Chapter 3 is here! enjoy~
A big golden star was placed high in the clear day sky, radiating on the eastern country that was in the midst of the windy autumn season. That autumn sun didn't produce too much heat, but that was just enough for the autumn loving creatures to enjoy its beauty and warmth. The lances of sunlight fought through the leaves that swayed on the breeze, bathing the ground below. The forest seemed like a treasure chest, full of golden medallions, with ruby gems here and there. The trees wore their lovely orange and red capes proudly before they take them off and welcome winter.
Birds' chirp mixed with the chilly wind howling through the branches of the tall trees. The sounds were mixing, creating an unusual tune that was still pleasant to the heart. Other small animals would run over the fallen leaves from time to time, quickly going back to their warm and cozy homes.
Both the scenery and the sounds craved into swordsman's memory. He saw a complete different world when he opened that thin shoji door. The forest was nothing like he saw by being pursued that day. That whole day, he ran through dead woods which lost all of their leaves and where overall scenery was plain, boring and sad. That day was grey, muddy and horrible and now… he slid the door to a new and magical world. But, what caught his attention more was the person in front of him. That person… that being that resembled a person had two additional features that weren't so human-like. The big fox tail and ears were firmly placed on the person, like they were really the part of him.
The swordsman couldn't believe such thing; it was unnatural and ridiculous. He again heard the wind chimes. He would hear them ringing every couple of second he spent on gazing at the being in front of him. The young man still held the door by the border, kneeling down and just staring front.
The fox-person still looked at the surprised man behind him, his neck starting to hurt from being bent. His eyelids lowered at the sight of the man and the dumb look on his face. Thin trace of smoke was leaving the person's golden pipe and carefully disappearing into the wind. His light orange ginkgo kimono also followed the wind, swaying peacefully. The person turned his head back and brought the classy pipe back to his lips, enjoying the smoke.
Silence lasted between two men; only sounds of nature filled in the gap, supported with the lovely sound of the chimes. But, the fuurin were nowhere around the area. Wind chimes were not hanged on the veranda so how could the young swordsman still hear them? The longer he stared at the mysterious person, the more he heard them.
"You finally woke up, huh?", the fox-person said and the bells rang again. The swordsman flinched, surprised at his voice. The person continued admiring the beautiful golden themed garden in front of him, not caring if the man behind him will answer to his question or not. He took another puff of smoke and looked again at the kneeling man behind him. The frown on his face grew slightly bigger but he didn't say anything additional.
"Just who… what are you?", the swordsman finally spoke up, the amazement not leaving his face. However, the fox-person frowned more, clearly insulted by swordsman's question. He griped his pipe, almost breaking it.
"You should first learn to speak properly before you say anything to me, you filthy human.", the fox stood up; his beautiful kimono straightening, revealing the leaves pattern more clearly, "That kind of a question is really insulting. What kind of an idiot are you, saying that to a person who saved your pitiful life?!", he raised his tone, tilting his head slightly to the side, showing his annoyance. He looked down on the wounded man, not moving from his present spot.
'He… saved me?', the swordsman was lost in his own thoughts, unable to get a glimpse of the real situation. On the other side, the fox-person was getting irritated by the second. He just couldn't stand the stupid expression of the man in front of him.
"Tch.", the fox hissed and came to the kneeling man, looking at him with annoyance in his eyes.
"Did you really… save me?", the swordsman asked.
"Are you retarded, deaf or something third? I said that a minute ago, didn't I?!", the fox yelled.
"Who are you calling—", but the young swordsman never finished – the person standing hit him on the head with a closed fan he reached out of his sleeve. He opened the fan and covered his mouth.
"You are really one annoying creature. There's no one here except for me.", the wind blew again; rustling the person's hair and making his kimono waver to the move of the air. The sound of the chimes filled swordsman's ears again. He looked around but again saw no wind chimes hanged; there was nothing and no one except him and the fox-person on that veranda.
The fox hissed again and hit the careless swordsman on the head once again, this time harder.
"I saved your puny little life and you have nothing to say?! You should bow your head to me, trash! I am far superior being to the lowly human like you!"
That's where the swordsman had it enough! He stood up and came close to the other person's face, ready to fight him anytime.
"What makes a person with a fox tail and ears superior than others? To me, you're just another weirdo, nothing more!", he yelled back but the fox hit him on the head again, bringing him back to his knees.
"Learn your place, trash! If it wasn't for me, you would already be 2 meters under. I could've easily leaved you to bleed out to death! You were badly injured and on verge of death so a bastard like you should just stay silent and list—"
"Ah! That's right! I almost forgot!", the swordsman yelled, holding his head.
"Oi, listen to what I'm saying, bast—"
"Where is it?!", the swordsman jumped, grabbing fox's kimono, bringing him close to his own face. That whole act surprised the other person but after the few moments he hit swordsman's hands off his robe, taking a step back from the fierce man.
"Where is IT?!", the swordsman yelled again, making the birds in the trees fly away.
"Calm down your shitty voice, it's damn annoying."
"Stop screwing with me and answer my question, damn it! Where is it?!"
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"I said to stop screwing with me, shithead!", the swordsman raised his voice even more, clenching his fist and throwing an attack towards the fox-person. Blond-haired fox just stepped aside and hit the angry man on the back of his neck, making him lose his balance and fall of the veranda, ending up laying on the dirty ground, face down.
"I told you before: learn how to speak before you say anything to me, you trash. And also, watch your mouth or I'll kill you if you ever address me like that again.", the fox said, covering his mouth with a fan. He put his other hand in the other sleeve, walking away from the other man.
"Oi, you're not going anywhere until I get an answer.", the swordsman spoke, getting up from the dirt. The mysterious person stopped and looked at the dirty young man. He brushed the dirt off his face and looked at the fox, frowning big. His eyes became sharper, the gaze filled with nothing but determination.
"I already told you—"
"I know it's somewhere here! You took it!"
The mystical fox just sighed and closed his fan, putting it back in his sleeve.
"Care to explain what you're looking for?"
"My katana!", the swordsman responded quickly, making the other one tilt his head backwards, "I'm looking for a white katana. I'm sure I had it with me all the time. Where is it now?!", he asked again.
"So, it's just that…", the fox sighed again and looked to the side. His eyes shifted to the kneeling and dirty man after few moments of looking at the autumn scenery. He closed his eyes and brought his head back. He took a deep breath and opened his eyes again. The swordsman watched his every move and waited for some answer. The fox-person took his one hand out of the kimono sleeve and snapped his fingers. Few moments after, swordsman's breath muted and his eyes widen. Behind the fox came his katana… floating in mid air! Actually, it wasn't floating but something that resembled blue flame balls carried it. They brought the white katana and dropped it in the fox's hands.
"Is this what you're looking for, green-head?", the blonde man asked, raising his hands. But the other one just sat on the ground, his mouth slightly open, "Oi, stop daydreaming! I asked you something!"
"Just now… what were those?"
"Huh?!"
"Those blue things… what were they?"
"Eh, you saw me having ears and tail of a fox and you're still shocked about other supernatural things? Are you dense?!", the fox said but got nothing as a response, "Just come and take this thing, I don't have time for stupid explanations.", swordsman blinked, remembering that he asked for his katana. He quickly stood up and came to the other man, taking his treasure back.
'I'm glad it's safe… I can't afford to lose it… ever!'
The blond man turned around ready to leave, after making the silly swordsman enough happy.
"Oi, I still have things I want to ask you.", the swordsman said, making the fox-person stop. After the blond turned around, his eyes widen to the sight – before him, a young swordsman was kneeling with his head touching the wooden floor of the veranda.
"What the—"
"Thank you for saving me!", the swordsman yelled, surprising the fox even more, "Also, thank you for guarding my katana, it really means a lot to me.", he said and silence came up. The swordsman was still bowing deeply, showing his respect. A small smile formed on the blond man's lips.
"Hmph, don't fool yourself.", fox said, making the swordsman raise his head, "I just put it away so that you wouldn't to any foolish stuff. But, come to think about it, you couldn't beat me even if you had it with you.", the blond smirked, annoying the kneeling man.
"What did you say?! I could easily beat the crap out of you!", the swordsman shouted, standing up and preparing to fight.
"Yeah, yeah… says the idiot who nearly died on the shrine's threshold.", fox widened his evil grin, opening the fan and covering the half of that smile.
"You wanna go, shitty fox?!", the swordsman put on his own version of a cheeky grin, pulling out the sharp katana slowly.
"Bring it on, bastard!", fox said, rolling up the sleeve on his kimono.
"I'll still beat the shit out of you, even with these injuries."
"Don't worry. Just because you're injured, I'll use less power on you, shithead."
They carried their evil smiles, provoking each other to fight. But, a same blue flame ball interrupted their quarrel, making the blond fox look at it and calm down. He fixed back his kimono and nodded to the fireball.
"We'll stop here. It's time for lunch."
"Eh? I don't understand…"
"I never thought you will. Just put back that sword and go back to your room.", the fox said with an easy tone, his face being serious. He turned around to walk away but stopped few steps after and turned his head back.
"By the way, name's Sanji.", the blond fox said and the swordsman blinked but smiled soon after.
"I'm Zoro."
x To be continued x