Firebird's Song Chapter Fourteen: A Deed Repaid
At first, everything was still darkness for the girl. She blinked once, and could almost see shadows in the darkness. She blinked again, and twin lights appeared. One more blink, and she could see the color of the lights. They were the same beautiful yellow-green as the fields around her childhood village. She had sneaked away so many times just to lie in the comforting grass, content that she didn't have to be good enough to do that. One last slow blink and her husband's face came clearly into focus. The twin lights were his eyes, wide with fear. His face was just as she pictured it, having felt it many times. But his fur wasn't like she expected it to be.
She knew it was soft and silky, and she had always pictured it to be a dark pearly gray. But Baron's fur was an orange color that just bordered on being gold, and the bottom part of his face was a subtle cream color, except for the orange that underlined each eye. She had known that he preferred to dress in a crisp suit, but enjoyed seeing the light gray of his outfit, complete with a crimson vest and navy bow tie. Now she understood his strange fascination with the top hat he let her feel a few times; it had to go perfectly with his outfit. A cane wouldn't hurt, either.
"You have got to be kidding." Haru's voice was low and flat. Over her shoulder, Baron could see Unmar gloating, hardly waiting for her rebuke. He focused on his wife again, afraid to hear what she was about to say, since she looked kind of angry.
"This is what you've been sweating over for years?" She raised one hand to his cheek and stroked his cheek lovingly. He stared at her, stunned.
"Yes. Why aren't you disgusted?"
She scoffed.
"Baron, we've been married for nearly a year; don't you think that if I was going to get disgusted, it would have happened by now?" She stood on her tiptoes to kiss him softly. "You could never be ugly to me, and I think you look cool anyway." If she wasn't already married to him, she'd feel guilty for checking him out like this. He continued to stare at her as a blinding smile took over his face.
"You're serious?"
She laughed at him before kissing his face again.
"You know I can't lie worth fish crackers."
His lips managed to find hers, and the village stared in shock and disgust as the woman voluntarily kissed the cat creature while he was still pinned to the tavern wall. None were more stunned than Unmar, who was certain that the girl would at least jump away in shock. His eyes became riddled with lightning.
"Are you aware he isn't named Baron?"
Annoyed with the interruption, the pregnant woman turned to face him. The enchanter was a little disturbed by her eyes, which somehow felt familiar.
"Of course I'm aware-"
Her husband interrupted her.
"Actually it is. I had it changed before we got married so the vows would be legitimate."
She looked at him again, her eyes full of love.
"Wow, you wanted to marry me enough to change your name?"
His sheepish grin was all the answer he needed. Unmar pounced while he still could.
"His real name's King Humbert von Gikkingen of Alon."
The villagers were stunned. This cat-man a king?
Haru blinked, and craned her head back to her husband.
"Humbert?"
He winced.
"I was never fond of the name, anyway."
She smiled at him.
"I think I'll keep calling you Baron. Was the other part correct?"
He lowered his head.
"Yes. Are you happy, Unmar? Your spell will never be broken now."
The magician shrugged; a small smile returning.
"It's not like you would have lived long enough anyway."
Haru placed herself squarely in front of her husband and faced the true monster. Her voice was calm and controlled.
"Are you still determined to kill my husband and child?"
Unmar leered at her.
"Yes, but I'm not all that certain I want to return you to the samurai-" he was cut off when a shot of sapphire flame hit him square in the jaw. He cried out in pain, and tried to focus his magic on healing, not realizing how or what just happened. Everyone else had shifted their gaze to Haru, who looked as surprised as they, with one arm extended toward the magician.
"That's strange. It's supposed to take at least eight more generations to reach that shade of blue. Oh well; part of the family legend must have been lost over the centuries." She put her hands together and created a dark blue ball made of fire and threw it at the flailing magician. It unwound like a ball of yarn and wrapped Unmar up like a mummy as it slowly consumed his flesh. He screamed, staring at a perfectly calm Haru. Her eyes now had a bluish sheen, reminding him of another victim's eyes.
'The Yoshioka brat?!'
"You already took one family from me, but I can stop you from taking my second." Her face took on a look of severe concentration, and the yarn thread expanded and turned the magician into a pillar of fire. "You may have fixed the damage you did to my eyes, but I will not let anyone harm my loved ones again." She concentrated harder.
"This is for Hasho and Nicole-Naoko."
Even centuries after Haru's death, people would talk about how the mountain night was lit up by the blue light of the magician's funeral pyre, and how his screams can still be heard echoing in the right places. As the flames consumed the wicked man, Baron was released from the wall, and a loud cracking split the slave shackle from the dark crow's leg.
The orange cat managed to catch his wife before she fell to the ground, exhausted. He held her slightly shaking body, stroking her hair. He smiled softly.
"I thought you said Hasho Yoshioka had a little boy."
Haru shifted uncomfortably.
"I gave you the story everyone else knew. Papa made me cross-dress so no one would know the truth. He was convinced that human-born girls couldn't be fire elementals, and my birthmark's the only reason he didn't accuse Mama of cheating on him. My real name's Haruhi so no one would guess that I was a girl, but Mama and I liked Haru better." She weakly held onto him. "I'm going to pass out now."
He gently picked her up.
"Feel free. You earned it." He barely finished his sentence when she went out like a light, still clutching her little wooden flute. Before turning to walk back to their tiny cottage, the Alonian King looked back at the village friends that he and his queen had made. They stepped back slightly, scared of him and his wife. He smiled sadly, knowing that they were going to move after the baby was born anyway. As he walked the distance back, a dark shadow followed him.
"I wish to express my gratitude to your wife."
Baron looked up to see the crow.
"I take it that you were an unwilling servant?"
"Yes, I and my mate were. Will you permit me to address her when she awakes?"
The orange cat smiled.
"Of course."
Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
It was many hours later when a familiar scratching sound came from the cottage door. Baron opened it, and a familiar fat cat waddled in.
"Hey, Baron! I'm thinking mackerel-"
The orange cat cut him off.
"It's over, Muta. Haru knows who I am."
The white cat stopped in his tracks, sad that the blackmailing was done.
"Does that mean your kid's born? Because you still look like a cat to me."
Baron sighed and shut the door, glad that he didn't have to cover the windows of the house anymore.
"Unmar found us and told her."
The white cat cocked his head to one side, confused.
"Then why aren't you dead?"
The dapper cat smiled proudly.
"Haru burned him. He won't be bothering anyone for a while."
A feathery shadow appeared in an open window, and flew in to land on a chair.
"I brought Haru some mulberries." He dropped them from his beak and onto the table before staring at Muta. "Baron, is that a cat or a pig?"
The orange cat struggled to contain his mirth as the white cat hissed and laid his ears back.
"I think I'm in the mood for some chicken!"
"Well, you'll have to go find one, because I'm a crow."
Baron cut them off from the inevitable fight. His voice was a forced whisper.
"If you two want to fight, go outside, because Haru is still sleeping."
"No I'm not."