After a confusing and irritating talk with Rai after some serious training, Kumi had returned to the inn she was staying at to let her teammate know she was fine, he gave her some weird looks, probably wondering what had happened to her shirt as it was torn across the centre, allowing her midriff to be seen, not to mention while she had dusted herself off she was still quite dirty from lying down on the ground earlier while doing some cloud watching and some serious thinking. She had let her newly found friend know that she was going to need to make a, hopefully short, journey by herself to Sakuramori. He told her he understood but there was a look of clear worry on his face, most likely because the forest was known to be a place where many that wandered into it were never to be seen or heard from again. Kumi, wasn’t stupid though, she was a mystical creature and if anything she was more at home within such a magical forest than any human would ever be. Not only that but her ability to sense life all around her made it quite easy for her to ensure she didn’t run into any trouble. Besides, Rai had only mentioned going to the edge of the forest itself, there was no mention of actually having to enter it. Although it was a strong possibility that that was exactly what was going to occur.
The day after training, Kumi packed her bag, she didn’t have much stuff, she wasn’t an incredibly materialistic person and the few things she did treasure she kept close. There was also the fact she could use her spirits to take care of items for her in their pocket dimension, which seemed to have endless amounts of space, so things like clothing were as simple as summoning one of her spirits whenever she wished for a wardrobe change. Therefore her bag was quite small and just a simple bag that closed upon pulling the cords that doubled as the straps. Kumi flung it over her shoulder, ready to go, she didn’t bother saying farewell to her teammate, it wasn’t even quite sunrise yet and she didn’t want to wake him. The vixen stopped at the bar, tapping the bell to get the attention of one of the staff to pay for her tab before walking out of the inn and into the crisp, cool morning air. There were a few clouds in the sky above that she could just make out as the sun was rising over the eastern horizon. Kumi had memorised the map last night before bed, to ensure she wouldn’t get lost on the way so she turned in the correct directly, her shoes tapping slightly on the cobblestone road as she briskly made her way out of the town. Once she was far enough away, she began to relax, knowing there was no one else along the dirt path she was taking now. Most people tended to travel by train these days, but she preferred to pace herself and walk through nature for a day rather than spend even an hour on a train packed with humans and their generally disgusting odors and obnoxious sounds, not to mention the stares she would get if she didn’t hide her ears and tails. It was just too much of a chore for her to even entertain the idea.
By the time midday hit, Kumi checked her iLac, to get an electronic map of the area and how much further she had to travel before she’d reach her destination. From what she could tell it appeared she was actually making pretty good time. If she were to keep up her current pace she would probably get there before nightfall. It’s not like she minded travelling at night, it just meant she could probably get a proper meal. As she had only just realised she had left without a proper meal or even packing anything. She could probably find some resources from nature, but Kumi had gone longer periods of time without eating a thing, it wasn’t uncommon for her to go a couple days without food at a time. Still, after spending quite a bit of time in Magnolia she had gotten somewhat used to eating properly for once in her life. Her stomach rumbled a bit, but there was nothing she could do about it for now, she would be best to press on.
Kumi suddenly felt something move on her back, “What the?” she asked herself, slinging the back down her arm and pulling it open before sighing as she saw what, or in this case WHO was inside. “Zeph… I thought I told you to stay in Magnolia for now and head to the meeting point with Mack to let him know I’ll be a bit late…” Kumi groaned, to which the white and purple rabbit like creature simply yawned and stretched before hopping out of the bag and onto her head, resting between the fox maiden’s ears. “Well, not like I can take you back now, you may as well come along I guess…” Kumi murmured, a little peeved, but honestly she appreciated the company. It was a bit lonely travelling alone sometimes and even though he never actually spoke Zephyr did make her feel more at ease. As she took her next step forward after flinging her bag back over her shoulder Kumi felt a light breeze gather around her, pushing her forward. “Thanks Zeph.” The vixen teased, rolling her eyes. Well that was another positive to travelling with Zephyr, his ability to control the wind around him, meant that he could speed you up with ease, making each step feel like you were walking on air, which honestly Kumi rather enjoyed. Now she would definitely make it to her objective point before sundown as long as her travel continued smoothly.
Alas, it was not to be. It was just Kumi’s luck, as she had been too busy enjoying feeling like she was walking through the heavens she had failed to notice the auras of people up ahead till it was far too late. When she stopped in front of them they all stared at her, some in awe, others in fear. It was just a small band of people, she counted 7, but because she hadn’t hidden her true form it was now out for them to see, and judge. Kumi was about to just continue on her way when one of the bigger men of the group stepped forward and into her way.
“Excuse me lass, but those are some fine tails you got there, I’m sure you’d be worth a pretty penny on the black market now wouldn’t you?” The man chuckled to himself in a low voice as he eyed her up and down further, making Kumi feel disgusting. She held her ground though, staring up at him straight in the eyes, not even flinching.
“Out of my way, peasant.” She ordered, readying herself for combat should it come to that. It was at that point the man noticed Zephyr upon her head and he eyed him with delight.
“Oh my, two of ye? Hehe, you’ll be quite the haul indeed. Men.” the man commanded, waving his finger ever so slightly in the air to signal for the others to move into position. They quickly surrounded the duo, weapons in hand, causing Kumi to sigh, but she continued to hold her ground.
“I’ll give you one last chance. Out of my way… Peasant.” Kumi spat, attempting to look more intimidating by raising her tails high into the air, giving off a godly aura about her. Some of the men looked ready to run, shaking in their boots, but they stayed put waiting for their commander to give the order.
“Heh, you’d think I’d give up a lifetime of wealth? You’ve got to be dreaming.” The man proclaimed waving his hand, issuing the men around Kumi to begin their assault. Before they could even get close though the vixen already locked onto each of their auras before jolting them backwards, forcing them nearly one hundred meters away from her, absolutely scattering them all, except one. No she had something special hidden up her sleeve for him.
“Out.” Kumi started, building up a large ball of spiritual energy in her left hand as the man began to sweat, “Of.” the ball steadily grew larger and larger, till it was the size of a beach ball by her side, “My.” she raised her hand before her, directing it towards his chest, the man was left shaking in place, too terrified now to move. “Way.” Kumi commanded, releasing the ball and hitting him directly, completely obliterating his spirit, causing him to collapse on the ground. While she hadn’t dealt a killing blow, she was certain it would take him at least a week to recover from his injuries, possibly longer if the crack she’d heard was a rib or two. Either way he would continue living, but not without the knowledge of how weak he truly was. There was even the chance his men would give up on him. Not that it mattered to Kumi whether or not that occured, she got her justice and continued along her path towards Sakuramori. The little incident had wasted some of her precious time, but as long as she got to beat up a few lousy, humans she didn’t mind too much. It felt great knowing he was going to suffer in pain for a long time to come.
The rest of her trip was quite pleasant, Kumi enjoyed the singing of birds in nearby trees and the gentle breeze around her that was nice and cooling with the sun pelting down from above. It still took her a fair while but she found herself where she wanted to be, Sakuramori. A magical cherry blossom forest, known for its mysteries and mythical creatures within. As Kumi thought about it, perhaps the men she met earlier were heading here themselves, this was a forest known for beast hunting, if you found a rare creature here you could perhaps as he so aptly put it ‘make a lifetime of wealth’. She smirked knowing that she may have saved even one creature by taking those men out earlier. They probably assumed she was one of the forest’s beasts as well. She hoped they continued to, if that were the case they might think twice before trying to capture and tame wild creatures they know nothing about. Now that she was here though, she wasn’t entirely sure what she was supposed to be doing. Rai had only said to come here and then the path would be clear for her, or something along those lines. Well so far she didn’t notice anything or feel anything different. Perhaps if she were to trace the forest’s edge, she might notice something further along? Well she couldn’t think of a better idea, and she had plenty of time, so why not give it a shot?
The vixen made her way around the edge of the forest, studying the woods as she tried to notice anything. However, it wasn’t something physical that caught her attention, but rather a strange unknown sensation suddenly hit her spirit. It was as if something from within the forest was calling to her. This put Kumi a little on edge, knowing that the forest was a place known to be full of trickery and creatures like herself. However, there was something about this feeling that made her think that it was safe. Plus the fact that Zephyr wasn’t freaking out was definitely a good sign, he tended to have an even better sense of situations than she did and usually his intuition was right about things. So with that she decided to walk into the cherry blossom woods, hoping to discover what or who was drawing her inside.
The day after training, Kumi packed her bag, she didn’t have much stuff, she wasn’t an incredibly materialistic person and the few things she did treasure she kept close. There was also the fact she could use her spirits to take care of items for her in their pocket dimension, which seemed to have endless amounts of space, so things like clothing were as simple as summoning one of her spirits whenever she wished for a wardrobe change. Therefore her bag was quite small and just a simple bag that closed upon pulling the cords that doubled as the straps. Kumi flung it over her shoulder, ready to go, she didn’t bother saying farewell to her teammate, it wasn’t even quite sunrise yet and she didn’t want to wake him. The vixen stopped at the bar, tapping the bell to get the attention of one of the staff to pay for her tab before walking out of the inn and into the crisp, cool morning air. There were a few clouds in the sky above that she could just make out as the sun was rising over the eastern horizon. Kumi had memorised the map last night before bed, to ensure she wouldn’t get lost on the way so she turned in the correct directly, her shoes tapping slightly on the cobblestone road as she briskly made her way out of the town. Once she was far enough away, she began to relax, knowing there was no one else along the dirt path she was taking now. Most people tended to travel by train these days, but she preferred to pace herself and walk through nature for a day rather than spend even an hour on a train packed with humans and their generally disgusting odors and obnoxious sounds, not to mention the stares she would get if she didn’t hide her ears and tails. It was just too much of a chore for her to even entertain the idea.
By the time midday hit, Kumi checked her iLac, to get an electronic map of the area and how much further she had to travel before she’d reach her destination. From what she could tell it appeared she was actually making pretty good time. If she were to keep up her current pace she would probably get there before nightfall. It’s not like she minded travelling at night, it just meant she could probably get a proper meal. As she had only just realised she had left without a proper meal or even packing anything. She could probably find some resources from nature, but Kumi had gone longer periods of time without eating a thing, it wasn’t uncommon for her to go a couple days without food at a time. Still, after spending quite a bit of time in Magnolia she had gotten somewhat used to eating properly for once in her life. Her stomach rumbled a bit, but there was nothing she could do about it for now, she would be best to press on.
Kumi suddenly felt something move on her back, “What the?” she asked herself, slinging the back down her arm and pulling it open before sighing as she saw what, or in this case WHO was inside. “Zeph… I thought I told you to stay in Magnolia for now and head to the meeting point with Mack to let him know I’ll be a bit late…” Kumi groaned, to which the white and purple rabbit like creature simply yawned and stretched before hopping out of the bag and onto her head, resting between the fox maiden’s ears. “Well, not like I can take you back now, you may as well come along I guess…” Kumi murmured, a little peeved, but honestly she appreciated the company. It was a bit lonely travelling alone sometimes and even though he never actually spoke Zephyr did make her feel more at ease. As she took her next step forward after flinging her bag back over her shoulder Kumi felt a light breeze gather around her, pushing her forward. “Thanks Zeph.” The vixen teased, rolling her eyes. Well that was another positive to travelling with Zephyr, his ability to control the wind around him, meant that he could speed you up with ease, making each step feel like you were walking on air, which honestly Kumi rather enjoyed. Now she would definitely make it to her objective point before sundown as long as her travel continued smoothly.
Alas, it was not to be. It was just Kumi’s luck, as she had been too busy enjoying feeling like she was walking through the heavens she had failed to notice the auras of people up ahead till it was far too late. When she stopped in front of them they all stared at her, some in awe, others in fear. It was just a small band of people, she counted 7, but because she hadn’t hidden her true form it was now out for them to see, and judge. Kumi was about to just continue on her way when one of the bigger men of the group stepped forward and into her way.
“Excuse me lass, but those are some fine tails you got there, I’m sure you’d be worth a pretty penny on the black market now wouldn’t you?” The man chuckled to himself in a low voice as he eyed her up and down further, making Kumi feel disgusting. She held her ground though, staring up at him straight in the eyes, not even flinching.
“Out of my way, peasant.” She ordered, readying herself for combat should it come to that. It was at that point the man noticed Zephyr upon her head and he eyed him with delight.
“Oh my, two of ye? Hehe, you’ll be quite the haul indeed. Men.” the man commanded, waving his finger ever so slightly in the air to signal for the others to move into position. They quickly surrounded the duo, weapons in hand, causing Kumi to sigh, but she continued to hold her ground.
“I’ll give you one last chance. Out of my way… Peasant.” Kumi spat, attempting to look more intimidating by raising her tails high into the air, giving off a godly aura about her. Some of the men looked ready to run, shaking in their boots, but they stayed put waiting for their commander to give the order.
“Heh, you’d think I’d give up a lifetime of wealth? You’ve got to be dreaming.” The man proclaimed waving his hand, issuing the men around Kumi to begin their assault. Before they could even get close though the vixen already locked onto each of their auras before jolting them backwards, forcing them nearly one hundred meters away from her, absolutely scattering them all, except one. No she had something special hidden up her sleeve for him.
“Out.” Kumi started, building up a large ball of spiritual energy in her left hand as the man began to sweat, “Of.” the ball steadily grew larger and larger, till it was the size of a beach ball by her side, “My.” she raised her hand before her, directing it towards his chest, the man was left shaking in place, too terrified now to move. “Way.” Kumi commanded, releasing the ball and hitting him directly, completely obliterating his spirit, causing him to collapse on the ground. While she hadn’t dealt a killing blow, she was certain it would take him at least a week to recover from his injuries, possibly longer if the crack she’d heard was a rib or two. Either way he would continue living, but not without the knowledge of how weak he truly was. There was even the chance his men would give up on him. Not that it mattered to Kumi whether or not that occured, she got her justice and continued along her path towards Sakuramori. The little incident had wasted some of her precious time, but as long as she got to beat up a few lousy, humans she didn’t mind too much. It felt great knowing he was going to suffer in pain for a long time to come.
The rest of her trip was quite pleasant, Kumi enjoyed the singing of birds in nearby trees and the gentle breeze around her that was nice and cooling with the sun pelting down from above. It still took her a fair while but she found herself where she wanted to be, Sakuramori. A magical cherry blossom forest, known for its mysteries and mythical creatures within. As Kumi thought about it, perhaps the men she met earlier were heading here themselves, this was a forest known for beast hunting, if you found a rare creature here you could perhaps as he so aptly put it ‘make a lifetime of wealth’. She smirked knowing that she may have saved even one creature by taking those men out earlier. They probably assumed she was one of the forest’s beasts as well. She hoped they continued to, if that were the case they might think twice before trying to capture and tame wild creatures they know nothing about. Now that she was here though, she wasn’t entirely sure what she was supposed to be doing. Rai had only said to come here and then the path would be clear for her, or something along those lines. Well so far she didn’t notice anything or feel anything different. Perhaps if she were to trace the forest’s edge, she might notice something further along? Well she couldn’t think of a better idea, and she had plenty of time, so why not give it a shot?
The vixen made her way around the edge of the forest, studying the woods as she tried to notice anything. However, it wasn’t something physical that caught her attention, but rather a strange unknown sensation suddenly hit her spirit. It was as if something from within the forest was calling to her. This put Kumi a little on edge, knowing that the forest was a place known to be full of trickery and creatures like herself. However, there was something about this feeling that made her think that it was safe. Plus the fact that Zephyr wasn’t freaking out was definitely a good sign, he tended to have an even better sense of situations than she did and usually his intuition was right about things. So with that she decided to walk into the cherry blossom woods, hoping to discover what or who was drawing her inside.
[WC: 2004/2000]
