Alone

Chapter Nineteen: Journey to Mount. Fuji

The evening went by and they continued to arrange their things for the journey ahead. They had all wanted to leave just before daylight to start on the journey to Mt. Fuji. Ayame wished nothing more than to get going as soon as possible, but with nightfall fast approaching it wouldn’t be worth the danger they would inevitably come across. So, daybreak was the plan. Not wanting to waste time in wishing to start a dangerous journey, she wandered out on her own, going to the waterfall to clean her things.

Finishing her washing, she used her powers to create vines, lacing them around the clothes and hanging them to dry. She sat down a moment, thinking of a way to dry her things more quickly. “You should have washed those sooner,” Raiden said, coming out of the bushes with moonlight shining down on him. She smiled lightly, the color of his eyes shone violet as he returned a smile to her. There had been a moment when she wondered if her feelings for him were true. Once there was a time she had seen no hope in the world that someone would love her, but now she no longer questioned his feelings for her, but hers for him.

Drawing her mind away from her thoughts, she responded to what he had said to her. “I was hoping we would leave sooner than morning,” she huffed. She could still feel the darkness from Master Tadashi’s mansion seeping this far into the forest. She wanted nothing more than to run as far away from the darkness, yet she felt they were heading into another evil.

“I know, but it’s not safe at night even for demons. We want to get there as quickly as possible too, you know that.” He put his hand on her shoulder and then shifted his gaze to her clothes. “You realize they won’t be dry by morning, right?” His eyes sparkled as he looked down at her.

“I know. I’ve been trying to think of a way to dry them faster.” She sighed. “You have any ideas?” Still, the thoughts of her true feelings haunted her. She knew she had expressed her love for him, but she had never really known what this kind of love felt like. There were many times she wished her mother was with her to help her understand if what she felt for Raiden was really love, or maybe it was merely love for a dear friend.

He took a seat on the grass, patting the ground beside him to get her to sit down with him. “Come on.” He smiled. She sighed as she sat down. “Just think for a minute, and I’m sure you will come up with a way to dry your clothes faster.” He chuckled at her stress over what he thought was only a silly laundry matter.

She took a deep breath, focusing before further breathing, and then something happened that she had never thought possible. The wind picked up with the pace of her breathing. Focusing again, she took another deep breath and released quickly. Soon her things were dry and she had found out something new about herself. Raiden got up and helped gather her things, throwing them into their bag. “Raiden, you have to fold some of my things so they fit better.” She got up and went over to him.

“It doesn’t really matter. You’re just going to pull these things out later.” She shook her head, moving his hands from the bag and beginning to fold things properly.

“You two are out here…. alone…. in the dark…. and you fold laundry together, really? I expected to find you two to be at least in a more inappropriate position.” Katsu stepped out of the woods into the moonlight, chuckling at his own sarcastic joke. She caught her breath. There was something about the way the light hit him making him appear more handsome than he usually did in daylight hours. She had never been around two men who had their own positive attributes which appealed to her, but she has already declared her love for one. She was beginning to feel a headache coming on. Why couldn't she get her feelings under control? Why was she so confused? This was no time to be wondering about her love life. There was so much more at stake than a broken heart.

“Katsu, we’re not like that!” She nearly shouted at him for having such a ridiculous notion. Her eyes reached up to meet his and her heart skipped a beat. Blinking, she steadied herself and focused on mimicking the facial expression of disgust at his comment.

He came close to her. “Are you sure?” He bent down close to her face, smiling.

“Katsu stop it,” she demanded, trying to stop her cheeks from reddening.

“That’s enough,” Raiden chimed in.

“Fine, let’s just go back to the cabin and get some sleep.” He waited till they started back with him. She knew he was only trying to get a rise out of her, but she couldn’t help her reaction.

They all headed back to the house, made their beds, and drifted off to sleep. Once asleep, the morning came quickly. Waking up, Ayame found she was the first one to get up and decided to sneak outside to have some alone time since on this trip it was highly unlikely she would get any. Walking out the door, she was faced with five horse-sized white tigers with Yuuki standing in front of them. “What’s going on?” she questioned after closing the door behind her.

“These are some of my relatives from the mountains in the west. They are here to help get us to reach Mount. Fuji faster than we would if we went on foot,” Yuuki told her. “Now go get everyone up. We are heading out immediately.”

“Why are there five though? There are only four of us.”

“To hold the bags. They can’t carry both a person and their bags on their backs. Now hurry up,” she growled.

Ayame jumped, a little startled, and quickly went into the house. “Tsubasa, Raiden, and Katsu, it’s time we get going. Yuuki is outside waiting.” They all woke up and slowly gathered their things. Ayame also packed up her bedding. Within moments, they were out of the house on the steps waiting for Yuuki to explain what her plans were.

“Tsubasa, I realize it’s your son we are going after, but I have information about your son and a plan.”

“You know something about Daichi?” Tsubasa almost fell over from the surprise.

“Yes, my brothers from around Mount Fuji sent word last night. As soon as I heard your son’s name in their message, I went to the mountains in the west to get the relatives willing to go up against the demon hordes that have gathered there over the past few years. I know you all might be afraid of facing up against so many demons, but I have more relatives we can hopefully pick up on the way to the mountain.” She tried to reassure them that everything would be alright. “The plan I came up with may not seem very ostentatious. All I can say is, follow my lead.”

Without another question, everyone mounted one of the white tigers. Ayame clutched its fur tightly and dug her knees and heels into the demon. “Little girl, watch how hard you pull and dig your heels into me,” the demon growled.

Ayame nearly jumped off him in surprise. She was still trying to get used to animals speaking. “You dig in any harder and I’ll throw you off my back faster than you can say ouch,” he warned angrily.

“Sorry, I’m not used to demons, or talking animals, or riding them.” She took the pressure off the demon.

“You’re one of those humans,” he scoffed. “Can’t you tell the difference between an animal and a demon?” he grumbled. “You’re just the person I want riding on my back.” With that, he sat down and she slid off his back.

“Come on, I haven’t been around demons for long. Just ask Yuuki.”

“Everyone knows what demons are, although, to your kind, we are the creatures parents tell their children about to get them to eat their vegetables or go to sleep on time.” He turned to face her.

“My parents never told me stories like that.” She winced at mentioning her parents. Hearing the demon talk about what most parents tell their children, and knowing she missed out on a full childhood, broke her heart a little more than it already was.

“You were living the life weren’t you then?” He chuckled. She knew his words were meant to poke fun at her since she was a human who, according to his thinking, was naïve, but she was about to lose her temper with his thoughtlessness.

“Depends on your definition,” she replied coldly.

“Yuuki, where’d you pick this one up? She can’t even tell who’s a demon unless they speak.”

“I wouldn’t speak to her, or about her, in such a manner if I were you,” Yuuki said, stepping back a few feet. She could feel Ayame’s irritation growing and knew what would come of it if he pushed any further.

“What’s your name?” Ayame asked bluntly.

“So now you want to know my name. You don’t even know the type of demon I am.” His gaze connected with hers.

“If you don’t want to tell me, that’s up to you.” She steadied her voice, trying to keep her temper in check. She managed to calm herself and decided it was time to show this demon just who it was dealing with. Taking a deep breath, she released her powers. Her choice, as usual, was vines. They latched around its paws, lifting the demon off the ground, and she continued to wrap vines around him till all that could be seen was the head.

“Yuuki, who is this child?” he bellowed, panicked.

“She is the Chosen One of prophecy.” She smiled cunningly at him.

“This little?” he nearly yelled.

“Looks as though you too don’t know what someone like me looks like,” she said with a high and mighty attitude. “Now do you want to be friendly?”

“You best listen to her. You should know from the stories about her that if she loses her temper what will happen. No one wants that,” Yuuki cautioned him.

He sighed in defeat. “My name is Acron.”

“Thank you,” she said, satisfied. Then she quickly released him from the vines, gently placing him back on the ground. “Now can we get going, or are we staying here long enough to have breakfast?”

“We are all hungry, but it will be faster for us to pick up food at the market in the next nearest town.” They all nodded in agreement.

Ayame finally pulled herself onto Acron’s back and everyone set off following Yuuki. Within the hour, they broke through the woods and onto the main road. Ayame thought it was rather odd to be traveling along the open road with demons, thinking of the people who would see them. It was as though Yuuki had read her mind and slipped back to a distance where they could all hear her. “I know this may seem a bad idea to travel along the main road where humans travel, but it is the quickest route to Mount Fuji and a village with a market,” she said calmly before picking up her pace to get back to the front of the pack again.

They soon closed in on a village. But instead of stopping and having the demons hide in the woods, they continued on past the community without hesitation. Before Ayame could ask for the reason they didn’t stop, she saw it. As they passed, she noticed it had been ravaged by fire or some other kind of disaster, leaving it with no market. It was close to the smallest village she had ever seen on her many journeys. Looking around, she smiled, knowing this would be the first time she had companions, making her feel less alone. They continued along the main road, making good time as they went. It wasn’t long till another village came into view and Yuuki led them to the woods nearby.

“Here’s the plan. Raiden, Ayame, Katsu, and Tsubasa are going to go into the village to get what we need.” The others started to grumble. “Please don’t argue. We want to get in and out without people noticing us.” They all slid off the white tigers and set off from the woods, going into the village. The demons sat down in an attempt to wait patiently.

The village appeared to be a little run-down but still had high energy swirling around the streets. People were everywhere and had Ayame rethink calling this place a village since it only appeared to be one on the outside, while on the inside it ran like a small city. She was astounded by the beauty of the aged buildings, as well as how the people all smiled as they passed by. They continued on through the streets until they reached the town square where the market was all hustle and bustle.

“Tsubasa, do you think we could get a few saddles for the white tigers? It would make it easier to ride them.” Ayame smiled sweetly, hoping he would agree.

“We better not, considering it would be humiliating for them to be made to wear a saddle. They are still wild demons, no matter how tame they may appear.” She sighed, disappointed with the answer he gave. She wanted to be able to feel relatively safe when riding on the back of Acron. He was a reckless runner.

Everyone parted ways while they bought enough food to last them until they reached Mount Fuji. Within the hour, they were out of the village, drawing no unwanted attention to themselves, just as Yuuki and Tsubasa wanted. They went back up to the woods with their goods and loaded them on the tiger with no rider. Moments later, they were onto the main road again, riding as quickly as the tigers’ four legs could carry them.