitchenette area.
There's an old vintage trunk at the foot of the bed that holds spare
bedding and Mina's clothing. Underneath
the window that faces south is a pile of borrowed library and textbooks as well
as a couple of notebooks and stray papers arranged in a slightly chaotic
fashion. The door to the bathroom faces
the window on the north wall, usually firmly closed.
*BangBangBangBangBang*
"Mina-girl..." Chase singsongs from without. He waits just outside
the door, arms dug deep into the pockets of his pants as he waits for her to
come to the door. "Come on... I'm double parked."
"Hai,
coming," Mina calls quickly, checking her backpack once again. She think that she has everything that she
needs. Slinging the large-framed pack
onto her back with an *oof* she heads for the door, rummaging in her pocket for
her keys. Swinging open the door, she
doesn't invite Chase in, but instead steps out into the hallway, closing and
locking her door behind her. Her pack
isn't that large, all things considered, but it looks to weigh a good 50 pounds
or so. "Let's go
cowboy." There's an invigorating
sense of anticipation that wraps itself around the girl, she's been away from
the woods for far too long.
"Exactly where are we going again?" Please don't be one of those sacrificial 'campsites' that let
those city dwellers who like to think that they're roughing pull in and set up
a tent on a barren patch of ground with their neighbors just a few
claustrophobic paces away.
Chase
draws back a few steps as she comes outside, reaching a hand over to offer to
take the pack from her. "Upstate... Someone told me about this place, and
I'm trusting his judgment. It's a little bit away from the place I take Anana
to when we go riding. /Plenty/ of wilderness to play in. And hopefully the
night air won't get to cold for you, sand kitty." He eyes her pack again,
considering, "Sure you got enough stuff in there?" Sarcasm. "All
your makeup. Hairdryer." More sarcasm. And he leads her away.
Shaking
her head and shifting her pack again to a more comfortable position, but not
fastening her hip strap, she beams.
'Brilliant. You're going to eat
crow, turtle-boy." At his comment
on her pack, she screws up her features and sticks her tongue out at him. "Try a sleeping bag, sleeping pad,
two-quart bottles of water, a tarp, rope, some food in Ziplocs, extra garbage
bags, and a fishing pole." In case
there's a stream. Oh, and a clean
change of undies, but Chase doesn't need to know that. Letting him lead her down the steps, she
grins and adds, "But keep underestimating me, Chase-kun. It'll make beating you so much easier."
Chase
flashes her a bright grin as they move out onto the street. And, indeed, the
vehicle is double parked. A minivan at that, and not all that recent of a make.
He unlocks and opens the passenger side door for her before moving around to
the driver's. "Hey, fishing pole. Nice. I haven't got one of those, at
least not here in the city." He gestures to the back seat area for her to
toss her things. "Now, I don't underestimate you, Mina. I'm hurt that you
would say such a thing. I'm sure you're
quite competent when it comes to being outdoors."
Mina
just pauses at the curbside, eyebrows raised, as she studies Chase's mode of
transportation. "A minivan,
Chase? How... domestic of
you." And yes, now she's
sniggering as she tosses her pack into the back seat. She's got a few more surprises stuffed in that bag of hers as
well. "Hai, a collapsible
one. My parents air-mailed me a lot of
my old camping stuff when I mentioned that I was getting away this
weekend." Seems that they're happy
she's not becoming an uppity city-slicker due to her time spent in the big
city. Slipping into the front seat and
buckling up, she shoots the Genbu a disbelieving smirk. "And how come I don't believe a word
that you've just said?"
Chase
is rolling his eyes. "Well, when you hotwire a car for a joyride, best not
to make that joyride into anything more than a few hours, Mina-girl. I'd have
gotten us a fine Jaguar if I knew you were going to start crabbing about my
ride. Do you have any idea how much cleaning I had to do, errands I had to run,
to be able to get this thing from my grandparents? Want to see my dishpan
hands?" He puts the vehicle in drive and starts out. "I'm completely
believable. And if I wasn't such a responsible driver, I'd lean over and sock
you one on the shoulder. Behave or I'm turning this van around and taking you
back home."
"Hotwire
a car?" Mina starts to frown
disapprovingly as she surreptitiously checks the ignition for keys. "A Jaguar's not a fit car to take into
the mountains.. and how is it you know all about joyriding?" She glances sidelong at the other
teenager. "And I don't crab,"
she adds with a sniff, nose turning up in the air. "So this belongs to dear old grandpapa, huh?" Settling back into her seat as Chase heads
out into the New York traffic, she quirks up her lips. "Dishpan hands, huh? Obviously you weren't wearing those pretty
floral latex-washing gloves, were you?
You'll get no pity from me.
Though if you'd told me this back at my apartment, I could've given you
some lotion for them." As it is,
the closest thing she has it sunscreen, and it's too oily to be really
effective at remoisturizing skin. "Bah, I'd call you a chicken, but the Suzaku might get
offended. Hiding behind being a
responsible driver.." She just
shakes her head again, blue curls bouncing.
Chase and responsible are too words she's never really put
together. Though the same could be said
about her and the 'r' word.
Chase
flickers her a glance, chuckling, turning the van out onto one of the more
major roads out of the city. "No, but it'd still be fun to drive with. And
just imagine how quickly we'd be there." He leans back in the seat,
getting comfortable, "You call me a Suzaku and /I'll/ get offended."
Best not even to mention those followers anywhere near him. Not unless you want
to get an earful about what a bunch of idiots they are. "I am a
responsible driver. When I rolled dad's Explorer, I made sure to turn off the
ignition before climbing out and walking back to the ranch. See.
Responsible."
"You
still owe me a story of why you made their miko strip, cowboy," Mina notes
dryly. At his mention of rolling the
Explorer, she's clutching at the 'oh God' handle above her head, eyes widening
as she looks towards the Genbu. Oh dear
Byakko, what has she gotten herself into?
"You're not helping, Chase," she growls low in her
throat. "Just how far away is this
campsite, again?" Because she's
going to be praying to the big white cat in the sky every long mile of the
roadtrip up.
Chase
bursts into laugher at her sudden appearance of panic, glancing at her for a
moment before eyes return to the road, "No? And here I thought you'd be
more reassured. Oh gods, Mina... I'm not going to splatter us all over the road
or anything. I swear. And definitely not in this beast." He grins faintly,
"Usually more than an hour, but the way traffic is going right now, it
could even be less than that." And, yes, once he gets out onto one of the
main arteries it doesn't take long at all to leave the city behind.
Mina's
hold refuses to relax on the handle, which is terribly uncomfortable as all the
blood drains from the appendage.
"Yeah, you say that now, turtle-boy. I'll believe it when we get there in one piece." In truth, the Genbu's driving isn't that
bad, but telling a passenger that you've rolled an SUV with such calmness, as
if it's an everyday occurrence, is not a good way to try to generate
confidence. Still, the roads seem to be
fairly straight here and she makes herself ease her death grip. Because there's a fine line between teasing
and being rude.
Chase
is a good boy. He might drive a little over the speed limit, but he isn't about
to start whipping in and out of traffic as if this was the Daytona 500. Further
along, he takes an exit off of the main road, crossing onto a secondary one
along the outskirts of a suburb. "Being a skeptic doesn't become you,
Mina-girl." He reaches down into a bag between the seats, blindly groping
about, and then tosses what looks to be a chocolate bar in offering at her.
That ploy never fails to sweeten Anana up.
Ah, but
Mina's not Anana. Still, she releases
her grip all together in a reflex as she catches the chocolate with both
hands. "Ah, but that cowboy is the
root of all my problems, I'm not skeptical enough," she admits with a
rueful smile. The candy bar is placed
in her lap, one hand holding it in place.
She's not really hungry at the moment, but she knows that if they're
going to be hiking, there'll come a break in their trek where the chocolate
will seem like the most divine thing on earth.
Chase
grins, making another turn that this time takes them away from the lights of
the road, hills and trees closing around them. Residences become a little more
rare, and the last convenience store/gas stations was a couple of miles back.
"Sure, but you don't have to be one with me. Come on. I get enough of
those looks and that tone of voice from the others."
"And
I'm starting to think that you deserve them," Mina counters with a teasing
grin. "Fine, fine, just no more
mentioning rollovers or any other vehicular accidents that you have
participated in. Sheesh, everyone's
right. I should look before I
leap." And in Chase's case, she
should have had Lee print out his driving record for her before she agreed to
let him drive her anywhere. Leaning
back into the back of her seat, she looks over towards Chase and wonders,
"Anou... speaking of the others, how did things go with Brice? Did you get everything worked out?"
Chase
is making another turn after some contemplation and a couple of close looks at
this intersection and that one. This time, he turns down a dirt track. But
while it looks as though it is being maintained, the trees come in all that
closer to occasionally brush against the sides or roof of the vehicle.
"Speaking of, Brice certainly is going to be working with Lee now, so
that'll definitely make things more interesting. Hopefully not for the worse
either." His smile broadens for a moment. "Oh yeah. Bonding
experience in the dojo where I kicked his arse. Knocked him to the floor. We
talked about this and that. Technically, I'm still grounded -whatever that
means, but I figured now would be the perfect time to get out of the city and
let him cool over this next thing when he finds out." Beat. "Talked
to Dylan at all today?"
"Brice
and Lee'll be working together?"
Mina just blinks, staring over at the Genbu in disbelief. "Oh dear Byakko, New York's never going
to be the same again." NY's
finest? Turning her attention towards
the trees as something that'd been coiled up inside her is released and she
watches their sun-speckled route through the encroaching trees with avid anticipation. "What sort of this and that," she
asks curiously, wondering just how much Chase'll share. As for Dylan, she shakes her head. "Not today, but I did call him right
after I got off the phone with you, to let him know that he probably should
change his phone number." She
needs to make her way down her own personal phone list and let the others know
as well. "He... he wants to go
after Adrie." There's another
pause, and she adds, "Not for my sake, but for Cat's. Seems I was the second Byakko that she tried
to toy with."
"And
considering everything with Kenny now... having a couple of cops in the seishi
family should even things out -or make stuff really, really awkward."
Chase flickers her a glance smile wry, "Oh? You haven't? That means I've got
another story for you." And a chance to relay to Mina events as he saw
them -completely biased as well to downplay his participation. "Adrie went
after Cat too?" Okay, now that causes him to frown slightly. "What'd
she do? Give her a head cold or something? Kidnap her too?" This boy
clearly has no clue as to what Gouka's other pursuits would be. And it is now
when Chase is pulling off onto yet another road, this one just a pair of ruts
in the ground that lend to all kinds of jostling. It doesn't take long though
for it to end, and he putting the vehicle into park off to the side. "Here
we are... well,... besides the walk to wherever we want to go, that is."
"Kenny?" Sheesh, Chase is going to be telling Mina
stories way into the wee hours of the morning if he keeps referring to things
that she's missing out on. That's what
she gets for sequestering herself in her room when she's not at the
university. "And what's this about
Dylan?" Mina's all but growling
and it's lucky that Chase is driving and she's still unsure about just how safe
he is, or else he'd be getting a smack in the shoulder. Byakko and curiosity never mix well. Look what happened with Malachai. "I'm not sure, I haven't talked to
Cat," Mina admits softly, looking out of the passenger side window
briefly. She's not quite comfortable
with talking about Gouka and her powers.
"I heard it from Adrie and Dylan confirmed things." Turning worried eyes on the Genbu, she adds
softly, "You watch out for her, too, Chase. She has it in for you, and she just as good as revealed that
you're an open target now that Lexie's no longer the miko." Jostling is put up with, and in truth, she's
seen worse roads. With a barely
restrained sigh of relief, she opens her door and hops out of the van, spreading
her arms wide. Taking in a deep breath
of the pristine, forest air, she spreads her arms wide and flashes a grin over
towards Chase. "Now this I
missed!"
"Yeah,
Kenny. You might have seen his mug get flashed on the TV the last couple of
days. The Genbu have got a real convict now for a seishi -the honest to
goodness Inami this time. Or, at least it /should/ be. And it's kind of a funny
story how I found him. I'm sure you'd appreciate it. And... I'll tell you about
Dylan later." So many stories to tell, so little time. As Mina gets out,
Chase is rustling around in the van. First Mina's bag gets tossed out, and then
his. He climbs out as well, reaching into the back and finally, /finally/ get a
chance to shoulder his quiver and bag, and cross his bow over his chest out in
the open and in the state of New York -instead of carrying the durn thing
around in that long bag. He turns to Mina, smiling at her reaction. It isn't a
smile of amusement, but actual happiness at seeing her enjoying the
surroundings. "Okay. That pretty much well clinches it. We're heading for
the hills more often." He turns about to lock the van tight. You know...
hoodlums. He reaches into a pocket to pluck out a map, giving it a single
glance, flickering a look up to the sky for a moment, and then he is tucking
the map away. That's all he needs to figure out where he is going.
"Ready?"
Heading
over towards her pack and shouldering it easily before fastening the hip-strap
so that most of the bags weight rests on her slim hips and not on her small
shoulders, Mina frowns at the sight of the bow and arrows. Okay, she grew up on a ranch and knows all
about killing animals for meat and hunting every time September's autumnal
harvests began. But it doesn't mean
that she agrees with it. "Anou,
Chase, what's the bow and arrows for?
Gonna pelt some innocent trees?"
Better the forest giants than the creatures that live within their
shade. Oops, did Mina forget to mention
that she's a vegetarian? She eats fish
once in a while, but that's a very rare treat indeed, usually only when she's
camping. Taking stock of their location
and any landmarks that she can see from their position, she nods her head in
affirmative. "Hai, let's go."
"Actually
I was planning on going after rocks. Those sneaky things. They just jump right
on out at you to trip you. Thought I'd hit a few before they got to us first.
It's to show you how to shoot, Byakko." Chase taps the other bow about he
chest as well, this one looking a little more lightweight than the other. He
frowns at her for a long moment though, before sighing as he comes to
conclusions. His smile looks almost resigned, but he is bobbing his head in
understanding. "You /do/ still want to learn how to shoot, right? I didn't
bring the rifle, and Kenny's got my handgun." He starts off on a
north-easterly track, footsteps already finding their way to places on the
forest floor that offer the least noise despite the fallen leaves from the
autumn previous.
"When
I said shoot, I meant with guns," Mina confesses as they start out, her
progress through the woods almost as stealthy as Chase's, though she has the
added weight of her pack to hinder her.
"But I suppose the targeting's similar with a bow as well, ne?" The light bow is given a skeptical look, but
considering the fact that she has no non-magical means of defense, learning to
use any weapon's a big improvement.
"And well, Legolas looked hot wielding it in the last Lord of the
Rings movie, so I suppose that it's not too bad." Take that as a yes, Chase. Slinking up behind him, she makes note of
their direction, the sun's positioning helping her determine the general
direction if not exact specifics.
"All right, tell me the Kenny story while we hike. Unless you're thinking of beginning the
contest now?"
Chase
chuckles. "We'll visit a gun club then back at the city, if you want to
use a handgun, but I need to at least get mine back from Kenny before then. At
least it isn't registered... because if he decided to rob a liquor store with
it, I'd be screwed." And then he bursts into laughter, "Saaaa,
Legolas jokes again? I'm not some frolicking elf that surfs down stairs on a
shield with his girly golden locks flowing behind him." If he gets
compared to that Hollywood version of a elf one more time... "See, I was
chasing Anana down in Chinatown, you know. I was intending to pay her back for
clonking me on the head with that pan. She darted down this alley, I followed
her and /wham/... all of a sudden I've got this knife to my throat and this guy
is trying to mug me for my clothes."
Mina
looks happier at the mention of learning to shoot something a lot less wieldy
than a bow, no matter how light it is.
"Good, no welching," she adds with a teasing grin, though
Chase probably can't see it considering the Byakko's grinning at his back as
she follows him through the woods. Her
ears are attuned to the forest sounds and her skin just tingles with the
abundance of life, rustling in the undergrowth hinting that a curious fuzzy or
two are shadowing the pair. "And
hey, what's wrong with Legolas, Chase?
That's one hot elf. In fact, I'd
take it as a compliment to be compared to him, because he's
droolalicious." Ah, the joys of
being a hormone-wracked teenager.
"This is the thug that was passed out on John's couch, ne? You obviously survived the encounter... but
did he succeed in getting your clothes?"
Chase
rolls his eyes once again, "I'm not a welcher. I'd like to think that by
now I'm as good as my word -never mind pink-haired teenagers that smack me on the
back of the head to stop me from making it though. Yeah, he is still a little
disgruntled about not being able to follow through on that 'rescue'.
"Yeah, but I'm not him. Just because I've got myself a bow, and I never
miss either... that still doesn't..." He sighs and gives up. "Why
can't the girls go more for the scrappy look, than some long-haired girly-men?
I swear... it makes it even tougher for me." Brice gets all the longing
looks, and it rankles. "Exactly
so. Same thug. We argued, Travis came along, swung a sword at him and he lit up
all green like a good and proper Genbu. So, we brought him home and made him
glow again. He felt different than John did. More... familiar. Inami the
escaped felon."
"You
could always try to grow your hair long, Chase," Mina teases
laughingly. "I think I remember
seeing some prosthetic elf ears down in one of the shops at the village.. and
you might look good blond. Then you
wouldn't have any trouble-" Her joke fades away as she's suddenly reminded
of something and she quickly turns the conversation towards something less
dangerous, less painful. "So then
you've found your Inami? I'm glad,
cowboy. Means you're a full fighting
force then, doesn't it? We're only a
miko away ourselves. Tatara showed up
the other day. He's a professor at NYU,
actually. Though we didn't have to hit
him over the shoulder and see if he lit up like a Christmas tree light." Yeesh, if that's what they do to their
seishi, she's rather glad she's not a member of their twisted faction.
"Now
you sound like Travis. I /like/ my hair like this." Chase reaches a hand
up and combs fingers through the chaos that is his dark locks. "Blonde?
Are you insane? Have you ever seen a blonde half-Chinese/half-Sioux? There is a
reason there aren't any. Mine actually makes me look different compared to the
other Genbu, and I don't have to spend a good hour in the bathroom messing
with... Oh, how in the hell did we get on this topic?" Chase mutters,
rolling his eyes. Talking about hairstyle in the middle of the forest. So /not/
right. "Yeah, this should be everyone now, and for real this time."
He blinks back over to her at the mention of Tatara, looking rather impressed.
"Well, hey. That's great. Then maybe Catherine won't have to make up being
responsible for the rest of you." The bright grin that follows is pure
teasing. He steps over a slight incline, and then smiles with triumph.
"How about that?" Finger points to indicate a place a little further
off, fairly level and interspersed with trees like the rest. "There should
be a pretty good sized stream just past those rocks over there." And if
you listen real quietly, you can probably hear it.
"Half-Sioux? Are you serious Chase? My godfather's full on Cheyenne," Mina
keeps up the soft pace of the Genbu, though her breath's coming in soft
pants. It's been a while since she's
been out hiking, and unlike the other seishi, she doesn't make frequent trips
to dojos to kick other seishi butts, thus she's not as in shape as she'd
usually be. And it shows. "Admit it," she adds with a
giggle, "You're a vain thing, that's how we got on this topic." Frowning, she narrows her eyes to stare at
Chase's back, huffing slightly up the incline.
Must remember to exercise more.
"What do you mean make up for being responsible for.. just what are
you implying turtle-boy? Because I
don't think you have room to throw stones, there." Pausing at the top of the ridge, Mina
studies the proposed sight and nods her head in agreement. "That'll work."
Chase
flickers her a glance and answers simply, "On my dad's side." His
smile warms though, "Amazing how many similarities we seem to have, isn't
it?" He teenager is bending over though, reaching down as if doing
something on the ground, possibly checking his shoelaces, and then he is coming
back up once again. He leans over towards her at the vain comment, making as if
to murmur in her ear, "Vain? Me? Hate to see you get a little dirty
too." And with that comment, he is making as if to reach over and smear a
bit of dirt that is on his finger across her cheek. If it is accomplished or
not, he is already darting down towards the slight clearing with a quick bounce
to his step.
"Rather
weird, in fact," Mina blinks, does that mean that she'll be stealing cars
next. Oi. What a thought. As the
dirt's smeared on her cheek, she frowns and would go racing after the Genbu,
but there's that pack on her back. So
she'll pace towards their campsite slowly and shrug out of the bag, and /then/
she'll attack. "Low blow,
turtle-boy. You're so going down,"
she adds with a growl, going after Chase with amazing lightness, her body still
readjusting to not having an extra 50 pounds weighing it down.
Chase
is dropping his own bag, and moving to pull both of the bows from around his
back. He reaches over as well to unstop the quiver in the time it is apparently
taking Mina to slowly make her way down the hill. Guess she should have ate
that chocolate bar to get all of that extra energy? Another bit of heckling
begins to form on his lips as he turns to look at Mina, only to find the young
woman launching at him. An almost delighted grin alights upon his features soon
after the one of amazement that she actually is going to carry through. Unable
to restrain a chuckle, he tries to twist away from her, only to have his foot
catch in the strap of that quiver he just put down, which is enough to distract
him for a moment.
Mina's
not lacking in energy, or at least not yet.
And thus, while he's distracted by a foot in the quiver strap, she's
snaking out evil fingers to tickle him.
Because she knows that tickling is his Achilles heel, and she'll make
use of that information every chance she gets.
"Cry uncle, and I may go easy on you. Otherwise, it's going to be bad," she threatens with a grin,
needing to just let go of life back in the city and soak up the calming
presence of the woods around her.
Chase's
green-irised gaze flickers down to his foot to shake it free, only to have in
the meantime the worst fate imaginable happen to him. Tickling.
"Mina!" he gasps, eyes already lighting up at the situation as he
watches her with disbelief. His hands are reaching down to try to ward her off
as he bursts into laugher. He pushes forward into her, only to have his foot
still catch on that durn strap. Oi. First he couldn't wait to get that thing on
him, now he can't seem to be rid of it.
Mina's
pushed into, hard to get away when you're focusing on tickling someone, and
then pushed down as she loses her footing, landing on her butt with a
thud. "Hey, pushing's no
fair," she grumbles, at least the loamy earth is a lot softer than
concrete, but there's laughter in her eyes as she watches the Genbu and his
struggles. "Problem there, cowboy? Are you sure you're a good tracker, you seem
to get tangled up in things rather easily."
Chase
does his level best to look scandalized, or something awfully close to that as
he tugs down on his shirt. He hopes about upon one foot for a moment before
managing to pull his heel free from the strap. And what does he do while she
lays there. Instead of offering a hand up, he moves as if to actually stand
over the young woman... and then there is the intent sit on her. "Only
when I'm being distracted by a girl with wandering fingers. Shame."
"You
make it sound so bad, Chase-kun," Mina sweatdrops as she looks down at the
soft earth in front of her. Hrm,
turnabout's fair play. Especially when
she's suddenly squished by a Genbu in her lap!
Grabbing for a handful of dirt, she makes to shove it down the collar of
his shirt, sprinkling a liberal amount on herself in the process. No one ever said camping was a clean form of
entertainment. Good thing there's a
stream nearby. If she's lucky, they're
be a pool there too. "And my
fingers didn't wander," she adds with a prim sniff, now that her revenge
is complete and pushes at the other teenager.
"Off.. you're heavy! Too
much junk food, methinks."
Chase
cringes as now it is dirt finding its way under his clothes.
"Ahhhhh!" Shoulders hitch upwards, head comes down and he makes a
rather good impression of a genuine turtle for a moment there before he is
rolling off of her with a chuckle. Laying upon his back on the ground, arms and
legs spread eagle, he looks up at the canopy far above, "Hey, don't blame
me for that. If everyone else has garbage in their fridge, that's their fault.
Not mine." He plucks a leaf from something, balls it up and throws it at
her. "Distraction is something that can be baaaaaaad in certain
situations. Remind me to show you that when I teach you to use a bow."
Raising
a brow at Chase's comment, she laughs.
"What're going to do to distract me? Pop up and say 'boo'?"
Giggling at the thought, she leans back herself, propping herself up on
her elbows as she stares about the wilderness around them once again. She'd missed this, the open air, the
security of the trees that loom above them, and the easy camaraderie that one
finds when there's nothing else about but nature in all her glory. "I suppose we should get up an make
camp," she notes idly, looking over at the Genbu in hopes that he comes up
with a good excuse not to. Because
she's disinclined to move at the moment.
Chase
laughs, his voice answering in something of a drawl, "There are ways.
Trust me." His head turns to the side, a few dry leave pieces having found
a fine nestling place in his hair, "I suppose... we could do that."
Although, seeing as he noticed that she isn't moving to fast, he isn't going to
move either. He chuckles at the look on her face, eyes glimmering in amusement
at their lack of enthusiasm.
"A
little bit of a rest couldn't hurt, though, could it," Mina offers up
casually. She's not really that
lazy. Unfit, yes. Lazy, not normally. "And you can entertain me by telling me
what you meant by asking if'd I'd called Dylan today." Because darn it, now they're out of her
service area. "Did you happen to
call him, then?" Waggling her
hiking boots backwards and forwards idly, she lifts her face towards the sun as
it suddenly breaks through the shadowed canopy above them, the end of her braid
trailing in the dirt and leaves behind her.
Casting a sidelong glance over towards Chase, she giggles and notes,
"You have something in your hair, Chase-kun." And she'll watch to see if he really is a
vain thing.
Chase
must resist temptation... Must resist temptation. Durn it. He is forever a
sucker for temptation, no matter the form. And so he is reaching up to pick
fingers through his hair. "Hrm?... Oh yeah. That... that would also be the
reason I bumped up our trip to so soon." All the better to get out of town
and let tempers cool. "You know, I mentioned Kenny, right? Well, we need
to get him a new ID, but we needed the cash, right? Costs a lot to get a
professional fake ID, and I know this guy who is real good at that. Anyway, so
Kenny suggests a way to get some money, and I'm not about to have him just
leave on his own, right? I mean, we just found him. Not about to lose him. So,
I tag along. And we get to Central Park... and there is Dylan. In the park, the
middle of the night. And we... ask him for money." Something like that.
"See,
you are vain," Mina teases, watching him pluck the leaves out of his dark
hair. "In fact, I'd go as far as
to call you a girly boy." And
isn't that a ego-bruiser? Closing her
eyes as she enjoys the sun and listens to the Genbu's story, her brow starts
furrowing.. and then her lashes flick open as she just /stares/ at the other
seishi. "Oh great Byakko,"
she whispers, horrified. "Please,
please, please tell me that you didn't ask in a 'not-really-asking-but-robbing'
sort of way." No wonder Chase is
hiding out here with her. "And you
left Kenny to deal with the fallout, didn't you? You truly are a chicken, Chase.
Hrm, wonder how you'd look with a big bunch of red feathers plastered all
over you."
Chase
would very much like to blend in with the background right now. "Hey now,
I suggested that we mug a drug dealer, but he didn't like that idea for some
reason. And there was Dylan and... well, you should have seen Dylan's face when
he ended up in the turtle pond, soaking wet. I'll bet you would have loved to
have seen that." Yes, must change the mien of the conversation. He is
blinking though at her words. "You didn't just say what I thought you
said..." First girly boy and then... red feathers. She just loves to hit
his buttons, eh? He is rolling over and immediately scrambling after her.
"Mina!" Leaves in hand, revenge in his eyes.
Dylan
in a turtle pond. Mina can't help but
laugh. Yes, she would've loved to have
seen that. "You're going to be in
so much trouble when he catches up with you, cowboy," is all she'll say on
that. And she's sure that the other
teenager'll deserve everything Dylan does in retaliation. Because Chase's a bad, bad boy. Shrieking as Chase scrambles towards her,
she rises and races behind a nearby stand of trees before crouching down
suddenly and moving through the underbrush, trying to be a silent as possible
as she attempts to circle around the campsite.
And thus begins Tracking 101.
"Yeah,
he threatened to tell Setsuna." And Chase has being doing his level best
to avoid him. He has a pretty good idea that quite a few lectures are in his
future, and the more he stays away from that one, the longer he'll have to sit
through them. He climbs to his feet, leaves being tossed to the ground with a
growl. He bellows out, "No power use, Mina-girl!" Seeing as with his
experience with the Byakko, they start using their powers at the drop of a hat.
"And when I catch you... you are so mine."
No
power use? Not fair, it's her power use
that gives her the edge in the forest.
But considering that Chase's a chi detector, it'd probably be like
sending up a flare anyway. Slinking
back through the underbrush, she places each foot carefully. She'd do better if she'd worn her leather
moccasins, but she hadn't exactly planned on their tracking challenge taking on
this form. Ears primed for any change
in the forest sounds around her, she carefully makes her way further into the woods,
casting quick glances around her to check the position of the shadows and the
many landmarks that mark her path.
Chase
waits for a moment, reaching down into one of the packs to take a drink from
the canteen. Once sufficiently hydrated
-or just waiting so that she actually has a bit of time to get away to make the
game a little more fun and challenging- he stretches once and then slips off
into the woods as well. His gaze flickers over the area, footsteps carefully
placed as he moves quickly over the ground to perch upon a rocky outcropping
near the rather wide stream.
Slinking
further away, crouching low and watching the placement of her feet, Mina makes
her way further into the woods. She's
used to the ground being a bit harder, not so loamy, so she winces slightly as
a partial print is left in her wake.
Perhaps Chase'll overlook it.
And perhaps turtles will fly.
Stepping back on the print, placing her foot exactly over the indenture,
she back steps and doubles back on her original path, circling around until
she's following it back but more to the left.
She briefly considers heading back towards the stream and letting the
water wash away her trail. Or heading
towards the rocky outcropping that's just east of her position.
Chase
remains upon the rocks by the stream for another moment, gaze drifting over the
area as he tries to listen for more than just the bubbling of the stream.
"Come out! Come out! Wherever you are?!" Sing-song. Okay, that's
enough time spent just messing around, communing with nature. He moves back at
a line towards where he last saw Mina dart off, gaze flicking from the ground
and back over to scan the distance. Noting that no leaves have been overturned,
he simply moves in the direction he last saw her move, remaining as quiet as
possible while he listens for her.
Veering
east, it seems that Mina's going to head towards the rocky outcropping. It's slow going, she's careful not to leave
any other telltale markers of where she's heading, slipping easily under a
branch. Whereas the forest birds would
give away a normal mortal's position, they mask the slight rustling as her
jacket brushes against a bush. Slipping
easily over an overgrown log, it's some minutes later that she finds herself at
the base of the granite outcropping.
Beginning the climb, she follows a fissure line in order to shadow her
ascent as well as wedging herself inside it to minimize her chances of
falling. It's not a big outcropping, no
higher than a three or four story building, and there's a ledge halfway up with
a crevice that looks promising.
Chase
continues along a little further, until finding that mark in the earth. That
rather obvious mark in the dirt and those others that follow it. The boy rolls
his eyes, stifling a grin. He looks on after the direction of where those slight
footprints were to have gone, but instead moves the other way. He waits for a
moment, listening for any silence of the woodland creatures, but isn't quite
sure that'll happen with someone like Mina and her... talents. Any grin from
before is now a smirk, starting back towards the east as well.
It's a
good thing that Mina doesn't know how easily Chase bypassed her first
trick. Slipping up over the ledge with
a grunt, she cocks her head, not sure if the sound was heard or not? Although the forest creatures don't react to
her presence, they indicate his and the fact that he seems to be heading in her
direction. Backing into the small
crevice and crouching down like a fearful kitten, she just waits, cocking her head
and listening to the Genbu's progress.
And the
sound of silencing critters is about the only way Mina would hear Chase, as
each and every step is picked out with careful intent -and as few leaves or
sticks to crackle. If only there were more pine trees out here. Eventually, he
is making his way back towards the rocks, booted feet stepping atop them. The
boy frowns for a moment, eyes narrowing as he scans the horizon. Briefly, he
considers another taunt, but the glimmer in his eyes at the thrill of the chase
is more than enough for him at the moment. He stands just shy of the ledge Mina
was just upon, considering. "Where..."
Mina's
heart thuds painfully in her chest, but she makes a conscious effort to keep
her breathing slow and shallow as Chase hovers so close. She closes her eyes, letting her hearing
pick up where her sight leaves off as she listens to the soft rustling of his
clothing below her. Her muscles are
relaxed, but the position's not the most comfortable one, and thus all she can
do is pray that the Genbu moves quickly onward.
Chase
makes a circuit of the rocky area, eyes trained down at the ground and a little
ways off to try to find where she might have gone to, and is apparently not
finding a damn thing. The teenager turns about and begins to scale
up the rocky outcropping and on the opposite side of where Mina is perched as
quietly as possible. Making his way to the top, he crouches up there for a long
moment, hoping the long shadows of the day are good enough to keep him from
standing out against the horizon. Again, a scowl at the lack of success. He
reaches over to pick up a stray pebble and toss it out into the trees in
frustration.
Will.
Not. Giggle. Mina needs to keep
repeating that darn mantra in her head, especially after hearing the pebble
whistle over her head and thud dully in the trees beyond. A few birds raise an offended clatter at the
audacity of the human to be tossing projectiles at them. What did they ever do to him? Wincing as her crouched position causes the
circulation in her legs to weaken, and thus she can feel the fact that they're
slowly falling asleep, she silently urges Chase to go away. Go.
Shooo.
Chase
considers for another longer moment, sighs and then looks off in the direction
of where he saw those tracks of hers. "Maybe she is that dumb..." Ah
well. He bounds his way back down the rocks and to the foot of them again, and
then the boy starts off in that direction.
Hey! Mina'd protest, but she's winning. Waiting until she judges that he's far
enough away for her to slip out of her hiding place, she wiggles out and then
groans. Oi... pins and needles
everywhere. Ouch. Ouch.
Slipping down the outcropping, she pads her way back to their campsite
and pulls out her tarp and the rope, beginning to set up camp. And then she'll just wait for Chase to
return.
And it
will be a very, very long time before the boy actually does return. Sundown.
When he is forced back by the lengthening shadows and encroaching evening. He
doesn't look all that happy, and even a little bit worried at not having found
her. "Flashlight. Maybe some..." he is murmuring, trotting back
towards the campsite area. But it is the sound of life at where they last left
their packs that has him hesitating, frowning, and then breaking into a run
towards there.
Cocking
her head, Mina turns from where she's setting up a fire ring and arranging the
kindling to grin towards the Genbu.
"Chase-kun, what kept you," she asks innocently, their
campsite mostly arranged. Sauntering
over towards the other teenager, she taps a finger against her chin. "Anou... get lost cowboy?" At least she doesn't have to worry about
undressing him. "Now hrm, what was
it you were saying about me being that dumb?" Eyes twinkling, she turns back towards their campsite and makes
her way back towards the ring of rocks.
The Byakko's already cleared an area around the small ring of stones,
and she picks up another slim twig as she kneels before the setup. Fishing out the waterproof matches from her
pocket, she strikes it against a rough rock and lights the strategically placed
paper. "Hungry?"
Chase
blinks at the sight of Mina, and then almost seems to sigh with relief. Nope,
won't say anything about being worried about her welfare. Features are
immediately schooled into something of a wry grin, not looking quite so smug as
before. "Looking for you, obviously. You were a lot better then I thought,
admittedly." He reaches over as if to tousle her hair before continuing on
towards the fire ring, crouching down near to it, "What?... No dinner. And
here I was away long enough for you to not only have made it, but a four-course
one at that."
"Nothing
doing," Mina shakes her head at the hair tousle, but at least she doesn't
have to worry about him mussing her hair.
Braids are good things. "I
set up camp, so that means that you get to cook, cowboy." She flashes him a wicked grin as she places
another, larger log on the small fire, encouraging it to grow. "Looking for me?" Laughter dances in her eyes as she turns and
baps the Genbu on the nose with a finger.
"What did I tell you about underestimating me this morning,
Chase? Just because I can't track worth
beans in the city doesn't mean that I'm helpless in the country."
Chase
rolls his eyes as he draws his legs around to sit cross-legged, forearms
resting upon his knees, "Yes, looking for you. Wasn't that the whole point
of this? Obviously... I'm getting a little rusty or something." And he is
looking awfully worried about that too. He sighs dramatically, speaking as he
does so, "Suppose that means I'm going to have to start laying off all of
the messing around I've been doing and get back to business again." He
doesn't look all that happy about it, but there are still priorities to be had
here. "Yeah. Yeah. I get the picture. I won't underestimate you any more,
Mina-girl."
Mina
hands a light, aluminum frying pan towards Chase. "Cook boy."
She's slightly offended at the fact that her winning the contest means
that Chase assumes that he's rusty.
Hrumph. And here she was just
thinking that she was the better of the two.
Adding another log to the fire, she leans back and watches the orange
flames entranced, sparks rising ever so often like fireflies dancing within the
smoke. "There's a can of beans in
my pack, and some fried tofu. You're
welcome to share unless you brought something?"
Chase
arches her a glance at the pan, but really doesn't mind it. He can cook, when
the need strikes him. "Beans?" There doesn't sound like a whole lot
of enthusiasm in his voice. "Just because we're camping doesn't mean we
have to go completely traditional." Beans. Rolling his eyes, he leans to
the side to drag his bag over to him, rummaging inside, and then coming up
with... chili! No, actually he is dropping a bag of marshmallows and graham
crackers to the side, and then pulling out a bag filled with complete potatoes.
They were supposed to go with some rabbit, but somehow he thinks that isn't
going to happen on this trip. "Fresh is best."
"Hey,
I like beans," Mina grouses, but she's not turning down fresh
potatoes. Yum. And marshmallows. Crawling over toward the bag, she tears a small opening in it and
takes out a white, fluffy confection and pops it into her mouth, chewing
delightedly. "All right, I forgive
you," she decides magnanimously.
After all, you can't be mad at someone who brings two-thirds of the
ingredients for s'mores? Letting Chase
take care of the cooking, she presses her back up against a strategic log and
wonders, "All right, you owe me stories.
I know about Kenny. And Dylan
now." Sheesh, baka seishi. Only, she's forgotten what other stories he
owes her are. Sigh.
Chase
isn't about to bring out the chocolate yet. He already gave her one chocolate
bar, and he doesn't want the rest disappearing before they get a chance to make
them. He squints at her for a moment, does his best to look foreboding, and
then pushes the marshmallow back to the other side of him. He pulls out a knife
and begins slicing potatoes, skin and all, and then dropping them into the pan
that is pushed over the fire. "When I managed to make the Suzaku no miko
strip? I think that is the other one you are searching for. Sure you want to
hear it?"
Wah! The marshmallows are on the other side of
Chase. Briefly she ponders actually
climbing over the seishi for the pure sugar puffs. "Hai, that's the one, cowboy. And yeah, I want to hear it.
Even if it supports my theory that you're a hentai in
disguise." Or perhaps it's just
the other teenager has Lee to raise the bar when it comes to defining exactly
what it is to be 'hentai'. Looking over
at the dark haired seishi, she teases, "Admit it, you just wanted to sneak
a peek."
Chase
scowls, threatening Mina with a potato slice. "Don't even compare me to
him." Alas, slice is dropped onto the pan to burn with all of the others.
He considers a moment, and then reaches over for Mina's can of beans, opens it
with the knife and then pours the contents into the pan as well. That'll work.
"Last lifetime. Only, I wasn't really alive at the time. You know, spirit
form, although maybe you don't..." He flickers her a considering glance
for a moment, and then shrugs his shoulders. "Anyway, it's like this,
Hikitsu and I were dead and all, but we remained behind to guard the shinzaho.
As spirits. It was... it was just something that we had to do, to protect it
-in the temple. I suppose you could say we were there awhile, keeping raiders
and such scum from trying to get it. Over two-hundred years, I suppose."
His smile is faint and he does his best to downplay it. "Now, things can
get awfully boring in that amount of time, with just Hikitsu as companionship
-and the occasional raider to dissuade. Remember it is me... and Brice... for
two /hundred/ years. In a temple on the top of a snow-covered mountain. Alone.
Boring."
"Yeah,
yeah, excuses," Mina mock-frowns.
"Guarding the shinzaho... as spirits? Anou, Chase-kun, what the heck did you do to tick Genbu off
so?" Good thing that Suzuno's
shinzaho is lost and... ooh, she so doesn't want to go there. Shaking her head, she forces herself to
return to a lighter subject. The
evening's going so well. "And why
was Brice stuck with you, too? He must've
really made the great turtle god mad."
Pulling her knees up to her chest and clasping her hands in front of her
ankles, she prompts the boy to continue, "And... ?"
Chase
laughs, giving the pan a good jostle to move the contents around. "Not
quite, Mina. We did it willingly, Hikitsu and I. It was just... something that
needed to be done." His smile actually grows a little fond for a moment
there before it disappears and he is continuing on, "Anyway, I'm sure
you've got the picture now. So, this one day, guess who should show up on our
doorstop but those idiot Suzaku, wanting the shinzaho. So, we run them the
whole spirit act, basically make them look like idiots for even trying to get
past us. Because that is what they are... idiots. Anywho, Miaka tries to
convince us that she is the Suzaku no miko. So, to make her prove it.. I...
sort of made her strip and then I froze her solid." Wait for the reaction.
"Something
that needed to be done?" Despite
herself, Mina casts a look of respect towards Chase, because she can't help but
respect that level of commitment, of duty.
And yeah, she can see Tomite being a real pain in the Suzaku backside
and getting his jollies from it.
"You /what/?!?!?!"
Gaping, whatever respect she had for the Genbu goes flying out the
window. He almost had her convinced
that he was a good seishi. Though she's
one to talk. But that's this lifetime. In the past, Amefuri was a /good/
seishi. Picking up a handful of dead
leaves, she tosses them towards the other teenager. "Sheesh Chase. You
couldn't be happy sneaking a peek, but you had to freeze her for posterity,
too? Yeah, definitely hentai."
"Watch
it! You'll get that in the food," Chase gasps, turning his head to the
side as the majority litter across his hair and shoulder, but thankfully the
pan is left clear of more 'greens' for the diet. "The whole point was to
freeze her, Byakko. But... there is nothing against a little entertainment, and
Hikitsu never said no." He snickers though, "And that girl actually
did it. She also broke out of the ice too, proving herself. So, we gave her the
shinzaho, and that released Hikitsu and me to finally rest only..."
*growl* "The woman could barely step outside of the damn doors when she is
already loosing the thing. Two-hundred years in there and she can't even keep a
hold of it for five minutes." Now /that/ rankles. "Nothing like seeing
your after-life's work blown to smithereens by that miko." Any wonder he
dislikes the Suzaku so?
"Loses
it," Mina repeats, starting to fall into her retarded parrot habit. "As in dropped it down a crevice or
something?" Remind her never to
get on the wrong side of the Genbu.
Sheesh, having to break out of giant ice cubes just to prove
yourself. Shivering from just her
imagination, she clasps her hands around her ankles again and studies the other
teenager. "Well, who was the goof
who gave her the shinzaho in the first place, huh? You guys coulda pretended that it was gone, or
something." Course they might have
gotten sick of each other after two hundred years... "Anou, Chase, is the
food ready yet? Because I'm
starving."
"A
dog showed up and took it from her, neat as anything. Stupid Suzaku,"
Chase mutters. He gives the pan another good shake and then removes it from the
fire, the contents steaming away and the potatoes looking well and browned with
a few burnt spots here and there on them. Perfect! "All done! They needed
it to summon and... Oh, whatever. They're still idiots. Well, except maybe for
Hiroshi. He is pretty cool. And Nuriko. We have plans for a poker game soon.
But that is about it."
"Tasuki's
not too bad either," Mina adds.
"Though he needs to think before he opens that big mouth of
his." Course at least all he does
is talk. She actually needs to think
before she oh... goes to check up on the enemy to see if they're doing
okay. Sigh. Still, hard to beat oneself up too much when there's food, and so
she rises and brushes stray leaves off her jeans before joining Chase by the
chow. "Mmm, looks good," she
takes a deep breath, letting the scent of the beans and potatoes start the
salivating process. Somehow eating out
under a star filled sky makes the meal all that much more appreciated. "Anou... forks..." And sigh, so there is something that Mina
forgot to bring. "Do you happen to
have utensils?"
"Aaaaah,
Tasuki is one of the worst. I heard he is around... I wonder if he has met up
with Brice yet," Chase muses aloud. He sets the pan down on the dirt
between them, shoots Mina a wry grin, and then leans back and around to reach
into his pack and produce a little store-bought box of plastic flatware. Side
is opened and he plucks out a fork, and then offers her the little box as well.
"Very good. And if you eat all of your dinner, little girl, I'll let you
have desert. S'mores." He delves his fork into the mixture to take a bite.
"So. Your turn to tell a campfire story."
Mina
plucks out another fork and hands the box back to Chase. Taking a bite of the warm beans and
potatoes, she smiles happily.
Divine. And there's s'mores at
the end to boot. The mention of
'campfire story' has her pausing guiltily as she looks over at the other
seishi, licking her lips worriedly.
"Anou... did I say I'd tell a story, cowboy? Funny, I don't remember that being part of
the deal." She has to forcibly
relax her hold on the plastic utensil else she might break it in half as she
stares at the dark-haired teenager.
There's a reticence in her demeanor, and she all but exudes the fact
that she's hiding something from the Genbu.
"Why ruin a lovely meal with erm... stories?"
Chase
is happily enjoying the food as well. Sure, it would taste so that much more better
with a little meat in it. Oh, the things he must sacrifice... "Oh, come
on. I can't sit here and gab away about this story and that one. I'm running
out of the good ones. Unless you want to hear about the time Brice and I went
out and got tattoos. Although, now I don't have it anymore. Stupid gods....
Hey, maybe you can help me pick out a new tattoo to get. Brice didn't like the
other one I got... or maybe I could get you to..." Okay, better to leave
that unsaid. He pokes the plastic fork at her, smile as crooked as ever.
"Don't look at me like that, and you do look like you've got something to
spill. Come on, Mina-girl. Speak."
"Tattoo?" Mina's nose wrinkles slightly, she's never
been a fan of body art, although Kai has a rather interesting Chinese dragon on
his arm. Backing away, she shakes her
head. Okay, backing away and then
scooting forward again, because hey, there's food. And it's perfect the way it is, sans the carcasses of dead
animals. Her fork keeps dipping as she
frowns at the Genbu. "No tattoos
for this kitty. Perhaps Cat?" Because the Subaru in the past might just've
been up for getting one. Trying to
switch the subject, because darn it, she's revealed herself, Mina shakes her
head. "What sort of tattoo did you
have anyway? And why wouldn't Brice
like it - I thought he got one too?"
And ooh, is the line of questioning working as a distraction technique?
"Yeah.
Brice and I went out drinking, and then I showed him the Pink Pussycat. Reese
showed that place to me to begin with and let me tell you this. That woman
might be an oni, but she can sure wear leather well." But, yes, back to
the distracting topic. "Oh, it was right here." And the teenager
shifts. He leans back a bit, flattening out somewhat so he can pull up his shirt
a little and then push down the waistline of his pants. Gee, Mina is going to
sure get an eyeful of skin now. Skin in some rather scandalous places at that.
"Right here." And he taps at the front of his hipbone. "I think
it hurt, but I don't remember because I had quite a bit of alcohol in me at the
time. It was a pair of women's lips. I thought it was a great idea at the time.
Remember, I was drunk." As if that will excuse things. "It was great
fun, although Brice had to carry me home." He sets his fork to the side,
apparently full of beans and potatoes. "But no, come on now. Speak. You
look like you've got plenty to say."
"Pink
Pussycat? What's that? Some sort of clothing shop?" Mina's never been there, and never even
heard of the place. "Sounds interesting. Think I'd find something there?" Any place with the name 'pussycat' in it has
her vote of confidence. But all thoughts
of the store are blanked from her memory as Chase's pulling down bits of
clothing to reveal... his hipbone. Eyes
widening, she flushes and starts focusing on the food more intently. Oh, look at that oddly sliced potato
bit! So much safer than Genbu who is
far too comfortable around her.
"Women's lips, huh? Why am
I not surprised, cowboy." And now
Chase can let that waistband of his spring back to where it's supposed to be,
because darn it, he's not supposed to be flashing her. At least not without a weasel as an
excuse. It's that flash of skin that
has Mina off balanced enough to mention the former Yin no miko, though. "I spoke with Rathan, Chase... and
Lexie.. Lexie's not coming back.
Ever."
Chase
chuckles faintly, shaking his head from side to side, "I'm not about to
show you that place, Mina. I've gotten into trouble for quite a few things
before... but I'd get shipped out of town if I showed you that place. Sorry.
Maybe some time though." That and he'd really rather not have Rathan reap
the benefits of her education. But yes, he is releasing his shirt and such,
instead reaching over to bring out the marshmallows and crackers, and then
pluck out the chocolate from his bag. Reaching for a likely stick, he whittles
the end sharp, passing it to Mina... and then does the same for another stick
for him. "Yeah. I've pretty much well figured that," Chase responds
with something of a sigh. "I haven't found anything... and with what you
told me before -I hope she's making a good life for herself now. It's all right
though. We had fun, but... if she is free of the Yin, then I'm happy for her.
And I couldn't wish better for her."
Frowning
and cocking her head to the side, Mina pouts prettily. "Demo.. why not, Chase? And why would you get shipped out of
town?" She's confused, but she
lets the matter drop because ooh... there's chocolate. She'd forgotten about the bar he'd tossed
towards her before. Yay, s'mores! She'll just ask Rathan about the shop. He dresses pretty trendy, so he'd probably
know it. Her appetite diminishes as she
blinks at Chase's response. Hesitantly,
she broaches the subject. "Anou...
Chase, you know what happens to the onisenshi if they ever turn their back on
their gods, right?"
Chase
impales a marshmallow with the stick, and then sticks it out over the fire to
get promptly set on fire. Best when burnt. He lets it char for a bit before
blowing it out. A few puffs to the remains and then he is plucking it off to
shove into his mouth. "Ohhhhhh, hooooot." Hard to say when your mouth
is full. Breathing around the marshmallow, he finally chews and swallows, much
to his delight. Yum. Okay, so another goes on the stick, this time to be
carefully browned. "Because... Oh, just forget it. I'll take you there if
you ever want to get a tattoo. Or you can go with me to help pick me out a new
one." Carefully turning his stick, he flickers a look to Mina. "Hrm?
I don't know... They are onisenshi, they're kind of are necessary to summon
their god. You aren't talking about Lex, are you?" His voice darkens just
the slightest. "You said they released her so... she is released."
It's
not fair that Chase gets to enjoy the marshmallows, especially the burnt kind
and Mina has to be stuck with the nasty business of bursting the Genbu's
bubble. "They die, Chase,"
she states simply. "It's why I've
never tried to convert Rathan, never tried to seduce him away from his
god. Because the Yin gods aren't
forgiving, they don't appreciate their 'blessings' to be turned against
them." Rising from her position,
she goes to settle right next to the other seishi, placing one consoling hand
on his arm. "Chase... when I
called you, I'd forgotten. I didn't
know... but the same thing holds true for the miko."
Chase
frowns slightly, flickering her an almost confused glance through the
overhanging fringe of his hair. "I never asked for her to leave her gods.
Never. She told me that they gave her reason, just as I gave her..." He is
trailing off though, his words loosing substance until they disappear
completely. Stick holding the marshmallow droops so that the treat on the end
inevitably catches fire, but his attention really isn't on that at the moment.
His voice finally returns, reluctant, "Mina... you aren't saying that
Lexie is dead, are you?"
"The
Yin gods don't let their own go, Chase.
They'd rather kill them first and start all over." Mina can't bring herself to actually state
that Lexie's dead, not in such a cold fashion, and so she lets the Genbu come
to the conclusion himself. Instead, she
wraps her arms around him in a gentle hug and just holds him in a comforting
embrace, letting her actions and her inferences speak for themselves. "Chase, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry... I
should have realized earlier... I should never have told you... Gomen ne,
Chase, gomen ne."
Chase
stills at her words once more, that frown from before softening until there is
absolutely no line to his lips other than deadpan. But it is his eyes that show
the majority of what is lurking within, staring blankly at the fire before
closing to shut everything out. His head bows forward, long bangs overshadowing
his face despite the odd lighting from their campfire. "It never... I
mean, I thought about it once, but I didn't want to think about it again. I
wanted her to be alright."
Mina
snugs him tight, holding on and rubbing his back with one of her hands. She doesn't say anything, just stares at the
other seishi worriedly as she offers him her silent comfort, her silent
support. It's a long moment before she
whispers softly, "There's a lot of us who wanted her to be alright,
Chase." Biting her lower lip as
she leans her head on his shoulder, she murmurs gently, "I'm... I'm sorry
that I'm the one who had to tell you.
I... she was my friend, too," she adds huskily, her voice trembling
slightly with emotion.
"Someone
is going to have to tell her family. She talked about them to me quite a bit.
She's got a pretty big extended family. And Benito. I'm assuming Rathan is
taking care of him. If he doesn't want to, I'll take the dog. I always got
along well with him," Chase mutters, rambling slightly. As he speaks
though, a hardness begins to grate into his tone, imbuing the words with an
almost edged quality. He grows silent again though, simply dropping the stick
in the fire and then giving Mina a pat on the knee as if in reassurance.
"Don't be sorry. At least I know now."
As
Chase's voice changes, as it becomes harder, Mina leans back to stare at the
Genbu, the worry evident in her stormy eyes.
"Chase," she whispers softly, uncertain. "Are you... are you
really..." She doesn't know how to
put her question into words. In fact,
words were never her forte, and she was never able to use them properly, make
them work for her in situations where they're needed the most. Instead she gently places one hand over
his. "I.. perhaps you should talk
to Rathan about contacting her next of kin.
And about Benito." Because
Rath doesn't have much use for animals.
Her heart just thuds dully in her chest and she tightens her hold on the
other seishi's hand.
Chase
finally opens his eyes again, but doesn't quite seem to be seeing anything in
the immediate area. "Tell Rathan that if he finds a talisman, that I'd
like to have it. Her father's spirit is bound against its will to it, and if
there is one thing I hated most, it was that damn thing. I want it
destroyed." He seems to take a
moment to gather himself together, a long and shuddering breath that Mina can
more than likely feel. The next breath is a bit more smooth, resolve now
showing itself. His hand slips from hers, and the teenager is pushing himself
to his feet.
"Hai,
Chase," Mina replies softly. She
remembers seeing the spiritual servant when Lexie was doing laundry, thus she
has an inkling of what the Genbu's talking about. She just holds onto him as he collects himself, lets him silently
know that she shares his pain, if only in a small degree. She rubs a hand across his shoulder blades
in soothing circular motions, halting only when the other teenager pulls his
hand from hers and stands up. Rising
tentatively after him, she blinks nervously, "Chase-kun...?" That look of resolve has her worrying.
Chase
moves over, giving his pack a firm kick to knock it over. He is then rummaging
inside, the jingle of metal briefly sounding as keys are removed. "I'm
headed back to the city," he mutters. "I know you can take care of
yourself out here, so I'll send someone back for you tomorrow. Give them
directions. Have a few s'mores for me." In one smooth movement, he is
picking up his bow and the strap at his quiver, turning about, and moving as if
to leave the camp.
"No
you're not," Mina counters, moving to stand in front of the Genbu. "You made a promise to me, and you're
going to live up to it. No welching,
remember," she uses her chin to gesture towards the other light bow. "And you're not abandoning me here
alone." Crossing her arms, she
looks stubborn, her chin jutting out.
"And Chase," she adds softly.
"I don't think you should be going back, not just yet. Don't do anything impulsive,
please." She still remembers his
words about living fast and dying young.
Reaching out a hand to touch one of his wrists, she turns her worried
bluey-green gaze upwards to look at the other teenager. To plead.
"Please."
Chase
would typically be swayed by such a feminine look, unable to resist such. But
this time is way, way different. "I need to go back. Now. Please,
move." He moves to slip his wrist from her hand, only to drop the keys to
the van in the palm of her hand. So, instead, he checks his bearings and
strikes off in another direction. "Keep the van then. I'll head for the
road."
"Damn
it, Chase," Mina counters, stuffing the keys into the front pocket of her
jeans as she makes to jog after him.
Only, there's the fire. Sighing,
she dumps the bucket of water that she'd set aside for just that purpose on the
flames and stirs the slush around with a stick to make sure that she doesn't
accidentally leave an ember burning.
But being responsible means that she's a good fifteen minutes behind the
Genbu. Good thing he's not trying to
hide his trail. But to make sure she
doesn't lose his track, she summons up a timber wolf and uses him to help track
the other seishi. "Damn it,
Chase," she calls out again.
"What're you going to do, walk back to the city?" Yeah, now she knows that he's not thinking
clearly. "You big, flipping
idiot," she growls, keeping up her long jogging stride. "I knew you were more good looks than
brains, but you don't have to reinforce the idea..."
Chase
could have got rid of that fire with hardly a thought, but seeing as it
preoccupies Mina for the time being, he is more than able to continue on.
"Hitchhike. Steal a car. Jack someone. Doesn't much matter," he
mutters. "I'm going oni hunting. Those fucking gods like killing their own
so much, I'll be happy to oblige them. Might want to warn your boy away from me
though. I'm not very charitable at the moment."
"Oni
hunting?" Mina gasps and rushes to
catch up with the Genbu, her breath coming more ragged. She really should pick up jogging in the
park. Her own resources are draining
quickly after the hike in and then their little game of tag. "Chase, wait up, damn it! What the hell are you thinking, going
oni-hunting? You're flipping
insane." And if he won't stop,
she'll just have to try to do something to stop him. Envisioning the other seishi, she concentrates on trying to get
him to stop, and unfortunately, the only thing she can think of is that stupid
movie Anaconda. Thus a rather large
snake makes its appearance and coils around the teenager's lanky form, holding
firm but not quite squeezing. Huffing
as she catches up to the boy, she reaches out and smacks him upside the
head. "That's for being an
idiot."
Chase
tenses at the spike of chi that causes his senses to tingle. If it weren't for
the fact that his mind is obviously elsewhere, he probably could have had a
chance to avoid being wrapped about by a snake. Instead, he winces at the
binding, immediately topping over with the momentum, and right into the
undergrowth. "DAMMIT!" he curses, that carefully controlled temper
finally showing through. Poor anaconda is going to get awfully cold awfully
quick. Icy eyes affix upon Mina, "Unless you want me to freeze it solid
and shatter it, I suggest you get rid of this thing."
The
snake vanishes only to be replaced with Mina as she sits on the Genbu's
chest. "Fine, there, gotten rid
of," she counters crossly.
"Once again Chase, you're not going anywhere." She grimaces down at the other teenager,
placing her hands on his shoulders to try to keep him pinned. "What do you think you'll
accomplish? Spit in the Yin gods eyes
by killing off a few of their oni? As
if they care, baka seishi. They'll just
find replacements. They always do. But if you die, you big gallump, the
Genbu'll be missing one of their seishi, they'll be weakened until they can
find you again. Because they need you
to summon, and summon is what we all have to do. We have to bind the Yin gods to their Yang
counterparts." Raising one hand
and smacking it against his chest for emphasis, she notes, "And all your
rushing off to get yourself killed won't help us win." Her voice softens, her eyes swimming with
unshed tears as she adds softly, "And it won't make things better,
Chase. It won't bring her back."
Chase
glares up at her. Ohhhh, how he glares. "I really don't give a damn, Mina.
I want them dead. Every last one of them. Replacements or not, that'll take
awhile, and it feel good. Ohhhhhh, will it feel good. I've killed plenty of
Kutoese before, but I've never got myself an oni. Mina... they have to pay for
this. I'm not... I'm not just going to let their gods kill her and that be
that. I can't let that happen. They are going to hurt for what they did. They
/have/ to hurt for what they did, Mina." His voice shakes just the
slightest, before he is swallowing it away once more. "Now get the hell
off of me and let me go!" he yells, reaching to push at her, hard, to try
to get her off of him so he can climb to his feet once more.
"Every
last one of them..." Mina's voice
trails off, stunned. Not a good thing
to say to someone sleeping with an oni.
"So it feels good, until it gets you killed. Damn it, they aren't mortals, they aren't so
easy to kill. They have powers, strong
powers, hurtful powers," she adds with a shivering tremble. "You think that they'll just roll over
and say, 'Okay, I understand that you want to get back at my gods, so kill
me?' Damn it, baka, they'll fight
back. Fine, we'll make their gods hurt,
Chase, but we'll make them hurt because we'll win. We'll bind them and then they won't be a threat anymore. /That/ is what we need to focus on, not some
damn suicidal headlong rush in the name of vengeance." His anger is met with hers, but sadly, he's
stronger and it takes little to unbalance her, to knock her off. Scrambling, she rises after him only to
launch herself towards his back, hoping to knock him down again. "I don't care what you're reasons are,
I'm not letting you go!"
"All
the better to be rid of them and their powers. Do you think I care if they
fight me? I've been lashed to within an inch of my life before. It doesn't
matter. I want the fight... or I can make it real damn simple and peg each and
every one of them right between the eyes." Chase isn't known as something
of a hunter for nothing. Just making it to his feet, he is only drove to the
ground once more as she hits him in the back. Good thing the ground is soft.
"Mina, they have to hurt. They /have/ to lose something too. I... I can't
take having one more thing taken away from me. At least this time, I can get
those that did it."
"And
then what, Chase? You start all over
and do it again and again, because there's going to be more oni, killing them
doesn't change anything. The only way
any of this'll change is if we all stay alive and summon our gods. That's all that we can do." Mina looks away at the mention of the
whipping, her white teeth once again biting down on her lower lip. "They have lost something, they've lost
Lexie too, Chase. They've lost their miko
and you know what, I think that was damn short-sighted of them." Placing her cheek on the soft spot between
the Genbu's shoulder blades, she tightens her hold as she closes her eyes. "I don't want you to be taken away,
Chase. I don't want to lose you, I'm
finding that you're very important to me.
You've become my family.
Please... please..."
Chase
remains as is, lying upon his stomach upon the ground with Mina atop him. His
head turns to the side, cushioned still by the dry leaves from the autumn
previous. "Mina... I just want to take something from them. I... I can't
handle having anything more taken from me. I can't. My life... and Hikitsu's as
he tried to save me. Takiko before I even had a chance. And now Lexie. I can't
take this anymore. I just want them to hurt." His voice is a low thing
though as he speaks, pleading in his own tone as well. He draws in a breath,
then another, and sighs, and this time his voice is a little more even,
"If I go back to camp with you, will you stop trying to stop me."
"We've
all had to face loss, Chase," Mina sighs against the lean lankiness of the
Genbu's back. "Tatara-sama and
Suzuno... they... they weren't allowed to be together. That was Suzuno's only wish that Byakko
couldn't grant, and she had to return back to her world. This one.
I know it hurts, Chase. I know
that its tearing you up inside, but going after the oni, hunting them down will
change nothing. Because it won't make
your hurt go away, it won't bring Lexie back, and it... it won't hurt the
gods. It'll be a nuisance, yes, but it
won't hurt them like they've hurt us."
She doesn't rise, or release her tight hold on the other seishi. "No, I'll never stop trying to stop you
from doing this, Chase, because I don't want to see you throw your life away so
easily. I don't want to see you get
hurt. And yes, you'll probably take
some of the oni out, but they're going to figure things out. How long before they come after you? That's not acceptable, Chase."
Chase
sighs softly, listening quietly to Mina as she speaks. "Then what am I
supposed to do, Mina? Just suck it up and keep going as if everything is all
sunshine and roses?" There is a hint of anger to his voice, but reluctance
as well. A breath later thought and that all leaves, his voice now soft.
"I... thank you." He tries to twist about, so that his back is to the
ground so that he can finally look at her, sadness obvious still in his
expression filled eyes.
"Iie,"
Mina shifts enough to let Chase turn around before leaning down to hug the
Genbu close again. "You don't need
to suck it up, don't need to pretend that you're not hurt, that everything's
fine. You're allowed to mourn, Chase,
with me you're allowed to mourn. And
you can use this, all of this, to use against the Yin gods, so that when we
finally win in this conflict, we can rub their noses in it. We can hit them directly, make them see that
people are not just disposable tools that they can throw away on a whim. This I promise you, Chase, we'll get
vengeance on them for Lexie, but in the right way." Pushing back, she softly touches the other
seishi's cheek, her gaze softening at the sadness in his eyes. "There's no need to thank me. You're my friend," is her simple reply.
Chase
draws his arms around Mina, taking this moment to hug her in return. He remains
so for a moment, again quietly allowing her words to make their way into that
thick skull of his and possibly even make sense. "I'll try to, Mina? Okay?
I'll at least try to." He sighs softly before bringing his hands up to try
to angle her head so he can give her a kiss on the cheek, murmuring softly,
"No, I do need to thank you. I don't suppose I do that enough. I should
try to do it more. It's... alright."
"Good,"
is Mina's relieved reply. "That's
all I can ask of you, Chase. As long as
you'll try." And he'd better try
harder to stay out of trouble than she does, because she knows where he
lives. And if he gets into trouble,
she'll hunt him down and make sure that he's terribly, terribly
uncomfortable. Flushing wide-eyed at
the kiss to her cheek, she hastily scrambles up off of the seishi and offers
him a hand up. "Now I believe we
have some s'mores waiting for us.
Although..." Wah! She put out the fire! "Why couldn't you be a fire
starter," she grumbles towards the Genbu.
"Really, what good is ice?"
Chase
winces just the slightest as she scrambles up, the movement causing that quiver
to dig into his back. Ouch. He squints up at her, a smile actually making a
half-hearted appearance at her flush, but then he is reaching for her hand as
he comes to his feet. He reaches a hand over to try to brush leaves and such
from him with a few pats, before nodding his head, "Daiquiris. Crushed ice
is good in daiquiris." That should be reason enough. He then takes a step
back towards where they last left their stuff.
Mina
follows, not because she doesn't trust Chase not to run away, but because darn
it, she's tired. It's been one heck of
an eventful day. And so she's lagging
somewhat. "Bah, daiquiris. Those are girlie drinks. Figures," she giggles, stalking after
him. Erg, did he have to walk so far so
fast? It's only the temptation of
melted marshmallows and chocolate over graham crackers that keeps her going on
their trek back.
"And
ice skating in the summer in the convenience of your own home. And there is
actually quite a few things with ice you can do in bed too," Chase tacks
on as well. He slows though, waiting for her to come up next to him before he
moves over as if to drape an arm over her shoulders. "Tomorrow I'll pay
for my debt. And show you how to shoot, before we head for home."
"Ice...
in bed?" Oooh, don't Mina's cheeks
flare red at that comment. That's what
she gets for ribbing the Genbu. Change
of subject, change of subject!
"Debt...? Good," she
nods her head happily. And she's going
to warn all the animals away from wherever they decide to practice, because
she's already got this sneaky suspicion that Chase is going to lose quite a few
arrows to the thick undergrowth of the forest.
She punches him lightly in the shoulder, as she notes, "You almost
welched, Chase. Don't think I'm going
to let you forget that." And
woohoo, she has the van keys. Does that
mean she gets to drive home? That
thought causes her to grin as they break through the forest's last barrier and
into their little campsite, only to stop and gape. "Damn you," she raises an arm uselessly towards the
woods. "You couldn't have even
left one marshmallow? Just one?!?" Because their camp's a mess... trash strewn
all over the flattened ground. It's
obvious that the forest creatures took advantage of their absence to help
themselves to a free meal and dessert.
Chase
is a frickin' elf, didn't she say that before? He doesn't just lose arrows
-well, maybe if there was a bunny in the area, because rabbit does taste
awfully good roasted over a spit. "I don't welch on a promise. I'd have
kept it, someway," he answers softly. But then he is blinking at the state
of the campsite, and then blinking some more for good measure. "Uhm....
guess you're going to have to get up bright and shiny tomorrow to fish for
us." And so he begins the task of picking up this and that.
But
Mina does, and probably will lose quite a lot of Chase's arrows in her attempt
to learn how to shoot. And it's a good
thing that she doesn't possess Karasuki's abilities to read minds or else the
Genbu'd find out what it's like to be inundated by cute, fluffy bunnies. "I was planning on fishing tomorrow
morning," she notes, grimacing as she picks up strewn bits as well. "I hope they didn't eat too much of the
plastic," she worries as she studies a torn piece of the material. "They can't digest it and sometimes it
clogs up their digestive tracks."
Grimacing, she notices that her pack is turned over and that its been
pillaged as well. So much for her trail
mix.
Chase
glances over to her, nodding slightly. He finishes picking up this and that,
shoving it back into his pack. The teenager then moves off to find more
kindling for a new fire. He drops it all into the pit and gets starting trying
to make a new fire for them. Naturally, it takes him quite a bit, considering
his talents don't exactly go to the fiery. He nods vaguely to her as she
speaks, adding a bit more to the fire
to make it grow to a comfortable size. "You might as well try to
get some sleep then... I swear I won't try to run off on you in the middle of
the night."
Darn
it, and she wanted s'mores, too. At
least she got one marshmallow out of the whole experience. "Hai, g'night Chase," she calls
wearily as she crawls into her sleeping bag without even changing her clothes. She's too tired. And in seconds, she's drifting off to dreamland.
Chase
smiles faintly, even fondly, glancing after Mina as she is quick to find her
bag and head off to sleep. As soon as she is settled though, he draws over to
set out his own bag, but he doesn't move to enter into it quite yet. Sitting
upon it, one leg is drawn up to rest his forearm. Instead, he'll just stare at
the fire and the darkness of the wood for a while.
Waking
early, Mina grimaces at the cold dawn air.
Ugh. Pulling her fleece top over
her t-shirt after she crawls out of bed, she casts a worried look around for
Chase. Seeing him snuggled into his
sleeping bag, she pads over softly and leans down to brush that ever-hanging
fringe off his brow tenderly. Poor boy,
he's had a rough week. Straightening
up, she makes her way to her pack and pulls out her collapsed rod. Assembling it quickly and running the line
through it from the reel, she picks up her jar of bait and then heads over to
the stream. She looks over her shoulder
towards the campsite as she briefly ponders on whether or not she has time for
a quick dip. She's feeling quite
grubby.
Chase
is a sleepy head. Yep. Sure, he can get up early in the morning if he was so
inclined. But, you know what? He doesn't have to get up early, and so he is
snoozing away, soothed by the fresh air, the warmth of the bag, and sheer
exhaustion keeping any of the nightmares at bay. At the brush, he shifts in
place, only to burrow deeper into the bag, muttering, "Not yet, mom. Just
a little longer."
Mina
nibbles on her lower lip and then sets her pole and bait on a rock before
moving a bit further downstream in search of a deep enough pool. Stripping quickly, she slips into the cold
water, yelping slightly at the chilled water.
Okay, this is going to be a quick bath.
Because the spring run off has the water close to freezing. Slipping underneath the rippling surface,
she swims easily against the gentle current.
This is another thing that she's missed. Concrete pools are never as good.
Chase
is shifting again, apparently finding a rock under his hip. And so the moving
has him rolling over and thunking his head into his pack. Okay, now he is
blinking awake. Squinting, with bed-hair, he peeps from within the confines of
his sleeping bag to question first where the hell he is, and then what time of
day it is. Once those are straight, he sits up, yawning. "Ohhhhhhh, Mina,
I..." Wait. She isn't here. Noting the absence of the Byakko's presence,
he frowns, head tilting to the side to try to sense her now very familiar
presence. *ziiiiiiiiiip* Out he emerges from the bag, shuffling it off to the
side with a few kicks. Time to wander.
Cold
water. Cold. Brrr. Thus Mina hurries
through her morning ablutions, rubbing her face and limbs with handfuls of
water before stepping out. Darn it,
should have brought a towel. Not
willing to try to slither into her jeans while still wet, she pulls on her t-shirt
and sits on a log, watching the sun rise as she waits for the rest of her body
to dry. Unbraiding her long hair, she
runs her fingers through it as she tries to comb out the inevitable knots. Ah the joys of having curly hair, it gets
tangled even when braided. :P
And
here Chase is accused of being an exhibitionist. That is nothing compared to a
Mina, perching on a rock, wet with a clinging t-shirt (you know how being cold
can get), backlit by the sunrise, and playing with her long hair. This is
precisely the scene that greets Chase as he emerges from the campsite, looking a
wee bit rumpled. Oh my. Ohhhhhhhh my. It takes him a moment and then comes the
moment where he clears his throat, rather obviously at that -you know, to make
sure that she knows he is there.
Blinking
at the cleared throat, Mina turns to look over her shoulder and offers Chase a
bright smile. "Chase! You're awake, good!" Nope, she doesn't realize what sort of
picture she's creating for the Genbu.
"How'd you sleep last night?
Are you... are you okay, this morning," she asks, letting her voice
drop into a worried whisper. She knows
that he stayed up late, because she remembers waking only slightly from her
dreams to be greeted with the sight of Chase staring into the fire. Her heart broke for him then, but she was
sure that he needed some time alone, some time to come to terms with things.
Chase
flickers a glance away from her for the moment, studiously trying to keep his
eyes anywhere but on her. Baaaaaaaaad. Gradually, he makes his way a little
closer to her before dropping down into a crouch upon the same rock she is
perched upon. Idly, he tosses a rock out into the water, smile wry, "I'm
fine. Don't look so worried." He looks back over to her, and then the mess
of her hair. "Uh... I've got older sisters. I know how to braid. If this
seishi thing doesn't work out for me, I could always be a hair stylist. Need
help?"
Wincing
at the mess that's her hair, Mina yanks on a wild curl and grins. "It's usually not this bad," she
admits self-consciously. "But a
lack of conditioner and a couple of romps through the woods has it crying
mutiny." Still, if the other
seishi's willing to help, she won't complain.
"Please," she asks with another smile. "I should have brought my
brush..." So she forgot forks, and
now her brush. Wonder what else she's
forgotten to bring. "If you want
to take a bath, Chase," she adds, motioning to the pool before them,
"The water's a bit cold but it certainly wakes one up."
"Are
you saying that I stink?" Chase replies, with a smirk to his features.
Boots are kicked off of his feet along with socks. The rest remain on though as
he moves to sit behind Mina, reaching for her hair. "Damn, girl...
summoned up some rats to live in this mess?" A faint teasing tone touches
his voice at that. Fingers try to comb through her hair to try to pick out some
of the knots. "Guess having older sisters is worth something. Been up
long?"
"Hey,
if you're going to make nasty comments, I'll do this myself," Mina sniffs,
jerking her head away. Oooh, hit a
nerve, Chase? Running her fingers through
the tangled length, separating out a portion to untangle, she shrugs her
shoulders and grins. "I've been up
for just a bit. Enough for a quick
dip," she notes honestly.
"And Chase," she turns slightly so she can look back at the
Genbu, "I'm glad you're feeling better today." Her eyes alight with mischief as she leans
close to him and sniffs before screwing up her face and laughing. "And yeah, cowboy, you stink."
Chase
rolls his eyes at her, straightening another bit of her hair. "We could try
to comb it with a peeled stick or...." He hesitates, glancing around for
something to use, "Or I would have just given you a hat to wear, but I
haven't got one at the moment." He hesitates again though at the sniffing,
quirking a glance to her. "Oh? You think?" And so, without further
ado, the kid peels off his shirt, removes pants -boxers, my dear, remain. And
what does he do next? Why... he reaches over to try to grab Mina and try to
tumble them both right on back into the water, naturally.
Mina
screams bloody murder because a) Chase is stripping and b) she's being tumbled
back into the cold water. No fair! And she was actually making progress on her
hair, too. Hitting the surface with an
inelegant *splash* she gasps and swallows a mouthful of the chilled liquid,
surfacing and sputtering. "Oooh,
you are sooo dead, cowboy!" This
means war. She creates a wave of water
with her laughing splashes towards the Genbu, hoping to soak him even more than
he is.
Chase
would cackle if he had it in him. Good thing that he doesn't. Instead, he
snickers in triumph moments before he falls into the water as well. Feet plant
upon the bottom, and he pushes back up to break the surface of the water again
-only to be greeted with more yelling and a splash. Spitting water from his
mouth, he slaps his hands against the water to try and get her back,
"Ain't dead yet, Mina-girl! Bring it on!"
Oh, so
Chase wants to play it that way, does he?
Mina quickly darts towards the Genbu and placing her hands on the crown
of his head, attempts to duck the other seishi underneath the cold water. He's going down. Only perhaps later, because darn it, the water really is cold. So out she tramps from the water, her only
shirt wet. Grumble. If she gets sick, she's blaming it on
him. She bends over and twists the
excess water from her dark blue locks before straightening up, her nose in the
air. "Don't forget to wash behind
your ears, cowboy," she tosses over her shoulder as she gathers up the
rest of her clothing and heads back towards the warmth of the fire. She'll work on disentangling her curls
there.
Wait!
She is climbing out of the water already -of course this is after he is
submerged by the woman and forced to return to the surface gasping and
basically looking like a drowned rat. "Brat!" he bellows after her,
even if a smile has returned to his features. He takes his sweet time in the
cool water before finally climbing back out. Shaking himself off, and
apparently not caring if she is there or not, plucks off those soaking boxers
and is tugging on his pants again. He pads back to camp as well, boots in one
hand, shirt and boxers draped in the other. Stuff is dropped onto his bag, and
he looks over to her, "Well... now that I can't push you in the water, I
can still fix that." Her hair is pointed to.
Chase
in nothing but boxers = bad. Chase in
jeans = good. Yet another reason Mina
escaped towards safety. "Sure
cowboy," she invites, patting the log next to her. "I think I have all the tangles worked
out now." No more rats nest
comments. Flipping a strand over her
shoulder, she grins. "Have a nice
swim?" At least he's looking less
bedraggled and there are no longer leaves and sticks stuck in his black
hair. "Are you still thinking fish
for breakfast," she asks curiously.
"Because now it's getting a bit late. We might be able to catch a few, if you haven't scared them all
away with your splashing," she adds with a giggle.
Chase
reaches around to smooth back her hair, combing his fingers through it to make sure
it is, indeed, free of tangles. "Hair ties," he requests, already
beginning the braiding process with nimble fingers. Disturbing how well he does
this, isn't it? Sisters. "Fish will be fine. If you can catch them.
Although, I'll bet you anything I can get myself a grouse before you can land a
single fish on the line.... Oh! Even better. Bet you anything I can get a fish
before you and /without/ a fishing pole."
Leaning
back and almost purring as Chase runs his fingers through her hair, she closes
her eyes and hands back a hair tie.
"Only have one," she notes happily, admiring the fact that the
Genbu doesn't tug too hard or leave her hair too loose with his efforts. He blames it on sisters. She adds it to her 'Reasons Chase is a Girly
Boy' list. Right under daiquiris. Opening her eyes, she turns to just stare at
the other seishi. "Okay cowboy,
this is /me/ that you're talking to.
You know, the girl who can summon shikagami, can talk to animals,
etc. Are you sure you want to make that
bet with me?" At least the fish
are better targets than the grouse.
Though there will be the required praying up to the Great Spirit to
accept the souls of the fish into his bosom.
And thanking the souls of the unlucky creatures for their sacrifice.
Chase
makes quick work with the braid, tying it off at the end with the one given. He
gives her back a slight pat before nodding, "Yeah, but... Oh. Alright.
Fine. I'm really not in the mood to lose another bet to you while we are out
here. You go and catch your fish if you want... and I'll find a likely spot for
you to learn how to shoot the proper way."
Rising
easily, Mina flashes a grin at Chase before patting him on the head. "That's a smart Genbu," she teases
before heading over towards the spot where she left her pole and bait. "Find a spot that's out in the
clearing," she calls over her shoulder as she perches on the rock. "Because I don't want to lose all your arrows
and they'll be easier to find that way."
She may be at home in the woods, but that doesn't mean that she's a good
hunter. And chances are her arrows are
going to go everywhere /except/ towards the target. Baiting her hook with cheese, she waits a few moments for the
fish to once again become confident and move out of their unseen hiding spots
before she expertly casts her line upstream, letting it drift down with the
current.
Chase
rolls his eyes at the pat on his head, glancing after the girl with a wry grin.
Combing fingers back through his damp hair, he tugs his shirt back on, working
socks and shoes on as well. While she fishes, he actually moves about the camp
to tidy things up, putting their sleeping bags away and the like, boiling water
for tea, and then moving off to find a likely spot to set up a few more things.
While he goes about the work, the teenager naturally slips into humming
whatever tune naturally comes to him, followed not all that long after by
actual singing. He can sing too, passably though.
Mina's
torn between telling the Genbu to stop singing because he's scaring the fish
and keeping her mouth shut because she's actually enjoying the sound. Because he sings better than she does. She decides that eating comes in second to
actually learning something else about Chase.
She takes out her line and with a flick of her wrist, casts the line
again, her grasp on the pole light as she waits for any sign of a nibble, or
better yet, a full on bite.
Chase
is scaring off woodland creatures and the things that swim in the water. Nifty.
He paces off a distance to a tree off in the distance, coming back to a point
and then dragging a foot across the dirt. He stands there silently for a
moment, feeling for the wind, of which there is near to none where they are at.
"Too easy..." he mutters. Hitting stationary targets is boring,
except maybe if there is something of a gale going on. "Catch anything
yet, master fisher?" he calls out before dropping to the dirt to pick
through his arrows.
"No,"
Mina retorts huffily. "Because
some silly seishi I know is singing and scaring all the fish away." Yeah, that's her excuse and she's sticking
to it. She could be a smart fisherman
and pick up and wander up or downstream until she's out of earshot from the
Genbu, but really, what fun's that.
"But that's because I'm not cheating." Fish are creatures of instinct, easy to
command. But just as moving would be no
fun, so would just commanding the fish out of the water. Thus, she sticks to the old fashioned method. "Though, you know, I think I saw a bit
of a paunch developing back at that pool, Chase. Perhaps you would do well to skip breakfast all together."
"Paunch?"
Chase blinks for a moment, frowns, and then yanks up his shirt to look at his
stomach. "Now wait just a moment there. I just came back from home to
listen to my mother announce that I'm skinnier than ever, and you say I've got
a paunch. This coming from the girl that was heaving and gasping for air while
we are /walking/ through the woods." Yes, he protests, licking a finger
and running it along the line of the fletching on one of the arrows. Wait.
"Were you ogling me, Mina? Checking me out?"
"I
had a heavy pack," is Mina's defensive retort. He'd better not even suggest that she's getting fat, because then
she might have to go Namame on his butt.
"And mother's always say that their kids are getting skinnier. It's what they do." She frowns and studies the water before
grimacing. "All right, fine, I'm
unfit. Still managed to kick your
butt." Well, Chase wasn't really
fighting back, but hey, she pinned him twice.
That means she rocks. "As I
told you before Chase," she calls over her shoulder, teasing. "I don't ogle, I admire." And that's all she'll say about that as she
slumps and wills away the embarrassed blush.
Chase
ignores all of the rest and latches onto that last bit. "Admire?"
Ohhhh, and the way he speaks it is almost in a sing-song voice, clearly
teasing. He drives a handful of the arrows into the dirt, keeps one in hand,
and then moves to stand. As he crosses over to where Mina is, fingers pulling
out a string from a pocket and he is knotting one end about the notched back of
the arrow He moves to stand just beside Mina eventually. He glances down to
her, flashing her a wink before following with his crooked smile, and then he
is looking down at the water. Arrow is nocked as he looks at the surface for
the shadowy flash of a fish through the water. Two can fish like this.
"Bah,
I admire lots of people," Mina retorts.
"Don't get too full of yourself, cowboy." Still, she can't help but quirk up her lips
as she once again recasts her line.
Still nothing. It's the Genbu's
fault. It has to be. Sniffing at the wink and looking away at the
crooked smile, she can't help but cast a sidelong glance towards Chase
curiously. She's never seen anyone use
a bow and arrow to fish before. And
darn it, isn't it time for that blush to fade yet? C'mon fishies, you know you want the cheese. Yummy cheese.
Chase
chuckles at her response, but not overly long. He doesn't really want to get
whapped alongside the head with that fishing rod particularly. Curling the
other end of the string about a finger, he moves a little closer to the water's
edge to watch the fish within. "Don't look at me like that. Haven't you
ever seen bow fishers at work. They usually use things a hell of a lot smaller
than this, with all of those stupid gadgets. Nothing but a waste. Just like
harpooning. Bet you I'll have my dinner before you do." His eyes never
leave the water though, waiting for a fairly good-sized shadow to show. The tip
of the arrow follows once such movement, compensating the angle this time not
for wind, but because things in the water are angled different than they
appear. He draws back and releases, and with a twang the arrow slips into the
water, string slipping out after it. He winces at the tug on his finger as the
string is a wee bit short, but there is the inevitable splash as the trout
within struggles. "Hah!" Pull. Tug. And there flops a landed fish,
shot through with an arrow.
"Ack!" Chase's success has Mina springing into
action, and dropping her pole, she hops off the rock and over to where the poor
fish is suffering. Grabbing her
bludgeoning rock, she ends the poor fish's suffering with one quick motion. "Poor thing," she murmurs softly,
kneeling in front of the carcass and sends her thanks up towards the Great
Spirit with the fish's soul. She also
thanks the fish for it's sacrifice, knowing that its selflessness will mean
that it will be reincarnated as a creature higher up on the hierarchy of life
until it reaches the elevated state of becoming a human. "No," she shakes her head as she
rises and brushes the dirt from her knees.
"I've never seen anyone fish with a bow. Though it looks like you do a darn good job with it," she
adds in admiration.
Chase
wrinkles his nose, lowering his voice to something of a stage whisper as he
leans towards her, "Just so you know... I can't fish worth beans."
And he means it. Thus, an arrow will do the same trick. So, he cheated, sorta.
He eyes his arrow for a moment, wondering if it can be salvaged, before
sighing, snapping it in two, and then pulling it out of the trout. The tip is
kept but the rest will be discarded. "If you clean it and put it on the
pan to cook, I can show you how to shoot an arrow while we wait."
"So
then how'd you catch this thing," Mina asks, lifting up the fish by the
tail and waggling it towards the Genbu.
First time she's had holy fish.
Sorta looks like Swiss cheese.
Pulling out her handy-dandy Swiss army knife, she cuts a small triangle
in the bottom of the fish near the tail before slicing upwards. Gutting the fish is messy work, but quick,
and soon the cleaned out fish and the Byakko are heading towards the campsite. "Can you get my pole, Chase," she
asks, stopping to turn and grin over her shoulder. "And make sure you don't snag it on anything." She won't warn him about the hook. Hopefully he's smart enough to know to worry
about that bit. "Hai, sounds like
a plan."
"Skill
at something other than fishing?" Chase comments, chuckling. He shoulders
the bow and then goes to retrieve her fishing pole like the dutiful seishi that
he is, or something. "Wonder if I can catch me a Byakko with this. Maybe
just a few casts. Put a little chocolate on the hook...." he muses, teasing.
Following after, he sets the rod to the side, smiling to Mina, "Hurry up.
I still want to get back home today, and I'm /hungry/, woman."
One
needs more than chocolate to hook a Byakko.
But ten-to-one he could catch Hatsui that way. "Hai, Chase," Mina nods, heading towards the fire. Wrapping his catch in the tinfoil, she
buries it in the ash and lets the ambient heat slow cook their meal. Standing up and dusting off the knees of her
jeans, she looks about for the light bow.
Picking it up awkwardly, she looks expectantly towards Chase. "Lead the way, cowboy." And prepare to lose some arrows.
Chase
draws her towards the little clearing. Or, at least fairly clear. He reaches
into a pocket and looks to her, "I sure hope you are right handed. All
I've got is a right-handed glove with me, to spare your fingers." He moves
to stand at where he drove some arrows into the ground, turning to look back at
Mina. "Give me your hands."
Mina
follows easily, laying down the lighter bow while she holds out her hands for
Chase at his direction. "Hai, I'm
right handed," she tells him, looking towards the arrows and then out
across the clearing. "Anou, Chase,
what's the target?" Because
everything seems quite far away.
"You remember that I've never done this before, ne?"
Chase
points his finger at a tree not all that far away, and fairly wide. "I
don't know if you've enough strength to actually pierce the bark, but we'll
see." He takes her hands, shoving a glove with open fingers on one hand
and then sliding a leather strap over the other. "The other is to protect
your arm from the string biting back and hitting you." Plucking one arrow
out of the ground, he hands it to her. "Lets see you string it first.
Watch me." He moves into his stance, standing a little sideways to the
tree, lifts the bow with already nocked narrow, draws back to just beyond his
ear and lets the arrow fly, to strike the wood of the tree soundly. "That
simple." Makes it look easy, right? He drops his bow to the ground and
then waggles a couple of fingers to her in beckoning. "Come here."
Oh
sure, it doesn't seem that far away to Chase, but it looks pretty darn far to
Mina. Wiggling her fingers in the glove
as she tries to get used to the feel for it, she just watches him pull back and
let his arrow loose. Whistling, she
shakes her head.
"Niiiice." If the
Genbu doesn't watch it, he's going to be getting more Legolas comments. Shifting over towards the other seishi as he
beckons, she stands loosely, waiting.
Posable Byakko, in stores now. "Somehow I don't think it's as easy as you make it look,
Chase."
Chase
flashes her a broad grin, "That is why I am here to teach you. This is
just for fun. I'll take you to a shooting range in New York for the kind that
is a bit more... updated." He moves around and behind Mina, not even
asking for permission as his hands reach up to grab her shoulders and turn her
to the side, and then reach down to her hips to do the same thing. "Feet a
little bit apart... there. Now, you can pull back with any fingers you want.
There isn't a /right/ way to do it. All of your fingers, just a couple,
whatever is more comfortable for you. And when you draw back, you can pull to
your cheek, ear, or past that. Again, with what you are comfortable with."
Mina
lets herself be manipulated into position, frowning towards the target. "Cheek, ear, or past it," she
repeats, nodding her head and trying not to look trepidatious. Raising her bow and fitting an arrow against
it, letting the string nestle within the notch at the end of the arrow, she
attempts to pull back on the string with two-fingers and grimaces as the arrow
adeptly slips from its resting spot and flops to the ground. "I think I'd prefer the more updated
form of shooting, Chase." Sighing,
she picks up the arrow and attempts to arrange it properly again. Of course now she's lost her stance.
Chase
sighs a weary sigh. You know the kind. "Wait. Wait. Wait," he calls.
Still standing just at her back, hands reach to place her into position once
again, and then he simply curls fingers around her hand holding the bow, and
then her hand over the string. "Here... I'll show you." And so, that
is exactly what he goes to do. "I'll help you pull back to, so you can get
the feel. Okay?"
"Hai,"
Mina agrees happily, letting herself be pushed and prodded into the correct
stance again. Grinning over her
shoulder at the Genbu, she teases, "I bet you used this excuse to get
close to all the girls back home, Chase.
You hentai, you." Somehow
it seems easy when he's helping her out, directing her actions. Using two fingers braced on either side of
the arrow's butt, she pulls back and then pulls back some more, the effort it
takes surprising her. And then there's
a satisfied *twang* as the arrow's released and the bowstring snaps back into
place. And the Byakko can't help but
grin because darn it, that's one satisfying sound.
Chase's
grin grows ever wider at her words, "Of course I do. And can you think of
a better excuse, eh?... I don't have the ability to stick weasels down
someone's clothes as some twisted way to flirt." And so to add to that, he
makes sure to press his front right close to her back. "Hey... pretty
good," he admires as she actually gets the arrow of fly. "Although...
now that you've figured out how to keep the arrow in place, you might want to
try aiming now. There is next to no wind... so gauge yourself."
"I
don't flirt," is Mina's huffy response.
Yeaaaah. "And even if I
did, I wouldn't stick weasels down people's clothing. That's just wrong. I stick
weasels down your clothing because you deserve it, Chase. And," she adds with a slight growl,
"If you're not careful, you're gonna get another one someplace
unpleasant." As for him pressing
close, Mina blinks but doesn't step away, assuming it's all part of the
lesson. Darn smooth operators. "What do you mean? I /was/ trying to aim," she grimaces. True the arrow went flying somewhere to the
far left, nowhere close to the tree that's her target.
Chase
chuckles. "Just me, eh? Gee, I suppose I should feel lucky or
something." Or something. "Could be worse. Could be something that
isn't cute and fuzzy, with claws and are really good at tickling in places no
weasel has any right to be and..." Okay, he'll trail off now. He backs off
of her for a moment to reach down and pluck another arrow from the ground and
nock it upon her bow himself. Resuming his position, he takes her hands again
to help her pull it back just right. "Aim. Squeeze an eye shut if you need
to. Look at the tree and try to hit it." Never mind that he is doing the
aiming for her right now. And to add insult to injury, the teenager is going to
try to set his cheek against hers to get just the right angle. Bad, bad Genbu.
"Exactly,"
Mina grins wickedly, "It could indeed be worse." Squeezing an eye shut, she attempts to line
up the arrowhead with the tree. Or at
least she was until Chase presses his cheek against hers. Jumping slightly at the contact she turns
her head to stare at the other teenager, raising a brow in question. "Do you do that to the girls back home,
too? You're a naughty, naughty
seishi," she chides, tsking with a finger movement.
If it
is possible, Chase smiles even more. "Watch out for that distraction.
Didn't I tell you about that before, Mina-girl?" He ignores the waggled
finger and tries to draw her back over to resume things. "And no, not all
the girls back home. Just you." He offers her a wink before continuing.
"Hurry up. I can smell the fish burning, and I want to see you try this
one more time before we go back."
Just
her? Mina frowns slightly but steps
back into position. Byakko save her
from Genbu flirts. It's not as good
when Chase arranged it, but hopefully it'll do. Mentally telling herself not to be distracted, in fact, creating
a mantra somewhat to that effect, she licks her lips nervously. "I wasn't distracted, cowboy," she
retorts, sniffing. "I was.. erm..
testing you." That's the ticket.
Chase
could really, really distract her if he was so inclined, but would prefer to
just save the girl from any further acts. He has some mercy. Well, some.
"Testing me... Yeah. That goes both ways." He helps her pull back
once more, waiting. "When you think you've got it aimed just right, go
ahead and release." But, he is known for being naughty from time to time,
and seeing as distraction was mentioned, he is going to be really, really
puckish and give her a kiss to the jaw as she fires -including dancing away
awfully quick afterwards, otherwise retribution will hurt.
"Aiya!" Mina's shot goes high and wide because Chase
is a bad, bad boy. "Aurgh, you did
that on purpose!" And so he's
getting a fuzzy present under his clothing.
Again. "Cheater," she
huffs, stomping back towards the fire to dig up their fish. She's so not helping him with the fuzzy, and
she's given it a carte blanche on what it does to the other seishi. The Genbu can dance away from retribution
all he wants. She prefers to inflict
punishment another way. "And I'm
so telling Brice." So nyah.
Chase's
triumph is short lived. Durn. Double durn. As Mina marches off, she can
probably hear his high-pitched squeals and cursing. Quite some time later, and
looking very much worse for the wear with rumpled clothing and leaf-sprinkled
hair, the boy returns with bows, arrow, and in something of a sulk. "That
I gave you a smooch on the neck? He'd probably congratulate me and then yell at
me for not giving you a proper one on the lips. And he has better things to
yell at me about. Go ahead and tell." Mmmm. Fish. "And you are
driving home. I sure hope you remembered how to get back, because I plan on
napping."
Mina
had unearthed the fish and split it up, giving half to Chase as she licks the
oil off her fingers. "No, that you
lure innocent young girls out into the forest and make moves on them under the
guise of teaching them to shoot," she returns with a laugh. She's also packed up their camp and her pack
is sitting haphazardly against a log.
"At least if he knows, he can warn others not to be fooled by that
baby face of yours, Chase." Rising
and putting out the fire yet again, she nods, shouldering her pack. "I remember how to get back." Navigation's a good skill to have.