[ Continued From (http://www.spiritsoftheearth.net/smf/index.php?topic=27111.0) ]
Thrax stepped off of the ship and set foot in Thanatos for the first time. Immediately, he dropped to quickly kiss solid ground. He had spent half of his first sea voyage hugging the deck rail and was extremely relieved to be on land again.
"Oh, sweet Mother Earth, how I missed your firm bo--" don't say bosom "--how I missed you!"
Hana, disembarking behind him, snorted and gave him a very dry look. "First of all, you're allowed to say bosom," she told him, unable to come up with another "b" word Thrax might have used after "firm" in that particular context. "Second, you're being dramatic. We only crossed the tail end of that storm, it was barely a proper sea voyage at all!"
"Hey." He got back up and brushed himself off, giving her a playfully defensive look. "I grew up on the plains. Riding on a dragon was hard enough to get used to!"
He wrinkled his nose at the semi-permanent fish stench of the port. "Nobody tells you about the stench of port, do they?"
"Nope!" She grinned and tipped her head back, taking in a deep breath. "Gods, I did miss this, though. I spent a year on a ship, just a bit before I met you and the Longfangs, did I tell you?"
She looked around the port; she was in her fully human shape, so she actually blended in relatively well among the Thanatos people bustling around the ships, though their particular vessel had been carrying mainly Serenian traders.
"Well, first stop: something to eat," she said with a little laugh, glancing back at Thrax.
"Oh Storm yes." He grinned at her. "And you can tell me about your life at sea while we chow down."
The bard started walking. "Just, please no fish. I had enough on the ship."
Thrax greedily tore through his leg of lamb like the hungry predator he was. "Okay. Spill it," he rudely said through a full mouth.
Sipping rather more daintily at a cup of tea--some sort of hibiscus blend that had been recommended by the shop proprietor--Hana rolled her eyes with a small smile. "There's not much to tell," she said with a shrug. "I had a job that landed me on a ship, and I just sorta...stayed for a while."
He frowned. "Boo... that's a cop-out and you know it. Details, Foxy, details."
"Alright, alright." Grinning, she propped her elbow on the table and rested her chin in her hand. "So I...maaaaaaay have had something of a--a thing going with one of the crew members. She was half-mer, so she didn't stray far from the water. The job was more an excuse--except I didn't know how to do anything on a ship, at least at first, and the quartermaster wanted absolutely nothing to do with me."
She shrugged and took another sip of her tea. "So I learned. I'm a pretty decent navigator these days, if I do say so myself. Anyway, the mer girl jumped ship near Yoreiq, and I didn't. Simple as that, really."
"The best reason to learn a new skill: to impress a girl," Thrax laughed. "Reminds me of how I learned to write my own music. There was this smoking hot Essyrni flute player in Ketra I wanted to win over, but by the time I was good enough she had moved on."
"Really?" She cocked her head before taking another sip of her tea. "Huh. Guess I just assumed you've always done the whole music thing. I mean, you're clearly meant for it."
She glanced out the window to watch the activity near the docks for a moment, enjoying the brief moment of peace; she'd admit she had been a little...wary when their whole coin flip idea had landed them on a boat out of Cerenis heading for Kunata, but...
"Y'know, I've never actually been here," she murmured softly. "Thanatos, I mean. I know my parents were from here, but I was born on the mainland--never bothered to come see it."
Thrax swallowed down another chunk of meat and chased it with a swig of ale. "I mean--I get it. It took a demon to get me to finally go back to the Serha."
"Maybe this is your chance for some closure."
She shrugged. "Maybe, but... I mean, as awful as it was, Serha still meant something to you. This is..." She waved a hand about vaguely. "It's just a place to me, really. What few memories I have of my family...they aren't here."
Though her aunt very well might be.
She shrugged again. "I dunno. Maybe we could try to find the village my mother came from, but...honestly, I don't know if they'd even let us in. I'm technically only half fox, and you're...not a fox at all."
"But I'm not human at all, either," Thrax pointed out.
He smirked. "Besides, people tend to like me for some reason."
"And you'll never know if they're all like her if you don't try. And you'll have me with you, so if they try anything... well, they won't like me so much."
Her lips twitched up on one side. "...Thanks, Thrax."
She took another sip of her tea, glancing out the window again. "Well...I could probably track down where the old village was from stories, maybe if we talk to a few locals. Y'know, if anyone will actually talk to us. After that..."
She pursed her lips. "I...really only found out about what happened to my parents through a spell, about a year and a half ago. It was mostly...images. Flashes. It's not a lot to go on, but it might be something."
"Would you be able to recognize any landmarks if we came across them?" He didn't know much and Thanati terrain, but he knew how to use landmarks to navigate. He did grow up on the plains, where the skill was especially important because everything was mostly the same.
"We could try identifying some on a map. We really should pick one up anyway."
"Maybe." She nodded in agreement. A map was a good idea regardless. "But that seems like something we can deal with tomorrow." It had been just passed noon when they docked--finding an establishment that served food and actually getting it had taken another few hours, so they were now approaching dusk.
"We should find the nearest place that has cheap beds," she sighed, leaning back in her chair. Then she cocked her head and offered questioningly, "Or...bed?" She was leaving that up to him--they hadn't exactly defined that particular aspect of their relationship, and she wasn't overly anxious to, so she'd mostly just be...rolling with it. Though platonically or not, sharing a bed would be cheaper.
"It would be the cheapest option." He scratched his ear and smirked. "And the most fun."
"So, yeah, single works for me."
He gave her an awkward smile. "No pressure, of course."
She shrugged again. "No pressure assumed," she assured him with a quick smile. "And yeah, I agree."
A thought suddenly struck her, and she bit her lip. "We should, ah...probably have a cover story, though? From what I know of my mother's people, casual sex isn't...really a thing. It's sort of...just for making babies. So, y'know. Married people."
"Our cover is that I'm your friend and traveling companion. I think I can restrain myself from flirting with you for that long." He smirked.
"Or I'm your bodyguard. Sure, people don't usually hire bards for that, but I'm plenty big and scary-looking enough for the job," he suggested more seriously.
Hana chuckled and nodded. "Bodyguard will probably work--I can definitely play the ditzy damsel if I need to. In fact..." She cocked her head, thinking aloud, "That might actually work for us. No one will think twice about some air-head heiress asking weird questions about lost villages. Maybe I just have an interest in local urban legends."
Thrax laughed. "How perfectly devious. Honestly, that's one of my favorite things about you. Oh, the trouble we're going to get into together." He smirked.
Hana grinned in response and raised her teacup. "To trouble," she toasted playfully, before downing the rest of its contents.
There were plenty of temporary residences along the strip of buildings near the docks, but for the first time in a long time Hana found herself in a place where she didn't have even at least a passing familiarity with the city's mood, and so she genuinely didn't know where might be the best place to start.
Of course, in all likelihood they were only going to be staying a day or two, but still. It was unnerving.
"I know they aren't big on outsiders here, but do they seriously not even have an inn?" Thrax complained incredulously as they searched. "Maybe we should just camp outside town?"
Hana sighed. "Honestly, maybe? I mean, I think these hostels are mostly designed for people who are here to work, y'know? We might not make a very good impression if we're not...pulling our weight."
She paused, glancing up and down the street. "To be entirely frank, I might prefer camping. We're at least used to it, and we don't have to worry about fourteen layers of social niceties the whole night."
"Oh gods. That has to be my least favorite part of human society. People, seriously, get to the point already! And the more money they have, the worse it is," he agreed emphatically.
"At least gnolls are direct. Even when we lie."
He nodded. "Yeah. Let's make camp. Shouldn't be any large predators close to a trade hub either, so it's still safer than the wilds."
Hana nodded. "Sounds good. Will give us some time to get ourselves sorted with this whole bodyguard-heiress situation too."
She looked around, trying to find the most unobtrusive way out of town. Spotting a side street, she nodded. "This way looks good, c'mon."
Thrax sneaked along after her as best as a 6'9" gnoll could. Which is to say, not very well. By some miracle, no one noticed them as they slipped out of town.
Thrax yawned awake, scratching his chest as he sat up on his bedroll. "Morning."
"Mmmrmrmmph," Hana responded, curling up even tighter in her own bedroll. "No. No morning. Mornings are evil. Sleep good."
She had changed into her halfway form in her sleep, as usually happened if she wasn't already in it. All three of her tails fluffed up and wrapped around the rest of her body, forming a barrier of white fur.
"We have a lot to do if you're going to pass an heiress, 'boss'." He smirked as he slipped back into his shirt. "You're not exactly dressed for the part."
Hana moved one tail just enough to glare at him from the tiny gap in fur. "What do you know about how fancy rich girls are supposed to dress?" she grumbled as she reluctantly uncurled and arched her back in a long stretch.
She suddenly paused and gave him a curious look. "Wait—do you know anything about how fancy rich girls are supposed to dress?" Considering their usual haunts—dives, the wilderness, and whatever mode of transport would take them—she'd assumed not, but hells. She'd been surprised before.
The bard laughed out loud. "No, no, you had it right the first time. Fancy rich girls don't exactly frequent places like the Peach. I've only been hired by a noble once and I didn't exactly strike up a conversation with any of the ladies present. In fact, I was expressly told not to."
Hana frowned as she started shoving things into her pack. "Well that's...fucked up. Sorry, mate, that sucks."
She finished packing and started trying to fiddle with her clothes and hair; the more presentable she managed to make herself actually look, the less work her illusions would have to do.
He shrugged as he stowed Stormsong in its proper place on his back. "It's--well, not okay--but I'm perfectly comfortable in the knowledge that I'm not meant for that world. A human bard wouldn't really be treated that much differently."
"...Mmm. I guess..." It still ranked at her her, but he clearly didn't want to talk about it, so she let it drop.
Shaking her head, she finished tying her hair back simply and gave her tunic one last brush down before summoning magic to the tips of her fingers and running her hands up the length of her body.
Her simple traveling clothes shimmered, then morphed into a delicate, lacy walking dress, like the kind worn by many minor Serenian nobles, with layers of gossamer fabric in the skirts that fluttered about her when she moved. Her simple braid pinned to the back of her head had been transformed into an elaborate plait that wound around her crown, with a few faux flower hair accessories for good measure. She'd even included some rouge to her cheeks and painted color on her lips.
"Alright. What do we think?" She turned in place, showing off the illusion in its entirety. "Did I miss any spots?" She sure hoped not—she was only going to be able to keep up such a detailed illusion for an hour or two at a time.
Thrax's tail wagged briefly in appreciation. "Mmm... Like someone I can't wait to corrupt." He smirked flirtatiously. "But, also, flawless."
"I feel all gross and scraggly now," he said, examining a stain on his sleeve.
"I wouldn't say scraggly," Hana chuckled. "Maybe...rugged."
She dropped the illusion, giving herself a little shake at the tingly feeling that sort of magic always left in her skin. "But you raise a good point—we should probably both get baths before we try this out. You thinking quick dip in a creek, or should we spring for one of those bathhouses in the city?"
"Bathhouse, definitely." He nodded. "Unless you can illusion up the smell of fancy soap too. A spoiled heiress wouldn't be caught dead smelling like a creek."
"Besides, creek water isn't enough to get the stink of an ocean voyage off of us," he said, wrinkling his nose upon smelling himself.
"Fair point," she laughed lightly. "Bathhouse it is!" Linking her arm through his, she leaned in to sniff him in turn and crinkled her nose a bit. "Okay, not gonna lie—if I smell like you do right now, this charade is gonna take some work."
After much scrubbing and rinsing, the two finally got themselves clean enough to reunite in the common area of the bathhouse. She had no doubt been waiting on him, he thought, as he walked up to her. He was visibly damp, which made him look a little like a wet dog.
"Gods. I had almost forgotten what clean felt like." He sighed happily.
Hana giggled quietly and reached up to run her fingers through the thick line of fur on top of his head, making it stand up at even wilder angles.
"It's a good look on you," she said with a grin and a quick wink. She had put her illusion back in place, but the smile wasn't the vapid expression she'd been practicing in the baths, it was real.
"Yeah, yeah, I look ridiculous wet," Thrax chuckled as he reflexively smoothed out his fur.
He grinned. "You look fabulous though, m'lady."
"It's adorable," Hana laughed. Then she gave a little spin and flicked open her new fan--a real one she'd bought on the street just outside, no illusion required--to flutter coquettishly in front of her face.
"Think I'm selling this, then?" she asked, letting her voice lilt with a faint, upper-class Arcan accent she didn't normally have.
The bard nodded and grinned. "Maybe not in Arca, but here? Most definitely."
"So, uhh, do you think I need better anything? My combat armor might be a bit too on the cheap for an heiress' bodyguard. And my clothes aren't much better."
"Hmmmm..." She tapped one finger to her lips, frowning at him. "Yes," she decided. "But we should probably head back to the docks and see what we can trade for there--the more of an immediate impression we can make on the people we're actually trying to get information from, the better."
"Agreed." He nodded, smiling.
It took a lot of haggling, but Thrax eventually found himself with a new set of travel clothes. He also swapped out his leather armor for a suit of slightly battle-worn scale mail. All in all, he looked much more like a bodyguard than a traveling bard.
"How do I look? I think I pull it off." He turned in circle to show off his shiny look
Hana nodded approvingly, holding her hands up to the side and tapping her fingers lightly to her palm in a dramatic parody of "polite applause". "Very nice, very nice," she said with a nod.
Steepling her hands in front of her mouth, she mused, "So...we don't really need to use fake names, do we? It's not like we're likely to run into anyone who knows us around here."
"The chances of that are slim, yeah," he agreed with a nod. The bard smirked. "Could've been fun, though."
"So... Where should we go first? One of the fancier taverns?... For information, obviously."
She snorted and rolled her eyes. "Right. Information." She considered for a few seconds, then shrugged. "Well, it's not a terrible idea. We'll say that I'm some rich merchant's daughter with a fascination with archeology, and we'd heard there were some interesting local stories. That'll get all the conmen crawling out of the woodwork so we can sort through that nonsense first."
"Sounds like a good plan, Lady Hanako." He did his best to sound professional and properly subservient. Clearly, it chafed him a little, but he managed to be believable.
She immediately crinkled her nose. "Oh, blech. I know I'm going to have to get used to that, but blech."
Shaking it off, she straightened her shoulders, lifted her chin imperiously, and flicked her fan out again. "Right then. Let's go find our lovely new accommodations, shall we?"
Finding a well-upkept inn closer to the center of the city, Hana and Thrax managed to gather a bit of groundwork information before evening fell; there were in fact local legends about a village about halfway up the mountain range that cut through Thanatos's main island, which was inhabited by spirits, or demons, or possibly accomplished nature mages--this was relayed with typical distaste for the topic in this area--but that it had been abandoned over forty years ago.
They got three different conflicting accounts of where the ruins might be located, which Hana was attempting to triangulate on their map later that evening in their room.
Thrax, out of his armor for the night, loomed over her shoulder to watch her work. He frowned slightly. "Are you sure the timeline adds up? I mean, you aren't old enough. Unless it took your parents two decades to have you."
Hana shook her head. "This won't be the right village," she muttered, frowning at the map. "This would be the place they lived before. My mother's people. Before the massacre. She was...I think she was a teenager when that happened, and she met my father about ten years later..."
Biting at her lower lip, she added quietly. "And I had older siblings. Six, I think. That's probably a decade's worth of kids..."
"Oh. R-right. That... makes more sense." He looked away, embarrassed.
"Ahem. So... have you narrowed it down at all?"
She continued to frown down at the map, then abruptly made a noise of supreme frustration and flopped onto her back, covering her face with her hands. "No," she growled, letting both tails and ears out to more visibly convey her displeasure. "Maybe we could triangulate to the center of these three reported sightings, but that apparently puts us at a goddamn cliff edge, which no sane village would be built on, fox or no."
Groaning, she dropped her hands and pouted up at him from her upside down position. "Other option: we check each of the three spots individually. Which is doable, but will take forever."
"Ugh." Thrax flopped down next to her. "Did I ever mention I hate climbing. I'm in good shape, but I always end up exhausted. I mean--I can do it, but don't be surprised if I complain."
"I'm well aware what kind of shape you're in," Hana pointed out with a wry chuckle. The humor quickly bled from her face though and she sighed. "Maybe..."
She pursed her lips. "Blood magic isn't so iffy here as it is in some places. Maybe we could find someone to do some sort of tracking spell. Blood calls to blood and all that--I probably still have relatives somewhere in that village."
"I would have learned to do that, y'know, had I gotten that far. So I have no squeamish objection to blood magic on principle." He looked over at her. "Unless you do?"
She shook her head. "Nah. It's just magic, right? All schools have their dangers and benefits." She sat up and ran her fingers back through her hair, ears flicking back and forth. "So. I guess that's a place to start in the morning, trying to find where mage's sell their skills around here." A quick shrug. "And, if all else fails...climbing."
"Uuugh..." he groaned.
The primal mage squeezed a final drop of Hana's blood into a small bowl. "Blood to blood, like to like..." The old Thanati woman began reciting a spell as she added various strange ingredients to the bowl.
Hana snatched her hand back and stuck her pricked finger in her mouth, grumbling about the tiny drop of blood as though she hadn't suffered a full-on lightning strike and just been knocked unconscious from it.
She cast a glance at her "bodyguard" over her shoulder—the mage hadn't asked too many questions about their situation, but they were still keeping up the ruse, just to be safe.
Thrax gave her a discreet smile and nod while the mage wasn't looking. When the mage was looking, he settled back into an expression of suspicious disapproval.
It didn't take long for her to finish enchanting the mixture of blood, spit, herbs, and powdered bone. She scooped it into a small vial and corked it. After shaking up the contents, she set the vial into an amulet and held it out.
"Ask it, and it will be drawn in the direction of the nearest matrilineal blood relation. If they are near enough, it will also glow. Provided there are no interfering magics"
Hana nodded as she took the vial, dipping her head in respect as she murmured her thanks.
"Here." She gave the mage an additional few coins than what they'd initially agreed on—she was never overly fussed about money—and smiled. "Thank you."
Outside the little shop, she gave the vial an experiment shake and squinted at it, then huffed. "Well. I guess we just...hope this works?"
"The ritual was different, but it smelled a lot like the herbs my master used. It didn't look like a scam." Thrax looked at the amulet expectantly. "Well? Let's go test it out."
She nodded. "We should get some distance from the city, but not so far into the jungle that we have no idea where we are."
With a sideways smile, she shrugged and added, "At least we won't need to keep up the lady-and-bodyguard act out in the wilds."
The bard sighed. "Thank the Storm. This 'my lady' nonsense is tiresome."
The jungle was alive with the sounds of insects and tropical birds. "Ugh. Almost forgot how much wet heat sucks." He groaned. "Not as bad as the time I got paid to go ruin hunting in Kishan though, and hopefully more productive."
"You're using productive very flexibly," Hana muttered as she picked her way over a twisted root that jutted partially from the earth. "I highly doubt we're going to be making any coin of this particular adventure."
She sighed and pulled out the vial from where she'd carefully stashed it in her pack. "Okay. Do you think this is far enough from the city?"
"I mean, I hope we actually find what we're looking for and don't accidentally raise the dead." He paused, chuckling as he stepped over the same root. "Long story."
"Anyway, yeah, this should be fine."
"Oh hold on, no no no no." Vial momentarily forgotten, Hana whipped her head around to look at him. "You don't get to anyway shit like that! Accidentally raising the dead? I need details. Immediately."
"You see... My employer and I hid from the rain in this cave, yeah? Only, it wasn't a cave at all; it was a tomb." He paused dramatically. "There was this mummified lizard woman and this weird book. The self-writing about us kind."
"So, as my employer is ill-advisedly still reading the thing, I can feel this surge of magic coming from it. I yanked it from him and shut it, but it was too late. The mummy was... unmummifying."
Another dramatic pause. "The punchline though? She was, I shit you not, a librarian. A sexy one, even despite the whole was just dead thing, and she knew it. He got bent out of shape because her wiles got to me at first. The way back to town was awkward as hells."
"See? Not much of a story."
"Not much of a story?" Hana repeated incredulously. "I'm sorry, you tell me you fucked a mummy lizard librarian and then you have the nerve to say not much of a story?!"
She shoved his shoulder lightly, laughing. "Man, you sure get around, huh?"
"What? N-no! I di--" he splattered. "Eww! Gross! It didn't get that far! I'm not a complete idiot."
"Though... yeah," he laughed. "The charming, muscly bard thing really opens a lot of... hearts."
"Hearts," Hana repeated dryly. "Riiiiiiight." She shrugged. "Also, no judgement. Can't say I wouldn't have taken a crack at it in your place even if just for the novelty of it."
Her playful grin started to fall as she glanced down at the vial again. Right. The village. What they were here for.
"Oh, yeah, if she was really alive. My squeamish employer wasn't willing to entertain the possibility and ruined it for me." Realization struck. "Oh hells, he was Thanati. That... could've been a problem."
Thrax glanced down at the vial. Right. They were doing something. "So, uh, how... exactly do you 'ask' it to work?"
"That," Hana muttered, frowning at the vial like it might suddenly just tell her how to use it, "Is a very good question."
She gave the vial a little shake.
Nothing.
"Well, guess I wasn't really expecting that to work." She sighed. "Can you...help us? Errrr take us where we need to go?"
She thought she felt the faintest pulse of magic from the thing. Carefully, she extended a flat palm, the vial laid in the center. "Um...show us the way?"
The vial started to hum, faintly. Then it spun twice, before coming to rest with its cap pointed deeper into the jungle, just to the left of their trail.
She blinked. "Huh. Would ya lookit that."
Thrax chuckled. "I guess she meant that literally."
"Well then..." He brought out his axe in case they needed to hack vegetation out of the way and stepped off of the trail. "Lead on."
Hana exhaled slowly. "Okay..."
She suddenly straightened her shoulders and gave a sharp nod. "Okay."
"Uuuuuuhhhhhhhhg." It was nearly dusk by the time Hana suddenly came to a stop and refused to take another step. "I can't. Move. Another. Muscle. I'm so tired," she whimpered. "We have to find somewhere to camp for the night. Jungle trekking is the worst."
"I know. Believe me, I know." He groaned tiredly, his arms like lead weights from swinging an axe all day.
"But we can't camp here." The bard motioned to the profound lack of open space around them. "No room for you, let alone me."
"Fine," Hana grumbled. Then she paused. "Well...wait. What about the trees?" She tipped her head back, squinting up. "The canopy seems pretty thick here...and it's probably safer than camping on the ground anyway, right?"
She glanced at him, then chuckled a little sheepishly and added, "Although, it might might be...kinda tight for you."
Thrax looked at her like she had three heads instead of three tails. "Do I look like a squirrel? It'd have to be big tree. I'd be better off sleeping at the base of a tree."
He'd never climbed a tree even once, either, but she didn't need to know that.
"Okay, but have you ever fought a wild boar? Because you're good, but those fuckers are insane." She crossed her arms over her chest. "The trees are safer—what, are you scared of heights? Because that's fine! We can work with that!"
He huffed, his own arms crossed. "I never said I was afraid. I rode on Kah fine... eventually."
He paused and sighed, "Fine... What's your plan here?"
Hana "hmm"ed and looked up again, calculating. "Those branches there, see? They form that sort of three-way dip about nine feet up; if we can settle ourselves in there, we'll be high enough not to have to worry about any night critters, but with enough space that we're not at risk of falling out in the middle of the night."
She spoke with the authority of someone who had slept in trees before--and maybe had fallen out. Glancing around again, she spotted a lower branch on the next tree over and strode over to it, jumping to grab it and start hauling herself up.
"Oof. Don't suppose you could gimme a boost here?"
"Sure thing." Thrax walked over and boosted her up. His arms were tired, but he still had the strength to make it seem easy.
He watched her climb with a growing worry about his ability to get up there. Following her, he made it to a second branch, which snapped under his weight and sent him crashing to the ground with a startled yip. "How... How am I supposed to climb like that? Gnoll claws aren't made for climbing trees!"
"Here." Hana climbed down a branch and stretched her hand down to him. "I'll help you up--and we'll make sure we're using branches thick enough to hold you."
She wiggled her fingers at him and smiled crookedly. "I promise I'm stronger than I look."
The bard climbed back to his feet and brushed the jungle detritus out of his fur. "You'd better be."
Reaching up, he clasped her wrist and let her help him up the tree. "Don't you dare drop me."
"I won't."
With a small grunt of effort, Hana managed to help him up onto the branch below her, then climbed to the next and repeated the process until they had reached the fork of three branches.
Hana collapsed into the dip, panting lightly but grinning. "See? Told you I wouldn't drop you."
Thrax collapsed in next to her with a grunt, very deliberately not looking down even once. This was somehow worse than his trip up the infamous Stairway to Cleven. But thinking about that certainly didn't help, so he directed his mind elsewhere.
"Have you... thought about what you're going to say if we find them?"
Hana groaned and scooted to the side so he had a little more room in the dip of the tree; there was only so much she could do, Thrax was not a small person. They were just gonna have to accept the tight squeeze.
"I don't know," she muttered. "What am I supposed to say? Hi, I'm the last surviving daughter of that gal you kicked out for loving a human! This is my gnoll bard friend with his storm-calling ax! I know I'm the embodiment of everything you're apparently terrified of, but I was wondering if someone might be willing to tell me some silly baby stories about my mom?"
She huffed and pressed the heel of her hand against her eyes. "I'm sure that'll go over great."
"Just don't go in angry." He took on a sober tone full of regret. "We both know the dark places that can lead and the mistakes it can lead to—mistakes that can never be put right."
"You could... practice on me?" he offered.
Hana grumbled a bit, folding her arms over her chest. "Practice how?" she muttered, looking supremely uncomfortable. "I mean—I don't know anything about these people, really. I don't want to be angry—I don't think I am angry, but...I feel like I should be?"
She groaned and covered her face with her hands. "Fuck all kinds of duck."
"Start with that. Not the duck thing, the not knowing anything part." Thrax shrugged. "Changing that is why you're doing this, right? And to find out if the rest are like your aunt."
"If I found out the Poisonclaw chief that killed my family was my uncle, I'd be conflicted too," he admitted.
"Yeah." She sighed and curved down a little more into their hollow. Then she groaned again and shifted to turn her face into his shoulder, grumbling again.
"I only know my mother's name," she muttered. "But...maybe someone will recognize it? I dunno..."
"Your mother's people live a long time, right?" he asked, trying to maneuver into a comfortable position. "I'm sure they remember more than her name."
He yawned. "We should get some sleep while we can. I don't want to be in this tree any longer than I have to."
She chuckled a bit and nodded, scooching to the side a bit so he had room to properly settle himself, then cuddling back in and resting her head against his chest once he had.
"Alright, sleep is a good plan," she murmured. "We should get moving early in the morning..." She was already drifting, her ears flicking lightly back and forth as she settled.
"Goodnight." He closed his eyes and quickly drifted off.
Thrax's axe hacked through some low-hanging vines as the pair proceeded further into the jungle. He leaned on Stormsong for a moment to catch his breath. "Please, please tell me that thing's glowing now," he begged with a huff.
"No...luck..." Hana panted, holding up the vial—which she had tied to a rudimentary leather cord around her neck—and squinting at it. It swung back and forth, then drifted forward, which was at least reassurance that they were heading in the right direction. But...
She frowned. "It's weird though," she muttered, "I could've sworn it was pointing us more westward last night. It's like the location it's pointing to is...moving."
"No, not the location, the person." Thrax groaned. "Uuugh! We're not headed to a village; we're chasing down a moving target."
"This is going to take forever unless we get lucky," he complained.
"Aw, fuck, you're right." She groaned and dropped the vial back into her shirt. "Shit. Guess my closest relative isn't the type to sit at the hearth. Which would have been helpful."
Sighing, she looked in the direction they'd been pointed. "I guess we just...keep moving and hope for the best?"
She took two steps, then stopped and suddenly turned back to him. "No." She shook her head. "No, I can't—this is too much. I'm sorry, I never should have dragged you into this. It's not worth all this trouble to find people who didn't even want me to exist."
He put a hand on her shoulder. "Easy, easy. It's okay. You spent three weeks hunting me down; I can spare a few days in the jungle. It's the least I can do to pay you back for saving me from that demon."
As he spoke, his eyes drifted down to where the vial rested under her shirt. Was that a spot of sunlight coming through the canopy, or was it glowing? He wasn't sure.
Hana shook her head desolately. "That was different—you're my friend, of course I went after you. These people are just..."
Her eyes drifted down as his did—she had been about to make a joke about where he was looking—but she suddenly paused. "Whoa."
She drew the vial back out and held it up. It was faint, but...
"Is it glowing? It's definitely glowing, right?"
"What are you waiting for? Fish it back out!" he urged impatiently, picking up his axe again.
As soon as she did, he led the way through the dense vegetation. It wasn't long until, after hacking through more vines, he saw...
It was a simple enough cave, but well-hidden from most of the rest of the jungle.
Hana threw up a hand to halt Thrax as the entrance came into view. "Wait," she murmured. "Let's just...take this slow. I'm not sure why anyone from the village would be out here—in some place like that, especially."
Thrax stopped at her signal, squinting thoughtfully at the cave. "Maybe they're looking for some cave mushrooms or something?" he whispered.
"Let's approach from the sides, just in case they decide to ask questions later. Or, maybe disguise our approach?"
"I think the side is good," Hana murmured, "just keeping ready to move if we need to. We don't want to...make ourselves seem sketchy, y'know?"
She looked back and forth between them—the gnoll bardbarian and the kitsune in Serenian traveler's clothes—and sighed. "Well. Sketchier."
"Oh, yeah, we're definitely sketchy," the gnoll whispered with a smirk and a nod.
As soon as they split up, he disappeared into the foliage. He re-emerged to the right of the cave mouth and gave her a thumbs up, as if to say, "Go for it."
Hana nodded in turn, then took a breath, squared her shoulders, and cautiously approached the mouth of the cave.
She cleared her throat as she got close enough to make out a large shape curled up near the back of the makeshift den.
"Ahhh...hello?"
A low growl echoed from the cave. The shape moved, head snapping up. Hana took a wary step back, glancing at Thrax instinctively.
"I-I—" She cleared her throat. "Um, sorry, didn't mean to startle you, I just...I'm Hana. Hanako. I, umm..."
She looked at Thrax again, floundering.
In the cave, the shape got to its feet—paws. It slowly moved out into the light, revealing a massive fox—easily twice the size of Hana's larger form—with seven lashing tails. The fur was the same silvery white, eyes bright gold as the fox curled a lip at them and growled consideringly.
Thrax stepped out between Hana and the fox, prepared to act as a shield if necessary. But he left Stormsong on his back. Instead, he held his hands out placatingly.
"We aren't here to attack you, great kitsune. Odd as it may seem, I am but a not-so-humble bard. My companion and I are searching this lush isle for... well, it's her story to tell."
Hana relaxed a bit when Thrax moved forward, bolstered by the presence of someone else, someone on her side.
Stepping forward, she shot the bard a quick look and mouthed, Lush isle? Really? before returning her attention to the other fox.
"I'm...looking for...my people, I guess," she said carefully. "It--my mother left Thanatos a long time ago, and I was born on the mainland, but...she was from a village here, once. A kitsune village."
The massive fox continued to stare at her, lips pulled back in a snarl but no growl forthcoming. She pressed on.
"Her--her name was Tsukihana. I--"
The larger fox jerked her head back, ears pressing flat to her skull. And then, all at once, she wasn't a fox anymore; not fully, at least. Like Hana, she had a "halfway" form, taking the shape of a humanoid woman with fox ears, tails, teeth, and claws.
And she looked...like a slightly older version of Hana herself. Almost scarily so.
Hana's eyes widened and she took another step back. "Y-you."
Hearing the fear in Hana's voice, Thrax instantly knew who they had found. And he could guess why they had found her in a cave. His arm shot to his axe, which he took in hand and held up wardingly.
"No closer," he warned. "I won't let you hurt her."
The elder fox curled her lip at him, looking thoroughly unimpressed. "Please," she hissed. "As though you could stop me."
Hana grabbed for Thrax's arm. "Run," she muttered. "We have to run."
The fox's expression suddenly changed, eyes snapping to her niece. "No," she said, starting to lift a hand. "Wait--please."
Hana was already flinching back from that raised hand, expecting fire. She was left frozen awkwardly when a direct attack didn't come. Swallowing, she muttered, "W-what do you want?"
Regarding her with something that might have been pity, or perhaps regret, her aunt replied, "My life back."
Thrax scoffed disdainfully. "That's rich, coming from the likes of you. You've got some nerve asking the person whose family you murdered."
Flashes of slaughtered Poisonclaw warriors danced across his vision. How many families wanted revenge on him? The thought caused him to frown.
"I know." The older fox seemed to be answering Thrax, but her eyes never left Hana. "I have no right to ask, but I ask anyway."
Hana swallowed. "Wh-why...aren't you trying to kill me?" she asked bluntly.
Her aunt closed her eyes for a moment. "I...made a mistake. One I can never undo. My rage consumed me, and I--when I returned, the elders of my village--our village--cast me out for my crime. But you survived."
She started to reach out again and Hana took another step back instinctively.
Thrax tensed briefly before lowering his weapon with a sigh. He hated to admit it, but he could sympathize. The demon had only strengthened his existing desire for bloody vengeance. So, he knew rage.
"I think it's okay, Hana. Her rage is gone," he said calmly.
And, very suddenly, Hana's fear and panic made way for an inferno.
"Well, mine's not," she snarled, eyes snapping fire.
It was her aunt's turn to step back, expression flickering with surprise.
Hana didn't pursue, but she didn't back down either. "I don't know who the hells you think you are, why you think you had the fucking right, and I don't care. You can rot in that fucking cave."
Grabbing Thrax's hand, she turned on her heel and started back into the jungle, ignoring the woman behind her when she called, "Please, just wait a moment!"
Thrax didn't resist, but glanced back at the aunt. "Hana. Are you sure? I'm not saying don't be angry or that you should forgive, but what harm can hearing her out do?"
"You might regret it if you don't take this chance."
"She murdered children," Hana spat. "Her own kin, because she couldn't accept some fucking change. I don't care about anything she has to say."
She started bushing blindly through the brush; she didn't realize that she was crying, tear tracks running down her cheeks and pooling in the dip of her collar.
Thrax couldn't argue with that. This woman wasn't like him at all; she was far more like the Poisonclaw chieftain. Yet he didn't show one ounce of remorse.
"Then don't." He sighed. "But you should remember this: The demon may have brought it out of me, but there was a time even before that when I wanted to kill every last Poisonclaw. While it was for a different reason, and I didn't... yanno, do it... but I wouldn't have stopped at the adults."
"But that's the difference, isn't it?" Hana all but screeched, suddenly whirling on him. "You. Didn't. Do it. You might have wanted to, but you didn't, and that's—that's the fucking important part!"
She scrubbed at her eyes, hiccuping. "And you had a reason to hate them! They killed your people, my mother—all she did was fall in love!"
She suddenly crumpled, sinking down onto the ground and burying her face in her hands, sobbing. Ever since she'd learned about her family history, she had treated it as a story, something that had shaped the beginning of her own story, but didn't define her. It was becoming abruptly clear that she had just been suppressing any other feelings because they were simply too much to handle.
Thrax dropped Stormsong and swooped in to hold her in his thick arms. He didn't say anything; he just let her cry. He didn't know if he had done the right thing by trying to push her into listening. Her aunt was lying for all he knew; kitsunes took to deception like gnolls took to fighting.
Eventually, he said, "You're right. We should just go."
Hana turned into him, crying completely uninhibited—probably for the first time since she was a small child. Rather than hug him back, she just curled into his chest and allowed him to hold her until the sobs slowed to ragged, gulping breaths.
Slowly, she managed to pull herself together enough to no nod shakily. "I...guess I shouldn't need this anymore," she murmured, fishing the vial back out from under the neck of her shirt.
She didn't seem to notice that the glow was flickering, as though it's anchor was moving closer and then further away.
Thrax grabbed her arm to stop her from discarding the vial. "Don't... you can still use it once we're far enough from here. We can start from a different city."
Then, he noticed the flicker. It was as if Hana's aunt was repeatedly approaching and backing away. Either that, or two relatives were near enough to confuse the spell. "Look."
Hana sniffed and looked when he told her too, squinting a bit as she finally noticed the flicker. "That..."
She moved the vial back and forth in the end of its cord. It seemed to tug gently one direction, then another. She frowned. "It's...confused?"
"Human magic often is, where our kind are concerned."
Hana gasped and started so violently she nearly threw herself out of Thrax's arms.
Her aunt stood a few yards away, half hidden by foliage, hands raised in a gesture of peace.
Thrax reached for Stormsong. Discovering that he had dropped it just out of reach, he twisted and placed his body between the two. It seemed that he thought of himself as her bodyguard after all.
"She already told you she didn't want to listen to you. We have no reason to believe anything you tell us anyway."
"I know." The older kitsune didn't move, neither approaching nor retreating. "And...you have no reason to let me speak, but I beg you do it anyway."
Hana reached out to place her hand on Thrax's arm, ignoring the weird little flip her stomach had done when he so quickly moved to put himself between them.
"Seeing as we can't seem to get rid of you," she sniffed, trying futilely to not look as though she'd just been crying her eyes out, "you may as well talk."
"Thank you—"
"Don't thank me," Hana snapped. "Just say your piece."
"I was wrong," her aunt said bluntly. "I was filled with so much hate for what was done to my people, I let it blind me. Your mother...I thought she had betrayed me. Betrayed our entire clan. I was convinced that her...her choice of mate put us all in danger. I only wanted to protect my people."
"So you murdered children," Hana hissed.
"I was wrong." She sounded almost pleading. "If there was anything I could do to take it back, please know that I would."
Thrax relaxed, turning to face the older kitsune. "If you're really sorry, the least you can do is tell us where the village is. We were about to give up entirely before we found you."
"I..." She looked between the two of them, then nodded slowly. "I can take you most of the way, yes. Though they will not allow me to enter."
Hana scoffed and muttered something that might have been "wonder why", but she didn't reject the idea outright. She looked at Thrax. "You promise you'll stay close, right?" she murmured, trying to keep her voice too low for her aunt to hear.
The bard nodded. "I promise. I don't trust her either," he whispered as he helped her up.
He carefully moved to retrieve Stormsong and quickly returned to her side. Was he so protective of her because he was fiercely loyal, or was there some notion of romantic chivalry at play?
Hana seemed to relax, just a fraction, when Thrax returned to her side. She gave him a brief, grateful look, then her expression hardened as she looked back to her aunt.
"Fine. Show us the way."
The older woman dipped her head, expression inscrutable. "I...am called Hoshiakari—"
"I don't care."
Thrax kept his large body between the two as they followed Hoshiakari. He watched the woman suspiciously, his axe ready in case she tried to pull something. He wasn't going to let anything happen to his friend.
The bard glanced back at Hana, murmuring, "I'm counting on you to keep an eye out for illusion magic."
Hana nodded back subtly. "I'll do my best," she muttered. "But she's...better at this than I am. See the tails?"
She flicked her own to emphasize as she explained, "They're...sort of like a mark of power. Some kitsune get them with age, some with major life events, or even just an increase in magical ability. She's older than me, but she's not old by kitsune standards. And she's got seven tails." She swallowed. "That means she's really, really good at what she does."
"Noted," he whispered.
He turned his attention back to Hoshiakari, now even more suspicious.
A little later...
The bard huffed. "Are we almost there?"
"We will have to camp halfway," Hoshiakari replied without turning around. "Soon. It is approaching dusk."
She didn't wait for either of them to give a reaction—Hana seemed to be gearing up for one—before adding, "I will give you your space to camp. There is a stream not far from here; we may meet there at dawn are complete our journey."
She did finally stop and turned to them. "I will make a camp several miles downstream, if you wish to camp here."
Thrax gave Hana a skeptical, sidelong look before regarding Hoshiakari. "What guarantee do we have that this isn't an elaborate plan to get us to lower our guard?"
They could take turns keeping watch, but what good was that when you couldn't trust your eyes?
The elder fox shrugged. "Only that, without Hanako's presence, I have less than no chance of ever returning to my home."
Hana glared at her, saying nothing. It was...a valid point. But she still didn't trust a word out of this woman's mouth.
"I can do some basic wards," she told Thrax, softly but still loud enough for Hoshiakari to hear. "It...should be fine for the night."
Thrax nodded. "Fine. We'll meet you at dawn."
When they were alone, he let out his tension with a shuddering sigh. "Is there any point to taking turns keeping watch?"
Hana groaned and shook her head, though it was more in helplessness than denial. "I don't know," she sighed. "I can do some basic wards--really basic, but enough to let us know if someone comes too close. She shouldn't have a way to work around that with illusions or foxfire, but..."
She trailed off with a shrug. "I don't know what she's capable of. Magically speaking."
"At least she can't trick us if we're asleep." He shrugged. "Up to you, really, but we might still sleep better keeping watch."
"I know I will."
Hana nodded slowly. "If you're sure." She sighed and rubbed at her temples. "Gods. I'm...sorry about...y'know. Before. I don't--I don't usually let my emotions get the better of me like that."
She folded her arms and glanced away. "Thanks for--well. You know. Thanks."
Thrax put a large hand on her shoulder. "Don't mention it, really. I just... don't want to see you get hurt. You're my friend."
"Honestly, I'm closer with you than with anyone since--since I lost everything. I can't--I won't lose you that way too." The determination and love in his voice couldn't be denied.
Hana stared at him for a moment, feeling...something, but so overwhelmed for the situation at hand that she couldn't parse through what. Then she reached up to wrap her arms around his neck and drew him into a tight hug, face buried against his chest.
She mumbled something that might have been "thank you" and tightened her hug, nuzzling into him.
A little taken aback by the sudden embrace, Thrax just stood there perplexed for a long moment. Eventually, he wrapped his arms around her, "You're welcome, Hana."
When they eventually let go of each other, he smiled awkwardly, "We should... err... yeah, we should get some sleep."
"Right. Sleep." She gave herself a little shake and moved away to start setting up their wards for the night.
"Do you wanna take first watch, or should I?" she asked as she finished up, looking around the small campsite and then giving a slight nod of approval. It wasn't much, but at least the wards were something.
"I'll take first," he answered. He was tired, but the more freshly rested he was when they reunited with Hoshiakari, the better.
Dawn approached faster than either of them would have liked. They had a small breakfast of travel rations, eating as they trekked to the meeting spot.
Thrax was wary as they arrived, expecting a trap of some kind despite reasonable assurances from the older kitsune.
Hana was just as wary as her companion, but when they reached the rendezvous point, all they saw was Hoshiakari, waiting calmly exactly where she'd said she would be.
"Good." She rose when she saw them and nodded. "If we make good time, we will reach the village before nightfall."
"Then lead on," Thrax answered curtly.
Dusk was just beginning to tint the sky when he asked, "Are we close, yet? It's almost nightfall."
"Yes," Hoshiakari answered. "We are very close now."
As though on cue, the trees thinned around them, then parted. Before them stretched a walled village, set into the side of the mountain, so they could see a building that looked like it might have been some sort of temple set near its highest point.
Hana drew up short, blinking. They couldn't make out many details--what with the wall--but it struck her that...this was it. This was the place that could have been her home.
Before anything else, Thrax searched the top of the wall for sentries. Even a race of illusion casters needed practical defenses. He didn't actually see any, but he also figured that the kitsunes could make themselves unnoticeable.
"I have a feeling I'd get roasted on the spot if I were to approach the gate alone," he observed.
"You would," Hoshiakari confirmed bluntly, expressionlessly. After a moment, she added, "As would I."
She looked to Hana, who shrank a bit under the sudden intensity of her gaze. "What?"
"You must approach first."
"I--" She looked to Thrax automatically. "Alone?"
Hoshiakari displayed the most emotion she'd yet seen from her aunt with a sigh and a shrug. "It would be preferable, yes--but if you must, your...companion will not draw hostility so long as he is with you."
Thrax nodded, reluctantly agreeing with Hana's aunt. "It would be safest for everyone if you did the introductions."
He smiled reassuringly. "It'll be okay."
Not looking exactly convinced, Hana nonetheless nodded, took a breath, and approached the wall.
"Um...hello?" She cleared her throat and tried, a little louder, "I-- My name is Hanako. I'm...the daughter of Tsukihana. I'm told she came from this village."
For a long moment, there was no response. Then there was a shimmer at the top of the wall, and another kitsune speckled his way into the visible spectrum. Like Hana and Hoshiakari, his hair was silvery white, though his eyes were a bright blue.
"...You didn't come alone, cousin," he called down, jerking his chin toward the trees. "Who hails with you?"
Thrax took a step forward and bowed politely. "Thraxion Swordbreaker of Adela, at your service. I am both warrior and bard, and a personal friend of Hanako."
The kitsune on the wall pursed his lips thoughtfully. "And your other companion?" he asked Hana.
Hana looked to her aunt, mouth a thin, tight line.
"My...guide." She sighed and looked up to the guard. "Hoshiakari."
Both his eyebrows went up and the other fox instinctively started to reach for the bow on his back before he seemed to catch himself. He considered them for a long, long moment, then nodded once, as though to himself, and said, "Wait here."
He disappeared behind the wall.
Hana let out an anxious breath and glanced at Thrax. "Well. At least we weren't shot on sight?"
The bard breathed a sigh of relief. "I'm always nervous at guard posts, that they might decide I'm a scout for a gnoll raiding party. That's why I never wear anything traditional, which is fine because, honestly, crudely sewn animal hides aren't very comfortable or attractive."
"Fashion is... not a thing for us, traditionally." He chuckled, trying to keep things light so Hana wouldn't think so much about how nervous she is.
"Gnolls are nearly unheard of here," Hoshiakari responded to Thrax's comment, abruptly reminding Hana of how close she stood. "I wouldn't be surprised if Kiba assumed your were merely a polymorphed mainland mage of some sort. He probably has never heard the word gnoll."
Hana sniffed, ignoring her. Well, mostly.
"I mean, you'd never heard of a kitsune before you'd met me, right?" she said with a quick glance and a half-smile in Thrax's direction. "Guess it's not too weird that the same thing might be true the other way round."
"No," Thrax chuckled, "I guess not."
He relaxed a little. "At least it'll be nice not to worry about my people's reputation giving me grief for a change. It gets quite tiresome."
Hana's expression softened a bit and she leaned her shoulder into his with a brief moment of pressure before pulling back again.
Before she could say anything though, the guard--Kiba--was back on the wall. "I'll open the gate," he called down to them. To her; his eyes were on Hana alone. "You can speak with our elders. Just you."
Thrax shot Hana a worried but supportive look. "Will you be okay alone?"
That was a very good question, and one she didn't actually have an answer to. But she gave him a smile and a quick nod before calling up to answer the guard, "Alright. Thank you."
Kiba nodded, raising his hand in signal to someone behind the wall, and the gate slowly creaked open. Hana eyed it with no small amount of trepidation before she walked inside, glancing back at Thrax over her shoulder before the gate closed behind her.
"They will not harm her," Hoshiakari said evenly, though he hadn't asked. "Remember, my sister and myself were only ever given exile as a punishment."
"I'll... try to remember that." Thrax nodded, slowly exhaling to clear his worries.
He couldn't have said how long they waited for Hana to return. Between the occasional bout of worried pacing, he spent the time thinking about his music and practicing on Stormsong in an effort to keep his mind occupied.
As soon as the gate began to creak open, he was on his feet.
Hana left the village alone, though there was a glimpse of three other kitsune behind her, two in humanoid form and one fully fox. All three had nine tails.
"It's okay," she said quickly as she got within earshot. Though she was speaking to Thrax, she knew her aunt could hear her. "They said--they said we can stay the night, if we want. All of us."
She glanced at Hoshiakari, then away again quickly. "My aunt's banishment has been...temporarily lifted, as she brought me here in one piece."
Thrax breathed a sigh of relief. "Great! Sleeping in the jungle is for the birds."
He stowed Stormsong and walked up to her. "What did you say to convince them?"
"Honestly?" Hana glanced back at the gate--which was left open just a crack--and shook her head. "I don't really know. I just...told them who I am, how I found out about my family. Said that I just...wanted to know where I might have come from. They asked about...her." She pointedly did not look at her aunt. "And I just told them what happened; we found her with a spell, and she offered to guide us here because she says she regrets what she did."
She shrugged. "Then they talked for a minute in Thanati, and...here we are."
The gnoll nodded. "I'm glad they weren't hostile. Lead on."
Upon entry, the guards stopped him and looked to the elder. One gave Thrax a measuring gaze. "I sense that your axe is a powerful artifact. We will need you to leave it with the guards before you can enter. This is for your protection as well as ours. "
Thrax glanced at Hana nervously. He hadn't been separated from Stormsong since he became its guardian. As such, he was hesitant to trust strangers with it.
"Wait." Hana started to move forward, as though their role of bodyguard and protectee had suddenly reversed. "Is that really necessary--?"
"Yes." The fox-formed elder spoke softly, but with a finality that brooks no argument. "You are guests in our home. You will abide by our laws, or you will leave."
Hana wilted, shrinking in on herself, though she didn't move from her new stance in front of Thrax's body.
Thrax sighed deeply. "It's okay, Hana. I can part with it for a little while. "
"Be careful with it. Stormsong has great meaning to my people," he explained as he reluctantly handed it over.
"We will treat it with all the respect such an artifact is due," the elder assured.
Hana gave him a concerned look, but nodded, accepting his agreement to their ruling.
Hoshiakari had entered the village behind them, and Hana could still feel her pressing like cold air at her back. None of the other kitsune acknowledged the woman's presence, but they weren't chasing her out either.
"Come." One of the more human-shaped elders beckoned to Thrax and Hana. "I will show you where you may rest."
Thrax followed, glancing back at his axe before it went out of view. He felt naked and anxious without it nearby. Aside from his ceremonial bone dagger, it was all that was left of his previous life. The spirits of his clan would be angry with him if anything happened to it.
When they were alone in a small hut, he sat down with a heavy sigh. He took out his dagger and gently rotated it in his lap.
Hoshiakari, thankfully, did not accompany them to the small guest house. Hana caught a glimpse of her peeling away from the group just before they reached it, whereupon a quick look was exchanged between the elders before two guards were sent with her.
"Accommodations have been made for the night," the one who had been guiding them said before leaving them in the one-room house.
With a sigh of her own, Hana sank down across from Thrax and rubbed at her temples. "I'm already getting a headache," she muttered.
"Uh-huh," Thrax answered absently, eyes glued to the crudely carved bone dagger in his hands. He appeared to be quite sad.
"...Thrax?" She tipped her head at him, brow furrowed. "I'm...sorry about Stormsong. We don't have to stay long, I... You okay?"
Thrax met her eyes. "I'll be fine. Really. I just... haven't been separated from it since it was left to me to watch over. And, well... other than this knife, it's the only physical tie I have to my past."
"What about your music?" Hana shifted a little closer to him. "Your people's songs. Nothing can take those away from you, yeah?"
She tried for a smile, hoping that what she had said was comforting rather than idiotic. She wasn't convinced.
"Yeah... I know..." Thrax sighed. "It's just, well, those are in my head. Sure, I could write them down, but that would just be words on a page; I don't know how to write the music to go with them."
He shook himself. "I'm sorry. You shouldn't have to carry my baggage too. Not when you have enough to deal with already."
"No, it's alright." Hana reached over to place her hand gently over his. "We...sort of had to move on really quick from the plains. And then we just jumped right on a boat, and--well, you haven't really had time to process everything that happened."
She tried for a smile and squeezed his hand gently before letting go. "Do you...want to talk about it?"
Thrax slowly nodded, sighing. "I thought getting some justice would make things hurt a little less, but it hasn't changed anything besides the anger. Without that, hells, maybe it even hurts more. Anger is easier to feel than this."
"Yeah." Hana sighed, glancing toward the door. "I get that..."
Carefully, she edged a little closer to him. "You know, you've never really told me about your family," she murmured. "I mean, you told me the story of what happened to your people, your clan...but I don't really know about your parents or siblings, or..."
She cleared her throat and looked down. "You don't have to tell me anything if you don't want to. But sometimes talking...helps."
The bard didn't hesitate long. "My father actually died when I was little. He--Well, he was part of a hunting party that ran afoul of a chimera. They killed it, but not before my father was wounded and half the party was killed. They carried him back, but..." He sighed. "The clan healer couldn't save him."
The way he handled the dagger as he talked about his father almost suggested that it had come from--No, it couldn't have... could it?
"I'm sorry." Hana tilted her head at him fractionally. "Was that...his?" she asked quietly, nodding to the knife he held.
"I mean... technically?" He grew awkward and shy. "It's--well--It's tradition to carve a keepsake from, ah... a piece of one's progenitor."
"So, yeah, I'm... really glad they didn't want to take this too."
"Oh." She stared at the knife for a moment, blinking. Well...who was she to judge someone else's customs? Besides, it clearly meant a lot to Thrax.
"Well, it's certainly a way to keep someone close," she murmured with a small smile. "I'm glad they let you hold onto it, too. Though, honestly, they were probably just more worried about the magic in Stormsong. Even in a place full of magical creatures, the feeling that axe gives off is strong."
"Yeah. I don't know how to utilize even a small fraction of its power. Luckily, the demon didn't either; it only magnified my natural gifts," he answered.
He straightened up, feeling more talkative. "We didn't actually create it, you know. It was left with us by a traveling human mage. He taught us about magic, music, and the world beyond the plains, and, because we hold the storms of the Serha sacred, believed that we could protect it in his absence. He was only with us for a few years, and we don't know where he went when he left, but we were forever changed by his teachings."
"How long ago was that?" Hana asked, folding her legs up under her body and settling in to listen with a small smile. Talking about his people's history seemed to be doing him good, and she was happy enough to listen as he did it.
"Oh, uh..." He paused, scratching his ear. "I should know this... Ah! Yes, almost two hundred and fifty years ago. We had just broken off from the Windhowler Clan after a dispute over leadership."
He frowned. "They died out about sixty years later, though a few members were absorbed into--" His eyes went wide. "No, that's... well shit, the survivors joined Poisonclaw. Could that be where the feud started?"
"It would make sense," Hana said slowly. "But damn. That's...a long time to hold a grudge."
"Gnolls can be quite vindictive if we want to be," Thrax said matter-of-factly.
He yawned. "It's getting pretty late, isn't it?"
"Yeah." Hana nodded and looked around their accommodations. There wasn't much--she had the feeling this village didn't host guests often. But there was a pair of futons settled against one wall.
"I guess that's bed?" She gave him a little smile and a nod toward the futons. "C'mon. I'm sure we'll have...a lot to deal with in the morning."
"I mean, it's a whole lot better than a tree branch," he said with a smirk as he began removing his armor.
When the last piece was off, he stretched a little. "Ugh, wearing something heavier takes some getting used to. I'm glad I didn't try to get plate."
"The tree branch was fine," Hana laughed, crinkling her nose at him. She moved forward to help him with getting the heavier pieces of his armor off, then found herself rubbing her thumbs in little circles against the backs of his shoulders as he stretched.
"Well, we don't have to play the whole bodyguard-and-little-lady thing anymore," she murmured. "We can get you back into your normal gear, if you want."
Thrax rumbled contentedly and leaned into the massage. "Can't. Had to sell it to afford this. It's fine, though. Scale is an upgrade; it's just a little more cumbersome."
"Storm, that feels good," he sighed happily.
"Mmmm." She smiled a bit and leaned a little more firmly into him, adding pressure. "Learned from a courtesan in Arca. She was renowned for this—well, this and her poetry." She shrugged. "I've never been much of a poet though."
The bard groaned and practically melted in her hands. So much tension left him that it was a miracle he was still standing. "You have no idea how much I needed this."
"I'd return the favor, but my hands aren't built for it."
"Don't worry about it," Hana chuckled lightly as she continued her ministrations. "Y'know, I'm really supposed to do this with you lying down. Might also make up for our height difference, a bit."
Even with Thrax sitting, she was only a head or so taller than him as she stood behind him.
"R-Right." He nodded and laid down on his stomach on his futon.
"You sure there's nothing I can do for you that might make you feel better?" He smirked, flirting teasingly.
Once he was horizontal, Hana moved to settle herself over his back, knees to either side of his hips, and began working her way down his spine with light pressure.
"Hmmm." She smirked a bit and leaned down to press a light kiss between his shoulder blades, then up to the side of his neck. "I'm sure I can think of something," she murmured, smiling against his cheek.
"Your wish is my command." Thrax grinned suggestively.
The morning saw the both of them brought before the elders. The bard was nervous, assuming they wanted to ask them questions and judge them somehow. Hana would be fine, but he didn't know how biased against outsiders they were.
Though she knew she had less reason to be than Thrax, Hana was still nervous as they were escorted to the elders. All three of them were in humanoid form this time, and were sitting peacefully on an elegantly rolled out mat at the edge of what Hana would have called the village green in a place like Serendipity--she wasn't sure what the word for it was here.
She automatically started to bow, and one of the elders gave her a slight nod in return. "Sit," the older woman said with a gesture to two small cushions that had evidently been set out for them. "Do you care for tea?"
"Ah--yeah. I mean, yes, please. Thank you," Hana murmured as she knelt on her cushion.
Thrax attempted to sit in an elegant kneel, but his brutish body forced him to give up and sit in his usual uncultured manner. "Tea would be great, thank you," he answered with a polite nod.
An attendant put out an ornate tea set made of glass and fine white pottery. The assorted items were completely foreign to the bard.
He cast an uncertain glance at Hana. Were they supposed to prepare it for themselves according to some custom they didn't know?
Hana returned his look with one of equal bafflement--but before she could decide what to do, the male elder reached forward to begin...some sort of process that she assumed would result in tea.
"I am afraid we have...not been entirely hospitable," the woman murmured, looking them over. "You must understand--this village lives in isolation for our safety. We never expected one of Tsukihana's children to have survived, let alone to find us here. Nor that she would bring another outsider with her."
Hana wasn't entirely sure what she was supposed to say. "I mean...we can go," she offered slowly. "I just--I thought it might be good to see the place my mother was from."
The third elder smiled slightly. "That will not be necessary. You and your companion are welcome, at least while we deliberate on how to proceed. Some of us took Hoshiakari's actions as a stark reminder of the dangers of living in fear, but that sentiment is not universal."
"And your arrival is forcing my fellow elders and I to formally reevaluate Tsukihana's exile," they explained.
Thrax nodded. That was at least one sympathetic ear. "I apologize if my presence complicates matters. But Hana is my friend, a friend that I owe my life and my soul. I couldn't refuse an opportunity to repay her in any way I can."
Hana started a bit when Thrax spoke up, then smiled and reached over to lay her hand over his and squeezing for a brief moment.
The woman elder raised a single eyebrow, glancing at the contact meaningfully, and Hana quickly drew her hand back. "Ah, right. That...all makes sense. I--I really didn't meant to bring her back here," she said in a rush. "Like I said yesterday, the spell just sort of brought us to her and--"
"Peace." The male elder raised a hand, and she snapped her mouth shut. "Of any member of this village, you have the most reason to despise Hoshiakari. Her presence here shall be tolerated so long as you allow it--even if your own status is...currently in question."
Hana swallowed; she rather didn't want to allow it, but she also didn't want to push things when their position felt so precarious.
"What can we do to ease your concerns about us?" Thrax asked.
The third elder spoke up. "We ask that you have patience and answer our questions honestly."
Thrax nodded. "We can do that."
"Very good." The woman poured them each a cup of tea, waiting until they took them before she asked, "How did you come to know of this place, Hanako? Surely you were too young to remember any tales your mother might have told."
"Ahm..." Hana looked down into her tea. "I've been...wandering, for a while. I came across a seer in the tundra who told me they could show me what I didn't know of my past. I--I watched my mother's history in their fire. I couldn't hear much, could only see flashes, really, but...I got enough."
The woman nodded, her expression vaguely pitying.
"And your friend..." The male elder gave Thrax an appraising look, asking her, "Do you believe he has the discretion to keep this location secret?"
"Yes," Hanako answered immediately, with not a fraction of hesitation. "I trust Thrax with my life--I know he wouldn't betray this place."
The elder nodded, considering, but didn't give any other answer.
"What are you seeking here?" the third elder asked softly, and Hana went suddenly quiet.
She opened her mouth then closed it several times. She realized with mild panic that she couldn't give an answer because, really, she still didn't know.
Thrax put a hand on her shoulder in support. "I don't think she knows. She certainly doesn't have any ulterior motives. I can't say the same for Hoshiakari."
"Is this correct, young one?" the third elder asked.
"I--" Hana looked at Thrax, then took a breath and forced some of the tension to leave her shoulders. "Yes," she sighed as she looked back to the elders. "I...I thought I just want to know. To see the place she came from. Now, I--I'm not sure..."
The third elder nodded, expression kind, but didn't say anything.
"Thank you for your candor," the man said softly with a small nod of his own. "We will discuss what you have shared. Please, enjoy."
He gestured to their tea, and Hana took another sip from her cup, though she hardly tasted the contents.
Thrax sipped his tea. It was good, but drinking a hot beverage in a hot jungle wasn't his idea of a good combination. So, he took it slow.
"That's all you want to ask us?" he asked, having expected they'd ask much more about him, at the very least.
"For now, that is all we will ask," the woman elder told them calmly, sipping at her own tea. "Further questions can wait. So long as you do not leave the boundaries of the village, feel free to explore. We will call on you again when you are required."
"Ah...okay..." Hana muttered with a small frown. That seemed...weird, but maybe it was tradition. Or maybe they were still just being watched, and the elders wanted to see what they would do if given permission to explore.
Thrax glanced over at Hana and shrugged. He assumed they would be observed whenever they were in public, and he hoped not in private. The female elder had picked up on it when Hana squeezed his hand, so the cat might be out of the bag on the intimate side of their relationship. But they were just casual lovers... right?
Thrax finished his tea in an awkward silence. "The tea was relaxing, thank you."
"Of course."
None of the elders seemed much inclined to respond further.
Feeling thoroughly awkward, Hana finished her own tea and then gave Thrax a quick, slightly desperate, "let's get out of here" look.
"Thank you, for the tea," she said as she stood cautiously. The elders nodded at her. She gave Thrax another look and a small shrug, then nodded over her shoulder.
Thrax stood and looked to the elders, who nodded to them that they were free to explore. He turned to Hana and nodded. "Let's go look around. It's not every day I get to see a secret mountain village."
"Right." She gave him a quick smile and a nod. "Let's...sightsee, I guess."
It was a fairly small village, all things considered; the houses were grouped in clusters around the central green, all of which was settled below a larger villa-type structure, which they had been able to see beyond the wall.
Most of the villagers gave them a wide berth, but some—usually the younger ones, children or young adults, with anywhere from one to three tails—gave them curious looks as they walked by.
Thrax capered about and made funny faces for the children they passed. It was a good preview of how well he could be the fun "uncle" for Kahroan and River's kids, if there was any doubt.
He sighed happily. "Storm, it's nice being looked at without preconceived ideas about me. Granted, some of that is probably the big, scary axe I carry around."
Hana snorted a bit and bumped his side with her elbow. "Gee, ya think?" Expression sobering, she glanced at the children, then sighed and shook her head. "Still...you shouldn't have to feel that way. It sucks, and I'm sorry."
One of the children grinned at Thrax's antics, waving at them, and she waved back. The little fox's tail swished and he giggled before running to catch up with his mother, who had paused to wait for him. She gave them a considering look, but didn't seem outwardly hostile.
"The worst part is: if I were from any other Serha clan, then they'd mostly be right to be wary." Thrax looked down at his hands guiltily. "But what does it say about me that I think my own race is a bunch of savages?"
He sighed. "Maybe that's why none of them lifted a finger to punish the Poisonclaw: we thought we were better than everyone. Why start a war over the clan no one liked?"
"Hey." Hana leaned in to take his hand, trying to pull his attention back to the present. "It's not you," she told him quietly. "Whatever you're thinking right now, it's not you."
She gave his hand—easily twice the size of her own—a brief squeeze before she let go.
She succeeded in drawing Thrax back from his past. He sighed, but smiled as he looked down at her hand as she squeezed his. "Thanks. I'm glad you're my friend."
Glancing up at her, he curiously and hesitantly asked, "That is still all this is between us... Right?"
"It—"
She looked up at him, startled by the question. She simply stared for a few moments, lips slightly parted but no sound forthcoming.
Finally, she snapped her moth shut and glanced around, then cleared her throat. "M-maybe that's...something we should talk about, ah, out of earshot?"
After the briefest moment of disconnect, he wore the expression of, "Oh, shit!"
"I, uh... right... sorry. We can talk about that later. Sorry." He was flustered and embarrassed by bringing that up in possible earshot of anyone who might be watching them.
"Right. Yes. But—but we should, um...talk about it," she mumbled, cheeks practically glowing. "It—it's a good question..."
Now feeling quite thoroughly awkward, she cleared her throat and gave her head a little shake. "Err—c'mon, let's check out that pond on the other edge of the green!"
"Y-yes. The pond. Who doesn't like a good pond?" Thrax started moving that way, glad to get away from the ill-timed subject for the time being.
Once there, he stared into it. Something about the brightly colored fish swimming around in it was quite calming. "Yes... much less awkward..." he muttered.
Hana snorted as she came up beside him and looked into the water.
"Yes. Much," she agreed dryly, kneeling to peer closer at the slowly circling fish.
"They're very old."
She yelped, jumping to her feet and whirling to face her aunt, who seemed to have just...materialized behind them.
"The koi," Hoshiakari explained as though nothing had happened, nodding to the pond. "Some of them are quite old. Generations old."
Thrax whirled, catching himself as he started to reach for the axe that wasn't there. He breathed out to calm himself. "Please, don't sneak up on us."
"And, seriously?" he groaned. "Is everything here but the children older than me?"
"I did say some," Hoshiakari replied emotionlessly. "Many of the ancient ones were killed when our first village was massacred."
Awkward silence descended. Hana found herself caught between wanting to simply run away, and wanting to scream at her aunt again.
"Those three," the older kitsune said abruptly, pointing to the three largest fish in the pond, all patterned in shades of white and gold. "I remember them from when I was a girl. The others are...their children, I suppose."
Thrax narrowed his eyes at her suspiciously. Was there a point to this?
"I've seen nothing like them before. But then I've never seen fish kept as decoration before either. I can't deny their beauty, so I do get it," he said, hiding his wariness well.
"Mmm." Hoshiakari seemed to be evaluating that, but whatever conclusion she came to wasn't visible on her face. Turning her attention to her niece, she started, "Perhaps I could tell you about--"
"No thanks. We were just leaving." Hana grabbed Thrax's hand and spun, ears pressed tight to her head despite her managing to keep her expression relatively neutral--though her hand shook slightly where she clung to Thrax.
Thrax followed, glad to leave the creepy woman behind. She was definitely up to something, he just didn't know what. He couldn't blame Hana for not wanting to listen to her.
Once well out of earshot, he said, "Are you okay? I shouldn't have engaged with her, I see that now."
"Oh--no, don't worry about that." She shrugged. "I mean, what were you supposed to do, really? She seems...good at that." She sighed and reached up to run her fingers back through her hair. "I don't know how I am," she answered honestly after a moment. "I...I hate her. I don't want her here. But the elders said as long as I wish it, she can stay. I don't fucking wish it, but I also--I dunno. Everything in this place feels so fragile, y'know?"
Thrax thought solemnly for a moment. "That's because they're afraid of history repeating itself. I would be in their position." He smiled, supportively placing a large hand on her shoulder. "And, it does sound like they want to make some amends for your mother's exile; they just don't know how."
"At least, the one does," he amended.
"Yeah." She sighed again and rubbed at her eyes. "Yeah, you're probably right..."
She huffed and looked around; she hadn't been paying much attention to where they were going, just wanting to get away. They'd been moving toward the largest building in the village, and she found they had come to a stop near a path of carefully laid stonework. Almost every stone had Thanato characters etched onto it.
She bent, brow furrowed, and ran her fingers over a few lines. "I know this one," she murmured. "It's flower. Hana."
Thrax couldn't read the other stones, but he was clever enough to hazard a guess as to what they were looking at. "Is it... a memorial?"
"I think so." Hana retraced the character she recognized—she only understood a handful of Thanti words, but some of these she knew. "I think...they're organized by family line. That's—that's how I got my name, I was told. My mother was Tsukihana, so I was Hanako..."
"So many names..." he murmured sadly. "No wonder they fear outsiders."
He sighed thoughtfully. "Perhaps it would help my case if I tell the elders what I went through. Some common ground couldn't hurt."
"Maybe." Hana looked up at him with a concerned frown. "But...you shouldn't have to spill all that just to get on these people's good side." She shook her head slightly, looking away. "If they want us to go, we'll go. I guess I...all I really wanted was to see this place. We've done that now."
"I'm more worried about them not wanting us to leave, but..." Thrax shrugged. "We'll have to see how the next little chat goes."
The next little chat, it seemed, was over dinner. Thrax gazed hungrily at the spread, even if he didn't recognize half of it. He was especially perplexed by the strange rolls of white grains and fish that seemed especially popular. Even worse were the unfamiliar wooden sticks they were supposed to use as utensils.
"They are called chopsticks, but we can provide something more your size if you'd like," offered the third elder.
The bard brought out his small dagger and held it up. "This okay?"
"Yes. That will do."
Hana had to hide a smile behind her hand as Thrax began eating with his bone dagger; it was quite the contrast to the elders eating daintily with their polished chopsticks.
Trying to finagle her own utensils, she glanced up at the elders and asked carefully, "Did you learn what you wished? From having us observed today?"
The male elder smiled for a moment before placing his bowl down. "We learned a bit," he replied. "You and your...guard are certainly, ah, close."
Thrax nearly choked on a piece of "sue she" when the elder brought up their closeness. Had they heard them last night? Or was his question earlier the mistake? Or was it just the general energy between them that gave them away?
He glanced at Hana nervously. "Y-yes. We've been through a lot together since we met a few months ago, the kinds of things that bond people together for the rest of their lives."
"Right." Hana glanced at him and nodded. "Exactly." She gave him a small smile.
"I see." The woman elder dipped at her drink, a tiny cup of some sort of rice wine that was certainly sharp, but Hana found she rather liked. "It is...interesting. For so long, our isolation has kept us safe. But you seem to find strength in seeking companionship from...unexpected quarters."
Hana hesitated, then said as tactfully as she could manage, "Well...considering what happened to my family...I didn't exactly have much choice in where I looked for my friends, did I?"
Before he thought about what he was doing, he said, "I'm... honestly in much the same situation. My..." He hesitated. "My own village was wiped out by a rival clan and I've been alone since. So, believe me when I say I understand your pain, your fear, and your anger. I've felt them all."
The third elder glanced at the others, having not expected the bard's confession. "It is far too easy to forget that there are outsiders who might have experienced losses like ours. Yet, somehow, these two still manage to engage with the world that wounded them. This is what I've been trying to say for years. Our fear allows our wound to fester, not heal."
The elder who had spoken first nodded slowly, while his female counterpart sighed and sipped at her wine again.
"I know, Akira. But it is not just a question of what our people want, or need," the woman said softly. "It is a question of what our neighbors are willing to accept. Even aside from petty hunters, our connection to fire makes us an anathema to their goddess, in their eyes."
"Please." The man raised his hand, cutting his eyes swiftly toward Hana and Thrax. "This conversation has been had many times; we do not need to have it again before our guests."
"My apologies for bringing up such a sensitive topic," Thrax said diplomatically.
Akira shook his head. "Do not worry yourself. In all honesty, it is the crux of the matter in our decision about the three of you."
"For what it's worth," he continued, "I think we all believe you have no reason to betray our location. Your artifact is as much an anathema to Thanati religion as our magic."
"Of course," Hana agreed quietly.
"I suppose that also brings us to our secondary predicament," the woman elder sighed. "We believe you have no reason to betray us--and while Hoshiakari's hatred of humans has truly twisted her, it is also a guarantee that she would not. But--"
"Is it?" Hana asked abruptly. All three elders looked to her. "I mean...the woman murder her own sister, and her children, due to that hatred. Do you really think she wouldn't turn that on the rest of you? Is there really a line she wouldn't cross?"
The elders exchanged looks. "Your caution is justified," Akira said eventually. "Are you saying...you do not believe it would be safe for us to cast her out again?"
"I--" Was she saying that? "I don't know," Hana sighed, shoulders curving under an invisible weight.
"I realize that Hoshiakari's fate is not my concern, but I share Hana's doubt that she can be trusted not to act on her hatred and anger. Perhaps she can set herself right, but she had nothing but time to dwell on them with no one to help lessen them." Thrax looked down at his food. "I had other people, and I nearly lost myself to mine."
Hana glanced at him and leaned in slightly to brush her shoulder against his in a quiet show of support.
"You...raise an interesting point for us to consider," the woman said slowly. She looked at her companions, then gave Hana and Thrax a small nod. "Please, enjoy the rest of your meal. We will speak again in the morning."
As if on cue, all three elders rose to their feet, nodded politely, and departed.
Thrax ate silently for a few moments before saying, "You know..." He tossed a piece of sushi into his large mouth and made short work of it. "... I could get used to this sueshe stuff."
Hana chuckled and nodded, nibbling at her own dinner. "Y'know, I smelled raw fish and I was decidedly wary, but yeah." She shot him a quick smile. "It's pretty good."
She sipped at the wine that was left in her cup, eyes flicking toward their accommodations. "I...know they didn't actually say anything about it, but I get the feeling we're not expected to wander around after dark," she said with a quiet sigh, gesturing toward the dusky light now spreading over the village.
"That's... probably a safe assumption." Thrax sipped at his wine. "I'm about finished anyway."
He gave her an awkward smile. "Besides... we have something to discuss in private, don't we?"
Hana promptly choked on her wine.
"Er—ahem—yeah. I...I guess we do." She swallowed a little nervously, staring at the last few bites on her plate. She'd rather abruptly lost her appetite.
"I'm gonna...duck into the baths quick," she murmured, getting to her feet. "I'll be back in a few. And we can, y'know...talk."
"I'll meet you back at the hut." He nodded.
After she was gone, he gobbled up one last bite and rose to his feet with a sigh. This was going to be quite the interesting conversation. They were supposed to be casual. They weren't supposed to develop feelings, though he supposed it wasn't just her.
He spent the entire walk back considering just what those feelings were.
Hana scrubbed herself clean fairly quickly, but she lingered in the baths a little longer, just...thinking.
Uhg. Feelings. She hated talking about feelings. She hated having feelings.
Did she? Have feelings, about this?
Gods.
She entered their guesthouse a little warily, moving slower than was usual for her.
Thrax stood up as she entered. He was unusually shy and anxious, weighed down by the subject at hand.
"Are you... okay? We... don't have to do this now." He hesitated, fiddling with his hands hesitantly. "It just... feels like a good idea to get on the same page in case they ambush us with more questions about how close we are."
"Hm? Oh yeah! Yeah I'm fine! It's fine."
Hearing herself, she sighed and closed her eyes. "No, really. I am. I just..." She sighed again and slowly settled herself on the floor. "I hate this sort," she muttered.
"Me too." He chuckled mirthlessly as he sat nearby. "You'd think singing about it would make me better at the mushy stuff."
"Storm, I'm nervous."
"Yeah." Hana let her head thump back against the wall with a sharp exhale. Her ears were pressed half back to her skull, and though her tails weren't lashing nervously she seemed to be making an effort to ensure that they didn't. "I mean...well, what do we even talk about?"
"Well, we need to figure out whatever it is the elders were picking up on." Thrax scratched his ear thoughtfully. "We do seem to be, I dunno, touching more. Or am I nuts?"
"I mean...yeah?" She winced. "We also aren't, exactly, erm..." Dear gods, this was embarrassing. "Quiet?" she mumbled after a moment, cheeks pink. "I mean—I don't think we're obnoxious or anything but, ah, if someone happened to...overhear us last night..."
She sighed and scrubbed a hand down her face. "It wouldn't take much detective work to figure out what we were doing, I guess," she finished with a huff.
"Oh, Storm..." He winced, eyes wide with embarrassment. "We aren't, are we?"
"We couldn't keep our hands to ourselves one more night, could we?" he chuckled. "So much for keeping that a secret." He shuddered. "Do you think Hoshiakari figured it out?"
Oh, now there was a thought she didn't want to consider too deeply. Shuddering dramatically, Hana pulled a face and muttered, "Ech, I hope not, but..."
She spread her hands and shrugged. "Look, the elders...don't seem to care much. But considering she killed her sister for fucking a man she didn't like—"
She winced at the harshness of her own words and looked away, biting her lip.
Thrax reached out and held her hand in his. For such a big guy, he could be incredibly gentle when he wanted to be. "Hey... I won't let that happen. And I don't think the elders want that specific part of their history repeating. Things may not have changed enough to invite me to stay, but they clearly don't want anyone to die over it."
"Your mother was also in love," he pointed out. "Unless there's something you aren't telling me, she has no reason to think that."
Hana looked at his hand around hers for a long moment before she cautiously laced their fingers together.
"I...don't have anything I haven't told you," she murmured. "At least, nothing I've said to anyone else that might...get us in trouble. I don't..." She sighed. "I don't know..."
"I don't either," he admitted. "While I haven't been in a serious relationship before, I haven't been in a casual one this long before either."
"I'm usually just... a novel story to tell, a guilty pleasure, or just some fun to be had while passing through." He sighed regretfully. "I thought that was enough. I'm not so sure now, not after seeing how happy Kahroan and River have made each other. "
"Yeah." She sighed and closed her eyes. "Yeah, I get that. I'm...the same, usually. I've never...been with someone this long before. Had friends I fooled around with, sure, but...not someone I stayed with so long. Or knew so well."
She laughed a bit at his mention of their friends, nodding. "River must be showing by now," she murmured, drawing one knee in toward her chest. "Gods. They...really do make each happy, don't they?"
"Nauseatingly, obnoxiously happy." Thrax laughed fondly, smirking. "I'm not sure my mind is equipped to handle that much happiness."
He grinned with amusement. "Can you even imagine me with kids?"
"Oh gods, or me?" She laughed, shaking her head. "Nah, I think I'm more built to be the fun aunt than a mother."
She sighed and let her head fall back against the wall again, eyes closed. Two of her tails swished into her lap. "Think they'll make us godsparents?" she joked quietly, one corner of her mouth twitching into a half smile.
"I mean--kids love me. They could pick worse." Thrax remarked with a confident nod.
"We should visit together if we aren't tired of each other by then." He smiled fondly. "I hope we aren't, whether or not we become something more to each other. I... like having you around."
"Yeah." Hana smiled at him in return, squeezing his hand gently. "Me too."
Looking down at their hands, she asked slowly, "So...do we just...keep on as we have been? I mean...look, to be blunt, the sex is very fun. But if we feel like it's, y'know, confusing things, maybe we should..."
She trailed off with a huff, not entirely sure herself what she was trying to say. "Okay, let me rephrase: what do you want from this? From us, I mean. Just for now, not--not looking too far into the future."
"For now?" He scratched his ear and huffed. "Just to be your friend."
He sighed reluctantly. "And... yeah... I think the sex might be confusing things. Maybe we should... lay off of it for a while and see how we feel about each other without it. Then we can see where we go from there."
Hana nodded, letting out a low, slightly relieved breath. "I think that's a good idea," she agreed quietly with a little smile.
Glancing at the bed mats where they'd spent the previous night, she winced and chuckled slightly. "I should, ah, probably separate those, huh?"
Thrax followed her gaze and let out an awkward chuckle. "Yeah... that's, eheh, probably more temptation than we need right now."
"After that, I guess we just... sleep?" he asked. "Nothing else to do."
"Oh gods." Hana snorted quietly. "I'm not sure what it says about us that we don't know what to do with ourselves when sex is off the table," she chuckle dryly as she moved to separate out their bed mats. "But yeah--this place is exhausting, even if all we do is stroll around the village."
"I think it's the being judged part that's exhausting. Having to think carefully about what we say at any given moment is... ugh," Thrax groaned.
"Definitely not for spontaneous creatures like us."
"Agreed," Hana said with a tired sigh as she flopped onto her bed. "Well...we've got another day of it tomorrow," she grumbled, frowning at the ceiling. "Assuming they don't just decide to show us the door. We should get what rest we can."
Thrax made himself comfortable on his bed mat with a sleepy stretch. "Yeah," he yawned, "g'night."
The following afternoon...
All three visitors have been called to the large building past the memorial path: the Hall of the Elders. It was immediately apparent that the structure was, for the most part, a home and not merely a town hall for official business.
Thrax looked around the meeting room nervously. This didn't feel like another round of informal questions. It was more like... a verdict was about to be handed down.
Hana shifted anxiously from foot to foot as she glanced around the meeting room. So far, it was just the two of them.
"Okay, not that I don't enjoy your company, but if someone else could turn up to explain what's going on, that'd be great," she muttered eventually.
The words had barely left her mouth when the door slid open and Hoshiakari entered the room. She'd apparently spoken too soon.
"Well, that can only mean one thing. They've decided what to do with us," Thrax guessed. "I just hope the guards are for her and not for us."
"They can't think we're dangerous too, can they?"
"In comparison? I can't imagine," Hana muttered. "They didn't seem to hate us, at least..."
Hoshiakari could likely hear them, but she didn't react to their presence, merely taking her seat a few lengths away from them
There was a moment more of quiet, then the door that led deeper into the building opened and the elders glided out into the meeting room.
"Thank you for answering our summons," Akira said with a nod to them all.
"As you may have guessed," said the male elder in a businesslike tone, "we have reached a decision on what is to be done about your arrival here."
Thrax gave Hana a reassuring smile that said everything was going to be okay.
Hana tried to smile back, but was afraid she couldn't quiet manage it. She reached out to take his hand, squeezing lightly.
The woman elder--Kai--stepped forward. Her eyes found Hana's, kind if a little sad. "This place is not your home, child," she murmured, "but it is your birthright. If you agree to enter a pact with the council, swearing yourself to the secrecy of our location, you will be permitted to come and go as you like."
Hana blinked. "I--what? Really?"
Kai smiled slightly. "Yes. Really. The pact is magically binding--so long as you and your companion agree to it, you are free to leave, should you wish."
"But it isn't mine." Thrax nodded understandingly. "So I'll merely be free to leave?"
"That is correct," Kai replied.
The bard felt the tension leave his body. "I told you we'd be fine," he whispered to Hana, as if he hadn't been incredibly nervous too.
She gave him a shaky smile and a nod, then quickly looked back to the elders and bowed. "Thank you."
All three of them nodded to her. Then Akira turned his attention to her aunt, and his expression shuttered slightly.
"Hoshiakari."
She sat up a little straighter, but otherwise didn't respond
"Your exile will not be revoked," Akira continued, "however...once a year, on the night we memorialize all we have lost, you will be permitted to return to the village from sunset to sunrise."
Again, Hoshiakari didn't respond verbally, but she gave a brief nod.
Hana clenched her hands into tight fists in her lap. She wanted...she didn't know what she wanted. Not that.
But it wasn't her choice.
It was Thrax's turn to give her hand a supportive squeeze. He didn't know how he knew, but he could tell that wasn't the verdict Hana wanted.
The male elder--Jiro--spoke up, addressing Hoshiakari. "You are permitted one more night before you must leave."
To Hana and Thrax, he said more kindly, "You may depart whenever you wish. Even you, outsider."
It wasn't until that moment that it even occurred to the bard that Hana might not decide to leave with him. The thought made him sad. But, if that was what would make her happy, then he wouldn't stand in her way.
Hana dipped her head to the elders again and murmured another, "Thank you." Without looking at her aunt, she started to back quietly out of the room. "We--may we leave?"
Kai nodded, and she bowed again before quickly turning to duck back out into the fresh air. She breathed deeply once they were out of the building, trying to calm her suddenly racing heart. She didn't know why she was reacting so strongly.
Thrax put a hand on her shoulder and squeezed gently, rubbing her with his thumb. He hated seeing her upset.
"I know this isn't the justice you were hoping for, but... are you... okay?" he asked, concerned.
"I..." She sighed and leaned into his hand slightly, grateful for the contact. "I will be. I think," she answered eventually. "I don't know...what I was expecting, really. They clearly don't want to kill their own people, no matter how horrible the crime. A part of me respects that, I just..."
She sighed again and shook her head. "Sorry. Nothing, I'm...I'm letting my anger get the best of me."
"You don't need to apologize for that. Not to me." He smiled, slowly smirking. "But, hey, at least you don't have a demon throwing fuel on the fire."
"Besides, if you ask me, you're handling this better than I would even without said demon." He couldn't imagine her acting purely on anger like he would in her position.
The puffed a tired sort of laugh and gave him a quick, dry look, but nodded. When he said she was handling this better than he would have, she twisted her lips to the side and huffed out another sharp breath. "I dunno about that," she murmured, glancing back at the villa with a small frown. "There might be something to the idea of vigilante justice."
She gave her head a quick shake, then grabbed for his hand in started walking. "Come on. Let's...I just need to get away from here for a bit."
Without trying to go anywhere in particular, the pair ended up on a small bridge over a mountain stream that cut through the picturesque village.
"There are worse places to retreat from the world," Thrax commented as he took in the view from the bridge. "Maybe a bit uneventful for my tastes though. Something tells me your people aren't big on drunken revelry."
Hana chuckled quietly as she leaned on the bridge's rail, folding her arms and looking down into the water. "Yeah. I mean, I'm sure part of it is just the locals avoiding us, but this place really is...quiet."
She swished her tails back and forth thoughtfully, head slightly tilted. "I don't know. I think...I'd like to visit this place again. Maybe I would stay here, someday. But...the world's so much bigger than this, y'know? I've still only seen a fraction of it."
Thrax smiled, glad she wasn't in a hurry to stay. If they were really just in it for the sex, he wouldn't feel so strongly about her staying with him... would he?
"I know what you mean; there's a lot I'd like to see too. And places to spread my music," he said longingly.
"I'd..." He hesitated, unsure of what exactly he was feeling. "... much rather do it with you by my side."
Hana started slightly, and turned her head to look at him. "You...would?" she murmured, something in her chest starting to go tight. One of her tails dropped to wrap slightly around the outside of her calf, while the other two continued to flick gently back and forth.
"I mean--yeah. Yeah, we--we get on well. No reason we shouldn't keep sticking together...right?" Her tone was light, but also cautious in a way, sort of testing her footing in this particular conversation.
"I mean--yeah, you're practically my best friend by now. I don't know how I'd feel if you had said you wanted to stay." Thrax looked away, feeling all fluttery in his chest for reasons he couldn't grasp. "But it wouldn't be good."
He didn't know what would happen if she touched him right then either.
Hana licked her lips, mouth suddenly dry. "I--"
She glanced down, biting her lip, and mumbled, "You...you're my best friend, too, Thrax. I--I wouldn't...I don't..."
She started to slide her hand across the railing, hesitant, waiting for any sign from him. Then she took a breath and actually started to reach for him--
Someone cleared their throat behind them and Hana whirled, ears snapping up and tails fluffing out like a startled cat. "Hells! Er, sorry, I didn't--"
She cut herself off when she saw who it was. Hoshiakari.
Her eyes narrowed. "What?"
Her aunt raised her hands peaceably "I did not mean to interrupt."
Thrax made a muffled yip of surprise as he turned to face Hoshi. He was annoyed that they were interrupted in the middle of... well, whatever was about to happen. But the moment was lost.
"People who don't want to interrupt don't clear their throat." He glared, ears folded back halfway. "What do you want?"
"I...though I might ask your plans," Hoshiakari said slowly, eyes on Hana. "If you intend to stay."
Hana's eyes narrowed further. "I don't owe you any answers," she told her coolly.
Her aunt dipped her head in acknowledgement. "You do not. But I thought I would ask anyway--if you intend to stay on the isles, perhaps it would be better if we...avoided one another."
"Ya think?" Hana looked away from her, glaring at nothing. "Maybe I'm staying here," she said sharply. "That'll make avoiding one another easier."
She didn't see the way her aunt's eyes flared briefly with something beyond anger, beyond even rage. It was gone in a flash, and she nodded. "Of course. Forgive me for intruding."
"You are not forgiven." The words made her throat go tight. She finally met Hoshiakari's eyes, holding them with her own flaming. "You will never be forgiven."
The older kistune simply stared at her for a moment, then nodded again and turned to leave.
Thrax did notice the flash of fury in Hoshiakari's cold eyes. It left him convinced that they should leave separately from the woman. Surely she wouldn't try anything in the village, would she?
He reached down to squeeze Hana's hand; it had become a reflex to reassure each other physically. "You did good."
The moment he took her hand, she laced her fingers through his and held on tight, anchoring herself. Letting out a low breath, she leaned into him a bit and whispered, "Thanks."
She glanced in the direction Hoshiakari had gone, then away again. "...Didn't feel like it." She bit her lip, then unknowingly echoed her friend's thoughts: "I think we should wait at least a day or so after she goes. I know we don't wanna stay, but...I don't want to leave near when she does, either."
"I was thinking the exact same thing. You didn't see the look in her eyes. It was only for a second, but I've never seen so much anger," he responded, shuddering a little at the memory.
The bard turned to face her directly. "I'm afraid the elders don't see how much of a danger she poses... or choose not to."
He sighed. "I hope they don't regret giving her an inch."
"Me too," Hana murmured, frowning down at the stream below them.
She was quiet a moment longer, then gave herself a brisk shake and glanced up at him with a very slightly forced smile. "Well! That gives us at least another day or two to explore the place. Wanna see if we can find where they keep that rice wine stuff?"
Thrax grinned down at her, though he was less enthusiastic than usual. The encounter with Hoshiakari had dampened his spirits. "Do I?!"
"But of course, Lady Hanako," he snickered.
"Uhg." She shoved his arm lightly with a roll of her eyes, though her smile seemed to be coming much easier. "You're not playing my bodyguard anymore, remember. That lady stuff makes me twitchy."
They did managed to track down a store of rice wine, but rather than an evening of wild carousing, Hana found that she was really only up for returning to their lodging for the evening and sharing a bottle while they...just talked.
It was...different. She liked to think she got along with people well enough, but there weren't many she was close to the way she was with Thrax. She'd attributed that mostly to the fact that they were bedding each other, but now that that was off the table...
Well. Maybe it wasn't just that after all.
She woke the next morning to a light knock on the guest house door, yawning and blinkingly blearily as as she stretched on her bed mat. "You get it," she grumbled in Thrax's general direction.
"Ugh...okay..." The gnoll grumbled, slowly getting up with a groan. He scratched the back of his shoulder and yawned as he walked to the door.
"Yeah, what is it?" he asked sleepily as he opened the door.
It was a boy, no older than ten or eleven, who stared up at Thrax with very wide eyes. It seemed to be a rare trait in the village, but his hair and the fur on his ears and tail were actually the russet red of a mainland fox, though his eyes were the gold that seemed common among the people here.
"Um, excuse me, Master, but I was told to give this to Mistress Hanako?" He held up a rolled piece of paper that he was clutching for dear life.
"Hana, it's for you!" Thrax called back over his shoulder.
Master, huh? He could get used to that.
"Uuuuuhhhhg." Grumbling, Hana dragged herself to her feet and trudged to the door. "Oh." She blinked when she saw the boy, who thrust out his rolled paper to her. "Er, thanks, um..."
"Kohaku," the boy supplied helpfully, still staring at them both with wide eyes.
"Kohaku." Hana nodded.
He didn't leave.
Hana looked at Thrax, befuddled. "Ahhh--you, um, need something? Oh, shhhhiioooooooot, coin?" she offered, wincing at her near-slip.
"Oh, no!" The boy smiled at them. "Thank you!" He abruptly turned and ran off.
Hana blinked. "Well. That was weird."
"Yeeaah, that was definitely weird." He chuckled, glancing at the note in her hands. "Heh, maybe he just wanted to be close to a pretty girl for a minute."
His smirk shifted into a look of curiosity. "Well? What's it say?"
Hana frowned at the message as she unrolled the paper. "The...elders want me to see Hoshiakari off," she muttered. "Something about...blood bidding farewell to blood. That--"
She huffed and rolled the paper back up. "Shit." Mouth a tight line, she muttered, "I guess I have to."
"Weird way to tell you." Thrax said suspiciously, but chalked it down to paranoia and just shrugged.
He stepped up to her and put his hand on her shoulder. "Do you need me to go with you, or is this a kitsunes-only shindig?"
"It did't say I had to go alone," Hana sighed, "but I...feel like I should. I'm sorry--stay close though? Gods know I'm gonna need you after this."
She said it casually, without thinking; it didn't strike her until the words were out of her mouth how intimate they were, or how true. She didn't say, "I'll need a friend"; she'd said she'd need him.
Thrax filed away Hana's choice of words for later. It might not mean anything, but it also might mean everything. In the secret part of his heart, he hoped it was the latter.
"I'll be just out of sight. Just shout, and I'll come running, okay?" he asked with a supportive smile.
"Thanks." She smiled at him, though the expression was--understandably--a little distracted. She quickly dressed and left their lodging house; it was early enough that the village was still sleepy, only a few people out and about. She took the long way around the outer edge of the village to get to the gate.
She was nearly there when a soft noise from one of the little gardens near the edge of the village caught her attention. She paused and glanced around, frowning.
"You came."
"Fuck!" Whirling to glare at Hoshiakari, she snapped, "Stop doing that. And of course I came--the elders asked."
Her aunt's lip curled--one of the strongest expressions of emotion she'd yet seen from the woman. "Soft fools," she muttered dismissively. "They never should have let you passed the gate."
Hana's glare narrowed. Something...something wasn't right. It was at her edges, a shimmer, like--
Gasping, she spun. Shit shit shit! She'd played this trick herself a thousand times, how had she not seen it coming?
The real Hoshiakari was so close she could feel the older woman's breath on her face as the illusion faded. Before she could react, icy pain bloomed just beneath her ribs. A wet, choked sound caught in her throat and she looked down to see a familiar bone-carved hilt protruding from beneath her breast, her aunt's fingers gripping it tightly.
"It took me nearly two decades," Hoshiakari hissed, twisting the knife. Hana whimpered, and would have collapsed if her aunt hadn't gripped her shoulder to keep her upright. "Finally, the last of you half-breeds is gone."
She drew the dagger out, then thrust forward again. Hana couldn't even scream as she dropped to the ground.
Some distance behind her, Thrax's ears perked up when Hana swore loudly. He suddenly had a terrible feeling that something was wrong with this situation. He ran, coming around a corner just as the knife went in a second time.
"No!" the bard cried out, running to try and tackle Hoshiakari.
As Hana fell, the elder kistune spun toward the charging bard, brandishing his own blood-slicked dagger.
She grinned, eyes burning, and spun to take off down the path away from the garden, tails flicking tauntingly while her niece bled on the ground behind her.
Thrax ran to Hana's side and kneeled. He resisted the urge to move her but shook her shoulder. "Oh, Storm... Hana! Stay with me!"
"Somebody! Help!" he shouted with all his considerable vocal might.
Hana coughed, blood dotting her lips. "Th-Thrax..."
She tried to reach for him, but could only manage a slight twitch of her hand. She coughed again, shuddering as pain echoed through her body from the stab wound.
"She has...your knife," she managed to gasp you. "Have to...stop her..."
Because she was a trickster—maybe not like her aunt, but she knew what Hoshiakari may be planning. She wouldn't just kill Hana here, in the sanctuary their people had made, without some sort of plan.
"You...have to...stop her..." She gritted out desperately, struggling to focus as her vision flickered.
"But... how can I just leave you?" Thrax asked pleadingly.
"If you died and I wasn't here, I'd--" He sniffed back tears. "I'd never forgive myself."
"I'll...be okay." It felt like a lie, but she couldn't let this happen; he needed to stop Hoshiakari before she played out whatever she was planning. "You called...for help. Someone...will come..."
She tried to shove him away, but only managed to press one hand lightly against his chest. "Go."
Thrax visibly hesitated, words catching in his throat. He desperately wanted to say how much she meant to him, but there was no time to spare. With that left unsaid, he rose and chased after Hoshiakari.
Please survive. I need you to survive.
With her head start, Hoshiakari had nearly made it to the village gate by the time Thrax began to gain on her. She spun to face him, still holding his stolen knife in one hand as her tails lashed and she bared her teeth.
"This doesn't concern you, outsider," she hissed at him.
"The fuck it doesn't," Thrax snarled furiously as he stalked closer, arms poised to slash at her with his claws. "You tried to kill Hana. For that alone, I have every right to kill you. But, because she wouldn't want that for me, I'll settle for marring that pretty face until not even your magic can hide how ugly you really are."
Hoshiakari simply stared at him for a moment. Then she grinned, the expression positively feral.
"If you insist." She raised his knife--and brought it down into her own side, driving the blade deep. She gasped, collapsing to her knees, but she was still grinning as she raised her voice and called, "Help! Help! He's gone mad!"
Thrax's eyes went wide, and he froze in place. "You... She's going to survive. Y-your plan won't work!"
Already, he could hear the gate guards coming. He had nowhere to run, and running would only make him look more guilty. So he just sighed and knelt, putting his arms behind his back in surrender.
Hoshiakari merely met his gaze with one of her own that said, We'll see.
The guard who had first let them into the village was the first to arrive at the scene. Eyes wide with shock, he looked from the kneeling Thrax to the collapsed Hoshiakari, then shouted something in Thanati before rushing to kneel and press a cloth to the wound in the other kitsune's side.
More guards came, surrounding Thrax, binding his hands behind his back. They were talking quickly to one another, all in Thanati--though the elders' names could be heard in the babble.
"Hanako is in the garden, dying. Please save her," was all he said. He knew how it looked and that the guardsmen wouldn't listen to him anyway.
The guards brought him to his feet and led him to a holding cell to wait until the elders were notified.
The wait was excruciating. With every second that ticked by, he felt more certain that Hana was gone and that his fate was sealed. Without something to refute Hoshiakari's version of events, the kitsunes would doubtlessly take her word over that of an outsider.
Thrax was taken back to the lodging house he'd been sharing with Hana, though his hands were left bound and there was a guard posted at the open door--allowing him to be observed, and to know he was being observed. Someone had taken Hoshiakari to a healer.
It wasn't until Kai came to the lodging house that anyone gave him any update on what was going on. Her expression was grave, and she was flanked by two more guards.
She stared at Thrax for a long moment before asking simply, "Why?"
Thrax looked her in the eyes, his own full of sorrow. "I didn't do it. You've got to believe me. I would never willingly hurt Hana."
"Please. At least tell me if she's--" His voice cracked. "If she's alive."
Kai simply looked at him for a long moment, then dropped her eyes with a soft, tired sigh. "She is," she answered, "Barely. But she lives."
She looked up up and down, quiet for a few more moments, before she drew out an object carefully wrapped in white cloth. She didn't unwrap it, but the general shape and the bloodstains decorating the cloth left little doubt as to what it was.
"This weapon has been matched with both Hanako and Hoshiakari's wounds," she said softly. "It is yours, is it not?"
"I don't know how Hoshiakari got her hands on it. I didn't realize it was gone until I saw her stab Hana with it and run off. Hana told me to stop her, so I chased after her. That's when the crazy bi--" He swallowed his flaring temper. "That's when Hoshiakari stabbed herself and called for help."
"Why would she do such a thing?" The way the elder asked it made it sound like she actually wanted an answer. "Her threat to Hanako was known--but why would she harm herself, and make it seem as though the deed was done by your hand? She cared nothing for your presence. Unless you antagonized her somehow?"
"She was cornered and had no other options. Or maybe because she didn't finish the job because I interrupted her." He sighed. "Or maybe it was her plan all along, for Hana to recover and find that I was sentenced to whatever you'll do to me if I can't prove my innocence."
He scratched his ear. What was it he knew that could... Aha! "The note! Did Hana have a note on her? She was lured out by a note that said the elders needed her for a send-off ceremony. I thought it was odd to send a child to deliver it, but I don't know your ways, so I didn't think anything more of it."
Kai frowned. "There was no note," she replied slowly, eyeing him calculatingly. "She had nothing on her but her clothes and a blank scroll. You say a child delivered this summons? Who? What did they look like?"
Blank? Fuck. Storming illusion magic.
"A boy with unusual red hair. But if the note was an illusion, I'm sure he was too." He sighed. This wasn't looking good. There had to be something. Think, you stupid gnoll!
Kai's frowned deepened. "There are no children with red hair in the village," she murmured. "Not currently--and that sort of detailed illusion work is widely considered to be the domain of a nine-tailed kitsune. Hoshiakari is talented, but..."
She looked at him a moment longer, as though working through a puzzle. Then she nodded once and turned to her guards. "Keep an eye on him," she murmured, "but the door need not remain open." Glancing back at Thrax, she added after a moment, "We will keep you informed of Hanako's condition, if possible.
The small concession to his privacy told Thrax that something had occurred to the elder that could clear up this mess. He nodded to her gratefully. "Thank you, Elder Kai. I... She means a lot to me."
Kai held his eyes for a moment, then nodded and left. There was soft conversation outside, then the sound of footsteps retreating.
Later in the day--much later, nearing dusk--a guard rapped lightly on the door before opening it to inform Thrax that the elders had decided there would be a formal trial in the main villa the following morning.
The guard--Kiba, as it happened, the same guard who had let them into the village, and the first to respond to the incident that morning--added quietly, "Elder Kai wanted me to tell you that there's been no change with Mistress Hanako. The healers have done all they can; we can only wait now."
"Thank you." Thrax sighed sadly, voice full of worry for his friend.
"Is there anything I should know about this trial?" he asked. "I don't know your ways."
Kiba hesitated for a moment, then huffed and said, "There is an...artefact. It is rarely used, but... As our people are well known for our illusion magic, misdirection, it can be used to...cut through the artifice. It forces the truth. If you truly are innocent, you need fear nothing." He paused again, then added quietly, "It is how Hoshiakari was first convicted of the murder of her sister."
Thrax, visibly relieved by the development, sighed heavily. "Oh, thank the Storm. Hoshiakari stabbed herself for nothing."
"I don't know how she thought she'd get away with this if you have something like that."
Kiba lowered his eyes slightly. "I...believe you," he muttered, directing his words to the floor. "For what it's worth."
He seemed to hesitate, then added quietly, "But be careful. Hoshiakari knows how a trial works here. If she planned this...she would have taken that into account." Another moment of quiet, then he dipped his head slightly and began to back out of the doorway. "Get some rest."
Thrax tried, but he barely slept a wink. He just couldn't stop worrying, though less about his fate and more about Hana, who was hanging on by a thread. The bard wasn't ready to admit to himself just yet that she was more than a friend to him, but it was getting difficult not to.
The next morning, he was quiet as the guards led him back into the chamber where the elders had delivered their verdict just two days before. He met the eyes of his accuser with restrained anger, vowing to himself that he wouldn't exact vengeance on her because Hana had fought so hard to stop him from following that road. He owed it to her to fight that instinct.
Once again, the three elders were arrayed on the small platform in the meeting room. Both Thrax and Hoshiakari were instructed to kneel in front of them, both with their hands bound. The kistune had a bandaged wrapped around her side, but seemed to be doing remarkably well considering she'd been stab.
"You both know why you are here," Akira told them quietly. "I see no reason to stand on ceremony and read you charges—our scribe had them recorded, thought, if you would like to view them."
They gestured to a younger kitsune sitting just to the left of the platform with ink, quill, and parchment in front of her.
Hoshiakari shook her head. "I understand what I am accused of, elders."
"As do I," Thrax responded with a nod.
He glanced over at Hoshiakari's bandage. Honestly, if he had stabbed her, she'd be dead. Even an apprentice gnoll shaman knows how to cause a fatal wound. But it probably wouldn't help his case to point out the violent tendencies of his people.
Akira nodded. "Then we shall proceed."
Then looked to Jiro, who reached into his robe and produced a small, inconspicuous wooden box. Placing the box on the platform in front of it, he flicked it open to reveal a rather large pearl with a vaguely pink sheen.
Apart from its size, it seemed fairly unremarkable. Jiro looked to Hoshiakari. "You are aware of this artifact."
She nodded.
He looked to Thrax and explained. "When its protective casing is open, only the truth may be spoken within one hundred feet of this pearl. If you understand and agree to move forward with the process, we will begin questioning."
"I understand and have nothing to hide. Ask away." Thrax answered with a nod. He didn't know what her plan to fool to artifact was, but he could rely on his story being supported all the same. She wouldn't win, not unless... surely none of the elders were helping he.
Jiro nodded. "We'll begin with you, then, Master Thrax. As you both know, Mistress Hanako was violently attacked yesterday. The two of you are the only witnesses to the attack, and each has accused the other. Can you tell us what you saw?"
Hoshiakari had her head bowed, and she closed her eyes when Jiro spoke, as though his words were painful to hear.
Thrax repeated the events as he had explained them to Kai: the note that turned up blank, the boy that didn't exist, the shout, finding Hoshiakari using his knife to attack Hana, giving chase, and Hoshiakari wounding herself to cast suspicion on him.
Kai would be able to note that his version of events hadn't changed aside from incorporating new information she had given him.
While he spoke, the elders listened, though none of them gave much outward sign of reaction. Hoshiakari was silent and stoic as well.
"Thank you." Kai dipped her head to him when he'd finished, then looked to the other kitsune. "And you?"
"I was trying to save her." She looked from one elder's face to the next. "What use would I have for killing my last remaining blood relative? It is not as though her death would reverse my exile. What motive would I have?"
Kai narrowed her eyes slightly. "You had no motive to kill Tsukihana, other than your own blind hatred."
Hoshiakari looked down. "That was a long time ago. If I could go back and change what I did that day, I would."
It had to be truth, if what the elders said about the pearl was accurate.
"I wanted to save my niece," she repeated quietly. "I had no reason to kill her. But the gnoll would."
Akira frowned, looking to Thrax. "Do you know what she means by that?"
"She's implying that we had a lovers' spat and I attacked her out of anger. Neither of these happened," Thrax answered.
Jiro raised a brow. "Are you? Lovers with Mistress Hanako, I mean."
The bard sighed. "We have been. Possibly more, but we aren't sure ourselves. So anything Hoshiakari believes is just that: her belief. Perhaps ask her what she means by 'save'."
"I heard you," Hoshiakari said evenly, staring at him. "Hanako said she may choose to stay in the village, someday. You told her you would prefer to stay with her. Do you deny that?"
"You are not asking the questions here," Akira said, perhaps a tad more sharply than they had been speaking before. Then they sighed and looked to Thrax. "We have more questions for Hoshiakari. The point you raise is noted. For completeness of record: do you deny such a conversation occurred between yourself and Hanako?"
"I do not. But a choice she might eventually make is no reason for me to harm her," Thrax answered. "As far as I know, she was still planning on us leaving together."
Akira nodded, turning to Hoshiakari. "Similarly, please tell us what you mean by 'save'? Be specific."
"I only wanted to do what I should have done for all of Tsukihana's children," she answered quickly. "Yes, I admit I drew Hanako from her lodging with the illusion and the message, but I knew she wouldn't agree to see me if I simply asked. I accept my exile, but I wished to do what I could to save her."
"How?"
"A ritual," she replied. "A way to ensure her kitsune half was dominant. If the bard had not stopped me, I could have ensured its success."
Akira frowned. "We...are unaware that any such ritual exists. And Master Thrax has stated that you stabbed yourself. How do you explain that?"
She shrugged. "It is easy to twist the truth—we know this. If my hand were on the blade when it entered my body, I could have been said to stab myself. Even if another hand were in the blade as well."
"I told you what I saw. And my hand was not anywhere close to the dagger when it entered Hanako or Hoshiakari," Thrax answered without any evasion.
"Please note the way she avoids answering directly. She speaks in what-ifs to trick your artifact," he added.
Turning to her, he continued speaking out of turn. "And what right does anyone have to change what someone else is at their core just to suit their own needs, let alone put that person's life at risk to do so?"
"How long will she live as she is now?" Hana's aunt demanded. "Ten decades, if she's lucky? Our kind measure time in centuries." She looked to the elders. "I would not risk the punishment I would be due were it not to aid her. Her kitsune half must be dominant—it is all that is left of Tsukihana."
Kai looked at her in mild horror. "And if she dies? If your professed ritual kills her?"
Hoshiakari shrugged. "Then she is another dead human. One of many, and of no concern to the council."
"Why attempt to blame Master Thrax for your actions? From his perspective, you were trying to murder Mistress Hanako, someone he cares for. I'm not convinced that, if he did attack you in retaliation, it wouldn't be justified," Jiro replied, disgusted by how little Hoshiakari seemed to value life that wasn't kitsune.
"I am already exiled," Hoshiakari answered evenly. "I wished no further punishment. Barred from my home all but one night a year is more than I could hope for; can you blame me for not wishing to risk it?"
Kai shook her head slowly. "If we could prove you intended to kill that young woman," she whispered, "given your past transgressions, exile would be the least of your worries."
She stared a moment longer, then sighed and looked to Thrax. "But she speaks her truth in this room. We cannot prove murderous intent. We...may have no choice but to rule this case an accident."
"An accident!" Thrax blurted out.
"Sorry," he amended, "But she needs to explain how stabbing Hana twice is any kind of magic ritual. I saw no preparation, heard no incantations, and noticed no signs of any spell powerful enough to erase half of someone."
"Intent to kill or not, she was perfectly willing to let Hana die to achieve her ends."
Kai sighed heavily. "Yes. That is plain. But unfortunately, by our own law, without hard proof of intent...it is the result that we must pass judgement by. We—"
The door behind them slid open, and one of the guards—Kiba, again—strode in and gave a hurried bow. "Elders, forgive me, but..."
He looked to Thrax, then away quickly. "The healers sent word. If—if he has been ruled innocent, Master Thrax may...wish to say goodbye."
All three of the elders stiffened. Kai raised a hand to her mouth, eyes wide. Akira clenched their eyes shut, mouth tight.
Jiro swallowed. "Thraxion has been found innocent by the council," he murmured. "He may attend Miss Hanako."
Any further argument left Thrax as his chest grew tight. It felt like his heart was being torn in two. It felt like he would die in any meaningful sense of the word. He shot to his feet and ran to Kiba's side, impatient to be taken to Hana.
He glanced back at Hoshiakari one more time. "If she dies, may your gods strike you down gently, for mine won't be so kind."
Kiba took his arm, hurrying him from the room before Hoshiakari had a chance to respond.
"I'm sorry," he muttered as he led Thrax from the building. "The healers have done everything they could..."
The healers' house was closer to the villa than most of the rest of the village; it didn't take them long to arrive at the door, where Kiba knocked quickly.
An older woman—though seemingly not an "elder" as Kai was—answered. Her expression was stoic. "You're here to see the girl?"
Thrax nodded, all but forcing his way inside. He rushed to Hana's bedside, and his breath caught in his throat. It couldn't end like this.
He took her hand and gently squeezed. "Why..." His voice trembled. "Why hasn't she woken up?"
The healer shook her head sadly. "I cannot say. Sometimes the body fights, but...is simply not up to the task." She bowed her head. "She's half human, the resilience of our kind is lesser in her. The wounds were deep. She lost a lot of blood. She's lucky she's held on as long as she has."
She sounded regretful, but quite certain that Hana was not going to wake up again.
She gave Kiba a look and a nod toward the door, and the guard quickly backed out. Looking to Thrax, the healer murmured, "I am sorry, but she's fading fast. I...thought you should be permitted time with her."
In Thrax's hand, Hana's fingers gave a minute twitch.
Thrax's eyes shot wide as a surge of hope passed through him. He turned to Kiba , a determined look on his face. "Kiba! Wait!"
To the healer: "You've done everything you can, but I haven't done everything I can."
To Kiba: "I have a few spells I can try, but I need my instrument to cast them. You can store it away again when I'm done. Okay?"
Kiba's eyes widened, but he nodded quickly and hurried away. The healer frowned, though she seemed more confused than angered.
"What can your weapon do?" she asked. "I...mean no disrespect, but it does not strike me as an implement of healing." She paused, then continued with the cautious gentleness of someone who had had similar conversations before, "I understand how painful letting go can be. But you may regret it if you do not take your chance to say goodbye."
"Stormsong's true power lies in its strings, not its edge," Thrax answered.
But he took her advice and turned back to Hana. "I'm going to try to save you, but--" His voice became gentle, cracking from sadness. "But if it doesn't work, I--I want you to know that I... I love you."
He squeezed her hand again and leaned down to kiss her forehead.
The healer turned to busy herself with something else, doing her best to give them a moment alone as they waited for Kiba to return with Stormsong.
Hana simply lay there, breathing labored; but her fingers twitched in his hand again, the faintest sign of a reaction.
It took longer than perhaps any of them would have liked for Kiba to return, but he was panting lightly when he did, which proved he'd been running.
"Here." He held the ax out to Thrax. "We only have a few minutes. They--they didn't want to hand it over, so I sort of...took it."
"Thanks. I owe you one." Thrax took his axe and wasted no time in turning it around to hold as a lute.
The bard stepped back a little to give himself room. He strummed the chord off his energizing spellsong, hoping to give her natural healing the energy it wasn't getting from Hana herself.
He then transitioned into a song that somehow evoked the very specific image of a ray of light breaking through the clouds of a dying storm, causing a rainbow to appear. For the first time in his life, he understood what his master meant by playing from a place of purest love. With that in his heart, the spell worked, casting a rainbow over Hana and adding its own healing energy to her own.
Both the healer and Kiba stepped back to give him room. They watched as he played, as the magic flowed from his song to coat Hana in light.
On the sickbed, Hana's breathing seemed to ease, just a little. The healer suddenly rushed forward, taking her wrist to check her pulse.
"I—I think it's working," she murmured. "She seems stronger—Kiba, run and fetch some broth. If we can get her to eat something, it will give her body strength."
She looked at Thrax and shook her head slowly. "I don't know how you did it—and I don't want to raise your hopes too high...but I think she's starting to pull through."
"I'll keep playing for as long as I can," Thrax said resolutely, "but you and Kiba will have to keep the other guards from trying to confiscate my instrument. It's the only hope she has."
With every note, he focused on how he felt about Hana, how he truly, honestly felt. He couldn't afford to lie to himself any longer, and neither could she. The bard couldn't bear to lose anyone else he loved. He didn't know when it happened, but he loved her more than anything.
"They can try." The healer rose and crossed to her door just as the other guards arrived. She spoke sharply to them in Thanati, a brief argument ensued-into which Kiba seemed to be drawn—but they stood down as the situation was apparently explained to them.
All the while, color slowly began to return to Hana's skin. Her breathing evened, and the faint line between her brows smoothed out.
"They're getting the elders," Kiba said softly from just behind Thrax.
Thrax nodded; being less rushed would help his spell be as effective as possible. All he could do now was keep playing. It was up to the gods now if she lived or died.
"How are her wounds looking?" he asked. "The sooner they close, the sooner her body can focus on fighting whatever Hoshiakari did to attack the human part of her."
The healer's head snapped up. "The human part? Why would—"
Her eyes widened. "Fireberry."
She suddenly ran from the room. Kiba shot Thrax a startled look, but peer at Hana and relayed uncertainly, "I—I think they're starting to close..."
Thrax breathed a sigh of relief. "That's great news."
"But what's fireberry?" he asked worriedly. "A poison?"
Kiba shook his head, bemused. "It's...it's just a native vine. We put it in wine, sometimes..."
"Kitsune do." The healer had returned, crossing swiftly to Hana's bedside. "But in large doses, it is toxic to humans. If it was introduced to her system through the bloodstream, her body would have no strength to heal itself from her wounds while it fought off the poison."
"Do you know of an antidote?" Thrax asked, "Or will my song just have to help her fight it? You have no reason to have such a thing on hand."
He frowned, but let go of his anger to keep the spell going. "Curse Hoshiakari and her insane idea that she could kill just her human side. She may be a talented illusion caster, but she knows not of what she speaks."
The healer shook her head, frowning. "I don't, but I can give her a general antitoxin. It should help, even just a little..."
She snapped her head up again when he cursed Hoshiakari, eyes narrowed. "What made her think such a thing was even possible?" She held up a hand. "No. Never mind. I don't care. Keep playing," she said firmly to Thrax.
"I still think she was using some kind of loophole to lie in spite of the Pearl," he said, "Or, at least, not tell the whole truth. Because she's too clever to be that stu--"
He stopped talking suddenly, focusing on Hana's eyes. "It could be wishful thinking, but I swear I saw her eyelids move."
"Her pulse is steady." The healer smiled, just a bit, and her shoulders relaxed fractionally. "Her strength is returning. I can't say when she'll wake—but I think she's going to, now."
And just in time; the guards had returned with Elder Akira and Elder Kai in tow. Kiba swallowed nervously.
"I'm going to keep playing until I get tired, if you don't mind," Thrax replied just before the elders arrived.
Looking in their direction he gave the elders an apologetic smile. "Please don't punish Kiba; it was the only way to save Hanako. And it's working. We even found out why she wasn't recovering. Hoshiakari used fireberry on the knife."
Kai looked to the healer, and there was a rapid exchange in Thanati before the elder sighed, nodded, and gestured to dismiss the other guards.
"Kiba's fate is not our most urgent predicament," Kai murmured, giving the younger kitsune a hard look. "Though it certainly will be discussed. Master Thraxion, how fares her recovery?"
The healer answered in his stead, "She's stable. Thrax wants to keep playing, but...at this point, I am confident she will make a full recovery, even without magic." Glancing at Thrax, she added, "Though the magic will certainly speed the process."
"Then I'll rest while we talk. I can only divide my attention so much." Thrax stopped playing and let Stormsong rest at the bedside. He took a slow breath and slowly let it out. Casting for that long was taxing.
"I hope you reserve Hoshiakari's judgment until after Hanako recovers. The word of the victim should be quite illuminating."
"I'll get you some ginger tea," the healer said briskly as she stood. "Kai, help me?"
Kai nodded and entered the room, leaving Akira and Kiba in the doorway.
"Hoshiakari has been taken back to her holding cell," the elder informed Thrax evenly. "You're right; the testimony of the victim of the attack will speak volumes."
Thrax sighed. "I'll just be glad Hana's okay; nailing Hoshiakari to the wall will just be a bonus."
His expression became one of gratitude. "I have to say, I was getting seriously worried until I heard about the pearl of truth. I know how bad it looked for me on the surface."
"I will not deny, the evidence boded ill for you," Akira acknowledged. "Though I like to think the council suspected Hoshiakari would do all she could to avoid giving us truth." They sighed. "As she has ever done."
"I'm..." Thrax began, hesitating, "sorry we didn't tell you we were involved, even casually. Considering what happened to her mother, we were worried how it might look."
Kai, reentering the room with the healer, winced at that. "Yes," she murmured, placing a cup of strongly scented ginger tea into the bard's hands, "I can understand how you may feel that way."
Akira looked away, mouth pulled down at the corners. "We...we have regretted for many years how Tsukihana was exiled. It was a decision made in fear; we trusted her, but not her chosen mate. We worried even with the best of intentions, their coupling may reveal the location of our village to those who would wish us harm." They sighed and tugged absently at the cuff of their long-sleeved robe. "Ironically, we had been discussing the best way to contact the mainland and offer a rescinding of her exile when...when we heard what had happened to her family."
Thrax accepted the cup with thanks and took a sip to calm his anxiety over Hana's near death. "I'm not the one you need to tell that. I think it would do her heart good to know you saw the error of your decision."
"I hope she wakes soon so I can tell her just how much I care about her." He sighed. "Even I didn't know how much until I thought I would lose her."
Kai gave him a sympathetic look and nodded. Akira turned their attention to the healer. "Do you require additional assistance?"
The old woman shook her head. "No. She just needs rest, now."
Akira nodded. "Then we should be going, give you some space. Kiba--"
"If--if it's alright, Elder, I would...like to be stationed here. Until Mistress Hanako wakes up," the guard mumbled. Eye on the floor, he added, "I understand I broke my post, and I will accept whatever punishment the council sees fit. If I could just...?"
"Of course." Kai patted his shoulder before leaving with Akira. To the healer, she added, "Send us word when she wakes."
Thrax spent the following grueling hours alternating between performing the healing song and resting. The healer had to nag him into submission each time he took a break. Eventually, he fell asleep in a chair by the bed, thoroughly exhausted, almost to the point of mana strain after nearly constant spellwork.
Hana woke slowly, and fuzzily. She remembered...pain. She'd been hurt, somehow? And Thrax...Thrax had called for her, or spoken to her, or... No, but she had told him...told him...
Gasping, she suddenly tried to sit up as memory returned in a rush. "Oh gods--Thrax!"
Thrax stirred. "Nn... you get it this time, Hana..."
"Hana!" He snapped awake and jumped to his feet. Looking at her with tremendous relief. "You're awake!"
"She's awake!" he called out.
He took her hand and squeezed. "It's okay. I'm here." He sniffed back happy tears.
"Thrax." She squeezed his hand back, reaching up with her other hand to cup his face gently, a relieved smile curving her lips. "I didn't know if--she had your knife, I thought they might--"
She tried to lean forward, then stopped herself with a hiss of pain as her sore abdomen protested. Thrax's healing song had done wonders for her wounds, but there was still a steady thrum of pain from where she'd been stabbed.
"They did think I did it, but they found me innocent. I'm okay." The bard smiled softly.
"Please don't try to move. You still have healing to do, but you're going to be just fine," he explained.
His voice grew sad but relieved. "We... almost lost you. The knife was poisoned with something they didn't think to check for because it only affects humans."
Hana sighed and leaned back into her pillows. "Of course it was," she muttered, frowning at the ceiling.
Wait--he had been accused, but he'd been found innocent? Already?
"How--how long was I out?" she asked, trying to sit up again before admitting defeat on that front and slumping back onto the cot.
"A couple of days. They have an artifact that forces you to speak only truth, as you believe it," he answered, "so the trail was quick. Mine anyway; Hoshiakari's was put on hold once you started to recover. When you're well enough, the elders would like to hear what happened from your perspective. Hoshiakari's truth is vague and misleading."
"Oh. Good." She frowned again, shifting to try to make herself comfortable. With a sigh, she murmured, "I suppose that means I have to talk to the elders..."
She let her head tilt on the pillow to better look at him, frown turning concerned. "Are you alright?" she asked quietly.
"I am now." He smiled tiredly, still holding her hand. "I'm just tired. I strained my magic too much doing whatever I could to help you heal."
"I've never been so scared," he added, pulling his chair up and sitting down to not loom over her so much.
Her mouth tightened at the corners and she squeezed his hand lightly. "I'm sorry," she murmured. "I should've known it was a trick. I should never have let her get the jump on me like that."
She tipped her head a little more toward him when he sat beside the cot. "I didn't know Stormsong could heal," she noted with a tired smile. "...Thank you."
"It can strengthen natural healing, yeah," Thrax answered with a smile and a nod. "I hadn't ever gotten the song to work before. I couldn't ever get the emotional component right."
He winced. While he wanted her to know how he felt about her, he was afraid to say it now that she could hear it. What if she didn't feel the same?
"Awww." Hana smiled crookedly, though the expression was a little wan. "See? I knew you had a gooey center."
She reached out to take his hand again, just holding it for a moment. The contact was comforting—maybe for both of them. It sounded like she'd really given him a scare, something that she felt oddly guilty about.
Thrax gathered his courage to tell her how he feels. "Hana... I..."
The healer entered at just the wrong moment. "Apologies for not coming faster. You caught me sleeping." She came closer to examine her patient. "How are you feeling, Mistress Hanako?"
"Better than I have any right to, by all accounts," Hana replied with a small smile for the healer. Her eyes flickered toward Thrax, though, a slightly puzzled frown on her face. He'd been so serious, about to tell her something...
Though, she supposed he had every reason to be serious. If he had nearly died, she—she...
Gods. She didn't know what she'd do.
The healer checked her pulse and felt her forehead, nodding in satisfaction. "You're recovering nicely. Are you feeling any pain?"
Thrax was mildly annoyed by the healer's timing. He had been so close, and now the moment was lost. Who knew when he'd get it back?
"I'm sore," Hana replied with a small shrug. "But other than that, I think I'm fine. Which is pretty miraculous, I guess."
She hesitated, then asked slowly, "Thrax said that my—my aunt's trial was postponed; do you think they need me to speak with the council soon?"
"You just focus on healing. The elders can wait until you can walk," she answered.
She glanced at Thrax, telling him with just a look not to let Hana push herself. "You have your big friend to thank for that miracle. If it wasn't for his decisive action, you wouldn't have made it."
"Yeah?" Hana tilted her head to smile at him again, her vulpine ears giving a little flicker in his direction. "I'm not surprised; he's good at saving my tail. Well, tails," she amended with a chuckle, flicking one.
She suddenly paused, then jolted upright, despite the pang of pain that echoed through her. "What the—?!"
She looked back over her shoulder and her jaw dropped. One, two, three...yup. Four.
Four tails.
Thrax followed her eyes, and his eyes widened. "Whoah... That's... new..."
He slowly grinned excitedly. "Congratulations! That means you're stronger now, right?"
The healer chuckled; clearly, this was something she'd observed with plenty of younger kitsune over the years. "In a sense. We typically acquire new tails by overcoming trials in our lives. Sometimes that means an increase in our abilities—sometimes it is a strengthening of character."
With her examination of Hana done, she patted Hana's hand and stood. "Try to get some more rest, it is not yet dawn." She gave Thrax a meaningful look—don't let her strain herself—before leaving.
Hana was still gaping at her own backside. "That...is gonna take some getting used to," she muttered.
"I can't even imagine how weird that must feel," he said distractedly. Now that they were alone again, he couldn't stop thinking about what he had been about to say.
"I... should let you get back to sleep. Anything else can wait." He smiled warmly.
"Mm. Yeah. Weird—wait." She looked up, frowning at him. "Anything else? What's wrong?"
Her frown deepened and she reached out to touch his arm. "Thrax, if something else happened, you can tell me," she urged quietly. "Are you alright? Did—did she hurt you?"
Thrax's eyes widened, shocked by her conclusion. "No! No, I'm fine, I just--I..."
He looked her in the eyes with an expression equal parts anxiety and affection. The bard wanted so desperately to tell her how he felt. But he was terrified of putting himself out there like that.
"Thrax...?" Something in his expression made her mouth go dry. Forcing herself to laugh lightly, she urged, "Whatever it is, just say it. The suspense is killing me over here."
She winced, realizing that might not be quite so funny what with her recent brush with death and all. "Errrr, figuratively."
"Hana... I--the reason the song worked when it never did before..." Thrax hesitated again, his own mouth dry. "It's because, for the first time in a long time, I know the feeling it requires."
"Because..." he gulped, "More than anything I've ever known... I love you."
For a long, quiet moment, she just stared at him.
Then she started to smile, reaching over to cup his cheek and pull him into her. "What did I tell ya?" she teased quietly. "Gooey center."
She let their brows rest against each other and nuzzled her nose to his gently. "I—I'm not sure I really know what love is," she admitted softly. "But damn if whatever I feel with you isn't it."
Thrax's heart soared at her response and he grinned happily, his tail wagging like a dog. He nuzzled her back with a happy "You mean it?" He smiled. "You really do?"
"Yes," Hana laughed, "yes, I mean it."
She tilted her head to kiss him, her own tails swishing back and forth across the cot behind her. When she broke away, she laughed again, feeling a little giddy.
"Oh gods. River and Kah are never letting us live this down."
"No. No, they are not," Thrax laughed.
He leaned over to kiss her one more time. "We can talk about this more after you sleep some more. The healer will have my hide if I keep you awake any longer."
"Uhg, fine." Hana pouted dramatically, but settled back onto the cot. "For the sake of your hide, I will comply."
She smiled at him and reached out to squeeze his hand gently. "You get some rest too, yeah? Promise." She narrowed her eyes. "No staying up worrying. You did a lot of magic today."
"I promise." He smiled reassuringly, squeezing her hand in return. "Besides, I don't have anything else to worry about."
In the late afternoon of the following day, Hana was well enough to leave the healer's care. This meant that the trial of Hoshiakari could resume. When everyone required was gathered, Akira turned to Hana.
"I speak for all of us when I say we are glad you are well." They smiled.
Hana smiled back, though her body language was stiff and tense. She clearly didn't enjoy being in the same room as her aunt, even in the context of a trial.
"Thank you." She dipped her head politely to the elders.
"Perhaps we should move this along quickly," Jiro noted. "She may be mostly recovered, but Mistress Hanako will still require a good deal of rest."
"Yes." Akira cleared their throat. "Mistress Hanako, please tell us what transpired when you were attacked."
Thrax gave Hana's hand a supportive squeeze. He knew this was hard for her.
Hana took a breath, looking at Thrax and squeezing his hand back before she began to explain what had happened. The false summons, her aunt's illusion, realizing that she'd been stabbed with Thrax's knife...
Through it all, Hoshiakari sat in silence, head bowed toward the floor.
When she was done, the elders exchanged a look amongst themselves. Then Kai looked to the fox on trial.
"Have you anything to say for yourself?"
Hoshiakari shook her head. "Only what I have said before."
"Did Hoshiakari say anything to you?" Akira asked Hana.
"Yes." Hana swallowed. "Something about the--the last of the half-breeds being gone."
"Yes, gone," Hoshiakari suddenly spoke up. "Not dead."
"You--!"
Hana started to get to her feet, then caught herself. Without thinking, she reached back to grab for Thrax's hand again as she sank back down, holding tight.
Thrax cleared his throat. "If I may speak?"
The elders nodded, and he continued. "Hoshiakari. This 'ritual' you speak of... What would have been your next steps had I not interrupted? Such a spell would be much more complicated than poisoning her human half with fireberry."
Hoshiakari stared at him evenly, but there was clear anger in her eyes. "There are a variety of steps that could have been taken," she replied eventually, "but all of them required Hanako's human half to die. Which it has not."
Hana bared her teeth at her, then looked to the elders. "You can't seriously be buying this?"
Akira gave Hoshiakari a hard stare. "No, I do not believe we are "buying this"."
Jiro nodded and faced Hoshiakari. "You haven't answered the question. Describe these step... without assuming that only you are clever enough to understand them."
It was Thrax's turn to give Hoshiakari a smug look.
Hana's aunt stared at the council in silence for several long moments. Then she scoffed and looked away, expression disdainful.
"You know well I could talk circles around that pearl as long as you like," she sniffed, with the air of someone who was mildly inconvenienced instead of on trial for attempted murder. "But I see you have already accepted that this...this mistake is worth more alive in her present state than any attempt I might have made to create something acceptable from her presence."
Hana's ears pressed back flat to her head and she growled, baring her teeth.
"Enough." Kai was glaring at Hoshiakari. "Mistress Hanako, you need not stay here and listen to her any longer. We have enough evidence to rule that your aunt's attack was done with murderous intent."
"The only mistake in this room is your continued existence," Thrax snarled. It was all he could do to not charge over to Hoshiakari and tear her spiteful tongue out.
He turned to Hana. "Elder Kai is right; you don't need to hear any more of your aunt's poison."
Swallowing back a poisonous retort of her own--or possibly just a wordless scream--Hana nodded sharply and stood. She tried to nod to the elders politely, but wasn't sure she managed much more than a jerky movement in their general direction before she all but fled the villa.
Once she was outside she paused, closing her eyes and taking deep gulps of air in an effort to get ahold of herself.
Thrax followed her out, glad to be away for Hoshiakari before he did something he would regret. He couldn't stand to hear anyone talk that way about the woman he loved. The bard paused briefly to marvel at the feeling before hugging her to his broad chest.
"It's going to be okay," he assured gently. "She's going to finally face justice."
"Is she?" Hana looked back at him over her shoulder, ruby eyes shining with some combination of anger and unshed tears. "What's one more attempted murder, huh? Not like it would have matter, she was just after a half-breed."
She swallowed thickly and bit her lip, struggling to hold onto the anger as the tears tried to make themselves dominant.
"I've talked to the elders. Hoshiakari is alone in that opinion." Thrax turned her around so she could bury her head against his chest. "I know anger is easier, but you don't need to hold your tears in anymore."
"I'm not--I'm...I..."
The simple way he knew exactly what she needed--because he wasn't just a fling or a passing companion, he was her friend above it all--broke her. Her arms went around him and she pressed her face into his chest, her whole body shuddering as she started to sob.
She couldn't even speak; what felt like a thousand emotions were tumbling around in her chest and just came spilling out. If she'd had any brain space to spare for it, she would have been relieved that the village was especially quiet this time of day, and no one was around to see her dissolving into a puddle of tears in the middle of a walkway.
Thrax simply held her close as her tears soaked into his shirt and the fur underneath. It hurt him to see her cry, but he knew she would feel better afterward. The best I could do was be her shoulder to cry on.
He stroked her back gently. It probably looked strange due to their sheer difference in size, but he didn't care. Right then he was all "gooey center."
Hana genuinely wasn't sure how long it took for the tears to slow, and then finally stop. Long enough that a small corner of her brain was surprised Thrax had held her the whole time--she somehow still wasn't used to the idea of someone just being there for her.
She took one shaky breath that wasn't followed by a sob, then another. Sniffling, she pulled back slightly and wiped at her eyes. "S-sorry," she mumbled, eyes slightly downcast. She plucked at his shirt. "I, um, think I got you damp..."
"It's fine, really." Thrax chuckled softly, smirking. "I could use a bath anyway."
He gently lifted her chin. "Do you feel any better?"
Hana sniffed again, then gave him a watery chuckle and a dry look. "I can think of plenty more pleasant ways to get a bath," she huffed, lips just slightly curved on one side.
When he asked if she was feeling better, she sighed and let her head drop forward onto his chest again. "Maybe?" she mumbled, voice further muffled by his shirt. "I just...I've spent the better part of twenty years trying not to think about—or feel—any of this stuff and now I just..."
She sighed slowly. "I can't escape it..."
"I know how you feel," he said understandingly, "maybe not for as long, but I know what it's like to swallow your pain. Eventually it's too much and it comes out in a flood."
"Or, yanno, a demon latches onto it." He smiled crookedly.
She huffed a quiet laugh and nuzzled her nose against his chest, breathing in the familiar scent of him--she didn't even know when that scent had become a comfort for her, only that it was.
"Yeah. I'll try to stay away from possessed weapons for the near future," she chuckled wetly, finally pulling back and swiping at her eyes. She took a breath. "I guess...I dunno, we should get some distance? I don't know if I really wanna be here when--when they're done with her."
"You don't want to know what they decide to do with her?" Thrax asked. He would want to see the punishment happen, so he didn't quite get why she wouldn't. But, he reminded himself, he wasn't the one who was wronged. He just hated Hoshiakari for what she did.
"I..." She sighed and ran her fingers back through her hair. "I do, but...honestly I'm—I'm worried they'll just send her back into exile. And I don't...I don't think I'm a forgiving enough person to watch that happen," she admitted quietly, frowning down at her feet.
"Somehow I don't see that happening. That would just allow her to come after you," Thrax said, stroking her back gently. "But if you want to head back to the guest house or even leave altogether, I'll follow your lead."
"And if that is what they do, I'll help you do whatever you need to."
She leaned back into his touch for a moment, eyes closed; then she gave herself a little shake and nodded. "Yeah, I think...maybe heading back to the guest house for a bit. Guess we'll need to pack up and whatnot, if we'll be leaving soon."
"Then let's go." Thrax smiled.
Alone together for the first time since his declaration of love, the bard was unsure how to act. Obviously, they still needed to figure out their dynamic before getting physical again if he found it that hard. Though, it wasn't like he had any practical experience with romance.
"This shouldn't be so weird..." he muttered.
"This?" Hana repeated, looking at him with a vaguely confused frown. For a few moments, she was genuinely confused.
Then her brain caught up with what he was saying and she flushed. "Ah. Right. This..."
She glanced down, biting her lower lip lightly. "Yeah, I...huh. I...don't really know what to say," she chuckled nervously, ears flicking back and forth.
"I thought we'd just act like we always have, because that's the you I fell for. But--" Thrax sighed. "I guess it doesn't work that way."
He chuckled nervously. "Do you think Kah and River ever didn't know what to say to each other? Or did they just snap together as easily as they make it look?"
"We should ask," Hana chuckled, giving him a small smile. Exhaling gently, she leaned back on her palms and let her head lull back. "I mean...are things different? It's so weird to think about, it's like...we must have felt this way for a while, right? Why does saying it feel like such a change?"
"Yeah!" he agreed enthusiastically. "We just didn't want to admit it to ourselves. At least... I didn't. Why should knowing it's mutual change anything?"
"And why should we compare ourselves to those two? Is that the kind of couple we want to be?" He chuckled, "I hardly think so."
"Exactly." She gave him a crooked grin, then let herself flop sideways to sprawl half over his lap. "Wait wait, I bet I can do the sappy face River does when she forgets there are other people in the room."
She cleared her throat theatrically, then let her ears press back as she widened her eyes slightly and tilted her head at him with a small, soft smile. She could only hold it for a moment or two before snorting and letting her tails—all four—swish back and forth over the floor playfully.
Thrax laughed out loud and clapped his hands once. "Oh, Storm, that's hilarious!"
"And here's Kah." He narrowed his eyes just a little, like a cat, and smiled with warm adoration. Then he rumbled softly, deep in his chest.
Hana snorted and nearly rolled off his lap as giggles shook her shoulders. "Oh, gods."
Still chuckling, she reached up to pull him down to her—but stopped just before she touched him, suddenly unsure. The humor began to bleed from her expression. "Ahm...can I...?"
Was this okay? With things now verbalized between them, it felt...different. Casual physical affection had always been a part of their relationship, but there was a new layer to the dynamic between them now.
Thrax started to say that of course she could, but then his stupid brain reminded him of their agreement. "Well, I mean, that... depends on whether we're still, yanno, restraining ourselves. Though... I guess we never took kissing off the table."
"I...suppose that's true..." Cautiously, she reached up and let her hand come to rest on the back of his neck--not putting any real pressure on the contact, just...holding gently.
"...Kiss me?"
"As you wish." Thrax smirked and leaned down to kiss her. As before, he was a surprisingly good kisser for having such a beastly visage. Clearly, he had practice making it work.
He pulled away with a smile. "The L word definitely makes kissing better."
"Mmm..." Hana blinked and smiled lazily as he pulled away. "Y'know, I think you're right," she chuckled, eyes glinting. "But maybe we should perform another experiment. Just to be sure."
She was reaching up for him again when there was a brisk, polite knock at the door. "Mistress Hanako?" Kiba's voice came through the door. "The council would like to speak with you, if you have a moment?"
She closed her eyes and groaned. "Perfect..."
Thrax groaned, sighing with an annoyed expression. "I swear, your people have the worst timing."
"Are you up to it?" he asked, stroking her cheek.
Hana closed her eyes and leaned her cheek into his palm, but she nodded. "Yeah," she muttered, reluctantly sitting up from his lap. "Yeah, I can—I can go."
She stood, started toward the door, then paused and looked back at him. Biting her lower lip, she reached back.
"Can...you come with me?"
Thrax was already getting to his feet. "Just try stopping me," he said with a smirk as he took her hand.
The bard was nervous as they were escorted back into the hearing room to see the council. He hoped that their judgment of Hoshiakari was something Hana could accept.
When they were escorted back to the meeting room in the large villa., Hoshiakari was nowhere in sight. Hana felt her chest squeeze uncomfortably—surely they hadn't just...let her go.
"Thank you for coming," Kai said with a nod to the two of them. "We thought it...may be best to tell you the verdict we have issued for Hoshiakari in person."
Thrax laced his fingers through Hana's and gave her a sidelong look of support. He prayed the verdict was worse than exile. Much, much worse.
Akira gave them a sad smile. "The decision was easy to make. I regret that we went so easy on her before. I sincerely hope that our choice now gives you some sense of closure."
Hana swallowed and nodded, finding herself unable to speak.
"Hoshiakari has been bound," Jiro told them simply. He lifted a hand, displaying a small, round stone in his palm. It was a faint gold color, with a small hole bored through the center. "In this."
Hana blinked. "She... Bound? I don't..."
"Her spirit is locked in the stone," Kai explained. "And there it will remain."
Thrax actually winced. To be trapped in such a way, neither dead nor alive, felt worse than death to him. He wouldn't even have done that to the Poisonclaw chieftain.
"What of her body?" he asked.
"We are shapeshifters," Kai responded quietly. "With the right application of magic, the body may be hidden with the soul."
Hana blinked, then swallowed. "And she just...stays in there? Forever?"
Jiro shook his head, expression solemn. "Our kind live long--and she is not unaware, merely unable to harm others in this state. She will be given a guardian in the village, someone to care for the stone and expose her to the kindness that is meant to guide our community. In three centuries, her case will be revisited. Should she be then willing to take responsibility for her misdeeds, she will be freed."
Hana swallowed again. She took a slow breath, then bowed. "Thank you for telling me, Elders."
Thrax nodded, but was given pause by the fresh reminder that Hana would outlive him long before she grows old. "I only wish my people were as forgiving as yours. But then we don't live long enough to have centuries to reflect on our misdeeds even if we were prone to self-reflection."
"I am more the exception than the rule," he added.
"It is a risk," Kai responded, in a tone that implied the decision had not been reached easily. "Though her guardians will do their best to show her a different path, it is possible that she will simply reflect on her own pain and lust for vengeance. But we could not allow her to continue spreading violence."
Hana nodded into a bow again, eyes on the ground. She wasn't sure what to say--she honestly wasn't sure what she was feeling.
Thrax gave her hand another squeeze.
Sensing her conflict, Akira softly said, "I assure you, you are safe from her, as is anyone else that she may have wished harm. I sincerely wish we could undo the choices that led to this whole ugly situation."
"Of course. Thank you." Hana dipped her head politely, then asked a little hesitantly, "If that is all...may we go?"
Kai looked like she perhaps wanted to say something more, but Akira nodded. "Of course, you should get some rest. I am sure you are not yet fully healed."
Hanna nodded a bit, though she still seemed a bit distracted.
"Are you okay?" Thrax asked as they walked back to the guest house. She was clearly lost in thought about something.
"...Yeah," Hana murmured after a few moments. "I think so. I just..."
She sighed, ears flicking back. "I don't know. I don't know what was the right call. I don't know if she deserves this, if it's too kind, if it's too cruel, I—"
She shook her head. "I don't know..."
"I don't know either. I thought it was cruel at first, worse than death, but death doesn't come with a chance for redemption." Thrax shrugged. "So I can't say."
He linked his arm through hers and took her hand. "But at least you're safe, and she can't hurt anyone else, at least for three hundred years."
The bard sighed a little sadly. "I wish I could live that long."
Hana huffed and started to say without thinking, "Me too--"
She stopped, blinking. She hadn't grown up among her own kind, had only learned most of what she knew about kitsune in the last few years. Despite being half human, there was every chance she would live that long. But...she had never really given that much thought before.
Tobin wouldn't. Her friends wouldn't.
Thrax wouldn't.
She abruptly held his hand a little tighter and cleared her throat. "We should--we should make sure we have everything we need," she said too brightly, not quite looking at him. "Check our packs and all."
The same realization plagued his mind. Even if they stayed together all his life, it would only be a small part of hers. It was inevitable that he would leave her, one way or another.
"Y-yeah, we should do that. But maybe in the morning? It's almost dark already, and you still need to rest." He didn't look at her either.
"Oh, shit." She glanced up, realizing he was right. "Guess it is. I didn't realize how long that all took..."
She thought about arguing that she didn't need rest, but...she did, she unfortunately had to admit. "We should leave tomorrow though," she murmured as they made their way back to the guest house. "Now that Hoshiakari isn't a threat, well...I guess there's nothing really keeping us here?"
"Are you sure you've gotten all you wanted from coming here?" Thrax asked, looking her in the eyes with curiosity.
"We've been so focused on Hoshiakari that we haven't done much else."
"That's..." She huffed. "Well, I guess that's true. But I mean--"
They'd reached the guest house, and she made an expansive, helpless gesture with her hands as she bumped the door open with her hip. "I dunno what else to look for; I don't know what I was even expecting from this place, really."
"I can't tell you what to want," Thrax said as he ducked through after her. "I just don't want you to regret not connecting to your people more."
His voice grew distant. "You never know what might happen to deny you the chance."
"Oh, shit." Hana looked up at him, expression guilty. "Fuck, Thrax, I--I'm sorry, I wasn't even thinking..." She sighed and looked away. "I'm a horse's ass."
Thrax wrapped his arms around her. "No. You're not." He sighed. "I shouldn't pressure you with my baggage. Just... be sure, okay? I don't want you weighed down by words left unsaid."
Hana snuggled into the embrace, quietly reveling in how completely his arms surrounded her. "You're right though," she murmured into his chest before turning her head to lay her cheek over his heartbeat with a soft exhale. "And you aren't pressuring me—you're making a good point."
She leaned a little more firmly into the hug. "Maybe I'll...take a last walk around. Before we leave in the morning."
"Take all the time you need." Thrax kissed her forehead and sighed contentedly. "We should both get plenty of rest tonight. So, maybe a raincheck on the snuggles?"
Hana chuckled quietly and nodded as she pulled away, agreeing, "Probably a good idea." She tipped her head back to peck his cheek before separating herself entirely.
"Gods, I'm exhausted." She struggled to swallow back a yawn as she made her way toward her bedroll. "I vote for a lazy morning tomorrow."
"You never have to ask if a gnoll wants to be lazy," Thrax smirked as he walked to his bedroll. "We're notoriously happy to just take it easy. We're like cats that way."
He yawned as he lay down. "Night."
The next morning, after just lazing about for a while, they ventured out for one last look around the village...
From the relatively small amount of time they had spent in the kitsune village, Hana had been rather under the impression that folks tended to be early risers. Which was why she was more than a little surprised when they emerged from the guest house and found Kiba leaning against the wall beside the door.
"Gods!" She yelped, the fur on her tails puffing out as she jumped back.
The other fox flinched in turn and skittered back a step himself, already apologizing: "Forgive me, Miss Hanako, I didn't mean to startle you—"
"What are you doing out here?!" Hana blinked, then clearly forced herself to relax, smoothing down the fur on her tails and forcing her ears back up. "I mean, ah, I...wasn't...expecting you..."
Thrax barely restrained him from lunging at whoever had startled her. But he relaxed when he heard a familiar voice.
"Shouldn't you be on duty by now?" he asked as he followed Hana out.
"I—I am," Kiba answered Thrax's question first. "That is...I volunteered to guard your door."
Hana blinked. "But...my aunt isn't a danger anymore."
Kiba cleared his throat, glancing down. "No, she...she's not. I just—I thought maybe..."
He huffed. "My—my mother knew Tsukihana. When they were young."
Hana blinked. "Oh..."
Thrax put a hand on her shoulder. "We have plenty of time left before we leave if you want to go talk to her."
"I—" Hana looked back and forth between them, clearly unsure.
Kiba ducked his head again. "If...if you'd like to meet her, I can show you the way?"
Hana bit her lip. Then, slowly, she nodded. Without really thinking about it, she reached out to take Thrax's hand as Kiba nodded in turn and beckoned for them to follow him through the village.
"Stay with me?" she asked quietly.
"Of course," Thrax quietly answered with a smile. He would always be willing to be there for her; there wasn't a doubt in his mind.
As they walked, he asked Kiba, "Was your mother friends with Tsukihana?"
Kiba nodded slowly. "Yes. At least, that's how she speaks of her. As a friend."
Hana held Thrax's hand a little tighter, but said nothing. She felt strangely adrift, as though she wasn't quite present in the moment.
Kiba led them to one of the small houses closer to the center of the village. "I'll let here know you're here," he told them with a little nod. "Just...wait here a moment."
Hana nodded in turn as he disappeared into the house. She didn't seem to realize that her hand in Thrax's had started to tremble.
Thrax squeezed her hand and hugged it to his chest. He smiled supportively. "I know you're nervous, but it'll be okay. I know you'll do fine."
"And if somehow this goes poorly, I'll be there. I wouldn't be anywhere else."
"Good," Hana muttered, side-eyeing the door, "because you're faster than me, so if we have to make a run for it, you're carrying me."
Kiba opened the door for them a few moments later--but he paused to give Thrax an apologetic look. "Would you mind...waiting here, for her? It's nothing personal, this is just...a very emotional topic for my mother. I--I don't think she wants an audience..."
"Oh..." Hana hadn't even thought of that. She looked up at Thrax and gave him a small nod and smile. "I'll...be right back."
Thrax hadn't thought of that either. He chuckled awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck. "Well, I guess I'll be here then."
He smiled. "I'll just... chat up Kiba while you do your thing."
Hana nodded, tried for another smile, then gave his hand a quick squeeze before disappearing into the house.
Kiba hovered awkwardly in the entryway, looking from Thrax to the door and back. "Ah... She's safe. I promise," he mumbled after a few moments.
Thrax nodded in agreement. "I'm not worried." He smiled. "She's tougher than she thinks."
"So... what would you do if you didn't have to hide away here?" he asked curiously.
"Do?" Kiba blinked. "Me?" His ears flicked back and forth as he seemingly considered the question.
"I...this probably sounds very boring to you, Master Thrax," he murmured eventually, "but...I'm not sure I'd really do much different. If we didn't need such a heavy guard on our borders though...I-I think I'd like to keep a garden."
He flushed a bit as he said it, clearly admitting something that he found at least mildly embarrassing. "Maybe we could trade for more exotic plants, too..."
"Hey, I can't judge. I'm from a warrior race, and I chose to be a bard." Thrax smirked self-deprecatingly.
He chuckled a little. "Admittedly, I had to do something to survive, and it was just what made sense at the time. But it became my dream, if that makes any sense."
The guard nodded slowly. "I...think it does." He glanced at Stormsong, then asked with what had clearly been repressed curiosity, "So...it really does play music? I mean, I heard the song you used to heal Miss Hanako, but I wasn't sure how much of that was magic and how much..." He trailed off, waving his hand in a vague gesture.
Thrax grinned proudly. "Oh, my magic doesn't work that way. I have to play the song correctly to draw the magic out and also supply some of my own to guide it."
"Do you want me to play something nonmagical for you before we leave?" he asked. "It does sound a little different outside of spellcasting."
Kiba's ears perked up, though he seemed to work to keep his expression neutral. "If...it's not too much trouble, that sounds...nice," he murmured, dipping his head respectfully in Thrax's direction.
Hana was inside the house for a while longer, and when she finally re-emerged it was with Kiba's mother at her shoulder. The guard straightened up quickly when he saw the seven-tailed kitsune, but she just waved him off.
"It was lovely to meet you, dear," she told Hana, taking the younger woman's hands in hers.
Hana nodded and smiled at her. "And tou, ma'am. Thank you."
"Of course." Looking to her son, the kitsune said briskly, "You'll keep an eye out for her while she's with us, yes?"
"Of course, Mother."
Thrax smiled. "Don't worry, he's gone above and beyond for us already."
To Hana, he asked, "So, how'd it go?"
"It was..." Hana looked back at Kiba's mother with a small smile. "Nice," she murmured eventually.
Kiba and his mother were talking quickly in Thanati, and the older woman seemed to be giving him instructions of some kind. With a very quiet huff, the guard looked back to Hana and Thrax and offered, "Would you like an escort to the gate?"
"I don't see why not!" Thrax grinned. "I can play you that song I promised while we walk. Just tell me what kind you want to hear."
"You promised a song?" Hana's ears perked up a bit as she stepped down off the house's stoop.
Kiba flushed a bit and muttered something about it "not being all that important". He gave his mother a quick peck in the cheek before moving to join the other two.
Thrax laughed and slapped Kiba on the back. "Don't worry about it! I'm not one to turn down a chance to show off!"
So, as they walked in the direction of the gate, he strummed an energetic traveling song. It was like he had tamed a storm and taught it to sing. And his voice was nothing to complain about either.
Hana grinned and let her head bob from side to side as she walked along with him and listened to him play.
Kiba seemed thoroughly enraptured, and even applauded when Thrax was done. "I've never heard music like that," he enthused, ears perked. "We don't have any instruments like that. Well, some stringed instruments, but not like that."
"There's only one Stormsong." Thrax nodded with a proud grin. "And the music of my clan is a unique influence; our music tends to be loud and invigorating."
"I was trained for several years to be the one to inherit it. Took me months to stop cutting my arms on it," he explained with a chuckle, but it was a bittersweet memory.
"Well, it's lovely." Kiba smiled at them both and dipped his head.
Hana winced with a small chuckle at Thrax's comment about cutting his arms on the instrument. "Gods, I never even thought about that." she shot him a sheepish short of look. "I suppose it's not the most practical, huh?"
"It really isn't," Thrax chuckled. "It's definitely not something just anyone can pick up and learn like a normal instrument. It takes strength, a connection to lightning magic, and, not to brag, more than a little skill."
"Well, okay." The bard grinned proudly; he knew well that he was talented. "Maybe to brag a little. I worked hard to get this good with it."
"And work well spent it was," Hana chuckled, elbowing him playfully.
"Indeed." Kiba smiled and dipped his head to the bard again. "Thank you very much for the song, Master Thrax. It was quite invigorating."
They were nearing the gate, and he slowed slightly as they drew closer. "I...suppose I should bid you both farewell."
Hana cleared her throat. "Um, yeah. It—well it was...really good to meet you, Kiba." She held a hand out to him, offering with a small smile, "I'll...try to keep in touch?"
He took her hand with his own slight smile. "I think my mother would like that. And...I would too. Thank you."
Thrax suddenly pulled a surprised Kiba into a one-armed man-hug. "Thank you for believing in me. If it wasn't for you, I might not have been able to save Hana."
He released the guardsman and threaded his arm through Hana's. "Or tell you how I feel."
"Oh!" The kitsune blinked, then patted Thrax a little awkwardly on the back. "Well, ahh...you're welcome."
He seemed a little flushed, but he was smiling at them both. "I wish you both well."
Hana smiled crookedly, wrapping her hand around Thrax's forearm and leaning into his side. "You too." She looked up at the bard. "Ready?"
With a smile, Thrax looked down at the woman he loved and nodded. "Ready for anything, as long as you're with me."
With that, the pair walked out into the world closer than they had ever been.
Continued here (http://www.spiritsoftheearth.net/smf/index.php?msg=396882).