Dark Edge Village

(Expecting)

Takeo waited, exactly where he had said he would, astride the horse the Shinjo had loaned him. This was the final night of the competition and possibly his final night to still think on Kitakuhime.

Tomorrow, one way or another, everything would change.

Asahi had been left back in the room. Tonight was about he and her, and whatever their future, collective or otherwise, might hold.

It was a rather strange meeting, at the last hour, in the middle of the night, somewhere far away. She didn't question his honor, and trusted all would be fine. After some time searching, Gekko scents a trail in the air, and guides his rider up to the encounter.

Kitakuhime appears first as a blur in the horizon, as time passes, her form becomes more visible, and she grows near to the Fox. Close enough, she halts the ride, not to collide. Her hair flows over her shoulders and falls over her chest. She adjusts the right fringe, tucking it behind her ear. With a sweet warm voice, she greets the boy in front of her once more.

"Konbanwa~"

Takeo is roused from a thought by Kitakuhime's appearance, taking a moment to respond. When he does, his voice is light.

"Good evening, Otaku-sama," Takeo replied, "Thank you and Gekko-san for joining me."

He looked at the powerful horse for a moment, his smile cast in the light of the fireflies and the moon.

"I hope you have been well since last I saw you."

Gekko steps forward to meet the Shinjo mare Taeko mounted with his nostrils –– so daring, he could have been a Moto steed, instead. Closer, she replies, "Gekko-kun doesn't seem to have noticed you at all this time, Kitsune-san," she giggles and completes, "I've been well... frustrated, honestly. Anxious and somewhat a tad bitter. Nothing to worry."

"Gekko-san has his eye on the prize, so to speak," Takeo replied, chuckling slightly, "I cannot fault him for knowing where his priorities should lie."

At the rest of it, he grows somewhat more serious, concern edging his voice, though he did his best to keep it in check, lest he smother such a strong woman, "I would make your worries my own, Otaku-sama."

"He's suppose to mate with Hinode-chan, though." The girl squints her eyes at her horse and crossing arms. There's a chuckle and she responds Takeo, "Then you also have nothing to worry, Kitsune-san. Why did you want to meet me at this time of the night?"

"I thought it might be a fitting way to the end of our courtship," he began, looking up to the sky as the fireflies twinkled in and out of existence around him - tiny motes of light amidst the sea of night.

"One way or another, it does end tomorrow after all. I have done all that I can to win your hand, taken all honorable steps available to me. I have fallen short in some and tried to compensate with others. It will either be enough, or it will not. But not tomorrow comes regardless. And whether our lines cross and become entwined tomorrow, the Unicorn will always have a friend in the Fox."

He paused a moment, turning his eyes down to look back at Kitakuhime. "And you shall always have a friend in me."

He drew a quiet breath before he continued.

"I thought we might ride together - as you have done your whole life and as I hope to. I would see Amaterasu rise with you, atop a horse, as we race across the plains. I would play for you, that you may know the music of the forest and of my heart. I would make memories that will be with us wherever we go in life - be that together or separate." he said.

The Otaku princess listens to Takeo, but in the middle of his words, she leans her body down, and reaches Gekko's ears. Her hand covers her mouth while she whispers. When the Kitsune finishes, the horse raises his head to analyze the Fox prince. With a snort, he turns his head forward again.

Kitakuhime extends her arm to Takeo.

And Takeo takes it, without hesitation.

Kitakuhime grabs his arm and pulls him closer fiercely. The Shinjo steed moves to the side and bumps Gekko.

"Come with me."

As the horse moves over, Takeo tightens his grip on Kitakuhime's arm and swings his leg free, bringing it up and over the side of Gekko, switching from his horse to Kitakuhime's own.

"Hold tight." The young Battle Maiden encourages the boy to wrap her around around her waist by moving them there. With a kiss popped into the air, Gekko dashes forward at high speed.

"Where you want to go?" She asks him in a louder voice to be heard against the flowing wind.

"Somewhere with a view!" he shouts back, "The highest place we can find!"

They both ride on off the fields and into the Dark Edge mountain path. As they ride, Gekko leaves a trail of fireflies behind his path, illuminating his trajectory like a falling star. They reach a staircase, and Kitakuhime unmounts, waving for Takeo to follow and moving up.

A small, improvised and perhaps ancient shrine made purely of stones is found at the end of the trail. It looks over Dark Edge Village. The few lights in the city and yurts dance among the other flying lights that dot the scenario underneath Lord Moon and the night stars.

Kitakuhime turns to face the Fox boy, smiling. "It this a nice view?"

Takeo nodded silently as his eyes took it all in - the plains stretched out before him. His hand went to his chest, almost as if he was catching his breath.

"It is," he said, a moment later, taking in both the plains stretched out before him and the woman who stood in front.

"It is so unlike home and yet...and yet there is beauty to it in its own way."