synopsychic | And Now the Wolf-Bear of Doom is Dead

No. I destroyed you.

[There is a pause, for a moment.]

I am sorry, Byerly. Izanami should not have killed you. You did not deserve it.

No. She shouldn't have. Or Bai, for that matter. If anything he deserved it less.

[He sighs and, although Istas can't see it, pinches his brow.]

What are you going to do now? You said something about killing the Shinjuu--you mean that noble clan with the pointy noses? Who's Yuki?

Bai's siblings killed her. They were justified in doing so. Izanami deserved carnage.

Yuki is Izanami's daughter. They call her Mari, and tell her she has no family.

I will not allow her to remain with them.

... Bai did suspect Izanami had lost a child about a decade ago. I suppose it's nice to know he was correct in that.

She was not lost. She was taken.

I will take her back.

Good luck with that?

... oh good lord, you're going to attack them as a giant wolf bear, aren't you?

My carnage is greater when I am in my beastly form.

Yes. You, ah, may want to stay beastly the entire time you're in Nakamiyo since it's likely Izanami's corpse has been found by now and any sightings of her would just confuse the locals.

Unless you're proposing to cover yourself in flour and pretend to be Izanami's ghost until the end of the Jaunt, that is.

[This idea had not occurred to Istas. But now that she hears it, it seems - her her - an adequate solution.]

Yes. I will be Izanami's ghost.

Flour is not required. Make-up will be more effective.

... hey, what about illusion?

[Because Neeshka's been listening, and she just had a really crazy, awesome idea.]

Because I can totally change, like... the color of your skin and hair, make them white or gray or whatever you want. Move things around you without you having to touch them. Stuff like that.

Will this illusion remain after I have changed into my beastly form?

Uh, no. I'd be an illusion on whatever form you're wearing. Changing what I put the illusion on would mean the illusion isn't there anymore. But really, changing into a, uh, "beastly form" will probably scare people plenty, I don't think you need to look like a ghost then, too.

[She hasn't met the wolf-bear of doom in wolf-bear form yet, but she's heard stories, so she can guess.]

I am not looking to scare people. I am looking to tear their flesh with my claws and rip out their internal organs.

I must convince Yuki that I am a ghost.

Uh huh.

[Neeshka pauses at that, but then rallies. She's a demon-get, after all. She can handle talking to somebody with that much pent up rage. Or... not pent up rage. As it happens.]

Well, really, changing into something with claws and stuff will probably convince people you're some kind of supernatural thing anyway, but sure, we can make you look ghostly. If you bring me along, I can make you ghostly after you change, too, but I can't follow you around forever, so maybe we can stick to one change.

You need not follow me. When I need to change, I will come to Liminal Space, and you may follow.

Portals only work once every six hours or something like that, so just make sure you don't want to do it a lot.

[Technically, Neeshka has a number of portal skills, so she could do it more often, but it's the principle of the thing. She can't stop everything just to magic up some weird woman all day long.]

So when do you want me to do this thing?