Do vaporwave kitsune count technicolor sheep? - 13. Chapter 13

One by one they return to drop their baskets in front of me, looking from one to the other to see who has collected the most. Apparently I am to be the judge of their efforts and so I give them each due consideration. They are all fairly burgeoning but it is Gustav’s that certainly couldn’t fit another leaf if he tried.

“Very well done, Gustav.”

The shining brown skink whoops in triumph, hands planted proudly on his hips as the rest congratulate him.

“How about another contest of skills?”

Their interest is piqued and they all nod eagerly, gathering closer to me.

“We’re going to play Hide and Seek. I am going to close my eyes and count. While I am doing this the Lost Ones are to hide as best as they can, using any means. If I am unable to find you after I finish counting then that means you have won. Do all of you understand?”

Unanimously they nod.

“Good. I am going to count to twenty and you have until then to hide yourself from my sight and senses. Good luck.”

Closing my eyes, I face the river and begin to count aloud.

“One, two, three…”

I pay little heed to what direction their footsteps head off in and tune out the individual scents that linger in their wake. In truth I really want to see who is best at disappearing in a pinch.

“Thirteen, fourteen, fifteen…”

Focusing instead on the rush of the river waters in front of me I continue counting.

“Nineteen...and twenty. Ready or not, here I come.”

Opening my eyes I turn around to find empty space behind me, at first glance it appears as though I'm suddenly alone. The baskets remain on the ground behind me and I put my nose to the ground, after all brimstone is a challenging scent to mask. There…

I follow the trail, furrowing the grass aside as it leads me towards one of the Omore trees. A soft inhalation of breath betrays her presence and I nose Katia against her side.

“Aww first to be found out.”

She troops back to the baskets and sits with a crestfallen smile as I continue the hunt for her brethren. What I thought would be a dead give away in the scent actually works in the remaining kobolds favor. Intermingling in one trail after another, it becomes confusing of where any of the rest are for sure. How sly of them. Time to try other means…

My vulpine ears swivel back and forth, separating the usual forest sounds that I’ve become accustomed to hearing in hopes of catching the finer missteps of a small lizardfolk stepping on a twig or rustling a stray leaf.

Oh where, oh where have the little kobolds gone? Oh where, oh where can they be?

There, to my right.

On silent footfalls, I stalk over to where I heard the disturbance in the vegetation. Lifting my head I catch the silhouette of an outline blinking against the bark of the tree. With one bared fang I smile at Ein.

“Then there were two…”

“Well caught, My Lady.”

With a little bow of his head, the green anole goes over to sit down beside Katia as my search continues.

Only five more to go.

The morning has since grown much brighter and I strive to give my undivided attention to scanning my surroundings thoroughly. Painted in vibrant shades that sometimes pose an assault on the eyes, I try to look past the myriad distractions. Listen. Smell. Sense both what is seen and what is not…

Something draws my attention to behind me and I bound around quickly in hopes of catching a kobold. For all appearances nothing jumps out as an obvious giveaway of their location, but the nagging feeling remains and I walk silently around the back side of the closest tree to my rear.

Nose to the ground I follow the scent of brimstone until it subtly becomes stronger. Down not up...closer to the ground. It is beneath a particularly dense patch of leaves that I find Gustav, his brown scales almost blending perfectly into the shadows.

“Well done, you almost had me.”

“You are very sly indeed, Lady Moon.”

The young skink sits beside his companions upon the grass beside the rushing river in respectful silence, allowing me to concentrate. Apparently the Lost Ones have taken my challenge to heart, and it gladdens me to see them trying so diligently to best my sharp senses.

At the moment I am at a bit of a loss as to where the remaining four could be. No tell tale signs jump out to point me in the right direction and I sit for a moment to regroup my thoughts. Above my head I hear a bird’s trill that draws my attention to the halo of colorful leaves above. For the barest of moments I see a flash of crimson and squint upwards to get a better view. Spying the minutest of movements, I catch sight of Frau with back pressed against a trunk, hurriedly recoloring herself to try and blend back in.

“Too late, Frau. I have seen you, but it was an excellent job.”

“Awww…”

Releasing her Veiling, she scrabbles down the tree to give me a ladylike little bow before settling in besides Katia. Now only the twins and Gunter remain.

I move out further into the trees and away from where the others are waiting quietly. Nose to the ground, I weave in and out among the bushes crowding for space. It’s very hard to pick up on a kobold’s individual scent as they wear the smell of brimstone like a communal shield, and even that is spread too far and thin to pinpoint the remaining three’s locations.

All is quiet and still aside from birds taking flight and the influx of buzzing insects attracted to day blooming flowers. No movements betray and or flashes of color that don’t belong. I circle the area in and out for another good ten minutes before resting on my haunches beside the others.

“I give up. Well done, you three. Wherever you have hid, I cannot find you though I tried.”

Gunter scrapes his way from beneath the dense foliage along the river, having masked his scent with the freshwater. Very clever. While high above me I hear the shaking of branches as the twins claw their way free of an Omore tree where they had blended themselves among thickly leaved higher boughs.

“Liebli, Baba, and Gunter, congratulations. I am very impressed at the prowess you have shown me and I would love to tell you what I have planned.”

Eagerly they sit all together near the Misado laden baskets, their attention fixed solely on me as I take up the mantle of a commander addressing her troops.

“I have devised a plan of action which will not only benefit us all but I’m very hopeful that it will be fruitful in sourcing information of the whereabouts of Laika. It could involve great danger, and will involve expeditions into Gatsby for the purpose of plundering the sky dwellers of their treasures and searching out any clues to what has happened to our missing compatriot.”

As my words sink in, the twins nod fervently as though they can sense what I’m about to say next.

“Today was a trial, as you’ve probably guessed. I need the best and most skilled of you at my side when we do this. As the victors, you three have earned the chance if you choose to go with me.”

“Do you really think that we can find Laika?”

“The city is vast and the home that I gained entry to was filled with books, and I’m sure other treasures. There may yet be some clue as to what has become of him.”

Gunter nods his head with emphatic decisiveness.

“I would be honored to accompany you, My Lady,” he pats his black scaled chest, “I told you I was skilled at Veiling and hunting.”

“You proved yourself admirably today, Gunter. I would feel at ease to have you at my back.”

The twins speak in low tones to each other, their rusty heads drawn together. After several moments, Baba meets my gaze.

“We accept as well, My Lady. We pledge ourselves to your glory and are thankful for the chance to go search for our friend.”

Liebli nods in agreement with his brother.

We spend the rest of the day there upon the banks of the river as I tell them in detail the finer points of navigating the city and about the house we will be invading. Around us the others enjoy themselves as they play in the splashing waters and feasting on berries, eventually curling up in the sun to nap.

I am pleasantly surprised by the in depth questions of the three, showing me just what intelligent creatures they truly are. Their hunter’s instinct comes to the fore as they strategize and make observations that I myself have overlooked and by the time the white sun is passing over our heads, we’ve managed to formulate a sound plan of action.

Together the Lost Ones gather up their baskets and we make our way back towards the den. We are almost returned to the tunnel entrance when I notice the smell of smoke like temple incense clinging to the vegetation. Kemuri was here...although the scent is fading and I know that he is long since gone.

My fur ruffles as I remember just how we parted and I give a ‘hmph’ as I bring up the rear behind the kobolds.

You’ll see, cousin. I am not a stupid child who needs to be led about and told what to do. I’ll show you that I can make it just fine.

The wound was still raw indeed that he’d inflicted upon my trust. Our mothers were sisters...I was the last to see his family alive. I really had believed that our bonds were stronger than that.

I knew that his life had not been easy by any means after losing everything, and I’d assumed that perhaps it was a mercy that he was no more than a newborn when it had happened. That day still haunts my memories.

September of 1923 I had traveled to Tokyo to see my Aunt Setsuna and meet her husband and children, although Kemuri was a newborn at the time and remained behind. For a hundred years I’d remained sequestered away at the Inari shrine mourning my mother. The chance to see Hana’s sister broke through my wall of grief and I’d decided it was time to rejoin the world.

It was in the early morning hours shortly after arriving at the Imperial Hotel that the earthquake struck. I’d been helpless to watch as the stately columns had crumbled, falling upon and crushing the bodies of my aunt and her husband as they threw themselves upon their twin daughters in an effort to protect them.

A part of me had always felt guilty in the knowledge that if they hadn’t come to see me then maybe they would still be alive. Was it my fault that he’d experienced the life he did? Raised by an aging aunt and then at the tender age of twelve to be taken in by assassins...Over the years I tried my best to keep in touch, but life has its own plans. I should well know by now that its a useless thing indeed to torture yourself over what could have been.

Stay well out there, cousin. Just because I’m mad at you doesn’t mean I don’t love you.

The thoughts weigh heavy on my soul and I trudge my way into the earthen tunnel. In the communal area Gustav, Liebli and Baba have dimmed the witchlights and spread out their bedding. From the storage room I can hear the others taking care of the baskets of Misado leaves. They agreed amongst themselves that they would occupy themselves with preparing the greenery to dry so that we might rest for tonight's’ venture.

Curling up close by the wall, I close my eyes and let the dulcet sounds of Katia and Frau’s voices harmonizing as they work lull me into slumber.