inkdrops | ✿ Forty-Eighth Ink Drop ✿ - [Video | Drawn

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✿ Forty-Eighth Ink Drop ✿ - [Video | Drawn | Backdated to the Night of the Ball]

[While Miyabi did hear about the Christmas party happening at the battle dome, ans while she usually attends and enjoys herself, she's decided to just keep to herself tonight. Enjoy a quiet night in by herself. Or, well, a quiet night out. After sprucing up the cherry tree hill a little bit with some Divine Intervention (and a little help from Faeren, of course), Miyabi bounds her way up to the higher branches of the tallest cherry blossom tree and sighs. The cool rush of wind blowing the snow in brilliant little circles is so wonderful to behold. She really is so much better suited for the winter, and it's rare that she really gets to just sit and appreciate the majesty of this season. It was so common, back in Nippon, that she never really thought twice about the cold and snow, or gave much praise to the ox god, but now she sees just how lovely the snow can be, and how at home she is in it.

After so quiet watching, Miyabi finally feels a spark of inspiration strike. She sets up some of her inks and paints, and begins to draw in her journal, her face serious and calculating as it's mirrored in the little camera. Stroke after stroke, sometimes a screw-up turned into a bit of scenery or the like, an image forms on the paper in her journal, and Miyabi looks rather pleased and satisfied. If there's one creature from home that she misses the most, it's definitely the cranes. She misses seeing them dance when trying to find a mate, and just seeing them in general. They were such amazingly beautiful birds... Maybe she can find something to read about them in the library another day. They were very popular with poets and story-tellers, after all. Speaking of which--]

I know it's very late, and most of you may be out, but...does anyone want to hear a story?

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[Here's one of the people who aren't out today and are checking the journals at such an hour.]

I don't think it's so late. What's the title of the story?

[Ah, good. Miyabi was afraid everyone went out. Not that that's bad in any way, and she does wish those who are out a safe and pleasant time, but she would like to share a story or two. It's nostalgic and calming, sitting under the falling snow and doing that.]

It's called The Happy Couple...though I'm afraid it's not a very happy story, if that's all right. Are you still interested? I promise it's still a very good story, however.

Oh, it's not a happy story? You sure that doesn't depend on how you look at it?

[Yoh chuckles lightly.]

Now you have really picked my curiosity. I would love to hear the story, please.

Well, you are right. It ends happily, but there's a kind of...bitterness that accompanies it. [Like most Japanese tales, that have morals attached. Many of them are bittersweet, and sometimes painful. So people can learn from them.] But I'm glad you're interested! I'll do my best to tell the tale well.

Hiyoku no Tori - The Happy Couple.

Up on the icy peaks of a dangerous mountain pass, a lone figure wanders about in the gloom, stumbling with each feeble step. It's a man, an archer soldier, lost in the darkness as the wind howls around him, blowing snow and ice every which way.

"I've strayed from the road... I've left the battlefield, and now I can't see a single human figure... Where am I?!" He thinks to himself, longing for the light and warmth of the mother sun to guide him to safety. But it is far too late, and the holy light sleeps, as the icy blizzard rages on.

It is as the man wanders, tirelessly, that he comes upon a rare sight in the darkness... two cranes, a mated pair, dancing pleasantly together amongst the snow.

Then it must be a really good story. Like life itself.

[Life without bitterness wouldn't be the same, even if it's better if there's little of it, people need that bitterness to grow.

Yoh closes his eyes to let the girl's words create the imagery of the tale in his mind. She's a good storyteller, he can tell that even just a few sentences in, and it's clear that she wanted to share the story, that's always good in storytelling.]

Must have been a beautiful sight...

[His words are mostly a mumble, just for himself as he listens on.]

[Stories create art in one's mind and soul - art with words. They're also lessons, and a huge part of information transfer. Miyabi's been told dozens of stories in her long lifetime, and she's taken them all to heart, and learned the ways of speaking them. While her true artistic medium may be paints and brushes, she's a good with her words as well, and enjoys mixing the two together sometimes as well. Though this time, she just speaks and lets the imagination fill in the images. It's better that way.]

Yes, to anyone else, it would have been a truly wondrous sight...the beauty of the two dancing birds isn't anything to shun.

[Her tone takes a drastic, turn, however, and grows a bit cold. The warmth from speaking about the two betrothed cranes fades away, and a dim monotone follows.] However...as the man looked upon the dancing birds, a distant memory drifted down unto him, much like the falling snow. He stands, beneath the blossoms, while a beautiful woman pleads with him. There's sorrow on her face, as she tries to convince him, desperately, not to go away.

"Yukino..." he utters, as he takes her into his arms. "So that I may prove myself to your noble father, so that he will accept me and allow me to become your husband, I will triumph in battle. I will triumph so that I may return to you."

And, like the snow still falling, ever falling, the thought is blown asunder...yet the soldier remains, lost and alone, while the cranes dance together in harmony. Enraged, he readies his bow.

"If I continue wandering aimlessly like this, I may die... And never see my beloved Yukino again! Even the birds can live on in wedded bliss... While I am--I am...!"

He draws back the arrow.

And fires.

[Definitively a good storyteller. Even before her tone changes he can sense it in the story, the change that's going to happen and to which it may lead. "To anyone else", it couldn't be clearer, specially knowing how humans' minds work. Yoh can guess what's coming even before Miyabi pronounces the words and his mind forms the images.

It's as if he was there, watching from the distance as the man remembers his past and regrets it and his current destiny. Of course, the next step for him is to take his pain and throw it to others. Yoh watches calmly as the man readies his bow, full of denial, selfishness and fading pain, and fires the arrow. Yoh smiles but it's devoid of any emotion that isn't disdain, not that Miyabi can see it, if she could he wouldn't allow himself to have such an honest expression.]

So human like.

[Blame others for his pain, take from others what he can't have for himself. Definitively a human. In the back of his mind, Yoh wonders what would Manta think about the story up until this point, well, maybe Manta wasn't any longer like the others. Then, what about the people at school? What would they think of the scene? Would they feel pity for the man or something?]

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Yes please, Miyabi.

[Oh, Marco, hearing your voice just makes Miyabi smile almost instantly. She was almost sure you went to the party.]

Good evening, Mister Marco! I'd be glad to tell you a story, but it's a little sad...if that's all right? I could try thinking of another story.

[He's going to! But he's fashionably late. He's trying to drag a certain idiot to come to the feast portion.]

Sad is all right, though I hope you're not sad yourself, eh? Otherwise I'll try to cheer you up.

Ah, n-no! I promise, I'm not! [And she actually means that honestly.] It's just that many of the stories I was told have life lessons woven into them. So the greater the lesson, the more impactful the story...so you remember it. [Unfortunately, that makes many of the stories she knows rather bittersweet.]

But this one is good, I promise. It's called The Happy Couple. [Ironic, given what she just said about it being a sad story...]

Sounds good to me. How sad is it though?

That really depends on how I tell it, doesn't it? [Miyabi smirks into her journal, but shakes her head a little.] It's not too sad, I think, but it's a little painful if you take it truly to heart. I'm starting now, so I really do hope you like it. Tell me to stop if you don't, I won't be insulted.

[A beat of silence, and Miyabi takes a breath, then--] Hiyoku no Tori - The Happy Couple.

Up on the icy peaks of a dangerous mountain pass, a lone figure wanders about in the gloom, stumbling with each feeble step. It's a man, an archer soldier, lost in the darkness as the wind howls around him, blowing snow and ice every which way.

"I've strayed from the road... I've left the battlefield, and now I can't see a single human figure... Where am I?!" He thinks to himself, longing for the light and warmth of the mother sun to guide him to safety. But it is far too late, and the holy light sleeps, as the icy blizzard rages on.

It is as the man wanders, tirelessly, that he comes upon a rare sight in the darkness... Two cranes, a mated pair, dancing pleasantly together amongst the snow.

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[Eh, you been to one party, you've been to them all]

I'd love to hear a story.

[Another immediate smile, and Miyabi just nods and begins the story. Alexei should be able to pick out the moral of the story and not mind if it's a little...bitter. He's an adult, after all.]

Hiyoku no tori - The Happy Couple.

Up on the icy peaks of a dangerous mountain pass, a lone figure wanders about in the gloom, stumbling with each feeble step. It's a man, an archer soldier, lost in the darkness as the wind howls around him, blowing snow and ice every which way.

"I've strayed from the road... I've left the battlefield, and now I can't see a single human figure... Where am I?!" He thinks to himself, longing for the light and warmth of the mother sun to guide him to safety. But it is far too late, and the holy light sleeps, as the icy blizzard rages on.

It is as the man wanders, tirelessly, that he comes upon a rare sight in the darkness... two cranes, a mated pair, dancing pleasantly together amongst the snow.

Edited 2012-12-06 10:45 (UTC)

[A little bitter is fine. Pleasant fairytales are far too unrealistic for his taste.

Alexei had his eyes closed, absently stroking his cat Hermes off camera as he listened to Miyabi tell her story, visualizing it in his head. That man was going to die at this rate. No one could possibly survive in that terrain and weather. At this point, he assumes the happy couple in the title are the two cranes mentioned here. He doesn't say anything to Miyabi as she spoke her tale, not yet. He's content just listening right now.]

As the man looked upon the dancing birds, a distant memory drifted down unto him, much like the falling snow. He stands, beneath the blossoms, while a beautiful woman pleads with him. There's sorrow on her face, as she tries to convince him, desperately, not to go away.

"Yukino..." he utters, as he takes her into his arms. "So that I may prove myself to your noble father, so that he will accept me and allow me to become your husband, I will triumph in battle. I will triumph so that I may return to you."

And, like the snow still falling, ever falling, the thought is blown asunder...yet the soldier remains, lost and alone, while the cranes dance together in harmony. Enraged, he readies his bow.

"If I continue wandering aimlessly like this, I may die... And never see my beloved Yukino again! Even the birds can live on in wedded bliss... While I am--I am...!"

He draws back the arrow.

And fires.

Edited 2012-12-07 13:28 (UTC)

... ["How unfortunate" and ironic. To deny another's love for his own. Although she curiously stopped momentarily in the story after he fired his bow.]

Did he hit his mark or missed?

[The pause was for dramatic effect, much like the pained tone she puts one when she speaks the next words.]

The arrow hits. ...Right through the heart.

In but an instant, the larger of the two beautiful cranes falls to the ground, its blood soaking both its feathers and the ever falling snow. The female gives a startled cry, yet watches its beloved lay, lifeless and unmoving, on the ground where they had just moments ago danced together. Happy and alive, moving and existing in harmony...

Satisfied, yet still seething with bitterness and no less lost and alone in the harsh mountain wilderness, the archer soldier turns his back on the two birds and travels, once again, through the ice and snow. He does not see, nor does he care to see, the now widowed crane lay her wings and head against her fallen husband...as if to mourn.

Edited (italics will be the death of me.) 2012-12-11 15:17 (UTC)

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[Aang had been checking the journal before going to bed upon his return to the ball, when he came across this sight.]

Wow, that tree looks really alive! I'd love to hear a story.

[Miyabi looks over her shoulder at the bright, pink blossoms she just brought to life again, then smiles broadly into her journal, proud of herself for maintaining the beauty and life of Amaterasu's tree. If people can enjoy it year round, then she's happy.]

Thank you, and...you don't mind if the story's a little bit sad, do you? It's still a good story, I promise.

What, you did that yourself? Amazing? And... yeah. I've liked good stories that're sad before. I like happy endings, but it's good to know all kinds of stories.

Eh? The blossoms? I made them bloom, but I didn't make the trees on the hill... I just tend to them now. These trees were made by the patron goddess of my world - Okami Amaterasu. She was here a long time ago, and created these trees for people to enjoy. When she left...I made it my job to care for them, in her place.

Ehehe, but you're here for a story, not to hear me rattle on about that.

It's completely fine! After all, that's kind of a story, too! I had no idea that you had a goddess here who made those trees. I really wish I could have met her - I'm good with spirits! And it looks like you're doing a really great job taking care of them.

But don't let me distract you anymore, if you wanna start your story!

Yes, about...maybe two years ago? I-I think... The sun goddess, Amaterasu, lived here in Luceti. Many people knew her, but not that she was a goddess. It's actually my responsibility--eh, w-well, I mean, the responsibility of my people, to paint the gods' pictures and tell their stories.

...In fact, there is one about Amaterasu herself, if you want to hear that one instead! It's my favorite story, and it's very exciting! Though she'll go by a different name in the story than what I told you.