Whose Woods These Are

[shadow_sage]

Characters: Liara T'Soni, ?
Open? OPEN
Where: White Forest
When: GHH 11
What: Investigating the White Forest's Regrowth
Warnings: At the moment, None

For a week, Liara had been working her way back towards Schwanheim. Walking through the countryside had given her time to think, and consider things, sure, but she'd spent a lot of that time talking with the people she met, learning more about the kingdom (not that anything she actually learned was exactly helpful, mind). As she walked, she rolled a small stone around in her fingers, an absent motion born of thought.

As the road began to edge closer to the remains of the White Forest, she slowed, then came to a stop. For a few days, she'd been hearing rumours that the forest was growing back, and even from the road, green could be seen where a few days before had been only ash. She rubbed the back of her neck, and let out a heavy breath. She rolled the rock in her fingers again, this time looking at it, before tucking it away and leaving the road, walking into the ashes, towards the greenery and what she knew lay inside.

As she moved further from the road, she lifted her orb. A little backup, she figured, probably couldn't hurt...

Comments

[shinkenyellow]

It had been a while coming, but Kotoha had finally seemed to begrudgingly accept that she wasn't going anywhere any time soon. Yes the Shinkengers needed her and yes the Gedoushuu at home were still at large but whoever or whatever had brought her here didn't seem to care about any of that. She figured if she were going to be sent back or if her coming here was some sort of mistake (why would they want her when the other Shinkengers would've been a much better choice?), she would've been informed and the necessary preparations would've been made by now.

Acceptance was hard but now Kotoha was focused on something else. She would be undeserving of the title of Shinkenger if she didn't have a constant desire to protect and help those in need of it. These people needed it, even if they were a little odd...

She recalled the audience that turned out to see her and Gunpei train. It had been uncomfortable, which was why she had decided to explore. Gunpei had told her about the forest. It ticked many of her boxes: to be outdoors, to explore, to practice alone, and to feel as though she was finally doing something to help the people here.

As Kotoha grew nearer, she caught a glimpse of a something moving. Whether it was dangerous (but wasn't that only at night?) or friendly went dismissed as she called out and began to jog towards the forest, her right hand settled on her sword handle.

[shadow_sage]

Liara wasn't moving to fast, taking to to look closely at the plants growing out of the ash, and generally get a feel for what was going on out there. Not that it was working.

When Kotoha shouted, she tuned, putting a hand on the hilt of her own sword. She wasn't planning on drawing it, mind, even if there was a fight coming, but she hoped that it might lessen the chances of actually having to defend herself if she looked ready to do so. She stopped, and observed the young woman coming towards her. She thought she had about placed her when they were close enough to speak without shouting at the top of their lungs.

"You're the knight. Ten days, or a little longer." Liara took an appraising look. "You do know how to handle that sword?" She could have offer better greetings, probably, but she'd been walking for days after getting dropped off in the mountains, and she was, unfortunately, not in the best of moods.

[shinkenyellow]

Kotoha looked from Liara to her sword, honestly quite surprised and confused that anybody would assume she couldn't use it. Everybody at home had known about the Shinkengers and who they were, she supposed. Another bitter reminder that this was not home. She nodded and smiled.

"Yeah. I'm a samurai!"

[shadow_sage]

She smiled, faintly. "Samurai. Is that something like a knight? I'm afraid I'm not terribly familiar with the ancient customs of Earth. I'm Dr. Liara T'Soni." Liara offered her hand to the other woman. "Don't let my sword fool you, I'm an archeologist. I know I point the sharp end away from myself."

She shrugged, slightly. "I know how you use a gun well enough, but it's not really the same thing at all."

[shinkenyellow]

"Ah, kind of..." Kotoha smiled and took Liara's hand with both of her own whilst bowing deeply. "I'm Hanaori Kotoha. It's nice to meet you!" She bowed again habitually. She thought it a tad odd that she'd been required to assure the other party that she could indeed use a sword, when Liara apparently couldn't. Perhaps she just wanted to know she was safe? Two people with swords they were unfamiliar with would've just been pointless and could cause more danger.

"I can teach you how to use it if you like." Kotoha didn't know if she would be a very good teacher and she knew she definitely would never be as good as Mako, but there was only one way to find out. She was a samurai, after all, she had to be able to have some impact on another's swordsmanship.

She felt a pang of sympathy towards both Liara and her new friend Gunpei, who both used weapons a bit too advanced for this world. It must've been hard, as she couldn't bear to think of how she'd be holding up if she weren't able to use her sword and was forced to learn a whole new weapon.

[shadow_sage]

Far more importantly, since she could use the sword, Liara didn't have to worry about protecting her nearly so much if something was waiting deeper into the forest. She didn't need a weapon to handle herself in a fight. "A pleasure, Miss Kotoha."

The corner of her mouth quirked as she turned back towards the forest. "I'm sure it couldn't hurt. Much. And might prove useful." She put a hand on her hip and stared into the forest for a moment.

"Not very long ago, this forest burned, the entire thing. And that way, right into the middle of the new growth, is a tower made of white stone." Liara glanced over at Kotoha. "I'm trying to get to it, because I imagine it has something to do with the regrowth. I don't know what I'm going to find there, this time, but I'm going in anyway. Would you like to join me?"

She turned back to Kotoha. "It really could be dangerous."

[shinkenyellow]

Kotoha's face was blank as she stared past Liara and into the mysterious forest. She herself was a fan of the outdoors, very much so, and had grown up pretty much in a forest. They were literally home to her and she hadn't heard of them growing so spectacularly fast before.

Her gaze lowered to the floor for a moment as she thought sadly that it was probably just the forest in this world that did that. No matter how much a forest re-growing entirely in a matter of weeks would be some kind of miracle on Earth, it was cause for great concern here. She, Hanaori Kotoha, took a deep breath and stood firm with resolution.

"I'm coming with you! I'll try my best." Her hand rested on the handle of her sword, more than prepared to draw it in a split second. The more she actively helped out and investigated on behalf of the people here, the more chance she would have of being noticed, commended, and perhaps sent home.

[shadow_sage]

So far as Liara was concerned, anything even remotely out of the ordinary in this place was cause for concern until she could prove otherwise. Too many times, something strange meant something bad here, and so she wasn't going to dismiss anything as innocuous until she had a chance to look into it.

Liara nodded, and started off again, heading towards the centre of the forest. "Do you have much experience in a fight?" She glanced over her shoulder, offering a little smile. "If you see anything unusual, say something. Who knows what might be important?"

[shinkenyellow]

Kotoha found herself wondering why this woman was going into the forest, originally alone, if she wasn't really any good with the weapons she had access to. While she was thinking it seems that Liara made a start towards their goal already. She hurriedly caught up.

"Yeah, I fight all the time at home." She didn't mention that she almost always had a team of skilled samurai to support her. After a reminder that she too was skilled and could hold her own in battle, she nodded in answer although the woman in front couldn't see.

"Hasn't anybody done this before?"

[shadow_sage]

Liara was quiet for a moment. "A few of us have been into the forest, but I haven't heard of anything since it started growing back." She didn't look back, brushing a sapling with her fingers as she passed it.

She shrugged, pointing at a stone covered in dirt and ash. It stuck up a little from the ground, but after a few moments, it would become clear that it was only one stone from a path. And the path lead deeper into the forest, where the regrowth was further along than just saplings.

"That way."

[shinkenyellow]

{ ooc: i'm so sorry for this being so late. on the other hand i'm super pleased because between then and now i have played through all three mass effect games and i loved them. }

Kotoha nodded in response. There wasn't a great deal to say to that and she didn't quite understand (she rarely did in all honesty) but her questions could wait. She could be herself around her fellow Shinkengers because she was a part of the team and they knew her, but nobody in this place really knew here nor what she was capable of and it would be a shame if she gave Liara the wrong impression about herself. She wouldn't, however, refrain from asking important questions. She didn't want to give the wrong impression and come off unreliable but she certainly wasn't silly enough to hold back and in doing so, endanger both herself and others.

For now, she wordlessly followed. Having grown up in the forest, Kotoha thought she knew all there was to know about them. The Japanese ones at least. She had never seen or heard of this happening even outside of Japan. Her hand hung by her sword hilt.