Snippet #1928331

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.