[align=center]?? Folklore ??

One wouldn't believe that they had ended up in a fairy tale.

Once upon a time, you have.

 

There are those in the Netherworld that want to uprise and take over the land of the dead and the land of the living. Led by those from the Overworld, they have grown stronger and stronger.

There are still Messengers and others that can travel to the Netherworld that want to prevent this overrule and restore the balance.

Will both worlds live happily ever after?, or....

 

Rules:

Please, don't:

"Oh," Eliza began, "well, I have a mat under the bed that you can sleep on, if you like." She resumed going to feed Ruru.

"...Thank you," he said quietly, then looked up. "What does the cat do all day while you're out... standing by a tree uh, doing messenger-y things?"

"Um... she used to go back and forth to Ev's house and mine when we switched shifts." She slightly chuckled. "Once, when I woke up in the middle of the night, Ruru was outside, and two of the spirits were irritating her."

"Huh. Must be a smart cat. Does it... I mean, does it tend to pee everywhere? I had a cat when I was little who did that. Well, not for very long. But it was more my brother's than mine anyway."

Eliza found herself laughing. "Ruru's potty-trained! She knows where to go." After she poured some food into the cat bowl, she stood up.

"Well, Sammy was the most stubborn animal I've ever had the misfortune to encounter- and we didn't have the time or the patience to train him!" Raiden protested, against his supposed lack of cat care. Stupidly, there wasn't much point- he didn't tend to get along with animals too well usually.

"Maybe you should've gotten a dog," Eliza remarked as she pulled the mat out from under the bed.

"Not much point. They were too bouncy and needed too much attention. It wasn't like I could have played with or even been able to look after a dog when I was a kid, either..." he shrugged, rummaging through the nearest bag and holding up the first thing he could grab. He waved it in the air, still crouched over the bag. "...What's this?" he asked, slightly embarrased at either having forgotten or having never known in the first place. It was probably the former.

Eliza looked up to see the item, only to raise an eyebrow. "That's ramen," she stated.

(( The first food product that came to mind. :'D ))

Studying the packet for a moment, eyes narrowed, Raiden stood up. "...Kind of rings a bell. But, how are you supposed to..." he trailed off when his question was already answered, right on the packet. "Seriously? You just put hot water in?" he asked, looking doubtful.

"Yeah," Eliza answered, "you let it sit in hot water for three minutes, then eat it."

Raiden raised his eyebrows, but didn't comment. He struggled for a moment, trying to dredge up enough memory of the real world to ask for the right thing.

"Um, have you got... a... kek... wait, no- kettle?" he managed to get out in the end, hoping it was the right thing and not some ridiculous pointless kitchen appliance he'd remembered instead.

"If you mean a pot, then no," Eliza stated before grinning, "but I got bowls and a microwave."

With a muffled groan, Raiden hung his head. "Yeah, I think that's what I meant. Uh... which one's the microwave, again? This one, right?" he pointed at the fridge.

 

(Poor forgetful idiot Zuko. :'D)

Eliza slightly moved Raiden's arm to the right, pointing at the small contraption which is called a microwave. "Would you like me to point out the bowls as well?" she asked sarcastically.

 

(( Yes. :'D ))

"Haha, hilarious," he snapped, scowling at her briefly before it occured to him he was drawing a blank. "Just, er, give me a minute..." he mumbled, mortified, as he stared desperately at the crockery, trying but failing to recall which was which.

His memory was usually pretty much empty before he ended up half dead, but this was just taking the cake.

Eliza sighed. "Just don't... burn yourself, or something." She was going to let him keep his pride. She went to her bed and sat on it, hugging her trusty pillow.

With a lot of beeps from the microwave and some hushed ranting at its lack of co-operation, Raiden came out of the kitchen about nine minutes later, having finally managed to figure out enough to heat the ramen and find a fork.

 

(Two minutes spent figuring out which ones were bowls, another three struggling with the microwave, three more letting the ramen actually cook and another figuring out that knives as an eating utensil weren't supposed to work by themselves... :'D)

Eliza looked up from the book that she was reading. Trying her hardest to not say a mean joke, she advised, "Don't eat it immediately. You'll burn your tongue and lose your taste buds."

Ruru eyed the ramen.

"Pfft, yeah, right. I probably don't even have-OW." Raiden tried to make his point by eating a little of it; but instantly tugged the fork out of his mouth, crying out and swallowing hard. He shuddered as he felt the hot food burning down through his chest, but tried to keep quiet after the initial yelp of pain.

Eliza smirked. "Told you..." she muttered almost in a mocking tone.

Ruru went to go sniff the ramen, but then decided against it and went to get on the bed.

"This realm is trying to kill me," he retorted, playing with the ramen as he waited for it to cool down.

After a moment, Eliza closed the book, saying, "Well, that's life for you."

"Mmn," he answered dismissively, mouth full of thankfully bearable ramen. Swallowing, and ignoring his belly's grumbling attempt at telling him to eat faster, he sat down cross legged on the floor. "Kind of wish it didn't all have to seem so new, though..."

"Well, the more you visit, the more you get used to it," Eliza pointed out as she sat up, staring into the distance as she thought of what she could do.