Kitsune of the Blue Sun

Chapter 220- Confrontation

[Pram POV]

I let out a sigh as I laid the unconscious Keeno down and covered her with a blanket.

“Are you sure that was alright?”

I nodded to Freya.

“She needed to hear that.”

“I mean, I was thinking the same thing, about her acting childish, but won’t she be upset when she wakes up?”

“It’s doubtful. She seemed to have realize a bit of what I was trying to convey, but we’ll have to see when she wakes up.”

Freya still had a worried look so I moved over and gently hugged her.

“Freya, it’ll be fine. I know Keeno, she won’t be mad at us.”

“But what about Mostima?  I know we let her go because she wanted it, but she did look like she was in pain.”

“Do you trust Mostima, Freya?”

“I do.”

“Then trust her.”

“…”

Though it seemed like Freya still had some doubts about it, she let it go for now. We both looked at Keeno again. Her tails were twitching in agitation and her face was scrunched up like she was having a nightmare.

“Pram, I’ll take watch, you get some more sleep.”

I nodded, laying down, placing my head on Freya’s thighs.

“Eh.  Ah…”

Freya’s flustered noises made me smile.

“Hehe. I’ll return the favor later.”

Though I wouldn’t say it was good, I did sleep much better than I thought I would, considering the circumstances. The next morning, the air felt extremely sticky and I could tell it was going to rain soon. Sitting up, I noticed Freya had moved my head to a pillow at some point. She wasn’t in the tent, so she had to be outside doing something. Keeno was still laying on her side, though I could tell from her body language that she was awake and had been for probably some time.  I was about to say something when she spoke first.

“Pram…how bad has it been and for how long?”

“A long time. I want to say since Odeen, but especially after we took that break back home. As for how bad, there have been a few times where you’ve been fine, but it’s to the point where it’s subconscious.”

“I can’t believe it.  Why didn’t any of you say anything till now?”

“How could we? We know that nothing would happen, but it’s not really easy to broach a topic like this to a Goddess. I mean, how do you tell your best friend’s wife to back off and let you rely on your own judgment?  If I may be blunt, you’ve become too reliant on everyone else, especially Amaterasu, that you hardly think for yourself...I’m not saying you can’t ever do that, but you need to be more decisive. You’re better than this and I can’t stand seeing you so…so stupid!  I want my best friend whose confident to the point of arrogance back!”

Keeno was taken aback by my fervor but remained silent. I could tell she was digesting my words, but she was sitting in a way where I couldn’t really see her expression. Silently she stood up and walked over to the entrance to the tent. Looking back over her shoulder, her glowing eyes slightly wet she spoke.

“I’ll be back in a few hours. It’s going to rain soon, make sure you and Freya stay dry.”

She walked out, letting the entrance flap fall behind her.

“I didn’t know you were capable of yelling like that.”

I jumped at the unexpected appearance of Freya’s voice right next to me.

“When did you get back?”

“Just a second ago. I wasn’t far but I rushed back when I heard yelling. I jumped through the back just as Keeno left.”

I nodded as Freya put her arms around my shoulders from behind me.

“Let’s eat while we wait. I’m starving and you probably are too.”

Nodding my head, we started making a small fire. As Freya starting pulling out the cooking things, I watched the smoke drift upward and out of the vent flap. The twisting in shapes that only smoke could I contemplated on our way forward.  Hopefully my words fully got through to Keeno and she’ll be able to figure herself out.

After we ate, Freya and I sat around chatting. The rain had started and the gentle sound of it hitting the roof of the tent was lulling me into a drowsy mood. That is, until we felt the ambient temperature rise significantly and a second later our surroundings were dyed in a brilliantly bright blue. Some of Keeno’s Runes flared to life and we felt the heat drop back to a normal temperature, but the light didn’t die down until several minutes later, the sound of rain completely gone once it had.

Poking our heads out of the tent, the surroundings were significantly less lush and there were small blue flames on some of the tips of leafless trees. Even the ground beneath us became cracked due to the intense heat that was no doubt still lingering from whatever Keeno just did. Freya and I looked at one another and, with the silent conversation over, immediately decided to start packing up camp. Several minutes later Keeno came running with a somewhat relieved look on her face.

“Good.  We’re running as fast as we can now. I want to get as much space between here and that city we were in before as we can before they send people to check this place out. Huginn, Muninn, quit lazing about in my tails and keep watch for us. We may be two days away, but that’s only because we weren’t trying.”

The two lazy birds poked their heads out of Keeno’s tail and took off, their bodies much more plump than I remembered. Keeno also seemed to be much better than when she left, but it was only a matter of time before I could tell the extent of her faking it. No one bounces back that fast. Following her lead though, Freya and I started running.

Chaos Realm:

Nykuro: *throws a feather shaped knife at a target*

My little Nyoodle, is something wrong?

Nykuro: Bored.

Wanna go terrorize some less than pleasant gods?

Nykuro: Yeah!

Let’s go then.

Nykuro: Let’s go, Pachi!!!

*Adorable*