Chapter 15
Felicity looked on in awe as the mysterious figure moved his hands and fingers in strange motions. He seemed to say something, a word murmured quickly, and his hands and arms stiffened. The men in black suits went flying in every different direction, Felicity being dropped in the process. She fell to the ground on one knee and stood up, staring at the figure. It ran into the water and ducked under. A thin shadow tracked its path into the bloody water and it soon reappeared with Kiyoshi in its hands.
The men were standing up now, rubbing their heads and muttering phrases to one another. They nodded and picked up their guns. Felicity swallowed hard and then glanced at the figure, now taking off a straw hat. It was much like what the Japanese used to keep the sun from their eyes in the fields.
He placed it over Kiyoshi and she disappeared. Felicity gasped and the figure showed to be a tall, thin man with blue hair. It was shaved very close to his head, all but a few thick, blue strands sticking up in the front, just above his forehead. He had a strange purple cloth over army green pants and a white shirt. He yelled to her as she stared blankly at him. "Come on! We don’t have much time, you know." Felicity snapped back to reality and ran over to the man. He picked her up and slid the hat over him, the wide rims taking his whole body with it.
Felicity’s eyes were shut in fear as she felt a tiny rush of wind on her fur. She opened one eye expecting to see the men and their guns, she realized she was in a small hut. A fire burned warmly in a brick fireplace, wooden chairs set neatly on a ragged rug. Its brown thread was dull against the dirt floor. Felicity looked to the low wooden table. Its four posts were slightly scratched, but the top was shiny and well polished. Sandals that laced at least half way up someone’s leg stood in front of her, and she looked up to a face looking down at her.
"Wah!" Felicity jumped up and ran behind a chair, peering out from behind it to the strange man scratching his head. "Who... who are you?" Felicity stammered and watched as he smiled and held out a long finger.
"I’m Chichiri. Pleased to meet you, you know." The man had a strange face with happy eyes that stay closed at all times. His face was bright and cheerful, and it seemed to line at the base of his head. "Your friend is in the other room. She was hurt pretty badly, you know. You two should be more careful."
Felicity nodded, still expressionless, and came out from behind the chair. She decided it would be a good idea to check on Kiyoshi and make sure this strange person hadn’t done anything to her. She turned away, her ears still on the man’s movements, and walked into the room. He’d best not try anything funny.
Kiyoshi lay still asleep in a plush bed, pillows surrounding her head and heavy, woven covers over her body. The bed had a canopy with light brown material hanging at the four posts of the bed. Kiyoshi seemed to be peacefully dreaming, a smile on her half-inhuman face. Felicity heard her soft breathing and was amazed to find that all her senses had returned to normal.
Chichiri came into the room and smiled, his mouth a tiny crescent moon on his pale face. "I’m hungry, you know. How about we go get some food?" He didn’t seem to be worried about Kiyoshi at all. Quite the contrary actually, he was as calm as the lake had been. "She should be waking up soon, so we can wait for her if you want, you know." His closed eyes baffled Felicity, but she nodded none the less. Kiyoshi would need a familiar face when she came to.
Felicity turned back to Kiyoshi and scrambled up onto the bed. The covers were course against her fuzzy skin, but she watched Kiyoshi like a hawk. Kiyoshi’s brow furrowed and she let out a deep sigh, her mumbling incomprehensible. "Kiyoshi!" Felicity exclaimed happily. "You’re awake!"
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It had been so dark, a violent red. She had been alone. Cold, wet, and alone. She remembered only the faint calls of her familiar as she blacked out, but her senses were returning to her. Arms enclosing around her wounded body, pulling her out of the abyss, and carrying her to... where?
Kiyoshi’s eyes blinked hesitantly, still shut and showing no light, and then opened. Their deep purple color stared into Felicity’s eyes as she smiled and glomped her. "Wha..." Kiyoshi put her head on her head and rubbed it gently, feeling the bruises and bumps from the previous event. "Ack... I feel like a train hit me." Kiyoshi smiled weakly, her body still tired. She shouldn’t be feeling so weak after only a short time of running and swimming... The bullets. "Felicity!" Kiyoshi sat up straighter so abruptly, she knocked Felicity to one side and almost sent Chichiri onto the floor. "The bullets! They may have had something in them!" Kiyoshi pulled at a wound and a bullet ripped free. She squinted in pain but looked at the bullets. A faint trace of sleeping liquid was coated on the outside. She sighed with relief. Hopefully, she hadn’t been poisoned.
Stretching, Kiyoshi moved her feet to the floor and stood up, Felicity trying to help balance her. She looked around the unfamiliar room and froze. She still didn’t know where she was... Kiyoshi whirled around to face Chichiri and at once tried to seize him. He moved to one side and Kiyoshi fell on her face. "Ai..." Kiyoshi pulled herself up and stared at him, her eyes swirling an evil black. "Who are you, and where am I?"
Chichiri smiled and put up one finger. "I’m Chichiri, you know. We are in the town of Ninjin. I saved your life from those hunters, you know." Chichiri’s face was that of a fox mans, and his happy eyes almost brought a smile to the angry Kiyoshi’s face. "I’m hungry. We were going to go get something to eat, you know."
Kiyoshi was famished, and her eyes went a bright green at the sound of food. It had been so long since she had it... Karen... Kiyoshi shook her head and stood up, her balance completely stable.
"I am Kiyoshi of the land known as Taikoru." She had to lie, for even she did not know where she was from. It’s nice to meet you, and I’m starving!" Kiyoshi smiled despite herself, she didn’t know why she trusted this man. She didn’t even know him, but she was hungry.
He smiled politely and bowed to allow her and Felicity to leave first. Felicity giggled and trotted out of the room. Kiyoshi rolled her eyes at the childish action, but she had to admit, he was very charming. Chichiri followed and when they reached the front door, he opened it slowly, allowing the light to poor in like liquid nectar.
The sun shone brightly, and it was a beautiful, fresh, morning. There wasn’t a breeze, so the air was a tad muggy, but it smelled of fresh peaches and cherries. Apricots, apples, nectarines, and many other fruits were piled in heaps around merchants’ rugs. They lay in baskets expertly weaved by the women in the center of the street. Vegetables, sweets, drinks, and food of all sorts and kinds sat upon wooden tables as men yelled out prices and catchy slogans to sell their wonderful products.
The road was dry and flowers poked out of the dirt here and there which little girls picked and placed in their hair. It was a dark brown, and it complimented the simple, off-white, stone houses all around her. Their straw roofs were a golden yellow, and the shutters and doors of a dark wood. It was so different from the city!
Kiyoshi wandered out of the doorway and into the street. People smiled and said hello as they passed with their heavy loads of goodies. Kiyoshi’s eyes sparkled as she peered around and sniffed at the foods. Her eyes were drifting over every detail this town showed. The people wore strange clothes from centuries ago. The women’s dresses of red and green with skirts that rose and fell like waterfalls to the ground. The men wore brown khakis and white shirts with brown vests. Kiyoshi was truly amazed that one would wear such out of date clothing. This was like a dream, a very strange dream at that...
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