thenearshore | Into the Woods (featuring an actual catgirl)

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Into the Woods (featuring an actual catgirl)

Who: Nia, Shizuo, and Votelli
When: 1/20
Where: The mysterious forest in the Near Shore
What: Nia and Shizuo have questions and an offer for Votelli.

[Nia leads the way, one hand over her eyes -- which she didn't need to shade, in a forest under a grey sky, but it's reflex. She'd left her Blade behind, coming essentially helpless save for her Borderlines, figuring Votelli would be more comfortable that way. Right now isn't a good time to upset her, not when she wants her to meet Shizuo properly.]

[Despite her outward appearance, she's downright sweating inside, wondering if she's making a mistake. But she can't let that show, even if Shizuo's getting a nice gutpunch of her worry and anger and fear. Sorry...]

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Of course you can call me. I'm your shinki now, right? [Nia offers a bright smile, one she may not entirely feel, but the sentiment she expresses is absolute truth even if she isn't the all mindless happiness.] That means I'm your partner, I'm going to stand by you and protect you when you need me. So yeah, you call me whenever you need me. Or whenever you want me.

[Votelli smiles.]

Okay. Okay, I will. But you have to be careful, all right? I don't want you to get in trouble!

Ah, it's fine. I'll take any brunt from whatever trouble happens. It'd be nothing for me.

[ Which, by the tone of his voice, is no brag. He'd dealt with worse troubles, in his opinion, back in Ikebukuro.

Speaking of, he'll offer a hand to Votelli. Nia knew how to tag along for the teleporting, but this was a good measure to see if the girl was willing to trust him this far as well. ]

Here, I'll take you to where one of the closer shrines is. That way you can make the jump to my temple on the Far Shore easily.

Trouble's worth it if you're doing the right thing.

[Nia slaps her hand onto Shizuo's shoulder demonstratively, then offers her other to Votelli too. They may not be one big happy family or anything, but the two of them are open to her and welcoming her. Will that count for something?]

[It seems to count for plenty. Votelli takes Shizuo's hand in one of hers, and Nia's in the other, looking up at Shizuo's face.]

Okay.

[ Nodding when her hands were in both his and Nia's, the blond teleported to the nearest shrine he could tell was around. One that wasn't particularly in a forest, but there was something in the distance and the land was... Well, it's winter, wet, and there's a lot of grass. So it's lush for the circumstances. The shrine itself didn't have much in the way of offering plates or shrine decorations, but there was a circle that led to a few other Celtic dieties. Nothing ostentatious, but well cared for. ]

Now, I'm not gonna go pulling you into the Far Shore unless you feel ready for it. But now you know where one of these is, and you've got permission to use whichever ones of the Dagda's you need. It'll toss you into the yard, which is pretty open, but it's easy to get to the cliff and forest.

[ He's sort of repeating himself, but it's more to make sure that, no matter what the girl decided today, she'd know what to do in a pinch. ]

And this is where I'll pop through when I'm coming down your way too. [Most likely, anyway. She wonders, can they set up a closer one? Or is that too risky?]

[She lets go of Shizuo's hand as they appear in the shrine, and turns in a circle to take it all in, eyes wide and fascinated. Don't mind her; she's dashing off to examine the circles, bare feet scuffing through the grass and picking up fresh grass stains as she goes.]

Thank you. It's nice!

[ If only it were so easy. At least, with the girl being a god, it's only so far as a teleport to cross over to the other side. If she had a shrine, then Nia would have a closer place, but otherwise... Maybe there was someone else with a closer shrine that would let Nia use it?

For now he's fine watching as the girl enjoys herself, looking over the shrines and everything. ]

Yeah, they set it up to worship a few gods. You'll want the one of the guy with the staff, to the left of the woman with a spear and birds.

[ Of course, with permission already given, it was easy for Votelli to cross over and see the abode proper. The ground's a bit drier there at least. ]

[She really is just a kid. How often has she ever really got the chance to be one? Gods get treated differently, she knows, but even so. Being set on the Far Shore? Having to attack people with vines?]

[Just means both her gods get to feel a little splash of her anger, but she shoves it down quick enough.]

You ever been into the cities in the Near Shore, Votelli?

Huh? Yeah, sometimes--

[But she'd felt that spike of anger, and she rubs her chest, frowning in confusion as she turns away from the statue of the man with the staff before she teleports to the other side.]

-- Not a lot, but Sensei takes me there sometimes.

What's wrong?

[ Yeah, they both certainly did. Shizuo had learned to grow used to the spikes of anger, however. ]

You'll, uh, get used to that. If I'm guessing right, she's getting angry about the way things have been for you. Couldn't really blame her on that.

I did warn you. [Nia looks away, sheepish for a number of reasons -- not the least of which is that Shizuo has her number, and she's not sure how to feel about that.] You just looked so happy running around to look at the place, and it bothered me that you hadn't had the chance more.

So I was thinking maybe we could take you to the Near Shore someday, try some good food there. Make a day of it.

It's okay. [Votelli looks confused, glancing to Nia, and then back to Shizuo.] Really, I mean, it's fine. It's just because I was supposed to stay safe.

But, um, I guess if you want to take me somewhere, that'd be nice....

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Into the Woods (featuring an actual catgirl)

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