PART 1 - Snapshot Introductions
"Miaka! Miaka, where are you?!" A pair of translucent wings fluttered in the air and the searching boy cupped his hands around his mouth and called again. His long tipped ears twitched, listening for any sound of movement and he stroked his pointed chin thoughtfully. Swishing the wings at his shoulders, the boy zoomed up to a large elm to renew his search. He began turning over foliage in his hunt and his gaze roamed over several nearby tree grooves.
He flew through thick rays of sunshine that streaked down from the forest canopy and his wings hinted at a lavender coloring as he passed under the light. The boy wore a woven kilt of brightly colored ferns and his moss green hair whipped about his face as he sped past a nesting lory. The mother bird ignored the boy's winged interruption; she was used to such disturbances living so close to a fairy Kith Tree.
The young sprite continued his search and again hollered into the still forest air. "Miaka!!!! Where are you hiding? Come on out or I'll go and tell your beau that you've gone missing!"
"He is not my beau Amiboshi!" A nearby leaf gave an infuriated rustle and a red faced girl peeked out from behind it's green awning. "You take that back!" She put her hands on her hips and her light yellow wings flitted angrily. The girl's olive eyes flashed threateningly, and she pushed strands of her waist long brown hair behind her pointed ears.
Amiboshi folded his arms over his bare chest and raised an eyebrow questioningly. "But he is your fiancé Miaka, aren't you supposed to be revolving your entire world around him now?"
"Oh Amiboshi! You know perfectly well that I don't love him!" Miaka threw a stone at the boy and he ducked, smiling.
"Yeah, but tell him that. Drake thinks he's the Forest Spirit's gift to all female sprites." He laughed as Miaka's face turned even redder.
"Shut up Amiboshi! I am not one of those South Kith Tree bimbos who always fawn over him! Come here, I'll show you!" She flew away from her leaf and chased her fleeing friend, who smiled at Miaka's embarrassment and raced out of her wrathful reach.
* * *
"What's he saying?" Tamahome peered over his friend's shoulder and tried to nudge the other man to move over. "I can't see anything."
"Would you quit elbowing me! I can't tell when you're getting in my goddamn way!" Tasuki hissed between his teeth and kicked a hoof over at Tamahome. The two centaurs were hidden among tall sage bushes and Tasuki had made a peek hole through the thicket to see into a glen in front of them.
"Move it Tasuki, I want to see too!" Tamahome shoved the other man aside and squinted through the dense foliage. He couldn't see anything but sage and parted the leaves to get a better view.
"Hey, I was standing there jerk!!" Tasuki kicked at Tamahome again but this time the other centaur dodged the incoming blow.
"What're you going to do about it?" Tamahome pulled his face out of the sage and turned his nose up.
Tasuki scowled and lunged at his friend, knocking the blue haired man to the ground.
"I'll show you, you bastard!" A muffled growl came from Tasuki as the pair went down together. Tamahome kicked a blue gray hoof at his attacker and the two began to fight, trading punches and insults as they rolled around on the forest floor.
Before their brawl, the pair of trouble seeking centaurs had been spying on a couple beside a small river. Their fellow centaur Mitsukake had been disappearing a lot the last few days and Tamahome and Tasuki had followed their friend to see who he was spending all his time with.
As soon as the two snooping men had arrived in the clearing they knew immediately why Mitsukake kept leaving over the nights.
A quiet stream babbled softly in the peaceful glen and a sea nymph bobbed out from the water up to her navel. Her skin was tinged pale blue and scales ran the length of her sides and back. They glinted with rainbow colors in the sunlight whenever she moved and the bright hues danced across the water as she laughed. Her light brown hair was tied up with strands of seaweed but the rest that fell free draped around her shoulders in thick wet tendrils. She was speaking avidly to the brown centaur who sat on the bank before her. Mitsukake listened with a smile playing across his face and he watched as she told him excitedly of her day. The sea nymph lifted her legs above the water and rested both elbows across her knees. She flitted a glance to Mitsukake and returned his smile timidly.
While Tasuki and Tamahome traded barbs about each other's mothers being mules, Mitsukake brought something out from behind his back that he'd been hiding before.
The woman gave a questioning look at the package and Mitsukake handed it to her, urging her to open it.
The water sprite gazed nervously at her present and carefully removed its dried leaf wrapping. Her mouth dropped and her eyes grew big as she pulled away the last leaf and saw a pink conch shell in her hands. She glanced at Mitsukake and his cheeks were flaming with a deep blush.
She cradled the shell in her hands for a moment and ran her fingers over its pearly surface. Happy tears were forming in her eyes and she didn't bother to wipe them away. The woman smiled warmly up at the apprehensive centaur and she leaned across the riverbank. She set the conch shell down in his lap and nodded her head, saying yes.
Mitsukake let out the breath he'd been holding with a loud whoosh and then a giant grin broke out on his face. He gave a boisterous yell and scooped her up right out of the water. They both smiled happily at each other and Mitsukake bent down to kiss the woman in his arms.
Tasuki and Tamahome had finally stopped throwing punches and were now trying hard to stifle their laughs.
Mitsukake stopped his advance and raised his head, turning to look in their direction. He heard the faintest of a snicker and he watched as a pair of nearby sage bushes moved. The woman tried to see the rustling leaves too, but out of water all the excess oxygen severely limited her eyesight.
"What is it Mitsukake? Who's there?" The sea nymph leaned against his chest fearfully and her thin arms wrapped tighter around his neck.
"Don't worry Shoka, I think I know who's spying on us." Mitsukake smiled and gently set down his new fiancé. She sank to the ground and tucked her pale blue legs under her trembling body. Water sprites were always wary of all happenings on land and she was no exception.
Mitsukake could hear whispers behind the green thicket and he trotted over to where the two noisy men were hiding.
He began searching through the tall bushes and the brown centaur called out angrily. "Come out you two! I know you're both here, don't think I can't hear you! The pair of you are nothing but prying little Satyrs, always butting into the business of others. Get out here and face me Tamahome and Tasuki!" Mitsukake pushed back a large sage thicket to reveal two different colored centaurs, one blue gray and the other fiery red, both standing up with their hands on their hips in indignation.
"Mitsukake, you take that back!"
"Yeah, we're certainly not Satyrs!" Both centaurs cringed at the thought of being compared to the squat, half men, half goats who were well known for spreading nosy gossip throughout the forest.
"Well its true, young bratty colts are more mature than you guys. You can't even leave me alone for the most important moment of my life." Mitsukake frowned at his childish friends and sighed.
Tasuki shrugged and Tamahome stared down at the ground uncomfortably. Mitsukake shook his head and put a hand over his eyes.
"Mitsukake," Shoka whispered, "Mitsukake I-I have to leave. I'm sorry, but you know I don't like crowds. I'll come back when you meet me again." The centaur trio heard a watery voice speaking Centarian with a Neptune accent that sounded like rippling waves behind them. A splash accompanied her goodbye and when Mitsukake turned around, she was gone.
Tasuki shook his head and slung an arm over the man's shoulder. "Don't waste your time with girls Mitsukake, they'll only leave you with heartbreak."
Mitsukake raised an eyebrow and an expression of annoyance flitted across his face. "Tasuki, you were the one who scared her away."
"Oh, who cares about the details." Tasuki shrugged and ducked as Mitsukake's fist flew through the air.
* * *
A merman came swimming up into the quiet lagoon and surfaced in one of its shallow pools. Taking a look around he spotted Hotohori sitting alone on a rock, staring intently off into a solid granite wall that trickled with the remains of a drying waterfall. The merman kicked his purple tail and swam towards his brooding emperor.
Hotohori saw the other man's approach and absently made room for him on the rock. His visitor came up beside him and grabbing onto the boulder, used his arms to push himself up out of the water. The emperor turned his gaze to his dripping friend and Hotohori frowned as the man smiled in greeting.
The merman with the purple tail squeezed his wet braid and then swung it over his shoulder. He saw the tense set of Hotohori's face and gave a small, nervous wave.
"What troubles you sire?"
"I sense a great evil gathering in the forest Nuriko." The emperor turned his gaze from Nuriko's tail to his own and his frown deepened in earnest worry.
"What?" Nuriko raised a disbelieving eyebrow and eyed his king skeptically.
Hotohori noticed the other man's look and scowled. "I saw it in another dream, it was a vision from the future."
"Are you sure sire?" Despite his question, Nuriko's doubt quickly vanished at the mention of his emperor's fabled ability to prophesize fated events. The lavender haired merman sat straight up.
"I can feel it. The sunlight shields us all from shadow but I sense a great cold coming through the water. The sprites are in danger; I know it all the way down to my fins." Hotohori flicked his green tail and swept a hand through his long roan hair.
"What should the Merpeople do sire?"
"We must warn them Nuriko, we must warn all of Konantica."
* * *
A horned ogre covered in old scars shifted his bulk and hunched his enormous shoulders in watchful anticipation. The battle weathered monster waited for his master in the pale light of Konantica's small twin moons and he hefted his spiked club up from the ground in ready wariness.
The anxious warrior stood for several silent minutes and the gloom around him grew thicker as the two nightly planets, Penumbra and Luna, waned past their zenith. As he studied the starless sky, a sensation of being watched came over him and the ogre lowered his gaze to the dark forest. The air wavered from a sudden presence of static energy and the monster instantly straightened, sensing a dark ki.
An iron voice pierced through the night from behind the pensive warrior and a barking order cracked in his direction. The ogre turned and bowed towards the sound of his master's harsh command and with his one good eye searched through the shadows for the other man's form. The ogre spotted a trace of gold fur faintly outlined through the heavy darkness and it was his only indication that the voice had come from a solid form.
"Welcome my lord." The horned warrior bowed again.
"Don't bother with pleasantries." His master's words were flat and cold and they dropped down onto the night like weighted chains.
"Sorry sir."
Ignoring the apology, the hidden man continued. "Wait for my signal Ashitare, stay up in the mountains and keep hidden till I call for you." The order was followed by a stomped hoof. "Understand?"
"Yes master." The monster swung his club up onto his shoulder and grunted in acknowledgment.
"We must be cautious, I don't want the sprites to suspect anything. Don't let yourself be seen, if they knew an ogre had migrated to their forest we'd never get a chance to get near their royalty. You must change into a werewolf as soon as the sun comes up."
"Yes master." The ogre licked his black lips and gnashed his sharp teeth violently as the voice took on a more menacing tone.
"It's only a matter of time... soon... soon the girl will be ours and her power will be mine."
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