Winter, Day 29 - Foxpoint Farms

 12:02 PM] Shiori Okita (Nora):

Inari crossed the boundary between Vemasiel's property and their own, greeted by a line of foxes leading to the farmhouse. Though most had not known the god, they recognized the power that the kami had used, recognized what had been done, and were, in their own way, honoring a sacrifice.

 

A sacrifice that should never have to have been made.

 

The kami maintained their divine form all the way into the house, allowing it to begin fading only as they entered the entry, where a guest awaited them. The mask was the first to fade, the stoic facade shimmering into nothing. The kami's eyes were next, gold-silver swirls shifting, solidifying, deepening until they were once more a rich amber, slitted pupils dark with emotion. The flames upon their tails were the last to leave, fading away, sinking into fur and skin until only their memory remained.

 

The Inari that had been revealed at the party what seemed like an age ago stood before Coyote now, but even still, for a long moment, she said nothing, until finally she sighed and moved toward the tea room, beckoning him along, trusting he would follow.

.

[12:02 PM] Shiori Okita (Nora): Without waiting, she sat at the low table, carefully placing Set's spear upon it. A kit lay spread out on the table's surface, ready for her use, and she selected a cloth, carefully wiping down the weapon, cleaning every speck of blood from it that she could find.

 

Oil was applied next, and a polishing cloth taken to it, until the spear gleamed in the dim light of the tea room.

 

As she worked, nine tails twitched, betraying her emotions to one of the few who could possibly hope to decipher them.

 

It was a long moment before the kami said anything, some small part wondering who would break the silence first. In the end, she decided it should be her. "I take it you felt that," was all she was able to muster, glancing at him from her seat. "I can't even be surprised." Though her tails spoke volumes, her face had settled into something border on impassive. If anything, she simply looked... tired.

<d>

[12:43 PM] Buck Nakai - Coyote (Ravyn): "I think that most of the state felt that, adageyudi," Coyote said softly. "Though most would not understand what it was that they felt."

Even Coyote was certain that he had not understood all of the nuances of what had happened... but the pulse of sacrifice had been very clear. He had arrived in time only to see the serpent saunter away with Set's former body. But that had not been his tale to tell, or participate in, and so he had, instead, gone ahead to await Ori.

"It is not a thing that is done often by my people. Only for the greatest of needs." And those that had happened had either been very long ago, or during the time that the White Man had been arriving and pushing his People out, before his People had come to see how they would not win, even with the help of their gods, and the trade of such a price. There had not been enough stones in all of the pantheons of all of the Nations to stem such a raging river as had been roaring down at them all.

With the revelations gained at the ill-fated "party," Coyote was only then beginning to understand why that had been. It made him both less and more angry about it all. But none of that mattered just then.

"I am sorry that it had to be you."

<d>

@Shiori Okita (Nora)

[1:00 PM] Shiori Okita (Nora): Shiori huffed out a soft, sharp laugh, one without a single hint of mirth, but she nodded in agreement at his assessment. The tri town area most definitely would have felt it, she imagined. The state... possibly. Probably.

 

There had been a lot.

 

Something in her face twisted at his last words, though.

 

Did it have to be her?

 

... possibly. ... yes. Yes, it did have to be her. There were not, as far as Shiori knew, any other wish-granters around. There were certainly few in existence who had the capacity, the power reserve, to even shape such a wish, power granted through sacrifice or not. A lesser kami would have been torn asunder from the sheer strength of it, channeling that much raw energy.

 

Her hand rested briefly on the spear, taking in the details of it for a long moment before she withdrew her hand, allowing it to fall into her lap. "He wished for their bond to be severed," she said, softly, looking at her own hand, refusing to see the string she knew hung there. "And I heard her cries. She felt it, as much as I did when mine was broken, I am certain." A pause. "I had no right to be witness to her grief when it was my ability that helped to form it."

 

It was, she thought, the first time in centuries where she had spoken of it like this.

 

"She isn't mortal anymore, koibito. He guaranteed that. He passed his immortality to her." And the kami knew how that felt, as well, to give up even a small measure of one's self in that manner. And Set had given up everything. Anja would live, and she was cured, certainly of her curse and almost as certainly of smallpox, assuming she had been infected.

 

But she would live a longer life than she ever expected, and without the one to whom she had been bonded. Shiori's hand clenched involuntarily.

<d>

[1:25 PM] Buck Nakai - Coyote (Ravyn): It was definitely not a thing that Coyote could have done. Not even with every bit of his attention and ability. 

"Then she is safe from the serpent." Which he imagined had been the entire point. 

He still wished that it had not fallen to Ori. He could see how hard she was trying to stay calm. Stay in the moment. To not think or feel or dwell. It made his heart hurt even more to watch. He had no idea what breaking such a bond, a string as Ori had called it, would feel like, but the twitch of her tails, the brief flicker of pain that flashed through her eyes as she'd glanced down at her hand... told a tale of a sorrow that he could taste in the air.

"That was a very Big Wish," Coyote observed softly. 

He couldn't stand it, though. Watching her hurt like this. Trying to hold onto her control and her dignity. It hurt him to watch. He couldn't hold back any longer, and slipped around the table, shifting into Buck as he reached her so that he could pull her into his arms.

"You need not be strong always, adageyudi," he murmured over her. You need not be alone.

<d>

(hugging done with permission)

@Shiori Okita (Nora)

[1:55 PM] Shiori Okita (Nora): The kami stiffened for the briefest of moments, a half second of confused shock, before her brain caught up and told her that it was her koibito, hugging her, holding her.

 

She gave a shuddering breath and leaned into it, to him, burying her face into his neck as her eyes squeezed shut, still somehow holding back tears that threatened to fall. Shiori's arms went around him, reassuring herself of his existence.

 

For a great many long years, she had been the sole source of strength for her house, her kitsune, her foxes - foxes that reminded her so much of Ukemochi that there were days it hurt. She had resolved that she would continue on, alone, and do what she must. And it had worked, but it was hard.

 

She had not ever expected to find kinship with anyone from another pantheon, not to this degree. Had not expected Coyote (who could?), had not expected...

 

Her thoughts stalled, unwilling to put a name to it despite calling him hers. Worried that if she did, he would be taken from her as Ukemochi had.

 

Still, as she sank into his embrace, she allowed herself this much, allowed tails to slip forward, wrapping around the both of them, curling against him in reassurance that he was there. And finally, finally she allowed tears to fall, allowed a quiet, stifled, choking sob.

 

"Yes, koibito," she said, when she finally could find her voice again, though it was still soft, and somewhat muffled from her position. "It was a very Big Wish. And she is safe." For now, at least. "She will probably need help, now that she's... now that she's divine."

<d>

[2:03 PM] Buck Nakai - Coyote (Ravyn): No one ever expected Coyote. Suspected, yes. Often.

Buck shifted, tightening the embrace and pulling to tug Shiori into his lap, if she would allow it. In all of his long years, he had never experienced the sort of loss that Shiori hinted at. Coyotes ran in packs, but his story had never been written to include a mate. Not to say that he hadn't loved. He had. But he'd never had the chance to love... like this.

He was a little afraid to give it a name. Especially now, with the sundering and the end of all things looming ahead of them.

But... if not now, then when else?

He brushed a soft kiss against the top of Ori's head and simply held he for as long as she would let him.

"Then we will help her when she is ready," he replied, simply. 

<d>

@Shiori Okita (Nora)

[2:20 PM] Shiori Okita (Nora): The kami went willingly, curling into his lap as if it was where she belonged. And wasn't it, though? Especially now? She kept her eyes closed, felt him brush a kiss atop her head. Felt the warmth of his arms, the beating of his heart. With him, like this, she allowed herself to feel... small. Allowed a moment of weakness, allowed herself to feel the exhaustion that had crept upon her.

 

Shiori could have stayed like that for hours, because above everything else, she felt safe.

 

And though she didn't know the word he had called her, she allowed herself to feel it, the emotion laced within it, to understand that it must mean to him what koibito did to her, that they were perhaps of a similar mind in this as with other things.

 

She heard shuffling from the door, and managed to crack an eye open wide enough to see Shiro standing there, her tail drooped. Ori-sama, the white fox began, giving a soft, upset whine.

 

Ori-sama, something is wrong with Jiro-kun. There was a lengthy pause. Jiro-kun is sick.

 

Every single piece of her being stiffened. "What do you mean, sick?" she asked, aloud, unsure if Buck had heard and unwilling to leave it in her mind alone.

<d>

[2:20 PM] Shiori Okita (Nora): @Buck Nakai - Coyote (Ravyn)

[2:48 PM] Buck Nakai - Coyote (Ravyn): Buck, too, would have been content to have stayed like that for hours. It felt... nice was not enough to define the feeling. Nice was too hollow and empty to explain how it felt a little like home, for all that it was so new to him.

Oh, Coyote had taken lovers in the past. Plenty of them. But he'd always been conscious of the power imbalance between him and one of his People. Even between the others of his own pantheon, there was always that feeling that they might be adversaries in their next tale. There was always that part deep within that held back, to keep the other safe, to keep himself safe. Lovers were a dalliance that he could never quite forget would be gone again in the next day, next week, next month.

But to be wanted, not because he had any special powers - not really - but just for himself and that he could be strong for one who did not need it, but who appreciated it... One who he would not have to worry about having to trick or double-cross or be tricked by in the next story...

Yes, he could have stayed there for as long as she would have allowed herself to be comforted.

But then Shiro appeared, worried and withdrawn.

Buck released Ori and shifted, ready to help her to her feet. 

"Only Jiro?" he asked, a chill running down his spine.

<d>

@Shiori Okita (Nora)

[3:05 PM] Shiori Okita (Nora): Shiori shifted, getting to her feet, allowing Buck to help her, and she was at the door as swiftly as she could be, tails twitching behind her in agitation, waiting for the white fox to answer.

 

Her heart sank when Shiro gave another soft whine, a shake of her head.

 

"Mika and Mako, too?" the kami asked, dread building in her chest.

 

The fox nodded, and Shiori glanced at Buck, worry furrowing her brow, the corners of her eyes pinching with pain. In the next moment she was running, taking the stairs up two at a time, silently cursing the limits of two legs as she all-but flew into the central living space, where the twins were struggling to help Jiro up.

 

All three had flushed faces, fever sweat already breaking out on their skin. Jiro himself looked too weak to stand on his own, though the twins were not in much better condition.

 

The kami's fox mask was nowhere close, nowhere she could put it on to confirm - or deny, please let her be wrong - the scent she would find, and some small, traitorous part of her said that it was, after all, her own fault that she could no longer be a fox, that she had to rely on the mask for even a small part of the transformation.

 

She rushed to her kitsune's side, lifting him with a strength her size and frame said she should not have. "Sit still, little ones, rest. We'll get you to bed."

<d>

[3:19 PM] Buck Nakai - Coyote (Ravyn): Buck followed right behind Ori , not even bothering to shift forms to do so. He wasn't even halfway up the steps when the scent hit him, and he cursed, softly, but aloud.

He thought he'd remembered Ori saying that she had experienced smallpox before - when she was young and new. But she had experienced it, and, like him, had become immune, he'd thought!

But that was Shiori, and he'd never even thought about if the kitsune might not be immune or not. He'd just... he'd just assumed.

He wasn't certain if Ori could smell it or not. He had no idea what her senses were, or what she needed help for or with. So he merely joined her, taking Jiro from her and lifting him completely into his arms, saying only, "It is," as he met her eyes and nodded.

"Where do you wish me to take them?" he asked Ori. "I will settle them. You fetch what you need for them."

<d>

@Shiori Okita (Nora)

[3:37 PM] Shiori Okita (Nora): "The bedrooms on either side of the hall," she said, her voice tight as she relinquished her hold on Jiro, her face falling when Buck confirmed her fears.

 

She, too, had not thought about the kitsune being immune. Kitsune rarely - if ever - got sick in the first place, and with her own immunity...

 

"The twins are on the left, Jiro on the right." Not that it mattered. They often as not shared rooms. But there would be more space.

 

Shiori watched for a moment longer, and then she was making her way down to the kitchen, grabbing bowls, cloths. Silent orders went out to the farm's foxes, and as kami and god worked inside the house, the foxes outside worked, as well. Alarm barks chattered out, into the forest, the farmlands.

 

Asking a question.

 

Inside, the kami brought up the bowls and cloths, Kaede and Egi coming to join her, to take some of the burden from her and distributing items between the rooms, Kaede with the twins, Egi with Jiro.

 

She found Buck, stood watching him for a long moment, a host of emotions flickering across her features. "I'd ask if you're sure, but you would know better than I," she said softly. More than that, she trusted him implicitly. If he said it was smallpox, then it was smallpox. "I... I don't know what to do. They're strong, I know that. Strong enough?" That, she didn't know. What was 'strong enough' against a disease that shouldn't even exist anymore?

<d>

[3:53 PM] Buck Nakai - Coyote (Ravyn): By the time Ori returned, he was just finishing getting the last of them settled in bed, with Kaede hopping up to watch him tug the blanket over the twins.

"I am sure," he replied, reaching for her hand to give it a comforting squeeze. He immediately thought of Yasmine.

"I know someone who can purify it from their bodies. They will still need to recover from what effects have already occurred, but she is able to purify away the disease, itself."

That is... if Bast was not too upset about the loss of Set to be able to function. Coyote didn't think that there was much love lost between much of the pantheon and Set, but they were still family, of a sort. It would not hurt to ask, at least.

<d>

@Shiori Okita (Nora)

[4:07 PM] Shiori Okita (Nora): Shiori felt him reach out, and she turned her hand, allowing him to hold and give it a gentle squeeze. She bit her lip, looking between the twins as she considered his words.

 

"It must be tiring for her to do," she said, voice low, concerned. "And there are mortals who would need it more."

 

"Kitsune are almost as immortal as you or I." Almost. The implication was laced in her tone. "And they're strong. Healthy." The twins weren't even two hundred. Still so young, for what they were. What they'd become... what she had gifted to them.

 

"I'd rather it be a last resort, when there are so many mortals who have even less of a chance."

 

She moved closer to him, pressing up against his side, watching the twins. "They escaped death before," she whispered, more to herself than anything. She'd helped them. She knew how close to the brink they had been. Leaving them had been unthinkable, in that moment. "My little ones grew to be such strong women."

<d>

[4:23 PM] Buck Nakai - Coyote (Ravyn): Buck frowned, just the littlest bit, but he nodded, even as he gave Ori's hand another squeeze.

"As you wish. But if you change your mind, or if they worsen..." If he didn't respect Ori so much, he would just call Yamine anyway. But he would not do that, take Ori's choices out of her hands, merely because he thinks he knows better. His help, like Shiori and her wishes, had to be asked for, first.

"For now, fluids. We used to use water with salt and honey, but there are better things now. Treat for fever. Rest. Keep them comfortable. But if any of them begin to bleed... you must let me call Yasmine. If they bleed, it is the worst form."

Unspoke - If they bleed, they will probably die.

"Tell me what you wish of me. How may I help you?"

<d>

@Shiori Okita (Nora)

[5:16 PM] Shiori Okita (Nora): She made a mental list of everything he mentioned, knowing what was already to hand and what she could easily acquire. "If they begin to bleed, I will." It had been a long time since her own experience, but she remembered that much, at least.

"Will you be here, with me? When you can of course. I know you have things you must do." Others to care for, other things to hunt for...

Shiori paused, turned slightly to face him, though not letting go of his hand. "The hosogami," she started. Stopped, frowning. "Help me find it." Help me destroy it, she thought.

A memory of the yokai came to her, her frustration at not having gotten a good look at his face rising alongside it. It was a vibrant enough, loud enough memory that Buck could, potentially, see it himself, especially this close, touching as they were. He could see that night, what she had seen and done. See that her whip had caught the yokai, had seared into its skin, branding its wrist.

<d> @Buck Nakai - Coyote (Ravyn)

[5:38 PM] Buck Nakai - Coyote (Ravyn): "I will stay for as much and as long as I am allowed." Either by his own circumstances, or Shiori's needs. "And return if I must go."

He stepped forward, right into her space, and tipped his head until they were pressed forehead to forehead. Whether it was her need for him to know, his own nature helpfully showing him things that he needed to know, or that she was simply still fox enough, even in this form, for everything from that night to bleed so effortless into is own mind, he did not know, nor did he care. He closed his eyes and took in every nuance of the memory that he could, every detail that he could winnow from the images.

"Of course. And when we find it, the killing blow will be yours."

<d>

@Shiori Okita (Nora)

[5:59 PM] Shiori Okita (Nora): "Thank you," she whispered, not bothering to move away, eyes closing as she took in his scent as best as her human nose would allow. It steadied her - he steadied her - and had circumstances not turned so dire, it was a thread of thought she would have pursued, if carefully.

But for now it would have to do. There were things to take care of first.

"Ah... I... I don't know that we have medicine," she said, catching her earlier train of thought with a silent curse. "There's never been a need. We have nothing for fever."

And at this time of night, acquiring any would be difficult at best. Not to mention... Jiro did all the shopping. He had for decades now, because shops were often small and crowded, and nine sizable tails, while easy enough to mask with glamour... they were still there.

She made a soft, frustrated sound in the back of her throat, tails twitching in agitation. "I can at least do cool compresses until I can get some," she finally said, straightening up, purpose settling across her very being. "We brought up bowls and cloths. That's as good a place to start, for now."

<d> @Buck Nakai - Coyote (Ravyn)

[6:11 PM] Buck Nakai - Coyote (Ravyn): Later. When things weren't so dire. Buck nodded and brushed his lips against her forehead as he pulled back. There would be a "later". Whatever it took, he would make sure of it.

"Hmm, are you sure?" he asked, quirking up one brow with something of a little smile. "You start compresses. I will go check to make certain that you do not have anything that would help."

Releasing Shiroi, he slipped out of the room and wandered to the bathroom. Whether there had been a medicine cabinet on the wall before he walked in was irrelevant; there was one there now, even if it did not entirely fit the decor. Whether it would still be there later - unlikely - was also irrelevant; it was there when he needed it. Opening the door, he withdrew a new, half empty bottle of Tylenol, and a bundle of fresh peppermint, the sharp scent of it wreathing about him as he closed the door again.

Returning to Shiori, he offered her the medicine, and then broke off a couple sprigs of mint to add to the water for the compresses.

"I will go and get more when the shops open. This will do for now. And mint, to make tea with. It will help keep their breathing easier, and add some to the water for their cloths. It helps to cool their skin."

<d>

@Shiori Okita (Nora)

[6:32 PM] Shiori Okita (Nora): The kami watched him as he left... and then as he came back not long after with medicine and peppermint in hand as she was folding cloths into compresses. Her lips quirked with the faintest hint of amusement. She knew she did not have such things in the house, but she also knew that his magic was not like hers.

She took the bottle from him, checking dosages and wondering if kitsune metabolism would affect it, but deciding, ultimately, that human standard would be fine for the time begin.

At mention of tea, she did breathe a soft laugh. "Tea is one area I can somewhat control, at least," she offered with a tired smile. "Would willowbark help?" Her brow furrowed as she dredged up knowledge from an age past, when home-grown medicines were far more prominent than they were now. "Ah, but modern medicine would be stronger, wouldn't it... and I wouldn't want them to interact poorly..."

Shiori clicked her tongue, knowing that she was fussing but not knowing what else she could do. Until the hosogami was found, there was nothing to fight. No... this fighting would be on Jiro, and Mako, and Mika.

So she took time to crush mint leaves with her fingers, bringing out the oils. To dip cloths in the mixture, wringing out excess water, placing them carefully, gently on the foreheads of her kitsune. She managed to get the medicine into them, gently massaging their throats to help them swallow

<d> @Buck Nakai - Coyote (Ravyn)

[6:50 PM] Buck Nakai - Coyote (Ravyn): "If I had not been able to find this, then willowbark would have been what I would have suggested. But this is stronger, and it will do more for them." He paused, watching her as she worked. "Willowbark was what we used then. It helped then, but I would have wished that we could have had the better things that we have now."

Not that it mattered, ultimately. So many of his People had died, and there had been precious little that he'd been able to do about it. Beyond smallpox just being that dangerous, healing was not what Coyote did. And he could not trick a disease into going away. The best he'd been able to do had been to help destroy the infected blankets before they could harm his People, but it had taken so long to figure out where the smallpox had come from, how it was being passed to them. By then, the bastards had hardly needed to send many more blankets to finish their work. It was already rampant in his People. 

He'd gone out and killed soldiers instead. If he could not heal his people, he would avenge them. 

Coyote prayed that he would not be needed to avenge anyone else.

But he would not leave to go and hunt the hosogami until Shiori no longer needed him. Until she could join him. Until then, he would remain and do whatever she needed done.

<d>

@Shiori Okita (Nora)

[7:11 PM] Shiori Okita (Nora): As if she could sense what was on his mind, the moment she was done with her tasks, she returned to his side, leaning slightly into his space, offering what she could to him.

If she had been there, when this had ravaged his people... if he had spoken a wish to her, she would have done everything she could to have made it so. 

Smallpox had ravaged her homeland by pure accident. His people had suffered at the maliciousness of others, and were those people not long dead, she would have gone after them herself.

As it was, all she could do now was offer a different sort of comfort for a time long gone.

She reached down for his hand, a silent gesture, and would tug him down the hall to her own room. "Please," she murmured softly, a thousand meanings in a single word. "It's been a long night."

There was little else they could do for the kitsune this night.

<d> @Buck Nakai - Coyote (Ravyn)

[7:28 PM] Buck Nakai - Coyote (Ravyn): Even if she'd been there, even if he'd been able to make the wish, it wasn't likely to have saved many. Folding a thousand cranes was not something that could have been done in a single day. Not even for him. But he sighs and leans into her presence all the same.

As he hand settled around his, he brought it up to his lips, leaving a single, gentle kiss upon her fingers before allowing her to lead him away.

"As you wish, adageyudi."

<d>

@Shiori Okita (Nora)

[7:31 PM] Shiori Okita (Nora): She did attempt a smile at his comment, but it faded even as the feeling of his lips on her hand lingered. They would rest as they could. If they could. And on the morrow, she would shut down the farm, and they would do their best to keep the kitsune safe.

But for tonight... rest, and exist together.

End Scene, Fade to Black