Ryozanpaku

[Bloodedge]

A subtle nod came from Kou when it became apparent that his offering would be taken. The contingencies were in place, and all he needed to do now was wait until the plan's next segment. Before that, though, he would be given confirmation of something else. During Shuten's mental tirade, Kou received a bite... and with it, came a revelation. A wince naturally occurred during the piercing of his flesh, but it was immediately followed by a curious glance at the blonde through the corner of his eye. He almost seemed to be in disbelief, albeit not quite. 'Huh─' he thought. Moving on, it seemed the draining would not continue beyond an acceptable time frame. Blood stopped leaving Kou's body at such a time as to leave him feeling the drainage, though not quite more than a bit woozy. He took a seat on the ground after the bite mark was sealed by the vampire's tongue. It was not yet time to reach for that sword; he felt as if he might need it momentarily.

And so, the young Witcher observed the ritual meant to unseal the blonde's wyrm companion. The way she chose to offer her blood was also something worth a curious glance, but Kou had nothing to say aloud. No, he was content to view the wyrm's freedom in progress. From what he saw already, it looked as if he would indeed be offering dessert to this... little vampire.

[Apollymi]

Kou wasn't the only one taking in information. Even after the supposed feeding, Tamamo was watching and the thing she found most curious was the method this lass chose to bleed herself. Children would do something a bit less... drastic than a full slitting of the wrist. Even younger teens might not realize the proper way to do it initially, which was the main reason most suicide attempts never saw fruition. Given the act this lass committed against herself, she was obviously a lot older than her current appearance let on. 'Hm, I wonder if she likes being a kid or if it was a side effect of ending up here? I guess it could also have something to do with her KD...' the kitsune wondered. All the while the same information was being processed by Shuten in a very different way. 'She's a HAG!!! Definitely have to lay down the ground rules. Can't have this super creeper loli getting in the way of true love...' though Shuten. 'Baka-nii had the nerve to call me a trap. That's a trap!!' the purple haired lass though with a bit of obvious anxiety.

Moving right along, the blonde haired girl was watching as the links in the chain continued to glow in sequence. With the amount and potency of the blood now flowing through her veins her powers were all accessible to her again. She could feel the emotions of those around her due to her vampire empathy. And while no one was hostile or hateful they were all curious or plotting. There wasn't anything negative about any of it. The purple haired girl was authorative and anxious while the pink haired kitsune seemed to just be curious. The white haired man was also curious but more than that... his mind was working quickly he felt a bit witty. She'd likely have to explain herself to keep anyone from having the wrong idea about her. And beyond all of that she could feel the excitement of the serpent as the last of the chain links was reached and the glow hit a fervor which finally allowed them to shatter. "Sekris!" she uttered excitedly as the snake slithered around her shrinking in size down to one tolerable by her small body as her blood slowed and the wound on her arm began to close with the last of her extra energy. "I am here, Mistress! Though you look weak. Will you be alright?" asked the snake as the lass rubbed under her chin with one finger. "Hai..." she said as she walked over to the lad once more and peeked over his seated shoulder with those large eyes of hers. "Gomen, it was more than I thought it would be..." she mentioned before rather swiftly sinking her fangs into a spot a little ways away from her original bite. She'd feed a bit more, enough to not feel like she'd kill over if she took too many steps.

'WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAA!' the mind of Shuten almost broke as this childish blonde walked up to her brother and immediately took another bite of him like he was a fast food meal. The intensity of her thought and the feeling behind it made the vampire child look at her with her brows furrowing slightly, she didn't understand the surprise.

[Bloodedge]

Drip by drip, the seal was filled until the chains shattered. It was done; the wyrm had been freed of its confines, and without much fuss at all. Between the wyrm and this vampire, there seemed to be a decent amount of satisfaction radiating outward. Ah, but Kou was right. The blonde girl returned to him after a quick exchange with the wyrm, announcing that it had taken a bit more than she anticipated to break the seal. Luckily for Kou, this was well within his expectations. He didn't even flinch as teeth sank into his neck a second time. Of course, he did check to make sure his sword was still in reaching distance during the vampire's second feeding today.

He'd be fine. Kou's plan was a surefire one, even as his vision began to darken over time. Whatever amount of blood was needed, that was what he would offer. If this vampire happened to drain him fully to death before stopping, perhaps that would be a hindrance to the plan... but she had already earned the lad's trust; that wouldn't happen. In fact, he had enough faith in her already that he whispered one more clause while in such close proximity. "Don't worry about it. Drink until you're at the top of your game; got me?"

[Apollymi]

Her second feeding was already beginning but not without a few more words from the lad she was taking this meal from. Apparently, he was fine with the idea of her feeding herself as much as she needed to. She could feel from him that he was being honest about this and there was an underlying feeling of trust there. This was quite strange. Most people were naturally fearful of monstrous races. More so than that, the fact that she knew he was being honest about it was a bit comforting. This group had already helped her quite a bit, they'd slayed the Orochi above, helped her free her friend and now the additional offer to feed her more than just what she needed? That was heartwarming. Even with the purple haired lass staring daggers at her, she assumed given the way they spoke to each other, she was just worried about him. She wouldn't hurt them or anything, so she'd explain afterwards. This feeding was equal in length to the first one, though she tried to maintain a certain level of gentleness so as not to invoke panic or leave the lad unconsious while she fed.

All the while Tamamo was simply thinking about a great many things. The first of which was the age of this girl which given what she was seeing was more within the normal range for the type of game they'd been playing. Beyond that, there were the extra circumstances that led them here? She wondered if this lass would need a ride, she'd mentioned only landing here perhaps there was somewhere else she wanted to go? Ah, that was something to be talked about when her meal was finished. All the while, Shuten was scathing. The longer all this went on the more she thought about the amount of extra work it would be to keep this pair from freaking out. 'I know what I'll do, I'll set up one of those incidental moments to leave them alone together again. Yeah... and then I'll talk to the Lolihag and make sure she knows he's off limits!' the plan was cemented in the mind of the purple haired lass. But she'd find out eventually it wasn't necessary. While she fed she fine tuned her empathy, and felt between this group strange bonds. The white haired male and purple haired lass shared a bond of siblingship. But the pink haired kitsune and the white haired male, they shared a completely different kind of emotional bond. That one was a nice warm feeling she hadn't felt herself in quite a while. She wondered if they knew what it was? How rare and special it was... how envious others would be? Maybe she'd watch a bit and see. A few moments later she pulled away, having eaten her fill and nudged a drop of blood from the counter to her mouth into it with her index finger. "Arigatou na!~" she said happily with that same distended belly from before.

She then had the grace to look a bit embarrassed. "Oh, I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Alezia, and this is Sekris! Thanks for saving us!" she said giving an incline of her head to the group as a whole.

[Bloodedge]

More blood left him, but Kou received an interesting little gift in the meantime. He expected the vampire girl to refrain from going too far wit this feeding, but it seemed she took extra care to leave his consciousness intact. Good; she proved her trustworthiness even more with a choice like that. When she finally finished, Kou felt as if he'd donated just a few more times than one would be allowed at a blood drive, but that was alright. After all, this girl was in a worse state when they arrived. He couldn't even imagine being in a state like this, while also feeling an incredible hunger. Whatever the case, the ashen-haired male reached for his sword. The moment he touched its hilt, the glowing dust enshrouded his arm and extended along his body. Of the group here, it would be Shuten who could potentially recognize this as the Fairy Dust he made use of during their last adventure together. The dust rejuvenated his body over time, and took only seconds to make him capable of standing since there were no proper injuries to be healed.

Ah, and once he did rise to his feet... it was time to set another plan in motion. Kou's gloveless hand landed atop the newly-introduced vampire's head gently, and he offered a genuine smile. All things here had been done in good faith, yes, but there were always more important things on the horizon. "Yoroshiku, Alezia. Don't think about it too much, remember?" he asked. Before any additional words left his mouth, Kou averted his gaze. What would he view now? The one called Sekris was a wyrm─ a creature that was very closely related to Dragons. How interesting it was that these two were so close, and how nicely it related to other things Kou noticed during this encounter. "My name is Kou. This is Tamamo no Mae, and Shuten-doji. You two don't have a goal on your journey, do you?"

[Apollymi]

"Oi, if you have the sense to prep Fairy Dust, think a little harder Baka-nii!!" mentioned Shuten who was still outraged and feeling a bit spiteful as a result. Such a strange family that pair of siblings were, still introductions were being made. Her head had been bowed a bit, but she was more than a bit surprised when the lad's gentle hand came to rest atop her head. How strange was it that he was being this nice? That he was truly this nice? He told her not to think about it too much so she didn't. She simply smiled sheepishly afterwards, this situation was getting more and more weird by the moment. He introduced the young women by names this land recognized but gave himself the name of Kou. He looked towards Sekris, and the serpent now a more appropriate size nodded its head.

When asked if the pair had a goal for their journey Alezia looked about once again. "Iie, I only came down here because I heard Sekris. She was in a pool on top of one of the mountains. She understood how I felt so we were living in the woods for a while. But then that creepy spider moved in so we descended a bit further and were captured by Orochi who thought we were spies or something. I want to travel more and show Sekris what the world is like. But I wasn't sure yet where I wanted to go," mentioned Alezia, who also just didn't want to deal with her past at all and would rather be far away from it. Clear as day, Tamamo saw where this was going and walked up beside Kou looking at the blonde lass with soft golden eyes. "Ara ara, so you had one of Dragonkin speak to you and she accepted you? That's a pretty rare occurance. Nice work," she mentioned as a compliment to the lass, who managed to look a bit bashful, because she knew the compliment came from a genuine place. "I'm classed as a Rider so I make friends with lots of animals pretty easily. Sekris is the first creature I befriended out in the world. I didn't now she was Dragonkin until Orochi got suspicious..." she mentioned. That was a strange class for a vampire to take, but the face beneath Tamamo enjoyed ingenuity. Shuten watched this whole thing playing out and scoffed. "Fufu~ you two sound like you're about to pick up another stray... " she said though her tone was less bitter than it had initially been. After all, if this girl was close by she could just run diversions to keep her away from her brother, so there was less to be upset about.

[Bloodedge]

"Oi, nobody asked you shit! What are you even talking about?!" he asked. As much of a genius prodigy as he was, it seemed there was one thing he would always miss. Whatever was on Shuten's mind, he didn't seem to know. More importantly, there would soon be an offering. Tamamo managed to be onboard enough to take his side, literally. Kou offered her a glance and a grin, knowing that she had reached the same conclusion he had. When they first encountered this pair, the wyrm Sekris referred to Alezia as mistress. For any member of Dragonkin to do such a thing, there was a level of subservience not commonly found even in the Rider Class. Upon receiving confirmation that these two had no set goal, and in fact wished to travel, Kou's mind was made up. Of course, Shuten realized what was happening here as well. Kou had an inkling that this would be an accepted matter all-around, but there was one member of their group he could never refrain from checking with. 'So, what do you think?' he asked within the mind of Tamamo, just after meeting her gaze. 'All things considered, I don't think it's worth questioning whether she's trustworthy or not. Someone accepted by Dragonkin could probably make our ship a little friendlier while we do pretty much the same thing they were planning on doing.'

[Apollymi]

Her brother's response to her prodding let Shuten know two things. The first of which was she'd managed to irritate him, which was always a goal. And the second and most important thing... that he hadn't even considered what his actions could have potentially looked like to his love interest. The girl openly palmed her own face, she really couldn't believe this lad's lack of tact when it came to his budding relationship. She'd though to stay out of it for the most part, but it seemed she would always end up running interference when it came to others girls. Though the lass known to the other world as Ashikaga Kimiko didn't at all seem phased by this particular instance, it might be possible she wasn't going to make much of a fuss. She'd been warned by the lass' best friend that the woman would occasionally just withdraw instead of dealing with confrontation she didn't see as worthwhile. Definitely had to make sure to set up that alone time, for them and make sure that this girl was properly indoctrinated once she was adopted.

After Tamamo stepped up beside him Kou smiled. Alezia looked at the lad with those large eyes of hers and the light in them, aged her quite a bit. There was more than childlike curiosity behind those eyes, there was knowledge and understanding of what was emotionally within this pair. Ah, and that spark of warmth she felt between them was indeed something they understood and reciprocated. They even managed to feel as if they were respecting each other. This wasn't simply some strange entanglement or love affair, there was a genuine and mutual respect between these two individuals. As this pair looked at each other and had a conversation none present could hear the child sized lass looked at the pair with raised brow. She'd never seen two people look at each other this way before.

As for the actual question being asked, Tamamo almost laughed aloud. 'That isn't worth asking. Though I do appreciate you thinking of me, Mikon...' Even in their quiet mental chat the lass was still flirty, still she'd give her opinion in as concise a manner as possible. 'She's definitely seeming like she'd make a reasonable helmsman for the ship. And if it will keep us from any more untimely crash landings I am all for it,' she said her gaze softened just slightly as her eyes shifted left. 'Besides she looks like she's had a rough time since coming here... no reason she can't start off better now~' she concluded. Tamamo would literally only take a few seconds to come up with a precise deal and offerings for pay for the lass. As well as being willing to part with most things that would help make her transition smooth if she was willing to travel with them, taking the position of the helmsman on their ship.

[Bloodedge]

'There's no reason I wouldn't ask. I figured you were onboard, but there's no point in a partnership without communication, right?' he asked, though seemingly in rhetoric. True enough though, there were many positives that could be taken from taking in the vampire and her companion. Kou was quite certain she would primarily be a boon when it came to reaching new destinations without the ship making its own rash decisions, and he even considered that the ship may have been generally a bit picky about its helmsman anyway. Maybe they were indeed guided here for the sake of meeting this girl who conversed with Dragonkin so easily.

Now then, if they had an agreement, there was no reason not to let the vampire herself be privy to the plan. Kou sheathed his sword, having recovered enough to have no worries. Afterwards, he began slipping his hand back into his glove, deciding to deliver the news to Alezia. "Well, we travel a lot. We were actually on our way to new lands when our airship uh... changed its mind and led us here. Why don't we help each other out? Our ship has the soul of a Dragon, and I get the feeling you'd really like to steer it. You could take the helm, and all of us could share some great adventures! Sounds like a sweet deal, yeah?"

[Apollymi]

A cheeky smirk crossed Tamamo's lips at this lad's reply to her statements. Of course, he would say that, and even though it was all in rhetoric she still really appreciated that he respected her opinions enough to clear such things with her. She showed him an equal amount of respect in all things as well. Given this the balance of their relationship was easily maintained. Still there was a matter of delivering potentially good news to the lass so they could continue to talk from this point outside of their space. Alezia for her part in this watched the pair of them stare at each other quite intensely. And then they rather suddenly stopped, and Kou began putting on his gloves. He began speaking to the blonde lass and she looked at him in confusion. "You have a ship with a Dragon Soul?!" there was a sudden amount of childlike excitement in this lass. Wait, there was more than that... he was offering to let her pilot this ship?! She could pilot this ship he was talking about and travel with them. A hushed whisper would ensue as the pair of Alezia and Sekris talked. "See, I told you Mistress... you can trust your instincts!" the snake said. "I mean sure... but it feels like its a lot right? Like they'd really just let me travel with them... " she murmured to the wyrm. "Oi oi, let me save you a bit of trouble. Nii-san and Nee-san are quite serious. They really will let you pilot the ship. Hell, Nee-san would probably pay you a salary and get you anything you want. Besides all that, they have a problem leaving people behind that prove themselves to be reasonable people. And they are at least entertaining to mess with..." she said to clear up anything else. She looked back at the snake on her side who nodded her approval of this plan and as such the pair looked back at Kou and Tamamo. She could feel the honesty of this pair and she'd really like to do this. She held her hands together in front of her and twisted her fingers together.

"Um... I think we'd really like that if you guys are sure it won't be a problem. I'd really like to see the ship and travel with you guys... if you're really okay with it," she mentioned softly. She thought they might not really want a vampire in such closed in spaces with them. "But you know what I am... are you really okay with that?"

[Bloodedge]

"We do. It's a pretty big airship, lots of rooms... It's basically a mansion in the sky, like Grimoire Hearts' base or someth─" Kou paused in the middle of his explanation, realizing he'd spoken a reference that may or may not be understood. The longest he'd spoken with anyone before this, or realistically at any point since reaching this world, had been with an Avatar belonging to Kimiko. It seemed he had gotten a bit too comfortable, and started simply saying things without considering the likelihood of his conversation partner being clueless. "Er... yeah, big flying mansion thing."

Reprehensive was the vampire girl, having questions as to whether the group would accept her or not. Kou hadn't been so confused since arriving here at Ryozanpaku; had she really not realized yet? The male sighed, having heard enough of this already. Their group consisted of numerous types with plentiful oddities, even including a bard Kou himself chose to take as his Apprentice Holy Knight. A vampire girl with some restraint wasn't going to put a damper on their group dynamic at all. "You just drank out of my neck twice, and that's what you're worried about? Ikuze," he said while walking past the blonde, making use of his magic to strengthen the very same wind corridor he conjured earlier. At its current output, they could all simply jump into it and rise through the hole above. "Vampire, Dragon, Ghoul, Ogre... nobody cares what you decide to be. You're trustworthy, so we'll take you in."

[Apollymi]

"Grimoire...Hearts?" there was curiosity in the lass. She was a bit of a nerd by most accounts but she didn't in general move outside of her own realm of media. Hers of choice being movies... Alezia was a big movie buff. At the same time as the curiosity was expressed Tamamo started thinking aloud just a tad having her own sort of nerd moment. "Hm, it is a lot like Grimoire Heart's... I wonder if Kaiba has something to tell us. Tsu-chan is quite obsessed with that series and its tragic love story~" she said with a teasing quality in her voice which shifted to sound more like the other lass at the mention of tragedy. She'd make sure to poke that at Kaiba the next time he decided to burst into a room she was in unannounced. There was a bit of a comment from the lad after he thought about what he said, apparently it was a big flying mansion which seemed fine to her over all. She felt a strange amount of acceptance from all of these people. Even the purple haired girl who she was quite sure didn't like her at all a few minutes prior to this.

She looked at this lad as he made his claims and walked past her towards that air corridor. It was true, he'd allowed her to feed herself twice, but that could have just been to free her. Perhaps others had their own ideas about who should and shouldn't be allowed to live with them. Perhaps it was only shallow? They'd only just met. But... Looking at him and the others interact she felt very deeply that it wasn't an act. She wasn't going to wake up later and have them change their minds. She padded along after them, and Tamamo fell in line beside her a starry portal opening out of which came strangely an umbrella, the sort carried by ladies of the Japanese courts to keep the sun off their skin. "Here. It's still light out wouldn't want you to get burned or anything," she mentioned knowing that most vampires had a weakness to sunlight. Given the amount of time the girl had spent without food, she figured she might be alright for the now setting sun, but one could never be too careful. Alezia looked at this gift with raised brows. "I don't burn in the sun, but it does irritate me still. Arigatou gozaimasu. I'll return it when we get there..." she offered which made Tamamo look at her strangely. "No need. Keep it, it isn't like this is the only time you'll go outside~" Tamamo teased gently. Alezia felt no ill-intent. This lass would really just give away any random item if she thought it would be helpful and she didn't expect it to be returned. What a weird group of people. "Oi, we need wings. I'm tired of jumping and walking and well everything!" were the words of Shuten, who complained as they aimed to depart. Her idea was a fairly sound one perhaps someone could do something about it later.

[Bloodedge]

"..." Kou fell silent when discovering that the female Kaiba was an enjoyer of the series Fairy Tail, which Miki clearly knew as well, unlike their new vampire comrade. If Kaiba Seto had made any connection between such a series, and the ship they possessed, he'd be set up for a solid laugh later. "I will die if a guy like Kaiba is into Fairy Tail. Also, tragic? Don't tell me she's shipping those two? Well... I guess that's refreshing either way. Most people can't even appreciate the series past the 'maybe incest' thing those Dragon twins have going." A bit of a tangent was almost guaranteed when such topics came up, and apparently Kou was content to have this one. He wouldn't dawdle long, though. They could move on now, at long last, and get themselves situated before departure... though not before Shuten found something to complain about.

"Lazy! I put up an entire, badass wind tunnel, and you want wings? Give a guy some credit, and take what you get, Loli Bum!" he exclaimed. With that, Kou was the first to test the wind corridor's strength by jumping into it. His excitement to be done with this place was growing... but they were not done quite yet.

Roughly three days passed after the vampire and wyrm were freed, and the Orochi slain. In that time, Ryozanpaku's great tree underwent an incredible change. It had now become a large sakura tree, and there was a manor being built around it. The same lad who previously sat in the tree, a player possessing an Avatar by the name Rikuo, had taken charge of the entire city while its faction rulers took their individual segments. One might wonder why the adventuring group remained for this, and the answer was simply... for the sake of festivities. Efforts had been acknowledged, and residents of Ryozanpaku decided to bring back a very old custom that had been ignored for a very long time. Of course, they had to honor their saviors in doing so. What was that custom again? According to a local Itachi running through the streets at present, it was...

"The Lantern Rites! Starting the Lantern Rites!"

[Apollymi]

It seemed a minor nerd moment would be happening and Tamamo was all for it. A chuckle ensued as she shook her head from left to right. "I would probably also die. And yes, she has a thing for the SaNe. I could see how they might have had something going in the past, but I'm pretty sure bar some huge revelation nothing can really happen with that..." mentioned Tamamo. In this very moment, Shuten managed to look pleased. 'Good good, let the nerd flow through you. And keep you from being upset that Nii-san fed the lolihag...' the girl thought though it was all still good natured. "I know I know. The forums are so full of people who were upset about that. It's like no one even knows about their amendments and earlier works. Unmitigated hate..." mentioned the lass. Ah but all good conversations like this had to be reserved. They couldn't just have a full blown nerd based conversation in front of others. At least they hadn't gotten too far into it this time. They'd have plenty of time to chat soon enough anyways, and she really and truly couldn't wait for that.

Some three days and immeasurable amounts of work later... a festival was starting up. The whole of the streets seemed to be decorated in soft light paper lanterns and an Itachi was announcing the start of the Lantern Rights. Along with the many festivities a certain Kitsune known as Kuono had helped to organize this event and as such she'd offered her tea house to the entire female population of their crew to get ready so they could meet up with the boy's at the start. Walking up to the tree was Tamamo, clad in not her normal robes but instead a Yukata in deep blue with open lotus flowers as their main design motif. They were joined by a light weight obi around her waist tied in a bow. She'd piled up all that hair of hers and clipped it into place with golden bells and long sticks giving her a rather festive appearance. "Ara ara, they pulled this off pretty nicely~" she said aloud. It would be one Shuten-doji dressed in a short Yukata meant more for those with the child sized body to speak next. "Hai hai, it's pretty good too. I hadn't been much involved with the before parts of one of these the first time. I understand why you guys were so happy to just relax," she mentioned. "Um-hm... still is this really nice compared to how it was before..." mentioned their newest edition a blonde lass sporting a white child sized Yukata as well with a deep blue obi tied around it. Sticking out over her shoulder the most shrunken form of the white wyrm Sekris which made it look almost ornamental and helped Alezia feel more at ease.

[Bloodedge]

Ah, festivities. No further quests would be done here, and the additional time they spent would be for the sake of relaxing... and nothing else. Kou, on the other hand, had been making use of the few days it took for this festival's setup to end. The Avatar called Giyu, as well as the previously-created Avatar named Licht, did not seem to suit his preferences. He spared the Source of the latter, but the former was broken down entirely over the days it took to do so. Half of Licht was useful for what he had planned, and so was a criteria he seemed to meet by battling in such a sacrificial manner against Orochi.

Medium-length black hair with teal undertones, pale skin, and amber eyes. A white, sleeveless shirt with a black collar, dark purple pants and boots, black and dark turquoise gloves with gold decals. A white and gold sleeve on his left arm, and his right arm left bare to reveal green markings akin to a tattoo sleeve. These features all came together throughout the time of meditation taken to create Aiba Yugi's newest Avatar, a culmination of Giyu, Licht, and an homage to Kou's lost attire. Reserved, logical, and with a general visage that reeked of determination, this new form sat atop an adjacent building to observe the center point of the festivities. How interesting─ they were using the foundation of this unfinished manor as a walk-on podium of sorts around the sakura tree. It seemed most lanterns were also being released from the very same area.

Seeing the residents below, he figured he was quite underprepared for the festival itself. His attire fit the normal setup of a place like this, just as Kou's former ensemble did, but... there were so many traditional garbs being donned by so many creatures, humanoid and otherwise. Oh well; he'd never been one to dress up for these sorts of things anyway. It was surprising enough that this Avatar had hair that came out looking somewhat presentable.