"So you really killed them all that fast?" the professor queries, unable to hide his surprise. "That was barely an hour."
The group sits quietly at a heavy wooden table in the farmer's kitchen. The wood was roughed from use, though Mayumi suspected that at one point it had been cleanly painted. There were shelves, also wood, haphazardly stuck onto the wall in every-which area, seemingly random and added as needed. Clay pots holding water, strong-smelling juice, and nothing at all were settled among these shelves with baskets of food to create an aroma that Mayumi would have found pleasant if she wasn't so hungry. It was the bread cooking in the oven, though, that really set her stomach to rumbling. She glances between her teammates. Pixie is seated between her and Gabriel and has an arm draped over each of their shoulders, while Randy is out of her reach and slouching in a chair, partially paying attention.
"Of course Professor, if there was anything in that field when we were there, it sure as hell is dead. I would have brought back more bones, but he just wanted that there skull," Pixie explains roughly, nodding to the skull that sat on the table like a centerpiece. By now it had cooled and there was no flesh left clinging to the bones, even if the faint smell of death still clung to it.
"Well-" the professor starts.
"Well we'll just have to thank you!" the farmer exclaims, rushing forwards to extend a thick hand to Pixie. "I can't tell ya how happy we are here, just elated, that those there Grimm'r takin' care of!" he says. He reminds Mayumi an awfully lot of a pig with his round, squashed face, big hands, and voice that rose like a squeal.
"Of course, that's just what we do," Pixie says through a wrinkled lip that she's just barely able to mold into a smile. The man pays no heed to Pixie's apparent dislike and moves through the rest of the team giving them mighty slaps on their backs and shaking their hands enthusiastically.
"Well, how long'll you be in town? Surely you'll be here for the big 'ole party that we be havin'. Now that the Grimm are gone, we're gonna be celebrating and celebrating! You'll be here for that, won't ya?"
"Yes, yes of course. In fact, I think that they're going to go get ready right about now," Dimitri interjects, motioning for the students to stand. They eagerly follow suit, Mayumi wiping the sweat the man's handshake had left on her hands onto her shorts. With a sharp whistle, Dimitri leads them from the small, dusty kitchen and into the outside. The farmer follows and waves to them as they go.
Once they have left the small farm behind them Pixie groans loudly, dramatically swooning the air.
"I swear! Some people don't know a thing about personal hygiene!" she exclaims. Dimitri sends her a hard look to which she sticks out her tongue.
"That is no way to talk about someone who's paying you, Pixie. You have to learn to be nice to your clients. He gave you the opportunity to come and exterminate the Grimm here, you 'ought to be respectful," Dimitri quietly scolds.
"Whatever, you can't tell me he wasn't an absolute mess," Pixie says lazily.
Dimitri doesn't respond and Pixie snickers. The group travels onward down a tree-lined path that stretches between them and the main town. The road winds like a snake, weaving it's dark back between stumps and bushes to create a hard and unnatural barrier. Behind Mayumi, Gabriel was muttering curses under his breath in a thin and windy manner as vines snagged on his ankles.
"Pick your feet up," Pixie says, as she's hearing Gabriel's complaints just the same as Mayumi.
"I am!"
"If you were, ya wouldn't be tripping on yourself. Seriously, don't they have vines in Atlas?" she snaps. She cocks her head like a bird to better see Gabriel with a snicker.
"As a matter of fact, they do not! There is ice and cold and snow. No vines!" he responds tightly. He trudges forward and soon each of his steps are angry stomps, knees arcing high into the air. He looks absolutely ridiculous to Mayumi with his high steps giving him the appearance of a stork wading through high water, spindly legs and all.
"You look stupid," Pixie teases.
"I am picking my feet up!"
"Pick them up less, sweetheart. Or just, watch the ground so you know where all the vines are. You look stupid," she offers. There's a thin smile on Dimitri's lips, a light in his eyes that tells Mayumi he's enjoying their company.
The banter between Pixie and Gabriel continues until Gabriel finally figures out how to walk in the weeds. Without the arguing they fall into silence until they reach town. Once there, the bustle of life washes over them. It's noon and the town streets are full of people meandering through the streets. Their voices rise sharply and strike through the air like sparrows. Up and down, twisting and turning like the little birds. Mayumi feels a smile, almost of its own volition, creep onto her face.
"Are you ready for a party, baby doll?" Pixie says with a tight squeeze of Mayumi's shoulders. With that hot breath down her neck and beading on her shoulder like dew, Mayumi nods.
"Oh yes, Pixie. I can't wait!" she says cheerfully.
~Scene Break~
When the group starts out from the Inn later that night Mayumi can't help but feel her heart flutter. Above their heads a dying sun casts the darkening sky in pale violets and oranges. The colors appear to be thickly applied streaks of paint dripping from the tips of a horse-haired brush. The sun looks like a water-colored egg, the edges blurred as they bleed into the pale colors of the surrounding sky. Mayumi's breath catches in her throat, though a hand on her shoulder brings her back and awakens her lungs so that she can breathe again.
"It sure is pretty, ain't it?" Pixie says.
"It's beautiful!" Mayumi gasps. They spend a few moments staring up at the sky, allowing the colors to reflect across their skins and the lenses of their eyes. They do not linger for too long, however, and soon they move on further into the village where the sounds were too enticing to ignore. People were shouting and hollering in voices pinched with contagious joy. The smell of pork roasting over an open fire filled the village and overpowered the smell of manure and chopped hay, to which Mayumi was grateful. All around her was a comforting warmth that seeped into all of her senses, from the pores of her skin to the delicate surface of her eardrums and the sensitive regions of her nose. It was a truly comforting warmth that snuck into one's core and settled there, like a heavy stone.
"What's that smell?"
"Pig!" Pixie chirps in a sharp response to Gabriel. She places a hand on the alluring curve of her hip and grins mischievously.
"Yeah, I read about this once. When there's a Grimm killed in little villages like this, they usually find some animal that looks like the Grimm and slaughter it for a feast. Like, they'll kill a wolf or a dog after a beowolf is killed, or in this case a pig for a boarbatusk," Randy adds. Gabriel's eyes widen with shock and he covers his mouth as though he's holding back a gag.
"They kill dogs?" he asks, bewildered.
"Well… I don't know if this village doe-"
"What does it matter if they do, sweetheart? Meat is meat! People are so weird about that sometimes. Doesn't matter what it looks like before it's killed if it tastes good, now does it?"
"I'd beg to differ," Gabriel snaps crossly.
Pixie rolls her eyes and the subject is dropped just in time for them to pass by a booth selling beaded bracelets. The beads are a polished wood that gleams pale in the low light. When Mayumi looks at them with her eyes squinted she can pretend they are the same color as the sunset casting light and shadows down onto them. Pixie's slender hand reaches over her and grabs one of them, squinting as she brings the bracelet under scrutiny.
"What kind of wood are these?" she asks in a stern tone.
"Birch," the shopkeeper responds softly. Before them is a tiny woman with a permanent squint and a tall bundle of hair haphazardly held up onto her head with a fish net. Despite her soft disposition, the lines creasing her face and hands told a harsher story and the gleam in her eyes held them to a respectful silence. She gestures airily to the other assembled bracelets, her breath a rough wheeze.
"There is also oak. Maple. Hickory. I have a few made from osso," she murmurs in a low warble.
"Osso?" Randy asks, eyeing up the different bracelets.
"Grim bones," Mayumi explains in a hushed whisper.
"Well, we'll take four made from those Grimm bones, then. Are those painted?"
"Mmhm, red and black. Some of my best efforts," the old woman responds. She turns around and disappears further into her booth as a colorful embroidered curtain falls across her back. After some shuffling from within she reappears with the gleaming white bracelets. The delicate designs are reminiscent of a Grimm's curved markings and the gleaming red paint creates the illusion of eyes staring up from the surface.
"They're gorgeous!" Pixie squeals.
"I'm glad you think so," the woman muses with a thin smile. Her lips are cracked and have the worn appearance of leather. With a pinching of her tired cheeks her smile broadens and she extends a hand holding the bracelets. "That'll be 2,000 lien."
"Of course, ya really should charge more. Only 500 lien a piece? That's real cheap for Grimm bones. Those ain't what you'd call easy to obtain," Pixie says.
"You'd know, little huntress, wouldn't you?" the old woman quips back as Pixie hands over several thin polymer notes to the woman, who takes them eagerly and drops the bracelets into the smooth surface of Pixie's palm.
"That I would," Pixie says with a wink. With that the group turns away to walk deeper into the festival.
Over the next few hours the group travels throughout several more booths, though none of the rest have nearly as memorable hosts as the booth selling bracelets. Pixie buys up much more than necessary, snagging frivolous jewelry made from brightly colored beads and blown glass. A necklace with a precious stone stained pink that hangs on a pale silver chain is her favorite and she frequently holds it up to the sunlight to watch it shimmer in the sunset's colors. They eat snacks, Pixie snagging a roasted squirrel which she prompts Randy to try and purchase one of his own. Mayumi quietly turns it down as even the smell of the red meat makes her sick, and instead tries the village's freshwater fish kabobs with Gabriel. With the taste of flames on their tongues they continue listening to the rising boom of the music.
It's at the height of the music that it happens. Pixie suddenly stops and tips her head back dramatically, holding her arms out to stop the group. A low bubbling giggle starts low in her chest sending fear into Mayumi's own internal cavities. Her giggle rises into a howl that matches the sharp pitches of the music and suddenly Mayumi realizes she's not the only one who's shouting. Whoops and hollers weave their way into the music, following the same deep, thrumming rhythm of the drums and guitars.
"Look!" Mayumi whispers, reaching out instinctively to the nearest wrist, snagging Gabriel's as she feels a burning need well up within her to find concrete evidence in the validation of another's reaction.
"Huh, what's with all the yelling? Is this a- oh. Wow," he murmurs as his hazel eyes lock on the hundreds of lanterns that are outshining the very stars.
They swirl in a lazy sort of way, drifting with the gentle stirrings of the night air. The moon was large and pale, like a painted woman's shattered face, behind their winking lights. With the gentle bobbing of their heads they cast gentle pinks, purples, oranges, and reds across the assembled. The light catches in their eyes and scatters designs upon their hair. It's as if Mayumi can feel the warmth from the lantern's flames against her own skin. It tickles her and seems to bleed straight through the paper holding it in the air.
"Welcome to a Festival of Death," Pixie utters softly, gesturing to the lights above. "Now let's go eat some pig, eh?" she says with a chuckle.
~Scene Break~
Later that night someone violently shakes Mayumi's shoulder until her eyes blearily blink open. The room is cast in shadowed darkness with only thin light coming in through the curtains.
"Psst! Mayumi, oh you oaf, get up! We've got a Grimm to kill!" Pixies hisses, casting spit on Mayumi's neck. Mayumi pushes herself up with a start and smacks foreheads with her friend, squealing in shock.
"Shh! Shut up! This is a stealth mission, fucking hell!" Pixie snaps. She gestures sharply for Mayumi to stand and Mayumi obeys, this time in silence. The two quickly get dressed and then Pixie wakes the boys in a similar fashion. Soon, the entire group is heading out the door fashioned in battle gear with weapons bumping softly against their bodies. Pixie heads the pack as she slinks through the halls like a prowling housecat looking for mischief. Her craving for the unruliness of night is painted so clearly on her face that Mayumi could imagine her drooling with hunger.
"Why are we doing this again?" Gabriel whines. This earns him a sharp growl from Pixie and she raises her hand threateningly only to catch herself just before striking. She takes a moment to close her eyes and recollect herself, pulling her lips into a tight smile that loosens as she speaks.
"Because, sweetheart, when we kill the beast and we'll look good! Dimitri will like us, and we'll get extra credit. Plus, I have a soft spot in my heart for villages like this. Wanna help them out, don't you?" she oozes. In the dark shadows of the inn Mayumi hears the distant screams echoing from the lips of ghosts of the past that call out the falsehood of Pixie's "soft spot" and she quickly silences them. She doesn't do so quickly enough and feels her limbs lock and her spine turning to ice.
"Yeah… I guess," Gabriel responds and he reluctantly follows. Mayumi, however, finds herself unable to continue after her group.
"Mayumi, hurry up!" Pixie hisses. She lunges and snags Mayumi to pull her along. Pixie weaves through the halls with her team in toe, leading the group into the moonlight. In the distance, the trees rustle and a low growl stirs the stillness of the night.