Doodle Champion Island Journeys!

20.

A frog was on the bank of the stream that descended from the top of the bamboo hill, holding a leaf umbrella to cover his sensitive skin from the bullets of raindrops. His brown eyes were following the unusually violent flow of the water body with great concern. The rain had caused the water level to surge without control. Thankfully the stream was rather short on the surface before reaching the sea so he didn't have to worry about any flooding area rather than this one. However, he needed to find a way to save the bridge that was being drowned below those waves for it lead to an important spot that the Tengu favored. He had already chanted a spell to shield that place, but he wasn't sure how long it would be able to stand. Froggy von Schwarz, as he was called, wasn't the best sorcerer around. Despite the family's magic origin, none of the frogs were able to perform what was deemed worthy of the title. The only trait that was kept and inherited for generations was their ability to predict the weather.

His bubble-like shield bounced dangerously and would pop nay moment given. Where was that sorceress when he needed her the most? For all he knew she had disappeared since the day before the Championship and never came back, left behind a tough request for Wataru Karasu, causing him to vanish soon after. The sorceress's powerful magic or the young Karasu's practical knowledge, just one of the two should be good to solve this problem, but now he had neither.

That's when he felt slight changes in the air patterns around him. Inaris, who bore the soul of the winds, tended to have that impact on their surroundings without knowing it. Froggy saw the Inari cousins walking to him with a cat he hadn't seen before, maybe one of the athletes joining their team. If that so, then they must be leading her to the Extreme Challenge over the Tengu's second table on the other side of the river, which he was trying to protect. He wasn't a sports expert, so he couldn't tell what they saw in this young cat, and it didn't matter. He needed to announce indefinite delay of Extreme Challenges and get Ume's help. The mascot's wind powers were quite decent, if not as powerful as a deity.

"You want to cross? Sorry, with all this rain the water had completely covered the bridge!" he said as soon as they came.

"The rainwater WHAT!?" Kitsune yelled.

"The rain had gotten bigger since morning, Ume, Kitsune," Froggy put his hand under the water, "And this stream is obviously not big enough to lead all that water into the sea, so the tides rose."

"Have you tried any altering spells?" Ume asked, her posture calm unlike her impatient cousin.

"I've gathered quite a group to try, but the clouds kept gathering as if there was some kind of magnet. I've also asked the Tengu to blow the clouds away but it also failed, terribly."

"The Tengu is really uncomfortable with the rain going on," Lucky spoke, "The weather is off the mood, so he cannot play well or won't host a game at all! And he said that it can also destroy his 'other table's, wherever that is."

"The first table is near the dojo, on top of the hill, you already know that?" Froggy asked, though more like stated and continued before Lucky's nod, "The second is on the other side of the river, see? It's where you're taking your Extreme Challenge."

"That's where you're wrong, Froggy," Kitsune snickered, "Lucky isn't here for the any challenges. She's here to see you!"

"Hi, I'm Lucky the Cat, an athlete of Team Yellow," Lucky introduced herself, "You see, I've been admiring magic and sorcerer since forever, but back at my place it's just a fantasy. So when I heard that Champion Island was filled with deities and magical creatures, and then heard that there was a whole family of weather-telling sorcerers, and that you're one of them, it's like a dream come true! I just cannot help asking Kitsune to give me a tour," Lucky said, slightly blushing and playing with the rim of her scarf. She knew that she made a fool out of herself confessing such things.