Chapter 10: Hide and Seek
"He always seeks. He always finds."
Escaping through the forest will be easy!
...
That was what Marie initially thought when choosing to flee through the dark woods. Unfortunately, her assumptions were far from correct.
The uneven terrain, steep hills, large boulders, and thick trees all made walking a challenging task. Forget about running, especially in the dead of night. Callie and Marie kept tripping over every small thing, if not each other. Sake really made traversing through the land look easy.
Speaking of Sake, Marie heard his heavy footsteps thumping in the distance, as well as the frantic movement of foliage. He was searching for them, no doubt. But even with the many hindrances in the woods, they created a large gap between them and the cabin. Plus, Sake didn't see which direction they ran in. There was no way Sake could find them now.
...
Again, Marie was dead wrong, as five minutes later, she noticed the thumps of his footsteps growing louder and louder.
It should've been impossible for him to catch up with them so fast, but now that Marie thought about it, he was extremely tall and had appendages that helped him grip the terrain better. Still, that didn't explain how he was able to guess what direction they went in.
If outrunning him wasn't an option, then they'd have to hide. That's what Marie was about to say to Callie before they both tripped over a tree root.
They tumbled down yet another steep hill, yelping and wincing with each roll they did. Marie tried her best to shield her cousin, but the force of their rolls made them separate, so instead, she shielded her face, allowing her hips and sides to get bruised instead.
By the time they reached the bottom, Callie and Marie were a good distance away from each other. To make matters worse, Sake's footsteps were even closer. So close in fact, Marie heard his faint snarls and growls.
She gritted her teeth, realizing she wouldn't have enough time to grab Callie and then hide. "H-Hide!" She whispered as loudly as she possibly could. The usually questioning cousin didn't ask why and immediately went to find a hiding place.
Marie also went to find cover, moving much faster than she should've been able to. Despite her injuries, she couldn't register the pain coursing through her tiny body. She was so afraid, the only thing she could think of was to flee.
She found a hiding place in the form of a robust tree, quickly slipping behind it and waiting.
Soon after, Marie realized all of her hearts were beating heavily, nearly drowning out the noise around her. She breathed in deeply and exhaled slowly, using a breathing technique her gramps taught her. It was mainly to be used in situations where she needed to calm her nerves; In her mind, this was one such situation.
After a minute of breathing, the sounds of her surroundings came back. The first thing she heard was a loud boom, followed by a slight tremor. It was as if something heavy had landed nearby.
Hesitantly, Marie peeked over her hiding spot, catching the briefest glimpse of the source of the boom. She instantly ducked back behind the tree.
It was Sake.
The mere sight of him had her hyperventilating again, so she covered her mouth with both hands to muffle her loud breathing. She pelted her mind with a bunch of questions to distract herself from his suffocating presence. Well, a bunch of questions would be an overstatement. In reality, she repeatedly asked herself the same question: How did he find them? Was his sight that good in the dark? Were they making too much noise? Did they leave foot tracks in the dirt? What was it?
Eager for answers, Marie peeked at Sake once more, now noticing he was on all fours. Even when taking a quadrupedal stance, he remained taller than her and Callie.
Another notable detail was the wound she made on the side of his neck. The knife was no longer there, but it was still fresh. So fresh in fact, that a strange orangish liquid, which she assumed was his blood, trickled down from the wound onto the ground. She didn't mean to cause that much damage. He was surely in a lot of pain, though he definitely didn't show it.
Sake put his face low to the dirt floor, growled, and then moved. Marie desperately hoped he would pass them by, but something about his movements was different. Unlike the rapid thumping from earlier, he hardly made any noise, moving as slow as a sea snail. Did he know they were nearby?
The second the thought crossed Marie's mind, Sake turned his head in her direction, and the two locked eyes. She wanted to dart behind cover, but couldn't. Her entire body froze with fear. She envisioned Sake sprinting at her, then devouring her whole with his viciously sharp teeth. However, nothing of the sort happened.
Instead, he stared at her for what felt like an eternity, then simply turned away.
Marie thought she was done for, but it turns out Sake never saw her. She wondered how that could be before taking into account how dark the woods were. Assuming his eyesight was just as bad as theirs, then that would explain things. The only reason Marie could see him was because his body glowed in the dark, albeit faintly. She didn't notice this trait back at the house, but then again, she was focused on escaping more so than Sake.
The only thing that could explain Sake's glowing would be if he were bioluminescent. Inklings were also faintly bioluminescent, but luckily for Callie and Marie, that was only a trait they gained after maturing.
Still, that didn't give her an answer as to how he was able to track them down. If anything, that made her question it more.
As Marie stared at Sake, she started hearing these strange sniffling sounds. They came from him, obviously enough, but she didn't know how he was making those noises. That was until she watched him lower his head to the dirt floor yet again and then sniff it, resulting in those sniffling sounds. He'd do this three or four times, then creep towards either her or the wilderness ahead of her. It didn't take Marie long to piece together what Sake was doing—he had been tracking them through their scent!
After coming to that mortifying revelation, she quietly grabbed handfuls of dirt and started slathering herself in it. Usually, Marie was against dirtying herself or her kimono, but she'd rather that than be eaten alive. Besides, it wasn't like trekking through the woods hadn't dirtied her clothes and body anyway.
After covering herself in enough dirt to smell like the forest, Marie huddled behind her tree with bated breath. She didn't want to look at Sake anymore, as his reactions would determine whether or not she made the right move. Honestly, it wasn't even an idea she originally came up with. She remembered seeing it done by another actor in those action flicks Callie forced her to watch. Never did Marie ever think she'd actually reenact the scene.
The seconds turned to minutes as she waited; It seemed like the only thing she could hear were the small movements from Sake. Each time his claws dug into the earth, or his tail dragged across the ground, she heard the dirt shift. It was loud, deafening almost. The sounds were so disorienting. She couldn't tell if he was close or far.
Her breathing became irregular and loud, so she brought her hands up to cover her mouth. She wanted to cry, but knew any peep that came out of her would mean the end.
Part of Marie's mind drifted to the worst possible outcome. Even when she tried to force herself to think happy thoughts, she could never stop imagining herself on a dinner plate in front of Sake.
Just when she felt like she couldn't keep it together anymore, a faint, sickly chuckle broke out in the darkness, silencing the forest. "Found you." All three of Marie's hearts dropped. Then suddenly, a scream cut through the still atmosphere like a cleaver. But it wasn't her own.
Marie peeked her head out once more, only to see Sake raise something out of the bushes. It squirmed fiercely in his grasp and was also the source of that horrid screaming. Marie's eyes took a moment to adjust, but when they did, she realized Sake had grabbed Callie.
"So loud..." Sake said with an annoyed look. He used one hand to hold Callie up, using the other to cover her mouth, thus muffling her cries. "Shh. It'll all be over soon." He said in a surprisingly calming voice, which only made Callie thrash around even harder.
Despite her best efforts, she was barely causing a struggle between them. Marie could see that and knew it was up to her to free her cousin. But how?
Sake's grip was tight if Callie's muffled, pained groans were anything to go by. Marie wouldn't be able to just jump up and snatch her out of his grasp. She frantically scanned Sake's body for any weaknesses, only for her eyes to land on the still-bleeding wound on his gills. Damaging that spot would definitely give her the opening she needed.
The problem was she didn't have a weapon to use. Sake didn't bring the knife with him. She'd use her fingers, but she was too short to reach his neck. What else could she use? What else?!
That's when she spotted it: a big rock. It was no larger than her hand, but it would do. She grabbed the rock and jumped out of her hiding spot, getting a clear line of sight on Sake. Even with her sudden movements creating noise, he was too focused on Callie to notice the sudden sounds.
Marie inhaled deeply, then chucked the rock as hard as she could.
It flew through the darkness, and while she wouldn't consider her aim the greatest, it miraculously hit dead on, eliciting a pained roar from Sake. He dropped Callie and fell to one knee, holding onto his neck.
Marie dashed to Callie, grabbing and forcing her onto her feet, then made a run for it while pulling her along.
Sake attempted to grab Callie again with his free hand, but Marie saw this and forcefully pulled Callie closer to herself. He narrowly missed. His claws grazed Callie's arm, earning a whimper out of her. He let out a howl of frustration in response.
No words were exchanged as Marie ran through the forest with Callie in tow. The only thing on her mind was escape. But to where and how?
As if some higher power answered her pleas for help, the moonlight perfectly shined down on a clearing. In that clearing was the base of a mountain's entrance. The entrance looked to be caved in, but Marie could see the smallest crevice serving as an opening. Thanks to their small stature, both cousins should be able to fit through. That was a gamble Marie was willing to make.
With another hard tug on Callie, Marie sprinted towards the small crevice. "In here!" She exclaimed in a panicked tone of voice, to which her cousin wasted no time.
As Callie turned sideways to wiggle her way through the crevice, Marie heard the nearby rustling of bushes, then the heavy footsteps of Sake. The ground rumbled with each step he took, and it only grew more violent as the seconds passed. "Hurry!" She shouted, knowing Sake was right on top of them.
Once Callie was on the other side, Marie shoved herself into the crevice, not taking even half as long as Callie to maneuver through. About halfway through, something got caught in the narrow passageway. Once she realized it was the headpiece that matched with her kimono, she brute-forced herself the rest of the way, resulting in the headpiece falling off.
Marie shot out the other end and would've fallen onto the jagged ground were it not for Callie catching her. Just as she did, something heavy collided with the cave's entrance—Sake.
He tried to squeeze through the entrance just like Callie and Marie, but as the latter hoped, he was too big to fit through. His arm couldn't go any further than the elbow.
"Don't run! That'll only make things worse for you two!" Sake warned with a deep rumble in his throat, clearly furious with the actions done to him earlier.
Marie turned, seeing through the darkness that the cave went deeper. She wasn't sure if Sake would ever be able to fit through the cave's entrance, or even break it down altogether, but wasn't about to stick around to find out.
She grabbed Callie's hand once again and fled through the tunnels. "Ikayaki! Come back here!" He yelled, and it was then Marie remembered that's what he first referred to her as. Why was he so focused on her? Anyway, it didn't matter. She would ignore everything and continue running with Callie deeper into the tunnels.
As Sake's growls and snarls grew fainter and fainter, he boomed out one last guttural roar, which resonated through the dark caverns. "IKAYAKI!"
