Following the Piglets. (Arc 2/4)

Today at 12:44 am

Fire. Movement. Disarray.

A path, a squealing… pig?

Trees, a blur, a pair of passing eyes and claws cloaked in lightning, a roar of a jungle cat.

Ever moving, the scream of a pig as the pathway burns brighter, the jungle lights ablaze all around Oda and he does everything to hold on.

Burning. Thrashing. Oda loses his grip. He screams out as he is sucked into the void of the jungle, disappearing into nothingness, tumbling. The incessant pounding of hooves, rhythmic. The hooves rhythm becomes more…synthetic? The pounding of the hooves becomes… buzzing? Beeping?

Oda shot up out of bed, his body covered in sweat and his alarm blaring.

He looked around with a mixture of alertness and insecurity. He had the unshakeable feeling like he was being…observed, not just watched but judged. He shut his alarm off and sat in the silence of his apartment, unable to shake the weird feeling from the dream, but already losing the memory of it.

He grabbed his headband and made his way out to tackle the day. Only to be stopped suddenly by stepping in a pile of…some sort of animal leavings. He looked down “Aww man-” He was cut off by the oinking of a small piglet as it rounded the corner followed by a stomach churning scream from his lovely neighbor downstairs. He sprinted to her, quickly forgetting about the mess on his shoes. Someone was in danger!

His thoughts quickly turned from protective to confused as he landed at the bottom step, he couldn’t help but laugh in befuddlement.

“DON’T JUST LAUGH. HELP ME!” His neighbor screamed amongst the carnage that was her garden, the grass was trampled, the flowers were half eaten, and the gardening boxes were flipped over. Amongst the crime scene were a dozen piglets of varying sizes, some lazily asleep after their feast, some running around panicked by the ladys screaming. Oda helped her disperse the piglets, which seemed surprisingly easy as they seemed to respond to him much better. He shook his head and ignored the notion, chalking it up to his imagination. After some time cleaning up the garden and lamenting the situation with his neighbor he made his departure. Chalking it up to one of lifes curveballs.

As he walked to his usual morning spot on the hills of Tsuki he paused, was that a trick of the eye or did he see…a piglet? This continued on as he went to his morning spot, “training manual” in hand. He kept seeing the tail ends of piglets running into the bushes, or he would hear a tiny squeal and not turn around in time to see them. He spent some time at his clearing with no additional interruptions, but the feeling of being watched still lingered.

Oda’s thoughts were interrupted by the rushing sound of many tiny hooves and he looked behind him, his eyes widening for a second. Behind him were a veritable swarm of piglets, with a couple larger almost grown boars running amongst them. He shouted in surprise and jumped out of the way, hanging by a tree branch that hung over the road. The piglets and boars brushed against his feet as they ran by.

“WHAT IS GOING ON.” He yelled to no one in particular. The pigs stopped at the tree line before looking at him once, squealing, and running into the woods. Oda simply hung there, mouth agape.

“So, you’ve noticed too.” A shadow from the tree line said. Oda gave a jump.

“What is it with everyone today? Can anyone be normal?!” Oda said, exasperated.

“Forgive the clandestine nature of our meeting, the village has a mission for you that must be kept secret.”

Oda's ears perked up at that and his attitude became more professional.

“I’m listening” He said in a suave manner, trying to act like all the spies from the romance novels he reads.

“These piglets you keep seeing, we need you to follow them to where they live, it may lead to something of grave importance. Something that we need to keep secret. Report back to your usual morning spot where you read your ‘training manuals’ ”Oda didn’t like how he said training manuals, did people know he was actually reading romance novels? His thoughts were interrupted as a hand came out of the shadows with a mission form, verifying his legitimacy, Oda grabbed it quickly and made sure no one was looking.

“Understood. I’ll get right on it.”

Following the piglets was easier than expected, as they kept crossing his paths, stopping when they intersected and then squealing and moving on. He decided to follow the next one he came across, and it squealed louder in satisfaction, racing on with a renewed energy. “Woah wait up!” Oda shouted as he raced through the woods following the piglet.

Oda came to a small clearing, followed by an even smaller path that must have been made by the piglets. He walked further for a few minutes before coming to a large clearing. The clearing was a mixture of mud pathways and trampled grass leading to a large stone cliff. Nestled in the stone wall was an absolutely massive cave opening, and even more fascinating was the dozens of piglets that streamed in and out.

“Yeah, plans are in motion, boss. We’re gonna have this thing at our beck and call by tomorrow night no sweat.” An unknown voice echoed, Oda was nearby and it was only by luck he wasn’t seen.

“And you’re sure no one from Tsukigakure has caught on?”

“Positive, they didn’t even know about the shrine until some punk went and cleaned it yesterday.” Oda bristled at that.

“Good.” He paused then looked back at the lackey with slight distaste “You can go now.”

“Yes sir yes” The lackey said before turning around and leaving. Oda used the commotion to also move away, running at a dead sprint back to his morning spot to report in. This was dire.

WC- 1500 (1000x1.5)

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