Why Bird-Girls and Cities Don't Mix

[Eris]

"What was I thinking? I'm such a bird-brain..." Eris muttered to herself for the tenth time that day as she struggled her way through the crowds, trying to avoid having her feet stepped on yet again. She had already wrapped her wings around herself like a cloak, to keep them from getting crushed. So far three of her feathers had been pulled out by children as she passed. "I hope I find somewhere to stay soon.... I don't want to sleep in the alleyway again....."
Suddenly, a chill swept over her, and she stiffened. Tears began to course down her cheeks unheeded as sorrow enveloped her. "No.... not again..... don't make me do this again...." She whimpered softly, tightening her wings about her body, and began to sing.

[Nanashi]

Yet another unfruitful day for Nanashi. The few days he'd spent in Mythraegal weren't uneventful by any means, but he rarely seemed to come out of his encounters with the adventurers of the city with any tangible benefit. Rather, he simply seemed to make more enemies wherever he went. Which would become very...troublesome later on. Therefore, the Ninja decided to befriend the next one that he saw, regardless of what he'd have to do to make it happen. He'd even hold off from torturing them...for a while, anyway.

It seemed as though the Gods smiled on this change of attitude, as almost immediately after Nanashi had wished it, the perfect candidate for a companion revealed herself. A Tengu. Even among the varied inhabitants of Mythraegal, seeing one of the winged people was still a rarity. It seemed that he wasn't the only one who had taken notice of her- most of the adults seemed to avoid her from unease, while the children harassed and tormented her. Truth be told, that bothered Nanashi to the point where he visibly frowned- something that was even rarer than a Tengu's appearance. Although it was much the same thing that he did, there was a certain maliciousness in a child's actions that made even petty acts of cruelty seem twisted and excessively brutal. That, or he just hated children. Either or.

Regardless, Nanashi moved to intercept one of the runts that was trying to make off with one of the woman's feathers. He quickly snatched it from the child's hand before backhanding him hard enough to knock the brat to the ground. Few around him seemed to notice his abuse, and the ones that did wisely kept their mouths shut. He'd mostly hit the child to keep him from making a scene, but it wasn't as though he didn't deserve to be smacked around.

But, with feather in hand, the Ninja approached the bird-girl, raising his voice just enough to be heard over her song, "Excuse me!" Whether the woman would acknowledge him or not, he'd lean down, bending a knee while holding her feather out towards her and smiled, "I had believed this to be a rose at first, but now I realize that I was a fool. Such a flower seems putrid in comparison to the beauty of what I hold in my hand." It was horrifically cheesy and lame, but Nanashi was...out of practice, as it were.

[Eris]

Eris staggered as the deathsong came to an end, sobbing. "Why..... why do I have to bear this curse?" She murmured softly to herself. taking a deep breath to try to calm herself, she straightened, jumping back in surprise as she saw the man standing in front of her, holding her feather in his hand. She blushed as she remembered the voice that had spoken to her while she had been under the control of the Geas. "Oh.... Um, th-thank you....." Embarrassed at how harsh her voice sounded, she looked away. "Thank you.... For both your kind words, and for stopping those kids from pulling my feathers out..." She shivered slightly, shaking her wings to realign her feathers before wrapping her wings once more about herself.

[Nanashi]

The raven-haired man only returned the maiden's words with a smile...but it was a wholly superficial expression. In truth, it was all that Nanashi could do to keep himself from plucking out some of the girl's feathers...not because he particularly wanted to cause her physical pain, he just wanted to see how many it would take to cause her to have a breakdown. But, he forced himself to be good- doing something like plucking more feathers from this bird would only hurt his intended cause.

"You're a mo-" Dammit. He'd nearly called the woman a monster. Once again, it wasn't because he had anything against the woman personally- being a dickweasel was just something that he'd grown too accustomed to over the years. He hesitated before correcting himself, "...Most beautiful specimen." He tilted his head to the side, causing his smile to turn a bit lopsided, "Ah, well. I suppose that I shouldn't be talking to you. Any minute now, someone is bound to come running up and yell, "Get away from that monster!" Of course, this comment caused the Ninja to mentally slap a hand to his forehead. Hadn't he learned his lesson with the Shogun? He knew he was a jerk, but when had he become so insensitive? "...Me, that is. I would be the monster here." The man closed his eyes and smiled a bit wider, amused by his own joke.

[Eris]

"It would be you they'd be warning, sir, not me. Few people even look towards me, let alone speak to me for any reason. They think my kind are a bad omen, and avoid me at all costs." She sighed, her faint smile fading. "They might even be right. We do tend to be the bearers of bad tidings, after all."

Taking a deep breath to steady herself, she looked up at the stranger. "Why did you come over to talk to me, anyways? Most people see me and turn the other way, but you didn't. Even though I was caught by the death song, you chose to be kind to me. Why? I don't understand."

[Nanashi]

Nanashi hesitated for a moment before offering a slight shrug, smiling again, "Why? Because you're a very sorry sight to behold, milady. No friends, no family, left alone with only dreams of death to keep you company...am I wrong?" The Ninja couldn't hold it in anymore. He had to do this. What he'd claimed was, as always, an assumption based on what he observed presented as fact. A bit awkward when he was off the mark, as it seemed he had been when teasing the Shogun earlier, but he was fairly confident that his guess was right this time. First, the woman had been wondering aimlessly in a town where it's people hated and feared her- which led him to believe that she had no companions to travel with. The dreams of death were actually referring to suicidal tendencies; he didn't actually know of this Tengu's curse.

[Eris]

She gasped softly, eyes wide with shock. "You.... How do you know about the curse? And of my family?" She looked up at him, trying not to panic. "Please, don't tell anyone else about it! People fear me enough as it is because of what I am, if they were to find out I am cursed...." Shuddering, she wrapped her arms around herself. "I fight it as much as I can, but the longer I fight it, the worse it hurts..... I hate this curse, this geas....."

[Nanashi]

The Ninja raised his eyebrows in dull amusement as the girl panicked. This was certainly interesting...a curse? He wondered if there really was such a thing. Whether or not the supernatural was at work here or not wasn't particularly relevant, however. The fact was that this girl obviously believed in it...and he could use that to his advantage. From what he could infer from her reaction, it was most likely that either she believed she was cursed in such a way that everyone close to her would meet their maker. She must have misunderstood his meaning, but that's why he made such vague statements in the first place- to get the other party to voluntarily give up more information than they should. Nanashi would have made a fine fortune teller, at least.

A small smirk crossed his features, "I may not look it, but I'm actually a rather powerful Shaman, and I could feel the taint of black magic on your soul from halfway across the city! At first I was worried that you might be a follower of the Dark, but I see now that you're just a scared, helpless girl in need of guidance." The raven-haired man tried to slide his arm around the Tengu's back so that he could guide her down the street in the direction she'd been headed before he stopped her, "I can free you of this curse, child, and I will happily do it for you- free of charge!" The man's features quickly turned downward, giving him a crestfallen appearance, "Rather, I would if I could. Unfortunately, this 'Geas' is powerful black magic, and it's seal is too strong even for me to break. But there is a way to weaken it enough for me to help you..."

Nanashi suppressed a wicked snicker as he continued, "There is a practitioner of these dark arts within the city, and it is his influence that is strengthening the seal. If you want to be free of your ailment, you must kill him. There is no other way..." The Ninja would stop and turn the Tengu towards him, trying to place his hands on her shoulders, "You must kill the white-haired heathen if you wish to ever find peace. You must kill the one known as Ethan." It was all Nanashi could do from bursting out with laughter. This would be interesting...

[Eris]

She stiffened, pulling away from the dark-haired stranger as suddenly as if he'd slapped her. "No. I'm not a killer. It was killing that brought this curse upon my family in the first place. I'd rather live with this curse than repeat my ancestor's mistakes." She shuddered convulsively. "Thank you, though, for offering to help me. But it was because my ancestor murdered a magic-user's apprentice that my family was cursed to sense the deaths of anyone they have met, and are forced to sing of thier death when they die. I'd rather pluck my own wings than kill someone."

[Nanashi]

The man simply shrugged and flashed her a smile, "Suit yourself, then." He hesitated for a moment before shifting his stance, leaning to one side while tapping his chin with the side of one of his fingers, "You wouldn't happen to have a place to stay tonight, would you?" The Ninja would, of course, try and weasel his way into spending the night with her if he could. It hadn't worked with the Shogun, but it was worth trying again with someone else. In truth, he wasn't entirely sure if he wanted to be around this woman for any longer than he had to. If what she claimed about her curse was true, then it would be a problem for him if she were to predict his own demise...if it were absolute. If it weren't, then having her around could end up saving him...

Nanashi suddenly started to laugh for no apparently reason, although he quickly reigned it in, "I wonder, though...would you kill to save a life? Or are you so afraid of that curse of yours that you'd let others suffer so that you may rest a tad easier?" It didn't really matter how the girl answered that- he was just a bit curious. If she admitted to being the self-sacrificing type, then he'd probably put off teasing her...for a short while, anyway. But if she didn't...

[Eris]

She bit her lip. "That's different. If I must kill to save someone's life, then I will. but what you had suggested was murder." She blushed slightly. "And, no, I don't have anywhere to stay. I've tried to find an inn, but...." She sighed. "They either turn me away, or ignore me completely." She looked at him, curious. "Who are you, anyways?"

[Nanashi]

The man shrugged, "I wasn't referring to Ethan when I asked that. It was a general question." He listened to the woman speak for a bit before chuckling, "You too, eh? Although, I'm afraid that the reason I've been barred from such establishments is entirely different from yours..." When she asked who he was, he hesitated for a moment before smiling, "Didn't I already tell you? I'm a Shaman. Unless you're asking for my name, in which case...A name is only meant to distinguish one's self from others so that they can be identified easily." He slipped his hands into his pockets and tilted his head towards her, still smiling, "In which case, wouldn't you say that I distinguish myself enough as it is?"

[Eris]

She smiled mischeviously at him, tilting her head to the side like a bird. "Well then, Bob, just what did you do to get yourself banned from the inns? I've done most of the talking so far, so now it's your turn." She grinned, pushing her hair behind her ears to get it out of her face. If he's going to insist on avoiding answering my questions, I see no reason not to talk information out of him. Especially since I suspect he's been doing the same thing to me.

[Nanashi]

The man shrugged again, "Oh, a little girl picked a fight with me. The usual." That wasn't actually usual at all...on the other hand, maybe it was. Still, he returned the Tengu's smile, shaking his head slightly, "I'm not one for revealing intimate details, I'm afraid. Would ruin my air of mystery, no?" He hesitated for a moment before tapping his chin, "What about a wager? A footrace. If you win, I'll answer a single question with complete honesty. A precious gift. But if you lose...then you become my pet for a day and do everything I say without question."

[Eris]

She rolled her eyes. "An air of mystery? That is so cheesy and overrated." Looking up at him, She raised one eyebrow at him questioningly. A footrace? He had to be kidding. "Do I look like the footrace type to you? Besides, you'd have a major advantage. you don't have to deal with trying not to end up stepping on your wings, or ending up catching anything with them while you're running. Plus, you're much more athletically fit than I am. It would be a fool's bet for me to accept. But you knew that when you suggested it, didn't you?"

Grinning, she put one hand on her hip. She was enjoying talking to this stranger, which surprised her to no end. It had been a long time since she had truly enjoyed anything.