Tsugi stepped into a puddle of water that was up to her knees as it seeped into her boots and soaked her feet. Tsugi felt the rain drizzle on her like a light shower, and her heart quickly raced in panic. After a moment or two, her heart soon calmed when there was no flash of lightning or deafening thunder that roared through the sky.
Ruzo quickly approached and nudged Tsugi with his giant nose and licked her face. With one lick, her whole head was covered in slobber.
The gesture gave Tsugi much comfort and she was able to breathe better.
“Sorry, I forgot they have monsoons here.” Lugo said.
Tsugi followed behind him and looked around the small grassy platform. They were on the mountain side with an ocean below them, and waves crashing into the rocks. They followed the narrow path up as it wound them back and forth up the mountain.
“Why did you make the door down there on the cliff and not in the village?” Tsugi asked.
“I like the view of the ocean. It makes me feel serene.” He closed his eyes and lifted his head to the heavens, embracing the raindrops on his face.
“Will they be okay with Ruzo in the city?”
“Should be fine. I’ll find an inn near a barn we could rent.”
Traveling up the road, houses began to appear alongside the mountain. Some appeared to be built right into the mountain itself. Then the cliff disappeared and houses were on either side of the path, with the giant cliff rising up behind the houses and monstrous trees growing out of the side of the mountain, growing so tall it seemed as if they were reaching for the sky. There was even a house built into the hollow of the enormous tree, with children laughing and playing on the wooden balcony.
“Oi! Over here lad!” A man called out in a thick accent as a boy ran some lanterns to him to string up. Tsugi looked up and saw white paper lanterns strung across the mountain, weaving back and forth up and down the street.
“Come on! Hurry up now. We only have till tomorrow night!” A woman said in an equally thick accent. She was carrying a giant bucket on her head as she headed down the road.
“Wow! Papa, do you see that?” A little girl tugged on her fathers coat and pointed up at Ruzo who was walking very slowly behind the others.
“It’s rude to stare and point, darlin.” He scolded.
The children ran after them and giggled excitedly. “Oi can we ride him again?” The children asked.
Tsugi furrowed her brows. Again? What do they mean again? Had they met a warwolf before?
Tsugi unfurrowed her brows and chuckled, bending down to see the children eye to eye. “Well, of course you can, but” she held up one finger, “only if your parents allow you to.”
“Papa! Mama! Can we ride the warwolf?!” They all screamed and ran to their parents. Begging and jumping from anticipation. After their parents' approval, they screeched in excitement and came barreling back. “Yes! They said yes!” They exclaimed.
“Ruzo, down.” On Tsugi’s command, the warwolf immediately laid down in the middle of the road. “Now, don’t let go of him.” Tsugi said as he lifted each child onto Ruzo’s back. “Okay, hang on!” She turned to Ruzo. “Trot.” Ruzo began trotting up the road.
The children screamed in excitement and whooped with glee. Tsugi couldn’t help but find joy in their pleasure.
“Lady Ellie!” A man approached them with a wide grin on his face. “What a pleasure to see you again. Is Master Lumes not with you?” Ellie shook her head. “Oh and Tsugi! My have you grown! Last I saw you, you were but a wee lad!”
“Thank you.” She gave him a wry smile as they walked away. She glanced at him and furrowed her brows, tilting her head in deep confusion. She turned and tapped Ellie on the shoulder. {How does he know us?}
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{You don’t remember?} She seemed absolutely bewildered. {We were here before. The town had gotten really sick from drinking the water and we were here for two months because of that.}
{What?! I don’t remember any of that!}
She scratched her head. {You were probably just too exhausted so everything just jumbled together.} She shrugged.
Tsugi stared off into space and tried to search through her memories, to find anything of the place, but nothing came to mind.
Ruzo came trotting back and brought Tsugi out of her reverie. After taking the children off, they screamed excitedly and ran back to their parents, telling them about the thrill of the ride.
“So you and Ellie were here before?” Lugo asked as they continued up the road.
“Apparently, but I don’t remember any of it.”
“I’m sure it’s nothing to worry about. You were probably so tired and out of it, you just didn’t retain any memories.”
“Yeah, probably. We were always doing a lot of healing and traveled around quite a bit.” Tsugi couldn't shake the feeling, but the reason sufficed.
Reaching the top of the mountain, it opened up into a vast open area. People and children scurried about the streets. There were more houses and buildings at the top and the place was intricately designed with flowery vines, and more lanterns and decorations.
The light drizzle had gone and the moon began to peak out from behind the clouds. The delicious aroma of baked goods and roasting meat wafted through the air and entered their nostrils. Their stomachs grumble loudly, causing them to gazed at each other before bursting into laughter. They came to realize that neither of them had anything to eat all day and the sun had already set.
“Let’s find an inn and eat!” Lugo took in a deep breath through his nose and marched through the streets.
After renting a barn to keep Ruzo in, Tsugi also paid the man to provide Ruzo with some food before they went to pay for their room in the inn.
The place was filled with chatter and clanking of dishes and drinks.
“We’ll take two rooms please.” Lugo said to the woman behind the bar.
“Three rooms.” Tsugi corrected.
“No, just two, why waste money when we can just share a room.”
“Uh, because I don’t want to wake up with your elbow in my back again.” Tsugi rolled her eyes.
“Awe, such good memories. I just missed the time you elbowed me in my eye.” Lugo smiled sarcastically.
“Uh…’scuse me gentlemen…but we only have two rooms left.” The woman gave an apologetic smile.
Tsugi sighed and rubbed her head in frustration. “Fine, I’ll stay with Ellie and you can have your own room.”
“NO!” Lugo exclaimed. “I’m not letting you stay with her! She’s a girl! You can’t stay with her!”
“Well, I don’t want to stay with you!” She frowned.
“Fine, I’ll stay with her then!” Lugo folded his arms.
“NO!” Tsugi yelled and the room went quiet. All the heads turned toward them. “Sorry.” Tsugi flushed and smiled apologetically. Murmurs and chatters slowly began again and soon filled the air. “Fine…I’ll share a room with you.” Tsugi muttered through her clenched teeth.
Damn. Now she’s stuck sharing a room with him.
{You can’t stay with him!} Ellie signed angrily. {You’re a girl! He’ll find out!}
{I know, but there’s nothing I can do! There’s only two rooms and he already thinks I’m a man, so he won’t let me stay with you either! Ugh…} Tsugi sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. {It’s fine…it’s fine…I’ll just stay away from him. I’ve done it before and I can do it again.}
{Before? You’ve slept with him before?!}
{It wasn’t like that! We were only kids and I was careful to not let him see me. Although, I had no breasts then.} Tsugi sighed again. {It’s okay. It should be fine. I’ll just have to be careful.}
“Please follow me.” The woman led them to their rooms and once again like deja vu, Tsugi found herself standing at the entrance of the door, vexed.
“Are you going to shower?” Lugo asked as he pulled clothes out of his bag.
“No, I already showered before we left.” Begrudgingly Tsugi trudged to her side of the bed and set her bag down. “Can’t believe I’m stuck here with you until we are done with this mission.” Tsugi muttered under her breath.
“You make it sound so horrible. You’re just sleeping in the room with me. It’s not like we’ll be doing anything. Jeez you act like you're a girl and I’m taking advantage of you or something.”
Tsugi quickly turned to face him and narrowed her eyes at him, imagining that she could shoot lightning bolts out of her eyes.
He just didn’t know that she’s actually a girl.
Lugo pulled off his shirt and Tsugi’s eyes widened. He was definitely very lean and well toned. His muscles were taught against his skin. His back was also covered in old fainting scars, to include his arms.
“Why…why do you have so many scars?” Tsugi asked.
“I was flogged and beaten horribly as a child, and sent into horrible torture chambers that you couldn’t even begin to fathom.”