"Come on, Tsubaki, there's no time to dawdle," Ayame scolded her twin sister from further up the path. Her dark, black eyes searched the sky for any sign of the hawk that was supposedly to lead them to Hyoite. It had disappeared behind the high peaks of the mountain range, it seemed. Ayame sighed in expaseration, and called again. "Tsubaki!!"
Tsubaki waved a hand dismissively as she paused to inspect a patch of tiny white flowers on the ground with mild interest. "Nee-san [note: nee-san = older sister], there's still plenty of time to get to Hyoite. Slow down and have a little fun for once.
Ayame sniffed and pulled the fur-lined hood of her coat up and over her head just as a gust of icy wind blew by, throwing up strands of her dark hair into the air and whipping them about her cold cheeks. "I'd like to get there before we freeze to death out here! Plus, we've lost our guide."
"We won't die, so stop worrying," Tsubaki replied with a grin. She pulled her parka around her body tighter and also pulled up her hood over her dark hair before leaping off the path and onto a rocky ledge. Balancing precariously on a large boulder, she glanced back over her shoulder to look expectantly at her sister. “Well, what are you waiting for? Come on!�
Ayame could only watch helplessly as her sister disappeared behind the rocks. She sighed yet again, but this time in resignation as she hurried down the path to follow her twin while muttering under her breath, “What am I going to do with her?�
Being surrounded by rock and mountains, Ayame found it difficult to make her way quickly through the terrain but she hurried as fast as she could to catch up with Tsubaki, who was far ahead of her at this point. But as she went further, the most foul stench reached her nostrils â€" in fact, it was so foul that her eyes began to tear and she was forced to cover her nose with the sleeve of her thick coat. It smelled like…blood and flesh. She nearly gagged.
“Ayame! Psst! Over here!�
Ayame’s eyes swivelled over to her right, where Tsubaki was crouching behind a boulder. Tsubaki motioned her over with one hand, the other hand indicating for her to stay quiet. There was no grin on her face anymore, no sign of her earlier excitement and adventurousness now. She was completely serious.
Ayame crouched low and joined her sister behind the large stone, shooting her a questioning glance. After Tsubaki pointed upwards, the pair slowly stood up on their knees, peeking over their rocky shelter, their dark eyes forward. Ayame nearly gasped in horror but stopped herself just in time. Tsubaki just grimaced.
“What a brutish creature,� Ayame said, wrinkling her nose in disgust as she watched the massive ogre tear through what looked to be the remains of some poor bear. Blood and body parts were everywhere.
And before they could say or do anything else, the giant of an ogre let out a deafening belch, causing the very earth to tremble and snow and ice from nearby peaks to come crashing down. The pair crouched back down, gripping the boulder with their hands to keep from fainting â€" the stench was almost unbearable! To make matters worse, the ogre had somehow detected their presence. Tsubaki’s dark eyes narrowed and her mouth set into a determined line. Ayame gave her a sharp look and tugged on her sister’s sleeve.
“No, don’t even think about it,� Ayame hissed.
Tsubaki only shook Ayame’s hand, put on a smile so sweet it had to be fake, and slowly stood up.
“Why, hello there!â€? she said, waving at the ogre cheerily as if she greeted ogres in the middle of their bloody meals every day. “I’m sorry. Am I disturbing your delicious â€" albeit disgusting â€" meal?â€?
Ayame sighed from her hiding spot and hid her face in her hands.
