Hoshimi’s POV:
“Nat. Nat! What do we do?!” I protest, gasping for breath as we arrived. I coughed, feeling something make my nose twitch and the hairs on my neck to go up. “Nat, something’s wrong. Get down!” I call, and shove her down, chanting as a shield of fire comes up, flowing from my hands as wings of a phoenix. I felt something get shoved into my face, and I look down to see Nat’s scarf balled up. She holds her hand to her mouth, and coughs.
“It’s smoke. Don’t inhale. I’ll go in first; I know the ways better. Get to a clear area, Hoshimi. Get help!” She calls, her voice cracking as I see tears sting stubbornly through her eyes, down to her cheeks. I nod, then hear yowls and mews for help. I only shake my head, and start to run towards the house, which was the source of the fire. When I looked over to her, she was staring with something-something scary in her eyes. In the water, there were pebbles that made words that I couldn’t see. But, one thing I did know was that Nat was very upset.
“Nat, it’s the house!! The house!” I scream, seeing boards falling down. I rush in, and see animals huddled in corners. Picking them up, I ran back out before getting trampled by some who were storming out of the house, trying to find a safe exit. I cried out, shielding my eyes as the lack of oxygen made my eyes water and my white tufts of hair to darken with soot and burns.
“Hoshimi!! Get out of there! It’s gonna collapse, all of the animals are out!” I hear her voice screech through the house, and so I start to run, but feel pain shear through my ankle as I stagger back. “Hoshimi!” She cries, and wraps my arm around her shoulder, and starts to run out of the burning building. Coughing, we stumbled blindly out of the fire, breathing heavily. Nat started to call for a familiar with water, and soon, the fire was tamed. All that was left of the house, though, was sizzling boards and crumbling bricks that started to cave in.
“Nat, we need-” I grip my ankle, then bite my lip worried. “Lolita. We need-to get to Lolita.” I whimper, and start to get my wound checked by the same familiar, who gives it a soft bite to fill it with a bone-mending venom. I thank the snake, and start to limp towards the stables.
Hoshimi’s POV:
“Lolita!! Lolita, hang in there!” I cry, trying to use my healing to revive the horse. “Lolita!!” I wail, my eyes filling with new tears. I stroked her mane, and started to sob into it, holding her secure back. Images flashed into my mind as I remembered what we did, and so I started to cry harder, the cool metal of her shoe grazing against my dress. “Lolita...why...you didn’t do anything!! Why did you leave us?!” I yell, and start to pound the hay, crying harder.
Looking over at the girl next to me, I gripped her shirt, starting to shake her. “Why won’t you do anything?! Why won’t you save her?!” I yell at her, my eyes flowing with tears. She didn’t answer, but her reply was a faint, ‘I’m sorry’, before she stood up, wiping her eyes with her arm before quickly walking out. I then stopped, my lips turning down in a quivering frown full of guilt and grief.
Who was I to sob over the animal, when she was the one who had known it all of her life? She’s probably going through everything imaginable in her mind, yet she won’t say anything. I stroked Lolita’s fur, and kissed her head, holding her head across my legs, holding it close to me as I wept. “Lolita...I miss you…” I whisper, then gasp, seeing her frame start to crumble into soil. As it does so, a sapling sprouts from her body, and I see a parade of gold and green light. I look up in awe, seeing the same horse start to trot and prance to a man with dark hair and soft, light green eyes as he pets her snout. She whinnies, and nods over to me, galloping back to me as she nuzzles my cheek. The man follows, and smiles faintly.
“I am Haruki Hatome, Natsuki’s father. Is she coping well with her surroundings?” He asks tenderly, sitting down with me. Lolita snorted, her spirit form prancing around in circles in the stall, laying down and wanting to be petted. I giggled, then looked at the man as I stroked the mare’s fur.
“Isn’t it a little-ah-late to be saying this now?” I ask, cocking my head to the side. He only tries to smile, and laughs faintly.
“It is, I know. I could only come when Lolita joined me, to arrive and receive her. Also, you will need to plant that. It’s an apple tree. She loved apples.” He chuckled. I nodded, laughing a little more.
“She did. When I used to hide them behind my back, she used to bite my hair too as she tried to get the apple.” I smile faintly, and stretch lightly. “Why didn’t her mother ever come? I’ve never seen her mother, and I know that all of the animals were alive since she was here.” I muse, then see his frown and stop. “Was that-”
“N-no! No. It’s alright.” He gives a small, weary smile. “It was the day of the incident. Because Mizuki-Natsuki’s mother- lost her life, her animal-the Jaguar- became so feral and protective of Nat that it gave his dying breath for the girl. I-I was already-” He stops, and bites his lip. I nod, and smile faintly.
“At least you tried to protect them. Knowing that at least someone is alive counts.” I state softly, then chuckle lightly. “If she weren’t alive, I wouldn’t be here. I’d be roaming somewhere, hiding from Exorcists and running away from everything. Maybe-just maybe- I would meet Konkemaru, but it wouldn’t be the same. Nat touched my heart.” I stop, and then try to smile. I see the man start to fade, and so I frown. He nods, and smiles faintly, helping up the horse.
“Thank you for telling me this. I’m glad that Shiro was-able to-” He started to flicker, and then just waved, disappearing with the horse. I sniffled, and then heard someone knock on the stall door.
“Can I come in?” Nat asked shyly, slowly climbing in after I motion for her to sit. A foal followed her, a black color that was already lightening.
“This isn’t my room, y’know.” I tease, and try to smile. “I-uh-ran into someone.” I state awkwardly, and try to smile at her. She only nods, and smiles slightly, her lips giving a faint quirk before tilting down. She stroked the foal’s head, and looked back at me.
“Thanks. For-for coming with, and-and to help her. He-I’m going to name him Daiki.” She says softly, nuzzling the foal’s chin with her finger. “Hoshimi, I-I really just…” She just slowly sunk into my shoulder, setting her head down on it and curling into a ball after letting the foal drift off into sleep. I only smiled, and wrapped my arms around her.
“Oh dear.” I tease, and smile faintly. “It’s okay, Onee-chan.” I whisper, and smile faintly. “Just tell me when you need to-” I stop, seeing she had started to snore lightly, her features softer and her rosy cheeks puffing up just the slightest as she let in soft breathes. I only try to smile, and pull the foal closer before closing my eyes, letting the exhaustion and sleepiness take over me. But before my eyes closed, I felt cold, golden eyes locked on our frames. Who...is that? I start to try and look closer, but the exhaustion from the fire took over, pulling me back into sleep.
