Fade to Black...[open]

[Shunem]

A large dog-like creature made its way across the field, delicate but deadly paws moving it through the grass silently, and the sleek, slinking black body travelled smoothly with nary a pause nor shudder. The sky was illuminated with the brightness of the sun, and the light bounced off the fur, reflecting a sort of green lustre like many black creatures do.

Smoky white eyes gazed out at the area, narrowed slightly, cautious in the way they sought out the world, but careless all the same. It was as if the creature knew that none would dare harm it. Not out of it carrying some sort of strange power, but out of a fear that was not completely warranted, but necessary all the same. It was the order of things, no matter how unpleasant for the being that had to take the hard end of it all.

It stopped for a moment or so, smelling the air. A soft breeze rustled the small mane of fur around its neck. Its large ears were erect. It was curious, it felt another presence, which was unsettling as it had expected to be alone. The field didn’t appear to be a frequented area, as it knew that it became a sea at night of seemingly endless water.

Shunem – for that was what it was to be called – lifted her head. She narrowed her one-colored eyes even further, deciding that a risk was not in the making for the moment. She reared up onto her hind legs slightly, spreading her large smoky-gray wings with a slight woosh sound of breaking air, opening them wide so that she could stand for a longer period of time. She closed her eyes for a moment, always finding the change unpleasant, but she allowed it to take place all the same. Quickly, her fur melted away into her skin and uncovering the flesh that resembled the color of her wings, but with a pinker tone. She kept the change going, allowing her black fur on her head to grow long and silky as her ears seemed to move inward to the body and disappear. Gradually, a human female appeared, body partially garnished with a dark purple kimono, wings still intact

Shunem opened her eyes, now large and a darker forest green color, expressionless and eerily empty, devoid of feeling or a sign of intelligence. She looked around again, black hair bouncing around her face as she did so. She tested her footing, stumbling slightly as her body was still adjusting inside to the change, but when she felt secure enough to move without the added balance of her wings, she melted them away, a few feathers falling into the breezes as they disappeared. The rest of the kimono also emerged, covering her figure completely.

She wondered where the presence was, if it was still there. Who or what it was if it remained. She could still receive the same messages she did when she was a jackal, but the messages were garbled and lighter, the human body she now possessed not understanding what to do with them. Her eyes flicked about just before she began making her way forward, moving her arms back and forth as humans did for balance. She had to be wary, of course, but she felt it almost unneeded. She did not feel threatened in the least, merely more curious, and not wanting to be caught off guard.

[Ukiyoe]

The sun burned brightly overhead with hardly a cloud in the sky. A beautiful day, though the fortune spirit prefered night above any other time. She took out a small black lace fan and opened it, spinning it on her bone-white finger until it spun up and then down, now a large black parasol. Ukiyoe was also a spirit of magick. She squinted ahead, towards the fields that would be flooded by nightfall. Something seemed off; no birds were chirping and even the grass seemed to try its hardest not to move in the wind. She pulled the numerous bells out of her hair and off of her geta, so as not to give her away, and released them as golden butterflies. Ukiyoe walked slowly towards the edge of the field, increasingly more afraid of what could cause such a disturbance. The grass was long here, capable of hiding a number of evils. She held her breath and moved slowly closer to the fields. She spied a dark shape lurking in the distance. "Hello!" she called out, "Whoever or Whatever you are, show yourself!"

She stepped out of her tall geta, throwing her parasol to the side, and grabbing the bottom of her trailing hikuzuri kimono, she ran towards the fields, ready to protect the Spirit World from whatever threat this shadow intended on posing. As she got closer, she saw the shape was humanoid (thought she could have sworn it was on all fours a moment ago) and dressed in purple. As if by her own magick, the birds returned to chirping and the grass blew more enthusiastically than ever. Her gold eyes opened wide, pulling in every detail of this scene. Whatever power this girl possessed was not to reckoned with so easily. "Hello?" Ukiyoe called out again, cautiously stepping towards this strange dazed-looking girl.

[Shunem]

Shunem was frazzled on the inside, as she always was during the first few moments of walking as a human. But she had no way of understanding how to express her inner emotions, although there were the subtle, automatic movements of her face that could have assisted her in the matter.

She blinked several times, as if struck dumb. Shunem was obviously unaware of how deficient and dumb-witted she usually looked as a human. It was odd, actually, considering how fiercely intelligent she could look as a spirit, but as a human… well, it was quite another sight altogether.

Suddenly a voice reached her ears, and Shunem lifted her head, flicking about almost in a clicking manner, the way a dog would move its head from side to side when being spoken to. She instinctively attempted to prick her ears up before realizing that it wasn’t working and why. Her sense of hearing was duller; she felt unprotected without being able to read the messages in the air; the balance was strange. Being human… it was so unpractical. Though she supposed perhaps it was time to try out the vocals once more.

“Yes?” She uttered out in a failed attempt to raise her voice, instead she made it crack and she coughed, swallowing the saliva in the wrong way. She lowered her eyebrows slightly, unintentionally, telling the world she was already fed up. But she tried again, “Y – yes?” This attempt was much better, and she had resulted in successfully carrying her voice.

But only now did she see the figure that was coming toward her, as she had not been paying attention while attempting to reacquaint herself with the difficult task of being human. But she supposed that perhaps it would be like that for any creature. A human becoming jackal when they weren’t used to it? With wings, too? Shunem knew that would be a daunting thought once the realization hit the one who was forced into such a position. Shunem envied no one who had another form that they did not use on a regular basis… it made it difficult in possible emergencies. She supposed that perhaps it was best if she began to practice more. No matter how revolting the thought.

Her eyes dragged toward the material she wore. A kimono… she knew the term, understood the purpose, yet she found it unpleasant. To her it felt like fur that kept sliding about and threatening to fall off and leave her exposed. Though as she looked back toward the coming figure, she noticed that it, too, wore a garment… a similar one at that. It appeared as though it was garbed in something longer, though. Shunem did not understand why… the idea of an excessive amount of such a material was unpleasant to her.

Such a strange group, these humanoids were. They had such brilliant ideas at times, yet could not find a way to keep their false fur stable. Shunem felt the breezes flowing through the openings of the loose sleeves of her own kimono, felt the wind lightly touch her every outward aspect… her long strands of hair, her face, her legs, her arms. She had to admit it, humans could feel more than she could. For even though most of her senses were sharper than the human being’s, she realized only now that perhaps her sense of touch was less. But instead of feeling gratitude towards the fact that she could experience the sense of touch in various ways, she was disappointed. Her sharpened sense of smell and hearing merely forced her to act out in wary ways, but the human could be so perfectly oblivious. And they got the joys of touch.

Odd… it was simply odd how the world worked.

With her unintentional placid expression, Shunem kept watching the figure, not sure if she should move toward it or not. She chose to remain still and stable, folding her hands in front of her, her hair twisting around as the sporadic light winds went through it. Her face remained like that of a doll’s… blank and almost unseeing, devoid of curiosity or fear.

[Ukiyoe]

Ukiyoe stood her ground, turning her head to the side like a perplexed bird and eyeing this strange girl closely. She had the painted wide-eyed face of a Victorian doll, her purple kimono, lovely as it was, looked a bit unnatural on her. WHAT is she... Ukiyoe thought. There was no sense in asking WHO. Who was this shell of a skin, this girl costume. What was on the inside. The girl's skin crawled and her face looked pained by numerous sensations all at once. Ukiyoe had never heard of humans reacting reacting this way to being in the Spirit World, but then again humans didn't have the presence to silence birds and they most certainly did not fabricate themselves out of shadow. She moved closer, extending her hand and smiling awkwardly. She didn't give off the energy of a malevolent being, but the energy of her hidden secrets was overwhelming.

"Are you new here?" Ukiyoe spoke gently. "I'm new here myself. I arrived nine nights ago and I've been staying at the bathouse until I can find a suitable place to erect my temple." She paused and examined the girl, her face hadn't changed once this time and Ukiyoe wasn't even sure if she even saw her blink. What if she wasn't even alive. Ukiyoe shivered and put her hand on the creature's shoulder. "Are you human? Spirit? Or something that I shouldn't know about?" Ukiyoe gazed into her eyes, willing her to speak to still her trembling heart.