Lumikki of Iceberg

"Embrace the Abyss, and let the shadows carry you."

Lumikki chuckled at their display, their chemistry was unknown to her since Benimaru took back his primary form. They always had a tendency to bicker, but it would erupt so playfully and entertaining now, their liveliness only building up more and more with every exchange.

Lumikki was sure to twirl for Beni, who was gracious enough to not only notice her appearance but comment on it so keenly. And it would be with a cheeky smile that she’d face him again, the starry night alive in her eyes as much as the skies above. Her features were human from the start, but the pale while of her hair almost seemed aglow as is she was an ethereal beauty to stumble the stone paths with them. Her feathers and wings affixed to her outfit in ways most who don’t shape shift could never understand.

Amid the Joyan backdrop, the Demoness was picturesque. The sentiment wouldn’t change after she took her seat at the table. The glow of the candle fought with the bathing white light of the moon to make her shine even more within the night. And as the trio bickered their orders, Lumikki’s gaze was upon the koi swimming lazily in the pond. Their long languid pauses contrasting their bursts of sharp movement and playful dances. Her cat eyes finding them amusing.

”Feels like ages since I’ve passed time with ye both, aye. Just ‘cause we live as long as we do, don’t mean we shouldn’t make find company…..But…I’m really happy….I was looking forward to this for some time yea.” Finally her gaze snapped back to them in one jarring and hyper gesture. Her eyes settling on Benimaru among the two. ”Tell me of yer adventure and exploits. Ye’ve been walking around for sometime now. How’s freedom treatin’ ya?” The waitress was walking back to the table as Lumikki was beginning her inquire. Her graceful movements kept the tray of drinks balanced on her shoulder until she was just beside the party. With one fluid motion, she then shifted the tray, slightly rotating it as she brought to down to the table, and she placed each cup of drink before their intended costumer. With a curt bow and another fluid gesture, she was off to handle the next table to arrive. Leaving the three to take a sip from their glasses and savor the poisons of another culture.

 

"In darkness, I find my true strength."

Lumikki of Iceberg

"In a calm and chilly breeze the petals dance."

”Ye’ve been there long enough,” Lumi mused, her glass was pressed just at her lips in eager anticipation. ”Give me the names and I could scout their whereabouts or their descendants within a month or so. I’m being serious by the way…I could see this is important to ye.” With a sly grin and a cheeky wink, Lumikki threw back the sake. Letting the sweetness of the drink coat her tongue for a small moment before devouring it eagerly. With a sigh and a lick of her lips, she slump back onto the table. Loftily pouring herself another cup.

”Oy, speaking of Brone. We’ve got family to be looking into as well. I know we’ve been busy, but we’ve put off the task long enough. Course I could hunt ‘em down meself, I don’t need ye there to do it with me. But here’s the thing mate, I want ye there. Something so impactful, and well, I want me Uncle around. So none of yer blasted protect the North nonsense. I think it’s time for me right hand man to find himself a right hand man to hold forte whenever we’re gone. Ye’ve trained them aye, so who would ye venture are worth that title.” Her eyes kept low as she went on, carefully paying attention to her pour. It wasn’t until her mention of finding another he could trust to help him with the work that her gaze panned back to him.

”Ya know…for a time I figured I’d garner that spot at yer side to hold the weight and responsibilities. Ya know, in a way only us Dwarves know best. And though I’ve kinda fulfilled that desire of mine, it ain’t as I ‘ken it’d be. But really, I refuse to have it any other way. If I could prove meself here, I could prove meself for the Hrútr, and if I’m making me mistakes, sorry to say, it’ll be with the Dawn.” With a short chuckle, Lumikki leaned back. Her head veering up to the open sky. ”Oy, but I don’t wanna waste this lovely time on sad talk or the utterance of duty. Glad we got this over with early. Now let us talk fights, blunders, and chaotic desires.”

It was then that Lumikki snapped forward, her excitement apparent. ”Speaking of Beni, yer deathly lacking in telling me things of note. Look lad, I could trade ye me life story if that’s what it’ll take, but let yer sis in on the chaos of yers.”
 

"A garden of frostflowers."

Lumikki of Iceberg

"In a calm and chilly breeze the petals dance."

Lumikki leaned over, her investment and curiosity quite obvious. As was her refusal to accept a “no thank you.” She knew it wasn’t her place to pry, and in truth, she never wanted to. She often wished she could traverse this world uninterested and detached, but the more she watched her brothers and sisters. The more she wavered that the passivity was stagnation upon them all. For the ever present winter she grew to be, and the stillness her ice invoked—if not pleaded- within her. The gnawing darkness and hunger more often provoked her with an insatiable desire to pry, alleviate, and soothe. Should she refuse the call, it would men watching her kin simmer in self imposed suffering. But the Demoness must be coy, rather than the storm she felt to be, Lumikki wanted to do things with insight and grace. After she heard a name, that was the end of her personal strain and a gentle smile like waxing crescent, now etched on her delicate face.

Takahashi the bridge builders west of Joya…. Lumikki voiced over and over in her mind as if another thought could wipe her mental slate clean. She pulled back now pleased, her presence more approachable. That was until the notion of her own family seized her thoughts and her sharp focus centered on Brone. ”Aye, that’s right. It’ll be a chat for later once we get back home. I’ll draft up a list of our finest, to which I’d demand ye test them. Who survives the work given by ye, should turn up to be more than enough to face the world if it chose to seize us. Course, now that, that’s settled. Let me get lost more in the drink.” The Demoness almost cooed and purred as the gulps of her drink poured smoothly down her throat. While Beni humored her with his stroy, she carefully listened and pondered the thought.

With a deep sigh, she’d rest the bottle atop the table and join her brother in tilting her chair. But unlike him who took a thrill from a chance of his misfortune, Lumikki’s shadows would protectively coil around her as they playfully tug at her kimono. The Guild Master of Paradise Dawn often proves maturity and wisdom when needed, another her other notable traits whispered in tale and legend. But in times like these, like Beni, she would value childish things as they reminded her of the whimsy to needed to thrive.

”Yer more allusive than I….shame everyone knows me tale by now should they have care to hear it. Hel, I barely remember me simple times.” She’d snap back forward, almost slamming with the table as her chair dropped with the sound of something popping just below. And with a whiny tone, Lumikki inhaled deeply before speaking, ”Ye still got to play with me some more Beni. We’ve had no mischief since before me turn and the world has enjoyed too much peace.—Really now, yer like a cat hidden from the birds.”

"A garden of frostflowers."

Lumikki of Iceberg

"Beware of the trickery"

In Dwarven fashion, Brone put his foot down. His mug clamoring louder than all the other patrons in the bar, and theatrical enough to pull the crowd’s attention. While the customers were all bewildered, the servers looked rather rattled, but when time passed and trouble came, they slowly returned back to their pace.

Lumi however didn’t flinch for a moment, not because she lack fear for what her Uncle was capable of but because this was a Dwarven emphasis. He meant well to highlight his words, as the Demoness meant well to humor him and listen. Her cheeks flushed not by the sudden attention of the folks around them, but the passion and poetry shared by Brone in her favor. ”Thanks Love…yer always such a good reminder. Like a father to me when I am often so far from home. Ye think me humble, but I genuinely forget at times that I’m worth a listen. Like being a Demon was not enough to garner interest, nor climbing the ranks, no none of it.” Lumikki drooped forward, not of sadness but of somberness. Of deep thought and deeper feeling. Before she’d speak, she’d take a deep swig of her sake, enough to almost finish the bottle as the excess escaped her lips and ran down her neck. Finally she’d pull her drink away.”Ye’d think I’d out grow me insecurity but it clings to me far harder than ever before.”

Beni said his peace, and the Raven would say hers. ”A shadow of a shadow Oni-Chan? I’ll hold ye to it like a Demon’s pact and if ye fail me, I’ll have claim to yer soul forever! So ye never leave me, forever more~” Lumikki leaned upon the table, her head resting on her arm. Crossing her legs flashing the Oni an incredibly cheeky smile, enough to show her fangs.

"When fire burns cold."

Lumikki of Iceberg

"Beware of the trickery"

”Aye, I am worth listening to aren’t I?” Lumikki smiled rather sadistically, her brilliant eyes grew in radiance where they were previously dimmed by her sulking attitude. ”Perhaps that may be, because I have a talon in all the guild’s budgets now.” Her voice was menacing, albeit playful, as she mocked the perks of her new found standing. There were many things to consider now, long were the days she could sit idly by and not care. Long were the days of senseless mischievous and selfish choices. She was keen on proving to herself that in terms of leading, even a Demon could watch things grow. Observe as all things fall into place as if woven by fate’s design, a tapestry that even her demonic nature didn’t wish to destroy.

Benimaru’s response however, took her out of the droll and dreary mood all together, affixing her thoughts to the notions forever. It was a tapestry of a different kind, a different thread. Its crimson color would prove bright upon her cool skin, and she would see to it that she and the Yokai before her were tangled in it forever. Knotted in the cords of eternity, as she wouldn’t dare to suffer it alone.

A soft chuckle escaped her lips as Beni became busy with his drink, Brone in his own way shared a similar sentiment though it faced another avenue. And with a light snap, hardly making a sound, Lumikki froze the contents of his glass altogether. The Demoness held out her pinky, it was some wayward tradition read long in some old book, but in a campaign to prove sensible and spare an audience of their blood, Lumikki saw this ploy as a fine substitute. ”If that be the case, let’s see to it the red string of fate is knotted between us. Where time wears out all, let ya be by me side in eternity. If ya take me pinky in yers, then it’s a promise. The most simple means to assure a seal of friendly kinds.”

Meanwhile, a waitress finally took notice, nodding politely to Brone before making her way over. ”Sumimasen, what would you like dear patron?” With a voice so soft and polite.

"When fire burns cold."

Lumikki of Iceberg

"Beware of the trickery"

”Pish-posh,” Lumikki muttered in a teasing tone. Her voice like Beni, was hardly louder than a whisper. A moment so intimate didn’t need an audience to confirm it and she would rather play along with the Oni. His blazing crimson eyes were a testament to the internal forge brewing its fierce heat within him. A drive, that with all its force, wanted to feel alive with the yearning of a man who knew the notion of not existing freely. ”Ye now the tether is boundless, yer free to come and go as ya pleased. The only thing ya owe, is a visited ever so often. Tis all I ask, should be pleasing enough.” In the hush whispers, she spoke with a sing-song voice so playful that there were slight whistles at the ends of her words. The melodious promise slithered to the Oni just across from her, sealed with purple eyes to his crimson red.

The charming feeling wouldn’t linger much longer sadly, reality like an in coming wave of the ocean would crash back into them. Wrapping the two up in its overwhelming grasp as they shook back awake, with Brone’s thundering voice in the forefront as he made his demand known. Beni stepped in, his Joyan so rich and sweet to the Demoness’ ears. It was always a treat to observe his homeland’s tongue on his lips, and Lumikki would follow suit. A nod to the woman who took their order with a flustered politeness as she sorted the ordered before retreating to the back.

”Oy, the first of many places for us to stumble into an watch Brone crash amid like a bull in full charge.” Her tone ever playful as she just finished watching Beni drink everything in his cup in one go. ”Not like I could prefer it any other way Uncle.” With lips pulling into a smile, Lumikki chuckled at the notion that they had centuries more to play. More if she could assure it. She would have these two in her life forever.

"When fire burns cold."