[Maverick Hunter Zero]

{Mari, TartoonHand94 if you want to encounter your first Yokai, feel free to join this thread. Please be aware that playful trickery will happen since this is not a mission}

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It was certainly not one of the most absurd days that wouldn't be out of place in the world, especially within the Life Sphere; birds singing, people going about their business, police in an uproar in trying to stop the ever increasing threat of the Absolutionists, and many other random things occuring all at once.

None of them could even hope to compete with what had just been seen upon arrival however, as a lone humanoid of about 14 years old (actually 4.6 billion years old due to her being a literal Yokai) can be seen sleeping in the shade of a large oak tree, her kimono and her makeup making her look like a traditional geisha, yet her presence unnerved people because of her aura, one that filled any with a sense of dread in that she has power that eclipses even her world's resident Vampire Asterisk-bearer; Lord Lester DeRosso.

They could breathe a sigh of relief that she only has a small fraction of her power, but that alone is enough to make them uneasy and fearful of her, pretty much justified in that she was much more than a 'normal' girl.

She would turn in her sleep, dreaming of her realm of Luxendarc, of the Geneolgia family who had ultimately helped in eliminating the great plague, and of her many friends that she left behind on relatively good terms.

[TartoonHand94]

♪“en daʃeʋu nobe̞ ʃʊndu
tje̞ ʃʊtu ke̞wɛnu sale̞”♪
Of all the birds that sang that day, none sang with a voice so beautiful as that of Zelda of Skyloft. Accompanied by a bird, a very big bird, a lavender Loftwing, whom by the way it swayed its head to the melody was enjoying the serenade as well. If it were not recovering from a morning of flying, perhaps they would not be on the ground together enjoying this stroll among the world they’ve grown so accustom to seeing from above.

♪“...en daʃeʋu nobe̞ dʊʃu
tje̞ ʃʊtu nobe̞ dezu dotʃe̞...”♪
From down at its own level, however, the scenery was less than ideal. Police in uproar, the ever increasing thread of Absolutionists, not to mention that large fellow unsettlingly sucking on an ear of corn. Zelda was nearly second guessing her decision and possibly wishing her Loftwing would heal faster. Or was it merely that geisha doll resting under the tree?

“…?” Zelda could have kept walking past the oak tree, but there was something about it that warranted a stop and a returning glance. There was an... aura to this doll… In fact, upon a second inspection it was not a doll. She was merely asleep. She was alive! A little girl even! A little girl with cat ears. Zelda had probably stepped far out of her way into this little girl’s business, but the curiosity arousing aura about her was too much to resist.

[Mari]

A tiny girl gently holding onto Zelda's dress for security was following in Zelda's footsteps, quietly and so discreetly such that one might even miss her presence. It was none other than Arle, wearing a Carbuncle themed coat!



...Why? Simply because she was fond of the coat and had really wanted to wear it today. She looked from Zelda to the sleeping girl a few times before giving Zelda's dress a gentle tug. "Who's that..?" she softly asked, as if expecting Zelda to know.

[Maverick Hunter Zero]

The girls ears twitched, as though she heard them and started to get up, when she at least got into a seated position she gave a big ol, yawn, her eyes opening slowly due to her being a little groggy from her nap.

"Good afternoon." she said, the fox ears twitching slightly, it was as though they had a mind of their own and mimicked the ears of the girl herself as her eyes looked upon the two. "It looks like we're no longer in Luxendarc anymore... How long have we been out?" the girl thought to herself, racking her brains to try and remember what happened back then, but trying to think about it started to make her head hurt a bit.

Catching sight of Zelda's lavender feathered Loftwing, and the cuteness that was Arle in a carbuncle raincoat, she had decided not to think about it. "Who might you two be?" she asked politely, a gentle smile having formed on her face.

[TartoonHand94]

Zelda’s suspenseful curiosity was so fixated on the fox-eared girl that she barely looked down at the carbuncle-eared girl tugging at her dress. She protectively took the toddler’s hand instead of answering ‘I don’t know.’ out loud.
Sensing but unknowingly being in the presence of a Yokai must have made Zelda tense, for a simple yawn was enough to trigger her to scoop Arle up from the ground, seating her in her arms for safety. This soon subsided with a sigh of relief upon hearing a polite good afternoon.

“…erm…Good afternoon?” Zelda nodded as she regained her composure. Luxendarc? Where is that?... and why does it sound familiar?
“I mean, Good afternoon. I am Zelda of Skyloft, this is my Loftwing.” She introduced herself and her Loftwing with a formal curtsey before eying the yellow bundle cradled in her arms.
“And this is~… Go ahead, I think it’s safe.” She winked at Arle, inviting to introduce herself.
“And who might you be?” She turned her gave back to the fox girl.

[Mari]

The world's softest whine briefly escaped Arle as she was unexpectedly picked up before she realized what was happening and got over it. Plopping down in Zelda's arms, she leaned back against her and curled up slightly against her so that she could comfortably burry her head against Zelda's neck, watching Yoko from her sideways vision. "My name's is Arle..." Little Arle softly greeted, holding out a hand and idly imitating a wave by waggling her fingers at Yoko. She seemed quite comfortable where she was right now.

[Maverick Hunter Zero]

"Those names are quite nice. As for who we are, our name is Yōko; and it is our pleasure to make your acquaintance." Yōko said calmly, giving a nod of the head, her eyes were of a gold coloration, but it was a dull coloration that suggested that she had been exhausted from her travels, an exhaustion that caused her no end of problems despite the fact that she was no ordinary girl.

"It feels as though we have been traveling for a long time, even when we got here it was never easy to avoid falling asleep; even at our age." Yōko added quite bluntly, a yawn having escaped as she said this, which was probably the reason for her being here rather than her secluded hidden nest located in the Black Market, and also why she fell asleep while sitting in 'the position'... If either Zelda or Arle so chose, they could take her with them to where they were going and let her finish her rest... The problem however; neither of them knew much about her, let alone what she actually was beneath the illusion...

[TartoonHand94]

Arle could feel a subtle little nuzzle of pride from Zelda at the side of her head as she introduced herself.
“-We?” Zelda did a slight take, looking around to see if there were more fox girls around that she had missed.
“It um…I’m guessing this isn’t your bed then?” Zelda awkwardly tried to make light of the situation.
Now Zelda and Arle could have continued on their way, if only her inner voices could agree. On the one wing, it would be inappropriate to teach Arle to talk to strangers like this. On the other, neither her conscience nor her curiosity would let her hear the end of it if she left this girl out here all by herself.
“It is not safe to travel this way alone. Perhaps you and your…friends would like some company?” She offered, looking around one more time to make sure Yōko’s friends were not just hiding.

[Mari]

Arle was entirely oblivious to what was going on. She couldn't understand words well enough to grasp any greater meaning behind Yoko's. "...I like your um--ears." she remarked, eyeing the fox-like 'ears' atop Yoko's head, otherwise staying mostly quiet so as not to interrupt the adults.

[Maverick Hunter Zero]

Yōko would wake up to the awkward question, her eyes now back to their normal luster. "We are the only one of our kind here, there are no others. Normally we keep ourselves hidden from everyone within the Black Market as a precaution to ensure people that we mean no harm, even when we sleep, we also tend to refer to ourselves in this manner, due to us being a Yokai." Yōko said calmly, perplexed by the fact that Zelda thought there were more of her lurking around in the general area, and she gave a childish giggle more out of respect than anything.

At the prospect of going with the two however; Yōko became curious, almost about as curious as a cat with nine lives. "Might we ask where you are referring to?" Yōko asked with some mild curiosity, but at little Arle saying that she liked her 'ears' she gave a genuine smile that made her look like the was about to laugh. "Why thank you; Arlebunkle, we do have 'some' fox-like characteristics." Yōko added, giving little Arle a cute and quite admittedly silly nickname as a reference to the carbuncle raincoat she was wearing and without prior warning, decided to be a little playful and test the two with an illusion and poofed into a cute little cat-like creature.

Zelda and Little Arle, Yōko is testing you! Roll 11+ in INT to see through the illusion!

[TartoonHand94]

Zelda did a take and tilted her head at Yōko’s explanation.
“…Of course!” Without so much as a beat she held her forehead and shook it with embarrassment for not realizing the obvious sooner. She was referring to herself in the first-person plural. Though with one question answered, another became much more pressing.

“A…Yokai?” Zelda asked, doing a much more genuine take. “You meet the most fascinating people on Li…” She had heard a lot about Yokai throughout her studies…and not a lot of this was good. Close observation of her body language, such as her tightened grip on Arle and leaning on her backfoot were telltale signs that she was bracing, weighing out the risk of Yokai trickery by continuing this conversation.

“Where? Well you know… Everywhere on Li I suppose…” Zelda backtracked a little, reconsidering the Yokai’s safety. “You never know what sort of oddish stranger might jump out and surprise you.” Seemed like she needed her own advice more than anyone at the moment.

Without getting to do more than peek at the Carbuncle ears on Arle’s hoodie, much less comment them, Yōko called her attention again with a puff of smoke. This made her jump and emit a louder squeak than she was proud of.
(CKI3|QPLp_1d20+4 Zelda's illusion savvy)

“Well would you look at that?” Zelda marveled at Yōko’s transformation, leaning in for a closer look. “My my, aren’t you a cutie now?”
1d20+4

[Mari]

((Little Arle's ability "Smol Child" has been activated! She has been given no reason to be particularly suspicious of this illusion, and so she shan't! She declines to roll.))

Arle giggled, beginning to idly tugging at one of the ears on her Carbuncle regalia. She didn't seem to be aware at all of any danger. "I saw a oddish near school!" Arle exclaimed. "He wuss gettin' bullied! By an um--...monster! I blasdid da monster away and he said snacks gotta stick together! ...I dunno whatat means, but his voice was willy cool!" Arle eagerly explained, before promptly putting on her best (see: awful) impression of a gruff manly man's voice. "He soundid like dis!" she added, giggling shortly thereafter. Her gaze then fell to the fox creature and she tilted her head in confusion. ...Huh. Her true form was cute!

[Maverick Hunter Zero]

"We happily thank you for the compliment, sadly this is but an illusion - a trick of the mind - and you both have managed to pass by seeing through it. We simply wanted to test you to see if we could find someone worthy of our trust." Yōko said as the illusion shattered to reveal her, and she was happy for them, that and she was smiling with sincerity. "It was nice meeting you both, perhaps when we next meet it would be nice to see where you live. Farewell." Yōko added, vanishing in a flurry of white sakura petals, apparently heading back to her lair in the Black Market.

{Yōko end presence}

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{Mari, TartoonHand94, please feel free to post your end presence posts for now, I might make a mission that involves Yōko in some way later.}

[TartoonHand94]

“Well, in my line of work, it does pay to have an eye for detail~.” Zelda bragged in typical mom fashion. However, her pointed ears for detail noticed a riddle in what Yōko said.
“Pardon me, but did you mean someone that you could trust or someone that you could not deceive?” She asked all too late, for the yokai had already vanished.
“….Oh...It was... Nice to meet you too!” Zelda called out toward the lonely oak tree, hoping Yōko could somehow hear her wherever she was.
“My, my. You meet the most peculiar people out here.” She sighed in bewilderment. And what was that about where they lived? Should she be concerned?
Well if they were someone she could trust, perhaps they could be trusted to be safe guests. Either way the Magical Girl Soceity Lodge was home to plenty of strong heroines, so there was nothing to fear even if the adress fell into the wrong hands.
Speaking of strong heroines, no use getting little Arle worried about any of that.
“So, how did the Oddish sound, again~?” Zelda giggled to the little girl in her arms as she began to lead her Loftwing back toward the path from which they strayed.

{Zelda End Presence}

[Arle Nadja]

“He soundid like dis!” Arle replied on a growly babby voice, which completely and utterly failed to capture the voice she was going for without some pretty sharp imagination. She seemed mostly unfazed by what had just happened, just happy to be along for the ride~

(End Presence)