Dawn - 433 Words
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Prodolzhitel' Nost' - 695 Words
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Seiya wasn't sure when she'd fallen asleep, all she knew was that it was dark when the morning lark's song woke her. A sliver of pallid blue light shone through a crack in the open flap of the tent. Dawn was approaching. But she was warm and comfortable, they should be getting up but Seiya decided she'd wait for Jin to wake instead.
They were out for a simple scouting mission, securing the borders of the Rain Country. In the outermost edges, it didn't rain nearly as much. It was a pleasant change of pace. Shifting her position against her pillow, Seiya realized she could hear a heartbeat. It beat at an irregular rhythm, and her sleepy mind listened to it for a few long minutes. After a moment, it occurred to her that the heartbeat did not belong to herself, and she could feel warm fingers brushing her arm. A moment more, she realized it was not the sheet of her roll but the fabric of a shirt her fingers were gripped in to. Even if she could speak, Seiya wasn't sure if she would have been able to. A prickle of fear tingled in her chest, and her fingers gripped tighter into her teammate's shirt in response. The heartbeat grew louder. By the gods, he was awake, wasn't he? She was scared to move. Seiya didn't know how she'd gotten so close to him in the night; they usually slept on the opposite sides of the tent. She'd likely gotten up in the middle of the night and come to the wrong side. Even though they were close, Jin was well aware of her discomfort with the opposite sex. Despite his ever growing feelings for the girl, he'd never once embraced her for that very reason. And now this? What was he supposed to do? His scarlet eyes stared upward into the darkness of the tent, thankful the dark would hide any trace of the heat in his face. He could tell from the shift in her breathing that she was awake too. Speaking might cause her to flee. Not speaking would cause a long awkward silence, and as much as he wanted to cherish the moment, they really need to get up and go. He'd been awake a good hour now. With his arm already around her, Jin rubbed his thumb on her skin, raising his hand to ruffle her blonde hair. “Seiya, let's get going.” Keeping her viridian eyes on the brightening crack in the tent door, Seiya nodded. She had a feeling her mind would be elsewhere today. |
“Come back!”
Large white paws thudded heavily in the snow, four-inch fangs wrapped solidly around a thick, black leather boot. Following behind her was a hastily-dressed Yuki shinobi, wearing one black leather boot and one house slipper. Muttering a string of foreign curses Gin pulled the buttons of his thick coat together as he ran after the beast. Gritting his teeth he crushed the filter of his unlit cigarette, unable to catch a break to light it and unable to keep up and smoke it if he did. “Ekaterina, stoi!” The snow leopard made a guttural, growling bark that was akin to laughter as she picked up her pace. No, oyaji, I'm not going to stop. With a growl Gin lunged for her strong, muscular tail, succeeding only in pulling a small tuft of white fur from her tail-tip as she danced away. Little kitty wanted to play, did she? Well, that was fine. He had time. Spitting out the ruined cigarette, Ginrei put on speed to catch the leopard who was unabashedly romping through the frozen forest with a leather boot between her teeth. Just when Katya thought she was in the clear, breaking free from the trees into an untouched valley, a huge, heavy weight crashed into her side, and she went head-over-heels into the fresh powder snow. Dislodging the boot, it skidded across the snow. Squirming, the large feline found herself pinned to the ground under a man twice her weight, tugging on her ear like a child in trouble. With a snarl her claws came out, pressing into the leather of his fur-lined coat. “No,” he said to her. “You lure me out then growl at me?” Despite her oyaji totally having a point she hissed anyway, barely succeeding in kicking him off of her muscular body. Before she could get back to the boot, however, Gin made a mad scramble, grabbing a hold of it, getting rammed into by the leopard. Left foot cold from snow getting in the slipper, he threw the cat away and pulled on the boot, slipper disappearing inside the pocket of his large coat. Point for him, at least. But the victory was short-lived, before the male could make it back to his feet, two heavy paws crashed into his shoulders, sending him back into the soft snow, a gaping maw filled with teeth only a hair's breadth from his nose. Staring blankly for only a moment, Gin didn't have time to react as one of her long canines hooked his glasses. Katya twisted her head, and off they flew to be lost in the fresh-fallen snow. Gin was instantly thrown into a world of white, smears of grey the only indication of where his flea-bitten leopard was. It took the Yuki nin a two hours to find his glasses, what with the blinding expanse of white they had sunk in to, his near blindness as it was, and a full-sized leopard acting like a kitten and doing everything in her power to prevent him from locating them. Irritation had long since passed and Gin was out of breath with laughter by the time the frozen lenses found their way on his face again. Ekaterina was the only soul alive who could bring this side out since he'd lost Kinsei. Numb hands sinking into thick, grey fur, Gin held the squirming creature close, a lazy smile on his face. Fishing in his pocket, he hunted for a smoke. Slipping the paper cylinder between his lips, Gin lit it, taking in a deep breath of the pungent nicotine. Kin had always hated it when he smoked, and that thought made the bitterness return. It was time to get home. Making a clicking sound with his mouth, Gin beckoned the cat. Fun once in a while was good; if it weren't for the cat, he'd likely never go on his own anymore. The only other person who could make Gin smile was the most irritating teammate a shinobi could have, back from his days as a genin. Perhaps Gin shold make it a point to visit Souichiro, he hadn't heard from him in a couple months now. |