Vagabonds

[Suka & Luka]

"Luka is wishing it was night."

"But the night is cold. And dark. Suka does not like dark."

"Neither does Luka, but Luka is hot right now."

"Durr, Suka and Luka are being in sandy place. Sandy place is hot. So says News man."

It had been a few months, possibly going on five if they knew how to keep track, since their mother had chased them away. Now they were running free out in wide open, uninhibited spaces. The house no longer acted as their cage. There were no regrets, though the was due in part to not really understanding what regret was. If Yavapoi had been any semblance of a mother, they might be missing her at the moment. But as it was, they were much happier this way. Sure, they were still foraging for food, but they had to do that in the past anyway. The only difference now was that there was no monster to hurt them. Just the elements. They could tolerate the elements, there was no face staring at them after all.

Travelers who had passed them had tried now and then to stop and pick up the twins, mostly out of the good of their hearts. For being thirteen years old, they looked smaller then they should have been and therefore struck the travelers as being much younger then that actually were. Mostlty, the women who were either by themselves or were with companions tried to approach them, so the pair ran away from them everytime. They didn't trust women. The only man they had known in their lives had been their father and as far as they could remember had been good. But the only woman had been a beast. Unfortunately they hardly knew any better.

Besides, those flying metal boxes were scary in their own right anyway. The noise frightened them on top of the threat of being captured.

For five months of wandering, the twins had gotten pretty far from their old home. They usually found little niches here and there to hunker down with before it became harder and harder to properly forage. Once it seemed food was more scarce in the area they stayed, which happened quickly as they mostly scavenged for fruit after a nasty incident trying some mushrooms, they moved on. On more then one occassion, they had wound up in severe trouble when predators considered them a tasty looking snack and tried their luck. But several Fireblooms and Seeds later, all was well.

But now they had found themselves in a desert and were not fairing that well. They tried several times to make use of cacti that that came across, but both of them had suffered plenty of puncture wounds before they wised up that the tall green towers were not to be trifled with. They were becoming increasingly thirsty and hungry, with the sun glaring down at them not helping in the least. They might have had the fiery blood of Fenghuang youkai in their veins, but even they could only take so much heat without water.

The female twin paused, lifting her downcast blue eyes for a second. "Suka thinks Suka sees a town?"

"Luka thinks Suka sees stuff." The boy didn't bother lifting his head as he continued to trudge through the sand. He had seen a pile of apples earlier, but it had actually been a short cactus. It was impossible to describe in words how much that had sucked.

"No, Suka pretty sure town is there."

"Well, Suka dumb."

"No, Luka dumb."

"Suka dumb."

"Luka."

"Suka."

Instead of replying again, Suka simply lunged and tackled her brother, sending the pair rolling in the sand. They proceeded to tumble downhill towards the town Suka insisted she saw in a flurry of tattered rags and dull, unhealthy feathers. Which she did and despite Luka's claims to the contrary, was actually there. When they hit the bottom of the hill and stopped fighting out of a lack of energy, they both started to drag themselves up to their feet. But it was difficult.

"Luka tired. Time for the nap." The young youkai muttered before he flopped forward in the sand. Suka grumbled something at him, staring ahead towards the town from under her messy bangs which shadowed her face. But then she too fell over, falling across her brother's back. Sure, a nap in the middle of the fricking day wouldn't hurt anything out in the desert, right?

[Meboki-kun]

Calling the Spice Colony 'small' was deceptive. While it was nowhere near as large as the metropolises scattered across the land, it wasn't as small as some of the villages scattered about. It was fairly thriving, and there were always people in the streets. Nearly everyone moving about the streets was an Ikikesan, sporting the long ears and angular eyes peculiar to the race.

The bell of the Temple, one of the largest buildings in the colony, rang through the streets, announcing the end of the hour, and the end of lessons. One dark-haired form tore out through the doors, laughing in delight. Behind him, a monk ran out, shaking a fist and threatening to tell his mother. The lad just turned his head, sticking his head out before yelping as he tripped over a crate. Tumbling along the ground, he lay sprawled for a moment before hopping up and shaking his head, brushing his outfit off. It was a green day, for sure. Ever since his dad had left to help Uncle Shouga and Kaya, he had been wearing more and more green. The suit that he wore, called by some a 'kung fu' suit, was a rather leafy green with gold embroidery and clasps over his torso. Of course, the color was now tinged grey because of dust and dirt.

Good thing he was wearing a plain one and not a silk one.

Glancing behind him, he laughed before scampering off, running through the streets, the wind whipping his short hair back. Sounds that caught his attention caused his pointed ears to flick, his eyes searching the streets. What did he want to do...?

... He wanted to run!

With that thought cemented in his mind, he changed directions without warning, ducking under a tall man carrying a large barrel, and just laughed at the shouts as he ran towards the nearest gate.

It was the perfect day for a desert run. The sun was blazing in the sky but it wasn't the high-noon heat. And really, it was only a warm-hot day, not a hot-hot day. Ikikesans were bred to live in the desert and a quick run outside wouldn't hurt him. He'd come back sweaty, thirsty, and a bit worn out, but his mom would probably be thankful for that.

Meboki was all prepared for the run and was already sprinting out the gate and into the sands, past the laughing guards that knew him all too well, when something didn't seem... quite right. Blinking his grey-brown eyes, he kept his eyes out as he began to run-

Wait. What was that?

Skidding to a halt, he blinked at it for a long moment before changing directions and running to it. Within seconds, the speedy little shit was skidding to a halt, sending sand everywhere... and all over the two-

... The two kids? And with... feathery cloaks? No way. Those were wings! For a moment, he stared fascinated before something wrong hit him. Both of them were... passed out?

"Hey! Hey hey hey! Wake up!" Trotting forward at a much slower pace, Meboki crouched down and began to shake the two of them. They looked real little.. Were they his age? "You can't sleep out here! The sun will bake your salt away and you'll dehydrain, and then the scorpions and big spiders will come out of the sand and begin bitin' ya and start eatin' ya! C'mon! Wake up! Waaaake up! Wake up! Wake up! Waaaaake up! C'mon slow pokes! The colony's right there! I'll help ya! C'mon! Wake up!"

[Suka & Luka]

The pair had laid there for a little while before someone came around and took notice of them. The shaking disturbed Suka and she jerked up, flailing her arms and flapping her wings in a brief frenzy. An unfamiliar voice made her tense as she stopped her flailing and proceeded to register where they were again and just who was there with them now.

The Fenghuang looked up from under her dirty brown bangs to stare at Meboki with her slightly droopy, blue eyes that were wide with surprise. They were also rather bloodshot with dark circles underneath. She stared in silent awe before she made a face. Her stomach as well as her brother's growled with agitated hunger. For a moment, she slumped down with a groan. She was still so tired and weak, but she wanted out of the sun.

"Mmmm..." The winged girl let out a whine, her hands twitching as if they wanted to clench shut. She lifted her head, looking at the stranger before sluggishly looking towards the colony. Sure, it wasn't that far, but it was likely she was going to have to drag Luka's lazy butt.

The overly skinny girl fought her way up to her feet, gritting her teeth stubbornly as she brought up Luka's left hand as she stood. Coughing, Suka proceeded to unceremoniously drag her brother through the sand. "Suka...wants water. Luka, up..."

No response.

She shook his arm.

Still nothing.

She berated him through their link...

Her answer was an unconcious snore.

A sudden, strange burst of rage flooded her system out of the blue as she stopped dragging her brother and jerked down to seize the front of his shirt and cloak's collars. Then with a freakish display of strength, she yanked her brother up and practically hurled his ass to the gates. Luka flew right in and into a merchant stand of vegetables with an impressive crash. After that, Suka flopped back on her rear weakly for a second, looking dazed.

Luka on the other hand woke up and was none too pleased. "OW! What was that?!" The winged boy held his head, tears in the corners of his eyes. Yes, he was wide awake now and pretty alarmed. He froze, blinking as he realized many of the pointy eared denizens of the town were now staring at him in shock. Luka sniffed a couple times, then realized he was covered in smashed food. His mouth formed an 'o' before he started grabbing the bits that were scattered all over him and proceeded to eat them. "Food!"

"Food?" Suka lurched forward in her sitting position, then she sighed. She turned back to the boy who had found them and she reached out to him as if asking for a hand. It was hard not to pass out again. "Suka...worked too much."

[Meboki-kun]

"WAAAH!" The wail escaped the Ikikesan as he fell backwards onto the scorching sand, grey-brown eyes wide at the sudden wakening of one of the two dirty creatures. A couple of dirty feathers and some grimy down flew through the air as the wings went nuts as well as her arms. Somehow, he managed to avoid getting hit.. Well, mostly. One of her claws had nailed him on his cheek, though it was only a shallow cut.

Whoever they were, they turned to look at him with bloodshot blue eyes, dark circles underneath them. He stared right back with his own level of awe before shaking his head quickly and hopping to his feet, brushing sand off of himself.

"Suka? Is that your name? Luka's his name?" Meboki asked, but didn't quite get an answer. Worry began to grip at him as he stepped forward again to try to wake the second fellow child, or at least help drag him. "I could grab a guardsmen to help us-" However, he never got the chance, as the one that was awake- Suka?- suddenly...

...

Well, he wasn't sure what to make of that, other than that it was probably going to be blamed on him, and he'd have to help the poor merchant reconstruct the stand and try to pay for the vegetables with his own pocket money. Cupping his hands over his mouth, he hollered a "SORRY!" to the merchant before turning to stare at the one named Suka, in utter shock, his pointed ears twitching.

But the sight of her sitting there, looking so dazed and weak, then looking to him and reaching out a hand for help, snapped him out of it. Blinking several times, he hurried forward, taking her hand in one of his. Ducking under her arm, he pulled it over his shoulder like he had seen some of guardsmen do with those who had been attacked by bandits, and pulled her up. Meboki wasn't too strong. He was strong enough to carry a five year old on his shoulders for fairly decent periods of time, but he knew he could only carry someone roughly his own size for only so long.

... Unless they were really, really light. He blinked, wondering how she- or he, he couldn't tell- could be so light.

"We better get you out of the sun then! C'mon! I'll take you home. Mom won't mind, and I know dad won't. There's food and water and it's out of the sun!" Trudging through the sand, he pulled her forward, chafing at the slow pace. He couldn't help it. He was an Ikikesan and moving slow was just against his nature. Still, he managed to make decent time through the gate and into the market.

"Can anyone give me a hand?? They're both real, real sick! Sunsick too! I'm real sorry about the damage, but it was an accident!" The cheerful son of the priest said, looking for an adult to give him a hand in helping the weak Suka and the gobbling Luka to his home.

[Suka & Luka]

Being built for flight, Fenghuang weren't particularly heavy at all to start with, which was part of the reason Suka managed to hurl Luka with relative ease in her state as well as the fact she had gotten a brief rage bonus. Her deteriorated state simply helped make her even lighter on top of it.

Suka sighed warily as she was helped up and trudged slowly with the strange boy. Deep down, she felt nervous around these strangers. She looked at their buildings like they were repugnant cages. She would accept some help, food, water...But she wouldn't endure being kept indoors. Neither would her brother.

"Well, I might as well considering most of goods wouldn't sell this way anyway..." The merchant took the crashing of his stand fairly well. From what it looked like, it was simply a bunch of kids doing what they did best though the new pair he was looking at were something else. If he had to guess, they were probably demons as he'd seen some that lived in the desert. The scorpion demons were not the friendliest bunch, but they kept to themselves for the most part. These two however, looked more avian then arachnid.

The Ikikesan let Luka get his fill of the fresh vegetables while his son started the clean-up before he scooped him up to take with him as they followed young Mekobi to his home. "I'll be back shortly, Keihi, just let me take this boy with them." At least they would only have to worry about feeding the other child unless this one was a bottomless pit. From what he could feel, the lad needed some nutrition in a dire way, so he was not entirely put off about him devouring the food.

"Who?" Luka asked, looking up at the merchant.

"Ah, Nikkei." The man answered, staring down at the strange bundle. "And you?"

"Luka."

"Well, Luka...I hope you enjoyed those vegetables. Your breaking my stand has left me in a slight bind for now. Nothing a little bit of elbow grease won't fix though...Hm?" The Ikikesan sighed lightly, looking somewhat surprised as it seemed Luka didn't seem to fully understand him. Actually, he quickly learned the boy didn't seem to register half of anything as he spoke to him while they walked. "Mm, you must have grown up wild..."

[Meboki-kun]

Man, did Meboki luck out on that one. If he had broken Kore Rihu's fruit stand, they would have been chased away by the man with a broom. That man was remarkably short-tempered, and had no patience for children who were a bit on the... destructive side. Then again, he was also son of one of the Elders, so what was to be expected?

"Niiiikkei-sama!" He called out in relief, grateful that at least it was someone who was a bit kinder who had responded to his call for help... And someone who wasn't a complete butt. "Sorry about your stand... Again! I'll come by an' help ya out, eh? This time, we'll make it even better!" The youth piped cheerfully, a grin on his face.

The grin faded after a moment as he glanced to the kid that he was helping walk through the sand-strewn streets towards his home. The sun was only affecting him a bit, but he didn't let it bother him that much. He could tell it was hitting these two fairly hard.

"You both look real sunsick, ya'know? Ya must have been out there for a long time... I'll make sure ya get some water, but you're gonna have to drink it slow, or you'll get sick... I'll probably have to make sure you drink it slow..."

His training wasn't all that great right now, but he was fairly confident that he could identify and at least clean any wounds they might have. But if they were real, real sick, he might have to find someone from the Temple. If only his dad was here! His dad could fix everything! There was nothing that Kyo Midori couldn't do! Alas, however, his dad was gone with Uncle Shouga and Uncle Supaisu, looking for the missing Princess.

The center of the colony held the 'royal palace', as well as the temple for the monks. Lucky for the twin Fenghuang, they weren't going quite that far. While his home was near the temple, it was still out just a bit. It was a larger building, with a modest courtyard, and a larger backyard. A happy sigh escaped him at the sight of his home, though it didn't seem like his mom was home.

She must be at the temple... Or visitting Aunt Bunny. The boy thought before he pulled her to the large, arched doorway. "Here we are! It's nice an' cool inside. There's food too. An' we'll get ya cleaned up too! I dunno how we'll get them over your wings but we'll get ya some clothes too! I think you can both fit in my clothes!" He wasn't really sure if she heard him or not, but he was something of a chatterbox anyways.

[Suka & Luka]

"Sure, better." Nikkei would prefer not having to rebuild the stand more then once but fate didn't seem to favor him that much. Oh well...

"Yah!" Suka abruptly let out a little shriek and writhed in Meboki's grip when he brought her to the doorway. She had watched as the house loomed closer and closer, eyes darting back and forth betweem the potential cage and the boy helping her along. When it fully dawned on her that they were going to step in, she panicked. By some grace of the Gods, she managed not to cut the boy up as she wriggled free and shot off into his home's backyard.

On her cue, Luka rolled himself out of Nikkei's arms and toppled to the ground before springing up to chase after his sister. The older Ikikesan blinked at the behavior as the pair found a bushy, shaded spot where they hid. Twin sets of eyes stared at them from a distance and he could tell they were wary now. "Huh...Well, I suppose they most certainly are wild youkai. Meboki-kun, you might have to be careful with them..." He glanced towards the doorway and then to them. "They may have to be kept outside, but perhaps we can erect them a little tent or some coverage."

While he didn't like the idea of the twin birds staying outside, it was better safe then sorry to try and force them around. Youkai, when pushed, were dangerous creatures. The pair were young, but they didn't seem all that disciplined if they behavior was anything to go by. "Mm, get them some water and food, I will see to the issue of an unenclosed shelter..." The merchant disappeared back towards his stall where he knew he had some tools and a swath of heavy linen which would do for a temporary cover over their heads.

Luka wound up laying his head down once it seemed they would not be dragged out from their bush just yet and started to doze. His sister stared at him, somewhat resentful since he had gotten some food earlier. She was still hungry as well as tired. The girl fought the urge to sleep, wanting to bring herself to go find something or to kick Luka awake so he could do it for her.

[Meboki-kun]

... Well that was unexpected.

Meboki was left standing there, blinking his eyes at the two youkai in mild confusion. Looking over at Nikkei, he gave him a surprised look, about to ask what that was about when the merchant spoke, answering the unspoken question.

"Oooh... like the desert bunnies I picked up that one time..." Meboki said knowingly, remembering the disastrous incident. The creatures had been found by Meboki, one with a broken foot, the other suffering injuries. He had snuck them back home and kept them in his room but they had panicked at being locked in his room and had thrashed his bed before escaping into the rest of the house.

"Got it. I think mom has a canopy that she sometimes used when father and I were training." Meboki said cheerfully, looking around the yard for the perfect place to erect it. "I'll talk to mom about that tonight!"

At the order to go get food and water, the boy nodded before ducking into his home, diving straight for the kitchen. There were always jugs of water in the cool cellar, and fruits as well. Grabbing a bowl of desert fruits and one of the jugs, he made his way back out, stopping only to grab a cup. It was doubtful he could get her to use it, but it was worth a shot.

"Hey!" The boy shifted the bowl held in the crook of his arm up to show it to the- Well, it looked like only the girl. A smile touched his lips as he moved forward, slowly so as not to spook them. He had spooked animals before by accident and they had always struck out at him.

"Your brother got some food out there, so you must be hungry too, right, Suka? You said your name was Suka earlier, right? Oh yeah! I'm Meboki. Meboki Midori. Here's some fruit and water. But drink the water real slow. You're sick." Setting the bowl down, he picked up one of the hard-skinned desert fruits and began to crack it open to the fleshy inside, holding the fruit out to her after.

[Suka & Luka]

As Nikkei came back to erect a little coverage for some temporary shelter, Suka eyed the food and water brought to her greedily. Her brother was already stirring, and the pig that he was, started to try and take the food being offered by Meboki. She gave a squawk of authority and punched him in the head, though said action made her flinch as well.

"Luka want!" He whined.

"Is Suka's! SUKA'S!" She punched him again, "Luka eated. Suka not! Suka hungry!"

The girl's wings and plumes puffed out to nearly double their size and while it would have been one hell of a display were her feathers at top health, it wasn't all that threatening. But her shrieks certainly were as Luka backed down. The Fenghuang boy rolled on his side, waving a hand at her for her to ease up. It was clear who the more dominant of the two was.

Unheeding Meboki's advice as she had a greedy, hungry brother to content with, she snatched the food that was held out and inbetween bites, drank the water. Nikkei's scoffed lightly at the pair. "I think you'll have to have Ms. Suka keep Mr. Luka in line if he causes any trouble. But be careful, they seem rather volatile..." He chuckled at that, as he had his own sister and she could be a smug, raging dictator when she wanted to be. "We'll have to let the Elders know about them, so no one else gets blindsided with their presence. Do you want to take care of that or should I?"

He slowly crouched down. The boy drank some water from the cup the Ikikesan filled while the girl drank from the jug. Nikkei eyed their wings and the plumage, studying it. The feathers weren't from any bird he had ever seen before, and they must be colorful at peak health if the faded colors were anything to go by. "You'll be able to tell when they start getting better when their feathers improve, I think, besides the obvious filling out. I can't tell how old they might actually be, their growth may have been badly affected depending on how long they've been going hungry. Given some time, they should get more comfortable and stable."

After some hiccups and a rather impressive belch for a small girl, Suka curled up against her brother once she was done eating and drinking. Luka gave a wide yawn and nuzzled close against her, dozing off with his sister in the shade. Nikkei shook his head. They would pass for cute if they weren't so troublesome.

[Meboki-kun]

Meboki was going to wind up becoming deaf if these two continued to keep that up. The Ikikesan child's ears twitched at the squawk, wincing. Before he could try to apologetically tell Luka that this food was for Suka, who had to be hungrier, the girl had already taken care of it, and Meboki's eardrums, on her own. He watched the puffing of her feathers with some fascination, even as he blinked at the pitiful sight caused by the clumps of grease, oil and dirt clotting the faded feathers.

Wow... I bet she's gorgeous when she's cleaned up. As a druid who occasionally took on the shape of a bird- Or tried to- he could appreciate beautiful feathers when he saw them. The appreciation was short-lived, as the shrieking once again reminded him how precious hearing was. Unfortunately, there was little for him to do, except hope his long ears wouldn't be damaged. Freeing his hands would mean dropping the jug of water and the fruit, and he wasn't about ot do that. Instead, he tried to keep up with the girl as she claimed her right over the food, cracking open the hard desert fruit as fast as he could, and pouring her water. It was regretful that she'd probably be sick later, but maybe that would help her understand, especially once she realized that he only wanted to help them.

"Um. If you wanna mention it to them, go ahead. I'm gonna talk to mother as soon as she gets home so she can talk to father." The cheeky grin that Meboki sent to Nikkei was well-deserved. He knew very well that his father had a fairly high standing in the colony, as both a priest and a close friend of the Crown Prince. If he could get his dad on his side with this, as he had no doubt that he would, then it would be easier to fend off the Elder's protests. There was no way that Meboki was going to let them leave as sick as they were.

Turning his grey-brown eyes back to the two demons, he finished cracking open the last fruit and held it out to her, taking the cup back to refill it. "Sure looks her- I mean their- feathers'll be pretty when they're cleaned up and healthier! I'll get 'em nice and healthy then find out how old they are and stuff." Of course, it seriously looked like they were his age, and he wasn't really believing that they might be older then hi-

Wow. That was one hell of a burp for a girl as tiny as her. Shaking his head, he set down the cup and looked up at Nikkei. "Thank you for all your help, Nikkei-sama. I'm gonna go start lookin' around for stuff for them." A frown touched the boy's lips as he stood up. "I'm gonna have to find a basin for them, huh? They won't go inside, an' I bet the Elders will kick us out of the hot springs at the public baths. Which means that whatever canopy I get set up's gonna have to have privacy. I wonder if they'll freak out about a closed tent like they would the house?" Frowning, he watched them thoughtfully before shaking his head again.

"I'm gonna have to have mom talk to dad for me. He'll know what to do. Thanks again, Nikkei-sama."

[Suka & Luka]

Nikkei's eye twitched when the children were shrieking. They definitely had the voices for birds, which would mean they could probably sing just as sweetly. But that wouldn't be until they were less likely to fight over things and calmed down. He stood by for a moment, watching as the boy got them fed. It certainly looked like Suka was starting to get some indigestion, at least she wasn't tossing it all back up. Demons had impressive fortitude after all. She might wind up nauseous, but her body would probably hold onto and burn up whatever she got before it really had the chance to come up.

Well, going to the Elders was a moot point, considering Meboki's father. There wasn't much of a need to go sending word, but safe was better than sorry. He would give the boy a little time to pass word along to his father at least.

His bright eyes widened slightly when the girl belched before she settled down for what he suspected would be a powernap with her brother. There was no doubt in his mind they were going to be a troublesome pair. He contemplated how Meboki would set about getting them cleaned up, not paying any mind to the kid's possible interest in the girl's plumes. "I reckon they'll be colorful at least. I could swear I've seen plumage like that before. Perhaps when I retire for the evening I'll dip into my textbooks." He had a fascination with the wildlife of Earth and as such had plenty of books on the matter. Demons, due to their seeming part animal nature, fell somewhere in there too. He would find something.

"They may not mind a tent as much, but I can't say for certain. For all we know, they may be adverse to any and all manner of building. As far as beating said distaste, letting them freely explore going in may help over time, so they can see it's not a threat." Glancing around the garden, he mulled the situation over. It made him wonder why they seemed afraid of entering the house, most likely wherever they came from, it must have been like a prison. Maybe a cage of sorts? They certainly were wild enough for it. "What you could do is use some of your larger shrubbery and put a blanket up for a sort of veil effect. It would still feel open and natural for them and probably won't spook them like an enclosed space would."

He nodded as Meboki offered his thanks and he prepared to head back to see how his family cleaned the mess up. "Sure thing, kiddo. I'll give you some time before I inform the elders so you can inform Kyo and I'll get back with you on anything I find out about what they are." The older Ikikesan gave a wave, turning to leave while the twins were busy sleeping off their fatigue. He gave a silent prayer for Meboki. He had the feeling his hands would be busy. Incredibly so.

[Meboki-kun]

The shrieking was really going to be something to get used to. Meboki could only hope that eventually they'd get past shrieking. It really was a bit harsh on sensitive Ikikesan ears. Ah well, he'd figure out a way around it. Or ajust. Eventually his ears would stop being so sensitive, right?

Lucky for him, he had Nikkei here to help him! As far as Meboki was concerned, Nikkei was pretty awesome. He was nowhere near as cool as his dad, but considering how goodnatured Nikkei was about Meboki being involved in another breaking of his market cart, he was pretty cool. And now he was helping him! That was even better! Actually when it came to wildlife, Nikkei was one of the best. He had so many books about them.

"They're gonna be real colorful, for sure! You're right, Nikkei-sama!" Meboki responded cheerfully, even as he set down the jug of water, watching Suka- and Luka too, he guessed- before looking over at Nikkei. "Huh... that's a great idea! Oooh, and maybe I can practice some of my spells that Prince Shouga was teaching me before he left and grow some vines to kind of drape over the entrance! There's a type that doesn't require much water...!"

Bouncing on his feet, Meboki directed that infectious grin at Nikkei, waving as he turned to leave. "Thanks again, Nikkei-sama! I seriously owe ya!" He hooted after him, bouncing before turning and racing with that racial speed to his house, tracking sand in that he'd get yelled at for later and went digging around for a blanket big enough.



It took some time, but he managed to figure something out. He ended up having to try to take his feline form to jump up on to the hedges with the blanket in his mouth to drag it over properly. Ropes fastened through holes in the blankets- holes that his mother would kill him for- kept the blankets hooked on the hedges. In a desert, where sandstorms were frequent, the blanket would be gone faster then Princess Sansho on her wedding day.

The vine spell had worked like a charm, though he had only managed a few lengths of vine before he grew too tired. And when that happened, he munched on a fruit before digging up space sleeping blankets, attempting to make it look cozy and inviting.

"Now I just have to figure out how to get them clean..."

[Suka & Luka]

Bright blue eyes watched as the one named Nikkei made his way off and the other one seemed to get busy running about. Suka was tired, but the change in company and the movement made it hard to relax until it all seemed to settle down. Her brother on the other hand, was beyond careless as he snored loudly, fast asleep and unworried. The female Fenghuang glowered at him for a second before laying her head back down.

While Meboki worked to make a more natural, less restrictive habitat of sorts, Nikkei went back to check on the status of his cart. Thanks to Luka, in a way, the smashed up fruit and vegetables that needed to be cleaned up had been at a minimum. They took the cart back home and he took a moment on the side before he got around to fixing it to go searching his small library in the underground of his family's home. There was a plethora of books on flora, fauna, geology, farming, and there was a slim but informative selection on otherworldly things encountered on Earth. To him, it paid to have resources to cite.

"Hm, demons...Here we are." Demonologists, as they seemed to call themselves, were humans and even cooperating demons working with them that helped compile a manner of encyclopedia on demons. Considering their growing numbers, it made sense. The Ikikesan sat down and flipped through the selection of avians. He found it interesting that a large portion of the demon population seemed animalistic. It made him wonder why humans gave them such a bad reputation if they seemed like such a part of nature. Then again, most humans that saw an Ikikesan thought they were elves or something of that nature. Superstition was an odd thing.

"Hm, hm...Hm?" The brown-haired farmer tilted his head as he seemed to find a match. 'Fenghuang...?' The wings and plumage shown in the artist rendering looked a lot like the two they found, indicating they would indeed be colorful. Well, he would have to show Meboki that in a little while but for now he bookmarked the page and sat the book down. He had a cart to get to work on if it was going to be usable again soon.