Take it on the Othersidus [Closed]

A house but not a home, Kita was warm in the mid-summer. The trees smelled of rain but the petrichor scent had been far burned by the fragrance of basil. Sanjo sat under the booth that sold the herb, relaxing and enjoying the nature. Aonin was likely out somewhere attacking feral animals in order to strengthen himself. Perhaps he'd find a spirit today, something to take home. The more likely story was that Granpa Anzai had reprimanded him for breaking a statuette earlier in the morning. While Sanjo played an equal part, he claimed none of the responsibility as it was Aonin who'd knocked him into it. Should it have been on his own accord, it never would have been touched. The latter twin was only upset because he'd lost at the breath holding competition. Ao was always a sore sport and Sanjo took good fun in knowing it. The few times the silver twin outclassed the gold, the gold would melt in a rampage. Very whimsical to a lesser metal.

After a few moments recollecting the day's previous incidents, it was time for a stroll. With both palms on the ground, the oldest Oda lifted himself forward, away from the stand and gave a stretch. With indication from the sun, it seems it had been a few hours since he'd originally sat down. It was a couple of hours past noon it seemed. The crunch of his sandals seeped into the unpaved gravel that acted as a walkway. He swayed a bit while walking, still not adjusted to the change in pace since he'd stood from his initial position. Without intention to do so, he eavesdropped on bits of conversations. His focus was caught in the crowd at this point. Each person seemed to either have a place to be or was socializing with someone else. A place as big as Kita it's not surprising to see such crowds, but Sanjo lived in a temple where all they did was train. While he wasn't allowed in the city, as commanded by Anzai, he came occasionally simply to look at the people and take in their behavior. It was actually one of his favorite things to do. Aonin didn't see the need in it, but he never told and even came along at times.  Sanjo had only ever spoken to a single person before though. It had been a cute girl from the past, likely two or three years ago. She'd called out to him as he sat in the shadow of an orchard. The two spoke only for a moment before she'd gone. Permanently.

Since then it seemed he was a shadow. He wasn't shy or distance. If he was the city might not be the place for him to be. Instead he was invisible. 'Just some kid' that no one seemed to pay too much attention to. And this he did not mind. But at times he did wonder if he too was a spirit that only he and his brother could see.

[507]

Sidus sat squarely on wooden post. Staring at the horizon, he rubbed at his bare collar. The cream cotton robes around his body grew heavy under the gaze of the warm afternoon sun, thickening the pressure on his shoulders with sweat as if forced to carry his burdens in manifested buckets of.. of..hair.

No, see. It makes perfect sense. If you're carrying a burden in buckets, they'll be stiff on your shoulders across a branch, right? So, like, and every day, you shed hair. So it's like your own personal problems that you're being forced to carry. It makes sense.

The young man sighed- although it was more of a forced exhale. He inhaled through his nose until his lungs could take no more and tried it again. Still, the airy breath remained as non-theatrical as ever. Master Corren could express his emotions through physical ordinance so easily-- it was not anywhere near fair! A wave of the hand and perched arm, a silent breath with widened eyes, a fist to the face. Such incredible feats of mental utterance, Sidus could not help but feel the slightest bit of envy.

He grimaced, sharp facial features drooping.

--

Sidus Reverie sat low on on a high-hanging tree branch just within the social commons, peering through the green and tan leaves that shuddered in the wind's tender caress. Catching only glimpses of circular housing roofs, oddly pointed building toppers, and the occasional angry bird through patches of open light, it quickly became a dulling affair after nearly a week. Despite such, Sidus remained no less tied to his stationary station. After all, it was his new home! The tree, which Sidus had dubbed Gwyn, was where he lived, slept, ate, and acting base point for the ongoing quest to scour the village edges for noodles.

The social commons were small and compact as if hosting only harshly definite amount of people. Astonishingly, Sidus had regularly seen tens or more of unique individuals treating a single household block as if all of them shared. Rows upon rows of small wood and brickwork buildings, identical in shape and size, stacked on top of each other in symmetry and falling into rank beside another tower. They looked like massive dominoes. A twisted feeling of desire to see a building toppled into the next filled filled his hear upon every glancing sight.

In the middle of each of the four triangular intersections, each leading to another housing alley, lie a large, aesthetic tree planter. The furthest east, Sidus had climbed into during the first night in Kita and attempted to sleep after a long trek from the northern ranges. After losing a turf war against they neighborhood cats, he had dragged his tired corpse westward into another tree some blocks down, climbed up the branches, and lost consciousness, ignoring the several splinters and claw marks upon his person. The wood was hard and gnarled, but his willpower was weak and growling.

Upon awakening, the young Samurai stretched his arms with the tall, smooth bark branches and his legs by holding his weight with his knee crooks. His back ached and gave the impression a permanent imprint of Gwyn's arm had become imprinted on his back. Sidus blinked. Quickly after ensuring he was not infused with a tree, he began to grow cold. A sense of dread seeped into his bones and fear overwhelmed his thoughts.

The mission.

Panicking, Sidus ripped Starseeker from the leaves, which looked as if the sword was busy in its own dreams, and ducked low, throwing his body backwards as his legs held a branch. He fell to the compact dirt streets, catching himself with his crossing ankles on a falling branch. Luckily, his robes spared any jagged injury. As he exited the tree, he hung upside down, and dropped like a bat-- face to face with a stranger who had nearly run into him. Sidus frowned as the blood rushed into his head. He couldn't tell whether this one was a boy or a girl. Regardless, they were pretty.

"Hi" said the tree-dwelling urchin Samurai. The handsome young lady raised a weak hand and waved without moving her fingers, her lips shaping the word "hi".

He unlocked his ankles and fell, catching himself with his palms so close to the earth, and fell to a crawling stance with Starseeker in his left hand. Gathering his body together to a crouch, Sidus stood and coiled, launching into a practiced spring, ignoring the stares he could feel boring into the back of his skull. They had better not touch Gwyn.

Spoiler:

Entering the centerpiece of the social commons, Sidus abruptly halted his stride onto the gravel pathways and began a careful conversion into the crowd, each step adding to the chorus of crunches, cracks, and voices. The hustle and bustle seemed so.. Lacking in the hustle. Everybody moved at the same, lethargic pace as if the sun drained them of energy and offered whispers of daydreams. And endless array of brown and black cotton cloth pieces making up the majourity of the common dress, it became a meshed blur of people that Sidus quickly found himself lost in. The Lands of Iron were nothing like this city.. Home was stern, strict, orderly, and rather empty of soul. Despite the hardships he had faced until now, Sidus was having the time of his life in this chaos.

..Tsk. The mission at hand still stood above such frivolity. Sidus internally turned up his nose in condescension to himself. Beyond all else, Sidus must locate the noodles.

Wasting no further efforts, Sidus rose his hand and made a gesture with two fingers peered outward. He leered his eyes, batting at his messy white hair with the other to remove it from his sight, and singled out the most iconic member of this dashing society to converse. It had become too urgent to stall the mission without help any further. He approached the young man.. A boy much younger than he. Sidus was tall, hidden under a pale cream Samurai's robe (which had earned more than a few stares), a bright red undershirt visible from the cropped outlines of his dressing, and pure white hair as if crafted from falling snow with a long, thin blade sheath in his hand. This boy was much shorter by over a head, geared in black commons with dark black.. Brown..?- hair. It was an almost comically contrasted scene.

"Excuse me, young man". After not speaking for so long, his voice had grown strained. His words to the boy obviously came off ragged, as if he were ill. Sidus frowned at the stranger as if sharing an inside joke, then cleared his throat. "Sorry to bother you. Do you know where the noodle shop is?".

Quite and amazing sight really. Admittedly, he'd gone unnoticed before. A large white figure that draped from a tree high above fell promisingly towards the grounds. It drew the attention of some in the area and Sanjo was far from an exception. In fact he might have been the most interested in the figure as the rest of the settlers went on with their day, walking their routine paths and performing their monotonous tasks. It had always been a wonder of his how people went about the same thing every day without some luster for a life beyond walls. Perhaps it was because the heavens called to the boy that he so desired wanderlust. Coincidentally, everything about the figure that was now approaching screamed adventure.

Genuinely unaware of what was happening, the tall white figure had clearly locked eyes on Sanjo. He was unaware of the situation and felt fear, excitement and everything in between. Was this a friend? An assassin? What kind of man plummets great lengths just to approach a small boy? A predator maybe? There was something off about him as he clearly did not belong. His snowy skin and hair acclaimed for as much. This was farmland. Sanjo, Aonin and everyone in this area had darker skin, much darker than what the reflective cloak was allowing to be seen. Paralyzed in astonishment, Sanjo made no extraordinary efforts to move. Soon the snow was close enough, at least within ear shot. 'Here it comes.' Everything went silent and  subtly Sanjo dug his wooden geta leg into the ground, bracing himself. In the next moment, the silence was broken. Sanjo was referred to as a young man and the stranger only asked where the noodle shop was. Little did he know, while the kid was from here, he had no clue. The shaman in training was left with a difficult situation. Should he explain that he had no idea that a noodle shop even existed within Kita, or should he lie in efforts to avoid the man?

"I actually have no clue where the ramen shop is." Sanjo would say plainly after his split second of consideration. It could have been the wrong decision but it was a bit late to decide that now. If he'd have pointed the man in the wrong direction it might have come back to bite him. A lie would also weigh heavy as bricks on his conscience and the rugged red object would pain his soul for days to come. The kid did his best to be a faithful Samaritan even though his devious ways oftentimes had a way of persuading him otherwise. As a shaman there is always a moral obligation to better serve mankind because you don't know who you'll see in the next life and who you'll need to help on the way. Because a shaman acts as the doorway to limbo he must secure positive relationships with as many people in the first life as possible. Therefore, lying is bad. Even without lying to the man, he still felt some genuine concern for his own soul with fear that he'd thrown his karma out of balance by considering to mislead the guy. "I could maybe help you find it though?" Bright eyes would look up at the man as the boy expressed urges to make amends.

[558]