All Over Again

Kotone sighed, her brow twitching as she stuffed the letter back into her pocket. That infuriating little man actually wanted her to come back. He’d apologized at least three times a few days ago, and now that she’d returned to Oak Town for a rest, he’d found her here and wanted to make one more trip back to the village with his supplies. Not only that, but this time he was so positive that he bothered her again after swearing he only would in an emergency. “Look, bub,” an already irritated Kotone told Lars as she walked up to the little man. “I’ll come with you again just in case you’re right… but there’s a lot going on right now that I could be helping with, so this had better be important.”

“O-of course, Miss Hoshino,” the man nodded, intimidated by her irritable demeanor. Okay, so Kotone wasn’t completely calm and nice. If you got on her nerves, you were probably in for a bad time. “I promise I wouldn’t ask again after last time’s embarrassment if… if I wasn’t worried you were the only one that could help.”

Kotone nodded, letting out a sigh as her shoulders deflated slightly. She brushed her hair behind her back and looked up at the trail they’d already walked. It was about a several day trip with the caravan, though she could probably make it in one or two on her own. “I usually don’t worry about this, but I need more money this time, because even if it ends up being a waste of time…” Kotone thought back to her meeting with Roejaster again. “I have friends who really need the money.”

280/2000

All over again. That was what kept going through Kotone's head as they walked through the forest. The first night had been exactly like the time before, only the man had managed to not grab her arms and use her as a shield against rabbits. She was already irritable just because she’d been able to guess that nothing would change. He was a paranoid fool, even if he meant well. Kotone refused to check out anything that whole night, claiming it was a waste of both of their times, and that she would hear or smell any danger that was near. Nothing was out of the ordinary. She’d spent a fair amount of time in the woods, even if it wasn’t specifically the Worth Woodsea itself.

It was the second night that surprised Kotone. She smelled the scents of animals as she walked along silently. She said nothing, afraid to make the man any jumpier than he already was. He was already practically in her arms every five minutes. Instead, she kept her head down, using her sense of smell and hearing to try and keep track of the animals. They kept disappearing though, which was weird. Every time she looked up, there was nothing where she thought they would be.

When the set of wild dogs did appear, it was clear they were dangerous and hungry. Lars actually was in her arms when Kotone pointed them out, and she set him down gently as she eyed the mongrels. “Alright, I think we might have found some of your monsters. Don’t worry. I’ve fought things a hundred times more dangerous than this.” It wouldn’t even take magic. Drawing her Katana, she eyed the dogs, who eyed her in turn. With a snarl, they charged. Kotone twitched, her body naturally following her intentions with blinding speed. Slash. One dog was put down. Slash. The other followed suit, the pair of rabid canines slamming into the ground with a double thumping sound.

Kotone’s Katana was sheathed as she used a small gust of wind to blow the blood off. Having Master Sonata’s Gale Force magic was handy even in smaller things. She looked to Lars. “Even rabid dogs don’t normally attack people out of the blue like that. Something’s not right. Stay close to the caravan.”

664/2000

For the next several hours, Kotone was as on edge as the rest of the group. She had a bad feeling she just couldn’t shake, and as much as she hated to admit it, Lars seemed to have been on the mark this time. She didn’t know what his stalkers were or what they wanted, but the trouble hadn’t ended with the dogs. She kept getting other smells. It was hard to tell what it was, but she was pretty sure after nearly an hour of the smell fading in and out that it was a wild forest boar. Those things were pretty big. Kotone shrugged her new tan jacket back onto her shoulders as she heard the leaves crackle off to the side, saving Lars from tripping over his own feet (followed shortly by her feet) without even looking at him.

“Get in the wagon. I don’t care if it’s tight. I won’t have to worry about you there,” she told Lars as she faced the boar that came crashing out of the brush. Her first move was to focus the wind into a powerful blade as it tore at her. The wind caught the boar, tearing into it like a sword. It didn’t even stop its enraged charge, however; boars were tough creatures, and while it was injured, it could sustain a lot worse, especially in a rage like this. Kotone crossed her arms defensively as an armor of icy scales covered her body. The boar crashed into her, splintering the scale armor but keeping Kotone quite safe.

She could have probably beaten even a boar this size more easily than this, but she was trying to figure out if there was an unusual scent about it. Boars smelled odd anyway, at least to her, and Kotone hadn’t seen a ton of them where she lived. But she was pretty sure the faintest traces of magic could be smelled on it.

Magic or not, Kotone needed to stop playing around. As the boar backed up to charge again, an icicle appeared in the sky above her left shoulder, firing at the boar. In the next instant, the boar had a new piercing in its… everything, and Kotone was dusting her hands off, a faint grin on her lips. “Looks like this is going to get interesting,” she said to herself, looking up to make sure the caravan was okay. If someone was using magic to summon these animals to them… she might not be wasting her time after all. Plus, someone needed to pay for getting her into a situation where she was carrying a short fat man through the Worth Woodsea half the time.

1115/2000

Kotone was finally glad they’d asked her to come along again. Whether the last time had really been a waste of time or if she’d simply waylaid whoever wanted to harm the caravan of magical items, this time she might have saved some lives, or at least kept the men in the caravan safe from injury for now. She still hated the jumpiness of her comrades. None of them were fighters, and one of them had been so worked up he was like a mouse who knew a cat was nearby. She’d gathered from the others that he wasn’t normally like this, and something was definitely under his skin. Maybe he’d had this feeling for a long while now. Kotone sighed. Maybe she should be a bit more understanding of the poor guy. Helpless with no magic or weapons he could use and with a feeling something dangerous was after him. It’d probably drive her crazy too.

As she was completing that thought, a new smell caught her attention. The smell was quickly combined with the rustling of leaves and the appearance of a man in a long coat and gloves. He seemed like he might have been somewhat attractive, if she felt the need to stare at him. As it was, she was already appraising him as a threat. He smelled like the magic she’d been fighting. “Well well, so you’re the one foiling my plans, are you lady?” the man chuckled to himself as one hand dropped into his pocket.

Kotone grinned and nodded, flipping her hair over her shoulder confidently. She hadn’t lost her confidence along with her bad attitude. “Yeah, that was me. Your little pets almost made me break a sweat. You’ll have to try harder than that if you want to have a chance against me. My employer has good instincts when it comes to hiring wizards.”

The man actually started laughing at that. “You! You amuse me, girl. I don’t know who you are, but it’s rare to find someone so willing to declare victory before she has even fought.” The man drew his hand out of his pocket, a silver key shimmering with power.

Kotone kept grinning, her fangs visible, though probably not from this distance in the dark. Her eyes glowed blue as she allowed her magical power to flow out and around her. The air became colder. “They say knowing is half the battle, and a cocky wizard who hides behind his keys and pet animals is someone I know how to fight. Trust me, I know how to fight cocky cowards.” Ice formed around Kotone, and it was obvious the man had noticed.

“Allisette!” The man roared, eyeing the girl who was obviously stronger than he’d hoped for. “Pass through the gate!” with those words, a dark angel appeared in a flash of light. She had a dark aura around her, and the smell seemed to match… if that were possible. “Allisette! Stop lazing around and kill this woman! And do it quickly! I have an important key to take from these gentlemen!” The angel glanced at the man, but said nothing as she glanced at Kotone, readying her strange demonic scythe. Kotone had never seen this key before. She would have to be careful if she wanted to get past her and take out her master. That scythe looked pretty wicked.

1675/2000

Kotone barely dodged the scythe the wicked spirit seemed so keen to use on the ice dragon slayer. The spirit was decently fast, but Kotone was just as fast, and she had no intention of letting some creepy celestial spirit get the better of her. “I get the feeling Alisette doesn’t like you very much,” Kotone told the man as she pulled out her katana to deflect the spirit’s next blow. She was paying more attention to Loughcis than the spirit, in case he had another trick up his sleeve.

“Hahah! Who cares?! It’s a tool like any other magic. They don’t have to like me. They just have to do what I say!” the man replied, standing there with his arms crossed as the two women fought. Kotone didn’t want to hurt Alisette. Most spirits weren’t especially evil, and her glare at him had been telling enough. At the very least, she didn’t want to follow his orders whether or not she cared about killing people.

“I care, and trust me, guy, I’m the wrong girl to piss off.” Kotone inhaled, blowing out a thick fog of freezing air, covering the immediate area and slowing Alisette down enough for Kotone to have time to formulate a plan. She knew she couldn’t kill the spirit, but they still felt pain according to a girl she’d met a long time ago. She would have had less trouble harming the spirit if its relationship had not been master and slave. As it was, it felt more like she was being forced to fight, which was completely different.

“Who cares if you throw a temper tantrum like a little girl!” The guy told her condescendingly. It didn’t help Kotone’s mood at all. “You won’t be alive long enough for me to care!” the man laughed an extremely annoyingly overconfident laugh. Kotone growled in return.

“Sorry,” she told Allisette, using her left hand to dive forward to shove the spirit into a tree, and the right to plunge the Katana into her shirt and trap her momentarily, “but this is for your own good!” She turned and raised her arm, gathering wind energy that she released at the man. He only just barely dodged the fast attack, which was what she’d expected. “Ice Dragon Roar!” The beam slammed into the man, coating him in ice and causing him to stumble backwards helplessly. He was obviously unconscious, because Alisette disappeared.

Kotone picked up the key, walking over and handing it to the merchant. “Give her a good new home if you can,” she told the man. “In the meantime, we have a journey to finish. Don’t worry, you’ll be fine now. I believe I’ve taken care of your monster.”

2127/2000