Spiritmal, By The Light Of A Star

10. Race number 2

"Hey! These mini lotus buns taste extremely good!" I complemented the sweet buns, passing one to Star so that she could try it as well.

"Yum! These are tasty!" Star exclaimed, finishing her little bun within seconds.

"I told you so!" Tim smiled. "I love eating these, especially with Fang. It's too bad that Fang's a carnivore, he wouldn't be able to stomach too many of these buns. You guys should try the lotus candies as well, they're good." Tim recommended us, finishing up the meat loaf he had bought at the Lotus Seed bakery.

Just then, I remembered the reason why I had came to Lilywolf Village in the first place.

"Hey Tim,"

"Hmm... yes?"

"Are there any jobs around here I could take up? I'm kind of looking for one."

"A job huh?" He rubbed his chin. "Well, you could always do deliveries, like me. If you could bake or cook, maybe you should try to get some employment at the bakery. Oh! There's also gardening, farming and the making of furniture and other household items."

"Oh." I thought to myself, thinking of the job prospects. It appeared that being a mailman, or a mail women in my case, was one of the best jobs I could find in this village. No wonder Tim became one. Besides that, being a casher in one of the other shops also sounded like a good deal.

Of course, I could also go to another village or city to find a job. However, it was always best to try out the jobs in one area first, just in case I found myself good at any one of them or felt more comfortable in a particular area.

"All the trainers participating in the great wolfabeast race are to align at the starting line now!" An message blared through the village's announcement system.

"Sorry Emily, gotta go!" Tim rushed off with Fang by his side. Excited to see him racing, I followed after him using a much slower pace, finding myself a good viewpoint to watch the race amidst all the other tourists and visitors at the scene.

"Welcome to the annual Wolfabeast race!" A pleasantly plump announcer stood up on a tall platform, looking down on upon all the racers and spectators. "Are you guys ready for a good race? You better be! Especially since this one starts in
Five, four, three, two, one and GO!"

The wolfabeasts raced off immediately, leaving a trail of dust behind them. Excited, me and Star started cheering for Tim and Fang.

"Goodness! I can't even see them anymore!" I looked towards the distance to see the wolfabeasts already no more than a speck on the horizon.

"Hey! Wanna try seeing if we could catch up?" Star suggested, transforming as she did so. A few people around us gasped, looking up at the gigantic yellow bird.

"Why not?" I replied her, jumping onto her back as she took of into the sky.

"Goodness! You're heavy!" Star commented as she flew towards the crowd of wolfabeasts.

"Well, I guess I'll feel slightly heavier as this is the first time you've got a passenger!" I quickly answered as Star sped up even more.

"Whooaaaaaa! Star!!! I didn't know that you could go so fastttttt!" I held on as tight as I could, not wanting to fall of her back.

"Me either!" Star quickly caught up with the competitors of the race, even overtaking them at one point.

From high up in the sky, I looked down at the little wolfabeasts with their trainers riding them. About five of them seemed to be lagging behind the main bunch of the competition with another three far ahead of the others. To our delight, me and Star saw Fang and Tim among one of the fastest few, them fighting for first place alongside a tricolor wolfabeast and it's trainer.

Go on Tim... I silently begged. You can do this, I know it.

The excitement was really building up in me, especially since this was the first time I actually felt like supporting someone in a race. To be fair though, Tim and the healer in Seamon town were currently the only friends that I had made out of my own village.

"Cool! They're running over the lily pads now!" Star announced, swooping down slightly so that we could see the action better.

"Yep! They're approaching the finishing line!" I pointed towards a line at the end of the lily pad pond. Neck to neck, Fang and the other wolfabeast were currently still tied with one another, each trying their best to outrun the other.

"That's some fierce competition!" Star landed at the finishing line, allowing me to get off before transforming back into her disguise form. The two of us cheered even louder as we saw the two wolfabeasts a few hundred meters away from the finishing line.

"Come on Tim and Fang! You guys could do it!" We screamed as Fang jumped the finishing line, barely getting first place.

"And the winner of this year's race is Tim Pracer!" The announcer confirmed the results, causing the already loud cheering to become deafening.
———————

Tim grinned, approaching me and Star as the paparazzi about his win died down.

"Goodness! I thought that I'll never get rid of them!" He faked a faint, causing Star to laugh as I just continued awkwardly staring at his dramatic gestures.

"Good job in that race Tim!" I congratulated him anyway.

"Thanks Emily!" He answered as Fang and Star has their own little conversation down on the floor.

"So, it was the best experience in the world? Cool!... oh. I see, of course you'll be hungry, that was some major racing. You say that it's worth it? Oh, I hope that I get a chance someday?"

I smiled, though a little sadly, as the two spiritmals communicated with one another. I knew that the chance of Star ever attending a race was near impossible, especially since I could hardly be a chance to do so as her trainer.
————————

Sounds of wolfabeasts' howls pierced through the night air, painting a mysterious song of longing in the wind. The notes of their song filled me and Star with indescribable feelings of sadness and joy at the same time. Tim had been right when he insisted us to listen to the wolfabeasts' monthly howling session in his humble village. It was beautiful, a song that no one could understand yet understand all at the same time. Something that was confusing, yet satisfying, to ponder about.

Listening to their howls and the newly-joined note of Star's snoring, I made a wish upon the full moon above, a wish to be able to enter a race one day, even if it were only once.
————————
Author's note:

So, I didn't update early after all, sorry about that. Still, I hoped that you guys have enjoyed this latest installment! In fact, I have a feeling that we are about a quarter into the book already.