Ch7 Amahiko

Fei came to his senses only around noon. But the exhausting dream had taken away almost all of his strength and left way too much space for the frustrating feeling of confusion. Was he dead? He was sure he'd died on that day, yet the lightheadedness was disturbing him so much it was really hard to determine whether he lived or died. The ghostly pain still lingered in his body, occasionally preventing him from moving his limbs or even taking a deeper breath. A suspicious effect.

At the same time, there was something castaways kept murmuring about when they arrived to Oki as ghosts. Once someone dies, they will feel the last drops of happiness rushing through their vein without any concern and pain? He also felt something similar. Gently swaying on the surface of something soft, accompanied by the wish to sleep for all eternity or even longer. He was about to drift back into his deep slumber when the sharp wind, bringing the scent of the sea reached his face, ruffling the fur on his cheeks, shaking Fei out of the comforting illusion. After taking in the smell of the sea he sluggishly opened his eyes only to see unfamiliar sea of red around him. Probably spider lilies, but there was something irreal about them so he dropped this idea rather fast.

He felt sick already so he didn't need thought that could worsen the chruning negative wave in his heart. Furthermore, the events of the past merged into a weird never ending dream, mixing up places and faces with each other. He remembered the girl and the pain caused by the sea, what kept him on the island for years, but in the midst of pain he has completely forgot about many events what happened after that. Only pieces of feelings remained from that day along with the haunting pain the wind caused him.

There was another person too. Less friendly than the first two. Nearly not as sympathetic. Fei was angry at him for some reason he could've sworn that they shouted at each other too, or was he making that part up? Never mind, it doesn't matter anymore.

"You're awake," said a strange voice above his head. Fei blinked, not understanding the sudden change in his situation. He seemed to remember that voice before. "Are you feeling better now?"

The dead are not asked questions before they cross that river, they don't have to 'feel better', and no one wants them to feel alive again. They're robbed of every emotion that once made them alive. Fei curiously tried to look around, only to determine that he was far from being dead and what once looked like swaying spider lilies transformed into simple velvet cloth, obediently waving in the as the wind was caught in it. He would cry from the wave of relief what washed over his soul, but instead only rested his head on the soft velvet.

Even his surrounding contributed a lot to make him feel drowsy. The smell reminded him of a strange mixture of summer flowers and early autumn, creating a surprisingly soothing aroma. However Fei couldn't let the temptation get the best of him yet as his whereabouts were still unknown. For the first thorough glance, he was carried by someone, which could only suggest that he'd somehow met another person. Going further on this chain of thoughts he arrived to the conclusion that revealing his identity might be dangerous. If this person was only has as malicious as the girl he'd met, it's better if they believe that he is only a common white rabbit.

Of course this opened a new path for more problems. Truth to be told, he'd never seen how normal hares behave, not even in their natural habitat because most of Oki's rabbits were youkais like him. He wanted to answer to the question with act, but was that a really good idea? Did rabbits comprehend that they were in danger? After some pondering, he decided it was better if he stayed silent, trying to imitate something what could have been a rabbit. But in reality it was the most unconvincing performance since the opening of a cheap bunraku[1] play with no puppets. The second scene required some chewing on the soft fabric, but the stage was pulled out of under his legs before he could notice it.

"I'm completely aware of the fact that you can speak, so finish this embarrassing game." said Alpha with a tint of irritation in his voice as he tried to separate Fei from the sleeve of his kimono. The rabbit was persistent, swiftly chewing on the clothes harder when the traveller wanted to prevent him from damaging the red velvet.

When he realized that the animal permanently stuck there ignoring its growls Alpha raised his arm, along with the rabbit, to his eye level. His piercing look would've been enough to kill someone. "I know that you're a youkai, so quit this useless struggling."

This seemed to do the trick as the squirming animal loosened up a little and obediently let go of Alpha's sleeves when his tiny legs reached the sand. But instead of running, Fei just sat there looking at the traveller with his tine jade coloured eyes. He was hurt by the fact that his act failed to fool someone so mean-looking.

But when the traveller turned his back to him, Fei came to his senses and let out a startled yelp. "Eh? But how?" he faced with the captor again. The wounds have been healed more or less, but the scars they've left are still ached due to healing faster than his brain could follow.

The traveller could only sigh.

"A few days ago, we've met on the beach near the spring. If you remember, you didn't want to heed my advice and even yelled at me for trying to help you out of the mess."

Suspicion rose within Fei as he carefully observed the traveller. His grey eyes were filled with neutral feelings; it was hard to determine whether he was a friendly ally or some heartless human.

"So you've decided to eat me instead?" he looked into the traveller's eyes, testing his motives in his own way. "Why did you bring me with you exactly? I can't say I'm not glad you did, yet it's way too strange, don't you think?"

Fei began to stir again, ears twitching nervously.

"First of all, I would never eat something as unappetizing as you. If I had this intention I would've broke your spine to keep you quiet until the moment I get hungry." he replied sourly. "I do not deny that I had such goals upon seeing you for the first time, but I would not kill, most importantly would not ever eat a youkai."

Silence fell over them for a moment, as if both of them been lost in their own thoughts. Fei's wounds seemed to look better, than when Alpha's discovered him sitting in the sand, on the other hand Fei tried to understand that a rabbit youkai might have some privileges in the foodchain what prevents them from being eaten.

"Anyway... My name is Fei," the boy introduced himself in the end, trying to save the situation. He tried to mutter this name so quietly that it followed the etiquette, but couldn't be heard by anyone else but Alpha. Even if he was far away from Oki he felt uncomfortable about people finding out about his escape, not knowing who he should trust in the first place.

"I don't think I've asked such question."

"That's correct, but I thought you might as well call me by my name," said Fei under his breath, then he decided to explain his sudden change of topic. "And... they say if you want to know someone's name you have to introduce yourself. I think you would've said that if I asked your name. or at least Wandaba often mentioned something like this."

Alpha was genuinely surprised by the rabbit's behaviour. He was well-educated, even though his accent and way of speaking was too rural the rabbit seemed to be aware of the etiquette of the city. Fate has brought him together with a very interesting, companion indeed.

"I have many names, too many to count," he began as they arrived to a small ravine. On their right side, the rocky hillside disappeared to make room for some small woodland, this way the water found its way more easily to the sea in the rainy autumn. The traveller clumsily tried to lift the bottom of his kimono, fearing the water and mud that would ruin the royal fabric. Since the rabbit was still weak, once again, he had to carry him in his arms.

The ungraceful stunt of jumping from one dry place to another ended at the other side of the ravine. Fei was silent until that moment. He didn't want them to fall into the water.

"Which is your favourite?" he started once they had sand under their feet.

"I don't have anything like that, they all sound the same."

"I'm sure you have something you like more than the others."

"I'm usually called Alpha and I tend to use that," he said to himself. Alpha was a fine name with the right amount of scientific background. The brightest star of a constellation, the starry eyed cat explained to him once. But truth to eb told, he didn't really care about names. After all, their travels will come to an end soon. Fei can't be as foolish to think that he will drag him though the forest, all the way to Inaba.

"No real name?"

What? So Alpha was not a 'normal' name? Houhou then? Feng Huang? Seeing how the rabbit's name sounded so unfamiliar he might as well use his Chinese name. But he always hated those names from the pit of his heart. They were strictly used at ceremonies if the humans needed something or felt like praying to him, hoping for his generosity. In contrast of these, Alpha had nothing what could've pulled it down. The name was simple, easy to remember and writing it down was child's play. No matter how much he thought about it, Alpha was a normal name. "Depends on what counts normal for you. Though in my opinion, names are irrelevant flags in life."

"That's not true! It's better to call someone on his own name, instead of sticking mocking nicks to him!" countered Fei almost immediately. Before he was exiled the islanders often called him monster, but sarcastic poems were widely known among children.

"You're weird. A simple youkai, yet you're holding onto your name as if your life depended on it."

"From the two of us, you're the weirdest," he growled back in an annoyed tone. "If you lose your name too, what will stay yours? Have you never thoughts of this? I'm a youkai; I have no goods like humans do; no home, nothing that I could stock up in my non-existent house. The only treasure I have is my name, given by my mother!"

But Alpha didn't react to his desperate explanation.

Using his human form he strolled next to Alpha in silence, carefully inspecting his soft features. At a closer look, the man's face lacked any kind of ugliness even though he acted like an eccentric old man On the contrary, he seemed to be around Fei's age.

"Could you stop looking at me like this? If you have a problem you can say it to my face, I won't bite," he spoke at last, making Fei jump to the question he was eager to ask.

"Y-Yeah! It's just, I've been wondering... Alpha," he tried out the unfamiliar name. "Where are we going and how come that you brought me with you?"

Good question. Alpha had to admit, the hare, Fei had a good head on his shoulders what questioned illogical actions. The wounds the youkai was covered with were almost completely gone, only light-pink remnants reminded him of their bloody encounter. From this point the youkai could've continued his journey alone.

"There is a Chinese saying; If you can't kill something, then make sure that it will live on in peace."

Unfortunately, misfortune seemed to be on his side again, because Taiyou once again led him to a different path. No matter how hard he tried to leave Fei after he just quoted the previous proverb, what speaks against such acts, the familiar green locks always appeared next to him a few seconds later. Those jade coloured eyes still had some doubts in them, but aside from that he looked at Alpha in awe.

"Where is this Chinese you speak of?" he asked curiously, after Alpha gave up leaving him. The poor god was inches away from freedom, especially since Fei was healthy enough to 'live on', but then the rabbit's attention was completely averted from their previous topic.

"It's a country on the other side of the sea," he explained.

"On the other side? Is it farther than Oki?"

"Much farther."

Fei glanced at the place where his home was supposed to be, but now the island had merged into the sea leaving him with an empty feeling in his chest. His home was almost unreachable in his current state, and on top of that he had no one who would support him on this unknown land. The thought that emerged in his mind was not something to praise, but for him, the smallest company could've been lifesaving.

"Alpha, if I may ask, where are you going exactly?" he tried to gather his remaining willpower, but the question became nothing more than a weak plea for help, that went ignored by Alpha as he continued his way to the mountains. "Alpha, say something!"

"Why do you care about my goal so much? I know no reason to continue my travels with you," he replied sternly.

"The thing is... The things is, that I thought we could go together if we're going to the same way... H-hey, Alpha!"

The traveller clad in red tried to ignore the second shadow on the sand, by not hearing its reasoning. At first, fastening his pace seemed to be a good way to get rid of the rabbit, but after Fei shook off his initial shock, the rabbit youkai was once again walking next to him in a comfortable pace, sometimes sending stray glances at him.

"I'm going to Inaba," Alpha suddenly stopped and looked at Fei. They boy's eyes shone with happiness, indicating that he also intends to go in the same direction, which meant that he won't leave Alpha alone for the rest of the week. "But if you listen to a good advice, you won't be in my way, you won't be demanding and you'll stay silent. Otherwise, I'll leave you at the first intersection."

The youkai only nodded happily, his two horsetails falling forward as if they were floppy rabbit ears.

Inaba. Who cares about Alpha's stuck-up rules when he can visit Inaba? Perhaps he couldn't find the best travelling companion, but at least he was on the right tracks again! There was a way out if this seemingly bottomless pit. Furthermore, the more he thought about it he realized that Alpha was not even as horrible and unbearable as he sounded. It was a fact, that speaking with him was difficult, but somehow they'll survive each other's company.

He had high hopes for that.

From that moment, the youkai behaved like a completely different person. Yesterday's sullen and resentful rabbit finally broke into a smile and his mood seemed to be much more cheerful. On the other hand Alpha should've known what were the consequences if you save someone because it seemed he had successfully fell into the trap what had been written about so many times in ancient stories.

Never feed the fish, you want to eat.

Fei's voice dragged him out of his thoughts, when the youth tried to start a conversation again;

"Hey, Alpha. Why do you want to visit Inaba?" the youkai stepped next to him.

"Why are you interested in it so much?" Alpha countered angrily, while he clumsily tried to get rid of the sand what his shoes collected on the shore.

"Mere curiosity, I guess. It wouldn't be nice if in the end it turns out that you're only keeping me here as a source for food. So, what's your goal?"

"First of all, I wouldn't eat you even if my life depended on it," said the traveller with an irritated huff. His eyes could easily kill a man. "Troubles have appeared in Inaba and those who live there don't intend to do anything about it. Of course I was the only one who was willing to take up the task."

The truth was that while he had a mission, Alpha just wanted to escape from home. At first, Taiyou could've begged him all he wanted, Alpha wasn't willing to do anything about Inaba and he tried to sweep the problem under the carpet to avoid his responsibilities. But last week, Lord Hysteria decided to hide in a cave when one of his subjects hurt his feelings with some petty remark. Everyone had to go there just to lure him out (like usually), so Alpha decided it was the best time to dust off that old case of Inaba and under the veil of night he'd left Takamagahara.

Then he succeeded to meet Beta and few days later Fei followed. Two disasters in one week.

"Aaaand, what exactly are you going to do there? If I may ask," Fei tried to be as polite as possible, but it seemed Alpha wasn't touched by his tricks like Wandaba, who usually upon hearing some honey-covered words not only forgave him, but praised Fei.

The conservation stopped again as an Alpha deemed Fei's question too nosy and refused to answer him.

::::: :::::

It didn't take long before they arrived to the place where the beach meets a road that leads to a mountain road. The shabby road ran into a stone pier, what ended deed in the sea, inviting ships from almost any size.

The only sight that didn't fit the picture was a certain boy with tanned skin and black hair, that stood up as if a strong wind constantly ruffled it. He was sitting at the base of the pier staring into the water with a mesmerized look on his face. His outfit made Alpha shiver because even though they arrived to the middle of autumn recently the boy only wore some ragged trousers. His upper body was naked.

The person waved, greeting the couple of travellers then humming an unknown fisherman song, he continued fishing.

He doesn't need any help, thank god. Alpha thought, but in the next moment Fei was already sitting next to the boy, watching him with great interest. But of course. Of course he attracted Fei to himself! But as he was about to become upset he realized Fei's directness might be useful for their future encounters.

"I'm helping my friends" the boy answered chuckling playfully, then pulled the rotten piece of wood closer to himself. That indicated of a fish got caught by the hook. – Ya know, the crown prince Shindou ran away from home for some reason so when I wanted to go home through the eastern gate, the guards told me 'No you can't go through here'. So that is that. Now I'm stuck. But since the locals kept saying that there are no fish here, we decided to try our luck. Hayami takes care of the problems, tho."

The royal plural surprised Fei a little, and after the buy just called the sea on a name unknown to him. It was weird, but he was used to people like him. After all, sailors tended to have the world of their own.

A few metres away, Alpha was standing at the mile post, signalling with a series of soft coughts that he would like to continue their journey, yet the youkai continued the conversation.

"As far as I know, the Yofune Nushi scares every fish away from this place," he said out loud.

"Oh come on, and Hayami can't swim either!" the boy just laughed. "We will catch something, just wait!"

Fei wanted to ask more about this unknown person named Hayami and Hamano's further plans, but Alpha's next call was obviously the last one, and from the two options he wanted to choose the more important one, before he disappears in the forest.

He said farewell to the eternal optimist and strolled after Alpha in a comfortable pace, sometimes looked back at Hamano. Wordlessly watching as the boy's form got smaller and smaller, until the bushes started to cover the view. But before he completely disappeared Fei saw a second person walking out of the water, hopping down next to Hamano.

Probably Hayami.

A/N: So, this is it. The 7th chapter after an extremely long hiatus. Amahiko is a certain type of merman who is related to Amabie, who comes out of the water to tell the people about harvest. In the story Hayami is a type of merman, with human features, but instead of the common half-fish-half human form, he looks like a human but with gills and fins.

1: Bunraku is a form of traditional Japanese puppet theatre.

I started writing this chapter a year ago, but I kept losing my will to finish it. I tried my best to reignite the flames tho so I hope it's good and all.