The White Cat Wanders<br/><br/>A ronin sinks into a warm bath at the end of a long day. It was his only reprieve day after day of guard duty, heat to unlock his over-worn muscles. His brown eyes flitted lazily towards the ceiling of the dinky room and traced the familiar water stains that littered the ceiling. It had become a sort of ritual for the masterless samurai. He allowed his mind to empty as smoke rose lazily from his pipe. The moonlight kept bitter memories at bay as he unwound.<br/><br/>Then, a bubble.<br/><br/>His head lifted to glance at the empty bathtub.<br/><br/>Then another.<br/><br/>He frowned. Was the drain open?<br/><br/>And another.<br/><br/>The ronin skittered to the edges of the tub as the water before him deformed and bubbled and glowed. There was something, or someone, under the surface. The bath had become a cauldron. The ronin feared a demon had come to take him to the far shore.<br/><br/>"Shit--!" Panic rose in the man's throat as he grasped desperately for a sword that wasn't there. Water dripped and surged in his messy attempts to ready himself for the being manifesting between his legs.<br/><br/>The water tension stretched, stretched far further than it naturally should have. It formed a sort of bubble around something white as tapioca, before it popped to reveal a mop of snow-white hair. A head of collapsed curls.<br/><br/>As the water rained down the figure's shoulders, he recognized the being, or person, for who she was.<br/><br/>"<i>You</i>…"<br/><br/>The slave from earlier.<br/><br/>The ronin relaxed but only slightly. His chest heaved as he clung to porcelain walls, still plastered to the tub's rim as the albino woman loomed over him.<br/><br/>He had seen her earlier that day, outside the brothel. Her 'owner', a brutal, conniving man, had been quite raucous in the local brothel; harassing the women and blatantly disregarding the property. Tasked with guarding said brothel, the madam demanded the ronin apprehend the noble on top of collecting yen for the damages. The man's status had been the only thing that had stayed the samurai's blade and tongue.<br/><br/>The statesman's estate collected him had agreed to meet to discuss paying for the wild conduct of its patriarch. Of course, the madam had commissioned the ronin to see it out. The whole situation reeked of hush money to the ronin but overall seemed pretty run-of-the-mill: the noblemen pay to maintain the honor of honor-less men. Now, he supposed there was more to it than he ever could have imagined. The fox hole led deeper.<br/><br/>"Please don't be alarmed," she began. Her voice was ethereal. The resonance bounced off the bathroom walls.<br/><br/>A bone-rattling shiver rippled across his skin. '<i>Bit late for that, dontcha think</i>?' He thought. His eyes lingered on the hair that obscured the eyes of his intruder, then crept down along her figure. Admiring her form, struck with awe and looking for weapons should this witch decide to slay him.<br/><br/>"I am here to bid you warning. My captor intends to kill you at the first stroke of noon tomorrow. An ambush."<br/><br/>Now he was confused. "What."<br/><i>Really </i>confused. "Why would you..?"<br/><br/>Her lips rolled inward. The sensation that flashed across her veiled face could only be described as pain. It was brief, but he got the gist of it. So he broke the silence he'd created, "Ambush, understood. I… thank you for warning me." He wasn't in the habit of showing sympathy for witches, oni or whatever she was. "Forgive me for asking this but who...What<i>are</i>you?"<br/><br/>The woman flinched at the question, gave a nervous glance around, then spoke her final piece without addressing it. "I cannot speak much now. Find me at the jade palace garden. Eastern gate at midnight when the moon is full. I will explain all there." Then she dissolved back into the pool. The place where she stood glowed, bubbled, then faded. She was gone.<br/><br/>The ronin sank slowly back into the water with a sigh. The room was still once more aside from the steadying thump of his heart. Still, his mind reeled with the rush of information. What was she? Was she manipulating him to get free? Or was this a ploy to give that greedy statesman the ronin's head? They certainly didn't look like tsukimono-suji but he had never been a spiritual man. He didn't know the signs.<br/><br/>Gods, she was beautiful.<br/><br/>"Oh for fuck's sake," The samurai grunted, admonishing himself as he noticed the extent of her beauty's effect. Had it really been that long since his wakizashi had seen any action? Looks like he would be in the bath a little while longer to sate the beast. Before he did, however, he looked around. A naughty thought crossed his time-twisted mind. He couldn't help but wonder, could she perhaps be watching?<br/><br/>•••<br/><br/>He couldn't believe he was doing this.<br/><br/>Despite his better judgement, or perhaps because of it, he found himself in the very place he'd deliberated coming to.<br/><br/>Jade palace garden. East gate. Midnight.<br/><br/>He looked to the full moon and then at the ornate corrugated iron that adorned the tall walls separating the estate from the street.<br/><br/>There wasn't a soul in sight… yet.<br/><br/>◇◇◇<br/><br/>This is a quick drabble I wrote in an attempt to come back from the dead haha.<br/><br/><i><b>The role of the unnamed ronin is open</b></i>.<br/><br/>I have some pictures below as ideas for how he could look but feel free to change it as you see fit. (I am a sucker for some stubble hehe)<br/><br/>There isn't a specific fandom back-drop for this Rp either. It's just general fantasy and vaguely set in Japan so feel free to bring any relevant mythos into it as you see fit. This is very open ended. Surprise me! ^^<br/><br/><b>[My Requirements]</b><br/><br/>Please be Descriptive. I prefer about 3-4 paragraphs per response. I may also lose interest and I apologize ahead of time. Writer's block is a pain. I will let you know if this happens. I'm not picky about response times. I usually write 1-2 per day but I understand we all have irl obligations.<br/><br/>Grammar is appreciated but I understand we're not perfect.<br/><br/>You can find my full list of kinks and preferences on my profile! I'm open to discussion in PM!<br/><br/>Thank you so much for reading~! I hope you enjoyed it. Comment below if interested!<br/><br/>//A few tags/ideas for continuing the story: NSFW!, LEMON, there may be an oasis/bath scene?, definitely some witchcraft, I'm thinking the statesman had beef with the ronin's late master and thus wants to kill him, BIG hurt/comfort potential, they both have some dark pasts probably (ronin's history is up to you)