Red Rose's Mansion

“Careful now…careful…” Hotaru Fukimato breathed out softly as she slowly dropped small pink grains that shined from her finger tips. It was a small amount, if applied too much, disaster might occur. Her hand was small, similar to her figure. Sweat slowly dripped from the corner of her face. She was no witch, yet she was dealing with material that was magical…and hazardous. Her hazel eyes widened in excitement as the liquid within the pot began to react to the pink grains Maso had given her a few days ago. “Ohh~~” She began to shift her weight back and front from one foot to the other as excitement ran through her body. “Just a couple more drops…” She rubbed her fingers together a little bit more before putting the rest of the magical grain into the small brown sewed bag it came from. The pink grain was pixie dust and Hotaru used just the right amount for a reaction.

The liquid within the bowl began to change form into small oval balls. It was transforming into a weapon. This was one of Hotaru’s hobbies; creating magical stuff with the witches products. It was fun to her although it could bother Shizuma because sometimes it could be dangerous. There was a few times when her creations backfired and exploded in front of her, causing unnecessary and painful injuries. Being a rose vampire, however; Hotaru did not care much if she was hurt or not; she would heal up sooner or later. These pink oval balls magically enhanced explosives that could only be activated by fire, particularly Hotaru’s fire. Within these small balls contained magical material that once activated and exploded, the liquid within the balls will begin to melt the flesh of those it touches. It down side is that it could be easily removed by lake water. “Kekeke…” She giggled mischievously as she slowly picked one of the balls from the bowl to get a closer look.

Her mind was completely on her creation until she felt a sensation within her chest that made her immediately stop was she was doing and look towards the direction her contractor was; towards the Rose Woods. She felt Shizuma’s emotions being threatened. Although Hotaru seemed worried, she did not move, she simply stayed where she was at and waited. She waited until Shizuma was attacked. After a few seconds, the feeling in her chest seized and she returned her attention back to the ball in her hand. “She better be back soon.” A smirk formed her lips as she stared at the ball that was now between her index finger and thumb. There was a small sound resonating for the ball and it began to glow hot. It was being activated by the heat within Hotaru’s bare hand. “Shit!” Hotaru quickly dropped the ball and ran out of the room. Boom! “Damn it!” Hotaru began endless shrieks of curses as she immediately searched for water. After a minute or so, she had returned to the room to discover that the small ball she created and began to eat a hole into the ground and was beginning to leak to the first floor. Hotaru had to move fast and she quickly through her water at the material that was eating her floor away.

By this time, she was out of breath and was leaning against the wall. Her red orange hair that was decorated by dried up leaves was slightly stuck to the sides of her face from the sweat she produced. Looking at the damage she had done to her house, she began to laugh before leaving the room and shutting the door behind her completely. Hotaru will tend to the damage later, but for right now, she will wait for the arrival of Shizuma. Walking out her mansion, she quickly made her way to the Silver Lake. The lake itself was quiet beautiful, especially from the view of bedroom.

Hotaru dressed lightly, her shoulders, stomach, and much of her legs were bare. The clothing she wore was simple, yet professionally made to fit her body type perfectly. She had a reason for not wearing much clothing when she wants to relax. Hotaru is the Red Rose that has the power of fire, meaning she was unusually warmer than most.

Hotaru could see Shizuma in the distance, a wide smile formed her lips before glancing over towards a guest that was following her. Being a rose vampire, she could sense the damn mix bred mutt from far away. He was the one that probably made Shizuma feel threatened, but seeing him following Shizuma made Hotaru a bit angry. “Why is he following my Shizuma?” She glanced at the mutt from far away before crouching down and sticking her hand into the cold lake. Are you cold?... Her thoughts directed towards the mutt before activating her element and to increase the temperature of the lake. The heat from her hand began to raise the temperature of the water extremely fast, yet it stopped before the water began to bubble. Hotaru was playing. When Shizuma got closer, Hotaru immediately, but calmly removed her hand out of the lake and greeted Shizuma with a smile. The water immediately went back to its original temperature.

“Shizuma, my dear! Where have you been?”

Shizuma stepped out of her canoe and onto shore rather quickly, seeing Hotaru waiting for her. She always did everything she could to not displease Hotaru, and she was getting rather good at it. She was vaguely aware of her follower, but paid little attention to him. The rest of the world seemed to melt away when she was with Hotaru. She was the sun in Shizuma's eyes, the center of her universe.

Shizuma dipped her head in respect to Hotaru, though she had insisted several times that Shizuma didn't have to do such a thing. She looked at Hotaru, her green eyes reflecting a bit of worry. "I heard an explosion in the upper floor," Shizuma said, her eyes searching Hotaru's body for any injuries, "are you hurt?" She was satisfied by the seemingly unharmed state of Hotaru's body, calming her mind a bit. She then answered Hotaru's initial question. "While you were gone to Lady Maso's shop, I took a hunting trip in the Rose Woods." Whenever Hotaru left the mansion without Shizuma, it was a rarity for Shizuma to stay at the mansion. She found that impatiently waiting for Hotaru's return only made the time apart more unbearable. Once, when Hotaru was away for several days, Shizuma had ventured into the Meiro Forest. This greatly displeased Hotaru, because of the vast array of dangers lurking in those trees. Shizuma hadn't returned to that forest ever since, for Hotaru's sake.

"I've missed you so much." Shizuma thought, looking down at Hotaru with softer eyes. "How I dread the hours of our seperation." Shizuma would rarely, if ever, say such things out loud. As a warrior, Shizuma was raised to keep her emotions at bay, though she sometimes lets her feelings be known to Hotaru.

Hotaru kept her hazel eyes on Shizuma, but she stayed very conscious of the mutt that was a little bit in the distance from her and her Shizuma. Hotaru was smaller than Shizuma in height, but her aura was greater. Hotaru began to move closer to Shizuma with open arms, until she mentioned that she heard an explosion. "Uh..." She paused in her movements and simply smiled. She will not mention that the floor of the room the explosion went off is damaged right now. "I am fine. I created something for you."

It was obvious that Hotaru would not be able to actually hold her magical weapon without igniting them. "They are quiet beautiful and would look great in your hands." Her voice dipped slightly as her eyes narrowed down a bit. Her voice became more like silk. It was smooth and a bit seductive. To others, this suggestive gift could mean anything, even a handmade necklace or bracelet. Reaching forward, Hotaru grabbed Shizuma's free hand and softly touched the rose symbol that showed the world that they are one. These actions of her were a bit out of ordinary, but because of the mutt, she had to show him to whom Shizuma belonged to. Hotaru was extremely possessive over what was her, ever since she was little, she hardly allowed others to touch what was rightfully hers.

Turning her head away from Shizuma, she casually looked over towards the mutt and smiled. "Oh~ look what we have here!" She pretended as if she had not noticed him before. Returning her attention to Shizuma, her smile widened. "I see you brought a friend!" Releasing the hold she had with Shizuma, Hotaru turn around to face the mutt. She moved casually and loosely. She wasn't tensed, her body appeared as if her thoughts were clear and happy. "Oh, you're not going to bite me are you? You won't like the way I taste." She spoke out playfully as stood before the mutt without any fear or care in the world. Kneeling down to the mutt's level, she stared into his eyes. Her pupils constricted and her iris turned into a very faded out red color.

"Don't be shy." A smile formed her lips, "Would you like to come inside and have dinner with Shizuma?" Hotaru tilted her head to one side as she placed her small hand on the top of the mutt's fur and gently petted it, "I'm sure you are hungry. I have plenty of food that you may enjoy...Isn't that right, Shizuma?" Hotaru called for her without even looking over at her. It was a rhetorical question. Of course it was right. Hotaru enjoyed partying and having meetings with all types of races to create many forms of alliances.

Riddick had sat down in the meanwhile, listening to the two that were talking. He was carefull, his parents told him that a Rose would kill him because he was a mutt. They had told him to be carefull, to make sure a Rose would never see him but it was already to late for that. So he watched Shizumi and the Red Rose in silence, listening to whatever they were saying. Maybe they were even talking about him, how he would get killed or so. That's what he thought atleast but he knew he was wrong. Still, he was carefull.

Riddick flattend his ears as the Rose came towards him. Although he had always been a killer, he was always carefull. He knew the Rose was much stronger then he was and he respected that. He always respected anyone who was stronger then him. He had been taught like that, to respect the stronger ones.

As she asked him a question about coming in and being hungry, his stomach rumbled. As her hand rested in his fur, somewhere he felt she had no bad intension but he was still carefull. He cocked his head and kept it low in submission, his body not tensed though. He was really hungry but he wasn't sure wether to trust it. He slowly moved his head up and down in a nod of agreement.

Shizuma almost melted at Hotaru's touch. It wouldn't occur to her that Hotaru was being possessive, being that Shizuma hadn't yet picked up identifying such social behaviors. She thought about scolding Hotaru for playing with the strange products that the witch had given her, but withheld her objections for the time being. There were other things going on in her head at the moment, looking into Hotaru's hazel eyes with a suppressed longing. When Hotaru touched the rose on Shizuma's hand, a spark went off.

Shizuma ached for her when Hotaru left her side to examine Riddick, though she didn't show it. Shizuma did not interfere with Hotaru approaching the creature, but was ready to move at a moment's notice if something went amiss. Riddick may not be her enemy, but, if he were to threaten her rose, Shizuma would lash out at him. She would not hold back. For some reason, Shizuma was almost certain that this stranger wouldn't harm Hotaru. She wasn't sure about inviting this man into their home, but didn't question her mistress's invitation. She took a few strides toward the two, but making sure not to disturb their meeting. Shizuma had noticed in her time being with Hotaru that the first meeting between creatures of ShiroKuro were a silent battle. The two were probably sizing the other up and determining physical dominance.

"My lady," Shizuma finally said, "perhaps we could offer this visitor an opportunity to clean up." she said, referring to Riddick's personal hygiene. It wasn't uncommon for someone who lived in wilderness to be so unclean, but one needs to freshen up every once in a while. Shizuma's idea was not as freely kind as it seemed, because Shizuma had every intention of using the time Riddick used to clean up as an opportunity for her to be alone with Hotaru.

Riddick looked at Shizumi, still very submissive. Something had made his instincts to kill go away and it had made place for submission towards the two persons, especially the Rose. The Rose could easily kill him and he knew that so he was sure he didn't form a danger towards the Rose or Shizumi. He heard Shizumi talk about cleaning himself up and cocked his head to the right slightly. It had been long since he had cleaned himself up, he washed himself a bit every once in a while but that had been all really, he never really took the time to clean himself really up. He looked at Shizumi curiously, his head still cocked to the right. A small smile on his muzzle, if wolves could actually smile.

He looked towards the Rose, curious about what she would say or do, trying to figure out the Red Rose her next move. He was curious about the food and home of the Red Rose and Shizumi, he had never met a Rose before. He had always stayed away from them the best he could. His parents always said him to do so. They always said that a Rose would kill him if he would ever come across one of them but the Red Rose didn't seem to want to kill him but he wasn't sure and stayed becarefull. She could always change her mind and kill him, he wouldn't stand a chance against the Red Rose.

Darkness... deaf silence... numb muscles... Blurring sight barely coming out of the black... Adelayah's contiousness came, but she was too weak to move or even to ask herself where she was. She started coughing out water. Even when her lungs cleared, the coughing continued. She tried to open her eyes, but little pieces of dirt got in. She tried to wipe them with her hand, which unfortunately had even more pieces. The human tried to get up. She managed to open only one of her eyes. After huge effort Adelayah finally got up in a sitting position. Finally she asked herself "Where am I?" Her sight stopped on two women. One of them looked like a warrior, the other was all in red. Could it be that she was one of the roses? Adelayah opened her other eye too. She looked at a wolf - it probably wasn't the one who took her into the river. She was alittle frightened. Was she safe around them? If she wasn't, well, a human who makes mistakes while using their weapon couldn't stand the chance against a warrior, a rose and a wolf at once, so in this case she was screwed.