Fox in The Court

Chapter 8 (Festival arc)

Days flew by, and winter had arrived, with the Lantern Festival just around the corner. Everyone has been preparing and decorating. “There it is.” Honghú said, after putting up the end of a ribbon by a window’s corner. “This hallway is finally decorated!” Etsuko exclaimed. “We only have like five or so rooms left to do..” Chinatsu said, her voice getting less enthusiastic with each word. All three of them sighed. “Let us go then, the sooner we do it, the sooner we can rest.” Honghú said. With that, they continued on and began decorating a room.

Chapter 8
The other lords

The sound of wood smacking against wood echoed among the trees and the training ground. As one would walk, one would see a beautiful view, tall mountains in the back, and a lively village below the hill. All the residents were happy, all except one. She hit the wooden pole, with intense force. A little worked up, she was. Her loose training clothes and long hair flagged around as she moved. Her next swing was interrupted by someone calling out to her. “Um, my lady?” A shy voice spoke up. “What?” The woman’s voice was biting. Shaking like a leaf, the other woman answered: “Everything has been packed up, and we will soon be ready to leave, Reina-sama.”
“Good. Now go. I will get myself ready as well.” She stated, and the lady did as she was told. Reina scoffed, she stood there, her silver-streaked and tipped purple hair waving in the cold breeze. Her right eye was silver and her left one was purple. Her build was athletic, and her demeanor was not inviting. “Ugh! I will have to see her stupid face again..” She growled, not looking forward to seeing the mentioned person.
○●○●○
The mountain echoed with the excited cries of two people. They were rapidly sliding down, balancing on wooden boards, a crazy sport. “Woohoo!” One of them yelled, his dark blue streaked and tipped off-white hair flowing backward. “This is how to start a morning!” He further yelled. The two of them stopped at the base of the mountain. “Am I right, Shi?”
“It is one way to start a day indeed, Shun.” Answered the other young man, whose hair was dark blue with off-white streaks and tips. The two of them looked nearly identical, save for their hair colors. Their eyes were light blue, and both of them had a lean stature. Both wore blue kimonos, with light gray pants, and a halved haori, which was partially tucked under their gray belts. The difference was the side they had the haori on, Shun had it cover his right side and arm, while Shi had it on the left. They both tied their hair up into ‘man buns’; off center, leaning to the opposite side they had their haoris on. “Good thing we packed our stuff up yesterday!” Shun exclaimed, his hair was a bit messier than his twin’s. “Indeed, this way we do not have to worry about it now.”
○●○●○
Mizumi was in her garden, humming as she trimmed some plants. “Mizumi-sama.” Maoko called out to her. “We are ready to go, I assume?” Mizumi asked back.
“Yes, my lady.”
She stood up and walked out of the garden, patting Maoko’s shoulder as she walked by her. “Good job.”
Maoko’s mask hid her facial expression, but not the slight reddening of her ears.
○●○●○ 
A man mounted his horse, ready to move out. His stature was that of an average swordsman, he wore brown hakama pants and a dark blue kimono. His swords were tucked into his orange belt. His hair, which looked like he had been struck by lightning, was light orange, with dark blue streaks and tips, and his eyes were dark blue. “We leave now.” He ordered his men. Who all nodded and began to ride their horses behind the man, one of them asked. “Are you looking forward to visiting Kōri city, Daisuke-sama?”
To which he replied. “I am always looking forward to spending time with my friends!”
○●○●○
Asahi was walking, looking over the decorations, with a small smile. <Everyone did a good job.> He noted to himself. He saw the head maid doing the same and decided to congratulate her. As he approached, the woman bowed. “Good Morning, Asahi-sama.” She greeted. “Good Morning to you as well. You have done a good job with instructing the maids, Mariko-san.”
“Thank you, sir, I did my best. But some are rather difficult..”
Asahi chuckled. “I can imagine, if any of them are like Honhu..” He tried to pronounce her name, if she was there she would have frowned. “Believe me, my lord, some are even worse..”
“Oh, I see..” He paused to think. “Can you pronounce her name right?”
Mariko’s eyes widened slightly at the question, finding it weird. “I suppose.. I am good at remembering names and saying them right.. Why do you inquire, my lord?”
“Oh, I just want to learn to say it right.. It feels weird that I can’t pronounce her name correctly, when I have to ask so many favors from her..”
“If my lord would like, I could help with it.. but I am not the greatest teacher.”
“I don’t mind your strictness, I am not exactly the brightest after all..” No argument came against that. “Regardless, I am certain the other lords will like the decorations too!”
“I hope so, Asahi-sama.”
After nods and bows, they went their separate ways. <I just pray those two won’t cause trouble as usual..> Asahi thought, with a hopeful expression.
○●○●○
Mizumi and her company were riding on wolf back, as per usual. They have taken this path many times, through a forest, after which came grassy plains, and after that, Kōri city. After they got out of the forest they spotted another unit of warriors. They knew who they were, of course. Mizumi knew her cousin was on the way. The two groups went in the same direction, so eventually, they joined up. <This is not going to end well…> Maoko thought, as Mizumi and Reina caught up with each other. The latter now had her sideways parting hair separated into three lumps, two on each side of her face, and a bigger one at the back, all three tied with small chains around the middle. She wore a light blue kimono with purple hems and tied up with chains around the wrists, dark gray hakama pants, also tied up around the ankles, a part of her kimono hung behind her legs, sort of forming a cape. Her primary weapon’s sheets were tied to her back with chains. And two additional lighter chains adorned her waist, crossed over her belt.
“Long time no see, Mizumi.” Reina said, in a deepened tone. “Yes, it has been a while.” She answered softly, without turning her head towards her. That angered Reina. “Still stuck up, I see.” She growled. “Still hot-headed I can tell..” Mizumi said with a small smirk. “Tsk!”
“What’s wrong, are you already fuming?”
“You think you are better than me? You really think you are the ‘strongest’ of our clan, huh?”
“Are you still hung up on stupid titles?”
“I challenge you to a duel!” Reina shouted.
“Already? I thought you could restrain yourself for a few more minutes.. I accept your challenge, we can fight once we are at the castle.”
“Oh, I didn’t mean spar with training swords.” At that, Mizumi’s eyes widened. “Do you want us to get injured, meaninglessly?”
“What? Are you maybe scared?”
“Scared, I am not.” Mizumi looked back at her warriors, not wanting to seem weak in front of them, she agreed. “I accept your challenge.” They both halted, making everyone behind them do so as well. “T..they don’t really get along..” Reina’s ‘right-hand woman’ meekly spoke to Maoko, who shook her head. “Not at all..”
Mizumi and Reina dismounted and stood on their feet. “To make sure we don’t go overboard, how about a rule? Mizumi asked.
“What rule?”
“Simply, the one whose knee or back hits the ground loses.”
“Hpmh. Agreeable.” They both unsheathed their weapons. Reina used two shorter swords joined together by a chain, which rested on her back. Mizumi had a double-edged straight blade, which was sheathed on her waist. “Ready?” Reina asked, grimacing. “Ready.” Mizumi answered bluntly. <I will finish it quickly.> She raised one of her heels and stomped it down, making a large ice crystal grow in front of Reina. ≈Frozen spike≈, However, this move did not prove decisive, far from it. Reina easily cleaved through the ice. ≈Dance of Steam: Boiling Vapor≈ Her steaming blades cut through the ice like melted butter. With a smirk, she closed the distance, slashing with both her blades. Mizumi parried the attacks and managed to create some distance by creating another ice spike, which made Reina leap back. But she did not give up on attacking; while jumping back, she let go of the weapon with her right hand and swung with her left, making the loose blade fly toward Mizumi. She managed to deflect it, and Reina immediately pulled on the chain to retrieve the blade. ≈Heat Cloud≈ With a slash, she sent a large amount of steam towards Mizumi, which was not exactly pleasant. Sweaty, she decided that it was enough. The cloud got cut up by a long streak of lazure, making it scatter. Mizumi’s sword had separated into a whip.

“Finally taking this seriously are you?” Reina shouted her question. Mizumi didn’t answer and instead struck with her segmented whip blade towards her. Renia blocked and parried the attack while closing the distance. After she got to a five-meter distance from Mizumi, she retracted the whip, transforming it into a sword once again. She dashed towards Reina, who also did the same. Before they clashed, a strike of lightning went between them. Both looked to the side, where the one who used the move landed. “What are you two doing?” Daisuke asked the two women. “What does it matter to you?” Reina barked back. “We should stop now.” Mizumi said and sheathed her blade. Reina begrudgingly did the same.  “Good, now can we go on without any trouble?” Daisuke asked. The two women nodded. Reina’s right-hand woman sighed. “They stopped..”
Maoko looked at her but did not speak. The three groups now joined up into one and continued their path to the castle. “This feels like when we were kids.” Mizumi said as she, Daisuke, and Reina traveled next to each other. “Hmph.” Was all the purple-haired woman let out.
“Indeed it does.. those were good times..” Daisuke spoke, looking at Mizumi with a small smile.
“They were simpler for sure.” The woman replied, and her mouth also curled up a little. Reina rolled her eyes at their interaction.
○●○●○
Honghú, Chinatsu, and Etsuko all sighed and sat down, after they had finished their work. “Finally!” Honghú exclaimed. “I agree..” Chinatsu said.
“The guests arrive today, don’t they?” Etsuko turned to the blonde lady with a question. “Hm.. I think so, yes..”
“Huh? What guests?” The orange-haired girl asked. “Oh, don’t you know that all the clan’s lords get together to celebrate?” Etsuko answered.
“Oh..well I do now, thank you..” <Great more people..>
“We just have to be careful of Shun-sama..” Chinatsu spoke and sighed. “Why exactly?” Honghú inquired.
“Let’s just say, he likes to court ladies.” Etsuko replied.
“Ugh.. Well, I’m glad to be fifteen, so I don’t have to deal with that stuff yet..”
“Aren’t you turning of age soon?” Chinatsu turned to the girl with the question.
Honghú’s eyes widened in realization. “Oh! I’m turning sixteen next month..” She shrugged. “I’m not really the type to catch men’s eye anyway, so I’m not worried..”
“Why are you so hard on yourself?” Etsuko looked at the girl with a sorry expression. “I’m not, I merely said the truth. I’m also a bit thin around the areas where they would look.” She answered.
“Don’t be so sure of that, I would say someone already has their eyes on you.” Chinatsu said teasingly. At that, Honghú chuckled sarcastically. “I don’t think that, so stop it, please..”
“Boo.. you are immune to teasing..” Chinatsu slumped. “What will you two wear for the festival?” Etsuko asked, curiously. “Hm.. That is a good question..” Chinatsu thought for a little, before the two of them looked at Honghú questioningly. “Uh.. I will just wear what I normally do..”
The two ladies looked dumbfounded.
“What’s wrong?”
“You can’t just wear your everyday clothes for a festival!” Etsuko exclaimed.
“Why not, we are just servants, are we not?”
“That doesn’t stop us from dressing up nicely.” Chinatsu stated.
“I don’t like to be dolled up..” Honghú answered.
“What? Are you surprised men wouldn’t look your way?” Etsuko asked jokingly.
The girl laughed sarcastically.
“Well, I think I will take a nap.” Chinatsu said and stood up. “Good idea.” Etsuko said, and got on her feet too. “Mhm.” Honghú hummed, and rose up as well. All three of them went to their rooms to rest.

Thank you for reading chapter 8! Thing will pick up this arc!
We still have questions that need answers!
Who was causing all the trouble around the castle? Why did they take a break? Find out in chapter 9!