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[ THIS IS THE GROUCHIEST TINY FACE right now. shino is so damn unimpressed with like everything. for a few moments, he seems to be poking and prodding at the console, frowning intensely. eventually, though, he sits back, fingers of one hand toying with the cross at his throat. on his shoulder is a large black crow with startlingly wide, cranky-looking eyes. ]

.. People can really hear me?

[ on his shoulder, murasame croaks, wings spreading as he turns his head to glance down at the camera. ]

Shino! It's magic!

[ shino reaches up to close his hand around the crow's beak, scowl intensifying. ]

You say that like you're not used to it. [ he clears his throat, forcing his expression into something a little more pleasant. ] Anyway, I'm Shino and I'm lost, obviously, and need to go home. I'm looking for a tall, skinny guy with blue eyes named Sousuke. He'll have a mark on the nape of his neck that looks like this! [ he pulls his right sleeve up, revealing a small red mark like a peony. ]

And Sou, if you can hear me-- you're a jerk for not finding me sooner!

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I think you're the first person to bring a talking pet.

[ because priorities ]

[ shino and murasame look at one another, then back to the feed, and murasame gives an outraged croak. ]

I'm not a pet!

He's a weapon. .. That sometimes looks like a crow.

You're not? Sorry, my bad. Though I'd think "pet" would be less offensive than "weapon".

What's so offensive about calling something what it is? He's a sword. Swords are weapons.

[ huff!! ]

Maybe I've just got a thing about labels, that's all.

So you're new here, huh? Nice to meet you Shino -- and company -- I'm Jack.

Well, his name's Murasame if you prefer that.

[ murasame fluffs his feathers at the mention of his name and jack's greeting, hopping down shino's arm to peer into the camera. ]

Frost. There's frost.

Shino and Murasame, got it. Bet I can guess what timezone you're from, with names like those.

[ the spirit smirks, pressing his fingers to the console screen and creating a flower of ice on the glass ]

Now there's frost.

[ and he looks like a right smug bugger about it ]

[ the sight of the frost flower actually makes him relax, oddly enough. ]

Oh! You must be a winter spirit.

Like Snow-Princess.

Hey now, I'm the Winter Spirit, thank you very much and there's nothing princessy about it.

[ he gives him a funny look, stroking a finger over murasame's breast-feathers. ]

Where I'm from, there's lots of spirits. Snow-Princess is one of my friends.

There's lots of spirits where I'm from too, but there's only one for each of the seasons.

[ Still, it's kind of awesome to be able to talk to someone who knows about spirits and so Jack settles in, looking more animated for the conversation than before. ]

So what other kinds of spirits do you know?

[Cass leans forward, brow furrowed and voice soft.]

Your friend - might not be here.

[ for a second or two, he looks extremely distressed. but then he takes a breath, and murasame hops across his shoulders and off, wings flapping. ]

.. He's gotta' be. We're not supposed to be separated.

[Her hand rises automatically, but she can't exactly comfort him through the console.]

When we're - taken. Don't think - time passes, at home. So...even if he's not here, he won't miss you. It'll be like - you never left.

.. Won't miss me? [ it's good, right? that's.. supposed to be good. he should be glad, because it's not like he wants sousuke to worry about him. but.. for someone who knows that one day, he'll be alone and forgotten, it's a scary thought. ] Oh. I-- That's good, I guess.

[ he fidgets, toying with the ends of his sleeves. ]

.. How long're we supposed to stay?

[Oh. That was the wrong thing to say. She offers a faint, assuring smile.] Didn't mean it that way.

[The smile fades.] It, um, depends. No one knows...when they'll [disappear] go back.

[ despite himself, he flusters a little at the smile, glancing away, embarrassed. he'd given something away, hadn't he? and here he'd meant not to. ] It's fine, I don't want him to be worried or anything.

[ he glances back again at the last part, scowling uncertainly. ] That emperor just keeps us here until she gets bored?

[Oops. She should tell him it's not his fault, that she sees everything, but - she's been trying not to. Not to just anyone. So she just nods.]

Don't think - she can control it.

[ .. hrm. this is all so weird. (and shino is used to weird.)

he huffs a dramatic sigh, slumping at the console as murasame hops back onto his shoulder and bends to tug at his hair with his beak. ]

.. And I guess it's not something Murasame can fix, either, huh?

No! Maybe later.

Edited (i can spell) 2013-05-01 01:57 (UTC)

[Cass cocks her head, peering at the crow.]

You're - not really a bird. [Birds don't move like that.]

[ murasame cranes his head toward the feed, one wide, perpetually-annoyed looking eye fixing on the camera. ]

I'm a bird right now.

[ shino reaches back, shoving murasame off his head and sitting back up. ]

He's a bird sometimes, but he's a weapon all the time.

[Her frown is sharp and sudden.]

But - he's alive.

Sort of. [ he folds his arms over the console, a hand rubbing at his right wrist. ] .. He's complicated.

[ from the floor: ] Complicated!

We're contracted.

[Contracted. It takes her a moment to find that word, to grasp its meaning.]

Bound together?

Yup. He keeps me alive, and I give him a body and freedom to move around and do things. [ it's far, far more complicated than that, of course, but that's something a stranger doesn't need to know. ] A katana needs a hand to wield it, after all.

[Cass nods, expression thoughtful.]

Do you, um. Work together? When you're fighting?

[ he gives her a slightly puzzled look. ] Yeah, I guess so. Most of the time he just listens when I ask him to do things, though.

[ murasame flaps his wings, hopping back up onto the console and strutting across it as shino strokes a finger down his back. ]

After five years, we're pretty good together, now.

Five years. [Her frown is different, this time, deep and sad.] You...were young. When it happened. [He's young now.]

Not that young. I don't age. [ one of the numerous prices he'd paid to contract with murasame. ]

[Her eyes go wide.]

Oh.

That...must be hard. People not seeing you - as you are.

y'got funny names.

[ Wow way to contribute to the conversation. ] An' a funny talkin' bird. but I've ridden on a dragon, so I can't say that a talkin' crow is gonna surprise me. [ AKA my magical friend is cooler than yours? ]

Our names aren't funny! They're perfectly normal where we're from.

[ harrumph. ] There are a lot of things in the world beyond what people normally see. Murasame and dragons are only two of them.

Like what? Besides dragons and Moo-raw...Moo.. That crow.

Ohmygods, the bird talks! [ There's only one other person she knows that can talk to birds, and the birds don't have the same power in reverse. ]

Oh, um, I'm sorry, I don't think I've seen your friend. [ PRIORITIES. ]

[ seriously, he should be used to this by now. somehow, though, he always forgets that murasame isn't exactly normal. ] His name's Murasame.

I do more than talk.

[ shino closes fingers around his beak again, rolling his eyes a little. ]

.. Well.. hopefully he'll.. be here soon.

[ She is utterly delighted. ]

Hello Murasame! I'm Kara.

Do you have snacks?

[ shino groans, embarrassed. ]

Stop mooching!

[ She chuckles. ]

I'm sorry, I don't have any snacks. I don't have to eat, so with the rationing lately I haven't been buying food.

.. You don't have to eat? How come?

I come from a planet that orbited a red sun. Under a yellow sun I have all these strange powers. Not needing to eat or sleep is part of that.

People can hear and see both of you, yes. It is not magic, but technology, mostly.

However, I do not believe there is anyone similar to the Sousuke you are looking for here, yet. And returning home is... not as yet voluntarily possible.

We don't have anything like this where we're from.

.. How often do people get sent home, then?

Maybe not yet. It takes people a long time to invent the equivalent, but when they do, they develop fast to much more advanced versions.

It is not an event with a set frequency. There has been a promise that, when we finish what we were brought here to do, we'll be sent back. Until then, the disappearances are unpredictable.

[And for all that the boy's tone is precise and informative, there is a flicker of... unhappiness about that.]

Some have been here since August. Others leave after a month or two, or even less.

It's not magic, it's technology. But then again, any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. Or so they say.

Seems sort of funny that it wouldn't be magic when everything else around here is so-- [ a vague gesture with one hand. well, look at this place. ]

That is a fair point. Though it begs the question what sort of world you're from that has talking crows but no internet.

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