Kenta Miyake's Story

The Township of Naseni was a marvel of traditional construction. Where Tianshi City and some of the larger townships of the Island were shining examples of how advancement and industrialisation had brought Losenji into the future, Naseni epitomised the more spiritual roots of the country. Wooden walkways stretched through the branches of massive trees, forming a criss-crossing maze of a town that stretched almost as far up as it did out. The people of the town navigated its layers through a mixture of staircases, zip-lines, elevators and in some more adventurous cases gliders.

Outsiders often found the unique layout and business of Naseni Township overwhelming, but once you knew its tricks, you could cross from one side of town to the other in less than ten minutes, covering an extraordinary distance very quickly by skilfully navigating its mechanisms and shortcuts.

The town was ruled, unconventionally, not by a single minister but by a council of elders - though a minister was present in the town, efforts by the ministry to overrule the traditional leadership of the settlement had proved fruitless over the years, and they settled for a seat on that council.

At present, Naseni Township was in the throes of celebrating the Festival of Spirits, an ancient traditional festival of Losenji that took place over the month of the summer solstice. It was a festival to rever the spirits, out of the belief that harmony between the human and spirit realms must be celebrated and maintained in order for the spirits to usher in the coming summer, instead of returning the island to the icy grip of winter.

Of course, a lot of people didn't take the legends literally. But nonetheless, most respected the spirits enough to agree that a festival to celebrate them was a good thing. And the rest were generally willing enough to play along in order to experience the merriment, dancing, fireworks and unity that the festival brought.

The walkways of Naseni were lined with stalls selling festival masks, as well as all kinds of foods and souvenirs. Many people flocked to the settlements of the forest for the festival, due to their emphasis on tradition. Only the capital could rival Naseni Township for the scale of its festival celebrations. Decorations hung from every branch, from lanterns to banners, and people roamed the town in masks or even full costumes. It was a magical time.

From where he was stood near the top of the town, looking down at the beautiful display of lights as the evening sun dwindled in the sky, Kenta couldn't think of anywhere else he'd rather be. This was his favourite time of the year, one of the things that he had most enjoyed experiencing since he left his home island off the coast of Losenji to come to the home of the Imperium. Or, more accurately, to flee his responsibilities. But here, nestled in the treetops and with merriment and music all around him, he couldn't feel more distant from his past, and more at home in his new life.

The red-haired young man let out a happy sigh, watching as a family on the walkway below walked by. A little girl was towing a floating paper lantern along by a string, happily skipping as it bobbed next to her. The corner of his mouth curled upwards in a smile, and he lifted one hand from the railing that he was leaning on to gesture at the lantern with one finger.

Below, the flame inside the lantern flared, startling the girl. With a rush, it flowed out of the lantern to dance through the air before her, swirling and diving in an enthralling dance. She stared with wide eyes as it bloomed into the shape of a flower, then swirled into an elegant dragon, sparkling around her and then diving back into the lantern.

"Momma, momma!" he heard her exclaim, "Did you see? Did you see? My lantern, the fire turned into a dragon!"

"Of course it did, sweetie."

"It did! It did!"

Grinning, Kenta watched as the family disappeared around a corner, confident in the fact that the little display would remain with the little girl for a long time.

Life was good.

This was a good time of the year, Dean liked it most because of how lively things were. He was the kind of guy to get bored easily and was quite restless, always wanted to be doing something. Although it was much fun attending the festival, it was quite tedious to hide his true form of a large red, sharp horn on his forehead, pointed ears, full red eyes and sharp teeth, yes this all had to be hidden, such a shame he could not show everyone his beauty. The though made him chuckle, although it would be fun to scared a few people by revealing himself, it was simply too much of a hassle in such a big crowd.

In all honesty, he wasn't exactly interested in the activities, fireworks or food or what ever, he was much more interested in the people. Yes he enjoyed talking with people, even if it was just for that one day and never saw them again. As the crowd of people moved around him, he walked over to somewhere less, crowded to watch them all from a far, to see who should be his entertainment of sorts for the night. That was when he saw the flame from a young girls lantern start to dance and shift into different forms. It was quite adorable really to see how happily the girl was by the act, it was almost tempting to simply crush her fun but he couldn't do that here. And shouldn't do it in general really. Sometimes he did go too far for fun.
Dean simply crossed his arms and leaned his back against a wall of sorts, he wasn't particularly looking behind him to see what he was leaning against and looked around, scanning the grounds. But how did those flames dance like that? Surely it wasn't the girl, who was responsible for it and where were they. He was most curious now, looking around for anyone who would stand out and perhaps look like the kind of person to be capable of such a thing, which most certainly would not be easy.

Kenta wasn't far from Dean, leaning over the railing of a slightly higher platform. Despite the fact that he wore a mask of red, orange and yellow with a large and toothy mouth curled in a grin - a fire spirit - he didn't stand out that much from the rest of the town. Almost everyone was adorned with a mask today, and would be for most of the festival.

A small tea-cart rolled past him, a portly man calling out "Teas and refreshments! Best tea in town! Get it here!"

It did seem like the right time for a cup of tea, Kenta decided. He turned from his spot and after a quick exchange of coin, returned to it with a little clay mug of tea. He took a sip, and then promptly spluttered. It was cold! Who sold cold tea? Yuck!

Thankfully for him, that wasn't going to last. Holding the cup up, he held his other palm beneath it, and sparked a flame from it to heat up the bottom of the cup. A few people looked over at him and pointed - perhaps enough to draw Dean's attention - but supernatural abilities and magic weren't unheard of in Losenji, so many simply paid him no mind.

Dean could clearly hear a male voice calling out offering teas and refreshments, which sounded not too bad right about now. Looking around for the man, that was when he noticed people all looking in one direction and pointing in awe. And so he too followed their eyes. That was when he saw the flame the male had produced so casually from his palm. Indeed it didn't seem unheard of for magic to be out and about, some people continued on their way ignoring the small commotion. Where as for Dean, he was quite curious now about this masked man, the mask to him was quite intriguing, he loved the shape and colours of it and whoever seemed to be wearing it. So that's who caused the flames to dance earlier.

He wasn't too high up, for an oni like himself it would be a piece of cake to jump up and over the railing. And that exactly what he did, landing beside the male he straightened himself up and brushed off any dust he might have collected. "Hello there, wonderful night isn't?" He spoke to the masked man casually before leaning in closely, clearly breaking any personal space, he was simply studying the guy, getting a closer look at the mask and the rest of him. "Hmm."

Kenta flinched with a yelp of surprise, jumping backwards as Dean landed next to him. His cup of tea flew from his hand, as he drew himself into a defensive stance. It was only as the little metal cup clattered to the floor that he realised that, dramatic as the man's entrance had been, he wasn't behaving in a hostile matter.

"Ah..." he breathed out with a sigh, "You startled me..." He trailed off as Dean leaned in abnormally close to him, tilting his body backwards away nervously "... there. Uh... hello, there? Yes, I suppose it is a ... pleasant night."

The dancer cleared his throat and took a graceful step backwards, straightening and offering a small bow. "Kenta Miyake, at your service." He raised a hand to remove his mask, flashing Dean a smile. He had always been one to give people the benefit of the doubt. Despite the man's strange behaviour, he was willing to give it a little longer before writing him off as a madman.