Drabble: The Ridiculously Short Tale of the Hunter and the Thief
Title: The Ridiculously Short Tale of the Hunter and the Thief
Rating: PG, ~820
Summary: There are many things in the forest.
Notes: LOL. ♥ I like this.
"Uh, no, I'm a magic thief." The boy sounded rather affronted to the assertation that he was a common scoundrel.
Aiba frowned, steadying his sword. "Do you mean you steal magic, or d'you mean you use magic to steal?"
"Obviously the latter," the boy replied, looking almost comically offended now. "Doesn't it look like I have enough magic all by myself?"
He did. Aiba should've known sooner - his mother was always beating him up for these lapses in judgment or tossing his shoes out their windows - but he noticed it now, the fiery orange tail lashing the air behind the boy's back and the curl to his lips. The other boy was a kitsune, one of the natural tricksters of the forest.
"Right," Aiba said, sticking his sword back in his belt. "Sorry."
"And now that you're done waving that stick at me--"
"--Sorry!--"
"--I wanted to ask, what are you doing in my forest?"
Aiba thought back. The story had started two days ago, when some old maid had gone caterwauling into the center of their village acting like she was quite mad. Calmed down with herbal tea and the steely glint in Aiba's mother's eye (she could shut anybody up, Aiba had thought with amazement, but he hadn't said anything for fear for his life), she'd begun her tale.
Apparently there had been shadows and cries in the forest, and then she'd seen something that had made the woman run screeching away from scrubbing her laundry in the river. She couldn't say what.
But it had caught Aiba's imagination and so here he was, wet leaves still sticking to his butt after he'd fallen from seeing the kitsune suddenly standing in his path.
His enthusiasm was not dampened at all.
"I hear there's a beastie in the forest," Aiba said. "Heard anything about that?"
"Huh." The kitsune scrunched up his nose, tilted his head to the side and scratched absentmindedly at the mole on his chin. "Oh, that one. Yeah, that one's a fair bit of trouble..."
Aiba felt his eyes light up. "Great! Since you know, could you lead me to it?!"
The orange tail curled around the kitsune's knees, tip waving speculatively. "I could, but will I?" A smirk played around his lips.
"If you do," Aiba said quickly, thinking that two could play at this game, "I'll kill it for you, yeah? And then it won't be any more trouble for you either, would it?"
The tail unfurled.
"Deal," the creature said. "Deal. The name's Nino, by the way." He laughed when he said it, like a large joke only known to him had occurred, and they shook on it.
Yellow sunlight filtered through the trees as they tromped through the forest along faint trails, gilding the edges of green leaves and catching on the dewdrops on the ground. It was quiet.
At least until they came to a little nook close to the bend of the river. Aiba began hearing growls and the sounds of ripping vegetation as they drew closer, and he drew his sword.
Nino cast it one look and scoffed. He waved his hand and blue flames erupted from the metal, licking with a shimmering glaze into empty air.
"Cool!" Aiba exclaimed. "I mean, wait, my sword was completely fine the way it was."
"What were you planning to do, stick it like a kebab?" Nino asked incredulously.
"Normal sword things, I suppose? Plus I can kind of talk to animals, you know? It'll be perfectly... fine... oh."
The monster had appeared from behind the trees. It had five heads and tough-looking scales, and seemed taller than three houses. Aiba gulped.
"The magic should help," Nino piped up helpfully. "Probably."
"Oh, thanks!" Aiba yelled as two heads came at him with snapping jaws. But the blue flames were leading their own way, and his sword swung true as it cleaved through the sunlight and cast deep scores into the hide of the beast.
After ten minutes or so of yelling and slashing, Aiba began considering that something was odd. There was no smell of dying beast in the air, and the vegetation seemed oddly untrampled beneath their feet.
"Nino!" Aiba called out, and as he expected there was the sensation of a thin white cloth lifting from his eyes. The image of the monster shimmered away to reveal a crumpled stone wall, heavily scarred with Aiba's sword strikes.
"Crap," Aiba said. There had been no beast at all.
Green shoots were shooting upward through the remains of the soldiers' garrison that had been built only a fortnight ago at great expense to the village, and Aiba heard the laughter of the kitsune in his ears.
"I'm far too lazy to do these things myself," Nino said, his voice echoing in the air and fading, "So thank you for doing all the work for me, hunter..." The laughing melted away to leave the clearing with the chirping of birds.
"You--!" Aiba said angrily and then he too started to laugh, quietly and then louder. It was true. What business did they have, ruining the beauty of the forest? He sheathed his sword.
"Let's play again sometime?" he called out into the emptiness. It was silent.
Softly laughter came again to his ears. Yes, let's.
And a yellow flower bloomed between his feet.
Rating: PG, ~820
Summary: There are many things in the forest.
Notes: LOL. ♥ I like this.
"Uh, no, I'm a magic thief." The boy sounded rather affronted to the assertation that he was a common scoundrel.
Aiba frowned, steadying his sword. "Do you mean you steal magic, or d'you mean you use magic to steal?"
"Obviously the latter," the boy replied, looking almost comically offended now. "Doesn't it look like I have enough magic all by myself?"
He did. Aiba should've known sooner - his mother was always beating him up for these lapses in judgment or tossing his shoes out their windows - but he noticed it now, the fiery orange tail lashing the air behind the boy's back and the curl to his lips. The other boy was a kitsune, one of the natural tricksters of the forest.
"Right," Aiba said, sticking his sword back in his belt. "Sorry."
"And now that you're done waving that stick at me--"
"--Sorry!--"
"--I wanted to ask, what are you doing in my forest?"
Aiba thought back. The story had started two days ago, when some old maid had gone caterwauling into the center of their village acting like she was quite mad. Calmed down with herbal tea and the steely glint in Aiba's mother's eye (she could shut anybody up, Aiba had thought with amazement, but he hadn't said anything for fear for his life), she'd begun her tale.
Apparently there had been shadows and cries in the forest, and then she'd seen something that had made the woman run screeching away from scrubbing her laundry in the river. She couldn't say what.
But it had caught Aiba's imagination and so here he was, wet leaves still sticking to his butt after he'd fallen from seeing the kitsune suddenly standing in his path.
His enthusiasm was not dampened at all.
"I hear there's a beastie in the forest," Aiba said. "Heard anything about that?"
"Huh." The kitsune scrunched up his nose, tilted his head to the side and scratched absentmindedly at the mole on his chin. "Oh, that one. Yeah, that one's a fair bit of trouble..."
Aiba felt his eyes light up. "Great! Since you know, could you lead me to it?!"
The orange tail curled around the kitsune's knees, tip waving speculatively. "I could, but will I?" A smirk played around his lips.
"If you do," Aiba said quickly, thinking that two could play at this game, "I'll kill it for you, yeah? And then it won't be any more trouble for you either, would it?"
The tail unfurled.
"Deal," the creature said. "Deal. The name's Nino, by the way." He laughed when he said it, like a large joke only known to him had occurred, and they shook on it.
Yellow sunlight filtered through the trees as they tromped through the forest along faint trails, gilding the edges of green leaves and catching on the dewdrops on the ground. It was quiet.
At least until they came to a little nook close to the bend of the river. Aiba began hearing growls and the sounds of ripping vegetation as they drew closer, and he drew his sword.
Nino cast it one look and scoffed. He waved his hand and blue flames erupted from the metal, licking with a shimmering glaze into empty air.
"Cool!" Aiba exclaimed. "I mean, wait, my sword was completely fine the way it was."
"What were you planning to do, stick it like a kebab?" Nino asked incredulously.
"Normal sword things, I suppose? Plus I can kind of talk to animals, you know? It'll be perfectly... fine... oh."
The monster had appeared from behind the trees. It had five heads and tough-looking scales, and seemed taller than three houses. Aiba gulped.
"The magic should help," Nino piped up helpfully. "Probably."
"Oh, thanks!" Aiba yelled as two heads came at him with snapping jaws. But the blue flames were leading their own way, and his sword swung true as it cleaved through the sunlight and cast deep scores into the hide of the beast.
After ten minutes or so of yelling and slashing, Aiba began considering that something was odd. There was no smell of dying beast in the air, and the vegetation seemed oddly untrampled beneath their feet.
"Nino!" Aiba called out, and as he expected there was the sensation of a thin white cloth lifting from his eyes. The image of the monster shimmered away to reveal a crumpled stone wall, heavily scarred with Aiba's sword strikes.
"Crap," Aiba said. There had been no beast at all.
Green shoots were shooting upward through the remains of the soldiers' garrison that had been built only a fortnight ago at great expense to the village, and Aiba heard the laughter of the kitsune in his ears.
"I'm far too lazy to do these things myself," Nino said, his voice echoing in the air and fading, "So thank you for doing all the work for me, hunter..." The laughing melted away to leave the clearing with the chirping of birds.
"You--!" Aiba said angrily and then he too started to laugh, quietly and then louder. It was true. What business did they have, ruining the beauty of the forest? He sheathed his sword.
"Let's play again sometime?" he called out into the emptiness. It was silent.
Softly laughter came again to his ears. Yes, let's.
And a yellow flower bloomed between his feet.