[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

[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?"

[thursdaywings.livejournal.com]

If Keiki had known how Castiel came to be, it would further confuse him, so it would be better if he didn't ask.

"Castiel is fine."

[needsmoartact.livejournal.com]

"And you may call me Keiki. My ruler chose not to give me a familiar name, but she is young yet."

He didn't particularly want to interrogate another non-human, but at the very least, it would be useful to have this contact. "Are you the only angel here?"

[thursdaywings.livejournal.com]

"As of now, I am the only angel in the tower. There are other creatures around, such as trolls and nations. You will meet them soon enough."

[needsmoartact.livejournal.com]

"I see."

The kirin paused. If there were indeed beings like that, then it would be prudent to have his shirei as common knowledge. Whilst subtlety was useful, they couldn't deter if no one knew of their existence. "I too have a number of creatures bound to my service. I believe the people of Hourai would call them demons."

[thursdaywings.livejournal.com]

Demons... it would explain the power aside from Keiki's, yet Castiel could feel nothing hostile from them. Perhaps they are different from the demons the angel was used to dealing with.

"How many creatures are under your service?"

[needsmoartact.livejournal.com]

"Five," he said, honestly. "They will obey me in all things until my death."

Except... where would they return to, if he died here? Kaiko was one thing, but the other four? Four demons with the powers of a dead kirin loose in wherever they were needed to be avoided at all costs. He decided not to mention it.

[thursdaywings.livejournal.com]

Castiel nodded.

And more social awkwardness ensued as he realized that there's nothing else to be said.

[needsmoartact.livejournal.com]

It would have been social awkwardness to anyone else, maybe, but Keiki was much too used to it to find anything wrong with long, drawn-out silences.

Except, belatedly, he realised he might have to speak to Castiel in his other form, at some point. Better to warn him.

"Although this is my true form, it is likely I will appear human when next we meet. For propriety's sake."

[thursdaywings.livejournal.com]

"I understand."

He looked down at himself. "I myself am not in my true form. Jimmy, this body, is a vessel."

/grabs the wrong end of the stick with both hands

[needsmoartact.livejournal.com]

"It is the same in my world," he seemed pleased to have found a concurrence. "Those of us who travel to Hourai assume a shell."

Keiki knew that taika or kirin crossing worlds would assume a different, more fitting shell as a defensive reaction, after all. Youko had done it, as had Enki, Taiki and the King of En.

What do you mean, vessel and shell are different words.

lolol

[thursdaywings.livejournal.com]

"Hourai?"

Castiel frowned; it wasn't a term he's used to. He understood the need for a vessel (shell?), so he didn't question that.

[needsmoartact.livejournal.com]

"A country beyond the void sea, at the edge of the world. Those who live there call it Japan." He tilted his head, fixing Castiel with one considering eye. "Your shell is not from Hourai, but there is a resemblance."

[thursdaywings.livejournal.com]

The angel mirrored Keiki's actions, looking down at his own body.

"I believe my vessel is from America, not Japan. But if you say that Hourai is Japan, then you must be from another dimension."

[needsmoartact.livejournal.com]

"That is a way of phrasing it. The worlds are connected by shoku. Storms that act as gateways between our shores," if Castiel was not from Hourai, it would explain his odd clothing. He found himself ever-so-slightly interested. "I had heard that Japan is one of many countries, but there have never been kaikyaku from anywhere other than Hourai."

[thursdaywings.livejournal.com]

"It could be possible that your world is closer to Japan than America, thus the higher chance of the Japanese being in your world." That would be the only explanation he could think of.

[needsmoartact.livejournal.com]

"That is the most likely explanation," he agreed. "I now recall that the kingdoms to the west occasionally encounter sankyaku, who wash ashore from another land, called China. The western districts have gained much from this link, including a spiritual practice they call Buddhism."

He had never taken that much time to reflect on it, really.

"America must be far indeed, if shoku cannot reach it."

[thursdaywings.livejournal.com]

"It is, for a normal human being." With Castiel's wings, he could traverse the entire world in a few seconds, so he didn't have a problem with distance before.

[needsmoartact.livejournal.com]

And with every taika in history being swept only as far as Hourai, no kirin had needed to travel farther. Keiki had a faint moment of unease as he imagined the possibility of an unfound taika simply being somewhere like America, with no prospect of ever returning.

He shook his head to clear it, hooves clicking on the floor as he shuffled to maintain his balance. And thus nearly stepped on the wolf's head and shoulders as Hyouki rose out of the floor.

Her Majesty is not here.

[thursdaywings.livejournal.com]

If Castiel was disturbed by the sight of a wolf rising from the kirin's shadow, he didn't show it, but he kept his hand close to his sword, in case it attacked. Even if it's not like the demons he's used to, it wouldn't do to be careless.