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moonsheenOkami ficlets. Just getting back into a groove, here.
It must’ve been a slow day, or at least one that was a little too hot, for the merchant’s nephew swore he saw a wolf browsing his uncle’s wares. He shook his head. He scrubbed at his eyes. He wiped sweat off of his shaved forehead. The wolf was still there. Her white coat was nearly blinding in the morning light, and for all of the strangeness she seemed very intent as she paced back and forth in front of the stall. The merchant’s nephew immediately reevaluated the wisdom of having offered to man it for the day.
“Hello, Wolfy,” he said. He wasn’t sure what else there was to say. She couldn’t possibly mean to buy something, could she? His uncle had once made a comment about haggling with a sparrow over the cost of seed, but sparrows were sparrows, and wolves were, well, wolves.
This particular wolf gave him a glance and barked. She put a paw up on the counter, lacquered black claws jabbing at a packet of herbs. Perhaps, these would do? Perhaps, if they were not too expensive?
“Oh, c’mon Ammy!” came a loud shout, located just behind the wolf’s head. A diminutive figure hiked his way up to the top of her skull. It took a handful of ear and pulled. “We can get that on the road!”
The wolf snorted and shook. The little creature, bug, spirit, it was hard to tell, made a leap for her hindquarters to avoid the brunt of it. Nevertheless, the wolf seemed discouraged. She shifted to her attentions--not to the meat, as one might have expected—but rather to the pinwheels that rested in a bamboo cup. She seemed very interested in them. Her tail began to wag. This, then. Her eyes were suddenly alive. Yes, one of these. That would do.
“We’re not shopping for souvenirs,” complained her tiny companion, rallying back up to where her paw was now happily indicating her choice. “What are you going to do with one of those, anyway?”
The wolf would not be told otherwise. She growled reprovingly, with a deep timbre. It reminded the merchant’s nephew, frighteningly enough, of his young wife; whom he often called more beautiful than the sun, but never when she was cross with him for something.
“Okay! Okay!” The little…insect man-spirit-thing, had about the same reaction. He vaulted over to the cup, and bounced over its general vicinity. “Hey.” A moment passed. He bounced more emphatically. “HEY. How much?”
The young man was so busy staring that he nearly forgot his schooled response: “1000 yen,” he said, he was nearly ninety percent sure that was right. The ten percent was still too occupied with the wolf, who had popped up onto her hindquarters. The proper amount fell from her jaws into the hand he had extended towards her more vocal partner.
“Thank you,” he said, closing it dumbly.
The wolf nosed a pinwheel out of the cup and flicked it into the air. It landed between her front teeth, spinning colorfully. Never did a woman look more triumphant than she did with her pinwheel. Or rather never did a dog. Er. Wolf. The merchant’s nephew was getting confused.
“People are gonna think we’re tourists,” muttered her companion who was, it turned out on closer inspection, a man exactly an inch tall. There was no true gripe in what he said. He lofted back to his spot between her ears, the wolf wheeled around, and suddenly simply launched herself headlong down the mountain, an explosion of flowers in her wake. One of them, coincidentally, grew where the purchased pinwheel had once spun.
The merchant’s nephew left a pinwheel at the wind god’s shrine for the rest of his life.
Fuse fussed over Shin. He had taken a thrashing from Chi and Ko, which left him favoring a paw. For all his (loudly) expressed aches and pains, he was now basking in the attention it reaped. Fuse wrapped his paw in bandages. She fed him strips of raw meat she had brought to the session in one of her best dishes. Then she boxed him soundly across the bridge of his snout, and told him to be more alert next time.
“Geez,” said Issun. “You’re really being bear-trained, aren’t you?”
The Great God Amaterasu was currently making sport out of digging up all corners of the clearing. He had to make conversation with someone. Tei seemed to have no problem with it. The eldest of the Canine Warriors lounged regally as he watched his brother bow and ready for the next round, moving as though his foot no longer pained him.
“Princess Fuse is hard,” rumbled the Tosa Inu, “But only because she is infinitely kind.”
“Yeah?” Issun’s bounce had a little bit of a troubled waver to it. “And how’s that work out for ya, exactly?”
The chuckle came low from the older dog’s chest. “We Canine Warriors must be strong. So that when the next adversary comes, we may run triumphant. It pains Princess Fuse to see us wounded.” The priestess had returned to her spot, her face hidden behind her sleeve. Shin was doing a better job of it this time around, although he stepped lightly on one side. “She is mother to us all. You know how that is.”
Issun’s bounce skipped a beat. “WHAT?! That babe is a little young to be anyone’s…” Then he remembered he was sitting next to a very large dog. “No,” he said, “Can’t say that I do—Ammy?”
The Great God had tired of digging up people’s vegetables, and had come sauntering back. She stood behind them, tail still, eyes on Fuse. Then they slid to Tei, and she lowered her head slightly. The grass under her feet waved wistfully. The wind blew with a scent of nostalgia. She knew. Oh, yes, yes. She knew.
“Excuse me.”
Kai drew back her left paw in surprise. It was the season after the Sun had returned to her sky, and flowering things were very rare without her paw prints to guide them. Nevertheless, a single blossom was wedged between the stones at Yoshpet’s edge. It was purple with white eyes patterned into its petals, and Kai had nearly stepped on it.
“Good Sir,” it said, sitting eagerly on its curling vines. “I have watched you come this way before. You run splendidly. I must ask. Would you care for a race?”
It must’ve been a slow day, or at least one that was a little too hot, for the merchant’s nephew swore he saw a wolf browsing his uncle’s wares. He shook his head. He scrubbed at his eyes. He wiped sweat off of his shaved forehead. The wolf was still there. Her white coat was nearly blinding in the morning light, and for all of the strangeness she seemed very intent as she paced back and forth in front of the stall. The merchant’s nephew immediately reevaluated the wisdom of having offered to man it for the day.
“Hello, Wolfy,” he said. He wasn’t sure what else there was to say. She couldn’t possibly mean to buy something, could she? His uncle had once made a comment about haggling with a sparrow over the cost of seed, but sparrows were sparrows, and wolves were, well, wolves.
This particular wolf gave him a glance and barked. She put a paw up on the counter, lacquered black claws jabbing at a packet of herbs. Perhaps, these would do? Perhaps, if they were not too expensive?
“Oh, c’mon Ammy!” came a loud shout, located just behind the wolf’s head. A diminutive figure hiked his way up to the top of her skull. It took a handful of ear and pulled. “We can get that on the road!”
The wolf snorted and shook. The little creature, bug, spirit, it was hard to tell, made a leap for her hindquarters to avoid the brunt of it. Nevertheless, the wolf seemed discouraged. She shifted to her attentions--not to the meat, as one might have expected—but rather to the pinwheels that rested in a bamboo cup. She seemed very interested in them. Her tail began to wag. This, then. Her eyes were suddenly alive. Yes, one of these. That would do.
“We’re not shopping for souvenirs,” complained her tiny companion, rallying back up to where her paw was now happily indicating her choice. “What are you going to do with one of those, anyway?”
The wolf would not be told otherwise. She growled reprovingly, with a deep timbre. It reminded the merchant’s nephew, frighteningly enough, of his young wife; whom he often called more beautiful than the sun, but never when she was cross with him for something.
“Okay! Okay!” The little…insect man-spirit-thing, had about the same reaction. He vaulted over to the cup, and bounced over its general vicinity. “Hey.” A moment passed. He bounced more emphatically. “HEY. How much?”
The young man was so busy staring that he nearly forgot his schooled response: “1000 yen,” he said, he was nearly ninety percent sure that was right. The ten percent was still too occupied with the wolf, who had popped up onto her hindquarters. The proper amount fell from her jaws into the hand he had extended towards her more vocal partner.
“Thank you,” he said, closing it dumbly.
The wolf nosed a pinwheel out of the cup and flicked it into the air. It landed between her front teeth, spinning colorfully. Never did a woman look more triumphant than she did with her pinwheel. Or rather never did a dog. Er. Wolf. The merchant’s nephew was getting confused.
“People are gonna think we’re tourists,” muttered her companion who was, it turned out on closer inspection, a man exactly an inch tall. There was no true gripe in what he said. He lofted back to his spot between her ears, the wolf wheeled around, and suddenly simply launched herself headlong down the mountain, an explosion of flowers in her wake. One of them, coincidentally, grew where the purchased pinwheel had once spun.
The merchant’s nephew left a pinwheel at the wind god’s shrine for the rest of his life.
Fuse fussed over Shin. He had taken a thrashing from Chi and Ko, which left him favoring a paw. For all his (loudly) expressed aches and pains, he was now basking in the attention it reaped. Fuse wrapped his paw in bandages. She fed him strips of raw meat she had brought to the session in one of her best dishes. Then she boxed him soundly across the bridge of his snout, and told him to be more alert next time.
“Geez,” said Issun. “You’re really being bear-trained, aren’t you?”
The Great God Amaterasu was currently making sport out of digging up all corners of the clearing. He had to make conversation with someone. Tei seemed to have no problem with it. The eldest of the Canine Warriors lounged regally as he watched his brother bow and ready for the next round, moving as though his foot no longer pained him.
“Princess Fuse is hard,” rumbled the Tosa Inu, “But only because she is infinitely kind.”
“Yeah?” Issun’s bounce had a little bit of a troubled waver to it. “And how’s that work out for ya, exactly?”
The chuckle came low from the older dog’s chest. “We Canine Warriors must be strong. So that when the next adversary comes, we may run triumphant. It pains Princess Fuse to see us wounded.” The priestess had returned to her spot, her face hidden behind her sleeve. Shin was doing a better job of it this time around, although he stepped lightly on one side. “She is mother to us all. You know how that is.”
Issun’s bounce skipped a beat. “WHAT?! That babe is a little young to be anyone’s…” Then he remembered he was sitting next to a very large dog. “No,” he said, “Can’t say that I do—Ammy?”
The Great God had tired of digging up people’s vegetables, and had come sauntering back. She stood behind them, tail still, eyes on Fuse. Then they slid to Tei, and she lowered her head slightly. The grass under her feet waved wistfully. The wind blew with a scent of nostalgia. She knew. Oh, yes, yes. She knew.
“Excuse me.”
Kai drew back her left paw in surprise. It was the season after the Sun had returned to her sky, and flowering things were very rare without her paw prints to guide them. Nevertheless, a single blossom was wedged between the stones at Yoshpet’s edge. It was purple with white eyes patterned into its petals, and Kai had nearly stepped on it.
“Good Sir,” it said, sitting eagerly on its curling vines. “I have watched you come this way before. You run splendidly. I must ask. Would you care for a race?”
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2007-06-21 06:07 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-06-21 06:16 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-06-21 06:12 am (UTC)eeeeeeeeeee
(no subject)
Date: 2007-06-21 06:18 am (UTC)guess who then discovered that Bloom makes all the Oina turn into their doggie forms. Oh my gosh. Tuskle-doggie. Merchant-doggies. WALI DOGGIES--I sorta had to.(also, wolves are better tippers than you might think)
(no subject)
Date: 2007-06-21 06:25 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-06-21 07:54 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-06-21 03:20 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-06-21 03:51 pm (UTC)The fact that he totally can't tell male from female even now, yes -- and the RACING YES hahahaha♥♥♥
--and Ammy buying her pinwheel, yes♥
(no subject)
Date: 2007-06-21 05:43 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-06-25 06:31 pm (UTC)And the last one, as well. We only just finished Omi island, and I loved that little slip of paper ^^