FSE

Furry search engine

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A fine summer breeze ripples through the wheat fields and through the boughs of the old oak. I watch the sea, knowing it to be a vibrant dream of a home that never was. Even so the creek babbles nearby, rushing over stones and into the distant sea that gleams like gems in the noon sun.

The wooden pier creaks behind me, lightly enough I feel instead of hear it. Arms wrap around me from behind a heartbeat later. A happy sigh hums beside my ear, daring me to guess which of the two it was this time or turn around to scoop her up in my arms.

I reach up and brush against her cheek. The other can't be far. Is she in the longhouse or maybe the field blooming with wildflowers?

A hand sneaks toward my belt, intent on loosening it so my tunic might be easier to steal away. I laugh, sure of who it is now, and turn about on her. Wispy smile upon her eyes and mouth, she evades my capture. Bouncing just out of reach, white tipped tails a flurry as she leads me on a chase, she delights in the run nearly as much as I do. Down the path, up a slight hill, she leads me far from the longhouse. She alights upon a low stone wall separating the path from a fallow field, her crouch hiding little thanks to that slip of a dress, soft and strong thighs revealed purposefully.

Right as I'm about to catch her, she bounces off into the wild grass field just out of reach. I clamber over after her, a fox's laugh rising as I'm tackled from the side.

Of course it was a trap, the other tumbling with me into soft, knee high grass, laughing all the way. It's a struggle I lose, as the one I chased settles my head in her lap while the other stretches out to lie on my legs and chest. I admit my defeat with a laugh and reach up to the one I chased. I stroke her hair, delighting in the sun's glow through her brilliant locks and the little pout tilting her head.

Before I can ask those beautiful blue eyes why she still doubts my fascination, dismay stiffens her back. She rises on one hand, mouth a line and distant gaze piercing.

"Someone's coming up the path," she says.

---

Wakefulness hits cold as sleet, Rin hastily hauling herself out of my arms and sitting upright. Saki rises with me, half pulling me up from behind, dreams blurring with the chill of early morning. The edge of dawn gives me enough light to see. Nestled between two kitsune, bare except for their fur and tails, I can't make sense of what happened and what didn't. When did I fall asleep? Why aren't we in the warm summer grass?

Was that even a dream?

The questions die unspoken on my tongue once I see Rin scamper for her clothes in the dim light of the mountain's dawn.

If she weren't a hair's breadth from some kind of panic, the sway of her hips and soft shape of her rear would have my complete attention. Instead, I hardly watch and try to piece my thoughts together while hoping this has nothing to do with the words I heard so clearly in dream.

"There's two," the nine-tail says, casting a look over her shoulder, almost certainly at Saki instead of me. "They're past Meiko's forest. If they keep their pace, they will be here before noon."

Blinking doesn't scatter sleep fast enough, my head swimming with possible threats and what happened in that dream.

"What about the new charms?" Saki asks, hugging me protectively from behind.

I'd be going for a weapon and my clothes if one of them didn't use their fur and fingers to dazzle the instincts carved through my flesh and bone.

"Ruined in the attack on the village," Rin murmurs.

"Hrm." Saki strokes a few fingers between the scars on my chest. "Should've sent Shizuka to mend that."

"I know, but they weren't complete either else I would've noticed that sooner," the nine-tail breathes, brushing a hand through her hair, still a mess from last night.

They sound more annoyed than panicked, and Saki isn't rushing for a weapon. I should calm down before battle thunders through my veins, but my only distractions are confusion and scattered memories.

"Is there danger?" I ask.

"We will find out closer to noon," Rin answers. "I'm sorry to wake you, Egil. There's still time, but-"

"Someone is coming up the path," I say, trying not to yawn despite the unease gripping my heart from that dream. Being woken so suddenly from it makes me think it was just a dream, but I have better questions for now. "You said there were two? Of what?"

Rin nods, resting on her knees, clothes in hand and in no hurry to dress. Taking a calming breath, she says, "Yes, and nothing any more dangerous than you. They are in no hurry even though they must have started in the dead of night. At this pace I can delay them until noon, but I do not know if there are more that follow."

"Shouldn't someone go look?"

"We'll decide that after our visitors' greetings," Saki says, leaning into my back even more and resting her chin on my shoulder.

"I shouldn't have shaken us so suddenly," Rin says after a deep breath. "I'm sorry, Egil. I was startled, but if there's danger, it still has a long way to climb."

"Then while I'm trying to decide if sleep still wants me, or if my itching fingers should know where Saki hides those needles, I have an ill-timed question."

"Oh?" Rin smiles invitingly. "I can help pin her down if you want to search her fur."

"Hm," Saki murmurs behind me, quite interested.

I want to say something playful back to that, or even laugh at the obvious attempt to ease the knot between my shoulders, but all I can do is give half a grin. "I'll consider the help." I swallow at a lump of apprehension, though taking a glance between the kitsune convinces me to be blunt. We only got this far doing that. "I'm uncertain about my dreams," I say, "or if they've even been dreams lately."

Their silence and the sudden stillness of Rin's tails tells me much, as does the twitch of her gaze towards Saki behind me.

"There's been familiar presences in them," I say, petting Saki's fingers and trying to let my heart relax my face, "yet when I wake, I hardly remembered who they were. I hadn't given it much thought until this last one."

"Egil," Rin says, hands folding atop the clothes in her lap. Anticipation stiffens her ears. "We owe you an explanation."

"Maybe, but not now." I nod, that knot relaxing out from between my shoulders at last.

Confusion shifts Rin's brow, her unease growing. "We-"

"Rin, Saki," I smile at them both in turn, "I only wanted to be certain it wasn't a curse or from having my head bashed against the steps. All else can wait until we know the mountain is safe."

"We have a confounding lover," Rin sighs, glancing above my head at her sister. There's only a murmuring sound from Saki, so Rin looks me in the eye. Whatever she sees melts the moment of doubt and fear that gripped her heart. "What's been done was out of compassion, then love."

"If it's chased terrors from my nights, my gratitude will flow as unending as my love," I say, desiring nothing more than to pull Rin into my lap.

"Confounding but sweet," Saki says while the inside of Rins ears warm with blush.

"If that's what you wish, Egil," she says, collecting herself, "we will talk about dreams later."

To keep any of us from getting too flustered or impassioned, I nod and try to put the matter aside like I said.

The tension slips from our hearts, or at least mine. Rin tries to hide it away from her face, even as she says, "Then let us prepare for the day ahead."

I grunt, rubbing my eyes and pulling together scattered thoughts – too many of which want to turn towards the bare breasts pressed against my back. There might not be panic or worry in their voices as they talk, but this is a serious moment, not one for passions or matters of dreams.

The intimate night we shared floats through the cracks in my thoughts. I was instructed to rest after they took the bandages off my brow, and next I knew it, my head lay in Saki's lap and Rin was being guided onto me. More comes back in pieces, out of order. The nine-tail sprawled atop me while teasing me with her thighs, kisses from both of them, the ticklish sensation of Rin's nose against my stomach and soft press of her breasts into my loins. Hot breath over my loins, soft fingerpads exploring, and a sensuous tongue. A fulfilled fox falling asleep in my arms after feeling what my fingers and tongue could do for her, while her sister...

I scrunch my eyes and rub at my face, shoving those memories away. While I'd slipped into thought, Rin and Saki talked about magical defenses I shouldn't know. Something about how quickly the pair passes under the torii, or rather how slow they are moving. I try to forget what I can't ignore.

Thoughts of my runes, remembered belatedly, snap me from the haze of distractions. I can be more than another sword holding hand.

I know I cast the runes before our clothes came off. It had been a simple question to see if threats would arise today, or if I should ask more questions, yet I can't quite recall what I asked or saw.

Saki and Rin turn their discussion to who should get their sisters – it sounds as if a few know like Rin that the torii were passed – while I mutter under my breath in the tongue of my homeland. I give their talk little heed.

The wisest words of my father and his father grumble under my breath until what I seek suddenly slips forth, the question I asked the runes last night. "-Will the new day bring strife?-"

My kitsune lovers keep talking, paying no heed to my murmuring. That's good. The bounce of carved bone is so stark in my mind that it may as well be happening before me again. Scattering about before flipping back into a tight bunch, the reading was so simple I never should have forgotten it.

My head flicks up, palm dragging across my short beard.

"-Dawn's light falls beneath a mighty tree,-" I utter, stopping the sisters' conversation.

I repeat it in their tongue and translate the question that earned the reading before adding, "That's what the runes said last night."

"Fortune telling is a confounding art," Rin sighs, standing up and pulling her arms through the sleeves of her dress, white bosom left exposed on purpose. "Egil, you thought that meant new truths could be revealed?"

I nod. "It's the best possibility since there was no warning held within. But I don't always understand the runes' intent when I cast them."

"Then might there be a hidden threat in there?" Rin asks, threading tails through the back of her dress. "After all that's happened these past few days, these approaching visitors don't appear to me a coincidence."

"I don't know," I say, trying not to rub at the itch on the back of my head where the half-kappa tried to dash my skull apart.

That's the least of the price paid for my last misunderstanding of the runes' warnings. I'm glad Saki is holding me and only wish Rin was leaning against me too. I don't know if I could keep a twinge of guilt from sparking a fire otherwise.

Rin's in no hurry to finish dressing herself now, a thoughtful frown on her face. "So this might well be a warning, then."

"I'll ask the runes again."

Rin's nod is slight, her silence and distant gaze speaking of split thoughts.

"But," I say, catching her eye again, "should someone foolishly follow rumors like I did, perhaps the new truth isn't for us."

I'd been prepared for a fight when I came up to their hidden home, unaware of the tragic truth to the rumors of a man-eater in the mountains. I was not seeking to create a conflict, however. Can the same be said for anyone else wandering here, or worse, searching for the truth of those rumors?

Rin's eyes lower, staying just above me and no doubt aimed at her eight-tail sister. The two share what I'm sure is a knowing look, one with the deep understanding of siblings.

"What if it's a grudge?" Saki asks, tails curling around me to guard against the chilly morning.

"Grudges are potent enough to show in the runes," I say, a faint glint of silver catching my eye.

Rin, dress hanging off of her shoulders and baring her soft white front, holds the pendant I gave her. It was part of my gift as a guest to a would-be host, to show sincerity and gain enough favor for an audience, yet I know it means more to her with how gingerly she holds it. On the well kept silver disk the boughs and roots of the world tree stretch to the edges of the amulet, her thoughts obvious even without her thumb drifting over the edge. The merchant who gave me the silver thought it baubles from a foreign land, unaware of the meanings worked into the metal, but I've told Rin some. I owe her and Saki many stories for all that they've given me.

"What if I'm the mighty tree your runes mentioned last night?" she asks, a single brow raised. "I was too," she considers her words, looking fondly at me, "impatient to think of it after your reading."

I have to keep a smile off my face while remembering what made her more than impatient. Instead, I shrug into the kitsune arms holding me from behind. "'Mighty tree' could mean you," I begin, "your family, the forest on this mountain, or that plum blossom in the garden for all I know."

With her fingers running over the silver pattern, Rin is lost in thought for a moment. "Are you certain?"

"I'd agree if it had mentioned an ash tree, like what's on that silver," I say and realize I'm stroking one of Saki's arms when her chin rests against atop my head. "Once I get the rest of my wits about me and sleep from my eyes, I'll ask the runes about who's approaching."

"Thank you, Egil," Rin says, slipping on the cord for her pendant and letting the silver disappear beneath her neck fluff. "Are you going to scout, Saki? Or keep Hibiki from joining any preparations, considering how feverish she's been?"

"Not yet," she answers above me. "I'll go into the forest."

Unseen and with a spear aimed at the backs of whoever has come to their home, she means.

"What about Hibiki? Our sisters might need your calming presence to make her fever addled, thorny tongue listen to good sense."

"Shizuka has been drugging her," Saki shrugs.

"Then you have time to hear what Egil's runes have to say?" the nine-tail asks with a knowing smile, dress covering her breasts now.

A satisfied flick of Rin's ear and tilt of her mouth assure me that she's pleased to have had my eyes on her.

"He might be useful for me," Saki says, fingers slipping through my hair, smoothing it in place without a comb. "I could be expected. He won't."

"An imposing man such as him standing on the other side of the gate? That would be an interesting greeting for any visitors," Rin says, tying her sash and turning a sidelong glance my way. "However, my dear sister, if they try anything then drive them from my mountain."

"Gladly," promises the eight-tail.

I'm glad to be their friend and lover instead of enemy.

A look passes between the sisters, Rin giving a faint dip of the head. Saki shifts behind me, supple yet strong, and speaks near my ear. "Are we presuming too much of you, Egil?"

"Not at all. Although," I catch Rin's eye, "I'm wondering if there was this much plotting when I came up the path."

"More," Rin and Saki answer together.

Neither are embarrassed by speaking together, Saki not even reacting, but the nine-tail does hide a laugh in her sleeve. That, and noticing no hint of jealousy in either, helps ease a knot in my chest. Where we go from here, or if it will last, I don't know.

Rin, tension still in the set of her shoulders, gathers up my clothes and belt where they were left in a corner of her room, and brings them over. She doesn't set them down, however, and Saki seems to know why, releasing her embrace at last. The eight-tail drifts up and offers a hand I don't need - be that my stubbornness or pride, I don't care. I stand and stretch without aid, arms and neck stiff, the motion helping wash away the haze of interrupted sleep. But it won't dislodge the questions about dreams that I woke from and quite a few from before, settling in a corner of my thoughts for another time.

Nothing in my neck pops, but I feel more awake once I lower my arms. As I do, Rin's gaze sheepishly returns to my eyes. I'm not the only lover that's had a wandering gaze this morning. As much as I want to tease Rin or look at Saki to see if she's hiding a blade's edge thin smile, I get no chance.

The pair of them begin dressing me, leaving me to do nothing more than hold my arms out. What starts lighthearted has the seriousness of ritual when they pull the cloth around in the front and tie on the sash. My well worn and sturdy belt follows, its weight strange when Saki ties the gifted dagger near my own.

I touch the unfamiliar ring pommel. "I hope it won't be needed."

"As do I," Rin says, smoothing my sleeves. "Bring those and your sword anyway."

Saki, slipping away to her dress, speaks without looking over. "I'll see that Egil's properly armed."

"Good," the nine-tail breathes.

Hearing the resignation in Rin's voice, there's little comfort a warrior could offer. I stroke her shoulder anyway and get a smile for my attempt. Only for Rin to step back a heartbeat later, giving me a clear spot to cast my runes.

I take the softly clinking pouch from my belt, heavy tongue silently working through what I'll ask, and kneel beside our bedding. With unknowns approaching the mountain home, I must be swift.

Tight cord loosens from the trick knot, the carved bones pouring into my waiting hand. I cup the runes in both palms and utter my first question.

"-What strides up the mountain's steps?-"

Throwing them to the ground, my eyes watch carved bones clink and tumble. Some pieces scatter towards a screen wall, going wide. Only to bounce off the screen, twisting and spinning their way back to a spot before me as if alive. Runes that landed face down flip over like beetles on their backs, the magic more potent than I've ever seen. I stare at the pattern quivering to stillness, leaning over it to try and read what I'm seeing.

"Are they supposed to move like that?" Rin softly asks.

I can't answer. The lay of the runes before me sinks a stone into my stomach, quickening the thumps of my heart with the reading I mistake it as. What I get isn't a portent of doom. It's a heavy stone in my chest anyway.

"-Servants of a raven.-"

I silently go over the pattern once more, desperate to be wrong about an old kenning that bubbles up from my memory. "-Feeder of ravens,-" I mutter.

Warriors. Giving a feast to ravens and eagles alike, staining the fields red with the sweat of battle. The runes’ answer is far different, yet it's enough to make my fingers itch for the pommel of a blade or haft of an axe.

"What does that mean?" Rin asks, sitting on her knees next to me.

"I don't yet know," I reply, slow to gather up the runes. "I need to ask again before I can trust what was said."

"Your magic of threes," Rin says, thoughts spoken aloud. "What was it you said after reading the fortune?"

I doubt my face betrayed much, so does she know me that well already? "A poetic way to speak of warriors. But that's not at all what the runes said, only what it reminded me of."

Lest I lose focus, I turn back to my readings and breathe deep. I hold the runes in hand once more and close my eyes. A hasty question won't do, nor can I repeat myself.

"-Who approaches the fox's home?-"

Carved bones clink off each other. None of the runes bounce, though several start spinning about like a child's toy. I can only watch as they collapse one by one, laying out an answer I already know.

I collect each bit of bone, rubbing my fingers across the symbols I carved in long ago. I dare not speak anything but my third question once I have them all in hand again. A different sort of question feels right, as does a hope for a new answer.

"-Can the foxes expect guests?-"

Watching the runes jostle about normally makes my jaw clench.

"Is that the same pattern?" Rin asks, glancing at her sister when I don't answer.

Saki, sitting by my sword arm side, nods.

"Thrice it answers the same," I say, hastily picking up the runes to clear the pattern from my sight. "Servants of a black bird, a -raven- in the tongue of my homeland, approach."

"Sister," Rin murmurs, "does that sound like what I fear?"

"It could mean a clan instead," Saki suggests.

A bitter, disbelieving frown tugs at Rin's mouth. "It must be the tengu."

"Tengu?" I ask, knowing I've heard the word from a kitsune before. Was it Hibiki who made mention of it?

"Crows from the old mountain forests. There is one near enough to be considered a neighbor, and she takes pleasure in frustrating me whenever we must meet."

"Are they dangerous?"

"No more and no less than a kitsune," Rin says. "But we assume much. Could this talk of 'ravens' be something you recognize, Egil?"

"I've only heard stories about who ravens serve, not someone who serves a raven," I shake my full hands, rattling with carven bones. "The one-eyed god, he has ravens that go into the world and return to whisper into his ear the secrets they learn by the end of the day."

"It is a pity we cannot spend this morning listening to stories of your homeland," Rin says, letting a warm smile turn my way. She leans in, bringing those blue eyes closer to me. "Can you ask your runes why they're here?"

Certain I'll know what concerns her later, I nod. "If there's time."

"I have enough for a few more of your fortunes."

I waste none of it, and speak into my hands. "-Why are the raven's servants upon Rin's mountain?-"

A toss sends half the runes scattering, the rest clinging to my outstretched hands.

I stare, taken aback by such an ominous sign that's never happened before. I didn't weakly cast them, nor hold tightly, yet they're stuck to my skin like burs on wool. Brown and blue eyes wait curiously, unaware of what ill this must foretell. I don't dare move my hands or try to sweep the runes off, lest I insult or interrupt the magic at work, and instead keep my arms outstretched.

One by one, the runes clinging to me drop. Some skip away as if thrown to the ground with all my might, hitting the walls before tumbling back among their kind, while others collapse weakly as a leaf into a pond. Once the last comes free and I pull my hands back to my knees, all my thoughts are gone except for what this lay of the runes could mean.

At first I fear it's a miscast and I must put the runes away for another day. Yet the longer I stare, the more an intent makes itself known in the pattern. My father and his father can scold me all they like from the hall of our ancestors, but even they'd have trouble reading this.

It's not impossible. As I start seeing the meaning, my beating heart crawls into my throat.

"-First hunters of many,-" I say, hastily translating it for the kitsune.

It might not be a threat depending on what's being hunted. None of us dismiss it so lightly, however.

Rin rises before I can start collecting the runes, and Saki is already across the room getting dressed, bent over and shameless about what I can see. The nine-tail catches my wandering eye, a tiny grin encouraging instead of envious. That falls away quick as it appeared, the moment too serious.

"Meet me before the gate," Rin says.

"I'll send Egil there," Saki promises.

"Shouldn't Saki and I stop these 'visitors'? See what they want?"

Rin, folding her hands and turning to face me, shakes her head. "I will see how they choose to greet me, or if it's even a greeting they bring upon my mountain."

Her mountain. There's an edge there, sharper and smoother than a treasured family blade.

"If they try anything, I can't promise I'll stay still," I say, checking the draw on my daggers now that the runes are put away.

A polite smile settles onto Rin's face, warm eyes all that keep me from feeling threatened as she walks to me. There's a tiny faltering in her steps at the last moment, her hands parting before coming back together like she wanted to embrace me, yet couldn't.

"We'll decide a plan for the worst at the gate," she says, delicately adjusting my clothes.

I'm not so shy, nor bound by doubts and politeness anymore. I grab my nine-tail lover into a hug she so clearly wants but cannot ask for. Tentative arms, turning needier by the heartbeat, wrap around me in return.

"I trust you," I say, looking up at the blue eyes I saw in the dream – if it was a dream. A feeling, nothing more than a guess, in my gut about what happened makes me not care. Not right now, when I might be able to do something for her. "I'll do whatever I can. Be that as a frightening but quiet guard, to hiding out of sight."

"If only I could say go back to sleep with us," Rin sighs, gaze flickering away, fingers clenching tightly against my back.

"There's tonight," I mutter.

"Isn't tonight when we answer your questions about dreams?" she whispers.

"After that there's a pair of kitsune I'd like to have draped over me."

"Something to look forward to?" Rin's grip relaxes. "That's a change I welcome."

Steps unheard, Saki comes to the side and joins in the hug, an arm on her sister and the other on me. Tails bundle up, giving me a taste of the warmth we can share now, before we all too soon have to break this peace.

"Egil," Rin whispers, "go ahead. Your talents are better at the door. But if you smell them out as man-eaters, don't fight alone."

"He won't," Saki swears, hand on my shoulder and warm breath against my skin.

Someone to come back to and someone to rely on in a fight. If there's much more a man could want, I don't know it.

"If there are man-eaters," I say quietly, willing my fingers to relax, "do I kill or capture?"

"Their only mercy will be death," Rin proclaims. Then, with a heavy sigh, she rests her nose against my forehead. "So live. Both of you."

Before I can answer, Rin steps back, taking in a deep breath to compose herself. Gone are the cracks in her demeanor, and standing before me is the same master I met my first day upon her mountain. Noble, poised, and commanding by simple presence alone. Beside me Saki is no different than she was after hearing the last rune reading, readied like a blade loosened in its sheath.

"Make sure he has more than a sword," Rin says to her sister before opening a door-wall and leaving hastily.

If she stayed a moment longer, I doubt she could've maintained her composure.

A new ache is in my chest. A dangerous longing for the quiet evenings we've shared twice now. I keep it to myself, not wanting to risk cursing the chance at a third – and all that might mean – by speaking. Instead, I nod at Saki.

The deadly eight-tail leads the way, making no sound on the floors while a few boards softly creak underneath me.

---

After refreshing ourselves enough to not give away the night before, we enter Saki's training hall. It's hardly any warmer within than the cold mountain morning we leave outside. It might even be worse without the meager sunlight.

"I'm surprised none of your sisters are here readying themselves for a fight," I say once the door shuts behind us.

"Those I've trained keep their weapons close by."

"And you don't?"

"I do, in my rooms." Her head turns, yet her eyes stay on me.

Have I been to her rooms? I don't think so. "I'd like to see that, one day."

"You will. Soon," she says with a nod, looking away. "Stretch if you can. I'll return."

With that and a brush of her tails, she heads toward the weapon laden wall at the back.

I watch the eight-tail, still in her dress, leap and bounce her way up into the beams above until she disappears into the shadows. I don't care to ask if she flashed a glimpse at the inside of her thighs on purpose or not. Every hint of her vanishes behind the wall, to the room hidden beyond.

Heart unsteady, limbs ready for battle that's far off if it should even come to pass, I take her advice on stretching. My legs disapprove at first, then get used to it. My shoulders and neck need it more thanks to how I've been sleeping the last few nights.

Once I've gone through my own way of loosening up, Saki still hasn't returned. Since she had on that mountain patterned dress instead of her fighting outfit, I don't worry, especially if she's binding her chest. A good thing I'm not back there helping her. My head's distracted enough, I don't need my loins joining.

With nothing but waiting ahead of me, even after we're done here, I know how to keep myself from restlessness.

I draw my new dagger to get familiar with using it. The hilt is a touch heavier than I'm used to, but the blade is well balanced thanks to the ring on the pommel. That part still makes no sense to me, but the weapon thrusts well. Not knowing what I may fight this day, if those hunters are after foxes, I make slow cuts and stabs for taking down a man, feeling each muscle and joint. Aches old and new don't waver the sharp tip even when I start striking faster, or when I switch to moves that would work against a kappa. Should Taro's monstrous kin come to rescue him, I need to be ready.

There's no unease or calm, only the thump of my heart and steps. My chipped dagger comes out after a moment to catch my breath, and soon I weave in low kicks and hard footfalls, that familiar pommel good for coming down on a skull.

I stop before I can start to sweat, not wanting to wear myself down striking shadows, or worse soak my clothes. Hailing from a much colder land, where the winters are dark and summers long, I know better than to invite a chill, even if there were hardly any icicles hanging from the eaves this morning.

Rest, not only for the body but the spirit, is as important as loosening the limbs. I let my lungs rise and fall, catching my breath, and feeling at peace.

With my heartbeat even once more, I start to find a stance fit for fighting something that could tower over me, like the oni Saki's been helping me prepare for in this hall. No more than five moves in, there's a short exhale above.

Saki, in her black clothes fit for fighting, lands behind me while I sheathe my daggers. She's carrying the same weapons she's used before: hooked knives connected by a thin silk rope that'll vanish into her sleeves, a tasseled spear, a straight sword on her hip, but new is the rolled bundle under her arm. Within I spot the hilt of my sword.

She leans her spear against a wall before unrolling the bundle and lifting my sword on her palms.

If we had any time, I'd enjoy the feeling of her fingers brushing against mine when I grab my family's blade. Instead, I get the scabbard tied onto my belt where it belongs, making me as ready for a fight as ever. Saki's nod is as appraising as it is approving.

"Take anything you want," she says, gesturing to the bundle she rolled out – and then taking a familiar half mask for herself from it.

Within are fighting knives of many shapes and sizes, darts, sharpened bits of iron I'd hate to step on, more of those iron needles she somehow keeps hidden in her tails, and a few bundles of thin silk rope.

"How strong is this?" I ask, picking up a loop of silk rope that I guess to be thrice my height unrolled.

Saki pulls the mask's loop past her ears and says, "Enough to hold both of us."

"Is that strength from magic?"

"Yes," she nods, putting the white and red mask over her eyes.

I only have a couple of pouches with enough space, and I'm not putting it in the one with the few bits of silver and copper coins I haven't given away. The pouch nearest to my runes is quick enough to reach and would normally be where I keep tinder, and most importantly it won't be mixing any magic.

Saki finishes settling the half mask, mostly hiding the cord in her fur, at last adorning herself as Akaiyari.

Yet she doesn't hold herself as the ruthless warrior I saw by the freezing river or trained within this hall. Then again, I'm not the same. I don't need to turn my gaze away; it drifts over her sharpened form. She knows I'm staring appreciatively and is certainly doing the same behind the thin slits of her mask.

My gaze turns toward the weapon covered wall before either of us get tempted by poorly timed passions. The assembled arms there must be real instead of illusions. "What should I bring to be a gate guard?"

"Spear on the end, third from the top," she says, pointing to a section of the wall and staring at me. "It's balanced like what you've practiced with."

Liking the sound of that, I walk over and grab it, glad there aren't any tassels. I'd worry about being distracted more than an enemy if I had to watch those flutter. The spear's head is a straight blade instead of the tapering leaf shape I'm familiar with and nearly as long as a fighting dagger. It's familiar enough, unlike the spears on the wall with crescents, hooks, and other bizarre shapes.

Having spent several days here striking targets hanging from the beams, I give the spear a few short and long strikes to be certain of the balance. Two handed and then with one, the heft is familiar as she said.

Once I'm done and Saki nods approvingly, she gathers her bundle and we head back out into the cold where the sun has finally crept a finger or two higher. No more white snow or patchy ice lingers in the shadows. Spring is closer than ever, along with the creeping threat from whatever is coming up the mountain, and the monstrous prisoner hidden away in the kitsune shrine.

For a moment my nerve tries to come undone. It passes, quick as it came, leaving only a bitter hint on my tongue.

My grip on the spear relaxes while the tassel on Saki's dances against a wind rising up the mountain, the pair of us walking almost side by side. All eight of her tails stay behind her, and what she watches from behind that mask only she knows.

I enjoy walking with her, even with both of us readied for battle and without her tails shielding me from the cold. Knowing I could have more with but a word is enough.

Saki guides me toward their main gate, stopping us at the last corner with a hand on my shoulder. Not thinking, I reach behind her head and pull her into what could be a last kiss for either of us. Fur stands up under my touch, a couple of tails with wills of their own coiling against my legs. Saki gives as much as she gets, even as Akaiyari, a long buried lust for the warrior in each of us wanting to come forth. The next time we're training, I know it will be interrupted by her legs locked around my waist.

Not that I can let our kiss go on for long. When I pull away, a faint huff of disappointment from her washes over my mouth.

"Trust your instincts," she says, refusing to let go of my arms just yet.

"Against these servants of a raven?"

Bold yet delicately, Saki leans down and kisses me this time. "As the man I love."

She breaks it before me, and just as reluctantly.

I stare into her mask, and shadowy eyes hiding within. "You know what kind of man I can be."

"That's why I can entrust Rin to you," she whispers, twisting away before anything else can be said.

For a single breath I watch her tails twist and weave behind her, Saki's surefooted steps flowing across the stone walkway like fog on a frozen lake.

Unlike my rippling heart when I force myself to look away. I'm in love, no tatter of denial nor doubt can let me hide from that.

We're both warriors, even if I act as a poor excuse for one most of the time. That settles a burden over me. This could have been our last meeting if things go badly, and it leaves a burning coal in my chest. No matter. There's much to be done. I loosen my grip on the spear at rest against my shoulder, test the starting draw of my sword, finding it smooth, and then work the last bit of sleep out of my neck.

I need to be more than a cautiously polite guest. For Saki's trust, and the greedy love I have for her eldest sister. For Rin and Saki, for their family, I must be a man that has no thoughts of flight. If I face an end it will be sword in hand, even if that makes me face my ancestors in their hall of honor, where I want no part.

I breathe in cold, loosening my shoulders and heart. Instincts have their use, if guided right. A snap move, be it from terror or caution, could be the difference between my life and another's. For the two who would miss me, I can't let it be my life.

I'm not at peace, but I'm ready.

My walk to the gate isn't hurried, nor is it slow. I have a purpose, I can't let myself fall into restless waiting. Every step draws forth the traveler that was nearly lost in the sulking misery of this winter. Each footfall brings me closer to the brash and watchful man that too many mistake for a brute with a sword on his belt.

I turn the last corner and see three kitsune near the gate, each in matching white dresses I saw on my first visit. The seven tailed Shizuka's golden hair stands out against four tailed Yuuko's dark locks as they talk, and standing at their side with a basket trying to appear out of the way is the shy and young Mariko. Yuuko is the first to notice me, ending the conversation and turning my way with the rest of them. All three give polite, shallow bows for their greetings.

There's no fear in anyone's eyes or shoulders, even when I nod back. That's good. I haven't wanted to be seen as a hunter or harsh warrior, even if that's what I might need to be, as frightening those I'm helping protect would only hurt later.

"You know what's going on?" I ask, stopping little more than arm’s length away, putting myself between the three kitsune and the gate.

A friendly smile on her face, the seven-tail Shizuka takes a tiny step forward. "Yes. Eldest sister will be the first to know, but she's not the only one who can tell when visitors are approaching."

"Will Saki be joining us?" Yuuko asks me.

"She's waiting in ambush, if it's needed." I tap the spear's iron butt on the ground and lean on it. "Did Rin not tell you?"

"Eldest sister," Shizuka begins, soft voice alone making Yuuko slink back without moving a step, "told us about your fortune telling and to be ready at the gate. While she prepares herself, we've been deciding who should answer the gate if it's a polite visit."

"Before that," Yuuko dares to cut in, "Mariko, would you give our honored guest refreshment?"

Shizuka shows nothing but her smile, while Mariko can't bring her eyes anywhere above the ground even as she timidly starts to approach.

I lift a hand. "I don't need anything to eat."

That stops the young kitsune before she takes two steps, her arms cradling the covered basket and downcast eyes nervously twitching to her older sisters.

"Please, Egil," Shizuka smiles, sleeves held together while she drifts from spear's reach to arm's reach, "have something to keep you warm. There's more than enough time before we must be ready."

A shadow of a tail draws my eye and Mariko takes one uneasy, flustered step forward. Yuuko is less subtle in her nudging after that. The young three-tail is moved along by a gentle sleeve on her arm, Mariko stopping short and bowing needlessly deep. She somehow keeps the basket from tilting or tipping over as she holds it out, awkward and stiff.

"Forgive her," Shizuka says, moving toward the basket and opening it, all while slyly getting closer to me. "She's been quieter than usual since last night."

She must be after hearing from her two eldest sisters that they're entangled with me as lovers, but I have other concerns in this moment than some young kitsune with unrequited feelings.

The golden haired Shizuka, meanwhile, gives me the sort of look I'd hoped to never see again after rejecting her boldly forward attempt once already. Yet her bright and clear eyes betray no defeat, even though she surely heard from others what was said last night. I'm her sole focus, not as a warrior or guest, but I fear as a man. Those seven tails keep to themselves at least.

Or so I think, until she pulls from Mariko's basket a small, covered clay bowl and a stray tail brushes my ankle.

I'm not dull enough to mistake that or how she warmly smiles at me. Something Rin said about Saki leaving their younger sisters up to the nine-tail crosses my mind, but if I had the kind of youthful vigor to even think of the possible meanings, then this winter would've been far different.

Shizuka's hardly hidden intent is noticed by her sisters, and I see it before the seven-tail.

"So much has been said since last night," Yuuko adds, taking the basket and quite politely nudging into Shizuka's way. The well-mannered, and as far as I can tell interested in me only as a guest, black haired kitsune offers me a steamy cup from within. "And far too much must be said today, it seems, even with unexpected visitors coming."

I can't turn down something warm to drink, or the chance to escape whatever Shizuka is trying at – hoping that this isn't stepping into a perfectly concealed pit trap of kitsune working together.

Bringing the cup toward my mouth, catching something herbal yet sweet in there, I have to trust that Yuuko wouldn't slip something in my food and drink. I'm thinking too much about the dangers. Heeding my own belated wisdom, I tip the cup back. Whatever that mild brew is, it spreads warmth from my stomach to my fingers and toes, and drinking gives me a chance to consider the way each kitsune watches me. As I'm their elder sisters' lover, instead of a mere guest, I should start paying heed to the kitsune family.

So I take them in as I would anyone on my travels. Yuuko seems to be treating me about the same as when I was at the village with her, confidently but demanding nothing; Mariko still can't seem to find her nerves or words around me, despite feelings for the foreign guest in her home; Shizuka, even after a couple of awkward events, is doing little to hide the patient fascination in her eyes. How much of Shizuka's attention is from me getting back Miki? The poor two-tail and her golden haired sister must have a strong bond, since together they tried their hand at me.

Once these visitors are dealt with, I need to visit the injured two-tail, without a certain golden haired older sister of hers anywhere nearby.

I lower an empty cup, nodding my appreciation to the least dangerous kitsune and ask, "Any guesses on who is coming?"

"Monks from a frustrating temple, if anyone is to visit in winter," Yuuko replies, casting a faintly disapproving look at Shizuka when she shuffles closer to me.

The seven-tail, welcoming smile far from just a host's warmth yet far from arrogant, lifts the lid on the clay bowl she brought out. Mouth watering smells come from within. It's a thin porridge rich with the smell of smoked fish, grains, and topped with strips of tender pickled vegetables I don't recognize. There's no briny scent of fish nor soft barley that I miss from my homeland, yet the warm sunshine beneath that old oak in my dreams feels like it's upon my face for a fleeting moment. I've gotten so comfortable on this mountain and having filling meals every day, with at least one rich in smoked meat or fish, that I forget for a moment how Shizuka's watching me.

The seven-tail, satisfied with whatever small reaction made it to my face at the feeling of a welcome home, offers me the bowl and a clay spoon I didn't notice her holding. She's needlessly close, but not so near for the clearly disapproving Yuuko to chastise her for.

"We can worry about who is coming once eldest sister returns," Shizuka says.

That's too reasonable to argue with. Not that it stops me. "And she might need me fighting, not slowed from a full stomach."

"A small bowl of Mariko's okayu can't fill you, but it will keep you warm," Shizuka says all too helpfully.

"I am sorry," Mariko hastily apologizes to me, as if she did some wrong instead of her seven tailed sister who's being dangerously friendly, "it was all we had ready."

Everyone, even Shizuka, turns to the anxious three-tail in some measure of pity. I can't act cold or else the three-tail might truly believe she's at fault.

The golden haired kitsune's expression turns gentle, bordering upon motherly. "Don't be," she soothes. "I would have told you to prepare it, even if we didn't have any. There's no better light meal to help a man get his vigor back."

I can see Yuuko's shoulders lift, hardly restraining a frustrated sigh she hides away behind a reassuring pat on Mariko's shoulder. Of course I notice the irritation was only for Shizuka to see. Do I have an ally, or someone else to worry about?

"It's not... I didn't mean it..." Mariko's words trail off and she clutches the basket closer to herself, eyes downcast. "Sorry."

"Forgive her," Yuuko says to me. "We're all tense, waiting to see what is coming."

"There's nothing to apologize nor ask forgiveness for," I say. "Waiting like this always grinds at the nerves and sinew. I always find it easier on land than a ship; no chance of falling overboard if you get too relaxed."

I fail to lighten the three-tail's mood at all, Mariko curling her tails in behind her as if to shrink away. I don't want to frighten her more than I already have; even if she's badly hiding some feelings for me, she's done nothing to bother, let alone tempt, me.

A smile, one I almost feel, relaxes my face. A guard is more than a wall or spikes in a ditch, and a good guest doesn't disturb the peace of his host's home. "I suppose I shouldn't turn away something to help with the cold."

While I say that and reach for the bowl, the memory of that night Rin and I had our wine tampered with comes fresh to mind. I don't know if it flits across my face or not, but thankfully Mariko is entirely focused on the ground. Shizuka stays calm and attentive even though hers is the only gaze I meet, and it's as polite as it is shamelessly warm. Her furred wrist brushes against my fingers when she trades for the empty cup, that innocent and pure smile almost making it a believable accident.

I don't need any of this right now. Accepting two kitsune lovers and sorting out our troubles nearly drove the three of us mad this winter. Would it make the right point if I embraced Rin the moment I saw her? Could the surprisingly easily flustered nine-tail endure it if I then kissed her like I did Saki, but as a greeting instead of parting promise? I'll find out another time, I decide, when there's not unknown 'hunters' approaching their home; if I let myself slip any farther from the death readied heart of a warrior, I could waste a precious chance to strike first if the visit isn't polite.

Resolution made in hardly two breaths that I pretend was appreciating the warmth of the porridge, I nod to the kitsune, Mariko in particular.

"Thank you," I say, meaning it.

I may not feel worthy of gratitude for barely helping Miki, but I certainly owe much to the kitsune family.

The shy kitsune mumbles something and retreats a little, stopped by tails from Shizuka and Yuuko. Before they try to apologize for her again, I lean back and begin eating like a soldier, focused entirely on getting the meal in me. Not too fast to unsettle my stomach, but quick enough to stop them from asking questions. Let them believe I'm tempted by the warmth of food and want to keep it from falling prey to the cold.

However, I won't let the tension rise too much among the three kitsune. A few private words are whispered back and forth between Yuuko and Shizuka. Nothing aggressive passes between them, but I notice Mariko shrinking aside, unease fidgeting her tails.

I need to say something soon.

"You called this okayu?" I ask about the porridge.

No one is quick to answer. Yuuko and Shizuka both glance at Mariko as if hoping she'll speak up, while the three-tail might as well be an icicle on the eaves during the dead of winter with how stiffly she stands there.

Shizuka seizes upon the chance, putting a sleeve on Mariko's arm and saying, "It is. I believe you've had it before, but Mariko made it this time. Millet, polished rice, and a broth made from dried and smoked fish from the river below, simmered until it's easy for any to eat."

"I-it's her recipe," the three-tail hastily says, barely managing to flick her eyes up to Shizuka before they return to the ground.

"That my dear little sister is close to mastering," Shizuka encourages, making a nervous smile twitch across Mariko's face. "She might try to insist she's in the kitchens because she's so shy, but the truth is she enjoys cooking and taking care of us."

"I, ah, should g-get back to that," Mariko stammers, so quiet my ears strain to hear her.

"Leaving already, Mariko?" someone calls, my head snapping toward the voice and a hand falling from the bowl towards the spear crooked against my shoulder.

A pair of kitsune approach, ready for war. They each have large, lopsided bows in hand and a quiver of arrows hanging from their waists. Colorful clothing, patterned brightly on their legs and draped in deer furs, with tight sleeves has their arms free to draw back those large bows. I nearly miss the sword hilts hanging opposite their quivers, and only then do I recognize those very fluffy tails. Miyu, who I only properly met last night, walks with a smile alongside the striking Hotaru, white, tear path markings on her face set with steeled determination worthy of respect. I'm relieved to find I'm not the only one here trying to take this situation of unexpected visitors seriously.

Miyu steps close to the nervous Mariko. "You wouldn't happen to have some for us in there, would you sister?"

"Y-yes," Mariko stutters, shifting an arm under the basket she has to try and get at the insides.

Miyu, slinging her bow over a shoulder with practiced ease, leans over the basket and starts rummaging inside. "Expecting one more of us?" she asks.

"One was for Saki, should elder sister have joined us," Shizuka answers. "However, she's already gone into the woods, is what Egil said."

"Speaking of Saki," I begin, "shouldn't there be archers with her?"

Miyu laughs at that, while Hotaru shakes her head.

"We can't keep up with her," Miyu explains, chuckle in her voice still as she pulls out two covered clay bowls.

"Nor dare we try. But anyone that tries to get by you," Hotaru nods at me, hand near her quiver, "we will take care of."

A decent plan, though not enough for my liking. "You two can't be the last line of defense."

"Tomomi and Kumiko are hiding on the roof somewhere," Miyu says, a tail pointing toward the main building. She hands Hotaru a covered clay bowl, along with a spoon I once again failed to notice appear. "Even half sick and that far away, they're better with bows than us."

Feeling Shizuka's stare on the side of my head, I ignore her and look to the slanted tiles of the roof, not expecting to see any hint of kitsune up there. Four archers isn't bad, and I doubt anyone who entered their home uninvited could make it through those twisting halls. It's much larger inside their home than out, after all. And if it really is only two 'hunters' coming up, I'm confident I can take one down, if not both, before arrows need to be loosed.

Should a fight even happen, I have to remind myself.

"Where will you two be?" I ask the archers before they can start eating.

Taking the top off her bowl and blowing on the porridge – okayu – within, Hotaro flicks a tail. A wispy blue flame leaps from the tip of her tail, floating back on the main path before splitting in two. Two burning orbs float on either side before stopping, bobbing like driftwood in the sea about ten paces apart and almost twenty from the gate.

That's an interesting trick. "Can you see out of the gate from there?"

"Yes," they answer together.

"And shoot past you if we need," Miyu adds.

It wouldn't be the first time I've had friendly arrows buzz past my ear. A hair raising experience I'd rather not go through again, but if I must, at least Saki would've trained them.

"If two of them rush," I begin, "I'll let one pass if you can handle it."

"We can," Hotaru promises.

I trust her word, but only because I know she saved her sisters with magic when the village was attacked. That handful of trust will have to be good enough for the pair of them, and the hidden kitsune on the roof.

"What if they go for you?" Miyu asks in between spoonfuls, her mouth mercifully hunched over the warm bowl instead of showing fangs.

"Or our sister beside you?" adds Hotaru.

"I'm faster than I look," I say, motion from the main building's entrance dragging my eyes up from my nearly empty bowl. A shadow moved but now I don't see anything amiss. Not letting it distract my answer, nor dismissing what I saw, I add, "And Saki's been helping me practice with a spear."

"Oh," Miyu breathes, "Hibiki is going to love hearing that."

"You can tell her," declares Hotaru.

"I don't think I will," Miyu glares into her bowl.

I don't get to wonder about what they're worried about. Shadows flicker just off the path from the building, my spoon falling still in my bowl. Am I seeing things or does something approach?

"She can learn on her own," Yuuko suggests.

"Or from Saki," Shizuka agrees, the seven-tail thankfully beside Mariko instead of me.

None of them have to noticed the thin shadows that are there one moment, gone the next, only to reappear a step or two along for a mere breath. There is a familiar sway and twist to the shadowy shapes that makes me focus on it instead of readying my spear or shouting a warning. With a blink I suddenly see fur and a familiar face that gives me a small grin, the rest of her obscured in shade. A finger rises to those lips, asking for silence and understanding. I can't nod or acknowledge, but I do start to loosen the grip on my spear.

Miyu, oblivious to the shadows and my tensed shoulders, scoffs at her sisters. "Hibiki can-"

"Hear it from Saki herself, should it be something that would disturb her delicate mood," Rin says, the glamour hiding her disappearing not three steps from me.

I don't twitch even a finger. Unlike her sisters. Miyu's tails frizz and eyes widen, Mariko half jumps but keeps a tight clutch on the basket, while Yuuko and Hotaru's ears flinch and necks turn. Distressingly, Shizuka turns like she expected just this arrival.

Ornate sleeves held before and hands within, Rin stands bundled in a layered silk dress of red and white, in the burdensome style I've heard is common among the nobles of the capital. A golden ornament pins up her pure white hair so masterfully layered and arranged it tries to steal the eye, but it's the silver at the hem of her neck that commands my gaze. Sitting proudly, cradled by the sharp overlap of her dresses, is the world's tree pendant I gave her. I wouldn't be surprised to learn all the silver I gave to the master of the mountain is on the nine-tail, even if it was a gift given by an uninvited guest to gain favor from an unknown host.

"Eldest sister," Yuuko bows, "we hadn't expected you so soon. Are the visitors close?"

Given that moment to recover, the rest of the sisters greet the head of their family with respectful bows of their own. All while I stand at ease, watching the nine-tail move those beautiful blue eyes over her sisters.

"Unlike our would-be visitors, I can hurry," Rin says, drifting to an arm's length from me and staring ahead at the gate. "I wanted to see the preparations for myself, while I still could."

"Are the visitors near?" I ask.

"They'll be at the gates sooner than I'd like," she answers, looking over her sisters instead of me.

None of her blade sharp politeness passes over the young kitsune, even as they start to hold themselves a little more properly. Rin asks, "Have you decided who shall greet them, should they be worthy of it?"

"Not yet," Yuuko says.

"You should," Rin instructs, turning from her sisters and stepping towards me.

With just that she set Yuuko and Shizuka upon one another in hushed, tense tones. Miyu gets involved in the muttering while Hotaru quietly gives Mariko a chance to escape.

Nine tails spread out as Rin stops before me, right at the edge of being easy to kiss. Her home and family hidden by tails, as if asking for privacy from everyone else and to be my sole focus, I'd be unable to take my eyes off her anyway. Elegant and adorned with more than finery, every lock of hair and tuft of fur is in place as befitting her noble presence. What could be a severe gaze is softened by love and longing, and it's all that keeps her from appearing untouchable.

It strikes me how far above a rootless wanderer like me she truly is, yet I have her friendship and so much more I dare not hurt.

"Any trouble?" Rin asks, shifting forward just enough to tempt me into properly greeting her as a lover.

I hold onto my restraint; this isn't the place or time. Yet with such a sly question, no doubt intended to keep on edge the kitsune sisters listening in, I can't help but smile. Since only Rin can see me, I shake my head.

A hint of playfulness touches Rin's eyes, even as she lets out a contemplative hum. "I see," she says, seriousness at odds with that thin smile. I'm all too happy to play along with this. "That can be dealt with soon."

The murmuring conversation behind her suddenly fades, as if moving farther out of earshot.

It takes a great effort for me not to laugh while her smile deepens. I have to wonder if she was watching Shizuka try and get friendly with me.

"What of you, Egil?" Rin asks, voice softening closer to how she speaks with me in private. "Our morning and our parting was hasty."

"But necessary, as I'm more useful with a spear than making the beautiful more so."

That tilts her smile into a grin, as if she thinks I'm only playing instead of speaking my heart. She'll learn.

"I had wondered if I should've greeted you properly when you first arrived," she says. "Now I'm certain I chose correctly."

"I was surprised you even greeted an unwelcome visitor like me."

"Then you understand how pleasantly surprised I've been by such friendly company and conversation."

Only the pressing concern of the morning's fortune and my full hands keep me from Rin. To keep it that way, and guessing that she wants to be near me before we must attend our duties, I ask the first question on my tongue. "Should I greet you with a title?"

"I hate the ones I have," Rin says softly, sadness only in the edges of her eyes and mouth. "It's been a treasure for you to not know any of those proper titles and names."

"I'll gladly stay ignorant, then."

"Do be careful telling that to the monks, if they are my visitors. Ignorance is immoral in their eyes," she says, tilting her head to one side. Almost inviting me to try harder, whether she knows it or not. Softly she adds, "I find their beliefs too simple."

The spear and bowl I hold are suddenly quite burdensome. No matter how my heart burns to hold her and mingle our breath, to have a moment together while we can. Even if I might feel I'd mar her noble beauty and presence with but a touch, I know what she'd want. I only have to take a step forward.

Not yet, I have to tell myself. Instead I say, "I hardly understood anything the monks talked about when I stayed with some."

"They adore wrapping their words in meaningless mystery."

"Then maybe I should hope the monks aren't the visitors. I'm much better at being bold."

"If it's bold you want, I could ask you and Saki to toss them off my mountain," Rin says.

"Should Saki catch their legs while I get their arms?"

Rin chuckles into her sleeves, smiling blue eyes narrow with much needed amusement.

It's much shorter lived than either of us would like, her voice tinged with a faint sigh and seriousness falling back over her. "You might have to hear those annoyingly formal names soon."

She draws closer, layered sleeves parting and hands resting on my arms. "If the visitors are allowed inside my home," Rin says, "I ask that you escort them."

I nod, fingers tightening on the spear resting against my shoulder. "Of course."

A hand slips from her crossed sleeves, a glint of silver on her wrist burdened by so much formal cloth. I don't see it for long, Rin tenderly touching my jaw and nose coming closer to me. She passes it off as checking my head once more, but my scalp is fine, if a little sore and cold. "So long as you keep yourself safe," she murmurs, "I trust your wisdom and judgment, should you catch scent of a man-eater."

I nod, grim determination in my heart. "If it's safe to leave one alive, for answers, I will."

"Remember you have allies. Whatever you must do to the monsters is the right choice," Rin says. Then, with a faint dip of her head, she sighs against my mouth, now oh so close to hers. "If only we hadn't been so roughly awoken."

Balancing the spear in one hand, I crouch and set the bowl down. Rin's uncertainty wavers upon the surface of her placid blue gaze.

"You sound as if I'm going to leave tonight," I say, taking one of her hands in mine, fur and fingerpads soft against my callouses. "So long as I still have your hospitality, we'll have more than this morning together."

She wants so much more of my touch. It's etched into her face and twist of her ears, the stiffness of her tails, and the faint blush beneath white fur. "I've not known you to speak so carelessly, Egil. What if my hospitality might never end?"

I grin at her attempt to tease or dissuade me and step forward into a kiss she set herself up for. One that she so happily returns, doubts within her eyes melting. As before, she makes up for inexperience with passion, a soft humming need that clutches my hands into hers. A warmth that needs no tails takes hold over us, giving to her needed strength, and to myself a better focus. Silently, with no need to speak, something like a promise settles over us. Or perhaps I only imagine that.

No matter. Feeling her lips against mine, with hardly a tremble of fear against unseen scars in my heart, I can believe we'll make it through whatever happens this day. Everything after can matter when it comes.

"If only they weren't so close," she suddenly complains against my lips.

"Your sisters?" I ask, not letting go of her hands.

"Them as well," Rin murmurs, pulling back enough that only her nose touches mine. "I don't want to, but I must leave. These insufferable visitors are going to arrive in an incense stick or two."

While I don't know how long that is, it must be soon from her tone.

Rin lets go of my hands only to stroke my jaw and smile down at me, wanting to say so much more yet confounded by more than her responsibilities. She enjoys that little moment more than I ever expected, drawing herself back and into the noble poise befitting her role as the eldest. I touch the pommel of my sword, cold steel hardening my heart for the worst, not daring to think any farther ahead. I have a task and so does she.

She lets her tails drift back down, our privacy dispelled. I watch as my nine-tail lover walks towards her still whispering sisters. Shizuka and Yuuko stop the moment they see Rin approach, bowing to her while Miyu and Hotaru cunningly retreat to where they said they'd wait as guards.

"I trust you have planned everything out," Rin says gently.

"Of course, eldest sister," Shizuka bows, seven tails gracefully curled. "I'll be serving you, while Yuuko attends the door."

"If that does not trouble Egil," Yuuko adds, the remark certainly meant as a cut against Shizuka.

Before any offense could be taken or parry made, Rin turns her entire body to me, an ear tilting curiously while the rest of her is an unyielding pillar. The anticipation among the other sisters only reminds me how much of a stranger I've made myself.

"I've no complaint," I say, looking only at Rin.

The nine-tail wears a knowing smile like a sword. "Then if you would go ahead of me, Shizuka. Prepare a gentle wine, and extra cups coated in something to make even a man like Egil fall asleep, should it be needed on our unannounced guests."

Caught and thoroughly trapped, Shizuka shows no fear or discomfort. She simply looks as if the most wise thing had been said, bows, and takes her leave after a few parting words to Hotaru and Miyu.

Rin, stopping Yuuko in place with just a look, leans in and whispers something to the four-tail.

"If you think that wise," Yuuko dips her head.

"I think it necessary," Rin states before giving me one last look – and a smile none of her sisters could dare to mistake.

The master of the mountain, eldest of all these sisters, and kitsune I'm dangerously falling for leaves alone for the house. I watch her the entire way, even as Yuuko wanders closer. The four-tail touches the gate, concentration furrowing her brow, while I admire how effortlessly Rin ascends into the home. The entrance doesn't even need her tail to flick to shut behind her.

I can feel more eyes on me than just the kitsune I can see, but considering why, I ignore it for now. The sun, finally high enough in the sky I can feel it against my face, warms me while the worst part of waiting begins. Knowing that a crisis, or nothing, will happen soon but being unable to do anything can drive a man mad.

Everyone endures it differently. I let my palm stay on my sword, heart hardening for the worst of battle. Miyu chats with Hotaru about something to do with tormenting Hibiki when she's better, while Yuuko hurriedly moves from the gate to collect emptied bowls. She brings them to a corner of a building, where I noticed Mariko appear to take them away before disappearing. Yuuko strides back, hands in her sleeves and shoulders rising with a deep breath I recognize all too well.

She's preparing herself for the worst that I can only hope won't come.

The dark haired four-tail stands a little more than an arm's length from me, her eyes on the gate. "Akemi will give us a signal if anyone tries to sneak around," she says, motioning to the left of the gate, where a large stone stands near the wall. "You don't need to worry about that, should it be troubling you."

The only thing troubling is the pair of regrets I'd have if I fell in a fight, and no one will hear that. "And if the gate is attacked?"

Yuuko lifts her chin. "That would be regrettable for anyone so foolish."

Whether that would be because of my spear or some hidden magic, that's good enough for now. "So can you tell when they'll be here?"

"I can sense when the last torii is crossed," she says. "Once that occurs, we will silently wait to hear how they behave."

"Then, with our planning put off for so late," I walk over so that she's on my shield-arm side, "should I be the one they see first?"

"Unless I motion for you to stand aside, yes."

"So long as you run away if I need to draw my sword," I say, planting the spear against the ground.

"Will that be your signal for a man-eater?"

"You'll hear me if it's a man-eater." I tap the cold hilt of my sword. "This is if I need to stop a fight."

Yuuko looks over her shoulder. "Hear that, Miyu, Hotaru?"

"Yes, but Egil just needs to give us space and we'll take one of them down for him," Miyu calls back.

"Careful," I say, "that kind of promised plan is the first to die in battle."

"That's why this is an ambush, not a fight," Miyu replies.

I let out a laugh, shaking my head as I keep focus on the gate. It's good that one of us is hopeful.

Yuuko nods, the weight of it all stiff against her brow, and she faces the gate. A moment of concern twitches at the edge of her mouth and she shifts her weight, yet doesn't pull away from me. "Rin told me to answer as I am," she says more quietly. "Depending on who it is, I may need to run. Kitsune are hated by some, you see."

"Unfortunate for them."

Yuuko tries to smile, but there's little heart that can pierce her nervous mood hidden under polite manners. I suppose I'm little better, trying to put on a smile and be a friendly guest instead of hiding away, but knowing I can strike at anything hostile at least eases me into a familiar mood. I might not know whether enemies are coming, but even with unseen scars itching, I know who I can put at my back.

A few dozen heartbeats pass, old practice keeping me calm.

Yuuko's tails fidget, her shoulders tensing, and she glances back with a sharp nod. Then to me she whispers, "Two have passed the final torii. Don't speak. If I nudge you with a tail, step forward while I run, otherwise stay close enough to cover me with that spear. If you see a problem, Rin said to let you step forward."

I nod, glad that it was the straightforward Yuuko left to answer the gate.

Her tails twitch while her sleeves fold before her, a slight shudder passing over her before she stills. The waiting makes me aware of each heartbeat and every flutter of wind against distant trees.

Two solid raps strike the gate, announcing instead of aggressive, not so much as moving the heavy doors even though no bar holds them shut. My breath steady and fingers tense, I can only imagine that whoever is out there must not be too much of a threat if Saki let them live to knock on the gate.

Yuuko holds a hand up for continued silence. I don't let my eyes wander beyond the gate or wall, only keeping the four-tail in my sight. One of their hidden sisters, maybe Mariko or Akemi, is no doubt peeking over a wall behind illusions, or using magic to see who is visiting.

The moments stretch on painfully, each thump of my heart taking too long. This is the worst for me, right before I find out whether it's a battle or nothing. I could kick the gate open and face down whoever dares to disturb the kitsune, but that's not my place nor a wise act as a warrior. Let the enemy show themselves first, maintain the hidden blade until it's needed. I have to remind myself of that for over a hundred tormentingly slow heartbeats until, at last, two tails move toward the gate.

Yuuko, without touching the wood, makes the gates creak inward. I loom as her deadly shadow, spear held ready. In the moment I hold it like I would with a shield, twisting so the point is toward the ground and ready to lift it for a throw or turn into a thrust, but not yet threatening.

The gates part, thump of my heart quickening.

Two figures stand six or seven paces from the entrance, and they couldn't be more different from one another. A man in simple robes I recognize, a thicker set from a temple I hardly understood, carries a strange staff capped in bronze, his scowling face shadowed by a straw hat. He doesn't matter. Beside him is a danger that urges me forward. I resist and look once more to be certain it's no glamour or mistake made in fury.

Broad shouldered and better groomed than the few I killed, there's a sarugami. It's in black robes accented with white, cloth clean and well fitting as the headpiece of a hat it wears, but the monkey like monster is unmistakable. It lifts its hands together, above its head, while I advance without warning to the kitsune. They should know why.

In two strides I have the spear up in hand and poised to thrust down, edge of my sight desperate for a flicker of red tassels from Saki. Throwing is out of the question when I don't know what secrets the man is hiding. I keep a hand empty and near my sword, my third step bringing me aside to give the kitsune archers a better shot if they need it. The man looks at me as if he was expecting a rotten fruit and found an unripe one instead, while the sarugami drops to its knees. On the fourth step, my lungs are ready to bark out a command for the monster to answer why it's here, when the sarugami finishes kneeling.

"Forgive our intrusion!" the sarugami shouts, slamming its forehead into the ground hard enough to unsettle its headpiece.

Arms folding behind its back, face pushed against the ground, the pose of complete submission and apology falters my aggressive charge. I breathe deep, through my nose and hissing it out through bared teeth. No stench torments me, yet.

Not all man-eaters can be found from only a few words. Its face is toward the ground, spine rigid as it almost holds its breath. A cunning way to hide its nature.

I strike, spear stopping short against the monkey's neck. A thin tuft of fur floats away on the breeze, kitsune honed edge deadly keen. The man starts to move towards me, stopped by my hand landing on my sword.

"Come closer and you'll be greeted with steel," I warn.

A frown finds the monk's face easily. He stays where he stands, not wanting to try himself against me. I know how I must seem, standing nearly a head taller than him and features foreign to his eyes, while carrying enough weapons to be mistaken as a noble's warrior.

"Why are you here?" I demand of the monk and monkey, ready to kill both if the sickening sweet rot of a man-eater reaches my nose.

"Answer him," Yuuko commands from the open gates, Miyu and Hotaru both rushing with bows drawn to stand beside her. "He has less patience than my master."

That makes the monk look from the spear tip I hold against the sarugami, to the arrows nocked and aimed at him, and then the forest surrounding the walls. Disgust twitches his lips before he can smooth his expression out into an unpleasant calm. He speaks gibberish I recognize from a temple, some sort of call to his man that's treated as a god, before saying, "I knew walking with a demon would bring only misfortune."

"We only traveled upon the same path," the sarugami says into the dirt, "he is not with me, nor does he bear my guilt."

The strain upon my arm to not dig the spear into the monkey's neck is almost unbearable. I resist by flicking it under the beast's chin and lifting, forcing the sarugami to sit on its knees and look at me. That's my intent, but it keeps its eyes lowered. The monkey does lift both hands high without me commanding it, preventing it from easily slipping out any hidden weapons.

"That is no greeting," Yuuko scoffs, taking a few steps out of the gate, "nor any explanation. Give us both, or I shall let Egil show you what happened to the last sarugami to threaten us."

"My deepest apologies, great and honorable kitsune!" the sarugami laments while my spear is poised to split its neck. "I am Taiki, humble servant of the wise and merciful Morigawa no Izumi, here on behalf of my master's regret. I and my brothers, waiting in the village below, have been hunting our fallen kin."

There's still no stench of man-eater, but that means nothing yet. Not when I'm staring down a monk, keeping the threat of death upon a sarugami with a name, and watching the edges of the forest should there be any surprises coming. If Saki isn't here, then she's needed elsewhere, but I'd feel better if she could threaten the monk while I focused on the monkey monster.

The monk lets out an arrogant sigh, like he's watching children misbehave instead of being stuck in range of my spear and the kitsune's arrows. If that staff rises off the ground, I'll crack the sarugami's jaw and put a hole in the monk's lung.

"I can be called Kenshin," the monk announces, looking at me instead of the kitsune. "I must speak with the master of the fox demons."

"A rude man finds himself no one's guest," I warn. "Speak to the kitsune hosting me, not me."

"A traveler is-"

"Enough, monk," Yuuko snaps, scowl in her voice as she cuts Kenshin off. "Our honored guest cares as much for your lecturing as we do. If you are not with the sarugami, move aside and wait."

"They spoke of a giant man," Kenshin says to me, ignoring the kitsune, "at the temple. A man with hair a color between gold and dried straw, that our great teacher gave shelter for a time. A man who spoke of gods and lands none have heard of, and had the bearing of an asura hunting demons."

"You're no man-eater," I tell the monk, "so hold your tongue." My spear tilts the sarugami's head back. "I'm still uncertain about this one."

"He's no fallen demon," Kenshin insists, the smile on the monk's face irritatingly arrogant. "Taiki is filled with worldly attachments and poor providence, following a master as he does, not depraved ambitions like you fear, foreigner."

The monk tries to step closer. I swing the spear around, one hand clutching it near the center, stepping in and holding back only when his feet halt. The smile on Kenshin's face is as false as his calm. Even though I wasn't allowed to speak with many of them, he's nothing like the monks I remember from that temple, wrapped up in their rituals and nonsensical texts. This one, with his hardened fingers clutching a staff that looks more suited for fighting than anything ceremonial, is no peaceful ascetic. He moved his staff to block the spear, but failed to see I'd drawn my sword. I tap the blade against his fingers, making him aware of how easily I could carve into his flesh.

"I see that you fox demons have strayed this foreigner ever farther from enlightenment," Kenshin sighs before looking me in the eye. He pulls back a step, and I let him go – trusting the entire time that Miyu and Hotaru would put arrows in the sarugami if he moved. "Whatever these fox demons troubled you with is not your responsibility."

I turn from him, making certain with a glance at the kitsune that they can strike him, and strike the ground with the butt of a spear. Ignoring the monk, I hold my sword poised to strike the sarugami and ask, "Why should I believe you aren't another man-eater bringing ruin to this mountain?"

Kenshin decides to speak. "Taiki is from-"

I start to whirl upon the monk, who is approaching me again despite clear threats, before an arrow thunks off a bow. Cloth rips, the shaft fluttering through Kenshin's sleeve. Blue fire engulfs his arm, spreading along his clothes in a roar. Panic overtakes him, his staff clattering down while he beats at the flames before dropping and rolling on the ground.

The sarugami, seeing the monk's panic, flits its eyes back toward my boots. Was that the shadow of a sad grin that nearly crossed its face?

Yuuko laughs, into her sleeve I'm almost certain, as the scrabbling monk is overtaken by the blue blaze. Only for the flames to entirely vanish, leaving the man wallowing in dust and dirt. Kenshin carries on unaware, beating at his sleeves and flailing like a fish thrown onto the riverbank. Whatever anger I felt turns to pity when he starts rubbing his wrists, lifting his shaking sleeves, and sees that his flesh is unmarred. His clothes aren't even singed, the flames harmless.

"Why don't you sit down by the gate, out of the wind," Yuuko says. "The last thing you want is to catch a chill from so much sweat."

She wants to do more than injure Kenshin's pride, if at all possible, and I don't blame her. I was going to kill him before the arrow went through his sleeve.

The monk breathes deep, brushing himself off and collecting his fallen hat. Whatever the source of his pride, being filthy from his own fear doesn't hurt it. He sits down away from the kitsune, and more importantly out of the range of my spear, and rests his staff in his lap. "Until the master of the fox demons welcomes her guest, I will wait here."

I snap my sword back into its sheath, favoring the spear instead. Kenshin isn't a problem now that he's embraced humbleness. Only the sarugami Taiki worries me in this moment.

"I'm sorry for that," the sarugami says, dipping its head. "I carry some blame. His brothers and mine nearly came to blows in the ruined village below when we arrived from opposite directions."

Against the prickling of my nerves and skin, I lean to look down at the man-like monkey. It could easily strike me down or lunge and sink fangs into my flesh, yet it has a more humble demeanor than the monk.

"Brothers?" I lift his eyes with the spear. "More sarugami?"

"Yes," it nods.

"How many?"

"Four accompanied me and are waiting in the village below with the monk's three companions."

Still no sickly sweet rot coming from its breath. Hints of boiled grains and something wild drift out with each word, but nothing vile. I need it talking more to be certain. "Why are so many of you traveling during winter's tail?"

"Our master learned that fallen kin of my brothers were sneaking through the lands. We were sent to find them and warn those who might be in their way, but," heedless of my spear, the sarugami slams its head into the ground once more, hard enough I can feel it in my feet. If I hadn't flicked the point away then it would've impaled itself. "We failed. I am here to take responsibility, as will my brothers, for the ruin they brought."

Cold harshness fills my lungs, the clear scent of the mountain and its travelers are all that fill my nose.

"He's no man-eater," I declare, taking a step back and reluctantly drawing my spear away. "But I wouldn't trust him."

"That judgment is why the master of the mountain had you here," Yuuko says, drifting beside me – and as far away from the monk as she can get.

The four-tail stares down at the sarugami. "My master will see you, Taiki, once you wash and cleanse yourself. Offend her and Egil won't restrain his steel."

"Man-eater or not, I'll slay anyone who harms this home," I swear, eyeing the monk.

"He's not the only one who will strike," Yuuko promises.

Kenshin, kneeling in some sort of prayer, shifts as if unhappy. Unhappy as I am with my instincts, my gut sense is that he's more dangerous than the sarugami – barely. So which one of these two is a hunter, a servant of a raven, or are they both?

"What's to be done with him?" I gesture at the monk.

"He must wait for word from my master, but," Yuuko does her best polite smile, obviously having learned it from Rin, "if he needs a fire to ward against the cold, one of my sisters can provide."

The monk's mouth twitches, but he remains in his silent prayers. He should've watched his manners and the man with a spear if he didn't want to be threatened.

"Egil," Yuuko says, quiet and serene, "Miyu, would you please take Taiki to the baths? I'm sure he can cleanse himself once there, given his master, but I'll trust his manners more with your swords nearby."

"Yes, sister," answers the kitsune archer, relaxing her bow and stowing the arrow. She comes over, shrugging the bow over a shoulder and keeping a hand near her sword. "I'll lead the way."

"And I'll kill him if he looks at you wrong," I promise, earning a nod from Miyu.

The sarugami doesn't shudder, but as he rises to his feet and offers his hands out for bonds if we wish, I can see a frightened acceptance of death. Nothing like what I tried to embrace, his is burdened instead of savage understanding. But there's something more. Responsibility? I don't believe that yet, not when it could be a trick to get deeper into the kitsune's home. No matter, he's being compliant. I start to reach for the rope on the back of my belt when Miyu gently grabs my elbow.

"We only tie up prisoners," Miyu says. "Which I hope he doesn't need to be."

"My master will understand," he bows, hands held out still.

I let my hand come back to the hilt of my sword. "Don't betray their hospitality."

The sarugami lets his arms fall toward his sides, head dipping. "I'll tear my own throat out if I do."

That's spoken with enough sincerity to keep me from doing more than glare, and I gesture for Miyu to lead on. As we pass by Hotaru, blue flames dancing on the ends of her tails and an arrow meant for the monk if he tries anything, I glance back at the forest. No hint of familiar ears or the flash of a red tassel anywhere. Hoping that Saki is okay, trusting in my dangerous lover to stay hidden if she's scouting or waiting in ambush, I follow the sarugami and our kitsune guide back through the gate.

My spear won't be useful indoors, but from behind I can at least take his legs out. I let that thought comfort me as we walk toward the baths, the sun overhead warming my wounded scalp.