SKILL blood moon event
aw, tagging the group Tatsuhime Kyoami Layre Kaede for anyone in the ichimonji clan also looking to do the event!

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the moon hangs angry.

it burns, a violent angry red like blood. like an eye that's been ruptured. rio looks up at it with a hanging jaw. when had the moon turned red? she'd seen it burn orange, but.. had she not noticed while they traveled?

and she remembers, that this in it of itself was not odd. she remembers the caverns and mist that emerged, once. when she was chased by stupid crows into a den. how she survived that day, rio did not know.
will she survive this one?

The world was so dark, and the fog was so thick. Kyoami stared up at the sky from beside Rio's legs. He looked up at her for guidance. Should he be scared? He was a little scared, but he tried to not show it.

“Why is the moon bleeding?” He asked. Had it been bitten? Would it die? Would it fall out of the sky?

“Sister Moon bewitches with beauty.” Matter-of-factly, for she knew exactly what was happening.

Tatsuhime scooped little baby wisteria blooms into her paws, powdering them against her feathery white cheeks like the court ladies of a wonderful palace.

Tail frazzled, and then shimmying together neatly into a curl by a hind leg. Hime bore a ladylike smile, lashes floating shut and fantasizing about sister moon, the jewel in the sky. Red glittered upon the edges of fur.

“She has put red upon her lips to make the sun fall for her!”

kids were weird. their own beings with their own autonomy yet not quite.. there. if that made sense.
it wasn't that long ago that she was their age, asking the same thing of her elders over much simpler oddities.

the fox boy sheepishly joined her in staring at the moon, she only ripped her own gaze away when he'd echoed her own question. but before rio could even bullshit a reason, his silver sister decided she knew the answer.

the moon sometimes paints herself for the sun. she plays off of tatsuhime's story, settling on her haunches. she usually prefers the white we see most, but sometimes she picks orange or yellow. i guess today she was experimenting. or she hoped.

[lady fujiwara rio is becoming softer. kaede might never have referred to her as a peasant. the girl has never been that sort of rough. this red moon is a surprise. it paints the wisteria in gradients of pink, deepens the shadows into purple. it is purposeful and fills her chest with a surprise of yearning. these days, they all smell of the fragrant flowers. but it does not yet feel like home to kaede. her children have taken to the young woman. kyoami looks to rio for comfort. it is not a betrayal. little tatsu is not repelled by the great red hole burning scarlet through the sky. she too, is changing. kaede looks for layre as she quiets to listen. it is a good story. her eyes encourage the other to keep it going.]

lady fujiwara rio is becoming softer.

kaede might never have referred to her as a peasant. the girl has never been that sort of rough.

this red moon is a surprise. it paints the wisteria in gradients of pink, deepens the shadows into purple. it is purposeful and fills her chest with a surprise of yearning.

these days, they all smell of the fragrant flowers. but it does not yet feel like home to kaede.

her children have taken to the young woman. kyoami looks to rio for comfort. it is not a betrayal.

little tatsu is not repelled by the great red hole burning scarlet through the sky.

she too, is changing.

kaede looks for layre as she quiets to listen. it is a good story. her eyes encourage the other to keep it going.

Kyoami rolled his eyes, doubting his sister's profound wisdom. How would she know, anyway?

Rio, however, seemed to agree, and Kyoami's expression turned perplexed, his brow wrinkling in concentration.

“Looks like she missed her lips,” Kyoami muttered, eyeing his sister as she patted herself with flowers. A mischievous glint shone in his eyes, and he was about to pounce on her when their mother arrived. He instead sat straight.

“Why does she choose red?” Did anyone know?

cameo for now

As if summoned Layre moved into the small place they stayed. In his maw a snack of grouse for the children and ladies. A soft thumping as he dropped them. He settled nearby after meeting Kaede's gaze. He then perked his ears forward to listen.