Nakama (1)
"NICK!" I shoot out of bed and find myself in a pitch-black room. As my consciousness clears, I recall that I'm in the basement of the den. I flail about and try to feel the space around me. "I heard you're bringing cookies!"
Woohee's voice pierces the still darkness.
"Woohee, sweety. Could you make some light?"
"Tada!" A warm emerald light emanates from her body. It's not much, but it's enough to help me take the covers off the magic lamps. The room brightens up, tearing the cold shadows apart. Shinobu shoots up and checks her body. I don't know what she's looking for, but when she registers her surrounding, her shoulders drop, and she lets out a long sigh.
"Morning, sleepy head."
"Stop treating me like a kid."
"Everyone is sleepy in the morning; that's not something you can grow out of." I counter her in a teasing manner. She crosses her arms and turns away from me. "I'm going to town for a bit. Are you hungry?"
I can see her head shift slightly at the mention of food. I hold back my impulse to tease her further and wait for her to respond.
"…"
"Well, I'll just grab whatever I can while I'm out." As I turn to leave, I hear her gasp.
"Who is that?" I turn to her and see her pointing at my shoulder. I look to my right and see Woohee peaking at the small girl.
"Oh, this is Woohee. Shinobu, Woohee. Woohee, Shinobu." I gesture from one to the other as an introduction. Woohee acts shy and hides behind my neck.
"Aaaah, she's so cute." Shinobu's face flushes slightly as she looks at the small fairy.
"Eep!" I can feel Woohee squirm in embarrassment from Shinobu's observation. She peeks back out behind my neck and waves before retreating again. I feel like I'm about to explode from the cuteness in the room, so I make for the exit.
"Alright, you two can get acquainted later. I need to get going." I head outside to give her some alone time and find Inari at the entrance.
"I thought you would follow me outside last night?"
"Oh, were you waiting out here all night? I hope you didn't get wet."
"Please. A raindrop has not touched my skin in over a thousand years."
"Well, no harm, no foul." I turn to leave, but before I can, she flies before me to force a confrontation.
"I'm not here to play games. I was being nice to help you out, but now you need to explain what the hell you think you're doing?"
I sigh, knowing something like this is coming, so I shouldn't be surprised, but some part of me was hoping last night would be the end of it. I try to get my story straight so as not to lie accidentally.
"I don't know what the fuck I'm doing. She was really upset, and I just wanted to help her. She seems like a really nice person; please don't kill us." I hold my breath as I finish speaking.
"Very well. That's about what I thought was happening. She's recovering from some trauma. Now, we need to figure out what to do next. Whether or not you want to admit it, she's another crack in the armor keeping you alive."
"So you're going to help?"
"I don't have much of a choice, do I?"
"You could always just let us die."
"Don't be stupid. For now, you need to get back to town and gather resources to sustain her. Considering her mood, I'm sure some cookies would help."
"You always have an agenda." I shake my head in exasperation. "I'll get going. See you later."
"Try not to bring any more damaged children with you on the way back." I chuckle as I make my way out of the forest. I see the gate guards standing at the palisade, so I try to think of a reason for running into town first thing in the morning.
"Hello." I wave to the guards, but they just keep looking straightforward. It's like they don't even notice my existence.
"Boy, sure is boring around here." One of the guards starts.
"You're right, Bill. No one ever comes through the gate first thing in the morning, and today is no different." Picking up on their rather blatant hint, I place some coins in each of their pockets and walk into town.
"Wow, money just magically appeared in my pocket."
"The same thing just happened to me. Wow, fortunately, no one else is here, or we might have to share it.
[Alright, you're laying it on a little thick, boys.]
I walk along the palisade, trying not to be seen. Once I'm far from the gate, I make for the market square. The first thing I do is head to the flower shop and find Jacques.
"Hey, have you seen Sakura around?"
"I thought she was with you?"
"Oh, uh, yeah. Thanks, bye."
"Wait, what do you mea…." I run out the door before he can finish asking his question. I head back to the market square, where commerce is picking up for the day, where I fade into the crowd to cross the open area. Once across, I head to the north gate again, hoping to find the kids.
[Not having cell phones is really inconvenient.]
As I approach the palisade, I see the kids standing by one of the guards.
"Hey, what's up?"
"Nick, where were you? Everyone in town is all tense for some reason." Sakura runs up to me with a worried expression.
"Nick? Is that your name? I think this is the first time we have met, and I definitely didn't see you at any point this morning." The guard to the right keeps up the act. At this point, I wish he would just ignore us. His acting is so bad that anyone would be suspicious.
"Okay, okay, I got it. Knock it off."
"We just saw you guys a few days ago. Do you not remember?" Josh asks the guard, blissfully unaware of the charade happening in the background.
"Josh, stop. I need to get some things from the market. Let's go back to town, and then we'll head to the forest."
"We aren't doing any laps?" Josh asks.
"No, we've got more important things to take care of today." I turn around and walk away before anyone else asks another stupid question.
[Now, let's consider everything we may need in the forest today. It would be nice to get some beds for the den, but that seems a bit much. Let's get plenty of food and cloth that we can use to make stuff. I'll also need to get some magic tools, just in case. It would be much easier to smuggle things in and out of town with a magic bag, so let's go there first.]
"First stop is the magic shop."