Fox in The Court

Chapter 6

<Ah.. Time to relax.> Honghú thought as she sat in the bathtub with her eyes closed. Then, Chinatsu and Etsuko began chattering. “Phew, all the guards look so boring..” The latter said. “Hm.. I guess so.. but they have to be fit..” It seemed like they were talking about romance and boys.. again.. The girl wasn’t all too happy to have to listen to it, but she agreed to bathe together.. Even if she was regretting it. She sighed and opened her eyes. <I feel oddly lacking.. next to them..> Honghú thought, as she looked over at the other two ladies, who were more mature and developed. “Hey, Hon-chan do you have eyes on anybody?” Etsuko asked. “She is just fifteen, she is still too young to think about boys.” Chinatsu said.
“Well I could ask, can’t I? So what do you say?”
“No, I don’t.” Honghú answered, simply and dismissively.

Chapter 6
Blast from the past

Asahi and Tatsuo were standing outside, looking at the gates that had just opened. A box was carried on a carriage. It was old, run-down, rotten, and dusty, covered in moss. “Well, that does look like some ancient relic..” Asahi said, jokingly. “Mhm, hopefully, it is worth making such a fuss about..”
“Well, it looks older than the Emperor, so it definitely is old..”
“Do not make jokes like that! At least not in public.”
The old box had been tied up with a paper seal that had been written in an ancient language. The ones who brought, archeologists or adventurers or whatever, came and bowed to the brothers. “We have found this box, and this scroll in an ancient temple.” The man handed the scroll over; Tatsuo opened it but couldn't read a word. “Ugh. This is too old for me to read.. Well thank you for your efforts anyway.” The man bowed and left, along with his crew, once the box had been placed down. “Take it to the armory!” Tatsuo ordered the servants. “So that scroll is just old gibberish?” Asahi asked. “No idea. But I know who might be able to read this.” Tatsuo answered.
○●○●○
Honghú was wandering around when she spotted Kanata and Atsumi chatting once again. She hoped to stay out of their sight, wishing to be by herself now. “Honhoo-chan!” Kanata yelled and waved to her, she had been spotted. She sighed and went over to them and bowed. “How are you two doing?” She asked. “Tired! Maid work is so bad!” Kanata whined with slumped shoulders. “Mhm.. well how about you, Honghú-chan?”
“I am fine, thank you for asking. Have you caught more snakes around here?” The orange-haired girl asked jokingly. Atsumi replied, after a short chuckle. “No, not yet.”
“Well, that is probably for the best! Snakes are scary!” Kanata said, shuddering lightly. “Well, not all are dangerous; some can even be used to keep away or deal with rodents.” Atsumi said, smiling enthusiastically. “You like snakes, don’t you?” Honghú observed her expression and slightly dilated pupils. “Yes! They are wonderful and fascinating creatures!”
“Hm, well I guess one could see them like that..”
“There you are!” The girls’ talk was interrupted by the arrival of Asahi and Tatsuo. The three of them bowed. “Can you read this?” Straight to the point, Tatsuo basically shoved the scroll in her face. Honghú, not too happy, took it and unrolled it. “Um, I’m afraid not, my lord. This text is ancient..”
“Tsk..”
Atsumi looked at it, curiously. “Hm.. Could I take a look at it?”
“Uhm, sure..” Honghú handed her the scroll.
“It’s a warning.”
“A warning?” Asahi asked back.
“Yes, -Sealed in this container is the rampaging armor of Okinaga. Do not unseal!-” Atsumi read up the scroll.
“What is that armor of Okinaga, or whatever?” Honghú asked.
“Okinaga was a famous samurai warrior, who lived a century ago.. he perished in the battle of Chang-ho. Legend says it, that his spirit possessed his armor and began to rampage, cutting down everything and everyone in its path..” Tatsuo explained.
“Uh.. well sounds like we should get rid of that box then..” Asahi said, and no one seemed opposed to the idea. “How come you could read the scroll?” Kanata asked Atsumi; the others would have almost forgotten about that fact if not for her. “Oh, well, my mother really liked calligraphy, old dialects, and languages.. so I picked up a thing or two.. or more or less had to..”
“Well, it was useful, thank you for reading it.” Tatsuo said. “It was my honor, sir.” The maid bowed and gave the scroll back. The two men walked away. “What are going to do with that thing now?” Asahi asked.
“We have to get rid of it. Somehow..”
The girls continued their conversation. “Didn’t take you for the type to read that text..” Honghú told Atsumi.
“I thought you would be able to read it.. you are the mystical girl, aren’t you?” A sassy reply. Honghú almost smiled but remembered that she had not told her about that. <Eh, Maybe Kanata told her.. she talks a lot..> She dismissed her confusion. They continued to chat about silly things.
○●○●○
After noon, things were quiet and peaceful outside. Tatsuo was looking over his paperwork as usual. When someone entered his workroom. “Am I bothering you?” Shinobu asked, walking in gracefully. “Not really… I’m mostly done. Why are you here?“ His words weren’t the most encouraging.
“Why don’t you take a break?” The woman asked softly. “Uh.. well, I could take one. Are you feeling better now?”
“Yes, I am! I really just needed to rest..” She was lying, but he was too oblivious to notice. “How about we spend some time together, now? Like husband and wife..” Shinobu stepped close to Tatsuo, her hands gently on his shoulders. Her face moved close to his. “Uh.. well, I would rather relax first..” He said, trying his best to stay firm and confident under the circumstances. “Oh, well what I planned is relaxing too..”
“How about we drink some tea?” Tatsuo suggested a less ‘intense’ activity. Shinobu, a bit disappointed, replied; “Tea does sound nice.” She backed off a little. Suddenly, a crashing noise echoed outside, followed by cries and screams. That startled both of them. Shinobu, shaking like a leaf, asked; “What was that?” Tatsuo was uncertain and shrugged. “I don’t know, but I don’t like it.”
○●○●○
The armor had been securely locked away in the armory, with a few guards stationed in front of the building’s entrance at all times. Yet, somehow, the armor came bursting through the wooden door. The guards tried to stand in its way only to get easily cut down. It was now loose and wreaking havoc. The armor’s dulled green color, spotted with patches of rust, stood out like a warning sign among all the blue-wearing peeople of the castle. The clothes under the armor had rotten, yet it was still mainly brown. The holes of the mask and any torn spots on the clothes glew a piercing lime color. Many warriors tried to stand in its way, but all got injured or cut down. The servants screamed and ran, like headless chickens.
Chinatsu and Honghú, who were training together, spotted a few of the servants running, all screaming “Run!”
The two of them were puzzled, but soon got convinced as a log of wood crashed next to them. “Well I guess we should run along too!” Chinatsu suggested, with a lame attempt at a joke. “Agreed!” Honghú answered. The possessed armor moved in their direction, going after the largest number of people. To their luck, it was slow. “Hah! Guess it can’t run!” Chinatsu joked but she tripped over something and fell. Honghú tried to help her get up. “Are you alright? Get up!” She turned around to see where it was. “It’s coming!”
“Hey, what are you doing? Get to safety!” Asahi, who just got to the scene, commanded them and helped Chinatsu get up. “Now go!” Honghú felt a strange feeling in her stomach and the urge to ask; “What about you, my lord?” For once, the young man looked serious; with his left hand readily on the saya of his katana, Asahi turned around to face the danger. “I will take care of it.”
Honghú’s eyes widened. “My lord, it has cut down everyone who stood in its way!” He ignored her words and began walking toward the possessed armor. Asahi drew his blade and readied himself to battle. “Hey! Ancient dust collector! Leave the innocent alone, and duel me instead!” It did not respond and likely did not even understand. No matter, the distance between them shrunk with each step. Once in attack range, the armor slashed at Asahi, who successfully parried it. He decided to try and end it as quickly as possible. ≈Dance of Water: Flowing Slash≈ He slashed toward the thing, his blade followed by a stream of water. It managed to block it. Their blades clashed a few times.
Once at a safer distance, Honghú looked back. “Wow..”
≈Striking River≈ Asahi slashed, sending a huge strip of water toward the possessed armor, which knocked it back.
“He is stronger than I thought!” Honghú said, in awe. “Of course, Asahi-sama is a master at Dance of Water!” Chinatsu answered. “Dance of Water?” Confused, the girl asked back. “Uh, I can’t really explain how it works, it is a samurai thing..”
Their blades clashed intensely once more, with the noises echoing in the area. One held a clear advantage, but the other was not a living being, thus did not get tired. The spirit managed to knock Asahi down and was ready to cut him down. Suddenly, a thousand arrows launched toward them, forcing the armor to cut the ones close to it down and stumble backward. Asahi just looked wide-eyed and full of confusion. “Huh?” He looked back and saw Honghú doing the hand sign for ‘tiger’, so she made the spirit see something. “Can you make it go away, like last time? Or seal it back?”
“I do not know any sealing spells! But I could try to make it see what it wishes.. I just need to get close to it..”
“That’s too dangerous..”
“We have to restrain it somehow, then.” Chinatsu chimed in. “We could try getting that string of lanterns to fall on it.” She pointed to a rope tied between the building of two roofs, that hung lanterns off of it. 
“Well, it is worth a shot!” Honghú said.
“I will try to disarm it.. and get it there, you two cut the rope!” Asahi ordered, for once, he was not trying to sound all nice. The two ladies nodded and began running off to do their part.  “Hey ugly!” The young man yelled over to the spirit, to get its attention once more. Asahi pointed his blade up, and swung down, making it ‘rain’, big chunks of water fell down, hitting everything in a large radius. ≈Falling Rain≈