Hiding from the Rain (Madoka, then open)

[tigrrrlily2000]

A small figure could be seen, leading a tan horse down an almost nonexistent path on the cliff, making his way down to the cove, where he’d be sheltered a bit more from the rain, hopefully. Two cats: A black and white one and a gray tabby were hunched together on the horse’s back. Yamakazi, the small-for-his-age thirteen-year-old paused to sneeze violently, shivering with his light clothing. He was used to being deep in the forest, not out in the open, so he had gotten sick almost as soon as he left the cover of the trees. Of course, it was just his luck that it started raining just when he was heading down to the cove. Without any place to stay, he usually slept in or under a tree.

Coughing into his arm, furry black ears plastered against his skull, Yama peered down the path to see how much farther he had to go. Through slitted eyes, he could barely see beyond a few feet ahead of himself. His tail lashed angrily at his inability to distinguish where he was. The rain and wind were so loud, they blocked his hearing, and the rain washed away all scent. And his eyesight was just bad to begin with.

Yamakazi tripped on a rock and slid the rest of the way down the path clumsily. Luckily, it was only a few steps to the bottom, or he would have fallen and hurt himself. Kiyoshi, the horse, stepped daintily after him, not slipping at all on the trail. Once she was down, Yama lead her into the vegetation, stumbling, shivering, coughing, and sneezing the whole way. He found a few trees clumped together and got Kiyoshi to lie down beneath them. Yama curled up into a ball against her side, trying to stay sheltered from the storm.

((Sorry it's short, I couldn't think of anything else.))

[Madoka Ogawa]

Another miserable night. What else was new? Madoka angrily kicked at the rocks on the path as she walked. Why had she decided to go for a walk again? Oh right, because it looked like it would be a good night tonight, a clear night, a dry night. No such luck, of course.
“How I love living here,” she muttered as she nearly slipped on the wet path. How she’d longed to get out of here, go somewhere warm and dry. The rain had been fun when she was still a careless child, you could splash people, you could play in the rain… it was all fun and games.
Sadly, she wasn’t a child anymore, and actually had responsibilities now. She couldn’t afford to play in the rain, because there was a chance she’d get sick.
She needed to get home before she’d catch a cold and be in bed for a few days. But she was still fairly far away from the village… and the wind seemed intent on knocking her off her feet. Maybe the wisest thing to do right now would be to find a place to hide from the weather, a dry place where she’d be able to make a fire and sit it out. Yes, that seemed like an excellent plan. There was a cove not far from where she was walking.

After a few minutes of walking, the cove finally came into view, and she started to jog towards it. Her clothes were already wet, so there was no need to really rush.
“Ugh… finally…” she sighed in relief as she stepped out of the rain, wringing her long black hair and causing a small ocean to form at her feet. Leaning against the wall slightly, she looked out into the distance, glad to just be out of the rain. “I win this one, rain.” She laughed to herself. It was then that she noticed something in the nearby woods. Well… woods was being generous… it was actually just a few trees that stood closely together, giving off the impression of a small forest. What was that? She narrowed her eyes and noticed a… horse? It didn’t look like a wild horse… poor thing, had its owner left it here?
“It’s fine Madoka, horses aren’t stupid… it’ll come out of the rain if it’s cold.” She really didn’t want to leave her save little haven, but the longer she stared at the horse, the worse she felt. Maybe it was just really loyal and waiting for the jerk that left it?

With a deep sigh, she stepped back into the rain and hurried up to the horse as fast as she could.
“Hey there girl… are you okay?” she asked gently as she patted its nose, “Come on, let’s get you out of th…” her eyes widened when she looked down beside the horse. Was that a child?!
“Oh heavens, are you alright?” she walked around the horse and sat down next to the child, shaking him softly. “Come on sweetie, it’s going to be alright… there’s a shelter nearby.” She spoke gently as she grasped the boy’s arm and urged him to get up, “Can you stand up, or are you hurt somewhere?” she knelt back down and held her hands out in case he needed help getting up.

[tigrrrlily2000]

Yawning, Yamakazi uncurled a little to see who was bothering him. Even though he was wet and miserable, he was tired and hungry, above all else. His ears were plastered to his head, so the person probably didn’t see them. And his tail was hidden among folds of clothing. So this girl probably thought he was just a little human boy, lost in the rain, or something. He had been half asleep by then, so he didn’t really think about anything. Yawning and rubbing his eyes, “W-what’s going on?” He muttered. “Who’re you?” He asked, a bit more aware of his surroundings now. The short boy stood up and stretched, yawning again. He wasn’t hurt, just hungry and really, really tired.

The two poor cats were drenched and sat together, huddling on the horse’s back. Yama pulled himself up onto Kiyoshi’s back behind the cats and tried to shelter them from the rain. When he had climbed up, his tail had popped out from under his clothing and wagged nervously. Yama wasn’t sure how this girl would react to seeing a half demon so close, and wondered if she’d scream and run or if she’d take pity on him. Neither really appealed to him, since he just wanted to be accepted like a normal person.

Yama’s furry black ears perked up slowly to listen for anything at all. The rain was still pouring down, and the wind still blew, practically knocking him over and deafening him, but he wanted to be able to hear something. “Why are you here?” Yama asked quietly. Was this girl lost too? No, she seemed fine. But if she wasn’t lost, why had she come down here on the treacherous path? So many questions buzzed around Yama’s head like angry bees, but he didn’t want to seem rude by asking so many questions at once.

[Madoka Ogawa]

Madoka blinked a few times when the boy woke up and yawned. How could he sleep in this weather? More importantly, where the heck were his parents to not look after him? At least he wasn’t hurt, which was about the only good thing she could think of right now.
“W-what’s going on?” the boy muttered suddenly. “Who’re you?”
“My name is Madoka, I live in the nearby village.” She said gently as she tried her best to look him over for any injuries through the rain dripping into her eyes. It was strange that she hadn’t seen this boy before, though it was always possible they simply missed each other time and time again, him going off to school, her going off to work and spending the remainder of the time working at the inn… maybe it wasn’t so strange after all.

It quickly became clear why she hadn’t seen him before, as he climbed up on the horse’s back, a tail popped up out from under his clothes, startling Madoka slightly. It was just like with that girl she’d met a while back… was this boy also a half-demon? He had to be, how else did he get a tail?
Just as she’d done before, she just smiled up at the child as his ears perked up. There was no guarantee this boy was as nice as the girl she’d met, but he was just a kid, what harm could he possibly do?
“Why are you here?” Madoka could barely hear him through the wind and motioned for the nearby cove, “I was just taking a walk… do you want to go there to shelter from the rain?” it would be a lot easier to talk in there too, she figured, with no wind to blow in their ears. Plus she was worried for his health, and her own.

[tigrrrlily2000]

Yama was sort of happy Madoka had found him. It wasn’t like his parents would be looking for him anymore, since he had run away about a year ago. Wow, a whole year? And he had survived that long in the forest? He was amazed with himself. He smiled shyly when Madoka introduced herself. “Nice to meet you Madoka, I’m Yamakazi.” He said, shouting to be heard over the wind and rain. It seemed to be coming down harder now, pelting Yama on the head and shoulders like tiny hailstones. It was starting to hurt, just a bit.

When Madoka suggested they go to the cove for shelter, Yama just nodded. He slid off of Kiyoshi’s back, scooping up his cats and holding them under his light coat so they could get warm and dry. He slowly made his way to shelter, and Kiyoshi followed obediently. She lay down almost immediately, and Yama curled up against her again, with Sayuri and Hiroki curled up together on him, still soaking wet. Of course, by now, all four of the traveling companions were soaked with rain, and Yama was shivering. He began to sneeze again, a continuous sneezing bout that lasted for over a minute. He was really starting to feel sick now, and the rain and wind weren’t helping.

Once he stopped sneezing, Yama turned to Madoka. “You were taking a walk? In this weather? Why? Sorry for all the questions, I just don’t think that makes much sense.” He was genuinely curious as to why this girl was taking a walk in the storm. Of course, he was out and about during the storm too, so he wasn’t really one to talk. But he didn’t have any other place to go, and Madoka said she was from a nearby village. Strange, Yama didn’t remember seeing a village. Of course, maybe he just wasn’t paying attention. He had been doing that a lot lately.

[Madoka Ogawa]

Once again, Madoka had to wring her hair out before tossing it over one shoulder. She liked having long hair, but sometimes, it really got in the way.
“Well, this certainly beats the rain, hmm?” she jumped slightly when she heard the boy sneeze. She was about to continue talking before he sneezed again, and again… poor kid.
“Do you feel sick?” she asked gently as she knelt down before him, “I guess we’ll both have a cold by tomorrow.”

“You were taking a walk? In this weather? Why? Sorry for all the questions, I just don’t think that makes much sense.”
“Ah… well…” she smiled a bit awkwardly before sitting down completely, “I was already out before the storm hit. I wanted to be alone for a while, and few people come here these days,” She admitted honestly, “If I’d known about this, I would’ve gone to the forest instead. At least there are trees that offer some shelter there… though I suppose this cove isn’t too bad.” She shrugged as she looked around for anything she could use to create a fire. There was no way to tell how long this storm was going to last, and if she was going to be stuck here for a few hours, she at least wanted to spend those hours feeling warm and somewhat comfortable. She doubted the boy felt any differently.
“What about you? Aren’t you a little… young to be out here by yourself?” she voiced her thoughts carefully so she wouldn’t accidentally offend him. She didn’t know whether this boy was an orphan or a runaway, or just had careless parents, so it was best to tread carefully. She wouldn’t want to rip open old wounds, after all.

A smile crossed her features when she noticed the cats, “Though… I guess you’re not exactly by yourself.” She gave them a small wave before she stood up and walked back to the entrance of the cave to look outside. The chances of finding dry wood were so extremely thin there was no use in even looking. Maybe she could use something else? Find a rock and hit the wall long enough to create a spark? Though that spark alone wouldn’t keep them warm, would it? She’d need something she could burn, something dry… where was she going to find something dry?
She sighed in defeat before turning her head slightly to the boy once more, “Do you live near here?”

[tigrrrlily2000]

Yamakazi nodded miserably, sneezing into his arm again. His cold seemed to be getting much worse. At least Sayuri and Hiroki were drying off. Their fur was drying into little spikes, and Yama thought that looked funny. He knew he shouldn’t laugh at them, though, because they could probably understand him, or so he thought. They were his companions that followed him everywhere, and usually, they were the only creatures around for him to talk to when he got lonely. So instead of laughing, Yama just began to pet Sayuri and Hiroki, smoothing down their spiked up fur.

When Madoka sat down next to him, Yama snuggled against her without really realizing what he was doing. Madoka was warm, while Yama was freezing cold. It felt a bit like when he was younger and still lived with his parents. In the winder, sometimes he and his mom had sat just like this to watch the snow fall. They didn’t get much snow where they lived, but at least they got some. “Yeah, the forest is nice.” He said quietly. Sometimes, in the denser parts of the forest, he couldn’t even tell if it was raining, because the leaves and branches caught all of the raindrops.

Yama sat up when Madoka asked him about being out and about alone. His ears, which had finally pricked back up, were flat against his head again, and his tail, which had been wagging slowly, stopped moving completely. “Uh, well...” He stuttered, trailing off. How would he explain to her the fact that he had run away from home and had been living alone for almost a year? “I’m only thirteen, so I guess I am a bit young to be alone...” He muttered, partially to himself. “And I guess I live near here.” He said a little louder, answering her question. “Not that I’ve got a house or anything to go back to.” He murmured to himself. Yama really missed his mom, but he didn't want to make his parents fight again by just living with them.

[Madoka Ogawa]

Madoka nervously bit her lip when she noticed the boy’s ears lower. She hoped she hadn’t made him too sad.
“Uh, well... I’m only thirteen, so I guess I am a bit young to be alone...” he muttered after a while, and Madoka’s eyes widened slightly upon hearing the boy’s true age. Thirteen? That’s odd… she would’ve taken him for a nine year old, perhaps a ten year old. Thirteen wasn’t that bad, when Madoka was thirteen, she’d wander off alone all the time, though she did live nearby, so she was familiar with the area and wasn’t really at risk of getting lost.
“And I guess I live near here.” He answered her other question and said something afterwards that she couldn’t quite make out.
“Hmm?” she asked when she heard him mutter something to himself, “Sorry, I couldn’t really hear that.”

A cold chill ran up her spine, and Madoka shivered slightly, “Is your home within walking distance? If so, you should probably just hurry home and dress into something warm,” she rubbed her hands together to generate some heat as she walked back over and sat down next to the boy, “You know, before you catch a cold or something.”
She noticed her own motherly tone at that moment and giggled, “ ’Yes mom.’ ” she laughed at herself and patted the boy on the shoulder, “Sorry about that.”
She really had no right to tell him what to do, seeing as he wasn’t a child anymore. Well… compared to Madoka he was, but he was already thirteen. Thirteen year olds usually didn’t enjoy getting ordered around, even if it was done with the best of intentions. Madoka herself had hated all the lecturing and whining of her mother at that age, though looking back, her mother had usually been completely right about whatever they happened to be talking about.

((OOC: I am so sorry for the late response! D:))