Chapter 4

Yousei mopped up the water she’d spilled as quietly as possible. She was hidden amongst the isles of merchandise in her mother’s store, but she could hear a customer coming in and starting a conversation. If she could be quiet enough, she could be forgotten, and if she could put the mop away and get out of sight without drawing any attention to herself, it would be quite some time before she was remembered.

The water was gone, and the chore was done. She slipped up to the counter, leaned the mop against the wall where it belonged, and escaped into the back room while the customer distracted her mother. She grabbed her spear from under her bed, whistled to her pixies, and climbed onto the window sill. She jumped, plunked her spear into the top of a branch, flung herself over it to land on a platform twenty feet from the window, and started a sprint.

* * *

"So… who’s coming? Who are we still waiting for?" Aikel questioned.

"All I know is you’re not waiting for me," Himeki said, as she had been waiting along with him for quite some time.

"Yousei promised—absolutely swore up and down—that she’d be here," said Kyri, "and so did Rotebi, who was supposed to bring Kolkil…. And of course, Saraelye needs to get here. She said she needed to talk to Prithvi."

Flenn was accounted for as well. He was leaning against a tree eyeing Pegasus and Unicorn suspiciously. After a bit of this treatment, Pegasus and Unicorn decided to start whispering and snickering between each other with the frequent not-so-subtle glance at Flenn, only because they knew it would make him more uncomfortable.

There were no townspeople in this area, as this platform was far on the edge of Nalya. The only bridge leading back to the rest of the town never connected to any other platform, but instead met a large branch, which had another bridge connecting just a foot away, hidden somewhere behind the foliage. The path involved four long bridges before it ever met a platform in the town. The bridge leading away from the isolated platform in the other direction was short but sloped downward. It met a tree branch, and there ended all signs of civilized life.

Aikel passed the time by contemplating this platform’s purpose. It didn’t seem necessary for the bridges, but even if it was, it seemed unexplainably large. It was of average size compared to the platforms in the town, but it had only two bridges and virtually no traffic. Everyone was congregated along the tree trunks to one side, leaving Gelrini to wander the remaining empty area alone.

She was still sulking, but now she sulked productively—at least it looked sort of productive to Aikel. She was muttering about "stupid, helpless little baby" as she worked and stomped as she walked. She had spent several minutes selecting two branches from the foliage that hung over the edge of the platform. The larger of the two was apparently chosen for the evenness of its middle section, which didn’t noticeably bend or vary in thickness. The other was forked a certain way on one end, and after she removed it from the tree, Gelrini banged it on the edge of the platform until the other end had been beaten into a shape with which she was satisfied.

Then she was off selecting a trio of pears. She would only acknowledge the small ripe-looking ones. She knocked on their surface with her knuckles to test their hardness, and nothing less than three pear-shaped rocks would do. Then her attention focused on the foliage overhead. She held her hands up in various odd ways as if using them to measure something or other. She carefully placed the branches on the platform in a cross-shaped arrangement, used one of her sharpened stones to carve a line around the diameter of each pear’s widest point, and nestled a single pear carefully into the forked portion of the second branch. She wandered away from the arrangement as she tucked the rock back into its appropriate pouch and made sure the pouch was closed properly.

She jumped. She landed on the raised end of the forked branch, and the pear was catapulted over her head. Her slingshot and rock were in her hands in a flash, and just as the pear began to descend, the rock crashed into it.

She had arranged her catapult based on whether or not the foliage above would interfere with the flight path of the pear, and if she had taken notice of the bridge’s location, she didn’t care. The fruit landed squarely in a raised hand.

"Someone’s feeling violent today," Roki commented. The rock had hit the pear with enough force that it was poking through the far side. He took it out to look at it, while Gelrini came over and retrieved the pear from his other hand without ever acknowledging his existence.

She ran her thumb over the hole the rock had caused, which was a bit below the line she had carved. "I missed," she grumbled.

"Only about five of my best bow-gunners can do any better," Roki commented. He was holding the rock too high for Gelrini to reach while standing on all fours. When she stood on her back legs to increase her height, he held it higher. She stood back again and snapped her slingshot’s empty rubber band so that it would hit him in the face. He surrendered the rock, and she stomped back to her catapult.

"Are any of you coming with us?" Kyri asked hopefully.

"My warriors are all out hunting so we can feed all these humans," Roki said, "and as much as I’d like to accompany you, I’m in no condition. I’d be more burden than help." He was dressed in clothes identical to his usual hunting uniform, but they were now accompanied by bandages. His shredded wings had been trimmed so that they looked tidier than before, despite being equal in uselessness. His left hand was wrapped around a walking staff. Gelrini’s movement caught his attention again. He poked at the ribs of her lower half and asked, "What’s your problem?"

She muttered something in response, and Roki seemed to be the only one who caught it.

"Well," he said thoughtfully, "you know how to hit things… but whoever says good offense is the best defense has been misinformed."

Gelrini jumped aside just before she was jabbed by the end of his staff. She knocked the next blow away with her hooves, dashed around behind him, and sideswiped him onto his hands and knees. He laughed lightheartedly as he landed, and she rolled her eyes, as if implying that he wasn’t worth the effort to glare at angrily, and went back to her catapult.

There was a rustle in the foliage that blocked the view of the bridge’s far end, and everyone’s attention turned toward it. A few moments of silence were followed by more rustling and a loud proclamation of, "You’re being a baby!" as Rotebi emerged from the foliage dragging Kolkil by the wrist. "Look! You’re making them wait for us!"

"This is… Kolkil and Rotebi…" Kyri reluctantly mumbled to Himeki.

She received an "Are you serious?" look in response.

"Well, don’t worry," Kyri said more loudly. "You aren’t the only ones we’re waiting for."

Yousei crashed onto the platform feet-first with a yelp. She stumbled, and Aikel caught her before she fell forward. Her pixies caught up to her and circled her, squeaking angrily at Aikel.

"Thanks," she said between gasps of breath. She seemed ready to pass out.

Saraelye fluttered onto the platform at the same place Yousei had landed. She muttered something to herself and fidgeted with her bracelet.

"Are you okay?" Kyri asked, noticing that she stressed.

"Hmm?" Saraelye twitched. "Yes, I fine. Are we ready to go?" She looked over the people on the platform and winced in dissatisfaction. "You aren’t coming, are you, Master Roki?"

"No, your Majesty," he answered. "I only intend to follow for the first part of the journey."

"Well, ah, let’s go," Saraelye said. She rearranged her grip on her spear and flew toward the bridge that headed away from the city. "Follow me carefully," she told the others.

The way the massive branches of age-old wood contorted around each other almost looked violent, as if thousands of giant snakes had been petrified in the midst of attacking each other. Saraelye half-flew and half-ran along the branches that seemed navigable by foot, and she frequently had to stop and wait for the others to follow. When a branch twisted upward or downward, she simply hopped over the slope while the others had to scale it. When one twisted around some huge tree trunk, they often lost her for a moment.

"Um… about how much farther is it?" Aikel asked, rubbing his scraped palms.

"We’re about halfway there," Saraelye mused.

Aikel sighed and heard Kyri growl. He turned toward her, thinking that she had found something to nag him about, but she was facing the rest of the group.

"Rotebi!" Kolkil hissed.

Rotebi giggled. He was hanging on a vine and swinging back and forth. There was nothing below him for quite a distance.

"Get back here!" Kolkil commanded, pointing firmly at the branch he was standing on. Rotebi pouted for a moment, but he kicked his legs to swing back to the branch after Kolkil didn’t relent. Kolkil grabbed him by the hair to pull him close and chide him. Yousei rolled her eyes, Himeki shook her head, and Kyri look like she was regretting their company.

"Did his hair change color?" Flenn asked. Only Aikel and Kyri were close enough to hear.

"What? It’s blond with blue tips like before," Kyri said.

"It looks more blue," Aikel pointed out.

"Huh… you’re right."

"Must be the lighting," Flenn decided. He shrugged and turned back toward Saraelye.

"Where are Gelrini and Master Roki?" Kyri called to Himeki.

"Behind us," Himeki called back. The path had recently curved around a large tree, and Gelrini and Roki were still out of sight beyond the curve. "Hurry up, you two!" Himeki ordered them.

Gelrini sped her steps. She froze in place when she Roki yelp as whatever he was standing on collapsed. He clung to the larger branch, slipping, until Gelrini pried his grip loose and drug the rest of his body out of the gap he’d fallen into. She was glad that he was a fairy. A human would’ve been too large and awkward for her to pull up.

Just a few minutes before, she had slipped and nearly plummeted downward, but he had caught her arm and steadied her. She hadn’t thanked him; why should she? The pure and simple fact that she would do the same for him if the need arose—as is the duty of all creatures—was thanks enough. Roki was safely on his hands and knees on the branch, shaking. Gelrini started to continue along the path but was puzzled when he didn’t follow.

* * *

Tsuna dragged herself out of the icy water and onto the snow. The cold wind blew snowflakes into her face. On some distant mound of snow, she saw the long sinuous shape of a dragon spreading it wings.

After looking around once more, she yelled, "Mistice!"

Her voice was swallowed by the wind.

"Mistice!" she tried again.

It seemed to her that the dragon stopped and turned its head toward her, but with all the mist and flying snow, she couldn’t be sure.

"Mistice!"

With a mighty flap, the dragon was airborne, and the force of its wings shoved the mist and snow away from it momentarily. Other dragons that had been out of sight beyond the mounds took flight as well. Among the flock of ten, there was a far smaller shape. It was too small to be a young dragon, especially given how adeptly it flew.

"Mistice!" Tsuna yelled again, ignoring her fear of the dragons. They were circling overhead now. Tsuna singled out the smallest creature, and shouted, "Mistice! I know you hear me, Mistice! I need to talk to you! Don’t let your dragons attack me!" There seemed to be no effect. "MISTICE!"

The flight pattern of each dragon went through a slight but simultaneous change. The smallest shape dived downward.

Tsuna tense. She uttered the words to a little spell and flung her paw upward. A bit of the water next to her flew up and hit the diving creature in the face, throwing off her dive. She flipped in the air and landed only a few feet away. When her two bloody talons hit the snow, they splattered droplets of red onto the whiteness. Blood dripped from her mouth, breast, and clawed hands as well. She growled and spread her large scaled wings to their full width.

"Don’t look at me like that, Mistice," Tsuna said firmly. She saw herself reflected in the angry azure eyes that looked down on her. "I’m not here to free you of you’re burden. We both know I’m not strong enough for that."

Mistice blinked and didn’t respond. She stood as if waiting.

"I’m curious about Saraelye," Tsuna said, looking uneasily at the snow below her. She twisted her tail, wishing it was dry enough to split. "Can you feel her?"

"Yes," Mistice answered flatly.

"Oh… well, um…."

After an awkward pause, Mistice added, "She’s fighting."

"I… thought so, but…."

"It’s a futile effort."

Tsuna was silent.

"Is that all you wanted?" Mistice asked.

"I…" Tsuna began. She wince in pain as the skin covering her tail ripped apart and let her move her weak legs independently. "I also wanted to see you…. It’s been a long time."

"Yes." Mistice shook her hands and feet one at a time remove some of the blood.

"I…."

After several seconds of silence, Mistice jumped and took flight. Tsuna watched her ascend and sighed. She began to crawl back to the water, then she felt a shadow pass over her. Mistice’s arms wrapped around her torso as she felt herself lifted off the snow.

"I’ll carry you back as far as it will let me go," Mistice said dryly.

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