a long way home. (OPEN)

[adachy]

Characters: thefool, stereophoned, topsicles, hotstuds, doesnthavea, adachy, runandseek, bomberhat, earlship, worthpraise, unforgotten, libraria, verydangerman, farces, ofmanyfocuses, YOU!
Setting/Location: The lobby of an Inn in District One of Sleepywoods.
Date & Time: Day 0 in the morning after waking up.
Warnings: Mild language and Persona 4 spoilers.
Summary: The Inaba crew run into each other and others; confusion and hijinks ensue?
Note: The first two threads will be locked to

Comments

[worthpraise]

[ This was not Kamiki village. Amaterasu's pretty sure that this isn't part of her land at all. While the immediate threat had been vanquished, she hadn't liked the look of that black shadow that had sped off to the north. She liked even less that Issun was apparently missing - there was no way he would abandon her, not with so many brush techniques still hidden somewhere.

In some ways, Issun being gone was a good thing - he would be absolutely filling her ear with chatter right now, hatching all sorts of conspiracy theories and waving that sword of his about. But he also wasn't on hand to ask questions for her, either - and he at least had a good sense for getting the information that they needed.

So when Amaterasu spotted a bunch of people clustered together in the inn lobby, she sat back at a polite distance to listen to what they were saying. ]

so cute o////o

[thefool]

[ Out of the corner of his eye, Souji spots a dog sitting nearby, and he thinks she must be lost. A local dog, maybe? After all, he's never seen any kind with markings such as that before. And there's no reason for it to be here, unless it was brought the same way he and everyone else around here was.

He walks over to her, kneeling down a bit to pet her head. Her fur was pretty soft for a dog. ]

Hey there. Are you lost? [ He may or may not be paying extra attention to those markings on her. They were pretty unusual... ]

[worthpraise]

[ Her tail starts wagging back and forth as Souji approaches her, sweeping the ground behind her. And petting is always appreciated; Amaterasu pushes her head into his hand slightly, trying to get him to pay attention to that itchy spot behind her ears.

Her tail stops at that question. She hadn't really been thinking of herself as "lost" but that definitely fits the situation, since she has no idea where she is. She whines, soft and brief. She has no idea what's going on either, and her power here is even more limited than it was before. She hasn't even tried to see if her powers still work or not yet, but at least she still has her divine instruments. Not ideal, but she'll be able to handle any trouble that comes their way. ]

[thefool]

[ He smiles and scratches behind her ears. Dogs always seemed to like that -- although this one looked close to being a wolf. A husky, perhaps? Or a malamute? It was difficult to pinpoint with this sort of coloring.

But, she doesn't look to be so happy. Chances are, she was in their same situation. How could whoever was in charge of this take an innocent dog, too? ]

Why don't you stick by us, girl?

[worthpraise]

[ "Innocent dog" - oh poor Souji. He has no idea.

Her tail starts up again both at the scratching and at the offer. This is probably the best solution - they feel like home, which makes her feel better, and she can watch over them in return - she's pretty much obligated to do so anyway.

She stands, showing her approval by walking a tight circle around him, ending by sitting at his side, her mouth open in a grin. And if he can see her markings, he can probably see the flowers and grass that sprung up behind her as she walked that are now fading back into nothing. ]

[thefool]

[ She's cute, he thinks, upon seeing her tail wag, but that turns into slight disbelief when he notices the effect she has on the area around her, even if temporary. It was certainly a sight to behold.

As strange as it was, there was some sort of odd familiarity. He can't put his finger on it, but for some reason, he thinks of Yukiko. What possible connection could there be? ]

... You're no ordinary dog, are you? [ He continues to pet her in a slight daze. It wasn't though as if he hadn't seen stranger, but still. ]

at some point she will meet yukiko, and it will be fabulous

[worthpraise]

[ She shook herself in answer, looking up at him with a mixture of satisfaction and an almost-smug pride. No, she was certainly no ordinary dog. No need to get all formal about things, but she definitely appreciated not having to go through the whole "are you lost, where is your owner?" song and dance. Communication was still a crapshoot, even with people who could see her true form.

Interesting though, as she resettled at this boy's feet, leaning into his hand, how she responded to something in this boy. In her excitement over finding people from home, she hadn't really looked deeper. And now that she was next to him, breathing in his scent, she found that it was at once entirely familiar and completely unplaceable. She wasn't an ordinary dog, but he didn't seem to be an ordinary boy, either. Very interesting

[topsicles]

[ He first notices her out of the corner of his eye. Her fur is the whitest he'd ever seen, with markings like he'd never seen on a dog, either. Or was it a wolf? But what would a wolf be doing inside of an Inn? He approaches her with caution and kneels in front of her, extending his hand for her to sniff if she pleases. ]

Hey. I don't s'pose you know where we are, huh?

[worthpraise]

[ Amaterasu sniffs his hand politely, understanding of his caution. This is still a much nicer reception than being accused of being a demon's familiar, or that one woman in Kamiki who tried to whack her - true, Ammy was digging up her turnips at the time, but a little respect would be nice!

She lets out a long breath and shakes her head to his question. This boy smells like home, but that's no real help. One the one hand, it wasn't just her. On the other hand, now they'd have to find a way to get them all home. It was a problem, and her ears go slightly back as her head sinks, considering. "Leap before you think" is her motto, and this seems to involve a whole lot of thinking first. ]

[topsicles]

[ How odd, this strange canine seems to understand his question. As peculiar as that is, it doesn't help him understand where they are or how they got there. He sighs, standing back up and shoving his hands in his pockets. ]

Then I guess you're just as lost as the rest of us.

[worthpraise]

[ There it is again, that question of being lost. Amaterasu watches Kanji, head tilted to one side, but she also stands when it seems that he isn't going to do anything more right now.

She nudges at one of his hands in his pockets impatiently. It doesn't do any good to just stand around and talk about how lost they are! She backs up a step, quick bursts of flowers under her feet, and yips at him sharply. Well? Are you going to actually work on a solution or should she just go out and start on her own? ]