Legend of the Chezamon

Chapter 14- Intress: Bath

It was one of those times again.

The representatives soon found that chezamon were all different, all varying. Their likes, dislikes, fault, flaws, peeves, fears and objects of affection changed from Chezamon to Chezamon, as different as their fur color. One could love something as much as another loathed it. One could be friendly while another could be antisocial, except in missions. One could be humble and another could be fiery and stubborn. One could be possessive of his packmates and another could hardly care less if his packmates were devoured by Galliacs.

One could have a taste for Drakdeer meat while another could prefer the sweet flavor of Boreal Berry treats. Some preferred specific colors to others. One might love to spend time with pups and another might want to stay away from them as much as possible. One could see the delegates as outsiders and intruders while another saw this occasion as a chance to learn from the other Tribes.

Baths- yes, the Chezamon did take baths- were no different. All Chezamon; Hunters, Healers, Nobles, Fangrors and Pups alike needed them at least once every few months to clear out parasites, dust and dirt they may have gained while out in the forest. The Underground Spring Chamber, an underground cave with five or six medium-sized pools of warm, clear water, was rented out to any Chezamon of any rank who needed a bath, as it was the only water guaranteed to have warm enough temperatures for them not to catch a cold, not to mention it was completely safe from predators.

And like everything, the opinion on the inevitable bath-taking process varied from Chezamon to Chezamon. Most of the Chezamon, mostly those with the Earth or Wind element, tolerated baths. They would enter the water and relax, pouring water over their heads and ran their claws through their fur to clean them. Then they would climb out and shake themselves all over until their fur was almost dry, after which all they had to do was wait until they were completely dry.

A good few Hunters, those with the Water element, absolutely loved baths, and when they knew it was their bath time they were the first in line for occupying the limited number of springs. They just loved wallowing in warm water. They would play and splash around, making a terrible mess, dipping their heads in and out and making sure their entire body was soaked. Sometimes, they didn't realize their time had run out until they were shooed by the next Hunter in line, annoyed by the increasingly large and deep puddle the enthusiastic Hunter had made on the clean chamber floor.

Of course, on the opposite end of the spectrum, there were the Chezamon, mostly with the Fire element, that absolutely hated baths. They hated the feeling of water clogging their skin and drenching their fur, making it sticky and heavy ad unresponsive. They hated the freezing cold when they had to step out of the bath. They hated the water in general. They would fight the whole way to the bathroom, kicking and snarling and cursing and trying to run away, as their packmates would often have to drag them to the springs. Then they would hunch over miserably, animosity and loathing boiling in every last recess their minds as water took its toll on them.

Unfortunately for Rocket and the others, Kaya and Shaoran were of the latter.

But Kaya was the worst.

At the mere sliver of a thought of a mention of a bath, he was off, usually all day while hiding from his packmates and other Hunters they asked for help. On the rare and lucky occasion Rocket, Jerome, Shaoran and Toba managed to trick Kaya and tie his legs so he wouldn't run away, the red Chezamon fought as hard as he could to get away from the dreaded water. And if his packmates actually managed to get him into the Spring Chamber and into the water, Kaya did not give up; he splashed and pleaded his packmates to let him out of the pool and trying to get away. If Kaya had his way, he would never get a bath.

Unfortunately for Intress, she was caught up in the whole mess.

The red furred Chezamon had dashed by her, almost knocking her over, but he didn't care right then. He just had to get away.

"Kaya!" Rocket called out for his packmate, "Get back here!"

"No use, he's gone," Shaoran spoke, rubbing his head.

Intress couldn't understand, "Excuse me, is something wrong?"

Jerome was crawling out of their den, panting in exhaustion, "Trying to get Kaya to get a bath, that's wrong!" he whined, "Boy, when he wants to get way from it he has a damn strength that could probably overpower a Galliac!"

"A bath?"

"A long story."

Intress thought for a moment. Maybe she could help them with all of this bath issue and they would think highly of Overworlders, maybe even kiss, or lick, the ground in which they stepped on. Or at least convince them that the Overworld was the best choice of a treaty.

Siado made his way through the marketplace at the bottom of the small underground canyon, watching as the shopkeepers sold strange plants and items to passing by civilians. Most of these items were foreign, and he did not know what they were used for, but he did not wish to bother asking silly questions. He found it surprisingly easy to find his way through Underground Den, despite practically being an underground labyrinth.

A flash of red ran into him and the pair of Creatures rolled on the ground until they crashed against one of the tents, making most of the desserts in the shelves fall to the ground.

"Why don't you look where you are going?!" Siado snarled at the attacker, wiping some of the cupcakes and cakes' soft colored icings off his scales.

Kaya quickly shook the frosting off his fur, unknowingly shaking it into Siado once more, "Sorry, but it's an emergency! The others want to give me a bath and I don't want to take a bath!"

"Well, could you at least make sure you don't run into other Creatures?! I'm all stained with…" the Mipedian took a look at the frosting, colored with soft light blue, lilac and cake pink, "What were these anyway?"

"KAYA!"

The red Chezamon jumped like a cat, and soon he was in a submissive position: tail between his legs, ears flat against his skull and crouched to the ground, as if he was going to be killed.

Siado soon realized the cause of it. A Chezamon, apparently older than Kaya, was glaring down at him with moderate pistachio eyes. His fur was colored a light brilliant amber, with cake amber underbelly, jaws and paws. Brilliant Orange spots were spread across all of his back and tail, with a tinge in his ears.

"Mr. Frosice…" Kaya gulped. "Good morning… How are the twins?"

"How many times must we go through this?!" the Hunter hissed, "Can't you spend one day without crashing into my shop like this?!"

"It was an accident, I swear!"

"Oh, yeah! Like all the other twenty eighth times you said it was an accident."

Siado decided to lend the red-furred Hunter a paw, "Excuse me, Mr.… Frosice. He is telling the truth, he actually ran into me and the both of us crashed in you selves." The Mipedian stood up, "I offer you my most sincere apologies."

"You don't have to worry, Mipedian," Frosice replied, "You were just a victim as well."

Before Kaya could protest, another Chezamon, this time a female of a very light cerulean color and light crimson stripes running down her back, walked into the tent, "Frosice, dear, what was that…" her brilliant rose eyes widened, "What happened here?"

Frosice pointed at Kaya with a paw, and the female understood.

"Let me explain," Siado spoke again, "Kaya said something about a bath or something and he was looking for somewhere to hide."

Kaya smacked his forehead with his paw and his ears flattened once more. Frosice and the female exchanged looks, and a grin was drawn on their faces. The female turned to look at the Mipedian.

"Mipedian, would you mind lending us a paw?"

"Paw…?" Siado hesitated, but he guessed they said 'paw' instead of 'hand' or 'claw' because they themselves had never seen hands before. But it was the least he could do after ruining their wares.

"What do you want me to do?"

Rocket grumbled something about 'having to look for Kaya as if he was a pup' as he and Intress reunited with the other Hunters in front of the Springs. There was already a line of Hunters, Healers and other low or middle-ranked Chezamon intertwined amongst each other, waiting for their turn. All males. Intress had been explained that females bathed in a different cave to avoid 'misunderstandings'. Luckily, they had made a reservation for one of the Springs three days ago without telling Kaya, so there was one single free spring reserved for Kaya.

"Any luck?" Jerome inquired, panting.

"Nope, but the pups gave me treats for free!" Toba cheerfully declared as he took yet another sweet berry into his mouth, "You should try some!"

"Hey, you four!" the male in charge of the Springs, a Hunter with light cornflower blue (similar to Xetas's) fur, light Persian bluish gray underbelly an face and moderate blue markings shaped like water snapped, "Is Kaya coming or not? There are others who want to take a bath much more than he does!"

"Wait a second, Gazette!" Shaoran growled, "Stop rushing us? When you spend half an hour in the bathroom do I rush you?"

Gazette crossed his front legs and gave Shaoran an annoyed look. "Yes, you do."

The rest of the Hunters snickered.

"Are you looking for someone?"

The Hunters quickly twisted their heads around to see who had spoken.

What they saw nearly sent them into uncontrollable laughter.

Frosice and his mate, Buttercup, along with the Mipedian named Siado, were dragging Kaya to them; the red Hunter had his four legs tied up by a rope, but that was not what made most of the Chezamon waiting for their turn laugh. Kaya's fur was almost completely stained and dirtied with cake icing, there was not a single trace of clean fur on the Chezamon's body.

"Please, Mr. Frosice!" Kaya was pleading desperately, "I'll make it up to you, but don't give me to them!"

"That's what you said last time," Buttercup snarled, before turning to look at the group, "I believe you were looking for him."

"Yes, we were!" Rocket walked closer to the pair, "Thank you very much!"

Frosice huffed, "No problem. Now, if you'll excuse us, Buttercup and I must restore all the desserts Kaya ruined."

Intress watched as Frosice and Buttercup started walking away; the female turned to look at Siado, "Mipedian, since you were to blame for that little accident as well, the least you could do is to help us with this."

Siado nodded and walked after the pair.

Kaya gulped when his packmates set their eyes on him, "Can we talk this over?"

"No!" Rocket and Shaoran took a hold of the rope tying Kaya's legs together and started dragging the overweight Hunter to the spring cave, tainting the floor with frosting, soon joined by Jerome and Intress. Toba simply stared at them curiously.

There were already one, two or three Hunters bathing inside each of the springs, except the one reserved for Kaya. The latter had apparently accepted the fact he was going to get a bath and could no nothing about it, for he remained silent and calm all the way to the pool.

"Alright, Kaya," Jerome said, "We're going to cut those ropes, and you're going to step into the water, okay?"

Shaoran and Toba nibbled on the ropes, and Kaya's ears straightened, his pupils went to slits. Perhaps he could still pull out a getaway after all.

When he felt his legs loose, he immediately jumped to his feet and headed straight for the door…

… Unfortunately, Intress had thought he would attempt to escape one more time, and with a Power Pulse, the Kaya was back on the ground, stunned by the attack.

"Didn't see that coming," Shaoran said, staring at the stunned Hunter, then glanced at Intress, "Thanks for that. The method was quite unorthodox, but at least you prevented him from escaping."

Intress nodded, grinning, "No problem."

"Kaya!" Rocket snapped, baring his teeth as he started pushing Kaya towards the pool, "Must we go through this everytime you have to take a bath?!" his own fur was staining with the cake frosting, but he didn't mind right then.

"I hate water, and you know it!" Kaya snapped right back, his fur slicking down with indignation, fury and dread.

"I do too, but I don't make quite a scandal about it!" Shaoran replied.

The group had caught the attention of all the Hunters in the spring, and the ones waiting for their turn, Gazette included; they stared amusingly as Rocket, Shaoran and Jerome attempted to push Kaya into the pool of warm water. However, they didn't notice the puddle of water on the edge of the pool, and as they did the final attempt to push the red-furred Chezamon into the poo, they slipped.

Kaya flailed his front paws, as if trying to hover back into dry soil.

Shaoran realized what was going on, and closed his eyes shut.

Rocket and Jerome let out a scream.

Toba started to laugh.

SPLASH.

A slim figure made its way through Mist Forest, looking for somewhere to hide. Its aqua green scales gleamed dimly in the few sunlight rays filtering through the trees. It's eel-like head and face were twisted into an expression of terror, and it's lime green fins were filled with scratches. There were cuts and teeth marks all along its body, bleeding ever so slightly.

A M'arrillian Eel Soldier.

When he had been sent to explore this uncharted territory, they had not informed him the environment was so hostile. It seemed that every plant and creature in that forest wanted to kill him, but turning back was not an option. He was supposed to search for this sixth Tribe and brainwash a few Creatures to the M'arrillians' side, but this forest was very big, and he thought he was lost.

To enworse things, the predators he had encountered these days were not precisely helping. His Mind Control didn't work on any of these animals, and he had to run away everytime one of these creatures went after him.

Finally spotting somewhere to rest, the Eel-like M'arrillian flew towards a nearby cavern, resting on the rocky ground, breathing heavily and looking back at his wounds. He had come unprepared and now was paying the price. Perhaps it wouldn't hurt to sleep a little to recover from his injuries, just enough so that he could hold his own against the sixth Tribe.

Closing his eyes, the M'arrillian was soon fast asleep.

"ACHOO!" Rocket sneezed, drying the dripping mucus from his nostrils.

After the five of them fell into the pool and had to bath Kaya against his will, the Chezamon climbed out of the pool and shook the water off their fur. Unfortunately, Rocket had rushed out of the cave before his fur was completely dry, and as a result, he caught the Mist Flu.

"Sorry for getting you sick, Rocket," Kaya gave the blue-furred Hunter an apologetic glance.

"Don't talk to me!" Rocket snapped, looking away in annoyance.

"You can't blame me at all! You ran out of the cave before you were dry!"

"Even if that was an excuse, and it isn't, if you hadn't been so stubborn at ba-ah-ah ACHOO!" Rocket gave out another sneeze, "None of this would have ever happened!"

Kaya sighed frustrated.

"Rocket! Kaya!"

The two Hunters reacted to Torimaku's voice by straightening their ears and slitting their pupils. The High Muge of the Forest stepped into the den, and noticed Rocket's condition almost immediately.

"What is it, Torima-ah-ACHOO!" Rocket growled in frustration.

"I'm here to give you a mission," Torimaku simply said, "There have been sightings of a strange Creature roaming around Mist Forest. It's not a Chamil, nor a Drakdeer, nor a Galliac, it isn't like anything we have ever seen." When Rocket sneezed for the fiftieth time that day, Torimaku gave him a serene glance, "Rocket, you won't go with your current condition. Go see Sakura, she'll give you a herb tea for those sneezes."

Rocket nodded and silently walked out of the den, letting out uncontrollable sneezes. Kaya sensed it was not only about Rocket's condition.

"Xetas's pack is coming too, aren't they?" he inquired

Torimaku nodded, "Yes. The Alphas thought that, apart from Rocket's Mist Flu, his conflicts with Xetas would get in the way if they were put in the same team."

"Don't remind me…" Kaya growled, "You know, Rocket's not the only one who had a grudge against Xetas."

"That's the reason the Alphas decided to send both you and Xetas's pack. They thought it would be a perfect chance for your packs to reach a truce."

"As if. When do we part, by the way?"

"In five minutes."

"WHAT?!"

Torimaku suppressed a giggle at Kaya's reaction, "It's just that a few of the representatives from the other Tribes wanted to accompany your squads in order to familiarize with Mist Forest."

"Great, just what we needed." Kaya muttered under his breath, "Five Tribes going out for a walk in Mist Forest? It's going to be a looong day."

"There's also another detail I almost forgot to tell you," Torimaku spoke once more, this time grinning at him, "Princess Fen said she was going to stay in her chambers all day, so the Alphas have also assigned Ryuu to take a pack of Clawders and accompany you personally in order to assure the representatives' safety."

Kaya nearly choked on the sweet berries he was eating.