ℓιfє • ¢συℓ∂ • вє • ѕιмρℓє [Light]

[CrimsonMoon]

(*slaps down 100 points* hit me x3)

The village was small, nestled on the outskirts of the Kingdom along the coast. Though it contained beauty, such as the sea nearby which sparkled in the vibrant sunlight like liquid silver and the coastal plains that stretched away from it to the small forest a few miles away, it contained much hardship. The rice paddies seemed constantly to yield no crop, the wheat seemed doomed to wither and shrivel before it had even begun to grow and even the catch from the sea was hardly enough to sustain the village past the point of poverty. This was the case in many villages, with a famine sweeping over the country and the ruling Court pushing harder for taxes it was like asking starving dog to give up a cow. Yet the remnants of the four tribes: Fire, Water, Earth and Wind, did not resist... Alas the Rebels did indeed grow larger, it would not be enough- never enough.

Alas, back to our small village. This day was a gloomy day, the sky was a smokey grey and rain pattered down in an endless drizzle against the thatch roofing. A little boy shuffled through the spitting rain, about 11 years old but carrying a large bundle of sticks and twigs on his back. It was clear he had walked to the forest, gathered these sticks, then walked back- and was more wet then a drowned rat. He shivered and coughed weakly but trudged through the mud, seeming determined to get where he was going. A bandage that covered his left eye seemed to be falling apart-

Still it rained, still the thunder grumbled over the ocean on the distance

[Light]

(XD I'll get'cha bro)

He had been walking for days, in no clear direction. Until recently, that is. He had come across a pack of dogs that were hot on his trail in pursuit now, and he was running. Like a wild rabbit, he sprang over roots and rolled through dirt. When it was clear he wouldn't outrun them, he picked up a rock and met them head on. Lips that were dry and cracked, torn in places and bleeding, turned back into a twisted snarl and he started hammering away at one. Another bit his arm, and a third went for his leg. He didn't feel it, didn't care for it. They were going to be next--after he finished off the one going for his throat. He did it by slamming the rock into it's head and then digging his fingers into it's eyes, going straight for what was behind them. It screamed and tried to move back, but the damage was done and it fell convulsing on the floor, not dead but soon dead. The one that had been on his arm snarled something fierce, and the defender howled back with his sore throat, and started punching it with the rock in his closed fist.

One, two, three--he felt blood loss creeping in, but he only stopped until he had reached ten and the mutt wasn't moving. The third, the one last one, had run away after both of its allies had been taken down. It understood that it wasn't worth losing his life, and soon the boy would die anyways. It would just have to wait until that time came. The boy, the winner of the battle, stumbled back from the bodies and pushed his back against a tree as he tried to catch his breath. White hair covered his eyes, matted like the pelt of a rabbit. Everything about his screamed herbivore at first, in fact, but the dogs that had just challenged that had found out otherwise. He was no ordinary rabbit. Nothing for them to sink their teeth in. 

The rag that fell from his shoulders was soaking wet, pink and red with blood that was his and not his. He pushed off of the tree and started walking again, tearing at the bottom of the white material. It was dirty, but he pressed it up against the bite on his arm anyways and tried to stop himself from bleeding out. He hissed angrily, and his bangs parted to show pink eyes. Dark pink--almost red, but not quite. Not quite a rabbit, but not quite a wolf.

Not quite a puppet, but not truly a boy. 

He fell again and stumbled down to one knee. "Not... not here," he gasped with ailing throat. "Not... not in... dirt.... not to rot....!" 

[CrimsonMoon]

The small villager heard the commotion, his ear twitching. He dropped the bundle of twigs in the mud, instantly instinct kicking in. His bare feet slapping and splashing along the path until the little boy found the trail of many paws- pausing, he pushed into the thin forest, shaking water droplets from his curly hair-

Seeing the skinny hound, he ran and literally punted the dog in the ribs, causing it to yelp in agony before scurrying away. The little boy wrinkles his nose and looks at the stranger, instantly his eyebrows crinkling with concern...

" Don't.... Don't worry," he said softly, crouching in front of the other boy," You're not gonna... Disappear here."

[Light]

He looked up, blinking through the light drizzle that was obscuring his vision, "Not... gonna...?" He sighed--or breathed out, there wasn't much in the way of expression to behold on his face, but there was some sort of gratitude.

He straightened his back and moved away the cloth to squeeze out some of the blood and water that was making it hard to keep holding on to. "Bloody... dogs..." He turned his head and pressed his face against his shoulder to cough out a few times, the excitement and the weather he wasn't used to draining him.

[CrimsonMoon]

The red haired boy suddenly thrust his hand out, forcefully yet with oddly comforting purpose," You can't just sit there like that," he says rather matter-of-factly," Gimme your hand, i'm takin' you to my house,"

(Also- he doesn't have a scar yet and I changed up his oroginal description a bit xP)

[Light]

"Sitting in the mud is so nice though," he hesitates for a moment, clearly not trusting the other, but takes his hand and forces himself to stand up, "You sure you wanna do that?" The white haired boy didn't believe that someone would just do that--he'd seen a lot of people that would kick aside a person and leave them to die. To him, that was the natural order of the world.

(Okkie OwO)

[CrimsonMoon]

" I'd feel bad if I left you here," the little boy shrugs, beginning to drag along his new aquaintence. The little boy pushed through the thin foliage, sniffling and sneezing until they reached the road. Already soaked to the bone, his thin shoulders trembled visibly beneath his kimono.

[Light]

He watched him from behind as he was lead away from the messy scene, his other hand wiping off the slime from the encounter on what he had covering him. "Tch..." he looked away and bit down on his tongue. What a weirdo. "Don't blame me if you regret it," he warned him after coughing into his shoulder again.

[CrimsonMoon]

The little boy pauses, stopping in his tracks despite the freezing rain and turns, fixing him eith one peircing eye, the bandage falling away slightly from his other eye," Are you gonna make me regret it?" He counter seriously, still holding the other boy's hand with his own, water dripping from their fingers like tear drops

[Light]

He would stare at the other, his nose twitching a bit before he snorted. "You only bite the hand that strikes you. I'm not some rabid monster." He looked down at his feet, blood, blood, blood--he must look like one. That wasn't his problem though, if the other didn't believe him. His eyes darted back up and he looked at the boys face, glancing over the bandages and each line that showed something different to him.

[CrimsonMoon]

The little boy just shrugs and continues on walking, still girmly grasping the other's hand. He pauses at the bundle of sticks and scoops it up, placing it on his back again as they continue to the small village,"... What's your name?" He asks

[Light]

"...." His eyebrow rises a bit before it falls again and he decides it was better to just answer. ".... Masumi," he told him. He looked down at their hands, before back up ahead. "... What's yours?"

[CrimsonMoon]

" Kakumei... But just call me Kaku, everybody else does," he mumbles softly, staggering slightly to support the bundle of wood on his back as they trudged across the open plain toward the distant shapes of the dark huts

[Light]

Masumi muttered a few words under his breath that resembled curses. He didn't pity him, the kid just looked so pathetic right then that he could claw his own eyes out. The boy pulled his hand out of the grip and lifted some of the sticks off his his back with his good arm. "Kakumei, then."

[CrimsonMoon]

Kaku looks at him and smiles weakly, continuing to trudge along," Thanks," he mumbles, shaking his head, his small braid flinging a disc of water droplets around his head like a silver halo. He smiles more brightly and continues through the rain, they were drawing closer to the small village squatting in the middle of the plains-

[Light]

"Might as well." he said while looking at the small village ahead. His eyes squint to get a better look through the weather. The whole scene looked depressing, gloomy, and then some more depressing on the side. He hefted up the sticks a bit, keeping them in the crook of his waist.

[CrimsonMoon]

Kaku smiles faintly and continues along, as they enter the village, they trudge squatting huts, in each tiny window or door way was a small orb of incense, some had intricate designs and were carved from wood. The little boy soon approaches a one room hut and drops the wood beneath a straw woven 'blanket' before peeking inside, looking back at Masumi," Come on in... Baba is probably fixing supper," he smiles, freezing droplets of water streaming down his face-

[Light]

Masumi drops the wood where the other had, and nodded his head hesitantly. "Mm..." It was making him feel out of place, seeing him smile so much. Because what was there to smile about around here? He follows him in and looks around, his eyes jumping side to side.

[CrimsonMoon]

Crouched in the center of the small room was a tall man, his back facing the door but from that alone- his powerful back was like that of a beast of burden yet- from the way his long legs were crossed, it was clear he was a tall yet slender man. Black hair rested in a neat bun on his head, looking back- he seemed surprised," Mm?" He grunts, the sound like a huge cat's rumble.

Kakumei soon appears, sneezing," Baba-" he opens his mouth to explain but is cut off with a gentle flourish of the man's hand. Kaku cracks a smile and skips over, crouching next to the man, the smokey, rich smell of cooking fish flesh and plants filled the small room... It was mostly empty but it seemed... To have an aura of comfort and peace, happiness

[Light]

The boy tilts his head to the side, observing from the front. Odd--how very, very odd. His arms crossed over his chest and he looked away, finding the walls and the floor fascinating. He curled his toes and looked down at them, trying to make himself invisible. So... Baba? He didn't know where the name came from, but it sounded like he was calling him grandmother.