Shikishi

Noriko Kamo's body went slack, her head lulling forward onto her knees and her arms slipping down to her sides. The Kyoto student, Chitose Saito, chewed her lip in concern as her temporary ally seemed to collapse where she sat, and hesitantly took a few steps towards her. Figuring it could be energy exhaustion, she reached over a gloved hand to lightly shake the dark-haired girl, but recoiled suddenly at a sharp pulse of energy.

The light static field that Noriko normally exuded was replaced by a cold, dense aura - cold, suffocating, regretful... alone.

"N-noriko?" Chitose stumbled back, nerveously holding her hands out in front of her when the Tokyo student began to rise with strange poise and quietness. Raising herself to her full height, the girl tilted her head back so her pale cheeks could feel the warmth of the sun before rolling her shoulders as she regained her usual posture.

"Chitose, was it?" Her features were softer, but more alluring this time, as she turned her attention to the much shorter girl. Chitose winced back at the strange energy that curled around the body before her. The static was still there - that unpredictable, airy energy - but it was smothered. Like a stone thrown to the bottom of a cool lake. "The Kyoto staff will be here soon, so wait for them and make sure no one interferes with the body - even dead that butcher can still offer up some usual information. I'll be going to check on my teammates now."

Before Chitose could object, Shikishi had already pulled her long-treasured brush out of it's holster and uncapped the ink canister on her leg. She crouched and began to scrawl ink across the ground in front of her.

"That thing before... I... I don't think you should be using so much energy," Chitose stammered out, eyeing the flow of energy she could see from her teammates silhouette into the brush she was holding and then the ink on the ground. Shikishi didn't stop, keeping her amber eyes trained on the ground. "Maybe we should wait together for -"

The black ink on the ground began to pulse and then grow into a brilliant white as the writing began to scramble and merge. From the light, a red being emerged. A large, scarlet-orange bird* came forth from the glow; it's large talons (big enough to crush her skull with, Chitose thought) dug into the dirt beneath it. A phoenix? No, more of a bird. Flames licked along it's folded wing tips and it turned it's head to lock it's beady eyes onto it's creator.

The priestess ignored the Kyoto student, stepping up to the bird and grabbing a fistful of it's red feathers as she pulled herself up onto its back. Taking a last look at Chitose, Shikishi gave her a steely stare before the bird dipped and took off, spreading it's flaming wings to catch the wind. She ignored the wind through her hair, however, brushed her bangs away from her eyes in annoyance. If it was up to her, they would be pinned back and the rest of her hair would've been pulled into an updo - but she supposed it was nice, the freedom of having her hair down. A freedom she'd never been granted in her own lifetime - no matter how far away she chose to live from society's grasp.

Dark claret eyes scanned the forested expanse as the bird soared high into the sky. She had felt it - she was sure.

Carried along by the gentle breeze, the energy pulsed again and Shikishi directed the bird the opposite direction to which they'd been travelling: down the mountain, towards the school.

"I'm sorry, Noriko, just a little longer," the sealed curse muttered to herself as she felt something stir within her chest. As if proof of ownership, Shikishi began to feel a steady pain form behind her eyes - as if even Noriko's shell of a body was commanding her to concede. The day that their the dual existence came into that world, Shikishi had been overcome with relief - joy - hope that she could finally relive her own life in accordance to what she wanted.

But, she realised soon enough that it wasn't her chance of redemption... and in forcing her energy into that tiny... tiny infant, she'd become what she hated.

Now, she was the person to stifle someone else's freedom in accordance to her wishes: to forcibly push someone to a singular, limited destiny: to confine them in the very shrine she lost her humanity in. So, she retreated, back in Noriko's deep sub-conscious and merely watched... well, she'd tried to, but due to the nature of her own energy, she couldn't stop it's natural subjection of Noriko to its oppressive and destructive energy.

But, if she could move on... if she could exorcise herself without harming Noriko, she could fix her mistakes and her own tragedy would end with no more casualties.

Fighting to keep her conscious clear, Shikishi lowered herself closer to the feathery back of the bird as it dived down towards the school compound. She followed the faintest trace of that energy onto the outskirts of the main grounds to a collection of shrines. Suzaku dipped again, flapping it's fiery wings downwards to slow their landing as he came to perch in the quiet compound.

As the dust settled, Shikishi lowered herself to the ground, dispelling the creature as she smoothed out her clothes.

The yard was stone-paved and there were a number of large, ominous shrines that kept with the traditional style of the school architecture. Like her own energy, the aura that amassed there was cold and heavy, and she could only imagine what kind of sealed curses resided amongst the buildings. The priestess set to work detecting that faint energy she caught a flicker of as she took careful steps down the middle of the buildings.

Pausing slightly, Shikishi breathed a sigh of relief as the crackling feeling in her chest began to soften and dissipate - Noriko had let her take the reigns. She was lucky she had the girls near-unwavering trust... she really hadn't taken control to force Noriko away, but the girl's energy was weak after the fight and even if Shikishi had pushed her, there was no way she could track down such a faint trace she hadn't even felt herself.

Continuing her search, Shikishi took light steps towards the structures on the end. It was too quiet and she could already theorise that the interference with the event had been one elaborate distraction. Poor, stupid sorcerers... if they could be fooled that easily, Shikishi didn't have much sympathy, especially seeing as they were keeping quite the collection of important items without proper security.

A heavy feeling began to wave over her as she approached the final shrine. The trace was definitely there. Approaching the side entrance, Shikishi placed a cool hand against the shoji door and gently pulled. It creaked open.

She hesitated a bit by the door, dipping her calligraphy brush into the ink canister again as she held it at her side. Along with that familiar scent, there was a distorted aura emanating from the inside - cruel, twisted, unforgiving. It wasn't the curse she was after... but it was a start.

Stepping inside, Shikishi welcomed the inky darkness - her rubescent pupils glowing faintly in the dim light. It took a while for her vision to adjust and she didn't step from her spot until it did. Once she could see where she was going, she embarked further into the deep shadows of the warehouse - ignoring the countless stacks of shelves. They reached the full height of the warehouse roof and were orientated in rows... and were home to a strange collection of cursed items. Books, body parts, small living creatures, weapons, strange vats of liquids... each and everyone of the items along the shelves had some kind of cursed energy.

"Hmm? And who might you be?"