The last time Yokai had set paw in these lands, they remembered it being very very different in climate. Bowing their dark head against the bitter wind, the traveller was not certain they could bear being without shelter much longer. When they had departed the open plains, far south from the isle’s borders, it had been barely autumn and the going easy. Now, it seemed to be catching up with Yokai all at once, without even a chance for their winter coat to grow in.

Yokai surpasses a shiver and gritted their teeth. The loom of the western mountains had drawn them hoping for at least a barricade from the wind, and now rounding the shelf of rock, Yokai was able to spy the yawning mouth of the labyrinth.

With more vigor, the rogue pushed onwards with lengthened strides, eyeing the expanse of limestone overhead as they passed under arches and stalactites. The tunnels of the cave system howled with the wind. First step; find a little nook. Then maybe when they could feel their paws again and the sun was up, Yokai could see about some hunting. Sleep was such a rare thing, and they did not hope for it here.

— for @Lyric

Their pace had slowed somewhat once they hit the labyrinth. Lyric, in all of their tracking abilities, had never made caves much of a priority. She glanced down at her paws periodically, reminding herself that the hard stone would not shift under her weight in the same way that sand did. More than anything, they wished to avoid tripping. Such missteps dented her voluptuous ego in a way she did not appreciate.

Lyric twitched the salmon-pink of their nose as they stalked onward, the blustery winds whipping at their crimson mane in a violent dance. She had picked up the traces of a lion a way back, accented with cinnamon and flowers though otherwise devoid of all identification. Stubbornly, relentlessly, they tracked it. Her olive gaze wandered upward, latching into the trademark passage of limestone and making out what details they could amidst winter shadow. Finally, confident that this trail was growing fresher-still, she dared let out a call.

"Seeking: what goes bump in the night," Lyric crooned, her expression creased with self-indulgent mischief.

---

|| december y9 | five years | SL lead scout | at grimoire's labyrinth | @"Yo'kai" ||
+10 - Find a notable landmark in a territory
+5 - Scout a neutral territory
+5 - Correctly track something through a territory

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The darkness was comforting to the inky creature, and Yokai moved through the limestone passages with soft paws. Shaggy red mane falls over their eyes as they creep around corners, the wind now upon their back. Perhaps this could be shelter enough, a short caved-in tunnel that the breeze seemed to have forgotten.

There was plenty space - even extending nose and tail to full extent they could not touch both sides of the weathered stone walls. Yokai circles several times to get a feel for the stony floor when the call of an unfamiliar voices drifts down through the labyrinth.

A laugh rose from copper maw as they peer around the corner they had just ducked behind. “What goes bump in the night, reporting for duty…?” Yokai called back with a grin, peering through the gloom to see if they could make out the owner of the mysterious voice - their only hint the faint scent of ocean and spice.

@Lyric

Lyric stalked under that notable limestone passageway, taking note of each rocky crevice to file away for her studies of this place while seeking out that elusive someone she followed after. They only needed to wait a moment before something – someone – peered around a rocky corner with curiosity. A chiming laugh announced them like a trumpeting chorus, Lyric's heart giving a little leap at the sudden energy of it all.

"There you are. Stand up straight, soldier; let me get a look at you," they commanded, the tugging smile at their lips contrasting against the barking of orders Lyric technically gave. She strode confidently through the labyrinth, the clover of her gaze roving over every detail of what she could make out in the shadows: ambiguous lighting, an ambiguous scent, an ambiguous gender. It was the stuff that made up her dreams each night.

---

@"Yo'kai"
+10 - Find a notable landmark in a territory
+5 - Scout a neutral territory
+5 - Correctly track something through a territory

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There through the gloom, moves a golden thing - marked in honey and russet. Tall, slender, a mane tossed by wind - Yokai has to take a moment to admire them before a soft smile and curt instructions draw the inky creature forth.

Yokai can’t help the amused quirk of their lips as the emerge from the stony shadows. They sling an ever-tired body to full posture in the game of it all, chest puffing and neck arching before a laugh bubbles up from down in their chest and destroys the facade. “I’ll do a twirl, if you’d like.” Yokai chuckles with easy crinkles of their eyes. “But only if you do too.”

@Lyric

They watched with appreciative fervor as the cat slunk forward, each step clarifying more of their figure for Lyric from amid the shadows. Her gaze flashed with understanding at the ebony of the stranger's pelt, able to see then why it was so difficult to tell them from the night itself. She watched in blatant appreciation, taking in the puff of their chest and the arch of their neck like the glutton she was.

“I’ll do a twirl, if you’d like. But only if you do too.”

Lyric quirked a brow, flicking their tail idly behind them as they considered this. Something was stirring in their chest beyond the typical wanting they constantly wore.

"I'll twirl faster," she challenged in a growl, posturing slightly. Only the distant dripping of stalactites from within that labyrinth serenaded their showdown as Lyric honed in on their opponent and prize both.

---

@"Yo'kai"

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They stretch the chill out of their limbs with a long, greedy extension and lean a flank onto the cool stone of the cavern wall. “Will you now?” Yokai is not by rule the competitive type but at the concept they were gaining something from this… they’d oblige.

So they turn in place, purposefully. Yokai had never been a shy creature - there’s a certain hunger for attention in way they move, the ripple of sleek black fur and the inability to resist such a clear invitation to show off.

Their mismatched violet and off-red gaze only breaking @Lyric's green when absolutely necessary, the swift turn of their auburn-masked face settling it back with a charmed feeling of intrigue; but equal expectancy.

Would this golden enigma keep their word? “Let’s see that twirl.” Yokai challenges with a grin.

“Will you now?” The question paraded as a challenge, fueling the competitive flames lapping at Lyric's chest. She watched with equal parts scrutiny and appreciation, so wishing to rise to this occasion in victory, yet unable to deny the flair with which this stranger moved.

"I see, I see," she hummed in blatant appreciation for the rippling of the lion's curves as they twirled, electrified by the way their eyes stayed fastened to her. "Tell me your name," they commanded despite themself, caught up in that magnetizing moment as manners fell to the wayside.

“Let’s see that twirl.”

Lyric did not have to be told twice. She met that mismatched gaze with goading, straightening as she threw her weight to one side and began to spin around in a rapid circle.

"If only we had a judge," they mused as they steadied their stance.

---

@"Yo'kai"

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It’s hard to tear their eyes away form those of piercing green. The way her pelt shimmered in the low light - pale copper and deep, warm red. It is enthralling. It could be a dream… Yokai oft has difficulty sifting through what was lucid. If it was a dream, it was a nice one.

“Yokai.” they murmur with that idle smile still on their auburn muzzle. “Moriyama.” It doesn’t mean anything to anyone here, but it’s information readily given. Anything to put themselves in the better books of this golden idol.

Yokai watches with that same appreciative, intrigued intensity as @Lyric turns a circle, graceful. They hadn’t expected anything less but to see their curls toss and smooth, faintly-striped hide shift. It is a wonder.

A soft laugh alights from Yokai’s dark, red-tufted chest and they shrug. “Nah, nah. What's the need? It’d be top marks across the board, don’t you think.” they tease.

A stretch rolls over their inky shoulders, and Yokai cocks their head to the side. “Mm… but who have I the pleasure of meeting?”

The tension between the pair simmered by the moment, eyes locked even under the thick shadow of the labyrinth. Yokai Moriyama, they murmured the name, perhaps a drop in a pool to Amaryllis but suddenly so momentous to Lyric.

“Nah, nah. What's the need? It’d be top marks across the board, don’t you think.”

She could not contain the sudden bark of laughter brought on by someone able to match the energy, for once. But then, the subject trailed to their own identity, earning a mischievous sniff from the ocean cat.

"Lyric Shavara," full name for full name, as was fair. "Come to the lagoon if you want a good time," was her vague invitation, a lingering smirk given. Thus came the moment of choice for Lyric: to stay and throw mystery to the wind, or allow this Yokai to watch them leave. Let them want what is not easily given.

"Bye," the last word offered before she was turning to make a getaway from that labyrinth.

---

-exit- @Yokai

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