Chikako's Journey

[crazymuch]

The festival was over. Chikako had broken her camp, rolled her supplies, put on her pack, and went back out into the world.

She was mostly traveling through wooded territory now. The better the chance for her new wolf pup, Mei-mei, to learn the lay of the land, and possibly observe her brethren in the wild at play.

It was wonderful to be away from the festival and all of it's lights and sounds and people and distractions ... or maybe it wasn't. Without them her thoughts were too easily allowed to roam.

Chikako approached a stream for a drink and attempt to catch a fish for her supper. Perhaps two and Mei-mei could also reap the reward. The pup was off sniffing the scrub brush while she briskly washed her face and took a few gulps of water.

Mei-mei had already attached a bond with Chikako, a mother-daughter bond that delighted Chikako. Though it reminded her constantly of the wolf she'd had before, Brutus, who gave his life so Chikako could escape an enraged earth dragon when her sword had failed her and she was wounded near death, Mei-mei also helped ease that past hurt.

She sat back on her heels for a moment, letting the water calm so she could watch for the movement of fish or other small water creatures that might make a tasty meal.

[ElataDiscordia]

(( My family used to have a dog named Brutus! =D He was a good old dog. ))

A loud splash, accompanied by a verbal "Splat!" filled the water in front of them, and a young boy, eight years old, could be seen facedown in the water. He was wearing a striped yellow shirt, cargo shorts, and red sneakers. At his side was a dagger with a handle wrapped in strange leather with a cloudy black gem in the pommel. A coat followed him into the water, made of black leather. It looked like a duster coat with too many pockets. Dirty blond curls played in the water for a few seconds until the boy pushed himself upwards. "Aunt Jade, you big meanie!" he shouted before pouting and sitting, facing away from Chikako. His feet were sole-to-sole and his knees were out to each side as he grabbed his jacket moodily.

[crazymuch]

Chikako had spied a rather large trout and was about to lean in to snatch it up in her short talons when she noticed a figure being reflected in the water getting closer. She just had time to back away from the water as there came a great splash accompanied by a verbal sound to the same effect.

Her expression turned dark until she heard the child's voice. It was a voice she had heard many times in the past week or more. She blinked her eyes a few times to make sure the child in front of her was real.

"Kinny?" She asked as Mei-mei was spazzing out jumping all over the beach and then charging into the water and jumping on the long leather coat.

[ElataDiscordia]

The boy blinked, then turned. "Chikako?" he asked, looking shocked. Then he grinned and ran over to hug her tightly. "Hi! I missed you!" he said with a giggle, hugging her. He had a tight grip. His wolf pup was noticeably absent. "I thought I'd have to wait a whoooole year to see you again!" He released her, bouncing some. He had a very large fog behind him now, and occasionally, a face appeared. A mostly invisible clawed hand rested on Kindall's shoulder.

[crazymuch]

Chikako hugged Kinny back delighted to see him. Before she had a chance to fully register the lack of his wolf pup, she noticed the mist with the hand on the lads shoulder. Taking a step back on the bank, scree rushing past her shoe to plink into the creek ahead of her, her green eyes appraised what she could see of the figure.

"Is this your Aunt Jade?" Chikako was very pleased with herself. Her voice didn't tremble or give away her emotions at all. In fact, it was so strong for a moment she didn't realize it was her own.

[ElataDiscordia]

He blinked. "No, that's my friend. She's really protective. I'm surprised Aunt Jade didn't separate us like she did at the festival." The boy giggled. It was normal for him to have ghosts hanging out behind him, it seemed. "If you saw Aunt Jade, you'd probably be seeing a ball-joint doll with card signs on her body, and she'd be wearing a playboy bunny suit." He nodded seriously. "And she'd also have one regular angel wing, and one wing that's just bones. She's really nice, though she's really monotone and quiet... like a creepy girl from a horror movie. But she's nice, and she really loves her kids."

[crazymuch]

Chikako only understood a third of what he was talking about, but she had taken that in stride with Kinny. Obviously places he had been there were wonders and marvels beyond her experience.

"Well, I'm glad to see someone is watching out for you." She gave Kinny a wink. "And greetings to you Miss Jade." Chikako issued a short bow from her waist to the clouded figure.

"Kinny, where is your wolf pup? I'm sure Mei-mei would love to see her brother." At the sound of her name, the wolf pup snapped her attention away from a tadpole in the shallow water near Kinny's feet to Chikako face, her tail wagging so fast her butt couldn't hold still. The sunlight glinted in her gray fur making it look silver at times.

[ElataDiscordia]

"That's not Aunt Jade." he corrected her with a giggle. "That's my friend. She doesn't remember her name, so she's just my friend." he said with a nod. Reaching out, he grabbed Chikako's hand. Now she could clearly see that the woman was wearing a red business suit. Most of the mist was other ghosts, and a few were spirits without faces or the short, but they had auras involving emotions. There was even the odd orb behind him, zooming up close to inspect Chikako.

At her comment about his wolf, he pouted. "Daddy said it had to stay with the wolf pack nearby, cuz otherwise it would think it was a dog because we live indoors and there isn't any hunting inside, because there's lots of food and only pets live inside."

[~CrazyMuch~]

The image of a pale humanoid figure with pink hair and dragon wings flickered behind Chikako for a minute, almost like a ghost. You could almost hear her breath exhale between her lips, it was like a hum, but it really wasn't audible. She wasn't a ghost or spirit ... exactly ... but she did have earth dragon wings and smelled of the forest, and was gone in an instant. Chikako did not appear to take any notice.

[ElataDiscordia]

The boy looked at the woman behind Chikako. "I think you have a friend." he said simply before smiling. "It's weird, she disappeared... normally I can see ghosts and spirits all the time, but she disappeared..."

[crazymuch]

"yes," Chikako said, "I do agree with your father. Wolves are meant to be dogs. Your father was wise."

But Mei-mei dropped her belly to the ground and rested her chin on her paws.

"Why didn't you have all of these friends with you at the festival?"

Kinny's words stirred her from her wondering and she turned around and saw nothing but forest.

"What are you talking about?"

[ElataDiscordia]

"I only saw her for a second or two." he said in response to her most recent comment. "And yeah, Daddy's pretty wise. He's only in his thirties but he knows lots. Cooking and fighting are what he's best at. He's not as strong as a Hunter, but he can kill a person using just one hand and no effort. He did it once, to protect a family friend from her father." Finally, he got to her question about his friends. "My friends weren't there because they had to stay home. It was too crowded and stuff, and Aunt Jade wouldn't let me take them."

[crazymuch]

Chikako shrugged off what Kinny was saying about somebody being behind him. Surely, it was something to do with his gifts and powers.

"Is your father not a good hunter because of his size? I'd think if he were a good fighter, it would only follow. But he's a good cook you say and that is a lot. Most men I have come across can't cook to save their lives." She was thinking of the few times her father had attempted to cook. And what was set before them on the table afterward. She closed her eyes and turned her face slightly to the left towards the ground to hide her private smile at the memory.

She turned back to Kinny and his friends. "Was it lonely at the festival without them? Are they always with you?"

[ElataDiscordia]

"Daddy's pure human, so he can't be a hunter." he explained with that trademark sage nod of his. "Hunters have to be descended from a supernatural that somehow bred with a human. It was pretty lonely at the festival when I didn't have friends around... But I met lots of fun people like you, so it's ok." He grinned widely and hugged her tightly.

[crazymuch]

Chikako hugged Kinny back.

"I did not know you couldn't be full human and be a hunter. That sounds interesting to me."

Chikako pulled herself back from the lad, her dark hair in her eyes for a moment, but she shoved them away with one hand briskly. She had temporarily forgotten about catching fish for supper. In fact, she moved back from the stream some ways and sat on a large rock.

She had to hop a bit to get on it, as the height was higher than her hips, but the top was smooth and warm from the sunshine. The birds chirped to each other and sang their little songs in the trees nearby. The sound of the small stream burbled and whispered over the large rocks in it's path.

Chikako couldn't really understand why, but suddenly she felt a bit sad. She couldn't detect anything in her thought process to explain this sadness, and yet it was still there. A strange empty void in her chest.

Mei-mei whined from the base of the rock looking up at her. She could sense distress in her new mother and didn't know what to do to make things better. The sunlight reflecting off the river danced across her gray fur. Her intelligent brown eyes seeking out Chikako's green ones for some hint at what she should do.

Slowly Chikako turned her head to the left, looking deeper into the forest. She thought she sensed something moving there. Something large and potentially dangerous, but she couldn't spot anything. It was only a feeling at the nape of her neck. A feeling that crawled and tingled up into her scalp making her hair stand on end a bit.

"Kinny, do you notice anything strange. There, in those deep shadows, something deeper?"

Chikako noticed the birds began to quiet and still. They sensed it too. Whatever it was, it was not supposed to be here. But she still could not make it out. Her left hand slipped along her leg to draw out one of her butterfly daggers, to be ready to throw in case that darkness moved closer.