Aura felt strange as she hasn't felt so clean, so pure since she escaped Joya. Her golden eyes gazed around as she combed her hair with her fingertips. She wore a black Cheongsam Dress with golden and pink sakura blossoms. It stopped at her upper thigh as she wore black stockings with white and pink frills. Her shoes were flat shoes made of bamboo that are handmade. It was thanks to the few people she has met since she got here that she felt the way she felt.

Free.

At first, when she got here she wanted to hide in the fields, steal some food, and just live her life that way. Her white fox tail swayed happily as her left ear twitched due to the tickle of the wind. The time of day felt noon as the sun shined the hottest. A walk alongside the road was rather relaxing, but she still felt odd with random people gazing at her like some prize. Pricilla told her that she shouldn't worry about it too much since she'll take care of anyone who seems like a threat. 'What a nice girl. Can't wait for some Fiorian lessons.' She thought in Joyan as shestill doesn't know how to speak Fiorian much. Not yet anyways.

Recently, this performer met a mage among the audience from a theater he recently helped with. Although the play didn't leave such a good memory, Kurisa, the woman, did. If she were to be form a fairy tale, Kurisa would be a fairy godmother... not that Masami would be the princess or the prince, but let's just keep those descriptions private. Anyhow, though Masami had already forgotten what the woman looked like, he couldn't forget how she was dressed. He remembered finding her "intimidating" but he couldn't refer what "intimidating" even looks like, even when he tried recalling different people's faces just to see if they gave an intimidating aura.

Recently, once more, the neighbors have been terrifyingly noisy. Masami lives in a room in the Penumbral Guard guild, which is supposedly isolated in nature but there were people who'd sometimes go near the guild and... argue. They probably believed that the location was private enough for no one else to listen, but Masami listened, because his window was located in their direction. He couldn't help but force himself to wake right after hearing especially that annoying woman's voice. Didn't the guild need to restock on some food? "I'll just go do that." he muttered out loud, his eyes still half closed. He didn't even bother taking a bath, thinking he'd just do that a moment later after doing his job. He switched clothes into a dark-blue, traditional Joyan clothing, otherwise known as yukata in most places. He headed towards the shops when he came out.

The streets from the end corner were noticeably empty-looking, but Masami didn't think that odd in any way and continued walking. However, when he turned a corner, citizens seemed to take notice of... perhaps another mage? Somehow, mages have been walking around Marigold City and taking spotlights here and then, so that wasn't odd. Masami believed that he was still half asleep, he couldn't even form his thoughts properly as of the moment. What he saw was what seemed to be a kitsune, famous in Joyan literature which referred to foxes that has the ability to change forms into humans. This tale, however, has always been considered only a fantasy, especially in his hometown. He raised a brow upon seeing the fox, dressed in clothes that are definitely Joyan-inspired. "What the heeeeeeell." he stopped walking right in front of the fox lady and tried to open his eyes out wide, though failing because he just woke up, his face gave an obvious surprised expression.

Masami squinted his eyes a few times, even slapping himself on the cheek. Legends says that if you have witnessed a kitsune, either they would get their wishes granted or they'll become food. 'Damn, I don't wanna die yet.' he gulped and continued patting himself in the cheek, not even moving an inch. He was aware about the humiliation he was giving himself, but hey, he's right in front of a mythological creature... supposedly.

The wind blew softly against her face, tickling her ear and swirled around her. She felt as if it was trying to speak to her, but why and what? Aura ignored the gazes, but there was soon the be one she couldn't ignore as a young boy stared at her in amazement. At first her tail formed into nine as she was about to go into defense mode, but as she looked closer something was different about him compared to others. He was slapping himself as he gazed at her with his golden-like eyes and blonde hair like some short stuff. Slowly, her nine tails motioned and her eyes opened up more while leaning over to keep eye contact.

"Are you lost?" She questioned in Joyan. She didn't know if he knew Joyan, but by the looks of his clothing, he did. Sometimes people that weren't from Joya wore them to be stylish, but she wanted to experiment. "If you can understand me then don't be afraid unless you work for the Master." Her hand shifted towards her chest as she then looked around. Her eyes filled with worry and fear now that she thought about it. If he was Joyan, understood it then there was a chance that the boy worked for her Master. He was here to trap her. Her fox ears bent as she feared of going back...

Feared it so...

There was no joke that this woman was a mythological creature. Masami saw that, when the fox lady's tail divided into nine parts, but then immediately subdued back to its original appearance. "Ah... no." Masami responded in the fox lady's question, even shaking his hand in front of him to express his declination. He suddenly responded back in Joya, without his awareness – then he got surprised. "My, my! You are from my kind!" the hand he shook covered his mouth, hiding half of his face. There he was again, going crazy over realizing that he is communicating with a Joyan. There was an odd sense of comfort that rushed through his veins as he starts to ignore the woman's appearance.

"Ah, I... I understand you, indeed." there was a light flush of red in his cheeks – meeting a Joyan was very unexpected, yet delightful! Not to mention that she's... perhaps someone that could kill Masami immediately. Folk tales mentioned fox gods who ate humans and fox ladies who deceive mostly men. However, those are merely tales, just like acting a certain role on stage, you would almost never expect a hero acting as the antagonist in real life. "I do not work for whoever Master you spoke of, I demand a fearless converse." Masami lightly bowed, showing his respect as a human being, and as a man. The idea of masters didn't bother Masami at all, having used to these types of scenarios where the traveler had recently escaped from slavery. Masami was one of them, though not exactly slavery, but enough to consider him as one. 'Would you not consider yourself a slave, if the occupation suffocates you enough?' he thought this on impulse, as if someone else spoke to him. What is this, a familiar role? It was as if he was following a script.

The boy started to talk Joyan like her. It made her feel more comfortable since she didn't have to try so hard to speak. Her golden-brown eyes studied the boy and his body as she wasn't sure if he was a threat or not. Not yet anyway. Slowly, she approached him to twirl around him like the natural wind to study him closer. 'He doesn't seem like he works for the Master.' She believed in her mind. She made a satisfied smile as she stood a few feet in front of him, but leaned over so they could be eye to eye.

"I believe you." She nodded cutely as she hopped up, clapped her hands once with her right leg back-upward. Within a second she stood up straight with her single white fox tail swaying happily. "Everyone I have met so far doesn't speak Joyan. This is... very exciting. Can we go sit somewhere and talk? I don't know many places yet." She paused and worryingly wandered with her eyes as she wondered about her Master and his servants that may be looking for her still. They laid back to gaze at the boys. "I wish to know your story perhaps and I will share my adventures. Stories are a form of art that can entertain many.". She softly spoke in her accent.

As a boy himself, Masami couldn't help but back out a little when the fox lady leaned closer. Masami's cheeks flushed into a red hue, even without him noticing at all. Not only was the fox intimidating (in terms of mythology), but she looked quite alluring, too, and Masami was completely aware of this. The woman had a face every female Joyan would like to have, and perhaps she didn't even need face ink in the first place. "Ah... thank you." he meant to thank her for trusting him. Trust is a value hard to earn – although he believed that it would be impossible for someone like her to quickly trust people, Masami had nothing else to say for feeling sudden tensions all-over his body, especially in the spine.

"It is because... most of the men here are not from Joya." Masami responded, interlocking his fingers right in front of his chest. He was in her place, too, being forced to speak the universal instead; he understood her situation. "I would show you around, I have been here for quite some time. Regards what places are you expecting?" The lady must like something to eat, or somewhere different kinds of flowers spread. Foxes are known to be fond of nature (in fact, they mainly live there) and it was natural for Masami to think of the windmills first, visually.

Then the lady started talking about stories, which caused Masami to look away even more. It was odd that he hasn't been making eye-contact for too long – he'd usually almost stare forever. "I am Kita Masami," he introduced, "you must have heard of me as a theater performer in Joya." His interlocked fingers disconnected, having each finger pull the cloth of Masami's overcoat. "My story is not enticing... at all." he uttered, being distracted by the sudden distance change of the two. Was she suddenly weary of him? Masami's whole face started to turn slightly bright red instead, being slightly embarrassed over his choice of words. 'The introduction sounded awfully formal... ew.' If Masami could, he would've slapped himself a brick in an instant.

Aura looked at the boy and wasn't really sure if he was shy or afraid. He seemed to lack eye contact. Was it because she was a slave? Was it obvious that she was? Her eyes lowered to see that her shackles were gone from when Aegis took them off so it couldn't have been that. She retraced her eyes back to Masami who later introduced himself as such and wondered something.

"Masami, do you know an Aegis?". If he was an enemy of him then she wouldn't know. She was naive a little bit as human contact was little. The boy talked about how he was an actor and was probably known in Joya, but she never heard of him. "I heard of you as much as you heard of me." She joked as it also was a little bit of truth in there. There was some lack of story as well, "A story is art, I wish to hear it. We can go to a park perhaps and sit there to talk about things. I wish to know another Joyan. Perhaps -what a woman once told me 'friends'." She said it weirdly as she never heard such a thing before. "Not sure what it means, but I wish to have some." She smiled happily like she was super bubbly.

"An Aegis...?" Masami responded with slight caution and confusion. These types of scenarios never go right: a stranger approaches you and asks if you know a certain person. You never really know what happens to that person next, however, Masami was quite familiar to the name. He has never seen it himself, but there were rumors of a "lich" named Aegis, in Masami's guild, the Penumbral Guard. This was a rumor before, a rumor Masami didn't believe at all. However, he was slightly convinced that the lich exists, now that the fox lady had mentioned it. "Unfortunately... I do not." he knew the feeling of being forced to deny due to the lack of knowledge, and the familiar feeling made him lower his head a little, but he looked back up.

There was a sudden surge of optimism in him, he held a hand out for the fox lady to shake. "Ah... friends are wonderful! I would gladly become acquainted with such as you." his smiled showed his teeth, unnecessary comfort for speaking in mutual language. "I shamefully apologize, I have yet to know your name." in short, Masami asked for the lady's name. In Masami's perception, the fox lady was simply being cautious. Where was she from, to respond with a question rather than her name? "I have lots of tales in my arsenal of experiences, which one would you like to hear first?" the question was tied with passionate expression from Masami's face. No one could tell if he was angry or woesome, but the memories from those experienced forced him to smile in order to hide the truth. Such a person lustful for stories are not to be easily fond of.

Her smile faded away as the boy didn't know him. Her eyes lowered, kicked the ground innocently, and had her hands behind her back. "He was the one who helped me. Took me to a bath, unlocked my shackles, and..." She tried to think about what else happened. She couldn't think exactly what happened at the end. Her eyes looked back at the kid who then asked about her name. Did she forget to tell him? It was only nice to tell him the name she was given by Master. Happily, she smiled to hide the pain behind it, "Aura Chou.~". It meant a beautiful butterfly as she was treated like a jewel in the enslavement business.

Maybe asking him about his stories were sensitive ones cause usually travelers enjoyed telling them. All kinds, but the ones that left a scar. Her eyes blanked out as she remembered a kid, a boy that she found cute. She became attached to that boy, but something he did made him disappear. Her eyes looked at him normally as she finally came to realized she was just standing there silently for a few moments. "I, uh... whatever you're comfortable with." She didn't know how to answer about which kind of story he should say. Slowly, Aura itched the side of her right cheek as she wondered.

The lady, now named Aura Chou, was obviously disappointed. Masami's lips slightly folded upon seeing this expression on the woman's face, but he had no choice but to admit that he truly did not know whom that Aegis was. "He... seems to be a kind man." he chuckled before and after he spoke, letting out a bright smile right after. At least, he knew now that there was nothing to worry about. Masami needn't doubt his own guild, now that he had realized that whoever the lich creature was, they are surely not malevolent. "Therefore... we must be the same. I had left the land because I wasn't entirely free, after all." he turned a gaze away, speaking these words because the woman had mentioned something relating to unlocking shackles and having someone to take care of her. Must be nice, all those theater staff took care of Masami surely because of reputation. It would be a doubt for him to be taken care of if it means truly caring; hearing those from Aura, he felt slightly envious.

Masami didn't react much when the woman revealed her name, it rather felt natural and automatic enough for him to avoid overjoying. There were some silence before one of them chose to speak – in fact, Masami also did not notice that he had been in silence. Not the time to reminisce about the past, keeping a lady standing still like that is quite rude. "Umm—!" he reacted the same time Aura made a response, so he cut himself off and let the woman speak instead. Now, he's placed upon multiple choices. In Joya, Aura's name was related to beauty, or something of the sort. There was no doubt, she must've gone through more than what Masami perceives.

Immediately, he took her wrist after a nod. "Follow me." Masami had started walking ahead of her, pulling the lady along with him. Somewhere near Marigold's Windmills, there is an open field with lots of grass and even tiny poppies sprouting in random locations. Masami would go exactly there with the woman's wrist in his hand, might take quite the time, so he had hoped that the woman would not get bored. Once they would reach the central part of the fields (or at least, somewhere in the middle), Masami would finally let go of Aura and throw himself upon the ground, feeling the grass touching his skin. He had fallen face-down, then when he faced his body upwards, he looked at the woman. "I am a sinner." he had no other words of choice, but whatever he wanted to say, he said it completely.

He's gaze at the woman's eyes for a few seconds, then look at the sky regardless of how bright it is. He had a palm in the air, almost as if trying to touch the clouds. "I am starting to get tired of telling the same tales, my mother had an illness and I believe that I am the cause of it. Not unless I have found a cure, I cannot stay back at the land." neither saying the name of his homeland nor the country itself, Masami started thinking of words other than "land". The entire word was starting to tick him off due to over-usage, "Were you a servant?" this time, he was more straightforward – he stared right at Aura's eyes and had no intention of looking away no longer. In Masami's perception, the woman had nothing else to deal with other than slavery when she meant unlocking shackles, Masami's experience in acting had taught him that those little things make up such a huge picture. Shackles, often, symbolize being stuck in a scenario – regards Joyan culture, it definitely meant what Masami asked. Although he knew well how a servant would differentiate a slave, Masami believed that it was rude to assume someone as lowly as that ranking. At the moment, it did not matter to him whether the woman would react in a negative way.

Aura listened to the boy and shifted around him, studying him. 'He's cute.' A lustful tone purred throughout her thoughts. She smiled happily as her eyes tried to shift pink, but something in her heart smacked her consciousness back to where she was just standing there in front of him. Her brown hair flowed behind her like a wave of chocolate while her golden eyes mirrored him. He had an adventure he wanted to set her on, grasping her hand. Her face turned red, but couldn't speak as he escorted her elsewhere. This was the first time a male has touched her hand who wasn't abusive, it felt genuine. No one who bought her could touch her, just gaze at her in different attire and her dancing. The last man who did end up 'mysteriously' dead.

He spoke as if nothing was wrong, but she has seen many people who liked to deceive to know at least a few things. Something was wrong, but she couldn't tell what. Aura shrugged it off, but then his question came up. She knew it was going to come up. The area became silent as he asked if she was a servant. The place was is beautiful with flowers as she enjoyed nature as a whole. Something was stopping her from going beserk by just thinking about her past, the boy's eyes made her feel lost. A small smile escaped Aura's glossed lips. "No... I was a slave. I escaped after killing the guards, got on a boat by sneaking with some others who wanted to join and we left. I just got off the boat a week ago?" she didn't remember the number of days. Her eyes looked away for a second and looked back at him. "I got separated by my slave friends sadly and I remember the last thing my master said... I know he's sending people for me..." she trailed off as her voice cracked at the end. Her head turned to look towards the distance, lost. The sun made her beauty shimmer as she then leaned down to sit after creating a bench made of vines and flowers.

Right after her statements, Masami had his own internal response. 'Ah, just as I thought...' Masami quickly sat up, having his expectations fulfilled. He didn't expect the fox lady to tell more, whatsoever; Masami was trying hard not to reveal much information but then it wasn't the same for the other. Their backstories were very much alike that he felt the need to tell her more than he should be able to tell. She isn't human, anyway, is it alright to tell her those bad memories? In response to her words, Masami chuckled without even looking at her. He knew that if he did, he'd cry.

"An escapee, too." he swayed his feet as he held unto his own knees, laughing right after, finding the comparison of backstories quite amusing. "Guess you're not the only killer around." Was that right? Masami quite doubted whether the woman would feel afraid, knowing that Masami had killed people (quite?) in the past as well. Even if that was the case, Masami doesn't believe that he'll be able to defend himself or explain more to make himself more righteous. Of course, in the midst of those corrupted people, there were also innocent ones – most of which Masami ignored while the court was ablaze. Should he let the woman know nothing, just like how he knows nothing about her? Even if she wasn't human, she was still a being, and Masami was disdainfully aware of that. His speaking was rather more casual, as well.

He treated it like a joke instead. "A boat, too! I came here through such transportation." it was time for him to go, else the day might leave him out – thus, he jumped up on his feet and approached the lady in quick motion, lightly patting the top of her head between the two fox ears. He also somewhat leaned a little bit to the left, comically checking if there were human ears. "I have to depart, we'll surely meet somewhere else, very soon. Foxes like nature, don't they?" with a smile, he'd raise his left pinky right in front of Aura, "Promise?"

Masami's eyes... he made sure that they appeared friendlier (considering how he cannot even see himself). "Friends." this time, in Fiorian language, hoping that the fox would somewhat understand what 'friends' meant in a way, or at least grasp a concept upon it. 'How clean.' were Masami's thought upon making a last quick scan off of Aura from head to toe, realizing that she had been taken care off, even if there were still marks left in some of her limbs. Those said, Masami finally waved goodbye as their distance becomes greater, until Masami could no longer see the fox lady.

The kid seemed alright and it seemed like he killed people as well. The fact that he told her didn't faze her at all. Her eyes have seen a lot and so far she has felt a lot as well. The two seemed to have a weird connection, but she couldn't put a finger on it. Joya was a beautiful yet toxic country, it was conflicting to her. It was sad that Aura didn't find out a lot of things about Masami, but maybe it was because they just met? It was clueless and sadly, things had to end. He had places to go.

A small frown appeared on her face as he then brought out a pinky. 'A pinky?'. She felt clueless at this as she slowly copied him. It felt strange, weird as he then called her a friend, or maybe he was asking. Her eyes wandered after he left as she wondered if she will ever find her slavery friends. Could they be hiding in Fiore as well? Swirling a little, Aura went towards town as she wondered what dresses she could find at this day. Her eyes felt tired as her body felt exhausted. This was new, as she never really got to do random things.

-exit-