[first kingdom] a monstrous new arrival. (open)

[needsmoartact.livejournal.com]

Characters: Keiki and YOU
Setting: Dormitory second floor.
Format: ANY
Summary: oh there's a unicorn kirin in the tower.

welp.

wait why is it on a bed. Why did it just summon creepy demons from its trunk.
Warnings: pissy emotionally-atrophied kirin.

As far as kirins went, Keiki was hardly inexperienced at being kidnapped and contained for various nefarious purposes. Kirin were good for that. Easy to compel, easier to contain, and generally very agreeable to coercion. To a point. For being one of the youngest kirin alive, Keiki had had his fair share of illness and containment.

So when he found himself lying paralysed on a bed, hooves tearing small holes in the sheets beneath him, his reaction was a good deal more subdued than one might expect from his kind. He sat, calmly, thinking over his options and which government officials might have enough reason to take the Taiho hostage, until he could move. That was somewhat of a surprise, but he scrambled up and down onto the floor with what grace he could muster whilst tangled in sheets and bedding.

Hmph, was his first impression of the room. Not decorated much, and his bed was only one of several, all with signs of occupation. Kaiko.

The small chest at the end of his bed - his? He supposed it would do - juddered under the force of the demons contained within it, and it didn't take long to open it and release the five shadows. Angered and scared by their imprisonment away from Keiki, no matter how short the time, the dark, indistinct forms swirled around him and the room itself.

Comments

[spiritsup.livejournal.com]

Romeo wasn't sure why he was on the second floor, he was just exploring and had decided to go up instead of down as usual. Mainly because there were lots of scary floors now. A noise made him peek into an open door and his eyes widened. It was a horse, except it had a horn. It was bigger than Fluttershy though, Romeo wondered if it could talk.

"Hello!" The he noticed the shadows and shrank out of the room a little.

[needsmoartact.livejournal.com]

It was Hyouki who noticed the child first, whispering in his master's ear even as Romeo appeared in the doorway. The huge wolf's shadow melded with the kirin's, but the remaining four continued to swirl around the unfamiliar room. One - Kouki - even went as far as to brush against the boy's shadow before Keiki called her back.

The cynical part of Keiki noted that whoever had caught him knew what they were doing - there was little chance he could resist if given orders by a child with this kind of spirit. Nevertheless he inclined his neck in response.

"Good day."

[spiritsup.livejournal.com]

So it did speak, Romeo didn't enter the room because the shadows were scary but he managed to smile. "Hello," he said again, "Did you just wake up?" He guessed because the horse was in a room and Romeo had never seen him before.

I need more kirin icons

[needsmoartact.livejournal.com]

"I did," Keiki agreed. He couldn't help the tense lilt in his 'voice', it was more difficult to maintain decorum when in his original form. Human vocal chords had their advantages. "Might I ask where this is?"

[spiritsup.livejournal.com]

Romeo smiled again and then his smile dropped. He never liked being the one to break the news. "You should have a note sir," he frowned, "That's if horses can read sir, I could read it for you. All it says is that the world has ended..." He pauses just a moment before quickly adding, "But we don't think that's true sir! We think some bad people have kidnapped us but we don't know who. Oh your not a horse are you sir you've got a horn," he finally has noticed, "you're a magical creature! Like from a story book!"

Lots of things in this tower seemed to come from story books and Romeo wasn't really surprised any more.

[needsmoartact.livejournal.com]

He frowned - as far as a kirin could - and glanced over to the table beside the bed. There was indeed a note there, but he could hardly shift and read it with the boy in the room. Instead, he indicated it with a mental word for Kaiko to retrieve.

It is as he says, was her report, as the humanoid shadow covered the table's surface and a single, furred blue hand reached out to hold the paper aloft.

Impossible, Keiki shook his head, mane flying this way and that. If Kei had fallen, I would feel it.

[spiritsup.livejournal.com]

Romeo shuffled out of the room a little bit more as the blue hand help up the paper. This was a little too scary. The magical horse didn't say anything for a long time and Romeo shuffled his feet.

[applebuckmaster.livejournal.com]

The second dorm level was the only place Applejack hadn't explored, so she trotted up and looked around the rooms.

And saw another pony - a unicorn? - like her. He's bigger somewhat, possibly the same size as her brother.

"Hey, are you okay?"

[needsmoartact.livejournal.com]

Turning around and fixing the pony with an unblinking stare wouldn't usually be counted as an answer, but Keiki found it more than sufficient for his needs.

"Tolerable," he murmured, after the surprise of seeing a demonic mount able to speak. Who would give their mount a hat, though? And she wasn't speaking any language he knew. Perhaps it would be prudent to treat her as he would a person. "I am informed that I have been taken captive, but I am unharmed."

[applebuckmaster.livejournal.com]

Looking around, the young pony made sure that no other humans are around before she entered the room. "Yea, them captors locked us up in this tower and gave us collars. Dunno why, though."

Trotting closer, she watched him curiously. "You're not like any unicorn I've seen, sugarcube."

[needsmoartact.livejournal.com]

The kirin blinked. Slowly. The shadows around him retreated as Applejack came closer, eventually merging entirely with his and leaving the two apparently alone. He decided to ignore her informal term of address, for now.

"That would be because I am not a unicorn."

[applebuckmaster.livejournal.com]

If Applejack noticed the shadows, she didn't comment. Instead, she simply shook her head before speaking again.

"You look like a pony, and you have a horn. Why'd you say you ain't a unicorn?"

icon denotes inner!Keiki.

[needsmoartact.livejournal.com]

It was difficult to convey a sound of muted, confused frustration properly, but the quiet huff probably had its intended effect considering his conversation partner was a horse.

"Because I would rather not lie."

so I heard you like brohoofing

[f0rceless.livejournal.com]

"Huh?"

Way too often curiosity got the better of him, and while Ven was wandering around, he could tell there was something up with one of the dorm rooms. When he came to the appropriate door, he poked his head in ever so slightly to catch a glimpse of any kind of disturbance, and what should he see but a bunch of shadows swirling around the room, causing his eyes to go wide with surprise. "--What are those?!"

almost as much as I like adding picture references to tags, apparently

[needsmoartact.livejournal.com]

One of the things demons tended to be, the good influence of a kirin's will or no, was mischievous. And when their master was currently concentrating on sorting through delicate embroidered clothing with his kirin nose, they had the leeway to act on it.

Hankyo was the prime example of that kind of demon. Within a few second of Ven's shout, the huge wolf (http://12kingdoms.wikia.com/wiki/File:Hankyo_Youma_3.png) sprang out of its shadow to stare down at the kid.

Oh I loves me some picture linking

[f0rceless.livejournal.com]

"--Aah!!"

Holy crap there was suddenly something in front of his face and it...OK well he didn't know if it was friendly or not, but from what he could see it had come from those shadow things and was all up in his face. That was plenty to warrant a drastic response, right?

Well even if it wasn't, Ven rolled back away from the wolf and got to his feet, summoning his keyblade (http://images.wikia.com/kingdomhearts/images/a/af/Lost_Memory_KHBBS.png) out behind him and getting ready to attack if need be. "You want a fight?"

[needsmoartact.livejournal.com]

Hankyo's canine huff-laughter was potentially a 'no', but the sharp command from his master was a definite refusal. He bared long fangs at Ven, but obeyed the order anyway.

"My apologies," the kirin became visible as the shadows vanished into his own. He looked rather unruffled, for all the boy was now holding some kind of weapon. "They do not appreciate being contained, Hankyo especially. You are not hurt?"

[f0rceless.livejournal.com]

Ven's grip tightened when the wolf...thing laughed and bared its fangs; he was almost about to attack himself, but then the thing was gone and there was some kind of...other, animal thing in front of him. He relaxed and lowered his keyblade, looking at it curiously.

"Oh, no. I'm OK." ....Seriously what was this thing. And that thing. And everything. "Uh, what was that thing...?"

icon = inner!keiki

[needsmoartact.livejournal.com]

"Hankyo."

That was obviously a perfectly-rounded explanation that needed no further explanation, because Keiki left it there and nodded to the weapon in the boy's hand. It felt strange; the kind of strange that would usually have the kirin performing mild divination to determine the level of threat. "What is it you're holding?"

[thursdaywings.livejournal.com]

There was a new creature in the tower, Castiel could feel it. Powerful, but not that old. Glancing up from the book he was reading in the library, he quickly flew up to where he felt the lifeforce was, appearing before the creature in a blink of an eye.

"Qilin."

[needsmoartact.livejournal.com]

He would have shied away, if the appearance hadn't been so abrupt and the greeting so short. Instead, Keiki blinked. Blinked, and belatedly called the shirei gathering around the other creature to heel. Hyouki muttered distrust, but orders were absolute and the shirei slunk back from Castiel's shadow. For all intents and purposes, nothing untoward had happened.

"Keiki," he agreed. "You are the first to know of me."

[thursdaywings.livejournal.com]

The angel glanced down at the presence of power surrounding him, almost reaching out for his sword before the kirin called them back. Nodding, he looked back up, keeping his distance from the creature.

"So your name is Keiki. I am Castiel. I am an angel of the Lord."

okay just gonna start using human!keiki icons for effect. he's still a pony.

[needsmoartact.livejournal.com]

The Keiki of two years ago would have stared blankly back. The Keiki of now had the benefit of an outspoken teenage girl from Japan as a ruler, and just nodded both understanding and greeting.

"Her Majesty told me of angels. In the lore of Hourai, you are a messenger of heaven. Is that so?"

sure thing. :3

[thursdaywings.livejournal.com]

Castiel shook his head. "I am not a messenger of heaven. I am a soldier of God."

8'3b

[needsmoartact.livejournal.com]

Hm. Apparently the description Youko had given him didn't translate. Plus, the angel was wearing clothing like those in recent Hourai. That didn't seem like the clothing of a soldier, but he was no expert on other worlds or their customs.

The diplomatic route it was, then.

"I am not familiar with that title. Do you prefer to be addressed by it, or do you use your given name?"