[ml1201]

Deciding it was probably better not to point out that an unarmed girl was less threatening than one that was since she's noticed his unusually sharp tongue. She watches as he begins to leave, unable to take her eyes from him since it seems like he would probably be the last person she would talk to. Him referring to her powers as a curse piercing her heart much like first time she had hurt a person. When she sees his reaction to finding out the last time she had spoken to a person and hears his response to that she gets excited, the coldness completely lifting.

"Thank! You don't know how happy that makes me!" Quickly she gathers up the things he had dropped and hurries to catch up with him. "I'll do my best to keep my powers under control, I promise! My name is Tabitha by the way, what's your name?" Smiling she's happy to finally have someone to talk to.

[Kaguya]

Akio continued walking not paying attention to what was going on behind him, his eyes continuously scanning in the hopes that someone would find him and take him back to some sort of normality, but he was doubtful knowing it would be most likely they would be attacked especially given the time he guessed it was. Hearing her words he nodded "Thank you, the last thing I need is for someone to cart you away while you are near me" he said calmly "I am Aiko" he said bluntly leaving it at that as he continued to walk "If you are hungry or thirsty help yourself to the supplies"

[ml1201]

"Thanks, but I'm good. I had seen merchants earlier today drop some fruit on my way here, so after I couldn't see them anymore I grabbed the fruit and had some of that before trying to settle down for the night. Then I heard some kind of commotion and went to see what it was when I came across you. Where are we going anyways? Do you know of a town near here or something? And where were you headed before you were attacked?" Tabitha was nearly bouncing with joy being able to talk to someone again. She of course had so many questions and was hoping she wouldn't make him change his mind with all of them. Though now that she thought about it why was he traveling in these parts? He sticks out like a sore thumb even more so than she did because of the way he dresses and talks. Until now she's never seen anyone who's worn an obi before, just dresses, shirts and pants made from rough materials, not like the shiny material he was wearing.

"Do you have any family? What's it like to be able to travel in a carriage? And shouldn't you be resting since you got hurt or are you not concerned about your injury? If you
're still looking to get washed up you might be better off going to the river, but I don't know if the water is clean there."

[Kaguya]

Akio continued to walk nodding to Tabitha's words, but knew fruit wasn't a proper meal and soon she would be hungry again. "That food will fill you more than fruit, not to mention that it is purified unlike what you had most likely eaten" he said honestly he sighed hearing her spouting out question after question. It irritated him that as he tried to answer one question, she gave a new one "Enough!" he said coming to an immediate halt "You realize you are asking far to many questions at once I can not possibly hope to process it all" he said with a frustrated sigh "One question at a time." he almost demanded before continuing to walk his every movement showing he placed it there for a reason.

[ml1201]

"Sorry, guess I got a bit carried away there." She laughs nervously, wondering how a person can get angry so easily but decides its better not to ask that question. "Do you know where we were going? I personally don't know how to tell what direction to go or how to tell which why I'm going. I'm just hoping that we don't end up getting lost somehow." Taking out the food she looks it over, not really sure what to make of it. "I have no clue how to tell when food is purified, it all tastes the same to me, and I've never gotten sick besides the occasional sniffles after making myself too cold..." Though thinking about it she was the only one in her family to not get sick. Even her parents at times would catch a cold or something but it never seemed to happen to her.

"...Maybe I'm not human then, but if that's the case what am I?" She whispers under her breath. Her heart is burdened with sorrow at the thought of not being what she thought was had been for as long as she can remember, but keeps her powers in check because she promised Akio she would.

[Kaguya]

Akio nodded his hair moving with each slight movement "To say the least" he sighed continuing to move towards where he was going "I am heading home" he stated as if it was a matter of fact "It isn't that hard to navigate if you read the stars" he said covering his mouth with his sleeve as he yawned. He didn't understand why she felt like she needed to talk so much, it was getting on his nerves but he tried to allow her to work it out her system so he could eventually get the silence he was longing for.

"purified foods look, smell and taste different from normal foods" he said honestly "Make yourself sick..." he bit his tongue not wanting to insult how stupid that was "How do you expect me to answer that?" he asked sighing not knowing how to help her understand she is what she thought she was but wasn't at the same time. "don't worry about it"

[ml1201]

She follows him silently for a moment, a faint smile on her lips. "Thank you Akio for not being scared of me. I don't know what would have eventually happened to me if I hadn't of met you. Maybe eventually get the 'Siren's Whisper' or 'Submerged Ripple' like I've heard others have contracted." Picking out something that looks like a flat piece of dried out meat she begins gnawing on it.

"Fhis tuff es hard." It takes her a while to finally naw off a piece of it, and chews it for a long time before she can finally swallow it. "Another question, where were you headed before you were attacked? Because of how you're dressed I'm thinking it might have been bandits or something that figured they could make a large amount of money off of the stuff in your carriage. But it probably would have been smarter of them to have taken you with them unless they thought you were dead." Sticking the stripe back in her mouth she begins gnawing on it again to tear off another piece.

[Chloe]

The yellow cat-like eyes of the beautiful red haired girl narrowed, "Missing?" she hisses, turning away from the man who is kneeled before her, snapping the beautiful fan shut and smacking her hand with it in annoyance, "He knows this is the biggest event in both of our lives and he goes missing!" She pursues her lips in thought, "Or did he do it on purpose."

The man watches, flinching each time the fan hit the palm of the girl's hand. Catherine could be unpredictable, depending on her mood and wants.

"Never mind what his excuse will be." Catty says, turning her attention back to the man, "Have my carriage ready, I will find him breathing or see his rotting corpse with my own eyes."

"Yes, Miss." The man hurries off to do what Catty asked.

Catty sighs, opening the fan and fanning herself a little, as she sits down to wait for the news that her carriage and guards are ready to leave. One could never be too careful, especially in this world.

[Kaguya]

Akio continued walking sighing as he paused, his eyes closing. He hated walking especially in such a dirty place. "I am petrified of you" he said his tone lacking emotion as he looked around once more "I am good at hiding things and if we turn up in the city with me scared what do you think that would mean for you?" he said honestly as he started walking once more his hair fluttering a little with a passing breeze "Is it normally so cold?" he said mostly to himself but somehow he knew Tabitha would happily oblige him with an answer wither he wanted it or not.

He peered his eyes over his shoulder "I suspect you already have a strain of one, it's likely mutated where your family who most likely do have it have a basic strand of it" he said as if it where a matter of fact before looking where he was going once more "some things that have been created are absolutely horrible because of those viruses" his voice was whispered as if he where talking to himself, last thing he wanted was for his words to be overheard. "Are you from some backwards land or been raised on fairy tales?" he couldn't help himself from muttering "It's no longer like contracting a virus, it's rare to find someone without a virus" he said sighing "It's now in pretty much everyone's genes" he said going quiet once more.

Akio looked at her as she tried to eat the meat sighing "because that meat isn't cooked or hydrated" he couldn't believe who he was now traveling with, she seemed so uneducated to him. "I was heading home before I was attacked" he stopped and bit his bottom lip "It wasn't bandits, it was something far more dangerous I fear" his voice calm as he spoke once more walking towards their destination.

[ml1201]

Tears shimmer in the corner of her eyes, her happiness now dashed since he was actually terrified of her even though she knew she wouldn't be able to bring herself to hurt him. "I guess you're right, to be afraid of me I mean..." Her voice is a mere whisper as she says this, frozen tears falling from her eyes. She was actually starting to not feel like talking anymore, so she didn't even reply to his comment about the chill. Him telling her that she's probably already infect and that the virus might actually be the cause of her powers just made her feel even worse, not better. Because that now meant that she was what probably caused her family to go nuts on her like they did. "I guess I'm like that too since I mad my family go crazy..." At this point her throat was horse from crying, making it harder and harder for her to even say anything. "If you mean can I read and write instead of listening to what my elders tell me about the world, the answer is no, I can't do those things. No one where I'm from could. We lived mostly out in the woods and usually just ate fruit and vegetables we could find that were knew weren't poisonous. So you talking about 'genes' doesn't make sense to me to be honest..." Hanging her head while she walks she avoids looking at him, knowing that he was only hiding his fear of her only made her feel like it was more and more like he might do something to her because of his fear.

"What could possibly be so dangerous besides things like bears and boars? They usually just leave people alone unless they go near their cubs and piglets. And most times you can just scare them off with fire anyways." Nibbling on the dried meat she becomes more and more tired, mostly from holding back her powers because of how upset she was getting. "Maybe you'd be better off without me tagging along...It's not like I can really fight anyways..."

[Chloe]

The streets were quiet as the carriage rolled along them, Catty was leaning against the plush seats, her yellow eyes trained out the window as her hands were folded neatly in her lap. Every where she looked there was death and rotting flesh, something she had gotten accustomed to in her short life as an average day.

Guards flanked the carriage on either side, their attention more focused on keeping Catty safe than looking for her betrothed.

"Hmph." she huffs, knowing they would leaving the city soon and entering what was basically crowned as 'No Man's Land' cause very few had been known to survive there. After watching the last of the city fade away and just miles and miles of bare land, Catty frowns as the carriage halts to a stop suddenly.

"Imbeciles." she mutters under her breath, stopping herself from falling into the floor, "Remind me to have whoever is driving this guts made into new boots for me."

Moving to shove the door open so she can shout at the driver her displeasure, one of the guards points something out to her and Catty's eyes narrow into slits. And not caring about how dirty things were, she marches like a woman hell bent on destruction toward what is pointed out to her.

((occ: pretty much not gonna jump straight in))

[Kaguya]

Akio closed his eyes stopping believing he may have been harsh on his traveling companion but he couldn't help how he felt considering what she could do. "I'm sorry Tabitha... fear is the wrong word I guess." he said looking to her "I have never encountered someone who has been able to create ice out of thin air." he said gently walking back to her "I know you are not a bad person, and the chances are you would never hurt me." he smiled a little at her "So to be more precise I am not scared of you, but what you have the capacity of doing."

He quirked an eyebrow at what she said about making her family crazy, he sighed realizing she knew little to nothing about history. "It is unlikely you made your family insane Tabitha. It's more likely they had Siren's Whisper." he said trying to bring her some sort of comfort not that he knew how this would do it. He hoped the knowledge that it wasn't her who done it but something out of her control. "You can't read or write?" he seemed surprised but it explained why she knew little about the recorded history of the place "I will get you a tutor when we get home." he said moving closer to hug her seeing she needed it, his nose wrinkled at touching the dirty clothing she had on but it seemed the right thing to do.

He pulled backwards and looked to her "There are hunters, purifiers, scientists, people who still have concentrated versions of the illnesses..." he said closing his eyes "Then there are experiments, and those who have had their genes spliced." he said honestly his eyes opening once more as he turned once more scanning the area "And the heaven's only know what come out in the darkness." he said quietly as he started to move forward once more. "You are going to stay with me, and fighting can be learned like everything else."

[ml1201]

Wiping her eyes she does her best to smile, feeling a bit better now that Akio explained how he felt better to her. "I guess I have a lot to learn...Wait, I'm going to be staying with you? And what's a tutor?" Stunned surprise could be seen on her face at him saying about having someone tutor her, she hadn't expected him to really do anything for her besides take her to a town or something.

"I would ask more questions about some of that stuff you just said, but I have a feeling it would take too long to explain. And the only reason why I think I might have been the cause of my family going crazy was because they weren't like that until after I showed signs of having this ice making power. The elders told me they were fine like the rest of them before that happened, but in all honesty I'm not even sure if what they said was the truth or not, everyone I knew was scared of me for as long as I could remember. Though like you it probably more so my powers than anything else, but unlike you they didn't even try to know me..." When they finally stopped somewhere she wanted to make something for him, being alone most of the time when she was done gathering food she had taught herself how to carve things. So she wanted to make him something as a token of thanks.

[Chloe]

occ: skipping post cause I am busy doing three things already and getting ready to start my new job tomorrow.

[Kaguya]

Akio nodded to what she said "More than you know." he explained as he continued walking scanning continuously, he couldn't shake the idea that something bad was going to happen. "Yes, unless you have somewhere to stay..." he paused for a moment "It's illegal to be on the streets after curfew, people have been executed for it." he said honestly continuing once more unfazed by what he had told her. "A tutor is a teacher, they help you learn new skills. Most of my teachers are from temples." he explained "But if you prefer regular teachers, I am sure there is a school you could go to" he stated stopping as he seen something on the horizon. He tilted his head as he tried to calculate if going forward would be the best course of action as neither of them where armed and his companion was no better than a can of worms when frightened.

He looked over his shoulder to her shaking his head "It wouldn't take to long to explain, but it would be unlikely you would understand and would have to ask more questions to the answers and we would go in a never ending spiral until I could simplify it in a way you would understand" he said, he didn't believe she was stupid just uneducated with gave her a handicap in his mind. His eyes went back to the thing he seen in the distance. "I mean no offense to your elders, but, the virus known as siren whisper is a psychological virus and effects every individual differently." he said covering his mouth as he yawned "To add to that like all viruses they can evolve, not just in the wild but inside people too and it can take years for the mutations to happen so where your parents and siblings went one way, yours may have went another" he explained as if it was just basic knowledge.

[ml1201]

Nodding her head as she takes in the information, she's not sure why she shouldn't be allowed out at night after a certain time, it hasn't done anything wrong to her yet. Thinking for a moment she decides that maybe one step at a time would be best, "It might be better if I have a tutor then first, its hard for me to trust people after what happened to my family to be honest. The only reason why I'm trusting you now is because I know you're injury weakens you, so if you were to attack me I'd have an advantage. Just like fighting off a wild boar from a tree, I can just drop icicles on them from the branches and eventually they leave me alone." Noticing him looking at the horizon she follows his gaze. "I can always make a shield out of my ice if we get attacked, and hold the limbs of anything that attacks too. I might not be able to actually fight, but I can at least defend when push comes to shove...But either way I don't want any trouble..."

She understands where he's coming from about the endless questions, she had always been asking questions as a child too, which didn't seem to settle well with the rest of the community she grew up in. Though she looks nervously at Akio when he yawns, thinking he's probably never had to stay up for so long before, "Do you want to try finding shelter until whatever that is has past and get some rest? If we find a cave I can make grey-brown color ice with the dirt to help hide us..."