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[Fumikage had heard the rumours of a being lurking around here, and of course he couldn't just let it go un-investigated. As a hero in training, it pays to investigate rumours of possible villain activity that could harm others. What he doesn't expect to find is a fully grown forest in between two buildings, seemingly out of nowhere and yet as if it were always there. And while other yokai might be too nervous to enter, Fumikage is the one who steps in to investigate despite the concerned voices behind him.]

[It's eerily quiet within, enough that he calls upon Dark Shadow to hover nearby as he walks through the underbrush. The grass and dried leaves crunch underfoot as he steps forward, and he does his best to peer through the fog around him. But as he rounds a large tree, he pauses in shock and takes a step back at the familiar form and voice before him.]

You..!

[Behind him, Dark Shadow lets out a little hiss.]

What lurks... the baneful vulture? No... No, you are too early. I'm not yet a carcass. [Leshy mutters this out, almost wistful sounding, scarcely coherent. One eyes spins and then the other as he speaks, a flickering of confusion. He's in great pain and long exhausted. Could he fight back against a scavenger? Perhaps... desperation often grants hidden strength to survive.

He would rather not discover that strength, he would rather not fight. Rare, for him, but the truth of his condition is clear.]

I know you. yes. I know your shadow. The clever raven, the one who escaped. [something of a chuckle, something of amusement on his features]

You lost. You owed me a prize. Yet, here I am, at your mercy. Funny... and unfair.

[It's the creepy man from the game tent. That feels like so long ago, given all that's happened this past month. At Leshy's words, Dark Shadow hisses again, but Fumikage is the one who speaks up.]

I was not made aware of the nature of your... prize should I lose.

[Fumikage keeps his distance, looking at the injured beast of a man before him. Two things cross his mind; just how beastly he looks, and also his injuries. His brow furrows.]

...you're injured. What happened?

You should be more keen. No game worth playing is without risk. [he coughs, ragged and pained, blood glistening on his beard in the dark. It looks like he's been hacking it up, but the pathetic display is misleading. It's not his blood so near his mouth... but none could tell.]

I fought... with another bird. A phoenix girl, she could not kill me. [he answers with utmost seriousness, even if he's being poetic over it. There always needs to be flavor to his descriptions, it's not good enough to explain plainly. If Fumikage has ever seen Azula on the network, that is a match to her username. It's not difficult to connect the ideas,]

Hmph... and no wager should be made without everyone knowing those risks.

[It's said a little defensively, but that defensiveness fades a bit when he hears that pained coughing. It's subtle, but his frown shifts from one of anger to one of concern.]

A phoenix girl..? [Ironically, he has met Azula, but never over the network; he's only met her in person. As such, he doesn't immediately connect "phoenix girl" with Azula. But his curiosity is momentarily stemmed by the very clear wounds on Leshy's body right now.]

You.. need medical treatment. You could die like this.

[Behind him, Dark Shadow lets out a "Heh!" at those words, but doesn't otherwise move to attack or say anything else.]

Yes... she was of the ENMA. I nearly killed her, but the pack closed in on our duel. It is good that she lived- [a contradictory statement, it sounds at first. He hisses to adjust some against the tree he's resting on, bandages stinging with whatever salve Artemy applied. Leshy is healing rapidly because of the force he devoured, but that itself is taking a lot out of him. He can barely move, his voice is lower and more hoarse than before, and he already sounded like gravel.]

-... I will have a proper... rematch. When we both are done licking our wounds...

[the claim he needs more medical treatment than this gets another cough of a laugh from him.]

No. I will live. I only need rest. And to not be picked at by scavengers.

You..!

[Leshy almost killed her?? What the hell... This man is definitely a dangerous one... he shakes his head.]

I don't see the need to kill anyone, especially when we are all trapped here and attempting to find a way home.

[Was Leshy one who could be reasoned with anyway? Given his violent demands for something as simple as a game, he genuinely wonders... But perhaps now's not the time. He shakes his head.]

I am not here to scavenge you.

[He hesitates, glancing up at Dark Shadow. The two share a look, have an unspoken conversation between them. Dark Shadow huffs and crosses his arms, while Fumikage looks back to Leshy.]

Even so... it doesn't sit well with me to leave you injured like this. Not if I could help.

If you help me... consider your loss nullified. [Fumikage hadn't agreed to a price of losing and Leshy deemed it for him. However, if Leshy is too weak to collect that prize, then something like this will do in it's place. He won't go about owing people, it's weakness to be indebted.]

All I need is rest. To be left alone. Shoo away other scavengers who will come. Especially the ENMA, they are the most cunning.

Nullified..?

[That catches his attention. Fumikage frowns, glancing at Dark Shadow again, another silent conversation passing between them. Dark Shadow lets out another huff and rolls his eyes, though he has no actual eyes to roll. Fumikage takes a breath, then nods, turning back to Leshy.]

...very well. How long do you need to rest?

Null and forgotten. [he groans at some distant sound, a siren wail like some ENMA officers might have been called to investigate the scene. They won't try very hard, especially if Fumikage goes and gives them some excuse to ignore this anomaly.

There's more important stuff going on, after all! Like chasing that serial killer from the Tanabata river side! They really got to find that guy...]

An hour. I'll sleep this pain away and be moving soon enough. If not, I'll die and that will be it. [what does it matter then? Leshy survives or he doesn't. Simple. The way of nature. He is strong enough to keep living or he isn't, the Scrybe would rather die than accept more help than this.]

[Though he doesn't exactly trust Leshy, he also doesn't like the idea of him just... dying here. Still, if that's what the old man wants, Fumikage can let him rest, at least. And at least this way, his supposed transgressions would be forgiven.]

Very well. I will keep them away.

[He has to wrangle Dark Shadow to cooperate, but soon he is using his Black Abyss technique, donning Dark Shadow like a second skin as he keeps an eye out for the Enma officers. He won't harm them, just create distractions and do small scares to divert the officers away from Leshy's position.]

[The ENMA that were sent out do not care to handle this situation, not one bit. They don't get paid enough for this! The yokai scramble off after a few scares from Dark Shadow and from then on, it's an hour of keeping watch at the entrance to the alley. Most curious onlookers are easily detoured just by the young Sutoku's words.

After about an hour, the forest slowly recedes. Disappears completely as if it had never existed there at all.

Leshy did as he said. He rested, recovered, and fled. The solid illusions his new found power created would leave with him, only influencing where he was currently. With him gone, it all returns to a normal alleyway in some forgotten corner of the city.

If Fumikage looks to where Leshy has once been, there's a "gift" of sorts, left behind. The severed hand of some yokai. A highroller at the Tamamo Pleasure Palace, it seems, who went missing that night and was found in the river without his head or hands. This hand is still wearing an array of golden jewelry. Leshy had little interest in such fineries, he'd taken the hand as a trophy itself. The fact it looks chewed on is another matter entirely...

It's up to the young hero if he's willing to call back to the ENMA and report such a thing, he might not want to implicate himself. He did just help cover for the killer they're all on the hunt for. Maybe better to just... let this one be an anonymous tip.]

[Leshy why are you LIKE THIS--]

[Oh he definitely finds that hand, and he definitely has a moment of ice-cold dread at the implications there. And after a moment, he will report the hand to the Enma, but... definitely leaving it anonymous.]

[What the actual hell has he gotten tangled up in...]

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I got bodyslammed by work whoops

It's all good! RL got hectic for me too, so you're good <3

the rl smackdown

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🎀