It had been almost a century, and Yoko still hadn't had any news from Nyoko. He was beginning to wonder if she was still out there at all. He couldn't bring himself to think that she was dead, but it was always a nagging in the back of his mind. Little did he know that the fates would smile down upon him, and Inari would grant him his heart's deepest desire, but it wouldn't be in the way he thought it would be.
She was running from her small room in the palace to towards the ringing of a small bell that was a few pitches lower than the one that she wore around her neck on a collar. The two bells harmonized as she got closer and the sound made her sick as the back of her throat filled with bile.
"Bring me my ribbons! I need my ribbons, fox! Why haven't you gotten them for me before now?!" screeched a high pitched female voice from behind a closed door.
Nyoko sighed inaudibly, opening the door to the human girl's room. In her hand were the ribbons that she had been sent for by one of the human maids.
Nyoko handed the box to the same maid that had sent her out to retrieve the items and stood back while the fuming girl was properly ribboned. Nyoko had the pleasing thought of trying one of those pretty little ribbons as a gag around the plump girl's mouth. The thought had a comforting effect that set her shoulders back at ease.
Seventy years after Yoko had been safely delivered to his 'family', Nyoko had been caught outside of her cave, gathering the spring fruits that she had planted the previous year. The soldiers paid no heed to the handling of the demon, and they jostled and bruised her all the way back to the palace where she went through hell and back just so they could break her into submission.
Then she was assigned to the most annoying, heinous and cruel little girl, who just so happened to be the King's "baby girl". In addition to her insufferable attitude, the small girl was also obese and pimpled. Some days Nyoko felt bad for the girl who suffered the teasing of the other young women her age, that is until she got the young kitsune in private. She would go on for hours, making Nyoko do things and slapping her every time she thought the young fox did something wrong.
Only thirteen years after her capture, Nyoko was experiencing one of the one of the little Terror's raging moments in which the fox would do almost anything not to be alone with the temperamental girl. Everyone in the palace thought of her as only a pet of the Princess's. And, in some twisted way, that was indeed all she was.
Anther inaudible sigh escaped her lips, but unfortunately it wasn't as inaudible as she had hoped.
"What?!" the young girl snapped. "Do you grow tired of being my pet? You know, I can always tell Daddy that he can have you back because I don't want you any more," said the girl repeating the same threat that she had often used, knowing that Nyoko would rather die than go back to the King's caring ministrations.
Nyoko soundlessly shook her head.
"Speak!"
"No, Mistress, I do not wish to be anywhere but serving under your kindness."
The maid standing behind the girl looked upon Nyoko with a hint of gratitude in her eyes for saying the right thing to sooth the young girl's anger.
Thoroughly complemented, the princess turned her attention back to the vanity mirror in front of her. She sighed in resignation knowing that the way she looked was the best she was going to get, but that didn't stop her from taking it out on the maid standing politely next to her.
"I guess this will have to do, seeing as you cant manage to do anything properly anymore."
She lifted her heavy frame out of the chair and walked towards the door with Nyoko following closely behind her.
Later that evening, after dinner, all of the guests had turned to the ball room to dance to the music being provided by an orchestra, when the unthinkable happened. There was an explosion of smoke in the middle of the dance floor, and demons of every shape and size flooded in from the windows, all wearing identical smirks.
The strange thing was that the only thing they did was separate the guests from the King, Queen, and their daughter who had Nyoko by her leash. It seemed like they were waiting for something, or someone.
That someone entered the room through the large double doors to the right of the royal family and Nyoko. She couldn't help but gasp in astonishment as a tall, lean, golden eyed fox demon walked in. She bit back the cry of joy that was forming in her mouth as she noticed her captor's hand tighten on the leash connected to her by her collar.
"Why hello, my dear denizens of Asteria," came the silky tenor of the one and only Yoko Kurama. "It is such a pleasure to see you all gathered in one place for me."
His voice sent chills through Nyoko that she couldn't stop.
"Now, if you please, ladies and gentlemen, hand over all of your jewelry to my friends here," he said motioning at the demons surrounding them.
Slowly but surely, the humans began taking off their necklaces, bracelets, earrings, and watches, as well as various other accessories.
Yoko then turned to the King and Queen. "Now, Your Highnesses, I must ask you to do the same. And I'm afraid that includes yours and your daughter's crowns."
Nyoko couldn't help but have a small amount of mirth worming its way into her eyes as she saw the three royals beginning to take off their possessions and hand them to the handful of demons that had stepped forward from behind Yoko.
Yoko paced as he watched the demons continue to collect the various expensive trinket from the humans, but one thing in particular caught his eye. It was the diamond leash on which the teenage girl had a demon tethered to. He was enraged by the thought of a fellow kitsune, or demon for that matter, being kept as a pet. His rage clouded his eyes so thoroughly that he didn't notice the familiar cerulean gaze peaking out of the hair that was hiding the face of the crouching female.
"Girl! I'm going to need that leash, the collar, and the kitsune attached to it, also." Yoko's voice echoed and rang through the cavernous room only serving to amplify his angry voice.
The princess was shaking so badly Nyoko wondered how she could even hold onto the leash.
"B-but, she chose to be here with me! She's mine and no one else's!" cried the girl.
"Hand her over."
The young girl gave out a small squeak and suddenly dropped the leash to the stone floor letting the diamonds clink upon impact.
"My friend, Daughter of Inari, please stand and join me," Yoko said softly startling the girl to Nyoko's left.
Nyoko slowly stood as to not alarm the demons and humans surrounding her. She stood slowly, standing straight backed for the first time in nearly thirteen years. The bones in Nyoko's spine cracked with relief at being finally able to align correctly after years of being forced to crouch and slouch so as not to seem too imposing.
Yoko heard the soft cracking of the vertebrae and it only served to feed his anger.
"My dear, please uncover your face, you have no reason to hide behind a veil anymore, you are free."
Nyoko could feel the smile forming on her face as she stood even straighter and looked back at the now cowering royal family. She moved the hair out of her face and the family as well as the guests were startled my the sheer beauty that was displayed on such a face. The King could almost swear that he had held a goddess captive this entire time.
Nyoko removed her bindings and leaned over and whispered something and kissed the forehead of the princess before straightening once again. As she moved back everyone saw the wide eyes of an awestruck young girl.
"F-foxthorne? H-how?" Nyoko only smiled and shook her head.
She turned slowly to gaze back at Yoko.
A twinge of recognition hit him hard in the chest, but he couldn't place it after all this time. Nyoko didn't let the hurt show in her eyes as she recognized the slightly confused look upon Yoko's face.
"Shall we go, my savior?" she said in a timid voice, noticing that all the demons had finally stopped collecting from the jewel-exhausted denizens.
He nodded. "Farwell, my dear friends," he said leaving in a flourish of a silver cloak with Nyoko at his side. They made it out of the castle without so much as a servant crossing their path.
Once the band of thieves was safely outside of the castle and surrounding town, and into the forests, Yoko turned to Nyoko and stopped with his thieves stopping and surrounding the two of them so that Nyoko had no means of escape.
"What is your name, young one?"
Nyoko smiled.
"My name is Maya, my dear Haru," she said bowing low. Without rising from the bow she listened to the confused mumbles of the men and women surrounding them. Then she heard a gasp from the tall man in front of her.
"How did I not see that it was you?" Yoko exclaimed as Nyoko rose form her bow.
A smile adorned her face, and that smile alone would make Mars cast away his swords and embrace Morrigan in a dance of eternal peace.