::Neko returned home from her time at the clearing. Tired, it took a bit of effort to climb the ladder up to her Uncle's home. It was a simple structure. Very different from the elaborate set of rooms she had grown accustom to in his old house. But it was well maintained and truthfully she enjoyed the "No Frills" style much more.
Yawning, she stumbled thru the main living area and out onto the covered porch area. While she was sure there would be times when the weather or some other circumstance would force her to sleep indoors, on clear nights like this she enjoyed sleeping out here with the view of the trees and the fresh air. Making her way to the corner she had claimed as her own, she began to remove her equipment and set it out carefully on the wooden beams that made up the floor. Once she was down to the simple garb she wore beneath her armor, she laid down on the patched blanket she had found on her first visit here and went to sleep dreaming of what she could do with the clearing she had found...::
::The morning sun wakes her after only a few short hours of sleep. Rising from her makeshift bed, she does a few stretches to work the kinks out of her muscles before walking inside, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. Her dreams last night had given her a few ideas on things she could do to build up her "training area", as long as she could find the supplies she needed and get them there. She didn't have much money, so she figured she would take a tour of the trash the townsfolk had thrown out to see if maybe there was something there she could use. She needed something to help her carry whatever she finds tho, so she spent a few minutes looking thru her Uncle's house until finally finding an old sack.
She figured he wouldn't mind her borrowing it for the day so she snatched it up and walked out to the porch once more. She needed a bath, so she didn't done her armor yet. Instead she placed what she could of it in the sack and shouldering the rest, along with her weapons, she left her newfound home for the stream that flowed nearby. After bathing, she would put on her weapons and armor and head into town to see what she could find.::
::Neko sat alone in her corner of the porch of the home her uncle shared with Kiko. Her newly purchased Silverweave garments were unwrapped and layed out beside her. While not exactly what one would consider "high fashion" they would be alot better than showing up in dirty armor at the Gala. Now if she could just figure out what to do with the rest of her...
Never more so than now has she missed having a female figure to look to for help. Father and her uncle were lots of help with most things, but somehow getting fashion tips did not seem like something they could provide. Naradel was an elf, at more at home in the woods than at a party. Xana she had just met, but did not seem to be the party type either. There was that Cathian she had seen briefly in the tavern, but she hardly knew her, let alone where she lived.
And then there was Kiko... She had seen the woman several times in passing while living here, but had somehow she had yet to muster up the nerve to approach her. Her uncle loved her, that was plain to see, and perhaps that was what was causing her hesitation. When there was someone that meant that much to a person you cared about, you always wanted to give the best impression, and no matter how hard she tried to work something out in her head, it never seemed good enough. And just walking up to her and asking for help seemed awkward. Especially of this nature.
With a frustrated huff, she tried once again to brush thru her hair and do something with it like she had seen the finer women around town do. Alas, as deft as her hands were at combat, put a brush in them and they turned all thumbs.
When the latest attempt fell to pieces around her, she was sorely tempted to throw the brush she had picked up at a street vendor's over the rail. But then she'd only have to go down after it, and hope it hadn't broken.
Needing a break, she got up and walked to the rail that ran around the edge of the porch and leaned against it, looking out to the woods. Perhaps armor wasn't such a bad choice after all... ::
Kiko was a private person. The lessons of her childhood bore bitter fruit here. She did not care for people overmuch and she trusted even less. The Wolf and Zaedus were trustworthy in her opinion. The latter because he had stood beside her during a journey that changed her life, the former was Chosen. To Kiko that meant any number of things. She chose to trust him, she chose to accompany him and she had chosen to love him until the end of her days.
She had no regrets.
For the better part of eight years their home had been her sanctuary; her private place. She could drop the walls, so to speak. In fact, there were no walls at all. Kiko sighed and scrubbed a hand over her face. She had been leaving the tree house often, ostensibly to keep an eye on the wolf pups, but if she was honest with herself that was an excuse.
Kiko was uncomfortable in her home.
Ever since the Wolf had brought Neko home she had been uneasy. At first she attributed it to the endless affection the cat girl showed him. If there was another characteristic that defined Kiko it was protective. You did not step into her patch of the world and try to harm those she cared about. Such affection from a stranger went nowhere but to some horrible betrayal in Kiko’s mind. Never mind that Grayell seemed to know her, he could be deceived and the wall went up.
But as the weeks past and nothing untoward happened she had to revise her opinion or reconsider it. At that point she tried a little harder to narrow down why the situation upset her. There was the silence. Kiko was soft footed and could be remarkably quiet for hours at a time. But, she was not outright silent. The girl had spoken not a word. She could not use that as a reason, either, though. She knew that Grayell had spoken to her via the Vanguard hoods.
So what was it? Neko was curled in her regular spot on the porch fussing with her hair. Kiko said nothing and she doubted if the girl even saw her, as preoccupied as she appeared. The hackles on the back of Kiko’s neck smoothed out to some extent. Did she really need to keep a wall between them because of some imagined treachery? She glanced at the cat girl again. Neko looked discouraged, unhappy and forlorn against the porch rail.
Kiko shook her head to shatter the image of doing the very same thing, except she had been staring from a tree into a village full of laughing children; a group, because of her ancestors, she had never had the chance to fit in to. Kiko pushed the bamboo screen out of the way and scooped up the brush Neko had discarded.
“Neko? Do you need some help?”
Eternity
“Put some clothes on, you weird, yellow-eyed, table-dancing, werewolf-training, cryptic, stare-me-right-in-the-eyes-and-don't-even-blink wench.”
::Neko stumbled and almost fell in her surprise. Lost in thought, she had not heard the woman enter behind her. Suddenly she was all nerves. Trying to compose herself, she faced Kiko and bowed in greeting.
It wasnt enough. She was a stranger in this woman's home. By all rights, she should have made the first move to greet her, but now that was too late. Shuffling her feet and with hands fidgiting with each other, she couldn't bring herself to meet Kiko's eyes as she nodded, a flush of color could be seen rising beneath the fur on her cheeks.
Gods she was so embarrassed. Kiko was a woman she automatically looked up to. She was her uncle's love, and that made her family. But she was also strong in body and spirit, from what she could tell in her admittedly limited experience with her, as well as human and beautiful. Everything she had ever wanted for herself. How often had she wished to be someone just like her over the years? How often had she pictured herself being alot like this woman before her? For all the times that she wanted to be able to speak in the past, she found herself in a spot where she didn't know what to say even if she could.
How was she to explain what she wanted? The hood was the easy answer, but getting it off afterwards could undo anything they did. Taking a risk, not knowing how Kiko would react, she gestured at the shadows created by the light shinng thru the rails and they twisted to form words.
PRETTY
LIKE YOU
As the words faded back to shadows, she gestured to the clothes she had laid out and her hair, now a knotted mess from her illfated attempts at doing something with it. ::
Kiko turned her head, the hairbrush dangling from her fingers. She had not intended to startle the girl or embarrass her. Kiko was well acquainted with that flush of discomfiture on her cheeks. She made no comment about it however, assuming she was gesturing to the trees as a way to gather her composure.
At first, she did not recognize the shadows as words. The dappled pattern of them on the rail was so very familiar this time of day. It wasn't until she saw them move independently of the rest that she realized what Neko was doing. Magic.
Kiko was undecided about magic. It was extremely seductive. It took a very strong willed person not to succumb to that siren's song of power. She stayed well away herself. However. She knew several mages and her Chosen was extremely accomplished when it came to blood magic. He used it sparingly, like his sword; only when needed. Grayell did not allow his magic to use him. But, it was an effective weapon. Kiko had seen magic users take control of hundreds during a dreadful mage war that turned Karlshamn; a dazzling northern city, into smoking crater. Mages. She wanted to paint them all as villains but it was never that simple.
Kiko rubbed a free hand over the top of her head and rocked up on her toes. She shook off those memories, too. Neko was trying to communicate, undoubtedly, it was strange shadow magic, and not something she had ever seen or heard of, but it was not using her. And as if she needed proof, the shadows dissipated and the girl made another gesture to her clothes and hair.
Kiko nodded at her and her lips curled into a fleeting smile.
"Here, Neko. I'll fix your hair. Come sit down and thanks."
::Neko gave an internal sigh of relief. Dark magick, she had learned, was not well looked upon here. It began as a gift from Father, to help her in her stealth. Now it had become an easy, if risky form of communication for her. Not to mention that she felt closer to Father now that they were apart. It was something she would never be able to call upon without it conjuring thoughts of him watching over her.
Bringing herself back to the moment, she bowed and gave her gesture for thanks. A simple movement of her fingertips pulling away from her mouth. She was happy for the help and excited by the opportunity to spend some time with Kiko, but she tried to remain calm as she smiles and moves to sit at Kiko's feet. ::
Kiko let her find a comfortable spot before taking a hold of Neko's colorful hair. She started by brushing all the tangles, snarls, and knots free from the strands working from the bottom up. It was repetitious and slow but oddly soothing, too.
A hundred images unraveled from the skien of memory. Her mother was trying to convince her to stay still. She, on the other hand, was trying to reach past her to the sticky pastry cooling on the small table. The pastry smelled delicious and she was terribly hungry.
"Yukiko! Put that down and sit still. It is not time for breakfast."
Of course, the scolding just made her sulk and drop her head in between her shoulders. Which earned her a sharp smack on the top of her head with the back of the brush. She yanked her hand back to her lap and sat up straight while her mother brushed her hair.
Kiko continued to brush Neko's hair even though the knots and snarls were long gone. The faint crackle of electricity came with the strokes along with a soft musical hum.
She remembered the song perfectly not that she had heard it for over ten years. She was never very good at sitting still for more than a minute or two. In defense, her mother had taken to singing or humming while combing her hair.
Kiko picked up a section of hair on one side of Neko's head and began to fold it into a thin braid. When one braid was done she started another, and another, and another. When all the hair on one side of her face was pulled away from her cheeks and smooth around her ears Kiko started on the opposite side. The braiding was intricate and she was working from memory, nevertheless she liked the result.
Neko's cheeks and ears were very apparent and the delicate line of her neck was no longer hidden under the fall of her hair. Kiko twisted all the braids but two into another knot at the back of cat girl's head. Then she pinned it in place with a cunning net of silk. The silk even shimmered in the light, as well. Finally, to finish it off she plucked out the braids of the two she had left free of the knot. They framed either side of her face in wispy curls.
::Neko took a deep breath as Kiko began to brush and tried to hold still as it caught on the snags.
Once the snarls were gone, she found the sensation of the brush flowing thru her hair odly relaxing. It brought to mind many memories from her old home. Some she had thought forgotten...
Still in her early form, laying on the lap of the man she would came to call Father as his cool hand pet her in long gentle strokes...
Her first lessons with her uncle when she grew to her current form. Sitting crosslegged next to him as he spoke to her of meditation and the benefits it had on ones control and the peace that could be found within. Lessons of respect and honor that came before any teachings of combat...
And oddly enough of huddling under the bar with Tilik after raiding the pantry...
Before she could look at that last memory more, she found herself rocking gently to someone softly humming. At first she thought it another memory. Yet another long forgotten bit of thought. It was only as she tried to focus her thoughts that she realized it was coming from Kiko. A smile lit her face as she closed her eyes and listened, letting the music take her where it would while Kiko finished her work.
When the music stopped and she no longer felt Kiko's hands in her hair, she turned to look at the woman who helped her and hesitantly raised a hand to where her hair normally fell, and felt nothing. She began to rach higher, but stopped and raised a questioning eyebrow to Kiko first. She wanted to know how it looked, but was afraid to mess it up by touching it. ::
Kiko produced a small hand held looking glass and handed it to Neko. She had few personal possessions, Kiko did not collect clutter. She found more enjoyment in earth, sea, and the sky. She needed only to step upon the balcony to view those wonders daily.
The looking glass, like the hair comb the Wolf had carved for her, was made of dragon bone. It was shaped in a narrow oval with a handle on one end that curled like the tail of a dragon. The reflective surface came from a single silver dragon scale and was fused to the bone by magic. Silver dragons were highly secretive, quite rare, and almost impossible to find.
In fact, silver dragons were thought to be extinct until Grayell had run across such a creature. He had taken to raiding farmsteads to feed his motherless children, not that the Wolf knew it then, and left a slew of panicked villages in his wake. He killed the dragon, but the decision caused immeasurable pain; to destroy what could be the last of his kind. The head of the Vanguard knew that the earth's balance would be thrown off kilter. Still, the silver dragon had left him with no other choice to make.
Then, as such occasionally happens, you leave sorrow for hope. Among the dragon's horde had been six infants. Six baby dragons that had cheered Grayell's spirits and thoughts.
He had ended up handing them over to the warriors of Lorne; who were famous across the land as dragonriders, at least in legend. Lorne's dragons, as Grayell came to find out were slumbering. The warriors could not explain it. They could only recite the tale of the long sleep and the slow decline of their compatriots and kindred. They were thrilled to see the infants, though it would be several years before these baby dragons would fly.
The mirror had been a thank you gift from the First Warrior of Lorne; the leader of the Dragonriders. The silver dragon scale one of Woggle's molting. Kiko rubbed a hand across her wrist. The mountains of Lorne were stunning this time of the year.
Eternity
“Put some clothes on, you weird, yellow-eyed, table-dancing, werewolf-training, cryptic, stare-me-right-in-the-eyes-and-don't-even-blink wench.”
::Neko took the mirror reverantly. She could tell by it's look that is was something precious. Closing her eyes, she raised it to her face...
Opening her eyes, she was stunned by what she saw. She had always been seen, and felt, like a little girl, but the reflection in the mirror was that of someone almost a woman grown. She could hardly believe it! She looked at Kiko in wonder before stepping over and snatching up the silverweave clothing to hold it pressed against her with one hand while angling the mirror with the other to see as much of herself as possible.
Beaming, she placed the garments down and set the mirror gingerly on top of them. In her excitement, she did not think as she ran to Kiko and wrapped her arms around her...
...The very second her arms locked around Kiko, her eyes go wide in shock and she steps back. Her eyes are the size of saucers and her mouth is gaping in a very obvious "Oh Flarb!" expression. She felt foolish and hoped she had not crossed a line. Trying her best to cover it up, she gave a hurried bow of gratitude and a silent prayer that she had not just ruined the moment. ::
Kiko froze immediately with the wrap of arms. She had been the recipient of hugs before, certainly. The years when Kiko expected an attack from someone in her personal space were firmly in the past. The children of the Garou; especially, were quite unabashed in their enthusiasm when giving or receiving attention.
That said, her demeanor did not encourage familiarity. She was sparse with conversation, brisk with tasks and offered friendship slowly. Abrupt behavioral changes disturbed Kiko, too. Wild animals held to a pattern of life she recognized. A deviation from that pattern usually meant something was wrong with them.
Still.
She had not spent the last few years as an advocate for possible Vanguard members without learning several things. People forgot circumstances all the time. Where they were, who they were with, what was going on; she was not immune to this phenomenon either. The look on Neko's face said it plain enough. Kiko did not need the bow either to realize the girl was trying to thank her and apologize too. Her kinship ability had developed enough to feel it.
The fleeting smile on her face earlier reappeared. Her voice was compassionate when she spoke.
"It's alright. I know you are excited. Perhaps I can show you how to do the braids another time."
Eternity
“Put some clothes on, you weird, yellow-eyed, table-dancing, werewolf-training, cryptic, stare-me-right-in-the-eyes-and-don't-even-blink wench.”
::Neko nodded energeticly in response. She was glad to see that her momentary lapse had not offended Kiko and she was still willing to spend time with her in the future.
She was struck by how similar Kiko was to Father. Both kept themselves distant from others, but not without their reasons. She knew Father's story, or what little of it he was willing to share. She wondered what Kiko's story was, and if she would ever know. Perhaps in time she would be able to gain her trust.
Kiko had done her a great service in her eyes, and she wanted some way to show her how much it meant to her. Not just the hair, but the opening of her home to her, and the gift of sharing the song as well. All the more special knowing how private Kiko was. It had touched her and she needed to let her know.
It came to her then. Had she not just thought of Kiko as family earlier? Yes. She was her uncle's love. Friends were one thing. People to help and protect. But family took it to another level. A connection and bond that to her meant everything.
Her earliest teachings were of honor and respect and family, and it was with those thoughts in mind that she stepped away from the woman before her to carefully retrieve her weapons. All hints of her normally childlike demeanor vanished as she carried them back reverently and did something she had done for only a rare few before...
Father...
Uncle Renny, now Uncle Grayell...
Uncle Roland...
She knelt before Kiko, placing her weapons ritually before her on the floor in front of her. Her Kunai placed to the sides, hilts facing out. Her Wakishashi layed out like a line between them, slowly she slipped her hands under the sheathe and lifted it up as she bowed her head. To Neko, this was a symbol of her commitment to Kiko as family. That her body and her weapons were dedicated to her protection. She expected no response or commitment in kind from the woman whom she now recognized as her Aunt, but simply hoped she would accept her. Anything else would come in time. ::
A furrow appeared between Kiko's eyebrows. The excitement Neko had displayed just seconds ago disappeared altogether. She left the porch and headed toward the area Grayell had encouraged her to use.
She returned to the porch placing a set of weapons on the floor whose edges were shaped like narrow leaves and that Kiko recognized at once. She was quite frankly astonished, too. Those type of blades came from her homeland and she had never seen them outside of the Far East. Ever. The short sword was placed between them; another blade from her country, and Kiko had to wonder just where and how she had gotten these.
She certainly was not Eastern was she? Kiko stifled the curiosity rampaging around in her brain to watch the girl in front of her. The reverence in her actions was definitely evident to someone like Kiko; who had been trained in the way of the sword since childhood. It was, surprisingly, very similar to one she had performed herself when offering her service as a member of the Wolf's Vanguard.
Neko was offering her sword and Kiko was unsure about how to react. This was something Grayell would do gracefully. He would accept the offer and gift her with a Vanguard hood. Kiko had seen that ritual enacted several times. But, Neko already had a hood; granted it was for communication instead of signifying membership...
It had been several years since she had so many memories of the world she had left behind, as well. Another hit her fiercely here, too. The first day she had started her training with the sword. All the new students, her included, were kneeling facing her grandfather. Her nerves were on fire and she was sure that at any moment her clumsiness would cause her to pitch forward or something else equally as embarrassing.
Her grandfather was moving methodically down the line. He stopped before each new initiate and waited as they lifted the practice blade up to him. He accepted each one by laying a hand upon their bowed heads. He was only a few steps away now and the room was dead silent. She saw his feet stop a pace away from her knees. She lifted the wooden sword and her world ground down to that empty space between them. In those few minutes Kiko waited for him to dismiss her. Even though she had passed his test, even though he had promised to teach her, she was sure that his hand would sweep out instead to send her away.
Her thoughts came to an brusque halt and were all jumbled together. This was not a Vanguard ritual or the one of student to master. This was between the catgirl and her. Kiko went to her knees facing the other girl. She had no desire to be a looming spectre haunting Neko's thoughts; this day or another other. She put both her hands on the top of Neko's head, the tiny braids were smooth and sleek to her fingers.
She said two words, that was all.
"I accept."
Eternity
“Put some clothes on, you weird, yellow-eyed, table-dancing, werewolf-training, cryptic, stare-me-right-in-the-eyes-and-don't-even-blink wench.”
::Neko's body relaxed beneath Kiko's touch and those two simple words. There had been a moment there when she thought for sure that Kiko would simply walk away. She allowed herself a deep breath before placing the weapon down and completing her ritual. Only once it was done did the usual bright smile return to her face as she looked at the woman before her. She had come here in a desperate search for family, and had thought she found it. She had not expected for her family to grow, and found it to be a pleasant surprise.
Nodding in acceptance and gratitude, she waited for Kiko to rise before standing herself.
In that moment, she almost hugged her again, but thought better of it. She had already been given so much more than she had thought from her newly adopted aunt, and did not want to push things to far. Instead she bowed, still beaming from ear to ear. ::