BEYOND THE GLACIERS ♦ exam

That day was like any other day in a person’s life, or at least, it should have been. Normal was a word that meant to conform to a standard; usual, typical, or expected. What was expected was far from what was given. What should have been typical was a day where the average routine was performed and completed. What was usual was… anything but this. Or was it?

No matter where one stood in the world, they would die, and before too much time passed, someone else would be born to take their place. It was only the natural cycle of the world; one that never seemed to cease, or grant anyone a break. Life and death was all around, and lingered close. The hungry fangs and stinging claws of death would press against one’s skin as its foul breath could be felt against the back of the neck, hot, smelly, and menacing. Every day was spent like this, and no person or living being questioned it, or realized how close it truly was. That is, until the claws completely would pierce the skin of their time, and the jaws would close in all around them. From there, true darkness would be discovered. Nobody could deny that there was a strange peace and beauty to it all-- a sickly grace and an elegant movement towards perfect order and of course, rest. In a way, was death not a step away from chaos, even if it did not seem as though the concept was quite so pure? At the same time, it could cause so much grief, longing, and desperation the very heartbeat that death took something out of the world. Only now, was she beginning to understand.

In the nearby vicinity, she could focus on a lizard successfully capturing a moth, and eagerly consuming it within a matter of seconds. Never could she look at the scene as so common and miniscule the same way again. In the end, death took every single thing in its path, and struck the land with tragedy. Yet… where there was death, was life not also present? Above her head, the twittering of birds had begun to sound again, and she could pick out the higher pitched and rather childish chirps of the hatchlings in their nests as they called out to their parents with hungry beaks. Before too long, the parents would eventually return, and the babies fed and nourished, and soon content, at least for the present moments. Once they grew up, they would move on, far from the nest, and keep on producing life, and thus be countering death. While these thoughts seemed to sit on the lighter side of things, but the darker knowledge still remained that one day, death would hunt the life-creating pair down too, and soon find just the right moment to close down its jaws, insert its fangs and claws into the fragility of time, and deliver that terrible sting once again. Why was she always reminded of this?

She had to kill to survive, as hunting was a necessity for any predator. As a result, she had been well trained… yet, that subject was something else entirely, and maybe something she could focus on later. As her mother rested there with her body cold and unmoving, without a hint of breath or life, she could not help but allow a soft whimper to rise from her vocal chords and escape from her mouth. She turned her wet eyes to gaze at the cruel metal snare around the neck of her mother, before releasing a sniff from her cold, damp nostrils. The snare had strangled the life out of the only family she had, and was simply a tool that death chose to use. Did it really have to go so far? What need could have pushed it? Now, she had nobody. Despite being full grown, only falling short of a day of birth by a few days, counting by moons and not yet years, she did not yet feel like an adult. In fact, she still was a child, by all means; there was no questioning it.

She had been born out of season, but at her age, most of her kind was almost, if not completely, fully grown. She had been born in the autumn, and had undergone an extremely tough winter. Because of that, she had been hardly able to hibernate, and was forced to watch the few siblings she had die off slowly from the harshness of the season. With what little development and understanding she had back then, however, death had not yet been so keenly recognized. Before too long, however, upon surviving the cold season, she had quickly welcomed the joys of spring. Winter had been worth it, as she adored the contrast. Now, she was never hungry, never cold, and was always able to find herself content in the musical and colorful forests of their land. Her mother raccoon dog had doted on her only remaining pup and beloved child, and eagerly taught her the ways of the world and everything that she now knew around her. Truly, she had everything she needed to know in order to live on her own.

If that was all true, however, even with her knowledge, was was she still stuck inside of a tanuki pup’s body? Her appearance consisted of moderately brown fur with darker markings, rounded fuzzy ears, and an extremely fluffy tail. She had short, but hooked black claws, and glistening white fangs within her short muzzle. Most strikingly of all, she had unnatural pink-hued eyes; which was not a fact that she realized at the time, nor thought of too much. To her, everything was just fine, and appearances meant little, even if she was a handsome young tanuki. According to her mother, somehow, she would grow up to be a fine and beautiful female of their species, and have no problem finding a mate and continuing the bright cycle of life, with death only there to stop her when she was actually ready to push back against its sharp touch. With that as the case, why did she not feel like she was even close to that level? Why was the only one in the world that was important to her lying before her, fallen and frighteningly still? Life was supposed to be a lovely thing, but this was far from it… spring was supposed to be a time of happiness and joy, with sound and movement… This was more like winter, still and silent.

She could not wrap her mind around any of it, at all. In despair, she remained curled up against her mother for hours, sleeping on and off, steadily in a state of mourning and insecurity. The hours grew longer, and as they did, she managed to catch few things to eat in her vigil. After even more time dared to pass on by, the stench of decay began to increase and grow stronger, as the moments she lingered there lengthened.
It was time for her to move on from there, as lingering in one place forever was impossible. The scavengers of the world, more like servants of death, would sniff out the corpse before long. The young tanuki was in no position to defend herself, and was forced to move on with no regrets, hard as it was. It was a cycle, and she had to follow it somehow, even if it was against her will. One way or another, she would survive. She was a wild animal; a predator. She was born to survive, to live, and to thrive.

Moons would pass, and before long, summer was in full swing, with birdsong constantly ringing in the trees above her head. It brought about cool, cloudless nights, shining a bright sky with the stars spangled across the sky, beaming in all their glory. The moon was often there to illuminate alongside of its tiny friends, yet always appeared different each time, slowly decreasing and altering its big fat face of light to a sliver or strand of the whitest curled hair. Stealing the show, as always. After that, it would vanish completely for a while, which always seemed to be the loneliest of times. The stars were still there to comfort her, but nothing was the same without the moon patched on the blanket of the night sky. However, before too long, hope would return as the silvery crescent appeared once again, growing in size night by night.

She spent her nights relying on the skies for comfort, and dancing with her own shadow as she prowled around in the dark. In that season, clouds were rare, so she enjoyed the company of those bright lights against the darkness of the sky. Days went by and she did what she could to survive. That was the first step to living and then thriving, after all, as her dear mother had once taught her. She could hunt, forage, and fish, and thus was pretty much set for moving onto the ideal of being able to simply live life. That much was true, but there was a small something of nature, a piece, that was standing in her way. Predators. She was one, but there were also ones that were much greater than her. She still had only barely grown in the last few comings and goings of the moon, and wolves, foxes, and large raptors had become much more common. At some points in time, it seemed like she never could win. A fox had chased her away from her own hunted or fished kill, making her efforts having been for nothing. It was not too uncommon, but thankfully, those other canines never seemed to be too interested in her if she complied with what they wanted. The real problem came with the other types of predators. She could never be safe on the ground with a wolf pack prowling about, and while she could climb trees to an extent, the eagles and other birds of prey could easily get to her and carry her off as if she were nothing. As a tiny raccoon dog in a big world, she had to watch her back.

Then that fateful day came. Just as she was hopefully going to start truly living, the time finally approached, and a dire moment at that. It was around midday, and definitely the last thing that she had expected. Just as illustrated before, the claws and fangs of death were slowly pressing against her skin, harder than ever. They had not yet taken her, but pushed closer than ever before. She could feel the hot breath of death flowing onto the back of her neck, figuratively, but what was unfolding before her pink-hued eyes was something else entirely. The earth and trees were growing smaller and smaller as her paws had long since left the ground. The sharp grasp of talons digging into her back made her feel sick in the stomach as she released a loud yelp and whine in pain. The world blurred before her as, in slow motion despite speeding into the air, she began to realize what was happening. The giant mountain eagle flying off with her, a barely-full grown tanuki, would not be too rare a sight to see for most.

Suddenly, her instincts and will to live began to kick in as she struggled to fight what had captured her, despite it being to barely any extent. In response, the raptor made its grasp on her tighter, causing her to spew another series of agonized cries. The sight of the land below made her dizzy, and she shut her eyes as she attempted to block it out. However, the deafening roar of the wind was impossible to ignore. Completely out of options, she was finally about to concede and go limp, waiting to be carried off to some high place and eaten, either dead or alive. That was the cruel reality of the world; the death was now so close.

Despite that, even with death so close, something inside of the tanuki snapped- she did not want to die, and could not just leave like that yet. There was still too much to do, and too much of the world left to experience. Why allow it to be taken from her grasp and thrown away? WIth a simple and fragile resolve in mind, she struggled more and more, and finally, something came of her efforts. The most dangerous animal there was in her small range of knowledge, a wolf, appeared all around her… but it was not in the way that one would think. She was the wolf; it was her. Longer, powerful, lithe legs compared to her former short and stocky ones, a larger body, and a thick head hungry for survival. With the increased weight of her transformation, she started falling fast to the ground. The eagle had let go of her, but it was not like it would do much good to keep her in the air, either.

While she was falling fast to the ground, everything around her began to slow once again. In desperation to not hit the ground and die from her higher weight on impact, she transformed again somehow; this time into a smaller version of her original captor. She was a falcon, and more specifically, a common peregrine falcon with ebony dorsal feathers, buff-colored front feathers, a yellow beak and legs, and powerful wings. Somehow, however, her pink eyes remained the same. It only took a few heartbeats for her to realize that she could not fly, and in that state, she would fall to the earth once again…. Only to change yet another time. A cat- plain and simple. In the feline form, she managed to play on its natural abilities and land hard and lucky in a bush, with little to no damage to her physical form…. Just what had happened?


Confusion swam in her mind as she tried to gain back her bearings, while breathing hard and heavy as she looked at the alien state that her body was in. A feline… and seconds before that, an avian and larger canine. Just what was this? She was panicking as she went over what had happened. Her shape had changed form… shapeshifting? Just how was that realistically possible? It seemed completely unnatural, and yet here she was, stuck in the form of a domestic cat. She began to wonder how it all worked, as surely it could not be permanent. Directing her mind to focus back on how she used to be- short, fluffy, canine, and so on, she blinked only twice before she found herself back in her original body: that of a small raccoon dog. Was it really that easy?

She had to try it out at least once more- her curiosity was insatiable. After settling down after the ordeal, she made her way to a local waterhole with crystalline, clear waters for the sole purpose of being able to see her reflection. Once her image was mirrored from the water’s surface back to her, she placed her attention on the next thing to come to mind: a fox. Sure enough, as she blinked once again, it was no longer a tanuki she was gazing at, but a bright, orange-furred vixen with a lanky body and wily muzzle. Despite the change in her appearance, once more, the color of her eyes did not blend into another color with her, even though she tried.

The small raccoon dog continued practicing and using her newfound ‘power’ as the weeks passed on by. Somehow, as if by magic, even animals she never encountered before in her life came to mind and thus, took shape. It was as if somewhere deep in her core, she knew what they were and quickly mastered the forms. Tigers, penguins, kangaroos, opossums, and eventually even mythical beings such as kirins, griffins, and lesser dragons were added to her repertoire of transformations. However, the most mysterious was a figure that was lingering at the back of her mind. She could not find the truth behind that silhouette until one day… they were there. Two of them. She had been high in a tree, gazing down with the most curiosity that she had never felt in her short life at what she could only tack on to be as “human”. They each held a large wooden object that seemed to be made of wood to their necks, with long sticks that smelled of horse hair plucking at the strings on the wooden items. From there, a beautiful sound was made. Music… and it was unlike anything that the young creature had ever heard before.

After that enchanting encounter, she then understood what she had to put her mind to. That shady form in the back of her thoughts was now crystal clear. With that sky full of her friends, the stars and moon, being the only audience, she put her power back to work once again. And just like that, it happened. She peered down at her reflection in the crystalline pool to see a human’s face. Her intrigued, pink eyes slowly blinked a few times, making out the appearance of long and straight brown hair blanketing her bare back, and smooth skin that was different from any of her other shapes. Putting her tiny hands in front of her face to observe and inspect, she put her palms together and clasped her fingers around, like a newborn baby discovering his or her paws or tail for the very first time. It was all so knew… she barely knew what to think of it. Carefully rising to her feet, she took her first step and somehow managed to balance on only two legs like it was nothing.

And from there in her sheer joy, something else happened as she took a few more steps… she let out a sound, a rush of air from her lungs, pushing through her vocal chords in the most delightful way, as if something had tickled her. A laugh, or maybe more of an exuberant giggle; she had finally done it. Of all there was, she had finally conquered the mystery of that shape in the darkness, and that sound… her voice; she had a voice. It was not just one of any animal- it had a uniqueness to it. While all tanukis had their own distinguishable sound, this was quite different. It had a musical ring, and now she felt as if a range of frequencies and other sounds was suddenly at her disposal. It did not just stop here, however.

Something now rushed at her faster than anything; moving so hard that it almost hurt upon impacting her mind. In a way, she had always known it. Always. Somehow they were there, knocking at her brain and just waiting to be let in; waiting for her to accept them, weary travelers she had always known. The words. The names. The meanings. Not everything was just a picture anymore. Nothing was just an image. Her old animalian mind had always seen the world as nothing but a big illustration, but now she knew that it was more. There were ideals; she could see and find a grasp of what was there, what was bad, and what could be better. She saw and quickly realized that things were not just black and white. She could attempt something, and aim for a perfection there was to be achieved, like others. Others? Yes, animals could only strive so far, such as yearning for those those three things she had been taught: to survive, to live, to thrive. Now, however, she felt like she wanted more, as if there were other levels and possibilities out there. She no longer would be guided based only on instinct. If she could find that ideal- seek that light while now aware that true darkness did exist, even if she was inexperienced on the concept… it would be it. She would be content.

And with that realization came a rush of something else. Emotion, and responsibility. Could she take a role among humans to find a place in a world of ideals, thoughts, and feelings other than raw instinct and need? Could she ‘want’ something? Maybe she could… maybe she would. And what was that? Hope. A feeling that made her seem like a child once again. But it was so real, so close, and so familiar. How had she not known it all along? As confused as she felt, she knew she was no longer truly dwelling in confusion. Yet she was alone, and it was in no place to linger for too long. The words knocking at her mind had stilled and silenced, becoming one with her understanding. She had to leave, and could not stay in a place where there were only three points to look to- survive, live, thrive, a trio and a cycle. There was so much more, and with that knowledge in mind, she would focus her efforts somewhere else.

She was on a large mass of land surrounded by water; a continent that she would soon leave. A few more days passed with her working to perfect her shapeshifting abilities and sharpen her other skills and senses. She learned some things were harder for humans than they were for other animals, but knew that with effort, she could overcome the difficulties. Finally breathing in an air of courage, she stood on a high cliff overlooking the white crests atop the waves that were crashing against the shoreline. The sea. And far away, there would be more land, where she could start anew and portray a personal sense of an ideal. Yes, she was a person, and no longer a weak being that could almost be considered mindless or simply ‘natural’. She was her own unique being, breaking free from a cycle and taking a true step forward… a motion of freedom and determination.

…… Time passed.

Snow continued to fall as the blizzard’s harsh winds picked up, blinding the small raccoon dog as she dared to open one pink eye, only to instantly close it after the cruel breeze burned it viciously. The tiny creature was curled up in a ball, huddled up and trying desperately to keep warm as her body shivered, battling the savage cold of the winter storm.
Wet tears still streamed down the mammal’s face, tracing the edges of her muzzle, which only resulted in making her head colder. The salty tears would not freeze, despite the temperatures quickly solidifying any moisture in the area. It had been so sudden, and it was not even winter, but spring. Despite what should have been a warm season and if anything, a tropical storm, the worst had yet to come.

It had been an average day, with bright blue skies and humidity, plus a few strong winds, which heralded the coming of potentially bad weather. In spite of this, life had gone on like any normal day ever did. Izayuki had awoken with a better attitude than the day before, and within an hour, had completed her studies and was given the opportunity to assist with gathering and helping out. Naugrem had even promised her some swordplay training later on in the day after he returned from his own duties. The child youkai had grown to love that one village leader, and looked up to him as a father figure and mentor. He was a snow leopard youkai, unbeknownst to all but a few, and had been the one to make the final call in adopting Izayuki into the village instead of having her executed for her mischief. She was but a kid, after all, who was only acting on her natural impulses. It was something that Naugrem was slowly breaking her of, as he brought her up to be a good and helpful villager.

The last thing that anyone had expected that day was for the weather to suddenly grow so cold. Izayuki had just been making her plans with Naugrem for training later, around sundown, when a streak of panic came into his eyes as he began to sense the rapid change in the weather. Was it instinct for the beast of the cold, or something else? Naturally, the youthful Bakedanuki had been unable to tell just what was going on. Naugrem quickly stormed out of the tiny house, and began to bark orders at various other villagers, mostly all adults. He told them to get inside, and to find shelter, and to keep warm. He ordered people to grab extra firewood and blankets, and to shut all doors and windows and huddle together.

The panic was quick to confuse the brown-haired raccoon dog, who in her worry, suddenly sprouted her dark-furred canine features, such as her fuzzy ears and fluffy tail, and her fangs and claws. She exited the house as the temperature continued to drop, rather noticeably. People were scrambling around at the orders, trying to keep calm, though the keen tanuki could sense the fear and anxiety ever so clearly. Naugrem ordered all strong soldiers to grab weapons, and heavy coats and shawl-like blankets. His voice sounded brave and controlled, though Izayuki saw the trepidation in his clear blue eyes.

Though young, she had yet to be given an order. She first waited at the door of the dwelling where she had been with him, obviously having been forgotten in the rush. Swiftly moving indoors, Izayuki glanced around for her own tiny katana- perfect for her size, sharpened, and a gift from the other protectors and Naugrem. With knowledge of the call for warmth, the tanuki grabbed the scarf that had been knitted for her and presented to her as a gift from the women for her birthday. It was pink and color, soft, and comfortable and beautiful to wear. The Bakedanuki bundled up in the scarf and her other winter attire, and rushed out after the others. They already had gone on ahead, though their scent was still quite fresh- they were only seconds ahead of her, out of sight. It would not be hard to find them, and assist.

Boots pounded on the cold grass as pink eyes gazed up, suddenly seeing the first signs of falling snowflakes. The wind was picking up rather fast, and the snow began to fall harder, already having covered the grown in a decent sheet of white. It continued to thicken as her small legs eventually caught her up to the group of the village’s protectors, all led by Naugrem. Izayuki attempted to release a reassuring smile, and state that she was there to assist, when the leader appeared to catch her scent before she could say anything.

“Izayuki! Get back to the village! This is no place for a child,” he growled, glaring daggers at her with his piercing blue eyes, obviously not approving of her current antics, if one could call them such a thing.

“But I want to help, Nau-sensei!” the tanuki insisted, her tail puffing up and her ears shoved forward by nature as she spoke. They betrayed her sincerity, though the others seemed to be hesitant about her presence nearby. Naugrem sighed and spoke sternly, not moving his sapphire gaze from the young canine. “If you want to help, then go to the village and help them to stay warm. This is no natural winter; this is an attack. Leave!” he demanded, no longer sounding angry; only desperate.

The worry in Naugrem’s eyes and voice was something that Izayuki had never seen before. He always seemed so fearless and brave, with overflowing courage and passion for his duty as a protector of their village. Now, however? She could sense the fear that she once thought he thoroughly lacked. The very realization made the young tanuki’s ears droop as she turned tail to run back for the village. The temperature was dropping even faster, as the air grew increasingly colder. The snow was falling thicker, and she could barely make out the village ahead.

~~~

Rosy-hued eyes twitched and opened at a moderate speed as they quickly adjusted to the dimness of the dark room. It was nighttime, and as she breathed out a sigh before inhaling and suddenly releasing a yawn, the canine gazed towards her alarm clock out of habit. She was generally a creature of the night, nocturnal, though thanks to her duties and her place in human society, the raccoon dog had adjusted her schedule and sleeping habits to accommodate her priorities.

The hour was reaching 1:00 am; it was very early in the morning, and the night was definitely no longer young. It was at this hour that she would generally regain her energy and be prepared to prowl about and engage in a tanuki’s typical activities under the cover of darkness. This time, however, she was still quite sleepy from her usual habits, and by no means had wanted to wake up. She gone to bed before midnight, and allowed enough time to let her exhausted body relax and finally fall asleep at the stroke of twelve. Why did she wake up only an hour later, with barely any rest?

The groggy girl sat up in her bed, reminiscing on the nostalgic dream that had filled her mind during her recent hour of sleeping. It had been ages since her last real nightmare of her past and childhood. The dreams just one day vanished all of a sudden, and Izayuki had never really ever bothered to give it much thought. Was it simply because she had become more busy, with other burdens to worry about other than dwelling on her past? Or did her fear truly not bother her much anymore?

The day that she dreamed about was indeed a sad one. She remembered it clearly, and the memory of the last time that she ever had seen Naugrem still shot pangs of regret and grief through her. She recalled the emotions in his eyes that she had never once seen come from him, and after everything…. She never did get a chance to say goodbye.

Why was she thinking about this now, however? It made it almost impossible to think about going back to sleep. As the minutes went on, Izayuki’s senses began to wake up and become more alert. As soon as her magic awareness had peaked, a presence from outside instantly could be detected. Pink eyes widened as she instantly recognized it and realized why it was so familiar. Clenching her teeth and her fists, the Bakedanuki began to stand up and get out of bed. Snapping her fingers, she would change the shape of her purple-colored pajamas into her typical outfit; something a bit more comfortable. Jeans, black leather boots, and an ivory black top with semi-long sleeves that were loose and comfortable, while some of the top still revealed some of the skin on her shoulders.

After that, Izayuki did not hesitate to quickly use her Swiftstep to teleport herself outside of her room in Silver Moon Inn to the roof of the building that served as the guild hall of Black Rose. Narrowing her eyes as she glared towards the north, Izayuki traced the presence and began mixing her agility and her various teleportation abilities to leap from building to building. Eventually, the presence grew stronger, and the Bakedanuki pinpointed it to being located right in front of her.

“I was wondering when you would arrive…” a familiar voice stated in a matter of fact and dull way. Izayuki could recognize it anyway, and noticed the pale-colored hair and the typical attire of her ‘pet’, or rather, companion, Seika. The hybrid Youkai had last been left in the guildmaster’s office to finish processing some paperwork that Izayuki had completed, as well as checking it and redoing anything that needed to be redone. Why was she here? And more importantly… why did this presence feel like…

“Yukionna. That’s who you expected, didn’t you?” Seika asked, not even bothering to turn to face Izayuki. She was facing the north, overlooking the edge of the city of Rose Garden.
“Yes…” Izayuki paused for a few heartbeats before moving forward, approaching Seika, who suddenly turned towards the tanuki girl and extended her hand- too quickly for the slayer to react, ice began forming around her joins and inside her muscles, painfully freezing her and forcing her to stay put- paralyzed. “Yes, but, Seika… why?” the pink-haired girl asked, too startled by Seika’s strange behavior to react properly, or even think right at all.

Feeling her body frozen in ice, Izayuki struggled against it, wondering why Seika’s power was suddenly so much greater than her own. The frost itself was familiar to her, or at least the nature of it was. As the Glacier God Slayer, should she not be able to control it with ease?
“Quit struggling, already,” Seika warned, closing her fingers in some, and thus forcing the ice to form even faster from Izayuki’s blood. The slayer visibly clenched her eyes and teeth, struggling not to squirm from the sudden rush of pain in her body. Why was her unholy magic not fighting off the ice and cold like it usually did?

Seika began to walk closer, and with her extended arm and hand, pushed Izayuki over as she was unable to resist or stop her frozen body from falling. With a loud groan, she hit the cement of the roof and glared back up at her companion, confused and conflicted with what was going on.
“Comfy? Now how about you sit and listen a little, for once?” the white-haired Youkai said, her cyan eyes almost glowing in the blue moonlight. “I suppose the only logical place to start is just… telling you the truth. Ever since the beginning, my only purpose here was to kill you. I was hired by my other half- Yukionna, to either kill you and take back your powers, or bring you to her alive… but thanks to you and Kite, I forgot about that goal for a while.”

“Seika, wha-” Izayuki began to protest, only to be cut short as Seika triggered the blood in her veins and arteries to freeze faster. The ice crystals in her black blood were painful, and did not give her a chance to speak as a whimper of pain escaped on her breath. “I’m not finished. Don’t interrupt,” Seika snapped, narrowing her cyan eyes at the fallen Bakedanuki. “As I was saying, Yukionna is indeed my other half. I’m not from this world, but somehow, I was transported here against my will. My personality was separated from my power, which soon developed a will of it’s own. I’m the real Goddess of the Glaciers… and the one you call ‘Yukionna’ is the embodiment of my power.”

The Bakedanuki’s pink eyes widened as the words began to sink in. Yukionna… and Seika… were the same? The frozen tanuki was about to try to respond once again, but instead of words issuing from her mouth, a scream of pain escaped instead as her ‘comrade’ generated a large spike of ice and stabbed it through the Ayakashi’s chest. The ice spike was clear and crystalline, with no hue other than the blue moonlight it reflected from its surface. As it was pushed further inside the paralyzed Bakedanuki, the color within it began to change to a deep shade of the darkest black. It was beginning to absorb the unholy energy that was rooted within the slayer’s body and spirit. Seika stared at the screaming and crying tanuki girl with cold eyes, and little expression on her face.

Unknown to the Black Rose guild master, the crystalline spike of ice was none other than a lacrima, and one that was both beginning to mimic and absorb some of her own Glacier God Slayer energies and powers. Seika had use for the lacrima, though would keep the knowledge away from the first generation one right underneath, being tortured by both the pain of the spike and the absorption and theft of her power.

Eventually, after a few moments of utter hell and torture for the Bakedanuki, Seika would remove the lacrima and begin standing back up. She ignored the black blood of the Ayakashi that remained on the now fully charged ice crystal, dripping casually as it was held tightly. “Any other questions?” the goddess would ask, somewhat sarcastically as she allowed the tiniest of smirks to curve her lips. She released her power over Izayuki, and put a stop to the freezing. Izayuki attempted to begin to sit herself up, only to stop as she heard the painful crunching of the tiny crystals of ice in her blood and muscles. The stab to her chest had not killed her, but had not stopped bleeding yet either. There would be some time before it healed, which forced her to remain stationary, lying on the cold ground and shivering violently from the frost in and on her body.

“I don’t understand, Seika,” Izayuki said, coughing before she could continue on. A few wet and cold tears still streamed down the edges of her face, both from the physical and emotional pain. The closest friend she had had for so long… turning on her like this? There was barely any reason either, and that fact stabbed at her heart much more than the ice spike had. “Why? What did I ever do to you?”

In response, Seika suddenly shifted into her usual, true Youkai form. It was feline-like in nature, with white fur, and the familiar cyan eyes. She held onto the shiny, obsidian-hued lacrima with her long, prehensile tail. Once having shifted so quickly and smoothly, Seika leaped forward and onto Izayuki, not caring about the extra bit of weight she would add, and the tanuki’s present wound. “Nothing,” Seika replied simply, staring down at Izayuki. “You did absolutely nothing. Do I have a reason for all of this? Of course? But do I plan to tell you?”

Izayuki cringed as the smaller Youkai leaped on top of her stomach and chest, and flinched again in fear as Seika drew closer to her face. If she did nothing, why was her partner even doing this? What was so important that she had to hurt the tanuki without a reason she was able to admit? Not to mention the previous shocking information regarding Yukionna…
“You don’t, do you?” the Bakedanuki asked through clenched teeth. Seika’s smirk grew a bit wider as she nodded, before pressing a paw at the injury that she had created with the lacrima. One way to stop bleeding was to simply freeze the blood flow. Even Izayuki knew how to do it, though often avoided it thanks to the tremendous amounts of discomfort and future problems it could cause. Nevertheless, Seika ignored that fact, and activated her sovereignty over freezing once more to seal the wound with painful, clear ice.

The Bakedanuki reacted once again, forcing herself to resist the pain, even though tensing up and giving Seika a much more dramatic reaction did seem like the easier route. As the pain from the freezing subsided and Izayuki began to regain her bearings once again, she felt the weight of the hybrid Youkai leave her front side, but the sudden pressure of a hand briskly covered her eyes. Seika had apparently shifted back, and was now at something else once again. “Now sleep~” Seika said softly, beginning to freeze the conscious and awake mind of Izayuki to send her back to sleep. It would not be permanent, but would at least give her enough time to put distance between herself, the Glacier Goddess, and the fallen Glacier God Slayer.