One Spooky Meeting (Closed | Cherish)

The receding beams of gold, red, and pink sunlight streaked across the sky and painted the dark colors of the nighttime blue with a bit of brightness. The warm glows reflected off the distant buildings, casting them in warm, welcoming colors that hid away the boring, monotonous tones of civilization. This was one of the very few times that she could gaze out in the distance and feel some sort of happiness about the path people had gone down.

The woman who blended into the shadows with her dark attire stood with only a tree to shield her away from any prying eyes that may have wanted to interrupt her moment of isolated brooding. Karakura was, after all, full to the brim with bright-eyed humans who were getting their first few peeks into the spiritual world. Logically speaking, there was hardly any of them in comparison to the massive numbers of mundane humans, but there was enough to deter her from walking the streets during the middle of the day.

Actually, now that she thought about it, just what was she doing there?

A groan and the telltale sounds of someone tumbling into the dirt and grass pulled her attention away from the scenic view. She pivoted on one heel, half turning to let her golden gaze linger at the crest of the hill. There was a pause, them some more shuffling, and then a few grumbles. Moments later, she made eye contact with the young looking boy who had caused all the disturbance. They stared for a moment, the woman with her frowning lips and aloof eyes, and the boy with his more timid and perhaps comical demeanor. He struck her as a protagonist in a comedy, or perhaps a tragedy.

"Hello," her voice came out soothing and warm, like a mother welcoming her child home. Though she did not smile, she did turn to properly face him. "You look lost."

The chains that hooked onto her metal armor clanged as a strong gust of wind buffeted her and the boy. Frayed, blood stained fabric whipped around her form, battling against her long, pale hair. Resting atop her head and forehead was some sort of M-shaped crown. In many ways, she looked like the sort of person you absolutely did not want to see waiting atop a lonely hill too far from the comforts of the city.

The sound of the voice had a similar effect upon Hiroto as the assorted noises of the woods had- a startled jump. No longer focused upon the slight pain the fall had caused his sparkling blue eyes flitted up to lock upon the oddly dressed woman. Reaching his hands up to rub at his eyes, to make sure he wasn't seeing things. Shaking his head after discerning that yep, there definitely was a woman in full armor standing there he went to move closer.

A few tentative foot-steps closer was all he seemed willing to take, If only to catch a better glimpse. The sight only really granting a look at the blood-soaked cloth that wrapped around her. But despite his hesitant, nervous approach he'd manage to force his concerned expression into one slightly more optimistic. A weak smile taking shape upon his lips as he spoke with a quiet stutter-ridden voice that steadily grew more even as he collected himself. "H-hello! I..I'm not lost, Just uhh.. A nice night to go looking for.." He paused and shifted about on the spot, concluding the statement in a quieter, meek voice. "eheh.. Ghosts. Silly right?" He admitted somewhat embarrassed by the silliness of his own quest as he rubbed at the back of his head awkwardly.


The light of the setting sun stretching his shadow out behind him, granting a somewhat comical comparison to what it cast from. "E-ehm.. If it's not too rude of me to ask, Why are you dressed like some sort of knight? Are you maybe a.. cosplayer?" The secondary questions coming free with an honest curiosity it seemed, followed by a nervous little laugh as he kept his distance for the time being, clearly not intent on getting axe murdered in the woods if he was wrong.

Oh. He didn't know.

The woman stood with rigid posture. Shoulders completely straight and pushed back, chin held high, and her hands resting neatly at her side. Perhaps if she was draped in a flowery, more pleasant looking dress, she might have looked like a wealthy woman from medieval times. In fact, take away the ominous clothing and the growing darkness of the impending nighttime, she would have looked rather nice and friendly. A sight for sore eyes. Amazing how easily perceptions can be changed based on one's clothes.

Slowly, she shook her head at his question, a smile playing across her face. "No, I'm not a cosplayer," she answered simply. She showed no interest in lingering on the topic, though, and instead circled back. "But a shrine far away from town is certainly the place to hunt for ghosts."

She turned towards the tree and placed a hand on it. As if to tremble in fear, another gust of wind shook the tree, shaking free a few, scared leaves. The sticks and branches tangled within the mess of the foliage creaked and groaned for a moment before settling down. At some point, a branch had been shook just a bit too hard and it had snapped free from its home. It came toppling to the ground, bashing against leaves and other branches before it landed a ways away from the tree.

"I know a few ghost stories that might help you in your hunt," she said, her attention still focused on the tree as she accessed... something hidden away in the branches. "Want me to share a few?"

Bright blue eyes swiveled themselves over to the tree she touched then back upon her shadowed face. His expression speaking a number of things in a very short span of time, apprehension and curiosity flickering over his face before they had been replaced with the same uneasy smile from before. His own posture considerably more timid, his shoulders a little hunched with his hands raising to lock fingers together in an uneasy fidget. Giving a slight shudder at the passing breeze, Hiroto zipped his bright green jacket up and straightened it out to make himself more presentable. His head however gave a little bob after a thoughtful moment, the human roaming over to retrieve the fallen stick, using the end of it to draw a comical looking spooky ghost in the dirt.

"Is that why you're here too? Hunting for ghosts? That'd explain all the armor.. I guess. It's sort of like you're a noble adventurer wandering the land on a quest to slay monsters." He spoke the observations more for his own benefit than hers, it seemed as they came out as a sort of mutter. His attention turning back up upon her. "If you would like to share your stories with me, It will at least have made my hunt a little more interesting, for sure!"

He chimed back up with a chipper voice, giving a genuinely bright smile. "Oh! I'm Hiroto Kobayashi, It's very nice to meet you." He offered his name freely, it was impolite not to introduce ones self after all and even if she was dressed scary, She didn't seem all that bad to him.

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271

"I go by Cherish," the woman responded in kind, her chin dipping downward in a polite nod towards the younger boy.

Cherish smile down at his artwork, her head tilting ever so slightly as she lifted a hand from her side. Fingers lazily spread, as if to beckon for something to come, within her palm materialized a spear. From thin air, the worn, tattered weapon fit into her grasp and she soon wrapped her fingers around it. The cherry wood that made up the bulk of the weapon was dirtied by what appeared to be a mixture of blood and soil and splintered edges stuck out from random parts, namely around where her hand rested. The tip of the spear was of similar fashion; a worn, tired looking piece of metal was dulled at the tip from overuse and the base that held the metal to the wood was chipped and scarred.

With the tip pointed to the ground, she began to add onto his drawing. Her lines, thinner by nature of the tool she was using, were clean and straight, like a practiced artist, or someone intimately familiar with the tool they were using. Across the comical eyes and O-shaped mouth, she started to draw what appeared to be a mask.

"A long time ago, monsters roamed the lands," she began her story in tandem with her drawing. "Massive, horrifying beasts that killed mercilessly. They went by many names: Yōkai, demons, mogwai. But all across the world, they were feared just the same."

The mask was completed. It was largely skull-shaped to best fit the "tone" of the artwork presented and offered no real details aside from a trio of line marks crying from behind the ghost's eyes that lay hidden behind the smallest of eye holes. She took the opportunity to look up at Hiroto and then gesture to her face.

"They were almost always depicted as wearing masks as white as bone," she continued. Her fingertips brushed over the M-shaped crown atop her head, drawing attention to its own whiteness and bone-like appearance. "These masks took many shapes and were as varied as the beasts were. Some were simple and reminiscent of man." She poked her spear towards the drawing in the dirt below. "Others were more intricate and adorned with many studs, lines, and ferocious marks, much like scars."

She took this chance to begin a new drawing beside the ghost Hiroto had provided. Sketchy, vague lines were hashed out into the dirt, leaving a messy and hard to follow pattern at first, but as she spoke it grew clearer and clearer. A humanoid form was depicted from the chest up. Mostly feminine, but adorning one of the aforementioned masks. This one was far more detailed. The mask had a liquid-like feel to it, with lines connecting and breaking away from each other as it "melted" over the woman's face. There was no signs of eyes or mouth.

"These ghost -- we'll call them Hollows for the sake of the story -- were as worshiped as they were feared," she explained as more details were added to her work. "Man would pray to the Hollows and hope they would be spared. However, the Hollows are not ones to listen. They're irrational and primal. They hunger at all times and lack any sort of emotional response, especially to their prey. So, they would hunt. Relentlessly. They terrorized many countries, many homes, and may families."

Her drawing of the woman was finished and now she took the time to pluck out some grass that was starting to get in the way of the greater picture. Once more space was cleared out, she began to draw a man. Like before, it started out as a hazy, hard to follow image, but soon took shape of a person wearing a long, black robe. He proudly held a thin sword high into the air and a few lines were drawn around it, as if to symbolize light coming from the tip of the blade.

"But not all ghosts were as evil," she dropped her tone, as if sad. "Brave warriors from the afterlife banded together and taught themselves the way of purification so that they could protect the mortal realm. We'll call these men Shinigami -- death spirits, as I'm sure you're aware. They slew countless Hollows and after countless centuries and many terrible battles, they won their war against the monsters that drove mankind to near insanity. And, for a very, very long time, there was balance. Hollows would be born every night and still feast upon the unlucky, but the brave Shinigami would fearlessly drive the Hollows back before dawn."

Cherish pulled herself away from the artwork and instead stood up straight. The tip of her spear dug into the dry soil at her side as she leaned on it ever so gently. As if proud of her story, she smiled down at Hiroto.

"They say Hollows still exist, and so do the Shinigami," she began to end her story. "You can hear their battles and cries every night if you listen hard enough. Some even say that a lot of natural disasters are caused by the war between those two spirits. Many people even think the terrorist bombing here in Karakura a few years ago was a particularly awful spat between some of the strongest of the two races."

Her smile blossomed a bit more, as if she found the idea ridiculous. In fact, she even giggled a little and then shook her head.

"But there are also people who think lizards run the world, so who knows what exactly is the truth."