Mei-o Hadesu no Noroi Story

"Blazie, wake up!"

"Hunh?" I mumbled. I blinked my eyes open, feeling sleep tug them down. "...Kaya?"

"Come on, you're late. I bet you the other four will pick a flavor for you if your not quick. I'm going ahead," she announced. I could hear Kaya's steps fade away as she hurried to our meeting place.

She was right; Raven would just order a random flavor if I wasn't there again. I fondly remembered last time, having a flavor called "Junk Drop" in front of me as a joke because I was late. Tybee had told me she would pay me if I downed it before everyone finished their ice cream. I did, but I knew I would never get the money anyway. I didn't care. A small smile crept onto my face as i thought of the memory.

Stretching up, I snatched my scarf from my cabinet. All of the beds were empty around me. I could tell Rain had been early; her scent was weakest.

I tied my scarf loosely around my neck and got out of bed. The bed creaked menacingly as it always did, reminding me of the wood cabin me and my friends made and how we barely finished it.

Lazily I brought the bedsheet towards the pillow and window, tightened my scarf and clipped my earrings on. Breaking into a run, I scrambled outside.

It was a hot summer day, and rays of heat rolled onto my back. My neck started to sweat, and I was tempted to take my scarf off, but I had worn it every day for half a year straight and wasn't going to stop now.

Dew shone on the grass beneath my feet, and birds twittered. I could see Kaya's small shape as she ran into the distance.

"Boo!"

"Aagh!!" I screeched as a cat leaped out of the shadows and grabbed me by the scruff. My heart pounded, and didn't slow when I asked in fury, "H-Helios?!" I narrowed my eyes. "I thought you were with the others!"

"I thought you might be lonely." Helios smiled.

I blushed before I could stop myself. "W-We'll go together," I stammered, not wanting to look at him. "But we've got to run!" I broke into a run again, my paws getting damp from the dew.

All those years of play-fighting with Luna had paid off. Helios broke after me a split second after, passing me easily. He slowed so we could run at the same pace.

I saw Mika's close by. The doorbell rang, the tiny sound barely hearable to my ears, and a small blue kitten with a purple scarf walked out, carrying a ice cream cone in one hand and her father's hand in the other. Kaya had just disappeared inside.

I burst into Mika's, ringing the bell.

"There you are!" a voice exclaimed. I could tell it belonged to Rain. "Late as usual. Just order your ice cream."

Helios broke off to sit with the other five, while I trotted off to see Mika, the shop's owner.

"Morning, Blazie-chan," Mika mewed. Her long rabbit ears draped in front of her face; she brushed them away and asked, "How may I help you?"

"I'll have a Banana-and-Chocolate like always," I told her. "Single scoop Banana with a small scoop Chocolate on top, and in a Sugar Cone."

"Coming right up," chirped Mika. She started up a blender, peeled a banana and threw it in, checked in the fridge and brought out ice and cream. Then she put it in the blender and tuned it on. I flattened my ears against the cracking sound. Mika stayed there, her huge ears enough to cover her hearing. Finally she stopped, poured the blend into a cup, and put it in a immediate-freezer, which freezes ice cream in seconds. She brought it out and dumped the scoop into a cone, doing the same process for the chocolate. "Here you go," she said, handing the cone to me.

"Thanks," I meowed. I went over to sit by my friends.

As always, they'd saved a seat between Kaya and Raven. Then, after Kaya, came Tybee, Rain, Luna, and Helios.

"What's the plan for today?" Helios asked.

"I thought we could discover a new area I found, it's not too far away..." suggested Kaya thoughtfully.

"New area?" me and Rain mewed at the same time; I blurted "Stop!" before she count even start counting for a jinx.

"What's it like?" Luna asked.

"Really green, with lots of trees," mewed Kaya, her eyes glazed when she got lost in thought. "And blue flowers and bugs everywhere."

"Ew, bugs," I muttered. I wasn't too fond of them.

"Lots of caves and holes," Kaya finished.

"Sounds fun!" exclaimed Raven unexpectantly.

"And big enough for us to explore?" Tybee asked.

"Sure," my friend replied.

"Let's do it!" I shouted a bit too loudly. I shoveled down the last bit of banana ice cream and started to crunch on the cone.

---

"This is it." Kaya put her hands on her hips.

There was a flurry of excitement from the group. I smiled.

"Let's take a look around, shall we?" Kaya meowed smoothly, intentionally sounding like a tourist. She padded ahead, her wings flapping.

I ran to catch up with her.

"Watch out!" Kaya warned. The exclamation barely hit my ears before i was belly-deep in a thin hole.

Raven bit on my tail and began to drag me up.

I dusted the dirt off my paws. "Hmmph. I guess you weren't kidding when you said there's a  lot of random holes," I muttered to Kaya.

"You better take a look at where you're going," she responded curtly. She padded onward, the other five following.

Frowning, I waited so I could dust my fur. Flecks of sand flew everywhere. "Stop it!" I muttered indignantly when a fly buzzed continuously near my ear. I batted it with my right paw.

Something caught my eye as I snapped the fly with my claw. It was a small cave, but something caught the light and reflected in my eyes as green. I blinked.

"Aren't you coming?" Helios called from the back of the group.

"Come look at this," I returned. I crept toward the glowing hole.

I felt Helios's pelt brush mine as he crept forward to see. "Whoa," he mewed. "What do you think is in there?"

Shrugging, I reached my paws in.