Kodama forests's Curse

Chapter 6 - A First Encounter

Dauirmuid reached the entrance and looked around, the bright white walls and lights hurt his eyes to begin with. Then he began to run down the hall and to the entrance to one of the boarding areas, The receptionist called for security, and soon there were people chasing him. They all yelled at him, trying to get him to come back, but Dauirmuid didn't listen. He kept running, and began to prepare for a shift as he reached the outside. He ran down the road where the planes would land until he could no longer hear the people chasing him, then used the remaining energy he had left and started to turn himself into an albatross, still running the entire time. He threw his bag in the air and grabbed it with his beak, then began to fly. This was difficult for him to begin with. He could barely see as it was, bird eyesight was difficult to adjust to, and his wings already hurt. But he began to smooth out his flying the higher he got, and eventually he was flying smoothly. He smiled to himself, in the weird way that birds smile. Then he tried to remember which way was north from the airport so he could find his way to Japan. He faced down at the airport and realised he was facing southeast. So he turned his head toward southwest and started the flight, he began to feel his heart beat faster the further up he flew. The wind blew through his feathers as he flew, and he didn't want to admit to himself that this felt amazing, for this was a serious time and he shouldn't be enjoying himself.

After a while his eyes began to flutter from all the flying, he'd not slept very well in the nights before with the situation he was in. But he fought as hard as he could to stay awake, he was so far above the ocean that if he fell he would surely hurt himself. Then when he actually took in what was below him, he couldn't see the ocean. From his point of view he was flying in an endless void with very few stars and the moon, the thought of this was very calming to him. He began to breathe slower, and relaxed a little more. This was not very good for him, and he suddenly felt his once spindly bird legs turn back into paws and he dropped the bag from his beak.

Lexi was flying as fast as he could, his nine tails bustling in the wind as he took steps on invisible ground with his gorgeous white paws. He'd forgotten about the time difference between Dauirmuid and his's countries and had to hurry if he didn't want him to leave without him, he could seriously hurt himself if he tried to fly that far while he was still just becoming a yokai.
..Dauirmuid. He thought to himself. As much as I hate to admit this.. I almost wish you didn't want to be human anymore. I don't want you to go through all I went through to choose to stay a yokai, just.. if not for yourself... I just wish I could tell you how much I cared. Then he stopped in his tracks as he noticed a deformed silhouette flying clumsily toward him, dropping closer and closer to the ocean. He began to run toward the falling object, but running was not fast enough. He jumped up and gracefully faded into the man behind the blonde fox, and dived down toward the.. bird?
..holy shit.. Dauirmuid?! The raccoon hit the water and was knocked unconscious. Lexi kept falling toward the water, he changed to a plank pose and started to fall faster. Upon hitting the water he tried to open his eyes, but the salt made them sting. He shut them tightly and felt around rapidly until he grabbed the small furry creature, he held Dauirmuid tight to his chest and jumped out of the water, back into the form of the fox, gripping him lightly between his teeth. He sighed through his nose in relief and threw Dauirmuid onto his back.

The sky was a lighter blue fading into orange, and Dauirmuid woke up. He was shocked at first to see he was still flying in the form of a Racoon. Then he looked at his bag next to him, and noticed he wasn't flying, he was being carried.
Blonde fur..? He looked up at the fox's head, then realised who it was.
"Oh my fucking god- Lexi?!" He exclaimed, partially scared, but mostly relieved. "How did- what happened?"
"You're awake? Thank god- I thought you'd drowned. Why didn't you wait for me to get to the airport?" He asked from behind himself.
"There wasn't any time to lose, I had to get to that forest one way or another."
"Sorry, I forgot about the timezones and I thought I didn't have to get to Ireland until much later. I had to rush over, but I found you when you were falling to the ocean and had to get you."
"Oh, so that's why I smell like salt and I'm all damp."
"Yeah, I've been flying all night and we should arrive in a few hours."
"Thank you, I swear wether I was in the ocean or not at this point I'd be dead."
"It's the least I could do." Finished Lexi. They flew in silence for a few minutes before Dauirmuid broke the silence.
"Holy shit."
"What?" Lexi looked back at him, worried.
"Is this what my default form is now!? I can't change into anything less than this!"
"Wait- seriously?"
"We're running out of time.."
"I'd gotten that far, I'm going as fast as I can!"
"Do you know where we are now?"
"No idea, maybe just over Georgia?" Dauirmuid stayed silent for a few seconds, trying to remember where that was.
"Okay, we're getting there.. pretty sure."
"Just about halfway." Said Lexi. "Might need to take a break though, I may be a yokai but I still need to breathe sometimes."
"If you want I can turn into a bird again and just follow you?"
"Absolutely not, you just woke up from what I thought could've been death. Can't risk you exhausting yourself again."
"Yes but the last thing we need is two exhausted.. ghost, things."
"Still a no. And we're leaving it at that-" but he was too late, Dauirmuid had already jumped off his back and turned himself into an albatross again.
"Jesus, alright. Only for a while."
"You're awful bossy you know, you aren't my mum." Lexi didn't reply to this and just kept flying, and Dauirmuid paid no mind. They flew in silence for a few minutes, and Dauirmuid began to panic. Eventually he broke the silence again.
"So.. um."
"'Um' what?"
"Uh.. you want to talk about something? It's the first time we've seen each other in real life after all."
"..sure?"
"Okay.. um... favourite colour?" Then he mumbled under his breath something Lexi couldn't make out.
"Haha, classic conversation starter. I'd say.. Yellow?"
"Cool, hah. I like green." Dauirmuid said, with an awkward tone of voice.
"When did you become so prone to anxiety from talking to people? Last I knew you were yelling at me about not being able to be human."
"I'm not anxious, just can't think of anything to say."
"Try not to start your sentences before you know what you're going to say."
"..Right. Thanks."
"So.. favourite animal?"
"Another classic. I don't really have a favourite."
"Weirdly enough, it's raccoons for me." Lexi smiled as he said this.
"You don't say? That is weird, haha." Dauirmuid thought to himself as he spoke; holy shit, am I just just socially anxious or down hard for this guy? And we're talking about animals and colours for Christ's sake.
"I can tell somethings on your mind, you need a break?"
"No, I'm alright."
"Okay."
"Uh.. any favourite mythical creatures?"
"Phoenix wins by a mile."
"What kind of pheonix? The kind from Harry Potter or..?"
"Any kind, they're all awesome."
"Yeah, they're cool." And then there was more silence.
"Do you ever get the chills when you wake up in the morning to get dressed?"
"Yeah?"
"Thats how I feel right now."
"Sorry about that?"
"You didn't do anything though." The silence returned, and Dauirmuid didn't say anything.

Three hours later, Dauirmuid had gotten back onto Lexi's back. They were now flying over what looked like it could be China.
"I think we're getting close, might be a couple more hours or so." Lexi said, finally.
"That was actually surprisingly quick."
"Only because you slept for most of the way."
"I know, no need to remind me." and he turned himself into an albatross again, clumsily flapping his wings for a few seconds before smoothing himself out.
"I think I'll be fine to fly for the rest of the way."
"Okay."
".. Also I wanted to ask, what are you getting out of helping me?" Lexi opened his mouth to speak, but changed his mind.
"...Lexi?"
"I never asked for anything, I'm doing this for your benefit.. and I never really had anyone to help me when my nine years ended. And I wanted you to have that."
"Yeah, but why?" And of all people, why me?"
"You were the one that reached out to me, right?"
"But you could easily have said no."
"Do you want me to have said no?"
"No, no I'm glad you're coming with me. Just curious." And Lexi hesitated.
"I don't have the best family. Okay? I was neglected by them, and when I realised what was happening to me, it was the best news I'd recieved in ages. It meant I could get away from them, and have all these awesome abilities. But at the same time, suddenly growing tails and ears out of nowhere was pretty damn terrifying. So you know.. Guidance would've been nice. And I decided if I were fortunate enough for someone to ask me for help, I'd do it. And that was you." Dauirmuid clung onto every word.
"So.. Your family was abusive?"
"Not necessarily, they just.. Didn't exactly care for me as much. Especially when I actually got my curse."
"..Lexi, they were neglecting you because of your bad luck."
"..what?"
"On the wikipedia page. 'Bad luck gets increasingly worse over the nine years', I lost my dad in that time." They stared at each other for a few minutes.
"I.. I didn't know that was how it worked. So.. It's my fault they didn't care about me?"
"No- thats not what im saying at all! Thats just how curses work.. Well, based off my experience with them." But Lexi wasn't listening. He stayed silent for the remainder of the journey, even when Dauirmuid said something.