THERE MUST BE SOMETHING MORE ♦ job

The river had dried up, and no longer flowed with cool, gentle water rushing over the bed of the river and the smoothened rocks. In places where there could have been the remnants of water, there was nothing but foul-smelling muck that muddied the deepest parts of what should have been the rich veins of the river. The drought that had seized the land was cruel, leaving the plants without their main source of life, the water, which would only end up killing them in the end. The trees were slowly dying, and the shrubs around had shriveled up, as if they cowered in fear of what was to come.
Hardwood trees dominated the landscape, and many still remains standing tall in some sort of glory, but not all of it. Their once lushly crowned heads were wilted and left with few leaves to take pride in. A few trees, even some of the older, bigger ones had fallen over, completely uprooted by their weakness during the harsh change in the weather and land. Those felled trees were rotting by then, full of termites, maggots, and grubs of all sorts. They were rotting internally, and before long, they would be no more. Usually this circle could be seen as an interesting and somehow beautiful piece of nature, but not now. Not in this case.

Overhead, the sky was rather dark, despite it being midday. Clouds hid the once brilliant blue eyes behind their blankets of gray and dark white shades. Even the sun was completely covered, left without a single ray of light able to escape their dim and solemn thickness. Usually, clouds with such thick and shaded bodies would herald a nice storm filled with rain and water, but not this time. The weather had not changed for months; it was always like this. No sun to help the plants use their leaves to make rich food and nutrition for themselves, and no water to support and enrich the soil, to quench their thirsty roots. All of the life was slowly fading, and the wildlife itself was taking its leave, or dying out completely. There was no birdsong in the barren canopies, and even a crow, raven, buzzard, grackle, or vulture dared not come too close to the accursed landscape. Only, was it really cursed?

Footsteps stopped at the edge of the slightly-wet deep vein of the dried river. Unnaturally-colored eyes narrowed as the figure crouched down close to the mucky surface of what was left. Delicate fingers would scoop up some of the substance, and bring it up to a fair, olive-skinned face to observe closer, sniff lightly, and then recoil in disgust. Whatever it was, it had no trace of water, dihydrogen monoxide, within its contents. The figure’s first guess was that it was none other than oil or chemical waste from some factory or human-made ‘upstream’, but she could detect no such thing within the vile liquid. The fluid did not even have any magical residue to label it as some accursed solution. It made for quite a mystery, and all she could do was stand up and shake the revolting juice off of her hand and fingers.

Silently, Izayuki retreated back into the forest, which had an eerie silence about it. If she was not careful, she would be the one making the noise; a snap of some branches on the ground, or the rustling off dried, crushed leaves that had fallen from being jewels on the crowns of those once majestic trees. She somehow managed to almost float through the trees in complete silence, as if she were nothing else but a lonely ghost quietly haunting a vacant domain. That was not the case, however, as her feet still remained completely rooted to the crumbling earth, despite the tread being so soundless.

The place brought back a ring of nostalgia for the tanuki girl as she slipped through the trees. There was no way she could forget this place, even if she wanted to. It was one of the first regions of the mainland that she had explored upon flying across the sea in a bird form from Shadelle, to Fiore. This one one of the first forests she had explored upon setting foot in the giant terrain of hardwood trees, but back then it had been a beautiful and jovial place, with lush greens overhead and golden sunlight dappled across the floor of the woods. There had been a breeze singing a song as it stirred the canopies and twisted its way around the trunks of the tall alders and hardwoods. Now? No more. The forest was almost dead, if not completely. Whatever life-giving spirit the woods had before had fled, or died.

Such silence there was that Izayuki walked through. She was determined to pinpoint the very thing that was causing this, as had been requested in a subtle and less than humble job request. There was no reward, as it was only a plea; a cry for assistance. Despite it being so informal, the Bakedanuki could never refuse such a request, especially as she recognized it as a former home of sorts, even if barely. The ‘client’ was anonymous, which made sense as she continued to travel through the forest, barren and desolate of any life, as if only the bones of what was once thriving remained. With the gray of the skies and ground below, the Ayakashi noticed how the silver fur on her ears and tail, and in her true form, now camouflaged and matched the woods so well. Back then, before she had been turned into the Glacier God Slayer, her fur had been a lovely earthy shade of brown, which once also matched the prosperous and flourishing woodland.

The forest kept going on and on as Izayuki walked, but she kept her guard up and her wits about her, allowing no tiredness or shortness of attention span to overtake her. It was an easy effort, but as she walked, the yokai began to feel an odd drowsiness creep up on her quickly, striking like lightning. She did not know where the source was, but even upon pushing forth all of her immunities and resistances, she was unable to fight it. As she struggled against the insane fatigue that had befallen her, she grimaced against the tremors of pain sent through her body as she fought it. She could sense absolutely nothing in the air or nearby that was causing this, either with magic or senses. Falling to her knees, the Bakedanuki panted, breathing out heavy, labored exhales, and sharp, painful inhales. She clenched the dry, dark dirt of the earth with her claws, crushing dead and dried fallen leaves as she did so, and forced herself not to make any sound from the pain befalling her.
”Stop resisting it… and it will stop hurting. I’m sorry…” the warm voice said, soft-spoken and hushed once more, yet full of a regretful edge.

Izayuki wanted to speak out against it, but found no energy to do so as she began to succumb to the overwhelming heaviness and sleepiness. Finally, she found herself falling into a deep slumber, and one that would remain still, silent, and stagnate in just the same manner as the forest. Was she becoming a part of it? Only time would tell.

“Now, where were we…?” the same voice from before asked as it materialized right above Izayuki’s sleeping body. “You better have a good reason for making me do this to my daughter.”
Above the sleeping girl’s body was a unique spirit of sorts- a yuurei. Once a yokai, and a Bakedanuki at that, with thick, frizzy, brown hair, deep forest green eyes, and a long bushy, fluffy tail. She had two brown-furred ears atop her head that matched with her hair color, and dark tinted claws poking out from where fingernails typically would be. She wore a ruddy brown, medium-length, flowing skirt with large, golden, vine-like designs woven into it. She wore a pale, yellow-green shirt with loose, pale, triangular short sleeves coming off of the shoulders. On her feet were oval-shaped geta, eastern wooden clogs with two ‘teeth’ that acted as the bottom surface of the shoes. On the geta were cotton thongs, hanao, dark brown in color, which complimented the wood from which the shoe was made. In the hands of the Bakedanuki, there was a very long traditional pipe meant for smoking, and from a string tied around her wrist, there hung a small bottle of well fermented rice wine, sake.

The figure facing the Bakedanuki was none other than what appeared to be another person, with long obsidian-black hair with gentle curls and waves. Beneath this woman’s hairline and planted delicately on her face were bright sulfur yellow orbs that seemed to almost glow an odd bright gold in the dim light that made up the rickety and gray forest. Her frame was very tall and slender, almost five centimeters taller than the tanuki yokai that stood confidently no more than ten meters away. The woman wore tight jeans, a white shirt, and a snug and fashionable leather jacket, along with heeled boots to match and a chain necklace holding a key worn around her neck. The appearance was snazzy and modern, but who would wear such a thing in this place?

Making quick deductions, the tanuki woman suspected that this was only a temporary form or appearance. The black-haired woman was obviously a spirit of sorts, or some lost soul. She could see that much quite clearly, being a spirit herself, or in more formal terms, a yuurei. The woman who appeared, clothed in her fancy apparel, took an assertive step forward. “What was that, Rika? Don’t tell me you have forgotten me, and everything else you’ve ever done,” the black-haired person said, beginning with the slightest of grins, but finishing in a rather dark and foreboding tone, a scowl in her eyes, which countered the grin.

The Bakedanuki only frowned, taking a long inhale from her pipe, before releasing it with a small puff of white smoke. “Very familiar, yes. I think I do remember you, but I’ve chosen to give up all of my other lives and memories. I have no purpose anymore, save for one, and I intend to fulfill that goal,” she said with a sigh, in a casual but serious manner, before glancing down at Izayuki, who was sleeping deeply a few feet behind her. Her charge, her daughter, her purpose. She was not in the mood for being subtle. This person could not hurt her nor Izayuki, surely, but Rika decided against being the first to speak next. She would await the other spirit’s words before proceeding with action or more words.

“Then, you will know why I am here?” the woman asked, keeping a slight grin that almost failed to mask the darkness hidden in her bright yellow gaze and tone.
“Of course I do, Syryn. Pathetic revenge, isn’t that right?” Rika said in a haughty voice, breathing out another stream of smoke as she gazed steadily at the black-haired woman. She knew Syryn’s identity, and could remember it all too well. Back in her first life, Rika remembered the world as a perky pine marten, who had reincarnated at least three times, first to meet her end from being hunted by a human, and the second time, by the claws of the wild cat, Syryn, a member of the Elite of the land, a treacherous group of rogues that dwelled and thrived inside the Decrepit Mansion. It had been a fierce battle, as far as she could remember, though in all honesty, while the yuurei could recall bits and pieces, she hardly cared to even recall her memories or details from those times. All that mattered was the present, and that Rika of the past was no more.

Nevertheless, before the marten had discovered the ability to find life once again, she had taken the life of her second killer as a spirit. She had killed the feline, and doomed it to wander in its afterlife as naught but a lost soul, unable to find its killer for revenge for the revenge. Irony, really, but Rika had begun to ignore concepts like revenge. They were tiring, and not worth the effort in the least. What good did it do for one personally to take or ruin the life of another? If they were left alive, chances could be they might even find redemption. Was that not a happy thing? The tanuki liked to think so, but this feline spirit had obviously not discovered such a thing. Then again, the yuurei was at fault as well, and she was the one with the most points in this game. But did this really have to be settled now? The reincarnated marten had much more important things to worry about. Syryn needed something else to preoccupy her time, honestly.

“Damn straight,” Syryn replied briskly, beginning to frown. She had taken the form of a human with her ethereal body, but still continued to long for a solid shape to call her own. Could that be possible? Of course not; definitely not for a soul hung up on the concept of revenge. Her purpose here was to kill Rika, and end the yuurei’s cycle of reincarnation, but she still remained curious as to why the strange former marten had not chosen to activate her unique ability once again, as she had in the past. What was holding her back? Honestly, she would be much easy to kill had the spirit not had her powerful spirit form or past memories while in a current, solid body. “Revenge is cliche; find a hobby, Syryn~” the Bakedanuki dared to state, a small grin creeping to her features. She was blunt and condescending, but had she not always been that way?

This only seemed to anger the feline entity, who leaped forward with a bright orb of yellow energy forming at her hands. She made a very speedy dash, and aimed to send her energized fist towards the tanuki yokai, who was standing idly a number of meters away. Rika saw her coming almost instantly, and stepped quickly and elegantly to the side to avoid Syryn’s fist. She naturally had her concerns for Izayuki sleeping so close, but dared not to even look down at her child. If she showed too much concern for the sleeping Bakedanuki, Syryn could potentially aim her anger and wrath elsewhere, and that would not bode well for either of them. The former feline was very strong, and nothing that Rika could not handle. Nevertheless, the only way Izayuki could even do much to Syryn was to access her Wonderland abilities, which was madness and soul magic that fed off of and somehow fueled her own insanity as well. The more she used it, the further she fell, and the last thing that Rika wanted to do was curb another outburst of her madness once again. It was becoming too much, and too taxing, and in the end there would only be so much that the tanuki mother could do for her daughter who dared to make a contract with a transcended Daemon while in captivity by the goddess of ice, cold, snow, and the north, Yukionna.

Rika leaped a few meters away, coaxing Syryn to follow in pursuit of her evasive maneuvers and form. The black-haired woman scowled and dashed towards Rika again, sending giant blasts of energy orbs her way, all glowing with a bright, sulphuric, yellow hue. The tanuki yuurei skillfully countered the energy balls by making swift dodging motions as they came. It had been a long while since she had been forced to be so active in her dodging. One yellow orb to her head, arm, abdomen, and both legs easily dodged, all while she managed to keep her tail from being caught in the impact from behind. One of the orbs hit a tree, causing the rotting and dried thing to fizzle like acid into nothingness before it dissolved the entire tree, consuming the large branches, dried leaves, and trunk, as well as the parched roots. So that was what they did… quite devastating indeed, but also interesting. The Bakedanuki raised an eyebrow as she glanced over her shoulder at the impact, somewhat impressed. It had been a good thing she had managed to dodge the terrifying orbs of light, but was this the extent of Syryn’s power? It was obviously something she had managed to develop during her time as a spirit, as the feline did not have such abilities in life, as far as Rika could remember.

More bright yellow orbs were sent her way, but swiftly dodged by Rika once again. “Done yet? I believe it’s my turn~” the playful yuurei said with a grin, breathing out more white smoke. As she did so, however, she made a circular motion with her large pipe, and began to expand the white smoke to completely shroud the setting, as if it were mist. Nobody would be able to see three feet in front of them, but that was the Bakedanuki’s goal. It would help conceal Izayuki, for one thing, which was her top priority. As for her? She could use her other senses quite easily. Besides, the smoke would assist in draining magic and life from her direct targets, all while assisting in any other tricks she decided to play. Normally with this type of power, Rika preferred to turn a stray human into an animal of some sort, or turn some poor, unsuspecting animal into a person to sit back and watch the reaction and the confusion. Unfortunately, that would not be as effective against the spirit, who could shift her soul as she pleased. She would have to think of something else to do.

It had been so long since she had used any of her tricks. Typically, Rika either fought physically or stayed on the defensive with her evasive techniques in her arsenal, including her shapeshifting, use of illusions and perception manipulation, and other general mind tricks. Unfortunately, she was not at full power in a yuurei state, and had no time or will to do her usual thing in this battle. She had to make it quick, before Izayuki woke up and was without her mother’s spirit attached to her own, sealing off the trauma from long ago. After going through the brutal training and torture that Yukionna, the one who had forcibly given Izayuki’s Glacier God Slayer powers to her, the silver-furred tanuki had been left with great stress and terror always on her mind. From it, she had many triggers, and would snap so easily just from mention or memory from those cruel times. It had become so bad that Rika had finally stepped in, sealing off the effects of the memories, and the brunt of them, but leaving the basic ideas and images so as not to change the tanuki’s mind and spirit, nor her personality and being, too much. Memories, in a way, were the essence of a being, after all. They were the building blocks and structure for any individual, and Rika would hate to erase anything that had made Izayuki who she was. Despite this, she still had the capacity to conceal the terror, and hide the despair, keeping it safely disconnected from the young slayer. This was only possible when Rika had her spirit, or soul, or both, safely connected to Izayuki’s at all times. For a time like this, when she had taken a few steps away, she had been forced to make the youthful mage sleep deeply and peacefully, to avoid having any of that trauma find its way to her daughter’s mind once again while Rika was not there shielding her from it. She believed that one day, Izayuki would become strong enough to handle her emotions, memories, and everything else without help from her mother’s spirit, who she could hear and feel in presence but fail to recognize. That time, however, was not now. It was risky, but Syryn would prove too much of a threat to Izayuki, though was child’s play for the yuurei.

Back to the subject, Rika grinned as she listened to Syryn give a slight cough thanks to the smoke thickening in the air. With a devious smile broadening, she allowed her pipe to vanish into thin air, telling herself to remember to summon it later if she wanted a puff or two. Releasing claws as sharp as daggers, the tanuki yuurei lunged for the black-haired woman, aiming to slice claws at her shoulders, and a third swipe towards Syryn’s neck. The attack failed, however, as Syryn charged her energy and had it coat her entire body in the sulphuric yellow energy. Rika flinched and leaped away, feeling a great stinging sensation in her hands and arms where she had come into contact with the energy. They were not disintegrating like the trees behind her had, but the pain was enough to make her reconsider fighting at such close melee proximity. It did make things much more complicated, but it was nothing that she could not handle. Raking her claws through the air, Rika released five piercing slices of energy, heading straight towards Syryn, followed by five more from swiping her other clawed hand. Syryn dodged the first set, but was skinned by the second, grunting in response. Rika’s damage would linger, and not heal so easily. It would continue to poison the spirit of whoever she struck, showing no room for mercy as it drained them of life and power.

In response, Syryn leaped towards Rika once again, forming large daggers of her acidic energy above her to send directly into the tanuki like needles. They were much faster than before, and Rika grimaced and clenched her teeth as one found its way into her right arm, and another in her tail as she had made a movement to dodge.

It was time to stop toying. Her first attacks had been made with the sole purpose of figuring out strengths and weaknesses. Close ranged melee attacks would not work, but Rika had more tricks up her sleeve. Waving her uninjured hand upwards, Rika summoned four glowing leaves, each of them made of spiritual energy and not physical by any means. They began floating towards Syryn, and locked on her form, unable to be dodged as they followed until penetrating through her spirit body and absorbing themselves into her soul. “You should know better than to play around with a Yuurei, my dear Syryn~” Rika said with a grin, taking out a tiny ovate leaf, bright green in color, that overall was lovely in shape but realistic, compared to the ones from before. Taking a fifth spiritual energy leaf, she infused it with the cup as she smirked towards the scowling and likely confused feline spirit.

Syryn took no time in attempting to attack the Bakedanuki while she was working her magic on the tiny leaf. She aimed another forceful punch for Rika, coated in her yellow energy, but by that point in time, it was far too late. The Yuurei focused her abilities on the magical leaves she had implanted inside of Syryn’s soul. With a scream, Syryn’s spirit body dissolved, leaving her dark yellow soul, which then took on the full appearance of a black leaf, radiating with a light of the same colors as the soul. Holding a devious grin, Rika would grasp the leaf in her hands and merge it with the realistic one. It made the green leaf slightly darker in color, and reflect the same lights as before. Syryn was no more, at least for now, as Rika had bound her to a new vessel, the Tsukumogami leaf. Her spirit could be summoned to take another shape again, but as long as someone held onto her newly shaped soul, the leaf, they could control her as they felt.

A very fitting end for a monster of the Elite, a self proclaimed ‘torturer’ by rank, and a skilled murder and warrior. The new yokai leaf would make a lovely little gift for her daughter, who she would instruct on how to use it properly. For now, Rika had consumed too much of her own energy, and knew that staying active and in her spirit form would do her no good. As she summoned her pipe again, Rika easily and gradually cleared the smoke from the area, allowing it to somehow mystically return to the end of her smoking pipe. Confidently, she would walk back towards Izayuki, who was still sleeping as quietly and deeply as she had left her. Crouching down near her daughter, Rika tucked the leaf inside of a fold of Izayuki’s scarf. The Bakedanuki would find it later, hopefully, or maybe it would fall out by then. Either way, the new tsukumogami leaf, which Rika had now dubbed as ‘Myouwa’, or, ‘cat leaf’, would belong to her daughter. As soon as she had finished giving her small gift, the Yuurei began, vanishing within seconds as she tied her spirit safely back to the young sleeping tanuki girl.

Only less than a minute or two later, did the silver-furred tanuki girl begin to feel consciousness fill her body and mind once again. Drowsily opening her pink eyes, the yokai tried to recollect what had happened. Everything was a blur; she could only remember walking into the dim and sullen forest and then feeling a sudden bout of drowsiness. Only moments after, she had fallen asleep, very deeply. As frightening as that fact was, Izayuki noticed nothing new and sensed no trouble or foul deeds had been done while she was not awake. It was quite a terrifying thing to think about- being put to sleep in a dark and unknown place. After all, it made her easy to be captured or even killed had someone stumbled upon her. What Izayuki was more worried about currently was who or what had made her fall asleep, and why they had done it. She could sense nothing around, and upon sitting up, noticed no sense of any type of spirit or soul or other presence nearby. Except…
Lifting her hands, Izayuki reached into a fold of her pink scarf, Erimaki. She felt something soft and natural within the fabric, and gingerly pulled out the odd ovate shaped leaf. It was radiating with some kind of aura or another, but the yokai recognized a spirit within, and quickly identified it as a Tsukumogami. What was it doing here? Had someone placed it in her scarf themselves? Why did she need to be asleep for such a thing to take place, or had it somehow been there all along and she just then sensed it? Either way, it was likely a lucky little charm to have, just like Youefu, so the tanuki was not about to complain. Still confused and curious, she stood up. There was no reason to linger there too long, and the only other option was to keep moving forward. Without another thought, the Black Rose Guild Master continued on her small venture through the gray woods, eager to keep moving on her quest.