10 [Action/...uh. Drawn?]

[flicker_flash]

[Someone's barely been home the past few days and been rather quiet when she has been. Katie's not at home now - she's curled in the top branches of a tree in the northern part of the forest, not too far from the village edge, journal propped open on her lap while she draws. She's aware the whole village can see, but Katie's never been shy about

Comments

[action/drawn]

[chaincutter]

[Someone has been stalking Katie a bit, as is his wont when she disappears for a few days. Child, don't you know this place is dangerous? He's far enough away from her tree to not be immediately noticeable, although close enough that he can't really be accused of hiding. He was just leaning against the trunk of another tree and pondering how much easier traveling without armor was, idly making his daily journal check... but he caught those drawings.

He almost calls to her, but thinks better of it. Instead, he digs through his satchel for something to write with and responds with an arrow that should point in his general direction. Hopefully. Unless she's holding the journal strangely.]

[action]

[flicker_flash]

[She could very well be holding it strangely, given it's Katie. But today it's right way up. She'll stare at the arrow a few moments before turning to peer in its general direction. And stare blankly at the top branches of that ...tree over there. Before she catches on and looks down instead.]

Oh! Hello. [...and now she's wondering why he's come to find her, she immediately looks shifty.]

Whatever it is, I didn't do it.

[action]

[chaincutter]

Wandering away from home?

[He'll humor her and climb up onto the lower branches of her tree with surprising ease. Climbing's not hard to do when you can jump more than your own height, and he doesn't mind high places. He stays in the lower branches, though, because he learned his lesson about Luceti's trees and his weight the hard way.]

[action]

[flicker_flash]

There aren't any trees to climb in my bedroom.

[And she doesn't think the empress would appreciate trees growing through the house, so that's out. For her part, Katie will dangle down from the upper branches, hanging on briefly with her feet swinging before she drops lightly on to a branch closer to Sigmund's. Balance of a cat, this girl.]

[lists_to_port]

Pirate.

(((I'll have to tag later sorry!)))

[flicker_flash]

That's me. Being a pirate is awfully good fun.

(((Perfectly okay!)))

[voice btw]

[lists_to_port]

There's nothing freer, better, or more adventurous, lass.

[Or more ill-suited for little girls.]

Know your way around a ship's lines? They send the quick small ones to the top.

[voice it is!]

[flicker_flash]

Oh well, I'm certainly very good at being at the top. Do you think I could slide down the mast ropes with a knife between my teeth and everything?

[Voice]

[skulljokelol]

[Fortunately for Katie, Brook's taken to sleeping under his nakama's bed - which is exactly where he is when she stopped by. He doesn't find the scarf until much later, whereupon he takes a seat with his journal, only to see those drawings.

He grabs at a memory or two - one more recent and the other further back, tapping a bony finger above that kitten.]

...Leaf is rather cute, even for a kitten.

[Voice]

[flicker_flash]

[...

...There's a long silence as she stares at her journal, and a longer one before she answers, voice small and a little hopeful.]

My mother said she was very cute, but should stop sneaking into cupboards where she didn't belong.

[Voice]

[skulljokelol]

Too curious for her own good, is she? But kittens are like that.

She should just learn to be more careful, is all.

[Voice]

[flicker_flash]

[....................
...................
................
......................

...sniffle.]

[Action]

[cherishedlight]

[Hikari's doing a little exploring today. She was keeping close to the house and her brother after the whole soul-getting-sucked-out incident, but today she wanted to take a little walk on her own.

There's a girl in the tree. She tilts her head upward.]

Hi there.

[Action]

[flicker_flash]

[And Katie's faintly grubby face will peer back over the edge of the branch. There's a girl on the ground. Fancy that.]

Hello.

[Action]

[cherishedlight]

My name's Hikari. What's yours?

[Action]

[flicker_flash]

It's Rebecca. [Headtilt.] Are you out here by yourself?

[Voice]

[vermified]

[At first he wasn't sure where all those pictures were coming from, but between the image of the IU crew and Katie's dragon emblem, he recognizes it at last. He's been wondering where she was.]

...A dragon?

[Voice]

[flicker_flash]

A red dragon. [For this makes all the difference.] His name is Marabostro.

[Voice]

[vermified]

...Just as long as it's not a blue dragon. [Surprisingly, colour really is that important.] So what did this Marabostro do to deserve a slaying?

[Voice]

[flicker_flash]

He kidnapped all the maidens from a farming village and burned their crops. [And after a contemplative pause:] And he didn't put his rubbish in the bin.