QUIET COMPANY ♦ job

Simple. The town was so simple, quiet, peaceful, serene, and any other adjectives one could look up in the thesaurus to act as synonyms to those words. Izayuki was accustomed to seeing much vaster and fanciful settings, but the home of the Blue Pegasus guild certainly was relaxing, somehow. Most of the guilds chose some giant city or bizarre terrain to be home to their guildhall, but this was rather humbling... it almost made her grow a respect for the legal guild she had never met, despite her being a rather proud and arrogant being in a diffident setting.

The Black Rose mage was near the train station's general area, perched on a bench outside. She really had nothing to do, and was growing quite bored. A bored tanuki was never a good thing; monotony led them to venture out to attempt wild things and feats that could often only be described as mischievous. Well, she was a yokai after all- could any less be expected? She, like any one of her kind, delighted in playing tricks on humans. In fact, that was what she was doing now. Izayuki had placed a fresh, durable leaf down on the ground outside of the train station, and using her Bakedanuki abilities, had made the perception of it not a leaf, but paper jewels- and a high bill at that. It was resting securely on the pavement, in plain sight and right in the way of pedestrian traffic. Should someone see it, they would freak out with excitement and rush over to pick up their shiny reward. Finders keepers, after all. Yet as soon as the 'money' was in their hands, the tanuki would lift the illusion and show that it was just a leaf, after all. Different people had a variety of reactions. Some would react in disgust, others in embarrassment, and some in utter shock and surprise. Regardless of their response, she would then apply the illusion once again as they disposed of the leaf and continued on their way. Others would see the rich jewels being discarded and rush for them, either taking them for themselves or perhaps they were to check and see if the person doing the throwing away was sure they wanted to get rid of such currency... and again! The money was nothing but a leaf.

Izayuki repeated this multiple times, inwardly amused at what such simpletons human could be... and how greedy and quick to react as well. They were a strange sort, and though she had developed emotions and learned morals, there were still so many things she did not understand about them. Humans were truly fascinating and interesting, and always seemed to occupy the tanuki's thoughts and attention. If only she could tap into their minds- now that would be something. And thus, as she continued her practical and easy prank, a scene of chaos slowly began to arise. Exactly as predicted, hm. Little did she know there was a darker version of chaos lurking elsewhere, not too far away.

The amusement reflected up into the air as the scene went on, as comically as it possibly could. The people were scrambling over the bill of jewels that represented a hefty sum of wealth, only to have it turn into a simple leaf less than seconds after they got their greedy hands grasping the tool for her illusions. For this one in particular, she had picked a leaf from a lovely Tilia tree, fresh and done with growing its springtime leaves. The green fronds were at their peak, basking in the rich sunlight for nutrients... well, the limetree would not miss one leaf, hopefully. It had many others, and surely the basswood would grow the missing leaf back? It was hard to say, but the tanuki could hope for the best in the back of her mind, despite it being a frivolous thought that most people would never contemplate.

It was not long before somebody came to join her on the bench. At first, Izayuki took little notice- taking in first impressions only for a split second. They were young, female, eating food... and... a cat? Felis catus? A kitty!?
Izayuki suddenly lost all interest in the leaf and her current prank- the leaf would remain a leaf, and eventually the poor scrap of plant would get itself torn up and tossed aside- safely discarded. It was too bad, but the yokai already had her sights and focus set away from the plant piece, and now on the animal. The girl seemed to have noticed what was going on, and Izayuki noticed her chuckling to herself at the comical scene... but right now that was not an important thing to engage, because cats.

"Kitty!" Izayuki exclaimed, eyeing the adorable, blue and white tabby with a wide smile. She had seen a lot of cats, and as a canine, she personally could be a bit prejudice against them, but human mentality had taught her about cuteness and fuzziness as being good things, and felines had both aspects. Reaching her hand out, the pink-haired mage would attempt to gently pet the cat with a smile. Whether or not it was accepted or rejected, or even if the cat lashed out, the yokai would continue on, giggling. "Heya! I can be a kitty too~" she announced, talking more to the cat than the woman who appeared to be the cat's owner. Within the blink of an eye, Izayuki had used her Bakedanuki ability to transform herself into a cat that was white in color with the same pink eyes as all her other forms. "See~?"

Not the reaction she was expecting, yet a reaction nonetheless, and in the end, that was all that Izayuki cared about. Grinning, she tilted her own alabaster-furred feline head as she gazed at the other cat. He frowned... was he displeased at her transformation? Perhaps he thought it was not right of one to shapeshift so easily into a cat like him? Or maybe he was unhappy with the prank being played in the crowd as they sat back and watched from afar? She could only guess, yet it hardly fazed her. The girl with the cat stroked his head before having her own gaze turn quite solemn as she spoke to the perky yokai.

The question was an understandable one, yet Izayuki gave a small chuckle as she heard it. Girl? No, she was no girl, at least not anymore. There was only one reason she was able to transform into another animal or being, and it was indeed by no means or use of magic. The answer was simple, really. She was a Bakedanuki. A tanuki yokai. "Name's Izayuki Hyoujin~" she responded with a proud smile, lifting her feline chin up and flicking her tail two and fro in confidence. In Fiore, at least, her name was at least somewhat known. After all, she was a Rising Star, yet quite honestly, it was a fact that she often forgot. All she wanted to do was have fun, after all, and her sense of adventure unfortunately led her most of the time. "But you can just call me Iza~! And about this form, well, I can be whatever- or whoever- I want," the white cat explained further, closing her pink eyes for a few moments before readying herself to continue, her grin widening. Deciding to use her shapeshifting again, the feline suddenly transformed once more, this time taking on a human shape... a familiar one. Suddenly, she was Lynn! She took on the appearance of the girl right next to her in the blink of an eye, with the same clothing and more. Using her tanuki abilities further, she used subtle sound illusions and perception manipulation to make her own voice sound exactly like the girl's in pitch and tone. "And look at me now- I'm you~!"

Ah, an old, classic trick of the tanuki. To be able to temporarily steal the form of another. Would anyone look in their direction, they would be very confused about seeing two of the same Rising Star sitting on the same bench. A clone? A doppelganger? Whatever the sight was, it was complex and confusing, and that was just what Izayuki wanted. She delighted in messing with the minds of others, namely humans. While many would not approve, namely Elyx, nothing could stop her from having her fun~

Reactions. They were what the tanuki lived for, really, or any playful yokai, really. She went out of her way to see many sorts of expressions, and fed off of the attention like she could starve without it. Perhaps it was her extroverted personality, or maybe it was simply that she was not human. Really, it did not matter, because the reactions she so desired had been delivered. From the white-haired mage, Lynn, with a bit of swearing and shock and surprise... and as for the kitten, well, he seemed angry, and in a way, that made him even more adorable, as bad as that could be to say. "Can't say I know how you know my name," Izayuki said with a grin and shrug. She was the sixth Rising Star, yes, and that was likely how Lynn somehow had heard of her name, yet quite honestly, the yokai completely forgot about that position and what it was or meant. She was just Iza, and if someone knew of her amazingness, great... not that she was that amazing or anything, but she at least thought she was. Thus was the pride of a bakedanuki.

Lynn then suddenly asked for her to change back to her original human appearance. Giving a melodramatic saddened expression, Izayuki replied. "Awww, that's no fun~" she said as she shifted back into her standard human form- pink hair, pink eyes, medium height, and more. Although this time, she had silver ears protruding from her pink hair, a lack of human ears, a large, fluffy silver tail behind her, and more prominent fangs and claws. Shapeshifting did take its toll, after all, and upon shifting back to being a human, she was already growing closer to her true form, slightly. Thankfully, she could stay this way for a long period of time, and did not mind standing out a bit more. Perhaps at one point in the past, she was scared of rejection, but Daemon and Kakuma had brought her out of that mental state. She could be herself, and be proud, for after all, she was a tanuki. "Better?" she asked with a smile, before turning slightly to address the crowd of staring people. "Nothing to see here! Move along, people~!"

The people nearby blinked, and some continued on their merry way, while others still stood there for a few moments, or those who had not noticed before now suddenly noticed... well, at least they had something interesting to talk about at dinner later. Turning her attention back to Lynn, Izayuki put on a warm and sincere, friendly smile before continuing. "Yes to both! I'm an Ace of Black Rose~" she explained proudly. She did not speak of her magic right off the bat yet, and did not mention the title she had as an Ace. Ace of Stigma. The stigma was a part of a flower, for which the ace positions of her guild were themed, but still, it also had another meaning which one was quicker to think about. Still, overall she was proud of the position now. There was a stigma about the yokai around the guild, but not that she minded. It was fun to stand out~

It would be a surprise if the other mage had no heard of Black Rose. They were not just a magical guild affiliated with Fiore and their Magic Council, but also were a nation on their own, allied with the high-tech country of Bosco, another great affiliate. At the mention of Sabertooth, however, Izayuki's silver-furred tanuki ears perked at the name, and she flicked her silver tail happily. It did not matter that the lady in front of her was an ace or paragon or whatever- rank was overrated anyway. "Sabertooth! So do you know Kite then? And Minh? Oh, and Cheepie~?" she asked with a delighted smile on her face, recalling her friends who belonged to the other guild. She did not know many people outside of Black Rose, but of who she did know, they either belonged to Fairy Tail or Sabertooth. Strange, really.

Hearing the question, Izayuki continued, a warm and amiable smile still on her face. "No, I live in Lavantir Port City, where my guild resides," she answered, relaxing her silver ears and folding her long, fluffy tail over her lap before resting her hands on it. "Two of the same Rising Star? Ah, so you're one too~! Izayuki asked and said with a wide smile, right before she began to process what had really happened. Her eyes had barely, if not at all, caught it, but what triggered the Bakedanuki's senses was the sudden stranger scent that had not been there before. Being a canine, her senses were all at least many times stronger than a human's, and being a slayer added onto the strength in those bonuses to sensory. Her sense of smell still remained the strongest, however, and the sudden smell of blood was undeniable. Naturally, the yokai understood and knew blood better than anyone, being drawn to it by instinct. While she hated that fact, it could prove useful in situations, and upon standing up in surprise, the two were quickly surrounded by twenty threatening Masked Initiates. Just who were these people? What were they doing here? "No, you weren't hallucinating..." Izayuki said, allowing her claws to unsheathe a few more centimeters than what they were originally at. "'Ey, listen up idiots! Back off now while you still can. Or else."

Else what? Who would be stupid enough to ask that question? Well, they would be the first to go. She was not fond of second chances for those threatening her, after all. There was someone who just claimed to be a Rising Star, and a wild beast with sharp claws and fangs that they were ambushing... were they really that stupid? She could sense that their magic presence was rather small, thus, they were weak and easy to take out; and despite being a Rising Star and Ace of a legal guild, she did not hesitate to go for the kill when it came down to it. They were being attacked, and interrupting two people making each others acquaintances was rather rude, after all. She had self defense to justify any unwanted casualties. That, and she had given them their warning. They could either heed her advice, or understand that second chances were rare.

There was no reason to apologize for such things- Lynn did not know anyone from her guild. Or so, Izayuki perceived. That meant she was the first, and that definitely could make an impression. In the future, when Lynn met more of Black Rose, she would at least recall that she had met Izayuki first... and hopefully, she was on good terms with the guildmember, in the sense that they would not badmouth her as many were fond of doing. Yes, she was not human, but that did not mean she was entirely odd, right? Hopefully.

So, Lynn was the first Rising Star? How interesting- she must have been quite famous within the kingdom of Fiore, if that was the case. Izayuki would have continued and responded, had it not been for the twenty masked mages surrounding them. Each had tall spears, and two warnings were strictly delivered. The Black Rose ace did not plan to repeat herself. The ones threatening them had been given a warning from both of the Rising Stars, and with that in mind, they had their chance. Izayuki would have no regrets if there were any casualties. She failed to be too precise in battle, and just went along with instinct. If they survived, great. If not, she personally could have cared less. Maybe long ago she would have been more perceptive to sympathy and mercy, but after her time in Yukionna's realm with Alice exchanging her power in turn for her soul... she failed to care anymore.

Ten of the masked initiates suddenly dashed for Izayuki, their spears aiming to take her out. Izayuki used her unnaturally high speed to leap far above her attackers, using flight to propel her and make her seem more agile. She would not allow anyone to notice it was flight ability she was using, however, and dashed downward with her claws over an inch or two long, each. Using those sharpened yokai claws, the Bakedanuki landed behind three of the initiates, and with enhanced speed, managed to take them out with a brutal swipe to each. It was a poor idea for one to underestimate her strength, as everyone quickly found out. She was small and seemed rather fragile, true, yet the force behind her attacks were typically unmatched in a common setting. The three masked initiates keeled over, still alive but possibly paralyzed for a bit. It was a direct attack to the spine, after all.

Turning to the others, Izayuki threw her palm towards the initiates. Using her Glacial Omnipotence ability, the God Slayer attempted to begin generating ice inside them, and freezing the moisture inside their lungs. She would attempt to make little 'ice stars', basically a deformed sphere with giant ice spikes poking out on all sides, with the spikes slowly growing. She attempted to generate seven from inside the initiates' bodies, and threw up her other palm toward them as she used the terrifying ability. "Look away," she warned Lynn, seriousness in her tone for once, and a darker expression on her face than before. As the spikes grew they suddenly became visible as they poked through from the inside out, and before long completely ruptured and tore apart their offenders within seconds. The scene was messy, but after the trauma she had been put through, back during her training days, she was used to such things. That, and she was no human. Seeing a few of them die in such a way was nothing too new or saddening.

She was a monster, after all. Her main hope suddenly was that Lynn would not fear her, or be too disgusted or revolted by the scene. Izayuki could imagine many people would be, even those she might know quite well. "Can you handle those other ten?" Izayuki asked her new acquaintance with a gentle sigh, before she turned to face the three she had paralyzed. Narrowing pink eyes at the one who seemed the most awake and aware, and also horrified at the bloody display, the Bakedanuki went on to interrogate him. "You," she began, flicking her fluffy tail slightly, while instantly gaining his attention. "Unless you want to end up like your friends, you'll answer my questions. Who are you guys and what is your purpose here?"

"Like hell I'll tell you! Just kill me already!" the man protested. He was on his way to being paralyzed potentially for life, and giving the enemy, especially two Rising Stars, the info they needed would jeopardize their mission and make it all for naught. Thus, he would remain silent. That was the risk when they had joined their Masked Guild.
Izayuki only gave a disappointed sigh and turned to walk away. She heard the man stutter, as if he was about to protest more, and pricked her silver tanuki ears to listen. "Hey, demon! You said you were going to kill me!"

"Oh yeah, I did. Oops. I guess I lied," she murmured simply and casually, giving a shrug. She was surprising herself, even. Mercy, after she had promised to kill? Everything seemed so backwards. What had left her like this? Yukionna? Surely not. Black Rose or one of her guildmates? Alice? It was hard to say. Sighing yet again, Izayuki crossed her arms and continued walking, ready to check up on how Lynn was fairing against their enemies.

The bit of mercy shown earlier was still perplexing to the tanuki. Yes, she had said she was going to kill him? What was it then, laziness, maybe, that kept her from completing the task? Boredom? Maybe she wanted him to live the rest of his life paralyzed? Or maybe she just did not care. Af first, the word ‘demon’, used against her, had fallen off like water on wings. However, only moments later did the word strike at Izayuki. She was a monster, she could agree. She was not human, after all, and did not mind a bit of bloodshed here and then, but demon was a rather harsh word, was it not? She was a Bakedanuki, or in other words a Youkai Tanuki. If she wanted to get into details and specifics, she could be categorized as a ‘Kaiju’, an animal with mysterious powers, or ‘Henge’ or ‘Obake’, a shapeshifter. The names were numerous, but while demons could be yokai, not all yokai were demons, nor evil. The Bakedanuki, especially, was definitely one of the more peaceful ones out there.

Just for that bout of namecalling, Izayuki would have whipped around and finished the job. The temptation was great, but perhaps now she understood why she had given him mercy…. She did not want to give him what he wanted. He did not deserve such a thing from her, so she would be rid of having to deal with him. She began moving towards Lynn again, raising an eyebrow slightly as she noticed that Zlatan, the small kitten from before, had turned himself into a great lion with giant wings, and immense strength. His roar was enough to make her want to cringe back and hold her over sensitive and keen ears, yet she avoided showing such weakness. It was also intriguing to note that Lynn had indeed not looked away while she fought her opponents. In fact, the girl had broken out a rather ‘different’ smile so to say, cracking it to a crazed grin. Did she approve?

Izayuki had no time to respond, as another figure suddenly brilliantly emerged. He wore a shimmering golden cloak and mask, which reminded the tanuki girl of the glittering golden-furred alpha lycan she had once met on another crazy job… what was it with bosses and gold? She really failed to get it. This new challenger wielded two gargantuan scimitars also made of gold, with silver runes etched along the blades and guards. He spoke with a rather harsh voice, answering Lynn’s question and saying that he would reveal who him and his crew were if they could defeat him. To top that off, he labeled the slain as ‘useless’. Were they really useless, having died for such reasons? They gave their life to whatever ideal these cultist-like people believed in, or their mission, and he just scoffed down at them like that? The notion was sickening.

Despite his words against his subordinates, ten more people suddenly appeared around him, five on each side. These people wore gold symbolic masks, and shady black cloaks. They wielded scimitars of very large size, but most notably, Izayuki could sense magic from them. “If they’re really that useless, I sure hope you don’t mind me relieving you of these idiots?” she replied to the golden boss with a grin, unsheathing her claws again to somewhat-longer size. This was only for show, however, as Izayuki suddenly turned to her Secondary magic. She had normally avoided this hated magic, simply because she had despised the trickery delivered to her in order to receive it. Wonderland was purely a magic based on her own madness, after all, and every time it was used, it stoked the madness in her inhuman soul more and more. Still, despite this knowledge, Izayuki was going to go out on a limb and use it. Maybe her judgement was not clear, or maybe the battle was actually getting to her head a bit more than it should have. That, or it could have just been the blood and organs littered all around the vicinity that had begun to appeal to her more monstrous and beastly instincts and aspects. “Queen of Hearts.”

Underneath the feet of their opponents, medium-sized vines covered in the sharpest of thorns began rising from the ground at amazing speeds, easily wrapping around all ten of the masked apprentices. The vines tightened, and the more they grew and wrapped, the more blood that was shed from the screaming and protesting victims. Most noticeable about those vines were the white roses that grew all along them, avoiding being crushed in the meticulous turning of all the nimble vines. Some of the vines had already wrapped around the necks of a few and had snapped their heads, as if they were thin twigs between fingers. Once dead, the vines let go of their victims and retreated back into the ground, as if they had a mind of their own. In a way, they did. While Izayuki could ultimately control the terrifying spell, it was  the soul and spirit of the Queen of Hearts who was doing most of the dirty work. The contract had been made long ago, and though Izayuki and the Queen had been on rather rocky terms, with the Queen torturing Iza and trying to kill her, the Wonderland spirit had no choice but to submit now.

The Queen of Hearts spell was far from complete. Usually, the thorns would draw blood from the victims and absorb it, which would turn the pearl white roses to a bloody shade of crimson. From there, the roses would release tremendous, unnatural, amounts of oxygen that could almost be deemed poisonous. After all, any victims in the surrounding area would feel the harsh effects of oxygen toxicity, and that was never any fun. Izayuki would have allowed the spell to complete its work, if only Lynn and Zlatan were not in the area. The Black Rose mage had no reason to hurt her new friends, so she would avoid such a dirty trick at all costs. The vines still held onto six people, who Izayuki then dashed towards with her claws extended. She used her ‘Cheshire Cat’ spell to teleport directly in front of them, and proceeded to blind them at wicked speeds. No need to kill them if they had already survived the Queen of Hearts’ torture, after all. She would let them live, but they would be incapable of fighting from there on out, even in the future.

Turning back towards their golden leader, Izayuki flashed a grin after licking some of the blood from torn eyeballs off of her claws and fingers. Their blood tasted like the average humans’. She had nothing against the flavor, but had almost wished for something more sweet, making it worth the effort. Either her bloodlust was being picky, or these humans were just rotten to the core, even physically. It would make sense. Was that the reason they were fighting, perhaps? She was not one to judge, but could definitely ponder. “So now that you really see what we’re capable of, are you really still going to go through with fighting us?” she said, moving her claws from her tongue to use her hand to gesture towards the six that were crying out in pain, holding their eyes or deep wounds, blinded and rendered unable to fight. “Unlike them, I can’t promise I’ll show you mercy. But I guess you don’t care about mercy anyway, seeing as if one can be defeated, in your eyes, they are ‘useless’, as you say,” Izayuki continued, smirking and taking a few steps back, flexing her claws again and preparing to fight. “So what’s it going to be, human? Are you useless?"

The man was definitely amusing- no trace of humility. Being a leader took a good deal of being humble and modest, and a cocky bastard like him would never get his special ‘masked guild’ far by behaving in the way he was. They were in Clover Town, the home of the Blue Pegasus guild, and likely were trying to take it over. Really, Blue Pegasus was perfectly capable of defending themselves, but who was about to defend the innocent people around the town? Well, the two strongest mages in the area were Rising Stars, and thus, they had made a name for themselves based on their heroics. Why fall short of their reputation? Besides, fighting was fun, especially when your opponent gave you a reason to not hold back.

Lynn’s own icy aura could be felt instantly, and that alone made things much easier for Izayuki. When exposed to the cold, her health and magic would replenish itself rather quickly, and her attacks gained much more strength. This was absolutely perfect. On top of it, the Glacier God Slayer had her own unique ‘Freezing Aura’ to add to it all. The one in front of them was obviously hostile, and would find himself slowing more and more as long as he stayed in range. That was not the best part, however. He had been in range of her Freezing Aura for as long as he had been there, and thus, her signature spell, Hikari, or in common language words, Ice Hunt, would begin to activate. Her special use of the magic would begin to steal and drain the magic, health, and body heat of her enemies. Heck, with enough body heat gone, hypothermia could land some rather evil effects on a person’s body.

Izayuki was about to lunge for the Golden Sword to attack him with full-on fury of claws and uncontained strength, when five new figures sprung from seemingly out of nowhere. They wore obsidian black cloaks, and upon their faces were golden masks. Each one of them wielded a large bo staff, poised and ready for battle. As they seemingly flew in at great speed, one landed on the ground and struck his staff to the earth below. From the staff all the way to Izayuki and Lynn, the land below suddenly opened up, forming a fair canyon that was at least many meters deep. Using one of her Bakedanuki abilities that she preferred to avoid using, the pink-haired mage activated her flight to avoid falling into the fresh gorge. Floating on the air, Izayuki turned her sharp, pink gaze over to the one who had done it, setting him and his companions in her glare. “Heya Lynn, can ya keep that ‘Golden Butterknife’ guy or whoever he is off of my tail for just a few moments, while I deal with these idiots? Mmkay, thanks~” she asked, without even waiting for an answer. Hopefully, Lynn would be happy to oblige. Really, neither of them had many options.

Putting her palms and fingers together directly in front of her, Izayuki formed a mass of cold energy around her hands. Opening the space evenly between her flattened hands, the ice mage began to summon what appeared to be a katana of beautiful, glistening, ice, that was not black in color like her other unholy, darkness-infused ice. Gripping the hilt of the katana, a silken, flowing, long ribbon instantly protruded from the tip end of the hilt. The sword was pearl white, and a most elegant example of an ice sword. The weapon was Kuraokami- made from a fang of the ice dragon deity himself of the same name. She remembered when she had first earned it long ago, despite it not being under the best circumstances. Nevertheless, the sword would enhance her magic power by a great deal, and that was what Izayuki needed for the next few spells of ice that she planned to cast.

Floating back down to the ground and keeping her wits about her, Izayuki struck the ground with her ice katana, Kuraokami. “Kiyoku,” Izayuki spoke the spell’s name simply, and instantly, ice began to trail along the ground from it and towards the group of earth mages who were siding with the mysterious ‘masked guild’. The earth mages seemed ready and eager to defend, obviously preparing earth spells to counter. However, within a matter of seconds, a sudden dome of darkness-infused ice began to form around them, being twenty feet in diameter, and twenty feet tall. They had little time to react to such a thing, but Izayuki knew that the ‘Snowglobe’s’ walls would not hold all of the mages in for long, if at all. She had to activate her deadly snowglobe right away. Dashing forward at unnatural speeds, the Glacier God Slayer pushed her blade into the wall of the dark sphere, a small grin coming to her face once again, despite it being subtle. As if on cue, the Kiyoku spell completely activated itself- it was as if someone had grabbed the snowglobe, shaken it a little, then set it back down. On the inside, the mages could no longer be seen amidst a veil of swirling and churning darkness and ice bits, that were likely dealing just enough damage to do some decent harm.

Once she estimated the time for the blizzard inside of the snowglobe was coming to an end, Izayuki quickly retracted her sword and pull it out of her round creation and the Gold Legion’s icy prison. The snowglobe began to crack, audibly making shattering noises as it was destroyed. The ice did not disappear, however. With the ice being perfectly reusable, Izayuki refused to give her opponents a chance to recover. “Suihari,” she announced as the ice that originally made up Kiyoku’s walls turned into highly sharpened ice needles that were hurled towards the Gold Legion.

They never saw it coming.

As the cold energy and remnants of the blizzard began to subside and Kuraokami gone at least for a while, Izayuki raked her claws, one hand, then the other, through the air, creating medium-sized ‘slices’ of energy travelling towards her enemies. The five were already bleeding out quite severely, and while four of them managed to dodge, one poor member of their guild was hit by the oncoming ‘kazetsume’. He keeled over, having bled completely out. If he was not already dead, he was well on the verge of dying. “Unless you want to end up like your friend, or worse, you won’t interfere further,” Izayuki threatened, her pink, slit-pupil eyes narrowing further at the remaining four. There was no longer a taunting smirk on the Glacier God Slayer’s face. Her expression conveyed complete solemnity. Killing was not something that she took lightly, yet it seemed as if she was always killing or hurting others on a regular basis. Really, it sucked, but at the very least, she could try to warn her opponents if she could. Holding back was too hard a thing to do, for the Bakedanuki. If she could avoid fighting someone altogether, and negotiate peacefully, she would. However, sometimes there was only one language others would speak- that special ‘dialect’ being violence.

Seeing their boss go down was a good way to lure in more members of this strange ‘masked guild’. It was likely that they wanted revenge on the Rising Star duo for killing their guildmaster. That, or they wanted the ability to succeed him. Either way, Izayuki could sense that these members were below average in skill; taking them down would be a piece of cake. Then again, why rush it? The dark guild trying to take over Clover Town had failed, basically. They were forced to retreat without their leader, most likely fleeing in swarms or holding the last futile hope to carry his wishes of taking over Blue Pegasus's guild town.

What a joke. Izayuki could hear and smell the five long before they approached. The appeared almost instantly with a telekinetic jump, and attempted to surround the Bakedanuki. As expected, they wore mysterious black clocks, hiding their main features, and wore those brilliant golden masks, engraved with intricate designs on each one to display some form of symbolism or another. As she had been hinted earlier, and now somewhat guessed quite easily, they were just another cult of a dark guild. Just like the members before, they also wielded giant scimitars. She could put them down quite easily, her having defeated their guild's aces, or 'gold legion', almost effortlessly. "So boys, let's talk for a minute. My friend and I here have put down your guildmates, your aces, and your guildmaster. Do you really intend to keep persisting? If you do, like them, I can't promise to show ya'll much mercy, m'kay? So this is your warning~" she said, closing her eyes and crossing her arms in a laidback fashion, all while keeping her other senses quite alert.

She could smell hesitation wafting off of a few of them. They had a right to be hesitant, and scared. They could witness evidence of what her and Lynn were capable of, so would they really be so stupid as to attack the two Rising Stars, especially at their current level? Izayuki personally was all for negotiating, but when people seemed to understand actions better than words, she had no choice but to give up on being the civil one and speak their language. Still, the fact that they were hesitating was good. It meant that some of them actually understood, and would not rush blindly towards their deaths. "Listen, I'm giving ya'll one chance to back down. You have your lives ahead of you, so don't waste it on pointless battles, or fights you know you can't win. Find some purpose and meaning, and get out on your own," the yokai continued, reopening her pink eyes and gazing around at the five hooded and masked figures.

”Oh, you’re really letting them go just like that? Even after everything you’ve done,” a voice sneered from inside of her mind, easily recognizable as one of her Wonderland spirits. Why were they bothering her now? She first tried to ignore it, giving her surrounding enemies her deadly stares to attempt to ward them off, before she was force to squeeze her eyes shut as the voice sounded again. ”The Queen of Hearts is not too happy you used her power without using it to its fullest. I can’t say I blame her, which is why you have no control over my own abilities just yet~”

Quiet! I don’t have time to deal with you now, Mad Hatter. Leave me alone, Izayuki’s thoughts hissed back at the voice as she tried to reopen her eyes and focus on the present once again. Two of the Masked Guild members had fled. One remain firm, but two hesitated. ”As you wish~” Mad Hatter responded, before she felt his presence fading back away, deep into her soul.

Sighing again, Izayuki unsheathed her claws and focused on the remaining three Masked Guild members, staring straight at the golden masks hiding their face and narrowing her own eyes. “I won’t warn you again,” she growled, sending one of their enemies running and jumping away as fast as he could. A wise idea- who wanted to be killed by a Bakedanuki anyway, honestly? The last two seemed to agree via a subtle, almost invisible, sign language to attack the monster before them. The two leaped into the air, but the smaller of the two obviously chickened out mid-jump, evidently, and began dashing away, leaving one final member alone to attack the tanuki yokai.

“Idiot. You think you’re any match for me?” Izayuki sighed, unsheathed her claws and waited for the man to attempt to fall downwards at his own full speed, plus the lovely swiftness of gravity, to swipe down his scimitar at her. A bored expression on the tanuki girl’s face, she easily side-stepped, leaped upwards, and attempted to release five longs ‘slices’ of energy out of her claws to slash at him. It was not enough to kill him, but enough to cause some decent injury. He landed and with surprising speed, whipped around and attempted to strike again. Holding up her arm, Izayuki blocked the scimitar. It cut into her flesh, yes, but other than that it hardly caused much bleeding and damage despite it being lodged a few millimeters in her arm. Why was that? The answer was simple- she had an unnatural endurance. A human would have had their arm severed, but not a yokai. “Is that it then?” she asked, a sly grin coming to her features as she swiped at the man’s face with her uninjured arm’s hand and claws. Her strike was successful; her claws had penetrated the man’s opposing eye, and he was left with a good deal of pain as the eye’s torn flesh throbbed throughout his body and no sight was able to be sensed. All darkness… it was a shame she had failed to get his other eye. Oh well.

Watching the man fall to the ground as she brought her claws towards her face and licked some of the blood off of them, Izayuki began to assess her one injury. It was hardly a scratch in her mind, at least. It would heal itself in minutes, if she could estimate correctly. Making her way back towards Lynn, Izayuki allowed her mind to wonder how the other Rising Star fared in this now-boring event.

‘Impressive’ kill aside, what was left for the two wizards of ice? The town was not peaceful as it had once been just yet. While the clear blue skies overhead with a few puffy white clouds warranted a beautiful day, but the side of Clover Town where the two Rising Stars were fighting was in total chaos. There was already quite a bit of collateral damage, both with the massive gorge in the ground and various buildings that had been destroyed in the fighting. Thankfully, most of those innocent townspeople around had fled for their lives, and with good reason. After all, the mysterious Masked Guild seemed to want to take on Blue Pegasus, the magical guild that resided in Clover Town.

The stony ground that continued to bask in the sun with few shadows cast on its heating surface was now a canvas painted with endless crimson paint, with a metallic smell rising from the solid canvas. The blood was everywhere, and many lifeless or unconscious bodies were littered all over the sediment, adding ‘texture’ to the final ‘masterpiece’ of a vulgar painting. The life and warmth of the scene before, when she had been able to sit off to the side and humbly go about her pranking, was replaced with the cold air of death and stillness. They had won, right?

No, this could not be counted as a victory, surely. Yet on the other hand, perhaps a long time ago, Izayuki could be revolted by the sanguinary scene around her. What had happened? She really had little, if any, idea. Around the time that she had been forced to be more open about what she truly was, a tanuki yokai, she had to begin coming to terms with accepting herself and not fearing what human society would think. She had attacked Suzuran not too long ago, and in her rage, had exposed her true form to her guild. There was no more point in hiding it anymore then, yet she continued to do so, until she had run into that one wolf, Daemon. He seemed to think it silly that she use her disguise to hide a false shame she felt about herself. Beginning to remove the facade, Izayuki found much more enjoyment in remaining at least in between forms, with her human transformation, only with raccoon dog features. Those unique characteristics included silver-furred ears, a large fluffy tail, claws, and canine fangs.

But what happened to make her more attracted to blood? Was it just the fact that she had completely accepted that she was indeed a Bakedanuki, and had become more in tune with her own essence? It was a trait that she did not necessarily want, yet could not resist or withstand. Nevertheless, it was there, and she enjoyed the taste of the blood she licked off of her claws, even if it was not as good as certain other individual’s life force. She moved over and was about to reply to Lynn, mirroring her grin, until the two slayers sensed something else- the guildmaster of the Masked Guild, the ‘golden sword’, was alive. Narrowing her pink eyes, Izayuki watched as Lynn moved towards him with an interesting form of rage, and using the boss’s own weapon, she severed his head from his body. Impressive, to say the least. The Saber Tooth Paragon was definitely not to be underestimated, obviously, as she continued to prove again and again.

The Ace of Stigma was readying herself to warily approach the killer scene from behind Lynn, but was halted as she sensed fifteen more individuals advancing on the two Rising Stars. “Do ya’ll ever give up?” she groaned, releasing a sigh as she readied another spell. “Hyoumitsurin!”

As soon as she uttered the spell’s name, ‘Ice Jungle’ activated, starting from the enchanted spell circle at her feet. From there, within the blink of an eye the ice spread to the meters beyond, reaching forty five yards or more before it halted. Once the spell had been cast, the surface of anything nonliving was coated in a moderately thick layer of ice. Out of that ice sprouted intricate and detailed trees, bushes, vines, and a warm scene despite the cold materials. As one tree grew, a weaker Masked Initiate was caught inside of it as the trunk grew around him, encasing him inside. As the ice tree reached full height, delicate leafs began to bud and grow to full bloom within seconds from the frozen branches. In the winterscape, snow began to fall, generated from the topmost range end of the spell.

The spell was beautiful, an obsidian-hued icescape of marvelous design, though for Izayuki, it was the ice that willed itself into a unique shape. She had little say in what form the Ice Jungle took, but at least, she could control it once it had formed. The nine remaining masked initiates were taken by surprised as the scene around them changed to the surreal world of darkness-infused ice. They were already being affected by both her Freezing Aura and the cold air of Hyoumitsurin. Throwing up her hand in the direction of the confused and slowed initiates, icy vines suddenly sprung forth from the ground and down from the treetops and raced towards their targets. Within seconds, Izayuki had rendered their opponents incapable of fighting, twisting and tightening them in the frosty vines. Many were already suffering severe frostbite and hypothermia. One or two of them were already asleep from the frightening and deadly effects of her divine ice magic. Their deaths would be easy and painless- how lucky.

“Idiots… your guildmaster is already dead. Yet you continue to try my patience...” she said with a bored and slightly irritated sigh. She had lost sight of the five Golden Apprentices, and had not given them too much though. Hopefully, they would use common sense and flee while they still could. Unfortunately, that was not the case. Noticing the scents and magical presences of three behind her, racing towards her in an attempt to free their companions, Izayuki simply gazed down at the frosty ground and whispered the name of her next spell. “Sakai,” she murmured, hearing the sound of the floor getting colder and icier, and sudden giant spikes of ice protruding from the ground under their feet and impaling directly through them.

One of them was killed instantly. The other tried to cry out, but was unable to release any sound as the frozen spell penetrated his lungs and ceased his breathing permanently. The third, however-- her screams were loud and vivid. Izayuki focused on the ground directly in front of her, to avoid seeing the bloody mess behind her of the three impaled humans. The scent of blood as it drizzled down the sides of the spikes and dripped onto the ground was overwhelming already, as if the other kills had not stoked at her yokai senses enough. Against her will, she turned around to gaze with calm pink eyes at the three she had killed with her cruel ice magic. There always came the musing, what if she was not cursed with the power of a Glacier God Slayer? Would things be different? If so, how different, if she had made it this far without the hellish magic of ice?

What a silly thing to think about. She would have not lasted or made it this far at all… things would still be peaceful, maybe. She would have been raised just like a normal human, even, instead of ever coming to terms with the fact that she was anything but human, or normal. Hell, even being an average raccoon dog would have been a blessing, instead of being a yokai, a mysterious monster.

“That bad, really?” the voice of reason asked, making its presence known yet again. “You would really rather be human than tanuki, or ‘average’ more than a Youkai?”

That nostalgic voice again. It was gentle, mature, and full of warmth. Feminine, no doubt… and always there, somehow. Izayuki could never find it in her nature to question the voice on what or who it was, how or where she could hear it, or why… it was just always there, and despite everything, the voice was a welcomed presence, in a way. “No… I…”

Izayuki trailed off in her mind, fighting the conflicting thoughts as the blood continued to overwhelm her senses. She was determined not to lose it as she had last time, even if she had brought this on herself with all of the death, but the only thing really keeping her from losing herself once again to the instinct and madness none was other than that soothing voice. Despite her somehow remaining sane, however, her thoughts continued to conflict against her will. In an attempt to snap out of it, Izayuki turned away from the three impaled golden apprentices and gazed back at the masked initiates, tangled in her vines of ice. Extending her right forearm again, Izayuki began to direct the vines to tighten. It would finish them off, surely. At least three or four of the nine were already dead from the cold, anyway.

Her frustration was growing. What frustration? The anger with herself and her inability to understand her conflicting emotions and musings… or what? “Iza… just focus on me… and don’t kill them. Let them go.”

“But-” Izayuki began, but was cut off by the gentle voice once more, who spoke more firmly than before, yet still presented the same warmth. “You’ve done enough. They will give up, I promise. You don’t need to take their lives, even if they deserve it. You should know this better than me~”

Releasing a long sigh, Izayuki let out a slight growl from the back of her throat before she continued. She retracted her hand and instantly, the vines retreated back into the frozen ground and trees. “Fine,” she huffed, closing her eyes for a few seconds before reopening them to glare at the six masked initiates who were still alive, injured, but free from her icy trap. “Get out, all of you. Or else.”

As expected, they all ran away. One seemed hesitant, and the Ace of Stigma figured that he was trying to decide if he had a chance to carry out his task or not. If he were wise, like the others, he would run faster. After the Bakedanuki took a sudden step forward, however, her enemy realized the danger and quickly fled right behind his guildmates. There was always one, was there not? Still, the idea that she had not been forced to take more lives definitely calmed her mind a bit. The voice was gone, but she was not finished yet. There were two others still out there, prone to pounce. She could already pinpoint their locations-- located in her mystical trees of ice and darkness. Able to manipulate the entire icescape, Izayuki manipulated Hyoumitsurin to have one tree retreat into the ground, causing one of the golden apprentices to fall and hit the icy ground hard. While Izayuki was focusing on this unfortunate member of the guild of masks, the apprentice’s partner sprung from another tree, aiming to swing down upon the yokai’s head with his scimitar. With a quick reaction and his own speed slowed by much more than half, Izayuki gracefully moved out of the way and the instant he landed, she pushed him to the side with his other companion. “If you want to live, leave. And never return to Clover Town,” she said in a stern voice, pink eyes narrowing in solemnity as she took a few steps towards the trembling duo.

With the Bakedanuki advancing towards them, the two golden apprentices did not take much time to spring to their feet and half run half slip across the slick black ice. As soon as they were out of range, Izayuki turned her head to locate the Ice Dragon Slayer, Lynn. For some reason, she felt much more calm than before. Was it because the smell of blood was freezing in the air or fading away, or was there more to it? Either way, it seemed that their task was finished. It had been somewhat fun, truly, even though the last moments had managed to stress the tanuki yokai out. Nevertheless, Clover Town was safe, and the two Rising Stars had emerged victoriously.