Completed New start | Summer 513

[Yumi Seishen]

Yumi around the port after leaving her small cot; it was almost night fall and she loved watching the sky at night, and was rather curious of how the stars formed in this region. Even if she didn't know anything about Astronomy it still fascinated her. She walked along the near barren port, walking pass the few people who were more than likely heading home, and walked into the forest where she'd get the best view of the stars that were slowly forming in the sky as the sun's light faded. Sticking her hands into her pockets she let her mind wander on what to do tomorrow. She needed a job, for one thing, and supplies before she ran out. As she thought she stopped paying attention to where she was going, or more importantly, what was in front of her.

[Kujyaku]

The start of the night. As Kujyaku walked out of her house, recently transforming out of her Eth form in a human. putting on her blue silk dress her mother gave her, she walked out. When she transformed she always felt short, only around 5"2", and walked outside. Looking up, she saw the stars out, she saw many she familiarized with, but just as many she didn't. Maybe she would go into town. Kuj very quickly erased that out if her mind, remembering the thieves and drunk sailors she saw the day before. Maybe she would go into the forest again? There were a few herbs Kuj knew of that went into bloom at night.

Walking into the forest, Leth was up in the sky, and the wind was blowing gently. He trees rustled in sync with the wind, as Kuj looked down at the forests-floor. Trying to find the leafy herbs she knew of, she found a leafy substance she knew of as mint.

"Ahah!" Kujyaku exclaimed, dropping to the floor. Grabbing handfuls of the mint, Kuj smelled the fragrance of the mint, when suddenly she heard something crackle in the distance, looking up she was a pair of eyes looking at her. "Uh, hello there."

[Yumi Seishen]

Yumi blinked as she was taken out of her thoughts and saw the girl pick herbs. Honestly, she didn't realize she walked here from the ports after she let her mind wander, but then again she does do that a lot. Regaining her composer Yumi looked at the girl, "Hello." She looks up at the cloudless night sky, "I didn't realize anyone else would be here."

[Kujyaku]

"I didn't know anyone would be here either..." Kujyaku says. She suddenly smiles, "My name is Kuj! I am an Eth, but right I'm in my human form." Kuj put the mint in her pockets. She slipped her hand into her hair, the shortness in the back was something to get used to. Especially without the horns.

"Hey! Are you new?" Kuj's eyes went wide, "I haven't seen you around before.... Are you new?" She smiled again. "Your young! How old are you? Young right?" Kujyaku started to ramble bluntly then stopped. She chuckled. "What are you doing out here?" Kuj become suddenly curious. The wind picked up a bit, and the rustle of the trees become louder.

[Yumi Seishen]

"Uh... yeah..." Yumi felt the wind start to pick up but shrugged it off as something common here. She was starting to feel a bit uncomfortable but managed not to show it. She cleared her throat to calm Kuj down before speaking, "My name's Yumi; I just moved here to day." Shifting a bit, she looked in another direction and put her hand on the back of her head, "I should get out of your way." She started to walk in the direction she was staring at.

[Kujyaku]

"Wait!" Kujyaku shouted, just now realizing that she had made the girl feel uncomfortable. "Do you have a place to stay?" Kuj asked, not going to leave this girl alone. "The way you are going is also deeper into the forest.... It's dangerous out here alo-" Kujyaku suddenly stopped and looked up to the sky, which caught her notice.

Kujyaku took a deep breathe in and closed her eyes. "The stars are beautiful." Kuj said calmly now, so calm, it sounded like a different person. She smiled gently. She pointed up at the sky, where a cluster of stars were hanging like the city lights. They looked majestic tonight. "That cluster of stars is called the Peacock. In a different place, they called it the Kujyaku." She looked at the girl. Smiling gently she said in almost a whisper. "That's what my mother told me at least, sometimes I wish I saw her face in those clusters of stars." Her smile stopped. The wind, trees, and all other sounds seemed to stop making any noise. Just silence. Kuj stared at the stars for another minute, there beauty almost looking unnatural, yet stars are one of the most natural things in the universe.

"Let's go now. I am not taking no for an answer." She took notice of Yumi and saw in her eyes her fascination of the stars. Grabbing her hand, she yelled out, "Let's go to the library, I heard they have amazing books on all types of stars, and many other things too!"

[Yumi Seishen]

"I-uh." As Yumi was being pulled to the library she wondered how this escalated so quickly. In her mind that is. It was rare for Yumi to see anyone take such a interest in her, and noramly if they did they weren't as open about it which gave her a chance to sneak away. Not that she really mind where she was going or who she was with, but this was just so foreign to her. Which made Yumi start to feel curious about this girl. As they neared the library Kujyaku let go of her arm, and Yumi followed her in for no reason other than seemingly enstranged curiosity. There was something about this Eth that she just couldn't seem to place her finger on... Yumi stuck on hand back into her pocket and put her hand on the back of her head to play with her hair. She looked at some of the book shelves and watched a few people run out to get home, and wondered how later it was now. Not that she needed to know, but just something that crosses her mind when she sees people out later than normal. Turning her attention back the other girl, she watched her set a few books on the table before motioning for her to come over. She stuck her other hand into her pocket and walked over to her.

[Kujyaku]

Kujyaku was running through the library. Running is an over-statement because running was prohibited in the library. Kujyaku was searching for the perfect book to give to Yumi, she acually liked Yumi, being younger then herself, she felt the need to take care of her, yet she felt she could take care of herself.

Astronomy, Guide of Astronomy, Kuj looked through more of the books, none seeming appealing. [i] Astronomy and the Stars, The Book of Astronomy, [i]

“Astro...... the stars.... Book.... Astronomy....” Kujyaku mumbled along to the books, touching her hands to each one when she stopped. “Book of Astronomy.... BOOK OF ASTRONOMY!” Kuj yelled out, quickly being told to hush. The book had a dark blue cover, with golden prints on it. Carrying the book for Kuj was hard, proving her muscle strength was lacking, and heaved it onto the table.

“Yumi!! Look at this!” Kuj flipped open the book, and turned to the page of the Tiger of the West. “Yumi! Isn’t this one cool? And this one?” Kuj kept flipping pages, “you should come here more often!” Kujyaku could tell Yumi was very interested. Kuj looked at the clock, noticing the ticking.

“Whoa... Yumi, its 2 am.”

[Yumi Seishen]

As Yumi looked at the book with her she found it hard to keep her usual, nonchalant composer, especially after seeing the Tiger of the West. When she was younger and was lost somewhere she always used it's claw to find her way back to where she was supposed to be. She muttered how she always thought of it as a special guardian as they looked at it. As they continues to flip through the book she grew more even more interested to find out the names of the ones she'd seen so often, the myths connected to them, how you can tell the seasons by the way the ones that show. When Kuj said it was 2 am Yumi looked at her and thought for a second on whether or not she should leave now; she normally doesn't get to sleep until 4 am because of her feline traits and wanted to stay at the library for another hour, but at the same time she wanted to keep following the Eth. After a few minutes she nodded and helped put the book back, after remembering how she struggled with it the first time, then followed her to her house.

[Kujyaku]

Kujyaku walks into her small house, with the bed in one corner, all the basics, with her additions of a firepit and cupboard to cook with. The house was small, but it could fit one more person. It was dark except for the fire, which basically lit the place with light. Kuj took her mint out of the pocket of her dress. Going to the cupboard, she took out her pot, filled it with water, and set it out above the fire.

“Care for some mint tea?” She asked Yumi, who didn’t seem tired at all. Kuj looked at the water, emerging with bubbles now and threw the mint in, waiting for it to seep. “Nothing much, but it helps me with staying awake.”Kujyaku smiled, the flicker of the fire reflecting on her face.

“Hey Yumi...” Kujyaku’s voice was calm again. “Why did you come to Zeltiva? You are so young, why are you not with your parents?” Kujyaku was concerned and curious at the same time. “I came here when I become an Eth...” Kujyaku calmly went over to the tea which was done now. Pouring it into two glass jars, she handed one to Yumi. “I awoke one day with horns... then when I awoke at night, I didn’t have horns. I was so confused, especially because I died the day before.” Kuj chuckled, but then went back to the slight bit of sadness in her face.

“Will you be staying the night? You can stay here so as long as you want. We could go to the library again.” Kuj asked, tugging on her dress. “I got this dress from my mother, I woke up in it the day I was an Eth...” Kuj trailed off, not wanting to talk about it. Suddenly she smiled again, “Tell me about your past now!”