Forever Young - Hij is uit!

[kittyocean]

Forever Young
Episode 24: Two sides of a story
©2003 Kitty Ocean

Night had fallen. All sat around the campfire, but unlike the past 2 days, the mood was lighter than before. Sure, all still ate their food silently, not saying a word to each other... but they felt something had changed.
Ao filled his bowl with water. "So... Sushi..." He asked his sister. "How did things go after you left?" Sushi looked surprised at him. "I mean, you left about 3 years ago... you must have seen some things."
Matsuru looked at Naraku and smiled. Naraku smiled back. Something had changed indeed! Matsuru decided to ask something for himself. "Yes, I'm quite curious as well!" He started. "How did you and Mayonaka meet?"
Sushi started sweating. "Oh... that story..." She sweated.
"How about starting with the beginning?" Mayonaka growled. "The meeting part will come later."
Sushi nodded. "Well, it wasn't always very easy." She admitted. "I think I was walking for about a month until I met Lady Lirraine." She started. "She was a witch and was looking for an apprentice."
"Why did you leave?" Blade asked.
Mayonaka sipped from her bowl of water. "Or did she kick you out after you let the house explode?"
Sushi ignored Mayonaka's mean remark; she was used to it. "Well Mayo, to be exact, she didn't kick me out. She said she couldn't learn me any more after teaching me everything she knew for 2 years!"
"Wow!" Ao tried to show his interest. "That was fast! I thought that learning witchcraft would take many more years!"
"It does." Sushi added. "But she said I couldn't learn more if I stayed in that house. I should see the world!"
Naraku came closer. "And you meet Mayonaka next day?" She anxiously asked. "Like with Matsuru? You fell on her?"
Sushi sweated like hell again. "Well... not exactly like that..."
"Tell us!" Matsuru said, not seeing Mayonaka sighing deeply. "Please, tell us!"
Sushi nodded. "Okay, I'm not a storyteller, but I'll try." She crossed her legs and took her bag. "I still remember it well. We only met 5 months ago... I was in a village..." She looked at her bag. "I just bought some new herbs for my witchcraft when I suddenly saw a few tall mean guys. They hung over a poor girl, yelling and calling her names." All saw it in front of them. "Then one tried to do something really mean but I couldn't let that happen!! So, I ran at them and..." She took some powder from her bag.
Sushi threw the powder in the fire and the image of a small dragon appeared. "I scared them away with my great witchcraft." She proudly stated. "And Mayo, she was the girl of course, thanked me a thousand times and I couldn't leave her alone any more. Someone needed to protect her!"
"That's NOT how it went!!"
All stared at Mayonaka. "What... what do you mean?" Matsuru asked confused.
"Sushi not do magic?" Naraku asked.
Mayonaka folded her arms. "Sure, she used magic! But I'll tell you what really happened!"
"You don't have to." Sushi mumbled.
"I was just walking in a village, minding my own business." She started. "I was calmly reading a book until a nice young man asked me for directions. He was quite handsome." She chuckled, but stopped when she saw the faces of the others. "Anyway, suddenly some dumb guys turned up. They smelled like hell! And they started asking stupid questions and insulting me. Suddenly that Elf girl came running at us. She yelled something about going out of her way or so. Dunno what she actually said."
Mayonaka looked at the annoyed Sushi. And to annoy her even more, she continued. "All of a sudden Sushi tripped and her bag fell on the floor. Potions and powders got mixed and boom, dragon image created!" Mayonaka ended. "Poor guys were scared for eternity!"
"That's not how it went either..." Sushi mumbled.
Naraku looked thinking. "Mayonaka?" She asked. "What happened to handsome guy?"
It got silent. Sushi smirked when she looked at Mayonaka. "Please, tell me." She started. "What DID happen to that handsome guy?"
Mayonaka tried to change the subject and all grinned. Ao took some food. >Well,< He started mentally saying to Sushi. >I think I'd better mix both stories. Maybe I'll get what happened in reality then.<
Annoyed Sushi smacked her bag at him. "Shut up." She said with a smile. His telepathic message had been true. But suddenly she wondered as well. "Ao?" She asked. "Why did you leave the tribe?"
Ao stopped eating. "Just because..." He answered blushing.
"What is a tribe?" Naraku asked.
Ao was suddenly too happy to explain. "A tribe are a lot of people who live together." He started.
"Like a village?" Naraku asked.
Ao nodded. "Yes, but most of the time they don't have that many people as in a village." He continued. "And most of the time the people are a lot closer."
Naraku started thinking and the others continued dinner. "Like us?" She suddenly asked.
"Huh?" Blade replied, not knowing what she meant.
"Are we tribe?" Naraku asked.
It got silent. "Well... eh..." Ao started again. "No, I don't think so..."
He looked at Mayonaka. "I don't think we are a tribe either." She agreed. "We are with only 6 people. I think we are just a bunch of friends."
"Friends?" Naraku repeated, as if she wanted to be sure. "Friends are closer than tribe?" Ao and Mayonaka nodded. "Then I like friends better." She took some food.
"Agreed!" Sushi smiled. "Friends are better than a tribe! A tribe always has to have a leader, and leaders suck! Hey, want me to do some nifty fireworks with my witchcraft?"
"NO!" Mayonaka suddenly snapped. It even surprised Sushi. "Hell no, please, let's just eat!"
"Hmpfh." Sushi said. "Fine."
>Boy, Mayonaka sure is cranky.< Ao telepathically said to his sister.
"Mayonaka is not cranky." Naraku said.
"Huh, what?" Mayonaka asked. Where did that phrase come from?
"Ao, I not like you say mean words about friends." Naraku corrected Ao. "Words hurt!"
"What did Ao say then?" Blade and Matsuru wondered.
"I not like!"
"How... how?" Ao pointed at Naraku. "How can you have....?"
"She picked up your message!" Sushi jumped up enthusiastically. "Naraku can do telepathy!"
"She can do what?!" Matsuru exclaimed. "What message? WAAH! I need explanation!"
Sushi was so happy. "Naraku has telepathy! Every Magic User has telepathy!"
"Naraku doesn't have telepathy!" Blade threw in.
"Oh yes she does!" Sushi disagreed. "She picked up Ao's message! Oh man, this is so cool!"
"Wait a minute!" Mayonaka interrupted. "Does this mean Ao and you have been talking a lot while we couldn't hear it?!"
"We are Elves." Ao defended himself. "We are naturally born Magic Users. Telepathy is one of our gifts."
"And Naraku can do it too!" Sushi kneeled for Naraku. "Say something Naraku!" She happily ordered. "Say something to me and not use your mouth! Use your head!"
Naraku was confused. "But... talking in head is thinking!"
"Close." Sushi waved it away. "Think that you are talking to me!"
"Hold it!" Matsuru yelled. "Stop it right now!" All stopped. "Naraku has telepathy? And so do you and Ao?!" Sushi nodded.
Blade stood up as well. "Eh... can horses learn telepathy?" All gazed at him. "Just asking!"
"Of course not." Ao replied.
Sushi stood up. "But I think humans can learn to pick up the thoughts of the animals if the animals wish that... Sort of telepathy... Why?"
Blade and Matsuru stared at each other. They didn't know what to say for minutes! But then it came all naturally.... >I don't get it any more...<
Blade and Matsuru jumped back. "Waah!" Blade yelled. "You did it!" He pointed at Matsuru.
"Did what?" Matsuru asked. "Did what?"
"You used telepathy!"
"I did not!"
"You did! You did!" Blade pointed at him.
All looked and pointed at each other, finally discovering their new gifts. Only Naraku was the one who didn't seem to get what all the fuzz was about. And only Mayonaka wasn't in the circle... she was the only one who didn't seem to have telepathy!
Sadly Mayonaka stared in front of her. All of a sudden she felt a hand on her shoulder. It was Ao. "Don't worry." He smiled. "You'll learn it too. Just hang out long enough with a Magic User..."
"And Naraku has enough to go around!" Sushi cheered.


"Magic Users..." He sighed, smelling the wind. "They affect everything in their surroundings." He felt the ground. "Stay long enough with a Magic User and they'll start changing you."
"Whatever." The man looked back and saw Sandolean with his arms folded. "Lord Zashjan ordered you to find them. Just do your job."
The man smiled and turned back, pretending not to have heard the soldier's snappy remark. "So this is where she escaped huh?" He asked and looked around. "And more than a week ago as well."
"Are you saying you can't find them?" Sandolean wanted to know.
Again the man smiled back. His face showed a large scar, telling everyone that he had encountered many fights... and survived them. "Sandolean... I can find EVERYONE! They don't call me The Hunter for nothing..."

To be continued...