-Shaman King (ch36) fanfiction, Asakura Yoh
-Sorta like a muscle memory
//////////
Asakura Yoh knows the exact way to hold a paint brush so that the paint spreads evenly. In fact, he knows how to mix the paint, how to keep it from driping, and all around, just make a really good looking finish.
Of course he does -- he has the memories to prove it.
So after so many combinations with Amidamaru, he doesn't know why he's the only one not surprised when Horo Horo falls off his perch.
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Thursday, November 22, 2007
rev er ie, take 2 -- Title: re deem
-Yu Yu Hakusho fanfiction, Janganshi Hiei
-rev er ie n. 1. a state of abstracted musing; daydreaming 2. a day dream
//////////
re deem tr.v. 1. to fulfill 2. to pay off 3. to set free; rescue or ransom 4. to make up for 5. to restore the honor, worth, or reputation of
///
There it was, hanging taut in the air between them, stifling any thought that didn't have to do with the fact that she had as good as made a binding promise to an infant. Her life in his hands, her blood on his blade; intimate as a lover's embrace in the way only a murderer and a victim could be... and damnit why did she do that?!
He could ask her that. She would answer -- she would have no reason to lie. If he asked, she would tell him that and more; tell him of his mother, of his sister...
He walked closer, keeping eye contact, absently noting that there was no sign of fear -- no tension, trembling, fisting of the hands, the pulse point in her neck still sedate -- just a dilation of the pupils focusing on his every move, a naked emotion playing across her face that he flinched away from identifying.
It's really too bad, because he thinks he might have liked to have heard a part of the only stories he now finds worth telling.
Her eyes are still looking into his as the sword descends.
-rev er ie n. 1. a state of abstracted musing; daydreaming 2. a day dream
//////////
re deem tr.v. 1. to fulfill 2. to pay off 3. to set free; rescue or ransom 4. to make up for 5. to restore the honor, worth, or reputation of
///
There it was, hanging taut in the air between them, stifling any thought that didn't have to do with the fact that she had as good as made a binding promise to an infant. Her life in his hands, her blood on his blade; intimate as a lover's embrace in the way only a murderer and a victim could be... and damnit why did she do that?!
He could ask her that. She would answer -- she would have no reason to lie. If he asked, she would tell him that and more; tell him of his mother, of his sister...
He walked closer, keeping eye contact, absently noting that there was no sign of fear -- no tension, trembling, fisting of the hands, the pulse point in her neck still sedate -- just a dilation of the pupils focusing on his every move, a naked emotion playing across her face that he flinched away from identifying.
It's really too bad, because he thinks he might have liked to have heard a part of the only stories he now finds worth telling.
Her eyes are still looking into his as the sword descends.
rev er ie, take 1 -- Title: re al is tic
-Yu Yu Hakusho fanfiction, Jaganshi Hiei
-rev er ie n. 1. a state of abstracted musing; daydreaming 2. a day dream
//////////
re al is tic adj. 1. tending to or expressing an awareness of things as they really are 2. of or relating to the representation of objects, actions, or social conditions as they actually are
///
He couldn't help it. Looking at the two graves of his closest blood relations, he just couldn't stop his lips from twitching. At least he had caught the laugh when it had really hit him as to just what his mother had done.
"So you understand?" Looking back at Rui, a part of him wondered if they were distantly related. He'd seen only one other Koorime with red eyes like them, and he guessed that she would be old enough to be Rui's mother; but that wasn't important, so he dismissed the thought.
"Yes." He felt... lighter, almost. He paused, then said, "Thankyou," and disappeared in a blur before Rui could say anything else. He needed to think, and he needed to get off the glacier, and he could do both at the same time.
It was (his lips twitched again) quite funny, and he took a childish delight in going back over what Rui had told him.
"I suppose that when Hina came back, she didn't know she was pregnant. She started to act panicked, and had to be sedated several times before it came out that she was to bare twins. The boy, the elder of the two, was taken from her hours after birth. Hina pleaded with the elders, but the boy was dropped into the lower realms, supposedly to his death. I... regret to say that I was the one who was tasked with that.
"Hina... she just wasn't the same after that. Though the girl, Yukina, was left in her care, she seemed to become disassociated from the world. Heartache, most supposed; I wouldn't know. Yukina, though, was... she was the most kind and beautiful little girl anyone had ever seen. Even though she was born from a coupling, she was still beloved by all who met her.
"Several years ago, however, Hina... I suppose that everything just became too much.
"She killed Yukina, and then herself."
This time he didn't bother with suppressing it. He tossed his head back and laughed, the wilds around him going silent at the sudden sound. With time, he stopped, though a smirk still lingered. His hands reached up and undid the ward around his forehead. The jagon flashed purple, searching, searching...
"Of course, since you are an old friend of Hina's... I believe that you should know..."
Hours later, the ward was replaced, and Hiei was again gone in a black blur.
"...that only ice and paper lie in those graves."
-rev er ie n. 1. a state of abstracted musing; daydreaming 2. a day dream
//////////
re al is tic adj. 1. tending to or expressing an awareness of things as they really are 2. of or relating to the representation of objects, actions, or social conditions as they actually are
///
He couldn't help it. Looking at the two graves of his closest blood relations, he just couldn't stop his lips from twitching. At least he had caught the laugh when it had really hit him as to just what his mother had done.
"So you understand?" Looking back at Rui, a part of him wondered if they were distantly related. He'd seen only one other Koorime with red eyes like them, and he guessed that she would be old enough to be Rui's mother; but that wasn't important, so he dismissed the thought.
"Yes." He felt... lighter, almost. He paused, then said, "Thankyou," and disappeared in a blur before Rui could say anything else. He needed to think, and he needed to get off the glacier, and he could do both at the same time.
It was (his lips twitched again) quite funny, and he took a childish delight in going back over what Rui had told him.
"I suppose that when Hina came back, she didn't know she was pregnant. She started to act panicked, and had to be sedated several times before it came out that she was to bare twins. The boy, the elder of the two, was taken from her hours after birth. Hina pleaded with the elders, but the boy was dropped into the lower realms, supposedly to his death. I... regret to say that I was the one who was tasked with that.
"Hina... she just wasn't the same after that. Though the girl, Yukina, was left in her care, she seemed to become disassociated from the world. Heartache, most supposed; I wouldn't know. Yukina, though, was... she was the most kind and beautiful little girl anyone had ever seen. Even though she was born from a coupling, she was still beloved by all who met her.
"Several years ago, however, Hina... I suppose that everything just became too much.
"She killed Yukina, and then herself."
This time he didn't bother with suppressing it. He tossed his head back and laughed, the wilds around him going silent at the sudden sound. With time, he stopped, though a smirk still lingered. His hands reached up and undid the ward around his forehead. The jagon flashed purple, searching, searching...
"Of course, since you are an old friend of Hina's... I believe that you should know..."
Hours later, the ward was replaced, and Hiei was again gone in a black blur.
"...that only ice and paper lie in those graves."
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Title: Shadow, through Smoke
-Yu Yu Hakusho fanfiction, Youko Kurama
-It's simple cause and Effect
//////////
"So..." the demon drawls, one eyebrow not quite twitching upwards, "You're a... ah, fortune teller?"
Stuck up ass of a fucking youko. Knew I should have demanded more from that stupid bat... Where are those damn smokes?... "Seer, diviner, soothsayer," (Ha! There they are...) "oracle, auspex (that costs extra), vaticinator, prophet, occasional haruspex (thats extra too), whatever the fuck ya wanna call it, I'm it. Ya want one?" I make the paltry offer around the smoke trailing out my mouth.
Well damn, there's no reason to look like that stick up yer ass just got lodged a bit higher.
"Suit yerself. Le's get one thing straight, fox," I say, putting my feet on the table and taking a long drag, "I don' care if ya don' wanna be here. Fact is, I got paid, an' if ya wanna walk out that door, I'll still be paid." ...and apparently money is the magic subject. Chance's of him walking out just dropped by less than half. Damn. "B'sides," I say, going for casualness, "the future's fluid. Freewill an' all that shit, an' not jus' yers. Everythin's in'erwoven, thoughts an' actions from people ya may nev'r meet effectin' ya through ripples made throughout the Worlds... but nothin's set in stone 'til it's actually happened, see?"
I exhale a particularly large cloud and, through the smoke, watch him watching me watch him. This one. Not stupid. Prideful, arrogant as all Reikai, and armed with a powerful thirst to play a game only he knows the rules to... but not stupid. I take another drag. He might be worth the time.
"An' another thin'. I say everythin', I mean everythin'. The five seconds ya pause while on a journey will be the deciding factor in whether ya cross pathes with yer next job; the breath of a whore that moves the assets just so will tip the balance and make ya wanna fuck her;" and now to make it personal... "and those seeds ya planted on a whim jus' a few days ago will quite poss'bly save yer life in a few hun'erd years."
Oh, good control. Got to applaud the sonnuva bitch for that. If I wasn't looking for it, I wouldn't have noticed the eyes widen just a fraction of a second and -- oh, he's got balls...
I raise my own eyebrow, mocking him. "Now that I have yer undivided attention, I need ya ta make a decision: ya gonna stay and get yer money's worth, or ya gonna leave an' take that seed ya just dropped with ya?" Dumbass. "Either way, I'll be fine 'cause ye're gonna stop wastin' my time."
If he leaves within the next five minutes, most likely scenario is that he and his buddy will leave out before the day's over. Half way to the next town, a heavy storm will hit, and they will be too far from a cave they had scoped out years ago to avoid the deluge. The bat will get sick and that will delay them for... oh, two days. By the time they reach the town, they will have missed a juicy mark, and not have even known it. That, is assuming that on the day they head out, they don't cross pathes with two lovely demoness' and decide to keep them company for a time. They will then end up being within reasonable distance from the cave when the storm comes, the bat won't get sick, they will get to the town on time, and end up much richer than before I got paid.
"Tell me something, O Seer." I can see the calculating look he's got, tipping his head as if the degree of change will bring some clarity or something. "If the future is as fluid as you say it is," Oh, nothing to say about the seeds? "Then what, precisely, are you good for?"
'What's keeping me from killing you?' he means. Someone who had the capabilities/resources to find out something about you that no one should have known isn't someone you want out from under your own thumb... or, failing that, among the living.
"I do believe there was a threat in that last statement o' yer's. Well, b'fore ya try ta evis'rate me, allow me ta explain." Smilling is just another way to bare the teeth, you know. "B'cause even though the future is fluid," I say, putting stress on the last three words, "there still remains the fact that some futures are still a helluva lot more likely 'an others no matter what, an' as time goes by, the less likely ones term'nate themselves. So," I drawl in parady, "For yer gracious," I sneer the word, knowing that it bothers him, "contribution ta my coffers, ya get ta know the possibilities that have the most..." What would work best? "...merit." Yeah, that'll do. "That," Damn, I need another smoke, "an' what'll bring 'em about. The turnin' points," I wave my hand and the newly lit smoke for emphasis.
I know that he knows this. I also know that he knows (and he knows that I know this), that there's a helluva lot of charlatans out there, and that he has to make sure that I know that he knows that I know that he knows this...
...fuck, that takes a bit of thinking to make sense of...
I put that out of my mind in favor of watching the present being woven with strange undulations of Possibility. Kind of hypnotizing at times, to be honest. There are stories 'bout Seers getting disconnected to the world around them. Apparently catatonics, those ones; almost impossible to snap them out of it and even then... Well.
Most of the threads around him leading up to him staying are growing, branching off, while the one's that have him leaving are withering, fading into Impossibility. I take more of the drug into my lungs. Typical.
He doesn't give any tells, but suddenly all the other strands are gone. The fox has made a descision.
"All right. What's in store for me, O Seer?"
"Smartass. Shut up an' listen." I sit up and lean on the table, ignoring the snort from in front of me. So I like to hear myself talk. It's your choice to listen or not. "In almos' all o' yer futures, ya do big things. Borin' from my point o' view," I exhale another cloud and shrug, "but I ain't a thief.
"Most o' yer futures, though, branch off o' two main pathes. In one, ya thieve, pillage, build up yer rep to ridiculous proportions, onward ad infinitum," I make some circular hand motions to emphasize.
"And in the other..." Pfft. After that, he doesn't even look like he cares about the other...
"And in the other..." I stop, taking another drag to buy some time to think. How the fuck am I supposed to phrase this without nullifying any possiblity of it ever happening? Shit.
He's looking at me again with those damn eyes. Eyes. Gold. Jackpot!
"An' in the other, ya get somethin' more valu'ble 'an all the jewels in the Worlds, more rare 'an hiruiseki, and negligable dross attached."
Hmm. Maybe that was a bit heavy...
"You sound like you're trying to sell me."
...damn. I lean back again, shrugging. "That branch is... complicated, real in'erwoven with certain other threads, an' ta try an' explain without givin' away specifics that could nullify it in the here an' now is..." Okay, I'll just admit it. "Pretty much imposs'ble." And doesn't that just feel like a kick in the teeth...
"Let me get this straight." And just what the fuck is that tone for?! "My future is pretty much divided in two, and while you can explain one... you can't the other? Can you at least give me the turning points that lead up to it?"
Oh, now he gets annoyed. Though he does have a point... now, what can I say... what can I say... I take another drag, searching the threads hanging around him for some common factor... hmmm...
"Vanity." I say carefully as he narrows his eyes. "Vanity, and its effects... will be at the root causes fer the events that lead up ta that branch o' futures."
If he had left without hearing me out, visited that lovely demoness, and taken that job in the next town... the job for the mirror would have been postponed. The bat would have lived, and the fox wouldn't have gone into despair, which in turn wouldn't've sparked the destructive cycle of dangerous jobs and a reckless (vain) belief in his own power, and eventually getting in over his head.
I exhale, looking at the patterns the air currents make in the smoke through half-lidded eyes. Stupid youko, didn't even think to ask if just by being here would change things.
"'Vanity'? I'm going to become a narcissist?"
"Don' quit yer night job," I say, irritated that now he finds his humor, "there are differen' types 'an jus' moonin' o'er yerself; but yeah, vanity'll cause most o' that branch ta come about. So, if ya want ta go on building up the image of the boogey man under the bed, smarten up. If, however, the unknown gives ya the thrills, continue yer headlong plunge. One o' the major turnin' points for ya will be comin' up soon, and that..." I look at him steadily, hoping to impress the importance of my words on his flightly fox mind, "will heav'ly favor one side o'er the other, dependin' on how ya react."
"'Depending on how I react'?" I am most carefully not looking at his twitching tail. Don't know if that's within his power, but I'd rather not take the chance of spilling my guts to him. "React to what? Just what reactions would lead to what futures?" He's squinting his eyes at me again, damn but he's getting to be a real annoying sunnova-- "You're not really very helpful, considering how much you were paid. Perhaps you should invest in a crystal ball." --bitch! I'll show him a crys--
Ah! Woahwoahwoah waitaminute! STOP! Be calm. I take a deep drag, hoping he hadn't seen the spark of rage in my eyes, as I go over what my teacher drilled into my head. Someone make ya mad? Ya figure out why. Examine the threads. Find what was woven, determine the motives. Direct attacks and reactions only to the base, and ya negate everything the other builds atop of it.
So. Why would the fox want me mad?
...Ah. So he'd heard about that.
"I'm a Reader, not a Pruner. No one could... convince me... to be workin' that." Which is to say, no one could bribe, blackmail, or otherwise manuver me into giving predictions that favor certain... factions... of the Reikai. The fact that I'm not dead says the same of those in the Makai, while also stating that I'm either tough to kill or real good at hiding.
"No one really likes bein' manipulated -- I c'n understand that -- but either listen 'r leave, 'cause now ye're jus' irritatin' to be irritatin'. Get yer kicks elsewhere." And stop looking for weak spots!
He shrugs one shoulder nonchalantly. "You're taking so long, I'm starting to get bored," he says, watching the whirls and eddies of the smoke in the air. "Is there a reason you have virtually no air currents through here?"
"Yeah, ta suf'cate clients that talk too much," I snap, quickly scanning the Possiblities for one last thing. He might as well get the real money's worth. "If ye find that Vanity's Effects have marked ye, and ye have woven thy life with the Historian, befriend the Shadow, for he shall make thee remember the Stories." I pause; man that's rough on the voice, but... there. One prophecy: delivered. "Believe me, ye'll be happier fer it.
"Now get the fuck outta here, and take yer damn seed with ya, Youko Kurama."
--
Alright, wards: up; notice-me-nots: up; new smokes: ...found. I sigh as I lean back, staring through the wisps coming from my mouth at the ceiling.
He'll want to avoid the group of bounty hunters lodging on the South side, so he'll skirt them and head for the North gate, just missing the whores in the West. That bat will be in sensing range by then, and meet him coming from the North West quarter, they'll exit the North gate, and get caught in the storm.
I could, of course, catch up to him before he reaches the point where he can sense the bat, and tell him about the paradox and how to fix it...
Inhale.
Nahhh. He'll figure it out.
Exhale.
-It's simple cause and Effect
//////////
"So..." the demon drawls, one eyebrow not quite twitching upwards, "You're a... ah, fortune teller?"
Stuck up ass of a fucking youko. Knew I should have demanded more from that stupid bat... Where are those damn smokes?... "Seer, diviner, soothsayer," (Ha! There they are...) "oracle, auspex (that costs extra), vaticinator, prophet, occasional haruspex (thats extra too), whatever the fuck ya wanna call it, I'm it. Ya want one?" I make the paltry offer around the smoke trailing out my mouth.
Well damn, there's no reason to look like that stick up yer ass just got lodged a bit higher.
"Suit yerself. Le's get one thing straight, fox," I say, putting my feet on the table and taking a long drag, "I don' care if ya don' wanna be here. Fact is, I got paid, an' if ya wanna walk out that door, I'll still be paid." ...and apparently money is the magic subject. Chance's of him walking out just dropped by less than half. Damn. "B'sides," I say, going for casualness, "the future's fluid. Freewill an' all that shit, an' not jus' yers. Everythin's in'erwoven, thoughts an' actions from people ya may nev'r meet effectin' ya through ripples made throughout the Worlds... but nothin's set in stone 'til it's actually happened, see?"
I exhale a particularly large cloud and, through the smoke, watch him watching me watch him. This one. Not stupid. Prideful, arrogant as all Reikai, and armed with a powerful thirst to play a game only he knows the rules to... but not stupid. I take another drag. He might be worth the time.
"An' another thin'. I say everythin', I mean everythin'. The five seconds ya pause while on a journey will be the deciding factor in whether ya cross pathes with yer next job; the breath of a whore that moves the assets just so will tip the balance and make ya wanna fuck her;" and now to make it personal... "and those seeds ya planted on a whim jus' a few days ago will quite poss'bly save yer life in a few hun'erd years."
Oh, good control. Got to applaud the sonnuva bitch for that. If I wasn't looking for it, I wouldn't have noticed the eyes widen just a fraction of a second and -- oh, he's got balls...
I raise my own eyebrow, mocking him. "Now that I have yer undivided attention, I need ya ta make a decision: ya gonna stay and get yer money's worth, or ya gonna leave an' take that seed ya just dropped with ya?" Dumbass. "Either way, I'll be fine 'cause ye're gonna stop wastin' my time."
If he leaves within the next five minutes, most likely scenario is that he and his buddy will leave out before the day's over. Half way to the next town, a heavy storm will hit, and they will be too far from a cave they had scoped out years ago to avoid the deluge. The bat will get sick and that will delay them for... oh, two days. By the time they reach the town, they will have missed a juicy mark, and not have even known it. That, is assuming that on the day they head out, they don't cross pathes with two lovely demoness' and decide to keep them company for a time. They will then end up being within reasonable distance from the cave when the storm comes, the bat won't get sick, they will get to the town on time, and end up much richer than before I got paid.
"Tell me something, O Seer." I can see the calculating look he's got, tipping his head as if the degree of change will bring some clarity or something. "If the future is as fluid as you say it is," Oh, nothing to say about the seeds? "Then what, precisely, are you good for?"
'What's keeping me from killing you?' he means. Someone who had the capabilities/resources to find out something about you that no one should have known isn't someone you want out from under your own thumb... or, failing that, among the living.
"I do believe there was a threat in that last statement o' yer's. Well, b'fore ya try ta evis'rate me, allow me ta explain." Smilling is just another way to bare the teeth, you know. "B'cause even though the future is fluid," I say, putting stress on the last three words, "there still remains the fact that some futures are still a helluva lot more likely 'an others no matter what, an' as time goes by, the less likely ones term'nate themselves. So," I drawl in parady, "For yer gracious," I sneer the word, knowing that it bothers him, "contribution ta my coffers, ya get ta know the possibilities that have the most..." What would work best? "...merit." Yeah, that'll do. "That," Damn, I need another smoke, "an' what'll bring 'em about. The turnin' points," I wave my hand and the newly lit smoke for emphasis.
I know that he knows this. I also know that he knows (and he knows that I know this), that there's a helluva lot of charlatans out there, and that he has to make sure that I know that he knows that I know that he knows this...
...fuck, that takes a bit of thinking to make sense of...
I put that out of my mind in favor of watching the present being woven with strange undulations of Possibility. Kind of hypnotizing at times, to be honest. There are stories 'bout Seers getting disconnected to the world around them. Apparently catatonics, those ones; almost impossible to snap them out of it and even then... Well.
Most of the threads around him leading up to him staying are growing, branching off, while the one's that have him leaving are withering, fading into Impossibility. I take more of the drug into my lungs. Typical.
He doesn't give any tells, but suddenly all the other strands are gone. The fox has made a descision.
"All right. What's in store for me, O Seer?"
"Smartass. Shut up an' listen." I sit up and lean on the table, ignoring the snort from in front of me. So I like to hear myself talk. It's your choice to listen or not. "In almos' all o' yer futures, ya do big things. Borin' from my point o' view," I exhale another cloud and shrug, "but I ain't a thief.
"Most o' yer futures, though, branch off o' two main pathes. In one, ya thieve, pillage, build up yer rep to ridiculous proportions, onward ad infinitum," I make some circular hand motions to emphasize.
"And in the other..." Pfft. After that, he doesn't even look like he cares about the other...
"And in the other..." I stop, taking another drag to buy some time to think. How the fuck am I supposed to phrase this without nullifying any possiblity of it ever happening? Shit.
He's looking at me again with those damn eyes. Eyes. Gold. Jackpot!
"An' in the other, ya get somethin' more valu'ble 'an all the jewels in the Worlds, more rare 'an hiruiseki, and negligable dross attached."
Hmm. Maybe that was a bit heavy...
"You sound like you're trying to sell me."
...damn. I lean back again, shrugging. "That branch is... complicated, real in'erwoven with certain other threads, an' ta try an' explain without givin' away specifics that could nullify it in the here an' now is..." Okay, I'll just admit it. "Pretty much imposs'ble." And doesn't that just feel like a kick in the teeth...
"Let me get this straight." And just what the fuck is that tone for?! "My future is pretty much divided in two, and while you can explain one... you can't the other? Can you at least give me the turning points that lead up to it?"
Oh, now he gets annoyed. Though he does have a point... now, what can I say... what can I say... I take another drag, searching the threads hanging around him for some common factor... hmmm...
"Vanity." I say carefully as he narrows his eyes. "Vanity, and its effects... will be at the root causes fer the events that lead up ta that branch o' futures."
If he had left without hearing me out, visited that lovely demoness, and taken that job in the next town... the job for the mirror would have been postponed. The bat would have lived, and the fox wouldn't have gone into despair, which in turn wouldn't've sparked the destructive cycle of dangerous jobs and a reckless (vain) belief in his own power, and eventually getting in over his head.
I exhale, looking at the patterns the air currents make in the smoke through half-lidded eyes. Stupid youko, didn't even think to ask if just by being here would change things.
"'Vanity'? I'm going to become a narcissist?"
"Don' quit yer night job," I say, irritated that now he finds his humor, "there are differen' types 'an jus' moonin' o'er yerself; but yeah, vanity'll cause most o' that branch ta come about. So, if ya want ta go on building up the image of the boogey man under the bed, smarten up. If, however, the unknown gives ya the thrills, continue yer headlong plunge. One o' the major turnin' points for ya will be comin' up soon, and that..." I look at him steadily, hoping to impress the importance of my words on his flightly fox mind, "will heav'ly favor one side o'er the other, dependin' on how ya react."
"'Depending on how I react'?" I am most carefully not looking at his twitching tail. Don't know if that's within his power, but I'd rather not take the chance of spilling my guts to him. "React to what? Just what reactions would lead to what futures?" He's squinting his eyes at me again, damn but he's getting to be a real annoying sunnova-- "You're not really very helpful, considering how much you were paid. Perhaps you should invest in a crystal ball." --bitch! I'll show him a crys--
Ah! Woahwoahwoah waitaminute! STOP! Be calm. I take a deep drag, hoping he hadn't seen the spark of rage in my eyes, as I go over what my teacher drilled into my head. Someone make ya mad? Ya figure out why. Examine the threads. Find what was woven, determine the motives. Direct attacks and reactions only to the base, and ya negate everything the other builds atop of it.
So. Why would the fox want me mad?
...Ah. So he'd heard about that.
"I'm a Reader, not a Pruner. No one could... convince me... to be workin' that." Which is to say, no one could bribe, blackmail, or otherwise manuver me into giving predictions that favor certain... factions... of the Reikai. The fact that I'm not dead says the same of those in the Makai, while also stating that I'm either tough to kill or real good at hiding.
"No one really likes bein' manipulated -- I c'n understand that -- but either listen 'r leave, 'cause now ye're jus' irritatin' to be irritatin'. Get yer kicks elsewhere." And stop looking for weak spots!
He shrugs one shoulder nonchalantly. "You're taking so long, I'm starting to get bored," he says, watching the whirls and eddies of the smoke in the air. "Is there a reason you have virtually no air currents through here?"
"Yeah, ta suf'cate clients that talk too much," I snap, quickly scanning the Possiblities for one last thing. He might as well get the real money's worth. "If ye find that Vanity's Effects have marked ye, and ye have woven thy life with the Historian, befriend the Shadow, for he shall make thee remember the Stories." I pause; man that's rough on the voice, but... there. One prophecy: delivered. "Believe me, ye'll be happier fer it.
"Now get the fuck outta here, and take yer damn seed with ya, Youko Kurama."
--
Alright, wards: up; notice-me-nots: up; new smokes: ...found. I sigh as I lean back, staring through the wisps coming from my mouth at the ceiling.
He'll want to avoid the group of bounty hunters lodging on the South side, so he'll skirt them and head for the North gate, just missing the whores in the West. That bat will be in sensing range by then, and meet him coming from the North West quarter, they'll exit the North gate, and get caught in the storm.
I could, of course, catch up to him before he reaches the point where he can sense the bat, and tell him about the paradox and how to fix it...
Inhale.
Nahhh. He'll figure it out.
Exhale.
Title: Hobby
-Harry Potter / Yu Yu Hakusho fanfiction, Harry Potter and Botan
-The Japanese are notoriously polite, you know
//////////
"An oar?" he asked as he recovered from nearly spraying tea everywhere. "You fly on an oar?"
He watched her pout and murmur darkly, but then she said, "Look, you're a wizard, right? I'm a psychic. Just because our energy, magic, whatever you want to call it," she waved her hand vaguely, "comes from the same place, doesn't mean its used the same way!"
-The Japanese are notoriously polite, you know
//////////
"An oar?" he asked as he recovered from nearly spraying tea everywhere. "You fly on an oar?"
He watched her pout and murmur darkly, but then she said, "Look, you're a wizard, right? I'm a psychic. Just because our energy, magic, whatever you want to call it," she waved her hand vaguely, "comes from the same place, doesn't mean its used the same way!"
"I know that!" Anyone who'd spent time around Hermione in the last few weeks knew that. He loved her, he really did; she was one of his best friends -- but Merlin, that girl could talk. She had near talked everyone's ears off when they had set the vacation plans. The sheer number of differences between the East and the West was just so very vast -- and that wasn't even counting the magical populations! "Versatility versus Specialization, I know! Believe me," he muttered in remembered pain, "I know."
"Yes, well, just remember, you're stuck riding a broom of all things!" she huffed, only slightly mollified.
"At least it's somewhat expected!" Even he had to wince at the weak defense.
She merely raised an eyebrow. "And that's... a good thing?"
He rolled his eyes resignedly. "Well..." Time for a strategic retreat. "Off subject, but could you tell me of any other magical sites near here? My group's been going spare trying to find any." He had only stumbled across The Semiguise by accident, after all.
"'Magical sites'? Oh, they're everywhere!" She told him with wide pink eyes. "Don't tell me you haven't seen them." She blinked, then made a silent 'oh'. "We hide things in plain sight over here," came the start of the explanation. "The wizard to psychic ratio is, oh, about even really. But, there are discrepancies. What a wizard would be able to spot out without thinking, some psychics would just pass over like normal people until it's pointed out to them if the right wards aren't applied. So! Most any magical place will serve both gifted and non-gifted people, so that psychics are included."
"Really? But, what about..." Psychics were mostly muggle-born, if he remembered right, and, well...
"Discrimination?" She smiles wryly. "The Japanese are notoriously polite, you know," she said as if imparting an inside joke. "In any case, my student is almost here--" Student? She looks barely fifteen! "--so I'm afraid you'll have to find someone else to discuss the latest flying techniques with... ah..."
Oh! They hadn't really introduced themselves, had they? "Potter Harry." It is surname first, right? Stupid translation charms... though at least Voldemort was primarily European; he'd not had to deal with people calling him anything hyphenated while here...
"Potter-san." She nods to herself, gathering her flying magazine (which she had been snorting over before their conversation) and laying the check on her table. "You may call me--"
"BOTAN-SAN!"
"--Hakagishi Botan."
A small girl that could have been a Weasly with hair that red came babbling apologies up to Botan, not even noticing the foreigner the table over watching with amusement. Botan made an exasperated face at him, gave a nod and a smile for a goodbye, then led the girl away, neatly cutting off the babbling as she went with what appeared to be the ease of long practice.
He watched bemusedly until they got lost in the crowd, then went back to trying to eat his lunch. He would get the hang of chopsticks...
Title: On the Never Ending Battle
-Yu Yu Hakusho fanfiction
-There are some things even a mother has to concede to
//////////
It was, she thought ruefully, watching the play of sunlight on him, simply ridiculous. When he had been younger, she hadn't thought much of going every five or six monthes, because that was normal; but the older he got, the less time there was until another visit was needed. It was baffling. She had never thought that four inches in one month was possible, yet her son was living proof.
Inquisitive green eyes noticed her staring, and the head tilted, making red strands fall in front of his face. Again.
"Yes, Mother?"
"Shuuichi? How do you feel about long hair?"
-There are some things even a mother has to concede to
//////////
It was, she thought ruefully, watching the play of sunlight on him, simply ridiculous. When he had been younger, she hadn't thought much of going every five or six monthes, because that was normal; but the older he got, the less time there was until another visit was needed. It was baffling. She had never thought that four inches in one month was possible, yet her son was living proof.
Inquisitive green eyes noticed her staring, and the head tilted, making red strands fall in front of his face. Again.
"Yes, Mother?"
"Shuuichi? How do you feel about long hair?"
Title: Intermittent
-Yu Yu Hakusho fanfiction, Uremeshi Yuusuke
-He's learned that it's just a transition phase, that small eternity when his eyes are closed
//////////
His eyes are closed (he knows), he's laying down (he thinks, but the angle feels wrong), his head is stuffed full of cotton (like that one time he got sick), and there's a subtle tingling all through his body (that reminds him of static cling, only this is some how so much More). He doesn't have a clue as to what's going on (and he will never admit that it makes him a bit scared), but knows that it can't be too bad (because, see, if it had been Something Bad, he'd be thinking up ways to get the fuck out, and he's not, so therefore it can't be too bad).
It feels like there's something wrong (like something that was always there is missing), but he can't quite put his finger on it (it really bothers him).
One small eternity later, he opens his eyes to blue skies (which is impossible, because there shoud be smog), and wonders if this is what it feels like to be dead.
---
His eyes are closed (or it's just really fucking dark, he can't tell), he's standing up (which is weird, because the last thing he remembers is falling backwards), his head is surprisingly clear (just like when when it had clicked that there was no Other Way to defeat this psycho), and there's that tingling that isn't really all that subtle anymore (but there's something different about it, and he's almost positive that it's changing Right Then). He thinks he has an idea about what's going on (he'd been through it before, afterall), but knows that he knows pretty much nothing about what's supposed to happen now (because it wasn't like this at all last time).
It feels like there's something wrong (and he's betting it has to do with the tingling thats starting to remind him of Kurama and Hiei and Jin and, oh shit, he thinks he knows what it is now), but he decides to sit back and see what happens (he isn't quite as rash as before).
One small eternity later, he opens his eyes to a cavern's ceiling (which is surprising, because he was half sure that it would have all caved in by now), and wonders why the hell he isn't dead.
-He's learned that it's just a transition phase, that small eternity when his eyes are closed
//////////
His eyes are closed (he knows), he's laying down (he thinks, but the angle feels wrong), his head is stuffed full of cotton (like that one time he got sick), and there's a subtle tingling all through his body (that reminds him of static cling, only this is some how so much More). He doesn't have a clue as to what's going on (and he will never admit that it makes him a bit scared), but knows that it can't be too bad (because, see, if it had been Something Bad, he'd be thinking up ways to get the fuck out, and he's not, so therefore it can't be too bad).
It feels like there's something wrong (like something that was always there is missing), but he can't quite put his finger on it (it really bothers him).
One small eternity later, he opens his eyes to blue skies (which is impossible, because there shoud be smog), and wonders if this is what it feels like to be dead.
---
His eyes are closed (or it's just really fucking dark, he can't tell), he's standing up (which is weird, because the last thing he remembers is falling backwards), his head is surprisingly clear (just like when when it had clicked that there was no Other Way to defeat this psycho), and there's that tingling that isn't really all that subtle anymore (but there's something different about it, and he's almost positive that it's changing Right Then). He thinks he has an idea about what's going on (he'd been through it before, afterall), but knows that he knows pretty much nothing about what's supposed to happen now (because it wasn't like this at all last time).
It feels like there's something wrong (and he's betting it has to do with the tingling thats starting to remind him of Kurama and Hiei and Jin and, oh shit, he thinks he knows what it is now), but he decides to sit back and see what happens (he isn't quite as rash as before).
One small eternity later, he opens his eyes to a cavern's ceiling (which is surprising, because he was half sure that it would have all caved in by now), and wonders why the hell he isn't dead.
Title: Vanishing Point
-Yu Yu Hakusho fanfiction
-This is where it cannot be fixed
//////////
And here is the last thing to ever tie her to Before, the last thing to keep her in the Now, the last thing to stay Future from drowning her and everything (everyOne) she had ever held close to heart because what would be left would just be dross compared to what she would be giving up with just a negligable movement--
She cut the line of thought off ruthlessly. Either she would be atoned or not, but she still had many years before that. Untill Then--
Why, it's almost graceful, Rui thought as she watched the baby boy fall.
-This is where it cannot be fixed
//////////
And here is the last thing to ever tie her to Before, the last thing to keep her in the Now, the last thing to stay Future from drowning her and everything (everyOne) she had ever held close to heart because what would be left would just be dross compared to what she would be giving up with just a negligable movement--
She cut the line of thought off ruthlessly. Either she would be atoned or not, but she still had many years before that. Untill Then--
Why, it's almost graceful, Rui thought as she watched the baby boy fall.
Title: Feels like the End
-Harry Potter fanfiction, Alice Longbottom
-Alice can't quite put her finger on whats wrong...
//////////
That's very strange...
-Alice can't quite put her finger on whats wrong...
//////////
That's very strange...
It doesn't hurt...
Shouldn't it hurt? She remembers it hurting but now...
...seems...
...too far away...
Drifting...
...it's almost like that time where her boyfriend (boyfriend? No no no, that was her husband) had thrown her into the lake, and she'd had that moment of clarity, under the water...
...what?
Oh, yes, her boyfriend(/husband/Important Person/color-in-her-life) had thrown her into the lake, and just before she sputtered to the surface, she had opened her eyes and...
...just...
Floated...
Where was he, anyway? Hadn't he been right beside her? Just before she'd closed her eyes (why did she do that?) she'd seen him (seen what? That seemed very important, somehow) and they'd been lying right beside each other but they weren't in bed and if she was there and he was there then where had her son(/baby/Important Person/air-I-breathe) been because he was much too young to be by himself and just the other day hadn't he climbed out of his crib and nearly fallen on his head?
Where was her son?
Where was her son?
Where was her son?
Where was her son?
WHERE IS MY BA--?
...That's very strange...
It doesn't hurt...
Shouldn't it hurt? She remembers it hurting but now...
...seems...
...too far away...
Title: Sight
-Yu Yu Hakusho fanfiction, Kuwabara Shizuru
-Because sometimes a swift kick is needed to get the ball rolling
//////////
Shizuru carefully opened her eyes, just in time to see the clock change to four-thirty. Sometimes, she really hated being a part of the Kuwabara family, and all that entailed.
Translations
Oneesan--Elder sister
Otouto--Little brother (In the series, Shizuru calls Kazuma, "Baby Brother", and this was the closest I could find)
-Because sometimes a swift kick is needed to get the ball rolling
//////////
Shizuru carefully opened her eyes, just in time to see the clock change to four-thirty. Sometimes, she really hated being a part of the Kuwabara family, and all that entailed.
Well, no, not really. Just when it disrupted her sleeping. A sleepy Shizuru was a cranky Shizuru, and Kazuma could attest to that personally. She frowns. 'Kazuma ...'
(--and here he's sitting with people she knows and yet does not recognize, and a positively ancient woman is looking at them, judging if they will be enough, if when she is gone they will still be able to--)
Covers are thrown back as she levers herself out of bed. Everything happens for a reason. No matter how big, small, cataclysmic, or seemingly innocuous, everything creates a reaction, setting off a chain of events, weaving just another thread in the tapestry of Life, or Fate, or whatever you want to call it.
She smirks as she wonders just how many threads are needed to make a Destiny.
(--and here he is standing in front of a golden net in a darkness that was more and less than Nothingness, and he is furious and hurting because his best friend is -- is -- but they cannot pass it so he's -- he is --)
Coffee. She had time for that, right? Just a bit of a wake-up call before she woke him up. Not that she was procrastinating, no, not at all.
(--running toward someone and now he's falling and he's lying so still and oh Kami please no is he really--?)
'Not. At. All,' she thinks as she punches the numbers on the microwave just a tad harder than necessary.
(--and here is a young woman and she is beautiful and he is in love but she's there and he's here --)
It's four-fifty-three and she really should wake him up so he isn't too late.
She takes another sip.
Yeah, she should.
(--where there's a swirling something where the wall just was and did that one just -- ? -- so he jumps right after him and The World --)
"Kazuma? It's time to wake up now..."
"Uwa... Oneesan? What?"
"I said, it's time to get up. Unless you want to be late?"
"Oneesan. It's five in the MORNING... It's a HOLIDAY."
"Weren't you complaining yesterday about how your spirit powers were going crazy?"
"Well, yeah--"
"And didn't you say that maybe you should go ask for some advice from that famous Psychic, Genkai?"
"Yeah, but--"
"So don't you think you should get up and get going?"
"Right now?!"
"Yes 'right now'!"
(--is going dark because his body is so broken but his mind is achingly Aware and he can almost See it and she knows that he cannot, will not, allow his rival to die --)
She looks at him out of the corner of her eyes as he enters the kitchen, and he fumbles to catch the apple she's just thrown him. "No time for a big meal, Otouto, you need to get a move on."
She's just a bit too casual as she takes a drag, and she thinks that maybe he's begining to suspect that everything isn't okay right then.
CRUNCH-munch-munch-munch
"Why the heck are you up so damn early? Ain't like I HAD to be at Genkai's today."
(--in the dark, and he's holding some sort of stick, and oh nohe'scomingrightathimNO! -- and... and the Dark was gone in a flash of Light...)
"It's an hour long bus ride, plus however long it takes you to actually get to the bus stop and to hike up to the Temple itself."
He didn't move, just stared at her, getting a funny look in his eyes.
"Right... Yeah. Guess I should get going. See ya later, Oneesan!"
He didn't slam the door for once.
(..."Uremeshi!" "Kuwabara?!" "What're you doing here?" "And what're YOU doing here?"--)
There were certain things that just come with being part of the Kuwabara family. In recent generations, part of it was foreign looks, thanks to an English grandmother. Foreign loks weren't nearly as much of a pain in the ass as having the Sight, though.
(--"My rei abilities have sharpened lately, and I'm always seeing weird things and hearing weird stuff--)
Ah well. Everything happens for a reason.
(--My sister encouraged me to come down here for a look, and all I see is this stuff!")
Translations
Oneesan--Elder sister
Otouto--Little brother (In the series, Shizuru calls Kazuma, "Baby Brother", and this was the closest I could find)
Friday, November 9, 2007
Title: Stranger
-Original, no where in particular
//////////
Came in on the train last night, wondering if you were still waiting for me to come home. Walked over streets I'd once known and passed by that store you used to work at, looks like it's been closed down for a while. Saw the house with your name on it, but not with your car in the driveway. Stood outside looking at the dark windows, but I didn't try the old key in the new door. Was there when you pulled up, and saw you look with eyes that didn't know me. Heard you ask, "May I help you?" but I just smiled and said, "No, I'm just passing through, but thanks anyhow"...
//////////
Came in on the train last night, wondering if you were still waiting for me to come home. Walked over streets I'd once known and passed by that store you used to work at, looks like it's been closed down for a while. Saw the house with your name on it, but not with your car in the driveway. Stood outside looking at the dark windows, but I didn't try the old key in the new door. Was there when you pulled up, and saw you look with eyes that didn't know me. Heard you ask, "May I help you?" but I just smiled and said, "No, I'm just passing through, but thanks anyhow"...
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