Completed [Bronze Woods] Amateur Puppeteer (Cyrus)

[Fubuki Kouri]

Fubuki Kouri 30th Day of Spring, 30 chimes after the 18th of Bell, 513 AV The Bronze Woods, the vast forest just outside of Syrias, filled with various vegetation and wild animals. All in all, it was one of nature's beautiful work, but something unnatural has graced the forest this night for a flickering figure shaped like a little girl wearing a white gothic lolita dress can be seen sitting on one of the tall tree branch. No animals, even a single insect, can be seen lingering near the figure for she was a ghost, spirits of the dead that has yet to move on, and no animal, except maybe few powerful ones, in their right mind would approach something that heralds death. "Hehehehe~" Kouri giggled as swung her legs back and forth, playing around with her soulmist by picking up a wooden stick and moved it all around her. Master should be here soon~ He said that he had some business to do at the smithy, wonder what's he doing there? Oh! Silly me, Master is a warrior and warriors need those weapons. Hehe~ 'Master', the one mentioned by the girl was Cyrus Blackfire, a warrior and reimancer who the girl consider as her mentor and paternal figure. Kouri touched her chest with her hands and ponder ...Hehehe~ my Master, my only Master~ The ghost girl's attraction to Cyrus was kind of unique, it's seemed to be a cross between seeing him as a mentor, father, and is it even possible? Lover. ....*Sigh*... But she would think of that later, for now she has more important tasks to do.

[Cyrus Blackfire]

Cyrus was not normally one for romping through the Bronze Woods, usually the only thing that would bring him out here was a practice session for his reimancy. Tonight was a little different, tonight he would not be training himself but testing new waters by training another. The forest did possess an oddly alluring beauty at night, a dangerous and mysterious kind that bespoke of the nature of the world itself. It was slightly poetic, beautiful in a sort of way that few people seemed to recognize.

The warrior was dressed in his armor as per the usual and his sword was strapped across his back, ready for use at a moment's notice. In his hand he held a small cloth bundle, its contents a surprise for his new follower.

Kouri, the ghost child that seemed so loyal to him, who called him master. She looked so sweet and innocent when she wanted to but there was a darkness to her that he knew he could foster, a spark of vengeance that merely needed to be kindled to a brightly controlled flame in his hand. Tonight he was to train her in the better use of her talents, Cyrus would be playing a role of teacher that he was certainly not used to.

Finally he was nearing the place he had designated as their meeting place, a small clearing with a stump smack in the middle. An unnatural chill fell upon him and he knew instantly that his student was already here. He smiled slightly, a friendly expression.

"Kouri, my dear girl, I have arrived." He said simply, his tone open and friendly with commanding undertones.

Cyrus had no doubt she would appear without fail when he called for her, ready and eager to please him however she was able. She did name him master after all.

[Fubuki Kouri]

Fubuki Kouri "Kouri, my dear girl, I have arrived." That voice, deep and firm, though it was friendly and open, one that is not a mere simpleton could recognize the commanding undertone beneath it. It's the voice Kouri would recognize even from afar, the voice of her master, Cyrus Blackfire. "Oh? Master's here, hehe~" Kouri looked diagonally downwards to the clearing in front of her and spotted a tall muscular man clad in bandmail. Why is master always wearing that... uhm.. restrictive clothing? the notion of someone wearing an armor when they're not in combat was still strange to the ghost girl. "Ehehehe~ I think I'll surprise him..." Kouri concentrated herself and slowly, her figure vanished in an instant, using her innate ability as a ghost to blink. In an instant later, Kouri appeared behind Cyrus and immediately materialized herself to tickle his underarm, where the armor was less protective to allow the arm joint to move. "Ticky ticky ticky~♪" Kouri giggled as she continued her tickling, hoping to see some interesting reactions from her master.

[Cyrus Blackfire]

Cyrus had not been expecting that entrance from Kouri, giving a slight gasp in surprise and a shudder from the ghost's uncomfortable touch. The girl was certainly mischievous, he would give her that, blinking behind him to attack him with tickling. It certainly seemed like something a young girl would do, very spur of the moment and surprising. The warrior was not particularly ticklish, as such she wouldn't get much more than his initial surprise, though he suspect that would probably be enough for her.

The man spun about and offered the ghost girl a charming smile, his dark eyes glinting with a quiet amusement in the moonlight. Truly she was one of a kind, so very child like yet so very dangerous once her potential was unlocked. It was something of a paradox, one that quietly amused the ambitious man.

Still he had come here with a reason, if she was disappointed by his reaction hopefully his gift would more than make up for it. He knelt down to her height, bringing up the bundle in his hands for her to see.

"Hello Kouri, it is so very good to see you again. I brought you a gift tonight, I hope you like it." Cyrus said at length, his smile widening as he removed the cloth from the bundle.

The new dagger glinted dangerously in the moonlight, a shard of icy steel in his hand. The girl was not yet able to wield heavy instruments with her tendrils of mist, but a dagger was certainly not far beyond her ability.

"It is yours, my dear girl, go ahead and take it." He encouraged warmly.

[Fubuki Kouri]

Fubuki Kouri "Hehehe~♪ Did I sur-prise you~♪?" Kouri was amused by Cyrus' gasp and shuddering, to her, it' was a sign that her trick worked. Kouri then released her hands from Cyrus' underarm and saw him spun to face her. Hehehe~ Kouri was definitely delighted that her master's expression was showing that he was happy to see her, she felt that she's wanted, not just some undead who deserved to be feared and cast away. "Master~ ♥" Kouri gave Cyrus a quick hug before releasing him again. When he knelt down to her height, Kouri pondered it was either that she was very short or her master was very tall, but she quickly dismissed the thought as she can float upwards to compensate for her petite stature. She then noticed the bundle carried by Cyrus Woah.. what is it? what is it? her childish curiosity took the better of her as she found herself staring at the bundle and wanting to grab it with her tendrils, but she decided it would be impolite. "Hello Kouri, it is so very good to see you again. I brought you a gift tonight, I hope you like it." Kouri's curiosity was perfectly satiated as Cyrus smiled and revealed the content of the bundle. Woah... oooo.... Kouri's crimson eyes danced around the glinting piece of steel inside the cloth wrap, it was in the shape of a dagger, definitely designed as a weapon. I... I wonder if master would let me touch i- Kouri's train of thought was immediately halted by Cyrus' next statement. "It is yours, my dear girl, go ahead and take it." R-r-really?!! Truly?! Kouri's expression was bewildered for a moment, but not for long. "Yaaaaaay~ ♥! Thank you, Master!" Kouri jumped in delight and gave Cyrus' left cheek a quick peck, just like how she used to do when her father gave her a present. She then proceeded to grab the dagger's handle with her Soulmist, making it float about in the air. "Ahahahahaha~! I'm so happy! Hehehe~" Kouri then kept swinging around the dagger, though her movement was still unrefined. While still playing around with her new toy and weapon, Kouri said "Oh yeah, Master. We're going to practice my ability to go 'inside' someone, right? Hehehe~ So so so, who am I going to practice on?" Kouri's eyes darted around the area as if to find someone that could be her next plaything. OOCI've updated Kouri's CS and put '1 Steel Dagger' to her possessions.

[Cyrus Blackfire]

Cyrus was pleased with her reaction to his present, her childlike delight was very endearing. Her control over the weapon was still far from perfect but with practice she would improve. The warrior stood and watched her play with the dagger, readying himself for tonight's lesson. Possession was widely considered to be one of the most feared abilities of a ghost, it let them manipulate a person like a puppet. This was an ability he wanted to foster in the young ghost quickly, as it would make her far more fearsome.

"Yes we will be practicing your possession ability tonight. I intend for you to practice on me." The man said, stepping back a little so to give the girl room.

Cyrus was not exactly eager to be on the receiving end of this power but he was certainly not going to kidnap someone to bring to her, yet anyway. He needed to assess how good she was exactly, the best way to do that was a little hands on training. Likely she would fail to take possession, but practice made perfect in his experience. When she improved then she could move up to other targets, when it was far more likely for her to succeed in her attempts.

The warrior was not the type to deliberately place himself in danger, however there was no choice here really. He would play dolly to his follower for now, if only to sharpen her skills.

[Fubuki Kouri]

Fubuki Kouri "Yes we will be practicing your possession ability tonight. I intend for you to practice on me." Huh? Did I just heard that right? Master wants me to practice on him? Kouri was surprised to hear that for she was still inexperienced in the art of possessing someone. She was afraid that she might hurt Cyrus in one way or another, or worse, got him accidentally killed. "A-are you sure, Master?" Kouri stopped playing with her dagger, put it on a nearby rock, and gazed at Cyrus' dark eyes, she saw the determination in his eyes, the determination of a warrior who would not make sloppy decisions. "...." realizing that her master was willing to put his life on the line just to train her abilities moved her deeply, she shed a single red tear as a result "I.. I see. T-thank you for the opportunity, Master" Kouri bowed slightly to Cyrus and moved closer to him. "T-then... I shall begin..." Kouri stopped at point-blank range in front of Cyrus, gazing at his chest... no, not his chest but at his Soul, Kouri needed to grab hold of his Astral Body and take control. "Here I go..." Kouri, unmaterialized, put her right hand to Cyrus' chest and covering his whole body with her Soulmist, then Kouri attempted to push her hand through his chest in order to grab hold of his soul, however, Kouri still felt some resistance, of course it's a natural reaction of most beings to resist something unnatural invading the body and soul. Possession itself can be analogous to poison being administered to the body. "M-master... try to relax more..." Kouri was tensing due to her inexperience and required using quite a lot of her Soulmist just trying to breach in.

[Cyrus Blackfire]

Cyrus felt his breath hitch as the ghost child attempted to invade his body, which was an extremely unpleasant feeling to say the least. It felt like his entire body had turned to ice, as if a sudden blizzard had hit him in the middle of spring. When she had grabbed his soul he could feel it, it almost hurt and definitely felt highly unpleasant. the warrior's natural instinct was to deny this creature entrance into his body, however he heard her words and stopped fighting too much. If he pushed her out it would defeat the purpose of the exercise, which meant that he needed to let go of control for the moment.

It was an odd thought to let go of control, his entire life was centered around control and dominance. Letting go of anything so integral to his being seemed a foreign concept that was difficult to grasp, especially to a wizard. As difficult as it was for him, the warrior dropped his control and resistance and let Kouri take over.

It was not as if Cyrus couldn't push her out after she took control, her gaining control initially was the important part. Still it was a highly uncomfortable process, one that he wanted to get over with soon. If this was what it was like for an amateur ghost to invade one's body he could only imagine what kind of power and experienced ghost could wield. Getting Kouri to that level of power was the goal of these training sessions, sessions which would hopefully not involve events like this occurring on a regular basis.

[Fubuki Kouri]

Fubuki Kouri A few seconds after Cyrus dropped his control completely, Kouri could feel the entrance to her master's soul opening up like an unguarded gate to a castle, completely exposed and defenseless. Kouri then proceeded to walk 'into' Cyrus, seemingly vanishing by going inside his body. "................................." Kouri could see nothing but darkness for a moment, then, she could see it, Cyrus' soul, she could feel some sort of connection to the soul, like some of Cyrus' memories were felt by her. ...M-master... grew up... as the son of a slaver and a wizard... o-oh! H-his mother... w-what a beautiful woman, yet very powerful and dangerous... beautiful yet deadly, like a black widow. Kouri mentally shook her head as she couldn't waste anymore time, she then proceeded to concentrate even more to connect her own soul with Cyrus' soul. ".......Aaah..." Kouri opened 'her' eyes and immediately felt something strange, her form was much taller and heavier than usual and... when she looked at her hands, it was much larger and masculine than her own hands. I'm inside... Master's body... Kouri touched 'her' face just to make sure and yes, she could feel it, the masculine lines of her face and the stubble facial hair. Ha..hahaha! It worked! Ooops! Kouri almost lost conciousness as if she was being pushed out. Gotta stay calm... stay calm... Her possession ability was still very unrefined that even with a willing host, slight outburst of emotions could sever the connection. "M-master? Are you there?" Kouri mentally thought to herself, trying to speak with the real owner of the body. She felt very strange, her voice was much much deeper than usual. S-so.. this is what it feels like to sound like Master. She secretly envied him for his voice, it was the voice that could command millions of people to die for him just because he said so. "I uhm... let me try to..." Kouri then slowly tried to take control of Cyrus' djed, slowly but surely, a small ball of res formed in the tip of her right index finger and she lit a very small fire. "H-hey! I can... I can use magic in your body, Master! Hehe- AAAH!" Her excitement caused the connection to be severed and she felt that she was being pulled by an invisible force, out of Cyrus' body. In almost an instant later, Kouri found herself in a sitting position on the ground. "A..ah.. I felt... aaah... so tired..." Her Soulmist was almost drained and she felt extremely tired "!!! M-master?! Master?! Are you okay?!" But Kouri managed to shout those words, directing it at Cyrus, the thought of him dying and her losing another important person in her life was enough to drive her terrified.

[Cyrus Blackfire]

The feeling of watching one's own actions but having zero control over them was very odd. It was certainly a fresh experience for Cyrus, while it certainly felt unpleasant it was certainly intriguing to say the least. He was probably the only person on the continent who would find being possessed anything but frightening. Kouri's hold on his spirit was unstable to say the least and it probably wouldn't take too much force to push her out, hopefully she would improve with practice.

Cyrus had not felt any sense of alarm when she got as adjusted as she could, at least until he noticed her attempt to use his magic. Her excitement at accomplishing the task caused her to lose her grip on his soul, expelling her from his body. Which left him in a rather dangerous situation as he focused on controlling the tiny flame in his hand, aiming it well away from him an sending it flying into the ground. It would seem that before Kouri made any further attempts at possession he would need to instruct her on proper Djed control. That situation had not been too dangerous due to the size of the flame but it was best to make sure that his protégé knew what she was doing.

He turned back to Kouri, who had shouted in concern, probably worried fore his condition. Well if he had to assess his condition he would have dubbed it sore. It was not awful or anything he just felt sore all over his body, no real pain. Still would probably be best to assure Kouri of that.

"I am fine, Kouri, a little sore but little else. You did very well, my dear girl. We will have to work on your control, of course, but I would say this was a step in the right direction." He said, a tired smile on his face.

"Also I would not recommend you call upon Djed unless you feel very certain in your abilities and control. Magic is a very dangerous thing and if you want to use it you will need to learn more about it." Cyrus finished, deciding it was best to warn her away from that for the moment.

While that certainly could have gone better, it could have also been far worse. Though Cyrus couldn't help but wonder what touching someone's soul might do for them. Did it let them see anything about the other person?

"Now then, what was it like, tell me everything and omit no detail, no matter how tiny." The warrior instructed, curious to hear what the experience had been like for the other side.