Chapter 3: Hunting Season(ing) Part Two

[mp_npc]

God, was there some planet in retrograde right now? Everything was so…gray. Tome usually would have been able to cite a specific planet but she had been too oddly deflated all day to speculate.

At least she wasn’t the worst one off. No, not by far. That honor went to the pompadour’d thug who did nothing but sulk in the corner of their shared club space now. Her own club mates who were always too scared of him to even approach even tried to offer him one of their honey chip bags out of sheer pity. Tome, usually quite stingy with the resources (especially now they didn’t actually have funding anymore) didn’t even object. ‘How the mighty fall.’

Goda had spent some time trying to cheer Onigawara up. That boy was too nice for his own good. Him AND Kageyama. Tome didn’t know what Goda had been trying, exactly, since she was too engrossed in (or rather numbed by) her video game to listen but she could guess. The Body Improvement Club had one solution for every possible human ailment. It was exactly why she didn’t risk complaining today.

Tome glanced at the clock—it was getting to be that time, wasn’t it? The time where everyone finished their club activities up. Ah. Orwell was calling her name once again.

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[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

Mob pushed through, the smell of smoke growing more and more pronounced as he drew closer. Then finally, he emerged from the field of wheat only to find himself in an arcing path carved within in. Other paths seemed to go off this way and that from inside and outside of the circle he seemed to be standing in.

And that smoke? It was coming from the edge of the path, as if the wheat that had stood there had been abruptly lasered out of existence.

"A crop circle," he concluded. He didn't say it loudly, but he was sure Tome could hear it from where she stood behind him.

Maybe he should have said it a little more quietly.

[mp_simplyacommoner]

Tome sucked all the oxygen out of the air at Mob's words and her feet were rushing forward--until she was stumbling back with a yelp and holding her forehead.

Sorry, Teru apologized to the girl mentally for erecting the temporary barrier. Even if Mob was leading the charge, he could at least make sure his girlfriend-to-be didn't accidentally get her legs blown off by some twitchy spirit. After all, something that could generate that much heat wasn't the peaceful type. "I can feel something close."

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

Mob walked forward down one of the paths that lead to the center of the circle (was it a circle? Mob thought it might be). There were several turns before he found it, there in the middle of the circle.

A pile of chaff.

He could feel it coming strongly from there. But it didn't feel bad at all. He cautiously moved the chaff aside to reveal a bird, laying on its side.

Mob tensed. 46%, 47%... Was it dead?

Mob gently cupped the bird in his hands and felt warmth. And beneath that warmth, a beating heart. It wasn't what Mob expected. Not the bird itself or the heartbeat. This was a spirit, right? Not even Dimple -- Mob swallowed -- not even Dimple had a heartbeat.

48%.

"It's a bird," Mob called out to the others. "I think he's a spirit... but also not a spirit."

[mp_simplyacommoner]

"A bird?" Teru and Tome said at the same time. A bird that was a spirit and not a spirit, according to Mob.

"A spirit and not a spirit? Like...Oppenheimer's cat?" Tome scratched her head.

"I think it was Heisenberg...no, Kirchhoff." Teru said as they slowly approached. Tome nodded, as if that somehow sounded more correct instead of less.

When Teru saw it up close in Mob's hands, a lightbulb suddenly went off in his head. He may not have known foreign physicists, but he knew enough biology to get by. "That's an Oriental turtle dove. It eats a lot of grain and they walk slowly along the ground. Wheat, millet, sunflower...oh, and snails too. They mate in summer and they're together for life." This one looked mature but pretty lonely, though.

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

There was no way Mob would have known all that. He was in awe of Teruki's bird knowledge.

"You really know a lot about birds."

[mp_npc]

Teru shrugged, digging in his schoolbag. "My grandma liked them. I'd be careful about touching it too much, though. Hold on, I have some hand sanitizer..."

While the boys chatted about ID, Tome was trying to line up a shot of the bird with her camera. It was one she borrowed nicely and didn't at all swipe for the purposes of documenting random phenomena from her dad, so of course she totally knew how to use it inside and out and she wasn't struggling with getting the focus right when--

SHRIEK

Tome had been zoomed in on the bird's mouth when it let out a wail just like a human child's and she screamed too.

"D-don't eat me! PLEASE! This body is so tiny! It won't even keep you fed for A DAAAAAY!" The bird curled up into a feathery ball in Mob's palms.

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

The shriek was so loud that even Mob jolted upright at the sound of it.

"It's okay," Mob said, visibly tense. "We're not going to hurt you."

He was so surprised by the yell that it never even occurred to him to question the fact there was a talking bird in his hands.

[mp_simplyacommoner]

"Is that--did that--" Tome blubbered.

"Yes. Please try getting used to it now." Teru was blunt, but if this girl was worthy enough to stand by Mob then she should be de-sensitized to the supernatural as quickly as possible. Still...it was strange. Whatever made those marks in the fields carried a bounty of spiritual energy, but this thing--

FWOOSH

Another surge of spiritual energy went roaring past somewhere close followed by the sharp smell of burning plant matter. It was strong enough to create a gust of wind that silenced Tome, but not the bird. The bird shrieked again and summoned enough energy to flap from Mob's hands to Tome's hood and Tome was screaming again.

"Ack! No! No! D-don't--get out--" She was flailing like a scarecrow caught in a gale.

'Yeah, that settles it!' Whatever was menacing these fields was definitely not some pathetic bird half-spirit. Whatever it was it moved fast enough that spelled death for anyone who didn't have their guard up. Without waiting, Teruki began to erect a barrier of crackling yellow energy around them--but stopped when the bird cried out from Tome's hood.

"No! Wait! Don't! You'll exorcize me, too!"

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

That wasn't good.

"We won't exorcise you," Mob assured him. "All we need to do is get you far enough away and it should be fine, right?"

[mp_simplyacommoner]

"Kageyama-kun, doesn't this seem strange?" Teru said in a low voice. "This could be a trap. We let our guards down for one second too long and..."

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

"It is strange," Mob agreed, "But I don't sense any malicious intent from him. All there is is fear and desperation."

[mp_simplyacommoner]

'Gullible softie,' Teru thought without malice. Still, he wanted to be wrong and Mob to be right.

Besides, Teru could crush that thing out of existence at the first sneeze of trouble. He was sure about that much.

"Okay," he said in English, "but I'll be watching your back."

"Um...I'm sorry to interrupt! It's not every day I run into humans. But could you...please...take me to my safe nest?"

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

"Sure," Mob agreed. "Where is it?"

[mp_npc]

"It's that way." A brown-tipped wing shakily extended from Tome's hood to point south. "But we should walk quietly and not fly. That thing will see us."

A drop of rain hit Tome's nose and she flinched. She tucked her camera away in her schoolbag and turned her eyes to the side as far as they'd go but she could barely see the talking...bird...thing. "Fine, but...if you're gonna be in there don't make a mess of things, alright?"

"Awhahawa...warmth..."

"And don't fall asleep! We're doing you a favor so don't strand us anywhere out there." Tome tugged her hood a bit tighter as one drop hitting her head turned into another turning into several more.

"Oh! You see those tall ones?" The dove poked it's head out and bobbed it in the direction of tall weeping willows in the distance. "Go to the biggest one! It's right beneath it. My nest might be a little too small for humans but it'll be real safe! Promise!"

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

Mob led the way as carefully as he could muster, expanding his psychic radar further to sense any approaching danger.

"What were you doing out there?"

[mp_npc]

"Uuuuoooo..."

"Um." Tome reached to prod the dove on the beak.

"C-cuuooh!? Sorry...I'm really tired...once we're back at my nest I can get my energy back up..."

Tome looked at Mob and tossed up her hands. They clearly weren't gonna be able to get much out of the talking bird right now.

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

"Um, are we going the right way?" As they approach the willows, he can just make out what looks like a little human-made shelter. It doesn't exactly look like a nest. But maybe nests just came in all shapes and sizes,

[mp_npc]

"Uuuuoooo...uah!? Yes! That's it--" The dove strained as they got closer to lift itself.

Tome carefully dug it out of her hood (it was truly pitiful and it tickled so damn much) and emerged out in front of the pack to take it in.

The weeping willow was taller than she'd ever seen one. The leaves and catkins were thick and voluminous - enough so that it could keep the ground below it safe from the now-pouring rain. The tree being so grand made the little shelter--a shrine?--look even smaller and more pitiful by comparison. Even a rabbit hopping into it by accident could have taken it down. It was lopsided and held up with fallen sticks and branches now.

Tome bent down and extended the dove to it's rightful place in the little shelter. The dove groaned again and pecked around for any leftover grains it had around, but there wasn't much left. Tome wrung her fingers and looked to Mob for guidance.

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

It was really coming down now, but thankfully the canopy of the tree overhead kept them sheltered from the worst of it.

Mob didn't have any guidance to offer. Not that he realized Tome was looking for some, anyway. He crouched down so he was closer to the turtledove's height and reached out with a single finger to pet the back of its head.

"Are you hungry?" Mob asked. He didn't know what a hungry bird looked like, but he imagined a hungry bird would be pecking around like this one if he was.

[mp_npc]

"Ooouuooou..." The plaintive groan was as much confirmation as they could expect.

"Uh...will this work?" Tome dug in her school bag and produced a candy bar. Sure, it wasn't birdseed, but it was all she had.

"COOOUAH!?" No sooner had Tome unwrapped it and set it down that the dove was descending upon it in a feeding frenzy. It danced, it fluttered, it cried in joy as it consumed the half-smushed candy bar like it was nature's ambrosia.

"That's not chocolate, is it?" Teru murmured.

Tome bit her lip. "Well...spirits take all kinds of offerings. Right, Kageyama?"

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

"Yeah, they do," he agreed, letting his mind drift off to Dimple. "If he's a spirit in bird form, it should be okay."

[mp_simplyacommoner]

"This is--couuahh--so good! Who knew humans hid their nuts in stuff this tasty!?" The dove was aglow, savoring the feeling of being full for the first time in a very long time. "Thank you so very much. I am truly in your debt."

"Don't mention it. Are...you still hungry?" Tome pulled out a bag of her favorite honey chips--her bag was more snack than school at this point. The dove trilled and indulged itself at the invitation. If this had been any other time, it could have happily passed on right then and there.

Teru cleared his throat while the dove's little feet kicked out of the chip bag. "Not to interrupt someone during a pleasant meal, but...could you tell us who and what you are?"

"Ah! Yes, that's right!" The dove rustled in the bag in an attempt to free itself, prompting Tome's help in doing so. It shook its feathers free of crumbs and settled into a roosting position. "You see...the truth is I am a turtle dove."

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

"Um," Mob said uncertainly, looking over at Teruki.

[mp_npc]

Teru was rendered speechless for the first time the whole trip.

The dove fretted at the lack of response. "I'm very sorry. I don't have a name, so I can't say whoooo..."

"Now hold on. So you're not an alien?" Yes, even Tome knew she was being foolish after Teru and Kageyama had referred to it as a weird spirit so many times, but perhaps aliens and spirits were on a similar wavelength!?

"Alien?"

"Yes! You know, there are aliens that can take the shape of animals and eat human food." Tome pointedly ignored the way Teru opened and closed his mouth without saying a word. "So, start by telling us what planet you were born on."

"What's a planet?"

Tome waved her arms as she was put on the spot to explain something incredibly basic. "It's like...really big. Really, really big. You call it home! Your family was born in the same place!"

"Oh! Yes, I understand now. If that's what you humans call it! I'm from that planet." The dove extended it's neck all the way out to point at the neighboring tree.

Tome slumped in defeat.

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

Mob gently stroked the bird's head with the tip of his finger. It was way different from petting a dog or a cat, but Mob found it relaxing all the same.

"How can you talk to humans, then?"