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“Aether! Aether!”
“Kohaku?”
“I’m so sorry for making you do this, but Miyako’s gone away to buy me a new volume of the Legend of Sword! I need you to deliver a letter.”
“Who’s it for?”
“Shh, lean in to hear me, we can’t say it super-duper loudly.”
Aether leaned down to Kohaku’s level. The boy whispered, “you have to give this letter to the Resistance. They have an archer, he’s super tall and has a Dendro Vision on his back! Mr. Akane is his name, you have to give it to him.”
“Mr. Akane..? Well, I might need a last name..”
“He never told me his last name. He said to call him Akane.”
“Okay. Akane then. Why are you trusting me with this?”
“You know Mr. Kazuha, don’t you?”
“..I do, why?”
Kohaku smiled. “Mr. Kazuha helped me! Mr. Kazuha knows everyone in the Resistance and he told Mr. Akane to take me here in the first place. Since you know him, it means you know the Resistance. I’ll pay you super well if you do this for me.”
Paimon insisted, “we should get some of that Mora, Aether! Kohaku has lots of money!”
“Sure thing then. I’ll come back to tell you when I’ve given it to him.”
“Yay! Thank you very much!” Kohaku bowed and sped away.
Aether looked at the letter. It had a purple seal on it and was held in fine parchment. He gestured for Paimon to follow him and the two made their way out of Ritou and onto the next few islands in the search for the Resistance. They had to avoid most of the Commission guards.
Slowly, they made their way where they remembered the encampment was at.
Lightning struck.
Paimon grimaced, “let’s hurry it up! It’s so scary out here!”
“What are you doing?”
She shrieked as she turned around to point her finger at the person who caught her off guard. He was taller than Aether and his hair was pulled back, tied with a yellow ribbon that looked too elegant to be on him. He had armor platings on his body.
“We’re here to deliver a letter for someone.” Aether replied. He noticed the Resistance insignia on the metal brace on his arm. “You’re from the Resistance, right? Do you know Akane?”
“Akane? You’re talking to him. Akane Chinatsu. The letter’s for me?”
“Yeah. From Kohaku.”
“..Kohaku...thank you for delivering this safely. Now you have to leave lest you get hunted down by creatures and guards alike. They’re the same to me.”
Aether handed the letter to Akane and left with Paimon. Akane looked at the letter before heading off on his own, perching himself on a cliff on the island. His things had been placed aside and he opened up the letter.
Goodness, Kohaku’s shaky and messy handwriting would never cease to baffle him.
Mr. Akane, I’m writing to you even though you said you didn’t want me to! You’re too cold to everyone you meet and I’m the one with the Cryo Vision. How is Mr. General? I hope when I see him again, he lets me touch his tail, it’s very fluffy. I also want to fight like you and him and Mr. Kazuha! I’ll sneak you into Ritou one day so you can teach me how to fight like you, okay?
The letter continued on to detail what had been happening the past few days. Kohaku’s father and other relatives were gathering to prepare things for the Vision Hunt Decree. He said in the letter that he had no idea what was going to happen, but he told Akane to talk to the Resistance to prepare to fight.
It was hard having a kid like Kohaku send in information and be an informant, but Akane knew he couldn’t stop him and in this way the boy was showing kindness and repaying a debt to when he was taken in by the Resistance. Thunder crackled in the distance.
Closing the letter to protect it from more damage of the now pounding rain, he slid it away into a pocket within his armor. He grabbed his things and headed to the camp.
The ribbon in his hair was becoming slightly undone. Akane headed into a tent farther away from the others and took off the ribbon. It had designs of cranes on it, beautifully embroidered and colored in with string. This was a gift from none other than Kohaku.
As a parting gift, Kohaku took off the ribbon in his hair and gave it to Akane, citing that yellow was a good color on him and that it was for fortune. Kohaku had given Kazuha and Gorou (Mr. General) parting gifts as well before he was taken in by the Hiiragi Clan.
What a strange boy with strange attachments to even stranger people.
Akane would never understand that. He never understood lots of things.
“There you are.” His tent flap opened.
“General Gorou. What do you need?”
Gorou said, “I was told that you finally came back to camp. Any reason why?”
“Kohaku sent a letter.”
“Really? What was in it?”
Sighing, Akane explained the important parts of the letter where the boy had explained that things were happening within Ritou and his family. Gorou nodded his head, furry animal ears twitching as he replied, “I see. We’ll prepare anything needed then! Would you like to help?”
“I’ll do it. I’ll prepare the rations.”
“I wouldn’t trust anyone else.”
Akane got up and left with Gorou to prepare. Thunder raked itself across the sky.