Old Promises, New Mysteries: Book 2 of The Kinstone series

The next morning was another early start.

After breakfast, Yukari, Fenris, and I exited the house and headed down the path towards the main road. The sky was slightly grey with a few patches of clear sky above. The air felt humid, but nothing new for a late May morning.

The forest was alive with the sounds of birds fluttering about in the trees around us. It still felt weird having to walk around as a human, something I was going to have to get over quickly in the coming week.

I also knew that this was going to be among the last few times that I was going to walk down this path. But I still had a week left before I had to leave, so I aimed to take advantage of it.

We once more turned onto the main road. We saw a couple trucks soon drive past us. I gave a soft smile, knowing that they were coming from the docks. A warm, humid breeze rushed past us, catching my hair along with it.

During this whole time while here, I only had it trimmed a few times. Mainly being the ends around my butt. I often would braid my hair, still wanting to have different style when out with my friends. But today I decide to just go simple and wear it straight.

Fenris walked beside me, having assumed his large dog form. I smiled, reaching over and petting him.

In the past couple of months he too had become a fixture of the village, with the youngest of the children often flocking to him, wanting to play. He’d roll around with them in the grass, lifting several with his tails, and gently chasing after them.

It reminded me of when he would play with the twins behind the Manor. So he really was in his element. I again had to place a collar onto him, still hating that I had to.

About ten minutes later, we turned again down the road towards the shrine. I still remembered walking this way a couple weeks ago to perform for the festival. This time I wasn’t nervous, but felt a little happy.

This was going to my first market in a long time, and it was going to be fun. The wind picked up again, catching the tops of the trees, hearing them sway.

There were also a lot more people walking on the road with us. Not quite the numbers for the festival, but a good amount. A few families had also joined the train, with the children all running around their parents and some complaining about the walk. Nothing new there, kids will be kids after all.

The shrine soon came into sight and I could already see stalls and a few that were just large blankets strewn about in the courtyard. It was all divided up into four even rows with sellers on each side of the rows.

There were also people already pacing about the different stalls. I giggled to myself, doesn’t matter how early you leave, there will always be people who arrive before you.

We passed under the torii gates, which had at each post one of the miko. I smiled, recognizing one of them. I walked over to her, bowing my head to her, “Ohayo Reika-senpai.”

She smiled, bowing her head in return, “Ohayo Aria-chan, you seem to be happy this morning.”

I nodded, “I’m getting to enjoy my first market in a long time.”

“I’m glad to hear that." Her smiled slightly dimmed, "I’ve also heard that you’re going to be leaving us soon.”

My heart sunk slightly, giving her a nod, “Yeah, I leave next week for home.”

She knelt down slightly, gazing into my eyes, “We’re all going to miss you here. But we hope you can still come by and visit us before you do go. I know the head priest will want to see you as well.”

I smiled, “I will Reika-senpai. And thanks for everything,” bowing to her.

She smiled, “You are welcome Aria-chan. Now you go and enjoy the market.”

I nodded, “I will,” waving to her and then entering into the courtyard.

The outer courtyard was about the size of the parking lot of Faith Lutheran Church back in Madison. So there was a lot of space to be had, and it was packed with stalls and people. Each stall was selling all sorts of thing, ranging from vegetables, meat, fish, and even sweets.

A few vendors also were selling handmade jewelry and pottery. I slowly walked by each one, carefully eyeing what was being sold. I knew I wanted to get a few things for home, and maybe even make something special for dinner.

I wandered over to a vendor that was selling little trinkets on a large blanket and knelt down, examining what he had. He smiled to me, “Ah, good morning ojou-chan (young lady).”

I smiled, softly shuffling about, “Morning sir,” looking up to him, “You sell a lot of crystal pieces, any made with amethyst or jade?”

He smiled, kneeling down and opened a small chest, showing a few necklaces made with both stones, “Here are a few of my finer pieces. The amethyst is in fact my best work. If I say so myself.” I grinned, feeling my necklace resting against my shirt.

The pieces were lovely, and did indeed look nice, but they could never match Rachel’s handiwork. I picked up a small ring made of nearly clear jade. It was smooth and well-made.

I looked up to him, “How much?”

The vendor eyed the ring then me, smiling, “4,000 yen for the pretty girl.”

A little steep if you ask me. I pondered it for a moment, and then eyed a large uncut amethyst that looked rather nice and knew that Rachel might like to have it.

I picked it up and held it to him, “I’ll give you a thousand for the crystal and 3,000 for the ring.”

He looked at me, drawing a smile, “You have a deal.”

I smiled, reaching into my backpack and pulled out my wallet, placing the money onto the tray. He in turn wrapped both pieces into a bag, handing both to me.

“Thank you sir.”

He bowed his head, “Please come again.” I smiled and stood up, heading to the next vendor.

The next hour or so was spent wandering the stalls. There were also several others from the village selling. Chinjaro-san was selling some of his farming tools and even a few knives that he had made. I stopped by and talked to him for a moment.

He shared in the lament of my eventual departure from the village and the loss of one of his favorite audience members. I giggled, telling that there were salamanders who lived on the Estate whom I also frequented from time to time. He smiled, liking the idea that I had someone to watch within the forge. I nodded and thanked him, then stepped away.

I took up again the very old habit of striking a conversation with sellers. I knew this was going to be the only time that I’d ever get to meet them, but I still wanted to have a good time while there. I bought up a few more little things, nothing serious, just some tiny gifts for everyone back home.

I picked up some vegetables, thinking the idea of a hotpot being a good one. I also found some hand-spun sweets that might be good to take with me for the trip home.

One stall sold traditional remedies such as ground up deer bone and dried salamander. Not…something I’d want to pick up, so I quietly moved on.

I headed over to the outer row where they selling fish. “Aria-chan?” I looked up to see who had called my name. A man smiled to me, standing behind a table with coolers behind it.

A small smile rose on my face as I walked over to him, bowing my head, “Ohayo Nonoha-san.”

The man in front of me was Kenji’s father. I had only met him a few times and he seemed just as nice as his son.

“Ohayo Aria-chan. I hope you’re doing well today.”

I nodded, “I am sir and yourself?”

He smiled, “Can’t complain too much. Just happy to be standing here today.”

I smiled, nodding, “Yep, always is a good thing,” my eyes then scanned around his stall.

He smiled, “He’s not here.”

I looked up at him.

“He’s helping my brother repair the boat. The strangest tide slammed into it last night and caused us to slice into a reef.”

My eyes went wide, “Are you guys okay?”

He smirked, flexing his arm, holding onto his bicep, “We men of Ashogihaga are made from sterner stuff. Getting thrashed by the sea is nothing new to us.” I grinned, loving the bravado.

He leaned over onto the table, “I never got the chance to say how amazed I was to see you perform at the festival. I don’t even care that you aren’t from here, you were meant to be on that stage.”

I blushed softly, “Th-thank you sir.”

He smiled, “You know that my son still talks about his date with you. I know that you have to return home soon, but you could always remain here with us.”

I pulled some of my hair over my ear, smiling, “I know, but I haven’t seen my mother in a couple months and I miss home a lot.”

He nodded, standing up, “I understand. Just know that you always have a home here in the village.”

I smiled softly, bowing, “Thank you sir.”

“You are quite welcome young lady. Now…care to browse my selection?”

I giggled, “No thank you. I’ll see you around Nonoha-san.”

He smiled, “Hopefully before you leave Aria-chan.” I bowed to him once more and left.

When I returned to the center row I had nearly gathered up all of the ingredients for the pot, only needing some mushrooms. I kept a wary eye for Yukari, who was never more than a few steps behind me.

Fenris was always walking at my side, making sure no one got “too close” to me. I smiled to him, still hoisting the ever growing bags by my side.

I wandered over to another stall, finding some wonderful looking sweets that I wish I could take with me to the Estate. I leaned over and looked at them. I eventually bought a few, thinking that they’d be nice to have after dinner. Once I carefully laid them into my bag I continued my walk-through of the market.

Everything then went completely silent, almost deafening. I looked around and saw that there wasn’t anyone around me, the courtyard also empty of the stalls that populated it. I looked to see if my bonded was next to me, but found that even he was gone, and so was Yukari.

“Fenris?! Yukari?!? Where are you guys?” My voice seemed to echo outwards.

Everything was unnaturally still. I glanced over to the shrine, seeing a dense fog or thick miasma begin to roll in. A sharp tingle ran up my spine as a smell rose into the air.

I then collapsed to my knees as my stomach began to convulse in pain. It felt as though someone had kicked me there and I was about to throw up. I groaned in agony, gripping my stomach.

The strange smell steadily grew stronger, now becoming pungent and disgusting. I looked up, sweat dripped from my face as I panted heavily, feeling myself dry heave.

A presence began to manifest from within the miasma. This only served to exacerbate the growing nausea I was feeling. “Fenris…Yukari…help.”

My words were becoming labored as the pain grew more and more intense. My mind was slowly becoming clouded and it was taking everything I had just to stay conscience. But the pain was beginning to consume me. My body burned hot. My face felt swollen, as if I had in fact thrown up a few times.

A cold, familiar wind wrapped itself around me, alleviating some of the pain. I looked up to see Fenris standing in front of me in his true form. He was crouching low to the ground, gleaming white bared into a fierce, snarling growl.

Power exuded from him the likes of which I had never felt. His fur was standing on end, tails lashing about. Claws were dug deeply into stone tiles. He was set to lash out at whatever was in front of us.

I hobbled a crawl to him, now finding the mere act of moving was now just as painful. I felt weak. My muscles ached with the slightest of movements.

“Stay where you are, Aria. Do not attempt to move.”

I felt my stomach churning even harder than before. The wolf turned his attention back towards the fog, growling, whipping up whirlwinds of shadowy blizzards. He then barked into the mist, teeth ready to tear into whatever was there.

“Something foul stands before us.” Whatever it was, it was making me really sick.

I felt hands wrapping around my body, gently pulling me back into a gentle embrace. I weakly looked up to see Yukari hovering over me, fully transformed. Kitsune-bi blazed intensely around her.

“Yu…Yukari,” my voice was now even weaker than before.

“Shhh…don’t talk.”

Her gaze then turned towards the swirling mist, I could tell it too was affecting her, but not to same degree. The color in her face was paler, and showed signs of extreme discomfort. The presence grew even stronger as two balls of light pierced through the grey.

Fenris’ growls grew even louder, his body now even lower to the ground. The maelstroms he created clashed into the mist, but nothing happened, no reaction whatsoever.

The balls of light then turned a sickening shade of green as the shape of a figure began to form around the lights. I now recognized the lights as a pair of eyes, but the thick fog made it difficult to make out who or what possessed the eyes.

Yukari held me tightly to her, tails erect and magic swirled around the three of us. “Come out of there, who or whatever you are.” I stared at the figure, something…something about it, just…

Fenris’ then made a step towards the figure which then suddenly vanished. The mist which surrounded us also went with whatever that was.

I let out a loud, long-held breath. The pain which had gripped me started to dissipate, but I felt extremely weak and drained. I slowly then began to hear the sounds of voices, emanating from off in the distance.

Yukari looked to my bonded, “We need to resume our guises before the veil completely fades away.”

The massive wolf took one last sniff of the air before shrinking back down to the size and slight form of a large dog. Yukari’s pure white hair also changed back into a deep black as her ears and tails receded into her body.

She then held me tightly to her body as whatever barrier that had surrounded us dissolved, revealing that we were still in the heart of the market. People stared at us, some whispering to each other.

Several of the miko rushed over, distracting the crowds, pushing them away from us. Reika then knelt beside us, “What happened? One moment Aria-chan was there and then she vanished. You and her wolf also disappeared.”

My aunt shook her head, “I’m not sure. We were surrounded by a barrier of some kind, and encountered something that affected her greatly. But speculation can wait. I need to get her inside.”

Reika nodded, “Please, come with me into the shrine. I’ll inform the head priest of the situation.”

Yukari nodded, picking me up, cradling me into her arms, and carried me into the inner courtyard.

Another miko directed us to one of the smaller buildings, who then leapt onto the deck and opened a door. My breathing had slowly returned to normal as I was laid onto a futon. My body shivered as if I had been bitten by a spider.

Fenris curled up around my head, gently pressing his muzzle into my cheeks. A heavy blanket was then draped over me as then I saw the head priest enter into the room.

He knelt beside me, gently pressing the back of his hand to my cheeks and forehead. A soft, comforting smile rose on his face, before looking to the girls present. “Bring us some cold water and something for the pain.”

The girls bowed and vanished into the shrine.

He then turned his attention back to Yukari, “I felt a dark presence within the shrine, something evil, and a deep malice not of our world.”

She nodded, “I agree. It’s hard to explain, but whatever that was, it felt as though it were partially from the Realm of the Dead. But I’ve never know the denizens to intrude upon an active shrine.”

The priest nodded in agreement, but his face grew stern and angry, “If they were of the dead, Tokomistu-sama will not be pleased they intruded upon his shrine or his lands.”

I took a breath and looked up at them, “I felt something about, whatever was in the mist.” Both adults then turned to face me.

“What did you feel Aria-chan?” asked my aunt.

My gaze turned to her, “It somehow felt…familiar. But I also couldn’t get the smell of something really awful out of my nose. And it really made me sick.”

She looked at me for a moment, then towards the priest who shook his head in uncertainty. Yukari leaned over and kissed my forehead, “I’m not sure what you felt my dear, but what I do know is that you should rest.” I nodded. No argument there.

She then pulled out her phone, “If I may.” He bowed his head softly. My aunt gently caressed my cheek, “I’ll be right back sweetie. I need to make a call.” I nodded to her, watching as she then rose from my side and left the room.

The priest remained for a moment before Reika returned with a bowl and towels. She knelt beside me, dipping the towel into the water, and began to dab my face with it.

He looked me over before rising to his feet, looking out towards the outer courtyard, “I must attend to the market before something happens,” smiling to me, “but know that I shall return. You are safe here my child.”

I nodded, feeling the water cooling my face. He then nodded and exited out of the room. Fenris then shifted to my right, eyes gently watching me. I looked over to him and smiled, reaching my hand out to him, stroking his face.

A moment later, Yukari returned and knelt by me, phone in hand, “Sweetie, your mother wants to talk to you.”

I nodded taking the phone from her, “Hey Rachel.”

“Oh thank God. Sweetheart, are you all right? When I heard that something had happened to you, I feared the worst.”

I smiled weakly, “I’m doing okay, just…just a bit sick or something.”

“I know you’re trying to make me feel better, and applaud you for the effort. But I know you are not all right at the moment.”

I giggled, “Yeah, I know. Hope this means that you aren’t going to hop onto a plane and bring me home early does it?”

“No my precious, you are in the best capable hands. I trust wholeheartedly in your aunt. So rest assured you will come home on time.”

I smiled, “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome my precious. Now…Yukari told me that whatever you encountered, felt “familiar” to you. Can you further explain what you meant?”

I relaxed my body and took a couple short, but meaningful breaths, “It was like I was staring at something that I had seen thousands of times but I couldn’t place where I've seen it. In the mist, I knew, or thought I knew, what was there. But the feeling is so hazy and vague that I can’t really figure out what it was.”

The line went silent for a moment.

“Sweetheart, I will confer with the Professor on this matter. Know that I will find answers and I am grateful in the knowledge that you are safe. I look forward to having you home with me.”

I nodded, smiling, “Me too. Oh Rachel…there’s something else.”

“What sweetheart?”

“It smelled of rotting corpses. It was so bad that I could actually taste it.”

Again the line went silent.

“All that I can tell you my darling is that you must rest.”

I nodded softly, “Okay. Love you.”

“I love you too sweetheart. Stay safe and come home to me.”

“I will.”

The line then went silent.

I plopped the phone to my side, taking another slow breath. Yukari knelt beside me, resting her hand onto my forehead, stroking it softly. I looked up at her and smiled, “Hey.”

She smiled warmly, “Hey. We will stay here for a bit until you are able to get up and then head home.”

I nodded, and then my eyes flared open, “The groceries…I left them at the market.”

She chuckled, shaking her head, “Do not worry yourself over them. They were brought with and have been stored away.” I sighed in relief.

She took a wet towel, wrung it out, and wiped my brow. Again it helped cool my face. I closed my eyes, letting myself relax on the futon.

An hour later I was feeling much better, but still felt a little weak. I was given a bowl of rice porridge to help with my stomach. It was nice and sweet, something easy to down.

During the last hour, many of the vendors came and asked how I was doing. Yukari and the miko said that I was better but needed to rest. The doors were closed, but could hear them and see their silhouettes from behind the paper lined doors.

A couple more hours past and I then sat up on the mattress, feeling slightly lightheaded. I held a hand to my forehead, letting the dizziness spin itself out of me.

I looked over to see Fenris sleeping next to me. His massive body rose and fell as he breathed slowly. A soft smile rose on my lips, leaning over to stroke his dark fur.

The door then slid open, turning to watch my aunt quietly enter the room. She knelt beside me and stroked my hair, “Feeling better sweetie?”

I nodded, “A little, better than I was a couple hours ago, that’s for sure.”

She smiled, leaning in and kissing my forehead, “We should head on home then. The market ended a while ago and everyone has packed up and left.”

I nodded, rolling onto my side to stand. My muscles ached and burned as I stood. My heart raced from stand up and having my weight shift.

I then felt something large and soft propping me up. My smile grew, craning my head to see the ice-blue eyes of my bonded staring back at me. “Hey Papa Wolf.”

His gaze was gentle and reassuring, giving me the same fatherly look he always possessed. My fingers dug deeply into his soft fur, feeling a calming chill flow from it.

He then slowly walked out into the courtyard, stepping down onto the paving stone below, looking back at me. I grinned, walking over to him and knelt onto his back, clinging to his fur.

I looked over to see the head priest stepping towards us, kneeling onto the wooden deck with my grocery bags in hand. His aging face bore a soft smile and grandfatherly look, and was adorned with a simple string white mustache and then a beard which ringed around his chin.

“It does my heart good to see you heading home Aria-chan.”

I smiled and nodded, “Yes sir. Thank you for letting me stay here for a while.”

His smile grew slightly, “You are most welcome my child, and I pray for your safe journey home, both here and a speedily one to your mother.”

I bowed my head to him, “I also thank you for all of your instruction.”

He chuckled, “Again you are welcome.”

He rose and bowed to Yukari, “Until next we meet, Tsukino-sama.”

She bowed in return, “Until then, Mukegeno-san.” She then picked up the bags, stepping down onto the ground and walked beside me. Fenris then trotted off slowly, making sure not to go too fast.

As we came to the entrance of the shrine, Reika stood under the torii gate, having dropped her human guise, sporting three dark tails. She looked and saw that we were heading to her. She smiled, walking over to us, “Heading home?”

I nodded, “Time for some good food and more rest,” looking back to the shrine. “Gonna miss this place.”

She stepped closer to me, resting her hand onto mine, “You are always welcomed here Aria-chan,” then patting it, “now get home and eat something.”

I giggled, nodding, “Got it Reika-senpai.” She grinned, bowing to us as we then started up the hill.

The walk was slow going, but nice. I should be grateful that the weather decided to be a little cooler than it was earlier in the day, or perhaps thank Asha whenever I get the chance.

The trees swayed softly in the wind, which carried the scent of rain along with it. The skies were greying fast, but showed there was still enough time before anything was to happen.

I leaned onto Fenris’ back, resting my head onto his broad shoulders. One of his tails draped itself onto my body, covering me. I breathed into his fur, feeling it warm and then cool with every breath.

A hand rested onto my head, caressing it softly. I rolled it over to see Yukari smiling to me. I’m really going to miss waking up and sitting in the kitchen as she made us breakfast.

When we finally reached the house, Fenris knelt down to allow me to ease off of his back. I slowly stood up and Yukari reached up to open the door. We stepped inside and slipped off our shoes.

The house was quiet and still. The cloudy skies outside further darkened the hallway. My bonded slipped in after us, having shrunk back down. We carried my bags into the kitchen and started to unpack their contents.

My aunt smiled to me, “A hotpot huh?”

I giggled, “Figured we could do something special tonight.”

She gently pulled me into a tight hug, stroking my hair, and pressing her face into mine, “I know we still have a week left, but you don’t know how much I am going to miss having you with me my dear.”

My hands rose and clung tightly to her dress, “I’m going to miss you too Yukari.” Giggling softly, “It’s weird that I feel like I’m leaving yet another home.”

I felt her cheek moving across the top of my head as she nodded, “Now I know how your mother felt the day you left to come here. But we all must return home at some point.” I buried my face into her chest, nodding.

We stayed that way for a few moments until she gently released me, placing another kiss onto my forehead, leaning back, and wiping a tear from her eye. “Now, will you be a dear and find us the pot, warming plate, and tableware.”

I nodded, stepping over the cabinets, searching for everything. She then pulled out a knife and cutting board and began prepping the ingredients.

I placed the pot onto the table in the living room, reaching over and plugged into the wall. My aunt then stepped into the room with a large platter with all the vegetables and meat on it. We both knelt onto the floor where I poured in a small dish of sake.

Feeling slightly warm, I rose and opened the doors to the deck and then the deck doors as well, letting in the sea breeze. I took my place at her right. She smiled gently to me, letting the sake simmer.

After ten minutes, she began placing each of the ingredients into it. I rested my hands onto my palms, watching as everything simmered in the pot. I grinned, thinking I bought too much. I was lucky to find a good amount of beef, buying a couple pounds for us to share.

I looked over to Fenris, who was lying on the floor, head held erect. He peered out onto the sea, watching the tide as it rolled in. I knew I wanted to take one last stroll along the beach and even collecting some sand as memento.

A finger playfully poked my cheek, looking back to see Yukari smiling to me. “Time to eat sweetie.” I nodded, seeing the readied meal.

We held our hands together, placing the chopsticks against our thumbs, and closed our eyes, “Itadakimasu.” The two of then began pulling ingredients out of the pot and into our bowls and began to eat.

As we ate, part of me wished that I wasn’t leaving, sharing the same sentiment as everyone in the village below. I had grown to love this place so much, its people and the region as well. The house had become my home and had even gotten used to the idea of living here.

But Yukari was right, we all must return home at some point. And the Estate was calling to me, where my mother and the rest of my family would be waiting for me. I still had a week left, but sadly knew that it would be over long before I knew it. I sighed with a mild regret but with recognition.

I thought of what happened while at the market, questions were abounding in my mind. Just what was that? What was there that was made me so sick and why did it feel familiar? I then remembered the head priest talking about Tokomistu, the local deity, not being happy when he learned about what happened.

I giggled softly to myself, thinking that I would meet an actual god. Well Yukari did say that I possibly could meet one. But that was a fantasy among many I had been having over the past month. But for now, back to the feast before us.

After we finished and had cleaned up after ourselves, we returned to the living where she pulled me into her and held me close. The both of us instantly transformed, wrapping our tails together.

Her hand gently glided over my hair, softly moving it along my ears. My cheeks blushed softly as my head lied on her chest. We stared out onto the ocean, hearing the incoming storm roll in. The crashing of waves sounded heavily even over the trees and distance between us.

It was a simple moment between the both of us, one that I also would like to share with Asha. My eyes grew heavier as the trees swayed more and more against the wind.

Soon enough, my eyes did close, feeling myself slide off into sleep. I felt my aunt’s hand gliding over my hair.