The Midnight Prince

[Rokag]

You know, maybe if I had drowned on the way here, it would not have been the worse fate.

Rokag HATED this. The yutaka was restricting as hell, the sticks in her hair made it feel like his head was being yanked back and the FUCKING facepaint could be sent to whatever level of the nine hells was reserved for torture implements. Still, Rokag managed to smile, mostly by thinking about feeding the head attendant to the damned tigers.

And again, she envied the men. They could wear clothing you could fucking MOVE in, had NO problem holding a weapon all the time, and didn't have to worry about itching their DAMNED nose because the FUCKING face makeup would smuge for the THIRD time. And she knew that Suzuki and Hanako were just trying to help (or at least not have Rokag's share of the animal duties) but if it wouldn't mean losing the job before she had enough coin saved up to get somewhere Rokag could OWN something...well, she would be re-evaluating the tiger feeding job. It'd probably pay Suzuki back for helping with the face makeup, too. For now, she would stand, and smile and wear these crappy sandals that hurt her feet and wait for the fancy family people to come and see the huge (and admittedly impressive) cats.

[GamesMaster]

The Lord and Lady come walking first in the procession, after their servants. Kuronue takes strides that are somehow sturdy, full steps despite her kimono; her Lord walks just a bit faster than her, as though to prove a point. 

Behind them come the three children. First, the twin girls: Tsukikage and Seiya, both "beautiful" in that gakwish way teenage girls can be, each wearing a yukata with long sleeves to show her eligibility. One has raven-black hair, the other bright red; the brunette's yukata is decorated with images of the full moon, and the redhead's with images of sharp teeth. 

Behind them, trailing a little, is... hang on. Rokag knows that boy. Sure, he looks different cleaned up, wearing formal attire, with a decorative sword at his hip. But that's Shisou. Rokag would remember that face anywhere.

[Rokag]

There was a slight moment of breaking from the smiling to look shocked, but it's quickly covered by a hand and then back to smiling. ~Shit! Am I caught?! Is that what all this is?~ That HAD to be Shisou. So Shisou knew that...but then why wait? Why take so long to even show up and...

Why would he give all that crap JUST to take me away now?

And he was part of the Family...kinda....fuck that branch, leaf thing is stupid and way too complicated for figuring all this shit out. At least she knew HOW the kid had managed to get all that crap...and he was meeting someone, which could have been a huge lie. For right now, she would just keep an eye on him and try to see if she needed to run. There was probably just enough coin that she wouldn't starve for a while if she needed to.

[Shisou]

Shisou doesn't turn his head; his eyes cheat to the side, taking in Rokag's face, and there's a brief hint of a smile before his face smooths back out and he keeps walking.

That's all.

The girls move up to the edge of the enclosure, looking down, exclaiming about how pretty they are, how powerful. They call for him to come join them, but he hangs back a little, looking down at the tigers but not saying much. He has a look Rokag knows well from her own face: the look of wanting to be anywhere but here.

[Rokag]

Rokag still wanted to run. That was an instinct that would never go away, but there was also a chance this was good. He obviously had his own secrets, and if she was in trouble with the Family (which was the WORST CASE) then maybe she'd have an ally. She kept the smile from before, but only snuck small glances, catching that last look on Shisou's face

You and me both, Shisou Rokag wasn't overly fond of this whole parade, either. And she knew this wouldn't be the last time they had to dress like this. Do these damned yukatas have to be so damned tight in the legs?!

[GamesMaster]

"We should name one after each of the girls," says the father, Indou. 

"We're triplets!" snaps the dark-haired twin. "How many times--"

"Don't be insolent, dear," says the mother. "He meant well."

"O-o-o-f c-c-course," stammers Shisou, half under his breath. "I-i-i-I'm j-just f-forg-gettable l-l-l-ik th-that."

The lighter-haired twin takes Shisou's hand, big eyes brimming with compassion, but he doesn't meet her eyes, glances away.

[Rokag]

Rokag winced a little as she watched. Definitely not the best off...still fucking rich tho. But then...why would he give her all that stuff? What would he gain from it now....and what the hell IS going on with him? How is he forgettable. I thought they always had the boys be a big deal?

[Rokag]

Maybe she was pushing her luck by sneaking out again, but she needed some time with her own thoughts and not being harassed about 'eyeing up one of the family members'. That and Rokag needed some space from the clothing, make-up, hair and all of that crap for just a few minutes. So sneaking off for a swim was the best idea.

Besides, who the fuck cares if I was looking, Himiko. I'm pretty sure he wanted out of there more than I did. Rokag floated on her back in the waters of Tokami, floating close enough to the island that she wasn't worried about it drifting away from her. It's all a big show, anyway. I doubt you liked wearing all that fucking facepaint and smiling and acting like those sandals weren't uncomfortable as all hell. She got that there was SOME appeal in all of that, but it was lost on her. It was inconvenient, took forever, and it was just so fucking Fake. Then there was the gossip. Everyone was saying how they loved when the Family came by, since they could see who was interested in whom and if any of them had picked brides and how it was just 'soo wonderful that the Tiger clan was courting the two young ladies and how they wished that Harada or Asahi would take THEM away and' then they went on giggling and blushing like they WEREN'T talking about sex and it was just...so damned FRUSTRATING!

Rokag gave out a long sigh as she floated in the cool water, looking up at the stars. "It might be better, but it still feels like a damned cage." She had felt restrained by...something her whole life. It was less when....when her mother was still here, but ever since then it'd been worse. She thought it was starving and being homeless, but even with a full belly and some coin she was saving there was still some part of her that felt trapped...Maybe she was thinking too hard about it again. That always seemed to catch her at the worst times. The thoughts would spiral around as she tried to figure out the best thing and she'd get nothing done. Better to pick a direction and go, than to sit there and starve while deciding what to steal, right?

[Shisou]

Rokag begins to overhear voices as she floats -- voices that aren't too far away, though the fog on the water makes it hard to tell where. One of the voices is familiar, at least: the Midnight Princess sounded far less miserable with a broken rib than she sounds right now, floating on the water in the middle of nowhere.

"--two tigers for two ladies. I mean, did they think he's dumb? The kid's gonna know they meant to snub him."

The reply isn't a voice that's familiar to Rokag at all: a gruff voice, sounding older, with a hint of sass. "Kid, why do you care? Let them do what they do. You don't need them anyway."

"Well, of course. But... it'd be nice, you know? To serve a Family that isn't full of garbage and pettiness."

[Rokag]

okay....I'm starting to wonder how people don't run into her all that often

This was the second time in a month that Rokag had run into this woman...tho now she was curious about the other voice. And it was that curiosity and a want to know if there was something ELSE she needed to watch out for in the future that led to the decision to try keeping low in the water and kinda...floating her way closer. Surely it wasn't to get another look at the Midnight Princess. She'd already seen her, after all, and it wasn't like she'd change much, right?

[Shisou]

As Rokag gets closer, he sees a boat -- a low-sided boat, with a hand trailing into the water, as the youth lays on her back, watching the stars, thinking deeply. 

"So let's run away," says the unknown voice, invisible to Rokag's eye. "Go somewhere else."

"Why?" replies the Midnight Princess. "My life is here."

"Worried about you, kid. This double life is starting to really worry me. Mortals aren't meant to be so... fragmented." The voice is frank, but earnest; the Midnight Princess doesn't seem to pay it any mind, fingers twitching faintly in the water.

"I'll cope, Carbonne," she says, gently. "I always have."

[Rokag]

I thought Carbonne was the lizard.

Rokag was surprised to hear the conversation tho. From the sounds of it, the Midnight Princess knew a lot about the Family members that that saw the tigers. And apparently wasn't happy about their being only two- Because it was for a birthday.. Rokag was....iffy about her birthday. It'd been a while since she had any reason to celebrate it. Now it was mostly.jist a reminder that you don't always get to have good times.

She'd also drifted pretty close to the boat, and if she wanted to keep out of this. Which was exactly when her footing hit a slick rock and she splashed in surprise, having been trying to push off and away from the conversation.

[Shisou]

"What if you didn't have to cope with bea--"

Soushi shushes her companion as she sits up, listening to the splash. "Someone's out there."

[Rokag]

There had been a time that Rokag wasn't able to swing. She'd actually taken some time to learn herself so she could have an easier time getting food. Still the instant that she was out of control and in the water made some part of her freeze up and led to her couching and sputtering from her uncontrolled dunk in the water. Which is how The Midnight Princess would see a sputtering and coughing half-orc trying to tred water AND get as much air into her lungs as possible

[Shisou]

"...Rokag?" she asks in disbelief. "Here, give me your hand," she adds, holding out a hand  as far as she can without overturning the little boat.