Doodle Champion Island Journeys!

29. (Heartbeat of the Stars)

...They all await the Chosen One to entrust all their hopes and wishes. One with strength on par with the kamis and a heart of gold to reunite the fractured love and restore harmony to this island. This is not child's play, Lucky. This is no story. Things can escalate very unexpectedly. You already know how devastating that feels.

The winds, they were howling, crying unspoken tears while Kitsune remained motionless like a statue, letting her own power embrace her and telling Lucky the tale of Champion Island's history in a whispery tone.

"I just... want you to know the full story. Everyone is expecting you to win the Championship, and I also believe that you're the Chosen One. After today, I don't think we're at all mistaken. You are eager to lend a hand, and your words have moved creatures," Kitsune said in the winds. She was strangely calm for someone who had just recited the worst story in her life, about her own home, to a young and innocent creature. But Lucky was not only understanding - she also had the ability to stay optimistic in the darkest place.

"If that's what everyone wants, then I'll have to give it my all!" Lucky beamed, "Do everything wholeheartedly, that's what heroes do, right?"

"Yeah, right, you fairytale nerd," the fox laughed.

"Hmph!" Lucky turned away, pretending to sulk, but then burst out laughing as well. Not everyone she knew ever called her a nerd, if not nobody at all. Being athletic and being a keen reader seemed not to be a valid combination one could have thought of, despite how common it really was among athletes of their league.

Walking back through the Big Banyan was mesmerizing. Since the squabble had ended, the tree had retained its luminescence. It was as if nothing had ever happened. Lucky would love to spend her night under this roof, but it would be rude to the Kijimunas, and it would be cold when the morning dew came, anyway. She couldn't risk freezing on the floor first thing the next day.

The cathlete had explored enough of the Northwest Docks and the Central area to be affirmative that Team Yellow's Headquarters would not be there, and as Team Blue's and Team Red's were located in Tanooki City and Oni Island, respectively, those two places were ruled out, too. From what she had heard about housing on Marathon Beach, she could guess that her team's HQ wouldn't be anywhere close. So with the Bridge Garden, the North Mountains and the Bamboo Hill left, the feline decided to check the Hill for her night stay. She couldn't ask Kitsune. The fox was still following her, but merely nodded when she mentioned finding the Headquarters. Just as Akira said, members were not allowed to tell anyone about its location, and new members had to look for it manually.

It was eerie in the forest at night. The winds that usually danced among the bamboo trees, playing their mysterious unrest medley of flutes by the day now took a change in tune. They blew faster, more violently, and hummed a great piece of pipe organ that reminded her of the creepy mansion mazes with pianos that played by themselves in movies. Her heart thudded against her chest unreasonably as she tried to ignore the shrill aerial song that was confusing her ears from time to time for there was no telling where those sounds came from exactly - they seemed to surround her - and to ignore the fact that the bamboo trees looked much taller and more menacing at night. The turns of the unlit path seemed much sharper, and if it hadn't been for her to know the way beforehand, she could easily get lost in this fort, even with her still usable night vision and keen sense of smell.

Lucky crossed the deserted village. Even though she had stopped both Tengu's gusts that had been roaring for years and Amefuri Kozo's pouring rain this morning, creatures were less than eager to move from the comfort of Tanooki City back to the ruins of what they once called home. In the village square stood two lone figures of the red ping-pong table and the vermilion gate, the multicolored halo of the Table Tennis spirits creating a vague heavenly glow to the objects. Lucky wondered if the spirits were awake still, or it was just what remained of their power before they turned back into stone.