03-20-2016, 10:57 AM
Shadows slid along the buildings of the city, casting navy tints along the white stone establishments. The sun had just dipped behind the walls encircling the area, leaving nothing but the sporadic braziers strategically placed about to illuminate the streets. Any pretenses Sonny had of blending in with civilization had been thrown to the wind when the orange disk had disappeared beneath the horizon. As it turned out, feigning normalcy became awfully difficult if your entire being tended to radiate a light glow.
Though it didn’t outstrip the light of the fiery receptacles strewn about, his bodily glow chased away some of the fainter shadows near him, and turned more than a few eyes. For a few moments, he entertained the thought of retreating into a back alley and allowing his other half to take over. The storm spirit would be much more inconspicuous, unless he were to start being himself. Of course, he couldn’t trust Somerled to not be himself, and thus that thought was waved away quite quickly. Without being physically there to rein him in, the odds of the monster doing something to fuck up were just far too great.
The sun spirit pulled the hood of the cloak tighter over his head, keeping down and hoping a lynch mob wasn’t forming in his blind spots. It was far too soon for that. Things needed to be done, leads needed to be investigated. Of course, maybe they were just gawking at him and he was being overly paranoid. Either way, he wanted out of the public’s scrutinous gaze until morning, when his glowing wouldn’t be noticed. He continued down the streets, rhythmic footsteps mingling with the rest of the populace’s, and he kept an eye out for an inn.
Straw crunched and crackled beneath the sun spirit, crushed under him as he planted himself onto the cheap bed. He stared straight ahead, eye unfocused, almost gazing through the undecorated wooden walls in front of him. It had been, for the most part, and easy room to buy out for the night. As it turns out, most people don’t want to spend too long haggling with a glowing, wounded monstrosity who you could literally see through at the right angle.
Of course, afraid that he was in trouble with the law or some such shit, they had refused to give him anything but the cheapest room they could. Sonny didn’t particularly mind that, and had agreed just about immediately. It’s not like he would wake up sore in the morning, or at least, he wouldn’t be able to feel it. Such a rapid agreement likely did nothing to assuage their worries, however.
“Tomorrow,” Sonny said quietly, careful not to be overheard through what he could only assume were thin walls. “We start asking very pointed questions. I’m sure someone will direct us somewhere with some well-aimed prodding.” He shrugged the cloak off his shoulders, straw cracking as he laid down on it. “And this might sound like a bad idea. But perhaps we could check for Council presence.” As he pulled the cloak over him like a makeshift blanket, he expected his other half to protest loudly and suddenly. That never came, though, leaving Sonny to continue on with what he was saying. “I could just summon up a blackbox and try to call. They might have a building somewhere around here. Just a thought though. We’ll see if any leads turn up first.” With that suggestion up in the air, he closed his eye and began to wait for the morning.
As his mind slowly came to, shaking off the groggy grasp of sleep, Sonny became faintly aware of something just a bit off. A small temperature presence, just barely below that of his body’s. His eye creaked open, he had a cloak, so he shouldn’t be feeling whatever temperature shift he was feeling. Through his waking haze, his eyes fell on a very pale figure sitting further down the bed, right where his legs should be.
“Good morning!” The specter greeted in a language he hadn’t heard since he got here, voice almost sarcastically cheery given the neutral expression on her face.
“What?” Sonny responded, still obviously tired and not waking up any time soon. His vision was beginning to clear up, revealing the features of who was sitting on his legs in more detail. Resting on his knees, still in her all-too-familiar silver dress, was none other than the spirit of the mist, Kasumi. The sun spirit’s mind shut down for a few seconds as he tried to process why exactly she was there.
“Where’s Somerled?” She switched from Japanese into English, in an effortless gesture that only gave Sonny even more questions. “Woah! I don’t remember being able to talk like that!” A bright grin spread across her face, and the sun spirit’s question list continued to grow.
“Here!” Somerled interjected, borrowing his other half’s voice for a moment, much to his chagrin. Kasumi’s smile fell away just about instantly, replaced by a look of ‘are you fucking kidding me.’
“You know who I meant, Sonny.” Extra emphasis was placed on his name.
“Not a joke, we got a weird pseudo-merge going on here.” Somerled was still the one speaking, leaving the only other person physically in the room as a bystander. “I’m Somerled, the storm spirit half. I’m trapped in Sonny’s mind on time-out. Hang on a moment...” His other half trailed off, falling silent, and the sun spirit assumed he was going to try something. Sonny’s vision shuddered and blurred, an intense pain erupting in his head. He gritted his teeth, trying his best to keep the pain from showing on his face, but it wasn’t enough to stop a grimace from forming. Kasumi’s own irritated expression faded away, replaced by curiosity.
An amalgamation of various types of precipitation drifted out from Sonny’s body. Rain, snow, hail, and every combination of those swirled about just a few feet away from the sun spirit, coagulating off to the side of the bed, soon solidifying into the familiar figure of his other half, still bearing the wounds he’d received just the day before. Almost immediately, his eye shifted down to one of his hands, which he flopped around experimentally.
“You weren’t kidding about this being light,” the storm spirit said, apparently enraptured by his temporary body. All of his movements paused for a moment, mouth spreading into a mischievous grin. “How did I miss that one! ‘It feels a bit light.’ And it’s literally made out of-” the ending of his sentence cut off abruptly with a powerful gasp of air as Kasumi tackle-hugged him. With almost effortless ease, brought on by both her own monstrous strength and the storm spirit’s near weightless body, she lifted him up over her shoulder, arms wrapped around his torso in a grip that was probably crushing one or two major organs.
“I think this is supposed to be the other way around,” Somerled choked out, unable to muster more due to the small spirit’s death-grip.
“Alright, question time,” Sonny said, interrupting their happy reunion, as he shifted so his feet were hanging off the bed. An interruption which completely failed to stop Kasumi from spinning the monster around. However, despite her complete non-compliance in responding to him, he continued anyway. “How’d you get here? Why are you suddenly fluent in English? What in the fuck?”
“Language!” Somerled barked half-seriously, no longer facing his other half as the small spirit stopped spinning him, eyes narrowing at Sonny.
“Harsh questions,” she said bluntly, a scathing tone to her voice.
“Yeah,” the monster agreed half-heartedly, no longer making any effort to escape Kasumi’s grip.
“Pretend I worded it better.” Sonny responded. It was an honest question, at least in his mind, since they had no idea where she had been, so it stood to reason that she wouldn’t know where they were. Kasumi retained the same, scornful look on her face, as she stared at the sun spirit for a few seconds.
“Don’t know, don’t know, and don’t know,” she answered, very unhelpfully. “I woke up here and I’m as surprised as you at my sudden fluency...” As she trailed off, an arrogant smirk appeared on her face moments later. “Maybe I found a way to become fluent in a few months.”
Sonny hummed, disappearing back into thought. Though the mist spirit’s smug tone irritated him on some level, he didn’t comment on it. There were far too many unexplained circumstances that apparently no one had the answer to. These questions could be investigated when they had the time, however. Right now, they needed to look into the split more. This world had more magically-inclined folks than home, as evidenced by Teucer and his squabble, and Amaterasu herself walking around. It was a very real possibility that they could end the split here in no more than a few centuries.
“Well, might as well get to business.” Sonny said, pushing himself up off the bed and wrapping the cloak back around his shoulders. He stepped to the side, bringing himself in line with Somerled’s slouching head, his body still hanging limply from Kasumi’s grip. A quick rap to the head dissolved his body again, eliciting an indignant exclamation from the small spirit. “It’s too magic intensive to keep his body around,” he explained rather apathetically, and paused for a moment after. It probably wouldn’t help him get on her good side at all, but it was worth an ask. “And would you please tie a bandage around my head?” He took the white length of fabric out of his pocket.
“Do it yourself,” came the completely expected, and rather quick response.
“He tried.” Somerled spoke first, before Sonny could even so much as think about opening his mouth. “I broke our hands. It’s just impossible.” Even in the face of his other half’s words, Kasumi’s scowl didn’t break. Perhaps because she had no way to tell it was Somerled doing the speaking and not Sonny, and there was no way to really prove it in either direction.
“Fine. Give me that,” she broke the thirty second silence rather grumpily, swiping the makeshift bandage out of his hand and jumping up onto the bed behind him. The sun spirit silently thanked his other half. They would be able to get on the road much quicker now.
Though it didn’t outstrip the light of the fiery receptacles strewn about, his bodily glow chased away some of the fainter shadows near him, and turned more than a few eyes. For a few moments, he entertained the thought of retreating into a back alley and allowing his other half to take over. The storm spirit would be much more inconspicuous, unless he were to start being himself. Of course, he couldn’t trust Somerled to not be himself, and thus that thought was waved away quite quickly. Without being physically there to rein him in, the odds of the monster doing something to fuck up were just far too great.
The sun spirit pulled the hood of the cloak tighter over his head, keeping down and hoping a lynch mob wasn’t forming in his blind spots. It was far too soon for that. Things needed to be done, leads needed to be investigated. Of course, maybe they were just gawking at him and he was being overly paranoid. Either way, he wanted out of the public’s scrutinous gaze until morning, when his glowing wouldn’t be noticed. He continued down the streets, rhythmic footsteps mingling with the rest of the populace’s, and he kept an eye out for an inn.
---
Straw crunched and crackled beneath the sun spirit, crushed under him as he planted himself onto the cheap bed. He stared straight ahead, eye unfocused, almost gazing through the undecorated wooden walls in front of him. It had been, for the most part, and easy room to buy out for the night. As it turns out, most people don’t want to spend too long haggling with a glowing, wounded monstrosity who you could literally see through at the right angle.
Of course, afraid that he was in trouble with the law or some such shit, they had refused to give him anything but the cheapest room they could. Sonny didn’t particularly mind that, and had agreed just about immediately. It’s not like he would wake up sore in the morning, or at least, he wouldn’t be able to feel it. Such a rapid agreement likely did nothing to assuage their worries, however.
“Tomorrow,” Sonny said quietly, careful not to be overheard through what he could only assume were thin walls. “We start asking very pointed questions. I’m sure someone will direct us somewhere with some well-aimed prodding.” He shrugged the cloak off his shoulders, straw cracking as he laid down on it. “And this might sound like a bad idea. But perhaps we could check for Council presence.” As he pulled the cloak over him like a makeshift blanket, he expected his other half to protest loudly and suddenly. That never came, though, leaving Sonny to continue on with what he was saying. “I could just summon up a blackbox and try to call. They might have a building somewhere around here. Just a thought though. We’ll see if any leads turn up first.” With that suggestion up in the air, he closed his eye and began to wait for the morning.
---
As his mind slowly came to, shaking off the groggy grasp of sleep, Sonny became faintly aware of something just a bit off. A small temperature presence, just barely below that of his body’s. His eye creaked open, he had a cloak, so he shouldn’t be feeling whatever temperature shift he was feeling. Through his waking haze, his eyes fell on a very pale figure sitting further down the bed, right where his legs should be.
“Good morning!” The specter greeted in a language he hadn’t heard since he got here, voice almost sarcastically cheery given the neutral expression on her face.
“What?” Sonny responded, still obviously tired and not waking up any time soon. His vision was beginning to clear up, revealing the features of who was sitting on his legs in more detail. Resting on his knees, still in her all-too-familiar silver dress, was none other than the spirit of the mist, Kasumi. The sun spirit’s mind shut down for a few seconds as he tried to process why exactly she was there.
“Where’s Somerled?” She switched from Japanese into English, in an effortless gesture that only gave Sonny even more questions. “Woah! I don’t remember being able to talk like that!” A bright grin spread across her face, and the sun spirit’s question list continued to grow.
“Here!” Somerled interjected, borrowing his other half’s voice for a moment, much to his chagrin. Kasumi’s smile fell away just about instantly, replaced by a look of ‘are you fucking kidding me.’
“You know who I meant, Sonny.” Extra emphasis was placed on his name.
“Not a joke, we got a weird pseudo-merge going on here.” Somerled was still the one speaking, leaving the only other person physically in the room as a bystander. “I’m Somerled, the storm spirit half. I’m trapped in Sonny’s mind on time-out. Hang on a moment...” His other half trailed off, falling silent, and the sun spirit assumed he was going to try something. Sonny’s vision shuddered and blurred, an intense pain erupting in his head. He gritted his teeth, trying his best to keep the pain from showing on his face, but it wasn’t enough to stop a grimace from forming. Kasumi’s own irritated expression faded away, replaced by curiosity.
An amalgamation of various types of precipitation drifted out from Sonny’s body. Rain, snow, hail, and every combination of those swirled about just a few feet away from the sun spirit, coagulating off to the side of the bed, soon solidifying into the familiar figure of his other half, still bearing the wounds he’d received just the day before. Almost immediately, his eye shifted down to one of his hands, which he flopped around experimentally.
“You weren’t kidding about this being light,” the storm spirit said, apparently enraptured by his temporary body. All of his movements paused for a moment, mouth spreading into a mischievous grin. “How did I miss that one! ‘It feels a bit light.’ And it’s literally made out of-” the ending of his sentence cut off abruptly with a powerful gasp of air as Kasumi tackle-hugged him. With almost effortless ease, brought on by both her own monstrous strength and the storm spirit’s near weightless body, she lifted him up over her shoulder, arms wrapped around his torso in a grip that was probably crushing one or two major organs.
“I think this is supposed to be the other way around,” Somerled choked out, unable to muster more due to the small spirit’s death-grip.
“Alright, question time,” Sonny said, interrupting their happy reunion, as he shifted so his feet were hanging off the bed. An interruption which completely failed to stop Kasumi from spinning the monster around. However, despite her complete non-compliance in responding to him, he continued anyway. “How’d you get here? Why are you suddenly fluent in English? What in the fuck?”
“Language!” Somerled barked half-seriously, no longer facing his other half as the small spirit stopped spinning him, eyes narrowing at Sonny.
“Harsh questions,” she said bluntly, a scathing tone to her voice.
“Yeah,” the monster agreed half-heartedly, no longer making any effort to escape Kasumi’s grip.
“Pretend I worded it better.” Sonny responded. It was an honest question, at least in his mind, since they had no idea where she had been, so it stood to reason that she wouldn’t know where they were. Kasumi retained the same, scornful look on her face, as she stared at the sun spirit for a few seconds.
“Don’t know, don’t know, and don’t know,” she answered, very unhelpfully. “I woke up here and I’m as surprised as you at my sudden fluency...” As she trailed off, an arrogant smirk appeared on her face moments later. “Maybe I found a way to become fluent in a few months.”
Sonny hummed, disappearing back into thought. Though the mist spirit’s smug tone irritated him on some level, he didn’t comment on it. There were far too many unexplained circumstances that apparently no one had the answer to. These questions could be investigated when they had the time, however. Right now, they needed to look into the split more. This world had more magically-inclined folks than home, as evidenced by Teucer and his squabble, and Amaterasu herself walking around. It was a very real possibility that they could end the split here in no more than a few centuries.
“Well, might as well get to business.” Sonny said, pushing himself up off the bed and wrapping the cloak back around his shoulders. He stepped to the side, bringing himself in line with Somerled’s slouching head, his body still hanging limply from Kasumi’s grip. A quick rap to the head dissolved his body again, eliciting an indignant exclamation from the small spirit. “It’s too magic intensive to keep his body around,” he explained rather apathetically, and paused for a moment after. It probably wouldn’t help him get on her good side at all, but it was worth an ask. “And would you please tie a bandage around my head?” He took the white length of fabric out of his pocket.
“Do it yourself,” came the completely expected, and rather quick response.
“He tried.” Somerled spoke first, before Sonny could even so much as think about opening his mouth. “I broke our hands. It’s just impossible.” Even in the face of his other half’s words, Kasumi’s scowl didn’t break. Perhaps because she had no way to tell it was Somerled doing the speaking and not Sonny, and there was no way to really prove it in either direction.
“Fine. Give me that,” she broke the thirty second silence rather grumpily, swiping the makeshift bandage out of his hand and jumping up onto the bed behind him. The sun spirit silently thanked his other half. They would be able to get on the road much quicker now.
![[Image: testclown.png]](https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/426940169548201995/453802699662557184/testclown.png)
Yuuka Kazami Wrote:Reimu comes back to make another pass at Meira and she just has an idiot neck child.
Credit to Yuuka for the sig