Ayane of the Corn! 🎃

[mermalaide]

 Kyoto's outskirts were filled with little farms. It was a peaceful slice of Heaven out of a slice of life style anime. Old traditional farm houses, with big separate family baths, and spacious wooden floors that were partitioned by sliding shoji. Wherever you went there were cute little mom and pop stands that ran on the honor system. One yen per bunch of greens, just leave a yen in the bank box on top of the stand. Most of the places along the road were like that.

Some of the elders of the community hired help for the day to pick produce or sort through things. There weren't many jobs but they were snapped up pretty quickly for those just passing through. A farmer asked for help watching his field at night. He was willing to pay a day's work and give whoever took it a meal, a hot bath and a bed for the following day. He had a bit of a conundrum.

"Ya' see miss, something has been stealing my corn and knocking a bunch of my stuff over!" He wrung his hat in his hands and looked positively sheepish! "I thought it was that darn kid up the road, but it turns out he is visiting his grandma! How'd ya like that?" He looked so annoyed and confused as to what was causing it. "I looked fer tracks.. but odd thing is, couldn't find any! Just some little drag marks! Was the strangest thing!"




"So.. ya think ya might be able to watch things fer me? It's been a couple a weeks of this.. an' I'm just pooped. I need a night off."

[oichi]

Ayane's adventure had sent her back to Kyoto. For what reason? She just had a good enough vibe of the place. It didn't really matter if she had been there before, because she desired a meal, a place to stay, and some pocket change. There was a sign near the edge of the outskirts, where farms were plenty saying 'help wanted- to know more, go ask the farmers's for more information.' It had interested her enough, she didn't have anything to do.

Looking around in her human form, she found some farmers already getting their own workers hired. She walked around a little bit more before she found a person of interest. He seemed like a jolly old farmer, with honest work under his belt. He had her attention with the details of the help he exactly needed. She was pretty curious about corn going missing as well as the mess it left behind. The curious thing was it left no tracks on who it could be. Her first thought was those birds. "Birds fly and they don't leave marks on the ground. Besides, they are mischievious little things that make me want to pounce at them... And all their shiny feathers along with it!" she was determined to help the farmer find out what happened. She could get food and a temporary place. "Don't worry sir. I'll take care of the night shift. I'm sure they won't try again after I catch them." she said as she smiled. She was going to be a barn cat.

[mermalaide]

"Yer a life saver miss!" He declared, patting her hair. "If things get too bad, wake me up an' i'll get my gun." It was doubtful she would need that but he wanted her to feel safe and not get scared away. The country got so dark at night. The little shed that he had left her at had a window,a sliding door, something to lay on, and some snacks to munch on. There also was emergency gear there.

He took up his lantern and walked back to his house with a wave and she was left with the slight summer breeze growing through the corn. There was the sound of a windchime somewhere. It started to get dark a bit quickly, but thankfully there was a little power and such in the shed so if she wanted, she could light up the outside a little. Though, if she did that, whoever it was might think the farmer was still outside. It might be best to hide and wait.

Inside the little shed, the farmer had put down a bento, some snacks, drinks and a thermos. It was a little cozy, even if it wasn't filled with much. One thing that might have been a little spooky was that the outside outhouse was a little ways away to use the rest room. You would have to walk past some of the corn and past a little garden to get there. Likely why she was left with her own flashlight.

[oichi]

Ayane resisted the urge to purr after having her head petted. It was a comfortable head rub. She also kept in mind to get the farmer if anything too dangerous happens. She thought it wouldn't be too hard, if anything it could be just some guy trolling that Ayane has to rough up a bit. Walking alongside the farmer, they soon came upon a shed that she would be staying in. There wasn't much to go on but it indeed was a shelter.

After the farmer left, she tested the bed to see if it was comfy enough to sleep. She bounced on the bed not much and not high before flopping down on the bed. It was pretty much comfy enough to try to get some sleep but she wouldn't sleep yet. She wanted to try some snacks now, to see what kind of snacks it was. She hadn't ate yet but she wasn't that hungry at the moment. Seeing some bisco crackers with strawberry, she began to eat in peace.

[mermalaide]

There was also a few bottles of sweet tea in there, and something that looked like strawberry Calpico. There was mostly package snacks and a few onigiri that were hand made in the cooler. The futon mattress was pretty clean for being an outdoor guest space. There is the impression that maybe the old man might come out here to nap on some days when he was a little too tired to walk back to the house, because of the little fan and lighting in there. There was also a pig ceramic that had a mosquito coil in it, already set up to keep bugs away.

The wind picked up and blew through the corn. It was a little bit of a spooky noise. Like a dry rustling that seemed to be hard to pin point. It was a good thing the corn was not very big in terms of field size. It was large enough to feed the farmer and sell some for neighbors or the home stand in the front. He had left a map of the his farm near the flashlight, trying to make sure that if she did walk around, she wouldn't get lost. There seemed to be a good amount of things to have a little meal while she waited for it to get really dark.

The rustling noise got a little louder, but it was hard to tell if there was anything there. For now, it might be a good idea to eat. Especially if she couldn't later. No sense working on an empty stomach!

[oichi]

Ayane looked at the food more closely as well as the drinks and was quite happy with the choices that was laid out on the box. The strawberry calpico was a pleasant surprise as she picked one up from the drink cooler, while munching on the bisco treats. It often reminded her of when she was home relaxing on the couch, her mom coming home from the flower shop, putting the peonies out on the window sill that she managed to keep. They would sit down together and eat and talk about how their day was, which wasn't much usually happening but it was still nice. She took a drink, happy about the flavor. "Mmm- still cold. Still delicious." she thought, now lapping up the top of the bottle with her tongue like she was just given a milk bowl.

The wind blew and her ears twitched at the sound of faint rustling. She looked out the window as it was getting dark out. Going towards the window, she peered outside to see if there was anything out there. The corn was plenty as well as it looked well cared for, but she still couldn't find anything. It got a little louder and she still didn't see anything. It was very odd, enough that she was uncertain if she should go out there yet or not. She looked back at her food and decided that the food looked better right now. Digging into the onigiri, she had bits of rice left over on her mouth, which she had a napkin to wipe it off. It was tasting pretty good but she felt that she couldn't shake the feeling something was there.

[mermalaide]

Something small ran through the corn! It was a blur of green and yellow. The rustling sounded like scraping almost. Some of the stalks bent too! What the heck was that? The movement got a little louder as more little scrapings and things came from the corn. For a moment an eye peeked out from the corn and watched Ayane. There was more rustling, and then stillness again.

Suddenly, a popping noise came from outside. It sounded like either a string of fireworks, or maybe the sound of popcorn? Pop! Pop! Pop! Something chittered and something else chittered back. If Ayane looked outside she could see them now. Ears of corn with eyes in place of some of the corn cornels  were crawling around on there green and brown stalks. Tufts of corn silk hair peeked out of the tops of their little heads.



They yipped and hollered and scuttled about grumbling at each other. And, if Ayane looked towards some of the corn stalks, she could see some of the ears of corn waking up and communicating to each other!

[oichi]

It was relatively a bit of tension inside. Ayane finished most of the bento box and her drink before she now heard scraping in the distance. She jumped on the bed with her ears flat in a surprise. She was on the edge, what kind of games are they playing over here? When that stopped, she had time to breathe a bit before hearing a large popping noise coming from outside. Now it was like popcorn? Looking outside, she saw a chaotic display. They were monsters! "Oh~ kay! Well I think I found the problem farmer!" she said aloud to herself. She hadn't seen any corn with eyeballs and thought to herself how much corn did he sell like that.

She ducked behind the bed, grabbing a map and a flashlight. Going outside to see this incident, might be definitely something to handle with. She wanted the farmer to sleep while he still can. "I have to find a way to get rid of these." she didn't have much of a plan but she was going to try something.

[mermalaide]

The corn monsters were chattering to each other, much like the sound of spiders. They moved past each other, trying to rouse the other corn monsters. All in all there were probably about twenty of them. The breeze had turned a little cold and it was chilly. The corn monsters had started to march, making sing song noises as they went. They stomped some of the stalks over. The farm house on the hill was a little dark and it looked like the farmer was fast asleep. There were plenty of places to hide from the corns, but there were also plenty of places for the corns to hide from Ayane. The rows of corn were like a labyrinth. It would have been somewhat easy to get lost in the actual corn itself.

They walked in little lines, two by two. Would she keep hiding and follow them to their destination? A few more joined them, until it seemed like a mob of corn. They made their way to the center of the field. As they started to the center, there were little bales of hay and a carved out area for the corn, so that they may had an area to relax.

[oichi]

Ayane had gotten more and more curious as she had observed the monsterous corn behaviour. It was like they were all lining up to go to a party. She can't speak the ancient language of corn to even understand what they were saying. As they seemed to be singing along with they marched down the field. Ayane didn't want to give herself away so she stayed hidden but kept following the corn. She had to be mindful to not make too much noise for all of them to hear.

She turned on the flashlight, covering almost all of the beam with her hand to make sure there was some light for her to see. Her eyes can see better than most people in the dark, because being part cat brings better eyesight. It didn't mean she doesn't need light in the dark. She tip toed behind the corn leading towards the center of the corn field, where it lead to carefully placed bales of hay and a little space. She looked out in awe. "What is this? A nightclub or a hideout? I feel like a big monster lurking." She thought feeling a bit awkward stalking them.

[mermalaide]

A beam of light from her flash light shot a pinpoint on the ground. One of the corns broke off to investigate what it was, stalking it like a cat. It chased it around and tried to pounce on the dot of light. The other corns were too busy with their corn song to bother the straggler corn. It was a cute song. Who knew what they were saying though. 

T hey started to march and some of the other corns started to sway to the music, while something miraculous happened! One of the corns in the middle dropped down on the field's floor in the middle of everything. There was a loud volley of popping noises and the corn split open, revealing a bunch of tiny, one eyed pop corn pieces with skinny little limbs, they looked very much like the pop corn version of a soot sprite. A large handful of them poured out and the corn they came from was an empty husk.

Was that how they gave birth?

It was somewhat endearing, weird, and somewhat horrifying!

The babies, if you could call them that jumped up into the air the way that spiders do, letting their corn silk catch the wind and carry them away. Up, up and into the wind they went! Another corn stepped forward, looking as it it was going to burst, and the singing continued.    

[oichi]

Ayane noticed one of the corn start to come towards her or rather the light that she allowed to shine on the ground. She understood the sentiment, that you would chase a light to have fun. She sometimes got embarassed after the fact, but it was really fun and a nice distraction. She had to go show the farmer what she had been seeing but not before hearing a song from them.

At first, it was cute. It seemed like it was a little party in the fields and them dancing around. Then it was how they gave birth that made her ears put back in disgust. The popping sounded like popcorn in a microwave, and the fact that she saw on full display that the corn pieces that had crawled out of its opening. It was weird and gross. "Well, I won't have popcorn for a while. I have to move quickly." she wanted to trap one of the corn monsters lured out so she can show the farmer what they were dealing with, and to figure out how to get rid of them. Definitely before they started to multiply. She lead the stray corn closer and closer towards her reach, playing with it in the meantime, til she scooped it up in her arms and began to run out of sight of the corn, heading towards the farmers house.

[mermalaide]

The corn was very unaware! It had no means to bite or really attack, but it was a little scratchy. It didn't really make any noise either, not like the sing song chirping that the others had. It just wiggles and jiggles, trying to get out. It stared at her with it's one eye in a bit of annoyance. It wiggled it's arms at her as if to say 'Heeey! Put me down!' 

The farm house up the hill was dark and as she ran, there seemed to be a bit of rustling behind her. The corn let out a squeaky noise! It sounded a little like a dog toy. What a weird corn monster! The little shed like quarters Ayane was given was coming well into sight. It seemed as if she might be being followed now. What would she do?

She had a few choices!

One was to keep running up to the dark house with the farmer, the other choice was to run into the little room she had and shut the door!

Attachments:

[oichi]

The corn didn't exactly hurt her with the scratching it did on her jacket. It almost seemed like little needles grazing on it. Regardless all she did was hold them as it tried to wiggle and waggle out of her arms. Ayane gave a stern look against their look annoyance, saying "Don't try escaping little one. It's only going to make it worse for you." she said as she ran through the fields.

She was faster than the corn, at least that's what she at least thought. She jumped at the squeak one of the corn monsters let out. It was like a dog toy, not very intimidating overall but the numbers were growing and she had to find the farmer fast. She saw her own shelter for the night just up ahead. She could go hide in there, but time was of the essence and she couldn't afford time wasted when something needed to be done. Shining her flashlight fully, she ran past her shelter off towards the farmers house. "I hope I'm not disturbing his sleep. It's gonna be an interesting night for him, and me." she said trying to keep her breath steady.

[mermalaide]

The cornlet glared from her arm. It could do nothing right now, though, admittedly, the corns were weird but not exactly dangerous, well hopefully not dangerous! The house was coming into view and it was pretty dark. It looked like he had gone to bed some time ago and had anticipated a good night's rest. Behind her there was a bunch of rustling and skittering noises.

Oh goodness! They were coming!

The porch was a little creaky when she made it to the house, and the steps were pretty solid. All the while behind her the rustling grew a lot louder. Things were definitely coming from the corn stalks now! The farmer must have been a but of a light sleeper, because before she could really start banging on the door, he appeared, in a pair of red long underwear brandishing a shotgun. He did not point it at anyone, but he did step out on the porch to see Ayane.

"What's going on?"

The corn in Ayame's arm was trying to wave it's arms again.