Clay - Chapter Three

“Lights out, students!” one of the teacher’s said. 1

Lights out, students! I thought mockingly, grabbing my bag and putting in my recovered magic book (one of the students used her music to bring it back), paint set and drawing book. 2

I went to the window, opened it, threw my bag out and said, “Tell Sensei when I leave, huh?” I jumped out. “No way in heck,” I said, shutting the window behind me. 3

It was kind of cold out and I hated the cold, so I closed my eyes and kept walking. I morphed into a wolf. 4

That morphing spell really works! I thought, smiling and then running. My bag was attached to my neck. 5

A bright yellow light made me stop in my tracks and stare. Maki appeared in her ghost form. 6

“Maki!” I said, but it came out like a bark for people who were in houses and out for a late night fishing trip. “How do you do that? How can you…? You’re dead!” 7

“I know that, freckle-face,” Maki said. “But apparently I’m allowed to travel between the two worlds!” She smiled, but it soon faded. “Why are you running away?” 8

“Sensei told me to leave and let him know tomorrow, but I decided today and not to tell him and run away,” I said, walking. 9

“Where are you going to go?” 10

I shrugged. “I know I can’t possibly go that far, right?” 11

Maki sighed. “Right… Know what would be awesome?” 12

“What?” 13

“If you found a boyfriend!” Maki said. “For once…” 14

“Maki—” I started, but she cut me off. 15

“I had more boyfriends than you before you turned thirteen, Aria.” 16

I waited a moment and then said, “Touché.”17

We crossed a bridge while Maki said, “Why don’t you just do a spell? Like… Oh! I came up with one a few years back. It went, ‘I have left to peoples’ dismay, now take me to a place far, far away’! Try it. It should work. But…you need to be in human form first.” 18

“Okay…” I muttered, closing my eyes and morphing back to my human self. 19

“Okay, now say it with feeling,” Maki said. “Lots of feeling. And close your eyes. It’s a little creepy doing the travel.” 20

“Alright… I have left to peoples’ dismay, now take me to a place far, far away!” 21

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“Okay, never again am I doing that kind of spell!” I said when Maki popped up beside me.23

“Aw, why not?” Maki said. “I worked really hard on that spell.” 24

“It took us ten and a half hours to get here. Look, it’s daytime already.” 25

“Sorry about that. Oh, I’ve got to go. I’ll see you later. Now morph into a fox.” 26

I did as I was told and barked goodbye. 27

“Aw, Mommy, Mommy!” a little girl cried, but her mother wasn’t paying any attention. “Look at the cute little puppy!” 28

Cute? Puppy? I thought. I barked at her. Sighing, I started to walk through the village. It was an interesting place. It was all brown and dusty and boring. There were stalls set up and a marketplace and a few restaurants. There were a lot of people. I had no clue where I was, but I had this deep down feeling that there were people from the *Akatsuki were there. 29

Suddenly, I felt a strong tug on my tail. I turned around and it was the little girl. She grabbed me and squeezed me. I was losing air—and I did something I knew was wrong—so I bit the girl’s hand. She let go of me and began crying like mad. I growled like a fox would and barked. 30

“Ah!” her mother said, running over. “What’s wrong?” 31

“The puppy bit my hand!” the girl cried, drawing people’s attention. “And I just wanted to give it a hug!” 32

I’m a woman, you stupid little girl! I thought. Jeez, this is why I hate children. They’re annoying and go crying to their mommies every time they get hurt! 33

“If it bit that girl,” I heard a woman say, “then we have to get rid of it! Kill it if we have to!” 34

My eyes widened. Maybe I didn’t do what I was supposed to do. They were going to kill me just for biting a little girl? I was only defending myself! I began to back up. And then, I ran for it, running as fast as I could. 35

I had to bite her, didn’t I? What is wrong with me? I should know better! You’re eighteen and she’s only about six! I thought. Shame on me! 36

I looked back. Yep, people were chasing after me…with sticks. I wasn’t looking where I was going, so I ran into some guy. I shook my head and looked up at this blonde guy. Guessing he saw the people, he scooped me up and put me behind a counter. 37

“You seen a little yellow fox?” the little girl’s mother asked. 38

“Hmm?” the blonde guy asked. “It went that way, un.” He pointed down an alleyway.39

“Thank you so much!” 40

I picked up my bag with my mouth just in time, because he picked me up. 41

I barked. 42

“You’re a human; I’m right, yeah?” he asked. 43

I nodded. 44

He put me back behind the counter and jumped over it and all the while I closed my eyes and morphed back into human form before he could look at me again. 45

“Wait to go, freckle-face,” Maki said, appearing in my mind. 46

Shut up, I thought. 47

“Why the heck would you bite a little girl, hmm?” the blonde guy asked. 48

“Oh!” I said, chuckling a little. “Um, I don’t know. Maybe the fox senses were coming to me? Or maybe it was the fact I couldn’t breathe anymore.” I shrugged and put my hand on a table. “Ow!” 49

“You hurt your hand, yeah?”50

I nodded. “A bit. I guess running away from those people so hard and fast made my hand a little… OW!” 51

He was spinning that medical cotton cloth around my arm and he had put some kind of sterilizing stuff on it…and it stung. 52

“Sorry!” he said. “But it does help… Trust me.” 53

His blonde hair was back in a high ponytail and his right eye was covered with really long bangs. He had grey eyes, peachy skin and he was wearing a black robe with red clouds on it. 54

“Um, kay,” I said, blinking a lot more than usual due to the pain. “I’m Aria, by the way.” 55

“*Deidara.” 56

Deidara. I let it sink it. 57

“There you go, un,” he said. 58

He was wearing a ring on his right hand and a weird looking headband across his forehead. Once I saw the palms of his hand, I said, “Hm, that’s interesting.” There was a mouth on each hand with tongues. “No comment,” I said, shaking my head. “Thanks for getting me away from those guys.” 59

“It was no problem, un,” Deidara said. “Animals and humans are like art; they’re not something to fool around with or hurt.” 60

I blushed. “Oh, wow. That’s kind of a…beautiful quotation,” I admitted, giggling a little. “But really, I agree with you.”61

“Art is beautiful, yeah?”62

“Totally.” 63

I was completely ignoring his hands, which sort of freaked me out…64

“So, um, you like art too?” I asked. 65

“Yes,” Deidara said. “You also, hmm?” 66

I looked in my bag and pulled out my drawing book. “It’s my favourite thing. What do you do?” I asked, taking the book back. 67

Deidara turned around for a few seconds and then turned back around and showed me a small *clay sculpture of a bird. 68

“Oh, wow, that is good,” I said. “But where did you get the…?” 69

“You know the mouths on my hands, yeah?” Deidara asked. “They produce the clay and I can use it for anything I want, un.” 70

“You’re so good at it. Every single last detail.” 71

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“I don’t mean to sound uncouth or anything,” I said, “but are you gender-confused?”73

Deidara shook his head. “No, un.” 74

“Okay, but why are you wearing nail polish?” 75

He stopped me by putting his arm in front of me. “What is painting to you?” he asked. 76

“An art, I guess.” I shrugged. 77

“That’s what that this is to me.” 78

We started walking again. 79

“Hey, this is totally random, but, um, are you…a part of the Akatsuki?” I asked. 80

“I am, yeah,” Deidara said. “Does that bother you?” 81

“No, not really, but it’s bothering my senses. When I first got here, I could feel it, but not much. But now I feel it a whole lot.” 82

“You can sense that kind of sense, hmm?” 83

“Yes. It’s a talent of mine. Just like morphing. And my eyes turning red when I’m mad. You’re so lucky, though, you’re a part of the Akatsuki!” 84

“You want to be a part of it, hmm?” 85

I nodded. “Totally.” 86

“Maybe when you’re older.” 87

“Aw, but I’m only eighteen! You can’t be much older than me, right?” 88

“I’m nineteen. I’m in it because someone in the Akatsuki helped me out.” 89

“Huh.” 90

*Akatsuki=a clan; it’s one of the enemies to Sakura, Naruto, their Sensei and dojo. Also an enemy to Aria’s dojo (but Aria loves it). 91

*Deidara=a character apart of the Akatsuki from the manga/anime Naruto. He’s known to say “hmm”, “un”, or “yeah” at the end of most of his sentences. He has a liking for art. The “dei” in his name means “mud” or “dirt” in Japanese. Pronounced “Day-da-ra”. 92