Steel Trim
patreon
Engineering, Magic, and Kitsune Ch. 7
🕑 Added 2024-12-09 22:55:10 +0000 UTCThe following morning was better. Still, having two strangers and an almost stranger on his land while he slept wasn't ideal, but he eventually managed to pass out, given it was Yuki downstairs. He had already well established that if she were going to pull anything, she would have done so long ago. Besides, it was hard to picture someone who worried over two strangers like a mother hen doing anything too drastic, and he was confident that the other two would trigger the hidden detector in the hall leading to his room and wake him if they tried.
After making everyone a nice breakfast of eggs, assorted berries, and hashbrowns, Yuki and John had a morning session of back-and-forth teaching and discussion—albeit in the main building rather than outside like he'd prefer. Still, he'd rather not have his other two guests see his language lessons; if anything would break the illusion they were cultivating, it would be that. They'd settled on language in the morning and math in the evenings rather than simultaneously trying to teach and learn from one another.
"I think we should make a trip into town today," read Yuki's latest message, and John frowned, furrowing his brow as he reread it to ensure he understood it. Much to his bafflement, it seemed like he was right the first time. Cold dread stabbed at him at the thought.
"Why? Besides, they'll just go crazy and attack me. We haven't solved my 'Presence' problem yet," he scribbled out.
"I can temporarily shield you with mine. Think of it as marking you with a scent to mask things. As to why, Aiki and Haru have a house back in the village, and those soldiers will probably ransack it for anything valuable once they think of it."
"Why wouldn't they already have?" He couldn't believe it'd be that easy to disguise his Presence and make him presentable, even temporarily, but John cast his doubts aside for now. When he brought the couple their meals this morning, they merely seemed a bit perturbed rather than actively violent, so it wasn't as if he inherently drove people to overwhelming bloodlust. That fact still felt surreal.
A faint smile edged onto the kitsune's muzzle, her face a portrait of wry amusement. "They have other priorities right now. Odds are that they ran their friend to the doctors, then fled to report to their boss, who is likely not present in the village, about how their marks got stolen by monsters. They could grab their valuables, leave anything they can't carry with trustworthy people, bring the rest back here, then lay low."
Guilt stabbed at him at the mention of running the man he cooked to a doctor, but admittedly, her case made sense. John braced himself, pulled out his notes to double-check some pronunciations, wetted his lips and prayed he wouldn't fumble this. "So, who goes?" he verbally asked.
Yuki's faint smile widened at his effort, but she didn't congratulate him, perhaps afraid of coming across as patronizing. "All of us," she said.
That was… acceptable. Despite liking Yuki, he still wasn't quite ready to leave the kitsune alone in his home, and that was certainly out of the question for two people on the run in desperate need of funds. "Agreed; when should we leave?" he said, voice cracking toward the end. Cringing, he took a deep drink from his mug of water.
"As soon as we can. The longer we wait, the more likely they will have done something by the time we arrive," the kitsune quickly replied, and John took a moment to ponder before answering. It all made logical sense, he supposed. Besides, even if they did see the group, John doubted they could muster anything significant overnight if they were even willing to try and go for round two in the first place. He knew he wouldn't be keen to risk the wrath of a kitsune and a "wizard" after yesterday.
He tucked his notebook away and wrote a quick sentence on a spare sheet, "Agreed. Would you mind retrieving the couple if they're up to it?"
"Yes. Although, let me shield your Presence in a shell of mine first," the kitsune wrote.
John hesitantly nodded, writing out, "What do I need to do?"
"Just stand up and be still. I will need physical contact to rub it off on you," Yuki wrote.
He slowly rose from his stool and stepped away from the table, uncertainty written clearly on his face despite his best efforts. Yuki stood in turn, walking over to the man and getting well into his personal space. At this point, he had almost gotten used to her towering size, but this close… it still made her seem looming, threatening. He suppressed the urge to step back, even as a frown fought to creep on his face. She probably had her reasons, and it'd still be pointless for Yuki to do anything hasty.
Two monochrome-furred arms wrapped gently around his back, and he froze on the spot. The kitsune gently pulled him against her body, heat soaking through her kimono. Panic grew in him, and his eyes went to pinpricks. His first instinct was to shove her away, but his body didn't want to respond. He felt like a deer in headlights as her tails drifted around her form, wrapping him in a cocoon of soft fur.
A more metaphysical warmth washed over him in waves, almost like it was soaking into his mind and soul both, and slowly, he felt the initial jolt of terror begin to ebb. Right. Physical contact. It made sense that wrapping him in her arms and tails was the most expedient way; more surface area probably sped the effect up.
Still, he felt tired in a way that sleep wouldn't fix. The act was clearly entirely utilitarian; it wouldn't do for the villagers to have the usual reaction, but when was the last time he had actually had anything past a handshake with someone? Six, maybe seven years, given he had to cross the country for university? Obviously at least five, and not for the first time, he wished he had at least one more day back on Earth to square some things up before he had to go.
He wished he could have said goodbye to Dad. He wasn't the closest with him, but the idea of missing posters with his face on them still left him feeling sick. If only he had known he was destined to vanish, he could have concocted some story about taking a job elsewhere, and the same went for all his friends online. Hopefully, someone took care of his cat, Maurine. The police probably checked his apartment before he ran out of food; John left the bag out, and he was a smart boy. He was probably okay when they checked his house and was likely with one of John's relatives.
He probably shouldn't be dwelling on all this. It was unproductive; he knew that from experience. Besides, this was a matter of utility, nothing more.
The kitsune unwrapped herself from around him and stepped back, giving him a chance to stabilize his roiling mood as Yuki wrote, "How do you feel?"
The question was pointed, and for a moment, he wondered if she knew, but he dismissed that immediately. No, she was likely asking about the magical effects of her little shielding. Now that he thought of it, he was feeling a bit different. Part of… whatever that was never left him. He could still feel lingering vestiges of warmth soaking into his form, as pure and potent as sunlight.
"Fine, but warm," he wrote, and the kitsune took a moment to search his face for something before nodding in return.
"I will retrieve the couple, disguise myself as a retainer of my own for the duration of the trip, and meet you by the gate," she replied, and once he gave her his wordless assent, she sped off.
John shook his head, packed provisions for everyone, grabbed his cart by the primary warehouse, and headed to the gate. He still didn't know what to call this thing. It was rather like a rickshaw but for cargo. Surely there was a name for it, but whatever it was entirely escaped him. It was certainly too big for a wheelbarrow, and those tend not to be pulled. He stood between its arms as he mentally readied himself to head toward something that screamed danger to him, but he didn't have to wait long.
From the central courtyard came Aiki and Haru, but leading them was a new figure. Other than, well, not being an inhumanly tall fox, she kept her disguise fairly "mundane" as far as this world went. She looked human, albeit with an appearance far better maintained than any he had seen during his time here, but that said little.
She was pale with flawless skin and long, silky-looking black hair, keeping her monochrome colour scheme despite the form shift. Did she have to, or was it a decision on her part? She was tall, too, but not outside the normal human range. Intense almond eyes took the place of her golden ones, and her only truly "unusual" feature was a thin band of snake-like scales at the base of her neck like a choker.
Her kimono was the same cut as her normal one, albeit white with red accents and the fancy patterning entirely absent. Was this merely an illusion, or could she shapeshift? Curious. He'd have to ask her later; as tempting as it was to wave a hand over her head to see if she was still "there," it'd be rather rude.
Upon seeing him with a cart, a frown momentarily flickered onto Yuki's face before disappearing, and Aiki and Haru froze. A quiet, hurried conversation passed between them before Aiki stepped forward, barking a quick phrase John couldn't understand before bowing.
John blinked, looking the nervous man up and down as he tried to divine what he wanted. Aiki only grew increasingly anxious as John tried to puzzle things out, the silence stretching into awkwardness.
Oh!
Right, he was probably stepping all over some local concept of "dignity" for what one's betters are supposed to do, and he was firmly in that category, at least according to Yuki's little lie. John gave Aiki a slight nod and moved out of the way, and the man sighed in relief as he took the position at the front of the rickshaw and got ready to go.
That was close. Once John understood a bit more, he probably should ask Yuki for lessons on what expectations society would hold of him as the "rightful lord" of this little fortress.
He unlocked the door, and the four of them went on their way. He let Yuki lead when she stepped forward but stayed close behind her with his head on a swivel. Sure, he doubted it would have been very proper for him to act like a caravan guard, but although the monsters in these woods mostly avoided the areas close to the roads during the day, and larger groups just in general, it was better safe than sorry, in his eyes.
The trip felt surreal. John had spent half a decade looking both ways before darting across the way, dodging any attention to the best of his abilities, but here he was, brazenly strutting down the road. Would they recognize him, even with his Presence disguised? Despite Yuki's assurances that all would be well, it was a worrying thought. He supposes the few times they saw him and responded negatively, he looked far more rough than he was now. Besides, Yuki's disguise felt relatively high class in nature. Someone to be respected, at least, and they were walking in with two presumably very grateful locals, which probably bought them the benefit of a doubt. He couldn't help but wonder what she had told them about his "Presence" and why he felt so different from them now.
Was it that he was not a foreigner and just had an unusual style? Perhaps that he was a foreigner, just not from one of the nations they were warring with? That made sense. The rest of the trip was spent musing on similar things, with the occasional side of coming up with contingencies for if they were accosted upon arrival. Most of those were to light something on fire to cover their escape while they fled back into the woods.
The road slowly became more well-maintained, and they started spotting the occasional sign of civilization. Some tree stumps from long chopped trees here, a fence around a small hut there, some footprints in the path, but not a person to be seen, not yet, at least. The tension was killing him, and John's mind spun up dozens of different reasons for it as paranoia took hold, from the villagers being collectively punished for the "sins" of Aiki and Haru, to this all being a plot to lure him out of his nice, defensible position to deal with the monster in the woods once and for all.
Some were, admittedly, far more realistic than others. The sprawl slowly grew denser, and John started to see better-built buildings. Rather than flimsy-looking huts, there were more well-constructed wooden houses with thatch roofs, some with rather nice-looking gardens or stone pathways. Wood stain became a standard feature, especially on the larger ones, and some even started to have second floors as they made their way into what seemed to be affluent areas, even as the emptiness continued to nag at him. This place was a good bit larger than he thought.
Then, it finally happened. A man rounded the corner, carrying a few bags. He wore a decent quality set of gray clothing, although the robes looked a bit impractical for any sort of physical work with how low the sleeves swooped. Perhaps he was some form of clerk. He jumped when he registered their presence, and John prepared for the worst, yet he didn't shout. He didn't flee. He watched Yuki nervously but kept walking in their direction!
Excitement bubbled up in him as the man wordlessly passed, surreptitiously glancing over at them and keeping to the far side of the road but doing nothing else. John was almost vibrating with excitement. That guy hardly looked at him! Hell, even disregarding Yuki keeping the man's attention, Aiki was the one he looked at the second most.
He couldn't believe it was that easy. There had to be a catch, right? Before he could fall into further pondering, he caught the edge of various conversations, rising up from the background noise. They rounded a corner, and where everyone had gone to had become apparent. A sprawling market was laid out on the main street! Various storefronts were run out of buildings, with stalls dotted between them selling everything from food to tools to more luxury goods like dyes. A smile crept onto his face. It had to be a market day of some sort! That made sense. No wonder everything was so quiet if they were all out getting their weekly supplies or whatnot.
Yuki spoke, prompting a response from Haru, and the two of them traded words for a bit before they turned away from the packed street and down a side path, away from all the hustle and bustle. John was a bit sad; he wanted to see things more closely, but it made sense. They probably didn't want to draw more attention than they had to, and he had no money to buy anything, even if he could communicate adequately.
Another day, then.
The side street was quiet, but it felt less oppressive when you knew where everyone was. John took the time, between keeping an eye out for those soldiers from yesterday, to examine the buildings more closely now that he wasn't preoccupied. Colourful signs hung from the walls of businesses, descriptive pictures drawn in flowing strokes, many with the name in smaller text underneath. Taverns adorned with mugs, kegs, or jugs. Blacksmiths with tools or weapons. Even a fletcher with a bow and some arrows. Still, not all of them had text, and it started to bug him.
Illiteracy, maybe? It was easy to forget that being able to read was not a guarantee for most of human history, and it very well might be the same here. Now that he was thinking of it, most of the ones without text were smaller, less successful seeming practices, many of which appeared to be doubling up as houses.
John frowned.
They stopped in front of a modest single-story home, perhaps a bit smaller than his former apartment back home on Earth, without much extra land to speak of, entirely overshadowed by a pair of two-story homes on either side, casting it into shade.
A quick snippet of conversation passed between the group, and the couple headed inside after bowing to him and Yuki.
__________
"Take as long as you need!" Yuki sing-songed as the lovely pair opened their door, and they turned around and bowed once more.
"We wouldn't dream of wasting your time, Lady Higa, Lord John," Aiki submissively intoned, and she suppressed a sigh. The kitsune elected not to press them; they were stressed enough without thinking she was testing them .The poor little sparks desired naught but a peaceful life, only for the cruelty of others to haunt them.
Yuki could have devised a better alias for her newest disguise now that she was thinking of it. "Higa Yumi" was a bit bold, even for her, but one upside is that it was close enough to her true name that even if the pair were to stumble and call her the wrong thing, it would be assumed a gaffe on their part rather than a hidden identity.
Still, it wasn't as if her pursuers or her "sisters" were likely to come here anyhow, but it was better to be safe than sorry, especially now that people were depending on her. Bah, life was supposed to be straightforward after she tore the blightstone spears from her spirit and the dreamsteel anchors from her flesh, but no, the universe had other plans. There were bright spots, though.
She glanced over to the ever-mysterious "John," looking him up and down as she took in his features. She heard the pace of his heart slightly pick up when they approached the village, the way it hadn't slowed since, and smelled the slight tinge of fear sweat on him even as it was replaced by a more mundane excitement. He was a curious man in more ways than one. Tossed against his will into a country not his own, creating what should be flights of fancy like complete physical techniques, with a Presence more akin to a pointedly silent and empty room than anything she was familiar with… It was like he stepped out of a story!
Still, her heart went out to him, and a tail that wasn't there tried to wrap around him.
Yuki knew that he was not in a good state—she knew that from the moment he croaked out something in his native tongue to greet her, and every interaction since revealed a new lash against his spirit. Nor was he a warrior, something made very clear after he scorched that waste of breath last night. She had to employ her great willpower to not hug him then and there when she checked on him, but at least she had an excuse this morning. After he borderline melted in her arms… well, she'd have to devise excuses to disguise his Presence more often, as long as he could tolerate it. Not as if he'd know she could do it by brushing him with her tails alone, anyhow.
Her ears flicked to the sound of a group of people walking down the street. Their footsteps sounded heavy and loaded with equipment, and one was even larger than that. The disguised kitsune sighed. They didn't need this right now. Really, John probably let them off too easily by only lightly scorching one; she wasn't about to kill them all over it, granted, it would draw too much negative attention, but having a few fingers bitten off might finally teach them manners. Her options were limited in this disguise, and she really didn't want to have to lean on John.
Again, a warrior he was not, and it wouldn't do to put more weight on his psyche.
She tapped his arm, jolting him out of whatever reverie he fell into, conjuring up a little bit of magic and leaving a message in shadowy text on the outside edge of the wagon before pointing at it, then down the road. "Trouble is coming. Allow me to handle it."
Reading it, John hesitantly nodded before stepping off to the side, taking up post and staring down the street with hard eyes.
Around the corner came a man, who faltered upon seeing John and Yuki standing there before hardening and stepping forward. "Well, looks like we have trouble!" He boomed, although Yuki smelled his stress sweat and heard his heart start to speed, although he wasn't in a complete panic. He stepped closer, and she noted that he was unfamiliar, not among the group that annoyed them last night.
Trailing behind him were three other men, one of which was at the fort last night and clearly struck with terror upon seeing John, and… oh, that was interesting, some sort of yokai behind the group? They were an unfamiliar type but clearly undead in nature from how they smelled like rot, lacked a heartbeat, and had a Presence like that of an unquiet grave, casting the entire street into unease. Weak, though.
Sure, it may threaten an Unbound that had just awakened, but even as diminished as she was, she was still several steps above them should worse come to worst. Their body and clothing were that of a man, but their flesh was warped, cast in grotesque yellows and reds, and looked almost like half-melted candle wax. Their head was entirely engulfed in a cast of more wax-like flesh with a few dark, eyeless holes drilled into it at regular intervals and six plain swords stuck through the bulbous mass at various odd angles and out the other side.
A natural undead this was not; otherwise, it'd be familiar to her. A weapon developed for use in the wars, perhaps? They must be truly desperate, as neither the Mortal or Celestial Courts she knew would approve of such a creation openly walking the streets. Had so much changed in her centuries of imprisonment? The world and its peoples seemed much the same, although she hadn't left the nation to confirm it elsewhere.
John tensed, and his frown grew tight as he caught sight of the creature. She saw him lean against the cart and cross his arms to subtly point his gauntlet towards the undead heavy. Still, they could salvage this. She was admittedly unsure of how John would react if they made a move, but given what lived in those feral yokai infested woods… she could only assume violently if he felt he couldn't retreat safely. That may be a minor problem; she didn't know what he had loaded in his gauntlet nor how effective it would be. Yuki couldn't imagine freezing it would slow it down terribly.
The kitsune assumed the creature was intelligent. Yuki couldn't sense a lick of Structured Presence between the lot of them, so none of them would have the ability to bind a mindless being to their will. Curious, given the tendency for intelligent created undead to hate being that way, and the body under the melting bits didn't look old enough to be someone desperate for an extended life.
Aiki and Haru helpfully chose this exact moment to return from inside, hauling their first load of belongings out, but they froze, wordless, at the procession stomping down the street. Annoying, she would admit, their mere presence made everything all the more volatile.
With a thought, she wrote shadowy characters on an edge of the cart only John could see, transcribing text to keep him in the loop on the conversation.
"Hail, servants of the throne," she greeted, smiling sweetly, "How may this humble servant assist you?" No matter how often she used disguises like this, the degradation never ceased to annoy her. Watch, now he was going to swing his weight around like he wasn't just an average—
"Helping two common thieves evade rightful taxes? We ought to take you with us, too, but we'll be nice if you step aside. I don't know what possessed the two of them to come back, but the boss wants to talk to them more than ever, and he's one to be obeyed," he spat and stepped forward, and the shambling creature behind him mirrored his advance. How rude.
"Sergeant," the sweating man stammered, "That's Lord John." He flinched when the "Lord's" gaze snapped to him, seeming to shrivel up on the spot. Did he know the truth of who lightly burned that other one? No, it was unlikely. In any case, she committed him to memory, just in case, sniffing a few times to pick out his scent from the background. If he truly was that perceptive, he may turn out to be an asset.
"Shut it, Kaito," their leader ordered, and the man clamped up, gulping. Turning back after the reprimand, the unnamed leader looked John up and down. "Doesn't look like much," he grumbled, "Hey, we're the law here! What the hell gives you the right to fuck around with our duties?"
Protectively surging to the side, she stepped between the two, her smile taking on a strained air to mask how close she was to dealing with the situation herself, but were her disguise to falter, such a grievous breach of the Grand Deal would draw eyes. "You are to talk to me rather than Lord John," she ordered, "He does not often speak with those below his station, and my lady assigned this humble maiden as his attendant while he does his errands."
She bowed but kept it deliberately shallow to convey her higher status. Perhaps it was risky, but it was far better than the alternatives.
Her adversary scowled. "Fine. I'll bite. Your Lady decided to take them in as servants for 'punishment' for intruding. Sure. Whatever. What gives you any right to take their stuff, too? They're overdue on their taxes, an issue which the Three Peaks Concord states is entirely within the realm of mortal enforcement."
He was… technically correct, but that's rich coming from someone with an undead standing about five feet behind him. Yuki levelled an unamused glare at the creature, and although they possessed no eyes, she could feel their gaze upon her. "Really now?" she said, looking their extra up and down incredulously.
The sergeant shrugged. "Special dispensation for the current wars," he explained.
"You know both of us are Unbound, right?" Yuki sweetly asked, and although the others shifted uncomfortably, neither their leader nor his undead were shaken.
"Don't care, so are half the upper class, and they pay regardless. You and I both know there's a difference between being 'Unbound' because you could afford a few spoonfuls of blood or meat from some yokai and someone actually worth the title." His eyes flicked to her limbs. "And you look a little more like the former."
She did not take the bait, but in retrospect, she did make this disguise a bit too soft. Ugh, now that she's been seen with it in public, she would have to remember to add definition to it over time to fix that error. How annoying. Well, it's not as if she planned to use it too often anyhow.
She smiled. "You should count yourself lucky that I don't take offence easily." She drew on the Balance deep inside her, drawing light forth even as she wrote a few shadowy characters for John's eyes alone. "This is a threat display. Be calm." it simply read.
Strands of light wove around her fingers and into long, ethereal threads that trailed against the ground, and everyone took a step back… other than the undead, who drew a sword from their own skull. Disgusting. She heard Aiki and Haru gasp, their hearts racing, and John… shift? She glanced back and saw him pointing at the creature. No, not at the creature. Next to it.
His fingers flexed.
BOOM!
Lightning arced forth in a bright flash, scorching cobble black and cracking the stone around the impact site. A moment later, the mortals, ever so slow to react, raced to cover their ears with their hands in defence against a noise already passed. Even the undead took a step back uneasily, and the soldiers all paled.
Oh. That's new.
Comments
DrunkenEngineer
Such a good chapter! I’m thirsty for the next one! Also happy holidays Steel Trim
