Finally! I've had this one stuck in my head ever since I read it! For those of you sho know me, you're probably mad that I haven't update my other stuff. that's because I AM STUCK! Satan, thy name is Writer's Block! ...Anyway, Cooro? Would you do the honors?
Cooro:Akari doesn't own +Anima. Mukai Natsumi-san does.
"Man, when are we going to get to a town!" Nana cried exasperatedly for about the eleventh time that day. "I want to take a bath and sleep in a bed!"
Husky and Cooro sighed. Three years of traveling had hardly lessened the 13-year-old's attitude about camping. Cooro also wanted to take a short break from the road, but he'd managed to do a little growing up, and said nothing. Husky was trying to be stubborn, but that had also lessened enough to a point where he admitted silently to himself that a hot bath certainly wouldn't hurt. Senri said nothing.
The teenagers had certainly grown in the three years since the incident with Cooro and Fly. The boys, now 14, almost reached 21-year-old Senri's shoulders in height. They'd filled out in muscle a little, due to the odd jobs they'd take and, much to his relief, Husky could no longer be mistaken for a girl. Nana, who would also be turning 14 soon, had filled out and grown up a bit, but no one really noticed, since she continued to wear loose, comfortable dresses for travel. She'd also grown taller, but still only reached the boys' noses.
Senri suddenly stopped and halfway turned around, looking back the way they'd come. Cooro noticed he'd stopped and, turning towards him, asked, "What's up Senri?", getting the attention of the other two.
"Dust…." Senri simply replied, pointing down the road. Looking, the teens did see a cloud of dust approaching pretty quickly.
"Another traveler?" Nana asked.
"If it is, then there's either a lot of them or their traveling really fast." Cooro remarked. "That's a lot of dust."
"Let's get off the road." Husky suggested. "If they are going fast, they might not see us or be able to stop."
Not five minutes after they'd gotten off to the side, the source of the dust cloud, which was almost the same color as the dirt it was kicking up, whizzed past, so fast that they only caught glimpses of it.
"I guess it was a mail-carrier," Nana said as they stepped back onto the path. "I definitely saw a messenger bag."
"Me too." Husky agreed.
"I think it was a woman. I'm almost sure I saw a long black ponytail." Cooro added. Then, seeing Senri looking at the ground, asked him what was up again.
"Hoof prints…." He replied, then resumed his occupation of staring into space.
"So I guess it was a mail-woman on a horse." Husky concluded.
"Ooh, I love horses!" Nana squealed. "Let's go! Maybe we'll catch up with her if she takes a break." She added, starting off down the path again. Cooro and Senri followed. Husky sighed again. It would be very unlikely that they'd catch ever catch up with someone going that fast. 'But at least she'll stop complaining for a while.' he thought to himself as he caught up with the others.
Hibari sighed as she sat back, leaning against a tree as she ate. It'd been a long day, and she had a slight headache from maintaining her pace all that way. Polishing off the last of her small meal, she looked over at her brownish-red letter bag she'd been carrying, and sighed again, thinking about the number of letters she had to deliver. She was on her way to the hot-spring town of Bubbly, and most of the letters were to the town's elderly residents from children and grandchildren. Then glancing at her tall black boots placed next to the bag, she groaned inwardly at the thought of getting up and continuing her day's travel.
'It'll be worth it when I get to Bubbly.' She thought, trying to motivate herself. 'I'll deliver my mail, and have enough money left over to spend a few relaxing days in the springs.' She sighed happily and flopped onto the grass, her body relaxing as she thought of the deliciously hot water and good food that was sure to come. Hibari's thoughts were fixed on hot baths as her eyes slowly closed and she slipped into sleep.
"Here she is!"
"How do you know, dummy?"
"She's got a long black ponytail, see? I told you I'd seen it when she went by."
"Fine, but keep it down already. She's obviously asleep."
"…."
"I don't see a horse anywhere. Do you think it could've run off while she was asleep?"
"Don't know. If that's the case, we should wake her up and tell her."
"I'll do it, and I think we should help her look. Nana and I could easily spot anything if it didn't get too far."
The first thing Hibari saw as she drifted slowly back to consciousness was a kid's face just inches in front of her own, blinking in surprise and saying, "Oh, she woke up."
Next thing Cooro knew, he was flat on his back, the woman pinning him to the ground and snarling, "Who are you!"
"Cooro!" two voices shouted, and suddenly Hibari found herself face to face with a formidable-looking bear claw. Backing off quickly, she looked up, and was startled for a split second to see that the claw was attached to a young man who looked about her age.
"Another Kim-un-Kur, huh? And a Bear +Anima to boot. Sorry about that. Purely instinct. I'm not used to having company, and usually anyone who shows up in my camp is dangerous."
"It's alright, Senri." The kid she'd pinned said, walking up to his friend. "I'm fine, see?" The Bear +Anima, apparently Senri, looked over at his friend, nodded, and reverted his arm to normal. The other two, who Hibari had barely registered, walked over from where they'd been standing while the other boy turned to her. "Sorry about sneaking up on you like that. My fault entirely. I'm Cooro, by the way, and this is Senri," he said, gesturing to the Kim-un-Kur, who had silvery gray hair and eyes, though one was covered by a black eye-patch, and appeared to be wearing clothing made of some sort of pelt like hers, "Husky," pointing to a boy around his age with blue-aqua eyes and hair with black pants, shirt, and shoes and a light blue cloak, "and Nana." To the only girl in the group, with dirty-blond hair reaching halfway down her shoulders, brown eyes, and wearing a loose dress of a leafy green color. Cooro himself had hair so dark brown it looked black, and his eyes were also an amber-brown color.
Hibari studied them for a minute, deciding whether to be open or closed off with them. They were all just kids, except for the one around her age, and honestly, some short-term companions would be nice. "I'm Hibari." she said, deciding to be at least somewhat open with them. "Uh, nice to meet you." She finished, slightly awkward.
She had to say, they were an odd bunch to be traveling together, just based on their reactions: Nana looked thoughtful about something, Husky seemed interminably annoyed, Senri looked like his face was stuck on 'None' in expression, and Cooro seemed kinda dense, plowing unabashedly into conversation about his likes and dislikes about random stuff. They all appeared harmless enough, though, so she invited them to sit down while she rebuilt her fire with branches she'd collected and snapped earlier. Night was already setting in, so it would be pointless for her to travel any more that day. She decided to pull her boots back on anyway, just in case.
"Ah! I just remembered! Don't you have a horse, Ms. Hibari? We need to find it!" Nana said suddenly.
"A horse? How do you figure that?" Hibari asked.
"You left hoof prints on the road when you passed us earlier."
"Oh, that. No need to worry, I don't have a horse. I'm strictly on my own when I travel. Much less to worry about."
"Then where'd the hoof prints come from?" Husky asked. Hibari hesitated. She never told anyone anything about herself truthfully. The less people knew about her, the safer she was.
"It's ok, Hibari. I already know." Cooro said suddenly, startling her. Had he seen her? Instantly on her a guard, she asked carefully,
"How do you know anything about me?"
"I can see whether a person is or not. I don't know what it is, but to me it looks like they glow. Like I said, it's fine. We're all +Anima, too."
"Cooro!" Husky and Nana cried, before Nana went, "Wait, too? Are you a +Anima, Hibari?"
Hibari sighed. 'So that's it. I've heard of some individuals who can see the residual power that comes from being a +Anima. Alright then, might as well tell them. Or better yet, I think I'll show them, see what kind of reactions I can get.' She grinned mischievously, and stood up. Concentrating, she felt the familiar tingling spreading from her mark, and down her legs.
"Woah!" the 14-year-olds cried. Senri said nothing, but his eyes widened as Hibari' lower body became that of a horse's entire body, giving her the appearance of a Centaur. The horse portion of her extended from beneath the hem of her deerskin dress, the hair taking on the same color as the pelt. Like her boots, the horse-hair darkened from the light tan yellow to black, right down to the hooves. Also, in a reminiscence of her ponytail, there was a strip of black trailing down the center of her spine down to her tail. If she'd been a full-fledged horse, she would've been a Buckskin.
"Ooh." Cooro said, and Hibari had to stifle a laugh. This kid was so innocent.
"Well, here's mine, but you guys can just tell me yours if you want."
"I'll show you! My +Anima's great!" Cooro said, jumping up. In just a few seconds, he had a wingspan of at least six feet, and his arms had also grown feathers, all of which were jet-black.
"A Crow +Anima, huh? Not bad, and I have to say, I admire the fact that you're so proud of your abilities." Hibari commented. Nana stood up, and Hibari noticed that she looked a little uncomfortable. "You don't have to show me, you know." She said gently.
"I'm fine. I'm trying to be stronger about things about me that I can't change." Nana replied as she extended her own wings, these being of a bat, and her ears grew significantly larger. Wordlessly, Senri reactivated his bear-arm, though Hibari had a feeling he always just did whatever the rest of the group was doing. Husky didn't bother getting up or anything.
"I'll just tell you. I'm a Fish +Anima, so I need water to transform. My form is similar to yours, involving most of my body, so I already know how tiring it is to maintain that shape."
"You're right about that." Hibari replied as the three of them reverted. "That's really the main reason I fell asleep. I'm guessing you're also like me where you'd rather not have your abilities, but have accepted them and decided to put them to use?"
Wordlessly he nodded, and Hibari started unpacking food for a small dinner for all of them. "Judging from the fact that none of you guys has any sort of bag, I'm guessing you eat as you go?" looking at them, she couldn't help chuckling. Husky and Senri didn't seem to care what they were eating, but Cooro was devouring an apple like the world was going to end, and Nana looked like she might cry when she was handed some bread. "How about this: We're coming up on the town of Bubbly, and should get their by late afternoon tomorrow. We're going the same way, so I'll travel with you till we get there."