[003]

[dangerouswind]

[Temari's back.

She's not sure she wants to be. She's keeping to the trees as much as she can, before she finally decides she really needs to get into the town and figure out what in the hell is going on.

There's blood smeared across her cheek. Her hands are scraped raw. Her wings -- normally tucked away under her clothes -- are ragged and missing feathers here and there. There's a wild look in her eye.

And she doesn't really know where she is.

This might not end well. At least she doesn't have her fan on her.]

Comments

[action--edge of town]

[steadfastest.livejournal.com]

[Temari might run into Xander somewhere at the edge of the forest. He's been out collecting pine boughs to decorate his apartment, and collecting a few for Willow and Buffy as well. He's got a bundle of cut boughs under one arm as he trudges through the snow, an axe in his free hand. Hey, at least he smells fresh and piney, right?]

[action--edge of town]

[dangerouswind.livejournal.com]

[Fresh and piney Xander may be, but it's the axe that catches Temari's attention. Xander might catch a glimpse of her as she steps back, trying to find a shadow or a tree to hide within.

She's watching him. Closely. And she will follow him.]

[action--edge of town]

[steadfastest.livejournal.com]

Deck the halls with boughs of holly fa lalalalalalalala
Tis the season to be jolly fa lalalalalalalala
...

Something something something something fa lalallalalalalalaaaaaaa...uh...something....lalalalalalaaaaaaaa. Oh crap!

[He's just singin'. He's a happy kind of guy. And he has no idea you are there, because he just dropped almost all of the pine and now has to pick all those random branches up again]

[action]

[dangerouswind.livejournal.com]

[Apparently, she picked up a clumsy one. Temari considers her options for a moment. She could stay hidden, but she isn't picking up any overt threat from him. Doesn't mean anything, though.

She steps out in front of him, arms held loosely at her sides, and waits to be noticed.]

[Action] 1/2

[steadfastest.livejournal.com]

[Xand glances up from where he's kneeling and picking up his lost limbs.] Oh. Hi! Uh. You come here often?

2/2

[steadfastest.livejournal.com]

Hey! You're bleeding! You okay?

[action]

[dangerouswind.livejournal.com]

[She's fine. Absolutely fine, despite having only hazy memories of how she even ended up in this situation. She looks fine, doesn't she?]

Who are you?

[action]

[steadfastest.livejournal.com]

You can call me Xander, that's close enough. Who are you?

[action]

[dangerouswind.livejournal.com]

You don't need to know.

[action]

[steadfastest.livejournal.com]

[He frowns and stands up, axe and pine branches reclaimed.] Well that's no fair. I told you who I was.

[action]

[dangerouswind.livejournal.com]

[She takes a step back, hands rising in a defensive posture. She does not like that axe.]

[steadfastest.livejournal.com]

[What's wrong with the axe?] Ha. You're acting like I'm going to hurt you or something.

[dangerouswind.livejournal.com]

[It's sharp. That's less than shiny.] One never knows. [Yeah, she's eying you.]

[endgames]

[Today has been a bad day. Overly bad, really, to the point where 'troublesome' just doesn't seem to cut it.

So he's actually out walking around the village today, bag of groceries slung over one shoulder. No Chouji means he's on his own for food, so he's going with the simple stuff. If Temari gets into town, she's bound to see him wandering around there.]

[dangerouswind.livejournal.com]

[Temari does make it into town, slinking through shadows -- probably not the smartest thing, but hey, they hide her better -- and sticking to trees when she can. When she spots Shikamaru, she pauses.

And pauses again.

She thinks she knows you. Which means she's following.]

[endgames]

[Having two days you can barely remember and a best friend kidnapped right from under your nose? It makes you alert.

If it were a serious threat, he doubts he'd have picked up on the person until it was too late. But the fact that someone's sneaking around and doing a better job of it than he would expect from Luceti's residents is still somewhat worrying.

He sticks to the edge of the path, continuing his walk without a change in his demeanor. If she's still following him after sixty seconds, he's going to send his shadow, stretched needle thin, into the dark to search out the person tailing him.]

[dangerouswind.livejournal.com]

[She remembers. Nothing but hazy memories, but they are there nonetheless. He's in them, another figure hazy and indistinct and in the shadows.

... The shadows.

She had to get out of the shadows.

Temari wasn't sure why, but she'd learned that listening to her instincts was sometimes the only thing that kept her alive. She left the shadows, knowing full well she risked being seen by doing so. She steps into the street behind him, trying for confidence and nonchalance.

Hard to do when she was bleeding.]

[endgames]

[Much better. He turns when he sees movement, then stares when he sees who it is; her appearance.]

Temari? You all right?

[dangerouswind.livejournal.com]

[She takes a half-step back before she catches herself. She is not unsure of herself. Never afraid.

How does she know him? And, more importantly, how does he know her? It takes her a moment to answer; she should have slept by now. Ate, at the very least.]

Tell me your name.

[If she had his name, maybe she could connect it all.

Maybe.]

[endgames]

[You should know it already. He's going to take that as a no, then.

He straightens out of his slouch, trying to determine what's been done to her. Something more than physical, by the looks of it.]

Nara Shikamaru.

[dangerouswind.livejournal.com]

[Nara Shikamaru. It's... familiar. Somehow, it's familiar. Temari just looks at him, gaze critical and cataloging as she tries to remember.]

Konoha.

[endgames]

That's right.

[Luceti is no stranger to alternate realities, right? She doesn't know him; if she does, it's nothing but a faint memory. Which isn't the problem at all; the twists involved with something like that could be influenced as much by the people they meet as it could by politics.

And that could get messy.]

Is that a problem?

[dangerouswind.livejournal.com]

[A problem? It's only a problem in that the fall of Suna came after a defeat dealt by Konoha.

There was no love lost between Sand and Leaf, that was certain.]

No problem.

[But she's tensing, ready to run -- or attack or defend. Whatever comes.]

[endgames]

[Bull. Shit. You don't sound confident about that at all.]

All right. [But he doesn't point it out. The last thing he needs is for her to run.] So I guess that brings us back to my original question. You okay? [He nods his head, looking at the blood on her cheek; the state of her wings.] You look like shit. I can find you medic if you need one.

[dangerouswind.livejournal.com]

[Her response is immediate.] No medic. [Not if Konoha is offering it.

But even after refusing the help, she stays. She can't shake the feeling that she knows him and that worries her.]