Rekindle and Release

~Chapter 4~

I dropped down from my hiding place over the road, landing lightly in front of a slowly moving cart with a covered top. The oxen pulling it immediately halted, their eyes rolling back as they caught the unnatural scent of fire and immortality.

"Who's there?" a voice called in the darkness.

"That depends," I replied. "What do you have in that cart?"

"Nothing," was the surly reply. It looked like things were going to be difficult for me. "Get out of the way, whatever you are."

"I'm human. And you're the one who supplies the village, are you not?" It had taken me a month just to figure that much out, but I could be patient. Matching Kaguya was worth anything. "I need spellcards," I continued bluntly. "And I can't pay."

I heard the soft whoosh of a lantern being ignited with magic, then a gruff laugh as the man caught sight of me. "Nice try, girl. You shouldn't play at highway robbing until you're a little older." He cracked a whip over the oxen's heads, and the cart started to lumber forward once more.

"Wait!" My new plan against her would depend largely on my success tonight, so this had to work. I jumped out of the way of the cart, then flew over it again to hover a few feet in front of it. "Stop!"

The man ignored me, looking off left, right, and everywhere but in my direction.

"I said, stop!" I hurled a fireball at the road, scorching the dirt with a snarling wall of flames. The oxen snorted in surprise, though they had obviously been trained not to panic. The man, however, swore violently.

"-youkai, never learn their lesson, do they?" He pulled a slip of paper from his pocket, brandishing it as one would a sword. "Make one move, you little pest, and I'll exterminate you."

I touched back down and held my arms up in a placating gesture. "Look, I'm not a youkai. I don't want to eat you, I just-"

I choked and staggered backwards, a crossbow bolt through my chest. "…Oh."

Damn.

…

…

"Thought I recognized her. Thing came into the village 'bout a month ago, but I chased her off 'fore she could hurt my littl'un."

"Lucky I brought you two with me, wasn't it?" The man spat, and I felt a wet glob hit my cheek. "A clean kill. You're a good man to have on a dark night, Saburo."

I opened my eyes, the usual pain and disorientation of resurrection confusing my senses. "Nngh." Pushing myself up, I was dimly aware that I had been lying flat on my back in the middle of the road.

Somewhere to my right, I heard the sharp intake of a breath. "What the hell?" I turned my head to see the cart driver back up in alarm, a thick-set man standing stiffly at his side. "That thing survived?"

"Let's see it eat two of these," his friend said coolly, and I rolled backward to dodge the bolt.

I should have expected this, I thought grimly, staggering to my feet as the man dropped his first weapon to unsheathe an efficient-looking sword. Well, if this was what it took to stand a chance against Kaguya, then so be it. I'm no stranger to this type of fight.

He rushed at me, aiming the sword at my neck. I easily ducked out of the way, but not before I heard the cart driver mutter something and the scene was lit by the flash of a spellcard declaration.

This might actually get tricky.

Danmaku swirled around us, blue pellets interweaving with purple bubbles in random patterns that spiraled out from a dense center but left wide gaps open. Obviously the man was no master, though his friend had twisted around to have another go at me. Caught between the two, I sidestepped into a stray bullet, wincing at the needle-like sting.

"I don't want to kill you," I said evenly, not that he would listen.

"Save it for the Yama," the swordsman snarled, slicing into my shoulder, "If you even have a soul!"

I flinched at the blow, almost blundering into a small cluster of bullets again. But I had to have these spellcards, I reminded myself through the pain. No matter what. I would not let her servant intimidate me into defeat. I would not allow her to get away with another humiliation.

I would return, and this time I would be prepared for both of them. My revenge would be-

The man's next lunge chopped off a few hairs, passing only an inch away from my eyes. As I swayed away from the next strike, I noticed he had left his other side completely open. I smirked, sending a phoenix-shaped fireball to home in on the spot, but he shied away from the flames just in time. As I prepared another fireball, I realized he would have no way to protect himself if it hit.

I had to be able to match Kaguya. I wanted to kill her, wanted her death so much that it hurt. But… to kill others? Innocents?

I didn't have to.

I didn't have to do this, not again.

I didn't have to be that kind of person, not here.

I hurled the fireball at the ground instead, darting away while the man was distracted. I could always return next month, and perhaps the spell merchant would be more reasonable then. Weaving around the densest part of the spellcard pattern, I dodged through a gap in the dancing orbs to get behind the sword wielder and into the shadow of the trees. Whirling around, I prepared to take flight.

But instead of taking off, I slammed into a group of little girls with delicate wings and far too many teeth.

"Dinner," one murmured, and they flooded into the danmaku-lit road.

I groaned, cursing whatever sense that drew such creatures to battles. Fairies have an uncanny ability to gather where there are strong magical beings, and I guess I was no exception. I glanced back at the two men who were frantically swatting at the child-like scavengers pouring in. As many as they managed to kill, more arrived, so I sent out a stream of fire at the row of fairies pestering the swordsman, then moved closer to defend against the onslaught. Perhaps I could use this to my advantage.

"Here, I'm on your side-"

The man turned on me immediately. "Filthy youkai scum!" he roared into my ear, "Get your claws away from that cart!"

He brought his sword down, lopping off my left arm with a wet snick. I retaliated instinctively with a burst of flame that set his shirt on fire, but he ignored it and reached forward with an almost mad desperation. As he caught hold of the collar of my shirt, I brought my remaining arm up and grabbed his wrist with a fistful of flames in my palm.

He screamed hoarsely and let go, backing up into the very center of the danmaku pattern as his skin blistered and his clothes burned. As he realized the danger a second too late, our gazes locked.

"You… monster…" he gasped, and I dove to the ground as a cascade of bullets seared into and past his blackened form.

The flickering danmaku suddenly burst in a shower of sparks as the spell merchant saw what happened to his partner. He let out a strangled shriek, but didn't even pause to check that the man was dead before running off into the darkness with neither light nor weapon.

I paused, watching the scavengers flock to the still body a few feet away. One of the fairies giggled and gave me a thumbs up. "Yummy!"

I gave it an half-hearted glare, but it was too stupid to notice. And I might as well get what I came for. Sure, it was a pity that they had been so protective of it. I'd make Kaguya pay for these men's lives, yeah.

I knocked off some curious fairies and pulled back the tarp covering the back of the cart. Inside were various boxes and chests, most sealed by faintly glowing chains. I prodded one with my good arm and it immediately shot out a burst of lightning which singed my fingertips.

Wonderful.

Carefully avoiding these sealed ones, I floated over to the front where some of the normal boxes were stacked. The locks on these were of simple iron, so I melted through one and lifted the lid. A damp, earthy smell hit me, and I gagged a little and closed the box again. I had no use for mushrooms.

Impatient, I stepped back and sent a wave of fire at the cart, cutting the oxen loose and toppling a row of boxes. Books, mushrooms, other things I had no idea how to name all trickled out of their broken cases. I sifted through the wreckage and – yes, finally. I grabbed a few handfuls of the magically charged paper and stuffed them into my pockets. I'd need a lot - it would take a while for me to figure out how to use them properly, let alone create ones capable of matching Kaguya's magic.

Speaking of which, perhaps one of these books could help. I shoved a box of amulets out of my way, revealing a large hole in the center of the pile. Curious, I reached inside and drew out a roughly sewn bag. It held a doll and few books, but not the magic kind – one was a history text, and the others seemed to be meant for a little kid.

Didn't one of the men say something about a child?

I frowned and reached further inside. If he had been bringing supplies to his family – no, that still wouldn't explain why he had been so desperate to keep me away. My hand brushed something warm, which yelped and flinched away from the touch.

He couldn't have been that stupid, could he… ? It was suicide to travel through this area with…

I took firm hold of the creature and yanked it out into the open air.

"Put me down, youkai scum!" she said, and tried to headbutt me. Startled, I let go, and the dark-haired girl jumped off the cart to run to her father.

"Daddy! Da!" The fairies buzzed away from the corpse, though a wingless blond girl remained stooped over the body. "Da…?" She finally noticed the blood dripping from the other creature's mouth and screamed to bring the forest down. The youkai eating her father's remains looked up sharply, and its eyes brightened as it sighted another easy meal.

"Not this one, you don't." I snapped, scooping up the girl just as the youkai pounced. Instead of meeting the child's neck, her fingers closed on my foot. "Go on, shoo."

"Is that so~?" she hissed, disappointed. "Share?"

"Leave!" I growled, and kicked her in the stomach.

"Meanie!" the thing spat, and vanished in a bubble of darkness.

The girl I held had latched awkwardly onto my neck and suspenders. "You're going to eat me, aren't you?" she whimpered.

I gritted my teeth in frustration. It would be so, so easy to dump her here. And she probably hated me, considering what I had done to her father. Nothing I could ever do would change that, ha. Not if she was anything like me.

Yet those pleading eyes, that mop of dark, tangled hair… she could have been me, a thousand years ago.

And it wasn't like I had a grudge against her…

"Shut up. I'm not going to eat you." I said harshly, and the child burst into tears. Nevertheless, I adjusted my one arm to hold her more firmly against my shoulder.

It would be a long walk back to the village.

~.*.~

"And?" Eirin gave the rabbit a hard stare.

"And what? She took the kid back to that place where all the humans are, and that was it."

Erin resumed pacing, but I stayed seated on the table. We had been sending the inaba to watch my attacker ever since we'd let her go, and this was the most interesting thing that had happened so far. I was rather enjoying these meetings, if only because they were a pleasant distraction from ceaseless boredom. Still, judging by Eirin's reaction, this news was worrying. Should I be pacing too?

"Was there a fuss? Did she speak with anyone? Did she mention anything about Eientei?" Eirin's braid flicked back and forth as she walked, falling over her shoulder as she halted in front of the rabbit sitting next to me.

"Nah." The rabbit leaned back, waving her hand dangerously close to a row of test tubes. "She barely had time to put the kid down before they chased her off. The other humans don't seem to like her much. "

"Maybe she's an outlaw. Steal from the rich and give to the poor and all that," I mused aloud, earning an exasperated look from Eirin and a snicker from the inaba.

"Whatever her situation is, she is unable to spread word of our existence." My mentor smiled tightly. "We appear to be safe from that threat at least."

The rabbit perked up her floppy ears. "So I don't have to follow her around any more?"

"Tewi-"

"I think we should keep an even closer watch on her," I broke in. "Please?" Considering that she had stolen some form of human magic, I wanted to know what she was going to do with it. Maybe she was planning to distribute it to youkai? But that would be silly…

Eirin seemed to share the first part of my thought. "Yes. We shouldn't let our guard down quite yet. She could be planning to attack us."

"Why do I have to watch her, then? I've risked my skin enough," the inaba complained. "Watch her yourself if you're going to be paranoid."

"Tewi, you know very well that neither I nor the princess can leave Eientei without considerable risk ourselves," Eirin frowned down at her, and the rabbit visibly wilted.

"I just don't see why I have to-"

"Enough." Eirin picked up a sheaf of notes, intent on returning to her newest project. "Eientei's safety depends on all of us. Report back again tomorrow. In person, mind you. Don't send one of your underlings like last time."

Muttering to herself, the inaba bounced off the table, knocking over a precariously balanced beaker on her way out of the lab. In the instant before it broke, I put my hand out and returned it to the table as Eirin blinked.

"Thank you, Princess," she said, startled. "I must apologize for Tewi's ill manners."

I shrugged. "Is it really that important? If she attacks us, I mean."

"We're prepared, but it never hurts to be too careful," Eirin replied.

"How boring." I slumped against the metal, wondering if I would even meet the girl should it come to a fight. Eirin could probably toss her out the door again before I noticed.

She ignored me for a second, leafing through the pages of dense handwriting. "I thought you preferred boredom to danger."

"I suppose," I said uncertainly, getting up to go back to my room or somewhere equally unimportant.

As I walked out the door, Eirin looked up from her notes briefly. "You really have changed."

~.*.~

A/N: Technically, Rumia shouldn't even be alive yet, but I'd rather not make up more OCs than I have to. If it bothers you too much, then the youkai Mokou met must have been someone else. :)

Also, writing bored Kaguya is boring, so this chapter was 1) hard to write and 2) short. Ugh. Hurry up, Mokou~