The town whispered quietly in its sleep as the wheels of the chair rolled on the cobbled alleys. Ayumi's bare feet slapped against the stone ways as she hummed a lilting melody barely whisper.
Before her in the moving chair, the carrot-topped man sat with a blanket enveloping him, head dipping as his eyes sunk only to be broken by motion to start over again. His head shifted from side to side as the houses rolled by.
They made their way further from the point of departure, streets became a hush of sounds, souls stumbled out of buildings in the arms of others as they jostled about in loud motions and noise. Ayumi weaved around each without breaking her pace. Turning down a descending roadway she stopped as the wheelchair lurched forward at the angle with the carrot top grasping quickly to the armrests at his side. Ayumi turned the chair sideways in a single motion.
"Opps, sorry, guess they aren't meant to go down this way… how about this?" Ayumi turned the chair facing uphill and began walking backwards down the roadway. "That good?"
From beneath the covering, he rubbed his ears lightly as he winced, nodded halfly as his head leaned back against the back of the chair.
Behind them, the sound of a throat clearing froze both. The man in the chair shoulders rose as his eyes dilated. Pulling the blanket tightly around him the echo of his heart blotted the sound in his ears.
"Where might you lot be headed?"
Ayumi craned her neck to look at the owner of the voice.
A tall shapely form with a sturdy build greeted them from a side alley. Decked in well fitted kusari gusoku dyed in reds and yellows hues and a dark lacquered bo-staff in hand. Apon their armband was woven in white portraying an Aesculapius design. The head covering of the kusari rested on their shoulders revealing hair braided in sections was pulled back in a tight ponytail that was looped inside itself.
"The Gardens." Ayumi repositioned herself against the chair so she faced the other, with her back supporting the force of the chair wanting to descend. "It's this way isn't it?" A small smile escaped from her lips as she closed her eyes slightly.
"It is." The figure eyed them looking beyond Ayumi to the other.
"Is there a curfew?" Ayumi stared wide-eyed at the other with her head slightly a tilt. "Althea didn't mention."
"Althea? You are from the hospital?" The figure looked her up and down noting the bland garb. Taking a step forward and slightly to the side they peered at the carrot-topped passenger.
"This isn't a place fo-"They stopped as their eyes trailed up ahead the two, the tall form of another strolled soundlessly in the moon's shadow.
His eyes glowed a golden orange hue in the radiance. Loose-fitting clothes blew echolessly alongside lengthy curling hair. From his mouth, a small ember glowed in a haze illuminating their face briefly. Taking a drag from the cigarette he extended his arm put it out on the rock wall near them.
A gasp escaped from the carrot top as he shifted and slipped slightly in the chair as the other walked by, stopping beside Ayumi who tilted her head up coming face to face with a familiar form.
"Morning Hakk." Ayumi smiled at the other.
Hakk looked down at Ayumi and than up at the night sky and back at her with a raised brow slightly shaking his head.
"Officer." Hakk gave a small nod to the other who now stood in a defensive position before them.
The other took steps back as the grip about their staff tightened and their back arched with narrowed eyes trained on the newcomer.
"Where have you been! You didn't wake me!" The words echoed from Ayumi's lips as it verberated off the angled stone support wall beside her causing her voice to be echoed by a few strays somewhere in the town. Her hand extended pointing to Hakks nose.
"You slept through."
Ayumi twisted her lips about as she squinted her eyes at him. "You didn't wake me loud enough." She pointed her finger at Hakk again as the wheelchair slightly jostled in the motion causing a brief cry to escape from the carrots mouth.
"They won't cause you trouble, officer." Hakk bowed slightly to the other.
Ayumi to look at the other. "Please, I just want to go to the garden." Her eyes relaxed.
The other eyed the three repeatedly, ending at Hakk whos long curled hair fell over him shading most of his features. "Keep the noise down." The figure stepped aside as they kept their vision on Hakk.
"Thank you, guard!" Ayumi half saluted the other as she continued her way down with the other leaving the two in a standoff. With Hakk eyeing the carrot-topped one as he passed him.
Down the way, they traveled until they reached a small somewhat obscure nook.
Here tall serpentining Momiji trees rose against the tapered support wall as they absorbed the cityscape behind. Water trickled from a nearby drain tile that exited from the stone wall emptying to the water below. Encircling the trees a stepped rock barrier disappeared into an open pond full to its brim. At its edges water lapped, from it small gravel pathed trails weaved in and around bunches of cherry silverberry shrubs, climbing flowers, and various ground cover. Beyond the pond walls, the water extended to spring sea's horizon. Mangrove trees tops hovered just above the shoreline as the light waves lapped against their outer leaves.
Ayumi wheeled the carrot top right before the water's edge. From the inside of her tucked shirt, she brought out a few small cakes with a stamped design. Breaking off a piece she offered it to him.
His arm slowly reached from inside the blanket as he took the half.
"Aw crap baskets, I forgot something to drink…" Her lower lip pouted as she sat squatting on the stone floor.
The carrot top looked at her as she began to eat starring at his he began to take small nibbles of the bread as his eyes trailed across their vantage point.
A grey horizon greeted them as the moons hung just behind them, a slight breeze brushed the trees above them as the sounds of the city were carried beyond their ears. The lull of the slow waves danced a hypnotic trance as they continued their meal in the notes about them.
Night moved on and the sky grew it's darkest with only the dim form of objects to be made out as the moons hung behind the town.
A twinkling began to fill about the water. The carrot top sat up straight looking from Ayumi to the water again he narrowed his eyes as he leaned forward.
The illumination continued, more and more the lights grew. A green-blue transcendent palate engulfed the bay. As if floating gems upon the water the lights dimmed and brightened across the lake line.
"There you are." Ayumi curled her legs up next to her as she leaned against the chair wheel. "Cool huh?"
Carrot looked down at the other and again at the lake before him, in the waves just under the surface the colors danced in time with the tide lighting up the treetops about them all the way to the stone stairs before them echoing off the white limestone beneath. The fog of morning rolled over them catching the prisms of colors.
Carrot opened his mouth as his jaw quivered slightly, coughing and clearing his throat he winced as he grabbed at the armrest of the chair. A slow drone built up in his mouth.
"B-bea-utiful."
"It is that."
Comments (0)
See all