A Fox's Whisper

5: Ҝ卂乙ㄩ卄卂

There was no shelter from the rainstorm. Not a cave or a crevice to squeeze into, and not a single hut or home to take refuge in. It wasn't a very gentle rain either. It was cold and stinging, the type of storm that makes one start sneezing uncontrollably after about an hour or so.

Inari sat hunched on the ground, and the rain didn't seem to bother her. She was lost in thought, her eyes vacant and distant.
It was odd seeing her with her tail and ears hidden, even though I hadn't known her long. Beads of water clustered in her hair and dropped unnoticed down her face like many crystalline tears.

I sensed I had angered her unintentionally, and I wasn't sure how to apologize without further offending her. I'd only brought up the fact that most individuals in Inazuma didn't like the kitsune for her own safety. Of course, I probably should've chosen better wording and I regretted saying what I had.

She noticed I was looking at her and then she suddenly put on her kitsune mask, blocking her expression from me. There was a small puff of smoke, and instead of Inari, there was just a fox sitting next to me. A black one, with gold-tipped ears and tail.

The fox, or rather Inari I suppose I should say, took one look at me and then bounded off into the distance along the cliffside. I didn't follow her. She probably wanted to be alone, and I knew she'd be back.

I drew my knees up to my chest, sniffing slightly as the cold water made my nose run. Rain always has a certain rhythm to it. Sometimes it's light and soft, like a child dancing. Other times, such as just then, it was cold and persistent like a shroud of misery or needles from the sky.

I wished we'd been able to get through part of the beaches by then. At least down there, shelter amongst the shipwrecks was possible. But no matter.

I sneezed, my eyes watering. I really did have to find a better place to stay. I wondered where Inari had gone off to. Now that she was a small fox, she'd have an easier time than I of finding a dry place to hunker down in.

Maybe if I went back a little way there might be an overhang I could dry off under.

Forked lightning shot across the sky in purple bolts, and the thunder roared. My my...someone had gotten the Raiden Shogun in a tizzy, I thought, and then I laughed to myself.

I slowly walked back a ways from where we'd come before. The clouds were so dark it was getting hard to see, especially as night fell.
I thought I heard a dog barking in the distance, but it was hard to tell above the din of the storm.

Before too long, as I'd hoped, there was a rocky cleft that jutted out from the rising rock formations above me, providing adequate shelter and a semi sort of dry spot to stay.

I sat cross-legged on the driest spot of ground I could find and proceeded to wring water from my hair and clothing. A fire would've been nice, but there was no way I'd be able to find any dry wood. So I contented myself with leaning back and thinking about nothing in particular, my thoughts only interrupted by occasional sneezing.

I don't suppose there's really such a thing as bad weather. Sunshine is calming, wind braces us, rain refreshes us, and snow invigorates and exhilarates us. So you see? All kinds of wonderful weather exist in our world. I still thought it quite a shame that Inazuma didn't see much snow, so often marked by storms instead.

The soft scratching taps of claws on the rocky ground caught my attention, and upon looking to my left I saw Inari, still in her fox form trotting over to me. She shook herself like any drenched animal, flinging water all over the place. There was a soft puff of smoke, and I was again looking at the human Inari. Her ears and tail were still obscured from my sight. I squinted a little and saw faint snatches, blurry outlines of her fox features.