Chasing a Fish
Chasing a Fish
"This..."
Ming Yue felt a tinge of annoyance as she watched the koi fish go about this day. It wasn't so much that it kept escaping her attacks but rather that it stayed as if to goat about staying alive. The other fish were nowhere to be found, probably eaten up by the Beast God.
She gave it a look, sharpening her gaze as she produced a single wind needle. Pouring some power into it, the wind needle grew in length until it was the size of a chopstick. It was sharp, spinning fast enough to produce a bit of wind from its body.
Locking on to the Aureate Koi, she watched and waited, following every bit of its movement.
And without warning, the super-powered wind needle shot off, practically vanishing from her hand!
Sensing the attack, the koi fish moved. Its body shimmered as it swam out of the way like a blur. A bit of pink blood clouded the pond as the fish was fast but, it was not quick enough.
"Hm, I managed to put a scratch on it", she noticed.
Indeed, it did not go unscathed as the wind needle had poked a hole into its dorsal fin. Just as she formed another wind needle, the Aureate Koi swam off, vanishing into the waterfall before she could strike.
But after that bit of disrespect, she wasn't going to let it leave so easily.
"I'll be back soon with tonight's dinner."
Speaking these few words, Ming Yue flew off and chased after the Aureate Koi. All the while, Hongyu glanced at the others before letting out a sigh and going about her day. She didn't seem very worried about the young woman and focused more on the garden.
Spending the day in peace, the little girl carefully tended to the medicinal plants as well as a few vegetable crops. She had a basket by her, as she harvested whatever was ripe and culled whatever was shriveling up.
Apart from these plants was a small but growing orchard that Ming Yue had begun. There were only three trees, an apple tree, a peach tree, and a lychee tree. She had found them in the wild as saplings and dug them up, bringing them back to their home.
At the time, none of the trees had ripened but now, they were in full bloom. Each of them had dozens of fully grown fruit, that brought a bright and colorful glow to the garden.
Hongyu walked up to the trees and raised her hands up in a rather cute attempt to grab the fruit. Hopping up a few times, her little fingers could barely reach the lowest of the peaches. But a bit of help came as Liang Wei bit her by the back of her robes and lifted the little girl up, allowing her to reach them comfortably.
This went on until there was a full basket of fruit, filled to the brim with pears, apples, and lychee altogether.
By the time she was finished, the sun was at its highest point but Ming Yue had yet to return. So lunch was up to her.
The little girl rolled up her sleeves and went off to check the storage coming out with a few things from meat to vegetables. For such a young girl, she knew her way around the house and knew what to do, cooking a meal for herself and for the beasts.
Perhaps it came from her watching Ming Yue do it all this time or that, most of the day it was just her and the other three. It wasn't perfect but Hongyu had a satisfied expression, it was good enough for her.
They all ate on the stone slab together, quietly having their meal until something happened.
There was a loud splash in the pond that she heard. In fact, the other beasts heard it too and their heads perked up at the sound. What exactly came? What caused that splash?
In an instant, Liang Wei's fur rose up as the cat beast suddenly hissed.
It seemed like their previous guest had returned. There was no doubt in their mind that the Aureate Koi had come out.
The child looked to the others before turning back to the pond. She furrowed her brows and took out her wooden sword, holding it with both hands. Together with the three beasts, they rushed to the pond with Hongyu at the front of the group.
Everyone practically sprinted forward and leaped into the pond. Hongyu swung her sword while the others bared their fangs and brought out their claws. Just as they were over the pond, they all saw the Aureate Koi swimming in one place, barely moving at all.
It was a chance! An opportunity!
Water erupted as they jumped into the pond, attacking the giant koi fish. There was water everywhere! Wetting their clothes and fur! Covering their faces! none of them could see if they had caught the fish.
Hongyu quickly wiped the water from her face and looked around searching for the Aureate Koi. There was a look of anticipation as if she was confident that they had struck it down. But such a thing did not come true as she found the fish on the other side of the pond, swimming in one place.
Seeing it there, she carefully tried to sneak her way towards the fish. But the moment she came a bit too close, the koi fish swam off to another side of the pond, avoiding the attempts of Hei Yue, Xiao Yin, and Wei Liang.
All three beasts stretched their claws out just to leave a scratch at least but none of them could do it.
However, none of them were going to give up on the Aureate Koi so they all went after it. No matter what they did or where they went, the Aureate koi would evade them. At some point, a smile began to form on Hongyu's face. She was having a bit of fun with this.
Even the other beasts felt this way, splashing each other with water as they tried to catch the fish. It was a game of chase, one that went on until the sun began to set.
When the sun lowered and the skies were slowly getting darker like candlelight, Ming Yue returned with a somewhat sour expression.
"Hah, I didn't think the Aureate Koi would be so difficult to find", she thought. "And to think that I'd come across some beast-kin, I guess some of them aren't scared by the Phantom of the North. Though... they might be scared now."
Having tried to track it all day, Ming Yue had lost track and searched around only to come back with nothing. Landing back on the ground, she looked around and noticed something.
"Where is everyone?"
The clearing was peaceful and quiet. Not to mention, she didn't see anyone around. Where could they have gone?
She started to walk around, searching for them but it didn't take long for her to find them all curled up together by the pond. They were all fast asleep, tired from the chase while their bodies were still slightly wet.
Looking at them weirdly, Ming Yue felt that something was amiss.
"Hm, why are they like this? Were they playing in the-"
As she was thinking this, she looked at the pond and immediately noticed a particular golden fish. The was complete silence in the air and in her mind as she stared at the Aureate Koi. Several seconds passed before she finally said something, something that truly summed up all of the emotions she was feeling at this moment.
"This damn fish."