A Union of Peace - or War? (Captain Caramel & Panther_Queen)

[Captain Caramel]

A Union of Peace - or War?

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A Roleplay Between Captain Caramel and Panther_Queen[/size]

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Player: Captain Caramel


Name: Ayame Hiyashi


Age: 18


Gender: Female


Appearance: In her human form, Ayame has long hair the color of her pelt. As is common in the Red Fox Tribe, she continues to have the black-tipped ears and white-tipped tail from her fox form all the time.

Spoiler

Personality: Ayame is stubborn and rebellious. She loves her Mother, oldest sister, and brother the most. When in a good mood, she is gentle, but can be caustic when irritated. She spends much of her time out in the surrounding territory, with people or alone in the wild.


History: Ayame is the youngest child of the current leader of the Red Fox Tribe. Her two older sisters are considered to be the most beautiful and intelligent foxes in the nation, though Ayame believes this is because of their status instead of actual merits. She refuses to participate in such traditions and rebels against her family. Most marriages for the Leader's family are arranged, but Ayame previously refused multiple marriages. Finally, her father agreed not to force her to marry. But when the conflict began between the Red Fox Tribe and the Gray Fox Tribe, Ryota was quick to offer up his last single daughter for a truce marriage, preserving his son to be married to another Red Fox to keep a pure bloodline. Ayame's mother, Michiko, had previously sided with her daughter, but now encouraged her to agree to this marriage. Purely out of respect for her mother, Ayame agreed, but is secretly planning on sabotaging the marriage before it takes place in three months.


Player: Panther_Queen


Name: Danny Braciole


Age: 26


Gender: Male


Appearance: In his human form, Danny stands at a mere 5'3". He has ash blonde hair, blue eyes, gray fox ears & bushy tail, pale skin, & naturally dark nails. He's agile & nimble & can shift with ease. He keeps his hands wrapped in case he needs to fight, as is sometimes necessary.

Personality: Danny is somewhat of a loner. He's shy around new people & that can sometimes come out as him being rude, a jerk, an asshole, etc. Thus he doesn't make many friends. Actually, he doesn't have any friends. He tries to stay away from people as much as he can, his parents included. He doesn't have an opinion either way on his mother as sometimes she can be a pain & other times not, but his father he can't stand.


History: Danny is the one & only child of the current Gray Fox Tribe leader, Jackie Braciole, & his wife, Joanie Braciole. His father, due to the stress & responsibility of being Tribe Leader, was rarely around & when he was he tended to be rude & short with his son. As the boy grew he & his father developed a love-hate relationship, as in Joanie would tell each of them that the other loved them, but in reality Jackie & Danny hated each other. Try as she might Joanie never could make the men see eye to eye on anything, sticking her in the middle. She tried to be as neutral as she could so as not to take sides. Eventually, she talked her husband into showing his son the ropes of being Tribe Leader in the hopes that one day he could lead the Tribe. But Danny wasn't interested in such things & thus caused more conflict between him & his father.


When the conflict broke out between the Gray Fox Tribe & the Red Fox Tribe, Danny was sure it was caused by his stubborn bastard of a father. The Red Fox Tribe offered the hand in marriage of his daughter as a truce & Jackie accepted, seeing it as a way to not only solve a conflict, but to send his son away to 'straighten him out' & 'finally become a man'. It's his hope that this marriage will inspire his son to take up Tribe politics & affairs & finally shape him into a leader.


It's Danny's hope that this marriage isn't going to happen as he sees it as pointless. The only good side was that he was getting to travel & be away from his father for a while, which was the only reason he agreed to it. Not that he had a choice anyway.


NPCs:


-Ryota Hiyashi: Leader of the Red Fox Tribe. Noble but stubborn, always gets his way.


-Michiko Hiyashi: Wife of the Leader of the Red Fox Tribe. A pacifist, gentle and caring.


-Yuri Yukimura: Eldest daughter of the Leader of the Red Fox Tribe, married to the Leader of the Arctic Fox Tribe to the north. Kind and obedient. Sometimes visits home.


-Daiki Hiyashi: Second eldest child and first son of the Leader of the Red Fox Tribe. Strong and noble.


-Mio _(lastname)_: Second daughter of the Leader of the Red Fox Tribe, married to _(someone important)_. Beautiful and snobby.

 

[Captain Caramel]

Ayame sat motionless, eyes closed as if meditating. Her eldest sister Yuri brushed her long hair with gentle, smooth strokes until the silky hair shined. Meanwhile, one of Ayame's attendants applied colored compounds to her face - a bit of makeup to bring out the color of her cheeks and eyes. Next, they helped her dress in her ceremonial kimono, embroidered with the flowers of her namesake.


As the two other woman began pulling up Ayame's hair, her brother Daiki entered the room. "Aya," he said, reaching out to hold his sister's hands, "you look beautiful. This Gray Fox is a lucky man."


Mio laughed from the doorway, "Lucky? We all know Father isn't serious about this union between countries - he's just finally got an excuse to throw her away." Ayame lunged for her sister, but Daiki held her back.


"You know better than to let her get to you," Daiki said gently, "Now come on, Father is outside waiting. The Gray Fox should be here soon and he wants you to bet there to greet him." Ayame and Yuri followed their brother out to the front of the house. Ayame took her place standing to the left of her father. Her mother stood to his right, a few steps back, with the rest of the family and a few elders assembled further behind the front trio.

 

[Panther_Queen]

(*hugs* Sorry about your cat. I know what it's like to lose a family member/friend/child/pet as they are everything rolled into one. I've lost many. The pain eventually goes away but the memories remain.)


Danny stood outside & awaited for the carriage that was to come from the Red Fox Tribe to get him. His stuff was all packed. When it arrived his father was more than happy to load it up for him. He hugged his tearful mother good bye. As his father offered his hand to his son, Danny got in the carriage without so much as a word or handshake to his father. His father snorted, a grin on his face as the carriage pulled away.


He sat the whole ride in silence. Not that there was anyone to talk to anyhow. The only thing keeping him company for such a long ride was his thoughts. Mainly the thought of how he was going to get out of this marriage. As it pulled to a stop he could see people gathered to greet him. He could see two women standing on either side of a man. He assumed the man was the Tribe leader. Since the woman on his right seemed much too old to be his daughter, that meant his bride to be must be the woman on the left. At least he knew what she looked like now. But that was all he knew.


He got out, helping the driver unload his things. Once his stuff was unloaded he sighed a bit as the carriage pulled away. He now stood, alone, before the Red Fox Tribe leader, his wife, & his daughter. He extended his hand out to the leader to shake. "Danny Braciole, son of Jackie & Joanie Braciole, leaders of the Grey Fox Tribe." He introduced himself the way he was told to do so. But he didn't even give so much as a glance toward his soon-to-be wife.

 

[Captain Caramel]

((Thank you. I've lost a few pets to old age/disease, and one disappeared once, but this was the first that I saw die, and carried to the vet afterward... I spent the first day and a half going over what happened a million times in my head until I realized I ought to try to remember things from when he was alive, which had the added benefit of making me less depressed!))


The first thing Ayame noticed about her potential fiancee was his striking silvery hair. In her land, everyone had varying shades of red, brown, and sometimes grey-ish, so he stood out significantly. As he approached her and her father, she next noticed his height - he was about as tall as she was, which is on the small end of Red Foxes; her father towered above him by at least a half foot.


"Ryota Hiyashi, Leader of the Red Fox Tribe," her father said, shaking Danny's hand. During this moment, Ayame frantically tried to remember what she had been told about their customs. In Red Fox society, women were considered subordinate to men, was that the same in theirs? Was she supposed to shake his hand as well when they were introduced? Ryota turned and gestured towards her, "My daughter, Ayame." Deciding to keep it safe - and avoid angering her father - Ayame bowed her head at Danny instead of trying to shake hands.


Meanwhile, the rest of the family and elders gathered seemed to be evaluating the Gray Fox. Mio pouted, for she had hoped he would be ugly so she could tease her sister more. Yuri and Michiko kept their usual collected demeanor, not revealing anything about their thoughts. Daiki, after watching Danny help unload his own items, and introduce himself politely, was thinking well of him so far. The elders looked contemplative and joyful.

 

[Panther_Queen]

Danny looked up at Ryota as he shook the man's hand. Damn, the guy was tall. He'd almost forgotten that members of the Red Fox Tribe were considerably taller than members from his own Tribe. But he kept his demeanor, nonetheless.


He could feel all eyes upon him as he was introduced to Ayame. He knew they were judging him. He'd expected that. He just didn't expect how uneasy it made him feel. Keeping to himself a lot, he wasn't used to being the center of attention.


The first thing that stood out about Ayame was her height. At least he wasn't the shortest person here. She was pretty. He hadn't expected that. He'd assumed that the only reason her father had wanted an arranged marriage for her was because she was some deformed jumbo sized ugly cow of a woman. But she was anything but. She did, however, appear younger than him.


He wasn't sure what was appropriate with this Tribe. Was he supposed to shake her hand? In his Tribe, the women had a tendency to hug as a greeting as well as departure, which he hated. He'd never really been a touchy feely type of person. He'd hugged his mother goodbye solely out of respect to her & because he knew she was going to hug him either way, weather he liked it or not. He was glad when she bowed her head & not hugged him & he did the same to her.

 

[Captain Caramel]

Ryota continued, introducing his wife next, then each of his children, followed by the two elders that he introduced as his councilmen. As they were introduced, each one bowed their head as Ayame had done. Afterward, Michiko stepped forward and took over from her husband, "We hope you had a pleasant journey. If you are hungry, we'll be holding dinner shortly. Let us show you to your room so you can store your things and rest if you wish."


With those words, a few servants came forward to grab Danny's bags. The counsilmen, Leader, and the rest of their family left in silence, leaving Michiko and Ayame with their guest. "Father told me to 'show you around', but he is a man that moves too quickly. At my pace, it will take much too long, so I hope you won't mind waiting until after dinner, or tomorrow if you are tired from your journey," Ayame tried to be somewhat polite with her mother there.

 

[Panther_Queen]

Danny bowed his head politely as he was introduced to more people than he was used to being around at one time. He was relived to be shown to a room where he could finally be alone.


He turned to get his things, but seen servant had already taken care of such things. He wasn't used to having servants. One of the bags, a brown satchel, he opted to carry himself. He didn't want anyone messing with it. As he was left with the two women he tried to be polite, though he stayed quite. It wasn't until Ayame mentioned showing him around that he spoke. "Tomorrow's fine." He really didn't want to be shown around at all, but at least if he opted for tomorrow he'd have the rest of the day to himself.

 

[Captain Caramel]

Ayame nodded, and she and her mother led Danny to the guest wing of the house. It was a large, traditional house with paper walls. Though most of the rest of the Red Fox Tribe had switched to more modern wood-based houses, the Leader lived in the same house that all others had before him. In the guest wing, there were 3 empty rooms, one of which the paper-paneled door was open and Danny's bags had been placed inside. A bed - a thin mattress and blankets - had been set up on one side of the room.


"Dinner will be in about an hour," Michiko said, "Can we get you anything else before then?"

 

[Panther_Queen]

The house was huge. Danny followed the women through the halls to an empty room. He stepped inside & examined it, setting his satchel on the bed. He turned toward Michiko as she spoke. "I'm fine, thank you." He bowed his head to the women.


As the women left he shut the door & locked it. Hopefully no one else would bother him for at least the next hour. He didn't bother unpacking his bags. His parents had made him take nearly every one of his belongings. But he didn't expect to be here that long.


Normally he would have went for a stroll, but he wasn't looking forward to a search party on his first day when they came for him for dinner & him gone. He sat on the bed & emptied the contents of the satchel out. Inside was a sketchbook, pencils, colored pencils, & some other art supplies. Thumbing through the sketchbook, he came to an empty page & began to sketch.


The pages of the book were filled with sketches, some in color, some not. Each one was dated & titled. The titles ranged from who was in the sketch to what he was thinking of to his feelings about that particular thing or person. In a way it was sort of like his journal. A way for him to remember events, places, people, or just jot down feelings through sketches. It was also something he did that his father found completely useless & stupid.

 

[Captain Caramel]

As they were leaving, Ayame sighed heavily. Her mother patted her arm gently, "You did well."


"I don't want to be doing well," the girl complained. "Do I have to wear this outfit to dinner?" At her mother's nods, Ayame sighed again. It was going to be a long night of being polite around her father. That meant she was going to not even bother while showing their guest around tomorrow. Hopefully, she could be just irritating enough to make him go away without making him complain and get her in trouble.

 

[Panther_Queen]

Danny sat in his room & sketched. He sketched several drawings. A few were of the carriage, some of his parents, some of what he had seen on the trip, & some of the Red Fox Tribe & the people he met. He'd even done a few of Ayame. They were entitled such names as 'Unwanted Gift', 'The Princess', & 'To end war, one must bring about peace. But for peace to happen there must first be war.'


When he had finished sketching he put everything back into his satchel. After slipping it under the bed he laid back & stared at the ceiling. How was he going to get out of this marriage?

 

[Captain Caramel]

During the wait, Ayame had sat and talked to Yuri about her home and family in the north. The large Arctic Foxes could overpower Red Foxes, but their population was much smaller. Thus, the two Tribes maintained a tentative truce, now cemented by Yuri's marriage to the Arctic Fox Tribe Leader. But they Gray Foxes were smaller on both size and number, so Ayame wondered at her father's intentions: it was more like him to try to control rather than make a truce with a weaker power.


After about an hour, Ayame was sent to fetch Danny. She knocked gently on his door.

 

[Panther_Queen]

Danny had inadvertently fallen asleep. A gentle knock woke him. Unsure of what it was at that particular moment, he got up, prepared to fight, but soon entangled himself in the covers & fell to the floor with a thud. He struggled to get out of the entangled cover only to remember where he was. He sighed out of annoyance as he went to the door.


Unlocking it, he opened the door a crack & peaked out only to see Ayame standing there. Must be dinner time. He exited the room & shut the door behind him. He wasn't looking forward to once again being around a lot of people who were probably going to scrutinize him again. But he was trying to be nice on his first day.

 

[Captain Caramel]

Ayame jumped at the unexpected sound of a thud in Danny's room. When he opened the door and came out, she asked curiously, "What was that sound? Oh, I mean, it's almost dinner time, let me show you to our dining area," she finished, trying to remain polite. If Danny complained to her father in the first day, he would know what she was up to, and who knows how he would deal with her.


Ayame began leading the way to another corner of the house, in which there was a large room with a big table that sat all the family, the elders from the morning and the rest who weren't there, as well as a few empty seats. They arrived after Ryota, Michiko, Daiki, and a few of the councilmen, but before either of her sisters and two of the elders.

 

[Panther_Queen]

Danny just looked at Ayame. Normally he would say anything in response to her question as it was none of her business. However, trying t be polite, he thought it best to answer her. "I dropped something." Yeah, like himself. But she didn't need to know that.


Silently, he followed her to the dining room. Seeing the amount of people, his ears went flat against his skull, but he quickly raised them back up. He didn't want to show his comfortableness. His ears twitched slightly as he followed her to where the two of them were to sit. He figured they'd be placed together. Still trying to be polite for now, he pulled out her chair for her, allowing her to take her seat first before he sat down himself. This was definitely not a situation he wanted to be in.

 

[Captain Caramel]

Ayame thanked the Gray Wolf for his kindness. Recognizing Danny's momentary display of discomfort, Ayame smoothly controlled the conversation at the table away from him whenever possible. Her father seemed more interested in speaking with the elders anyone. It was her brother that was the most inquisitive about their guest, wanting to know his age, what he does in his kingdom, Gray wolf customs regarding women, and so on. After a while, Ayame had enough, "So many questions, brother! Are you interested in marrying this man?" With a slight scowl at his youngest sister, Dai fell silent with a look that said, 'This isn't over."

 

[Panther_Queen]

Danny was not comfortable being bombarded with the numerous questions. He tried to answer them quickly with as little information as possible & in order. "26... I'm the son of the Tribe leaders...Our customs are a bit different." Most of his answers were more than likely not what Dai was looking for, but Danny was trying to say as little as possible. He wasn't really the trusting sort. Despite not being that hungry, eating was one way to keep quiet. he certainly couldn't speak with his mouth full.


He looked at Ayame regarding her statement to her brother. He gave a small smirk That was kind of funny.

 

[Captain Caramel]

After Ryota dismissed everyone who wished to leave from the table, Ayame stood, bowed her head in respect, and left. The girl was overjoyed because she could finally change into more comfortable clothes. She planned on bathing at her favorite spot on a river nearby, even though there were baths inside and hot springs not far away. The princess just preferred the cold, refreshing water, isolated area, and solitude. Before she departed, though, she waited for Danny outside the dining room. When he came out, she had to make sure she wasn't needed first, "Thank you for dining with us. Do you need anything else? Can you find your way back to your room?"

 

[Panther_Queen]

Danny was relieved to finally be dismissed. He could finally get some solitude. He walked out of the dining room only to be approached by Ayame. As she thanked him & asked him a couple of questions, he responded, "You're welcome. Thank you for having me. No I'm fine. I can find my own way back." He bowed his head to her before walking away.


But instead of heading back to his room, he figured he'd take a run through a nearby wooded area. It seemed to be out of site from judging eyes. He'd had enough of those all day. He transformed into his grey fox form for his exploration.

 

[Captain Caramel]

After she verified she could leave, Ayame returned to her room. She put on a thin robe, and grabbed her casual clothing ((what she's wearing in picture)). Then, she began walking into the forest. After almost 10 minutes, she came upon a river, and traveled up it until she found her favorite spot: a calm, deep pool perhaps 4 meters across, with a waterfall about a meter high that brought the cold water from a section of rapids.


Once at her bathing spot, Ayame hung her clothes on a bare branch, took off her robe to hang next to them, and slipped into the refreshing water. She lay back in the water to soak her long hair momentarily before returning to an upright position to drain the water out of her sensitive ears.

 

[Panther_Queen]

Danny stalked through the forest in fox form. He wasn't going anywhere in particular. He didn't know this area enough to be going somewhere specific. He was just exploring. He stopped nearby for a drink. What he didn't expect was hearing someone or something in water. He went to the noise, keeping low. He expected another animal. He did not expect to see the princess & his future wife. As soon as he realized it was her & that she had nothing on, his bashfulness took over. He turned tail & ran.

 

[Captain Caramel]

Ayame was brushing her hair out when she heard a sound on the far bank. "Akira, is that you? If you're watching me again, so help me I'll drag you in here and drown you!" The first suitor Ayame had rejected, Akira was a good-for-nothing lowlife and pervert. He was also the son of the most influential elder.


Her bath spoiled by the thought of Akira spying on her, Ayame quickly got out of the water. She used the robe to dry herself somewhat before dressing. After wringing the majority of water out of her hair, Ayame began walking home.

 

[Panther_Queen]

Danny ran back to his room, still in his fox form. He transformed back to open the door & once inside he shut the door & locked it. Breathing heavy from both running & nearly having a heart attack at accidently coming upon her like that he al but collapsed on the floor. He was panting & his mind was racing. Should he apologize for such an intrusion? & then what, she'd go to her father & he'd be beheaded? But it had been an accident. Would she see it that way? But on the other hand, she was supposed to be his wife. But he didn't plan on this marriage going through. He figured his best option was to keep his mouth shut & say nothing about it at all.

 

[Captain Caramel]

When she reached home, Ayame returned to her room to leave her robe and finish drying her hair. Yuri knocked gently on her door and entered with her sister's permission. "Hey," Yuri said gently, "I wanted to know what you thought of the Gray Fox - Danny, I mean."


Ayame passed her sister a hairbrush and closed her eyes as Yuri began brushing her hair. She loved her hair being brushed or stroked, and her elder sister was nearly always willing to do so for her. "I don't know. He seemed nice, but quiet. I haven't changed my mind, though!" she made sure to clarify, "I'm still going to figure out a way to get him out of here. Peacefully, if I can help it."

 

[Panther_Queen]

As night fell, Danny fell fast asleep, clutching his bushy tail for comfort. It was something he had done since he was a kid. He'd had a busy day. The trip up here, the eyes upon him both as he arrived &at dinner, the girl. She seemed nice enough, but he still didn't know her. How could he marry someone he didn't even know? The answer was simple, he wouldn't. He just hadn't figured out how to get out of it yet without getting himself killed.


As he slept, his mind kept flashing images of Ayame. In a wedding dress. With children. In the spring near the waterfall. The way the sun glistened off her skin. The way the water soaked her hair. As long as he couldn't see anything he was fine. But as soon as she stood up...


Danny awoke in a cold sweat. He was panting. His heart raced. What was wrong with him? The day must have gotten to him. He looked out the window. Daybreak was starting to hit. He laid back down but every time he'd close his eyes, the dream would rerun itself. He grumbled. He supposed that meant it was time to get up for the day.