Shirayukihime and The Lost Fox

Chapter 13: Forgetting Something?

Akira POV

"Mount Koto?" Asked Zen. The caravan rocked slightly as the horses trudged on. Sitting besides Shirayuki we were on our way to the docks, where Shirayuki and I will be taking a ship. "Yes," Shirayuki confirmed.

"That's the mountain beyond the ocean," Zen said, looking off into the distance. He turns to her, looking at her curiously. "What precisely are you looking for?"

Without looking up from the notebook that she was writing in, Shirayuki replied, "Many medicinal herbs are native to the area. I wanna stock up and learn more about medicine, so the town pharmacist told be of a few promising places, noting this one as especially good. Though he said not to go there alone, so I'm bringing Akira with me. Besides, he already agreed to come."

He shoots me a glance, and turns back to Shirayuki, who is still writing things down. "Why do you want to learn more? Aren't you already an herbalist?" He asks. She looks up from her notebook. "I am, but I'll only ever get better. Besides, I want to know everything." Shirayuki looks out over the scenery just as the port comes into view. I look out as well, studying the distant ships in the bay that were most likely unloading goods to sell.

I began to think about where that damn fox armlet went. Last time I saw it, it was when that bastard of a guard kidnapped me. I didn't stay to try to find it. But I guess even without it I still have the reminder of my wish, still sitting on my arm in the shape of a tattoo. I half expected Yuuto just to show up at some point, just because he wants to see me struggle. I was brought out of my thoughts when I heard a childish voice saying, "It's red. Mommy, Mommy, it bright red."

I turn around and see a young boy sitting in the seat across from us pointing at Shirayuki. "That lady's hair is bright red. Why is it like that?" He questions the woman next to him. She shushes him. "Stop bothering her, now be quiet and eat your food." She scolds lightly. The young woman looks over at our party apologetically.

As her eyes find mine she freezes for a split second, eyes widening slightly. She quickly looks away, seemingly trying to avoid being rude. Her son sees her looking and follows her eye sight to me. He openly stares, wide eyed and gaping mouth. "Mommy, Mommy! That man's eyes are different colors!"

I look at him shocked by the outburst. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Zen smirking at my reaction. "His eye is golden! Like a coin!" The kid exclaims. His shouts start attracting the attention of the other passengers. They all began looking at him curiously, following his finger that led to me. Murmurs flowed in the background.

I look away from the staring eyes, unnerved by the attention. I look at Zen, who is no longer smirking playfully like before. Instead, his usually relaxed smile is replaced by a tight frown. His ocean blue eyes cut to my own, narrowing slightly. I look away from him, an unnamed shame flushing through my system. I pull slightly at my silver-white hair to cover my right eye.

'What is it that I am ashamed of, anyway?' I ponder in my thoughts. The mother calmed her child and began apologizing to us for the unnecessary attention. I smile at her, but say nothing as my mind wasn't exactly present in the situation.

When we finally arrived at the docks, we began walking along the planks. "Akira," Zen said seriously. I look away from the sight of sailors loading and unloading goods from ships and look at him questionably. Shirayuki turns to listen. "You seemed uncomfortable with all the attention on you like that." He states, leaving it as a hidden question. He wanted an explanation.

I sigh. "Well, you could probably figure out that I'm not from here," I say. Zen nods his head. "Where I'm from, different eye color is uncommon but not so rare that you only see it once in a lifetime or however rare it is in this place. Not so many people had different colored eyes like me, and it was well known about. We call it heterochromia."

"Heterochromia?" Shirayuki echoes. I nod my head in confirmation. "Right. Of course, I was bullied and made fun of because of it, but I was never affected much by it. The people of my country thought that it was pretty cool to see someone with heterochromia, but whenever they saw someone with it, they continued on with their daily lives, not stopping to stare for a moment."

"Really? Your country was that different?" Shirayuki asks. Zen narrows his eyes at me. "And what country are you from, pray tell?" I avert my gaze, nervous. What, I can't tell them that I'm from another dimension, can I? They wouldn't believe me. "E-eh, i-it's a very long way from here. You've probably never heard of it!" I quickly say. I chuckle nervously when Zen gives me a hard stare. Shirayuki looks at me curiously.

A loud bell toll rings out, calling for final boarding on our ship. Zen releases me from his stare with a huff. "You know," he starts. "At some point, you're gonna have to tell us about yourself." He glances at me from the side as he escorts us to the ship. I wave my hand dismissively. "I'll tell you at some point," I say, "but only when I myself am ready to face my own truths."

I smile at him as he looks at me, shocked. He shakes his head, as if clearing his thoughts, then smiled back at me. "Alright. You win." He puts his hands up in mock defeat, giving me that easy smile of his. "Tell us whenever you feel comfortable, okay? But get on that ship before I toss you on board. You still have a job to do!" I nod my head and give him a grin before running up the plank to joint Shirayuki on board.

As the ship began to pull out, people shouted and waved to their friends and family aboard the ship. Shirayuki and I also wave back at Zen, who smiled at us and waved back. With my sight, I see him turn to a pair of men who were discussing something. A menacing aura overtook his figure as he unsheathed his sword just halfway, but just enough to scare the two men away. I smirk at the sight. I look out over the water peacefully before a thought rammed into my head.

'Ah, I forgot to look for the mountain monkey...'