Fire Bird

9

Akira stayed silent for the rest of their trip, with them flying, even though it was much slower this time, they reached the North region fast

They talked to the people in a nearby village. They said the animals seemed afraid of something, cattle and hens went missing, without a trace, and some people even claimed to have seen some black shadows around the barns and coops that were missing their occupants

Kai and Akira did say they felt the residue of some spiritual powers, but not that strong

The disappearances of the animals were recurrent events, so the four decided to do a stake out

Therefor, the two mystical beings had to mask their auras

Akira pointed out that Nagisa shouldn't be there, Tokagawa's powers might have not been strong to scare the intruders away, but Nagisa's were, and unlike them, she couldn't mask hers very well

Nagisa was a bit disheartened, Kai assured her it was going to be fine, he was going to help her mask her aura, he gave Akira a pointed look, then told both humans to stay a little bit further, while Akira took care of the intruders and he'd protect them

Tokagawa asked if she'd be alright on her own, and Akira's heart skipped a beat

Kai only said that she was more than capable of handling the intruders, based on their auras, and if anything was to go wrong, they're only a breath away

Then he sent the two humans to rest for a bit

He stopped Akira from leaving: Were you really worried about Nagisa being detected or were you just being mean?

Akira: I was not being mean, it was my honest opinion!

Kai: Then why were you looking smug when you said it?

Akira: Mind your own business, Wadatsumi. Speaking of which, this is the second time you've decided I was going to do exactly what you want, your ego must be huge

Kai: No one else had any objection, or would you feel better putting your prince in the line of fire?

She glared at him: I wouldn't, but mark my words, Wadatsumi, this is the last time you decide something for me, or else, you'd have to answer for it

He sighed, running his hand through his hair: Maybe that was out of line. I apologize, didn't mean to order you..

He felt guilty, he was being just like the humans who took her freedom away, he didn't mean to, he was just used to being obeyed

Akira: Why did you propose that, if I didn't know any better, I would say you are trying to push them together faster, but it would only mean less time for you with her

He sighed again: Just drop it, Hinotori

Akira: I'm not going to give up that easily

He snorted: You were always stubborn..
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

That night, they arranged their stake out just like they had planned

It was a quiet night, and the moon was hidden behind the clouds, so it was dark

They almost dozed off, waiting for something to happen

A few hours after midnight, they heard a clatter inside the barn

There was a foul presence inside, Akira crept slowly towards the door

She opened it quietly, to see a long serpentene body, squeezing a sheep, jaws unhinging to fit the poor thing in one mouthful it had in it's vice like squeeze

Akira summoned her fire and waved it near the creature

The demon snake hissed, startled and angry, to having been interrupted during its feeding

It dropped the sheep, the poor thing looked frightened and took a few seconds to recover

Akira didn't want to burn the place down, she had better lure the creature out of the barn

Her aura wasn't entirely unmasked, it followed her foolishly outside, thinking it would devour her

She snapped her fingers and the snake instantly burst into flames

Kai and the others came running

Kai: Maybe you should had left it alive so we could discover if someone had sent it..

Akira snapped: I don't think so, the talk had been only about missing cattle and poultry and unsettled animals, no one would gain anything by sending such a creature here. There are probably more like it around here, driven from their original territories by a stronger presence

Kai nodded at her, smiling: That's a very likely cause, I see even though you weren't exactly in the field for a long time, you still have it

She ignored him, though Nagisa thought she could detect a faint blush, gracing her cheeks, but it was too dark to tell for sure