Laughter is the Worst Medicine, Part 17

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10, Part 11, Part 12, Part 13, Part 14, Part 15, Part 16

Ichiro lifted the man over the small of his back and walked as quickly as he could. It was hot and the man was heavy. His feet drug on the ground, but he wouldn’t leave a trail until he entered the field. And by then they’d be visible above the grass anyway.

“Wake up,” he said to the man many times. Finally the man responded with a “Gnnnk,” noise.

“Just a little farther, we’re almost to the field,” Ichiro grunted. Why did we have to park so far away?

“Water,” the man said faintly.

Ichiro set him down and handed the man his water gourd. “My head. Everything is so blurry,” the man said. Ichiro had ignored the smell of blood, but it was impossible now that the man had bled into his water gourd.

“You’ll be ok, we’re almost to safety,” he told the man who passed out again. They were about halfway to Gogo. You couldn’t wait until after I’d picked you up to go completely limp?

Ichiro picked him up again and trudged as fast as he could. He was tired, and he could feel his influence lessening on the kami that hid them both. Must put more space between us and the bandits before the kami wander away and stop hiding us.

He heard the man retch and felt something warm on his leg. But the man was awake, sort of. Ichiro put him down. “You can walk,” he said and guided the man towards Gogo. It was much easier with the man leaning on him than carrying him, but still slow going. Then the hiding kami left them and they were exposed.

“That smells terrible,” Ichiro gagged at the most disgusting thing he’d ever smelled. If I had anything left in my stomach, I’d throw up. Then he realized the smell wasn’t coming from the vomit on his leg.
—-
“Lady Taira, I want to go outside,” Gin said. They’d pulled the cushions from the benches onto the floor, and had the choice of standing inside Gogo, or sitting on hard wooden benches.

“It’s not safe out there,” Suki reminded her.

“There’s space for us to sit that’s still hidden. We can watch for Ichiro and the men to return,” Gin explained.

“Can you touch the kami that keep us hidden from Gogo’s step?” Gin is honest, but losing her village has something something terrible to her mind, Suki concluded after spending some time with the young Kitsune.

Gin shook her head. “You can’t touch these kami,” she explained. “Some you can, like Gogo’s. But not these, they’re just floating in the air.”

“Go up to what’s hiding us and show me. Don’t cross it,” Suki said.

Gin nodded very seriously and walked five steps from Gogo. “It’s here. It looks like my friend’s fur. She had little brown specks mixed in with the red. We always laughed at them, calling them ‘bird feathers’, but I miss them now. I miss her.” she said sadly.

The two of them sat outside. The trees blocked most of their view, but it was comforting to think of seeing their loved ones as soon as possible. To pass the time, Suki told Gin how to act and what to say when they visited her family. Gin listened intently and followed every detail.

That smell. That vile smell hit Gin. She first smelled it on the day her village died.

“Lady Taira, get inside Gogo! Gogo, don’t let any laughter inside you! It will kill you both! Don’t listen to the laughter!” The young girl pulled the older woman to her feet and pushed her towards Gogo.

“Gin, Gin, what is it?” Suki let Gin push her inside Gogo and gathered the young frantic girl into her arms. “It will be ok, just wait for Ichiro. You want to tell him how brave you were, right?” Suki stroked her hair.

“No!” Gin said. She stood on Gogo’s step and made sure Suki was inside. “I must save them. It’s here!”

“Shh, shh, there’s nothing here, just come inside. I brought dried chicken.” She lifted the young girl inside.

“Gogo, don’t let Lady Taira leave or she’ll die too! Don’t let her listen to the laughter!” Tears were spilling out of her eyes so she barely got the words out. And Gin turned into a kitsune, slipped out of Suki’s arms and bolted into the field. All Suki held was Gin’s kimono.

Suki tried to follow Gin, but Gogo had erected a barrier across the entire door. She was trapped. “No, no. Not safe,” said Gogo in her musical voice. Suki pulled out Junko’s paper, but no matter what she said, Gogo wouldn’t let her follow the young Kitsune. The windows were blocked, too. She was so frantic and worried about the young girl and her husband that she burst into tears.

“Gogo is friend. No cry,” the musical voice tried to sooth her. A paper hand stroked her hair.

“Why won’t you let me get her? She’s in danger,” Suki sobbed.

“Gogo cry. Safe here,” She’s trying to tell me something, but Gogo is like a young child learning to talk, Suki realized.

Suki dried her eyes and composed herself, although it did take two tries. She took off her outer robe and folded it neatly. Then she took off her two other robes until she was wearing only her under kimono with its tight sleeves. She didn’t know how to tie her sleeves like Taru, and when she shot with Junko and Lady Fujiwara, she was able to wait until just the right time to shoot: the wind calm, her sleeves out of the way. She didn’t have that luxury here.

Suki took the bow and quiver down from the shelf. She drew the bow to make sure she could, then sat down and folded her other robes. She was scared and alone.

“Gogo, what is the danger?”

“Bad. Gogo cry.” Then Gogo whipped up her tornado around her.
—
Gin ran towards Ichiro and the man he’d rescued in the field. Her heart pounded and black spots filled her vision. I can’t lose you, I can’t lose you, I can’t lose you. Kami, kami, don’t let them hear, don’t let them hear!

The breeze kami heard her and rushed towards her brother. Gin collapsed and panted in the grass until her vision cleared. She felt the tug of the kami at the back of her mind. They would protect Ichiro and the other man.
—
Ichiro’s world went absolutely silent. He looked up from supporting the injured man and saw breeze kami eating sound. Instead of their mouths pointed towards him, they were pointed away. They ate every scrap of sound that came near him. Huh? They had the slight pink cast that any of Gin’s kami took on. The laughter. She thinks whatever laughed is close by. Where is she? She can’t control kami very well. He couldn’t see Gin anywhere, so her kami gave wouldn’t last.

Ichiro was very afraid and he picked up the pace. The trees where Gogo hid were closer now. The disgusting smell got stronger.
—
Gin stood up when she could run again and headed towards her brother. Ichiro saw her and yelled, “Gin, Gin! Get back to Gogo!”

She yipped in return, although he couldn’t hear her. She noticed the kami, her kami, still followed her orders. She ran to her brother and nipped at his heels. Hurry, hurry Ichiro! I can’t lose him, don’t let him hear! She thought desperately towards her kami.

She continued towards town. She still felt the kami’s tug so Ichiro was safe. Gin heard the fury of a great wind storm and angled towards it. When she saw the angry kami who circled Lord Taira rip off a door, she changed direction to find Taru. The man in yellow’s kami will keep him safe, they hate everything.

No one noticed a small Kitsune running through town.

Picture by Daphne Zaras - http://www.nssl.noaa.gov/headlines/dszpics.htmlOriginally uploaded at en.wikipedia; description page is/was here., Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2130165