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A Chorus In The Darkness (1x1 with Jikkah)

Amaya reached across the table to take Akihime’s hand. “It’s alright, we can afford to spend money on this sort of thing.” She said with a soft smile.
 
She could only nod, her body wracking with her tears, squeezing Amaya's hand tightly. "I...I've been so selfish...! I've kept his six coins, he needs them and they're all I have of him left...!"
 
Amaya frowned softly. “Then we should offer another six coins to him today, shouldn’t we?” She said softly. Offer up another six coins? Could they afford to do such a thing? Every bit counted, and with Amaya being the only one bringing in money, money was incredibly tight.
 
She shook her head, trying to calm down, "No...no, he needs them...I should give them back..." She hiccuped, "I'll...I'll be alright..."
 
It was a hard day, dragging on long and slow, but as the sun started to descend, the two women made their way to the local cemetery, carrying offerings of food, incense, and flowers with them.
 
Akihime clutched the necklace of coins, telling herself her husband needed them more than she did. She didn't notice the large lumbering man that stalked a ways behind them, watching silently.
 
Amaya did take notice however, but didn’t bring attention to Akihime, simply made herself aware of how close he was in case he tried anything. Once they reached the gates, she stopped, always allowing Akihime her privacy when visiting Yukimura’s grave. “I’ll wait for you here, take your time.” She said softly, giving her shoulder a gentle squeeze.
 
"Thank you...I won't be long, I promise..." She said and headed into the cemetery, making sure she didn't dirty her kimono. The man stood nonchalantly a ways behind, trying to be inconspicuous as he prayed to the unnamed markers.
 
Amaya waited until Akihime was out of earshot before turning slightly to face the man who had been following them.
“You- following two women at night time, what is it you hope to accomplish in doing so?” Her tone was pointed, indicating she had been aware he had been following them for a while. She was definitely human, perhaps she was just perceptive.
 
The man stood silently for a moment before turning his gaze to her, his eyes glowing, "Forgive my rudeness," his voice was gruff, the the rumble of thunder, "she seemed familiar to me, I merely wished to be sure. I apologize for any discomfort."
 
Amaya felt a small shred of fear flicker to life in her chest when she saw his glowing eyes. Was he a monster just like the one that had attacked her the night before? Unknowingly, she put a hand to her still bandaged neck, the smell of fear clear in the air to Kojurou.
“She doesn’t know you.” She said firmly, and she knew that for a fact. Amaya had been with Akihime for years, and not once had she seen this man anywhere.
 
It had been months since Motochika and Nana had left the sea to live on land, and after many failed attempts to live among the society they were both new to, they took to camping in the deep woods along a lake, Motochika picking up odd jobs for coin and getting whatever else they needed from the land. Both Nana and Motochika were excellent fishermen, so food had never been an issue, but they would need to build a more permanent home if they were to combat the cold of the winter that would be soon to come. Nana usually was the one to go and collect the trees Motochika had marked as good building material, it being easy to cut down for her with such a large amount of water nearby, and strength didn’t seem to be an issue either. She could easily carry two or three large trees back to camp with her with the assistance of a good amount of water; they were doing well.
 
Motochika liked to believe he was good at wood carving; he hadn't done it in literal centuries but their home was coming along nicely. They had the beginnings of a roof and sturdy walls and a firepit he made from water polished stone - thanks to Nana's help.
 
This would have to be the last of the work they did for the day, the sun already dipping behind the mountains, giving them limited daylight, and working by the light of a campfire was dangerous. Nana hadn’t quite made it back with the last of the trees, but she did have a bit of a trek to make to get the best lumber for the house, so Motochika wasn’t too worried, plus she had been the one to take out a handful of men on her own in seconds, she was more than capable of protecting herself.
 
Motochika sat by the fire cooking their food as he waited for Nana to get back. It was nice out here, he preferred it over the loud villages. He heard a twig snap and figured it was Nana coming back with the final logs of wood.
"About time you got back." He teased before a hand was clamped over his mouth and he was hoisted up way too easy. Motochika was in no way a scrawny man, he was built like a brick wall. So it was terrifying when someone could grab him and pull him around like he was a doll.
 
Nana was strong enough to pull him around like that, but she wasn’t one for jokes like that, and the hand over his mouth was far too big and rough to be hers. Whoever it was, they weren’t human, not fully, for no human could pull off such a feat as easily as they were.
 
Motochika struggled, both to get free and to breathe. Who the hell was this? They seemed rather human in form, was it a dragonian? No, no scales. And this man smelled like the forest.
 
Soon Motochika’s vision began to fade in and out, growing darker at the edges. He could suddenly feel the earth shake beneath his feet, trees crashing to the forest floor and what sounded like a wave crashing, but the lake was too calm for waves that big. Nana, he could suddenly see Nana standing in the clearing before him, the trees she had been transporting laying on the flooded campground.
Nana stared in shock as she watched a massive monster of a man try to drag away Motochika, who was starting to lose consciousness, eyes wide in horror, body frozen.
 
Nana, get away. He wanted to scream at her to run but he hadn't the strength. His eyes rolled back and he went lax. The man looked to Nana with glowing eyes before dropping Motochika and moving towards her.
 
He expected her to fall to her knees, scream and run, look terrified of him, but her eyes were glued to Motochika. The water at their feet suddenly began to float, and Nana’s appearance began to change. A look of fury and torment twisting her face, scales slowly standing up on end to appear sharper, and her pupils becoming slits. In the blink of an eye she was gone, and had shot passed Kojurou faster than he could almost see. Nana was crouched over Motochika, checking him over to make sure he was still breathing before looking back at Kojurou with tears in her eyes and her sharp teeth bared.
 
She moved onto all fours, gnashing her teeth as she trembled. “Interesting?” She echoed. “You hurt him and you find me interesting..!?” The water they stood in slowly moved to Nana, wrapping up her arms and legs like serpents, the water weaving into her hair and fanning out like a cloak across her back. “What is wrong with surface humans..!?” She seemed to be consumed by her rage, eyes practically glowing; the only thing that followed her disappearance again was the water where she was a moment ago splashing, then the splintering of wood as she landed twenty feet up in a tree, then rocketed toward him at break neck speed. A small cut opened up on his chest as she flew passed him, hitting the ground and bouncing off again, shooting around and bouncing from tree to ground, then tree again, leaving a decent cut on his body as she went. This continued for a bit, bouncing around like a bullet, leaving cuts all across his body and ruining the suit he wore, but these cuts were no where near enough to stop Kojurou.
 
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