[Active | Open]

[equilibrize]

Characters: Kazuya.
Content: Arrival.
Location: Bryant Park.
Time of day: Morning.
Warnings: None; to be added as needed.

Comments

[demonborntwice]

((ooc reminder: text in {angle brackets} is in Japanese.))

Naoki Kashima stretched as he walked the pathways of the city, past the rubble and ruin of the streets, back to his home-of-sorts. The Amsterdam Court Hotel...almost empty, but a comfort all the same. Comfort sounded good to him; morning workout was over, and it was time for him to come back.

Come back, Searcher. Come back home.
I'm sorry, Yuko-sensei.
His smile faded, but he kept walking.

Bryant Park ahead. When he was still in Tokyo, he never paid much attention to the trees in Yoyogi Park. He had the feeling few of the people he knew did. All too busy with life and plans and self. They were just scenery. The vast sandy wasteland of the Vortex World changed all that, at least for him. It was life...the sign of the world being alive. The trees were beautiful, even set beside the concrete wastes of Manhattan.

Life is precious. Remember that, Chiaki.It was then that he saw him

[equilibrize]

The more he wandered through the park, the more confused he became about his situation. En-no-Ozuno had told him the entire world had been plunged into conflict shortly after the bombs had been dropped on Japan, yet everywhere he looked there was no sign of the type of damage he'd seen during his travels. The plants actually seemed alive for one thing, not the gray-brown of those few remaining trees that dotted Tokyo's landscape, and that perhaps was the most unexpected thing.

It hadn't occurred to him until now just how much he'd missed seeing the color green.

Slowing down, he took a closer look at the crumbling buildings around the park. It almost seemed like something had... rampaged through. There were inconsistencies in the damage, blows both high and low and everywhere in between rent through the metal and glass. That earned a slight frown from him. Was there anything that big that could actually do that? He certainly had never seen any demons that large, but that didn't rule out their existence

[demonborntwice]

Naoki smiled faintly as he looked around, but looked at Kazuya with a more measuring gaze. {"It's destroyed enough for most people, and don't worry; you'll find stranger than me if you care to look

[equilibrize]

Kazuya colored slightly at the casual remark. Caught. {"I'm sorry; I've never seen markings like that before."} Pause. {"I'm sure you get that a lot,"} he said with a small smile.
"I am the goddess Echidna. In ages long gone by, I gave birth to many creatures to test the worthiness of heroes."
The smile disappeared as Naoki turned to more serious matters, returning momentarily only for his joke. Two giant monsters in the area, not just one. Their presence would explain the damage dealt to the buildings, and why they seemed to have gone without repair. And while such large creatures were dangerous in their own right, the smaller ones would pose a much more personal threat. If they had access to the street, they would be able to get to places the bigger ones couldn't. An everyday danger, like the constant attacks he faced in Japan.

And now it looked like he'd be facing constant attacks here, as well.

No rest for the weary.{"I think I'll be fine once I can something with which I can defend myself,"} he said, feeling even more painfully