[Log] Shishido Ryou and Mukahi Gakuto
Waking with a start when sun started to shine in his face, Gakuto groaned before getting off the bed, glancing at over where Shishido had fallen asleep only to find an empty space, Gakuto rolled his eyes at this realization, of course he'd be gone, he always was. Bending from one side to the other, he worked out some sore spots in the middle of his back, before heading out the door and down the stairs, finding Tsander working up front as usual. Skipping over lightly he sat near where the other was working, his half-elf side making his steps to quiet for the other to become aware of his presence.
With the sun to his back Shishido rounded the last block back to Tsander's house. He had gone out a half hour earlier to take a quick lap around the neighborhood to keep in shape. It also served as a good time to think. Usually his thoughts would be unfocused ranging from where he should go next, to what he should have for lunch. This time however his mind was on one subject, Gakuto. It had been a week since the red-head quite literally fell into his life and he recruited him as his traveling partner. Reaching the front stoop he climbed the steps and opened the door to reveal the subject of his thoughts walking toward his unsuspecting friend.
Almost having made his way all the way over, obviously up to no good whatsoever, Gakuto jumped at the sound of a door slamming shut and found Shishido standing in the doorway, a knowing look on his face as Tsander turned around as well ruining his chance at having a little fun. He grinned up at Shishido, not at all apologetic, though he might have been should the innkeeper have found out about his original intentions, "Where've you been?" he asked, though he could probably already guess.
"Went out running. Can't get lazy just sitting around this place. And it not like there's much else to do this early." He walked toward the other two picking up an apple that sat in a basket at the front of the desk they were standing next to. "Have you eaten already or did you just get up?"
"Was getting around to it." he said airily while waving one hand in the air in a dismissive manner before snatching an apple as well, balancing it on the end of his finger while looking over at Shishido, "Anything big planned for today?"
Taking a bite out of the piece of fruit in his hand Shishido took a moment to chew and swallow before answering. "Yah. I figured we'd go down to the docks and see if we could find a boat that could take us over to Raytin. You wanted to get out, there's no more out than out of the country." Taking another bite he moved toward the room that they had been staying in to get his pack.
Shrugging, Gakuto bounced the apple off his finger before catching it and rubbing it against his shirt, taking a quickly bite before following, climbing up the stairs a few minutes after. "So what? We get there and part ways or something?" he asked, almost sounding uncaring about the whole situation, he'd actually grown use to it, in some strange way, but Shishido didn't seem the one to travel with anyone for too long, so he figured it was natural.
Shishido glanced over before turning back to his pack. "If you have somewhere else you want to go when you get there." he shrugged. Honestly it hadn't really occurred to him to split up. He had almost forgotten how it was to travel with someone he actually liked. Most of the time his only traveling companion would be whatever merchant hired him out to get them from one city to another, with their stuck-up attitudes that made him want to lead them into a river instead of across it. Taking another bite from his apple he finished stuffing his bag with his other hand. Quickly latching it up and swinging it over his shoulder he turned toward the door. "You need to do something else or are you ready to leave?"
Snatching his own pack, that they'd gotten only a few days ago from nearby, Gakuto just nodded, taking a few more bites of his own apple, thinking over what Shishido had said. He hadn't told him to get lost yet, so that was a good sign right? Deciding he'd cross that bridge when he got to it, he followed the other out the inn, (not before grabbing a piece of bread from the innkeeper beforehand).
Moving quickly down the street he could sense Gakuto following him closely. The salt in the air just kept getting stronger as they neared the docks. And Shishido took a moment to breath it in deeply once they reached the start of the docks. Looking around slowly he spotted the familiar banner. The colors blue and red waved in the air. "Hey Coral." He called to the woman working under the banner.
"Ryou? Well I didn't expect to see you around for a while." She smiled at him. "This is a pleasant surprise. Unfortunately you missed Keith by a day. He set out yesterday with an acting troupe."
He was silent for a moment before giving Shishido a look, "What now?" ever since the other had mentioned it, he realized that it was a good suggestion, the last place anyone from the village would look for him would be another country. He'd be able to relax. It was a very tempting offer, but now they couldn't even get there.
"Now we see if we can find someone else to take us." Shishido frowned. He had been friends with his family for the past three generations. With the amount that he traveled it was always good to have a sailing friend to help get you from one continent to the other. It was also useful because, while not many would show out right hostility toward him, there were many captains that would deny him passage just for what he was.
Shrugging, Gakuto followed Shishido with no comment, balancing on the end of a small dip to entertain himself in the meantime, holding out both arms to create a center of gravity, though he did not truly need them. "You travel a lot?" he said, looking up though not slowing in his somewhat precarious walk when the dip started to stretch farther and farther down.
"Traveled a lot. Well that's one way to put it." Shishido gave a bark of a laugh as he watched Gakuto out of the side of his eye. The kid had proved to be slightly more graceful than what he had originally thought at their first meeting. But then again given how they met that wasn't saying much. "You name a place I've probably lived there. Or at the very least passed through. You know if you fall I'm not going to catch you again."
Instead of answering directly, Gakuto balanced on the end of his heels before leaping forward into a front flip, landing on his feet again and continuing his walk, not missing a beat. He wasn't that clumsy, and it was about time Shishido realized it, he thought with a smirk.
Shishido jolted to a stop when Gakuto started his flip before reaching out to stop what he thought would be a dramatic crash landing. When no impact came other than light feet planting themselves firmly on the ledge Shishido was left standing there momentarily stunned before quickly regaining his cool and quickening his steps slightly to catch up to the smaller boy. "Idiot. Your lucky you didn't fall. 'cuz if you did I'd have let you drown for going around pulling off such a stupid move."
Smiling, Gakuto knew he'd made his point, "Relax, I've done that millions of times, " He said nonchalantly, glad he'd been able to surprise him. Shishido thought he knew everything, but he didn't. "Can do it again if you missed it or something, " He laughed, balancing once more in a way that indicated he might repeat the trick.
"Quit it. I'm serious about not helping you if you end up falling and breaking your neck." He turned to scan the docks for any prospective captains that my be willing to take them to the next continent but keeping the red head in the corner of his eye just in case he did try the stunt again. The most he could see were some fishermen but he could see the top of one ship on the other end of the dock that would be able to make the crossing. Now if only he could find her captain to see if he would take them across.
"Having troubles?" Gakuto asked, his head back down watching his feet, though he didn't step away from the edge, it was strangely fun, annoying the older elf. The other always seemed to be lightly hot tempered and that made him even easier to bother. The fact that he was just as bad, Gakuto carefully ignore. Looking up he saw a ship in the distance, glancing at Shishido and then back to the ship, "Think they'll let us on?" Then again, sometimes the older looked a little threatening, and if they figured out he was a half, then all might as well be lost.
"Hopefully. Or else we'll be stuck here for the next few days, until another big ship comes in." Shishido set his head back and started to walk toward where the ship was tied. "Just stay quiet and let me do the talking." He paused in his walk for a moment before locating the person seemingly in charge of the loading of the ship. Walking calmly up to him he called out. "Excuse me. We are looking for passage to Raytin."
Oh, this would go well, Gakuto rolled his eyes as he was told to be silent, he caught the look that the people on board gave Shishido, apparently he was every bit as frightening looking as Gakuto suspected he was. Though he didn't say anything about the matter, he's just let Shishido deal with it, since that's what he was told to do. He folded is arms, watching the exchange carefully.
Talking with this old man reminded Shishido why he didn't like dealing with ships men he didn't know. Sailors always have been a suspicious bunch and the tales that blood elves were viscous beasts that would kill at the slightest provocation always seemed to be at the forefront of their minds whenever he was forced to deal with one. It probably didn't help that he solidified the fact that he was a blood elf by keeping his hair long like his kind did 200 years ago when he was still young. Still the excesses thrown at him just kept building up. Narrowing his eyes he growled in annoyance. Suddenly he found himself thrown to the ground by one of the burly guards that had been standing off to the old man's side, while the other positioned himself infront of the captain.
"H-hey!" Gakuto cried out in surprise, that was completely uncalled for, what kind of idiot would provoke a Blood elf, seriously? Seeing one of the guards come at him, Gakuto slipped under his reach stomping his foot on top of the other before reaching up with a heel of his hand into the nose, leaving the guard caught, for all intents and purposes, off guard, then he rushed over to help Shishido, jumping on the other guard's back, sinking his teeth into an unprotected hand when it reached out to grab him.
Hitting the ground hard Shishido yelled then his eyes narrowed. All he could hear was the blood pumping in his ears as his adrenaline spiked. Just barely resisting the instincts to pull out the knife he had hidden in his boots he didn't stop himself from leaping up and rushing at another guard that was approaching them. Out of the corner of his eyes he saw a flash of red struggling with the guard that had originally started this mess but quickly looked away as he ducked to avoid a fist flying at his head. Darting around the large brute he ended up behind him and lifting his foot gave him a good shove in the backside to introduce his face to the docks.
The guard gave a loud cry when Gakuto's teeth met his skin, breaking it easily, as soon as he'd let go, he was flung back forcefully onto he edge of the dock, he hit the wooden floor with a crash, leaping up quickly he ignored the gash on his forehead, more important things to worry about now. Like an angered guard coming at him, pulling out his weapon. Gakuto's eyes shot wide, before he ran toward it, slipping underneath the guard's weapon and through his legs.
With the guard he was dealing with down Shishido turned to taking in the fight going on along side him. Suddenly a sharp metallic sent reached his nose. Blood had been spilt... and not any blood. This one was familiar, Gakuto. With that his anger reached a peak. Reaching into to get his knife finally he saw the sun flash off of metal. Quickly darting forward he hoped he wouldn't be to late as he watched the guards weapon swing around wildly as he tried to impale the smaller boy.
Dodging frantically, Gakuto knew he couldn't keep this up for too long, luckily the guard hadn't landed any fatal blows he was much too angered and it made his skills deteriorate (what little he had to begin with), though he'd collected a couple more cuts. Then Shishido was suddenly in the fray, looking absolutely livid. Gakuto blinked at the sight, completely caught by surprise.
A clash rang out at metal met metal. They seperated before meeting again. They grappled for a while neither one giving an inch. The ugly brute had weight on his side but Shishido had fighting in his blood. While his muscles weren't large they were strong from the workout he did to ensure he was always in shape. Pulling back slightly before shoving with all his might he threw the big lug off balance then knocked his weapon out of his loosened grip. "You messed with the wrong elf buddy." He was about to bring his digger down to finish the job before a sharp voice broke through his blood filled haze.
"Ryou don't!" He turned to look at Coral who had rushed over when she heard the commotion and was currently kneeling next to Gakuto helping the boy up.
Looking at Shishido in shock, Gakuto let himself be pulled up, running his arm over the bloodied area on his forehead....he'd just seen Shishido completely out of control, and whether or not he'd admit it, it frightened him. He was shaking slightly now that the adrenaline of the moment was gone and his mouth was filled with the nasty taste of the guard's blood, he spit it out, disgusted. Though that made it look like he'd lost a tooth or something.
Shishido slowly lowered his arm. His instincts urged him to kill but he bit down the need. Staring hard at the guard then turning his glare at the captain. "Count yourselves lucky. And you better watch out who you piss off next." Sticking his dagger back into his boot he stomped over to where Gakuto and Coral were standing. Pausing he stared at the shaking boy. Sweeping his eyes over him he was relieved the the bleeding wounds were only superficial. Turnning towards the crowd he gave out another growl. "What the hell are you all staring at!" Starting when he felt a hand on his arm. Looking at Coral he shook his head then turned to start marching back down the dock. The sea of people parting in front of him.
"Jerks" Gakuto muttered quietly, following the two, lagging a bit behind to glare at the people behind them. "Who do they think they are?" he asked more to himself than anyone, not asking the question he was really thinking. This was Shishido....he didn't really care about many people, or at least he gave that impression. Gakuto thought they were just traveling together out of necessity (on Gakuto's side) or on a whim (Shishido's part). He didn't think he actually cared enough to almost lose control....he wasn't sure if he liked it or not.
Shishido made his way up the street still growling softly to himself. He could sense Gakuto and Coral following right behind him. It had been a long time since he lost control that completely. If it weren't for Coral he'd probably be sitting in a cell right now for murder. He didn't understand what made him fly off the deep end. All he knew was that as soon as the sent of Gakuto's blood hit his nose his instincts went into overload to find and take care of what ever it was that hurt the kid. Shishido's growls slowed as the adrenaline slowly left his system. This was ridiculous. He hadn't let himself get really close to anyone after his brother announced that they would be splitting up. Now here he was nearly committing murder for a brat that he had only met a week ago. Reaching Tsander's place he threw open the door then marched to the room leaving Coral to explain what had happened.
Not following Shishido this time, Gakuto sat down on one of the chairs, wondering if it would be better to take his stuff and leave. It'd be better than having someone who....was close to him. He'd never really had a friend, or much of a family, and he'd grown use to that. Staying broken was easier than trying to get fixed anyway, why waste the effort? "What was that all about?" he asked Coral, she seemed to know the other elf pretty well, maybe he could shed some light on the confusing and slightly frightening new change.
Coral turned to look in the direction Shishido had stormed off in before bringing her gaze back to Gakuto. "I know Ryou wouldn't want me to say anything. And I can't really say I know all. Still, given his reaction, I think you need to know." Sighing she took a seat next to Gakuto. "Ryou's an old family friend for both me and my husband. And when I say old I mean it. I believe my grandfather or great grandfather was the first to befriend Ryou. I remember seeing him growing up. He'd blow through ever couple of years or so. I was 7 when I announced to the entire family that I loved him and that I would marry him one day." She laughed a bit to herself. "My grandmother laughed and said that no one could get close enough to do anything to that elf never mind close enough to marry. I didn't understand at the time but what she really meant hit me years later when he stopped by. I was 18 then. I remember watching him. It was like watching a piece of drift wood coming in with the tide. He'd act like he was getting close to someone then suddenly pull away. When I asked my mother about it she told me his story. As you know blood elves aren't the most liked race. They're feared. This fear caused his family to be driven out of towns."
Blinking a few times, Gakuto was feeling like maybe he was beginning to understand or...at least it explained a lot about the older and very confusing elf. He glanced back in the general direction where Shishido had run off, and back to Coral, "Maybe traveling together was a bad idea" He said finally. If Shishido was going to act like this with someone around, maybe they were both better off alone, since they seemed use to it anyway. He stood up, grabbing at his pack, "Let him know...okay?"
"Let who know what?" Shishido stood in the doorway. Eyes darting from Coral who was still seated to Gakuto who was almost out the door. "Where are you going?"
Jumping in surprise, Gakuto turned around, unsure of how to respond. "Just.....out." and away.
"Out..." Shishido drew out the word slowly. "Right. What have you been telling him?" he swung his head to stare down Coral who had leaned back to watch the show.
"Not much we were just talking about an antisocial elf that won't let anyone get close to him. And freaks out if someone does get in."
"I don't freak out!"
"Who said we were talking about you?"
Looking at Coral, Gakuto wondered if they were suddenly talking about him, he hoped not...the least they could do was wait until he was gone. "She didn't tell me anything! I saw enough!...." oh, that came out wrong, "Why would you do something like that?" that probably sounded worse.
"Something like what?" Shishido looked confused for a moment
"I think he's talking about your little freak out on the docks, Ryou." Coral pipped in.
"I told you I don't freak out."
"No? Then what do you say happened?"
"I... I... I don't know. I haven't lost control like that in decades." Shishido huffed leaning against the door frame.
"I'd say you were worried something serious would happen to another little elf." Shishido sputtereed not knowing how to respond to that... since he realized it was true. He had been worried about Gakuto. But there was a difference in realizing in his head and actually admitting it out loud.
"Little!?" Gakuto voice went a little higher than normal with indignity while he glared at her, he may not be the tallest around but he wasn't some kid and....wait....what? "Worried?" His gaze shifted to Shishido, confused. What? What did she mean by that? Surely Shishido wasn't worried, he was always complaining how he had to watch out for Gakuto, what a brat he was, etc. It just didn't make any sense.
"I was not worried." Shishido finally sputtered out crossing his arms in front of him defensively. "I just... couldn't let the brat get killed in a fight that was my fault..." he trailed off mumbling the last few words and looking away awkwardly avoiding Coral's knowing stare.
Oh, well that made more sense then, that was an area he was comfortable with, though he couldn't explain why he suddenly felt a little sadder at that prospect. "Wasn't your fault! It was that stupid guard," He scratched at his forehead, a few flakes of dried blood dropped to the floor, ah, he'd forgotten about that. Without saying anything, he grabbed his water pack and sat down to carefully wash it off.
"I'm sure the guards had something to do with it but why are you so insistent in getting out of the country? You know if you wait a week or two then Keith should be back. You've never had a probably just hanging around town before." Coral stared down Shishido who was still refusing to meet anyone's eyes and had taken to glaring at a knot in the floorboards. His stance tightened at her words and he had to resist looking up to check on Gakuto reaction.
Looking back at Shishido, he frowned slightly. They still weren't far enough from his home to make him comfortable with staying. He knew they were hunting him now, they had to know he wasn't coming back. His gaze quickly flickered back to Coral, "Are you sure there's not other way?"
"Well there is a friend of ours that should be passing through port in a day or so as long as they are on schedule. I could probably convince him to take you two on board. I still don't understand what has gotten you two so insistent that you have to leave right away." She looked between the two.
"It doesn't really matter why." Shishido finally looked up shaking his head causing some of his bangs to fall in his face. "Just that it's important." He finally turned toward Gakuto who was still looking at him.
Gakuto shrugged at Coral's confused look, he wasn't going to give any information. The less she knew the better, it wasn't that she didn't seem nice, but there was a difference between casual acquaintances and friends. Not that Gakuto actually knew much of the difference, because he hadn't had either, except maybe for Shishido, but that was still questionable.
"Well fine. Keep your mysteries." Coral stood up brushing off her skirt. "Now that I'm sure no one's going to be doing anything else stupid I have other things that I need to do. I'll let you know when my friend gets into port so just keep out of trouble before then. Alright?" She looked over at Shishido who waved his hands at her in a shooing motion.
"Yah, yah just go on." He raised he hands brushing his bangs out of his face. She took another look at the two elves before going out the door.
As soon as the door shut behind her an awkward silence fell between the two left in the room.
Squirming in his seat slightly, Gakuto lept up without warning, making his way up the stairs to their room without a word to Shishido, once he'd made it inside the room, he slid open the window and carefully climbed up to the rooftop that was right above their room. He needed some air, and he couldn't exactly just follow Shishido outside at the moment.
Shishido flattened himself along the wall as Gakuto darted passed him to go up the stairs. Shaking his head he sighed. He figured that the fight at the docks had shaken the younger boy and that he wanted to be alone. And it's not like he knew what he'd say to the boy anyway if he did want to talk. Looking out the door he saw that it was only mid afternoon. Glad that he kept some money in his pocket he figured he'd go out and get some food and some other supplies for the next few days. Going out the door he paused taking a breath of the slightly salty air. Suddenly a flash of red out of the corner of his eyes caught his attention. Jerking his head around he started sputtering. "What the hell! Get down off of there!" He rushed out in to the middle of the street to get a better view of the stupid kid.
Glancing down at Shishido, he suddenly laughed, at the look on the other's face, kicking his legs off the side, unconcerned. "Geez, Coral was right, you're such a worrier." He smiled teasingly, leaning on one of his hands against his leg. "It's not like I'm going to fall or anything." He looked back up at the sky, enjoying it. He'd never understood why his kind never liked the day time, it was so much better than the night. There was so much more to do and see.
"Yah right. If you don't remember I have the bruises to prove the opposite. What in the world do you think you're doing doing up there anyway?" Suddenly some yelling to his left caught his attention. He turned to look just in time to dart out of the way of a carriage moving down the street. "Maniac!" He yelled from his position on the ground.
Looking down to find Shishido on the ground and a cart on it's way down the road, Gakuto snickered slightly with one hand put to his mouth to hide the action. "I thought you could sense these things Shishido?" he asked teasingly, his head tilted to the side in mock confusion. Sometimes getting a rile out of Shishido was just too easy.
"Oh shut up." He grumbled standing brushing his pants off. Stupid people rushing around in their carragies. "I'm going to get some stuff for the next few days. Need anything?"
Gakuto shrugged, before calling out, "Want me to come with?" he asked.
"If you want to sure." He reached up to tighten his ponytail since he could tell it had slipped a little when he had fallen.
Slipping off the edge of the roof, Gakuto flipped back inside their room before heading down the stairs and through the door. He could've tried to go straight from the roof to the ground, but however much he loved bothering Shishido, he'd rather not give him a heart attack.
Shishido watched as Gakuto went back into the house. Muscles slightly tense until the boy finally got off the roof. He sighed in relief at the prospect that he would have to break another of the boy's falls disappeared. Leaning against the wall next to the door he waited for the other to appear.
Making his way out the door, Gakuto did not expect Shishido to be standing right next to the door, and he jumped when he almost made his way past instead to find the older elf standing there, "Gah! Geez! Don't stand there like a creep!" He said in surprise.
"Well where'd you expect me to stand. I wasn't gonna wait for you like an idiot in the middle of the sidewalk. That's just lame." He stood up straight shoving his hands in his pocket and started to head down the street toward the market. "So you want anything in particular for dinner? Or for the next few days while we're at it since we seem to me stuck here for now."
Catching up to him, Gakuto thought about it for a moment before shrugging, "What are our choices?" he asked, not really paying attention for an answer, looking around the town curiously, traveling with Shishido had always proven to be an interesting experience, he wished that he'd been able to leave his home town early so he'd been able to do this later in life. He hated standing still in one place for too long, with Shishido, that never happened.
Shishido shrugged. "Pretty much whatever. Meat, fish. We could stop by a tavern to see what they have." He took a turn down a smaller side street that he knew would lead them to the marketplace faster than following the main road.
"Any meat's good." Gakuto said, following quickly after, "Do we have any money?" They hadn't actually needed to use it before, though he suspected so, since Shishido would have probably had to pay for them to ride the ship.
"Of course, stupid, how else did you expect to get food?" Shishido raised an eyebrow at the other. "I still have some money from the last time I was hired to guide some merchants across the country. Stupid pompus people but at least they pay well."
Gakuto shrugged, not responding to the insult anymore other than that, he looked around the market place once they got there and stopped a little short at one of the stalls that held some daggers, after this morning, Gakuto wondered if he should get one. Just in case. He didn't exactly want to see Shishido freak out again, even if it was on his behalf.
He got a few more feet down the street before realizing that he couldn't hear footstep directly behind him anymore. Turning around he caught sight of the other in front of a weapons stand. Walking back he looked at the boy then at the daggers he was staring at. "It probably wouldn't be to bad an idea for you to get a weapon." He finally spoke up offhandedly. "Especially if you're going to go about leaping into fights like you did." He picked up one of the daggers closer to him and tested it's weight and edge.
"I was just trying to help." Gakuto huffed, though he was glad that the other caught onto what he'd been thinking, or....at least the fighting part, not the 'Shishido is freaky sometimes' part. He spotted one with a green handle that he liked and carefully picked it, inspecting it curiously. He'd never been particularly bad at weapons, but he was more or less normal when it came to this sort of thing. His real skill landed in the slick and sneaky fighting that he'd used before. But it wouldn't hurt to try.
"Yah. Well let's be sure that next time you feel the need to help you can fight with something more than your teeth." He looked at the one in the other boy's hands appraising it with his eyes. It looked like it was a decent length. A little longer than he would have preferred for himself but with Gakuto's slighter reach the extra length would come in handy. He held out his hand for it to look at it more closely.
"It worked didn't it?" And that's all that mattered to him, never mind that it was probably an unfair way to fight. He handed it over, knowing that Shishido probably knew better about this sort of thing. Though...he wasn't happy about the idea of the other paying for him, "How much would I owe you?" he said in almost a casual manner though if you knew him well enough, you'd know he was planning on how to solve the problem.
"It worked because those brutes were idiots." Shishido took the dagger and began looking at it at all angles. "We can talk about the money later." Testing the edge he nodded to himself before turning toward the eager merchant to start battering.
"Didn't stop you from trying to kill one of them...." Gakuto muttered quietly before thinking, but luckily Shishido seemed to be deep into trying to barter for the knife.
He finally got the merchant down to a little more than half his starting price. reaching into his pocket he brought out some money and counted out the exact price. Handing the money over he took up the dagger and passed it to Gakuto who he had notice had muttered something but passed it of as unimportant. "Come on we still haven't figured out what we're getting for dinner."
After they'd eaten, Gakuto skipped out the bar, knife in hand, checking it out once more, it was almost hypnotizing, how it glinted. "Thanks." He said with a small frown playing on his features, the word came out awkwardly and hesitant, as if he didn't know how to say it. He didn't say what for, maybe it was for the food, maybe the dagger, or for not letting him be impaled with a sword, who knew?
Shishido grunted in acknowledgment sticking his hands in his pocket. Looking at the last lingering trails of red still in the sky. "We should have some time tomorrow. If you want we can go out tomorrow and see how well you can use that thing."
"Sure." He was sure that he wouldn't be able to actually beat Shishido, that would just be stupidly false hope. He flipped the knife through the air a few times, catching it by the handle, careful to avoid the tip. It might have seemed dangerous, but Gakuto always had a thrill from living on the edge.
They wandered back up the street in a comfortable silence. Shishido watched the boy out of the corner of his eye making sure that he didn't hurt himself tossing his dagger. After a few moments he refocused his attention on scanning their surroundings with his senses. For the past week the two of them had been living on edge at night knowing that was when the shadow elves were most active.
Glancing up at Shishido, Gakuto realized with a start that it was night time...great. "Think they'll come?" he was more than a little nervous, he as well as anyone knew how well Shadow-Elves could hide, night time was their element. It was only during the day that he could relax.
Looking over he shrugged "Probably not tonight. They'd probably figure your still wandering around the forest. It's probably lucky that you ran into me since I know most of the fastest ways around the country. We'll have to start being really careful in the next two days or so though." They turned the corner to get onto Tsander's street.
"If I'm lucky, they won't even be looking for me." Gakuto said with a laugh that sounded somewhat off and unnatural, they'd never liked him in the first place, they were probably happy that he was gone. The only person that would notice would be his mother, and only then because she'd miss the human part that was stuck inside Gakuto.
Shishido could hear some bitterness in the other's voice and he frowned thankful that the dark was hiding his face. They climbed the steps and entered the building. He could only just imagine what the kid had gone through being half elf, probably just as bad as the reaction some had when they realized he was a blood elf. They hadn't really gotten to talking about what the other half of him and Shishido didn't want to press on a subject that was obviously a sore spot for the boy. At least Shishido was able to move out when the anger got too bad. As far as he know Gakuto had been trapped in that town until he had ran.
Frowning, quickly, Gakuto quickly shook off the idea that had seemed to lodge itself into his mind. It felt like he was trapped again whenever he felt like it, and he didn't like that feeling. There were days he wished he was a bird, so he could fly away at whim, but that was just stupid. Opening the door to Tsander's, he strode to the front of where the owner was standing, "Hey, tired of us yet?" He asked, wanting to leave the subject of his home miles behind.
Tsander looked up at the two that came through the door. "We'll I can't say having you around is boring." He put down some papers that he was holding "I heard about what happened at the docks. Bad luck there."
Shishido shrugged reaching up to fiddle with his hair. "They were the one's that started it. Stupid superstitious sailors."
"Yeah but we took care of them...we still don't have a ride though." Gakuto said with a shrug, inspecting the knife again in an unconcerned manner, not mentioning Shishido's freak out moment, if Tsander hadn't already heard about it, then he didn't have to know.
"Coral said she'd be able to get us something in the next few days but until then you're stuck with us." Shishido smirked at Tsander who only shook his head back.
"Whatever just try to not have any more really exciting days."
"We'll certainly try but there are no promises." Tsander rolled his eyes.
Laughing at Tsander's dismay, "What can we say? Sometimes we attract danger" He said more teasing then serious, though there was some truth to that statement.
Tsander laughed. "I knew Shishido was a trouble maker. I supposed you'd have to be just as bad to be able to put up with him."
Stretching, Gakuto got up from his seat and headed towards the stairs, "Well, I'm heading to bed." he said simply.
Shishido nodded. Stretching his arms. "Go ahead I'll be up in a bit too. Just need to take care of some stuff down here first."
Nodding, Gakuto just headed up the stairs, but once he got there he just went to the window and stared outside for a bit, eyes searching for what he hoped wasn't there. But even if they were there, he wasn't sure he'd be able to tell. But at least he had an advantage now....not that he'd let Shishido know that, it would inflate his ego.
With the sun to his back Shishido rounded the last block back to Tsander's house. He had gone out a half hour earlier to take a quick lap around the neighborhood to keep in shape. It also served as a good time to think. Usually his thoughts would be unfocused ranging from where he should go next, to what he should have for lunch. This time however his mind was on one subject, Gakuto. It had been a week since the red-head quite literally fell into his life and he recruited him as his traveling partner. Reaching the front stoop he climbed the steps and opened the door to reveal the subject of his thoughts walking toward his unsuspecting friend.
Almost having made his way all the way over, obviously up to no good whatsoever, Gakuto jumped at the sound of a door slamming shut and found Shishido standing in the doorway, a knowing look on his face as Tsander turned around as well ruining his chance at having a little fun. He grinned up at Shishido, not at all apologetic, though he might have been should the innkeeper have found out about his original intentions, "Where've you been?" he asked, though he could probably already guess.
"Went out running. Can't get lazy just sitting around this place. And it not like there's much else to do this early." He walked toward the other two picking up an apple that sat in a basket at the front of the desk they were standing next to. "Have you eaten already or did you just get up?"
"Was getting around to it." he said airily while waving one hand in the air in a dismissive manner before snatching an apple as well, balancing it on the end of his finger while looking over at Shishido, "Anything big planned for today?"
Taking a bite out of the piece of fruit in his hand Shishido took a moment to chew and swallow before answering. "Yah. I figured we'd go down to the docks and see if we could find a boat that could take us over to Raytin. You wanted to get out, there's no more out than out of the country." Taking another bite he moved toward the room that they had been staying in to get his pack.
Shrugging, Gakuto bounced the apple off his finger before catching it and rubbing it against his shirt, taking a quickly bite before following, climbing up the stairs a few minutes after. "So what? We get there and part ways or something?" he asked, almost sounding uncaring about the whole situation, he'd actually grown use to it, in some strange way, but Shishido didn't seem the one to travel with anyone for too long, so he figured it was natural.
Shishido glanced over before turning back to his pack. "If you have somewhere else you want to go when you get there." he shrugged. Honestly it hadn't really occurred to him to split up. He had almost forgotten how it was to travel with someone he actually liked. Most of the time his only traveling companion would be whatever merchant hired him out to get them from one city to another, with their stuck-up attitudes that made him want to lead them into a river instead of across it. Taking another bite from his apple he finished stuffing his bag with his other hand. Quickly latching it up and swinging it over his shoulder he turned toward the door. "You need to do something else or are you ready to leave?"
Snatching his own pack, that they'd gotten only a few days ago from nearby, Gakuto just nodded, taking a few more bites of his own apple, thinking over what Shishido had said. He hadn't told him to get lost yet, so that was a good sign right? Deciding he'd cross that bridge when he got to it, he followed the other out the inn, (not before grabbing a piece of bread from the innkeeper beforehand).
Moving quickly down the street he could sense Gakuto following him closely. The salt in the air just kept getting stronger as they neared the docks. And Shishido took a moment to breath it in deeply once they reached the start of the docks. Looking around slowly he spotted the familiar banner. The colors blue and red waved in the air. "Hey Coral." He called to the woman working under the banner.
"Ryou? Well I didn't expect to see you around for a while." She smiled at him. "This is a pleasant surprise. Unfortunately you missed Keith by a day. He set out yesterday with an acting troupe."
He was silent for a moment before giving Shishido a look, "What now?" ever since the other had mentioned it, he realized that it was a good suggestion, the last place anyone from the village would look for him would be another country. He'd be able to relax. It was a very tempting offer, but now they couldn't even get there.
"Now we see if we can find someone else to take us." Shishido frowned. He had been friends with his family for the past three generations. With the amount that he traveled it was always good to have a sailing friend to help get you from one continent to the other. It was also useful because, while not many would show out right hostility toward him, there were many captains that would deny him passage just for what he was.
Shrugging, Gakuto followed Shishido with no comment, balancing on the end of a small dip to entertain himself in the meantime, holding out both arms to create a center of gravity, though he did not truly need them. "You travel a lot?" he said, looking up though not slowing in his somewhat precarious walk when the dip started to stretch farther and farther down.
"Traveled a lot. Well that's one way to put it." Shishido gave a bark of a laugh as he watched Gakuto out of the side of his eye. The kid had proved to be slightly more graceful than what he had originally thought at their first meeting. But then again given how they met that wasn't saying much. "You name a place I've probably lived there. Or at the very least passed through. You know if you fall I'm not going to catch you again."
Instead of answering directly, Gakuto balanced on the end of his heels before leaping forward into a front flip, landing on his feet again and continuing his walk, not missing a beat. He wasn't that clumsy, and it was about time Shishido realized it, he thought with a smirk.
Shishido jolted to a stop when Gakuto started his flip before reaching out to stop what he thought would be a dramatic crash landing. When no impact came other than light feet planting themselves firmly on the ledge Shishido was left standing there momentarily stunned before quickly regaining his cool and quickening his steps slightly to catch up to the smaller boy. "Idiot. Your lucky you didn't fall. 'cuz if you did I'd have let you drown for going around pulling off such a stupid move."
Smiling, Gakuto knew he'd made his point, "Relax, I've done that millions of times, " He said nonchalantly, glad he'd been able to surprise him. Shishido thought he knew everything, but he didn't. "Can do it again if you missed it or something, " He laughed, balancing once more in a way that indicated he might repeat the trick.
"Quit it. I'm serious about not helping you if you end up falling and breaking your neck." He turned to scan the docks for any prospective captains that my be willing to take them to the next continent but keeping the red head in the corner of his eye just in case he did try the stunt again. The most he could see were some fishermen but he could see the top of one ship on the other end of the dock that would be able to make the crossing. Now if only he could find her captain to see if he would take them across.
"Having troubles?" Gakuto asked, his head back down watching his feet, though he didn't step away from the edge, it was strangely fun, annoying the older elf. The other always seemed to be lightly hot tempered and that made him even easier to bother. The fact that he was just as bad, Gakuto carefully ignore. Looking up he saw a ship in the distance, glancing at Shishido and then back to the ship, "Think they'll let us on?" Then again, sometimes the older looked a little threatening, and if they figured out he was a half, then all might as well be lost.
"Hopefully. Or else we'll be stuck here for the next few days, until another big ship comes in." Shishido set his head back and started to walk toward where the ship was tied. "Just stay quiet and let me do the talking." He paused in his walk for a moment before locating the person seemingly in charge of the loading of the ship. Walking calmly up to him he called out. "Excuse me. We are looking for passage to Raytin."
Oh, this would go well, Gakuto rolled his eyes as he was told to be silent, he caught the look that the people on board gave Shishido, apparently he was every bit as frightening looking as Gakuto suspected he was. Though he didn't say anything about the matter, he's just let Shishido deal with it, since that's what he was told to do. He folded is arms, watching the exchange carefully.
Talking with this old man reminded Shishido why he didn't like dealing with ships men he didn't know. Sailors always have been a suspicious bunch and the tales that blood elves were viscous beasts that would kill at the slightest provocation always seemed to be at the forefront of their minds whenever he was forced to deal with one. It probably didn't help that he solidified the fact that he was a blood elf by keeping his hair long like his kind did 200 years ago when he was still young. Still the excesses thrown at him just kept building up. Narrowing his eyes he growled in annoyance. Suddenly he found himself thrown to the ground by one of the burly guards that had been standing off to the old man's side, while the other positioned himself infront of the captain.
"H-hey!" Gakuto cried out in surprise, that was completely uncalled for, what kind of idiot would provoke a Blood elf, seriously? Seeing one of the guards come at him, Gakuto slipped under his reach stomping his foot on top of the other before reaching up with a heel of his hand into the nose, leaving the guard caught, for all intents and purposes, off guard, then he rushed over to help Shishido, jumping on the other guard's back, sinking his teeth into an unprotected hand when it reached out to grab him.
Hitting the ground hard Shishido yelled then his eyes narrowed. All he could hear was the blood pumping in his ears as his adrenaline spiked. Just barely resisting the instincts to pull out the knife he had hidden in his boots he didn't stop himself from leaping up and rushing at another guard that was approaching them. Out of the corner of his eyes he saw a flash of red struggling with the guard that had originally started this mess but quickly looked away as he ducked to avoid a fist flying at his head. Darting around the large brute he ended up behind him and lifting his foot gave him a good shove in the backside to introduce his face to the docks.
The guard gave a loud cry when Gakuto's teeth met his skin, breaking it easily, as soon as he'd let go, he was flung back forcefully onto he edge of the dock, he hit the wooden floor with a crash, leaping up quickly he ignored the gash on his forehead, more important things to worry about now. Like an angered guard coming at him, pulling out his weapon. Gakuto's eyes shot wide, before he ran toward it, slipping underneath the guard's weapon and through his legs.
With the guard he was dealing with down Shishido turned to taking in the fight going on along side him. Suddenly a sharp metallic sent reached his nose. Blood had been spilt... and not any blood. This one was familiar, Gakuto. With that his anger reached a peak. Reaching into to get his knife finally he saw the sun flash off of metal. Quickly darting forward he hoped he wouldn't be to late as he watched the guards weapon swing around wildly as he tried to impale the smaller boy.
Dodging frantically, Gakuto knew he couldn't keep this up for too long, luckily the guard hadn't landed any fatal blows he was much too angered and it made his skills deteriorate (what little he had to begin with), though he'd collected a couple more cuts. Then Shishido was suddenly in the fray, looking absolutely livid. Gakuto blinked at the sight, completely caught by surprise.
A clash rang out at metal met metal. They seperated before meeting again. They grappled for a while neither one giving an inch. The ugly brute had weight on his side but Shishido had fighting in his blood. While his muscles weren't large they were strong from the workout he did to ensure he was always in shape. Pulling back slightly before shoving with all his might he threw the big lug off balance then knocked his weapon out of his loosened grip. "You messed with the wrong elf buddy." He was about to bring his digger down to finish the job before a sharp voice broke through his blood filled haze.
"Ryou don't!" He turned to look at Coral who had rushed over when she heard the commotion and was currently kneeling next to Gakuto helping the boy up.
Looking at Shishido in shock, Gakuto let himself be pulled up, running his arm over the bloodied area on his forehead....he'd just seen Shishido completely out of control, and whether or not he'd admit it, it frightened him. He was shaking slightly now that the adrenaline of the moment was gone and his mouth was filled with the nasty taste of the guard's blood, he spit it out, disgusted. Though that made it look like he'd lost a tooth or something.
Shishido slowly lowered his arm. His instincts urged him to kill but he bit down the need. Staring hard at the guard then turning his glare at the captain. "Count yourselves lucky. And you better watch out who you piss off next." Sticking his dagger back into his boot he stomped over to where Gakuto and Coral were standing. Pausing he stared at the shaking boy. Sweeping his eyes over him he was relieved the the bleeding wounds were only superficial. Turnning towards the crowd he gave out another growl. "What the hell are you all staring at!" Starting when he felt a hand on his arm. Looking at Coral he shook his head then turned to start marching back down the dock. The sea of people parting in front of him.
"Jerks" Gakuto muttered quietly, following the two, lagging a bit behind to glare at the people behind them. "Who do they think they are?" he asked more to himself than anyone, not asking the question he was really thinking. This was Shishido....he didn't really care about many people, or at least he gave that impression. Gakuto thought they were just traveling together out of necessity (on Gakuto's side) or on a whim (Shishido's part). He didn't think he actually cared enough to almost lose control....he wasn't sure if he liked it or not.
Shishido made his way up the street still growling softly to himself. He could sense Gakuto and Coral following right behind him. It had been a long time since he lost control that completely. If it weren't for Coral he'd probably be sitting in a cell right now for murder. He didn't understand what made him fly off the deep end. All he knew was that as soon as the sent of Gakuto's blood hit his nose his instincts went into overload to find and take care of what ever it was that hurt the kid. Shishido's growls slowed as the adrenaline slowly left his system. This was ridiculous. He hadn't let himself get really close to anyone after his brother announced that they would be splitting up. Now here he was nearly committing murder for a brat that he had only met a week ago. Reaching Tsander's place he threw open the door then marched to the room leaving Coral to explain what had happened.
Not following Shishido this time, Gakuto sat down on one of the chairs, wondering if it would be better to take his stuff and leave. It'd be better than having someone who....was close to him. He'd never really had a friend, or much of a family, and he'd grown use to that. Staying broken was easier than trying to get fixed anyway, why waste the effort? "What was that all about?" he asked Coral, she seemed to know the other elf pretty well, maybe he could shed some light on the confusing and slightly frightening new change.
Coral turned to look in the direction Shishido had stormed off in before bringing her gaze back to Gakuto. "I know Ryou wouldn't want me to say anything. And I can't really say I know all. Still, given his reaction, I think you need to know." Sighing she took a seat next to Gakuto. "Ryou's an old family friend for both me and my husband. And when I say old I mean it. I believe my grandfather or great grandfather was the first to befriend Ryou. I remember seeing him growing up. He'd blow through ever couple of years or so. I was 7 when I announced to the entire family that I loved him and that I would marry him one day." She laughed a bit to herself. "My grandmother laughed and said that no one could get close enough to do anything to that elf never mind close enough to marry. I didn't understand at the time but what she really meant hit me years later when he stopped by. I was 18 then. I remember watching him. It was like watching a piece of drift wood coming in with the tide. He'd act like he was getting close to someone then suddenly pull away. When I asked my mother about it she told me his story. As you know blood elves aren't the most liked race. They're feared. This fear caused his family to be driven out of towns."
Blinking a few times, Gakuto was feeling like maybe he was beginning to understand or...at least it explained a lot about the older and very confusing elf. He glanced back in the general direction where Shishido had run off, and back to Coral, "Maybe traveling together was a bad idea" He said finally. If Shishido was going to act like this with someone around, maybe they were both better off alone, since they seemed use to it anyway. He stood up, grabbing at his pack, "Let him know...okay?"
"Let who know what?" Shishido stood in the doorway. Eyes darting from Coral who was still seated to Gakuto who was almost out the door. "Where are you going?"
Jumping in surprise, Gakuto turned around, unsure of how to respond. "Just.....out." and away.
"Out..." Shishido drew out the word slowly. "Right. What have you been telling him?" he swung his head to stare down Coral who had leaned back to watch the show.
"Not much we were just talking about an antisocial elf that won't let anyone get close to him. And freaks out if someone does get in."
"I don't freak out!"
"Who said we were talking about you?"
Looking at Coral, Gakuto wondered if they were suddenly talking about him, he hoped not...the least they could do was wait until he was gone. "She didn't tell me anything! I saw enough!...." oh, that came out wrong, "Why would you do something like that?" that probably sounded worse.
"Something like what?" Shishido looked confused for a moment
"I think he's talking about your little freak out on the docks, Ryou." Coral pipped in.
"I told you I don't freak out."
"No? Then what do you say happened?"
"I... I... I don't know. I haven't lost control like that in decades." Shishido huffed leaning against the door frame.
"I'd say you were worried something serious would happen to another little elf." Shishido sputtereed not knowing how to respond to that... since he realized it was true. He had been worried about Gakuto. But there was a difference in realizing in his head and actually admitting it out loud.
"Little!?" Gakuto voice went a little higher than normal with indignity while he glared at her, he may not be the tallest around but he wasn't some kid and....wait....what? "Worried?" His gaze shifted to Shishido, confused. What? What did she mean by that? Surely Shishido wasn't worried, he was always complaining how he had to watch out for Gakuto, what a brat he was, etc. It just didn't make any sense.
"I was not worried." Shishido finally sputtered out crossing his arms in front of him defensively. "I just... couldn't let the brat get killed in a fight that was my fault..." he trailed off mumbling the last few words and looking away awkwardly avoiding Coral's knowing stare.
Oh, well that made more sense then, that was an area he was comfortable with, though he couldn't explain why he suddenly felt a little sadder at that prospect. "Wasn't your fault! It was that stupid guard," He scratched at his forehead, a few flakes of dried blood dropped to the floor, ah, he'd forgotten about that. Without saying anything, he grabbed his water pack and sat down to carefully wash it off.
"I'm sure the guards had something to do with it but why are you so insistent in getting out of the country? You know if you wait a week or two then Keith should be back. You've never had a probably just hanging around town before." Coral stared down Shishido who was still refusing to meet anyone's eyes and had taken to glaring at a knot in the floorboards. His stance tightened at her words and he had to resist looking up to check on Gakuto reaction.
Looking back at Shishido, he frowned slightly. They still weren't far enough from his home to make him comfortable with staying. He knew they were hunting him now, they had to know he wasn't coming back. His gaze quickly flickered back to Coral, "Are you sure there's not other way?"
"Well there is a friend of ours that should be passing through port in a day or so as long as they are on schedule. I could probably convince him to take you two on board. I still don't understand what has gotten you two so insistent that you have to leave right away." She looked between the two.
"It doesn't really matter why." Shishido finally looked up shaking his head causing some of his bangs to fall in his face. "Just that it's important." He finally turned toward Gakuto who was still looking at him.
Gakuto shrugged at Coral's confused look, he wasn't going to give any information. The less she knew the better, it wasn't that she didn't seem nice, but there was a difference between casual acquaintances and friends. Not that Gakuto actually knew much of the difference, because he hadn't had either, except maybe for Shishido, but that was still questionable.
"Well fine. Keep your mysteries." Coral stood up brushing off her skirt. "Now that I'm sure no one's going to be doing anything else stupid I have other things that I need to do. I'll let you know when my friend gets into port so just keep out of trouble before then. Alright?" She looked over at Shishido who waved his hands at her in a shooing motion.
"Yah, yah just go on." He raised he hands brushing his bangs out of his face. She took another look at the two elves before going out the door.
As soon as the door shut behind her an awkward silence fell between the two left in the room.
Squirming in his seat slightly, Gakuto lept up without warning, making his way up the stairs to their room without a word to Shishido, once he'd made it inside the room, he slid open the window and carefully climbed up to the rooftop that was right above their room. He needed some air, and he couldn't exactly just follow Shishido outside at the moment.
Shishido flattened himself along the wall as Gakuto darted passed him to go up the stairs. Shaking his head he sighed. He figured that the fight at the docks had shaken the younger boy and that he wanted to be alone. And it's not like he knew what he'd say to the boy anyway if he did want to talk. Looking out the door he saw that it was only mid afternoon. Glad that he kept some money in his pocket he figured he'd go out and get some food and some other supplies for the next few days. Going out the door he paused taking a breath of the slightly salty air. Suddenly a flash of red out of the corner of his eyes caught his attention. Jerking his head around he started sputtering. "What the hell! Get down off of there!" He rushed out in to the middle of the street to get a better view of the stupid kid.
Glancing down at Shishido, he suddenly laughed, at the look on the other's face, kicking his legs off the side, unconcerned. "Geez, Coral was right, you're such a worrier." He smiled teasingly, leaning on one of his hands against his leg. "It's not like I'm going to fall or anything." He looked back up at the sky, enjoying it. He'd never understood why his kind never liked the day time, it was so much better than the night. There was so much more to do and see.
"Yah right. If you don't remember I have the bruises to prove the opposite. What in the world do you think you're doing doing up there anyway?" Suddenly some yelling to his left caught his attention. He turned to look just in time to dart out of the way of a carriage moving down the street. "Maniac!" He yelled from his position on the ground.
Looking down to find Shishido on the ground and a cart on it's way down the road, Gakuto snickered slightly with one hand put to his mouth to hide the action. "I thought you could sense these things Shishido?" he asked teasingly, his head tilted to the side in mock confusion. Sometimes getting a rile out of Shishido was just too easy.
"Oh shut up." He grumbled standing brushing his pants off. Stupid people rushing around in their carragies. "I'm going to get some stuff for the next few days. Need anything?"
Gakuto shrugged, before calling out, "Want me to come with?" he asked.
"If you want to sure." He reached up to tighten his ponytail since he could tell it had slipped a little when he had fallen.
Slipping off the edge of the roof, Gakuto flipped back inside their room before heading down the stairs and through the door. He could've tried to go straight from the roof to the ground, but however much he loved bothering Shishido, he'd rather not give him a heart attack.
Shishido watched as Gakuto went back into the house. Muscles slightly tense until the boy finally got off the roof. He sighed in relief at the prospect that he would have to break another of the boy's falls disappeared. Leaning against the wall next to the door he waited for the other to appear.
Making his way out the door, Gakuto did not expect Shishido to be standing right next to the door, and he jumped when he almost made his way past instead to find the older elf standing there, "Gah! Geez! Don't stand there like a creep!" He said in surprise.
"Well where'd you expect me to stand. I wasn't gonna wait for you like an idiot in the middle of the sidewalk. That's just lame." He stood up straight shoving his hands in his pocket and started to head down the street toward the market. "So you want anything in particular for dinner? Or for the next few days while we're at it since we seem to me stuck here for now."
Catching up to him, Gakuto thought about it for a moment before shrugging, "What are our choices?" he asked, not really paying attention for an answer, looking around the town curiously, traveling with Shishido had always proven to be an interesting experience, he wished that he'd been able to leave his home town early so he'd been able to do this later in life. He hated standing still in one place for too long, with Shishido, that never happened.
Shishido shrugged. "Pretty much whatever. Meat, fish. We could stop by a tavern to see what they have." He took a turn down a smaller side street that he knew would lead them to the marketplace faster than following the main road.
"Any meat's good." Gakuto said, following quickly after, "Do we have any money?" They hadn't actually needed to use it before, though he suspected so, since Shishido would have probably had to pay for them to ride the ship.
"Of course, stupid, how else did you expect to get food?" Shishido raised an eyebrow at the other. "I still have some money from the last time I was hired to guide some merchants across the country. Stupid pompus people but at least they pay well."
Gakuto shrugged, not responding to the insult anymore other than that, he looked around the market place once they got there and stopped a little short at one of the stalls that held some daggers, after this morning, Gakuto wondered if he should get one. Just in case. He didn't exactly want to see Shishido freak out again, even if it was on his behalf.
He got a few more feet down the street before realizing that he couldn't hear footstep directly behind him anymore. Turning around he caught sight of the other in front of a weapons stand. Walking back he looked at the boy then at the daggers he was staring at. "It probably wouldn't be to bad an idea for you to get a weapon." He finally spoke up offhandedly. "Especially if you're going to go about leaping into fights like you did." He picked up one of the daggers closer to him and tested it's weight and edge.
"I was just trying to help." Gakuto huffed, though he was glad that the other caught onto what he'd been thinking, or....at least the fighting part, not the 'Shishido is freaky sometimes' part. He spotted one with a green handle that he liked and carefully picked it, inspecting it curiously. He'd never been particularly bad at weapons, but he was more or less normal when it came to this sort of thing. His real skill landed in the slick and sneaky fighting that he'd used before. But it wouldn't hurt to try.
"Yah. Well let's be sure that next time you feel the need to help you can fight with something more than your teeth." He looked at the one in the other boy's hands appraising it with his eyes. It looked like it was a decent length. A little longer than he would have preferred for himself but with Gakuto's slighter reach the extra length would come in handy. He held out his hand for it to look at it more closely.
"It worked didn't it?" And that's all that mattered to him, never mind that it was probably an unfair way to fight. He handed it over, knowing that Shishido probably knew better about this sort of thing. Though...he wasn't happy about the idea of the other paying for him, "How much would I owe you?" he said in almost a casual manner though if you knew him well enough, you'd know he was planning on how to solve the problem.
"It worked because those brutes were idiots." Shishido took the dagger and began looking at it at all angles. "We can talk about the money later." Testing the edge he nodded to himself before turning toward the eager merchant to start battering.
"Didn't stop you from trying to kill one of them...." Gakuto muttered quietly before thinking, but luckily Shishido seemed to be deep into trying to barter for the knife.
He finally got the merchant down to a little more than half his starting price. reaching into his pocket he brought out some money and counted out the exact price. Handing the money over he took up the dagger and passed it to Gakuto who he had notice had muttered something but passed it of as unimportant. "Come on we still haven't figured out what we're getting for dinner."
After they'd eaten, Gakuto skipped out the bar, knife in hand, checking it out once more, it was almost hypnotizing, how it glinted. "Thanks." He said with a small frown playing on his features, the word came out awkwardly and hesitant, as if he didn't know how to say it. He didn't say what for, maybe it was for the food, maybe the dagger, or for not letting him be impaled with a sword, who knew?
Shishido grunted in acknowledgment sticking his hands in his pocket. Looking at the last lingering trails of red still in the sky. "We should have some time tomorrow. If you want we can go out tomorrow and see how well you can use that thing."
"Sure." He was sure that he wouldn't be able to actually beat Shishido, that would just be stupidly false hope. He flipped the knife through the air a few times, catching it by the handle, careful to avoid the tip. It might have seemed dangerous, but Gakuto always had a thrill from living on the edge.
They wandered back up the street in a comfortable silence. Shishido watched the boy out of the corner of his eye making sure that he didn't hurt himself tossing his dagger. After a few moments he refocused his attention on scanning their surroundings with his senses. For the past week the two of them had been living on edge at night knowing that was when the shadow elves were most active.
Glancing up at Shishido, Gakuto realized with a start that it was night time...great. "Think they'll come?" he was more than a little nervous, he as well as anyone knew how well Shadow-Elves could hide, night time was their element. It was only during the day that he could relax.
Looking over he shrugged "Probably not tonight. They'd probably figure your still wandering around the forest. It's probably lucky that you ran into me since I know most of the fastest ways around the country. We'll have to start being really careful in the next two days or so though." They turned the corner to get onto Tsander's street.
"If I'm lucky, they won't even be looking for me." Gakuto said with a laugh that sounded somewhat off and unnatural, they'd never liked him in the first place, they were probably happy that he was gone. The only person that would notice would be his mother, and only then because she'd miss the human part that was stuck inside Gakuto.
Shishido could hear some bitterness in the other's voice and he frowned thankful that the dark was hiding his face. They climbed the steps and entered the building. He could only just imagine what the kid had gone through being half elf, probably just as bad as the reaction some had when they realized he was a blood elf. They hadn't really gotten to talking about what the other half of him and Shishido didn't want to press on a subject that was obviously a sore spot for the boy. At least Shishido was able to move out when the anger got too bad. As far as he know Gakuto had been trapped in that town until he had ran.
Frowning, quickly, Gakuto quickly shook off the idea that had seemed to lodge itself into his mind. It felt like he was trapped again whenever he felt like it, and he didn't like that feeling. There were days he wished he was a bird, so he could fly away at whim, but that was just stupid. Opening the door to Tsander's, he strode to the front of where the owner was standing, "Hey, tired of us yet?" He asked, wanting to leave the subject of his home miles behind.
Tsander looked up at the two that came through the door. "We'll I can't say having you around is boring." He put down some papers that he was holding "I heard about what happened at the docks. Bad luck there."
Shishido shrugged reaching up to fiddle with his hair. "They were the one's that started it. Stupid superstitious sailors."
"Yeah but we took care of them...we still don't have a ride though." Gakuto said with a shrug, inspecting the knife again in an unconcerned manner, not mentioning Shishido's freak out moment, if Tsander hadn't already heard about it, then he didn't have to know.
"Coral said she'd be able to get us something in the next few days but until then you're stuck with us." Shishido smirked at Tsander who only shook his head back.
"Whatever just try to not have any more really exciting days."
"We'll certainly try but there are no promises." Tsander rolled his eyes.
Laughing at Tsander's dismay, "What can we say? Sometimes we attract danger" He said more teasing then serious, though there was some truth to that statement.
Tsander laughed. "I knew Shishido was a trouble maker. I supposed you'd have to be just as bad to be able to put up with him."
Stretching, Gakuto got up from his seat and headed towards the stairs, "Well, I'm heading to bed." he said simply.
Shishido nodded. Stretching his arms. "Go ahead I'll be up in a bit too. Just need to take care of some stuff down here first."
Nodding, Gakuto just headed up the stairs, but once he got there he just went to the window and stared outside for a bit, eyes searching for what he hoped wasn't there. But even if they were there, he wasn't sure he'd be able to tell. But at least he had an advantage now....not that he'd let Shishido know that, it would inflate his ego.