Chapter 6: Observations
Shizuru heard a stifled cry, first taking it as a dream. She began drifting off once more, but a second, quieter cry accompanied the first. She jerked awake. "Natsuki?" Quickly raising herself on her elbows, she rubbed her eyes and blinked a few times, sight meeting darkness. The cap over the cave's open ceiling blocked any moonlight from flooding in. Natsuki, being able to see through the dark, had no problem navigating through. Shizuru, however, could not to save her life.
She felt the rocky ground of the cave beneath the thin padding, the bed she slept in laid out on the ground near the fire pit. She and Natsuki had begun alternating between sleeping on the floor and sleeping in the alcove with the softer bedding until Natsuki could manage to craft up a better bed for Shizuru. It was the fair thing they could think of instead of making one person sleep on the ground. We really need to figure out a better alternative, she thought, twisting around in bed and feeling her back pop. She let out an out of character groan. Although the wolf did not mind sleeping on the floor, the knight could only handle so much until her back began hurting.
The brunette squinted, eyes adjusting to the darkness, and stared a few feet off where the wolf should have been sleeping. Shizuru, however, did not see Natsuki. Wanting to double check, she reached around her 'bed', fingers hopelessly groping around. Finally, the texture of wood reached her fingertips and she took the torch beside her. She lit it and the fire roared to life, instantly illuminating the cave and casting an array of shadows along the uneven rocky surface. Turning the torch towards the other bed, Shizuru lifted a brow. No Natsuki. She instantly worried of her whereabouts.
She did not know why she was so concerned the younger girl was missing. She could just be taking a stroll. Or using the bathroom. The bathroom would make sense. The past five nights she had stayed with Natsuki, Shizuru noticed she was a rather heavy sleeper that gave no regards to the noises around her. She learned that the hard way, having to use the bathroom herself one night. That night Shizuru crashed through most of the objects in the cave—fire pit, weapon rack, table, bucket, and all—which contradicted the usual gracefulness that people so heavily associated with her. But, hey, she was only human after all. Despite the noise, the wolf still did not wake up. In the morning, though, they made the decision to give Shizuru a torch so the mess could be avoided again.
The knight smiled slightly remembering the event a few nights ago and then it disappeared recalling the small Orphan that lurked outside two nights prior. Natsuki did not sleep through the attack, but rather woke up before it ever happened. The creature escaped, leaving the two on alert ever since. So perhaps Natsuki only slept through the events that proved harmless to her and could feel anything dangerous approaching—a sixth sense if you will, sleeping in such a hazardous area.
Remembering the orphan, Shizuru rose to her feet and grabbed her belt attached with a knife. She walked to the cave entrance, carefully watching her step along the way. She needed to make sure Natsuki was alright. Surely the Orphan would be no difficult task for someone as strong as Natsuki, but it could have a surprise up its sleeve or more Orphans could appear. Their unpredictability and sheer numbers usually made them more dangerous than the more advanced or larger Orphans. Brushing aside the cloth at the entrance, Shizuru looked to the ground and paused, taking a step back.
The chopped logs and sticks from the rack laid scattered all over the ground, as well as the axe. The brunette eyed it with caution and continued along the short corridor. The full moonlight shined over the outside sparring ground of Natsuki's dwelling, allowing Shizuru to see nothing precarious was at its end. Quietly, Shizuru stepped over the scattered logs and sticks and made it to the end of the corridor. A dark figure suddenly appeared from the side and she jumped. The figure jumped as well and covered her eyes, "Oi! That's bright get it out of my face!"
"Ara, Natsuki!" Shizuru pulled back the torch, literally just inches away from Natsuki's face and apologized. She put a hand to a chest, the sudden jump scare sending her heart racing. They are too fast! "Are you alright?"
"I will be if my eyebrows are still here!" Natsuki lifted a brow, startled herself by the knight's sudden appearance. She rubbed a hand over forehead. Good. Eyebrows still there. The wolf then shrugged and let her shoulders fall, "Otherwise, why wouldn't I be?" The emerald eyes flicked to the side and then back to Shizuru. She was dragging a foot around in the loose dirt. Fidgeting too much.
Shizuru noticed, but hardly gave any regard to it at first and just motioned with her head to the mess behind her, "I just saw this and was quite concerned,"
Natsuki looked at the mess and waved it off, "I heard the noise earlier and woke up. I went to check on it, but I am sure it was just an animal. It is nothing dangerous. And since you ask a lot of questions: I went to pee afterwards." Her hands came up to rest behind her head, her expression exhausted. Shizuru did ask a lot of questions to the point the bluenette could predict what would be asked next. She didn't blame Shizuru for the load of questions—call it 'human curiosity'—but sometimes it was just too much, "We'll clean it up tomorrow."
She began moving her foot again, lightly kicking around the dirt and the noise finally drew Shizuru's attention for a brief moment. She peered down and saw the dirty bare feet, but then… Ara, is that blood? Shizuru glanced from Natsuki's face to her foot. Blood speckled her from toe to shin and Shizuru did not know what to make of it. Surely if the moon were not full, Shizuru would have missed the detail in the dim light entirely, "Did Natsuki go after it? There is blood on your feet."
Natsuki looked down at her dirt and blood covered feet and gave an exasperated groan, "I must have stepped on someone's kill! Well at least it was something dead and not animal sh—"
"Hai, hai, I get it," The knight interrupted with a cough, the image of stepping on animal droppings barefooted almost gag worthy to her. She turned around and began walking back inside, "It's still the middle of the night, shall we go back in?"
Natsuki smirked and, holding back a chuckle, followed her in.
Hours had passed and the two were already out and about well before the sun was halfway through the sky. Shizuru smiled feeling both heat and wind. The constant warmth she received from the sun was something Artai would hardly get for another month or two. The wind blew through her damp hair and skin covered in sweat, cooling her down as she attacked the invisible opponent in front of her. She breathed in and out rhythmically to the powerful movements of her arms and legs, adding to the track marks in Natsuki's practice ground in front of the cave entrance.
Natsuki sat perched on top of the cave entrance, watching with great interest as she snacked on a handful of berries. The style was different from what she was used to seeing. Slow, gradual, even meditative, but oddly having an appearance of power in a subtle way. Like looking at and using weapons, she enjoyed observing fights and individual fighting styles. She wondered how Shizuru's style would fare against her own. Not to mention it strangely added more… gracefulness or elegance to the brunette's image. Whereas the Kuga's way of fighting was rather brutal and straightforward. She was quite in awe of the human's beauty she hosted, "Oi, weirdo." She jumped from her perch and landed firmly in the dirt a few feet from Shizuru.
Shizuru paused from her drills and gave Natsuki her full attention, all too used to being called a weirdo already. Though she personally wished to hear her name more often, as well, "Yes, Natsuki?" She asked, lifting the bottom of her shirt to wipe the sweat off her forehead. The younger girl's eyes widened slightly at the sight and the same flustered expression Shizuru loved so much appeared. Natsuki averted her gaze as if she were intruding by seeing the little skin that was just exposed. Ara, why do I tease her so? It's just adorable how her face changes color like that! She, however, decided to stop antagonizing her host and let the shirt slowly fall past the sweaty skin covering her toned abdomen.
Bringing a hand to her head, Natsuki gathered herself and the color disappeared from her cheeks once more, "Are you really able to defeat someone like that? I mean, you're moving quite slow. It doesn't look much like fighting at all." She questioned curiously. Certainly it wasn't as intense as when she trained herself, but she wanted to understand the principle behind Shizuru's slow movements, "Can you go against me?"
The brunette tilted her head, "Ara, but Natsuki is already much stronger by default. I don't think it would matter how skilled I am." She watched as Natsuki removed her dark blue and black trimmed vest.
That day was one of the rare occasions that Natsuki wore a proper shirt rather than a sleeveless vest and bra. It made sense to Shizuru, seeing countless transformations from various wolves since she came, that they needed as loose clothing as possible to prevent tearing. So vests and baggy trousers were a common sight, complete with either personal design, beads, thread, or silver accessories. That, Shizuru found rather ironic. Human mythology told of werewolves having an affliction to silver, but Natsuki laughed until she could not breathe hearing the tales. It was a rather embarrassing recollection, but they were learning from one another, separating myth from fact.
For her kind, Natsuki was rather modest and would refuse to reduce herself to anything more than a bra and trousers. Shizuru had seen many women roam around completely topless, maybe with a sash draped over their shoulder, but still! She could never get over it, even after the initial shock. And their beauty. What was with every shapeshifter turning out to be oddly good-looking? Attractive even.
Shizuru was interrupted from her internal musings by the sound of rustling cloth. After throwing the vest aside, Natsuki pulled her shirt over her head fell into a stance, hands closed into fists guarding her face and feet spread. Shizuru's eyes were drawn to biceps and then muscular abdomen. Ara, this is bad. I need to stop doing this, but I can't help it. Natsuki is a rather beautiful girl… Shizuru thought, far too distracted at the moment to observe Natsuki's stance.
"Oi, don't worry about our strength imbalance, just come at me." Natsuki said simply, watching as Shizuru snapped out of her thoughts for what Natsuki noticed was the millionth time that day and fell into her own stance as well, complying with a nod.
"As you wish, Natsuki." Shizuru then fell silent and her eyes did not leave Natsuki's. Diana squawked, George whinnied nearby, and some of the village sounds broke through the trees, but otherwise the air around them was rather quiet. Shizuru stood as still as a statue and, seeing the brunette eye her up and down, Natsuki understood she wanted her to make the first move.
Not seeing the harm in moving first since she wanted to figure out Shizuru's fighting style, Natsuki accepted the silent gesture. She slowly moved forward towards Shizuru, keeping an eye on any movement. But there was none. She tested out a swift jab and then another, careful to lessen the force for Shizuru's sake. Shizuru deflected both, seeming to move aside Natsuki's fists easily, rather than actually block. Natsuki nearly stumbled after the second jab from her own momentum, as if a wave that was Shizuru's palms passed her arms by and redirected her. Her eyebrow twitched. I know I was going to hold back, but… Natsuki moved again.
Briefly she disappeared and Shizuru blinked, I thought she was going to hold back?! The shapeshifters were far too fast and far too strong, a disadvantage Shizuru had to deal with. Something of an electric shock ran through the back of her body and the brunette instantly turned to meet Natsuki's burning emerald eyes. She did hold back. Slightly. It was only enough for Shizuru to see her, eyes trained enough to pick up the speed the wolf moved at. Natsuki leaned in looking to strike with her right elbow, her other arm carefully guarding her face and side. Shizuru's palms met her arm.
Oof.
Natsuki fell with a thud and blinked. The wolf was sprawled out on her stomach unable to move with Shizuru pinning her from on top, holding her arms firmly behind her back. Technically she could throw her off with sheer strength alone, but she was supposed to be holding back. She tried to throw Shizuru off. What..? She felt completely numb in the arms and shoulders, "Ara, I honestly wasn't expecting to succeed. Natsuki is too fast." Shizuru's voice was lower for some reason, her mouth right beside Natsuki's ear. The wolf shivered. Shizuru smiled slightly at the reaction. She was pleased to display some strength to the wolf, rather than her general human weakness in comparison to the shapeshifters.
"Okay, you officially scare me now. How are you doing this?" Natsuki asked, trying to sound as calm as possible. She began to feel a tingling in her arms and shoulders as Shizuru loosened her grip. Eventually feeling returned and relief washed over her. Shizuru got off Natsuki's back and the two stood. A glimmer was in the green eyes, "Scary but amazing! Can you teach me?"
"It's simply something I was taught while in training," The absolute joy and interest Natsuki displayed amused Shizuru immensely. Just like a cute child. Shizuru nodded at the request, "I can start teaching you if you teach me your way. I feel if you didn't hold back it'd be rather brutal." She smiled, truly glad she would never be at the receiving end of Natsuki's wrath. Hopefully.
"We like to use our elbows, knees, and shins to inflict damage. It is pretty brutal sometimes," Natsuki crossed her arms, looked to the side in thought. She then met the crimson eyes she still found so weirdly fascinating on the human. The color was especially rare for her kind as well. She then suggested, "Say, the spring equinox festival is coming up in three weeks. It's a weeklong celebration and we hold rope fist fights here for sport. Maybe you should enter with me?"
Shizuru blinked, "Ara, but surely your weakest member is much stronger than the strongest human. I would not last in the arena with your people." She said, completely baffled Natsuki would ask her to go against people far above her league.
Natsuki instantly shook her head, "We have humans who fight separately as well."
The brunette looked at her, brow raised.
"There are humans that live in the forest. Although very, and I mean very, few. They have been accepted and are welcome here like anyone else." Natsuki had personally not met one until Shizuru, but knew about the few humans living off the forest in similar ways they did. They thankfully minded their business like anyone else and would often just disappear after gatherings such as the festival. She had never seen them fight in the festival tourneys since she was always competing herself. Though, from what she heard they were extremely skilled. Shizuru seemed on that level. "They'll be here around the festival time so you should really test your skills because that was amazing."
"Ara, is that so?" Shizuru was intrigued to hear a few humans were living alongside the Kagean residents. She wondered what had to be done to be accepted into the place they were, "I will do it, then," She smiled. It would give her something to do, sharpen her competitive edge, keep her from rusting, and give her the opportunity to learn more from Natsuki. Maybe she would also have the opportunity to learn from the human residents of the Kagean as well. Realizing she had yet to get a full demonstration of the fighting art Shizuru smiled and reminded Natsuki, "Will you show me now?"
Natsuki nodded, "Great. Now if we train you well, maybe you'll win! Or maybe you can win now," the younger girl shrugged and then looked around the area of her sparring ground. Dirt speckled her chest and trousers from falling and she brushed it off, "If I'm going to show you, I should probably use someone else. I don't really want to hurt you…" She mumbled shyly.
"Aw, Natsuki cares!" Shizuru clasped her hands together with a smile, causing the girl to blush a little more.
"Yeah, right, weirdo! I just can't have you dying or getting hurt under my watch! That'd make me a bad host," Natsuki scoffed, arms crossed. She went back to thinking about how to demonstrate their style to Shizuru. Maybe find someone in the village with some time? She felt bad for pulling time out of someone's day for that. Perhaps someone at the arena would be practicing themselves?
Seeing Natsuki had retreated into her thoughts once more, Shizuru felt a slight pain in her chest, Ara, just a host? So I guess I was mistaken about being friends? She sighed and tried to throw it in the back of her mind. Natsuki did say she would give Shizuru a chance. All the things she said the second day Shizuru was there must have meant they were friends. She did not know why Natsuki's words stung so, knowing well that was how the young wolf typically acted all the time with her. She looked up, Natsuki's grumbling pulling her out of thought.
Aoi suddenly appeared from the treeline, a package cradled in her arms. Natsuki had seen her without even looking behind and perked up, calling out with an unintentionally loud voice, "Aoi!"
Natsuki's voice startled her and she jumped slightly, "H—Hi? Long time no s—"
The bluenette spun around, her face and pose almost comedic as she held out a fist towards a confused Aoi, "Fight me!"
The blue-eyed brunette lifted a brow, nearly letting the package slip from her hands, "Ha?"