Re: A Time To Heal - Makshim, Shiezin 119 4A

[Nara-pyon]

Kyrie's eyes lit up brightly. "Really?" She just about squealed with excitement, something that was uncharacteristic for her, especially for those who had known her for a long time. "Huron, that would be wonderful! Both of us spend so much time traveling, it's about time we did some traveling together! And of course, that wouldn't obligate you to stick with us - our goal is to visit each and every country on the continent, which ... may take a while, especially if we're going to do a better job of it than we have been so far."

Ahkshi laughed at his wife's enthusiasm.

[Kara Winters]

Whatever Hikaru was expecting it wasn't that and like Ahkshi, he couldn't help but laugh at her reaction. Honestly, she never struck him as the type of person to squeal with glee. It warmed his heart though, because it told him a lot about how close of a friend he had become to her.

It also made him feel a bit bad because he had been kind of lying to her and her husband for a long time now.

As if the toast wasn't enough of a guilt trip.

"Sorry, I knew I might get a reaction, I didn't expect that reaction," Hikaru told her over his chuckles.

[Nara-pyon]

Kyrie laughed, too, and there was no trace of a blush in her cheeks. "Well, what did you expect?" she grinned. "You're a dear friend, and we don't get to see each other nearly often enough."

"Maybe he was l-l-like me, and d-d-didn't expect you to want to t-travel with more people," Ahkshi chuckled. "You've n-n-never wanted t-traveling companions before."

[Kara Winters]

"And... you kind of have a big group already. I'm not bad at self defense, but I do try to avoid fights where I can, so I was a bit worried about adding to the might be making things a bit more difficult," Hikaru added.

Really, he wasn't that bad, but when was the last time he had to actually fight? Hikaru himself couldn't even remember.

"You know normally I just use whatever trading agreement between countries to my advantage when traveling."

[Nara-pyon]

"I know," Kyrie soothed him, "but honestly, with the group as large as it is, one more person won't make all that much of a difference. And I know you avoid fights - and we do, too - but you do have some skill that would be helpful, so you're already ahead of several of the others, ability-wise. And you use illusions - that can only be an advantage."

"And any adv-v-vantage Kyrie has while t-t-traveling makes m-me feel better," Ahkshi added seriously.

Kyrie arched one eyebrow. "Are you saying you don't trust Uruloki?"

"N-no!" Ahkshi stuttered defensively. "But I s-s-still worry, and I d-d-don't know if anything can ch-change that."

Uruloki slid out of his place on Kyrie's abdomen and curled up, hatchling-size, around her shoulders. "I know I can't make you stop worrying, but I'm still insulted," he said, sounding as insulted as he claimed. "You know I take very good care of her."

[Kara Winters]

"And you know very well that Ahkshi didn't mean to insult, who wouldn't worry with the amount of adventure you both get into on a regular basis?" Hikaru replied in turn.

He had forgotten that Kyrie had known about his illusions. Actually, Hikaru was surprised that she never asked in the past how that was possible, Fire Elves weren't known for illusions at all.

[Nara-pyon]

Kyrie grinned. "Uruloki likes to pretend to be insulted." She stroked the dragon's head lovingly. "I thought you knew that by now, Huron."

She was teasing him, of course, as Ahkshi had known the Uruloki was teasing him as well.

"If it were up to me," Uruloki replied to Huron as if Kyrie hadn't spoken, "we would get out of those adventures a lot more easily. She just doesn't like melding."

"Oh, neither do you," Kyrie laughed, flicking his nose playfully. "Stop blaming me."

[Kara Winters]

Hikaru chuckled at this, watching those two was amusing to him.

"Ah well... I can always use a bit of adventure. Despite having kept myself out of trouble for over two centuries... more or less..."

The first century here though, that was a rough few decades.

Sighing a bit at that thought, Hikaru added, "And before we trail onto another topic all together. I would like to talk about my illusions."

[Nara-pyon]

"Uh oh," Ahkshi said slowly, setting his wineglass down on the table. Folding his hands in his lap, he leaned forward slightly. "This s-s-sounds ominous."

"I have to admit," Kyrie murmured, "I've been curious since I heard you do illusions. I heard about it from someone in the tent this week."

It had come as a surprise, but it had raised her curiosity - when she had the time to think about it, anyways.

[Kara Winters]

There was a bit of a chuckle at that and Hikaru nodded.

"Lancaeriel got that one out of me," he admitted ruefully, "She and Cael, and I suspect Miyuki too noticed I have an unusually large magic reserve. Cael wasn't exactly subtle about it, but since Lancaeriel was nice enough to tell Cael to behave I did owe her an explanation to satisfy her professional curiousity."

It was worth it though, because it made him even more curious about the people who lived in the tent.

"But I've always used illusions to get around, it's how I've been able to travel by myself for years without getting killed."

[Nara-pyon]

"I also overheard something about you avoiding Cael, and quite possibly Kaito," Kyrie teased him, grinning at him over the top of her glass before taking a sip.

"I d-don't think that's wh-where he was g-g-going with this, K-Kyrie," Ahkshi told his wife quietly. He was unusually somber, and actually looked slightly concerned. Despite his words, though, his focus was on Huron. "G-go on."

[Kara Winters]

Hikaru snirked at this because clearly someone was seeing humour in all of this.

"The two don't know when to leave something well enough alone, or a person's privacy for that matter..."

He wished he could say that Kaito was just being catty but his twin brother and Holly were perfectly polite. He swore though, if Kaito or Cael made a big deal about being 'right' he was going to illusion their hair to be bright pink.

"I guess the point I'm trying to make, since it's only fair as I'm traveling with all of you is that I'm not a Fire Elf. Though I do have fire magic, which is one of the many reasons why I like posing as a Fire Elf. And.... now I'm going to start rambling if I don't shut up."

[Nara-pyon]

"You're quite right," Uruloki spoke up, flicking his tail in amusement. "Kaito and Cael aren't all that good at letting people be."

Kyrie and Ahkshi were less interested in that than Huron's actual identity.

"I can't say I didn't wonder," Kyrie admitted. "It's always the first thing on a person's mind when they find out a friend has the ability to disguise himself, and in fact does so when traveling to other countries."

"B-but it does raise the q-question," Ahkshi added gently, "of what r-r-race you are. If you d-d-don't mind t-t-telling us, of c-c-course."

His stutter was stronger than usual, which was the only testament to how surprised or upset he might be. His expression was still warm and friendly, his eyes filled with concern, nothing more.

[Kara Winters]

For some reason, the question amused the man. Probably because Hikaru never expected to tell Kyrie or Ahkshi, and then to have them understand what he was talking about.

"Kitsune," Hikaru replied with a twinkle in his eye, as if he told the most fabulous joke.

Then again, he wasn't sure if Kyrie was ever told about a kitsune's affinity towards illusions or fire.

[Nara-pyon]

Kyrie's jaw dropped and she stared at him, wide-eyed. Even Uruloki lifted his head and stared.

Ahkshi was practiced in not staring, however, and he simply continued, quietly, to eat his meal, as if Huron had simply commented on the weather.

"Well, I can certainly see why you would choose to keep that to yourself," Kyrie said when she found her voice back again. "But ... really? Like Miyuki? Wow ..."

"I would p-presume, then," Ahkshi said slowly, looking once more at Huron, "that y-y-you are f-f-from Gaia, too?"

Kyrie was still astonished. "That explains so much ..."

[Kara Winters]

"Does it now?" Hikaru questioned, he was chuckling as he asked this.

Despite being really amused by Kyrie's reaction, he was honestly curious what Kyrie might have noticed that was off or odd. It wasn't like he could get a critique of his characters seeing as he used them to keep himself hidden.

"That being asked, I am from Gaia."

[Nara-pyon]

Ahkshi fell silent once more and again returned to his food, but Kyrie sat back in her chair, still staring at Huron.

"I'm not sure how to say this, but ... I've been fencing questions from some of the group about you," she admitted to Huron. "Just ... things they'd noticed. That you seemed to comprehend things much better than anyone else they'd met. Some of the phrases you used. The way you referred to things. Well, not questions about you, exactly, but ... questions about whether some of the phrases you used were used elsewhere in the continent."

She exhaled slowly. "Well."

[Kara Winters]

"Ah... yea...." Hikaru scratched his cheek thoughtfully, "I should have realized being around everyone would have set off other quirks. Most people just give me a blank look if I do use a Gaian term and as for the comprehension..."

He bet the ones who asked were the ones he talked about magic with. Just because he specialized in illusions and in fire didn't mean he hadn't learned other magic theories.

"While kitsunes do tend to have an affinity for illusions and fire, I did have a proper magic education growing up. I just wasn't that interested enough to not specialize in the usual. Kind of regret it now, I mean a kitsune who can use plant magic, that's very unique."

He could also imagine the havoc it would cause if paired with a few good illusions.

[Nara-pyon]

"Lancaeriel is a very willing teacher," Kyrie informed Huron seriously. "I'm fairly sure that if you were to ask to learn something new, she would teach you. She's even trying to teach Khetal, though I'm not sure how well that's going."

She was having a much easier time accepting Huron's confession than her husband was. Ahkshi was still quite quiet - until now. Now, he looked over at Huron and asked, "Is there anything else y-you h-haven't told us?"

Kyrie looked at her husband anxiously, almost pityingly, but his focus was on Huron.

[Kara Winters]

Hikaru wasn't surprised, he had sort of expected something like this. Though interestingly enough he expected it more from Kyrie. He looked thoughtful for a moment before answering.

"Oh a lot," he admitted, "I haven't told you how I ended up here, not that I quite know that answer myself. I haven't told you about my family, or about my childhood. I never mentioned what actually happened to me before ending up in Shiezin for the first time. The first time I got chased out of a town, or the first time I tried to pretend to be an elf, that really didn't go over that well..."

He was still learning back then, and how was he supposed to know that in some places an elf from clearly a different country would not go over that well?

"I made a lot of mistakes in my first century here, which includes the fact that if you have a foreign sounding name people get really suspicious sometimes," Hikaru added, "I really tried to keep my name, but all of the Human countries are all very Western Gaia in nature, not Eastern. Even in looks, I looked so foreign compared to everyone else in human form without illusions, people just kept staring. I think it was the eyes, though having long hair doesn't help neither..."

[Nara-pyon]

"Oh, humans and elves everywhere have long hair," Kyrie pointed out. "Maybe not all of them, but a number!"

"F-f-foreign sounding n-name," Ahkshi repeated quietly. He continued to look at Huron evenly. "So we d-d-don't even know your n-n-name."

He didn't say it, but his tone clearly added, Do we?

[Kara Winters]

"No... not my name, not my family name. Not that most people have a family name," Hikaru replied softly.

That was another thing he found, but it made it easier for him. He only had to come up with one name, and he didn't have to worry about anyone having the same family name by chance. Ahkshi was clearly quite bothered by this, and Hikaru couldn't blame him.

"Hey Kyrie, I know you don't have big windows in here, but could they be covered for a moment?" he asked.

[Nara-pyon]

Kyrie nodded. "Of course."

She pushed her chair back and, one window at a time, pulled the curtains closed. Once they were all covered, she returned to her seat and sat down again.

"Does this mean we get to see what you really look like?" she asked, trying not to sound too eager.

Ahkshi was still looking at him in silence.

[Kara Winters]

"You're lucky I'm wearing the only pair of custom pants I own," Hikaru replied as he got up from his seat, "Granted that's because I haven't washed clothes in a while so it's the last pair I have."

Making sure he wouldn't knock over the chair he set the chair aside and stepped away from the table. Though made sure he was specifically nearly Ahkshi. After taking a moment to time both dropping his illusion and turning back into his true form, Hikaru snapped his fingers.

With a small puff of smoke, Hikaru stood before them in all his kitsune glory. He was very different from Miyuki in nearly every way. Instead of the natural colourations of a fox, his fur and hair was pitch black with vivid blue tips. Instead of wide yellow eyes, he had slender, cool blue eyes. Where Miyuki, even as a young adult had some soft round facial features, Hikaru's was more sharp. Where the young lady kitsune had only seven tails, he had a full nine.

He looked, really out of place in the clothes he wore. Especially with his long hair that he kept in a loose horsetail. When Hikaru said he had long hair, he neglected to mention that his hair went well past his butt. At least it wasn't longer than Miyuki's.

Taking a full proper bow, Hikaru re-introduced himself.

"I am Hayashi Hikaru, and it's wonderful to introduce myself as such," he told them both.

For a moment he sounded like the son of a noble family, and he ruined it by adding.

"Just for the record, Hayashi is my family, please call me Hikaru."

[Nara-pyon]

Whatever Kyrie might have expected, it wasn't this - the red and white for Miyuki at least made sense, considering that the word kitsune had been defined for her as 'fox people', and red and white were foxy colours. But black and blue - shocking! And at the same time, striking.

"Hikaru," she repeated, testing it on her tongue. She pursed her lips thoughtfully for a moment, then smiled again. "Hikaru. A pleasure to meet you - for real."

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