Rigel shielded them with the metal, giving himself some time to look into Kohaku’s perfect eyes. He kissed her forehead gently, “Kohaku, I need to leave. But I’ll find you again, I promise. Just stay safe, stay hidden.” Rigel took a deep breath, knowing he needed to leave to keep Daichi’s wrath off of Kohaku.
Kohaku's ears drooped. "No, Rigel… Don't leave me…."
Daichi roared. "Don't you dare!!!" He shot more shards, slamming the metal hard. "Kiss my daughter and you'll guarantee death!!"
"I'm not your daughter!!!" Kohaku cried, clinging to Rigel. "If I were your daughter, you wouldn't be trying to kill Rigel!"
"Loving a human is immoral!!!" He barked, and she winced at the power of his voice. "You should know this! Have I taught you wrong!?"
Kohaku collapsed under the pressure, still holding on to Rigel's legs. "Let me still love you…"
Rigel crouched beside her despite the pain in his abdomen from the motion. He brushed a hand through Kohaku’s fur, saying gently, “Tell them I threatened you, tell them I was trying to rape you, tell them I was forcing you. Tell them my mind was truly broken from- from Peter. For your safety. We can love in secret, I’ll come find you again. But for now, hold your chin up and pretend. For me?” Rigel whispered, clenching his fist to keep the metal shield up. He needed to keep Kohaku safe.
Kohaku shook her head. "I-I don't want to… " She shivered.
Daichi stopped bombarding them with boulders and everything of the sort. "I'll give you ten seconds to run, human…. After that, I won't give you any mercy!!!"
She stammered, "R-Rigel–!"
Rigel kissed her forehead again -making sure Daichi couldn’t see- before pulling off a small chunk of metal. He formed it into a rose- no larger than his thumb. “Keep this, it’s a promise. I’ll come back. Just don’t show anyone.” He forced himself to move- to walked as fast as he could with his injury out. He kept the shield up in front of Kohaku until he was out of range.
Kohaku clenched the tiny rose in her hand, making sure Daichi couldn't see it.
He thumped over. His rage finally diminished, but was still present. "I told you plenty of times to stay away from humans– especially Rigel," He growled.
She stood up. "I– I– I know…. I'm sorry…." Kohaku expected some kind of affectionous gesture, but got none.
"Before those others come back, we have to leave the mountains…." Daichi lead the way out the back door and into Naoki's small garden.
The others were waiting, worry coating their faces. "What happened?" Mamoru's voice rose.
Rigel snuck out of the village, making it to the outer rim of trees before stopping and letting himself slide to the ground. He missed Kohaku, but it was for the better. Their love was forbidden, he needed to keep it a secret. He should’ve been more careful. Rigel curled his arms around himself, trying his best to ignore the pain of his wound.
"Kohaku had an issue with… Er…. Junichi…." Daichi shook his head. "The poor fox…"
Youichi's ears drooped. "You mean…?"
He nodded, and the others dipped their head in shame. "However, we don't have time to give him a proper burial…."
They all agreed shamefully. "Well… We don't have time to waste…."
As they went on through the mountains, Kohaku thumbed at the rose in her hand. Will he find me again….?
Rigel gave himself a few hours to recover a little bit, then forced himself up. He reentered the village to find that they had left- predictably. But a tug -a small feeling in his gut- pulled him in the direction of higher up in the mountains.
Akira dropped behind to where Kohaku was walking. "Are you doing well?"
She hid the tiny rose and glanced up. "I was… Until they came…"
"No-good humans…" He snarled. "All they want is for us to be wiped from the face of the earth… However… That Rigel fellow….."
She tried to keep the flush in her face down as he mentioned him.
"…He seemed quite out-of-the-ordinary for a human… Youichi told me a lot of what he suffered….. But he tells me that you know more."
She glanced around. "I'd… Rather… Keep it to myself…." They can't know…
Rigel trudged along hopelessly, needing to take break frequently to accommodate for his still healing wound. I just want to make it back to Kohaku…
"That's alright… I won't make you tell something that you don't want to…"
They continued along, traveling back down into a tundra area, with scraggly shrubs and stout stickly plants.
Mamoru pointed. "On the horizon–" His finger went to a manor-looking building, one of the closest places to Katsumi since they left. They approached with caution, and saw the lights were out. "…Should we go inside…?"
Daichi went first, and told them the coast was clear.
And with that, they filed inside. It wasn't very warm, but it was warmer than being out in the open….
Eventually Rigel had to hunker down beneath a large oak tree, curling his arms around himself and shivering. He missed Kohaku’s warmth… But he knew he would find her again.
(Sorta kinda time skip??? Dinner time :D If you don't want me to, I can change it….)
Daichi cooked up some nice soup using some fish they caught in a nearby stream.
As everyone was finishing up, and dispersed to mind their own business, Kohaku took her second helping and held the bowl in her hands, heating it up. She still had the tiny rose in her hand, and she went upstairs when no one was looking. She went into her room, which was a relatively large size.
She went to a window and opened it up, glancing down the wooden lattice to the dead garden below. I'll be waiting…. She set the rose down to rest her fingers a little. I hope you know where I am, Rigel…. I…. I miss you….
(It’s totally fine, should we timeskip to maybe a week or so later?)
(Suuuuureeee, assuming they're still in the manor place…)
Rigel, after a week of searching, came upon a manor. A pull in his gut just told him- she had to be here. Thankfully, the sun was going down so he could approach sneakily.
Kohaku decided to pass the rest of her time, searching the drawers and shuffling through abandoned jewelry and things. She found a nice box and opened it up, finding a charmless necklace. This should be perfect…. Kohaku went to her bed, heating her hands and carefully fusing the rose to the necklace chain. Yes!! She allowed it to cool and put it around her neck, hiding it under her robe's neckline. No one will ever know… They'll think it's just some jewelry….
He was drawn to the side of the manor, and he could feel it. He was in range, and he could feel the rose with his powers. Rigel prayed only Kohaku was around, and he morphed the rose to close the blossom.
Kohaku saw a small scrunch of wrinkles form on her robe, and she lifted the rose out to see that the bud was closed up. That could only mean one thing…! She made sure the door to her room was closed before she rushed to the window, opening it up. Kohaku glanced down and saw him. She gasped, her tail raised and wagging. "Rigel!" She whisper-shouted.
Rigel looked up, hope filling his eyes. He smiled, rushing to the side of the house and whisper-shouting, “Do you have any more metal?” He could feel some in the room, but he didn’t want to rip it out in case of making any loud noises. But he still needed to get up there somehow.
Kohaku nodded. "I hope jewelry works…" She went back and pulled out all the boxes and cases of necklaces, bracelets, earrings and rings, setting them on the window sill. "This is all I could find." Her ears perked up, her tail still wagging happily. My Rigel has come back!
Rigel brought down the metal- it would be enough. He melded the metal to go on his feet and hands and lifted himself up to the window. Rigel had to grit his teeth to pull himself up, but he managed.
Kohaku helped him to the window sill and drew him into a warming, clinging hug. "I haven't seen you in so long…." She whispered and nuzzled at his neck. "…And I'm glad to tell you no one else knows about the rose yet…"
“Yeah,” He rubbed his chin, knowing a small beard was forming by now. He wrapped his arms around Kohaku and kissed her, “I missed you a lot.” He formed the rose back to it’s original shape. “The rose can be our signal.”
"Of course…." She curled her tail loosely around his waist. "If it closes…. You're nearby…. Right?" Kohaku glanced at him into his wonderful eyes, running a hand along his face, where a light stubble was forming. ….Maybe I should offer him….
“Yeah, when I get in range,” He smiled, brushing her hair/fur caringly, “I’ll close it. Just keep it out of sight at all times, and we’ll be fine.” Rigel kisses her forehead lightly, smiling.
Kohaku's ears twitched with excitement, and she licked his cheek in return. "That shouldn't be too tough… Considering it hides well under my robe…" She thought twice, and thought it was best to leave it be. "But… I was wondering if… You'd want to clean up… If you understand…"
Meanwhile…
Yasu and Alex finally returned to Naoki's abode, not surprised to find it abandoned. "Should've known they'd run…" Yasu growled, putting her traditional bow on her back. "But…" Her face screwed up.
"What's up?" Alex glared at her.
"That guy…" She wrinkled her nose. "Who would ever try to defend a Doku Ningen, expecially a human…." She stuck her tongue out in disgust. So screwed up….
“You don’t like my beard?” Rigel asked in a mockingly offended tone, stroking his chin, “I think I’d like to braid it eventually,” He joked, eyes twinkling in amusement. He missed being around Kohaku.
She giggled lightly. "Your beard's fine, silly– I was talking about taking a shower. I'd think you would've gotten a bit dirty from being out and about the past seven days…" Kohaku massaged his shoulders, rubbing at his muscles. He must've been exhausted from trying to live directly off the wild.
Meanwhile….
Alex shook his head. "I guess there always has to be that one group of people that oppose the entire nation…"
Yasu rumaged around the house, looting off the valuables and stuff Naoki kept in his house. "Damn… This is some pretty good stuff…."
Alex went around out back to see a nice, jumble of animal footprints leading off into the wilderness. He smirked. "I think I know where they all went…"
