Kitsune of the Blue Sun

Chapter 49- Mountain Pass Traversal

[Keeno POV]

Once the suns rose and the day truly started, Pram and I left the inn and walked to the part of the city close to the border.  It seemed like we weren’t the only ones with the idea of leaving as early in the day as possible as there was a line of wagons and people at the gate.

“Ugh.  Lines.” (Keeno)

“I don’t mind it.” (Pram)

I looked over at Pram and saw she was a bit tense.  She was fidgeting around and her tail was swaying nervously.

“What’s the matter, Pram?” (Keeno)

“I-I’m just nervous.  While I know we may still have a few days until we cross the border completely, it will be my first time leaving my home country.” (Pram)

I chuckled a little and started patting Pram’s head.

“Don’t worry Pram, I’ll be with you every step.  We’ll face this world head on, see all the things, and explore all the ruins.  And when we find out things that you want to do, we’ll do them too.” (Keeno)

“Hehe.  So much enthusiasm, it just blows my nervousness away.  I agree, Okami, let’s take this world by storm.” (Pram)

The two of us were receiving warm smiles from and quiet chuckles from a few other people in the line, and a surprisingly short time later, we were outside the gate.  We leisurely made our way down the well maintained road until we found ourselves at a split.

“…” (Pram)

“Heh.” (Keeno)

“I can already see where this is going…*sigh*” (Pram)

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“Don’t worry, Pram.  It’ll be fun.  And besides, it’s faster.” (Keeno)

At the juncture of the split was a sign for travelers.  It pointed down the two paths and, along with their names, explained how one was a faster route to Odeen while one was safer, but less direct.

“I’ll add another month.” (Keeno)

“Deal.” (Pram)

With Pram successfully bribed, I mean convinced, we started down the quicker path to Odeen.  Once we were far enough down the path, Ama finally spoke.

{Annoying angels.}

“Come to think of it, why do angels have such strong telepathing powers?  I’ve wondered about it for a long time, but never really thought to ask.” (Pram)

{It’s just a racial trait.  Same with Keeno’s fox fire, not that she uses it.}

“…Honestly, forgot I could even do that.  It’s so much weaker than my Solar magic that it hardly comes to mind as a viable tool.” (Keeno)

{Same.  If anything, it’s useful for making pretty colors and light shows.}

“That’s…kind of a let down.” (Pram)

“Oh?  What were you thinking it was?” (Keeno)

“I don’t know, like at some point in the distant past they were servants of the gods that got cast out of the Divine Domain for one reason or another, but kept the super-telepathy, even countless years later, or something like that.” (Pram)

{Pfft.  Ahahahahahaha.  That’s funny, Pram.  They are just another race that came to be on this world.  The ones that serve gods are spirits, if you haven’t figured that out from the Spirit of Knowledge.}

“That’s…SUCH A LET DOWN!” (Pram)

“Hahaha.  That’s the thing about the truth sometimes.  While fact can be stranger than fiction, the case where it’s less interesting or fun than fiction is more prevalent.” (Keeno)

{Exactly.  While this world IS full of mysticism and wonder, I won’t spoil it for the two of you to find and experience.}

Over the next few hours we spoke about random topics as we ascended a somewhat steep incline to a pass in the mountains.  The view was spectacular as it looked out over Solheim.  As far as the eye could see it was covered in snow and ice, with the green of trees poking out here and there.  On the very horizon I could see dark clouds in the area I assumed was the part with sudden weather changes.

“This is beautiful.” (Pram)

“I agree.  And seeing this is making me excited to see what Odeen looks like from this altitude.” (Keeno)

Pram was about to say something when a low growl interrupted her.  We turned around and saw a strange goat-looking thing.  Its horns curled around in spirals like an ibex, but the really creepy thing about it was its teeth and eyes.  It’s eyes had x shaped pupils of an almost poisonous yellow and it’s teeth were sharp and jagged like a shark’s.  It then went from growling to pretty much hissing as it slowly walked toward us, sizing us up.

“Huginn, Muninn.” (Keeno)

The two silently heeded my command and flew out of my tail and toward the monster, taking its attention away from us.

“Pram, use your Soul Weapon’s debuffs.” (Keeno)

“Heard.” (Pram)

Pram summoned her Soul Weapon.  In her right hand, a silver bell with several images of snowflakes appeared.  She held it aloft and lightly flicked her wrist.  The bell produced a beautiful, clear sound that seemed to ring out for miles.  The sound was pleasant for us, but to the monster, it was anything but.  It froze up, allowing Huginn and Muninn to land on top of its head and start pecking at its eyes.  It immediately started thrashing about and headed in our direction while screaming in pain.  Huginn and Muninn flew off its head and Pram and I moved to the side.  It ran right past us and off the edge of the mountain pass, falling and slamming into the sides of the mountain on its way down.

“Good job you three.” (Keeno)

{Don’t celebrate just yet, Keeno.}

Heeding Ama’s words, I looked around us.  More of the same monster started to appear, coming out of crevices, nooks, and cracks in the mountain side.  While I was confident in our strength, there were too many of these things to fight on the small path we were on.  I looked over at Pram.

“Run.” (Keeno)

“Don’t have to tell me twice.” (Pram)

We started to run as fast as we could in the direction we were going.  The monsters, seeing this, started to chase after us.  I started to blindly fire off fireballs behind me, hoping to hit some of them or to knock some rocks loose to slow them down, and it worked somewhat, but after a bit the monsters adapted to that and slowed down or avoided my attacks.

We ran for a good bit before Pram started to skid to a stop.  I managed to stop just before bumping into her, which would cause both of us to fall off the mountain.  I was just about to frantically ask why she suddenly stopped, but looking over her shoulder answered the question.  It was a chasm between two parts of the mountain pass connected by a rope bridge.  And, just like in a classic adventure movie, it was in bad shape with boards missing and others just barely hanging on.

“Pram, I get that this is scary, even I think so, but I don’t think this is the time to let a fear of heights get in the way, because we either run across this clearly unsafe bridge and risk falling, or actually falling due to monsters.” (Keeno)

Pram hesitated for another second before running forward with me right behind her.

“THREE MONTHS!!!” (Pram)

“FOR THIS I’LL GIVE YOU FOUR!!” (Keeno)

The two of us ran all the while old boards groaned or even broke under our feet.  A few times we had to skip a few spaces and at one point I almost wanted to try running on the rope instead of the boards since it seemed in better condition, if just barely.  The bridge started to shake more as those monsters also tried to follow us over.  When Pram got to the other side of the bridge, the boards under her broke, leaving a big gap for me to cross.

“Oh, Ama I hope this works.” (Keeno)

{Keeno?}

I leapt from the last plank I had and focused some mana at the bottom of my feet.  Concentrated bursts of Solar magic ignited and the pulse was enough to give me enough lift to make the jump and burn the ropes of the bridge at the same time.  I landed on my feet next to Pram.  I moved far enough away from the ledge and sat down of the ground.

“…” (Keeno)

“…*inhale*” (Pram)

“No, Pram.  No words.  I already got it and I am starting to agree with you.  Just give me a minute and let’s get out of here.  I think I’m done with mountains for a while.” (Keeno)

Several minutes later I got up and Pram and I started moving again while Huginn and Muninn flew around happily in the windy chasm next to us.

Chaos Realm:

Luna: …

Tamamo: Luna, you had your own dangerous bridge thing, there is no need to be jealous.

Luna: I know, and in my opinion mine was better, but still, it’s a cliché I didn’t get to do so I can’t help but feel a little jealous.

Tamamo: Well, we can set up something similar at home.

Luna: Yeah, but why would I run from you?  I’d rather run into your embrace than away from it.

Tamamo: Who said you’d be running from me?  This is where we have Atmos chase after us after depriving her of a Fluff bed for a day.

Luna: Fufufu.  Let’s go then, it’ll be so much fun.