RP:Started From The Bottom
Summary: Foxkin and Drow meet in the woods. What happens next is anyone's guess.
Ancient Oak
Seiko had always loved visiting sage forest. It always felt faintly familiar. Fond memories of his homeland would find their way to the forefront of his mind whenever he entered the forest. Memories of the kind witch who saved him as a kit, raised him and taught him of his nature as well as the nature of the world around him. Those days were long gone though, oh how he’d fallen from grace. No longer kind, no longer caring. A shell of former innocence, now filled with darkness. The fox entered the ancient oak tree, his body small and thin, fragile and soft. His skin was porcelain, feminine, and smooth like a woman’s. Long white hair fell to his knees. Chocolate brown eyes gazed about the store, a devilish grin growing on his perfectly pouted, soft pink lips. Wrapped around his body were sheer white silks, that moved as elegantly as he did, but his feet were bare. As he walked through the store, his fingers glided over beautiful gowns, so soft to the touch. What truly caught his attention were the rings though, such beautiful little trinkets locked away. Those scheming eyes peered back to the shop counter, checking to see who manned the store… ‘Damn.’ He thought to himself. Elves had keen eyes, his simpler tricks would not suffice to distract this one. If he wanted something, he’d probably have to buy it. A sigh left his lips as he continued to wander about the store.
Kouki hadn’t yet entered the store. He was hidden, high in the shaded branches of the Ancient Oak. Unlike Seiko, his mind was not filled with fond memories of his home land or rearing from adolescent to man. Never had the male been acquainted with the soft underbelly of innocence. The ripe fruit of trust or belonging. Neither juices stained his scarred hands. His scarlet eyes watched in silence as the foxkin moved through the doors. His lips twitch in a menacing grin as he drops from the shadows, landing soundlessly on the quivering grass below. He stood an average height, a fit build beneath his plain black attire. No weapons were visible upon first glance. The white haired drow waiting – counting one, two, three beats before sauntering into the shop to approach the elf at the counter. Kouri pretended to ignore Seiko entirely. “Looking for weapons,” he growled politely. The elven staff regarded him curiously. “My apologies, sir but you’ll find naught like that in our humble shop…”
Seiko glanced over his shoulder a the drow that entered the store. A drow? Here? What an odd choice. The fox nonchalantly made his way closer towards the counter. Obtaining a better view of the drow he realized that it was indeed a male drow, so maybe it wasn’t all that odd for him to be wandering around, far from the underdark. “My my my, does your mistress know you’re all the way out here? I don’t know much about the drow, but I’ve heard your women keep you on quite a tight leash.” The fox chuckled mockingly, twirling one of his own white locks around his finger.
Kouki’s lip bows in a subtle snarl. Mistresses. Bah. Did this stranger not see the scars that lined the exposed, darkened muscle on his arms? The lightening shaped scars that crept up his neck and chin. A visible illness, taking root in his skin. Pulsing with it’s own malice and distain for all living things. “I didn’t know little girls asked so many questions.” He huffs with a narrowing gaze on Seiko while the elven shop keepers look on nervously. White hair hangs just below his shoulders; straight loose thread even the oldest spindle could weave. The assassin straightens, that snarl of annoyance still on his lips before he turns to exit the shop and hopefully draw the foxkin out with him into the forest.
Seiko smirked at the supposed insult. Why should I be insulted about being beautiful, and youthful? Silly fool. “Leaving so soon! Pity, I really wanted to get to know you better.” The fox began to follow along behind him, “Wait up! I was a tad rude inside, but I’m sure we can be friends!” He flashed a charmingly innocent smile as he exited the store behind the drow. The fox wasn’t stupid though, this man looked like a fighter. Being out in the open would make him an easy target and a fox knows just how rare they are. It wouldn’t be out of the ordinary for someone to attempt to capture them. Seiko had his own little plans in store incase anything would go awry.
Kouki didn’t turn back at the young man’s remark, kept his lidded gaze trained on the door and then the forest beyond. It’s only once they are back out in the open air that the man pauses, throws a glance over his shoulder and re-evaluates Seiko. What is this offer of friendship? His rounded eyes looked innocent enough but there’s an unsettling feeling that makes the drow cautious to carry out his plan just yet. He wasn’t about to offer his own apology but he retracted his arched upper lip and tensed his shoulders in a brief shrug of indifference. An easy target is exactly what he’d hoped for. Though, it would be more fun if he wasn’t. “What do you really want?” The drow asked in a dusty baritone. “Let me guess…” He turns, folds his scarred arms across his broad chest and sizes the foxkin up in silence. “Looking for a body guard?” He offers, pauses, then re-evaluates. “Or combat training?” Seiko appeared as soft and wispy as a willow.
Seiko chuckled at the thought of him needing a bodyguard. His kind were more than capable of protecting themselves, and could easily wreak havoc simply for the fun of it, “No no—nothing of the sort.” He moved closer to the drow, hips a sway as he walked. “I want exactly as I have suggested. A friend is all. A man such as yourself,” His eyes lingered over the drow’s form, “You seem to be quite strong, and able. I think you’d make for a wonderful ally. One never knows when they might need a friend. And I? Well, I have my uses as well I assure you.” It’d be better to have an ally than an enemy. Seiko wanted a hand in every pool, the good, the bad and, the ugly.
Kouki appeared a man without allies. One that did not easily fold into any circle of conventional comradery. A loner, for the sake of labels. Not that he didn’t appear capable on his own. He cocked his head to the side, hair swaying with the motion, to listen. It wouldn’t be a bad move to try and gain a little trust from the fox before striking. Plus, who knows? Maybe he’d be disarming enough to lure potential ‘clients’ in his direction. Hardly looked like he’d worked a day in his life! Had to make coin some way, just like the rest of us. “Such as?” His expression was skeptical, his stance ridge but prepared. He could move into action at the slightest prompt.
Seiko smiled, simply nodding his head before looking over his shoulder, a woman stepping out from behind him, her appearance almost his exact match, apart from some of the gender defining portions. “This is Seika, you can think of her as my other half, as it were.” He smirked to the woman, who in turn winked back at the foxkin. “Beautiful isn’t she? Or maybe you’d prefer her like this?” The womans skin porcelain skin darkened, almost black. Her brown eyes now piercingly red, features lengthened becoming even more striking as she took the visage of a drow woman. “Hmm, maybe that’s too easy. What about this.” He nodded to the drow woman now standing before him, and in turn she shifted once more; her body bulking a bit. Her appearance a nigh perfect doppelganger of the drow man before him. “Anything we want, we can become. It’s that simple. I’m sure that brain of yours can come up with a plethora of uses that can come from such abilities.” He nodded to the doppelganger once more, the image fracturing and bursting into prismatic shards that shimmered as they dissipated. “Now, what do you think about it?”
Kouki certainly would have sensed this woman if she was indeed a separate being from Seiko. A small twitch of his left eye tells of his discomfort by her sudden ‘reveal’. He keeps his scarlet eyes flickering between the two, even as she shifts into a beautiful drow woman and then a copy of himself. His gaze doesn’t falter. His expression is pensive stone. As the foxkin spoke, he exhales heavily through his nose. In truth, they –could- help each other but what did the other male want in return? Strictly the invisible token of a favor at some point in the future? “If you have this ability, what exactly would you need my alliance for?” If his image could be stolen, why not his skills? His silence? His frame of mind? That brain of yours. Seiko sounds like quite the snarky bird, parroting off phrases in that tone. Indeed, he was no helpless babe lost in the woods.
Seiko simply smiled to the drow, “I eventually plan to settle down, somewhere at the top. It starts from the bottom though. Allegiance with someone of your kind would be good for me in many way. Don’t worry, I have no plans of calling upon you for unsavory favors,” Yet at least… “At least without payment that is.” He smirked, assuming the man was some sort of mercenary for hire. Truth be told, Seiko didn’t really know what he wanted from the man, but it all led back to one thing, Power. Seiko wanted Power, and People in high places need alliances with all sorts.
Koiki snorts, not convinced by the other males explanation but he didn’t want this to be a wasted encounter either. “Name’s Kō.” He offered, simply – waiting long enough for Seiko to offer a nomenclature of his own before he nods and begins to move away. “Not worried,” he adds with gravely indifference. “Just curious” And with that, the drow moves off into the woods, disappearing through the underbrush without a single glance back.