Chapter 12: Day One
Her toes curled and uncurled in apprehension, she bounced from foot to foot, trying to pass the time. Suzanne finally threw herself across the couch, groaning.
"I can't wait any longer-er-er!" she flailed her arms and wailed. She looked up, stretching her neck across the couch armrest so she could look up at Jay. When she locked eyes with him, she smiled, and he snapped out of his daze.
"Is Zane almost done?!" she shouted, mostly at the Master of Ice. Her prayers were answered when she heard Moikka's happy cry.
"Advenshuh!" she meowed. Suzanne hopped up and out of the chair. She could use a little adventure, a chance to stretch her legs, and even a chance to talk to Skylor again. They were going to travel as a group this time, and watch each other's backs while they tried different solutions on the corruption. Moi had given them a little backstory, and said that there was one person that she knew would be able to get rid of the corruption forever with their potions. The only problem was, this mystery figure liked to be a loner, and constantly traveled around the outer rings of the corrupted area.
"Alright," Zane spoke up, interrupting her thoughts. "We know where we'll set up camp, and if we set out now, we'll make it by sunset. You two have your bags, right?" Suzanne and Jay held both of their packs up, and walked towards the door. The Master of Wind's energy pulsed through her, and it began to center on her feet, as she moved towards the darker violet horizon. Moikka bounced off Zane's shoulder, and Suzanne turned and ran beside the little cat.
The dust billowed in small clouds as the four moved through the desert. Moi lead the way, running in small zig-zags in the sand. Suzanne felt her breath circling through her system with each pound of her foot against the ground. They all stopped for lunch on top of an outcropping after a while, and watched as a flock of sheep with lizard heads and tails passed by, which was certainly the oddest, and funniest, thing that the Master of Wind had ever seen.
The kunoichi put her bag on her back, and stood up, stretching away the slight feeling of being crumpled and sitting in one spot for a while. She closed her eyes, stumbling on a small dip between two rocks. Suzanne yelped as she fell backwards, flailing her arms to balance herself before she plopped down one rock below, caught by Jay at the last second. Her knees bent where his arm held her, and she felt his hand on her back.
"Woah!" he breathed. "You alright?"
"Um, I think so?" Suzanne said. "Yup! All good! Thanks, Jay." She gave him a quick hug around the neck as thanks, and she heard a faint noise beside her.
"Me~yow, Soozan!" Moikka purred, dancing around and swinging her tail. "Oop! Nevuhmaeend! I don wunna rooin it, again." The cat demon stepped down by Zane, who seemed to knowingly smile and pick up the creature as she passed. The pair moved down the stones, disappearing behind a boulder as they picked their way to the ground.
Suzanne looked back up at Jay, who was beet red. He cleared his throat, and set her down deftly. The kunoichi didn't know what was going on with him, but she watched as he took a breath, and let his hands down as he finished putting her back on her feet. They ghosted on her sides for a moment, and Suzanne's light breathing held still for a second or two before they left, leaving her with an odd feeling of longing. For what, she didn't understand, but it was prominent, and she felt a good amount of warmth in her face.
What was happening to her?! She couldn't bring herself to move, and her stomach felt odd. The air in her lungs entered and exited wispy and shakily, and Suzanne thought she might faint if she didn't say anything.
"Suzanne?" Jay muttered, and Suzanne's heart rate skyrocketed. She didn't even have the slightest fathom what her condition was.
"Yes, Jay?" the Master of Wind replied, surprised to find her voice becoming sweet on its own. The calm demeanor that her partner had on his face suddenly vanished with her words, replaced by a flustered expression and rushing color. Suzanne felt nervous, and tried to look to the ninja for answers, but they both shot gazes at the ground when they made eye contact.
"I, uh... Are you sure you're alright?" he asked, and Suzanne nodded. "Good, and... Let's just catch up to the others." The two sped off down the rocks carefully to avoid falling again, and once or twice their hands would brush. Every time that would happen, Suzanne's breath would catch, and she felt the blush return.
She was going to find out what was wrong with her somehow, probably by asking Zane, since he was the most knowledgeable of the group. Nonetheless, they were making good progress, and were quite a bit more than halfway to their destination. They had trekked around the curved edge of the corruption, even having to cross the river as it thankfully ran right past the violet expanse. They were going to camp on a mesa right by the corruption that consumed Moi's old village, and spend the night before taking their elixirs and diving into her old territory to find the ingredients to make their solutions stronger.
"We'll be back in a little while," Jay assured her. "See you two later." The two ninja left the campsite, leaving Suzanne and Moikka to keep watch while they went to get some water from the river to filter and drink.
"Boi!" the cat cried out. Suzanne took a seat on her mat, and waited until Zane and Jay were all the way down the mesa before beckoning Moi over, who happily jumped into her lap like a faithful pet.
"Hey, Moikka, I've got a problem," she said. The creature's curly whiskers twitched, and she sat patiently on her haunches.
"Tel Moi evuhweeting," the cat demon replied. Suzanne took a deep breath, and began her tale.
"Right after lunch, I fell, and Jay caught me, but you know that," she began. "Afterwards, he set me down, and I felt... funny." Moi's mouth curled up in a grin.
"Oh~?" she mewled with a high growl.
"Yeah, my head was all fuzzy and I felt warm and nervous and I wanted... something," Suzanne went on. "And, I couldn't stop staring at Jay, for some reason, like he was the cure for whatever bug I got. I mean, I know he's my best friend, but... I dunno, Moi. Do you know what's up with me? I'd ask Zane, but he just left, so-"
"Soozan!" Moikka yelled happily. "Yoo hav a cruuush! You have a crush on Mistuh Jaee~!" The creature bounded in circles around the kunoichi, and it smacked Suzanne like a wrecking ball.
"I... I do..." she whispered. "Moi, what do I do?! I mean, I've dated before, b-but that was only when Lily or my other friends would set me up! I just never had the t-time to have actual feelings for anyone!"
"But Sooza~n!" the cat whined. "Mistuh Jaee haz a crush on yoo~!" Suzanne froze, her blush deepening to the point where she thought she would explode. She twirled a frizzy curl around her finger, and thought for a moment. Moikka could always be wrong, but the thought was so nice.
"Imyagin te way he will weeact when yoo tell him laytuh!" the creature smiled. "Doo yoo tink hee iz a good kissuh?!"
"Gah! Moi, don't! You're making me all nervous!" Suzanne laughed. "How do you even know that he likes me?" She could here the hope in her voice, and thought she sounded like a little girl.
"Becuz hee told mee," Moikka said, messing with her tail. The kunoichi smiled, putting her face in her hands to hide her embarrassment. She was so excited and could hardly wait for the boys to come back.
Wait, how am I going to tell him? she thought. And I wonder... What does he kiss like? Judging by his kind nature, he'd probably be shy and caring about it. Or, maybe he's secretly predatory and rough, or-
"No!" she whispered to herself, clenching her fists. "Why am I thinking about that? I need to stop, maybe I should just sleep on it- No, I wanna tell him when he gets back." She looked down at the river, the last of daylight shining on it faintly before the remnants of the sun were all the way over the horizon.
Moikka took confident strides around the mesa top, stepping with pride as she seemed to gloat over a successful mission. Suzanne never thought that a cat could do such a thing, but decided that there were a lot of things that she never expected to happen that she saw in everyday life now, so it was best left to her odd thoughts. Besides, she had other things to think about at the moment.