Kupo-ku-kupoo. [closed]

[primaleyes]

[Lol! Took me forever just to pick a world and title. D=]


Where was it? Rummaging through an old worn out backpack over half his size, the small white creature mumbled and growled grumpily before diving head first into the satchel.

It was here just a second ago. Or rather, he had slipped it into his monster of a bag before sitting down for a quick drink and rest. The day was mild and the walk through the countryside to the capitol had been pretty long and boring. Too long, perhaps. Which was why he needed to find it!

He really should have known better by now though. For years he was beginning to suspect that his bag was in reality a demented sort of hammer space- the sort of abyss that eats people’s socks, keys, and other knickknacks. Now he had the proof, but why oh why of all times and places did it have to eat this?!

Stilt’s legs kicked angrily in the air. “Kuuuuupoooo!” His fingers clawed desperately through the pile of junk he constantly dragged around. If everything in his bag didn’t smell all the same now, perhaps his big nose would have been some help. Ugh, but this was no good. He’d never find it like this! Perhaps just dumping everything out on the ground might be faster. Well, easier to find the item, but a pain to put everything back. Not that he had a better idea though. Now if he could just... Uh-oh.

“Kuuuuuupppppoooo!! Kuupoo Kupo-po!!!”

Hopefully there weren’t any other Moogles in the area. Had they heard such language, a few might have fainted or lost their hearing temporarily. Suffice to say, it would be easy for any passerby to guess what might have happened to the small traveler. Squirming and kicking, his wings flapping hard but to no avail, one might actually hear his growls and curses first before setting eyes on poor Stilt- stuck head first in his backpack.

[High's .Valentine.]

Unbeknownst to the strange little fella, he had decided to park himself right in the middle of the dirt country road, two chubby legs waving frustratingly in the air. Luckily for him, his knight in white armor was about to come and save the day…

Well, maybe not. Currently, said knight needs his own day to be saved. And it wasn’t exactly a white armor he was wearing. More like the country’s traditional red robe. There wasn't much of a heroic expression on his face. What could be seen past those bangs was a visage of worry and dread. He didn’t quite have the appearance of a knight either…long dark hair drawn back in a sloppy pony tail, tall and gangly, round glasses atop his small nose, and those thin almond eyes fixated on a scroll. In fact, he was so absorbed in the scrawling on the scroll that he didn’t hear the shrill cries of the bizarre little animal, right in the middle of the street. So it might have been partly his fault when…CRASH.

He tripped right over the bag, tipping it over—thus saving the Moogle from its embarrassing topsy-turvy incident—and fell flat on his face. The giant box strapped on his back slid forward in the fall, smacking him promptly in the head and opening right up, spilling calligraphy brushes, paper, books, things you’d usually find in a study all over the dusty road. The unfortunate man’s glasses whooshed from his face, narrowly avoided being crushed under his face plant.

He laid there for several seconds, waiting for the dust to settle and the pain to subside—though it didn’t—before he sat up, clutching his nose. Tears lingered at the edge of his eyes as he looked around for his glasses. At the moment, everything was simply a blur for him. He couldn’t see the white furred Moogle he had unknowingly rescued; he couldn’t see that his precious items had been tossed all over the ground, rolling around in the dust.

However, as soon as he located his glasses, he slipped them on before looking around in despair.

“Tian ya!” Yuu Kuan Ning cried in his native language as he scrambled around, collecting rolling brushes and papers about to be fluttered away by the wind, exclaiming about the injustice of things. Most importantly though, the scroll he had been reading from, where was it? Looking around with an expression near tears, the young man fumbled through papers and shattered ink stones.

[primaleyes]

“Po!!” Stilt yelped as the world suddenly toppled over. Flat on his back, but still half-way in his backpack, the chubby Moogle wiggled and squirmed until, with a loud and comical popping noise, he managed to push himself out of the bag and onto his furry butt. “Kupo-po,” he commented while rubbing his sore rump.

His small eyes blinked rapidly as they slowly adjusted to the bright daylight again. “Ow, kupo, my pom-pom,” he grumbled while readjusting said ball of fluff and the bandana that covered the antenna firmly attached to the top of his head. This forced the pom-pom to stick out against the back of his neck once more. Everything back in place, with a shove and a few quick beats of his bat like wings the traveling merchant went from sitting to standing in one movement.

His eyes wandered curiously over the sight that greeted him. “Kupo? Kuu..." Various oddities, some he could name and recognize while others unknown and peaking his interest, were scattered everywhere amongst the dusty road. Without hesitation and without concern or even acknowledgement of the odd man temporarily strewn out amongst the items, the curious and slightly klepto Moogle began picking up the assorted goodies and hording them in his small arms. What a good haul this would be! Stilt was particularly excited about an interesting scroll now tucked tightly under one arm.

[>=3]

[High's .Valentine.]

The scroll…it must be here somewhere! Crawling along the ground, he noticed something else was picking up the items along the ground. For him? And what strange language the man speaks! It sounded like an animal’s cry to Yuu, high pitch and childish, very cute too. Kuan knew very little of the language though he had poured his time over studying the different tongues of this world.

Deciding to go with his native language, Kuan glanced up, about to thank the kind man for picking up his things. However, he stopped, mouth agape, as he watched the strange foreign animal with tiny wings, hording the scrolls, brushes, and books he had dropped. The things he had managed to gather clattered to the ground again. Most of the time, the people of Ancient China would have turned and ran, screaming about demons on the road [they were quite the superstitious bunch, like most of the ancient times]. But, this was Yuu Kuan Ning. Though Kuan feared the attention of large groups, he would never, never run from strange unusual creatures like this. Not because he was bold and foolish, but simply because he was curious and foolish.

Uttering something inaudible, Kuan dove for one of the thick books he had dropped, rapidly picking it up and flipping through it. Still muttering, his eyes flitted from the strange small thing back to the pages of the book. Please don’t leave, not yet…

Just then, he noticed the scroll the creature had picked up. Actually, he noticed two scrolls. One was important, another one was even more precious. Dropping the book—a bestiary he had created from his own knowledge and the stories he had heard from travelers—he reached out for the moogle tentatively.

“Ah! Ne guh…” Kuan pointed at the smaller, thinner scroll the moogle was clinging onto, all the while glancing at the older looking one that was also in its hand. Stopping, he switched language, trying to remember the correct words.

“Please, kind…” Sir? Thing? Kuan certainly couldn’t call it a thing. And would it understand him anyway? “Please, kind beast, may I have those two scrolls you are currently holding? They are very valuable to me.” Kuan’s soft voice was heavily accented, but he spoke proper English nonetheless. And as usual, he was as polite as ever. The creature wore clothes, acted intelligently, and thus, should be treated equally, like a human being. Nevertheless, Kuan was very nervous. While one scroll was vital to his survival, magical and valuable, the other smaller one might seem worthless to even the trained eye. It was the only thing she left for him. Well, not even for him, for her parents to be exact. She left nothing for him, only emptiness in his chest. Pathetic little Kuan had begged her honorable parents for the scroll, the last trace of their daughter, who would have soon became his wife if she had not ran off. And as soon as he had it in his hand, he had read it, over and over, trying to soak up her voice through the black ink of her elegant handwriting.

Yuu Kuan Ning needed the scroll if he wanted to continue on this road. He needed a reminder of her. Of course, Kuan needed the other scroll too, to protect him…and the girl as soon as he found her, but this smaller, less significant piece of paper was more important.

[/blockquote]

[primaleyes]

Freezing mid-step, or rather, mid-bending-over-to-pick-up-another-random-knickknack, it was as if every hair on the Moogle’s body stood on end. His small ears swiveled toward the unfamiliar sound of words beyond his vocabulary. Or did he just mishear? Not that mishearing was the point right now. Not when he had no idea that someone had seemingly appeared out of no where behind him! With a quick jerk of his head, the traveling merchant zoomed in on the unfamiliar form of a native to this world.

Too bad though. It would have been much easier to disregard someone Stilt couldn’t understand. At least, that would have been the plan had the stranger not changed languages on him. It didn’t hit him until after he had slipped up that perhaps he could have pretended not to understand either languages. “Oh? How so, kupo?” the fuzz ball boldly inquired before mentally slapping himself. Curiosity and greed had gotten the best of him again. Sure, the scroll balanced on the top of his head didn’t seem all that important, but the scroll tucked under his arm was another matter. It smelled of something ancient and powerful, much like much of this world.

Straightening himself up, this little ‘beast’ tried his best to look the part- despite his arms being full of almost stolen goods. Almost. This guy didn’t look so tough. As Stilt mused on the idea of trying to scare him off, he contended to also wait for the answer to his question. A little background information on the item in question would make for an easier time pricing and selling it later.

[High's .Valentine.]

Kuan nearly gasped when he heard the familiar words out of the fuzzy creature, and the adorable little ‘kupo’ that accompanied it. Does this strange animal have a name? And those clothes…Kuan had never seen such strange materials and style. It must mean that the creature was not a native of China! It was imperative that Kuan made a document of this incident. First though, he would have to get those two things back…

“My…” Gulping, Kuan tried to gather the foreign words together. He had practiced plenty of times, yet actually speaking to a fluent—was the creature actually fluent?—English speaker was a bit harder than he imagined. Nevertheless, the man had a knack for such strange tongues. “It’s very important to me. I need them for my long journey. The scroll in your hand depicts a famous legend of our people. And the one on your head…” Kuan trailed off, too embarrassed to explain. Neither did he tell the little thing the true power behind the ancient scroll—something that was best left unsaid. It never really dawned on the man that maybe the moogle was planning to run off with most of his precious items. Naïve little Kuan.

Tentatively, he approached the little creature, his eyes filled with awe and a quiver of fear. One hand reached out…

Kuan wanted the scroll on the creature’s head first. That was of the utmost importance. The moogle seemed far more interested in the scroll he was holding in his hand, which was also essential to Kuan’s journey. However, one cannot wield the weapon without the motivation. Thinking back on all the stories he had read about beasts, the young scholar tried to remember just what was the characteristic trait of all little strange creatures. They must all share something in common, these supernatural animals, right?

Aha.

Turning—he kept one eye on the moogle in the meanwhile—Kuan reached to dig up the most beautiful of his scrolls, brush, and ink tablet. Attention back on the moogle, Kuan offered them up to him by holding the expensive items in front of the moogle’s face for easy examination. At a respectful distance of course. It pained him slightly to have to do this, but there was nothing else he could do. These items could always be replaced, but the two scrolls the moogle were holding could not.

“Please accept this in exchange for the two scrolls, honorable sir.” After confirming that it did indeed speak the same language as Kuan, there was of course, the need for respect. Hopefully this would work…the things in his hand appeared far more valuable and worthwhile than what the moogle currently was holding.