WHISTLING BELLS

Some say summer ending is sad, its end always led into the decline of the boundless fun it held, the enjoyment of the hot sun, the mutual agreement to swim and eat fruit on a beach. Though the warm season was gone, many people had yet to wind down and continued their activities till the crisp, cool autumn air hit. Something was on the imp’s minds, a special event that had yet to be announced, something that happened annually. All those who were interested waited with bated breath, excited for when the day would come. The summer had prevailed and the harvest was incredible, then the week came when the event itself would happen.

The area around the large Jubokko Tree was bustling, impims of every size, shape, and color were gathered. Just from casual observation, you may notice an imp with several wings fly above the crowd with another who looks like they were spawned from a rainbow itself. Perhaps you could also spot some unique venders, an imp that resembled an owl who gave out maps in exchange for chymes, perhaps another that was covered head to claw in eyes who made hand carved statues in seconds before you eye catches somebody else, a shady figure whom haggled and made deals with people, afterwards they’d get random items that could vary from weapons to books.

While air was still warm and welcoming, and stones that lined the pathways sustained enough heat to feel pleasant when walked on, a dull pink impim made her way through the crowds of yokai, arm linked with another imp, who she was only up to the shoulder with. They both decided to stay

“I always hated large gatherings like this.” Shimma murmured as he used his free hand to tug his hood down more in an attempt to hide his face.

“So have I-” Athena began. “-but this is such a big event we couldn’t miss it for the world! Everybody is here!”

His yellow eyes looked down at her then back up to the crowd. “Buncha con artists if you’re askin’ me. Everybody looks sketchy, untrustworthy.”

She huffed, the ears on her hood seemed to go back. “Cmon, don’t be a debbie downer! I know you’ll enjoy it- hey, look! Over there!” The smaller imp said, began to run off with Shimma, who tried to gain his footing due to the sudden change in pace.

Athena’s movements came to a halt once they arrived at their destination, which was a humbly-sized stand with a purple furred impim behind the main counter, who handed some sort of roasted kabob with mushrooms on it to an eager imp, who immediately began eating it while they walked away. There was another impim behind her, the one who made the food. The tips of their two tails twitched, an ear perked up when they heard a familiar voice.

“Hey, Val!” Athena greeted happily as she waved her free arm wide and wildly.

“My goodness, I didn’t know you two would be here!” Momo exclaimed, pleasantly surprised.

“I wouldn’t miss out on this for the world! There’s so much history here, I would hate to miss it again.” The pink impim beamed. Athena had missed the last event due to the fact she wasn’t in the best mood, though she felt much better this year. She playfully nudged the darker impim she was currently arm locked with. “And I convinced this grump to come with me, I thought he’d enjoy it as well!”

Shimma didn’t respond, he simply tipped his head to look down at the ground, the kangaroo ears on his hood flopped with him.

“Aw, I think somebody’s blushing~!” Momo teased gently. Shimma only grumbled in response.

Val turned around from the food she was working on. “Well, what were you two planning on doing here?” She enquired.

“Well… uhm…” Athena trailed off. She hadn’t thought about it too thoroughly, she was so excited about the idea of being able to be somewhere with Shimma she didn’t put in any more thought.

“Well… why not get some food here?” Shimma finally spoke up with a raised head.

Athena gasped and gave the taller impim a happy look. “Yeah! That’s a good idea!” She looked back at Momo and Val. “Two of those roasty sticks please!”

“I’ll pay.” Shimma added.

“A real gentleman.” Momo smiled, to which Val chuckled.

“He’s just being nice while he’s out with a lady friend.” She said matter-of-factly and gave a spin of her heel as she began to work on the two’s food.

Athena’s face went red at the idea of it. She subconsciously held onto Shimma’s arm more, her nubbed tail wagged. “Hah… maybe.” It was merely a murmur, though when she pictured them holding hands and kissing made her feel fluttery and light. She had always liked Shimma, she loved him for quite a while actually. Something about him felt different compared to other people, his attitude made her smile and how well put together he was made her think about how perfect of a partner he’d be. Athena hadn’t ever felt so nervous and flustered around somebody before, she was surprised herself whenever her heart skipped a beat when he was near. She should tell him at some point, oh but the idea was so nerve wracking she felt as if she’d get too light headed to say a word. Actually… this event would be perfect and mark an excellent time to celebrate their relationship-

“Athena dear!” Momo’s voice snapped her out of the day dream she was in the middle of. “You’re spacing out, I can’t hold these forever!” She giggled, the kabobs they had ordered in either hand.

Athena and Shimma’s arms became unlocked for a moment when she went up to take the food, though Shimma followed right behind with a small handful of golden, shiny chymes. He handed them to Momo, who put the currency away immediately. “Thank you so much, you two! Have a good time now!”

Athena handed one of the kabobs to the taller impim, who took it and stared for a moment.

“Don’t be silly, pull down your mask!” Athena snickered.

Shimma went ‘ah’ softly and pulled down his mouth cover. He took a big bite and got a mouthful of meat, potatoes and mushrooms. “Not bad.” He said softly, though the taste made him want to smile.

She took a bite as well and gave his side a gentle jab. “You’re having fun.”

He turned his head up. “Maybe I am.” Shimma said, almost as a challenge. “Got a problem with that?”

“Not at all! You’re enjoying yourself and that’s all I care about!” Athena spinned around and nearly fell backwards before she adjusted herself. “It’s so beautiful right?”

He nodded in silent acknowledgement. Athena grinned, maybe today was perfect to confess. Her heart fluttered as she leaned against him. “Well, there’s much more to explore, you know!”

“Indeed.” He hummed before he took another bite of his food. “Maybe we could play one of those rigged carnival games.” Shimma suggested with a laugh.

“With my luck, I’d be able to win even if it’s impossible.” Athena bragged, flashing a toothy smile.

“Don’t be so confident, you know what that leads to.” He shoved her hood down onto her head more, to which she attempted to do the same, even if she only managed to make his hood cover his eyes slightly.

They both settled down, Athena shaking her entire body to fluff out her fur again. She put out her hand to Shimma. “Why don’t we test my luck then, hm?”

Shimma was amused at this and he took her hand. “Of course. I can’t wait to see it backfire.” He joked before he gave her hand a reassuring squeeze.

The two began walking again as they talked and ate their food, they observed other impims play games and pointed out the tricks if there were any, entertained by it all. Athena kept herself in anxious wait, prepared to find the perfect place to finally tell Shimma how she felt, though she was so absorbed in the good time they had it was out of her mind. Soon enough Shimma came to a halt and he glanced around. Athena was confused at this but soon came to realize why he did it, as she heard beautiful jazz music, it had a wonderful voice that seemed to sing along with the music perfectly. Athena swayed her head to the beat and used her available hand to snap. Shimma stayed still before he began to hesitantly tap his foot, he only made a slight attempt to keep it on rhythm. They both approached the music to hear it better and they took note of the person that was playing, a short black and white impim they both knew frequented the casino they lived by. The crowd was full of impims, though the one thing they had in common was that they were all dancing.

The pink impim stepped out, the action dragged the darker one out with her. The two were right against each other before Athena realized she didn’t really know how to dance. Shimma tuned into the music again and looked down at Athena, who seemed frozen in the moment. He carefully put his arm just under her free one, Athena then mirrored the action. Shimma took the lead first and he took a few steps back, which Athena tried to follow. They were both slow at first since they had a silent agreement that neither knew what they were doing, but they got into the swing of it soon enough. They both let go of the other, only standing still for a second before they spun in opposite directions, kicking out their legs and doing wild motions with their arms.

Still doing the motions, Athena circled around Shimma, now opposite to each other. They spun around in place and soon locked hands again, repeating the same actions they did previously. Once they were opposites again and the music picked up, Athena went next to Shimma, gave him a nudge with her hip and swept him off his feet. Shimma squeaked at the sudden action and Athena realized she hadn’t taken into account how heavy he’d be. She fell first and hit the ground with an ‘AH’, Shimma followed suit and fell onto her lap. Athena felt her face heat up again, more from the embarrassment than Shimma sitting on her. Right when she was about to apologize, Shimma began to laugh. He snorted and covered his mouth, even if his mask was already covering it.

“But… didn’t I-” Athena was cut off.

“That was amazing!” Shimma said in between the giggles.

Athena was taken back by this, as she never really saw him be so… bubbly. Maybe she had rubbed off on him more than she suspected. Athena thought about it and started to laugh as well.

“I guess that was pretty fun!” She snickered.

Shimma got off of her and reached out to help Athena up. She took it without hesitation, being hauled onto her feet. The music stopped soon after, the crowd tossed ringing chymes towards the imp who played, who bowed and waved a goodbye. He took a few steps towards the two, gave his bowtie a little tug, then spoke up.

“Why hello mister! Out with the missus, I see! I am assuming you two are having a pleasant time?” Albert questioned.

“Well… yes.” Shimma spoke up. “We’ve been having fun.”

“Wonders!” He announced in his normally booming voice. “I just took it upon myself to give everybody here a real show! Something that’ll be in their memory for years to come!”

“It was very beautiful! How do you make it so enchanting anyways?” Athena questioned.

“Let’s say a few little birdies helped me out! After all, nobody can be a hot shot without a crew!” Albert clapped, his fish-like tail wagged as he spoke. “I would be a liar if I said I did it alone!”

Athena nodded politely, though she was confused by the statement. She didn’t notice anybody else leave and she was too focused on Shimma to look up at Albert. He was always a mysterious man, but she respected it.

“Also… have you seen Leda anywhere?” He inquired, a hand on his hip.

“... Leda?” Shimma was confused, he had never heard that name before.

“The little jackal’s friend, from town! Looks like a moon, missing an eye?” Albert explained.

Shimma gave a desperate glance down at Athena, who shrugged in response.

“Well, that fella is out with Zazz! I promised Louve he could be trusted with the little thing, after all, blueberry there is as clever as a fox!”

“... I see.” Shimma said simply. “We’ll keep an eye out.”

“Oh trust me, you’ll see them soon.” If it was any voice but Albert’s it would’ve been a threat. “They’re so rambunctious I tell you what!”

“I’ve been to Val’s before, I should know!” Athena beamed confidently. She often visited the mushroom covered impim for ingredients, and experienced the chaos Laika was prone to do. Laika was… a handful, in the most polite way somebody can put it.

“Then you know the experience! You should show your microphone stand there sometime, eh?” Albert chuckled.

Athena gave a little nod. “Definitely. I should bring you on my next ingredient run, Shimma.”

Shimma thought about it for a second, he did like the sound of that. “Sure, why not?”

“The crazy kid.” Athena joked lightly and gave his side a nudge. He rolled his eyes.

“Nothing we can’t handle.”

“Well then, I best be on my way! Good evening and goodnight!” He tipped his head and pulled his hood over it. Albert walked away, only slight rings followed due to the chymes he had.

Shimma thought for another second, his tail swept the ground as he did. “Want to play those bad games now?” He sprung up.

“Abso-positively!” Athena instantly responded. “I need a new plush to sleep with. Or a fish that’ll die in a few weeks.”

They both snickered and walked around curiously. They gave interesting booths a side glance in an attempt to find the perfect one… or one that was least likely to give them nothing. Along the way they had good banter, only interrupted by a snort from one of the imps due to something the other said. Eventually they both gave up on it, though Shimma promised to buy her the biggest toy he could find once they returned home. The two sat down on a bench and watched as all the other yokai went by, amazed by all the different faces they saw. Athena thought everybody there was beautiful, mainly staring at the wings some had. Some had feathered wings, some were large, spectral and dragon-like, while others were more bug-like and enclosed in shells, only being used when they flew off elsewhere. The time was perfect. Athena got closer to Shimma and laid her head on his shoulder.

Shimma made a small noise and turned his head to face her. “Hm? What is it?”

“Well… I’ve been meaning to tell you something for a while now and it’s so gorgeous out I thought ‘why not’?” Athena started, somewhat casually, even if her heart pounded in her chest.

This got his full attention and he sat in a position where they were face to face. “Well, you got me hooked with that. Lay it on me.” Athena felt her heart skip a beat.

“It’s well…” She inhaled. “I’ve had conflicting feelings for a while. I assumed I could only make friends and I accepted that. I’ve met so many people in my life yet… none of them have made me feel this way before.” Athena rambled and looked down. Hesitantly, she took Shimma’s hands into hers. Shimma felt himself blush and thanked everything out there that he was wearing a mask, especially when he is so dark.

Athena opened her mouth to speak again when they both took pause upon the noise of rattling near the bench they were sitting on. They looked and saw a small yellow creature, who was going through the garbage can nearby them. She nudged at something in it and made futile attempts for balance on her face. Eventually a half and half impim came over and got the nimin out. She pet the creature’s head and looked over at Shimma and Athena. She waved politely. Athena weakly waved back. Soon after, Zazz ran over with the moon impim Albert had mentioned in his arms. Athena felt her stomach pit, right now? She went quiet and squeezed Shimma’s hands. He was surprised at the action but he returned it nonetheless.

“L-L-Laika! Don’t r-run off like that!” Zazz reprimanded in his normally jittery tone.

She signed to him and Zazz quieted down. “I-I know… Y-Y-You know I could’ve gotten Marigold for you.” Laika nodded, Zazz sighed.

“She got in the garbage...” Leda grumbled in their raspy voice as they huddled themself closer to Zazz.

Laika tapped her foot and put up a finger as a ‘hold on’. She turned around and, with no hesitation, dove into the trash. Leda physically revolted at this action, her visible eye’s pupil contracting. Zazz froze up, aware if he tried to stop Laika she’d hiss and spit like an irate cat to get… whatever she was after. After a few seconds, Laika came out, as proud as ever. She held a silver chyme, which she could only assume Marigold was after. Zazz’s ears went back.

“I-I could’ve just gi- given you a silver chyme…” Zazz said in defeat. Laika covered where her mouth would be, in a laughing motion. Her tail wagged and she whipped her head around to find Marigold, probably to present the chyme as a reward. She seemed confused when she didn’t immediately spot the nimin, though when she looked down she saw Marigold in an almost attack position. She was staring daggers into the forest, grabbled snarls came out of the creature’s mouth. Laika petted the nimin’s head and gave a tilt of her head.

“See something?” Leda looked up at Zazz, who patted her back.

“P-P-Probably… maybe i-it’s an animal.” He reassured, though he was worried about what Marigold had seen.

Athena turned on the bench and rested her arm on the back of it. Athena looked in the same direction Marigold did, in an attempt to see what she did. Shimma did the same, and he didn’t notice anything… at first. He heard sounds of leaf crunches and faint jingles, Shimma glanced at Athena, seeing if she heard anything as well. Athena was fixated on the forest, pupils cat-like slits as she stared motionless. Shimma thought about what Athena was saying previously and felt butterflies, imagining what she would’ve said if she finished. He finally found his voice.

“Want to see what it is?” He offered and gave Athena’s shoulder a gentle tap.

Athena snapped out of the trace she appeared to be in. She looked up at Shimma and, with noticeable determination, spoke. “Absolutely.”

Shimma jumped off the bench and looked over at Zazz. “Don’t worry, me and Athena will see what’s up.”

Zazz’s only response was a small nod. “C-C-Come on Laika, it’ll be alright. I-I’ll- I’ll get Marigold some f-f- food and we’ll p-play games. Is th-that okay?”

Laika picked the small nimin up, who relaxed in her arms. The child nodded and ran up to Zazz, and Leda tried to stay away from Laika as she still smelled of garbage, acting as if she hid behind Zazz it would make her invisible. Athena still had a dead stare into the forest, almost distracted by it before Shimma petted her hood.

“Hey c’mon, we can’t go exploring if you keep spacing out.” He teased the shorter impim.

“Oh-! Yes! Right!” She got up quickly and shook her body once again, shuddering hard as her fur puffed up. “All ready!”

Shimma chuckled at the action. “Alright then.” He took her hand and started to make his way through the forest. Athena held onto his arm, feeling that fuzzy emotion she knew all too well.

The forest was nothing like theirs, more the trees weren’t as tall or dense, the now dimmed sun visible through all the leaves. They had to jump over plenty of fallen trees, the cause of which seemed to be unknown. She felt rather comforted in the forest, as it felt like a piece of home was right there at the festival. They kept up the pace and were rather fast with their exploration of the new area. Both had gone through their extremely dense forest before and had memorized how to get around every bump and crack, so this was like an open field to them. Soon enough, they both heard noise. Jingling. Almost like the jingling of chymes, the sound that had been embedded in their ears for hours due to the gathering that took place. They looked in the direction and saw a figure they couldn’t quite make out, the only noticeable feature being glowing lights that radiated off whatever they had on. Athena immediately gave chase after it, blood pumped in her ears as she used all her energy to catch up with the far away creature.

Shimma lacked behind, as he didn’t expect her to take off without warning like that. Athena felt branches snap under her, bark scrape up against her skin when too close to a tree, the soft impact of her bird feet on the ground once she came to a clear spot. Eventually the figure turned to the right, the jingling followed, a flower visible on their tail. She was so close. Athena swerved to follow when… she stopped. Athena was greeted by a river, the bay of which had beautifully colored sand. Did she really lose them that quick? Athena’s ears drooped back, she immediately felt guilty for leaving Shimma behind. The adrenaline had worn off and now she was left with nothing. Shimma eventually caught up to her, breathing hard.

“Hey, there you are-”

“They’re gone.” Athena’s voice cracked as she spoke. “I’m sorry.”

“Eh…?” He walked up to her and pulled his mask down, letting out a few more breaths in an attempt to recompose himself. “They couldn’t have gotten away that quickly.”

“B-But they did!” She exclaimed and put an arm out. “I was on their tail, I swear! A-And now… nothing’s left.”

Shimma looked around, stepping onto the pleasantly warm sand. He got down and started sifting through the millions of grains. “Well… not everything.”

“What?”

Shimma came back over to Athena with clasped hands. He opened them to reveal a bell that had ruins carved into it. He held the bell up by the cord it was attached to and it made a wonderful noise, it nearly replicated the sounds Athena and him had heard. “Well, if this isn’t evidence something was here, I don’t know what is.”

Athena stared, mouth agape. She quickly closed it when she jumped and hugged Shimma, arms wrapped around his neck. He made a choked up sound at the action and stumbled back. They both fell into the sand but it didn’t seem to bother either of them, as Athena was focused entirely on keeping Shimma close in that moment. Shimma hesitantly put his arms around her as well, a stray hand running through the fur on her hood.

“Thank you for coming with me today.” Athena mumbled.

“Of course, anything for you.” Shimma said in reply with a slight sigh.

They stayed there for a while in silence, quietly snuggling the other as they watched dawn turn to dusk. Shimma sat up with Athena in his lap, the bell tied around his wrist.

“Ready to go yet?” He asked as he continued to pet Athena’s short fur.

Athena huddled herself closer to Shimma, a small smile went across her face. “Yes, I am.”