(Blue, Luca, and Twin) New House, New Friends

[TwinTigerPaw]

Morning came as it always did. It was his first day with the new house. Yoko looked around his small room. Still only decorated with a bed and empty book shelf. He would soon be able to decorate it up to suit him once they got things worked out. Yoko got up and got his beginners uniform and went to bath house to get ready, making sure that he waited for the baths to be free. He was still shy and didn't want to bath around others. Now he was ready for the day.

Stepping out of the bathhouse, Yoko ran down the open halls and to the restaurant where everyone else was already awake and getting ready to open. "Good morning, Yoko." Gau said, greeting his new child. Gau did not mind him being a little late, and could guess why.

"Today I'll have you shadow Tex, because he's nice and I'm sure you know him from the market, and Aderyn since he knows the roaps better." The dema explained. Yoko nodded a little before walking in and looking for those two shiniko. He had seen Tex at the market, but couldn't remember talking to him much. Which one was Aderyn again?

[BluePawProductions]

Aderyn was just setting out the last of the biscuits to go with lunch, brushing his casual attire off of crumbs. He wasn't technically on the clock today, but he still often cooked for the family regardless. He was planning on enjoying his off day, so he was wearing some nice, comfortable, casual Friday sort of attire that an adult man would wear but...obviously significantly smaller for his tiny man-child body. Feeling the nervous new kid approach, he glanced up from where he was and gave a greeting head nod of recognition.

Tex was more eager. Roe had already scooted off to do her own thing and dismissed herself from the house, but Tex was waiting just for the new face. "Hey~" he brightly called with a wave, setting down his plate and slipping out from the booth. The tall blonde easily padded across the space between them and greeted, "I'm Tex, sort for Texas, but I'm not /from/ Texas. I'm from Stonewall." His usual explanation that he offered everyone. He just grinned a doofy, friendly grin. "I'm sure you've heard of me in all the wrong ways, but I've never had the pleasure of your acquaintance. It's nice to meet you~ Welcome to the house."

[TwinTigerPaw]

Yoko looked over at Aderyn and gave a little nod before looking up at Tex. He was so tall! "Oh, I had heard a few things. Chrota told me about you, and so did other dema, but I kinda like getting to know people myself." Yoko said and gave a head bow. "My name is Yoko by the way, I'm pleased to meet you."

Gau smiled, knowing that the kids were at least doing well. Yoko was a quiet child and seemed to not want to offend anyone, so hopefully, Aderyn would not get frustrated.

"I guess you probably know a bit about me too right? I was the one that guarded the market." Yoko added in. This small thing... He guarded the market?!

[BluePawProductions]

Tex gave a warm smile in response, always thrilled to meet a friendly face, and a new brother at that! "I can appreciate that," He replied, "Most people jump to conclusions about me and it's sorta' uncool. Can't say as I blame them though." He dipped his head in a slight bow as well. "Nice to make your acquaintance, Yoko. That's a really coon name~"

Aderyn rose a brow at the mention of that small thing protecting the market, but Tex didn't seem to bat an eye. Not missing a beat, he chimed brightly, "I heard of you, yeah. They called you just Yokai though. I never got to spot you around."

[TwinTigerPaw]

The soft-faced child gave a smile. Tex was very nice. Not quite what other demas had told him. Chrota had only ever warned him that Tex's powers were extremely volatile. At least he seemed to have it under control for now.

"Oh, you probably had walked passed me many times actually. If you've ever seen a six-foot tall spider looking phantom creature, that was me. I have the power to turn into yokai, only the Jorōgumo, and Tengu, though." Yoko explained. "That's why they called me The Yokai."

[BluePawProductions]

"Oh, bro, I totally would have remembered that! It sounds real awesome!" He beamed, "You should show off sometime and wow us all with your mad skills~" A small grin awkwardly twitched across his features as he added, "I mean, I can show mine a bit, but the full extent isn't safe around people."

"Would you stop accosting the new kid?" Aderyn's young but harsh voice cut across from where he was, chiding Tex."Yoko, was it? Come get some breakfast. It's gunna go cold before you get to eat if you talk to that one."

[TwinTigerPaw]

The shiniko smiled nervously at the thought of using his powers but relaxed a little when Aderyn offered breakfast, thus dropping the subject for a little while.

"Breakfast sounds great! I... I can really have some?" He asked curiously and looked over at what was offered. It smelled really good. He had only ever heard legends of Gau's cooking but never got to taste it. Aderyn could probably catch that unease about powers.

[BluePawProductions]

"Yeah, of course you can eat some, ya bl-"

"It's great!" Tex acutely cut Aderyn off and interjected, "You're part of the family now, so you can take whatever you want. Just go ahead and eat up. You gotta get settled and all, right? We can help you out with that today if you'd like to."

[TwinTigerPaw]

Yoko gave a smile as Aderyn was interrupted. He simply nodded since they both were telling him to sit down and eat.

Gau was happy. They seemed to be getting along pretty well for the most part. He turned his head when he heard the front doors open. The smell of ash and dirt hit his nose, and he knew just who it was. "Chrota...? What are you doing here? Is something wrong?" He asked. Hoping that the dema didn't change his mind on Yoko.

"Well, nothing is terribly wrong, but inconveniently, a problem has come up and I require your help. The market phantom, Con got out of his cell this morning and he's gone to an isolated area that we don't want him in. Yoko's skills are well suited for dealing with him too..." The dema said.

Yoko was only just starting to try his food when he noticed his former dema and shivered. "Finish your breakfast child," Chrota told him reassuringly.

[BluePawProductions]

Tex joined Yoko in the booth and slid back in cheerily, taking his plate back and starting to finish what he'd left to go say hello to the boy. His faded brow eyes seemed to beam with happiness to have his new brother in the house and, better yet, to have one that was so pleasant. Some shiniko were so much harder when they first came. Like Roe...Whew, that was intense, from what Juliet had told him. He was glad he'd been on the easier side too...

Aderyn skipped settling down with those two. Opting to instead wipe his hands off on his cooking apron and approach the demas. His ears picked up on the mention of Con...That troublesome phantom. "So you're saying you want our house to help you track him down and round him up? Is that what I'm hearing?" Rude way to ask, sure, but straightforward enough. He didn't want to waste time on little niceties and small talk. If this was business, they needed to handle it, be done, and move on with life.

The shiniko stole a glance at Gau to see what he was thinking. It was ultimately up to him. Aderyn was game, but he didn't know exactly how this would go, given the phantom's nature.

[TwinTigerPaw]

"Essentially, yes," Chrota said to reply to Aderyn. Gau nodded a little. "Aderyn, I'll be bringing you, Yoko, and Tex will come along... Your brilliant mind, Yoko's powers and Tex's fire will be useful." The dema said.

Yoko was listening in and looked over to Tex, part way through stuffing a mouth full of biscuits and gravy into his mouth. "I think Gau wants us for a market mission." He said as he proceeded to stuff his face quickly. If that was the case, he would have to go get ready and change his form so he'd be ready to deal with Con.

"Do you mind maybe sitting down with a little tea for a moment Chrota? Tex and Yoko are just now getting to eating breakfast." Gau asked. The market dema simply nodded. That was fine, he understood they needed to eat their food in order to fight properly.

[BluePawProductions]

Aderyn gave a serious nod, agreeing with Gau's decision without question. He, of course, had to carefully overthink pretty much every aspect of the plan to work it out in his head. Would they have enough? Would this group be ready for a phantom like Con? Gau would be at their back, so probably. Where was Con headed? How motivated would he be to get there? What sorts of supplies should he bring? He had to prepare.... He wished that Juliet was there for support, maybe Damien for extra muscle. He was sure they could handle it if they worked smart, but these two, Tex and Yoko, were both relatively new. This could be troublesome...

"I'm going to grab some things to bring with us," Aderyn told his dema, making a mental list of everything to get from his supplies to fight a large, potentially hostile phantom. He gave his dema a swift pat as he passed to let him know he was headed out.

Tex took the cue from Yoko and stuffed the rest of what he had on his plate in his mouth all at once, taking his plate into the kitchen and scurrying to grab his shoes. As he was throwing them on, he managed to swallow and asked Gau "We headed out to the market?"

[TwinTigerPaw]

Gau gave Aderyn a nod and then looked to Tex, giving him a nod as well. "Yep. The phantom Con decided to make a great escape today, and Chrota needs a hand getting him back." He explained as Yoko passed them. "I need to go get ready and changed then. I'll be right back! I'll need five minutes at least." The young shiniko said.

Chrota nodded and then offered out a small black box. "I have some of Con's tranquilizers with me, as well as some other low-grade tranqs. Hopefully, Aderyn is a good shot?" He said with a slight head tilt.

[BluePawProductions]

Tex started to throw his shoes on and ruffled his hair out to be presentable. "Oh yeah, he's a great shot," He assured Crota, "I mean, Aderyn's pretty great at everything. He's been doing a lot of stuff for a bunch of years. I think he might be a perfectionist because he can't seem to let himself just be subpar at anything."

"You talking shite?" Aderyn's voice cut back in sarcastically, tossing Tex a pack of supplies to carry and keeping one slung over his shoulder. "Yes, I can hit a target, especially one that big. No, I don't know everything, dumb git. I just like to be prepared."

Tex giggled like some child teasing his older brother and went to tousle the smaller shank's hair, to which he was easily dodged. "Yoko will be right back and we'll head out right away I think," he informed.

[TwinTigerPaw]

Chrota just simply nodded and looked to Aderyn when he returned. "Very well, then I will trust these with your care then." He said, handing Aderyn the drug box. Gau also gave a nod. That was a sage option.

A moment passed and Gau had a look on his face, like realizing what Yoko was doing, and he worried. He had seen the past ten years of that kid's life and he saw what yokai transformations did to him.

"I- I'm ready!" Yoko called. He was outside and returning to the group waiting, but he looked taller. A lot taller, with eight spiny spider legs protruding from his back. His skin was now purple, and he had six yellow eyes. Yoko's hair was teal too. This was one of his yokai forms he mentioned earlier.

He had a pained look on his face, not having had the full five minutes to take the time to rest before moving. He was hurting, but it would wear off soon. Surely now Tex and Aderyn would be able to remember seeing him once before if they were ever at the market while he was working.

[BluePawProductions]

Aderyn took the case with a simple nod. "Thank you, Crota. This will make things much easier." Looking to the dema, he kept his proper respects for their status. Market dema or not, he was still a dema and often an ally of Gau's. "Will you be accompanying us on this outing?" He asked politely, seriously. Crota could be of use in this, but he also might be better off keeping other demas and phantoms from coming after the runaway. They didn't need unwanted company dropping in.

As Yoko returned, Tex seemed not to immediately recognize him... He probably had been in different areas or perhaps hadn't been in a good enough state of mind to take note of it, but he certainly noticed now. An impressed whistle escaped him as he looked the boy up and down. "See, told you I'd be blown away," he noted with a proud grin.

Aderyn was more readily able to identify him. He'd definitely seen that and /definitely/ remembered it! "Alright then....that's bloody unexpected," he gave a sidelong look to Gau, knowing that he must have been privy to this and hadn't told him. He liked to know everything about the new shiniko that he could...Something about being the first shiniko of the house and being responsible for them. His dema must have just neglected to tell him or wanted this surprise reveal. "Well, if we're all gathered, let's get a move on," he edge on the group, trying to get progress made and lead the charge.

[TwinTigerPaw]

The market dema nodded. He would most likely go with them since he knew the location Con would be heading. "The other dema and shiniko have left the task to me since they don't like dealing with Con." He said.

Gau gave a soft smile to Yoko, clearly worried about him. He had not said anything about Yoko's powers seeing as the way other shiniko would treat him. He wanted the new kid to be able to get to know his new family a little.He just didn't want him to be rejected.

"Hehe, t-thanks." Yoko said, replying to them both. Their responses were kind of surprising. However, he was glad that they didn't seem hateful or disturbed. "Right then, I'm ready!" He added in. Chrota nodded and turned around, heading out of the restaurant.

[BluePawProductions]

Aderyn packed the tranquilizers in his bag slung over his shoulder and gave the dema an understanding look from behind his rather serious little glasses. It was hard to ignore his childish looks sometimes, but his eyes had the look of a very old soul, a wise one that understood and communicated silently with these ancient demas as if it were second nature. He could piece together exactly how the whole fiasco must have gone down. He was sure it wasn't as calm as Crota made it out to be, that it must have been dramatic and troublesome for the dema.

Taking up position next to Gau, he gave the dema a soft punch at his unspoken worry of how he'd treat the boy. After so long, he figured it'd be clear to his dema that he, at least, had an open mind to these things. He'd seen enough at Gau's side that he knew better than to judge a book by its cover. There were things in this world that people didn't understand or accept, but that just needed effort and patience... Things that needed explored. To him, this power was an oddity, similar to a phantom's but owned by a young, innocent soul. He was intrigued to see what it could do. This trip might not be routine after all, he mused silently.

Tex kept up his bright demeanor and offered the kid an excited knock on the shoulder as he skipped up to speed with Crota and trailed behind the dema, immediately pestering him. His talk was blabbing and, as Aderyn noted, lacked crucial pauses. "Hey Crota, remember me?" he began, "How's the market been since I been gone? Everyone okay? People still riled up about what happened? They find people to replace me? How about-" It went on endlessly and eagerly without time to answer. He was clearly excited and energetic for this trip.

[TwinTigerPaw]

Gau smiled at Aderyn and tousled his hair. He was happy to have a shiniko as patient as him.... Well, mostly patient. Yoko was following the group and smiled at Tex. The boy would probably find that Yoko's soft skin had turned to a hard shell of sorts.

Chrota was looking dead ahead. Clearly thinking about the mess Con had made, but still listening to Text. He smiled slightly. "Well, the market has been less fired up since you left." He said, giving a pun. "Replacing a shiniko like yourself wouldn't be posable. I don't think the market would want another walking C4 running around."

The market dema, again... He wasn't one of the best but in terms of the market. If you ended up under his care, you were considered lucky. He was a lot nicer, or at least logical with his shiniko. He had also learned jokes from Rat... So there's that too.

[BluePawProductions]

Tex gave a good natured laugh, but his smile faltered for a moment. "That's undeniably true," he agreed as if the pun were just a straight fact, "I mean, who could be as hot as me? I'm smoking~" He was rolling with it, but his mind snapped back to the raging fires rolling off his body, the screams, the hatred it accrued. He was awfully good at rolling with it though.

~ ~ ~
(~The approved time skip~)
~ ~ ~

They left Gau's house and traveled out together, Aderyn helping his dema navigate once they got more off the beaten track. Their path lead them out of the city, down into the country on a train, and then several hours of trekking through the woods. The sun had dipped in towards evening and the intensity was easing, hinting that sunset would only be a couple more hours yet. A slight chill crept into the air and breeze.

As they moved deeper into the woods, the breeze began to have a distinctive sound. Out in the middle of nowhere, the sound of wind chimes rang out and echoed among the trees. It was hauntingly beautiful, lonely and comforting.

Aderyn helped guide Gau around the thick forest but his eyes lifted to trace the chimes of all sizes that began to surround them on all sides as they delved deeper. "What....is all this, Crota?" he half demanded and half asked.

[TwinTigerPaw]

Chrota reached over and pat Tex on the head to reassure him. The dema was glad that Tex was no longer on the market, but for the reason that he was in safer hands, and could have a life of his own.

~~~(To the time skip!)~~~

Upon arrival, Gau found it harder to see where they were. The sounds Had his confused and wondered the same thing. "This is the isolated forest. A shiniko lives out here, he's from the market too. Due to his powers, however, we don't allow him in the market itself. Something about his powers attracts powerful phantoms, and often times, he kills them. So I would like to get Con out of here as he's useful..." Chrota explained.

"I met him once before. He stopped a group of shiniko from attacking me a while back and gave me my name, Yoko." The spider shiniko said softly. Gau was blinking a little. A shiniko that the market didn't want? Sounded like a shiniko he needed to look at.

Something sounded in the distance. It was definitely Con. The phantom was taking down trees as he crashed through the forest. Before escaping he had shredded two lesser dema that tried to stop him. Con was a runaway crate train, and you did not want to get in his way.... Ever.

[BluePawProductions]

Aderyn and Tex both rose a brow at what Chrota said. A shiniko that the market had intentionally isolated? They usually could find a way to use literally anything. Their minds went two very different places as once, though.

Tex immediately identified with the shiniko. Both of them were ostracized for their power, but Tex was still kept, used, just targeted. He had to wonder how bad it really was that they didn't see that as an option. "What...what happened to make them decide that?" He asked with the innocence of a concerned child. If it took Tex melting people to get targeted, what had this shiniko done?

Aderyn's first thought came out of his mouth after only a short wait. "How long has he been out here?" He needed for many concerns, both for the shiniko and for themselves. He did take Yoko's account as a good sign, but they couldn't trust this shiniko would be the same after a long time of isolation if it had been a distant time ago.

Hearing the crashing, he urged on Gau and motioned for Yoko and Tex to follow him, leading the charge ahead. "Don't engage. We need to get the lay of things first," he instructed as they approached, cresting a hill to see the beast in a deep gully passage.

[TwinTigerPaw]

"He's been out here for a long time. I believe he goes to stores once in a while to get clothes for himself. But that's just my guess. He's getting his clothing from somewhere. Like expensive department stores..." Chrota replied. Hearing the crashing he took off into the trees after Con with the rest of the group.

Yoko, however, did not follow behind, and instead took to the trees to gain more ground. His spider form moved faster through trees.

"We better hurry... If I know Con, he's probably trying to pull that shiniko apart like a barbie doll." Gau called as he followed them.

Con was doing just that. He had found a very interesting shiniko. He wanted to torment it, and then eat its eyes. They were a common brown, but they were like crystals. He wanted them. The phantoms tail lashed through the forest, taking out trees and cracking the earth where even it would hit.

[BluePawProductions]

As Aderyn came up over the hill and stopped Tex short on their vantage point so he didn't blow their cover. From there, he could see exactly what was going down, but he had a hard time quite believing it at first glance. For the first time in a long time, Aderyn took pause to question what he was seeing.

Down in the valley area, a labyrinth of abnormally formed structures laced through the forest like a web. It seemed to be made of stone or maybe solid wood, but it organically wove around the trees, reaching high enough to block off large phantom and staying thick enough to stand up to them too. It was clearly meant for defense. At the very outside of it, Con had torn up most of the trees and made a clearing of splinters and broken branches, trampled into the earth. Darting around him, identified by the gleaming flashes of bright, ginger hair, was a shiniko, moving like a leaf on the wind, smoothly, confidently, and quickly. Wielding two, black swords with wrapped metal handles, he was using the environment like he knew it better than most knew their own hands. He must have been the shiniko they were talking about.

Golden eyes glinted defiantly as he ran partway up one wall, vaulted off of an overhang, got a foothold of the adjacent wall behind the phantom, then full on launched himself forward at a good height towards the creature's back. He looked as though he was going to miss, but a quick twist of his body brought him into a full, 360 spin that tore the full length of the blades across the phantom's upper back, just below the neck. As the spin reached its end, his bare feet dug into the splintered mess and he whipped back around to face the phantom. The steaming black that rose from around showed that more phantom blood than this had already been spilt. They'd been at this for a while. The shiniko was heaving breaths.

"That shiniko is going to be a nice little bite-sized snack if we don't get in there." He whipped out the tranquilizer darts and immediately started to load as he ordered Tex and Yoko, "Get in there and run interference from a safe distance. Go!" Tex didn't need to be told twice and was already sliding down he hill on his heels.

[TwinTigerPaw]

Yoko had nodded and used his spider legs to send himself catapulting into the labyrinth. He moved his hands, causing small shiny strands moving from his fingers. It was spider webbing. Planning to use it to tether Con's powerful tail. Gau went to follow them but Chota tugged on him and pointed out another vantage point that they would use. Gau would be able to bust down a wall to surprise attack Con if needed, and Chrota could do the same.

Con shrieked loudly from the slash that cut across his back. Now angered that he couldn't catch this shiniko, Con lashed out with one of the wing-like structures on his back. The sharp edges thankfully facing away from the boy. It would still hurt like a bitch. After throwing an attack from the strange black wing thing, Con shot a clawed hand to try and capture the shiniko. If you bind the arms they can't stab you!

Yoko saw this and wanted to run in to save the shiniko so badly, but he wanted to wait for Aderyn's call. In the meantime, Yoko ran clean up, trying to lasso those splinters out of the ground so that the labyrinth shiniko would have a safe place to land once released.

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