13 Nov 2020, 08:14
On The Hunt
Interacting with @Eirian Blake
"めんどくさい." Annoying
Kazuo muttered to himself, hunched up beneath his oversized hoodie, hands buried in his pockets.
"冷たい!" Cold!
He blew out a breath, watching it cloud in front of his face.
"何を見つけることがありますか？ 何もない？" What can we find? Nothing?
He stomped his feet, wondering if he should send a letter to his mother requesting warmer clothing. When he'd packed his things, he hadn't even thought about snow. Horrid stuff. Cold and wet and not at all fun. He was already starting to regret agreeing to this whole outing and he'd only managed to make it halfway down the path to the lake.
Crunch, crunch, crunch went the snow beneath his feet as he fixed his eyes on his destination. How had he managed to attract the attention of the noisy girl? Maybe she was just interested in his book of yokai. He could appreciate her interest in magic critters - he shared it, after all - but she was so boisterous. All she did was talk, even when he didn't answer. She just kept talking about the lake and how she'd heard all sorts of stories about the creatures that lived in it. 人魚？ Mermaids? アッコロカムイ？ Akkorokamui? Would they really let children go to school so close to a lake full of such creatures?
As the shore of the lake came into sight he paused, glancing back at the school. If they let ghosts haunt the school maybe it wasn't so strange that there would be monsters in the lake. But how did a squid end up in a lake? Squid weren't freshwater creatures. Even giant monster squid. Would lake mermaids be different from ocean ones?
He sighed and continued his trek, covering the last couple meters to stand at the edge of the lake, staring at the murky depths as he waited for the noisy girl to arrive.
Last edited by Kazuo Shimada on 29 Nov 2020, 20:25, edited 1 time in total.
Don't confuse my attitude with my personality. My personality is who I am; my attitude depends on who you are.
14 Nov 2020, 05:25
On The Hunt
Eirian jogged down towards the greenhouses while buttoning up her long jacket. Her cold fingers fumbled with the buttons a little bit, but she did it, then shoved her hands deep into her pockets for warmth.
She was beginning to realise that the winter up here would be colder than back home in Aberystwyth and wondered if it was this cold here in November, how cold it must have been further north in Scotland.
A little bit away from the greenhouses, she stopped and looked around. To her left, she could see the whomping willow in the distance, a tree she had recently learned can and will whack any students who get too close to it. There wasn't much to look at to her right, but she went that way, fairly certain that she was, in fact, going the correct way to meet Kazuo by the lake.
Her boots crunched in the snow as she made her way down the path, and she could see someone who was probably Kazuo in the distance by the edge of the lake.
She crossed the last distance to him with a spring in her step, excited to hopefully see a mermaid or a grindylow or the giant squid in the lake.
"Noswaith dda," Eirian greeted the Japanese boy cheerfully, stepping up beside him, "Hope you haven't been waiting too long, it's pretty chilly out here."
She was beginning to realise that the winter up here would be colder than back home in Aberystwyth and wondered if it was this cold here in November, how cold it must have been further north in Scotland.
A little bit away from the greenhouses, she stopped and looked around. To her left, she could see the whomping willow in the distance, a tree she had recently learned can and will whack any students who get too close to it. There wasn't much to look at to her right, but she went that way, fairly certain that she was, in fact, going the correct way to meet Kazuo by the lake.
Her boots crunched in the snow as she made her way down the path, and she could see someone who was probably Kazuo in the distance by the edge of the lake.
She crossed the last distance to him with a spring in her step, excited to hopefully see a mermaid or a grindylow or the giant squid in the lake.
"Noswaith dda," Eirian greeted the Japanese boy cheerfully, stepping up beside him, "Hope you haven't been waiting too long, it's pretty chilly out here."
Interacting with @Kazuo Shimada
"Ask no questions and you'll be told no lies." - Charles Dickens
15 Nov 2020, 09:21
On The Hunt
Interacting with @Eirian Blake
Kazuo let his mind wander as he stared out across the dark waters. He remembered the day he arrived at Hogwarts, surrounded by other students, crossing the deep, dark waters. He'd never seen anything like it before that day. There were lakes back home, of course, but they were nothing like this one. He remembered the crystal blue of Tokyo Bay, of visiting Kasai Rinkai park and wading along the beach. Of staring out at the water and imaging what might lay beneath the waves. Of wondering when he would finally see something more than water and sand.
The crunch of boots alerted him to her presence. He glanced over his shoulder as the Slytherin girl approached, bundled up in a coat that looked much warmer than his hoodie. It seemed she was more prepared for Scottish winters than he was. Too much to learn. So many things he felt unprepared for in this place. His gaze returned to the lake and a smile flickered across his lips briefly. He might not be prepared for snow but whatever they might find in the lake, he had never felt more ready.
"Nos-what?" He asked, frowning at the unknown words. Usually, he was the one uttering things other people didn't understand. That didn't sound like any English he knew. "No, maybe ten minutes? So what do we do now? Is there a specific way to try to contact them? The ningyo? A summoning?" He took a few steps closer to the water's edge and crouched down, dipping his fingers into the water. It was icy cold and he quickly withdrew them, tucking them back into the folds of his hoodie pocket. "I read Scamander-san's description but it's different from what I learned in Japan. Our ningyo are not pretty like yours and they can be very dangerous if they feel threatened.""Noswaith dda," Eirian greeted the Japanese boy cheerfully, stepping up beside him, "Hope you haven't been waiting too long, it's pretty chilly out here."
Last edited by Kazuo Shimada on 29 Nov 2020, 20:25, edited 1 time in total.
Don't confuse my attitude with my personality. My personality is who I am; my attitude depends on who you are.
18 Nov 2020, 03:40
On The Hunt
Eirian was glad that Kazuo hadn't been waiting for her long, more now that she saw his outfit which included a hoodie but no jacket to guard against the cold.
"Oh, noswaith dda," Eirian repeated, "It just means good evening. It's Welsh. I'm from Aberystwyth."
She pulled her hands from her pockets and tugged on a thin pair of gloves.
"Is ningyo Japanese for mermaid?" she asked, breaking the word up into its syllables in an attempt not to butcher the pronunciation.
Eirian followed Kazuo closer and crouched down next to him, though she kept her hands out of the water as she was pretty sure it would be freezing.
"I'm not really sure what to do. They speak mermish to each other, but I think they have some understanding of English. Or whichever language the wizards speak depending on where they are. I just heard from mum and rumours around that there are mermaids here, I've never actually seen one."
She paused, thinking about what Mr Scamander had written about them as well as the rumours and stories that her mum had told her. Instead of remembering anything important to finding the mermaids, she ended up remembering something completely unrelated.
"Kazuo," she asked for his attention then went into her pockets and pulled out her spare gloves, "Here. They're not super thick, but they're warmer than nothing." She offered the gloves to him.
"Sometimes I think they can be dangerous here, but it depends on the kind from what I remember. What do the Japanese magizoologists say about them other than the danger?"
"Oh, noswaith dda," Eirian repeated, "It just means good evening. It's Welsh. I'm from Aberystwyth."
She pulled her hands from her pockets and tugged on a thin pair of gloves.
"Is ningyo Japanese for mermaid?" she asked, breaking the word up into its syllables in an attempt not to butcher the pronunciation.
Eirian followed Kazuo closer and crouched down next to him, though she kept her hands out of the water as she was pretty sure it would be freezing.
"I'm not really sure what to do. They speak mermish to each other, but I think they have some understanding of English. Or whichever language the wizards speak depending on where they are. I just heard from mum and rumours around that there are mermaids here, I've never actually seen one."
She paused, thinking about what Mr Scamander had written about them as well as the rumours and stories that her mum had told her. Instead of remembering anything important to finding the mermaids, she ended up remembering something completely unrelated.
"Kazuo," she asked for his attention then went into her pockets and pulled out her spare gloves, "Here. They're not super thick, but they're warmer than nothing." She offered the gloves to him.
"Sometimes I think they can be dangerous here, but it depends on the kind from what I remember. What do the Japanese magizoologists say about them other than the danger?"
Interacting with: @Kazuo Shimada
"Ask no questions and you'll be told no lies." - Charles Dickens
21 Nov 2020, 07:36
On The Hunt
Interacting with @Eirian Blake
Kazuo listened as she explained the words he hadn’t been able to make sense of. It was another language, Welsh? Wales was one of the four countries that made up the United Kingdom, that he remembered from the lessons his mother had imparted when they’d first moved to London. Aberystwyth… that was a strange name. He made a note to look it up later. Such a shame that he couldn’t use his smartphone here. He could have googled it. He let out a sigh at the thought. He simply couldn’t understand why anyone would restrict the use of technology. Magic was an amazing tool but so was science. Why limit oneself?
“Konbanwa,” Kazuo replied in response with a slight smile. “It means good evening in Japanese. Ningyo are, I believe, our equivalent to mermaids. The literal translation is human fish.”
He gazed at the water, wondering how deep the lake must be. Ningyo were only found in the ocean around Japan, never in the lakes. There were other yokai who made their homes in the freshwater places. “I imagine many students have come to the lake in search of them, to confirm the rumours, like us.”
He glanced up as Eirian offered him a spare set of gloves. “Oh, thank you but gloves make it hard to write and if we find a mermaid I might need to take notes. I didn’t go to magic school in Japan. I was too young and hadn’t found my talent for it yet. I don’t really know what they say. I just have my books and the stories my mother told me. The ningyo are more fishlike than human and they have a monkey-like mouth with small fish teeth. Their scales are said to be golden and their voice is flute-like. They say ningyo are able to put a powerful curse on humans who try to harm or capture them but that if you were able to eat the flesh of one, you would live forever. I don’t know how true that part is. The immortality part. I imagine that is simply wishful thinking on the part of the fishermen who tried to capture them. Do you think we should use a boat? I doubt the mermaids would come near the shore.”
Last edited by Kazuo Shimada on 29 Nov 2020, 20:26, edited 1 time in total.
Don't confuse my attitude with my personality. My personality is who I am; my attitude depends on who you are.
24 Nov 2020, 23:55
On The Hunt
Eirian shrugged and returned the spare gloves to her pocket when Kazuo rejected them. His reasoning was fair enough she supposed, but she would take a little bit of difficulty while writing over freezing her fingers off.
She listened to Kazuo's description of the Japanese ningyo with great interest and all her focus, making a couple of mental notes that she might or might not write down somewhere later to remember. The idea of eating a mermaid- or ningyo- was disgusting and terrible to her but it wasn't shocking, people did try to kill unicorns to drink their blood for immortality, too.
"The immortality could be true," Eirian shrugged and decided to share her unicorn thought, "I mean, wizards have killed unicorns to drink their blood in an attempt to gain immortality. I don't think it's ever been confirmed one way or the other, but enough people seem to believe it."
She contemplated Kazuo's boat suggestion, "You're probably right. They'll likely be deeper in the water, and the shore is shallows." She looked around, "I don't know where they keep the boats, but if we can find one, I'm all for taking it out on the lake to continue our mermaid quest."
She listened to Kazuo's description of the Japanese ningyo with great interest and all her focus, making a couple of mental notes that she might or might not write down somewhere later to remember. The idea of eating a mermaid- or ningyo- was disgusting and terrible to her but it wasn't shocking, people did try to kill unicorns to drink their blood for immortality, too.
"The immortality could be true," Eirian shrugged and decided to share her unicorn thought, "I mean, wizards have killed unicorns to drink their blood in an attempt to gain immortality. I don't think it's ever been confirmed one way or the other, but enough people seem to believe it."
She contemplated Kazuo's boat suggestion, "You're probably right. They'll likely be deeper in the water, and the shore is shallows." She looked around, "I don't know where they keep the boats, but if we can find one, I'm all for taking it out on the lake to continue our mermaid quest."
Interacting with @Kazuo Shimada
"Ask no questions and you'll be told no lies." - Charles Dickens
25 Nov 2020, 03:33
On The Hunt
Interacting with @Eirian Blake
While Eirian was talking about unicorns, Kazuo was scanning the shore, looking for the docks. He wasn’t sure if the boats would be at the school or at the small dock where all the first years had boarded back at the beginning of the school year. It was hard to tell from where they were but he suspected the boats must be stored on the Hogwarts side. Away from foolish children like them, probably.
“Unicorns? I know they are in the book but do they really exist? They seem unbelievable, even for wizards. A horse with a magical horn that can sense the purity of a person? If that were true, no unicorn would ever reveal itself to a human. No human is that pure,” He scoffed a bit at the thought. “And if unicorns are so rare, did Scamander-sensei just rewrite what other people claimed about them? It would be unlikely for him to have ever seen one himself, wouldn’t it? I would think if a unicorn’s blood could truly make a person immortal, the unicorn would be extinct by now. If our fishermen were willing to risk bringing disaster on their entire village just to capture a ningyo, I can only imagine your people would hunt them. They may be elusive but they don’t seem to have much more than that for defences.”
He turned his gaze toward the castle, pointing to the docks that were somewhat visible from where they stood on the shore. “I think they must keep them over there but I don’t see a way to reach those docks from outside. We might have to go through the castle. Do you think they lock up the boats?”
Don't confuse my attitude with my personality. My personality is who I am; my attitude depends on who you are.
4 Dec 2020, 23:20
On The Hunt
Eirian listened to what Kazuo had to say then shrugged, "I dunno about that. I've heard some myths about unicorns and purity, but as far as documented unicorns I don't think that says who can approach."
She bristled a bit at the implication that Newt Scamander would write claims made by other people, "Mr Scamander did his own research." she paused, "Unicorns are more likely to allow females to approach, but that doesn't mean that no men have. It's been proven that the blood of a unicorn will sustain life, but if you kill a unicorn you're cursed forever. Plus, the ministry's creature departments have unicorns as protected as they can, and unicorns are hard to find. I don't know about them defending themselves, but there's plenty to deter people from actually trying to use their blood for immortality. A cursed life isn't worth it for most people."
Eirian shrugged about the boats, "I doubt they leave them out at the docks when there's a boathouse. I don't think there's a way to the boathouse from outside, so you're right about going through the castle. I won't be surprised if they keep them locked up, but who knows with this school. They probably don't want students just taking them, though."
She bristled a bit at the implication that Newt Scamander would write claims made by other people, "Mr Scamander did his own research." she paused, "Unicorns are more likely to allow females to approach, but that doesn't mean that no men have. It's been proven that the blood of a unicorn will sustain life, but if you kill a unicorn you're cursed forever. Plus, the ministry's creature departments have unicorns as protected as they can, and unicorns are hard to find. I don't know about them defending themselves, but there's plenty to deter people from actually trying to use their blood for immortality. A cursed life isn't worth it for most people."
Eirian shrugged about the boats, "I doubt they leave them out at the docks when there's a boathouse. I don't think there's a way to the boathouse from outside, so you're right about going through the castle. I won't be surprised if they keep them locked up, but who knows with this school. They probably don't want students just taking them, though."
Interacting with: @Kazuo Shimada
"Ask no questions and you'll be told no lies." - Charles Dickens
10 Dec 2020, 01:16
On The Hunt
Interacting with @Eirian Blake
Kazuo watched Eirian bristle at his questions, amused that she would get so defensive of a wizard she had never met. It wasn't that he necessarily doubted the author, simply that it was in his nature to question, reinforced by his mother's reminders to always think critically. If he had mixed information, he was driven to filter what was true and what wasn't.
"Interesting. We do not have any such creature. I've read that westerners like to compare the unicorn to the kirin, though, which I suppose makes sense when you talk about purity and rarity. I do not think this world will see a kirin again for a very long time. The legends say that they only appear when a land is ruled by wise and benevolent people, in times of peace. I don't see that happening any time soon. What kind of curse does a person get for killing a unicorn?"
He stood, shoving his hands into the pockets of his hoodie, and began the trek back up toward the castle, expecting Eirian would follow. "From what I've seen, the teachers don't seem to be too concerned with what the students get up to. As long as you don't break any rules in front of the teachers, students seem to just do whatever they want. It's fascinating, really. I expected boarding school to be much more restrictive but this school seems to be the opposite. It makes for some fascinating opportunities to pursue activities like this one."
Kazuo breathed a soft sigh of relief as they re-entered the school, enjoying the warmth while it lasted. "Do you know how to swim? I've never rowed a boat before. What about you? It doesn't look too difficult. Do you think we should get something to use as bait for the mermaids? Ningyo are said to like nori... um... seaweed? Do lakes have seaweed? Or something similar? Or do they eat fish?"
Don't confuse my attitude with my personality. My personality is who I am; my attitude depends on who you are.
31 Dec 2020, 03:10
On The Hunt
Eirian shrugged, "I've never heard of a kirin before so I dunno if they're actually similar."
She didn't really have much of an opinion on Kazuo's thoughts on times of peace but what he said didn't seem unlikely to her.
"I'm not entirely sure about the curse. It's not any kind of curse a wizard could cast, I don't know if anyone knows the exact specifics but basically, if you drink the unicorn's blood your curse is a 'halflife'. You'll be sort of immortal but your life will be generally incomplete and cursed."
Eirian followed Kazuo when he started up to the castle, taking a couple of extra steps to walk beside him. She nodded along as he shared his thoughts on the teachers,
"Yeah, I thought it would be more strict, too. Definitely thought I'd be getting into more trouble, anyway. I doubt that the teachers will care where we're going or what we're doing unless we're acting suspicious and pass any of them."
She pulled off her gloves as soon as they entered the school even though she knew she would have to put them back on soon.
"I can swim, Aber's on Cardigan Bay so I pretty much had to learn when I was little." She shrugged about the boats, "I haven't exactly. We took the boats across when we arrived and I've used like..." she waved her hand vaguely, "paddle boats? I think that's it. Anyway, it can't be that hard. We just have to more the paddles or oars, whatever they're called, in time, right?"
She thought hard about the information she had on mermaids, "I think they eat fish? I don't know about seaweed being in the lake, but if it is, I would guess they might eat it, too. Mermaids like being mysterious, so wizard's don't know anything the mermaids don't want us to, really."
"Hopefully we don't annoy them going out on the boat," she said, "We won't be able to see one unless one decides to pop up seeing as the lake water is freezing cold right now."
She didn't really have much of an opinion on Kazuo's thoughts on times of peace but what he said didn't seem unlikely to her.
"I'm not entirely sure about the curse. It's not any kind of curse a wizard could cast, I don't know if anyone knows the exact specifics but basically, if you drink the unicorn's blood your curse is a 'halflife'. You'll be sort of immortal but your life will be generally incomplete and cursed."
Eirian followed Kazuo when he started up to the castle, taking a couple of extra steps to walk beside him. She nodded along as he shared his thoughts on the teachers,
"Yeah, I thought it would be more strict, too. Definitely thought I'd be getting into more trouble, anyway. I doubt that the teachers will care where we're going or what we're doing unless we're acting suspicious and pass any of them."
She pulled off her gloves as soon as they entered the school even though she knew she would have to put them back on soon.
"I can swim, Aber's on Cardigan Bay so I pretty much had to learn when I was little." She shrugged about the boats, "I haven't exactly. We took the boats across when we arrived and I've used like..." she waved her hand vaguely, "paddle boats? I think that's it. Anyway, it can't be that hard. We just have to more the paddles or oars, whatever they're called, in time, right?"
She thought hard about the information she had on mermaids, "I think they eat fish? I don't know about seaweed being in the lake, but if it is, I would guess they might eat it, too. Mermaids like being mysterious, so wizard's don't know anything the mermaids don't want us to, really."
"Hopefully we don't annoy them going out on the boat," she said, "We won't be able to see one unless one decides to pop up seeing as the lake water is freezing cold right now."
Interacting with: @Kazuo Shimada
"Ask no questions and you'll be told no lies." - Charles Dickens