Closed [The Prairie]Possessed by a Yearning[Fubuki Kouri]

[Clyde Sullins]

As the ghost girl rose out of the ground, she was clearly no longer attempting to appear human. Instead, she was allowing herself to show her full ghost form, translucent, see through, with a veil of soulmist covering her from head to toe. Not unlike the artificial soulmist a spiritist could make, but distinctly different at the same time. It was also clear the ghost girl was displeased. And something Clyde had never seen before, chunks of soulmist seperated from her body, floating around her... What the petch? Clyde had certainly never seen such a thing, had not even known a ghost could do that. Though he supposed it was in part how a ghost could pick things up and such. He had seen Elaine use her soulmist for such tasks, but had never seen her do this. Which logically seemed to imply this ghost was far stronger than Elaine had been. "Hmph... How did you find me?"" Before Clyde could answer, the ghost girl continued on, speaking words that brought confusion to Clyde's face, as they were unintelligible. "You beat me... *$&*^<^?&, how about... we play another game?" However from her obvious mood, paired with her tone, it was clear when she spoke it was nothing good for Clyde. Particularly when she continued on, making it quite clear what she meant by "playing." "Let's play 'Touchy-touchy', you let me touch you for ten ticks and if you aren't dead, you win... what do you say, Sir Clyde?" Hearing this Clyde jumped a step back, and held out his empty left palm, letting out a short burst of res. A cloud puffed out of his hand, made of bright silvery and ethereal res, the substance he used in his Reimancy. He did nothing else with it for now, simply holding it as a loose cloud of res in between himself and this ghost. "Now now, no being naughty. And here we were being so civil. First of all, I did not beat you, we tied. We both won our own round. Which means we both won. Second of all, how I did I do it... Well... You said close your eyes, and I did. But then, I did not find you with my eyes. But then, even a ghost has a strong aura when compared to the almost dead landscape of this place. Your presence shown like a light in a dark room." Keeping his room, Clyde looked over the girl. He was seriously wondering if all of his encounters with ghosts would go like this... He would prefer not to have to throw down with a ghost right here and now, not if he did not need to. "As for touching, I would thank you to refrain from doing that. I have been touched by a ghost before, clearly not one of your ability, but a ghost all the same, and I know how cold and unpleasant it can be... My last ghost friend had a nasty habit of forgetting she was a ghost, and hugging me when she got excited. But then, I suppose she had not been a ghost for long, and never really embraced what she was. Or at least I think she did it on accident..." Clyde paused for a moment, lost in thought, only just now considering that perhaps Elaine had only been pretending to hug him by accident, and had actually been doing it on purpose. "Now it seems how our relationship progresses is up to you. We can either fight tooth and nail to harm and destroy each other... Or... Or we can work together for our common benefit. I would prefer the latter." "I have not lied to you, nor have I given you any reason to be my enemy. And if you ask nicely, and promise to not try to do anything... Naughty... I might even be willing to answer a few questions to clarify my earlier statements. So... What will it be, friend or foe?"

[Fubuki Kouri]

Kouri kept her childishly murderous expression as she stared up at the man, but her blue eyes suddenly widened when he jumped back and formed a familiar substance from his palm, the substance wielded by those damned reimancers, Master Cyrus, Azcadelia, and that betrayer Anna. They each had different colors, but the puffs, texture, and ethereal-quality were unmistakable, especially since the ghost girl had some grasp in controlling her possessed host's res. The man was a mage, not surprising considering their location, but seeing it with her own eyes always had some amount of surprise, so... it was no wonder he could find her, he was a mage, he must have used some kind of magic to locate her.

The ghost girl's clenched right fist slowly loosened as it unmaterialized, she listened to Clyde's words, her expression similar to a grumpy little girl, she knew they were tied, but the ghost girl planned on humiliating him, tying was just the same as being defeated considering her original purpose. She crossed her arms over her chest as the ethereal wisps around her circled constantly, they were ready to launch serrated tendrils should the man tried anything funny. Her assumption was correct, he admitted using magic, he read her 'aura' through some kind of unknown method, "What magic is that? You can read what?" Her tone became curious, losing its malice.

"Oooho?" The ghost girl perked up when the man refused her 'offer', telling her of his past encounters with a ghost, so he knew about a ghost's chilling touch, but did he know how far a powerful ghost could do? Through the man's ramblings, it seemed his ghost friend was far weaker compared to the Vantha, just like Kouri in the past, lost and refusing acceptance regarding her state, "Hmmm, can your ghost friend," Kouri bent down, materialized her right hand, and picked up a wild grass; she stood up and gripped it, sizzling sounds akin to dry ice freezing a warm surface could be heard as the grass quickly wilted and turned dead brown, "this?" She lightly tossed away the grass, like a child bored with her broken toy.

Kouri flicked her long hair, thinking; the man was a mage, he could harm her, but he wasn't willing to fight and wanted to 'work together', he also had interesting powers, fighting him now would prove less fun, especially since he looked so desperate. The ghost girl found little joy in fighting an unwilling foe, she usually goaded them into attacking her then used it as a reason to 'defend' herself, the man responded to her threat through negotiation, snuffing out her murderous urges, "Okay, I'll be a good girl," The ghost put her hands behind her back, using her 'puppy-dog-eyes' expression as she looked up at Clyde.

"So, questions then, what did you use to find me? It looks interesting... I kinda wanna try it, you know... hehe, let me enter your body," She gave Clyde a wide grin, expecting the mage to recoil back in repulsion, letting a strange ghost possesses one's body, no one could be so stupid. The possibility about the man being a Spiritist didn't cross her mind at the moment though.

[Clyde Sullins]

The ghost girls reaction to his res creation was not unexpected. Most people reacted similarly upon seeing it, whether alive or dead. Most... Some though that were foolish enough ignored it, or underestimated it, to their own peril. Clyde's res did look more or less like other res, it was ethereal, glow-y, very noticeable. However one factor that might be noticeable to someone who knew of anything of Reimancy, might be the speed at which it had been generated. For such a volume of res, Clyde could generate it both effortlessly and immediately. It seemed to appear more or less the moment he willed it to exude from his body. So if the ghost girl had seen any lesser Reimancers, she might note a difference in that one aspect. "What magic is that? You can read what?" Clyde did not answer, not just yet, for no agreement had been met, nor had she shown any signs of "standing down." At least not yet. "Oooho?" "Hmmm, can your ghost friend... this?" Clyde watched as Kouri yanked up a piece of grass, and then watched as it burnt and shriveled like it was being exposed to flame... Only... More like the inverse... Clyde knew burning quite well, being a accomplished fire Reimancer. This was not the same. It was more like the plant had wilted. It vaguely made him think of Magecrafting, what a reagent looked like after having its djed sucked dry for the process of Magecrafting. This did not appear that different, at least to his mundane observation. But she was a ghost, so that theory surely could not be correct... "Okay, I'll be a good girl." Clyde nodded in response to her words, but more importantly to the visible settling down of her soulmist. Clyde did likewise, and held out his hand to reabsorb the res he had exuded out. It would take a few moments but would soon be gone, all evidence of it having been there moments before vanished. After all it was only the civil thing to do to match her action, for such a negotiation to stay on even footing. "So, questions then, what did you use to find me? It looks interesting... I kinda wanna try it, you know... Hehe, let me enter your body." As the ghost girl said this, Clyde did not pull back or show fear or revulsion. Instead, he showed a thoughtful expression as he mulled a few things over in his mind. Breaking the situation down logically to come to a conclusion... Logic said that if she was powerful enough, she could have taken him over without even bothering to ask. Furthermore if that was true then he had little hope of fighting her off, and so then it made no sense to displease her by saying no... On the other hand, if she was not that powerful, then she would need him to accept her in, and for him to not fight her while she was inside of him, or else he would be able to toss her out or impede what she did. Shrugging, Clyde responded to Kouri with a simple "Sure, in a chime or two, let me just settle a few things first, and then you can possess me." "Though I am unsure of showing you this magic... I don't like teaching people magics if I can help it, certainly not there first. I don't suppose those ghostly things you can do technically count as magic, not in the normal sense of it... I'm unsure." "As for what the magic was, it is called Auristics. Everything in existence has a aura. You, me, that rock, the dirt, the bushes and plants here. Auristics lets you examine that aura, and by doing so find out information about the thing which the aura belongs to. So thats what I did, sort of... I focused on your aura, and then was able to track it without using my eyes but my aura sense, and then see where your aura traveled and moved to." Clyde paused for a moment here, thinking things through. "But that seems a bit one sided a agreement to me. I would be letting you use my body, and showing you a magic you do not know of... What would I be gaining in return? What can you offer me to make such a trade fair?"

[Fubuki Kouri]

Being a little girl, Kouri didn't know about the complicated matters of magic, what she knew of Reimancy were limited to creating res and to transmute that res into an element, even then, she could only do very basic transmutation. Like most young girls from a non-mage family, she wouldn't know Clyde was a master mage unless he showed her obvious displays of great magical prowess. Still, she treated all mages with caution, due to personal experiences, they could hurt her even when she was unmaterialized after all and her basic instinct regarding something harmful was caution.

Kouri was a curious child and like a child playing with fire, she wanted to know more about magic even though various mage friends of hers warned her it was dangerous, dangerous matters were always interesting. The man didn't recoil when she asked the ghastly request, that was a good sign, or bad depending on how she saw it; on one side she was glad that this man wasn't afraid of ghosts, at least not to immediately panic and run away, on the other, it could also mean he was confident in handling her, Kouri assumed the man was a combination of both.

"Settle?" She tilted her head, he didn't need to 'settle' things, she was ready to possess him right then and there, perhaps he wanted to calm himself, she could understand that, "Okay then, tell me when you are ready, no running away though!" The eager girl hunched down, hugging her knees, and focused the soulmist at the tip of her right index finger to draw crude images on the ground, occasionally giggling.

The girl visibly looked disappointed when Clyde spoke of his reluctance to teach, "Well," she raised her head, looking up at the mage's eyes, "I don't care," the ghost girl gave him a light shrug of her shoulders. She pondered about his next words, her powers did come naturally to her, after she died that is, there were weak at first but as time flew by, Kouri grew stronger, "I think they are not 'magic', I never learn them actually, they just came to me, ehehe, nobody can do what I do, if they are not dead, do you want to learn it? I can teach you! You just have to die first~" The twisted offer was coated with the innocently sweet words of a child.

"Oh, Au, uhm..." She struggled for a few ticks, murmuring the difficult Common word, too bad that Vani speakers in Sahova were non-existent, certainly not from the people she knew, "Auristics, I see," As if discovering something, Kouri's eyes perked up, a wide grin on her face, "I get it! You read auras!" He confirmed her words, the little girl felt like a genius, though it was a bit obvious considering the discipline's name. "Teach me that! Teach me that!" She suddenly disappeared from her spot, appearing directly before Clyde in an instant later, her large eyes eager and willing.

"Mmmmph..." The man just had to make it difficult, he wanted something in return, the ghost girl could understand, it would be poor of her to ask for teaching services without payment if the tutor didn't offer his expertise for free, Kouri brought her index finger to her lips, murmuring something, "Dolls... nah, he won't like it, daggers... I think mages don't use daggers, uhm..." she talked to herself, completely ignoring Clyde's presence for the moment. The ghost girl rubbed her head after a few chimes, finding nothing in particular, "I don't know..." her thoughts went to Anna, the betrayer, and how she once asked for a piece of her soulmist for 'Glyphing', "Someone asked for a piece of my body once, not sure if you'd like it..."

[Clyde Sullins]

"Settle? Okay then, tell me when you are ready, no running away though!" The ghostly girl was, to put it bluntly, a bit odd. But then, Clyde was not exactly what many would consider normal, even amongst other mages. Perhaps especially when compared to other wizards, when you considered the reasoning behind most wizards choosing to be a mage... Clyde however had not chosen it, and so often felt a gap between himself and other mages, and due to his magic a gap between himself and those without magic. Perhaps that was one reason he often felt more at ease when dealing with the dead, with ghosts like Elaine, than he did with the living. They also tended to not trust the living, nor other mages, just like Clyde, and did not feel like they truly fitted in, just like himself. "Well, I don't care. I think they are not 'magic', I never learn them actually, they just came to me, ehehe, nobody can do what I do, if they are not dead, do you want to learn it? I can teach you! You just have to die first~" Clyde nodded at her next words, her supposition that her ghostly abilities were not magic, but some innate ability granted by her state of being. Not in those words exactly, but in a manner of speaking. "Oh, Au, uhm... Auristics, I see, I get it! You read auras!" As Fubuki blinked forward in her excitement, Clyde pulled back instinctively, surprised by her suddenly appearing so close in front of him. After the initial shock wore off, he calmed back down, but he could not help the sudden and immediate reaction of surprise to her popping up. "Teach me that! Teach me that!" "Petch! Stop doing that!" However already the ghost girl seemed lost within her own thoughts, puzzling over his words, of how to pay for his services. Still though, if one thing was obvious from seeing him and his actions, he did not react well to being surprised. He was a jumpy mage, and there was no telling what he might do if his nerves proved to be frayed too far. "Mmmmph... Dolls... nah, he won't like it, daggers... I think mages don't use daggers, uhm... I don't know... Someone asked for a piece of my body once, not sure if you'd like it..." As she mentioned gifting him with a piece of her body, a sudden thought occurred to Clyde. Turning about he began to feel around in his pack, trying to find what he was looking for. After a chime or so he pulled his hand back out, now with a stoppered vial in it. Setting down his staff for a moment, he pulled out the stopper, and held up the stopper and vial before him, one in each hand. "Alright, deal, a vial of your soulmist, for me letting you possess me, and use my body to do Auristics in concert with me." The last time this vial had been used, it had held yukman blood. However it had long since been cleaned out and made ready for its next usage.

[Fubuki Kouri]

The man wanted a literal piece of her body, just like Anna, the ghost girl idly wondered if there was something between Mages and their fascination with soulmists, the ghost girl just shrugged it off, Mages were weird, they often wanted something unusual and she was pretty sure a piece of an ethereal being's body was deemed 'unusual' by most. Kouri examined the vial offered to her with curious sapphire eyes, her right hand focused its soulmist, then she grabbed hold of it, "Okay... I just have to fill it, right?" She took it and shook the vial like it was a toy.

Now came the hard part, Kouri was no stranger to 'ghostly' wounds, already experiencing what it felt like to be stabbed by a longsword, burned by a fireball, and pierced by souldarts, shredding a small piece of her body should be a piece of soulmist cake compared to those, but still, it hurt nonetheless. Alright, I can do this, I want to learn that magic! She used her desire to know more about Clyde's arcane power to curb her fears, slightly trembling, Kouri grabbed a few locks of her long raven hair with her left hand, then she violently pulled, shredding the strands, "A... aaaah..." She moaned in pain, shaking her head to refocus, her pulled hair then slowly changed shape into translucent white gel, she inserted the gel into Clyde's vial. The soulmist swirled inside the small glass container, giving it an eerie aura, "Here," she returned the vial to the mage, "Now, your part of the deal!"

She was about to blink to him, but remembered about his enmity towards sudden movements so the ghost girl opted to just walk up to him, still keeping her blue eyes to Clyde's face, with their difference in height, Kouri floated up to his eye level, materialized herself, then slowly hugged his form, wrapping her arms around his shoulder and her feet around his waist, "Let me in..." The ghost girl's form then shifted as the mists around her started to surround Clyde's body, then attempted to enter his ears, nose, and mouth. Kouri herself would gradually turn into mist as she literally inserted herself to the mage's body.

[Clyde Sullins]

"Okay... I just have to fill it, right?" Clyde watched as the spirit took the vial, and prepared to... Do whatever she planned to do. Clearly shedding a portion of her soulmist was a unpleasant thing, after all attacking it was painful to a ghost, about the only thing Clyde had seen to be effective at combating them when they turned violent. He had actually been wanting some soulmist for some time, having had an idea for its usage. He could make some weak artificial soulmist, being a low level Spiritist, but for this... For this he did not want to risk messing with fake soulmist. He was not even sure if it would work. But if it did, well then. It would add a whole new facet to his creation, beyond what he already expected it to be and do. "A... aaaah..." Clyde watched as the female ghost was physically in pain, sort of, yanking off a piece of her hair, her soulmist, shredding and tearing and pulling till it came loose. As it did it formed into a blob of all to familiar glowy white gel. Taking back the offered vial, Clyde stoppered it, and slid it carefully into a soft spot in his backpack, inside of his blanket, and then set the pack on the ground. He did not want to be walking around with it on during the possession. And since he had already place his staff on the ground, he had loosed much of his burdens. "Here, now, your part of the deal!" With no further ado the ghost began to move at Clyde, surging at him. He did not flinch, and managed to take it full on, glad that she did not try to blink at or into him, instead flowing into him. As she came at him he mentally prepared himself, and imagined himself as a box. Then he imagined the lid of the box flipping open, allowing Fubuki to flow inside of the opening, to fill the box. "Let me in..." It was not so different than res, than the initiation into Reimancy, at least in appearance. A fog entering ones body. But instead of a burning substance, this was a cool material, cold in fact. As he let out a breath, he could see it visibly before him, as his breath hit the cold sheet of air surrounding him, infusing into him. For a moment his left arm jerked, jerked up at his face, but then he willed his body to still, to let the spirit in, to share his body with the ghost. It had been a long time since he had been possessed, but he quickly recalled the experience. It was not something one forgot. Except his first time, the first time being controlled by a ghost, that time was still foggy and confused in his memories. "Calm. Just focus for a moment on us being together, as one. Focus on my lungs, my mouth, pulling in a breath, letting it back out, keeping it steady and regular. Breathe in and out... Let the synergy flow together, let us act together, to one purpose." After several breaths, when Clyde assumed the spirit had fully integrated into his body, he spoke to it again. "Alright now, move together with me, move into my bag, I need to get out some paint. This will go easier if I can Glyph myself before we begin. Just some simple focus. Move with me, and I will take the lead in painting on the Glyphs." With that said, Clyde would try to bend down and take out a bottle of inscribing paint, and lead the spirit in painting on some simple Glyphs. Assuming the ghost worked with him, and followed his lead.

[Fubuki Kouri]

The process, compared to earlier in the season when she possessed Anna, was noticeably smoother as Kouri had comforted herself in this particular power of hers further, now provided the target was willing, she didn't have to struggle much and thankfully, Clyde was willing. The man seemed familiar enough with the process as he kept his calm and actually able to assist the ghost girl in literally going inside his body.

The ghost girl was now floating in an imaginary space, filled with nothing but darkness, with the occasional flashes of light here and there, she closed her eyes and concentrated, tendrils swarmed out from her back, heading outwards in every direction, planting themselves onto Clyde's astral body. The ghost girl's small body squirmed slightly as she eased herself, integrating her soulmist with Clyde's astral, like a puppeteer picking up the strings of her puppet.

From his directions, the ghost girl immediately assumed this man was also Spiritist, after all to her knowledge, only a Spiritist could be so familiar with ghosts, they could offer advices how to properly possess his body, by this point, Kouri wasn't surprised and she didn't mind, Un... Clyde could feel a small nod from the phantom inside, she first opened her eyes, now her vision was being replaced by Clyde's, she felt every inch of his body. Just as instructed, Kouri opened Clyde's mouth then inhaled a breath, then she exhaled, the process of breathing was still not lost to her as Kouri often did those involuntarily even after she died.

Okay... As much as she wanted to play pranks on him just chimes ago, Kouri didn't want to act reckless in his body, she could accidentally damage it and him being wounded meant her lesson could cut off. She gave him a literal piece of her soul, she was determined to see this through the end. The ghost girl slowly pulled at Clyde's astral, steadily moving his feet to the bag, left foot, right foot, left foot, even the simple process of walking must be taken with caution, she wasn't familiar yet with his body and her skill didn't allow her instantaneous integration.

After reaching the bag, Kouri moved his body to bend down then picked up a bottle filled with paint. Glyphing? I know this, you paint pretty patterns on your body, right? Annalisa taught her this discipline once, both using soulmist and paint, she straightened her back, watching the ink bottle with interest. So, where should I paint first? It was better to ask him first than act on her own, though she knew of the discipline, she was still very much a babe.

[Clyde Sullins]

Clyde could feel a cool sensation flowing slowly throughout his body, going up through his limbs and along his blood as it pumped through his body. Clyde let it flow through him, accepted it, willed it to progress and spread. Soon it had filled him up in a non-literal sense, as the two of them had fully integrated. The two of them spent a few moments breathing together, getting into a rhythm in their movements and actions before Clyde tried doing anything. First his left foot, then the other, the two slowly walked over to his bag, bent down to get into it, taking out the pot of inscribing paint. Yes, now I'm going to paint this Glyph onto my forehead, a focus rune, its simple. We just need to dip in our finger and then we can paint it on by hand. Visualizing Clyde doing these actions, he thought of himself dipping into the paint, and drawing a circle on his forehead. After visualizing this a few times for Fubuki, he would take the lead in these actions, inscribing the simple Glyph to his forehead. It'll help us focus our djed, to bring the djed to our eyes for the magic. It'll be harder than when I do it alone, since I'll also be guiding you into it.

[Fubuki Kouri]

The ghost girl could feel Clyde actually helping her through relaxing his body, this man wasn't no stranger to possession. He must be a spiritist, this made Kouri became cautions, yet respected him at the same time. Her attitude changed from the mischievous girl to an obedient student. Kouri opened the ink bottle by moving her host's right hand while her left hand held it, taking extra steps to not accidentally drop it.

So they would begin by drawing a focus rune on Clyde's forehead, there was just one problem. But uhm... I can't see your forehead... In her knowledge, one must see what one was drawing to properly create a rune, perhaps the man had decent experience and could draw based on memory alone, not her though. Please guide me then She needed his help, Kouri dipped Clyde's right index finger to the ink then slowly brushed the tip on his forehead. He let Clyde guided her actions and after a few moments, an intricate circle was painted on his forehead.

I see, so Auristics enhances your eyes? Kouri took note of the magic, it seemed Aurists could turn their eyes into magical goggles, able to see the auras of beings even through walls and obstacles, a pretty neat magic if she could say so herself. Kouri put the ink bottle back into Clyde's bag then obediently sat down on the ground, completely focusing to pull Clyde's eye astral body, she would try to harmonize her soulmist with his djed, So, how do I uhm... start seeing auras?