DISCLAIMER : I DO NOT OWN KAMIGAMI NO ASOBI IN ANYWAY SHAPE OR FORM
Once the family was safe on the road again heading to their camping destination, things seemed to be a little less tense. Everyone was actually smiling and it felt like they were now on a regular family trip, nothing special about it or anything. Even Hades managed to make a crack a small smile.
"Hey Mom, did we bring any strawberry daifuku for Dad?" Umeko asked at one point.
"Yes I did, but try not to let the others know," Yui said, "I want your dad to enjoy some and not have someone like Loki ruin them for him."
"Right," Umeko said, "you've probably never really did camping huh Dad, all those years ago?" Umeko asked.
"Never in my department," Hades said.
"Do you like doing it now?" Umeko asked.
Hades looked at Yui with a smile, "I like the company that comes with it, like you and your mother."
"I'm gald," Yui said gently rubbing his leg.
By the time the family came to the campsite and found the area they have rented for the duration, they found theother gods already there with their tents set up and everything.
"Hey, you made it! Apollo cheered as the family all piled out of the car.
"What took you so long?" Balder asked.
"Like I said, we had business back at the temple," Yui explained.
"I don't see why you bothered," Takeru pointed out, "you have me and Bro here. You could have just asked us."
"It's good to keep with tradition though," Tsukito said, "Thank you for caring on our traditions, Yui."
"Well, it was how I was raised," Yui said.
Hades meanwhile was busy starting to pull things out of the car, including the tents.
"Needs some help Hades? Huh? Would you like some help?" Apollo asked joining him.
"We'll see," Hades said as he took his two tents over to a vacant spot and pulled one out from his bag.
"You're not going to seriously put it up the mortal way are you?" Loki asked as he swung from a hammock near his tent. Dionysus was also resting in a hammock taking a
"Yes, why wouldn't I?" Hades asked, "you never know if a mortal might come by."
"Not if you do it quick enough," Loki taunted.
"I'll get it," Hades insisted, getting to work.
"In the meantime, with Little Fae here, maybe it's time we got started," Apollo said.
"Good idea," Balder said.
"Ah, I just pored myself a new glass of wine," Dionysus moaned.
"Come on let's get going!" Apollo kept insisting.
"What are you going to be doing exactly?" Yui asked, cautious.
"Sorry Weed, that's teacher-student confidentiality," Takeru said with a smirk, as he kneeled down next to Umeko and motioned for her to climb on his back. The little girl did so quickly.
"There's no such thing as that," Yui said.
"There is now," Loki teased in her ear. Yui jumped away from him in surprise.
"Don't worry Yui, your daughter will be perfectly safe with us," Balder assured her.
"Right, let's get going!" Apollo shouted as he marched off into the woods, with everyone else behind him, with Umeko still riding on Takeru's back.
"Bye Mom, Bye Dad," she called out, waving at them.
"Make sure nothing happens to her!" Hades called out after the group.
"Don't worry, she'll be fine," Takeru called back.
"I mean it!" Hades insisted, "I will make you pay if something happens to her!"
"I'm sure it'll be alright," Yui said as she came and stood next to him. She looked around the camping grounds and realized something. "Hey, we're all alone again, just the two of us," she pointed out.
Hades looked around, realizing that too. "Maybe, I can use a little powers to quickly get these tents up."
Umeko didn't say much as she road on Takeru's back, walking through the forest. She looked around at the different trees in curiosity. She couldn't help but wonder what was out there.
"Oh this looks like a good spot," Apollo suddenly said as they came to a clearing with a big stone in the middle.
"What are going to do here?" Umeko asked as Takeru put her down on rock.
"You're going to stay here and we're going to go off," Apollo started to explain.
"Then we're going to send something to you that's going to trigger an emotion in you and use your powers on it," Balder took over explaining.
"Like what?" Umeko asked.
"Anything and everything, so be prepared kid," Takeru said.
"It won't be anything dangerous though, we promise," Dionysus assured her, partting her head.
"Alright let's go," Apollo said as everyone started to head out, deeper into the woods. Umeko watched them go, before she realized Tsukito there.
"Umeko, do you still remember what different emotions affect your powers?" He asked looking over his notes.
"I think so," Umeko said, "happiness, sadness and relaxation effect my environment. Anger, fear, love and amusement create things."
"Good, make sure you remember that," Tsukito said.
"Bro come on," Takeru called out.
"Good luck Umeko," Tsukito said as he followed after the others.
Umeko stayed on her rock for what seemed like a long time, waiting for something to happen.
She wasn't sure how long it had been since her mentors had left her behind, but she was starting to get a little restless.
"Come on guys, where are you?" She asked out loud at one point as she laid down on her rock.
Suddenly she hear a sound coming from among the trees, making her quickly sit back up.
"Who's there?" She called out. Nothing responded. "Guys?" We're they starting now?
Umeko slowly got off her rock and looked around, taking a deep breath. She looked down at her hand and a small dagger appeared.
'I hope it's real enough that I can defend myself if need be,' she thought. Suddenly, a rustle of leaves was heard and next thing Umeko knew, something came bounding into the clearing. Umeko gasped as a baby deer came stumbling out.
"Awe," she cooed, kneeling down, "hi, where did you come from?"
To her surprise, the fawn walked right up to her, and let her pet it.
"Where's your mommy? Are you lost?" Umeko asked.
The fawn looked around as if confused.
"Hmm, I wonder if you're a part of my training," Umeko said as she too looked around.
Suddenly both Umeko and the fawn heard some more rustling, along with a low growl.
"Hey, come on, let's find your mom real fast. I can find my way back here later real fast," Umeko said as she headed towards a different direction she heard the growl from.
However the fawn looked reluctant to follow.
"Are you scared to go back in there?" Umeko asked. She tried concentrating on what emotion she was feeling, fear, and a bit of love over finding the fawn's mother. She focused on those two emotions and soon a grown female deer appeared. The fawn quickly ran to it.
"That's is, that's it," Umeko said as she did her best to keep the image strong and help lead the fawn into the forest.
As soon as they were gone, some more resting was heard, getting louder, along with growling.
"Okay, according to my calculations, we've made Umeko wait long enough that we can easily catch her off gaurd," Tsukito said.
"So we're finally ready to play our pranks?" Loki asked amused.
"They're not pranks, they're serious lessons Loki," Apollo said, "alright, what do we do first?"
"I say, we try a good emotion, like love," Balder eagerly volunteer, "I think a sweet bird with a song should make her feel very loved." He mad a whistle and nearly all manner of birds appeared around him, "go to Umeko and make sure she feels love around you.," he said.
The birds all quickly took off.
"What could she make feeling love over birds?" Takeru asked.
"Maybe she'll make a dress like a fairy tale princess," Balder said.
"Oh, that would be cute," we'll have to see if we can get a picture of it," said Apollo.
Suddenly the birds all came flying back, tweeting urgently.
"What do you mean you can't find Umeko?!" Balder asked.
"WHAT?!" shouted the other gods.
"They say she's not at her the place we left her!" Balder said.
"Umeko!" Apollo shouted as he ran back to the clearing.
"Hey, wait up!" Takeru called out as he and everyone else ran after him. When they got to the clearing, the found it completely empty.
Umeko?! Umeko, where are you?! Where are you Umeko?!" Apollo called out.
"We shouldn't have left her alone! She's only a child after all!" Balder said.
"You'd think the kid would have enough common sense to stay put when she's told! Takeru muttered mad.
"Where could have gone? And wht?" Dionysus asked.
"Hey guys," Thor suddenly said, as he stood near another part of the clearing.
"Did you find a hint of where she went?" Loki asked.
"Possibly," Thor said, "but, more to the point, does this almost look like a bear paw print to you?"
"How do you find a mother deer anyway?" Umeko asked herself as she and the baby deer kept walking through the woods, still keeping the pretend adult deer visible.
Every now and then she could hear some more rustling, only something told her it wasn't a deer making the noise.
She also noticed it was getting a little dark. The whole failure made her start to feel sad, to the point some rain came down. The baby tried to move under a tree to get out of it.
"Sorry, I," Umeko tried to say, only to realize something, " hey you can feel the rain too? That's great, isn't it?!"
The deer didn't seemed to be amused.
"Well, kind of," Umeko said. She took a deep to relax and the rain stopped. She sat down next to the fawn.
"Let's try to think of something happy so we can make this place more pretty, and maybe we can draw your mother here," she said.
Suddenly the rustling started to get louder and another growl was heard.
"What is that?!" Umeko asked as she stood up quickly. She could suddenly see a dark figure coming towards her and the deer, until finally, a big bear came into view.
"Oh no!" Umeko said, "just stay calm Umeko, just stay calm!"
However, she quickly noticed the bear didn't seem interested in her, it looked more interested in the fawn than her.
"You leave him alone!" Umeko shouted, jumping in front of the baby.
The bear growled at her in response and kept coming at her.
"I mean it, back off!" Umeko tried to warn, however the bear wouldn't stop.
"I mean it, stop it!" Umeko finally shouted as a rock appeared in her hand that she threw at the bear, actually hitting it in the head. The bear looked surprised at the sudden attack. He quickly recovered and started to run at Umeko and the fawn.
"I said stop it!" Umeko shouted again. This time a spear appeared in her hand and she threw it at the bear, grazing it. The bear reacted in pain, and Umeko could see a little bit of blood on the ground.
"Did I do that?" Umeko asked. The minute she did, both blood, the spear and the wound all dissappeared. The bear recovered and again cared at the two small ones.
"No!" Umeko screamed. Right as she did, an even bigger, tougher looking bear appeared. It stood on its hign legs and roared at the other bear. It immediately back off and turned around, running away.
"Yeah, and don't come back!" Umeko shouted after him. She looked back at her fawn. To her surprise it was shivering.
"It's okay, I'm sorry," Umeko said as she tried petting it. She made some flowers appear and tried to coaxed the deer down. The little thing quickly came after them.
"That's it, come on," Umeko said, happy to see the deer more relaxed, "come on, we still have to find your mother and I still need to get back before everyone gets worried, including my parents."
