In the Desert, On a Horse With a Name [Murasaki, Micaiah]

Well, Murasaki was honestly impressed by Micaiah's time. That'd been a pretty good distance to cross for most people, and even she ususally would've taken a horse if she was going further than a few miles. At least before she got good at shunpo and stuff.

"You all good there? You need some water or something? I've got sake and stuff too if you want that, but you probably oughta drink some water first. I've got snacks and stuff 'til the rabbit is cooked, too."

Pouring herself a cup of sake, Murasaki kept herself from giggling at Micaiah's plight. It was impressive that she'd even run this far, after all, and 20 minutes really was a super good time for that distance. She'd let her be proud of that time.

"So, what brings ya to this part of the world?"

There was something about listening to Micaiah speak, her youthful energy and that wanderlust, that really reminded Murasaki of herself maybe a hundred years prior. It was almost depressing, really, but naturally she wouldn't let any degree of melancholy come over her. She just wasn't the kind of girl to let her own problems bring down the night, after all.

"That's true. You hang onto any keepsakes? I always try to have at least a picture or two somewhere to remember things by, though most of the time it's usually something like a little memento instead. That's kinda better though, honestly. A picture just helps me remember people, but a thing always has the whole moment in it."

Sipping a bit more of her sake, Murasaki looked up at the stars for a bit, definitely more relaxed than she usually would have been. After all, even if she was here on patrol, it was that time in the night when nothing ever really seemed to happen. Not that time when something unexpected came, just...that brief little window of a few hours, where the whole universe seemed like it wanted a break.

"The usual patrols, I guess. There's still a lot of Hollows prowling around from the war, and honestly even from before it. Not to mention there are a lot that have probably gone feral since Las Vegas..."

Ah, right, that'd gone poorly, hadn't it? The reminder that Murasaki hadn't really been able to save that city was something akin to a bucket of ice water being poured over her head, but she'd already dealt with those feelings once before. She wouldn't be sad about it again.

"That's fair. Maybe it's just because I'm gettin' old, I've got a lot to remember. Need a little help for some of it when you've traveled so much."

Murasaki's gaze turned once more to the sword by Micaiah's side, reminded once more that she'd wanted to ask a little more about it. Well, thankfully she didn't seem too unwilling to talk about it or anything. Some people were weird about stuff like that.

"Vegas was pretty much terrible. Some Arrancar showed up, wanted to prove what big guys they were. City's gone now, so I guess they proved it."

Shrugging her grief off, Murasaki cleared her head, refusing to ruminate on it further.

"So, what's up with that sword ya got there? Definitely not just any old sword, I can tell right away."

"They're pretty awful, yeah. There's a reason we always try to just get rid of 'em when they pop up, though there's a few here and there that aren't so bad."

Murasaki watched Micaiah's multitasking with some degree of interest, honestly pretty impressed by how well she managed to balance the whole thing. Of course, her gaze turned over to the sword once more, Micaiah's words catching her attention in a way that wasn't strictly positive or negative.

"A demon king, huh? Well, that'd explain a few things, I guess. Was wondering how he caught my attention so easy, but it makes sense now."

This sure was pretty weird, wasn't it? She didn't generally interact with demons, mostly because she never had any good reason to. Honestly, Murasaki hadn't been expecting such an open-ended question, so she needed to think about that hor a while.

"What made ya pick a sword? Just figured someone would pick it up one day?"

Murasaki hadn't exactly meant for this demon king to take what she said that way. It had more just been impressive for him to notice her and reach out from that far. Well, if he wanted to take it as that sort of compliment, that was fine, too.

"Oh, you're a real flatterer, huh? Well, I do agree swords are pretty nice, but obviously I'm a little biased about that one. I am mighty fine though, so maybe it's just an eye for good craftsmanship."

She laughed quietly at her own joke, always willing to go for a little bit of lighthearted self-aggrandizement. It wasn't anything super big, after all, but the little things tended to be the most amusing ones, at least as far as Murasaki was concerned.

"That so... Ya know, most of the stories about demon-possessed swords I've heard tend to be about them tempting their owners to some gruesome death, or just drivin' 'em insane. You wouldn't do somethin' like that though, right? Be mighty rude."