Northstar Vale tag walls, punch fascists

His gut told him he shouldn’t be here. Just seemed kinda weird busting into someone’s home uninvited you know? But he didn’t care of course. This mountain was boring. He wanted to see new things, meet new people.

Toshi was just taking a stroll. No harm in that!

She'd slept a bit, washed a little of the grime off of her coat, and tucked in among the dens as if she belonged there overnight. If anyone had any issue with her presence they did not confront her about it; then again, the place was oddly quiet and lacking in activity. Reiko was nowhere to be found, but Hime did not take a major notice of her absence yet; she was too busy watching the rain and trying to plot when to leave the warmth of the hollow she camped in, to seek breakfast.

When she finally rose to go suss out a meal (either a fresh one or a petrified, fermented haunch of meat from the cache system) she took note of a dark shape nosing around some trees. At first she thought she was seeing things. The rain did not help much. She had been lost in the storming for a little longer than she thought, so maybe this was a new recruit or merely a child of the Empire she had not seen before.

Hime chose to approach with her head raised proudly, unsure if she wanted to impersonate her sister and probe for answers, or vent her true nature upon the stranger; they looked young. She did not want to waste energy or let herself be soaked by the rain for too long without a good payoff, so Hime found a perch among the trees from which to watch them roaming.

Then, she called out: Hello, child. He seemed utterly unremarkable.

He found what he was looking for, or rather they found him. A ghostly woman called out to him from a distance. Toshi spun around, stunned at first, before a wide smile spread from cheek to cheek.

Hello, adult, he chirped. This your place?

Lilitu had picked up on the weird vibes lately. She hadn't the foggiest what was going on, or why her parents seemed particularly tense, but what once was a relatively chill world had become. . .well, not chill. And with this not-chill-ness came restlessness, and so that was why Lilitu was not with her family near the den but wandering, thus able to witness this.

Trespassing? What was that? She hadn't been taught anything about that. From where she stood, she didn't see Hime, and so she bounded from the foliage with a playful yip, seeing only a potential friend.

HI WHAT'S YOUR NAME— oh crap oh no oh crap it's her. She skittered to an awkward stop as she spotted the white-furred woman and cowered, backing up to stand closer to the wayward boy. Why, why, did any time she tried to have fun, one of these pale wolves either embarrassed her or were mean?!

She remained where she was, sphinx-like, supine. The rain wouldn't let up and Hime wasn't interested in drenching herself again, especially to talk with this lowly child. They could not have been high-born as they did not resemble Reiko in any way - nor smell like her, actually. This was something she noticed as the boy came closer.

The way they spoke to her was basic, too. They did not appear to recognize the Vale at all; so they were most likely not a commoner of the empire as she first thought. Curious. Where was this wretched child's parents? Cogs began to turn within Hime's mind.

She wondered if anyone would miss this little pustule.

Before anything could be acted upon, a voice sprang from the periphery — shrill, and attached to a little gray blob that was very much at home among the silver drops of the downpour. Hime eyed them for a moment, and while she could not remember the girl's name she knew they were the daughter to the Queen.

Hime's expression was colder than the pelting storm, and she took one glance at Lilitu (in the manner of a very stoic Mother Superior holding a ruler behind their back) and resumed the conversation with the soot-sprite boy: Indeed it is. While she wanted to chase him off or frighten him, that was a short-lived bit of fun; she may as well be accommodating and keep them both at-ease, at least until they were close enough to play with.

Before he got an answer, some girl unintentionally shoved herself into the conversation. She’s around his age, probably younger. Who knows? She’s a small little thing, but boy can she yell! Even he didn’t have a voice like that. Toshi felt obligated to respect the hairball for that alone.

While he didn’t mind the interruption, Ms. Ghost Lady definitely seemed irked. The look she gave her almost made him want to hang his head in shame. If she were his mama he’d definitely be sucking up to get her approval right about now.

Well, it’s a nice place you got here. Not perfect, kinda muddy, but it’s lookin’ better than my old home!

He turned to the girl and flashed the same smile he gave the woman. M’ name’s Toshi. What’s yours?

The woman's gaze chilled her to the bone. She cowered next to the stranger, avoiding that icy stare. Of course, she was ignored, like last time. But not by the boy—and her heart and soul felt a little better as he spoke directly to her with a smile.

I'm Lilitu, she replied, trying to copy his speech as best as she could. He was a little older, and clearly more worldly. Hi, Toshi. His name reminded her of Haruki, but he didn't look like Haruki. He didn't act like the stuck-up prince either, which was so good.

She blinked at him in query. Who's your mama? Lilitu asked, wondering why she hadn't seen him before. He didn't smell like the valley. Was he new? Did he have a sister, too?