Better look around 'cause he's there (RP)

Kou sat quietly by the edge of the water, staring at her masked reflection as she washed her paws off. It was almost impossible to see it in the dim lights of this sewer area. Her fur bristled as she thought she saw movement nearby, but all her staring and searching provided no evidence of another living creature. "Now I'm seeing things," she muttered to herself, tucking her ink back into its safe place.

-

Yoru's dark pelt blended in the shadows as he watched from slighty afar. He slowly took a couple steps forward, not entirely revealing himself, but enough so someone can make out his form in the dim lighting of the sewers. He stayed quiet as if he was only observing Kou. If this other aeniama proved to be hostile, he would quickly leave, but if she was friendly, well he would see how this would all turn out.

-

With her ink safely tucked away, she turned to look around the dark area again. She froze as she caught sight of . . . something. She cautiously stepped forward, fur bristled, trying to see if her eyes were playing tricks on her. It looked like the outline of another fox, but that couldn't be it, she saw no color to it. It wasn't until she had leaned in, almost nose to nose, before her eyes made out the distinct shape of the other's bright eyes.
"Kya!" she jumped back bristling, "w-who are you?!" she demanded, trying to regain her dignity. Black foxes should not be sneaking up on people, she thought bitterly.


-

Yoru smirked as he tried to hold in his laughter. Her reaction was priceless. It was fun to see reactions of other foxes when they noticed him in the darkness. "The name's Yoru. Your's?" he asked her, quickly putting on a straight face. He padded a few more steps forward, seeing that there was no immediate danger approaching her for the time being.

-

A low growling grumble escaped her lips, "It's Kou," she told him bitterly. She hated that she had been caught off guard so easily, and the other foxes apparent amusement did not help improve her mood. "So do you sneak around like a rat often, or am I just special?"

-

"Hey, take it easy," replied Yoru as he rolled his eyes at an angry Kou. "Well, it really depends on my mood if I want to spook others. There's no need to get so worked up on it."

-

"Says the idiot who thinks he's part shadow," she muttered, lashing her tail. "Well if you're quite done, I'm going to work on something important. Go play shadow for some other creature."

-

Ignoring what she had said earlier as if it just went through one ear out the other, Yoru slightly tilted his head and asked, "So, what's the important thing that you have to do? Let me see, will you? Also, no objection is allowed."

-

Her mouth opened in protest, "What's the point of asking if you're just going to stay anyway?" She turned her back to him, "I don't want to tell you anyway, so you'll just have to be in the dark about this, you shadow."

-

"Fine with me," he replied with a faint smirk as he got ready to follow Kou to see what the 'important' thing that she was going to do.

-

Kou rolled her eyes at him as she walked away, hopefully to a quieter place. At least he hadn't insisted she let him tag along, she thought as she took several twisting turns. She reached a room she was fairly sure was secluded and sat in the corner, pulling out her ink.

-

Yoru followed Kou as she walked away from the area. At times he almost thought he had lost her, but was lucky enough to catch a glimpse of her each time. He had arrived a few moments after Kou. The black fox went to sit near her, not speaking or making a sound.

-

Certain she was to be left in peace, Kou removed her mask from her head, shaking her head to ruffle the flattened fur. "Now to give you a fresh color," she muttered to her chipped and discolored mask. No one else may notice the slight mars in the masks paint, but Kou did, and it drove her crazy if they were not fixed every so often. Once the ink came out of the vial she was lost in concentration as she painted over the hard material.

-

Yoru peered down at the mask that Kou was painting over with her ink. He was pretty fascinated by the fact that Kou's important thing was to paint her mask. A mask is just a mask. Just leave it be, he thought to himself as he watched her.

-

Stroke by stroke the cracks and chips were covered in fresh paint, making Kou swish her tail in pleasure. Slowly it came together till she deemed the whole to be presentable. "Done." she lay next to it and waited. This was the boring part, drying. She had been working on making the ink dry on command, but it had yet to obey, so she was stuck waiting on it the old fashioned way. Her ear twitched as she suddenly felt uneasy. Now that she wasn't totally focused on her painting, she felt like something was there. . . . . . . . it couldn't be. "Shadow? You better not be out there." she called uncertainly into the tunnels.

-

He prodded her with his paw to look at his direction. "Boo," he spoke in a bored manner, flicking his tail. "What is it? Lonely without me?" "The name's Yoru, not Shadow," he reminded her.

-

A strangled hiss of surprise escaped her as her fur stood on end. Stupid black fox! "I told you to leave me alone," she snapped back. "And I don't memorize pointless things, you sha-dow."

-

"Well, I did leave you alone until you called out to me," he replied, unfazed by Kou's anger. "I just answered you. Nothing wrong with that. You were done with that 'important' thing anyways. Isn't it boring being alone and have nothing else to do?"

-

"N-no you didn't," she sputtered, "you were obviously here the whole time." She walked back to her mask as she spoke and put it back onto her face, not caring if it was still wet. "And no, it does not get boring, and even if it did I think I'd prefer that over you following me around.

-

"It seemed like you didn't even notice me until your were finished. If I did bother you, you would stop and shout at me before you were finished," pointed out Yoru. "Oh, and also, are you even really sure about that? Would you prefer to be alone even if you were in trouble?"

-

"Of course I would have! I didn't want you here," she said irritated. Did this fox have no emotions at all? Most people would have at least been slightly offended by her remarks now and left her be. "And I can take care of myself, so yes, I am sure I would rather be fighting rats alone than dealing with you." She marched to the tunnels calling back, "And as you said, I'm done with that now, so you can go back to your normal life."

-

"Normal life?" repeated Yoru, watching her go. "My normal life needs some entertainment like you from time to time. Would have been real boring if foxes kind of like you didn't exist." Yoru chuckled to himself when he again, decided to follower her.

-

"Foxes like me?" she huffed, "You mean sane foxes?" Her tail lashed behind her when she realized he was still trailing her, "Don't you have something better to be doing?"

-

"Nope. Got nothing to do," he replied. "What I mean by foxes like you are those who give those hysterical reactions!" Yoru snickered when he remembered her reaction when she first saw him.

-

Kou rolled her eyes, "I think shadow is a fitting title for you if you only are capable of wandering around behind others," she said bitingly. She took random turns and corners, hoping he would bore of the long walk and leave her be.

-

"Well, maybe it is," he shrugged as he continued to pad behind Kou. As they took some random turns and walked around corners, Yoru sighed and asked her, "You're really trying pretty hard to get rid of me aren't you? Just to tell you, you won't be able to get rid of me that easy."

-

"If you won't listen, and I can't loose you, then maybe I'll have to try a more direct approach," she muttered under her breath. She didn't like being followed by something she could hardly see; it felt too close to being hunted and that made her fur stand on end. "Leave," she tried again, "you've had your fun."

-

Yoru's ears slightly twitched at Kou's words. "If I don't, what will you do?" he challenged her. He grew slightly a bit tense. If things got to this point, a fight might start.

-

Kou's ear twitched at the challenge, "It depends how much your willing to risk just to follow someone you don't even know around," she bit back.

-

"And what are you going to risk?" he replied, looking at her in the eye. Yoru held no expression on his face as he stared at her.

-

Kou had stopped walking and was glaring through her mask, her eyes narrowed. Insolent fox. "I have nothing to loose here. Only peace and quiet to gain." She was tense, not sure how far the other would go.

-

"Nothing to loose? Is that so?" he laughed. "Would you even risk your own life to get some peace and quiet?" Yoru was now interested at hering her answer his question. He held an unwavering gaze.

-

"Yes," she replied stubbornly, "What good is life if it is filled with nothing but strife." She almost turned away, sick of his, but suddenly realized what he had said. "You make it sound as though you could actually hurt me," she spat, "a little shadow like you isn't even a threat."

-

"Oh, I wouldn't dare," he replied with a flick of his tail. "Oh Great and Powerful One." After a couple moments, he started to laugh. "Man, you're so funny to tease about."

-

He was laughing at her! That idiot of a fox was laughing at her! Kou's blood boiled and she lashed a paw out, mildly surprised when her limb actually hit him. "And you're a worthless sewer rat!" Tail lashing, she turned to stalk away. "Stupid little shadow can't even find something worthwhile to do, has to follow others around just to amuse himself. . . " she muttered under her breath.

-

Yoru was pretty much expecting her to lose her temper, but it had also shocked him that she had hit him. He sighed and padded to her side, "Sorry 'bout that. That was partially my fault."

-

Kou's ears twitched, more in surprise than annoyance this time. She would have understood if the annoying fox had struck her back; she certainly deserved it, but she hadn't expected him to apologize. Stubbornness held her captive however as she replied, "Yeah, it kind of was."

-

"Well, since we got that all covered up," spoke Yoru, turning to the opposite direction of where Kou was heading. "I guess I might as well take my leave and scare some other foxes." He chuckled a bit as he imagined some reactions while he said those words.

-

"Oh poor unfortunate foxes," Kou said, becoming less tense. She really didn't understand this odd fox, but he seemed to be becoming slightly more bearable . . . . for now at least. "Why?" The word left her mouth before she even realized, "that is . . . why do you choose to do . . . . that, instead of practice your affinity or something . . . useful?"

-

"Why?" Yoru repeated. "Heh. Why indeed." He turned to look at her and replied in a rather cocky tone, "Survival of the fittest is the rule isn't it? The weak die out and the strong live. If I follow that one rule and practice using my affinity a lot, where is the fun in that? I play by my own rules. Plus, doing something useful? Like what? Isn't almost everyone on their own? Tell me, why do you care so much about me if I do practice and do some useful things?" He paused, replaying the words that he just said. Noticing that he had probably said some unnecessary things, his ears slightly drooped and mumbled, "Sorry."

-

Kou's ear flicked forward in amusement, "No need to apologize, we are all alone after all, so it doesn't really matter to me if you choose to live by the rules of your own silly game." She gave a small smile, "But I choose to build up all the power I can in this game, it is survival after all, and those who don't play smart don't come out alive." She put on a thoughtful look as she spoke her next words, "Perhaps instead of simply following and annoying others, you should work on manipulating them for your own game. Other foxes can be a burden, but if you play the game right they can have their uses. It's not the conventional rules, but you don't seem like the kind of fox who cares to play like everyone else." She finished with a flick of her tail.


-

"Well, aren't you one of the smart ones, Kou," he commented after she had finished telling him. "Winning over foxes to come to my side and using them as tools? Guess I can have my fun while doing that."

-

She smirked wryly at him, "As a matter of fact, I am one of the smart ones. That's why I will survive while others loose there lives." The shadow, she vaguely recalls his name being Yoru, was not so bad when he wasn't trying to get on her nerves. "You seem to be good at getting under others fur, and using them would certainly be more profitable to you than the shadow games you've been playing."

-

Yoru chuckled and replied to her, "I'll take what you said as a compliment." His eyes shone playfully when she had mentioned his 'good' skill. "Say, that stuffed fish is your totem, correct?

-

"Mmmm yeah," she nodded, "but if you make fun if it I'll beat you all the way to the tower, got it?" she cast a warning glare. "And I assume those bandages are yours, seeing as you don't have anything else on you." she said, nodding toward his leg, "or am I wrong?"

-

"No, you're definitely right," he replied quickly as he sat down and curled his tail around himself. "Also, do you always paint the mask you wear over and over again? Seeing that it was the important thing that you had to do just a while back."

-

"Of course I paint it over," she replied, "if I didn't it would get old and worn looking." She chose to sit as well, her tail curling neatly around her paws where she placed her totem. "No one respects a fox who looks like they just crawled out of the mud," she said.

-

"Well, that's quite true," agreed Yoru, nodding his head. "Well, even if the mask did get worn out, you'll pretty much look the same. The only thing that changes is that you're wearing a worn out mask."

-

"I disagree," Kou said, shaking her head, "This mask is my face, so the difference would be important." She stared him in the eye, "Would you like to walk around with mud on your face to represent you?"

-

"For mud to represent me...is quite unconvenient," he replied to her. "I guess if I 'wash off the mud' and make the mud your mask, it will be the same as you painting the mask.

-

She nodded, pleased that he understood her view. "I never did catch your affinity," she said expectantly. "I'll assume it's not earth or anything mud related since you didn't seem fond of being associated with mud."

-

"It's darkness. Fits with what you keep on calling me: 'Shadow'," he told her. "Your's must be paint or ink, or however you want to call it. Since you used it to paint your mask."

-

"That is correct," she affirmed, "I am indeed an ink affinity." She was pleased that her insult/nickname for the annoying aeniama had been accurate. "You will probably dislike the slums if you even make it there," she warned, "I hear that there is much more light there, so your affinity may be more difficult to access."

-

"I do rather try to avoid large areas with mostly light," he spoke. "Thanks for the info then, but where there is light, there will always be some places with darkness."

-

"True." Kou stepped on an insect that had dared crawl near her paws while the two foxes conversed. "I wouldn't like to have an affinity that was so dependent on my surroundings. It's hard enough as it is to keep my ink supply full." She flicked her tail, "Although if you survive long enough you may be able to produce your own darkness. Who really knows what any of us will be capable of?"

-

"Yeah, who knows?" agreed Yoru, who averted his eyes from the paw that Kou used to kill the insect which had appeared during hteir conversation. "It all comes down to what would happen once you gain more tails and strengthen your own affinity."

-

Kou allowed a small grin to creep onto her face beneath her mask, "You're not half bad when you aren't being a massive pain in the tails." She rose to her feet and stretched lazily. "Who would have thought you'd be capable of decent conversation?"

-

"Well, that's just depending on the other fox. Others would probably lash out like you did, but would run off immediately run off, or just ignore me the whole time," he told her as he yawned.

-

"Running after striking is foolish," Kou snorted, "they shouldn't start something they aren't prepared to finish." She chuckled dryly, "And ignoring you proves near impossible. You're unique, I'll give you that much."

-

Yoru gave a short bark of laughter as he listened to her words. "Well indeed I am unique. Being able to not be ignored as you said and also being able to scare other foxes when I feel like it."

-

"Don't let it go to your ego," Kou joked, "you'll have a much harder time with your antics when the higher levels shed some light on that black pelt of yours." Her tail twitched in amusement.

-

"Well, that'll happen when they finally can tell me apart from the darkness," he laughed. "If they can, that is," he added with a smirk on his maw.

-

"That may never happen," she conceded amused, "you're too much of a shadow to stand out from the dark." She chuckled quietly.

-

Yoru's smirk grew wider, "Well aren't I special. If they never find me, I guess I might as well give them a little scare."

-

Kou rolled her eyes at the other foxes comment. Some foxes couldn't be talked out of their antics. "Just leave me out of your little scare-games, alright?"

-

"Eh. Sure I guess. Maybe when I don't feel like scaring you," he added with a small chuckle.

-

"How about instead of trying to sneak up on me whenever you get the urge," she said, rolling her eyes, "you go catch as many rats as you can." A smirk formed under her mask, "That is, if you are any good at catching the rodents."

-

Yoru sighed, "Who knows? I might be as well the king of catching rats." The black fox replied to her with a amused look. "Well, I bet it won't hurt to try catching them instead."

-

Kou gave a short laugh, "You could be the king of catching rats, true," she said with a mischievous glint in her eyes, "or maybe you are the worst hunter these sewers have ever seen." Her tail flicked him as she turned, "You'll just have to prove it by catching one before me. That is, if you're up for the challenge?"

-

"Sure. Why not?" he replied to her with a returning smirk. He took a step towards Kou and smirked, "Let's get on to it, shall we?"

-

Kou's grin grew at the challenge, she hadn't pitted herself in a battle of talent against any one before, and she was excited to beat this fox. "First one to see the rat gets first shot at a catch; if they miss it's a free for all, got it?"

-

Yoru gave a short nod, "Got it." He flicked his tail, muscles tense as he waited for the challenge to start between the two. He glanced at Kou and then infront of him. This was a challenge and he wasn't looking forward to losing it.

-

"Go," she snapped the command to start their 'competition' and trotted away with her ink at the ready. She ignored Yoru as she smeared ink onto the wall where she deemed it necessary. The ink took the appearance of crude cracks and holes in the walls.

-

Yoru started off in the more traditional way. He flicked his ears as he tried to find some type of clicking sound of a rat's nails. He stayed close to the side of the sewer walls, blending almost immediately into the darkness as he headed off into the sewers. He took long strides, making sure that he was a silent as he could be as he stalked along the wall.

-

In contrast to Yoru's quiet footsteps, Kou had moved on to a rather direct approach. She darted noisily into the shadows where she assumed rats would hide, trying to drive them out of their shadows. She had no idea where Yoru had ended up at this point, but decided it wasn't important enough to bother looking. That would only waste her own hunting time.

-

Hearing some noisy sounds, Yoru assumed that it was Kou who had made such a racket. Though making noise was also a different type of strategy for hunting. He twitched his ears, hearing the seemingly loud tapping or a rat scuttling through the sewers. Yoru blocked all background noises and focused onto the small silhouette of a moving form a few feet in front of him.

-

A pounce from Kou sent a pair of rats scuttling out of the shadows, much to her joy. Unfortunately, neither one ran for her 'hole in the wall' traps. She snapped at them desperately, trying to get at least one. "Stupid rats don't even know how to be caught properly," she growled angrily as both scurried out of reach.

-

Yoru lunged for the rat, mouth open for a chance to bite down on some flesh. When the rat noticed a slight shift movement of air and the scent of a fox, but it was too late. Yoru slammed his paw onto the rat's flank and bit down on its windpipe.

-

A small scratching sound caught the sulking females attention, and she back to her 'traps' to find a rat scratching confused at the decoy hole in the wall. It was the most pathetic scrawny rat Kou had laid eyes on, and if it's confusion was anything to go by, it was a stupid rat as well. It was no effort to sneak up and catch the rodent, and she trotted off, scrawny creature limp in her jaw. Something was better than nothing in this contest.

-

"Hey Kou, I got a rat!" he called throught he sewers after he released his jaws from the limp creature.

-

More glad than ever that she had bothered to grab the scraggly rat in her jaw, she trotted toward his voice. She'd rather fight a hoard of rats than let the black fox beat her in a contest. "I got one as well."

-

"Looks like it's a tie," he spoke when he saw her coming towards him with a rat in her maw. "Though you got a scrawny looking one."

-

"Yeah, it reminded me of you," she prodded teasingly as she dropped her catch next to his. "You wanna eat these things, or should we drop them by the safe room for others." She looked at the dead creatures disinterested; they didn't taste all that great to her, but wasting them seemed foolish.

-

Yoru rolled his eyes at her comment. He then replied, "I don't know. If we're not going to eat them, then might as well give it to others." He picked up his rat and looked back at her.

-

With a nod, Kou lifted the rat back into her jaws. Unable to speak intelligibly, she started walking with a grunt in his direction. He had bothered following her around up to this point, so she assumed he would follow her to the safe room as well.

-

As a matter of fact, Yoru did follow Kou back to the safe room. Though instead of following her from behind, he padded alongside of Kou with the rat in his maw.

-

Kou padded through the tunnels, pleased with the quiet walk. It appeared the darkness fox could be civil when he felt like it. Turning into the safe room, she dropped her catch onto the floor where it would be noticed, but not in the way. "Someone will want that," she said, turning and giving Yoru a smile.

-

The black fox dropped his catch right next to Kou placed her's and replied with a returned grin, "I'm sure they will." Now changing the topic, Yoru asked her, "So what are you going to do now?"

-

"I'm. . . . not actually sure," Kou admitted, glancing around the safe room. "I hadn't thought that far ahead. Maybe I'll just go wander some more, maybe I'll stay here." She turned back to the black fox, "And you?"

-

Yoru thought about the question and replied blunty, "I don't know. Something that I want to do perhaps."

-

Kou chuckled a little at his blunt answer, "Oh, well that clears everything up. Care to share what you may want to do, or is that in the shadows as well?"

-

Yoru slightly tilted his head to think about it and slowly replied to her, "Hmm...Maybe follow another fox? I'm not so sure. I can do whatever I feel like doing, so it depends on what I feel like doing."

-

"Well then, don't be too much of a pain while you're out in the tunnels," Kou told him in a not-so-stern voice. She turned to walk to the back corner of the safe room calling over her shoulder, "Maybe I'll see you around then, Yoru?"

-

"Ha. Sure thing. See ya," replied Yoru with a snicker as she walked away from the safe room. He turned to walk in another direction, walking into the darkness that seemed to engulf him.