Forums » Fantasy Roleplay » Autumn Leaves (Closed)

The sky blazed a fiery red. The massive trees of the forest had their leaves dyed, their hues changing from green to vibrate golds and oranges. The their roots intertwined, forming massive knots. Bushes with warm brown leaves were scattered over the forest floor, hiding small animals that darted around when they thought their world was safe. It the heart of this warm and natural wonderland was a shrine. The small building held a simple pedestal of red. A gold plate read "Spirit of the Autumn Leaves" signalling that the pedestal should hold a statue, but none could be seen. Instead a white fox with nine tails the color of orange autumn leaves sat there. Her head was held high showing her pricked orange ears and soft turquoise eyes. A scrolling orange pattern was visible on her back, thighs and face. Her paws and legs up to the elbows were the same orange as her tails.

she yawned and stretched. Each one of her tails moved independently of each other. Her small paws slowly moved from her pedestal to the floor of the tiny temple. Her back paws soon joined her front ones and she began to slowly walk among the trees. Once she reached the small lake in the meadow not far from her shrine she bowed her head and took a drink. A string of turquoise beads hung around her neck with a leaf pendent that had her name spelled out in Japanese. Akiha, meaning Autumn leaves, was a near five hundred year old nine tailed Kitsune.

((just a warning, Xavior tends to curse alot. ^^))
damn, they're gaining!
The sound of crackling leaves broke the calm silence of the forest as a figure rushed into the expanse of trees. clutched tightly in one gloved hand hung a deerskin pouch. by the sound within, anyone could guess some type of metal lay inside.
Quickly, other footsteps pummeled behind the figure.
this was the way to live, he thought to himself. dangerous as hell!
The guards stood little chance. Their footsteps stopped and soon disapeared.
Xavior had won again.

Akiha looked up. Her orange ears pricked as she heard the jingling of coins. She didn't really like the loud noises of money. she moved towards the sound her nine tails trailing after her. Upon seeing the man she tilted her head. She wasn't quite sure what he was. she took a few measured steps to come up and sniff him. Her small nose worked. Still confused as to what he was she circled him. He had pointed ears and fair hair, both things she'd never seen before. This was Japan after all.

Finally she gave up. Confused as hell she sat down, about a few feet back from him. Her head was tilted in question as her tails moved behind her. This light from the sinking sun flickering over them, causing them to look like an open flame.

He had slowed to a walk, panting quietly. after a whole life of running like that, he'd learned to control his breathing. Xavior began to quicken his pace as the trees grew thicker around him. then his ears caught the sound of small,padded feet on leaves. He glanced around and froze. there was a..fox, he thought, standing afew feet away. It padded over and sniffed at him, and Xavior noticed it's tails. Damn, how many of those things did it have? After a while it sat back down, and he quietly stared at it.

Mystified,the man didn't have half a thought to kill it. If he wasn't so captured then he would have done so already. The firey pelt would do great at the market. Yet something blocked that thought from his mind. Something told him this creature was precious. was it a God, as Xavior had seen before? He felt his hand slip into a pouch, leafing a Seal silently. If it was..he could Seal the God's soul to himself, and have a very impressive soulbond at his side. after all, it couldn't turn down the offer if he wasn't afraid, now could it?

As he began to move his hand she stepped back, almost tripping over her small paws. Danger, Run. The wind whispered in her ears. Her heart fluttered like bird's. She might be a very powerful deity, as show by her nine tails, but she was not invulnerable. She could be hurt or even killed by another. Sure it took a lot but it wasn't impossible.

Her turquoise eyes glittered, bright with fear. She didn't want to fight. The last one hadn't ended well for her. she'd been cursed. Cursed to be sealed in stone until Autumn. Autumn was the only time she could be free.

A root stopped her from backing up. Leaving her staring into the man's eyes. Her ears flipped back, begging for him to let her go. Tears actually began to roll down the Kitsune's small face. The orange pattern on her body glowed vibrantly, as it always did with strong emotion.

The urge in the back of his mind strengthened. There was something very human in this creature's eyes. emotion.
He dropped his hand to his side.
god damnit.Even though the rest of his mind screamed at him to capture this fox-god, he just couldn't. Xavior noticed the tears. Surely only a pure God could cry such bright liquid. The Elf turned to face the fox and crouched down, leaning on the tips of his boots. he opened another pouch and took out a strip of jerky. Still at war with himself, Xavior held the meat out to the fox.

"i won't hurt you," he mumbled. "there's no need to cry."

One orange paw lifted up to rub her tears away. She moved closer to him. She didn't want the food. Being a deity made it to where she didn't need to eat, unless it was to heal. She got her energy from gratitude. The feelings all things gave off when something was done for them. It didn't matter if it was a human, a cat, or a tree. She fed off that.

Instead of taking the food she laid her small head on his knee. Looking up at him. Her ears lifted and her tails swayed softly, almost as though they were wagging. One of her paws sat on the toe of his boot. She figured he couldn't be bad. Not if he'd stopped once he saw her crying. Maybe he was just misguided. Like the man who's ideas had given birth to her.

huh?
Xavior looked down at the fox, then put the jerky on you ground. Right, Silver had told him that before. Gods didn't need to eat or drink.
He gently patted her head, smiling softly.This fox was incredibly soft furred.
"so you're not hungry." Xavior lifted his other hand and wiped the glinting tears from it's other eye. guessing on the creatures actions, he assumed the Fox God was female.
"how come you haven't run yet?"

She pressed her cheek into his hand as he wiped the tears away. Her tails moved side to side and up and down. Moving in a way that resembled an open flame. She opened her mouth and said in her sweet soft voice "I'm not scared anymore." She lifted her sleek white head and stared into his eyes. There was no judgement there. Nothing but purity and kindness in her eyes. The corners of her mouth bent down in a frown. "You're not going to hurt me are you?" she asked. Being a god she was Omnilingual, able to speak all languages she heard. She did it on a subconscious level. So she wasn't sure if they actually spoke the same language or if her ability had kicked in.

Even though he knew she could speak, the fox's voice surprised him for a moment. It didn't show though.
"No, i won't hurt you."
Even though the wanted thief should have Sealed her minutes ago, he was speaking the truth for once. Maybe it was her presence that stilled him. Or just the fact that this had been the first positive interaction he'd had in months. She wasn't afraid of him either. That little part of him began to hate that thought. Everyone should fear Xavior. he had been a hard-core criminal since the age of ten. The fact that she wasn't afraid pissed off that part of Xavior's mind. But the rest of him felt..at ease. For once he wasn't fighting or running.

The smile she gave him was radiant. "that's good." she said brightly. "I'd hate to have to kill you." Her voice rang with honesty. It wasn't a threat just a statement of fact. There was little doubt in her mind that she could kill him, she was a god, but she didn't want to. Lives were too short to be extinguished over petty things.

Her smile faded and she looked away. She had a reason for not killing. she didn't want anyone to loose someone they loved. Someone they stood by for years.

That'd happened to her. She'd stood by him for years, with no physical body. She'd resided in the fall leaves. Leaves that had given him a will to live. He'd worked hard until the end of his life, with her by his side. She had spent his final days with him, doing what he wanted. They spoke of leaves, places they had gone, and what would happen later. When his time had run out she carried him to the heavens on a flurry of the leaves he loved so much.

She didn't want anyone to feel that aching loneliness, so she refused to kill except for in defense...and even then she'd rather run.

he chuckled, sensing her lowheartedness.
"no one would miss me if you did, so there is no need to worry."
Another statement of truth, such a new thing to him. He had some aquatints, but they were long gone now. They were dead, because of him. Xavior blinked, clearing his mind.
he had no time for this. Those men would be back, soon. he needed to find somewhere to stay. Xavior looked up at the trees, lifting a hand to a tall tree with most of it's leaves still attached. one of it's colossal branches bend down to meet his finger tips, and he tested it's strength. hmm...
that settled it. Xavior would sleep where he belonged. in the trees.

She tilted her head to the side. Confused as his actions and his words. Everyone had someone who would miss them when they were gone. Everyone. she gave her head a shake and looked up at him. She rested her paws on the tree that he tested. "What's your name?" she asked softly, her tails moving like leaves in the wind. "I'm Akiha." Her small chest lifted to show the pendent that rested there. She didn't understand why he wanted to sleep in the tree and not in the village, she guessed that's why he was messing with the branches.

Her paws moved back to the ground and she sat. Still watching him, with glowing eyes.

Xavior glanced at her and let his arm drop to his side again.
he didn't know what the symbols on her pendant meant, but her name itself was beautiful.
"I'm Xavior." he smiled, the left side of his grin alittle higher than the right.
"nice to meet you, Akiho."

"Nice to meet you too Xavior-San." She smiled back at him, noticing his crooked smile. She looked over the rest of him and frowned. "If you don't mind me asking..." She'd never, in all her five hundred years, ran across anything like him. He was definitely different than anything she met. She was also curious as to why he was in her forest. She'd figure out the second question later though.

Xavior-san?
he'd been hearing "san" alot while in this new place. Must just be a custom.
Xavior looked at her. That nagging feeling still told him things, but he was fighting it off. "yeah? I don't mind, ask away!"

She tilted her sleek head. "Do you mind me asking what you are? It's just, I've never meet anything like you, Xavior-San, and well I'm rather curious." she sat and looked up at him. In this, the smallest of her fox forms, she was no bigger than a dog. That made her have to tilt her head all the way back to look ups at his face.

"What amI?"
Xavior chuckled. Had she never seen his kind? "I'm a forest Elf. I come from a land far away from here." He smiled down at the bright fox Goddess.

"I see..." she said slowly. So he was from far away. It'd explain his clothing and why she'd never seen his race before. "If you're from far away what brings you to my forest?" Her voice was kind and held curiosity.

"i'm not sure actually.." he sat back on his heels and tried to remember. "I was carried over here on a ship."