「The Cousin」

Chapter 8

Waiting, that's all they were doing. Waiting to arrive at the Academy. Waiting for the greatest battle of all.

Mako sat in between Hoshi and Ryuko. She examined the faces of both girls, and saw the most serious expressions. She looked around and saw that everyone had that solemn expression, except everytime Inumuta let his eyes wander to the Girl of Spirits, the look would soften, until he looked away.

"How did you get all those scars, Hoshi-chan?" Mako exclaimed, catching everyone's attention.

They all look up at the girl, who gives a soft smile to her friend, and drags her fingers across the scars on her arms, legs and face. A bite mark and scratches on her left arm. Scratches on her right arm. Scratches on her legs. A claw mark over her eye. The scars underneath her piercings, bite marks.

"These are what connects me to my Spirits. It's what binds me to them."

Everyone started walking towards the three, becoming curious. Inumuta closed his laptop and sat down in front of her, looking at her with interest.

"They attacked me with the intention to scare me off, but it wasn't until they realized that what they were doing to me did not affect me like it would a normal human." Hoshi continued.

"Did they not realize who you are?" Mako asked.

"Not at first. I don't know what made them realize, but the scars they left were odd. My skin had turned a dark color, almost as if I had dyed it. Scars like mine are one of the markings of those in tune with Spirits."

"Who did you find first?" Nonon coughed, trying to hide the excited tone in her voice. "Not that I care, or anything."

"Are we actually asking this at a time like this?" Tsumugu asks. Ignoring him, Hoshi answers Nonon's question.

"Chikyuu. Guardian of the East."

A seven year old girl stumbles around a magical forest, in the search of something, anything. She's been alone for too long, but there is still so much forest. Would she ever escape?

She watches as glowing bunnies run past her and jump over cracks in the ground. It was such a usual sight. Spirits were everywhere, after all. Seeing all the fleeting animals was so familiar, but she hadn't seen any predators, it worried her a bit. What was out there?

She froze as she heard the chatter of Spirits. They did talk, but it was such a rare thing to hear. She listened carefully to the birds flying overhead.

"Chikyuu is moving into Mizu's territory." One bird cawed.

"What's that bear trying to do? Get herself killed? She only has a certain portion of the forest she owns. Moving onto another Guardian's territory is trespassing." The other bird replied. "Sora will be furious."

"Shh. She's coming this way." The first bird caws.

The young girl feels warm air down the back of her neck, making the hairs stand up, as she turned around. Craning her neck, she looked up at the glowing green bear that towered over her. She staggered back, completely shocked.

The bear growled before pouncing on her. The young girl held up her arm, and the bear bit into it. Baring her teeth, the girl hissed in pain, but didn't strike. Spirits are sacred.

The bear clawed at her arms, blood dribbling down the girl's arms. She tried to remain calm and not lash out at the magical creature. Her eyes flickering magenta and violet, as she locked eyes with the bear.

The bear immediately released her arm, and bowed before her. The bite mark and scratches closed, but left thick lines behind.

"What odd scars." The girl mumbled to herself, before looking at the bear. "Do you know if there are any other people like me in this forest? I haven't eaten anything but berries for the past two years."