ヒカリ の シイド
Hikari no Shiido
T H E S E E D O F L I G H T
The next morning, Yuki emerged sleepily from his room. Mizu and Aisu were sitting at the kitchen counter, Mizu with a soda, Aisu nursing a cup of coffee.
“Ohayou gozaimasu…,” mumbled Yuki sleepily.
“Good morning, Yuki,” answered Mizu. She took a mug out of the microwave. “Want some hot chocolate?”
Instantly, Yuki perked. “Oh!! Arigato gozaimasu!”
Aisu smirked. “That certainly woke him up,” she remarked.
Mizu smiled, then frowned. “Oh, no! I forgot about breakfast!” She pulled out a small pile of wrapped onigiri and put it on the counter. “Eat up!”
Aisu took one of the onigiri. “Store-bought onigiri?” she asked skeptically.
“We don’t have time to hang around all day waiting for rice to cook,” explained Mizu. “Not if we’re going to find another Ele-whachamacallit, right, Yuki?”
“Yeah, what she said,” agreed Yuki, mouth full of onigiri.
Aisu laughed and unwrapped an onigiri.
* * *
When everyone had finished eating, Yuki asked, “Are you guys ready to go?”
Mizu pulled on her backpack full of supplies. “Yup,” she answered.
“Let’s go,” agreed Aisu.
Yuki pulled out a pinch of powder and threw it into the air. “Ladies first!”
Mizu took a deep breath, and jumped through the portal. Aisu hesitated, then followed. Yuki looked around for a second, then jumped in. The portal closed, and a drop of water fell to the ground.
* * *
They appeared in the middle of a desert battlefield. The sand underneath them was a ruddy red, and small, brown shrubs dotted the field.
“We’re in the middle of a war!!” screamed Mizu as a bullet whizzed past her. “Yuki, get us out of here!!”
“Sorry!” yelled Yuki sheepishly, opening another portal and jumping through it.
* * *
The trio materialized on the edge of a forest, about a mile away from the battlefield.
“Why did you put us in the middle of a war?!” screeched Mizu.
“Sorry!” moaned Yuki again. “There’s an Elemental here, and I didn’t realize-“
“You nearly got us killed!” interrupted Mizu.
Tears formed in Yuki’s eyes.
“Oh, no, Yuki, I didn’t mean to yell-,” began Mizu. Oh, crap, I forgot how young he is…!
“Leave me alone!” cried Yuki, pushing past her into the forest.
“That idiot!” yelled Mizu, throwing her hands up in frustration and kicking a nearby stump. “Ow!”
Aisu smirked. “Serves you right. We need to go find-“
Before she could finish her sentence, a ten-year-old boy barreled into Aisu, yelling, “Move!” He had bright red hair, brown eyes, and wore a deep red shirt with a flame design on it, and blue-jeans. Around his neck was a necklace with a small red jewel the size of a small marble.
Aisu noticed the necklace. We all seem to have the same necklace... I wonder if it has to do with our being Elementals…, she thought. “Hey, little boy, what is your name?”
“Why’d you wanna know, you ugly old hag?” snapped the boy.
Aisu’s eyes narrowed angrily and she bopped the boy on the head. “I’ll have you know that I am young and beautiful!”
The boy snorted. “Yeah, right, you ugly old hag!”
“Stupid boy!” replied Aisu.
“Ugly old hag!”
“Stupid boy!”
“Ugly old hag!”
“Um, guys-,“ began Mizu tentatively.
“Shut up and butt out!” reprimanded Aisu and the boy simultaneously.
Mizu sighed disgustedly and pulled out two onigiri, stuffing one into Aisu’s mouth and one into the boy’s mouth. “I was trying to say that we have to go find Yuki! Listen, kid,-“
“Don’t call me kid! I have a name, you know! It’s Kogasu!” replied the boy.
“Well, Kogasu, we need help finding a kid named Yuki. Can you help us?” Mizu demanded, becoming frustrated with the boy already.
“Why should I?” demanded Kogasu.
Aisu glared at Kogasu and opened her mouth to speak, but Mizu cut her off. “Because we don’t know the territory here… and I can give you an onigiri.”
Kogasu’s mouth watered at the word ‘onigiri’, showing how hungry he was. “Okay, I’ll help!”
* * *
Yuki ran deep into the forest, tears streaming down his face. A clap of thunder broke the silence. It’s going to rain…, Yuki noted. He climbed into a nearby tree, settling into a cup formed by the branches. “Mean Mizu-chan!” Yuki pouted as it began to rain. “My first friend and she yelled at me! She didn’t need to! I didn’t mean to put us there!” His voice faltered, and he sat there, sobbing.
* * *
Aisu heard a loud thunderclap and looked at the forest. “Hey, it’s raining over there… Kogasu, does it usually rain like that here?”
Kogasu nodded. “Yeah. We have weird weather.”
“Say, Kogasu, just out of curiosity, where and why were you running?” inquired Mizu.
“I was getting away from the war.”
“Why?” asked Aisu.
“’Cause I wanted to get shot, you ugly old hag!” snapped Kogasu, “Why do you think?”
“I was only asking a question, you stupid boy!”
“Ugly old hag!”
“Stupid boy!”
“Enough!” shouted Mizu, “We have to find Yuki, and we have no time for arguing!”
Kogasu glared at Aisu, then asked, “Well, What does he-it is a he, isn’t it?- look like?”
Mizu nodded. “Yes, he’s a boy. He has blue-green hair… and… a green-and-purple shirt… and gray eyes. Oh, and he’s wearing odd-looking pants. Oh, and he’s eight years old.”
“Well, let’s go. We’re going to have to work together if we’re going to search the forest,” said Aisu.
“I ain’t working with you, you ugly old hag!” protested Kogasu.
“You said you would, you stupid boy!”
“Ugly old hag!”
Mizu slapped her forehead and sighed as they entered the forest.