Foxfire

Chapter Ten

By Pixiedust291

.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.

Alfred watched some children as they had a rather playful snowball fight in the park. Their cute florescent colored boots kicked up tuffs of snow and it seemed as though they were playing in a sea of white. Alfred smiled to himself and drew the scarf around his neck tighter. Man it was cold!

"You wanted to see me Alfred-san?"

Alfred jerked and looked behind him to see a smiling Kiku. He was covered from head to toe and dressed in his usual traditional winter Japanese clothing. He walked around the bench and sat down. Alfred didn't know why but seeing his friend like this, after what he saw, made him feel a little awkward. "Hey Kiku." He smiled. "Um, nice snowstorm we are having."

"Actually I am quite concerned as to this rather peculiar weather." Kiku answered. "Though I do not think you asked me out here to talk about the snow."

Alfred blushed "Well... no." he sighed "The thing is... look I know you, Arthur, and Yao are kitsune. And I apparently am one too, at least I think. So I was hoping I could maybe ask you a few questions. You'know, about kitsune."

Kiku was quiet for a moment, which Alfred hated because he could never tell what the Japanese man was thinking. When he did speak he looked away from Alfred and up at the falling snow "Would it not be better to ask Arthur-san?"

"No." Alfred frowned.

Kiku was quiet a moment longer before he nodded "I will do my best to explain things. Though if I may say, Alfred-san, you do not have much time."

Alfred frowned "What do you mean?"

"I think it would be best if I showed you." Kiku leaned down and scooped up a handful of snow. After doing a quick glance to see that no one was close enough to see what they were going he held his cupped hand in front of them both so they could see it. The snow quickly melted into a pool of water that stayed contained within Kiku's palm. Alfred stared at the water in confusion and then awe as a picture, almost like a movie, began to play on the water's surface.

He saw Arthur dressed in a gray business suit standing in front of four rather old and large foxes; white, brown, red, and black. Their hair was long and matted and when they opened their mouths to yawn their gums were a dark black in color. "It is nearly the Winter Solstice Lord Kirkland!" the brown fox growled.

Arthur frowned and shot the old fox a challenging look "I am well aware of what time it is, elder."

"Then it is about time you chose a consort!" countered the brown fox "This council has been far too lenient in allowing you to rule over the silver foxes without the bond of a mate."

"If the great elders would remember I do have a mate."

"Fuah! The child you claim to have saved all those many years ago?"

"It was not that long ago at all." Arthur cut in.

"Enough." It was the white fox that spoke, his voice a hushed slur but full of authority. "Brown fox, have you forgotten your position? Lord Kirkland is, as you can see, a silver fox and you are only a brown. However, Lord Kirkland, he is right. We have been lenient when it comes to your demands to abstain from choosing a mate. Most Kitsune have already found and chosen their mate by the time they have reached your age. Nearly all the other lords have mates."

Arthur's gaze narrowed "So for the sake of the norm you would force me to mate with someone other than my choosing." His emerald eyes narrowed to dangerous slits. "Have you forgotten I am Arthur Kirkland, Lord of the silver foxes and by that standing alpha of my territory the country of Great Britain."

The image faded away and then came back again to show Arthur in a garden planting what looked to be flowers. He was wearing faded blue jeans and a loose fitting white t-shirt. His hair was held back with a rather silly looking bandana of the British flag.

"Um... Lord Kirkland." Arthur turned as a man with shoulder length brown hair approached him. His fox ears and tail were a light brown. He was holding a tray with two tea cups, a teapot, a bowl of sugar cubes, and a saucer filled with cream. "It is tea time my lord."

"Oh... has it become that late already? Thank you, Toris" Arthur rose to his feet and took off his gardening gloves as he followed the man to a small bistro set next to some pink and red rose bushes. He sat down in one of the chairs, sighing as he took one of the tea cups.

"My Lord, I must inform you that Lord Bonnefoy is here to see you."

From Arthur's expression Alfred would have thought the man had just drunk sour milk. However, as quickly as the look of disgust came it was gone. Arthur took a sip of tea and nodded "I see. Bring him in."

The fox named Toris bowed and left. A moment later a man, wearing some rather flashy clothes Alfred noted, waltzed into the garden. His long blonde hair was golden and shinned in the mid day sun. The man wore his hair pulled back in a low hanging ponytail with a dark blue ribbon; much like was the fashion for a men's hairstyle in 1776. The man's long ears and tail were a perfectly pure white. Arthur didn't even look up from his tea as the man sat down "Hello Francis."

"Bonjour Arthur." The stranger's voice was thick and smooth with a French accent that would make anyone swoon. Alfred glared at the white fox in the water. "I trust you know why I am here?"

"Because the elders council sees fit to play matchmaker for me." He took another sip of tea "You are without a mate and they think me to be without one as well. It is hardly difficult logic."

"Quite true." The French fox nodded "I have told them that I have already offered myself to you and that you refused, but that does not seem to dissuade them, mon ami."

"Honestly." Arthur set down the teacup and turned to look at the roses, more particularly a rather fully bloomed red rose. "I already have a mate."

"Oh yes, the little boy you told us about many years ago." Francis frowned "Did he not disappear?"

"He didn't disappear I just... lost him."

"That does not mean he is not gone. He was... human, was he not?" Francis countered. He sighed dramatically "Arthur you have been searching for this child, who is now probably a grown man, for well over a decade. Do you not think it is time to just choose one of your own and settle down, raise some kits?"

Alfred realized with a spark of understanding that what he was seeing was something that had transpired before Arthur had found him. Arthur frowned "I do wish for that. A life to share with someone. Someone that I can cherish."

"Mon ami." Francis said to gain his attention "I desire the same things you do. But neither one of us has found that certain... amour, shall we call it."

"Do not tell me you are seriously giving in to those old blowhards demands?"

Francis shook his head "I am tired of waiting, mon ami." He shrugged "And though I do not see you are more then a childhood friend, even I admit I could do worse then you." He frowned "Though I do not think there is anyone on this planet who could do worse for cooking."

"Shut it frog!" Arthur growled at him.

There was a moment of quiet and then Francis spoke "Tell me, about this boy you saved."

A slow warm smile spread across Arthur's face "He's sweet and kind, although I found him a bit eccentric. I could tell just by looking at him that he would one day grow into a fine man."

Francis looked at Arthur for a second and then smirked, taking the second teacup and adding a cube of sugar. "I certainly hope you find this boy, mon ami. For if you don't you know what awaits you."

Arthur scoffed "As if they would have the stones."

The imaged shimmered away and Kiku let the water dribble from his hand. Alfred was almost struck speechless. He turned to Kiku "What was he refereeing to."

"If a mature kitsune does not have a mate by the full moon of the Winter Solstice then they are banished."

"... What!" Alfred yelled as he stood up from the bench. The volume of Alfred's voice caused nearly all the people in the park to look their way.

Kiku fumbled with his words and tried to get Alfred to calm down and sit. "Please! Alfred-san control yourself."

"So you're telling me if I don't agree to be Arthur's mate by... what... December? That he is going to be banished?!"

"Well yes, but I should say that he is one of the Five Kitsune lords so it is unlikely."

"Unlikely doesn't mean it's NOT going to happen."

"Well yes but-"

"Well this certainly lights a fire under by ass doesn't it?" Alfred grumbled. He stared at the ground as he tried to understand the magnitude of the new situation. "Hey, Kiku?"

"Yes, Alfred-san?"

"You have a consort right? What does being a consort mean exactly?"

Kiku smiled "A consort is the name we give our mate, or more specifically it is only used to describe the mates of high ranking officials."

"So... it's not just some sex slave."

Alfred had never seen Kiku become as embarrassed as he was now "W-what! N-no not at all!" he shook his head "To us Kitsune a mate is something to be treasured and valued above all else."

"I see." Alfred turned to face Kiku fully "Is their anything else?"

"Hm, well a mates value, like any other Kitsune's, is directly associated with the rarity of his or her color and the limitations of his or her power. Mates with rare or higher ranking colors are more sought after then those with not."

"What is the hierarchy of color?"

"Red is the lowest, then brown, black, white, and then silver."

"So silver is the rarest." Alfred confirmed "So for me to have Arthur as my mate would be considered... I guess for lack of a better term, good."

Kiku chuckled "That depends on what your color is Alfred-san."

Alfred shrugged. He didn't really want to think about what kind of fox he was "Arthur tells me I can not live in the human world. Is that true, because I see you living here?"

"You are mistaken." Kiku corrected "I do not live here. I live in Japan."

Ok, now Alfred was really confused. "Can you repeat that?"

"I live in Japan. That is my territory. I only come here for work, which is rather more of a hobby of mine then anything else." Alfred titled his head to one side in confusion. "Kitsune live very long lives, Alfred-san. My work here as a teacher is more or less just a pastime of mine."

"How... how do you live in Japan?"

"Oh come now Alfred-san. Surly the majesticness of magic and all its uses are not completely unknown to your imagination?"

"You use magic?' Kiku nodded "Then... if Japan is your territory and I heard Arthur say England was his territory does that mean that all kitsune have territories?"

"No. Only the Lords."

"So then you must be one of the lords as well." Kiku nodded. "Who are you the lord of?"

"I am the lord of all black foxes."

"Then is Yao the lord of all brown foxes?"

"No, that would be Roderich-san." At Alfred's blank stare Kiku waved a hand "Another time perhaps."

Alfred leaned back against the bench "Wow. This is a lot to take in."

"I apologize that our culture is so complex."

Alfred waved a hand "Nah. I'll get use to it. Thanks for answering my questions though." He sighed "So I won't be able to live here but I can still work here. Well, that isn't so bad. Why hadn't he just said it that way?"

"Perhaps he did mean it the way he said. Though in my experience Arthur-san has always had trouble with words and expressing himself."