09-28-2015, 07:29 PM
The shadows were growing longer quickly now, merging together like the quicksilver in her hands. With a thought, Ururu banished the orb back within herself before turning to move on before darkness set in.
So far that meant day was about to end unless this place was one of the binary star systems astronomers had discovered within intergalactic spitting distance of earth.
That's at least that what she thought it might be like, not like she could be a genius in everything. Those kinds of legendary people from shounen manga simply didn't exist. No specialized knowledge was at least the normal for the abnormally intelligent.
But for now those thoughts needed to be waylaid for more conventional practicality, like finding shelter. If this place was like any other number of towns she had visited in her life time, she was bound to find an inn or a tavern of some sort. Given the construction of the fort, she could guess that any other buildings would likely follow the Foreigner designs she had seen rarely among those from the far east of her continent and beyond.
That left her with a general idea what she was looking for and began moving off.
“First tavern we see, we're going to eat some proper dinner” Hikaru said, breaking the silence as they both started forward on the road again.
Ururu nodded in agreement even as she responded, “Proper being with a good amount of alcohol.”
Hikaru snorted, “If you get yourself drunk you're sleeping on the floor or in the bathroom.”
“Who says they even have a bathroom, this place is Clan War era technology at best if that fort is anything to go by. They probably don't even know about sanitizing water.” Ururu said with a grin, and could tell this time Ururu had won the argument.
“Fine but we're sharing then.” Hikaru muttered grudgingly.
“Oh? An indirect kiss... how scandalously prudish of you.” Ururu chided and brought her arm around her companion's shoulder. Leaning in close enough where she cold nibble of her ears if Ururu was so inclined she then whispered, “Don't worry we'll find some place very private before I really start the banging.”
A blush rose only slightly in Hikaru's face as, she was far to used to this sort of behavior normally... But in this case it was the emotions radiating through the Network accompanied by the burst of imaginary images that got to her. Something to do with paper thin walls and an unintended audience.
Ururu, despite the ordeals so far, seemed to be adapting spetacularly.
This sort of back and forth behavior went on as the Staging Grounds and the Fort fell behind them by more than an hour's brisk walk. Leisurely really for the pair of koinichi but for most brisk to be certain. And thats how they found themselves the outer limits of what looked to be a farming community.
Or what Ururu supposed was a farming community. There was a distinct lack of rice. And instead long stock that well above her head by twice her own body length, or perhaps even further. At the end and to the upper sides were long ovals and maybe bits of white, yellow and brown.
Was it some kind of squash tree orchard? The stems seemed rather green and thin to be trunks, but... Well it was odd to say the least. More than that though was the fact that the were in rows rather than staged in a grid like rice patties would be set.
Regardless, it was far too orderly to be naturally occurring and the size and greenness of the stems bespoke of young plants that couldn't be more than a year old. Some had been working this land recently.
To reinforce this point on the opposite side of the road, brush had given way to a series of trees that was most definitely an orchard. They grew rather top heavy and had some sort of dark berry with sharp oval leaves in fern like bunches.
Leading her partner over Ururu found one of the darker ones hanging over towards the edge of the road and plucked off to sample it.
Hikaru suddenly stiffened, her mind racing between theft, to idiocy of trying an unknown consumable which didn't leave enough time to process the actions before Ururu popped it into her mouth whole.
The outer fleshy part didn't really have a taste up until the point she bit into it. Whatever she was expecting it hadn't been this. Bitter with a pungent oily aroma erupted into her mouth, nose and psyche.
With a juicy and roaring gag she relieved her mouth of the offending fruit but that didn't remove the taste, the smell or the trauma of the memory. So much was the feeling that her arms and spasmed between sputters and the follow up gagging as even her saliva betrayed her with that same flavor.
The Network was also shivering with the feedback of the horrendous experience its creator was subjecting it too. Enough even Hikaru was starting to look a bit green but not so much that she wasn't able to support Ururu who may not be one to survive the night if her expression was anything to go by.
A couple of minutes passed by with the aid of most of the pair's stock of canteen water, more than either would have liked but a necessity of the situation. Gagging and a few dry heaves though were all that was left by then, all the while Hikaru had a mild look of disapproval and concern playing on her face. In her opinion this as a perfect time to be judgemental of Ururu's actions, but part of her was reflecting on the deeper meaning of the situation.
It's seemed almost as if in the span of a few days she had to managed to regress in maturity in several subtle ways. But today and more pointed since arrival here it had gotten worse. Maybe part of the balance of this world?
She knew and understood the principles of the immortality jutsu and it should have been isolating Ururu from hormonal and general biochemistry associated with the brain of a child... but it wasn't.
"Better?" Hikaru asked with a slight tone of worry.
Groggily with drool hanging down her prepubescent face, Ururu nodded, "Yeah."
More was said in the Network, a lot of it unintended, but general message was the same. Tavern, sleep, food and alcohol. Preferably all at once but only one of those items was necessary.
Leading her carefully, the pair began again their brisk pace into the town and this time with no detours or contemplative musings.
Farms gave way soon enough to the town proper and various shops a stalls that we're closing for the evening. Not that they were interested, instead their eyes were peeled for the hearthy glow of a fire and the sound of music; both of which were so endemic to inns and taverns.
Luck it seemed as they were met with a golden orange light flickering through a window and edges of a door frame.
Looking the place over they found everything about the place seemed to be either some heavy wood or wrought iron save from the dull glass through which most of the light in the establishment was escaping through. A second glance and an averted gaze from the wheat colored light revealed a sign barely illuminated by the last few rays of the sun.
The Squire’s Precipice, featuring a caricature of a boy on an overly large horse and an equally large hill. In one arm was a shield and the other a tinkered of some golden liquid. Hopefully cider.
“This’ll do” Ururu said finally and with no other warning, dragged Hikaru and herself in through the front door.
So far that meant day was about to end unless this place was one of the binary star systems astronomers had discovered within intergalactic spitting distance of earth.
That's at least that what she thought it might be like, not like she could be a genius in everything. Those kinds of legendary people from shounen manga simply didn't exist. No specialized knowledge was at least the normal for the abnormally intelligent.
But for now those thoughts needed to be waylaid for more conventional practicality, like finding shelter. If this place was like any other number of towns she had visited in her life time, she was bound to find an inn or a tavern of some sort. Given the construction of the fort, she could guess that any other buildings would likely follow the Foreigner designs she had seen rarely among those from the far east of her continent and beyond.
That left her with a general idea what she was looking for and began moving off.
“First tavern we see, we're going to eat some proper dinner” Hikaru said, breaking the silence as they both started forward on the road again.
Ururu nodded in agreement even as she responded, “Proper being with a good amount of alcohol.”
Hikaru snorted, “If you get yourself drunk you're sleeping on the floor or in the bathroom.”
“Who says they even have a bathroom, this place is Clan War era technology at best if that fort is anything to go by. They probably don't even know about sanitizing water.” Ururu said with a grin, and could tell this time Ururu had won the argument.
“Fine but we're sharing then.” Hikaru muttered grudgingly.
“Oh? An indirect kiss... how scandalously prudish of you.” Ururu chided and brought her arm around her companion's shoulder. Leaning in close enough where she cold nibble of her ears if Ururu was so inclined she then whispered, “Don't worry we'll find some place very private before I really start the banging.”
A blush rose only slightly in Hikaru's face as, she was far to used to this sort of behavior normally... But in this case it was the emotions radiating through the Network accompanied by the burst of imaginary images that got to her. Something to do with paper thin walls and an unintended audience.
Ururu, despite the ordeals so far, seemed to be adapting spetacularly.
This sort of back and forth behavior went on as the Staging Grounds and the Fort fell behind them by more than an hour's brisk walk. Leisurely really for the pair of koinichi but for most brisk to be certain. And thats how they found themselves the outer limits of what looked to be a farming community.
Or what Ururu supposed was a farming community. There was a distinct lack of rice. And instead long stock that well above her head by twice her own body length, or perhaps even further. At the end and to the upper sides were long ovals and maybe bits of white, yellow and brown.
Was it some kind of squash tree orchard? The stems seemed rather green and thin to be trunks, but... Well it was odd to say the least. More than that though was the fact that the were in rows rather than staged in a grid like rice patties would be set.
Regardless, it was far too orderly to be naturally occurring and the size and greenness of the stems bespoke of young plants that couldn't be more than a year old. Some had been working this land recently.
To reinforce this point on the opposite side of the road, brush had given way to a series of trees that was most definitely an orchard. They grew rather top heavy and had some sort of dark berry with sharp oval leaves in fern like bunches.
Leading her partner over Ururu found one of the darker ones hanging over towards the edge of the road and plucked off to sample it.
Hikaru suddenly stiffened, her mind racing between theft, to idiocy of trying an unknown consumable which didn't leave enough time to process the actions before Ururu popped it into her mouth whole.
The outer fleshy part didn't really have a taste up until the point she bit into it. Whatever she was expecting it hadn't been this. Bitter with a pungent oily aroma erupted into her mouth, nose and psyche.
With a juicy and roaring gag she relieved her mouth of the offending fruit but that didn't remove the taste, the smell or the trauma of the memory. So much was the feeling that her arms and spasmed between sputters and the follow up gagging as even her saliva betrayed her with that same flavor.
The Network was also shivering with the feedback of the horrendous experience its creator was subjecting it too. Enough even Hikaru was starting to look a bit green but not so much that she wasn't able to support Ururu who may not be one to survive the night if her expression was anything to go by.
A couple of minutes passed by with the aid of most of the pair's stock of canteen water, more than either would have liked but a necessity of the situation. Gagging and a few dry heaves though were all that was left by then, all the while Hikaru had a mild look of disapproval and concern playing on her face. In her opinion this as a perfect time to be judgemental of Ururu's actions, but part of her was reflecting on the deeper meaning of the situation.
It's seemed almost as if in the span of a few days she had to managed to regress in maturity in several subtle ways. But today and more pointed since arrival here it had gotten worse. Maybe part of the balance of this world?
She knew and understood the principles of the immortality jutsu and it should have been isolating Ururu from hormonal and general biochemistry associated with the brain of a child... but it wasn't.
"Better?" Hikaru asked with a slight tone of worry.
Groggily with drool hanging down her prepubescent face, Ururu nodded, "Yeah."
More was said in the Network, a lot of it unintended, but general message was the same. Tavern, sleep, food and alcohol. Preferably all at once but only one of those items was necessary.
Leading her carefully, the pair began again their brisk pace into the town and this time with no detours or contemplative musings.
Farms gave way soon enough to the town proper and various shops a stalls that we're closing for the evening. Not that they were interested, instead their eyes were peeled for the hearthy glow of a fire and the sound of music; both of which were so endemic to inns and taverns.
Luck it seemed as they were met with a golden orange light flickering through a window and edges of a door frame.
Looking the place over they found everything about the place seemed to be either some heavy wood or wrought iron save from the dull glass through which most of the light in the establishment was escaping through. A second glance and an averted gaze from the wheat colored light revealed a sign barely illuminated by the last few rays of the sun.
The Squire’s Precipice, featuring a caricature of a boy on an overly large horse and an equally large hill. In one arm was a shield and the other a tinkered of some golden liquid. Hopefully cider.
“This’ll do” Ururu said finally and with no other warning, dragged Hikaru and herself in through the front door.