COPYRIGHT DISCLAIMER:
All rights and privileges to Houshin Engi belong to Ryu
Fujisaki, JUMP Comics; Shueisha Inc., and TV Tokyo. Characters
from HE are used without permission for the purpose of
entertainment only. This work of fanfiction is not meant for
commercial use. No infringements of rights are intended.
In other words - please don't sue me, shi NEEDs her
allowance to buy HE merchandise and make you guys rich!
****************************************************************
IV. eyecatcher
by Kotoshin, aka Shioru Sutherlands
****************************************************************
"I have noticed that what cats most appreciate in a human
being is not the ability to produce food - which they take
for granted - but his or her entertainment value."
-- Geoffrey Household
================================================================
He did not have a particular destination in mind, but
urged Kokutenkou to prowl about the lands of the West, until
something should catch his eye - until something warranted
enough for a second look and closer attention.
He really did not expect anything to, since the
situation remained a stalemate between the forces of Yin and
Shuu. Bunchuu was still coaxing flames of the Yin's might from
dying embers, and Shuu was crippled by its dying leader.
Then something - or rather, some/one/ - caught his eye.
It was not a handsome appearance which had caught the
fancy of his eye, long since jaded.
For he had seen beauty capable of bringing emperors to
its heel - a loveliness beyond the lot of mortals - inhuman
beauty that ensnared men as surely as a spider's web fascinated
its prey to wing toward doom. He had seen striking features
combined with unforgettable coloring, dazzling tresses and
bright eyes that displayed sensuality like an all-out assault.
Skin deep, the kind of beauty that grated on the
senses, that /made/ heads turn to look if not already looking.
He had seen beauty, seen them all; in all the shapes
and size and colours they come in - overwhelming and
incinerating and thought-obliterating, the kind of beauty that
did not need more than one look to recognize.
The kind of beauty that he tired of, after that first and single look.
The kind of beauty that left nothing to the imagination.
The kind of beauty that held no /mystery/.
A single glance, and one could put a name to the word "beautiful."
Beautiful.
Beautiful, like Dakki.
Beautiful as Dakki ...
The kind of beauty with no hold over him.
The kind of beauty incapable of satisfying him.
The kind of beauty which was less than nothing to him.
Idly, he mused - if "perfect" beauty, perfect beauty
such as the flawless epitome of feminine charm that was Dakki
did not touch him, what could?
What was the quality that captivated his interest?
/Taikoubou did./
It was Taikoubou which drew his eye to this one. This
one, shadow-like, who seemed to hover constantly at the
background of the young doushi's frenzied activities.
Watching.
Assisting.
Smiling ...
A smile that tugged his mind down the roads of memory,
toward a day of gold and sun - a day with a smile similiar, but
not identical to that one ...
================================================================
The light shining through the grass refracted was not
the same - it was not the same shade as it was five crawl-paces
earlier.
Annoyed, he paused in pigeon-stalking. Anything
different is not-normal, and therefore suspicious and must be
checked and smelled and tugged and examined every which way
before the norm was found. Not-normal - not safe. He had to
look closer before going about his normal business.
He did not like to spend his time chasing imaginary
threats down never-ending tangents of investigation - but time
spent learning was never wasted.
He sighed, and stalked toward the not-normal.
The grass was an odd, different shade of green, inches
away. It caught his eyes, the green reflected gold. He paused,
considering the strange coloured grass from his crouching crawl
below the height of the grass. Suddenly, the sky was bisected
by bright orange bands as something (man-sized, he thought)
muttered, and turned over.
And he stared into gold.
Twin orbs of gold. Gold that mirrored gold in a liquid
dance. Molten gold that froze time in sweet scented chunks of
amber. Golden eyes that stared, unblinking.
He stared right back.
Curious, as to how long it would take the human to
break from this still, measuring gaze into the expected lapse
of human insanity. The insanity of the human response to his
gaze was dual natured - one born of ignorance and fear, the
other born from the ignorance of fear.
Fearful, the human would shudder, shrink away. One path
would have the human make the signs of evil warding (silly
humans, warding against evil when there was far more evil intent
to be found from their own) against youkai, and walk quickly
away without further acknowledgment of his existence.
Those who left him alone, he left alone. Those who
shrieked and ran - well, it was fun stalking them before he ate
them. The fear of the prey in the chase was the thing which
interested him the most of these insipid creatures.
Alternatively fearless, the human would give a soft
little sound - the last cry of a baby bird as it fell from its
nest neatly into his mouth - and then scratch pleasurably behind
his ears, under his chin .... those he enjoyed. It made no sense,
to remove a source of such pleasures - they would part on amiable
terms after a mutually satisfactory purr-session.
On occasion, less pleasantly, he would be crushed in an
obnoxious embrace and tormented with squealing howls and cooing
murmurs that mocked his dignity and hurt his ears.
It was almost as good as the cozy haze buzz of shared
contentment when he ate /those/, tasted the delight-infused
disbelief and fear that coloured their last moments.
Intense emotion in any form fascinated him, for such was
not the lot of cats. Which was not to say that cats had no
feelings. He, and those of his kind were simply more honest in
the expression of emotion.
/I suppose that is why the feelings of human beings are
so ... exaggerated. Comes from too much repression./
But this one was ...different.
This mind was calm and collected and composed - the very
texture of the mind different from that of any human being which
he had ever encountered. It was ... clean. There was no messes
of panic or chaotic thought running in circles - that he was
used to, when dealing with human beings.
What there was ... was ... unfathomable. Inside the
human's mind, there was only ... there was only what he saw with
his eyes.
There was only the reflection of the obsidian mirror
that were his eyes.
/... who are you?/
//Who are /you/?//
What startled him was not the fact that the human could
speak mind to mind. What startled him was not the fact that /he/
himself was examined and tested, even he did so .... What
startled him the most was the unruffled bemusement of the voice
of the mind, so like one of /his own kind/.
//It's not very polite to look into the heart of
another without permission.//
Before he knew it, he was delivered back to the warm of
the sunshine and the tickle of grass, from the world of the mind
to the world of the body.
/......../
//*laughter*//
/*miffed snort*/
//You should be glad that I do not eat those who are not
polite, as is the custom of you and yours.//
/!/
He blinked first, surprised that he was the first to -
that he was the first to crack under the invisible tableau of
wills.
Long lashes lowered beneath the tumble of green hair
that tousled out of the hood of a bright orange jacket. The mind
left a lingering trace that was a smile as it left his mind.
He affected not to notice, to disregard the subtle
amusement in golden eyes, diverting his attention instead to the
long, pointed tapers of the hood. It was the decision of a
moment before he pounced.
Roushi laughed, and plucked the white leopard cub off of
his hood.
"You, /kitten/, have a lot to learn."
================================================================
Shinkouhyou shook himself from the reverie. The young
sennin before him - he'd seen before, but never really noticed.
He sent a mental query to Kokutenkou, who usually kept track of
whom was whom among the sennin.
/Fuugen Shinjin. The youngest ever to attain sennin rank.
The youngest ever to hold rank as high as that of the Jyu Ni Sen./
Something about him ...
Something about him caught his eye.
Something similiar ... to that which had caught his eye
before. Something that was the same thing that had caught his
eye with Taikoubou.
/They're best friends. "Those who are close to crimson
are red, and those who are close to auburn are brown." [1] Of
course they are like./
But there was something else.
Something elusive, elemental - the essence of something
he /should/ be familiar with, but could not name.
Fuugen's colouring reminded him of the tensai-doushi,
at least superficially. The hair blue, and the eyes violet. But
whereYouzen's hair evoked a stormy sea - Fuugen's was the hue of
sunlit skies. Fuugen was light where Youzen was dark.
/Like a pale shadow .../
But Fuugen was not Youzen's shadow. If Fuugen were
anyone's shadow - he would have been Taikoubou's.
/What is it about him ...?/
The more he chase after the butterfly of thought, the
further it flew away from him. Finally, Shinkouhyou gave up and
simply watched, observing in the time-honoured manner of a cat
at rest.
Inexplicably, the memory of green and gold superimposed
briefly over blue and violet.
- end -
================================================================
[1] It's a Chinese proverb.
================================================================
minor bits of babble:
Shinkouhyou and Roushi.
Fuugen and Shinkouhyou.
There is a connection.
... once you ignore the red herrings.
*evil grin*
================================================================
Last Modified: February 11, 2002 12:15AM
================================================================
All rights and privileges to Houshin Engi belong to Ryu
Fujisaki, JUMP Comics; Shueisha Inc., and TV Tokyo. Characters
from HE are used without permission for the purpose of
entertainment only. This work of fanfiction is not meant for
commercial use. No infringements of rights are intended.
In other words - please don't sue me, shi NEEDs her
allowance to buy HE merchandise and make you guys rich!
****************************************************************
IV. eyecatcher
by Kotoshin, aka Shioru Sutherlands
****************************************************************
"I have noticed that what cats most appreciate in a human
being is not the ability to produce food - which they take
for granted - but his or her entertainment value."
-- Geoffrey Household
================================================================
He did not have a particular destination in mind, but
urged Kokutenkou to prowl about the lands of the West, until
something should catch his eye - until something warranted
enough for a second look and closer attention.
He really did not expect anything to, since the
situation remained a stalemate between the forces of Yin and
Shuu. Bunchuu was still coaxing flames of the Yin's might from
dying embers, and Shuu was crippled by its dying leader.
Then something - or rather, some/one/ - caught his eye.
It was not a handsome appearance which had caught the
fancy of his eye, long since jaded.
For he had seen beauty capable of bringing emperors to
its heel - a loveliness beyond the lot of mortals - inhuman
beauty that ensnared men as surely as a spider's web fascinated
its prey to wing toward doom. He had seen striking features
combined with unforgettable coloring, dazzling tresses and
bright eyes that displayed sensuality like an all-out assault.
Skin deep, the kind of beauty that grated on the
senses, that /made/ heads turn to look if not already looking.
He had seen beauty, seen them all; in all the shapes
and size and colours they come in - overwhelming and
incinerating and thought-obliterating, the kind of beauty that
did not need more than one look to recognize.
The kind of beauty that he tired of, after that first and single look.
The kind of beauty that left nothing to the imagination.
The kind of beauty that held no /mystery/.
A single glance, and one could put a name to the word "beautiful."
Beautiful.
Beautiful, like Dakki.
Beautiful as Dakki ...
The kind of beauty with no hold over him.
The kind of beauty incapable of satisfying him.
The kind of beauty which was less than nothing to him.
Idly, he mused - if "perfect" beauty, perfect beauty
such as the flawless epitome of feminine charm that was Dakki
did not touch him, what could?
What was the quality that captivated his interest?
/Taikoubou did./
It was Taikoubou which drew his eye to this one. This
one, shadow-like, who seemed to hover constantly at the
background of the young doushi's frenzied activities.
Watching.
Assisting.
Smiling ...
A smile that tugged his mind down the roads of memory,
toward a day of gold and sun - a day with a smile similiar, but
not identical to that one ...
================================================================
The light shining through the grass refracted was not
the same - it was not the same shade as it was five crawl-paces
earlier.
Annoyed, he paused in pigeon-stalking. Anything
different is not-normal, and therefore suspicious and must be
checked and smelled and tugged and examined every which way
before the norm was found. Not-normal - not safe. He had to
look closer before going about his normal business.
He did not like to spend his time chasing imaginary
threats down never-ending tangents of investigation - but time
spent learning was never wasted.
He sighed, and stalked toward the not-normal.
The grass was an odd, different shade of green, inches
away. It caught his eyes, the green reflected gold. He paused,
considering the strange coloured grass from his crouching crawl
below the height of the grass. Suddenly, the sky was bisected
by bright orange bands as something (man-sized, he thought)
muttered, and turned over.
And he stared into gold.
Twin orbs of gold. Gold that mirrored gold in a liquid
dance. Molten gold that froze time in sweet scented chunks of
amber. Golden eyes that stared, unblinking.
He stared right back.
Curious, as to how long it would take the human to
break from this still, measuring gaze into the expected lapse
of human insanity. The insanity of the human response to his
gaze was dual natured - one born of ignorance and fear, the
other born from the ignorance of fear.
Fearful, the human would shudder, shrink away. One path
would have the human make the signs of evil warding (silly
humans, warding against evil when there was far more evil intent
to be found from their own) against youkai, and walk quickly
away without further acknowledgment of his existence.
Those who left him alone, he left alone. Those who
shrieked and ran - well, it was fun stalking them before he ate
them. The fear of the prey in the chase was the thing which
interested him the most of these insipid creatures.
Alternatively fearless, the human would give a soft
little sound - the last cry of a baby bird as it fell from its
nest neatly into his mouth - and then scratch pleasurably behind
his ears, under his chin .... those he enjoyed. It made no sense,
to remove a source of such pleasures - they would part on amiable
terms after a mutually satisfactory purr-session.
On occasion, less pleasantly, he would be crushed in an
obnoxious embrace and tormented with squealing howls and cooing
murmurs that mocked his dignity and hurt his ears.
It was almost as good as the cozy haze buzz of shared
contentment when he ate /those/, tasted the delight-infused
disbelief and fear that coloured their last moments.
Intense emotion in any form fascinated him, for such was
not the lot of cats. Which was not to say that cats had no
feelings. He, and those of his kind were simply more honest in
the expression of emotion.
/I suppose that is why the feelings of human beings are
so ... exaggerated. Comes from too much repression./
But this one was ...different.
This mind was calm and collected and composed - the very
texture of the mind different from that of any human being which
he had ever encountered. It was ... clean. There was no messes
of panic or chaotic thought running in circles - that he was
used to, when dealing with human beings.
What there was ... was ... unfathomable. Inside the
human's mind, there was only ... there was only what he saw with
his eyes.
There was only the reflection of the obsidian mirror
that were his eyes.
/... who are you?/
//Who are /you/?//
What startled him was not the fact that the human could
speak mind to mind. What startled him was not the fact that /he/
himself was examined and tested, even he did so .... What
startled him the most was the unruffled bemusement of the voice
of the mind, so like one of /his own kind/.
//It's not very polite to look into the heart of
another without permission.//
Before he knew it, he was delivered back to the warm of
the sunshine and the tickle of grass, from the world of the mind
to the world of the body.
/......../
//*laughter*//
/*miffed snort*/
//You should be glad that I do not eat those who are not
polite, as is the custom of you and yours.//
/!/
He blinked first, surprised that he was the first to -
that he was the first to crack under the invisible tableau of
wills.
Long lashes lowered beneath the tumble of green hair
that tousled out of the hood of a bright orange jacket. The mind
left a lingering trace that was a smile as it left his mind.
He affected not to notice, to disregard the subtle
amusement in golden eyes, diverting his attention instead to the
long, pointed tapers of the hood. It was the decision of a
moment before he pounced.
Roushi laughed, and plucked the white leopard cub off of
his hood.
"You, /kitten/, have a lot to learn."
================================================================
Shinkouhyou shook himself from the reverie. The young
sennin before him - he'd seen before, but never really noticed.
He sent a mental query to Kokutenkou, who usually kept track of
whom was whom among the sennin.
/Fuugen Shinjin. The youngest ever to attain sennin rank.
The youngest ever to hold rank as high as that of the Jyu Ni Sen./
Something about him ...
Something about him caught his eye.
Something similiar ... to that which had caught his eye
before. Something that was the same thing that had caught his
eye with Taikoubou.
/They're best friends. "Those who are close to crimson
are red, and those who are close to auburn are brown." [1] Of
course they are like./
But there was something else.
Something elusive, elemental - the essence of something
he /should/ be familiar with, but could not name.
Fuugen's colouring reminded him of the tensai-doushi,
at least superficially. The hair blue, and the eyes violet. But
whereYouzen's hair evoked a stormy sea - Fuugen's was the hue of
sunlit skies. Fuugen was light where Youzen was dark.
/Like a pale shadow .../
But Fuugen was not Youzen's shadow. If Fuugen were
anyone's shadow - he would have been Taikoubou's.
/What is it about him ...?/
The more he chase after the butterfly of thought, the
further it flew away from him. Finally, Shinkouhyou gave up and
simply watched, observing in the time-honoured manner of a cat
at rest.
Inexplicably, the memory of green and gold superimposed
briefly over blue and violet.
- end -
================================================================
[1] It's a Chinese proverb.
================================================================
minor bits of babble:
Shinkouhyou and Roushi.
Fuugen and Shinkouhyou.
There is a connection.
... once you ignore the red herrings.
*evil grin*
================================================================
Last Modified: February 11, 2002 12:15AM
================================================================