Blade Song

Chapter 5- The White Fox

My two weeks of healing crept by. I got plenty of time to read, which was enjoyable, but it was stuffy in my cramped room. I prefer to read outside. The weather doesn't matter to me, either. I'd read stretched out on the forest floor, light filtering through the bamboo leaves, or curled up against one of the stalks in the rain, clutching my book close, so the pages wouldn't become water stained. Hell, I'd even read outside in the dead of night, moonlight permitting.

I read a good bit at night because I'm not a big fan of sleep. My rest is never peaceful. It is not the butchery that keeps me up at night. I could slay a thousand men with these blades, letting their sweet lullaby sooth me to sleep like a baby. Rather, it is the lives I have claimed without the use of a weapon that torment me. Those I have murdered in negligence, abandonment and failure. These are the things that creep from the shadows and haunt my dreams.

Since I'd spent the better part of two weeks stuck in my room, I was even more thrilled than usual when Yasuki said he had a job lined up. It was a small job, requiring only a handful of us, but that was fine with me as long as I was chosen, and I always was. The lucky few were to be Yasuki, Goro, Shusui, Ryoma, Takao, and me. Takao, Ryoma, and I got along fine. Having Shusui around was going to be a little bit of a bummer, but not enough to ruin my fun.

Yasuki informed me that our client was waiting for us only a few hours from the bamboo grove. Apparently, he had taken some sort of issue with a local auction house, though we'd hear the details later. I was somewhat familiar with the auction house in question. It's where I bought my chakrams. Well, sort of. I actually bought them off of another guild member who got them at the auction house. I can't really walk around freely. Most things I required or wanted were brought to me by others. I paid twice the amount he had at the auction house, but I couldn't help it. One look at my steel darlings and I knew it was love at first sight.

This particular auction house specialized in selling things that might be unsavory to some. The range was wide; from weapons, to organs in jars, or even an entire person. That's right, at this place you could buy your very own human or half-breed. Someone told me if you buy a slave there, they'll even give you a half-priced collar engraved with whatever name you want for your new pet. Cute, right? Shusui got one with my name on it once because he thought it was clever. Yasuki had to pull me off after I nearly strangled him to death with it.

When our client finally came into view, he was not what I was expecting to see at all. It was a white fox demon, and a well-dressed one at that, which is not our usual clientele. He was already staring in our direction, which was no surprise. Those fox ears of his weren't just there for decoration.

I'd heard about fox demons, but never actually seen one. They usually don't stray too far from their home in the White Wood. His appearance matched the descriptions I'd heard; sharp facial features, a large, fluffy white tail, and long hair. He had his pulled back loosely.

White foxes have an extended life, even for demons, their eldest living past one-thousand. You can tell their age by the number of tails they have. They earn an extra tail at two-hundred years old and every hundred years after that, topping off at nine. The foxes were far from the strongest demons in the world, but their swiftness and keen senses gave them an edge in combat. Some of the more skilled could even shapeshift and use illusion magic.

It was too bad he'd hired us, really, because I was dying to test my skills against his. I do love a challenge.

He gave us a wave with his slender, clawed hand as we approached. "Hi there."

"Kiyoshi, I presume?" Yasuki asked.

He nodded. "The very same."

As soon as I heard the name, my pulse quickened a bit. This was not just any fox demon. This was Kiyoshi, the young lord from deep in the White Wood, who had a reputation for buying slaves by the dozens, especially children. It was said that his father snapped after his wife died and began collecting half-breeds and humans in droves. They all disappeared into the woods, to the hell created for them there. After the untimely death of his father several years ago, Kiyoshi had picked up the baton and continued his father's tradition.