<div style="text-align: center;"><a class="postlink" href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/_3OkpGRFYKWY/SsNM99eAbSI/AAAAAAAAAGM/nM_xjFAKyck/s400/Fushimi+Inari+Stairs+Up.jpg">[ img ]</a></div><br/><br/>As he looked to the skies, Byakko watched as at first the light of day became darker and darker, the clouds growing in size, a sign of bad omens and forlorn futures, but just as quickly as they had appeared, they receded in to the distance; once more the sun shone from the blue above, and warmth filled the air. For a moment he stared upwards, confused, but not all that much, by what had just happened. Despite his young and fit appearance, Byakko had been through quite a lot, he was no new kid on the block, that was for sure. He'd seen things like that before, but usually it turned out for the worst, instead of settling down right away. If he were honest with himself, he was extremely glad things hadn't done what they usually did, this change was for the better, for both himself and the inhabitants of this world that he lived in.<br/><br/>Lowering his eyes from the sky at last, he blinks in surprise when the scent of something that he normally didn't pick up around here reached his nose. Dog. Glancing left and right, from the roof of the Honden, trying to figure out where that smell was coming from, as it slowly got closer to where he was. Then, coming racing up the steps that led to the Holy Ground of the shrine, and passing through the faded red Torii, he could see the source of the scent his sensitive nose was picking up on. A shiba inu, who, for some reason, came straight to the spot where he was at, and began to bark at him.<br/><br/>Looking down at the dog, he narrows his eyes, the pupils of his becoming narrow like a cat's would in the dark, or if irritated. A low growl formed in the back of his throat, and his lips raise up slightly to show sharp dangerous looking teeth. A angry hiss forms out of the growl, and despite himself, ears and tail of a tiger form, the ears pressing back, and the tail flicking back and forth in irritation. But when he heard another form of footsteps coming up the shrine steps, he quickly calms himself, ears and tail receding, and he was once in the form of a human, nothing out of the ordinary.<br/><br/>He was surprised to see a girl standing at the top of the stairs beneath the Torii, and from what he could tell she wasn't one hundred percent Japanese. Nor did she really look like she belonged there in the first place. Something about her seemed off...not only her appearance was strange, her scent was different too. Who was this girl? Narrowing his eyes, he waited for her to approach, not saying anything, but definitely keeping his guard up. One of his stature couldn't be too careful.<br/><br/><span style="font-size: 85%; line-height: 116%;">For Future Reference: <a class="postlink" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shinto_architecture#Sanctuary_.28honden.29">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shinto_architecture#Sanctuary_.28honden.29</a></span>