"But there's blood on my teeth
And it's far beyond dry"
In, out, in, out-
-one,two,three,four
Time slows in these instances and vision hyper focuses on that one single target just beyond reach. The world doesn't matter anymore-anything and everything to get that cotton tailed morsel that avoids the teeth with annoying accuracy. But the rabbit always makes the mistake first. Snow crests like the waves of the ocean around the two bodies, the air is tense like the forest awaiting the final breath of its guardian's meal. Yellow and black stared down at the rabbit, the blood on his teeth warm against the cold air he inhaled. His stomach growled, his teeth tore it to shreds satiating the hunger for now.
His head sat royally on broad shoulders. His piercing gaze was unmoving and determined, scanning the snow laden field. He knew this place; this was the place in which ghosts come to play. Even now, in the calm winter's morning, he could remember the master before him—his teacher. The wise old fox had gone too soon in his own opinion but that was how nature worked. Fox had told him that, and he never forgot it. Looking down at the remains of the white creature he'd consumed only solidified that memory, that fact.
A large paw crunched in the snow, and the form swayed back into the forest from whence it came.
It was the cackling of the intercom, the sudden jolt of the large airbus that startled her from her half-slumber. Her sudden movement caused a headphone to fall from one ear as she struggled to make sense of the words the pilot was saying to the large cabin full of passengers. The woman next to her was asleep as well, the kid to her right quietly coloring in a book. The lights were dim, but they slowly came to their painstakingly bright florescent selves.
"We will be making the descent into Tokyo within the next twenty minutes and—"
She shifted in her seat, looking around to form a mental picture of all her belongings there in the back of the place in front of her. After grabbing her passport, and other legal documents to make it easier once she was off the cramped plane, her gaze shifted to the black of night and the landscape inked in darkness with splotches of orange, yellow, white the city lights. Soon it was a giant blotch of color and light, growing closer and closer.
It hit with another jolt, the passengers leaning forward a bit as cargo could be heard shifting in the cartridges above. A safe landing thank God and she relaxed for a moment. Her body was full of excitement, of dread, of wonder, of amazement. From the moment she took her first steps off of the plane, her senses overloaded with the colorful nightlife of Tokyo. It was vastly different than her home back in the west, back in the city she'd come to love. Through crowd after crowd, she wedged her way through customs with a breeze—shockingly—and found herself waiting for luggage that seemed so difficult to identify in a sea of black suitcases. Blue eyes were so focused in fact, she missed the woman waving at her from across the way.
"Anna!" Came her name out of the rumbling voices.
She looked up then, and a smile spread on her tired lips. The older woman pushed her way through the crowd and smiled when she was finally in front of the younger girl.
"I was afraid I would miss you" The older woman grinned.
"I'm glad you caught me here," Anna responded "I presume you are Mrs.—"
"Pleas please, don't call me by such formalities." She waved a little "Hana, you may call me Hana. Or mom if you really feel like it"
Anna bowed a little "It's good to finally meet you Hana. Thank you for housing me while I complete my studies here"
"It's no trouble really. I rather miss having a full house. "Hana tuend her attention to the bags on the conveyer belt "When you find your things, myself and my daughter and her family will be waiting out by the taxi" She pointed to the exit as she spoke. "Okay?"
"Mhm!" Anna nodded.
It would be five more minutes before the young blond could fish out her own belongings from the others, and make her way to the small family waiting by the taxi on the curb. The outside was cold, the winter breeze holding salty air from the ocean.
"It's good to meet you" The pregnant woman, Hana's daughter presumably, bowed to her and Anna did the same. It was a definite change from the usual shaking hands she was so accustomed to. The man at her side had smiled and given a greeting much like the other, taking her suitcase and putting it in the trunk for her.
Once inside, she was questioned in a friendly manner about her own life back home, why she chose to study Japanese and a whole slew of other things her new host family was curious about. She answered them with a tired smile, leaving out the sketchy pars of her own life. Would these people reject her if they knew? That secret that she kept so close to her own heart that could mean the difference between life and death if anyone ever found out. It had haunted her sleep on the way over, and now that she was here it was gnawing at the back of her mind. She'd chosen this family because of their home location—it wasn't in the city like the slew of other host families but instead out in the back country. While it would be quite a trek to get to her own classes, Anna didn't mind one single bit. It was safer this way.
Slowly the lights of the city faded, one by one going out like little flames with nothing left to burn on. It was replaced by the dark of nightfall, and the smells of the wild hit her nose like a brick. It washed over her, calming the nerves she had been trying to get a grip on and she knew, as long as she kept her head down nothing bad would happen. Down bumpy roads, winding and curving around the mountains that glowed silver in the moon's light. She felt her eyes slipping shut, and in that instance it felt like time sped up and that Anna was highly grateful for. The car stopped, and suddenly she was awake and looking around as the other's got out of the car.
"Well, this is it!" Hana exclaimed with pride.
It was rather pretty, simple, elegant sitting there in the nook of frozen over trees. To the right were flat beds of what she assumed was fields. "It's beautiful"
"My mother fixed it all up herself when I was a kid"
"It was nothing really, just something to keep me busy" Hana brushed it off and motioned for Anna to follow her to the inside. "It was a place suited for my little rambunctious children at the time" She grinned, her daughter sticking out her tongue behind her mother's back. Some thing just didn't die with time.
As Hana pulled back the door, she stopped and stared in for a moment. "A-a" She blinked, her expression unreadable to those around her.
Following her gaze, Anna looked in to see a young man seated at the table. He had an indifferent look in his eye, masking something deeper. He turned and gave Hana a nod "It's good to see you again Mother"
"Ame" Hana smiled, "I didn't know you were going to stop by—no matter- it is so good to see you" She opened the door fully, allowing the others entrance now.
Anna couldn't shake this weird feeling in the pit of her stomach. Reading the movements of her new host 'mother' she could tell something was off. The tension was thick in the air and it made the hair on the back of her neck stand up. A familiar scent hit her then, faint, but there. With a brave face, she smiled and bowed in the presence of the newcomer "It's good to meet you as well" She pushed blond strands behind her ear "I suppose you are Hana's other child? Her son?"
He, Ame was it? Didn't answer. He just looked at her through wild dark hair like she was a nuisance to his very presence. He gave his sister the same glance, and Anna silently was relieved it wasn't just her. Lucky for her, Hana pulled her away from the tense room to show her where she'd be staying.
However this was the perfect chance for Yuki to talk to her brother. "Ame,"
"Yuki" He responded, glaring at the man that held her close "Souhei" his voice was full of venom, malice, hate.
"What do you think you are doing?"
"I could smell you all from miles out" He spoke "Wanted to know who was trespassing" His gaze shifted to the back room where the mumbled voices of the other two were heard.
"Doesn't mean you have to come in here and act like you want to be part of this family again"
A snarl ripped through the tensions, his teeth sharp pointing out from his lips.
"Knock it off" Souhei pushed Yuki behind him, afraid that one wrong move would cause the younger man to fly off his rational hinges and attempt to fight his sister. He was confidant under any normal circumstances Yuki could take him, but not when she was with child.
"You gonna raise that kid to be a no good city clicker like yourselves? "He spoke, relaxing back into his seat.
"—And here we are back into the main room." Hana cut in, leading the blond westerner back into where everyone had been standing.
"It's a beautiful house" Anna smiled, trying to hold back yawn.
"Thank you" Again, the elderly woman grinned. "Alright, Souhei, Yuki….Ame, It's late if you would like to stay for the night?"
"Thank you Hana" Souhei started "But I have to be back in the city for a meeting. Perhaps Yuki and I will come by for dinner tomorrow?" Yuki nodded in agreement.
"Ah, yes that would be lovely. Be careful on your trip back!"
"We will, Mother." Yuki said over her shoulder with a reassuring smile, placing her jacket back on and letting her husband guide her through the snow.
"Ame?" She looked back at her son, eyes almost longing but for what? Anna didn't know or simply couldn't tell at that specific moment.
He was silent again, looking down as he stood. "I will come back later." And he was off, leaving from the front of the house. But what was rather peculiar about it was that—unlike his sister or any sane human—he was not wearing shoes, or a jacket. In fact, all he was wearing was a light long sleeved shirt and torn up jeans.
Anna stared as he disappeared in the flurries and the darkness, curious beyond all belief. She had her own thoughts about what he was but, no—that couldn't be could it? Lucky for her again, Hana pulled her from the vast expanse that was her mind.
"I am sorry for the awkward tension" She spoke up, setting tea down on the table " It's been quite some time since I have seen all of my family in one house again" There was a sadness to her words, but Anna didn't press any farther.
"It's alright, family is as family does." She responded "Mine is equally as tense" She joked.
"Yes, I suppose all families are aren't they?" She looked down for a moment "Excuse me but, I find myself growing tired. Feel free to make yourself at home! In the morning, I will be making a trip down into the village if you'd like to come?"
"That would be wonderful, yes Ill come"
Hana nodded and excused herself to the other part of the long house. Anna took in a deep breath then, listening in closely as the light from the other room went out. As quietly as she could, Anna got up and tipped toed across the wooden floor to the back door. Wrapping fingers around it and inching it open as silently as she could, a gush of cold mountain air hit her. She smiled, and darted out into the wild.
She'd be back, but right now she needed a good old fashioned romp in the snow.