Apex Predator

Lammergeier IX

Later that afternoon,

It was raining when she returned to the palace. It came down softly, each drop splattered against the marble and concrete. Miwa's mind was fuzzier than pulled apart cottonballs. When she teleported to the marker set upon the balcony, it took her several seconds to realize that it was even raining.

"Where'd you g—ooo, is that something yummy I smell?" asked Neferpitō.

Miwa had stopped by a bakery in Soleil before she returned. The blonde pigtailed girl slowly turned to face the cat-ant. She tried out a smile. "Butter buns and milk coconut buns."

Neferpitō held out their hands expectantly and Miwa gave them the whole box. "Mmm. Smells divine." They leaned in, tilting their head. "Miwa?"

"Mm-hmm?"

"How come your eyes are all puffy?" they asked.

"Oh—um—someone I cared about got hurt and I was upset," she admitted. "Like—like if your king got hurt."

Neferpitōs's eyes widened briefly. There was a heartbeat of silence between the two. Only the sound of gentle rain could be heard.

They reached forward and gently cupped Miwa's cheek. Softly, they said, "I'm sorry they got hurt."

Miwa closed her eyes and leaned into their touch. "Thank you."

(≧ڡ≦*)

Neferpitō had given Miwa a towel to pat herself dry. It wasn't raining too heavily yet, so Miwa wasn't soaked enough to need to change her clothes. Miwa hugged Neferpitō as thanks, the cat-ant accepting the affection with a small smile.

As Neferpitō was on guard duty, Miwa decided to check in on the king and Shaiapouf.

"9-9-1, marshal," intoned the king.

Miwa sat next to Shaiapouf, turning so she could rest her chin on his knee. Shaiapouf lifted his hands holding his book up a bit more, then rested them atop Miwa's head while he read.

"1-5-1, marshal," said the young woman.

"7-9-1, pawn."

"2-3-1, pawn."

"8-1-1, spy."

"2-3-1, cannon."

"9-1-1, fortress."

"2-7-2, musketeer," she said.

The king smiled. "I'll call this remote concealment. 7-1-2, fortress."

There was a moment of hesitation on her end until she said, "1-6-2, general.

"9-1-3, archer."

"3-2-2, major general," she said.

"I'm done," said the king.

She bowed. "Let us begin, then. 1-9-3, new archer."

"9-7-1, new spy."

"2-9-1, knight."

"5-5-1, lieutenant-general."

For the first time since Miwa had seen the young woman play with the king, the woman paused for more than a few seconds. In fact, she paused for nearly a minute.

'Wow, is the king finally going to win?' Miwa thought in surprise.

"9-2-1, new lieutenant general," the young woman said, placing a new piece on the board.

The king stiffened, then threw his pieces upon the board. "That's checkmate."

The young woman closed her blind eyes.