Chronicles of The Omniverse Archived Yosai: Lake Yosai

Script

Adorable Homewrecker
Benefactor
as written by Script

The waters of Lake Yōsái lapped gently against the narrow sandy beach that stretched out a short walk's length down from the nearby village. A breeze drifted across its tranquil surface and through the long grass and scattered flowers that merged haphazardly with the sand not far from the water's edge. Though normally pristine, today a section of the lake's beach was littered with flotsam, broken wreckage from a fishing boat that had washed up on the shore a short time ago.

The light of the setting sun was faintly warm against Kyo's back as she walked carefully between the various pieces of the vessel, picking through the jetsam and the ship itself for anything that looked like it could be salvaged. Her shoes lay up the beach on the border between sand and grass, and she was barefooted as she moved through the shallows, cold water washing over her feet and lower legs.

Her expression was grim. That, along with the respectful manner with which she treated the wreck, suggested that she was not simply an opportunist.

____
 
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as written by Tiko and Script

Not far from the lake where Kyo was picking through the wreckage that had washed ashore was another late evening traveler making his way down the road at an even pace.

Meke had the look of a drifter to him with a distant expression and the dirt of the road dulling his thick fur to a dreary grey and copper. He had little in the way of possessions on him save for a hide waterskin and worn leather satchel strong over shoulder and across his chest to hang at his side.

The sloshing of water caught his ear as he neared Kyo's location and the light padding of his footsteps on the dirt road fell silent.

For a moment he said nothing as he glanced to the setting sun on the horizon and then back to Kyo.

"Pardon me," came the deep rumble of a voice from Meke's throat.

Even with his unusual height and heft one might have mistaken him for one of the Torajin known to make their home within the Shénshèng Mountains, but though his Losenyu was passable there was a roughness to his pronunciation that betrayed his foreign origins. Placing his accent was difficult though as it held a touch of an archaic Terran dialect likely unfamiliar in these parts coupled with the influence of local Hafirjan tribals languages which were prone to varying greatly from tribe to tribe.

____

The footsteps of the approaching Mira had drawn Kyo's attention shortly before he spoke, though the sound of the sloshing lake had disguised them until he was close by. Though catfolk were not an altogether unfamiliar sight on Lósénji Island, with the Torajin making their home nearby, one of Meke's stature and build was rare, and so it was with wariness to her movements and voice that she turned to greet him. "Greetings, traveller." she said, stepping from the water onto the beach and pacing towards where her shoes and bow lay. She offered Meke a shallow bow.

"How can I help you? It is late to be on the road." It was rare for Yōsái to see travellers at all, let alone two in one day, and certainly not from beyond the Island, as this large catfolk undoubtedly was, judging by his odd accent and unusual size. Perhaps the fates smiled upon them, and sent them skilled and wise strangers to help with their plight. Kyo almost snorted with cynicism at the thought.

____

Meke returned the shallow bow with one of his own. The Mira warrior had been in Losenji long enough to have picked up some of their local customs enough to get by passably.

"I hoped you could tell me how far the next settlement is between Yōsái and Mount Senji," he asked.

The sun would be set soon, but he had no concerns with pressing on into the night. Few would give thought to robbing the Mira when there were easier, and more wealthy travelers to be found. Food on the other hand was a matter of note. Poaching off settled lands was likely to raise more trouble than he was looking for right now and so he weighed the options of pushing on, or staying the night in Yōsái where a meal could be found.

____

So the big cat had business at Mount Senji, did he? It was a common destination for travellers coming from the mainland. The monastery drew people from all walks of life to study there from all across Shintenchi. "Yōsén Town is about three hours' walk from here," she replied, "But you would have to detour on your way to the mountain by an hour to stop there for the night. The nearest settlement that lies on the direct route is a half day's walk at least."

She shook her head, "It's a bad time to be travelling alone in these parts overnight." Kyo gestured towards the wreckage, "The kappa in the lake have been attacking folk both on the lake and on the shore, under cover of darkness. They've brought down several boats like this. If you insist on pressing on, I suggest you avoid the lake's edge, detour further away from it."

____

Meke grunted. He didn't fear the kappa that Kyo spoke of, but half a days walk was further on than he cared to push on.

"I will aid in your kappa situation, if you can spare me room and food for two nights," Meke replied.

He nodded towards the shore.

"Some fences along there where the bank is steepest would make the roads safer. One can see clearly along the beach even in the dark, but the foliage there provides cover and the steep fall makes for a difficult climb out of the water," he pointed out.

He rubbed at his lower jaw.

"I will find men from Yōsái to help build these fences."

____

The girl's eyebrow rose at the stranger's suggestion, her gaze following his nod. "I do not know that we have the spare wood..." she started, before catching herself. Kyo paused for several long moments before nodding. "It seems a good idea. A start, at least. I will speak in your favour for these terms, though I do not think any will turn away help. The ministry may not approve of the unauthorised development, but the kappa can take them for all the help they've been."

She frowned for a moment, "Of course, it will take more than fences to solve this in the long term. If only I could figure out what had changed to make the kappa act this way... I had thought to look in the wreck here for anything that might lead me in the right direction, but I found nothing of use."

____

"Perhaps a kappa is needed," Meke replied thoughtfully.

Shaking the matter from his thoughts for now he offered a hand to Kyo.

"I am Meke."

____

Kyo took the hand, nodding her head. "Takeuchi Kyo, but if you are to be my guest, you can simply call me Kyo." she replied, "Come, it is getting late and my father will be wondering for me. If we leave it much longer he will try and cook for himself, which can never end well."

With the Mira in tow, Kyo started down the short road back to the village.

____

The next day...

It was reaching noonday down at the lake where Meke was hard at work. Several of the townspeople had turned out to assist with building the fence alongside the main road, and many had supplied valuable lumber and materials of which the ministries had been unwilling to aid the village with.

Those that could work helped to move materials and to dig post holes, while others utilized hammer and nail to secure fencing. Those that were elderly, or too young, aided in other ways with the donation of food and drink for the workers.

All in all it wasn't a huge turnout, but it was a good number of people and with their assistance the fence would be complete in only a matter of days.

The post-and-rail fence wouldn't prevent the kappa from leaving the lake, but it would afford evening travelers some measure of security from being dragged unexpectedly over the embankments and into the water.

While the villagers were at work with the fence, Meke had made his way down to the lake edge where he was standing knee deep in the shallow water and nailing a post down into the lake-bed at a point adjacent from two other posts. A few of the villagers pointed and exchanged questions, but most were well enough occupied with their own work to not pay Meke too much mind.

For the moment anyways there was no sign of the kappa within the clear shallow waters that Meke stood within.

____

Ryo wiped a bead of sweat from his forehead, adjusting the hat he wore to shield him from the sun's glare overhead. He leaned forwards onto the post that he'd just finished embedding in the soil, stretching his exposed torso out and looking out across the beach towards where Meke stood. "Hey, traveller!" he called, "I'm curious, what are you doing putting a post out there? Some new plan?"

The young man raised one eyebrow, trying to figure out the possibilities for what the big cat-person could intend.

A short distance farther down the bank, Kyo stood with her bow at the ready in case the kappa were drawn to such a surge of activity at the water's edge. She glanced across to Meke after Ryo called out to him, but made no comment herself.

____

Meke was just finishing driving the post in when Ryo called out to him. He carefully waded through the clear water towards the bank - aiming to disturb the water as little as possible so as to not draw unwanted attention from the deeper recesses of the lake.

He retrieved another post from the waters edge before pointing at the embankment. "There," he told Ryo. "Where the soil is eroded."

The region he pointed to had been worn thin by frequent use but shielded well by the undergrowth that grew alongside the road.

"Meke! Mr. Meke, sir!" a boy called out as he came running along dragging behind him some netting that looked like it probably weighed more than the lad himself.

"I got what you asked for!" he yelled as he waved excitedly.

Meke grunted his approval and pat the lad on the head as he slung the netting over his shoulder.

"It is my wish to catch one of these kappa of yours," Meke explained.

____

"To catch one?" Ryo repeated, raising an eyebrow. "People have tried, and succeeded in the past. But to my knowledge nothing useful has come of it. I have seen some, in travelling circuses or zoos; they are nasty creatures in a cage or out of it."

Kyo had, in the meantime, made her way over closer to where they were gathered. "You'll need bait," she noted, "Though I'm sure you had that in mind. The kappa have seemed to like to raid our stores of meat since they started coming on land. Perhaps they prefer it to the monotony of the fish in the lake. You could likely bait the trap with some of that, but it's possible you may draw more attention than your net can handle."

The young swordsman cocked his head and drummed his fingers on the post as he listened to Kyo speak. "So what do you aim to do with your captured kappa?" he asked when she was done.

____

Meke shook his head. "We do not speak of the same kappa," he explained. "The kappa I seek will require a different sort of bait. Perhaps you might be of assistance," he noted. Meke wasn't well versed in human attractiveness, but from his time in Losenji he suspected Kyo would be more than adequate for his purposes.

"I believe that a kashitarō kappa has made its home here," Meke explained.

The kashitarō kappa were a far more elusive cousin to the less evolved kappa that made their home in the lake, and a far more intelligent species.
 
as written by Script and Tiko

"A kashitarō? Of all the luck..." Kyo grimaced. "Do you think that's what's causing their aggression? I've not heard of one causing such a shift in behaviour in an entire population of kappa before." Whilst the kashitarō were tricky and manipulative, there wasn't any precedent to them spurring direct aggression towards humans.

She paused, "Or, no - you're suggesting that we might quiz it as to what is the cause?" It was certainly more likely to know than they were ever going to be. The two species of kappa might not be similar in many ways, but there was little doubt that if there was a disturbance in a kashitarō's home significant enough to spur a population of kappa into attacking a settlement, it would know about it.

____

Meke inclined his head in a nod. "It is a possibility," he replied. "We will not know until we trap it."

____

Later that evening...

It was some time later that Kyo returned to the lake, apprehension clear on her face. Meke had explained his plan to her, and it wasn't entirely to her liking.

The kashitarō kappa were known to be lecherous. Their plan was to use her as the bait to lure it near the shore. And so she had changed into clothes that would be less restrictive in the water, and left her bow on the shore. A knife was concealed underneath her shirt for safety.

She had let her hair down and waded out into the shallows of the lake, praying to the spirits that the kappa lured to her wouldn't be the kind as likely to bite her leg off as anything else.

____

Meke was lounging somewhat haphazardly in a small tree that bordered the lake and the dirt road. It was an awkward sort of lounging on precarious branches that something his size simply shouldn't have been able to manage, but the cat in him found a way.

He was keeping watch, both for the kashitarō kappa he suspected was frequenting the lake, as well as the more aggressive ones. In the dark, Kyo wouldn't see a threat coming at her even in the shallow waters she was wading in. His night vision, and vantage point afforded him a good view of the area though.

Nearly an hour passed largely uneventful, and no doubt Kyo was getting rather cold out there when Meke finally caught ear of movement near the shore down below. A faint rustle of reeds.

____

Kyo tensed up as she heard the reeds rustling. Her instinct was to make a grab for her knife, but she knew she had to avoid spooking the creature before the trap could close.

"Hello?" she called out, doing her best to sound helpless and damsel-esque. "Is someone there?"

Uhg. She was glad nobody else from the village was there to hear her sounding like that.

____

Yellow eyes peered out at her from the parted reeds, and the faintest of ripples disturbed the water as the kappa sank lower into the water.

Mmmmm....

The lecherous little thing was only disappointed that the woman in the water wasn't skinny dipping...

"Mmm. A lovely lady in a lovely lake," his croaking voice uttered loud enough for her to hear.

He slipped through the water silently gripping a small stand of tree roots that grew over the bank, to avoid her getting a bead on his location.

"Don't you know it's not safe here anymore?" he asked.

It didn't sound like a threat though, and if anything it came across somewhat sorrowful. He used to come here and watch the swimmers in the lake all the time, but since the kappa had grown more aggressive, no one came anymore. Perhaps this was why he chose to speak to her, when he might have otherwise lingered in the reeds watching her without her knowing he was there.

____

Kyo suppressed a shudder. That voice was... disturbing. In more ways than one. "I know," she replied, "But I missed the feel of the lake on my skin. Staying to the shallows and taking care, I thought that would be enough to be safe."

The net was close, only a short way back towards the shore. "Perhaps you might be kind enough to keep watch for me, stranger? Alone might be unsafe, but with company, I would feel much safer."

____

The lecherous little pest was practically drooling at that offer as he released his grip on the tree roots and glided forward through the reeds, oblivious to the net that had been lain.

With a grunt, Meke gave the rope a tug as he dropped down from the tree, causing the net to rise up out of the water, with a very startled kappa flailing within it.

Water dripped everywhere, and the commotion had sent waves out across the lake, no doubt drawing the notice of the rest of the kappa that inhabited the lake.

"Quickly," Meke barked as the netted kappa continued to flail about and croak out guttural curses at the pair of them.

He was quickly tying off the rope around the base of the tree.

____

Kyo didn't need telling twice. As soon as the net was out of the water, Kyo was making her way back towards the shore. The splashes and ripples of movement further out in the lake was all the motivation she needed to be scrambling back up onto the beach in an impressively short time.

She cast a dirty look back at the kappa, reaching for a blanket she'd left with her bow to wrap it around her body to quell the shivering from the water. "I feel dirtied by that." she muttered, "But it worked. So that's all that matters."

____

"It will be best if we wait until morning," Meke said. "The night is not your friend as it is mine," he mused.

The captured kappa was disgruntled, but appeared unharmed as it swung back and forth up there. With the movement of the larger kappa in the water below, it quickly stopped its efforts of gnawing through the rope - lest it drop itself down onto the aggressive animals.

"Hey, you can't leave me up here all night!" he croaked indignantly.

____

Kyo turned to give the creature a disdainful smirk, "Can you give me one good reason why not?" she challenged, glancing down at the kappa below it. It seemed even their close kin weren't safe from their aggression.

She nodded to Meke. "A warm fire and a bed sound far more inviting than interrogating that thing right now." she said, grimacing.

____

The captured kappa had carried on a racket most of the night, and though by morning most of the creatures in the water had returned to the depths of the lake, the faint ripples and disturbance of the water suggested a few lingered nearby yet.

The small kappa in the net had resigned itself to sulking by this point, and it had somehow managed a pose of indignation with its arms folded over its chest, and its legs dangling out the bottom of the mesh netting.

Meke was already awake, having roused in the pre-dawn hours and he sat quietly watching the sunrise over the lake as he awaited Kyo's awakening.

____

It wasn't long before Kyo came by. Her sleep had been light, as her mind refused to quiet its thoughts on what they might learn on the morrow. She was fully dressed in her hunting gear, with her bow and quiver on her back, and a knife at her side.

"Good morning," she said as she approached, glancing from Meke to the sulking kappa. "I see our captive has resigned himself to his fate. Hopefully that means he will be a little more cooperative."

____

The kappa promptly blew a raspberry at Kyo, which drew a rough chuckle from Meke.

"I do think it is put out with you," Meke remarked as he got up. "Come, let us get it down."

He made his way to the nearby tree where they had tied off the rope for the night and began to loosen it.

"See if you can hook the net with that pole, and I will lower it as you pull it towards shore," he suggested.

____

Kyo smirked at the kappa's reaction, raising an eyebrow at it before moving to do as Meke suggested. It wasn't difficult to manoeuver the pole into the right position and begin to draw the net in. Her eyes remained suspiciously on the water, watching for signs of the kappa surging towards the disturbance.

They'd yet to emerge from the lake in daylight, but at night there had been sightings of them on land - and damage done to some of the buildings closest the lake shore.

____

The net was lowered without event, and as the kappa contained within it spilled out onto the ground it sat there looking between Meke and Kyo with a scowl. The mischievous critter it would seem wasn't accustomed to being outdone, nor was it in a particularly good mood after being strung up in a net all night.

"Perhaps you had best try," Meke suggested. "I think it will be more agreeable towards yourself."

The net was lowered without event, and as the kappa contained within it spilled out onto the ground it sat there looking between Meke and Kyo with a scowl. The mischievous critter it would seem wasn't accustomed to being outdone, nor was it in a particularly good mood after being strung up in a net all night.

"Perhaps you had best try," Meke suggested. "I think it will be more agreeable towards yourself."

____

Kyo nodded her head, and crouched down towards the creature to place herself on its level. "Do you have a name, kappa?" she inquired

____

The kappa's response came rather abruptly as it folded its arms over its chest and blew another raspberry at Kyo, this time right in her face. For its diminutive size, it managed to excude a rather impressive aura of indignation.
 
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