Old World Remnants

[Zach Kaiser]

Nothing was right lately. He had seen neither Akizetsumei nor Toushikyo since they went home from the hospital; he did not know why, but if Akizetsumei had not come to see him then chances were that she was still not over what happened. She was still afraid of him.

Why did she faint when she touched those fans? What did she see that frightened her so much? he wondered for the millionth time. Again he went over what she said. She and her family were dead, and she was convinced it wasn't just a dream.

The only reason for her to be afraid of him is if she believed he killed them. She hadn't reacted the same to Toushikyo, nor his parents. Just him. It was impossible; he wasn't capable of such a thing. He would never want to hurt her or her family, not even Toushikyo despite their occasional conflicts. But she was convinced.

Going back to the graveyard had produced no clues, and he was hesitant to touch any of the gravestones himself as a test without someone nearby, and he wasn't willing to bring any of the girls to the place even if at least Sarah probably would go if he asked.

He was unable to find Remmy, nor find anybody who knew where he was. He'd vanished, and short of blindly wandering the forest Eld did not know how to go about finding him.

And...he was afraid to knock on the door of the Terra Clan's house. Afraid to be greeted with hate and distrust. But most of all he was afraid to see that look of fear on Akizetsumei's face, which when directed at him had pierced him deeper than any spear wielded by her brother could have.

So he was stuck. It was beginning to feel like time had come to a halt, and he didn't have any idea how to get it going again. So he sat on the futon and stared forlornly at his lap, hardly even aware of Etsu's presence...

[Nayt]

It was just . . . so unnerving, seeing Eld like this. Etsu almost felt the need to try cheering him up somehow. On any other day, she'd have balked at the idea, but this was the third day that Eld had been like this; the third day of silence that was at first comfortable, but was now horrible and disconcerting. Truthfully, she kind of wanted it to end. She even considered methods of breaking the silence with conversation, but the whole idea felt too strange to her. It'd probably feel strange to him, too. After all, on any other day, she was happier when she didn't have to talk to him-- right?

Maybe it was the stagnation. Etsu hadn't done much at all over the last few days. Everyone was busy. Sarah and Emily worked a lot during week days, and Maya put the same amount of hours into her studies. Then there were Toushikyo and Akizets, but no one had heard a thing from them recently. Yes, it had to be this bed. She'd just been sitting here between meals and bathroom breaks, either reading or dazing. She had to get out of this bed and do something else, and it'd probably help (somehow) if she dragged Eld along with her.

She set her book aside and straightened her back out. If she was going to address Eld, she had to do it whilst sitting straight up in a prim-and-proper way.

"I want to go out," Etsu declared promptly.

[Zach Kaiser]

The melancholy was broken by a voice. Eld's head snapped up, startled, not as though he hadn't expected her to speak, but rather like he hadn't been aware she was even there. He stared at her for several moments as he visibly processed what she said.

"O-Oh," he replied at last. "It's not like you need my permission." His gaze then returned to his lap.

Clearly this was not one of his better days, if that she wanted him to come with went completely over his head.

[Nayt]

"Baka," she declared frankly.

He really had no etiquette at all. Granted, he was kind of down in the dumps right now, but that was no excuse to fail socially. Okay, maybe it was, but . . . Darnit.

Etsu was disappointed with herself more than anything else. She couldn't bring herself to blame Eld right now. This was absolutely miserable. He really needed to cheer up soon.

"You are sup-posed to invite me out," she elaborated bluntly. "And buy me r-runch."

And then she was supposed to pretend like it wasn't any big deal, and that he was just trying to get on her good side. Then all the nice things he did for her would be discounted entirely and they'd once again be back at a comfortable square one. That's how it was supposed to go, but Eld didn't seem to get the picture.

[Zach Kaiser]

"Huh...?" It was unlikely that even on a normal day Eld would have made the leap from Etsu declaring she wanted to leave and the expectation that he buy her lunch. Accompany her somewhere maybe. But in his current state that was rather beyond him.

It looked briefly like he was going to object at this expectation, but then he sighed. "Sure, why not." He was in no mood to fight with her, and he wasn't doing anything anyway.

He slowly pulled himself to his feet. Fortunately, even depression couldn't break his habits of cleanliness and hygiene, so he was ready to go when she was.

[Nayt]

As she'd essentially been in her pajamas for the last few days (that long sleep shirt she liked to wear, that is), Etsu issued Eld an order to leave the room whilst she got dressed. She found a long skirt and a tank top for herself, and once she was fully dressed, Etsu left Eld's room to rejoin him in the hallway. She still seemed to be consistent with her concealing hairstyle; she still had her bangs down over the left side of her face, and was even checking her bangs to make sure it was all in order whilst the left Eld's room.

The continued need for concealment probably wasn't a good sign, but that wasn't an issue on either of their minds right now.

Etsu stopped just before Eld and looked up at his face. She studied him for a long moment, and regrettably came up short. He was up and moving, but still just as depressed. Well, maybe he'd start feeling a little better after getting something to eat.

"As you are pay-ing, it is onr-ry right if you decide where we go," Etsu declared. Were she not so naturally stoic and meek, she might have sounded haughty just now.

[Zach Kaiser]

I'm not all that hungry. But he still at least had the presence of mind to realize that would probably only annoy Etsu, and lead to an argument about who chose where to eat.

"Alright." It was easier to just agree with her.

But he still didn't much care, so once they were out in town he just ended up wandering into the first place he saw that served food, not paying too much attention to what they served.

[Nayt]

Once they were in town, though, Eld would find that it was a little more complicated than that. There were a lot more people out today than usual, and a lot of them weren't walking. A bulk of these folk were surrounding this place that specialized in sandwiches, a place Akizets took Eld out for lunch some time ago. As it looked awfully busy, Etsu decided to take lead long enough to get around it, if only to ensure that Eld did not choose that particular locale. She only started to go around the crowd before she overheard some folk in nearby speaking.

"You really think there's one in there?" one boy said to another.

"Yeah! But-- maaaan, I wish these guys would move. I can't see!"

"C'mon, buddy!" the kid shouted at a bigger man in front of them, "Let us through! We wanna see, too!"

It was only then that Etsu stopped and turned to Eld inquisitively. She was on the fence, now. On one hand, she disliked crowds. On the other, this was kind of a curious situation. Well . . . maybe it was best to let Eld decide this one, too.

[Zach Kaiser]

Eld's preferred place of lunch, which happened to be fairly close to his home, was packed. Or so he assumed, as there was a huge crowd around it. He wasn't fond of crowds, and especially in the mood he was in he wanted to avoid them. But as he was passing around them, what he overheard suggested that the tasty sandwiches weren't the reason so many people were gathered.

Recalling an earlier incident, he had an uneasy feeling he knew what was going on. Part of him wanted to avoid it altogether; depending on what was going on, he'd either be just another gawker or perhaps even create a scene. But a fit of surliness overcame him.

"I'm going to see what's going on," he announced for Etsu's benefit. He began to slip through the crowd like a shadow, finding the small gaps and squeezing through them with his relatively slight frame, until he was in a position to see what was going on.

[Nayt]

Etsu nodded firmly. "I wir-rr, too."

The girl darted into the crowd directly behind Eld, but soon found it extraordinarily difficult to keep pace with him. Firstly, there were a lot of people. She bumped into a big man who gave her a dirty look. She bumped into a child that bumped into her right back. She nearly drove her shoulder into a pregnant woman by complete accident . . . all because she was trying to keep pace with him. The crowd here was actually pretty huge. It seemed like half of Hillcrest was out here to gawk at something, and actually getting far enough into the mass of people was going to take time. If she didn't think quick, she was going to lose Eld.

So she acted on her first instinct, brushed by a man without a word, squeezed between two older ladies, and once she'd caught up with Eld, reached and grasped his hand, took it in hers, and squeezed tight enough that he'd get the picture: he needed to slow down, chill out, and hold her hand so they don't wind up getting separated.

If he were to look back at her, she'd return his gaze with a slight pout of her lower lip. Etsu really didn't want to get lost in this crowd. She was going to intertwine her fingers with Eld's and make damn sure he wasn't getting away from her. Were he to get away from her, of course, she'd be lost out here, surrounded by unfamiliar people, and wholly vulnerable to all sorts of horrible things. It was an unnerving thought. And now, whether she wanted to admit it or not, her fears and temporary reliance on Eld wound up turning him into her unwitting protector.

[Zach Kaiser]

Eld turned around in surprise upon feeling someone grab his hand. At first he thought it would be someone seeing him slip through and reprimand him for trying to get through the crowd.

Instead he saw Etsu, distressed enough that she was willing to cling to him in order to avoid getting lost in the crowd. It was enough to cut through the haze of his depression and make him realize what he was doing. "Gomen. I'll slow down."

Keeping her hand in his, he led her through what was left of the crowd, or hopefully at least to a place where they could see what was going on.

[Nayt]

Closer to the front of the crowd, there was a lot of gawking, oo's, ah's, and hums of curiosity. People were talking everywhere all at once, and it was hard to overhear any one conversation for long.

"I've never seen anything like it--"

"Is it . . . real?"

"It's kind of scary."

"This is impossible!"

"But pretty, too."

"But they're just supposed to be stories--"

"It's amazing."

"Beautiful."

"She's really--"

Once Eld was at the front of the crowd-- with Etsu in tow --he'd be able to see why a crowd had gathered here like this. Of course, just the image might be enough to distract him from realizing that, even after stopping by Eld's side, safe and sound, Etsu had not let go of his hand. Chances were, she didn't realize she was holding his hand anymore, either. She'd never seen anything like this before, either . . .

The girl had seated herself at a table just outside of the restaurant. All bodies had since left the restaurant but a few employees, who were staring from the windows. The girl either failed to notice the crowd around her, or simply failed to care, but they all had good reason for their shock: her skin was of pure obsidian complexion, directly contracting her bright red eyes-- eyes that might well have lit up the night had evening already come and gone. She wore a black corset dress with a long skirt and sat with her legs crossed and a newspaper in her lap. She had shoulder length black hair, and it seemed her bangs were parted by a small skyward horn on one side of her forehead. There appeared to be growths on the backs of her hands that resembled retracted claws.

The crowd was both awed and frightened simultaneously. She was beautiful in all respects, but this was the first time most of them-- Etsu included --had seen someone like her . . .

"--an Umbra."

[Zach Kaiser]

He'd figured it was something like this. It was rare to see an Umbra in town; they tended to be reclusive, and the only time he'd seen any previously was at the clinic, when concern for one's well-being overrode any fear or mistrust of outsiders they might have.

Not that the pretty girl eating looked particularly afraid or mistrustful. In fact, she seemed to not be bothered by the crowd at all, which was more than a little odd. He knew if he was stared at like that it would bother him.

At least the people seemed relatively benign. No racist old men like the ones he'd run into here a while back with Akizetsumei. Akizetsumei...

He shook his head. Benign or not, the crowd was irritating, and he had no intention of being part of it. Instead, he defiantly strode forward and into the restaurant with the intent of getting some lunch, pulling Etsu along with him unless she particularly resisted.

Any questioning on her part of his actions would result in a simple reply: "I'm hungry."

[Nayt]

So this was an Umbra? Etsu had never even seen one before in her life. She'd heard stories, a lot of them fairly bad (Cizokians were a very racist people sometimes), but she'd still never seen one before. It was kind of bizarre, like she was looking at something that had to be inanimate-- a statue of some sort --but was clearly moving, living, and breathing autonomously. The strangest thing was that even though the color of her skin was almost unnerving to examine, this young woman was undeniably beautiful, even to Etsu.

Etsu was initially confused when Eld tugged her forward, and she gave him a strange look to match that feeling.

"N-nani desu--" Etsu whispered meekly, unable to actually get the full of her sentence out before Eld replied that he was hungry.

Well, she kind of was, too, but . . . well . . . Nevermind. It was fine. It was for the best that she didn't stand there gawking, anyways. Etsu knew she'd have felt very uncomfortable if there was a whole crowd of people gawking at her. Best not to join the crowd. So she let Eld drag her along, and still made no effort to release his hand or somehow coerce him to let her go, even after they were beyond the crowd.

There were a lot of people out today, but few even noticed that Eldridge Tsukimono was holding hands with a different girl today. Whereas a week ago, he was walking around and holding hands with a cute and bubbly platinum blond, today he was holding hands with an awkward, dark haired, and kind of foreboding Cizokian girl. Those few that did notice weren't wrapped up in this boy's love life, however, and were loath to give a damn.

They had to pass the Umbra woman by in order to get in. She glanced up from her newspaper to regard them immediately before returning to reading-- only to soon experience a double take. She looked up again, just as Eld and Etsu were passing by, and had a wide-eyed expression upon her face befitting a soldier suddenly compelled to stand and salute ten seconds too late. But this only lasted a split second, as the look of recognition died away and she returned to reading again.

[Zach Kaiser]

Eld thought he saw slight movement out of the corner of his eye, as though the Umbra woman had looked at him, but when he glanced at her she was back to reading the paper, which was obscuring her face from him.

Not thinking much of it, he continued his march up the counter and ordered, and let Etsu ordered whatever she wanted as well. The staff seemed a bit flustered, as they were far more interested in their exotica Umbra customer than him, but they still did their job.

Eld considered simply eating inside or even taking the sandwich home, but had an impetuous impulse. He left the building (with Etsu still in tow) and walked up to the table the Umbra woman was sitting at. "Would you like some company?" he asked with a friendly smile--though admittedly one tinted with mischief. It was all he could do to resist thumbing his nose at the crowd; even if they were benign, they were still cowards who preferred to sit and watch at a distance rather than talk to the newcomer that interested them so much.