This seemed like the wrong village to Nalani. The Kitsu was standing on the outskirts of what looked like a big celebration in the middle of the village, every resident outside and enjoying the sunshine. They were all smiling and laughing, passing around food and drink like it was a winter holiday. This wasn't the reception she had been expecting to find when she'd taken the request and set out a week ago. Usually the callers were in distress over some beast or missing kits. The situation couldn't have solved itself in a week's time.
But than maybe it did. Whatever had been tormenting this village could have simply died of old age or something else. It had happened before. It wasn't a common thing that happened, but it happened nonetheless. Nalani would know. She was seasoned in this sort of work, having been a mercenary ever since she was a fresh adult. Not that she was an old lady, not by any means. Nor was she so young anymore. She was of an age that she had authority and her own kind of wisdom. Old enough to have gathered for herself a reputation and fame.
So, as she watched the celebrations, her confusion quickly disappeared. A young Kitsu would have questioned this and not accepted the answer. She just simply accepted it. Getting the payment from doing the job herself didn't matter as much anymore. She had plenty of money stored away to do her for a very long time, if she never took another job.
She turned to leave the village to celebrate in peace and return back to her cabin way out in the woods, when a shock of orange caught her eye, standing out among the duller colors of the other Kitsu and their wood houses. Even from this distance, the curly fur of a Tenku was hard to miss. Oh. That also explained things.
"Excuse me," Nalani greeted politely. "Do I have you to thank for the prosperity of the village right now?"
