O...6: "Information"
By: X3Dee
Idiots.
Omri glanced out the window, her headphones drowning out the sound of tires over gravel and wet dirt. The seats had been quickly brushed of glass and mud, though Aubrey warned to watch for shards she probably missed. It wouldn’t matter of course, because they were just rolling down a forest path with a spotlight strapped to their hood; it wouldn’t be long before they were overrun, or captured, or worse.
She’d figured it out as soon as she saw Toge and his daughter, the horse his child was seated upon a rare breed of horse only native to Japan. More significantly, considering the evident wear and tear of the two, it was apparent that there’d be no way they could afford to have such a thing in their possession, not in modern Japan where only 60 or so head of the animal were even still alive. That said, her mind lapsed backwards to a time where the horse had been most common amongst farmers and family men; it was a specific type of animal, a family pet and a light work horse.
Sydney hadn’t noticed anything off about the pair, not even taking into account their strange clothing or how they looked at her as she approached them. Of course Sydney would never listen to her, not unless she held a flare gun to her head, so the blue haired twit prattled away at Toge until he agreed to help them. He asked that one of them return to his village with him so he might grab another horse and return his daughter; a reasonable request that Omri volunteered for, something she’d never do on any other occasion.
However the situation called for it, knowing that Sydney couldn’t be trusted to gather any helpful information, nor could she be discreet enough to be asked without alerting Toge to what they were doing. So, Omri agreed to accompany Toge back to his village, sending Sydney to fill Aubrey and Peninnah in on what was happening… The walk there took ages, but Omri was glad that she’d gone because the village was the certainty she needed. Using the horse as her only grounds for suspicion would be ludicrous, but the entirely Japanese styled farming village was more than enough to raise a few alarms.
Everyone was polite and kind, their homes humble and their guard down. She figured it was a time of peace, but she had no idea where they were except that it was based very heavily in Asian culture. Toge led her to his home where he introduced his wife Raiden and their infant, along with reintroducing the other child. She couldn’t recall either of the two children’s names, but it didn’t seem as important as Raiden handed her a cup of hot tea. The aroma was overpoweringly raw, the tea earthy and fresh, tangy against her parched lips and dry throat.
The wife was friendly and young, but polite enough to not bombard Omri with questions. Unfortunately their young daughter did not inherit her mother’s meek charm, and was nosey and needy. She was something like Peninnah, but the child hadn’t spent years earning the right to annoy her. It was a special right, a bond between Omri and Peninnah that she didn’t feel inclined to share with a stranger’s child. Irritated, Omri only stared unblinkingly at her until the small girl backed slowly away, speaking no more to Omri until her father returned.
Together, they mounted up the wagon and were on their way, speaking only of his family and the village as they passed slowly through. He mentioned a few festivals that would be coming along in nearby villages, but nothing else he provided was helpful… And then a man walked by, slowly catching Omri’s interest. He wasn’t a bulky gentlemen, maybe a few inches taller than her, but he was firmly built beneath the black turtle neck he wore, a dark gray vest hanging open on his shoulders. Around his neck was a shiny object, glistening in the noon day sun and she found that she could not look away.
Four small bolts fastened the piece of polished metal to a black band he wore around his throat, an insignia carved neatly into its face. A small musical note centered on his hitai-ate, telling the world, his enemies, and any who may want to know that he was of the Hidden Sound Village. It was so apparent, so painfully present that Omri rejected the idea altogether at first. Her head ached with the possibilities, but glancing over her shoulder, watching the Sound Nin disappear into the tiny village, she knew there was really only one answer to everything she was seeing.
In light of everything that had happened, she hadn’t mentioned the vehicle to Toge, knowing he’d have no way of knowing what it was. However, she was quick to contain Peninnah and keep her far away from Toge. In fact, by the time she had effectively removed her she had already started ranting and raving about the end to one of the Digimon series.
Once away Omri quickly crushed Peninnah’s desire to speak to Toge; explaining the exact extent of their problem would be impossible to do with any normal person, simply because logic would reject such nonsense unless one was to see it with their own eyes. The normally irksome thing about Peninnah was she took everything far too literal when it was explained to her, diving quickly into the most horrendous, if not ridiculous, conclusions.
So, as Omri told Peninnah of the Sound Nin she had seen, along with the village up ahead, the normally spunky girl became deathly silent. Quickly Peninnah concluded that the whole thing was a plot devised by Orochimaru, in league with a supposedly infamous Pegan Min, to take their powers and conquer the universe for its unknown star power. She then went on to mutter about fireworks and the crash, a nervous breakdown perhaps?
Either way, Peninnah didn’t speak to Toge again as he, Sydney, and Aubrey drove the SUV back up onto gravel road. However paranoid Peninnah stayed close to Omri, an unfortunate side effect of being in the know, but it was better to have Peninnah gripping her sleeve than exposing them all. It was pointless to say anything to Aubrey or Sydney, especially Sydney, until they were within sight of the village. They’d never listen until it was burning a hole in their corneas, which was unfortunate because she hoped to get into the village without anyone seeing them drive in…
“You guys have been pretty quiet,” Sydney said suddenly, looking over the shoulder of her seat. Her brown eyes were studying her, trying to deduce what she knew; Sydney hated not being the center of attention, and if she didn’t know something, even something unimportant, she felt like the group focus would splinter and fall apart. Who would pay attention to her if her friends spent even a second thinking about something else? God, the thought alone must have made Sydney’s skin crawl.
“I’m always this quiet,” Peninnah said quickly in return, her large eyes a tad unnerving as she focused intently on Sydney. She didn’t blink, barely breathed, but instead just stared at Sydney until she started to twitch in her seat. Omri realized than that Peninnah paid much more attention to them than the group gave her credit for…
“Bullshit,” Sydney retorted, obviously uncomfortable. “Omri, what happened with Toge anyway?” she questioned in an attempt to break Peninnah’s focus, or at least redirect it.
Omri could have laughed as Peninnah continued to stare blankly at Sydney, despite the blue haired girl having looked away; if nothing shiny zipped by, Omri figured Peninnah could most certainly hold an extremely unsettling stare for days if she had to. Poor Sydney would throw herself from the moving vehicle if only to escape those big blue eyes. “I met his family, saw the village,” Omri said casually, slowly adjusting her headphones so they could sit around her neck.
“Why do you keep saying village?” Sydney murmured with a stupid look on her face, probably trying to think without inflicting self-harm. “Is it a retirement community or what? Seriously, stop it.”
“Why don’t you stop it?” Aubrey cut in, punching Sydney lightly in the shoulder. “And sit forward, God. Even after a crash, really?”
Sydney groaned as she fixed herself back in the seat properly. “Sorry Mom,” she squawked annoyingly, intently trying to piss off Aubrey.
Aubrey sneered a little at Sydney in return, countering with. “I will leave your ass here.”
Thankfully Sydney was finally quiet again, having been silenced by Mother Aubrey. The blonde looked back at them in the rearview mirror, however, her face split by a long crack that must have happened in the crash. “Was there gas station there?” she asked, looking right at Omri. In response she only shook her head with a soundless no, not wanting to explain anything. Aubrey wasn’t quite as dense as Sydney though, and started poking at the back seat curiously. “Ok, how about a hotel? We could get a room, call home.” The older girl was almost trying to bribe Omri now, knowing that she hadn’t really wanted to go camping in the first place.
Still, Omri only shook her head.
Outside Toge followed alongside them with his horses, his dark eyes shifting every so often to the odd machine they were driving down the road; it would interesting to watch the rest of the villagers react to the car, but even better to watch her friends eyes pop out of their sockets. The village was beyond genuine, leaving no way for the girls to deny what they saw… It would be unfortunate however if the Sound Nin were still present, their type having a neurotic need to interfere. Toge hadn’t been adverse to talking about him on the way back, mentioning that he came through every so often.
From that intel alone she could only surmise that he may not be there when they returned. There was really no way of knowing for sure… Omri glanced over when she felt a weight rest on her shoulder, Peninnah having fallen asleep. It seemed a little too cruel to push her away after spilling the guts of the situation upon her, so with one hand she reset her headphones over her ears, her head latently against the window as music began to pound in her head.
[Reviews - 3]Chapter or Story
Table of Contents
- Text Size +