International Waters || Tehodis, Thomas, Vincent, Open

Being hidden away in someone’s shadow was not as simple as many believed it to be. For example, while a part of Tehodis’ shadow, Kiku could not see clearly, and every sound he heard was severely muffled – that’s why Kiku asked Tehodis’ to count to five. It was very easy to gather when somebody was counting – especially given how slow she counted for him. Kiku liked it when people played along; it made things much more fun.

As Tehodis walked about the ship, Kiku could make out faded, fuzzy figures passing by. He overheard an exchange between her and a man – something about eating souls or soul food, he couldn’t be sure – and was thankful that it wasn’t that long of a conversation. He heard what he assumed was the opening of a door and thought that they had quickly arrived to her room, but he did not hear her start counting. Kiku became concerned; he hadn’t thought what he would do if Tehodis didn’t follow the rules. He supposed that he could just come out randomly, but he knew that if she wasn’t in her room that that could be trouble. He decided to wait for some sort of clue, whether it was her not moving for while or her calling out his name. ‘Kikuriku’ had a very particular flow to it.

Listening intently, Kiku heard Tehodis talk to herself, which was an adorably odd character trait. He wondered what sorts of things he would come to know about her if he continued to hide around her. She was looking for a missing person in Aissic, and Kiku knew right away that she was looking for his mother. His heart melted; Kiku had never met someone who would go so far out of their way to help him, especially when they’d just met. He resolved at that moment that he would never do wrong by Tehodis.

As she grabbed the boxes, Tehodis expanded her shadow, giving Kiku more space to comfortable move around. He could almost feel his bones beginning to stiffen up even though he didn’t have bones in this form. He began to grow impatient, wondering if it was the best decision to hide in her shadow and not just take the key and be done with it. Spying was fun and all, but even Kiku had his limits as to how uncomfortable he wanted to be.

Finally, Tehodis stopped, and Kiku heard the jingle of her keys. Jackpot. He had to resist jumping out of the shadow immediately upon entering the room. You’ve come this far, buddy; wait for the numbers.

‘One.’

Her voice was shaking just a little bit, and she spoke very slowly. Kiku could tell that she was nervous, though he couldn’t tell why. Had something happened on her walk that made her uneasy? Or perhaps she was unsure that Kiku would be there.

‘Two.’

It was now that Kiku realized that Tehodis must have lit candles, as her shadow was split many times, Luckily, she was sitting on her bed, so Kiku shadow walked to her bed instead. He had to move quickly; five seconds was not a long time, even if they were Tehodis seconds.

‘Three.’

Kiku began to emerge from the shadow, a process that took but an instant. He appeared at the head of Tehodis’ bed, while she sat at the foot – he was afraid that she’d forgotten to close her eyes and he didn’t want to reveal his ability to hide just yet.

‘Four.’

These were really long seconds.

‘Five.’

Kiku had enough time to silently walk around the room in the time it took her to say ‘five’, though all he did was walk directly in front of her and lean down so that they were on the same level. He put his hands over his eyes and waited for her to open her eyes. When he heard her gasp just a little bit, he removed his hands from his face to reveal a smile.

“Surprise!” Kiku exclaimed, relatively quietly. He wasn’t sure if anyone would come in and disturb them, but he didn’t want to take the chance. “Hopefully you didn’t wait too long?”

There was a moment when he was just in front of Tehodis that weighed on Kiku. He’d known that she was beautiful – it was his first thought of her – but this moment pounded through his heart like a drum. Staring into her eyes, which curled ever so slightly as she smiled, Kiku wanted to stop time. He felt himself hold his breath, afraid that moving even to breathe would break the spell.

Then, almost as if she had read Kiku’s mind, Tehodis pulled back, noticeably biting her lip as she did so. Either she was teasing him, or she was nervous. Whichever it was, Kiku felt blessed by the Gods to be in this moment, and internally patted himself on the back for deciding to hide on this ship.

“Heh, you know, a magician never reveals his secrets. But maybe one day I could teach something – if you’re good enough!” Kiku liked joking around with Tehodis. Time spent with her almost erased all of the anger and hatred that was in his heart, even as he glanced over at the boxes that Tehodis had brought in.

"So, what are these boxes?" Kiku asked, feigning complete ignorance. He couldn’t explain in detail that he had hidden inside her shadow – he didn’t want her to think that he was spying on her; she might think that Kiku didn’t trust her.

Looking at the plate of slop that was presented before him, Kikuriku couldn’t help but smile. He had travelled along with Tehodis in her shadow, she he knew the effort that she had put into getting him a meal and even gathering missing person’s files. As he stared at the beautiful woman in front of him, with her worried expression, Kiku decided that he would take one for the team. He picked up a fork and scooped a little bit of everything onto the plate into his mouth.

The first thing he noticed was that the food – all of it – was soggy. Whatever sauce had accompanied the meal (butter, he assumed) had run all over everything, giving it an almost sponge-like texture. The lettuce of the salad had lost all crunch and any hint of a dressing was swallowed up by butter. Kiku could tell that this food was supposed to taste good, there was just so much…

Butter.

“Thanks! It’s funny – this is the nicest meal I’ve eaten in weeks. Do you think there’s any butter nearby? This could use some butter.” Kiku smiled as he scarfed down another forkful. The food didn’t taste bad, and he would be damned if we let Tehodis’ hard work go to waste.

Turning to the files, Kiku examined some of the files that Tehodis had uncovered. He recognized nothing – no names, no places, no places. Of course he wouldn’t, Kiku had never spent much time in Aissic – neither did his mother for that matter. But he had reason to believe that she was there, or at the very least that there was some clue to her whereabouts there. With Tehodis in tow, Kiku began to search the files for some sign of his mother.

“Nariko,” Kiku said, the word shaking out from his mouth. It had been a long time since he’d said her name. He didn’t know why he didn’t like to use her name – maybe he was afraid that that was all she would be now. Not ‘Mom’, but Nariko. Kiku took a breath. “That’s her name. So if you see that…” He trailed off. He didn’t know what he would do if they found anything about his mom.

For a while, Kiku was discouraged. He had only gone through three of the files before he had nearly given up hope. He knew that there were literally hundreds of files available, but something about the fact that he knew absolutely nothing about any of the individuals listed as missing made Kiku feel as if there was never going to be any positive information about this. He took another forkful of what was quickly becoming paste and shoved it into his mouth. He tasted something he hadn’t noticed before – lobster. Glancing over at the food Tehodis had brought him, he noticed little bits of the deliciousness speckled throughout the slop he had created while absentmindedly playing with his food. Another forkful of food rewarded him with more buttery lobster – he was beginning to like it.

While he was lost in thought enjoying his paste, Tehodis spoke to him. She spoke of the Black Cloaks, a name Kiku knew all to well. His face scrunched at the sound of their name and haunted memories flushed forth in Kiku’s mind. The Black Cloaks had been Elias Harel’s personal crones, jumping whenever he said so without question. Kiku and Na’il had had many run-ins with them over the years, and Kiku had the misfortune of knowing their methods all too well.

Na’il, Kiku’s Beastfolk best friend, had been harassed and threatened by them countless times. It was the Black Cloaks who had played a hand in Na’il’s death. The very mention of them made Kiku’s blood boil.

“The Black Cloaks, I’ve heard of them,” Kikuriku responded, keeping his dealings with them a secret. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Tehodis – he trusted her as much as he trusted Rose, in fact – but she didn’t need to know this side of him just yet. They’d only met, and Kiku was sure that knowing of his title as ‘Enemy of Elias Harel’ wouldn’t go over well, especially when she learned that Kiku tried to kill a political official. Not exactly first date conversation.

“Why, what does it say about them?”